Keep Trying

Writers: Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 20th December 2007

Characters: F'lin, Honalyse
Description: F'lin has a favour to ask...
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 7, day 2 of Turn 4

"So where do you think you'll go when we graduate?" F'lin flopped onto a couch next to Honalyse in the Weyrling's study room after dinner. There was a sheaf of hides in his hand with his indecipherable scrawl marring their surface, but he really didn't want to study. "We're almost done.
Can you believe it?"

"No I can't. Shards, they're full grown practically. Whoever would have thought something could grow that big that fast!" Sometimes Honalyse could have sworn Tibith was bigger after drills than she was that morning.

"Kopth is bigger than the cot I grew up in." F'lin sighed. "I guess it's not so bad... at least he won't get as big as a gold. But it's not fair that it takes you half as long to oil your dragon as it takes me."

"I think it’s perfectly fair," she grinned, plucking the hide from his fingers. "What is all this wherry scratch anyway?"

The bronzerider made a face. "I doubt R'syl would be happy to hear you calling his lectures wherry scratch."

She rolled her eyes. Men. "I meant your handwriting was wherry scratch, wherry brain."

"Oooohhhh.... _I_ thought you meant R'syl. I'm not sure that I like your actual meaning any better, though." F'lin plucked his notes out of Honalyse's hands. "And they're star chart notes. Can't you tell?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, I see it," Honalyse said, leaning over the bronzerider to look. "But why are all the stars falling from the sky?"

"I got bored mid-lecture. Star charts are dull."

She snorted in a most unlady-like way. "A lot of good those will do you."

"The star charts themselves or my notes? Because I was sort of hoping..." F'lin trailed off and fixed her with a puppy-like stare.

"Oh Faranth, I should have seen that coming," Honalyse groaned as she pulled away slightly. "What exactly do you want?"

F'lin held his hands up to ward off her disgust. "Just to see your star chart notes! I just want to make sure that mine are accurate."

"Well, I can tell you now that they're not." After all, last time she had checked the sky, the stars had not fallen en masse. "So what's in it for me?"

"My undying gratitude?" The look on her face made it clear that Honalyse was not sold on the idea. "Umm... what do you want?"

"Well, you could cover for me for elevator duty tomorrow..." she said sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him pleadingly.

"I'd rather retake star charts."

"Oh come on, be a pal," she pouted, grabbing at his arm. "I'll redo all your star charts for you."

"All the star charts for half of your elevator duty." He and Kopth could complete it in half the time it took her and her little green Tibith anyway; most of the Weyrfolk who wanted to go up and down the cliff quickly were drudges, and they moved about mostly during shift changes.
Kopth could carry three to Tibith's one.

"And what would you want for the other half?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him innocently.

F'lin returned her innocent look with a not-so-innocent look of his own:
they weren't junior weyrlings anymore.

Honalyse sighed, leaning back into the cushions. "You bronzeriders are all alike. Fine, half then. But the _latter_ half. I have plans that evening and I could use the extra candlemarks."

"You can't blame a guy for trying!" F'lin said cheerfully.

"Well, keep trying, F'lin." She leaned over him to whisper in his ear as she plucked the chart back out of his hands. "You may just get lucky one of these days."

"What about now? Am I lucky now?"

"You might have been..." she smiled as she rose to her feet. "If you hadn't taken only _half_."

Last updated on the December 23rd 2007

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