Difference between revisions of "Logs:Cherry Bomb"

Could be "hours", the Smith had said. Why not wait around and have a drink first? Why not, indeed. D'kan surveyed the Weyr's local tavern as he hung his rain gear on one of the hooks near the door. It wasn't too busy, too late for lunch, too early for dinner. Not too early for a drink, though, going by one of the tables nearby. Just the right time for a party, it seemed.

While somewhat loathe to spend even a fraction of a mark somewhere other than his own beleaguered Weyr, D'kan made his way to the bar and ordered an ale. His dad had always been fond of Telgar's ale. No time like the present to give it a try.

Later on, D'kan was hard-pressed to remember if he even tasted the ale. Things happened so quickly. He had the glass in his hand and was beckoned over to the party table. And why not? Slow day at the tavern, and the Smith journeyman wasn't going to be ready for a while. So D'kan went. He quickly deduced it was one of those parties, where the center of attention was one rather amorous greenrider, going by her knot.

The others seemed to be playing along, and D'kan didn't mind a little harmless fun and flirting. He vaguely remembered chatting with one of Telgar's blueriders, who had been a dockworker herself once upon a time, but at Nerat. Yes, good, harmless fun. There had been an unfamiliar, niggling sensation along the mindlink, but D'kan hadn't thought much of it at the time.

He was barely awake, staring blearily at the dark and unfamiliar ceiling. It felt like evening. He could dimly feel Kazavoth. A sensation of cold. Somewhere with snow. Probing further, his lifemate showed his view of the west, where sunlight still brightened the sky, if barely. That didn't necessarily help D'kan since Kaz didn't seem to know just how far north he was, but it at least confirmed that it was still evening. That was something. The brief conversation took all of a minute, then he closed his eyes once more and simply felt.

His head was fuzzy. He dimly remembered drinking more than just that one ale, but how much? And what? He had no idea. Briefly, he wondered if he had a tab at the tavern. He'd never liked the idea of carrying a balance for long. Must remember to stop there, and soon.

A sound and movement interrupted his haze of thought. Slowly, and not without some level of apprehension, D'kan turned his head. That was definitely a breast right there. Well, that was something, too. Just enough light filtered from the ledge for him to make out the woman's tousled hair. Dark. Short.

Carefully, D'kan pushed himself to his elbows. The bed was nice. Firm, with far softer sheets than he'd ever felt before. Which meant this was not the young greenrider, but one of the others. Likely older. Old enough to afford the nicer things in life, at least. That explained why Kazavoth was far away, cooling his heels.

D'kan softly touched the rider's shoulder, and she turned toward him. Oh look, the other breast. Feeling himself blush, he focused on her face. It was the woman from Nerat. That made it better somehow. Desperately, he searched for a name. Come on, Kaed, don't be that guy...

"Syd?" he tried, relieved when she smiled.

"'Sydni', but 'Syd' is what the others call me." She sat up, then laughed when D'kan looked away. "Oh, hun. Your first?" she asked, Nerat clearer than ever in her accent just then. She got up from the bed and slipped into a shirt, then began tossing D'kan's own things toward him so he could get over his blushing ego by dressing in the dark. He could just start to sense Kazavoth drawing nearer, and he shivered as the dragon shared the sensation of cold rain on his wings.

Sydni returned with his boots, then sat on the edge of the bed. "Don't worry, the old Holder stuff fades after a few flights. The first time was pretty weird for me, too." D'kan tugged on his trousers and cinched his belt, less rushed now than a moment ago. The other rider continued, "If you had to have your first this way, then you lucked out. I'm an old hand at this. Not going to visit 'Reaches and moon about. You'll have no flight baby to worry you. This was a fast chase, a fun ride, and now it's a fond farewell." As Sydni finished, she held out a hand toward D'kan and grinned.

He hesitated at first, then took her hand and shook it once, smiling as he got to his feet. "If you do end up at 'Reaches now and then, though, don't feel like you need to be a stranger," D'kan said quietly. Kazavoth was above the bowl now, feeling his way toward the ledge that would lead to D'kan.

Giving the bluerider a last handshake, D'kan uttered a quiet, "Clear skies, Sydni," then left for the ledge. The rain here had stopped not too long ago, and everything was still damp. Including the riding straps, which had still been on Kazavoth when he decided to try his wings during a green flight in the rain. While clipping himself to the soggy straps, D'kan pondered how he and Sydni had ended up at her weyr, but Kaz was able to fill in some of the blanks, though his own memories were already fading.

From the bowl, D'kan stepped into the tavern, first to retrieve his jacket, second to enquire about a tab. It took a while, as the place was far busier than before, but it was the same bartender. He waved off the barely-rider with a laugh and returned to his other customers.

He made his way through the mud toward the smithy, where the journeyman was still at work. He looked up when D'kan walked in and greeted him with a smile, a small stack of marks, and a rolled hide. "Just in time, just in time my boy. Thank you so much for waiting," the journeyman said, then prattled on for a couple minutes about the work and other things. D'kan quickly realized the man had no idea what time it was.

"Well, good evening, sir," the brownrider said, disengaging himself from the Smith by picking up the long, crated parcel, the initial reason for the longer wait. "I'll get this to the Hold right away. Thanks again for calling on us." Then he was safely outside, where he and Kaz had the muddy bowl, then the quiet, clearing skies all to themselves.

After a blink between, and some of the usual business-related chatting, the brown pair was relieved of their delivery and retreated back to their own weyr to reflect and sleep, in whichever order came more naturally.

Comments

Azaylia (Dragonshy (talk)) left a comment on Tue, 16 Jul 2013 23:21:44 GMT.

< That was definitely a breast right there.

• CHOKES* Oh good, the dear knows what one of those looks like. Well, he's off to a fantastic start...

This was so fun and just... easy. I like how D'kan handles things, the little tells about his character like how he doesn't like to leave a tab/balance for long. And I dug Sydni's personality. ^^