Dinner, Not A Date

Writers: Anaria, JR
Date Posted: 22nd March 2011

Characters: J'nor, O'ryn
Description: O'ryn visits J'nor while Zoranaith is sick.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 1, day 11 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentor Approved

O'ryn glanced around the hall outside the dining cavern, surprised that he
didn't see J'nor around anywhere. They'd unofficially gotten into the habit
of waiting for each other out here at dinnertime and talking over their
evening meal. Surprisingly, he got along rather well with the outgoing
bluerider, maybe because the other young man didn't insist that he socialize with all his other friends all the time. And since Zoranaith was still too young for J'nor to be considering anything with him, there was a refreshing lack of pressure for anything other than quiet friendship - at least for now.

Shrugging and trying to convince himself that wasn't hurt he was feeling
that J'nor wasn't here and hadn't said anything about missing dinner, O'ryn
got his dinner and escaped out to the beach to sit with Lyriath.

"Zora, Zora, Zora..." J'nor said, as if chanting the blue dragon's name
would fix everything. "We're supposed to be at dinner now, what is O'ryn
going to think..." he trailed off, pacing around in the small circle of
floor that was still clean. There seemed to be some sort of illness going
around with a few of the weyrling dragons, and Zoranaith had found himself
as the latest victim. The end result for J'nor was a barrack floor covered
in dragon dung.

}:I'm sorry mine...:{ The blue lamented, crooning sadly.

"It's not your fault, and I'm sorry you're not feeling well," J'nor
responded, feeling guilty that he was thinking of O'ryn in a time like this. "Tell Lyriath we won't be joining her today as you're not feeling well," J'nor instructed, as he gathered the things he'd need to muck out his barrack.

The green passed the message on to her rider, who frowned and glanced toward
the barracks. "Sick, hm? Alright, stay out here on the beach. I'm going to
grab dinner for him and go help. Call if you need me, but don't come into
the barracks unless I say it's okay." Lyriath bobbed her head and wandered
toward a brown and blue further down the beach as O'ryn headed back inside.

It didn't take him long before he was peering into J'nor's barracks, his
nose wrinkling at the smell, hands wrapped around the strap of the bag slung
over his shoulder. "Well, I see you weren't kidding about him being sick.
What brought this on?" He stepped in carefully, avoiding both mess and slick
spots from where the junior weyrling was mopping up.

J'nor sighed, "A few of the other weyrlings have been sick, it seems that
Zora caught it particularly hard. Thanks for coming down, by the way, sorry
it's so... messy... right now." His face flushed slightly. Despite the fact
that there wasn't much he could do about it, it was still somewhat
embarrassing to have O'ryn see his barracks in this state.

O'ryn motioned toward the bag. "I was already in the middle of eating when
Lyriath told me, but I went back and got some for you." The smell of
astringent herbs they used to clean was starting to overpower the smell of
dragonet dung. Settling onto J'nor's cot, he checked that his boots were
still clean before pulling his feet up and out of the way. "He even looks
like he feels bad," the greenrider said sympathetically.

J'nor looked at Zoranaith, sympathy evident in his eyes. "Fortunately, his
tummy seems to be feeling better. But then again, he's expelled pretty much
everything he had in him," He said with a rueful grin. "Thanks for dinner, I
was afraid I wasn't going to make it back to the Dining Caverns before the
good stuff was gone. I should be done here in a few minutes, the
dragonhealers said that Zoranaith needs rest and to be monitored, so I'm
free for the rest of the evening."

"Well, with any luck, he'll be asleep shortly and you'll just have to keep
an eye on him," the greenrider pointed out. He started pulling bundles from
the bag and setting them on the cot beside him while J'nor finished with his
cleanup, sneaking glances at the goodlooking bluerider when the other young
man wasn't paying attention. "And you're welcome. Seemed like the least I
could do."

"I was just afraid you'd think I was avoiding you," J'nor confessed.
Finishing the cleaning, he stopped and turned to face O'ryn. "Mind keeping
an eye on the stinky tail while I go take a quick bath?" He asked. "I'll be
quick, I promise."

The greenrider bit his lip - hard - to resist making the snarky comment that
immediately went through his head. He'd been so good about resisting
flirting with the bluerider, and he wasn't going to ruin that record now.
"Alright, go. Zoranaith and I will be fine for a little bit."

J'nor returned a few moments later, his hair wet and somewhat tousled from
washing. As he slumped down on the cot next to O'ryn, he noticed that the
blue dragon was already sound asleep. "Oh good, he's finally passed out. He
could really use his rest, that's for certain. How were your classes today?"
He asked O'ryn.

O'ryn passed over J'nor's meal. "They're going. Things get more interesting
the further into training we get. And it's easier now that I'm not totally
exhausted all the time."

