Nice Bumping Into You (2/2)

Writers: Anaria, JR
Date Posted: 17th December 2010

Characters: J'nor, O'ryn
Description: J'nor meets O'ryn, and the pair discuss Weyrlinghood.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 27 of Turn 5
Notes: Part 2 of 2

"We've something in common then. My ma died when I was seven, but I've
two sisters and a brother. I think my Da knew about me even before I
did, but he never said anything against it, other than to warn me to
be careful. One of my sisters is a Candidate here, and it took her
awhile to get used to the idea, but she's come around." He knew he was
lucky to have been so easily accepted.

"Who's your sister?" J'nor asked curiously. He was at least slightly
familiar with most of the female candidates at the Weyr. Some of them
he knew much, much better. He hoped that O'ryn's sister was not one of
them.

"Aarika. Eighteen, kinda short, looks a fair bit like me if you can
get past all that hair she's got." The greenrider gave a brief
description of his sister, one of the many Candidates at a weyr the
size of Dragonsfall. "Why, do you know her?"

J'nor felt his heart beating a bit faster,"Uh.... yeah. Yeah I do," he
said, his face flushing bright red. He hoped that O'ryn didn't notice
his nervousness, and inquire about it. He wasn't quite certain how to
confess to his new friend that he had known his sister quite well.

He did catch it and had to ask, quirking an eyebrow at the bluerider.
"You're awfully twitchy all the sudden. Which is it? You like her, or
you already bedded her?" There was no anger in O'ryn's voice, only
curiosity.

"Uh.... the latter," he said, face flushing. "I might have made my
rounds with the female candidates so to speak in my attempts to ignore
my own sexuality." J'nor's head dropped in shame. Well, there went
that opportunity. Zoranaith crooned sadly, running over to comfort his
lifemate.

The greenrider shook his head. "You're not the first and I doubt
you'll be the last to do that. My sister's a big girl, she can make
her own choices. Although, you'd best hope when I ask her about you,
she doesn't tell me you treated her badly, or you'll be answering to
me." This was a weyr, people slept around, O'ryn had gotten used to it
in the three turns it had taken before he'd Impressed.

"Oh, no, of course not!" J'nor responded quickly. "We discussed it
like adults, she just wanted some fun before the last Hatching in case
she Impressed, and I was more than glad to agree to a one time thing."
J'nor exhaled hard. "I'm so glad you're not mad, some guys are really
protective of their sisters."

"It's not that I'm not protective, but I'd like to think that I'm
reasonable about it. If she'd stayed at home, she'd be married and
likely have a kid or two by now, so if she's not a virgin, I'm not
going to have a fit about it. Now if some idiot hurts her, that's a
different story," O'ryn said, his voice determined. He might have been
a greenrider, but he wasn't obviously effeminate and was capable of
handling himself in a fight if it came to that.

J'nor smiled, "That seems like a very good attitude to have. My mother
died because she married at 16, was pregnant shortly afterwards, and
was just too small to properly give birth to me," he said sadly. "So I
think the Hold's beliefs about women are a little silly, I think it
was one reason that I was so quick to come to the Weyr when I was
Searched." He paused a moment, "So... you're not weirded out that
we... you know..." he said, trying to determine whether or not he
could pursue his present course of action.

O'ryn shook his head, "No, not unless you're going to keep bringing it
up. I'd rather not think too much about what Aarika does in her
private life, any more than I'd want her thinking about mine, thanks."
His eyes were on the blue dragonet, still sticking close to his rider.
Zoranaith's behavior gave him a better idea of what was going on in
J'nor's head than the weyrling's words did. When the blue circled
around within arm's length, he reached out and scritched at the soft
skin behind the dragon's jaw.

"Alright," J'nor said, resolving to let the issue drop. "So what do
you do when you aren't in classes to keep yourself busy?" He asked
curiously. "Do you ever miss crafting?" So far, he hadn't had much
time to miss much of anything yet.

"Now and then, yes, I miss it. But Lyri keeps me pretty busy, so it
hasn't bothered me much." At the sound of her name, the green's head
craned around to peer at the two weyrlings curiously, taking a long
sniff at J'nor. "I haven't really gotten into much, other than that. I
moved into my own weyr not too long ago, and it's a little strange.
I'm not used to living alone."

"Yeah, that is going to be hard for me to adjust to as well," he
replied. "I had 6 foster siblings at the Hold and of course when I was
at the Hall I bunked with others," he reached up and rubbed Lyriath's
nose affectionately. "She's a pretty girl," he complimented. "That's a
lovely color." Zoranaith sniffed the larger green dragon curiously.

"She thanks you," O'ryn passed along the message from the green. "And
I'm with you. I shared a room at the cothold with my siblings and then
with the other apprentices at the Hall, then the Candidate and
Weyrling barracks. There's never been quiet at night like I have now.
It's hard to sleep, actually."

J'nor laughed, "My reasons for sleeplessness are completely different.
A certain little blue dragon I know not only snores but also insists
on sticking as much of himself as will fit in bed with me!" He shook
his head, "He better grow out of that phase quickly, that's all I'm
saying. It's bad enough the beds here are designed for short boys,
it's like they don't expect blueriders to be tall or something."

"The first few sevendays, Lyriath would sleep for a couple of
candlemarks then talk at me for another two or three before going back
to sleep. I think I sleepwalked through training for that first month.
It's all a blur, looking back," O'ryn laughed.

Zoranaith sat down on his haunches, staring up at Lyriath and wagging
his tail in a canine-like fashion. "The past few sevendays have seemed
both really long and really short at the same time, it's very weird.
The chores and classes seem endless, but Zor has grown so much it's
crazy. Someday you'll be bigger than her!" he said, rubbing Zoranaith
affectionately.

"It _is_ crazy. Thankfully they settle down some once they're a bit
bigger." Lyriath had curled around the two boys and craned her head
back to set her muzzle in O'ryn's lap, where he gently scratched her
soft hide, and he chuckled when Zoranaith followed to keep watching
her.

J'nor pondered for a moment before speaking. "Would... would you like
to have dinner with me tomorrow? Perhaps then your head will be
feeling a little bit better?" he asked hopefully.

"I... J'nor." He sighed, thinking about it, then realized he couldn't
protest without sounding like he was making assumptions about the
bluerider's intentions. He knew J'nor wouldn't be allowed to do
anything for another three months, even though his own restrictions
were just starting to be relaxed. "Oh, alright. Why not?"

"It's not like I can take advantage of you," J'nor joked, although he
was a bit nervous about the greenrider's hesitant response. "I'll meet
you back here?" He asked, hoping that the other Weyrling wouldn't
insist that they eat in the Dining Caverns.

O'ryn sighed and looked over at the bluerider, "That's fine. Hopefully
it's a bit warmer outside. I hate that sharded dining hall when it's
busy."

J'nor nodded, "I do too. It's amazing how loud it can get during meal
times." He noticed that Rukbat was beginning to set, and stood up. "I
know that my curfew is soon, I assume yours isn't too far off. So I
guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

Surprised to realize his headache was almost gone, fading away between
the tea and klah and the distraction of the bluerider's company, O'ryn
got to his as well. "Yeah, but I've only got a short flight ahead of
me, you get to walk back to the barracks. Have Zoranaith call Lyriath
when you're headed to get your dinner, I'll meet you and we can figure
out where to hide to eat."

J'nor smiled as he waved, and turned to walk back to the barracks,
draping a hand loosely on the small blue dragon beside him. He was
calm and content for a moment as he departed, until he realized with a
start - what was he going to wear tomorrow!?

Last updated on the January 22nd 2011

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Nice Bumping Into You (2/2)