An After Dinner Walk

Writers: AL, Anaria
Date Posted: 30th April 2011

Characters: Meledei, Tiernan
Description: Meledei introduces Tiernan to Elleth
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 1, day 22 of Turn 6
Notes: This post immediately follows "A Welcome Surprise"

Tiernan linked his arm with Meledei's as they walked from the tavern
to the hills nearby the Hold. He could understand why she wouldn't
want to bring Elleth closer to the Hold proper, as she'd likely
attract attention - and the wrong sort at that. Rukbat was beginning
to set, and because of this, the oppressive heat of the day had
diminished, leaving a pleasant evening for a walk.

"I have to admit, Dolphin Cove has some pretty places in it's
territory," Tiernan commented, smiling at Meledei.

"Yes, it does." Meledei loved Dolphin Cove, though she knew she was a
bit biased. But it was her home and one of the most beautiful places
on Pern. She hoped she never left. She certainly had no plans to!
"Have you been the Weyr ever?"

"Sort of," Tiernan said. "I've been into the storerooms, the Dining
Caverns and the Headwoman's office. I drop off the manifests every
time we bring in cargo. I can't say I've spent much time up close with
dragons though. Certainly never ridden one. If you tell a Seacrafter
he needs to be somewhere in a hurry, he just finds himself a faster
ship. We can't often justify the use of a dragonrider."

"I can understand that." Meledei nodded slowly. A lot of
dragonriders didn't like the idea of being used for transportation
anyway, so it was just as well that people didn't assume. "So you've
never been to a hatching?"

"No, it's kind of sad that I haven't. I frequently end up bringing
fruits and wine for the festivities, but I rarely actually get to stay
for them," Tiernan said, frowning. "I've heard that it's really quite
a thing to see, even if you don't have the good luck to Impress."

"Well then, we are going to have to amend that." Meledei always felt
it was a shame that not everyone could attend a hatching. "You now
have a dragonrider for a friend who can make sure you can get there!
If you're not out on open sea, that is."

Tiernan smiled, "Why thank you, that would mean a lot to me if I could
attend. I know that there's one coming up somewhat soon. I really
would enjoy seeing it. That is, of course, if it wouldn't be too much
trouble for you, of course."

"At Dolphin Cove, yes. If you can't come to that, Elleth will be the
next in line. Maybe you could come for hers." That would be nice, to
have a friend from far away come just to her hatching. "If you aren't
at sea, of course." Yes, she always had to add that since Meledei
figured he probably wouldn't exactly know since hatchings were only a
best guess!

Tiernan nodded. "Well, I will be certain to have Squirt check in with
you from time to time so I can keep you updated with where we are. I
would like to see Elleth's first clutch, I bet that would be a
wonderful experience for you. Getting to see her hatchlings find their
lifemates... I imagine you'd be very proud."

"I imagine I will be!" Meledei agreed with a soft laugh. "I'm
looking forward to it. Ah, there she is." The hand that wasn't
holding on to Tiernan's lifted and she pointed toward the glittering
figure that was curled up, tail over her nose. One eye opened as
Meledei spoke and she lifted her head to watch the two approach.

"Wow, she's absolutely beautiful," Tiernan said, voice filled with
awe. "Good evening to you, Elleth," he said politely, bowing slightly
to the golden queen. "I can't believe how big gold dragons are up
close!" he exclaimed. "She's nearly as big as the Seawing!"

Elleth tilted her head and let out a high but sweet trill, something
one might hear on a firelizard rather than a dragon, but fuller,
richer. "She says big is not usually an attribute used to describe
her." Meledei translated as she leaned against her dragon's neck.
"She's actually really small for a gold. There are some bronzes
bigger than her."

Tiernan smiled, "Well, there's nothing wrong with being small for your
color. That just makes you all the more agile!" He stepped forward
until he was within arm's length of Elleth. "Do you mind if I give
you a scratch, pretty Elleth?" He asked, crouching down a bit to be at
level with her eyes.

"She doesn't mind at all." Meledei giggled as Elleth gave another
trill and thrust her beautiful head toward the man, gently nudging him
back. "She loves to be scratched and she take people up on any
offer."

}:They feel good.:{

**Of course they do, love.** Meledei crossed her ankles, trusting her
dragon not to move and make her fall. "You ever ride a dragon?"

Tiernan shook his head, reaching out to scratch Elleth's eye ridges,
in much the same manner that he scratched Squirt's. "No, I haven't,"
he admitted. "I must admit, it's kind of awe inspiring to be this
close to a dragon so large. And I'm amazed how nice their hide is as
well, is quite smooth."

