Why Should the Kids Have All the Fun

Writers: Anaria
Date Posted: 6th December 2010

Characters: Mardria, Y'imir
Description: Mardria meets Y'imir for lunch, and Y'imir invites her on a date.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 12, day 7 of Turn 5

Mardria was ravenously hungry after she left her ladies knitting
circle, so she headed straight to the Dining Caverns. Grabbing her
tray of food quickly, she perused the area, looking for someone that
she knew to sit with. She noticed a familiar face - Bluerider Y'imir,
a fellow retired rider at the Weyr - and saw that he was sitting
alone. Until recently, the bluerider had been weyrmated to a
greenrider named F'sino, but the other man had passed away a few
sevendays prior. Her decision made, Mardria walked over to Y'imir's
table, and sat herself down across from him.

"Good afternoon, Y'imir!" She said brightly. In his youth, Y'imir was
quite the looker, but the turns had been just as hard on him as they
had on Mardria. Now 84 turns old, the same age as Mardria, he was
getting a bit on the heavy side, his hair had turned to gray, and he
was frequently in poor health.

Y'imir forced up a weak smile, and Mardria was glad to see that the
bluerider still had the same lovely dimples she recalled from their
Weyrlinghood. "Hello there, Mardria. How are you doing? And how's
Soravath?"

"We're both faring well, how about you, Y'imir?" Mardria asked,
taking a bite of redfruit. The healers had been chiding her about her
weight once more, and this time, she was endeavoring to try and eat
better, if for nothing else than to pacify her arthritic knee.

"Alright, I suppose. Andriveth is still as sturdy as ever, you
wouldn't know he's over 60 turns old. I've been doing well, got rid of
the illness that I had for a few months, but F'sino's loss has been
hard on us both."

"I know," Mardria commiserated. Having lost two weyrmates of her own,
she knew how hard it was to not have someone around after so many
turns of companionship. "Have you been getting out much? Trying to
keep yourself busy?"

"The first few sevendays I didn't, but I have been doing better as of
recent," the weak smile broadened a bit. "You know, we used to hang
out a lot when we were younger, you should join me for dinner one
evening. We can eat late, do a bit of dancing while the harpers
perform..." Y'imir said, his eyes beginning to get some of their
twinkle back.

"Why, Y'imir, are you asking me out on a date?" Mardria exclaimed, amused.

"Well, sure. Unless, of course, you're telling me that you're taken?"
Y'imir joked. He knew full well that Mardria hadn't seen anyone
seriously in the turns since her last weyrmate had passed away.

"Not at all, although I did recently have this wonderful, attractive
young brownrider in my cot..." Mardria joked.

Y'imir groaned mock dramatically, "I must have heard this story a
dozen times from different people, Mar! Have you told every person
you've encountered since then?"

"Nearly everyone. I don't believe I told the Weyrwoman when I met with
her..." she said slowly.

"Bah, that kid doesn't know how to handle a real woman like you!"
Y'imir said, laughing.

"I know! He ran away from my cot in fear!" Mardria joked. She took a
bite of her roasted wherry, a bit disappointed at the lack of flavor
when one didn't thoroughly drown it with gravy. "So what have you been
doing to keep busy? You haven't joined our knitting circle!" Mardria
joked.

"Knitting circles are not for men!" Y'imir exclaimed. "I whittle," He
said simply, pulling a small wooden dragon figurine from his pocket.
"Although the arthritis has made it much more difficult to do as of
late, I fear."

"There's something wonderful about a man who's good with his hands,"
Mardria cooed, fluttering her eyelashes like a wanton girl of 20
turns.

Y'imir laughed loudly. "That's what they tell me! So what about you,
outside of knitting circles, how are you keeping yourself busy?"

"I help the foster mothers with some of the weyrbrats, I talk to the
Candidate classes on occasions, and I help out at the Infirmary of
course," Mardria said. "I wish I would have gotten lucky and had some
grandchildren though. I miss having little ones around."

"My grand daughter is pregnant, can you believe that? I'm going to be
a great grandfather!" Y'imir boasted.

"Wow!" Mardria said. "I wish I would have lucked out and gotten a girl
in there some where. "Two greenrider boys were all I managed." She
shook her head. "Oh well, what can you do?"

"Just borrow other people's grandchildren, that works just as well.
And when you're as old as we are, you can get away with a bit of
senility!" Y'imir quipped.

"I could probably sneak a little one out of the creche without anyone
noticing..." Mardria agreed.

}:We do not need one of those... things...:{ Soravath protested. She
could not remember Mardria's children, but she did remember that the
last time Mardria had helped out one of the foster mothers, the little
three turn old she had been watching had insisted upon poking her in
the eyes, and sticking toys up her nostrils.

Mardria chuckled aloud, "Soravath had her eye poked by one the other
day, and she is against me getting one on a more permanent
basis," she explained.

"Bah, ask her in a few days when she forgets!" Y'imir said with a wink.

"I will have forgotten by then!" Mardria protested.

"Well then, I don't know what to tell you!" Y'imir said. "Oh well,
m'dear, I have preparations to make if I'm to be decent in time for
our date!" He winked once more, then leaned across the table to kiss
Mardria lightly on the cheek.

Mardria felt her face flush in a way that it hadn't in turns, "I'll
see you tonight!"

Last updated on the January 21st 2011

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Why Should the Kids Have All the Fun