Logs:Broken Bromance?
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| RL Date: 17 March, 2013 |
| Who: N'ky, K'zin, Cailluneth, Rasavyth |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: After a seven as weyrlings, K'zin and N'ky talk after late night feeding and oiling. Bromance on the rocks! |
| Where: Weyrling Barracks, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 8, Month 4, Turn 31 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Mave/Mentions |
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| Weyrling Barracks, High Reaches Weyr Tucked off the back of the training room, the barracks are a huge, high cavern that stretches far back into the stone of the Weyr. Both of the longer walls are lined with couches for the dragons, enough for a couple of Pass-sized clutches at once, each matched with a cot and press for the weyrling dragonrider. In this day and age, however, the couches in the back have been allowed to grow dusty with long disuse. Hearths are spaced between every few couches to heat the big room. For decoration, there are a number of tapestries on the walls, looking almost as beat-up as the couches out in the training room, but scattered flower pots with their bright blooming contents provide a cheery touch. Additionally, some of the couches have had graffiti scratched into them over the Turns that were never quite cleaned off: smears of chalk messages or even rough pictures, some not fit for young eyes. In many cases names and dates have been painstakingly carved into the rock, a record of those that once made their home here. Day 8, Month 4, Turn 31. 3:00 AM Happy one-week anniversary! They've survived a full sevenday. A full seven of itchy hides, grumbling tummies, and stinking couches! But here they are. It's the middle of the night, and for most of the Weyr this means blissful dreaming. For a lot of weyrlings, it means feeding, oiling, and scooping before more shut-eye can be snagged. At this exact moment, Rasavyth and Cailluneth are just starting to doze off in their respective couches after a bout of need fulfillment courtesy of their hard-working weyrlings! Ras doesn't need K'zin to baby him back to bed, so the weyrling is left to tend to his own needs, and his own needs don't involve sleep just now. He saw that N'ky, too, was up and moving to tend to Cailluneth, and so it's towards his couch and cot that he moves. "Nick? You awake still?" He whispers in the darkness, trying not to wake some other unfortunate weyrling or another. Cailluneth requires more attention than Rasavyth to get her to settle, and N'ky is stroking her into a deeper slumber when K'zin appears. He holds up one finger to his lips, shushing his friend gently, before looking adoringly down at his comparatively tiny lifemate. She's so small! And... well, chubby. There's no two ways about it, really. Happy that she won't stir if he leaves her, N'ky gets to his feet and pads out to meet K'zin, giving his friend a shoulder-bump as he passes. It's 'c'mon with me' deal, as he walks over to where there's klah and people food. Only when he's sat down with food on a plate and a mug full of klah does he sigh - almost dreamily - and smile at his fellow weyrling. Who needs words? Brown eyes follow N'ky's movements as he soothes the green, he watches the way his friend gazes at her with those adoring eyes, and he frowns slightly. If only he had such a close relationship with his own dragon. He's managed to clear his frown to something appropriately neutral before the green weyrling turns around, he smiles when they make eye-contact and follows the other towards the klah and food, likewise helping himself before taking a seat beside the other, the better to speak softly and not be overheard by any others awake, though it seems to be just the pair of them, at this moment. "Happy, Nick?" He asks gently before pulling his klah up to his lips to blow gently on it, ripples skittering across the surface of the dark substance. Happy? "No." N'ky shakes his head, resting his elbows on the edge of the table and leaning over his klah mug towards K'zin. "It's more than that." His grin is huge, flashing the gap between his front teeth. The weyrling drops his gaze down to his klah, curling his hands around the mug to soak its warmth into his fingers. "So much more. Cailluneth-" he looks over to the couch where the little green is sleeping, even though he knows he can't actually see her, "is everything. She's everything, Waki - I can't think of any other way to say it. Do you feel it, too?" There's a little smile for N'ky's words, glancing to the side to look at the ferrier-turned-weyrling. "That's good. That's really good. I'm happy for you." There's a little bit of strain to his tone which tells the story that while he is genuinely