Bonded Pair

Writers: Aaron, Sia
Date Posted: 19th February 2025

Characters: S'kand, E'tariax
Description: Aphirith's greenflight is predictable
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 10 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Ristalle

Aphirith's greenflights were so predictable. On the one hand, E'tariax liked the structure of it. Some greens went up whenever they felt like it, or dragged out the entire experience. Aphirith knew what she was doing and when she was doing it, and she almost always had a mind for _who_ she would allow to win. It didn't always work out in her favor, of course, but this time Jagobroth was in just the right position when she was ready to come down.

E'tariax stretched languidly before moving to sit, patting S'kand companionably on the chest as he did. "Good job remembering my knee. Someone would've had something to say if I was hobbling to drills worse than usual."

“Fancy seeing you here.” S’kand sat up as well. This was a regular enough occurrence. It felt like returning home for Turn’s End, if that home were still there for him to return to.

Perhaps a touch more awkward than that.

“Glad to hear I was lucid enough to take care.”

E'tariax chuckled, "We have to stop meeting like this. It's about time muscle memory started to kick in. I didn't aggravate that back injury of yours, did I?"

“Ah, no more than anyone else who ends up in my bed,” said S'kand. “I have enough willow bark in me from day to day, I'll hardly even notice.”

"Be careful with that willow bark. You don't want to get any ulcers too, old man." E'tariax walked over to the wash basin, grabbing a cloth and cleaning himself up with all the casualness of two old friends just spending time together. "Can you bully those lovelizards off your ledge this evening? Aphirith needed a bath and oil but she's been too testy the last couple days."

“I'll shove them over the edge,” said S'kand. “Or shovel them.” Jagobroth’s attitude toward Aphirith was… unusual for him. There was not a single other green or even a gold that he truly _liked_, though he flirted when they were soon to rise. But Aphirith was different. She was allowed to stay after the flight was over. It had been that way since they were young back at Thayan Peak.

"He's welcome to come splash around and be a general nuisance, as always " E'tariax said. Truly, he appreciated Aphirith being distracted by another man when he had work to do (which was often), but it could get annoying when the two of them were attached at the hip. "Give any weyrbrat helpers a run for their marks. Oh, while I have you, I might have overshared a bit to the weyrlings the other day. R'lor asked me to give a talk to the greenriders about Flight etiquette. I didn't connect that you would be looking at potential additions to the Wings until after I'd left."

“Mentioned me, did you?” S’kand chuckled. “Well, I guess I'll have to leave the greens for someone else this time.”

"I talked about how our bonded pair don't care that we have weyrmates." E'tariax clarified as he grabbed his pants from the floor with a groan. Was it S'kand or was it him that ripped them. Sharding Aphirith. "And I didn't think about it until later, but it was probably too much information about their future Wingleader. Any of the kids give you weird looks in a few months, it was me."

“Eh, who can say,” said S'kand. “Kids give me weird enough looks on their own.” He patted E’tariax on the back. “Oh. Shells, was that me?” Jagobroth was often eager when it came to Aphirith, but… ripped pants was a bit much.

"Jag needs to calm down." E'tariax grumbled good-naturedly. "This is why I encouraged all the weyrlings to get a sewing kit, too. Pretty sure it's the buttons on your shirt that are scattered all over the floor."

“Ah. That would explain it.” S’kand had been absently fiddling with the shirt without quite understanding why he kept missing the buttons. “Balls.” He sighed and went about picking up the buttons, though he was sure he would not find them all. His knee popped audibly as he knelt down.

E'tariax winced at the sharp pop. "Shards, are you sure it's just the willow bark keeping you together? That sounded like dropping firestone from full height."

“Oh, that's what forty-seven Turns’ll do to you, I guess,” said S'kand. “Or to me, anyway.” E’tariax was the same age, after all. “For flame’s sake, I'm still missing one… you see a button over there?”

"Yeah, to you. I am the perfect picture of health." E'tariax said as he reached for his cane. "It might be a lost cause. You might have to settle for mismatched buttons after it's mended. Although some of your wingriders might appreciate a lower neckline."

“You think so?” S'kand seemed skeptical. “Ristalle might be happier not to have to bother mending as much… She'd never let me do it myself. I might get away with doing it where she won't see, though.”

“S'kand,” S'kand said in a horrible impression of Ristalle, “are you cheating on me?” He returned to his own voice, “No, darling, I'm just mending my buttons.”

“That's worse!” he added in the horrible impression.

"You two make me nauseous." E'tariax said mildly. He passed a set of socks to S'kand, though not entirely sure if those were the ones he wore into the flightroom. "I think only one of my past weyrmates offered to mend my torn buttons."

“Well, then you need better weyrmates,” said S'kand. “Or else you let the good one get away.” He pulled on the socks, which fit… poorly. He did not bother to look for any other socks.

E'tariax noticed that S'kand had on one of his socks and snorted. "When their job is fixing up the clothes of the rest of the weyr, the last thing I wanted to do was have them do it for just me. Maybe I should, though. You and Ristalle have lasted longer than any of my weyrmates."

“Well.” S’kand smiled. “A match like ours is rare, even in the weyr. It's hard to last forever. But she's worth lasting for.”

The smile soured. He pulled off the poorly fitting sock and threw it at E’tariax.

E'tariax smirked and caught the sock and stuffed it in a pocket. "Aren't you two just the cutest? Give her my best for me, and my sincerest apologies for Aphirith. Good flight, old man."

S’kand’s smile returned.

“Good catch. I will. And good flight.”

Last updated on the March 5th 2025

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Bonded Pair