Likeminded Bronzeriders

Writers: Aaron, Devin
Date Posted: 1st March 2021

Characters: Z'ku, S'kand
Description: Xemroth and Jagobroth introduce their riders to one another.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 1 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: Oskalle, Pierka

Z'ku

}:Greetings Jagobroth!:{ Xemroth slid into the crowded lake next to
the older bronze. }:I am sure you fought well today.:{ The mixed grit
of firestone and Thread ash made his hide dull and he was eager to be
clean.

}:Xemroth!:{ Jagobroth greeted the other bronze jovially. He had not
realized how long it had been since he had a nice friendly chat with a
friend, and Xemroth's arrival easily distracted Jagobroth from his
dirty hide. }:I am sure the same is true of you! It is good to see you
safe and whole.:{

]:We flew very well. I seared much Thread from the sky.:{

**You seem happy to see him,** Z'ku told his dragon as he stepped into the lake.

}:This is Jagobroth. We are friends.:{ Xemroth couldn't remember if
he'd told his rider that before.

"Who's your friend, there, Jag?" S'kand asked. He was used to the
bronze being friends with just about every male dragon he chanced to
meet, even if S'kand did not know his rider.

}:It is Xemroth,:{ said Jagobroth.

S'kand walked around his bronze until he spotted the other's rider.

"Ho, there!" he called.

"Hello." Z'ku searched his memory for the older rider's name. They
weren't in the same Wing, but there also weren't many bronzeriders in
the Weyr. "S'kand, is it?"

S'kand stroked his chin for a moment, casting about for a name. Who
and Xemroth? Who... and Xemroth. There really were not that many
bronzeriders.

"That's me. Z'ku. Right?" he asked.

"Yes." The younger rider smiled. "A pleasure to meet you. It seems our
dragons know each other well."

Xemroth shifted. }:Can you start scrubbing? I need to be clean.:{

With an apology to his dragon, Z'ku picked up a brush and set to work.

S'kand nodded and began his scrubbing as well. Jagobroth hummed contentedly.

"The pleasure is all mine! Jagobroth likes making friends. He's a bit
of a cuddlebug, really."

Hearing such a burly man describe his bronze that way startled a laugh
out of Z'ku. "Is he?"

S'kand chuckled along with Z'ku. He could understand that it might be
a bit unexpected from a bronze.

"He is! Comes as a surprise, does it?" he wondered.

"It does. But dragons are far more varied than the stereotypes about
their color, afterall. Their riders, too." Z'ku scrubbed at his
dragon's hide, covering the surface with sweetsand bubbles.

"Are you a mold-breaker, too, then?" S'kand asked over his shoulder as
he worked on Jagobroth's side closest to Z'ku.

"Hmm." Z'ku did have the famous bronzerider ambition. "Well, I'm not
the woman-chasing type the stories claim us bronzeriders to be." He'd
tried that for a while, but it had just been an attempt to cover up
his pain after Meledei broke his heart.

"I'm a family man, myself!" S'kand answered. He smiled at the thought
of his weyrmate and their children. "You have any children?" he asked.

"Two sons." Z'ku smiled. "One by blood, the other by love."

S'kand smiled back brightly. He had great respect for chosen family.

"Fantastic. I've five myself here at Dolphin Cove – three sons and two
daughters." He
suspected that Z'ku was young enough to be able to expect several more
children, by blood or by love.

Z'ku thought he could possibly be the same age as one or more of
S'kand's children, but he didn't say that. "And you have a weyrmate as
well?"

"I do. And more children besides those she's given me, at that,"
S'kand pointed out. "They didn't follow me here from Rising Moons, so
I don't get to see them as much as I once did. We came back this way
because our own parents won't live forever. And we wanted the children
to know them. And their cousins."

S'kand frowned. Any time he brought to the forefront of his mind the
children he had left behind, he could not help but frown. He missed
them all.

"I take the younger ones back that way now and again to see the old
home and their brothers and sisters. Especially for their namedays.
And some of them have second fathers, too – by love. None of them are
alone, or I'd have had no one to tell me I couldn't bring them here
with me."

"That must be hard." Z'ku didn't want to think about being separated
from his sons. "Oh, you're from Rising Moons? I lived there for a
while, was Searched for there actually. I moved to Dolphin Cove when
they were in need of older Candidates."

"Strictly speaking, I'm from here, or near enough to it. I Impressed
Jagobroth at Thayan Peak, and my family moved here because it wasn't
safe to live in a wooden cot any more," S'kand explained.

"But all of my children were born at Rising Moons. You might even know
the oldest ones!" he pointed out. "My oldest son S'tall is nineteen or
twenty or so. A bit younger than you, I'd guess, but still. It was
Ostallric before he Impressed."

