I'd Go With You

Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 5th July 2017

Characters: Talwynn, D'kere
Description: Talwynn and D'kere have a talk about positions, inspired by the River Bluff arrivals.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 2 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Saibra

Talwynn sat on D'kere's couch, idly swinging her good leg back and
forth and nibbling on a cookie.

"Are you getting any new riders for the Weyrlingstaff from the River
Bluff contingent?" she asked.

"I haven't really heard much, so if we are then G'nir is keeping it
close to the chest." D'kere said honestly, pouring some fresh klah in
his cup. He turned and joined Talwynn on the couch.

"If there are, are you worried about one of them coming in and taking
your position as Second?" she asked.

"Not really," D'kere said honestly. "But if they would like it, that
just means more free time for me and less paperwork."

"More free time for you coooould turn out to be a nice thing," she
teased, running a finger down the side of his leg.

"Especially if that free time involves taking off your clothes. I'm very
good at that." The bronzerider reached out to brush a lock of Talwynn's
hair away from her face.

"I wouldn't complain if we had more time for those activities." She gave
him a playful smile at the thought. "No chance of needy weyrlings
interrupting..."

D'kere grinned, narrowing his eyes playfully at the greenrider, "Is this
a nice way of asking me to quit my job?"

"I know the statistics that some staff members burn out after a bit and
go back into the main wings to fly actively rather than train. So I was
wondering if it had crossed your mind at all," she said. "I wouldn't ask
you to quit if you were enjoying it still."

"I am still enjoying it," D'kere said. "I mean, it has its ups and
downs, but I don't take it quite to heart the way J'darin did when he
was Weyrlingmaster." His former boss had taken everything to heart when
it came to the Weyrlings, and while D'kere cared about them and wanted
to do everything he could to prepare them, he wasn't going to take every
decision they made as something that reflected on him. At the end of the
day, once the Weyrlings had been trained, they had to sink or swim on
their own.

"You don't miss actively flying Fall?"

"Sometimes," he admitted, "but most of the time I'm too busy making sure
a Weyrling doesn't do something stupid during 'Fall. It's a challenge
all its own. And when there are no classes, we get to fly active."

"I worry a lot when you do," she said softly.

It was hard for Talwynn to say it. She didn't like feeling emotionally
vulnerable, and to think about how much the idea of losing D'kere
bothered her was hard enough, to admit it to him even harder. But it was
also easier for her to say she worried about him than it was for her to
admit she was jealous of the fact he _could_.

D'kere studied Talwynn's face, trying to gage her expression and the
tone of her voice. "I am always careful," he said. "Now, where is this
line of questioning really going? You are awfully interested in my
duties tonight."

She looked down at his hand on hers, instead of up at his face, when she
answered.

"What happened at River Bluff and getting all these new riders got me
thinking. About people getting injured, and new people coming in, and
how things don't seem quite as permanent anymore. I didn't know if you
wanted to change anything up. Transfer somewhere else, change your jobs,
something like that."

"Are you wanting to change things up?" he asked.

"I know with all the wing and personnel transfers, some people are going
elsewhere. T'shi was considering going for an open Wingsecond spot at
Windswept Islands. And there's a Wingleader job at Rising Moons that
came open." She didn't know if D'kere had ambition for that type of
rank, instead. "Not much call for retired riders to go anywhere else,
though. We're not exactly in high demand like young strapping bronzeriders."

D'kere grinned a little, "That didn't answer my question. Do _you_ want
to go elsewhere? Change of scenery? Are you still working toward getting
back into a fighting Wing?" He knew that was her ambition, to train
enough with the Weyrlings to prove that she could fight Thread.

"I am still working on going back," she confirmed. "I did wonder if a
new Weyr with new wingleaders might be more inclined to take me
seriously, sometimes I get the feeling people here are set in the image
of me they have and don't see progress."

It was on the tip of D'kere's tongue to tell Talwynn he would speak to
the Wingleaders on her behave, but he knew better than to speak for her,
she was an independent woman, who would speak for herself. "Have you
talked to the Weyrwoman about it? The Queen's Wing takes different kinds
of riders and the flying there isn't as strenuous as the upper Wings."

"No, I haven't. I was waiting for the last Healer's clearance." She'd
been getting a physical every month.

"If I did want to move, though, what would you say?"

"I would go with you, if that's what you wanted." He linked their
fingers together.

There was a smile on her face when she looked up at him. "Funny...that's
what I was thinking when I contemplated you leaving to go be a
Wingleader or something."

"I have no aspirations of being a Wingleader." D'kere told her
truthfully. There was a reason he had always been teased about Kenirath
secretly being a brown dragon instead of bronze.

"Really?" she asked. Before her accident she'd dreamed of being
wingthird - the idea of not wanting to go as high as possible surprised her.

"Really. If the Weyr needed me and the Weyrleader requested I take a
Wingleader position, I would, but it's not something I am actively
seeking on my own. If I sought higher rank it would probably be as a
dragonhealer." D'kere had enjoyed working as a dragonhealer until he'd
taken the Weyrlingmaster's Second position, which had left him with no
time to work in the infirmary.

"Well, if a Weyrdragonhealer spot opens somewhere, and you want to go
for it...I'd go with you." She squeezed his fingers. "I can't imagine
not sharing a Weyr with you now."

That's what he wanted to hear. Taking her chin in his hand, D'kere
pulled Talwynn in for a kiss, "And I can't imagine a Weyr without you."

Talwynn kissed him back fiercely. She couldn't believe how lucky she was
to have found someone like D'kere, who saw her as prickly, stubborn,
independent, bitter, envious - and yet loved her anyway. She didn't
deserve him, but she was going to enjoy this as long as they were together.

"I vote the only talking for the next candlemark is asking for more,"
she suggested.

D'kere growled his approval, and a single word in her ear, "More."

Last updated on the July 21st 2017

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I'd Go With You