An Outlet

Writers: Miriah, Yvonne
Date Posted: 20th April 2019

Characters: Ma'din, Harki
Description: Different people deal with grief and worry... differently.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 10, day 20 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Paetri, Rorela, J'kri, Kielya, Dheymin, D'hol

Ma'din

Harki had to pass Paetri's weyr -- Paetri's old weyr -- on the way back from the bathing pools after her afternoon drills. The greenrider averted her eyes and hurried past, trying her best to ignore the ache in her chest. It was only a day since the hard 'Fall. Two long, horrible days where everyone kept going to drills and eating and sleeping like nothing had been lost. It was the way of the Weyr. It stunk.

Her own weyr was quiet. Harki dropped her riding gear on her bed, then spent a moment hanging it up like she ought to. It was so quiet. She imagined Paetri sitting on the chair in the corner, like she used to, and laughing with her and Rorela. Rorela, who was now stuck in the Infirmary with Threadscore. Paetri, who was gone. Harki picked up her helmet and threw it hard at the chair. The helmet cracked against the chair's arm, bounced off and rolled on the floor. Harki scowled at it. It wasn't fair. It wasn't _fair_. They were good dragonriders. Rorela and J'kri shouldn't have been stupid enough to get 'Scored, and Paetri shouldn't have been stupid enough to panic. She should have come home.

Anger and grief made sitting impossible. Her weyr was too small. Normally she'd go knock back a few with Rorela or go surfing or something, but Rorela was in the Infirmary. There was someone, though... she wrenched open her door and strode down the hallways to Ma'din's weyr, where she knocked. **He'd sharding well better be here for once,** she thought sourly.

The door opened, revealing the tired brownrider, who had himself only recently bathed. Looking at her face, he stepped back, opening the door wider. "Thought I'd see you soon. Come on in. How is she?"

"Fine. Good enough. Two nipples." Harki stepped inside and immediately flopped into the nearest of Ma'din's chairs. "Rorela already wants to plan a party."

Ma'din sat on the edge of his bed and smirked. " Thank Faranth for small favors. They were cute nipples." Resting his elbows on his knees, he rubbed at one of his eyes. "Does she? Well, not surprised, but she's not going to be up for it. Not for a while at least. She has no idea what healing from a Threadscore is really like." He glanced up. "You're going to throw one anyway?"

The greenrider shrugged. "Probably. You coming?"

"Depends on when it is." He rolled his shoulders, stretching them and sighed when he both heard and felt the pops along his back. "Got a lot going on right now, pet. "

Her gaze sharpened, Rorela's admonishment to talk for a change whispering in her ear like a ghost. She gave in. "Yeah? What's up?"

"Got some family stuff going on." He shrugged, but the tiredness in his eyes and the abnormal slump to his shoulder was evident. "Been going back and forth to Dolphins Cove since the beginning of the month."

"You have been gone a lot." Harki paused. "What's going on?"

He lifted his head, peering at her. "Got two siblings there, Harki. I don't have family here, pet. Plus, their...our...Father is...well, I may have to step up a bit." He rubbed his face. "Don't fecking laugh, Harki. I may be an ass, but my little sister is spunky little gem. Little brother...well, just found out about him."

As he spoke, Harki had felt her eyebrows rise in surprise. She thought up and rapidly discarded a dozen snarky replies and settled on, "Oh." The greenrider paused a moment. "What's the matter with your Da?"

"Can't say." His lips curled up in a humorless smirk. "Gave my word to the man." He rubbed his jaw, remembering the solid blow that D'hol had laid on him. "Don't much like him to be honest, but the man can fight better'n me. Wasn't expecting that. Rattled my teeth pretty good." His smirk grew, becoming rather pleased. "But I gave as good as I got."

"And here I thought you...." Harki stopped, then shook her head. "Never mind." She didn't get family. To her, family was a series of fosterparents and a pack of weyrbrats her own age. A nasty thought occurred to her. "What do you mean, 'step up'?"

"Well, the little sis, her mother's the Weyrwoman and she's got a weyrmate that looks after her, so there's just some visiting, but the little brother, well... not so much." He shrugged, then leaned back, eyes narrowed. "You thought I what?"

"I certainly _didn't_ think you got beat up like that by some old codger," she said lightly. This family streak was new and it made her wary. People did things for family. Like leave. Harki stood and began to pace the room. Over to the shelves, then to run her fingertips over the top of Ma'din's dresser. She couldn't sit still anymore.

"Hey!" Ma'din immediately protested. "He ain't that old, woman. And he's a bronzerider to boot, so the man bloody well knows how to throw a hard punch. And I had to get it from someone didn't I?" His eyes followed her with a scowl, then he crossed his arms. "Alright then, out with it, Harki." He rose and paced to stand right in front of her. "Spill."

She frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"You're pacing like a crazed watch-wher at the end of a chain. " He tilted his head, sharp eyes reading her face. "You're not just needing a good shag, either. I gave you that last night." His eyes flicked over her, taking in the tension. "You're well and truly pissed off, aren't you? But not at me."

The greenrider glared at Ma'din for a long moment. It would be so easy to pick a fight. It might even feel good. But she took a deep breath and let it go, mostly because Rorela wouldn't let her hear the end of it if she did. "You know I don't like being cooped up. And I feel cooped up."

