Where We Are

Writers: Avery, Yvonne
Date Posted: 24th May 2024

Characters: F'lin, Riveenata
Description: Riveenata and F'lin talk about life, the universe, and everything else
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 9, day 20 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: C'rin, K'lvin, Kapera, D'hol, K'ran, N'vanik, Aydhan

Sunlight skipped across the weyrlake, but the wind was cool and smelled of hay and summer flowers. F'lin stood on the edge of the lake and stared out over the water. It still didn't feel like home.

As much as the temperate breeze and sough of the wind in the grass was lovely, he missed the crushing heat of River Bluff Weyr. The tropical flowers, the humid nights and rush of waves against sand... he sighed and sat, handing the half-empty bottle of cider in his hand to the greenrider next to him. "Do you ever wonder where we'd be if we were still at River Bluff?"

"I think I'd be so much less confused," she murmured as she took it and pressed it to her forehead. "Having to leave felt like the beginning of the end of everything I knew and understood about my life."

The bronzerider sighed. "I hate feeling homesick for somewhere that doesn't exist anymore. Don't tell anyone but Barrier Lake doesn't feel like home."

She nodded firmly in agreement. "I wish they'd rebuilt our old Weyr. Surely there were some other suitable caves nearby it. Or just build right onto the rocks above it and have one made of all buildings with open air dragon couches. I miss _real_ water and the flowers. Sometimes Savith and I go back to sit and listen, when we can't sleep. Maybe she should tell Seneth the next time we go?"

"I'd like that." Although going back meant looking at Lenana and Vilarth's tomb... so many people were buried under the mountain. He sighed again. "Maybe once I'm a Weyrleader I can suggest it at a Conclave. Keep your fingers crossed for me that Seneth wins Riyanth's next flight."

"It makes me wish K'ran had fought harder for something like that. He was a good Weyrleader, not all hidebound traditional - that might have made it so that he could have argued more when they said build and find a new place. But then again, he wasn't Bluff."

That was the problem, wasn't it? How many people just...were not Bluff people? Barrier Lake's open Weyrleadership at the beginning meant that ambitious bronzeriders had come in from all the existing Weyrs, so while many of the chromatic riders and residents were former Bluff folk who hadn't wanted to go else-Weyr and assimilate out...the leadership was foreign heavy.

"As for winning a flight, you'll have my vote for it. Although possibly you _shouldn't_ have my vote for it. I mean, don't tell K'lvin." Because her situationship with the Weyrlingmaster was...over a Turn old and it was still...complicated to think about.

F'lin laughed at that. "I won't tell if you don't. How is it going with K'lvin, anyway?"

"What if I said I hate you for asking?" she said, but there was no heat in it.

She took a deep swallow from the cider that he'd handed her and looked up at the sky. F'lin was one of her oldest friends, ever since she'd Stood on the Sands with him; quite likely her oldest friend who hadn't been born at River Bluff with her. He was one of those stalwart friends where it was okay that they drifted apart for some months and ran with different crowds - or when they'd been apart during transfers for a bit - but they always came back to spending time together.

As such, he knew what had been going on - that K'lvin had invited her to go from Dolphin Cove to join him at Barrier Lake when he took the Weyrlingmaster role, that her Threadscoring had gotten in the way of it, that both K'lvin and C'rin had been caring for her during that and courting her. That eventually she had transferred as she'd promised but she'd never actually moved in with K'lvin, and that it had devastated her friendship with C'rin and thus harmed her heart, and that she'd been spending months in such an awkward detente with everyone as she struggled with being indecisive.

"I like being around him, but... I miss C'rin," she said. "And he doesn't much like me visiting."

"C'rin's an idiot. Even if he can't have the exact kind of relationship he wants, he's throwing away a perfectly good friendship." F'lin nudged Riven's shoulder with his own. Riven's love life made F'lin glad that he hadn't found anyone who made him feel the way those two made the greenrider feel. While a part of him was envious, mostly he saw how much it dimmed her smile-- and it made him want to punch the pair of them.

Of course, the Wingsecond of the Weyrleader's Wing was above punching idiots in the face. But he did still sometimes think about it. "Besides, he transferred to Dragonsfall Weyr. Who wants to go there, anyway? It's _cold_."

"Honestly, he might have the right of it," she said, the admission springing unexpected to her lips. "Barrier Lake is so much not quite right. It's colder here, and more grassy. But it overflies the old territory, so we see familiar landmarks - like how it's close to Garnet Valley. So it's familiar but just a little off. Whereas when we were at Dolphin Cove, it was tropical but it had the wrong sand, and it flew over unfamiliar places. So it was the wrong places but a close climate - still off. Dragonsfall is a totally different cold climate and it doesn't overfly the old places, so it's the cleanest break. Maybe _he_ did the smart thing."

