A Welcome Surprise

Writers: AL, Anaria
Date Posted: 17th April 2011

Characters: Meledei, Tiernan
Description: Meledei sneaks up on Tiernan, and the pair have dinner.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 1, day 22 of Turn 6

Meledei didn't have to go far to find Tiernen - there weren't that
many places near the docks to get something to eat. But on the second
try, she found him and, she realised with satisfaction, his back was
turned. Behind her the colours of the sunset were fading and the dark
was decending, and she had decided to ignore food at the Weyr for food
with a new friend.

Slowly, the young goldrider crept forward. She grinned over at a
server who started toward her and put a finger to her lips. No point
in letting him know she was there. Finally, she got close enough that
she tapped him on one side while darting to the other, a big grin on
her face.

Tiernan had chosen the least crowded bar this evening, as the night
before his crew had insisted on taking him out to drink. He wanted
something a bit quieter this evening, so he'd found a nice quiet spot,
and sat in the corner, back to the door so he wouldn't have to deal
too much with random strangers. he was surprised when he felt a tap on
his shoulder, and turned around quickly enough to see a female form
duck behind a support beam. Standing up he peered around to see who
was there. "Meledei!" He said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Weeeell, I remembered that you said you were here for a few days, so
I thought I'd come have dinner with you." Melede drew around to the
other side of the table and sat down in a chair. "That is...unless
you'd rather I not."

"No, I welcome the company," he said, sitting back down again. He was
surprised that she had come out to see him, but he certainly wasn't
about to complain. Squirt eyed his new companion curiously for a
moment, before deciding that she could likely be persuaded to give him
attention. He hopped across the table and cheeped demandingly at
Meledei. "Don't mind him, he likes affection far too much."

Meledei giggled but was more than happy to reach out and caress the
friendly firelizard. "He's cute." She commented, fingers stroking
over the eyeridges that both firelizards and their larger cousins
seemed to like so much. "I don't think he's been around the last
couple of times. What's his name?"

"His name is Squirt, and he's terrible about land. As soon as the port
is in view, he runs off and tries to find a green to chase around,
until dinner time comes around of course," Tiernan said with a shake
of the head. "It can get.... interesting... sometimes when he flies a
green when I'm in the middle of trying to discipline my crew or
something."

Meledei laughed, but her scritches didn't falter. "I'm sure it can!
Oh you have to tell me stories about this! The first time it
happened, were you around anyone? What did you do?"

Tiernan laughed at the thought of the first time. "Alright, I
understand that a firelizard flight is probably trivial - especially
to you - but I've never really been at or around a Weyr before," he
explained, as he poured her a glass of wine from the bottle he'd been
nursing. "I think I'd had him just under a turn the first time he
caught a green. My Da had mentioned it as an aside when he gave me the
egg, but there were never other greens around, so I didn't think much
of it. I lost track of what he was doing since he'd flown quite far
off, but by the time he caught the green, he was directly above the
ship. I was yelling at one of my cabin boys for sleeping during his
shift again, and I don't think he could look me in the eye, if you
catch my drift!" Tiernan said.

Meledei did and the result was a long, loud laugh! "I bet it was
funny though." She reached out, fingers curling about the glass and
lifting it to her lips. She sipped at it. It wasn't quite the finest
wine, but good enough for every day drinking she supposed. She nursed
it slowly. "Is it easier now that you've had him longer?"

Tiernan nodded, "Oh yes, definitely! For one thing, I know to be on my
guard whenever he's near land and there's likely to be other
firelizards around." He tossed a chunk of a meatroll to Squirt, who
gobbled it down quickly. "I can't imagine what you Weyr-types go
through when your dragon's rise, considering I've heard that's quite a
bit more intense!"

"Elleth hasn't risen yet, but I've seen what others are like." From a
distance anyway. Meledei had never been one of those girls who hung
around to satisfy the losers. "Even after a dragon drops out, the
emotions are very intense, though you have control over yourself.
It's when your dragon is involved in the actual coupling that things
are so intense you don't really know what you're doing."

"Do you have any idea when Elleth will rise?" Tiernan asked curiously.
"And does the thought of the mating flight scare you at all?" As a
man, there was something intriguing about the thought of a mating
flight, but he figured that the women of the Weyr might not feel
similarly.

Meledei shook her head. "No, I have no idea when and to be honest, it
doesn't scare me at all." Meledei knew others she had graduated with
were nervous or scared, but she'd been around it her whole life -
while it would be the first time she'd experience it first hand, she
just didn't feel any stress about it at all. "I'm actually looking
forward to it." She admitted.

"I think that's the good way to look at it. Don't think about what you
can't predict, hold on tight and enjoy the ride!" Tiernan said,
winking at the goldrider. "You're pretty wise for your turns, you
know?" He contemplated her for a moment, smiling a bit. "But then
again, maybe it's just a goldrider thing, I can't say I've had the
opportunity to meet too many goldriders on a personal basis. It's
always been because of duty in the past."