"How are you liking your own weyr?" J'nor asked. It was one of the thing
that he looked forward to the most in his training. He unwrapped the parcel
that O'ryn passed to him, and found that the green weyrling had gotten some
of his favorites. J'nor smiled to himself. It was nice to know that the
other boy was paying attention.

"Still too sharded quiet," O'ryn sighed. "I'll be happy when I'm allowed to
have company up there without worrying about getting in trouble with the
Weyrlingmaster." He wasn't really sociable, but he was used to having a few
close friends and them running in and out of his space at will. He hadn't
really made any bonds within his own weyrling class, but was on good terms
with several of the junior weyrlings. However, they had even less free time
than he did, and it left him feeling rather disconnected and definitely
lonely.

"Shame it will still be a good while before I can come and visit," J'nor
said. "But I can understand how that feels. As much as it gets loud in the
barracks sometimes, and there's no privacy, it's kind of nice never having
to be alone."

The greenrider laughed, "That was too many people for me and drove me just
as crazy. I don't know, I guess I just miss being close to people. I used to
be 'that guy' that everyone came to when they needed a hug and someone to
listen."

"You are quite good at that," J'nor agreed. "These past few sevendays would
have been crazy without you around, that's for certain." O'ryn had been
great at giving him advice at handling his classes, Zoranaith's rapid
growth, and anything else that J'nor had needed to ask. "If you wouldn't
have Impressed, you would have made a terrific mind healer."

"What?" O'ryn blinked in surprise. "Oh no, dealing with strangers is a whole
other issue. Had I not been Searched, I'd have been more than happy to stay
in the Beastcraft."

"Maybe you could develop a new craft, Beast Mindhealing?" J'nor said, with a
grin. "You could analyze Herdbeasts inner frustrations with being so slow in
comparison to runnerbeasts. It would be hilarious!"

O'ryn spluttered out a laugh, grinning. "As neurotic as we humans are,
working with animals was a relief some days, but Faranth, I can imagine all
the crazy things I could come up with to 'diagnose'."

"A herdbeast traumatized by the death of his mother, brutally slaughtered by
a bronze dragon," J'nor joked, laughing. "Or a wherry who secretly wishes
that he was a firelizard so he could go /between/. It makes me really glad
that animals can't talk, thinking about it."

"You're probably right," O'ryn held his stomach, aching from the deep belly
laugh that had erupted at J'nor's suggestions. "And just like humans, they'd
all think they know better than you what's wrong."

"I'm not eating that grass, I don't care how much better for me it is than
this hay is!" J'nor quipped, sticking out his lips to make him sound like a
runnerbeast's whinnies. "And stop making me rut ole Bessie. I don't care how
awesome our colts are, she's old enough to be my mother!"

That was it. O'ryn doubled over, his arms clutching at his belly, laughing.
"Oh, oh, stop," he gasped out. "That's enough of that, you made your point!
I'd never want to have to face that every day!"

J'nor was unable to respond, as he too had been struck by the ridiculousness
of it all, and was practically rolling around on his cot in laughter.
Zoranaith twitched in his sleep, jerking J'nor out of it. "It's getting
late," he said slowly. "And I fear we might wake him up. I hate to kick you
out, but I think the two of us need our rest."

"Oh," O'ryn said, surprise cutting his laughter short and leaving him
panting for breath. "Ah, alright then." He dragged himself up off J'nor's
cot, trying not to let his expression show his bewilderment at the bluerider's
sudden change in tone. "I guess I'll see you in the morning, then."

"Definitely! I'm sorry to cut it short, I just realized we were keeping
Zoranaith awake," he said, shooting a guilty look towards the blue. "He
really likes you, and likes that I am happy when you're around, so he has a
hard time falling asleep when I'm around you." J'nor flushed, suddenly
feeling bad. He didn't want O'ryn to be upset with him.

Shaking his head, O'ryn grabbed his bag and headed for the door. "It's fine.
Really." He hated that barely a minute ago, they'd been comfortable and
laughing and relaxed and he'd screwed it up somehow. And he couldn't touch
the other boy and soothe it away and go on back to his weyr like he wanted
to. His fingers clenched into a fist to resist the urge, "Just go to sleep,
J'nor."

J'nor's face fell, and he was almost full on pouting. "I'm sorry," he said
softly. "I really do like having you around..." He said lamely. He wasn't
sure how to fix what he'd broken.

Shardit, O'ryn swore silently. He had to go before he broke the promise he'd
made not to do anything that would get either of them in trouble. Lyriath
would be rising soon enough and he could take out some of his frustration on
whoever won her. "Don't, J'nor. Just let it go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow. I'll wear that tunic you like," J'nor said, hoping
that would help his case a bit. He then went back to his cot and settled
down. He felt bad for suddenly kicking the greenrider out, but if he got
caught with O'ryn in his bunk after curfew, he'd get even less time with him
than he got now. He sighed. He couldn't wait until Zoranaith was mature.

Last updated on the April 26th 2011

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Dinner, Not A Date