Bromance Before the Storm

Writers: Chelle, Clancey
Date Posted: 1st July 2012

Characters: P'nal, J'darin
Description: The two friends catch up on the "latest".
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 8, day 1 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Devyn, U'kaiah

J'darin

Sitting in the Dining Cavern with his usual cup of warm soup, the
brownrider was in a good mood. He was considering having klah to
ash it down. There was a bit of music playing and it was a jaunty
tune. He almost felt like dancing, but kept eating the soup.

J'darin, too, seemed to be stepping more lively and easily through the
tables. He was being seen more and more out in public, and sometimes,
he was not alone. Sometimes he had pretty company in the form of a
greenrider. A wide smile he was unable to keep from his face greeted
P'nal as J'darin pulled out a chair near him with his boot.

His cheeks were rosy and he looked ...healthy. It was the whole not
drinking thing. And Devyn. "Hey there Wingsecond. You want some
company?"

He looked up, surprised to see the weyrlingmaster. When he saw how
healthy he looked, one of his eyebrows came up. "Sure. And someone's
in a good mood." It made him feel good to see his friend finally
turning things around.

J'darin nodded and slid into the chair he'd pulled out. "I'm in a great
mood. You were right about the whole not drinking thing...." He grinned at
his friend and leaned toward him.

"How are you, P'nal?" He relaxed in the chair, considering if he should
gossip about Devyn with his friend. Well, who else was he going to tell?

He had really not drank anything at all in the last month, which was very
unusual. In all his turns, he'd never had to quit drinking altogether. But
so far... it seemed that not drinking at all was the best way to keep his
...path straight. He was sure he would drink again...but hoped it wouldn't
be after another sad event in his life.

"Oh I'm the same as I was last time you asked. However, you seem to be
better and I have to say I'm glad of it." He didn't say I told you so, nor
was he thinking it. He was happy that J'darin seemed to be enjoying things
again. Genuine concern had prompted his first talk with the bronzerider
and now it was genuine pride that crept into his voice when he addressed
the weyrlingmaster. "Dressing better too. No more putting your pants on
with blurred vision eh?" Teasing, the brownrider chuckled as he put down
his soup spoon.

Chuckling with him, he nodded in agreement. "I don't suppose I ever dressed
badly; Hasaarth would never let me leave the weyr. But I haven't had one
single blurred vision for a month. It's odd, really, how the world around
you changes when there is no drinking involved." He considered that for a
moment, again thinking that he'd never really had a drinking problem before
now. Even at Dolphin Cove, he had drank some, but never the way it had
taken him over here. He mulled that over and glanced down at his scarred
right arm.

Was that it? Was that his problem? No longer the immortal rider of Hasaarth,
unscarred and unscared. No, now he was just a man like any other, and he was
ill-equipped to deal with failure. His father had trained him better than
that, and even with that man gone, his example remained. Be perfect. And
when you can't be perfect, try anyway. Regardless, he had needed a shove in
the right direction. And maybe now he had it. Maybe.

"I'm proud of you. I hear there have been other changes as well." His
eyebrow rose, since it was no secret J'darin had been seen around with a
female greenrider. P'nal was curious. He'd met the woman once.

J'darin's grin turned a bit secretive, but also blazing with bright
happiness. "Well, I've been spending some time with greenrider Devyn.
I took her to a Gather the other restday, just to get away from the cold
here. We had a great deal of fun. Fun...like I've missed. Fun like I've
rarely had in my life, really,. to be honest." He steepled his fingers
together and said thoughtfully, "They all seem to come into my life and
then leave so suddenly. But... they never come back..."

"Well don't scare her off. Take it easy and just see what happens." It
seemed the bronzerider's tendency toward moroseness was still there. "As
dragonriders, we should know best how to live in the moment since there's
a chance we won't be here tomorrow. Don't worry about what was-think about
what is and just enjoy it." He emptied part of his mug in thought.

Well, he wasn't going to turn into a new man overnight. He had come far
enough to just stop the drinking and start the smiling. Or at least, more
smiling. "We've been going quite slow, actually." He would not kiss and
tell, but in this case, there was not much kissing to tell. He considered
his own thoughts for a moment then finally nodded. "That is what I tell my
students... I am afraid the lesson is a bit harder sinking into my head,
sometimes. What is, is great, and it is what our life demands. Dragonriders
cannot afford to plan too far into the future. Sometimes, I hope for more
though." He grinned. "Only sometimes though."

"Ummmhmm. Hope is a good thing. Keeps you going after goals. If you lose
hope, you give up and then you're sure to lose the fight. So, what about
this greenrider do you like particularly?" He still hadn't mentioned that
he'd met her the once. She seemed very different from J'darin, for sure.

"Hope is extremely important. I think that is why I like Devyn so much...
she gives me hope. Hope that someday Thread won't fall, even though I'll
be quite aged when the Pass finishes. But specifically...." He considered
the greenrider and smiled. "She sees _me_ P'nal. The man behind the knots.
_Me_. She reminds me that there is a man behind these knots." He grinned.
"Do you know her?"

"Only met her once, briefly. She flies with U'kaiah." Of course that was
no reflection on her really. It was just how things had worked out. "I'm
very glad you feel manly again. Care to celebrate with a huge piece of
steak?" The soup wasn't cutting it.

J'darin snorted in laughter. Feel manly again? "Very funny, P'nal. I'd
love to have a piece of wherry steak, a good thick one. I need to keep my
strength up, you know. Keeping up with a greenrider 12 turns my junior is
sometimes a bit hard." He didn't mean in the bedfurs, but it probably
sounded that way. As he said that, his mind darted to the other young
greenrider in his life. He was glad they had talked about what had happened
when Hasaarth had caught her Awenth, but it had certainly sent him for a
loop in the emotions department. If he had not met Devyn by then, he might
very well have wound up back in the bottle for feeling like a disgusting
old man who lusted have girls half his age. Even if he wasn't old!

P'nal didn't know how close he'd come to hopping right back off his
non-drinking ways. If he had his way, no one ever would. And despite his
good humor, a darker, serious look settled on his handsome face. But still,
steak and a good friend were good ways to banish that look.

Flagging down the drudge, he took care of that and it wasn't long before
the two of them were looking at nice medium steaks with mashed tubers.
"Now this is what I'm talking about. Seems to me, though, I better get
back on the wagon. Here you are wooing all the pretty greenriders and
what am I up to? Not a thing." He shook his head as if he couldn't believe
it.

J'darin chuckled dryly. If only he knew about Cardella! "Just one pretty
greenrider, P'nal. Just one. That's all I can really handle, outside of
Flights. I don't know how some of our fellow riders hop from bed to bed
the way they do, despite knowing that they do it because they are
dragonriders, and tomorrow may be their last day alive. I understand why,
but I'm not built that way... too much Hold in me, I guess, despite all
the turns as a rider." He grinned sideways at his friend.

"Want me to see if Devyn has a friend? We could take them off somewhere
together, the 4 of us."

"Well I suppose it won't hurt." He didn't mind either way. Right now P'nal
had so much on his plate with duties and everything else, he just took
pleasure when he could. The brownrider wasn't holdbred like J'darin, but
he wasn't weyrbred either. He was a bit more easygoing about things.

J'darin raised his glass and nodded. "I can promise that it won't _hurt_,
that is unless you want it too!" He winked and smiled again and settled
back down to his dinner. It was good to sit with P'nal and just talk...
just be friends.

Last updated on the July 24th 2012

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Bromance Before the Storm