Loads Of Laundry

Writers: Duskdog, Halyonix
Date Posted: 8th October 2024

Characters: Nidre, O'dyn
Description: O'dyn runs into the newest weyrwoman
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 27 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: Panitath

Nidre

Notes:
~~~~~~~~~~

It seemed as though even though he was now a dragonrider, even just a weyrling one, O'dyn was still running full speed.

He had missed the appointment to drop off his dirty clothes with the launderers, who had dropped by the Barracks earlier that morning because he had been busy feeding Genireth and if he didn't get his clothes dropped off to them, he wouldn't have anything clean to wear for the rest of the sevenday and Genireth was sleeping so this was the perfect time to get it done and maybe afterward, O'dyn could get a snack or something quick to eat before his next lesson and it was really hard to see over the bundle of clothes he had in his--

Wham!

Truthfully, Nidre hadn't truly been paying much attention, either. Lost in her own thoughts, body making its own way to her destination without any real input from her brain, when she turned the corner and was immediately knocked backwards by a walking pile of clothes. It didn't knock her down -- she caught herself against the wall before that could happen -- but it certainly snapped her brain back to attention.

"Whoa, slow down...!" she admonished instinctively, irrationally irritated as a kneejerk reaction.

"Sorry, sorry!" the walking pile of clothes apologized in a high-pitched, sincere tone. O'dyn craned his head, trying to see who he had collided with. "Sorry," he apologized again. Was that...goldrider knots? It was so hard to see! He really should put all of his bundle down but then he'd have to pick it up again and that was almost a bigger hassle than the one he was in right now!

Nidre sighed. The young man clearly had himself in a predicament. "No, it's fine, I owe you an apology, too. I also wasn't paying attention... and I don't have the excuse of laundry in my face, I was just off in my own little world. Here, let me help you out."

Without waiting for his permission, she grabbed a small armful of laundry off the top.

"Thanks!" he gratefully squeaked. Now he had a clearer view and those were _definitely_ goldrider knots. He squeaked for a completely different reason. "You're the weyrwoman! I mean, not _the_ Weyrwoman, a capital W, but the other weyrwoman. Oh, I really messed up, didn't I?"

She might have laughed if he hadn't seemed so upset. Weyrling knots on his shoulder... and just a young one, too. (She swore they seemed to look younger and younger every turn.) "Yes, I'm Nidre," she offered. "And no -- everybody makes mistakes. I don't think running with laundry is very high on the list of things I need to punish people for." She _did_ laugh then, a little. "You're newly-Impressed? What's your name -- and theirs? I hope we haven't upset your dragon. They're so high-strung at that age."

"Genireth!" he peeped proudly. "And I'm Ocari--oops, O'dyn. Sometimes I forget to use my new name. Genireth doesn't mind though. He likes me just the way I am, new name or old name. Or any name! So long as I get his name right. He's pretty particular about that. I called him Gen once and he definitely reminded me that his name was Genireth. So I definitely don't forget it now."

"Genireth, Genireth," she repeated, trying to recall which young weyrling that had been. Not all the weyrlings announced their lifemates' names at the Hatching, but she tried to find out and keep track of them nonetheless -- to congratulate them properly at the Feast, if nothing else. Even better if they lingered in her mind afterwards. Admittedly, she kept closer tabs on those from Jossenth's clutches, but still, she thought she did a pretty good job of committing them to memory for a while, at least. "I think I remember him. Pretty sky blue? That's a fine dragon. And don't worry -- it's pretty normal to have an easier time remembering their name than your own for a while. It's hard to think about anything other than your lifemate at first."

"He's pretty great! I can't wait until he gets bigger and we can fly together! Hey, what's your dragon's name? I forgot to ask!" the little weyrling asked. He was trying to be a good conversationalist (that was another big word that he liked!) but also polite and he didn't want the weyrwoman to dislike him because it was a very bad idea to make the goldriders angry.

"Jossenth," Nidre said with a smile, because, like most dragonriders, it was hard not to enjoy being asked about her own dragon. "She's the small one. Small gold, tall rider," and she raised her arm and flattened her hand out, to denote her own height, "And the Weyrwoman and Panitath are tall gold, small rider. Well, taller than Jossenth, at any rate. If that makes it any easier to remember who belongs to whom. If you can learn to recognize the right dragons by sight, it's never a bad idea so that you can know which dragon to compliment if you're trying to flatter a rider. And flattering riders is a pretty good way to soothe ruffled feathers and maybe get a bit more of what you want in the Weyr in the future." She inclined her head and grinned conspiratorially.

O'dyn nodded along with her description. "I'll definitely remember that then! Jossenth the small, Panitath the tall. I mean, I won't call either of them that aloud but it helps with remembering who's who! Luckily, there's only two gold dragons to remember. Not like me and Genireth and all of the blue dragons around. Or the green ones! There's a lot of green ones. Oh, I shouldn't keep wasting your time! You're a very important person. You have an entire Weyr to run! I just...I just have laundry. And a baby dragon." He grinned happily.

"A baby dragon that you probably need to get back to," she agreed. "Let's get your laundry where it needs to go, then, and we'll both be on our way. And don't worry about wasting my time. It's nice to have a little break to just get to know people every now and again. You're every bit as important a part of the Weyr as I am -- your part to play is just different, that's all."

"I am?" O'dyn asked. Yes, he understood that being a dragonrider was important but he really couldn't understand how he was as important, if in a different way, than a goldrider!

"I know it probably sounds trite, but it's true. You're the one fighting Thread -- I mean _really_ fighting Thread, moreso than I ever will. There are a lot more blueriders than goldriders, sure, but well... you can't have a hundred without a dozen, and you can't have a dozen without one. People tend to forget that. You _matter_. Don't let yourself forget that, even when they do."

The math she presented didn't really make sense to his young mind but it _sounded_ like it did to her and she made it sound important and she was an adult so she had to be right! Right? Right. O'dyn's chest puffed up a little with pride. "I'll remember that!" he declared. It sounded heroic and important for sure! "I never thought of blue-- oops!" Another piece of laundry slid to the floor, escaping. "Oh boogers. We really should get going. I'm just going to keep dropping clothes and you're really busy."

"You're probably right," she said with a wry grin, managing to scoop up the dropped piece and adding it to her own pile. "Let's go before you lose everything."

Last updated on the October 17th 2024

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Loads Of Laundry