"It might just be because I had a father who made sure I was prepared
about things. I think he was pretty confident I was going to
Impress." Neither of them had expected she'd be chosen by a Gold
though! And Meledei sure wasn't complaining!

}:Of course I picked you. You were the perfect choice.:{ Elleth
commented, her gentle tone caressing Meledei's mind.

**No, you were the perfect choice. I'm just the lucky one.**

There was a delicate sensation, akin to a mental snort and Meledei giggled.

Tiernan watched Meledei with interest. Once moment she was "there"
with him, the next she seemed to be in a world of her own. "Are you
talking to her right now?" He asked curiously. "I would rather like to
meet her some time, I rarely get a chance to be around dragons. And
I'm sure if she's anything like you, she's delightful company."

"Oh yes, we were conversing." Meledei was like any other dragonrider,
that strange far away look taking over their expression, coming and
going - that sometimes made people uncomfortable, but Tiernan didn't
seem to be bothered by it. "If you want, after we eat, we can go see
her. We'll have to go a little ways out of the hold." Even then, the
gold had garnered plenty of attention from the residents.

"That sounds great. It's a rather nice evening for a walk, so that
should be quite pleasant," Tiernan said with a smile. "Faranth knows
that I don't get to walk around on land anywhere near as much as I
used to. Sometimes I get of the ship and fall over because I'm not
used to the ground not moving!"

Meledei giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "Really? I've
heard of sea legs and how you need to get them." She paused as a
server came and took her order and then looked back to the captain
again. "I've never been out to sea, to be honest. At least, not when
not on a dragon!"

"It's not for everyone!" Tiernan said. "Honestly, a good quarter of
the Apprentices that go out to ships end up having to deal with sea
sickness. Some of them never get over it, and they either leave the
craft entirely, or specialize in ship building so they can avoid it. I
wonder if there are ever dragonriders who are afraid of heights, or if
dragons just know they aren't suitable and don't choose those people,"
he mused.

"I'm sure there are." Meledei hadn't heard of anyone who had been,
but that didn't mean there _wasn't_. "But it's definitely something
they have to get over if they were chosen! I'm assuming the dragon
would some how know they'd be able to get over it." Dragons knew.
They always knew. They were honestly smarter than humans.

"Yes, dragons seem to have a way about things, don't they?" He had
heard of green and blue dragons picking out candidates who hadn't even
realized their sexual preference yet, and golds and bronzes finding
leaders in quiet, unassuming candidates. "I sometimes wonder what it
would have been like to Impress, but I don't think I would have ever
been Searched. I'll be honest, I don't know if I could go out and face
Thread every sevenday."

"Well, you can't really know until you try. And, it's really scary at
first." Frightening. Very frightening. It was the most frightening
thing Meledei had ever done. "But...it's something you know you have
to do. It's something your dragon was born to do, and therefore _you_
were born to do it. And you're frightened, but you've got this
wonderful creature who's helping you through it."

"And I bet it feels good knowing that you're helping out. Saving the
Holders and Crafters below, boldly facing the enemy that is Thread...
I bet it's more rewarding at the end of the day than knowing you
brought the Lord Holder his stash of liquor from the Vintner Hall!"
Tiernan said with a chuckle. "How's your food, by the way?" Tiernan
asked, as the server had stopped by a few moments prior to drop off
Meledei's order.

"Oh, I'd forgotten about it." Meledei laughed, partially at that and
partially at Tiernan's comment, then took up a knife and fork to stab
and slice at the meat on her plate. After she'd taken a bit she
tilted her head back and forth. "Not bad. So when do you leave
here?"

"We plan on leaving before dawn on the 25th," Tiernan said.
"Hopefully, we'll get out of here before it gets too hot. I must
admit, the Dolphin Cove area is likely one of the most stifling that
I've ever encountered. The combination of heat and humidity is pretty
oppressive."

"I _like_ this area." Meledei jabbed her finger toward Tiernan,
trying to sound irate, but it was just impossible when she wasn't
_really_ irate. Instead her mouth twitched and quickly turned up into
a smile. "But I realise it's not for everyone. So you've got a few
more days left. Maybe I should come back and keep you company so you
don't get into any trouble."

Tiernan winked back at the Goldrider before feigning seriousness. "I
think you might be right there," he said solemnly. "Left to my own
devices, I fear I might get into all sorts of trouble, and never be
allowed to come back to the area again. And we don't want that!"

"No we don't. We have to think of Squirt, after all." Meledei
giggled and finished off her food and drink. "Want to walk around a
bit and let our food settle?"

"Sure thing, I haven't forgotten your promise to let me meet Elleth
either!" Tiernan exclaimed happily. He tossed down a few marks on the
table to pay for their meals, then stood up, offering his elbow to
Meledei. "Shall we?" He asked, bring out the charm in full force.

Last updated on the April 28th 2011

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

A Welcome Surprise