He countered her glare with a smirk and considered goading her into a temper, unaware that she was thinking the same. She looked to be close to exploding. Faranth knew that sometimes he needed the same. "Such control, pet. You looked like you wanted to try snapping me in half. I'd dare you to try, but you'd lose." His eyes glinted as he purposefully leaned closer. "Then why are you here and not running off to the beach or somewhere else?"

**Ass.** She bared her teeth in a rictus of a smile. "Flaming good question, Ma'din! I was considering seeing if you wanted something to do, but I get the distinct impression that the answer is no."

Harki was, he thought, aching to lash out at somebody or anybody. "Oh, I want to do something, but I doubt it's what you want." He pressed her further, stepping into her space and barely more than an inch away." He bent to whisper in her ear. "You want to explode and not from a good shagging."

She leaned in close as well. "You don't know anything about me," she said, before stepping around him. Why the shells did he have to smell good!?

"I know you better than you think." He turned with her, but snaked his arm around her waist to turn her back around to face him. "I bloody well know that you're angry, your best friend was hurt and could have died and your other friend is dead. You don't want to think about it."

She planted her hands on his chest and gave him a solid push to let him know that she wasn't going to tolerate getting yanked around like a fish on a line. "So what, you want to sit around and talk about feeeeelings?" Her lip curled at the last word. "Don't pretend like that's a thing you do."

Eyes narrowed, he had to put a foot back to keep his balance, but kept his arm firmly around her waist. If he tumbled back, by Faranth so would she. "Me?" He snorted. "Hardly." He tapped her nose insolently, "But at least I know how to handle it."

"You patronizing piece of shit." She hit his hand away-- hard. She wished she'd hit the smirk clean off his face instead. "Get your hands off me. I'm done talking to you."

"Is that all you got, Harki? Getting angry? Don't know how to handle it?" He let her go, but still stood in front of her, his eyes daring her to try to score another blow. "Or are you just going to go back to your weyr and think about how your friends aren't there? How close Rorela came to doing just what your friend Paetri did? How it could happen to me? Or anyone else you want to keep safe?"

She laughed and made for the door. The room was too small and the more Ma'din yapped, the more she wanted knock his teeth in. Rorela's advice about 'talking for once' was garbage. Harki could feel herself shake, she was so angry. "Yeah, we're so done here. Go pull that smarmy mindhealer bullshit on someone else who will be _so_amazed_ at how wise you think you are."

"No, we're not." His eyes narrowed and he moved to stand in front of the door, blocking her. "I'm no mindhealer, pet. You don't think I've lost a friend? Or that I don't know how it feels? You get pissed off and would rather do anything rather than think about it. You think I don't know exactly what you're doing right now?" He stared at her, eyes narrow before snapping out, "You're angry and hurting and you can bloody well take it out on me. I can handle it. But shaffit, woman, I've got enough on my bloody plate right now without having to worry if you're going to do something idiotic and get yourself hurt too." He stood up straight, jaw tight. "You don't think I keep an eye on you and Rorela during Falls? You two are the one ones I fecking give a shit about here. The only ones. So get fecking mad at me, hit me if you bloody well have to!"

Harki had just been thinking about hitting Ma'din, but although she hated the brownrider at that moment, she hated being predictable more. She stared at him angrily, then spun on her heel, picked up the glass of water that he had on a small table by the bed, and threw it at his head. Predictably, he ducked. It gave her enough time to pick up the table and throw that at him too.

Ma'din had just enough time after ducking the glass of water to lift his arm to block the small table that was flung directly at his head. He batted it away and tensed, ready for the next thing she would throw. The glass tinkled down to the floor, his boot crunching the pieces into little shards as he adjusted his feet. His arm would be bruised, but at least she was letting go. His weyr might not survive it, but it could be cleaned and repaired far better than any broken bones she might have if he'd let her go like she was.

"You're a know-it-all piece of shit!" Harki jabbed a finger at the brownrider and moved toward a wooden chair, which also got thrown at Ma'din. There was an upholstered chair too-- that she grabbed by the top and began dragging it toward Aznith's couch so she could throw it into the Weyrbowl.

He grunted as the chair connected with his chest and shoved it away with a kick. But when she grabbed his chair, his _favorite_ chair, and began to drag it, he decided that it was enough. He lunged forward, grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away, lifting her off of her feet. "Not that one, shaffit!"

Harki was a solid woman. She kicked at his knees with her heels until he dropped her again, and she whirled to face him with her hands up defensively. "You said 'let it out'," she said venomously, "so I am shaffing well letting it out!"

"On me, not my sharding furniture!" His knees ached from the strikes by her heels, and he knew that they'd be bruised and sore by the morning. But he couldn't help but crack a wild grin; shaffit, but he was getting aroused by the squabble. With a lunge, he flew at Harki in a full-bodied tackle, bearing her back onto the floor but letting his elbows take the brunt of the fall. He grunted with the impact, grabbed quickly at her hands and pinned them. "I don't know whether or not to paddle your backside until you can't sit," he panted, still grinning, "or feck you until we're both raw."

She arched her back and it was enough leverage to kiss him -- just to get him to stop shaffing talking. But if he thought he was going to be the one walking funny the next day, he was going to be very mistaken.

He groaned at the kiss, releasing her long enough to thread his fingers through her hair. He pulled his mouth away, tilted her head back, and his mouth found her throat.

Last updated on the April 26th 2019

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An Outlet