Logs:Seventeen's Not That Old
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| RL Date: 9 April, 2009 |
| Who: K'del, Nakasha |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Vignette |
| What: K'del takes Nakasha to another gather. He muses about getting older. |
| When: Day 00, Month 6, Turn 19 (Interval 10) |
| K'del deliberately didn't think too much about his approaching turnday. Well, okay: tried not to, anyway. He tried really hard. He focused, buried himself in his work. The trouble was that so much of his work didn't require too much thinking, and all of those endless hours riding sweeps and standing watch were just asking to be filled by anticipation for the steadily approaching date in question. Despite himself, he was excited. Seventeen! It sounded so much older than sixteen did, so much more like a real, true adult, someone who couldn't be dismissed as being little more than a child, the way he so often felt he was (not always incorrectly). His experience at the Woodcraft tempered his thoughts for... well, perhaps a couple of hours. But it faded. Seventeen! Even more an adult than ever. He couldn't help but think, too, about what life was like, a turn ago. And a turn before that. Last turn, he'd been in the thick of weyrlinghood, just moving into his own weyr, having his very own space for the first time. Riderhood had felt like an endlessly long time away; now, it felt as though that, too, was endlessly long in the past. And the turn before, he'd still been at home, if not for much longer, still dreaming about finding his purpose in life, making sure that nothing just passed him by. He'd had no idea, that two-turns-younger self, where he'd been in one turn, let alone two. And in a turn from now? It was hard to imagine that much would change. He'd still be only a turn and a half out of weyrlinghood, and still a little too new to be considered for promotion, probably (though he'd be eighteen, then, and that sounded even more impressive and adult than seventeen). But no doubt there would be different people in his life, other, smaller changes. He would never have predicted some of what had changed this turn, a turn ago; no doubt the same would be true. A sevenday before his turnday, he took Nakasha to another gather - a proper summer one, this time, not like the harvest one they'd been to the turn before. Last summer, he remembered, he'd not been able to go to many of the summer ones, not being allowed to go Between, yet. He made up for it, this time, dancing his way through a fair few of them. Kash had a wonderful time, though, buying trinkets with saved up marks, and positively beaming when he bought her a glass of wine, a jelly doughnut, a pork roll. She'd danced, of course, but this time, she never escaped his gaze, didn't even seem particularly inclined to do so. They'd even danced together, a few times, their similarly hued heads bent close as they laughed and talked their way through the jig, the reel, the slide. Later, as they sat out in the moonlight, shoes off and toes stretching now free from their constrains, Nakasha leaned her head against K'del's shoulder and sighed. "Wish my turnday was in gather season. That's what I'd want - to come out and dance all night. You worked out what you intend to do for yours, Kas?" "No," K'del admitted. "Maybe I'll come gathering. Not sure it matters so much. I mean, I'll be seventeen. Turndays don't matter so much, when you get older." She poked him - hard - between the ribs. "Don't be a moron. Seventeen's not that old. And even Brennan celebrates his turndays." K'del winced away, laughing, squirming, but shaking his head. "Evelin celebrates his turndays; he doesn't care either way. Turndays are mostly for little kids, for whom it /matters/. Not once you're an adult." "Guess you don't want the present I bought for you, then. Or the one from the rest of the family. I'll have to tell Mother." K'del hesitated, and that was enough: Nakasha looked triumphant, and resumed the poking. He stuck his tongue out at her in return, and that helped nothing at all. "Can't pretend with me, you know," she told him, more seriously, when the laughter had died down enough that they could speak properly. "I always know. Always." Later, as he dropped her home, she hesitated, turning back towards him before heading into the house. "Will you come for dinner, for your turnday? Please? It'd be nice to get to see you this turn. We missed you, last one." He hesitated, considered, and then, finally shook his head. "Day after. Promise "" just may want to spend my turnday with friends, you know? But the day after, I promise." Despite her pout, she nodded. "I'll hold you to it. Night, Kas. And thank you!" "Any time," he promised to her departing back, watching her disappear into the dark house before he turned back to the field beyond, where Cadejoth waited for him. "Any time." |
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