happy for N'ky, there's also a part of him whose jealous of that kind of relationship. He chews his lower lip a moment, and then sets down the too-hot klah. He shifts on the bench to face N'ky, one leg drawing up onto the bench, ankle resting against it while knee flops to the far side. "It's not like that for me. I mean, he-" And perhaps K'zin is trying not to alert his lifemate to the fact that he's being spoken of by not saying his name, or maybe it's just easier without that kind of identity in this moment, "He loves me, deep down. But he-- I guess I just expected a dragon to want to gush over me and dote on me and like, never want to be not at my side, like-- well, like some of yours seem to. Is Cailluneth really like that or is it just what I think I see?" N'ky seems confused by the explanation of the bond between his best friend and his lifemate; it just doesn't make sense, in comparison to what he experiences with Cailluneth. "He doesn't do that for you?" The former-farrier's nose wrinkles in surprise, and he looks thoughtful as he tries to imagine what it could be like. "Cailluneth is like that. She wants to be with me - she's, um, been sharing my cot with me." Which is all well and good now that she's itty bitty, but something suggests that N'ky'll be swapping to her bed once she's too big for his. "And she needs to know everything. Everything. If I don't tell her, she gets in and she... she finds it, and I can feel her digging deeper, and... F-Faranth, Waki, she dug up me and Mave when the dragons started humming and I nearly died... Um..." He closes his eyes tightly, pinching at the bridge of his nose in embarrassment. "She'd fallen asleep s-sorta in my lap, and, um, wh-what Cai got from it isn't, um, what baby dragons should know." K'zin raises a hand to scrub across his face, as though trying to rub away the blush that shows in his cheeks, giving N'ky a rueful smile. "Well, I guess an early introduction to the facts of human male life isn't the worst thing for her. It's not like she won't be with you though everything that -- arises," He flicks a glance towards the greenrider's crotch - not leeringly, just enough to draw attention to his tease, "Did she take it okay?" He asks more seriously. "At least you can be thankful she's not making dirty jokes about -- whoever, whenever. I swear, it's like he's using my brain and all my experiences as an index. He just plucks out whatever he wants to know, and I usually don't even feel him there doing it." He swallows, reaching for his fork. "Good for you, about Mave, I mean." He reaches his free hand to punch N'ky's shoulder oh-so-gently in a bro-ly gesture of congratulations. He begins collecting some greens onto his fork and then volunteers, "He doesn't-- he's not what you would call snuggly, or loving. He loves me, but his affection is-- almost, calculated." Beat. "I think he's smarter than me." This is admitted in a tone that holds both embarrassment and an edge of fear. There's blushing on both sides of the table, as N'ky's cheeks flare up even more. "She took it really well." The explanation about Rasavyth doesn't help him to understand the connection. "That's... different," he comments, biting down on his lip. "I can feel Cai when she's looking for things. It's like... layers, being peeled back or something. Every memory is a layer, but then every detail is a layer, and it's all colours and... it's crazy." The congratulatory punch has him grinning, with teeth pressing down into his bottom lip, but the talk of dragons, the hint of something rarely heard in his friend's tone, causes N'ky's smile to fade. He doesn't quite know what to say, so he frowns down into his klah mug, expression occasionally twitching as he almost finds the right words. "I... don't understand that, Waki." "I think that's the right word for him." K'zin responds, "Different." He puts a forkful of food into his mouth and swallows it down before offering further explanation. He takes a deep breath, and while all the weyrlings look tired, in this moment, K'zin looks exhausted. "He's smarter than me. He knows it. He pays attention to everything. He stores all of his-- stories, everything he learns, in my brain so he can always remember it. It's like I'm having to keep track of everything for two. And things I never paid attention to before. Things I forget I know about until it comes up or until he pulls it for something. I mean, I know they're my memories of him explaining to me, but sometimes it just feels like my head is his records room." He pauses to suck in breath. "He has a few moments where I see a glimpse of the fact that he only shelled a seven ago, but it's seldom. He's so-- so strong, Nick," Without thinking, K'zin is grabbing one of N'ky's hands and squeezing it, as he did on