She Smells Just Like Grandma!

Writers: Anaria, Len
Date Posted: 16th April 2011

Characters: A'shel, Mardria
Description: Mardria and Angshel talk while bathing Soravath
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 1, day 16 of Turn 6

Mardria took Soravath for a good long flight before she brought her
back to the weyrlake for Angshel to help wash her. Despite her
apparent lack of ability to take anything serious, she wanted Soravath
to have as comfortable of a life as was possible. She removed
Soravath's riding straps, and looked up at the sky to try and judge
the time. Angshel should be out of classes any moment now, and would
be around to assist her with Soravath's washing.

The boy in question was walking out for his break when he saw the
elderly rider and her green. Grinning, he all but ran up to her.
"Oh, you remembered! How are you two today?" So he was going to wash
his first dragon! He could barely contain his excitement.

"We're doing pretty well, just took Soravath out for a nice long
flight to stretch out those tired wings!" Mardria said. "How about
you, dear, how are you faring today?" Mardria asked, smiling broadly.

"Yeah, never better!" He grinned at her. "Classes were good. We
learned about the muscle structure of the dragons today, so that was
interesting."

"Ah, I remember those lessons from weyrlinghood. Alright Sora, get
your lazy tail into the water, alright?" Mardria said. The green
dragon obediently complied, her eyes whirling a happy blue-green at
the prospect of a good scrubbing.

The boy watched the dragon with a small smile on his face. He could
see where she must have once been a stunning green. It was a nice day,
a good day to be out washing a dragon. The surf crashed on the beach,
beckoning him to come join the old green. With a shy grin, he shed
his clothes and did just that, be careful to leave his undershorts on.
Weyr immodestly hadn't trickled down into his mental outlook yet.

Mardria smiled as she watched the boy approaching Soravath, amused at
how much he enjoyed it. "So where did you come from, lad?" She asked
conversationally. "You don't act like you're Weyrbred at all. How'd
you come to end up here?"

"Oh, I'm not," he said as he reached over for a brush to scrub her
with. For a moment he watched Mardria to see just how to properly
scrub the green so he wouldn't hurt her by accident. "I was from a
Hold, a really conservative one. They...they didn't want me
there...so I walked here." He turned his back, feeling self conscious
that some of the markings from old lashings might be visible on his
bare back.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Mardria said. "It's a shame the Holds are so
judgemental of people that they think are different. Fortunately
you're here now, so you shouldn't need to worry about that as much
anymore."

"Yeah..." That's what everyone here seemed to say. Oh, why couldn't
he had been lucky enough to have been born at the Weyr? Life was so
much more mature here!

"You can rub her a bit harder. Don't worry, you won't hurt her,"
Mardria said, noting that the boy seemed a bit hesitant to press hard.
After she'd demonstrated once, more, she asked, "So how bad was it for
you at the Hold?"

"How bad...?" He looked, startled, at her. How could he tell her
just how bad...how could he tell anyone? Feeling helpless to say what
had happened, he just shrugged his shoulders and focused on the green.
"So, press harder like this?"

Mardria nodded, smiling reassuringly, "Yep, that's perfect. She says
it feels nice." Mardria put a hand lightly on Angshel's back, tracing
one of the scars there. "What did they do to you?" She asked. What
could have made a boy so young seem so frightened?

"They...they did a lot of things...they beat me and they broke my arm
and some ribs and...and tried to strangle me...and well..." He
glanced up at her. "Please don't make me say anything more." His
grey eyes pleaded with her. The mindhealers knew; the Weyrleader and
the Weyrwoman knew; his mother knew; E'rae knew and Angshel suspected
Briata must know, but he just didn't want to talk about it anymore.
Couldn't they all just let him forget what had happened?

"I'm so sorry," Mardria said softly, wrapping her arms about the young
candidate. "No one deserves to go through what you went through."

He had been holding himself together but when she took him in his arms
like anyone's nan would, the boy broke down and sobbed on her
shoulder. All the tension and fears he had been holding in came out,
poring out of him in ragged tears.

Mardria held him as he sobbed, rubbing his back comfortingly,
remembering her own sons when they were his age. "It's alright to
cry," Mardria said softly. "Even though they tell you it's not the
manly thing to do, letting your emotions out will make you feel
better. You're safe now. I won't let anyone else get away with hurting
you, that's for certain."

He leaned into her, as a small child would their grandparent. She even
smelled like a grandmother, comforting and vaguely flower-like. When
he had cried himself out, he leaned against her and mummured, "you
guys at the Weyr don't know how lucky you all are. I wonder if the
dragons bring out the best in everyone? Or is everyone here just more
intelligent, or caring?"

"I think that when everyone you know and care about risks their life
on a daily basis that you stop being so concerned about mundane things
like who likes people that are the same gender. And of course, the
lack of control we have over mating flights helps with that as well.
Even the biggest, baddest bronze rider has probably taken a tumble or
two with another man," Mardria explained.

That thought made the boy laugh, a bit. "Yeah, I was talking with
E'rae the other day..and...no offense, but I think I'd die if I got
Impressed by a green." He shuddered, just thinking about Flights and
what it would mean, to him.

"Both of my sons were greenriders," Mardria explained. "They never
really had any problems with it, save they occasionally got too
attached to a bronzerider who couldn't share their affections. A nice
blue dragon would do you well too, I believe."

"I do love the blues. They're beautiful." Angshel sighed and managed a smile.

"Well hopefully, there will be one waiting for you at the next
Hatching!" Mardria declared. "And if not, maybe a cute greenrider beau
is in your future!"

The boy mumbled something about that and turned back to Soravanth.
Why was everyone so keen to see him attached to some man? All he
wanted to do was be around the dragons.

"I know it's hard now, to imagine letting someone else be close to
you, when you've been punished for that in the past. But someone -
male or female - will catch your eye eventually, and then you'll feel
a bit differently about the matter," Mardria explained.

The boy put his head down and concentrated on the green before him,
letting Mardria know with his body language that he wanted to drop the
whole 'let's find you a mate' thing. U'fourrin had been like that as
well. He was just grateful that Briata, at least, understood that he
needed time--a lot of time--to heal.

"I think what you need the most right now is friends though," Mardria
said softly. "People you can talk to and depend on. People who make
you happy. Have you been meeting people your own age since you've been
here, I hope?"

"Um...I think Im're is my age, or close to it." Come to think of it,
the blue rider must have been a bit older as he was in a fighting wing
and Angshel knew that riders under 16 had to stay in the weyrling wing
for awhile. "And Briata...she's really nice. She's been my best
friend since I've been here." Truth be told, she was the only best
friend he had ever had. He thought of the beautiful girl and smiled.

Mardria smiled. "Well then it seems like you're doing quite well for
yourself here. With a vocation to dedicate yourself to, and friends
who genuinely care for your well being, you've made a good start. And
perhaps you will get a dragon of your very own at some point."

Last updated on the April 28th 2011

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She Smells Just Like Grandma!