Dinner Date

Writers: Duskdog, Shawna, Sia
Date Posted: 30th November 2024

Characters: Aydhan, Nidre, N'kevyn
Description: The Weyrwoman Seconds (and N'kevyn) have dinner
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 1, day 15 of Turn 12

Aydhan

Nidre

N'kevyn

Aydhan returned home from a long rotation in the Infirmary to the smell of something fantastic cooking. She took in the smells as she changed out of a worn healer outfit and into something much more presentable (though her favorite boots were missing) and stepped back into the main area. "Look at you, trying to impress a girl. Clearly I should've been your mistress."

“Well, Nidre barely knows me. I have to do my best to woo her,” N’kevyn said seriously as he prodded the food in the pan in front of him. “I’ve given up on impressing you,” he added in an exaggeratedly mournful tone.

Jossenth carefully alighted on the weyrledge outside, drawing herself in close and small once she was safely landed so as not to steal too much space from Avicath and Tymborikath. }:Apologies for the squeeze,:{ she told the other dragons. }:Once I’ve left my rider, I can sit upon the heights, if that would be better!:{

Nidre felt, rather than heard, something else on the tip of her dragon’s mental “tongue” as the gold eyed Avicath’s bulk. **Don’t you _dare_ call that dragon fat.**

}:I was going to say “cozy”,:{ Jossenth defended, but (thankfully) chose to heed Nidre and say nothing.

Nidre dismounted and ran a quick hand through her short hair. There wasn’t enough of it to muss, really, but she wanted to make sure that she hadn’t sweated too much under her helmet. Wouldn’t that be an awful impression? “Leave sweaty, don’t show up sweaty,” as a friend of hers had once advised with a twinkle in her eye.

Satisfied, she headed inside, pausing at the threshold between the outside and the weyr proper. “Hello?”

}: Avicath can sit up in the heights if there isn't enough room.:{ Tymborikath said graciously, and absolutely not still mad that he stole her favorite sunning spot a few candlemarks ago.

"There's the homewrecker now!" Aydhan announced and waved Nidre in with a laugh. "Have you seen the latest Emerald Falls gossip pamphlet? They caught you and my weyrmate getting all cozy on the dance floor." She did, in fact, have a copy of said gossip pamphlet and opened it to show Nidre the headline. "Though I'm afraid whoever this Baliera is was more scandalous than the two of you."

}:I am not going to the heights,:{ Avicath said, trying to tuck himself into a corner.

Then Tymborikath muscled into his space, and as he tried to adjust, the next thing he knew, the majority of his bulk had been shoved out of the weyr.

}:I live here!:{ he protested indignantly, barely more than his head and half his neck still inside.

“Who is this Baliera and how dare they be more of a story than us. We were magnificent.” N’kevyn came out from where he was cooking. The big bronzerider had a knife in one hand, and a rather frilly apron stretched across his bulk. “Hello, please feel free to ignore my wife. She has a flair for the dramatic.”

“Wow,” Nidre’s eyebrows went up as she took in the sight of N’kevyn in his apron. “You weren’t kidding about the cooking, were you? Not even a little bit. You’re all-in. And you have the nerve to say that _she’s_ dramatic.”

She looked back at the pamphlet so that she could read more of the story. “I hope you know this is lies and slander, Aydhan. I never touched his butt.”

"That's a missed opportunity, if you ask me." Aydhan said, "He has a nice butt. And thank you, I _am_ the least dramatic of us. N'kevyn combats the empty nest with too many hobbies. A man has to fill his time with more than Threadfall and greenflights or he starts getting antsy. Wine?"

“I flexed it and everything, but she kept her hands polite,” N’kevyn grumbled. “White wine, we’re having fish,” he said it with the tone of someone willing to fight about wine preferences. “How does it describe me? Am I dashing or dignified?”

Nidre squinted at the page. “‘Dastardly’, actually. You’re just the cheater, though. Apparently that isn’t as bad as being the homewrecker. I wasn’t aware that leading paragons of virtue astray was a hobby I have, but looks like it must be.” She glanced up at Aydhan. “You don’t _look_ like you’re ‘too distraught for comment’.”

"I'm sure they could assume nothing else when I didn't answer their queries-by-firelizard." Aydhan said as she got the wine as directed and three glasses, "It's tragic, really, my weyrmate's fall from grace the moment I let him go to a beach unattended."

N’kevyn started bringing steaming dishes out to the table, “Really, the Dolphin Cove Weyr tourguide is to blame. She ran off with my daughter and I was left to my own devices, and you know us bronzeriders can’t control ourselves in public.”

“Are you implying that you can control yourselves in private?” Nidre asked skeptically.

Aydhan laughed as she handed Nidre a glass of wine. "Asking the _real_ questions, Nidre. N'kevyn is very well behaved in private, but he's an exception among bronzeriders. It's taken a lot of time and effort."

“It’s true,” he said seriously, “she snared me at an early age and trained me well.” Then he ruined it by waggling his eyebrows at them both. “How are things with you and your Weyr, Nidre? Have you decided you're sick of the sand and want to trade Aydhan yet?” He ducked any projectiles or swats his Weyrmate aimed at him.

“I don’t know, what would you like in exchange for her?” Nidre pretended to consider Aydhan speculatively. “I’m not sure that I have a suitable trade.”

Aydhan lifted her chin and straightened, enjoying the attention. "That's all right, Kev knows how to share." She purred.

That wasn’t what he’d meant, but N’kevyn wasn’t stupid enough to clarify, “Oh, she’s priceless, so there’s nothing I would trade for her… but there’s nothing wrong with a little sharing among friends.”

“And here I thought you’d invited me for the food,” Nidre said. “You put so much effort into making it…” Not that she would object to skipping dinner. She hadn’t been entirely sure that Aydhan would be as accommodating as N’kevyn had originally insinuated, but as it turned out, it seemed he wasn’t exaggerating. This was certainly different. Refreshing. “Do you have friends over to… share dinner… often?”

"Not as often as we used to." Aydhan said with a sigh. "We've been on our best behavior. It's one thing to have a bit of fun with some friends when you're all wingriders, but it's another for the new Weyrwoman Second to be scoping out greenriders in the Lower Caverns."

“Nevermind the fact that she’s just busier,” N’kevyn chimed in. “It’s been hard to find the time to make new friends, but I did enjoy my time at Turns End. And, I did invite you for the food, although if you’re more interested in before dinner entertainment, I can be accommodating.”

“It would be a shame to let the food go to waste after you put so much work into it,” Nidre decided. “I’m sure the entertainment will be worth the wait. And yes, I get it -- I think there’s something to be said for establishing a professional presence before testing the limits much. I guess that’s out the window now that I’m a homewrecker, though. Those printers really do print anything and everything, don’t they?”

"Do they ever." Aydhan said with a laugh. She leaned back in her chair, focusing on the food for the first time. She could be patient, and she did love N'kevyn's cooking. "And you're a Weyrwoman Second, too, and at another Weyr. We don't have any professional boundaries to cross. Aside from being a homewrecker, at least."

“I hope they paint me in a sympathetic light,” N’kevyn said, finishing dishing up the food, “they can hardly expect a simple minded bronzerider to be able to resist the charms of a beautiful goldrider.”

Aydhan tilted her head as she studied Nidre. "A beautiful goldrider bold enough to step into my weyr, steal my weyrmate, and still look that good doing it? You might be dangerous, Nidre. I like that. And a home-cooked meal from N'kevyn is worth a scandal or two."

“I have many talents and services I offer,” N’kevyn said with comical suggestiveness to Nidre, “but first, food.”

Last updated on the December 8th 2024

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Dinner Date