New Arrivals, Old Surprises (2/2)

Writers: Anaria, JR
Date Posted: 11th November 2010

Characters: J'klin, Roana
Description: J'klin and Roana meet for the first time in turns and make a deal
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 11, day 13 of Turn 5
Notes: Part 2 of 2
Mentioned: Arilanna

J'klin wasn't sure whether to kiss her or to shout in joy. In the end,
he decided neither response was appropriate, and instead tilted
Roana's face up to look her in the eye. "I wanted more too," he said
simply.

Her lips pressed together into a thin line, and Roana's fingers
unconsciously tightened around his before she pulled her hands away.
"It's been a long time, J'klin. I don't know that I want to just...
jump into something with you." Despite herself, she invaded his
personal space to curl an arm around his waist and lean her head down
onto his shoulder. "Can we just say we missed each other and go from
there?"

"Yes, I think that's best. To tell you the truth, a lot of things have
changed in my life and... I wouldn't really feel right jumping into a
relationship with you without you getting to know me again. The
breakup turned me into a bad person. I turned to wine to make myself
feel better, and now I know that wasn't the right thing to do. But
it's still something I struggle with. It almost cost me my position in
the wing," he said, his face flushing slightly in embarrassment. He
hated admitting his faults to others, but he didn't feel right not
telling Roana about his problem.

Roana shifted to wrap her other arm around him for an actual hug. "I
don't think you're a bad person. We've all got our issues to deal
with. I have to ask though, what were you doing with a skin of wine to
bring me, if you're not supposed to be drinking?"

"Uh... well," he said with a sigh. "I went on a date with a harper
this afternoon, and it didn't go well. I kept a skin on hand just in
case, you know. I was going to go drink it... until I saw Phiralith.
And then, for whatever reason, I didn't think that I should. It seemed
better to give it to you."

It was awkward, hugging someone who wasn't hugging back. She let him
go and looked up at him with a sigh, "Well, I'm glad that I'm still
apparently a good influence on you. I'm not a big drinker, but I'd
rather have it than you, since it's a problem."

J'klin nodded, but he was somewhat sad she had broken their contact.
He still felt very unsure about things with her, and wasn't really
sure how to proceed. "So, uh... I don't really know where we go from
here. I guess we see how things go as friends for a bit, and maybe
move on from there?" He wanted to pull her close, to feel her close to
him again, but he feared that he'd missed the occasion. **Why do I
have to be such a sharding fool when it comes to women?!** he thought
to himself.

Her weyr might've been mostly empty, but there was a couch, at least.
Ignoring her unpacking, she moved to sit, and patted the space beside
her. "Come over here and tell me what you've done in the past three
turns. I don't even know what happened with you and Arilanna that sent
you running away from Dragonsfall."

J'klin took the seat he was offered, considering what he remembered of
his break up. "It was over so fast, I suppose what it boiled down to
was that we grew into different people as we aged, and those people
just weren't compatible with one another. Right after we broke up, I
got into a fight while drunk with a good friend of mine. You'd have
thought I would have learned my lesson about drinking then but I
didn't. I was hoping the transfer to a new Weyr would mean tons of new
friends and such, but I had become so comfortable in my old friends
that I had forgotten how to reach out and meet people. I'd go on the
occasional date, which ended poorly, and then come home and drown my
sorrows in a wineskin. Eventually, the dates became less frequent, but
yet the drowning of sorrows still continued. I'm not getting any
younger, part of me really wants stability."

Realizing that he'd gone off on a tangent, he paused, then asked,
"What about you? How've you been?"

"Not bad, but not great either. I've just been... Oh, I don't know.
Dissatisfied? Dragonsfall started feeling like the same thing, all the
time. Same people, same dramas, and I hated feeling like I was
settling for boredom. Plus you know I always hated the winters and the
cold." She'd often complained about them and come to snuggle up with
him on his couch and talk, rather than being alone in her weyr.
"Hopefully things will be different here."

