Working Relationships

Writers: AL, Heather
Date Posted: 27th May 2014

Characters: J'ren, K'lvin
Description: The Wingleader and Wingsecond have a drink and get to know one another better
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 6, day 28 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Bahji, Cheryln, K'sedel, Rhosyn

With the drama that Bahji had brough to his life the past month or so,
K'lvin had not done much outside of Wing drills besides sleep, eat,
and visit with Kylena. Now that she had left the Weyr, it was as if a
big part of K'lvin had left as well and he found himself with too much
leisure time on his hands.

He planned to rectify that by taking out his Wingsecond and getting to
know the man a bit better. Thus far, K'lvin would have to say that
J'ren had been the model Wingsecond that any Wingleader could ask for.
He worked hard, was respectful, and knew the Wing well.

So as they stood together and watched the tired Wingriders trudge away
from drills, K'lvin turned to J'ren, "Do you have plans this evening,
J'ren? I was hoping we could catch up. Something a little less formal
than our usual post-Fall conference."

J'ren peeled his helmet from his head and ran his hand roughly it,
scratching out the itches that always cropped up when drills were
over. "This evening? Not at the moment." He gave the man a sidelong
glance and shrugged. "Sure, sounds good to me. What time?"

"Will a candlemark give you time to get cleaned up?" K'lvin planned on
heading straight in for a bath anyway and then Xmrenth had been
complaining about the straps wearing a raw spot beneath his neck which
K'lvin planned on investigating.

"I didn't know you were so eager for my company." J'ren chuckled then
nodded. "Should be able to. I'll pass along a message of we get

held up."

"More like, I am an old man who has to get in bed earlier." K'lvin
barked out a laugh at that.

~*~

There was no better way to bond, K'lvin felt, than over a good mug of
ale, or any other sort of preferred alcohol. So the two men found

themselves seated in a local tavern at a corner table with a pitcher
between them and some general "bar" food. Nuts, cheese, and the like.

"How long have you been at River Bluff?"

"Forever and a day." J'ren leaned into the chair and tossed back a
swig of ale before he clapped the mug down on the table. "I was born
and raised here - never lived anywhere else. What about you?"

"I was born at the Weyrhold and spent most of my life at Dragonsfall
before transferring here. I really hadn't planned on the
Wingleadership falling into my lap when I came, either, but here we
are." K'lvin said as he lifted his cup to his lips.

Falling in his lap - that had put it mildly. The Weyrleader hadn't
even bothered to say a word to J'ren about it. One minute, he was
leading the wing, the next minute he'd been replaced. As far as he
knew, he'd been doing a good job, but evidently the Weyrleader felt
differently. "Yes, here we are. So why did you transfer to River
Bluff?"

"I had been at Dragonsfall a long time and was ready for something
new, and the warmer weather was a nice incentive. I got bring my
daughter with me, that was nice as well. Do you have any children?"

"I do, a boy and a girl - twins. They're over at Dolphin Cove so I'm
over there to visit them from time to time." At one point Cherlyn had
talked about transferring to River Bluff, but it had never come to
pass. Just as well. J'ren had barely known the woman and just wasn't
all that interested in pursuing a relationship with her. "How old is
your daughter?"

"She is eight," K'lvin said with the hint of pride in his voice, "of
course she's so mature sometimes that I swear she's eight going on
eighteen. Hopefully she will slow down a bit. I don't know if I'll
ever get another chance to actually be a father and be involved in a
child's life this way." The bronzerider was sure he probably had a few
flight children, that did tend to be the side affect of many years of
dragonriding, but he had never raised any the way he had Kylena, or
had the privilege to do so.

"Mine are a lot younger that, but I try to be involved as much as I
can." It was hard being so far away, but it was best for them to stay
where they were for now. One they got over, they'd have the chance to
choose who they wanted to be with. "Think she'll Impress like her
father?"

K'lvin lifted his shoulders, "A part of me hopes so, and yet, her
mother was a crafter so she has equal opportunity to become either I
suppose. Although, at eight Turns of age having a dragon seems a lot
more interesting to her then bandaging up people's cuts and scrapes."

"It usually does." Though that sometimes changed. It never had for
him, of course, but he'd seen some give up and enjoy their crafts as
much as anything else. J'ren was grateful he'd Impressed, though.
"I'm surprised her mother let her come with you. Cherlyn won't even
entertain the idea of letting me have the twins." Not that a foster
mother wouldn't have been in the equation - just as they had one at
Dolphin Cove.

"Well, Cylena decided to leave Dragonsfall when we were weyrmated, and
I let her, I mean, I figured if she didn't want to be with me any more
that was that. I went to see her months later and she was very
pregnant, with my child. She raised Kylena for the first eight Turns
of Kylena's life, and now I get her for the next eight." K'lvin was
just happy to have some time with her daughter during her childhood.

"Nice. Maybe I can convince Cherlyn of a similar arrangement in the
future." It would be nice to have total access to his kids. For the
moment, J'ren was grateful that she wasn't trying to keep them away
from him all together. "Do you ever think you'll weyrmate again?"

Bahji immediately came to mind. "Probably not," K'lvin answered,
bringing his cup to his lips, "in the end those sort of relationships
just seem to bring trouble. I never had a weyrmate before Cylena, and
I doubt I'll have another after her." He had only done it to make her
happy, and she had still left him in the end.

"Maybe." J'ren wasn't sure he shared that viewpoint, but he didn't
want to argue the point. "So tell me something more about you. What
sort of things do you like to do besides drink ale and chat with
wingseconds?"

"That is really about it. I use to chase skirts a lot, but that has
recently lost some of its appeal. When I have enough free time usually
I have my daughter in my weyr. I think the Weyrwoman frowns on that a
little, but I keep up with my duties." He shrugged.

"That actually sounds nice." Though J'ren knew he wouldn't have that
luxury any time soon. "So what did you do before you Impressed?"

"Dragonhealing, which obviously continued once I Impressed Xmrenth. I
would probably be doing more with my craft now had I not accepted the
Wingleader position." He had reached senior journeyman status but had
never really had the desire to push forward with the extra work
necessary for a Mastery in the craft. "What about you? Did you craft?"

"No, I didn't. When I was old enough I actually started helping in
the creche and Impressed the first time I stood. I wasn't really sure
if I wanted to craft, but might have changed my mind had Kenaranth not
chosen me." Amazing how one even could change someone forever - not
that J'ren minded. No, not at all.

Last updated on the May 28th 2014

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