A Drunken Dare

Writers: Estelle, Heather
Date Posted: 19th April 2019

Characters: L'keri, R'axe
Description: A game of truth or dare ends with R'axe proposing a challenge for L'keri
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 9, day 21 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: G'nir, R'enh, Saibra, Teseada
This takes place before L'keri goes on his diet!

L'keri

R'axe

"Here we are!" L'keri lowered a tray onto the table which had been taken
over by his fellow wingriders, reclaimed his chair from a greenrider
who'd put his feet up on it and raised his glass to the others. It was
that perfect moment in the evening when the warmth of the dining cavern,
a belly full of food and the fuzzy glow of enough drinks to lose count
of, combined to make him forget his troubles. All the petty irritations,
memories of past mistakes and his still-tense relationship with his son
faded away as he relaxed in the company of his wingmates.

He took a long swallow of his beer and sighed in pleasure. "Ah, this is
good! No more Fall for a few days, and no morning drills tomorrow. Time
to enjoy ourselves."

"No morning drills, that means we have plenty of time for a late night."
R'axe couldn't remember the last time they'd been able to sit down and
enjoy a beer without having to worry about getting up early the next
morning.

"Sounds good to me. A late night, and a lot more of these." L'keri
leaned back in his chair and raised his glass. As he did so, he glanced
over at a nearby table where a small group of young brownriders and
bronzeriders were having an earnest conversation about drill formations.
He rolled his eyes. "No hidework tomorrow morning, either, and no
responsibilities. That's the life for me."

"Let's make things interesting then," R'axe suggested to the group of
wingriders. "I've got a deck of cards," he produced these from an inner
pocket of his vest, leaving one to wonder if he always carried them, "if
we want to get in a few hands of dragonpoker. Or," and then he produced
a token from his pocket, "we can flip for truth or dare. Token up would
be truth, token down," he flicked the piece, "would be dare."

"I vote for truth or dare." Even half-sozzled, L'keri was not going to
risk playing dragonpoker with a man who carried his own cards around
with him. He did not want to spend his precious free morning ferrying
holders about to pay off his gambling debts. He grinned. "It's about
time I learned all my new wingmates' dirty secrets."

The bluerider waved down a drudge, "Would you mind bringing us another
round here?" R'axe looked at the woman with a rakish grin and a wink,
earning the desired effect of a blush and nod.

"Allright, I'll go first," R'axe tossed the coin into the air and
watched as it spun on the table and then landed. "Truth. Okay, who has a
question for me?"

"I do." A greenrider leaned forward with a mischievous glint in her
eyes. "Suppose you could steal away any one of the Wingleaders to your
weyr for a night of pure, unbridled passion. Which one would it be? You
can include the Queen's Wing..."

"And the Weyrlings' Wing. If that makes any difference," L'keri added,
not missing the opportunity to get in a dig at G'nir.

R'axe laughed at L'keri's addition of G'nir. "This is an easy one, it
would be R'enh, for sure. When he first showed up from Dolphin Cove I
had to pick my jaw up off the floor." The bluerider winked as he turned
up his beer and then tossed the coin in the direction of the greenrider
who had asked the question. "Your turn, darlin'."

She flipped the coin and caught it neatly in one hand, then turned it
over onto her upturned palm. "Ooh, dare!"

"I've got one," L'keri said, thinking back to his own performance the
night he'd departed from his old Weyr. "I dare you to jump onto this
table and sing the silliest children's song you can think of at the top
of your voice. Bonus points for dancing."

"All right." She drained her glass with a flourish and got to her feet.
"But you all have to join in the chorus. Someone give me a hand up?"

B'nel stood and offered his hand to help her up, only to be pulled up
beside her on the table as she began singing. The young brownrider's
face blushed a bright pink that was partially hidden behind his shaggy,
platinum hair as heads turned in the Dining Cavern to see where all the
noise was coming from.

R'axe had his hand over his face, dissolving into teary laughter at the
way Denalie was boldly singing for all the Weyr to hear while poor B'nel
looked as if he was hoping the ground might swallow him up.

The other wingriders joined in with the chorus, clapping and stamping in
time. When the song came to an end, there was a round of raucous
applause that spread around the rest of the Dining Cavern. The
greenrider dropped into an exaggerated formal curtsey, sweeping out
imaginary skirts, then sprang lightly down from the table, leaving a
mortified B'nel up there on his own.

Grinning all over his face, L'keri offered a hand to his fellow
brownrider to steady him as he descended. "Looks like you've done your
dare too, wingmate."

"Yeah. It's _your_ turn now," the young man said, flicking the token at
him, where it bounced off his chest and onto the table. They watched as
it bounced once, clinked off a glass and fell face down.

"Another dare." L'keri grinned. "Now I get to show you all what I'm made
of."

R'axe downed his mug of beer, he'd lost count of how many he'd had, and
captured a glass of wine instead, "I've got it!" He held up his wine to
shush the din of noise coming from their table, which was thriving with
ideas regarding what the dare should be for L'keri. "Ssshhh," he shushed
his wingmates, his stance a little wobbly, "the dare... We all know
Sienna Wing has been looking for a Wingthird, and I think we found him!
Your dare, L'keri," R'axe said, spinning and then being pushed up from
falling by B'nel, "is to interview with Saibra and Teseada for the
position."

There was a moment of astonished silence, then a gale of laughter,
hooting and cheering at R'axe's idea.

"Hey," L'keri said in mock outrage, when the noise had died down a bit.
"What's so funny? I think I'm very well qualified to be Wingthird to the
Queen's Wing. I'd bring fresh ideas to the role, and..." He gave the
greenrider sitting across from him a lascivious wink. "I just _love_
taking orders from ladies."

Tears were leaking out the sides of R'axe's eyes from laughter. "How do
we have proof that you've been to the interview?" he asked, wiping his
face with his sleeve.

"You'll know when I appear with those new knots on my shoulder," L'keri
said blithely. He accepted another mug of ale and took a swig. "I can't
wait. You lot will all have to call me 'sir'."

"And if the Weyrwoman and her 'Second unaccountably fail to fall for
your charms?" a bluerider asked.

"Then you'll just have to trust to my sense of honour and fair play. Or
check with the goldriders," he suggested. "Just ask them who their
best-looking applicant was."

The crowd gathered crowed with laughter at the idea, many of them
slapping their hands or drinks down on the table in a roar that was
gathering quite a bit of attention.

"Good luck then, sir," R'axe said as he stood to leave, collecting his
token from between the cleavage of a greenrider who winked at him and
then looped her arm through his to go with him. "I shall eagerly await
word of the new Sienna Wingthird's promotion tomorrow morning."

L'keri saluted him in response, then snagged a nearly-full wine bottle
and turned to the remaining greenriders. "So. Who'd like to come back to
my weyr for some rigorous...interview practice?"

Last updated on the April 26th 2019

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A Drunken Dare