"Well, the weather certainly is different! And one person in
particular might be the same, but I assure you, he's endeavoring to
change his terrible ways!" J'klin joked. "Seriously though, I really
hope that you will like it here. I think I would if I actually tried
harder." J'klin found himself subconsciously scooting closer to Roana
on the small couch.

Roana's head tilted to look up at him, her hazel eyes twinkling,
"Worst comes to worst, you can tag along with me and meet people under
the guise of showing me around. I'm in Queen's Wing again, so I won't
get to interact with too many people in practices." When he shifted,
she had to resist automatically leaning her head on his shoulder.
After he'd ignored her hug earlier, if he wanted contact, he was going
to have to initiate it.

"Well, you'll get to meet all the goldriders, that's for certain."
J'klin was glad he'd never been there, being under the constant
scrutiny of the Weyrwoman would have driven him insane. "And if you
need a good mindhealer, I can introduce you to one!" He joked. "Or if
you'd like to meet an 84 turn old, half senile greenrider...." he
added, shaking his head.

One eyebrow shot up, "Why do I get the hint there's a story there?
Certainly we didn't have anyone so interesting at Dragonsfall?" She
teased him. Meeting the goldriders and the others in the Queen's wing
wouldn't bother her at all. After all these turns and the numerous
leadership changes at her old home, it felt like just another day on
duty.

"There's a story there, but it's not a pleasant one. The gist of the
story is that I really need to qualify who's dragon Nimyth is chasing
when he asks if he can chase a green." He shuddered slightly. "That
was a scary, scary day. She's like something from those stories that
they tell little weybrats to convince them not to misbehave." He was
now nearly touching Roana, and he experimentally placed his arm about
her shoulders, hoping she'd not reject the advance.

"Oh, no, poor J'klin." Phiralith had once been caught by a much, much
older rider, and it hadn't been pleasant, but she had far less choice
in who chased her green than J'klin did in who Nimyth chased. She hid
a smile when he settled his arm. It brought back memories of when
they'd first become friends and realized they were both touchy people
once they were comfortable with someone. "I guess Nimyth makes sure he
tells you both dragon _and_ rider when he asks, now?"

"Ohhhh yeah. Mardria - the green's rider - chased me out of the bed. I
ran naked and screaming back to my weyr. It was a thrilling site for
all to behold, I wager. She _still_ hasn't sent my clothes back,
although I can't say I've tried too hard to get in contact with her to
ask for them." J'klin shuddered once more at the memory. "You don't
understand, this woman is 3 times my age, a head taller than me and
easily twice my weight!"

Roana couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up out of her. "Maybe that
should have been enough to make you stop drinking. Obviously your wits
have left you, even when you're sober!" Without really thinking about
it, her hand came up to tangle her fingers with his where they were
dangling over her shoulder. "Although I do have to wish I'd been there
to see, because I'd never let you forget it."

"Yeah, the Weyrling class that I ran past thought the exact same
thing. I still get giggles from some of the green weyrlings when I
walk past," he said with a chuckle. "I think I just drink to keep
myself from being distracted. I don't like not having anything to do
at night, once drills are over and Nimyth is cleaned up. I guess
drinking is something that I picked up so I didn't have to deal with
that. But perhaps, if I had a friend that I could go visit, it
wouldn't be so bad." He squeezed Roana's fingers lightly, liking the
way her hand fit in his.

"Sure, take advantage of the new girl, who doesn't know anyone here,
and occupy all her time and attention, darling." Her head tilted back
against his arm, there were good and bad points to giving him an open
invitation, but with his drinking problem... She'd seen what it could
do to a good person. "How about I make you a deal?"

"Sure," J'klin said, wondering what the greenrider could possibly want
to make a deal about. He had a feeling it either involved drinking
less, or meeting other people around the Weyr.

"Best cure for your problem is to not drink at all. You can visit me
as much as you like, whenever you like, if you promise that you'll
come to me and talk things over when you get the urge for alcohol."
She looked over at him, her expression gone serious. "Let me help,
please?"

A slow smile spread across J'klin's face. "That's a deal that I can
easily keep."

Last updated on the November 20th 2010

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New Arrivals, Old Surprises (2/2)