Meet The Family

Writers: Clancey, Heather
Date Posted: 16th April 2014

Characters: J'darin, Devyn, Arin, Jarie, Darjin
Description: J'darin takes Devyn home to meet the family
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 6, day 7 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Cardella

J'darin

Devyn

After the Hatching last night, J'darin had been walking on air. He
and Devyn had by and largely made up since Cardella's flight, and his
poor behavior, though he still felt things were a bit... off.

But last night... they had been almost as they had the first night in
his weyr, with the giddiness from a Hatched and Impressed gold in the
air.

The blissfulness of their first 10 days had gone, but he still found
himself beyond thrilled she was there every night, and when he woke up
in the morning. He hoped she felt the same, but he wasn't sure.

He would be never be the cockiest of bronzeriders, not ever again, not
after losing the Weyrleadership of Dolphin Cove, and he did still find
it hard to believe that anyone would like him enough to move in with
him.

After all, everyone else had left him. When would she?

Still, she was there now.

He murmured sleepily from his comfortable spot curled up with her,
waking up very slowly. Today, they were due for a visit to his
family.

He kissed her neck lightly. "You awake, love?"

"No," Devyn said, although there was a sleepy smile in her voice as
she snuggled closer to J'darin's warm body. One of Devyn's favorite
aspects of being weyrmated with J'darin was being able to share body
heat with him under the furs every night. She curled her legs around
his as she pressed closer to his chest. Last night had been one of
their better nights, for which Devyn was grateful. There had been no
sullen faces, no hints of not being happy with their weyrmating,
nothing but the happiness that came with a good Weyr celebration.
Devyn wanted it to be like that all the time.

"Are you about to tell me it is time to get up?" She tried to clear
some of the sleep from her voice as she peeked her eyes open at him.

He responded by pulling her close, his arms automatically wrapping
around her, snuggling her against him.

"Oh my sweet greenrider... I'd love nothing more than to stay in bed
with you all day, reminding you why you moved in with me, but I did
promise my sister we'd come today." He kissed her forehead, trailing
one hand down her waist and hips. "I'm afraid my family is a little
excited about the news that I took a weyrmate. They've never known me
to settle down with anyone ... " His lips quirked in a faint smile.
The smile faded a little after that, and he added, in a softer voice,
"My sister said it made my mother smile for the first time in a long
time... since before she got sick... " He realized then that he was
ruining their sweet moment with chatter and fell silent, though he too
did not show great interest in moving.

Devyn pressed a kiss to J'darin before rolling back, "Come on then,
bronzerider, let's get a bath and get ready. The sooner we go, the
sooner we can come back." She winked at that as she tossed back the
blankets and left the bed. She was in her usual thigh-length night
shirt that she slept in. It was one of her old, faded shirts that was
nearly thread bare in some areas- which is why she loved it. Grabbing
out a pair of her skinny trousers that would tuck neatly into her
boots, and one of her dressier tunics and a vest, Devyn turned toward
the bathing pool attached to the Weyrlingmaster's quarters.

He spent a few moments appreciating the view and grinned to himself.
She was worth it, whatever it took.

~*~

A few candlemarks later, they appeared out of /between/ over Amber Hills Hold.

He had chosen a dressy tunic as well, one that unconsciously echoed
the colors Devyn had chosen, though it hadn't been intentional.
Accidental perfection seemed to be his specialty, not true perfection.

Nicer black pants tucked into his boot, the darker, dressier pair he
wore to gathers. He always seemed to dress up when he was coming to
see his sister. She was tall and gorgeous and a tremendous
disappointment as an unmarried young woman. Her prospects had been
many, but she had the will to resist their father.

Still, of late, she had been mentioning a Harper in her letters and he
wondered if Jarie would finally settle down at her 'old maid' age.
Then he rolled his eyes inwardly when he realized his younger sister
and Devyn were exactly the _same_ age.

As they arrived, a stir was created, though he quickly explained he
was only here to see his family, not the Lord or Lady or anyone of
major importance.

J'darin offered Devyn his hand as she landed beside him and smiled
warmly at her - the smile only she saw. "You look beautiful. They
will love you."

Devyn would admit that there were some flutters in her stomach, but
J'darin's smile assured her that all would be well, and she returned
it with one of her own. Putting her hand in J'darin's, much larger
one, Devyn spotted some hold children already on their way to inspect
the green and bronze dragon. It always amused her to see Ellyth beside
of Hasaarth since the bronze easily dwarfed Ellyth and made her seem
even more delicate.

"I hope so, because I'm not letting you go, sir. You are stuck with me
until we're old and wrinkled and our teeth fall out." She grinned,
"Isn't that something to look forward to?"

He laughed at that and for an answer, pulled her to him and kissed her
in front of the children, the dragons, and everyone hanging out the
windows looking at the dragons. And a nice, long one. He _loved_
kissing her. She fit against him so well, even though she was so
much shorter. He always pulled her up and bent down to meet her and
it was always worth it. Every time.

"As long as you still lay down beside me at night, I am looking
forward to it." He said softly, against her ear. Then he winked at
her. "Well maybe not the wrinkled part. Do you think we can manage
to stay unwrinkled? "

While they were standing there, someone must have run off to fetch Jarie.

"Whats wrong with you boy? What will people say? Standing around
kissing in front of all these people? No wonder they say that
dragonriders are always randy!"

His uncle's loud voice broke into the soft moment they were sharing
and the blue-eyed Weyrlingmaster suddenly looked like a weyrling
caught kissing before he went /between/.

In that one sentence, his uncle had manage to send him flying back to
his childhood, taught by his severely proper Father.

