Catching Up

Writers: Chelle, Eimi
Date Posted: 23rd September 2010

Characters: Merlish, Shibali
Description: Merlish talks about married life with an old friend
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 10, day 12 of Turn 5
Notes: Mentioned: Eilomar

Merlish smiled as she saw her friend walk through the door. Reaching
out both hands to her she grinned from ear to ear. "Shibali! Thank
Faranth you could come!" She had been afraid that her childhood friend
would postpone her trip back to see her family until the Turn's End, in
which case she'd already be at the Harper Hall and would have missed
her. And then Faranth only knew when they could meet again!

Shibali chuckled and embraced Merlish, letting go after a few minutes.
"Aye well, it took some wrangling, but things were managed." Stepping
back, she looked the other woman over. "So how is life agreeing with you
these days?"

"Very well, I think," Merlish said as she looped her arm through her
friend's. Lowering her voice she murmured softly, "But to tell the
truth, I'm a little scared."

"Aye well it's going to mean a lot of changes to be sure, but it will be
better for you in the end, won't it?" Shibali knew she probably just
needed reassurance. "What's got you nervous?"

"Leaving all this," her friend said with a sweep of her arm. "What will
Ma do without me? Who will make Pa smile after a hard day? When will I
see my brothers again? Will I even recognize Telwud and Tanian the next
time I see them?"

"Ah, so that's it. The little wherry doesn't want to leave its nest."
Shibali understood that ever so well. "You have to remember, though,
someday you're going to get too big and then you'll have to fly."

Merlish bristled a bit. So many people still treated her like she was
a child! "My family is the most important thing in my life," she
replied, rather defensively. She thought Shibali would have known that.

"Yes, but you can love your family and still have one of your own."
Shibali brushed off her tone, not taking it to heart.

"I know that." After all, she wouldn't be marrying Eilomar if it
weren't so beneficial to her loved ones. But she was tired of this
conversation, of feeling talked down to. It wasn't worth fighting over.
"So when are _you_ starting a family?"

"Don't know yet. Jodo is gone so much sailing and all that I don't see
him very often." She shrugged. Having a seacrafter for a husband was
certainly hard. "I'm hoping maybe when he has more turns under his
belt, he can stay at the hall more."

"I don't know how you can stand having your husband be so far away for
so long." Even though she didn't _love_ Master Eilomar yet, she was
sure it wouldn't be easy to be alone in a place like that. Especially
with her family so far away.

"It is hard, but there are other women..I guess you sort of figure out
you're all in the same boat. We support one another." Shibali smiled
softly, thinking of her new friends. "Course when he does come home, he
immediately reminds me of why we got married in the first place." A
giggle escaped.

"How does he do that?" Merlish asked, wondering what he might do to make
her laugh so.

"Oh you know, marital relations?" Shibali hoped Merlish had been told.

"Oh!" Merlish blushed as she finally understood what her friend had
been hinting at. Of course she knew what those where! "I get it now."

"So how is everything else since I've been gone?" Births and deaths
always happened.

"The same, really. Except for... you know." Merlish blushed again
slightly, hinting at her own coming wedding. "Other than that... Oh,
well, Firla and Basta both got married and I hear Basta is pregnant. I
don't see much of Firla any more, sadly. Or Shalis. Everyone seemed to
have moved on and drifted apart, which is sad."

"Basta? Pregnant? Hmm..I bet it'll be a boy. She deserves that."
Everyone was moving on. "So, do you know anyone at the Harper Hall
besides your intended?"

"My uncle Tantral. Besides him, just a few of the ladies. I wouldn't
say they were friends, yet, but they are nice." It was better than
being utterly alone.

"You should do a knitting party or something when you start to settle
in." Those always seemed to work well in her estimation.

"I doubt knitting is of much use there," Merlish sighed. "It's so hot!
No one needs scarves or sweaters or heavy socks, even in winter."

"Aye but isn't it moving back to the Hold eventually? It gets coolish
there," Shibali pointed out.

"True," Merlish shrugged. Knitting had always been more a chore than a
joy for her, so if she had to she could do it. "I don't know. I think
I need a new hobby."

"Well you're going to the place where people sing." The other woman's
eyebrows went up as she pictured Merlish singing.

"Sing? In front of people? No thank you." Her palms felt sweaty just
at the thought.

"Then what sort of hobby might you take up?" Needleworking, knitting,
darning, and all that were the same thing.

"An instrument, maybe? But they'd probably make me play in front of
people." Which made that a definite no. "Maybe drawing or painting?"

"Painting..they don't let girls do that, do they?" Shibali's face
wrinkled as she thought about it.

"Of course they do," Merlish said with a surprised look. "Not as a
craft of course... Oh, well, no, I guess they do as a craft now that
there are women harpers again," which also was rather unnatural in her
opinion. "But women can paint for their own pleasure. But what a
waste. Painting something only to throw it away." What _else_ would
she do with a painting? She could fill up a room, but then what?

Shrugging, her friend didn't really know what the point of painting was.
Shibali was a practical woman. The only paintings she had ever seen were
portraits of the Lord Holders and their families. "Could you do pottery?
That's useful."

"It sounds so messy," Merlish said, wrinkling her nose at the thought.

"Well so is painting. You have to mix them and wash brushes and all
that." Shibali imagined it would be hard not to get paint on oneself
either.

"Yes, but that's paint, not _mud_." Paint at least was pretty!

"I hear you can paint the pots." Shibali really didn't care one way or
another what she did.

"Yeah, I suppose." And at least a pot was of use to someone. "You must
do something other than just knit. What else do you do to fill your
time?"

"Well I keep a house. I cook, I clean, I make clothes, I mend clothes, I
try to fix things when they break. I eat, I sleep, I bathe, and I have
to
contribute to the Hold somehow so I do my turn at chores sometimes."
Topaz Seahold was a nice place to live, in her estimation.

Merlish suddenly hit upon an idea that made her smile. "Maybe I should
volunteer in the nursery. I like children, and I want some of my own.
It would be good practice."

"Aye it would indeed. Or there's always being a fostermother for a
little bit." Thoughts ran through her head as she considered the
options.

"I'll have to ask Master Eilomar how he'd feel about that." Though
Merlish wasn't sure she'd want to take in someone only a few turns
younger than herself. She didn't have the confidence for that. "But
hopefully I'll have a child of my own before too long."

"Children are good for the soul, especially since they take up time.
Someday, I hope to have them. It'd be nice to have someone else to
talk to when he's gone." Shibali sometimes could be found talking to
her broom.

"I can't imagine being married and not trying to have a child. What
else is marriage for but to have a family?" At least, that had always
been Merlish's view of marriage.

"To have companionship, protection... Marriage is a commitment between
two people. People get married even when they can't have kids." Women
needed protection in the South oftentimes.

Merlish shrugged, not agreeing, but not wanting to fight about it. If
she didn't have children, she would feel as though she had failed in her
duties as a woman. If she thought Eilomar could not have children, she
would have never agreed to marrying him. But he had already proven he
could
have children. "Did you want to meet my little brothers? You wouldn't
recognize them!"

"Sure!" she agreed, walking along.

Last updated on the September 25th 2010

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