Common Ground

Writers: Leigh M-F., Mirren
Date Posted: 23rd August 2015

Characters: A'kua, Elona
Description: Aluka and Elona discuss something they have in common.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 1, day 18 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Sh'lua, Ninaine

Elona smiled softly as she watched her son scribble on a piece of hide with a drawing stick. It looked like a bunch of lines to her, but he'd probably have some intricate explanation for it once he was done. Maybe it'd be a dragon doing a toss dance. Or a herdbeast at a gather. He had a great imagination.

"I need a break," a voice announced, and Aluka plopped down in a chair near where Elona and Elonus were sitting. "I don't know where these kids are gettin' all their energy. How much sugar was in the oatmeal this mornin'?"

"Too much," Elona said wryly. "Some days it'd be nice if they'd share some of us with us oldies." Not that she was old, at the tender age of twenty.

Aluka opened his mouth to say just that, but then paused and reconsidered, looking from Elonus to Elona and back. Either his fellow Candidate was older than she looked, or she was worn out for another reason. "Havin' trouble keepin' up with your li'l fella?" he ventured, seeing the resemblance.

"Yes," she replied, checking to see that her son wasn't listening. "He's such a handful at times. Well, most of the time. Luckily he sleeps well at night."

The male Candidate tilted his head. "Do you get any help from his father?" he asked with some concern, then reconsidered and added "Or is it sire?" in a tone of complete understanding if that were the case.

Elona chewed her lip for a moment. "He - sees him when he can. He's busy and has a few other kids, so…" Not that it wasn't amicable, but most of the work of raising the boy came down to her and the foster mothers.

Sire, then. Aluka's lip curled. No matter how much better a Weyr was compared to a Hold, sometimes men were still despicable. But he smoothed the expression away before Elonus could see it. "Then you're automatically doin' a better job than he is."

"Well I don't know, he had a dragon and fights thread. That's pretty important." Not that raising children wasn't.

"Aye, but if he's not man enough to care about his responsibilities _on the ground_, stop sleepin' around, or make more of an effort to let his kids know they're loved and will always be taken care of, maybe he should admit he has the wrong parts for the job and take the teas himself," Aluka pointed out. "Steppin' up and doin' what needs doin' is what a man _needs_ to do if he goes around sirin' children left and right."

Elona opened her mouth in defence of Sh'lua, but closed it again. While she was fond of the man, his way of parenting did contradict her upbringing. "I suppose so. It seems to be different for riders than for holders. People don't mind that it's just me raising him." Her expression suggested that _she_ minded.

"Well, maybe it shouldn't be different," Aluka grumbled. "It's not enough for a child to only know who their father is; they need to know the _man_, and that man needs to do the right thing."

"You're holdbred too," she guessed. Some people, like her, didn't adjust as well as others.

"Holdbred and hated it," Aluka admitted. "My sire got my ma pregnant and went his merry way without caring about responsibility or consequences." He didn't mind saying that as much as he might have. If he was badgering her, she deserved to know where he was coming from on the subject. "I prefer Dragonsfall in all ways."

"Oh," Elona replied slowly. "I guess they didn't make things easy for your ma." She looked down at her lap for a few moments. When she looked back up, she swallowed. "That's why I didn't go home after the first time I didn't impress. They wouldn't have wanted me, with him." She nodded toward her son.

"Their loss," the dark-eyed redhead said succinctly. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I don't know about that," she replied with a sigh. "But I know _he_ didn't." Elonus didn't deserve condemnation for existing.

Aluka bit his tongue in order to keep from asking her to explain exactly how she messed up. As with Ninaine, he wouldn't be able to convince Elona the fault was the man's for not being more careful. "Just don't beat yourself up over it," was all he ended up saying.

She paused. "It's difficult not to. I was raised to marry who my parents wanted and given him as many children as we were lucky enough to have. My life doesn't fit their plans. And yet here, no one cares. It's difficult to understand sometimes."

Aluka motioned to Elonus. "Would you trade him for what your parents wanted?"

"No." Elona chewed her lip. "But why can't I have both if I don't impress and want to go home?"

The other Candidate didn't respond, as he was pretty sure they both knew the answer to that: Because holders could be pretty fardlin' stupid.

Last updated on the September 1st 2015

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Common Ground