the hatching Sands - gripping it like a lifeline. "He's going to change me. He needs me. But he needs me to be different in some ways. I'm just-- I can handle that, you know. A bit. I'm sort of afraid of what would happen if I wasn't sharing headspace with him. I just-- I'm afraid I'll lose myself entirely. He's-- so strong." K'zin closes his eyes, body trembling for a moment, and then he releases N'ky's hand, managing a faint smile, "Sorry. I just-- I haven't gotten to talk to anyone about it. About him. And you have to promise not to say anything to anyone. Please. It's the only way..." Way for what? He doesn't say. The smile becomes more genuine as his mind shifts to a more pleasant topic, "Cailluneth sounds amazing, N'ky. I'm-- I'm really pleased for you." Obviously, K'zin's pairing has him walking a hard road. The hand-squeezing has N'ky stiffening up, one 'brow shooting up in surprise beneath the curls that fall loosely in front of his eyes. When the explanation goes on though, he looks more and more uncomfortable, to the point of squirming in his seat and knotting his fingers into his hair, in that clueless tell of his. When he's let go of, he reaches back out for K'zin's hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing, hard. "I won't tell. I promise." Another squeeze. His lean across the table means he can lower his voice, and he drops it to barely a whisper. "I'm sorry you're scared. I'm here though, Waki... you can always be Wakizian around me, right?" His tone seeks confirmation, as well as seeking to give comfort. Strong fingers curl into N'ky's and return the squeeze. K'zin-- no, Wakizian-- smiles at N'ky. "I-- I don't mind being K'zin, most of the time. I don't mind that he wants me to wear different clothes or talk to more people, or any of that. I just-- I don't want to lose Wakizian completely, you know? Help me-- keep that, Nick?" His grip stays strong as he softly asks for help. "He's not a bad dragon. He's good." Or so the weyrling fervently hopes. "He's awe-inspiring, really, I just--" As with many awe-inspiring things, fear is also felt. He might continue, but his torn expression seems to say it all. How does one balance the old with the new? "I don't want to lose Wakizian completely." N'ky can't hide the worry in his brown eyes. "Every dragon is good, Waki. They just have different definitions of it." So says the person who's only known a dragon for a mere seven. "Don't change. You don't have to. You can be you... he chose you." His hold loosens a little, and he picks up his klah for a sip. "I need my best friend as much as I need Cai, Waki." Both a lament over the possibility of losing his number one bud, and a promise to try and help, however he can. "Nick," K'zin begins softly, his other hand moving away from his fork to lightly cover their clasped grip. "Everyone changes. You're changing. I'll be changing. We're all changing. But it's okay to change. We just have to-- you know, grow together not apart. So you'll have to let me change a little. Because you'll change too. I think we need to amend our pact. No girl, boy, or dragon or how we feel about them is ever going to come between us being friends. Deal?" He releases both hands and holds up a single pinky in the air between them. There's a pinky being offered, but N'ky doesn't look so sure. "I don't know that we can promise that, Waki. Our dragons are... I mean, Cailluneth... she's... oh." He sits up straighter, eyes closing in concentration. "She's waking up. She's waking up and she wants me." Getting up from his chair, N'ky looks conflicted, eyes flickering anxiously between the waiting pinky and the couch where his lifemate is stirring. He doesn't lock pinkies, but he does lace their fingers together again, squeezing with distracted tightness. "Everyone changes, b-but I'm still Nicky." With an apologetic pat to his friend's hand once he lets go, the weyrling jogs over to his couch, to tend to Cailluneth. K'zin watches N'ky go, his lips tugging down into a frown. Inside his head, a stead, comforting voice purrs, « Don't worry, K'zin. I'll always accept you. No matter how you change. » The purr is sleepy, but pointed. This, only makes the frown grow deeper before K'zin buries his worries in his pile of food. |
Comments
Aishani (Brieli (talk)) left a comment on Mon, 18 Mar 2013 23:18:47 GMT.
< He's smarter than me. He knows it.
That's why it's better to accept it. They know. :(
Azaylia (Dragonshy (talk)) left a comment on Mon, 18 Mar 2013 23:30:53 GMT.
<
Oh, poor Waki. <3 It does look like he's got a rough path ahead of him, doesn't it?
And N'ky... wanting to be there but accepting, insisting, that his dragon should come first.
Already they're beginning to grow, and it's fantastic!
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