An Invitation

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 21st September 2008

Characters: Briata, T'vanen
Description: T'vanen invites Briata to the DFW hatching.
Location: Garnet Valley Hold
Date: month 12, day 2 of Turn 4
Notes: After he asks permission.

Briata

"Hello young lady," T'vanen said when he finally caught up with the
difficult to find Briata. "I've been looking for you."

"Oh?" Briata paused in the middle of the hallway, turning to the by
then familiar voice and greeting the bronzerider with a smile. A small
boy who looked to be about three turns peered up at him from her
side. "What have I done now?"

"I don't know. What _have_ you done that you might like to tell me
about?" he teased, glancing down at the boy.

The boy dug the heel of one foot into the floor but other than that,
simply stared back at the bronzerider. "As far as I know, nothing."
Briata responded with a soft laugh, "But when a dragonrider comes
striding in and immediately says he's been looking for me, I can only
expect trouble."

"I wanted to ask you something." He felt almost embarrassed to be
asking in front of the child, though. Almost as if he was shy.
Ridiculous! "What's your name, youngster?"

The child didn't answer, so Briata did it for him. "This is Besten."
Briata swung his hand playfully which caused a smile to appear on his
face. "We're good friends."

"Hello Besten. I'm T'vanen, Qwarith's rider."

The little boy shuffled one foot back and forth on the ground but didn't
say a word. "Sometimes he can be a little shy." Briata
explained. "So what brings you to the hold? And looking for me, of
all people."

"That's not _so_ much of a surprise, is it?" the bronzerider countered,
turning his attention back to the young woman.

"No, not really." Besten swung around behind Briata, then back to her
side. He did this several times, evidently making a small game to
entertain himself while she talked. "But I still don't know _why_
you're looking for me."

"I'm looking for you, Briata, to invite you to accompany me to
Dragonsfall Weyr when they have their hatching."

"Oh!" The surprise didn't linger over Briata's features for long, but
quickly spread into a smile. "Why, I would love to! How long until the
clutch hatches, do you think?"

"Any day, really. It's not an exact thing, but a month - give or take a
day - after clutching. I would come and get you, though. Unless Thread
is falling in our territory."

"I would love to go, thank you for offering." Briata's smile grew
warmer and her eyes fairly twinkled in excitement. A hatching! A
dragon hatching! "I've never been to one before!"

"Well, I think the first one you see is probably the best," he said, not
wanting her to get her hopes up. "They're remarkably similar after that."

"Well, I suppose only so much can happen at a hatching." Briata stated
with a laugh. "But I would love to go. Thank you for inviting me."

"It's my pleasure. And you know that it may be at night or very early
morning? Or any time, really, since Dragonsfall's so many time zones away."

"I see." Briata hadn't realised that, but that didn't mean she didn't
want to go! "Well, I'll just be prepared for that possibility."

"If you could ... Well, not take too long to get ready, if it is in the
middle of the night?" He felt embarrassed asking. She was a Holder's
daughter, after all.

That brought about another bubble of laughter. Briata had expected that
if it was in the middle of the night she wouldn't have much time, but
his question and the look upon his face as he asked it was amusing. "Of
course, I'll do my best to be quick."

"Great! You're always better than I expect, Briata."

"You just keep that in mind, bronzerider." Briata quipped good naturedly.

"So, I'll see you sometime over the next few days?" T'vanen asked with a
smile, conscious that he was (as usual) holding Briata back from
whatever she was doing. Something with the boy, no doubt.

"Certainly. I'll be looking forward to the hatching." Not that Briata
didn't look forward to T'vanen's visits, but it would come of no good to
necessarily let him know that.

"Until then." The young man smiled at the Holder's daughter, winked at
the boy, and headed off back about the jobs he ought to have been doing.

Last updated on the September 24th 2008

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An Invitation