Out of the Fire

Writers: Devin, Len
Date Posted: 25th July 2011

Characters: N'vanik, Sh'del
Description: N'vanik and Sh'del have a casual chat on the beach regarding women and weyrlings
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 6 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Rhosyn, Janani, Talryne, X'ian, T'aesh, Meledei

N'vanik

"Seriously man, next time that big bronze of yours Flys that Queen,
can you two not make it such a long Flight? I don't think I can
handle another group this big." Sh'del groaned and rubbed his eyes,
before taking a much earned drink of his beer. Leaning over he gave
the shellfish cooking over the open fire a small poke before leaning
back and grinning at his old friend.

"We need the riders, so get used to it," N'vanik said with a touch of humor.

"So we do, so we do." The brownrider handed N'vanik a beer and the
stick he was using to turn the shellfish. "Here you go, your turn."

"How are they doing? Any troublemakers yet?" N'vanik sipped at the beer.

"Fingers crossed, they all seem okay so far. A few boys are having a
hard time being on greens...but what's new, eh? All Holder boys, of
course. Oh, and one boy who wanted a bronze and not the blue he got,
and strangely enough, with a pissed off mother, but the dad was fine.
And we've put that boy that was winding Meledei up on the first group
leader post. If he's gonna be trouble I'd like to see it happen now,
whilst we can still do something about it, y'know?" He gave N'vanik a
slightly evil grin.

"Oh yeah, that guy. When I talked to him at the Hatching he was
serious, trying to impress me. Don't know if it's an act, though,"
N'vanik said.

"Hmm...he wasn't trying to impress me much the morning I told him he
was group leader. He looked more like he was going to crap his
trousers." Sh'del chuckled at that.

"I hope that's a good sign. If he was too eager I might be worried."
N'vanik poked at the shellfish, not really sure what he was doing.

"That's what I thought too." Sh'del leaned forward to study what
N'vanik was doing. "Man, we're supposed to want to eat this in a few
moments, not use it to knock people out with."

"You cook it then. I don't know what I'm doing." N'vanik offered the stick.

"No way you lazy git!" Sh'del shook his head and refused to take the
stick. "Just learn to do it right. Poor Talryne, having to deal with
you."

"_She_ doesn't expect me to cook," N'vanik teased.

"She knows better, probably." Sh'del looked to the skies for help.

"Do you want to tell me what to do, or do you want to find out what
happens when I guess?" It had been a long time since N'vanik had to
cook anything, and he'd never cooked shellfish.

"What, with the shellfish, or with Talryne?" The implication of
N'vanik's recent extra-activities with the River's Buff Weyrwoman
coloured his voice.

N'vanik rolled his eyes. "Shellfish. I _know_ what to do with
Talryne." He grinned wickedly.

"Well, with both, I'd suggest getting them out of the fire." Sh'del
watched his dinner begin to burn with a raised eyebrow.

N'vanik managed to get the shellfish out with minimal damage. "What
kind of weird metaphor was that? Tal isn't in a fire."

"No, but my dinner was!" Sh'del put the shellfish on the two plates
and blew to cool his. "How's Tal doing?"

"She's good. I've been trying to convince her to go to a Gather with
me, so we'll see how long that takes."

"What's her objection?"

"She's worried about all the people. She's still not good with
crowds." He'd coaxed her down to the celebration for Turn's End, but
she hadn't come down for the Hatching Feast.

"Ahh...can't say I blame her." Sh'del wasn't the best in large crowds
himself. "Maybe coax her with the temptation of top harpers? Does
she like dancing?"

"She does, but sometimes it's too much for her. I'll convince her
eventually, though." N'vanik blew on his shellfish.

"Or just take her for a nice day out in the mountains or something."
A change of pace always did a body good. "How's she handling Rhosyn
and Janani?"

N'vanik shrugged. "She says it doesn't bother her, but I think it
does, a little. She keeps thinking I'll find someone to replace her,
no matter how many times I tell her that won't happen."

"Hmm..." Sh'del eyed him from over his beer bottle. "Does Rhosyn know that?"

"No. It hasn't come up in conversation." He wasn't going to bring it
up because he didn't think it was that important. Tal had been
insecure since their relationship started and it really wasn't
specifically about Rhosyn or Janani or anyone else.

Sh'del just eyed him. Since he had come to the Weyr he had grown
rather fond of Talryne. He just hoped N'vanik knew what he was doing.

Last updated on the August 4th 2011

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Out of the Fire