Pretty Plans

Writers: Devin, Yvonne
Date Posted: 3rd September 2024

Characters: Cosani, Reyela
Description: Cosani and Reyela talk about Turn's End plans.
Location: Vintner Hall
Date: month 13, day 13 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: Z'ku, R'enh

Cosani

"So how's life as a wingrider?" Cosani asked before taking a sip of wine. She'd taken Reyela out to the Vintner Hall tavern so they could relax and chat.

"Ooof." Reyela slumped against the table but her eyes were sparkling. She had a glass of rosé at hand and had worn a silken blouse with a scoop neck for their evening away. It felt so good to be able to fly to the tavern with Cosani on her own dragon instead of having to hitch a ride. "Honestly, it's harder than I thought but also somehow much easier? Drills with the Wing are pretty well the same as drills as a weyrling. I thought Thread would be scarier... I mean, I hate seeing what it does. But it's not _scary_. The only thing that's harder is that I feel more responsible when someone in my Wing gets hurt. Before, it was like... well, it's like if someone I know trips and sprains their ankle. It hurts but it's not got anything to do with me. Now... it can be harder to shake off."

Cosani nodded slowly. "We're responsible for our wingmates. That was . . . it took me a while to learn that." She hadn't been callous, exactly, but at first she was focused on just taking care of herself and Shalith. While she'd made friends in weyrlinghood, they'd been split up after graduation and it was easier to fall back on the habit of sticking to herself.

"And some of them... mmm." Reyela bit her lower lip and sighed in pleasure. "It's not fair that my Wingsecond is so hot. All I want to do is rip Z'ku's shirt off and throw him down on a table just like this one. Buttons everywhere..."

Cosani wrinkled her nose. "Ehh, I suppose he's okay. He was in my Wing before he got promoted, and in my Weyrling class. I remember him trying to slobber all over Meledei."

"I'd be okay with some slobber," Reyela said wistfully. "I might get him out of my system then, and be able to concentrate on drills. I keep wanting him to call me to his office and give me a good 'talking' to."

"Oh Faranth." Cosani snorted. "You can dream but reality won't be that fun. He's way too serious _and_ he has a weyrmate."

Reyela batted her eyelashes. "I never said I was being _logical_, Cosani. Besides, it's fun to daydream. Is there anyone that _you_ have your eye on?"

Cosani shrugged one shoulder. "If I'm interested in someone I just ask if they want a tumble." She missed R'enh sometimes but there wasn't anything she could do about that.

"You don't have a romantic bone in your body, do you?"

"No." Cosani smiled as she sipped her wine.

Reyela sighed. "One day your icy heart will melt, my friend. And I will laugh and laugh. But I've talked enough. Tell me something new about you! Where have you been hiding these days?"

"I haven't been hiding, it just seems like that because you've been busy with weyrlinghood." Cosani thought for a moment. "Though I guess things are maybe a little boring, aside from, you know, trying not to die in Fall."

"I approve of that. I'd much rather you didn't. And I'm very glad that we are here now because you'll get boring without me." Reyela winked. "On that note... want to do Turn's End together?"

"At the Weyr? Or were you thinking of somewhere else?"

"I don't know yet. Have you heard about any good parties?"

"Considering I don't want to get murdered, I was thinking at our Weyr or one of the others." She took a long drink.

Unease threaded its way down Reyela's spine and she suddenly felt very exposed sitting in the tavern. "Nobody's going to get murdered at a Gather," she said with more bravado than she felt. "But sure, we can stay at the Weyr. The beach bonfires are usually pretty good. Ooo.. what about if we each make each other a list of 'firsts of the Turn' that we need to finish before Turn's End is over?"

These holders had killed a watchrider and tried to kill baby dragons at the Hatching itself, Cosani certainly wouldn't put it past them to murder someone at a Gather. She cocked her head. "What kind of stuff would that be?"

"Oh, I don't know... what sort of things would you like to do before Turn's End is over?"

"Uhh . . . eat, drink. Dance I guess?" Cosani had never really thought of having a checklist for Turn's End.

"Boring! You can do that at any Gather. Hmm..." Reyela tapped her finger against her wineglass as she thought. "Bed someone new. Your crush! Wear a dress you've always wanted to but never were brave enough for. Bully a Harper into playing a song you like and sing along, solo. Steal your Wingleader's underwear. Don't give me that look, Cosani! If we are going to spend Turn's End together, I am going to _make_ you have fun."

Cosani kept looking at her. "Do you mean 'have fun' or 'entertain _you_'?"

"Why can't it be both?" Reyela batted her eyelashes at her friend. "I'd do these things too. You can't have _all_ the fun."

Cosani played with her glass, still thinking of Reyela's comment about the dress. "I don't know about a list. But there's something . . . I don't know." She sighed.

"Something what?"

"Don't laugh," Cosani said firmly. "I've almost never worn a dress since I came to the Weyr. Just at a few Hatchings, that's all. Back at the hold I had to wear dresses and skirts all the time and I hated it. I hated everything I had to do because I was a girl. It felt like a cage." She turned her glass back and forth on the table, staring at it as she talked. "But I think maybe I want to try, you know . . ." Her voice dropped to almost a whisper. "Being pretty."

"Cosani, you are _always_ pretty. And if you want a dress, I am going to help you find the prettiest flaming dress in the whole Weyr," Reyela promised. "And I would never, ever laugh."

Cosani blushed, not at the compliment but at Reyela's eager support. "I like being strong and sometimes sexy, I just haven't wanted to be _pretty_ if that makes sense."

The other greenrider nodded. "It makes absolute sense, and I hate how holders ruined dresses for you."

"Yeah . . . yeah." Cosani nodded. "That's what they did. And I don't want to hate everything girly just because of them. I don't want my life _defined_ by them."

Reyela leaned forward and dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Honestly, I don't understand why the Conclave let them act like they do. The Plague was over Turns ago."

"And if they had to turn women into breeding ewes maybe humanity shouldn't have survived," Cosani said darkly before taking a drink.

"Cheers to that," Reyela said, raising her glass.

Cosani clinked her glass against Reyela's. "Cheers."

Last updated on the September 5th 2024

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Pretty Plans