A Frosty 'Fall (2/2)
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Corrin, Shawna
Date Posted: 26th May 2025
Characters: T'gyrlan, Zariah
Description: T’gyrlan helps Zariah with her injury and is a very good sounding board
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 7, day 1 of Turn 12
By the time they got to her Weyr, Zariah’s babble had stopped, and she half collapsed onto her couch with a pained hiss. “I keep reminding myself this hurts less than a Threadscore but I’m not so sure right now. Do you need to get back to your wing for something? I’m sure I can manage from here.” Which was true, but there was a hopeful question in her tone. All of her hobbies involved two hands, and it was sure to be a boring evening.
T’gyrlan lingered in the doorway, watching her with a steady, unreadable expression. He _should_ go. After the infirmary visits there was always a wing leadership meeting to go over the casualties and plan for the next day’s drills. Duty waited.
But so did Zariah.
The hope in her question had a different hold on him.
He pushed off the door and let it fall shut behind him as he strode into the room. “They’ll have to make do without me today. I’ve had Hanassath bespeak R’enh. I’m not going to leave you to wrestle one-handed with your supper or your boots.”
Speaking of which, he knelt down and began to unlace hers.
Zariah beamed at him, the lines of pain briefly lifted, and when he was done with the first boot, she offered the other. “You don’t have to, but I’m glad you’re going to stay. I promise not to make a habit of it.” Her expression briefly turned confused, and she said, “Relsath says Kevia is going to bring up dinner later. You have a very thoughtful niece with very sharp ears, you know.”
T’gyrlan looked up from unlacing the second boot, one brow raised. “We were talking in the hall on the way up, but I didn’t think we were _that_ loud… ‘S nice of her though. She’s probably worried about you.”
He eased the boot off gently, setting it beside the other before fetching Zariah her little knit booties before she could try to get them herself. “There you are. Blanket too?” He pulled a throw from the other end of the couch and draped it carefully over her shoulders.
“Yeah, she’s a sweet kid. Blanket, yes please,” Zariah let him bundle her up and settled back on her couch gingerly. “Well, I’ve been wanting a few days off so I could take Raleri to some of the craft halls. I guess this will be my chance.”
T’gyrlan bustled around the living space, lighting a pair of braziers for added warmth before finally joining Zariah on the couch. “The craft halls?” he echoed as he pulled yet another of her knit creations, a colorful throw, over his legs. “Why the craft halls?”
Zariah watched him, and a little smile pulled at her lips as he flitted around her comfortable little weyr with familiarity. Now that she was still, her shoulder slowly faded to a dull ache, “She’d do well in the crafts, and I think she’d like it. I’d be happy if she impressed, but I think she’d be wasted in the wings, clever as she is. Greenriders don’t need to be clever, just quick.”
“I’d want any rider at my back to be quick _and_ clever,” T’gyrlan protested. “You and Relsath are an _asset_ to the wings.”
“Being a good greenrider is memorization, not cleverness. We never have to decide what to do, we just have to go where we’re told,” she shook her head, “but that’s sweet of you to say.”
T'gyrlan wanted to argue more. She gave greenriders too little credit. There were a myriad of little decisions to be made in the air. How and when to flame, to move-- things where cleverness elevated a competent wingrider to a great one. But she had a point. a greenrider would never lead a wing in Fall. They were locked out of the same ranks he himself was pushed too.
Still, it bothered him. “I guess it's just hard for me to imagine life without a dragon.” He'd found Hanassath so young himself. “I know it's reality for most people, but my children… I'm hoping they all Impress. There's so many eggs these days. The odds are in their favor if they wait.”
He didn't usually talk about his children with Zariah. He wasn't the most hands-on father, especially since his children went with their mothers in the River Bluff diaspora, but he always assumed they'd become riders.
“I think Zerias will Impress. He wants a bronze, but he’ll consider settling for brown,” she said with a tone of wry amusement. “I think he wants to be like X’eri a lot more than Raleri wants to be like me. So I want to see what she does get excited about. I won’t be upset if that’s something less hazardous than dragonriding.” She made a vague gesture with her free hand towards her sling. “Who knows what that is. She has been on a dolphin kick lately, but as far as I know she’s as bad a swimmer as me.”
“A suppose there's something to be said for a less hazardous life,” said T'gyrlan, his expression softening. “I hope you find something that excites her… You're a good mother to try.”
“Well, my sister did all the hard parts I didn’t have time for, but this I can do. Now, catch me up on your latest wing gossip. I won’t be able to turn the pages of my books like this,” Zariah said in an exaggeratedly mournful tone.
T’gyrlan chuckled and nestled down next to her. “Well, remember that messy love triangle I was telling you about? Last rest day…”
Last updated on the May 27th 2025