Getting to Know You

Writers: Suzee, Yvonne
Date Posted: 17th January 2021

Characters: Timassa, F'lin
Description: F'lin takes D'hol's advice
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 8, day 3 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: D'hol, J'ackt, Lanniya

Timassa

Mindful of D'hol's advice, F'lin had Seneth ask Saryolth if her rider would want to have an ale with him after dinner. He was a bit
surprised when Seneth said that Saryolth's rider had agreed, but then again Timassa seemed to be a fairly friendly woman. He made space at his table in the dining cavern, found a couple of mugs of cold ale, and sat down to wait for her.

"Evening F'lin," Timassa smiled as she took a seat and looked appreciatively at the cold mug. "That looks wonderful," she said.

He pushed one of the mugs toward her. "The cooks were saying that the brown ale is particularly good right now, but they have a wheat beer too if you prefer something lighter. I wasn't sure."

"I always like to trust the cooks," she smiled. "They never steer you wrong." She put the cold mug to her lips and quaffed deeply. "Oh
that's good. Thanks F'lin," she said. "That's a very good start. What did you want to talk about?"

He gave her his most winning smile. "Nothing, really. I just figured that since we're working together, I should probably get to know you a little better."

"Sounds good to me," she nodded. "Probably the biggest thing people don't know about me is that I was a twin. My sister and I Impressed at the same hatching. What's an interesting fact about you?"

Twins. Interesting. F'lin thought for a moment. "I was never actually Searched, but I ended up Impressing the first time I formally Stood."

She nodded. "That's pretty spectacular," she smiled. "Where did you Impress?"

"River Bluff Weyr. I'm originally from Topaz Sea Hold. What about you?"

"We were born in the lower caverns at Far Island," she smiled. It was funny that she still thought of herself as a twin even with her sister
gone for this many turns. "Our father was the Weyrleader at the time. He's gone now, but ma and granny still live there. I've thought about
inviting them here." She smiled and twisted her neck around. "Do you think they still have any of those spicy meat rolls?"

"What about your sister? Where's she?" F'lin asked.

Her eyes darkened, "She's gone. A training accident got her green before the beginning of the Pass and she couldn't adjust. She left the
Weyr and married some Holder. Died in childbirth." She closed her eyes. She didn't really know F'lin well enough to tell the whole sad story. "She dropped completely out of sight and I didn't know about it for Turns."

F'lin looked down at the ale in his hands. "Oh. I'm sorry. That must have been really hard."

"Yes," she nodded. "But it also makes me very vigilant in the air during 'fall. I miss her every day." She smiled sadly. "But, her son did make it to Dolphin Cove where he Impressed on his first try like you."

"Really? Who?" F'lin asked.

"J'ackt," she said with just a little bit of pride. "He had a bit of a difficult life before impression." Then she chuckled. "Well, it's been difficult since too but I hope he'll find a good path." She looked at him realizing she'd been talking about herself. "What about you?"

F'lin's eyebrows rose at the mention of the other bronzerider. "Hold up, you're related to _J'ackt_? I didn't think he had any family."

She chuckled, "Yes J'ackt, he's my nephew."

The bronzerider shook his head in disbelief, although when he thought about it he realized that he didn't know much about J'ackt at all. The other bronzerider wasn't the sort of person that you sought out unless you had something official to say-- or wanted a punch to the nose. "If I track down some of those spicy meat rolls for you, will you tell me more?"

"Oh yes," she said. "I could sure use some of those right now."

F'lin gave her a little bow, then rose and headed off to see if he could charm a kitchen worker out of a plate of meat rolls. He was successful enough that when he returned, the tray in his hands also had a small pot of yellow mustard, some pickles and peeled, chopped fresh fingerroots. He set the tray down in front of Timassa and returned to his seat. "Hopefully that will be enough?"

"Oh yes," she sighed in appreciation. She picked up one of the meat rolls and dipped it in the mustard. "Oh," she sighed appreciatively as
she chewed. "That is exactly what I needed." A finger root followed the meat roll then a pickle and back to the meatrolls. "So good," she said as she munched. "So what did you want to know?"

He blinked, having expected Timassa to launch into a story upon meatroll delivery. "I don't know. Uh... how did you find out you were related to J'ackt?"

"It was a rider coming from Dolphin Cove to Far Island where I was at the time." She licked her fingers but continued to nibble at the tray.
"He was looking into Weyr records regarding my sister and the Weyr archivist had known us from childhood. He called me in. At that point we hadn't heard from her in almost twenty turns."

"That was lucky," F'lin said. "Maybe I should go out of my way to make friends with the Archivist here?"

"That's never a bad idea," she chuckled. "I can't imagine the kind of job an archivist here is going to have putting all of Riverbluff's records back in order. So much was lost." She shook her head trying to fathom how she'd feel if something similar happened to Far Island.
"I keep thinking I should bring my mother and grandma here from Far Island but grandma doesn't want to move."

"Are they dragonriders too?" F'lin aked.

"Oh no," she said, reaching for the last spicy meat roll. "Lower caverns, grandma was Headwoman for a time."

"That's a tough job. My mom works in the Hold... well, what's left of it. She works hard." He shrugged a shoulder. "I grew up at Topaz Sea
Hold and left after the hurricane."

"Did you have difficulty adjusting to the Weyr?"

"Not really. Most of my family are dragonriders, and my grandma is Tsaera. River Bluff Weyr was as much my home as Topaz Seahold was."

"Oh wow!" Timassa grinned recalling a far away memory. "I sat on her lap once," she chuckled. "She was at Far Island to meet with da and
the Weyrwoman. We were probably about five or six and running around the room while they were talking. She scooped me up and just held me." She shook her head. "Pretty amazing woman." She tilted her head. "Leading probably comes naturally to you then."

F'lin looked down at the mug between his hands. "I wouldn't say that," he said quietly. "But... it's still important to me to take care of the Weyr and Holds. This is the best way I know how, so I'm learning."

She nodded. "I can see that. But I think you're better than you know. D'hol thinks so too." She smiled and put a hand on his arm. "Maybe
lighten up just a little? Have a little fun. Is there anyone special in your life?"

Lanniya came immediately to mind, but distance made that complicated. He smiled. "You've been talking to D'hol, haven't you?"

She smiled back at him. "That does tend to happen when you sleep in the same weyr."

"Speaking of that, I know that I'm a bit behind, but congratulations! I hear that you and D'hol will have your own special person added to
your life soon enough."

"Not behind," she shrugged. "Sorry, it was an accident. We haven't really been announcing it. Though it is going to ground me and make
more work for you. Normally," she started then stopped and rubbed her face. "Normally, I don't keep them. But he was just so... happy." She shook her head. "And he is a great da to his kids." She spread her hands in a gesture of helplessness, though she was also smiling. "What else could I do?"

"From the sounds of it, absolutely nothing." F'lin smiled. "Don't apologize. The Wing will just have to miss you until you're back in the air with us."

"Yeah," she smiled.

She didn't look as happy as Lanniya had when she'd been pregnant. Granted, F'lin's experience with pregnant women was very limited but
Timassa was so matter-of-fact about the whole thing. He hesitated. "I know that we don't know each other well... but sometimes that makes it easier. If you need anything, Timassa... it's all right to ask me. I'm happy to do whatever I can."

"Thanks," she said. "So," she grinned at him. "Can _you_ tell D'hol that twins run in my family?"

Last updated on the February 19th 2021

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Getting to Know You