"S'tall! Oh yes, he's in my Wing."

"Oh, good! Well, I'm glad he's got at least one wingmate from his
birthplace." Camaraderie was key, wherever it came from.

"My oldest daughter, Oskalle, is a Candidate here. She's probably a
bit too young for you to have spent much social time with, but. You
might remember her anyway."

"Sorry I don't think I do. I've been riding for . . . coming up on six
Turns now, so maybe we missed each other. And I only arrived a few
sevendays before Xemroth found me." It had been quite a whirlwind.

"Oh, no need to apologize," S'kand assured him. "I wondered whether
any of mine would end up Impressing just after we got here," he said.
"Maybe it would have made things easier to make, oh, I don't know,
something of a cleaner break. I think my middlest is more interested
in finding someone to play kiss and tickle with than a dragon, but
that's probably for the better for a boy his age."

Z'ku laughed a little at that. "How old is he?"

"Ah, fourteen, fifteen?" S'kand said. He knew all of their namedays,
of course, but he always had to do math to remember exactly how old
they were. "A few Turns younger yet than I was when I Impressed."

"Oh yes _that_ age," Z'ku said with a smile. "When you can spend an
entire day obsessing over the slightest glance from a cute girl."

"A cute boy in Kariskan's case, but I do remember what it's like,"
S'kand chuckled. "Long ago though it may have been."

Z'ku remembered how shocked he'd been in his Candidate days to hear
such things -- and even more shocked to see what weyrfolk got up to.
But now it was simply part of normal life to him. "I'm glad to have
that phase behind me. I still indulge after flights -- win or lose --
but my weyrmate is the one that makes my heart race, and I much prefer
the surety that we belong to each other."

"A man after my own heart!" said S'kand. "Of course, my other children
back at Rising Moons came from flights. But when it comes to romance,
my heart is with Ristalle, always."

"How long have you been together?"

"Oh, about... Twenty-some-odd Turns." S'kand held up a hand and
counted on his fingers. "Twenty-three, I think. What about you and
your mate?"

"We weyrmated about a Turn after our first son was born, so. . . about
two and a half Turns now." Z'ku smiled. "Maybe I'll come to you for
advice if we have relationship troubles. Twenty-three Turns, that's
impressive."

"Oh, I'll do my best," S'kand chuckled. "I hate to pretend I've got
everything figured out, but communication is usually the biggest
factor for keeping a relationship happy."

"Certainly you must be doing _something_ right to have lasted this
long." Especially in a Weyr where dissolving a relationship was as
simple as moving out. "But you're right about communication."

"Oh, I think it's as much good fortune that the two of us are as much
of one mind as we are. We like being together, want to stay together.
Can't really imagine being without her. And don't much want to," said
S'kand.

"And it's not so rare a thing – plenty of folk in the Weyr have been
with their mates for long whiles."

"I suppose. Some things at the Weyr are exactly like they warned me
back at the hold, but other things surprised me." Z'ku shifted along
Xemroth's side. "I didn't expect to have this kind of family life. We
have to foster our children because of our duties of course, but we
have them most evenings and restdays. And outside of Flights, Pierka
and I are devoted to each other."

"I'm old enough to remember when weyrs were holds," said S'kand. "Or
something in between. Of course, the mindset, it was still different,
but. I mean to say, things aren't as different as some folks think."

"Plenty of folks here in the Weyr," he went on, "are devoted to each
other. Even more than one other. It doesn't have to just be two for
each other forever. Sometimes, it's three all together, or one for two
others, or whatever other combinations. As long as everyone is happy.
And that's just as good as the way the Holds do it."

Z'ku had seen some . . . odd arrangements that seemed to work. "I've
seen just as many others go from partner to partner. I tried that,
but. . ." He frowned thoughtfully. "It felt good in the moment, but it
wasn't fulfilling. Though if it makes others happy, I'm glad they can
do that freely at the Weyr."

"And I'm glad you found something that works for you and your mate!"
said S'kand cheerfully.

"Thank you." Z'ku reached for more sweetsand. Xemroth was happily
chatting with the older bronze. "The way we met . . . well, it's fit
for a harper tale. Maybe I'll tell you sometime over ale." It was a
little bold, maybe. This man was old enough to be his father, but they
had things in common and Z'ku was enjoying their conversation.

"I'll look forward to it!" said S'kand. "We'll see whether your
telling lives up to the tale itself, eh?" he added with a half-teasing
tone. He was never one to turn down a good Harper's tale over a mug of
ale.

"Have Xemroth let Jagobroth know when you're free, and I'll meet you."

Z'ku smiled. "I will."

Last updated on the March 9th 2021

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Likeminded Bronzeriders