Another Turn

Writers: Bree, Yvonne
Date Posted: 28th February 2007

Characters: J'nus, Kenza
Description: J'nus goes out of his way to make sure Kenza has a pleasant birthingday.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 2, day 16 of Turn 4

J'nus gave his table a critical once-over. It was set for two with plates filched from the kitchen that _weren't_ chipped, and a pair of his own wine glasses. Lit candles winked in silver candlesticks and two large bouquets of flowers, freshly picked over at Topaz Sea Hold, gaily exploded in bursts of orange and yellow from mismatched glass vases. Dinner stood nearby beneath covered domes and smelled better than the sharding flowers. }:Kopth? Please ask Solith's rider to join me in my weyr. Tell her that its urgent.:{
**No, it's not,** Kopth replied, his voice thick with amusement.
**You are trying to fool her!**

Dragons were so literal sometimes, it could give one a headache. If only he'd given up alcohol... }:Yes, I am. So don't ruin it!:{ Kenza arrived with all due haste, her eyes tight with worry. The fact that her silver streaked hair hung free around her shoulders was an obvious sign of hurry. Almost nothing could pry her out of her weyr without pausing to pull it back. "What's wrong? Is something--" Her eyes slid past him to the table and her words trailed off.

"You're another turn older, that's what's wrong." He held out his arm gallantly to escort her to the table. "So I cashed in a few favours and got the kitchens to make you something so good you'll think that you're twenty again."

Kenza shook her head as she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. "Trust you to bring me running in a panic only to be so sharding sweet that I can't even kick you for it."

"Thank goodness. My protective gear is in the laundry." He pulled a chair out for her at the table. "Hopefully I didn't interrupt an evening elsewhere?"

"An evening in my bathing pool," she replied lightly. "But yours is ever so much nicer, so I certainly won't complain about _that_. Not to mention the delicious food. And the delightful company, of course."

"Of course." He bent down to give her a light kiss on the cheek. "Happy Birthingday, Kenza."

Kenza caught his hand before he could move to the other side of the table. "Thank you for remembering. Even if I am starting to feel like I'd rather not keep track."

"It's entirely selfish. I don't want to get old all by myself." The bronzerider smiled and gave Kenza's fingertips a quick kiss before retreating to his chair. "Wine?"

"Yes, please." She held out her glass for him to fill. "This really is the sweetest thing anyone's done for me in longer than I care to think about."

He uncorked a bottle of Weyr red that had been sitting on the table, breathing, and poured it into her glass. "I know. You've been looking rather ragged lately. Is everything okay? U'kaiah's not running you ragged with the Wing, is he?"

"Not really, though it's been an adjustment." She took a sip of the wine and sighed. "Watching this... thing with N'vanik and Talryne.
It's hard. It brings back a lot of memories." Her hand slipped to her stomach absently, feeling the ridges of scar tissue left from her near fatal scoring.

"I'm sure." Suicide was a memory that never, truly faded. A final searing of a life into your brain, and a lifetime of guilt afterward.

"How are you doing?"

"N'vanik's a pain in the ass," she said, her voice soft. It seemed to have nothing to do with his question until she shifted her gaze to meet his. "But I like him. And watching him do this... shards, J'nus.
You can be the strongest person alive and barely survive losing a dragon. Talryne is so young, and you have seen the report on her transfer. She was already... damaged. What are the chances of her still being here a turn from now?"

Not good. They both knew it, so J'nus didn't bother saying it. It was a mystery to him as to why she'd held on so long already. He wouldn't have. "N'vanik has... never done things the easy way." Maybe he liked causing himself pain - J'nus saw the self-destructive element in the other bronzerider and found it echoed a little too strongly. "You might as well fret over Thread, because there's nothing you can do about either except wait."

Kenza scowled. "I hate waiting. And I hate things I can't fix. And I hate being old enough to know that there's hardly anything I _can_ fix."

"Give it another twenty turns and it'll only get worse." The bronzerider grinned, hoping that she'd echo it and steer away from the bad temper she was going to put herself in if they kept talking about N'vanik and Talryne. "And I got you a little something.
Something to keep you busy when you start dwelling on things." He produced a small box from beneath a dome on the table and handed it to her. "Don't get too excited."

The box revealed an intricate metal puzzle that Kenza spilled out into one hand. Her eyebrows came together as she turned it over once or twice, tugging at one of the pieces. "Oh, shards. You did this just so you could laugh at me, didn't you?"

"Am I that transparent?"

Kenza glanced up at him and gave him a dark look. "You may be able to wiggle your oh-so nimble fingers and have these things fall into place, but they give the rest of us a headache!" Still, it was oddly soothing to fiddle with, even if she couldn't figure out how the dratted thing was put together.

The bronzerider grinned, feeling pleased with himself. "I promise you that it does come apart. Now... did you want to figure it out now, or do you want to eat? I don't want your _birthingday_ dinner getting cold..."

"Mmmm. Let's eat." She set the puzzle aside and grinned at him. "Besides, if I can't figure it out, I'll just make you take it apart for me."

"I could. If that's _really_ how you want to spend your evening..." J'nus grinned and lifted off a pair of domes, releasing a cloud of steam and revealing a plate of rich, juicy herdbeast, and mixed fingerroots, zucchini and green beans.

Kenza closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Why not? By the time I finish eating dinner, I'm not going to be able to move enough to do anything more interesting."

Shards. **Guess I should have asked for something lighter,** J'nus thought, a little disappointed. Although it didn't really matter
-today was Kenza's day, and she could do whatever she sharding well pleased.

Last updated on the February 28th 2007

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Another Turn