"Well, you're not really dressed for it." Meledei eyed the man,
noting the clothing that was meant to keep him cool. "But maybe I
could give you a ride sometime, before you come to the Weyr. If
you're interested. We could even go somewhere else if you like.
Another hold. There's often a gather _somewhere_, up North where they
have winter ones or down here."

"I'd love to go to a Gather. It's been far too long since I've
actually been able to spend any appreciable time at one," pausing for
a moment, he added. "If you have time, you should come back tomorrow.
I'll grab a couple skins of wine from the ship, and we can have a few
glasses and watch the sunset."

"Tomorrow? I'd love to, but can't. In fact, this was really the only
free evening I had left the rest of this sevenday til the sixth."
Meledei paused and tilted her head. "Where will you be on the sixth?
I could come after I've finished my duties and we could meet then."

"Weather permitting, we should be at Emerald Falls," Tiernan said. "I
could send Squirt to you early in the day with a better answer." He
continued scratching Elleth's eye ridges, carefully memorizing the
features of both the gold and her rider so he would be able to give
proper directions to the firelizard.

"That would work well." Meledei nodded, a grin lighting her face.
She liked Tiernen, he was nice and certainly pleasant company. "I'm
going to look forward to it."

Tiernan smiled, leaning over quickly to plant a quick kiss on the
cheek of the goldrider. "That sounds like a plan, then. How much
longer can you stay here? Or do you need to head back to the Weyr
soon?"

"Oh, I can stay for another hour or two." But not _too_ late. After
all, Meledei did have duties the next day and she wasn't about to
ignore them. "Want to extend our walk a little bit?"

"Sure thing," Tiernan said, patting Elleth affectionately before
turning back to lead Meledei away. "I actually have been here often
enough that I know a nice spot to sit, chat, and watch the sunset," he
said, pointing off in the distance. "I actually lived here when I was
a child, although my parents moved North when it was destroyed.

"You know, watching the sunset it something I can never get tired of."
And Meledei wouldn't mind coming back to watch it again, especially
with a friend. One could never have too many friends. "So let's do
that, and you can tell me a little about your childhood."

Tiernan led the way to his spot, musing for a moment what specifically
to say about his family. "Well, my parents are in a loving marriage,
which I understand is the exception rather than the rule. Ma was the
daughter of fishers, and Da the son of Seacrafters, so the water was
in their blood. They got married when Da was still a Journeyman. He
was away a lot when I was younger, which was kind of rough, but I
think it made me appreciate him more. A lot of boys seem to rebel
against their father's, but I adored everything about him."

"Rough, yeah. I don't think I would have enjoyed that." Meledei
realised her life would have been quite a bit different had her father
not been a dragonrider. Her mother would have married, she would have
been born in a hold, perhaps married off to a man she didn't even
know! "My father and I are really close - especially since my mother
died. It would be odd not seeing him every day. Even though he was a
dragonrider, I wasn't fostered out - if anything, I had foster
siblings because of my mother, so I guess I'm kind of weird, even for
a Weyrbrat."

"I had siblings of course, and when Da was home he did spend a lot of
time with me. I had my own little boat when I was about 6 turns,
despite the fact that it terrified my mother to death to think of me
in the water alone. When I was about 10 he'd let me come on his ship,
even though I was a bit young to officially apprentice. I do miss the
fact that I can't see him very often now, though. We're nearly always
both out at sea at the same time. I see my mother from time to time,
but not as often as I'd like. Most of my siblings went into the craft
as well. It would be nice for us to all get to one place at the same
time, but I don't see that happening, unfortunately." Tiernan frowned.
He hadn't really thought about how much he missed his family until
Meledei brought it up.

"It does sound like a hard life." Meledei was glad that her father
hadn't been like that. He'd always been around - she'd see him every
night. Even now the two saw each other often, several times a
sevenday if not almost every day, even if it was only to say hello and
'I love you'. "If you ever want to visit your family, I'd be glad to
take you."

Tiernan smiled. "That... that would mean a lot to me," he said,
choking up a bit. They were nearing his favorite childhood spot, and
he pointed it out to the goldrider. It was a small, natural
depression, surrounded by tropical flowers that hid it nearly entirely
from outside view. And it was perfectly placed to watch the sunset
over the ocean.

It was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous and Meledei stopped to admire
the view of the spot itself before she allowed Tiernan to lead her on.
Perfect in every way, she settled down next to her friend and turned
her gaze to the sunrise. She enjoyed his company, had enjoyed the
talk and the time with him. Now she wanted to do something for him -
to take him to see that family that he so obviously missed. Maybe she
could do that next time they met. For now, though, her attention
shifted the sky and the picture that Rukbat painted over the horizon.

Last updated on the May 2nd 2011

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An After Dinner Walk