Prospects for Dimglows

Writers: Duskdog, Aaron
Date Posted: 16th July 2024
Series: Lemhask in Love

Characters: H'lem, Tannock
Description: Lemhask takes the plunge and tries to talk to Tannock. Results not guaranteed.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 2, day 15 of Turn 11

The weather was warm -- for Dragonsfall -- the sun was out, and Thread had come and gone the day before. If ever there would be a good day for a walk, this might be it.

Lemhask watched for what he thought would be the best time, when Tannock was not obviously busy with anything else, and then he made his move.

"Oh, hey!" He smiled as though his heart were not pounding out of his chest, and spoke as though he had merely happened to have encountered Tannock. "How are you settling in?"

Tannock, surprised, turned to look at Lemhask and smiled when he realized that he was, indeed, talking to him and not someone else. "Hey! Oh, pretty good I think. I like it here, everyone has been really nice so far. It's nice of _you_ to ask, too. How about you?"

Lemhask's smile brightened to a genuine sunbeam.

"I'm good," he said. He was off to a fantastic start, even. "Has anyone given you the grand tour yet? I thought maybe I could show you around."

"Grand tour? No, I guess not yet," Tannock replied with a little laugh. "Mostly just the barracks and Dining Hall, and I've found everything else I needed as I needed it, but a tour would be nice if you really have the time! Thank you, you're very kind."

"I'm happy to make time," said Lemhask. He almost said, 'for you', but he had to keep it cool, or else he would scare him off. Shells, but his laugh was so perfect. What to talk about...? Well, his dads had both told him something along the lines of, get him to talk about himself.

"Where did y'all come from? You and your dad?"

"Far Island Weyr," Tannock answered. "I miss it a lot, but Dragonsfall is nice so far, too. I'm sure I'll really like being here once the homesickness wears off. Dad says so, anyway, and he's usually right about this kind of thing," he added brightly. "I know it's going to get really cold here, though, and I'm not sure how I'll feel about that when it happens, but I'm sort of excited about it. Something different, you know? How about you? Are you from here...?"

"I'm from here," Lemhask confirmed. "The islands are probably as different as it gets!" He wondered if the big islands in the west were like the small ones in the east and what it would be like to live out on all those islands, where it was so warm, they hardly ever needed to wear clothes. He wondered what it would be like to hug Tannock with no shirt on, skin to skin, feeling his warmth. He smiled like the dining hall hearth fire. "Other than maybe the North. But having friends here would help the homesickness, right?"

"Of course! I hope so, anyway. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I make some... I've never actually moved before, and all my friends back home just... happened, I guess? You don't really realize it's happening when you grow up with people." Tannock smiled wistfully. "Making friends when you're already grown -- or, I guess half-grown -- seems harder."

"Well, you've already got one here, and you didn't realize it was happening just now, either." Lemhask grinned. "So it couldn't be that hard."

Tannock's smile spread into a grin, then a soft laugh. "Apparently not! You're sneaky, aren't you?" he teased lightly. "And quick-thinking. You must have a lot of friends."

"I know a lot of people." Lemhask never was sure whether he was allowed to assume anyone was his friend or whether he was just the tagalong kid they put up with.

"That's a fine first step," Tannock said. "Once you know them, they're either friends or _potential_ friends." He paused thoughtfully. "You have a large family, don't you? Does that make it harder or easier around here for you?"

"I don't really know," said Lemhask. "I've never tried it the other way. But family are kind of like built-in friends sometimes, too. Did you have a big family on your island? Is it very different out west?" He was not terribly familiar with the geography, apart from which direction the Far Island was from Dragonsfall and that there were two larger islands out there, instead of the many smaller islands in the Windswept east.

Tannock paused -- surprisingly, it was a question he had to think about. "I guess? I had my fostermum, and a foster-sister. I've got a few half-sibs, but I'm not close with all of them. I think I was lucky to have my dad in my life. I know not all dragonriders have time, or make the time, but I'm glad he did. Far Island's not so different, I think! It's a little strange not to have water in all directions, but I guess that just makes it a little easier to get around if you're not a dragonrider. Though traveling in the mountains is probably no picnic, either. Have you spent a lot of time outside the Weyr? How are the Holds out here?"

"I've never really been anywhere," Lemhask admitted. "But maybe when you and I are riders, we could go and see what's out there together. Or. Maybe even if only one of us is. I wouldn't mind riding together with you." Was that too forward? Too fast? Was he making it weird? He blushed.

There was another pause as Tannock felt a warning twinge in the back of his mind -- not that something was _wrong_, per se, but more that he was _missing_ something. Or that he had been, until just this moment. He was aware that he didn't always pick up on tone, or subtleties in communication. It was a flaw (or just a peculiarity?) that he shared with his father, though he suspected that he was more aware of it than T'lonas was. Most of the time, it didn't bother him, but sometimes -- like now -- it seemed as if he'd missed something important. The other boy was blushing, and...

...was Lemhask _interested_ in him?

Maybe? But maybe he was wrong. He'd just established that he was _bad_ at this, after all. He played the conversation over in his mind, searching for other clues and -- more importantly -- for his own words and reactions, because maybe he had said something wrong or insensitive simply because he hadn't been fully informed about the situation that he was dealing with. He hated the thought that maybe he'd hurt someone's feelings carelessly without even realizing it.

Oh. He should say something.

"That would be nice," he answered honestly, because it _was_, regardless of how he felt about Lemhask in this moment. Even if he was totally misreading the situation, traveling with just a friend would be exciting, too. "Even if only one of us was a rider, it would be different than just riding with our dads. Like... our own exploration, instead of just tagging along. We could map it out, even."

Lemhask's smile was both overjoyed and relieved. Tannock knew just what he had been thinking. Well, maybe not exactly. But he saw the value in going together, and on top of that, he had said it would be _nice_!

"Yeah. That would be so great. So... Wanna shake on it?"

Tannock beamed. Having something to look forward to, planned and promised, would never _not_ be exciting. It wasn't just one of those things people talked about idly, just to be friendly. "Yes!" he replied, grasping Lemhask's hand. "Absolutely."

They were holding hands!

Kinda!

"It's a deal. Since it might be a while, though... would you wanna get something to eat right now? With me?" Lemhask smiled hopefully.

"Sure!" Tannock could see no reason not to. Did the 'with me' part, the specificity, mean something? Surely it must. Even if he was wrong, he would at least get to know a new friend better. But if he was right, well... the best thing to do would _also_ be to get to know Lemhask better. How else could he judge how he felt about being liked that way by someone, if he didn't even know them properly? "If we hurry, we can get there before all the best cuts are gone."

"Race you?" Lemhask grinned. He would not really try very hard to beat Tannock. He would probably have to try very hard just to keep up. But it did not have to be a real race. Not with him.

Anyone else, though...

Tannock grinned. He wasn't a competitive boy by nature, but fun was fun. "You're on!"

He took off towards the Dining Hall, and Lemhask raced after him.

Last updated on the July 23rd 2024

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