There might have even been a bit of a blush.

He turned away from Devyn then, though not immediately. And while he
did put a hint of space between them, he did not let go of her hand.
Or her.

He _was_ a dragonrider, for Faranth's sake.

Jarie was with his uncle Darjin, and only the fact that she was making
faces behind the large, gruff man, who might have been an older,
slightly more heavier and less handsome version of J'darin himself,
saved him from apologizing.
The moment lasted only that - a moment - and he quickly recovered.

"Hello Uncle. Its good to see you, too." Sarcasm reared its ugly
head. " There is nothing wrong with kissing my weyrmate. I don't
care who sees." Hasaarth bugled from where he sat, startling a small
child who had been creeping close, as if agreeing with his rider.

}:I do not like him.:{

Wonderful. Hasaarth had not liked his father either.

Turning away from his Uncle - which would probably earn him more
scolding later - and smiled a broad, full, true grin at his sister.
A carbon copy of him, but only much more refined, she was dark haired
and blue-eyed.

He did let go of Devyn then, but only to grab Jarie and hug her close.
"Hellooo, legs." He'd always called her that, her punishment for
being so unnaturally tall for "a woman". She was as tall, or very
nearly, as him.

He turned her toward Devyn and scooped his weyrmate back under his arm
as fast as he could.

"Jarie, this is my weyrmate. Greenrider Devyn. Her green is Ellyth
- next to Hasaarth there. Devyn, this is the biggest, blue-eyed pain
in the pants on Pern. My little sister, who's not so little now,
Jarie." He thumbed toward his Uncle. "That's my Uncle Darjin. My
da was his brother."

Devyn hadn't blushed at all when the man's voice rang out, so rudely
interupting what had been the beginnings of a nice kiss. She was Weyr,
through and through, and was not the least bit ashamed about the
affections that she and J'darin had been showcasing. What was wrong
with showing love? It wasn't as if they were naked, covorting around
in front of the children.

Being steered in the direction of his sister, Devyn had to admit that
it felt funny looking _up_ to the woman of substantial height, "It is
nice to finally meet you, Jarie, believe it or not, your brother
actually says nice things about you when we are at the Weyr." She
smiled.

Jarie grinned at Devyn, looking even more like her brother. "I can't
believe he says nice things. His reputation will be ruined. I'm so
happy to meet you, too, Devyn. His letters do not do you justice."

J'darin rolled his eyes at his sister. Both were still ignoring their uncle.

"Come on, lets go see Mother." the bronzerider glanced to Jarie, a
silent question in his eyes.

"She is having a good day today, big brother. They are still few but
they are happening more often. " Her voice was soft.

Jarie nodded and led them into the Hold, and the dragons went to find
spots to rest and wait.

It was a long, twisty walk to the quarters Jarie shared with their
mother. And, the entire walk, Uncle Darjin harrangued J'darin for not
coming sooner or more often. The man ignored Devyn completely, as if
she was beneath notice.

If only he would ignore J'darin too.

When they stepped inside the small quarters assigned to Jarie and
Arin, the immediate feeling was homey, if a little musty. There was
familiar clutter everywhere, though it wasn't a mess. Jarie, while
less so than Arin, still kept things neat. But you could tell this
small family was used to much larger quarters. They would have been
forced to move from the larger quarters assigned to a Master Crafter
when his father died.

J'darin's mother was blond and small boned. She was stunning, but
looked too thin. It was clear that the children had inherited their
looks and height from their father's side ,but perhaps their mother's
personality.

Arin smiled when she saw him, though she did not get up. She
stretched her hands toward him and J'darin bent to hug her close.
"Hello Mother. I've brought Devyn to meet you. Finally." His
mother's soft voice said sharply, "And its about time, too."
Clearly, there was nothing wrong with her mind!

"He's taken up with one of those Weyr tramps, Arin. My brother must
be turning over in his grave!" Uncle Darjin butted into the
conversation, causing J'darin to glare at him.

"She is a greenrider, and a beautiful and talented one, too. And she
protects even _your_ sorry excuse for a hide, Uncle. So hush!"

Jarie snapped at them all. "All of you hush!" It was clear Arin was
not quite up to the arguing.

J'darin turned away form his uncle and addressed his mother again.
"This is Devyn, Mother. Devyn is my weyrmate, she rides a green
named Ellyth. "

Devyn's teeth automatically clenched together at the words "Weyr
tramp" but she tried to keep the expression on her face pleasant,
"It's so nice to meet you, ma'am." She breathed with a smile. It was
obvious from looking at Arin that J'darin and his sister Jarie must
have inherited their looks from their father since they were so vastly
different from the matriarch of the family.

Arin smiled warmly at the greenrider and reached out her hands to her.
"Come sit by me, lass. Anyone who has managed to convince my son to
settle down is someone I want to know." Arin went on in her soft
voice. "Tell me how you met my son, Devyn. My daughter has been
pretty close-mouthed about the letters from him."

J'darin smiled fondly at his mother and his weyrmate. They would be fine.

His Uncle was another matter.

His Uncle was signalling to him urgently, and to stop him yelling
again, the bronzerider went to listen.

The words that spouted from Darjin's mouth were vile and hateful, and
sent J'darin's brain sprialling back to his childhood. Women were
for marrying, for raising children. Not partners. Greenriders were
tramps and slept with anything.

J'darin's lips thinned as he tried repeatedly to argue with his Uncle.
What was wrong with his Uncle? And had he really grown up listening
to this and believing it?

Part of him knew he had.

Last updated on the May 6th 2014

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