No Kissing On Duty (1/2)

Writers: Aaron, Estelle
Date Posted: 2nd October 2018

Characters: Brennault, R'fal
Description: Brennault delivers a letter to R'fal, and gets a ride on a dragon
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 6, day 2 of Turn 9

Brennault

R'fal leaned against Marlath's side, basking in the warm sun and
watching the weyrfolk go by. He was supposed to be on elevator duty, but
it was not far off lunch time now, and the number of people wanting
rides had diminished, so he likely wouldn't need to take anyone else
today. From where he waited, he could detect the faint but delicious
scent of cooking food from the kitchens, and he hoped it wouldn't be
much longer.

As he watched, he saw a young man who he thought he recognised as one of
the runners approaching one of his classmates and asking her a question.
The greenrider turned and pointed directly at him, and R'fal's heart
leapt. Maybe there was something for him, from his family! It was a long
way to his home cothold, and he'd started to worry that maybe his
letters to them had got lost.

Brennault stepped up to R'fal with a smile, a sort of hopping jog at the
pace of a walk. He was still feeling his runner's high after completing
his latest route, and with the anticipation of delivering his last
letter from that route, he was especially excited.

"R'fal, erstwhile of Emerald Falls or thereabouts, I presume," he said
as he presented with a flourish the final letter in his satchel,
addressed to that very R'fal. "Rider of Brown Marlath, as the letter
says, yes?"

"Yes, that's me! And this is Marlath." The young brown dragon had turned
to gaze at Brennault with interest, lowering his head so they were on a
level.

}:What is he giving you?:{

**It's a letter. Writing... I think it's from my family!** R'fal
accepted the letter and managed to restrain himself from tearing it open
immediately. Instead, he grinned at the runner with clear delight.
"Thank you! This is the first time I've got a letter... um, do I need to
pay you, or anything?"

"Well, hello!" said Brennault cheerily to Marlath. "Can I give you
scritchies, big guy?" he asked the brown once he had handed over the letter.

"No worries on payment – the sender took care of it," he said. "But I
accept tips if you insist." He grinned to show he was mostly joking.
"Are you doing anything for lunch?" He was cute, after all.

"I have to stay here until my duty's over, but it should only be a few
minutes until I'm free, and Marlath says that's just enough time for a
good scratch." The dragon made a hopeful crooning sound and tilted his
head so he was within reach. R'fal reached up to pat the soft, warm hide
indulgently. "That is, if you don't mind! He's shameless about begging
for scratches."

"I don't mind at all, and I love giving scratches, so we're a good
match!" Brennault had a bit of practice by then with knowing where and
how vigorously a dragon tended to enjoy being scratched, and he set
about it with Marlath happily.

"I just got back last night, and you were my last delivery from the
route I just ran, so I've got the whole rest of the day to rest! So.
You're R'fal from the holds, yeah? I'm Brennault. I grew up out in the
protectorate, too! How's the Weyr treating you?"

"Oh, I love it here! Of course, anywhere Marlath is, is good for me, but
still, I think this must be one of the best places to live in the whole
of Pern." R'fal realised that he hardly had a wide experience to draw
on, since he'd never lived anywhere else apart from his home and his
uncle's cothold, but it was hard to imagine a better location than
Dolphin Cove. "Where did you grow up? Are you from a hold, too?"

"Not too far from here – my dad runs a waystation that's the last stop
on one of the runner routes into the Weyr. So. I'm far enough away to
feel like I'm on my own but close enough to see home if I need to," said
Brennault. "Then again, when you're out on the road, you're pretty much
away more than you're home for a while." He laughed.

"I like ending up here."

"You must have seen a lot of the world," R'fal said admiringly. He might
have been jealous if he hadn't known that in a few months, he'd be able
to go anywhere he liked with his dragon. "Marlath isn't old enough yet
to go outside the Weyr on his own, although he can fly. You didn't run
all the way from Emerald Falls, did you?" he asked, suddenly concerned
at what an effort it might have taken to bring him his letter. "That's a
long way!"

"Oh, Faranth, no!" Brennault chuckled. "No, I only brought it in from
the closest waystation on the way into the weyr from the Emerald Falls
route. I've been out that way before, but that's a long, long trip, and
right now, I'm enjoying landing here most nights. A dragon, though..."
He whistled. "I could take things anywhere, go anywhere in the blink of
an eye. You must really be itching for them to cut your tether."

"I am, rather," R'fal confessed. "This elevator duty was exciting at
first, and I know it's meant to be good practice for Marlath and me, so
he can strengthen his wings. But I can't wait to go somewhere on my own,
other than up and down. Taking people up to the highest weyrs is best,
because of the view," he said, not wishing to sound like he was
complaining. After all, a few short months ago, flying with his own
dragon had been beyond his wildest dreams. "I keep hoping that someone
will ask me to take them up to the clifftops, but there isn't much to be
cleaned up there, I guess."

"Well, you're in luck," said Brennault. "How much to take me up to the
clifftops? That's where I want to go." He grinned at R'fal, feeling
rather clever. He could hit several birds with one stone this way. He
would get to ride a dragon and have an excuse to get close to a handsome
fella, and both of them would get to see the sights from up high.

