Got Your Back

Writers: Avery
Date Posted: 31st December 2015

Characters: Harki, Talwynn
Description: Anger shared feels righteous.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 23 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: D'kere

Talwynn had already done the crying stage. Now she'd hit the mad stage. The best way to be mad was to be furious with a friend who'd agree with you. So it was that she knocked on Harki's door. The retired greenrider was carrying a bag in her bad hand that was clinking softly.

The door opened a moment later. Harki was wearing a long shirt, a pair of tatty old slipppers, and was covering a large yawn with her hand. Her eyes lit up when she saw who it was. "Tal! This is great. I was expecting a boring evening and an early night, so you're a sight for sore eyes. Come on in!"

"What, no dashing bronzeriders hidden under your desk?" Talwynn teased as she came in. "I brought hard stuff and wine, because I am good like that."

"You are the best. Way better than some creepy, lurking bronzerider." Harki shuddered theatrically as she shut the door. Her little weyr was a mess - as usual - but she'd cleared the table and had her leather working tools out. A pattern for a dragon's breast plate was laid out on the table, and rough pieces of leather were cut out into the appropriate shapes. Harki swept it all up in one untidy bundle and dumped it into a corner. "Make yourself at home!"

Talwynn dropped into a chair. "Hope you have glasses or else it's straight from the bottles. Though I could use it that way."

"It'll have to be straight from the bottle. I'm all class and good manners like that." Harki sat across from her friend and put her elbows on the table. "So how are you?"

Talwynn set the wine and flask on the table. She jumped right into the problem. "I was thinking about chewing firestone and flaming some weyrlings. Instead I decided to drink."

"Young people are all terrible. What did they do?" Harki asked.

"Started gossiping in the middle of a test that I shouldn't be working with the weyrlings. Lines like I'm wherry-dung not worth my weight. Or I failed keeping myself safe so how can I teach them anything. I only got the job because I'm sleeping with D'kere." Talwynn took a pull right from the flask.

Hot anger uncurled from somewhere beneath Harki's breastbone. After all Tal had been through, after how far she'd come-- nobody should _ever_ dare say something like that. She scowled across the table at Tal. "That is the biggest load of shit. You didn't get _anything_ from D'kere, and they don't know Thread from their ass end."

The way the weyrlings had spoken about her cut into Talwynn's deepest fears and insecurities - what if she and Riveth were a drain on the weyr? Would it have been better if they'd died after the scoring? She'd spent almost a Turn regaining use of her limbs, and the idea that she never would had dogged her steps and haunted her the whole time. All she'd wanted was to be the perfect greenrider, save her wingmates, become a wingthird. None of that was happening.

"I was drinking on my own and I thought, what do I do besides feeding Riveth and not giving anything but weather reports and sweeprides back? What if D'kere just pities me?" she said aloud. "He's such a nice guy that maybe he doesn't want to tell me the truth."

"D'kere's smarter than that," Harki said flatly. **Or I'll castrate him.** "You're doing good things and contributing more than those little pus-sacks are right now. And you've 'given more back' to the Weyr than most riders in the sky right now, me included."

She didn't like being vulnerable in front of most people, but Harki was different. And she appreciated the anger on her behalf.

"Thanks for telling me that. It helps," Talwynn said. "Also, have some of this, it's good."

Harki accepted the bottle and took a swig, grimaced, and handed it back. The alcohol burned going down and did absolutely nothing to calm the rage felt on Talwynn's behalf. "Seriously. What kind of dimglow Holder kids Impressed that they'd even _think_ stuff like that!? If you don't flame 'em, I will."

"They think they're immortal, and that nothing will happen to them. You're right, they're dim kids. Maybe at most they think of small scores that are glorious. Maybe I scare them because I'm the example of what could go wrong," Talwynn mused. "They don't like it, so they give me shit."

"I bet they'll be singing a different tune after their Blooding," Harki muttered. "I hope."

"Assuming they make it through. It'd be petty of me to to hope that one of the jerks gets Threaded." They all knew the weyrling statistics, and Talwynn wouldn't wish the pain she had to live with on them.

"Besides, it'll be mine as well," she added.

The other greenrider wrinkled her nose and gestured for Tal to return the bottle. "You can't be Blooded twice."

She passed it over. "If the Healers and the Weyrlingmaster clears me, I'm going to throw firestone stacks to the wingriders with them. Maybe I'll even resupply you."

If they could handle that much. But if they _could_ go back up there safely and throw sacks, it was something. And if she fed Riveth a bit of stone...and if they flamed _just one strand_...

"That's great news!" Harki beamed at her, oblivious to Tal's plans. "All that practicing is finally paying off!"

"And I've got you to thank for it. The weyrlings will be starting firestone tossing soon and I think I'm only up for it because you helped."

"Oh, pish." She waved away the complement. "Any time you need someone to help you sneak around, I'm your girl."

"If you've got a free restday, I'm up for it again. After all, I can't have those weyrlings tossing farther than me, right?"

"They're the ones with something to prove. Not you." Harki frowned again. "But yeah, I can find some time. Maybe in the morning?"

"Sure, I can be available. It's not like they need me to attend geography lessons. I think I know my maps by now."

Harki snorted. "You better."

"The most embarrassing thing I could think of would be to fail a star chart test. I'm actually looking forward to teaching those just to watch some of the weyrlings suffer. It's a hard subjects and I can grill them till they drop." Petty vengeance.

"Heh-- make the hardest tests you can! Make them all fail-- they're not worthy to see Thread anyway!" Harki said with a mean little laugh.

"Remind me to come over every time I'm this mad. You've got a wicked mind," Talwynn complimented. "This is going to be the best drilled class."

"They better be." Because after picking on Tal like that, Harki was going to make sure that it wouldn't be an easy transition for them into the Wings.

Last updated on the January 1st 2016

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Got Your Back