This Actually Is a Pity Party

Writers: Aaron, Corrin, Devin, Duskdog, Heather, Iluva, Shawna, Sia
Date Posted: 23rd September 2025

Characters: O'rosin, Cirina, Aydhara, R'fayne, Casmari, C'rand, B'lyse, Tirraze, Vianne, T'gyros
Description: Cirina doesn't Impress and is more upset than usual, so her friends have a special party just for her
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 15 of Turn 12

O'rosin

Aydhara

R'fayne

Casmari

It took a while for Aydhara to coax Cirina to come out of the barracks. She couldn't convince her to join the main hatching feast, but a quick note on Slate to Casmari to find O'rosin and Aeoluth and they had their own little consolation party set up in O'rosin's weyr, with several plates of snacks stolen from the Lower Caverns and some wine nabbed from R'fayne's weyr.

Aeoluth made the quick trip to the barracks to pick them up, and the rain had lessened just enough that they were only a little wet when they landed on the ledge.

"Hello, everyone. What a nice spread, hey Cirina? Let's get you a glass of wine." Aydhara said, keeping her tone deliberately bright. O'rosin was already pouring wine into his mismatched collection of cups and pressed the first one into Cirina's hands.

“I managed to grab a plate of those little tarts, too,” C’rand said lightly. He didn’t think he was good at comforting people, really, but he couldn’t stand to see a friend in pain. He couldn’t force a dragon to fix this, but he could bring sweets, at least. “The ones with the little pieces of fruit on top? Dessert or appetizer: no one really knows, but you can stuff your face if you want.”

B’lyse peeked out from behind C’rand and waved at Cirina. He, too, was not sure how helpful he could be, but it was better to try than to leave her alone when she needed friends.

“I brought a little something harder, if anyone wants shots.” Tirraze held up a smallish bottle of rum as she entered the weyr.

Vianne snatched the bottle from Tirraze and poured herself a bigger serving than perhaps she ought to have. Then she poured a similar one for Cirina and slid it to her. She was supposed to be at the Hatching feast to meet Ilthralos. But she would be there before he finished feeding the monster.

Tirraze shrugged but did not object.

“And I brought m’self,” came another voice behind her, warm and just a little bit wry. T’gyros ducked into the weyr, shaking the rain from his golden hair. It had taken a while for him to get off the dance floor, but he couldn’t miss supporting his foster sister. He took a chipped polkadot cup from O’rosin and gave Cirina’s shoulder a light squeeze. “She just hasn’t been shelled yet, ‘Rina. It’ll happen.”

R'fayne was rarely one to offer platitudes, and doubted she'd want them coming from him out of everyone in the room, but he understood the gut-punch of rejection on the Sands a little more than he would have liked. He gave Cirina a bracing nod from where he leaned, an orange cup in his hand. “The wine's pretty good, at least.”

The only person in the room Casmari knew was Aydhara, so the visiting bluerider stayed tucked in a corner. She held a cup of wine lightly between her fingers, likely to be the only bit of alcohol she drank that evening since she and Sebiath would be transporting Aydhara back to Barrier Lake…. Probably. Unless Aydhara decided to stay at Dolphin Cove for her friend.

Cirina’s face was blotchy, her eyes red, and her braid a mess from having quite literally shoved her head under a pillow to try to muffle her sobs. Not that anyone had been in the candidate barracks to hear her, at least not until Aydhara and her friend had arrived to almost literally drag her out of there. She was silent the way up to O’rosin’s weyr, except for the occasional pathetic sniff.

When he’d passed the glass of wine to her, she’d started chugging it down like water, draining the glass with a speed she was definitely going to regret later before wordlessly taking the rum from Vianne and heedlessly tossing that down her throat to join the wine. It hit her empty stomach like a punch and she coughed and wheezed for a moment before recovering.

“I don’t need a special perfect dragon,” she tossed back bitterly at T’gyros, “I’ll take ANY dragon. I’d have taken that ugly green or the tiny green, and that blue- He touched me. Why would he touch me and not PICK me? It’s not fair. They aren’t supposed to do that,” she hastily scrubbed the back of her hand across her eyes to wipe away even more tears. “I don’t understand why they like me but won’t pick me. It doesn’t have to be perfect. I’d love any dragon.”

Vianne did not so much need a dragon as she needed not to feel rejected. Had the Searcher even really felt something from her? Or was she just… vicariously soaked in whatever dragony feeling Ilthralos was obviously radiating? That had obviously not been enough for the babies. Not reflecting off of her, anyway. Like she was just a moon, and Ilthralos was the sun. She deserved to feel like a sun, too. Or at least a star.

“Hi.” She held out her hand to that gorgeous so-and-so who had just walked in and started talking to Cirina. He could make you feel like a star, said the rum. “I’m Vianne.”

T'gyros, who has been jockeyed out of Cirina’s immediate circle by her well -meaning friends, perked up to see a pretty girl that wanted to make his acquaintance. Cirina would be fine. “Hellooo, Vianne,” he grinned.

