Falling Off the Wagon (1/2)

Writers: AL, Anaria
Date Posted: 2nd June 2011

Characters: Briata, J'klin
Description: J'klin gets drunk, and Nimyth summons Briata to tend to him
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 2, day 20 of Turn 6

Briata

Wing drills had went terribly. J'klin hadn't been that unfocused in
months, and the Wing leadership had noticed. He hated being corrected.
He cursed himself silently, throwing his riding leathers on the ground
as he headed in for a quick bath.

By the time he was bathed and dressed, Nimyth was asleep on his couch,
similarly displeased with their poor showing. He debated visiting
Roana for a moment, before deciding against it. He needed to stop
using her as a crutch. He needed to learn to cope by himself.

**One drink, just to relax me. That's all I really need. One drink
isn't alcoholism, it's just relaxing,** he thought to himself. He had
stopped keeping alcohol in his weyr, but he knew of one of his
Wingmates, who's weyrmate didn't approve of him drinking. As a result,
he kept a "secret stash" of alcohol in a weyr that wasn't presently
occupied. He'd mentioned it to J'klin after he and Roana had become
involved.

J'klin crept silently into the old weyr, which looked to have been
without occupant for some time. Spinner-webs were forming in the
corners, and there was dust coating every surface, even the floor. It
must have been a while since S'vario had needed to access his wine.
J'klin feared for a moment that it was gone, but finally came across
it - bottle after bottle and skin after skin of wine, ale, liquor...
everything he could possibly want.

**Just one drink,** J'klin thought, pouring himself a glass of wine.
He had meant to enjoy it slowly, but after two swigs, it was somehow
gone. Frowning, he poured himself another glass. The second one passed
in much the same fashion as the first, and J'klin sat down the "stupid
cup" and drank directly from the skin.

J'klin quickly lost track of things, until he felt Nimyth waking.
}:Are you drinking again!?:{ Nimyth asked, his mindvoice heavy with
concern.

J'klin took a quick look around him, noticing that there were now two
empty wineskins beside him. **Uh...** he responded, not certain what
to say. **I really just wanted one drink...**

Nimyth wasn't known from his extensive memory, but there was one thing
that he'd been told that he had forced himself to remember. Briata.
She could hear him. She would come. He called to her, keeping his
thoughts away from his rider. He hoped she could help.

The call the dragon had been quite unexpected - as had the concern
that rippled through that voice that touched her mind of its own
accord. Briata had been working on her special project and she
pricked her finger she was so startled. **Nimyth?** Her own voice
reached out to caress the dragon's mind.

It didn't take long for the dragon to explain and his worry was enough
that Briata felt she should go immediately. So the embroidery was set
aside and she rose and made her way through the halls of the Weyr. It
took a little while, but she finally found the empty quarters that
Nimyth had indicated. She didn't _quite_ barge in. It was more of a
creep. A gentle press against the door and it opened without
hesitation - the latch hadn't caught. "Hello?" She called out.
"J'klin?"

J'klin's heart pounded when he heard someone else enter. The footsteps
were too light to be a mans, so it couldn't have been S'vario. When
the newcomer spoke though, he relaxed a bit. It wasn't Roana. He could
deal with anyone who could possibly be there - save Roana.

"Yesh?" He slurred, allowing the half-full wineskin to fall limply
from his hand. It splattered red wine on to the dusty floor.

}:It's Briata,:{ Nimyth told his rider. }:I called her.:{ To Briata,
he said, }:Thank you for coming.:{

"J'klin..." Briata closed the door behind her and moved further into
the room. **It's not a problem.** She assured the worried dragon. She
shifted and then her eyes fell upon the man even as his words lazily
jumbled from his mouth.

The young woman drew herself to her full height then moved forward, hand
reaching for that wineskin. "J'klin, I think we should get you
something _else_ to drink."

"There's some harder stuff aroun' here somewheres..." he said slowly,
not understanding precisely what Briata meant. "I'll e'en share a bi'
if ya wan' to?" He grabbed a bottle, and offered it to Briata.

"J'klin." Briata took the bottle, but all she did was uncork it, then
proceed to turn it over, the contents splashing over the floor and a
little dancing over her skirt. "You need to stop." She stated firmly
as the last drops fell from the rim of the bottle.

"Why?" He said, his tone forlorn. "It'll be turns b'fore Roana will
ac'ually belie'e tha' I changed an' trus' me again. It's no' like it
will do any good." He sighed. Once more, his life felt like it was
going nowhere. He was still a wingrider, Roana was still keeping him
at a distance... Nothing had changed.

"It will be never if you continue on this path." Briata pointed out.
She stepped forward and reached for the skin that was in his clutch
once more now that the bottle was empty.

"It's the only way I know," he said softly. "Ever since that smokeless
weyrling U'kaiah stole my fiance from me, alcohol is all I've known."
The gravity of the situation was sobering him, and once more
depression threatened to overwhelm him.

"Alcohol is _not_ all you have." Briata pointed out as she drew a
little closer. "You have your friends. Most importantly, you have
your _dragon_. Drinking isn't going to help the situation, it's only
going to make it worse."

"Well... maybe... I guess..." J'klin said. She did have a point, he
did have Nimyth. But he didn't even deserve Nimyth, not after
everything that he'd done! "I wouldn't hold it against him if Nimyth
went /between/ to get away from me."

"You know he would _never_ even _think_ about that. He loves you."
Briata reached out to gently place her hand against his elbow. "And
you love him. Doesn't he deserve to have a rider who doesn't get
drunk senseless?"

Last updated on the June 13th 2011

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Falling Off the Wagon (1/2)