The Morning After
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 8th September 2025
Characters: Ketlyn, Kemmin
Description: Ketlyn confronts Kemmin over his behaviour at the Hatching Feast.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 8, day 21 of Turn 12
"I can't believe you got that drunk! What were you thinking?!" Ketlyn sat on the edge of her bed and watched her brother sway where he sat on the floor. It was late in the morning and her weyr stank of alcohol and vomit. Kemmin had thrown up in the night and she'd spent nearly half a candlemark wiping it up with rags and a mop.
He'd snored ferociously, too. Ketlyn had debated kicking him each time he'd woken her up but had decided to wake him up early instead. If she had to suffer, they both would.
Kemmin winced and put a hand to his head. "I think I'm going to be sick again..."
"You'd better not be! If you are, you're cleaning it up this time," she told him. "But you can't behave like that! Ale and wine aren't water. Have you ever even had more than a mug of ale at once before?!"
"Sure I have!" He hadn't. "And everyone was drinking lots," he said, shrugging. "You abandoned me in a hall of strangers for _candlemarks_ so I made myself some friends and we started playing this game with a ring, where you had to throw it onto a bottle. And then we were dancing and there was this girl..."
Ketlyn's lip curled. "A girl."
He managed a small, smug smile even as he held up his hands as if to ward her off. "Hey, she introduced herself to me! She said I looked lonely, and I was. Because you _left_ me. And then she dragged me off to this game with a bottle on the ground and then we kissed!"
Ketlyn felt ill. Kemmin had been mere days at the Weyr and was already kissing girls?! What would her Mother think? Or Tris, or the rest of her family? The Weyr could be a wild place. He was her older brother but he had just arrived from the cothold and shouldn't be kissing anyone at all. Ever. "You have no idea what sort of trouble you could have gotten into, Kemmin. The Weyrfolk mean well but they don't always understand when they've gone too far."
"It was a fun Gather. My first Hatching Feast! I have never seen so many people in my life, and everyone was dressed up and happy. Girls wear better dresses here. They're short and--" he drew a line low across his chest and grinned when Ketlyn smacked him. "And the music. I can't wait to hear music like that again! Old Uncle Urvig and his squeaky fiddle is nothing like that. I don't even know what half those instruments are. I didn't know music could be so good!" He slowly climbed onto his feet using the edge of her bed for balance-- then tipped over into it so that he flopped onto the mattress beside her. "It was the greatest night of my life."
He stunk of booze and sweat. Ketlyn edged away from him. "You have to be careful. You could have ended up in the Infirmary or someone's--" she cut herself off. As much as she hoped that none of the Weyrfolk would take advantage of an inebriated cotholder, she wasn't that naive. Her brother was too inexperienced. Too rural. "Or-- or lost forever in the hallways or drowned at the bottom of the lake or something."
"You worry too much," he told her. "And I feel sick. The room is spinning."
Ketlyn glared at him. "You deserve to feel wretched. And you can't stay here."
Kemmin burped and closed his eyes. "I just need a nap. Then I'll go."
"No! This is my bed!" She poked him in the ribs. "Get up!"
But he was already falling asleep. Ketlyn finally admitted defeat when he started to snore again. She tucked him in before crawling off to the bathing pools to wash off the night's excess, and fervently hoped that he wouldn't throw up all over her bedspread before she got back again. Kemmin, she realized, was going to be more of a problem than she'd first thought.
Last updated on the October 3rd 2025