The weyrling's eyes brightened. "There's no charge - I'm on duty here,
so you just have to ask! Come on, Marlath," he said, turning to the
dragon, who had closed his eyes and was rumbling gently with pleasure at
being scratched. "We've got a passenger."

}:I was enjoying that,:{ Marlath replied in mock exasperation, raising
his head and ruffling his wings, ready for flight. }:Do you think he'll
scratch me some more afterwards?:{

**Maybe, if we give him a smooth flight and a gentle landing. No
stunts!** R'fal teased. That was a warning they'd heard a lot from the
weyrling staff. He climbed lightly up to Marlath's back, then held on to
the straps and leaned down to offer a hand to the runner.

Brennault loved to see that kind of glee in people's eyes. He patted
Marlath gently and then reached up to take R'fal's hand. He likely did
not strictly need the help, but there was no sense shunning it – it
would be easier with it, and he would hate to be unkind.

"Thank you," he said with a grin as he settled in on Marlath's neck with
R'fal. Yes, it was most definitely worth it to get close, but he tried
his best not to make it uncomfortable. Hold boys could be a little wary
of this kind of thing.

"Ready?" The weyrling glanced back at him with a swift smile. "Hang on
tight - let's go!" They swayed slightly as Marlath rose to a crouch, his
big leg muscles tensing as he prepared to leap into the air. Then, with
a strong downbeat of his wings, they were aloft, the steep sides of the
weyr cliffs falling away before their eyes as the young dragon gained
height with each wingbeat.

"We've got to stay away from the sea cliffs," R'fal called back over his
shoulder. "There are wind currents there that Marlath can't handle yet,
so we'll head for the land side."

Brennault still was not quite used to the lurching of the take off,
having actually ridden adragonback only a handful of times so far, but
the novelty of the situation only made the experience more exciting
rather than more frightening. He refrained from letting out a whoop if
only to spare R'fal's ears.

"That's perfect!" he called back. He certainly would never want to do
anything genuinely dangerous.

The wind did pick up as they rose above the heights of the Weyr,
whipping R'fal's curls into a tangle. Usually he only reached this
altitude for drills, wearing full riding gear, and concentrating on
keeping his place in formation. This time, even though he didn't think
they were supposed to be sightseeing, he couldn't resist asking Marlath
to fly in a wide circle before gliding down towards the cliffs, so they
could take in the magnificent sight of the Weyr below them and the vast
stretches of land beyond. His classmates' dragons, waiting on the ground
below, looked smaller than firelizards from this height.

"Can you see your waystation from up here?" he called back to Brennault.
"Or is it further out?"

Brennault looked down at the ground for landmarks to orient himself and
then turned to glance out in the direction of the waystation.

"I think," he said, raising his voice over the wind, "it's just out of
sight, that way." He pointed. "Might be as you could see it if not for
the hill there."

R'fal looked out in the direction Brennault had indicated. The hill
seemed a very long way off, as far as he could judge - it might not be
all the way to Emerald Falls, but it was still much further than he'd
ever run in his life. The runner craft sounded exhausting.

"You must have seen dragons all the time, growing up there," he said, as
Marlath adjusted the angle of his wings and descended towards the
cliffs. How lucky, to live in the shadow of the Weyr and see brightly
coloured wings in the sky, every day.

"Well," said Brennault, "it's a lot different to see them up close
enough to give them scritchies than it is to see them from the ground
when they're way up here." He laughed.

"Apprentices don't get the first dibs on assignments, so I didn't
usually get to run here for the night until I got promoted – let alone
get the chance to make the weyr my home base!"

"It must be a popular assignment." R'fal would have given anything to go
and work at the Weyr, back when he'd been a herder. "Did you ever think
of standing as a Candidate? I heard that weyrfolk can ask if they want.
You might end up with a dragon of your own to scratch," he added as
Marlath chose a landing place and beat his wings to slow their descent.

"I've given it a thought or two since I came here," said Brennault as
they came down slowly. "I wouldn't mind it, for the most part. Flying up
to flame Thread seems a bit... risky, though," he added.

That was the only thing that kept him from enthusiastically saying yes
to the prospect.

"Not to get you thinking about that sort of thing, anyway..." Brennault
hated to draw attention to the very real danger of horrible, fiery
death. Or cold, empty, dark death. Or both.

"Oh, it's all right. After all, any number of horrible things could have
happened to me back at the cothold," R'fal said cheerfully. "I could
have got a fever, or been attacked by wild felines, or bitten by a
snake. It's really not that much more dangerous, when you think about
it, and at least here I have Marlath to look after me." Of course, being
seventeen and with all his life ahead of him, the weyrling didn't really
believe any of those things could possibly happen to him.

Marlath settled down on a flat area of rock, close to the edge of the
cliffs, and folded his wings. R'fal could sense his pride at the neat
landing, and he echoed it back to the young dragon. **That was good! I
wish the Weyrlingmasters had seen that.**

"Well, here we are, at the top of the cliffs, as promised!" He slid down
to the ground and gestured at the view laid out before them. "What do
you think?"

Last updated on the January 29th 2019

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No Kissing On Duty (1/2)