Not Quite Girl Talk

Writers: Beth, Elaine
Date Posted: 29th August 2005

Characters: Denala, F'lik, Aryn
Description: Denala introduces herself (and Felarik) to Aryn and they have a brief discussion on habits
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 7, day 5 of Turn 3

One evening, Denala found herself with a little more
time than usual, and, for once, she wasn't completely
exhausted. She saw that the girl in the bed across
from her was there, too. Having been at the Weyr for
almost two sevendays by now, she felt bad for not
having at least made her acquaintance.

She got up from her bed and went to the girl, smiling
as she introduced herself. "Hi. I'm Denala. I'm sorry
I didn't introduce myself sooner."

The girl looked up from the fabric swatches she was
playing with. "Oh! No need to apologise. I've
obviously been here longer, I should have been the
one to take initiative." She put the cloth aside then
collapsed her hands into her lap.

"You just get so wrapped up in lessons, chores, your
daily routine, you sometimes forget to notice what's
what in front of you, even if its just long enough for
a simple hi, which this is anything but." She smiled
pleasantly scrunching her face. "Which I'm sure you
understand also Denala, taking so long yourself to say
hi, but like I said, I've been here longer, that
should have fallen to me. So, Denala it is so nice to
meet you! My name is Aryn. Where do you hail from?"

It was hard not to laugh at Aryn's roundabout
explanation, but Denala managed. "I'm from Amethyst
Cliff Hold. My brother and I came together. I'm
still getting used to the differences here, but he
seems all settled in already."

"Well of course hes already settled, men are simple.
And being a male, he's facing a lot less changes
coming here I suspect. See, my brother was only
recently searched, and when he came here, it
was merely a change in location. He has continued
working his craft, met new people, and he was adjusted
just fine. I came, and people saw me
differently. Candidates may be the low of the low
here, but that's much better than simply serving my
father, brothers, and eventually my husband. At
least, that's my opinion, after being here for a
while, it was an adjustment though." She smiled at
the other girl again. "Of course, you're allowed
you're own opinion once you've made your adjustments."

"Yeah. I guess we'll see," Denala said, a little
distracted. She'd seen Felarik slip through the
curtain to come talk to her as he usually did
before lights-out. Returning her attention to Aryn,
she smiled and said, "Sorry, I just saw the brother
who started this thread of conversation." He
approached Aryn's bed then, and Denala introduced him.
"Aryn, this is my brother, Felarik. Felarik, this is
my across-the-hall neighbor, Aryn."

Aryn gave Felarik a nod. "Hello, Felarik, I was just
chatting with your sister, don't mind me if you need
to talk with her." She gave her squinty-eyed smile,
the one as if she were laughing at some private joke.

Felarik was a bit perplexed by her smile, but he
answered her quite seriously. "Of course I don't mind.
I'm quite happy for Denala to make new friends."

Aryn shook his head at Felarik, "Who said it was a
friendly conversation?" She waited a pause for his
facial reaction, but continued on quickly. "don't
worry, It was though, I'd like to think so at least."

Felarik kept his face impassive as she spoke. He'd
assumed, from Denala's face, that this had been a
pleasant interlude. "Well, I'm glad to know you're
both feeling friendly."

Denala stood to hug him good night, sensing that he
didn't really feel like staying around. "Sleep well
brother," she said.

"And you," he replied. As she sat back down, he added,
"It was nice to meet you, Aryn. Good night."

"G'night" Aryn replied, giving him an irreverent wave.
After she thought he was out of ear shot she gave
Denala a look. "So, your brother feels he has to tuck
you in at night or something?"

Denala shook her head a little. "He just likes to
check on me. I appreciate that he cares. We've always
been close, so it's just normal for me, I guess.
Do you spend much time with your brother? I know some
siblings rarely see each other, even when they're in
the the place."

Aryn nodded as Denala spoke. "Just as long as your
fine with it, there's nothing wrong I guess. There
are just some parts of my life I would rather not have
Toriat interfere with, and of course those are the
ones he tries to, now that hes here." She sighed a
bit in impatience.

"Interfere? What do you mean exactly?" Denala knew she
was prying, and she'd just met the girl, but she
didn't like to see people unhappy.

Aryn bit her lip for a moment, giving Denala a good
long look. She sighed then continued. "Well, let's
say your brother, this is a routine thing he does,
checking on you? What does he do, when he doesn't
find you here one night?"

"Well, I don't know," Denala replied honestly. "It's
never happened. He might look for me, but he'd
probably just wait. If I wasn't here by lights out,
he'd be worried, but I don't see any reason for that
to happen."

Aryn smiled at the girl. "Well, someday you may break
that routine. Just seems better to not have a routine,
so that you'll never break the routine
you don't have when the time comes that you will."

"That's a little too pessimistic for me," Denala
protested. "Besides, Felarik is my best friend, not
just my brother. It's comforting that he shows that he
cares."

Aryn sighed. "Well, thats good for you then.
Honestly if you're that close, great. But," she
shrugged, "Everyone's different. I'm sorry, I hope I
haven't offended you. I do get along with Toriat, but
we're hardly confidantes."

"Of course you haven't offended me," Denala said in a
tone of slight amusement. "It's good to learn about
other people. That's why I came over to talk to you,
after all." Seeing that most of the other girls in the
barracks were preparing for lights-out, Denala
realized that it was getting late. "Well, I guess I'd
better go get ready for bed. It was very nice to
meet you, though." She stood and smiled, offering her
hand to Aryn.

Aryn took it, and pumped it enthusiastically. "It was
nice to meet you too. Feel free to chat anytime..."
Aryn immediately looked down to put his swatches back
in order.

Denala laughed silently to herself as she walked back
across the room. She was such a funny girl. But Denala
so appreciated learning about people. She
hoped she could talk to Aryn more, for the learning
experience, and for friendship's sake. One could never
have too many friends.

Last updated on the August 29th 2005

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Not Quite Girl Talk