She set down the bottle, picked up a rock, and skipped it off the lake - or tried to. She got in one hop and then it sank. It felt like a metaphor for the greenrider's own emotions. "You're right that he's an idiot, though. Even if he doesn't love me anymore, I miss...I miss talking to my friend."

"His loss. Maybe he's got the right of it that a clean break with Bluff is easier, but I don't think it's better. I don't want to forget. There's too many good memories there for me to just give up and walk away... and I'm talking about you, too." He nudged her shoulder with his own again. "He really is missing out. I wouldn't lose you as a friend for all of Pern."

"I'm glad many of my friendships have stuck around even with us scattered. It sucks when someone you thought would stay with you doesn't. I mean...we lost our home, we shouldn't lose each other, too. Not over stupid things. Friendship should matter more then that."

She kicked at a rock, then leaned into his shoulder. "Do you think I'm stupid for caring so much when he doesn't seem to?"

He wrapped an arm around her in a hug. "No. If you didn't care, you wouldn't be Riven."

"Thanks for reminding me that when I need to hear it." She hugged back and burrowed her face in his shoulder to compose herself. When she pulled back, her expression was a little brighter. "What got you off on this tangent? Thinking about moving?"

It was his turn to pause. Barrier Lake wasn't home, but it was where his friends were... but he also _wanted_ things. To be Wingleader. To be Weyrleader. To rebuild River Bluff, his grandmother's Weyr... "Sometimes I do. I heard that Hurricane Wing back at Dolphin Cove Weyr is looking for a Wingsecond. It would be a lateral move, but... I can't say that I'm not tempted. Which makes no sense because it's not moving up at all."

She wrinkled her nose. "Why would you want to go anywhere but here, unless it was to be a Wingleader? You know the leadership here and like it, and Seneth's old enough for a Weyrleader to make that call if a space opens. You think D'hol or K'ran wouldn't pick you for it here? That N'vanik would be more likely to?"

"No. I don't know." F'lin rubbed his face with his hands. "I just... no matter what I do, nobody sees me as _old_enough_. I'll be one hundred and fifty Turns and on my deathbed and I swear, people will still wonder if I am capable."

She bit her lip, thinking about it. "It's a little weird to me that we're the same age but since Seneth is three Turns older, there's such a gap. I mean, Savith might be old enough to let us be eligible to be a wingthird soon, but I don't feel ready for it. But you're _my_ age and already a Wingsecond, and I think you've done an _amazing_ job. And clearly so does the rest of leadership."

But never good _enough_. F'lin managed a smile. "Thanks."

"I'm serious that I don't want you to move, though. I'd rather you become a Wingleader _here_. I don't want to lose you again. Even though I could visit you, just like my parents or C'rin. If you moved I'd have to move, and..." Okay, maybe she wouldn't _actually_ have to move. Having to move might be part of her problem with wanting to be with C'rin - she'd moved to Barrier Lake to be with K'lvin, she missed C'rin, but she didn't want to have to go to Dragonsfall... But she figured her general point still stood.

"...and that would be _so_ inconvenient for you." It was oddly touching that she'd even say that she'd move to another Weyr with him. He smiled, this time a real one. "Duly noted. No inconveniencing Greenrider Riveenata. Gotcha. No more moving."

"Don't you forget it!" She laughed hard and then shoulder-checked him more aggressively.

She picked up another stone and threw it while she gathered her thoughts, then said, "So what are you and Seneth doing when you aren't trying to become the most perfect wingsecond? Do you have any salacious gossip?"

"We already _are_ the most perfect. But... not really gossip, but we are getting a new Weyrwoman's Second for Kapera. Her name is Aydhan and she's from High Reaches Weyr. I guess Cyradis at Dolphin Cove Weyr met her first and recommended her for here."

"Oh, intriguing. High Reaches, huh? It'll be nice and warmer for her."

The bronzerider shivered. "At least _someone_ will be warm. I find it cold here, don't you?"

"Yes, it is. That's why I'd never go anywhere colder. But I do find some charm in the water and all the boats."

He nodded in agreement. "What about you? Any salacious gossip to share?"

“In fact, yes. So do you remember S’kev? Impressed in Weyrleader K’ran’s only clutch? Well, turns out he’s romancing a holder. Not just any holder. The eldest sister of the young lord of Agate Creek minor hold. You know, the one who got confirmed on his 22nd…” And she launched into the tale.

Last updated on the June 1st 2024

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Where We Are