Casmari blinked big blue eyes as she tried to take in the many drunken catastrophes that seemed to be forming in the room.

}:You would probably have been utterly crushed if _I_ hadn’t chosen you,:{ Sebiath pointed out, helpful as always.

The female bluerider slid a plate of snacks toward Aydhara and Cirina. “To soak up some of the rum,” she said with a wink for Aydhara.

Aydhara looked between Vianne and T'gyros, a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. What was it with women and average-looking boys? "There's going to be a wait again until Panitath or Elleth rises next, right? Why not go for your Journeyman knots? I know it's not what you want, but…at least it's a solid backup plan."

She grabbed a biscuit off the plate almost absently, though turned to smile at Casmari. She started to say 'thank you', but was cut off by--

“My backup plan was seducing O’rosin!” Cirina wailed with an accusatory point at the brownrider sitting next to his boyfriend.

O'rosin was mid-drink and choked.

“Ew,” Saedyna muttered, and took a long drink of wine.

R'fayne looked up with his dark brows drawn, incredulous. Not only was his arm draped along O'rosin's shoulder, but he'd been pressing a low voice to the shell of the brownrider's ear.

“Cirina,” he tried to say patiently, thinking of the two dragonets that had looked at her that day, “at least the dragonets have shown some clear interest back, even if they aren't the right ones for you.”

The timing of that comment was more instinctual than intentional, and R'fayne hoped to soften it by saying in a softer, more encouraging tone, “Drink your wine. It's got nothing to do with you.”

The warning came too late. "Then _why_ did you set us up?!" O'rosin asked incredulously.

“I’M A GOOD FRIEND,” Cirina shouted at O’rosin, making it clear he should have heeded the warning. “And I didn’t think I needed a backup plan! But now I’m running out of time for one of these baby dragons to decide to settle for me." She opened her mouth as if to say something else, but then just grabbed something off the snack tray without looking at it and shoved it in her mouth whole, chewing angrily (and a little messily).

Saedyna didn’t want to give her a bunch of platitudes that she’d heard a million times before. “I should take you to a Gather. Buy you something nice.”

“That always makes me feel better.” Tirraze winked.

"Yeah, that would be fun, wouldn't it?" Aydhara asked and gently patted Cirina's shoulder. "O'rosin would be lucky to be seduced by you ("I- What?!--") but you need to have better standards than that."

“Yeah, sure,” Cirina tried not to sound sullen, though in her current mood she wanted to point out that things weren’t a replacement for a dragon. It wasn’t fair to take her mood out on her friends. “And what’s wrong with O’rosin? He’s not bad looking, he’s patient, and he’s very clean. I’d almost never have to clean up after him.”

Saedyna bit her tongue. Cirina was good friends with O’rosin, for some reason, and she didn’t want to bad mouth him at Cirina’s party. Not to her face, at least.

R'fayne let most of the talk roll past him, though he nodded once or twice. “You are quite neat, O'rosin.” he said mildly, finishing his glass. ("That's not the _point_!")

Then, to Cirina: “Yes, Cirina, he'd be very lucky to be seduced by you. Almost any man or woman or dragon here would be. But if you're going to bother with someone, make sure they _actually_ want the same things as you. Otherwise it'll just unravel. One more problem in your life.”

R’fayne bounced an eyebrow at Aydhara and her suggestion. “Knots would be your best bet. You could finish no problem.”

“Why won’t anyone listen to me? I hate my craft. I hate when people want me to perform like I’m a trained pet. I hate practicing, I hate composing, I’d rather be dead than live at a Hold,” Cirina said dramatically. “Where’s the rum? I just want more rum and snacks.”

Aydhara slid the plate of cookies Casmari brought over. "I know, but you don't have to perform. There's the archives, or teaching, or writing for the paper. Maybe if you did that Sh'del wouldn't find extra work for you to do. At least until your dragon hatches."

Vianne happily danced over to pour Cirina (and herself) another rum, downed all of hers, and then returned to her flirting.

“You know,” C’rand said, a trifle awkwardly, finding himself a seat, “You _could_ switch crafts. I know it’s not something people do a lot at your age, but it _does_ happen. Smithing’s nice. Keeps your brain and body working so your thoughts don’t run away with you.”

“I know it feels terrible when you can’t control your own life,” Saedyna said quietly. “You can’t make a dragon choose you. I’m not saying give up. But find something you _can_ control. Something _you_ choose. If you hate harpering then find something else, like C’rand said.”

“Ugh. I doubt anyone would take me as a new stupid apprentice who didn't know anything.” Cirina downed her rum and then flopped dramatically back into the floor. “Fine. Fine. I'm sure there's something I want to do other than flying.” She did, however point a finger mostly in the direction of Saedyna, “But I CAN make a dragon choose me. I just…. Need to figure out how. Maybe stuff my pockets with meat chunks next time.”

She was joking. Mostly. “But tonight I’m just getting drunk and eating myself sick.”

Last updated on the October 12th 2025

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This Actually Is a Pity Party