Pressing Questions

Writers: Francesca, Iluva
Date Posted: 16th September 2025

Characters: Riali, N'mar
Description: Riali and Neymar search for Neymar's shirt.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 8, day 16 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: W'yel

N'mar

Now that the time was drawing near, the talk was all about the clutch. Excitement permeated the air, and perhaps the best (and strangest) part was that all they had to do on the day of was show up.

Neymar had his robe ready to go, folded as neatly as he could make in his big hands, which wasn't very neat at all with so many loose threads snagging on all his callouses. As for his other clothes -- _that_ he wasn't so sure of. He went through his trunk for a few minutes, then checked the fresh pile of clothes deposited at the foot of his bed. But that turned up empty, too.

So he ducked down to the laundry, hoping to find Jolara or someone else who could help locate his good green shirt. His mother had sent it a while back in a small, neatly tied package. Wearing it when she arrived was high on his list.

"Hello?" Neymar called at the counter, leaning against it casually as he waited.

Riali liked the laundry. The heat, the smells, the sounds; they reminded her of home. She was just closing a bag of clean clothes when she faintly heard the male voice in the next room.

"Go see what he wants," one of the older women ordered, taking the bag from her and putting it with the others that were ready to be delivered.

Riali nodded and walked to the counter. She recognized the young man there as a Candidate but didn't remember his name. "Hi. Can I help you?"

"Sure hope so." Neymar said pleasantly. He'd been half-expecting Jolara up until Riali appeared, but either way he still had to lean his forearms
on the counter so they were closer to eye level. "I've got my most recent bundle upstairs, and that's all fine, but it's missing this dark green button-up shirt. It was from my ma - do you think it might've gotten left behind somewhere down here?"

She flushed, even though she hadn't been responsible for the mix-up. "A dark green button-up shirt?" she asked, repeating his words. "That would have been from a few days ago, right? From the Candidate Barracks?"

He nodded. "Yep, from the Barracks. I don't need it right this minute, or anything. But it was at least a few days ago. Could be under anything by now. I don't mind helping, either."

She looked strong despite her size, and he didn't want to presume that she _needed_ help, particularly in the job she did every day. Plenty of Weyr women didn't like when it was even offered unprompted, but he'd feel a little bad if she ended up putting a lot of time and attention into finding something that might not even be down here.

The healer had warned her to be careful about lifting heavy loads. And, while piles of clothes weren't exactly heavy, her back and hips were aching slightly, so she decided to accept the help. "We can look in a few places." She gestured for him to follow her into the heat and steam of the laundry rooms. "Here's the lost and found; clothes that were separated from the rest." She pointed to a counter and some shelves with a variety of clothes, folded and roughly sorted by size and type. "And here," pointing to a smaller number of clothes, "are clothes in need of mending. They should have the person's name attached to them, and you should have received a note with the last laundry bag but," she shrugged, "things sometimes get misplaced. Where do you want to start?"

Neymar followed her with curiosity, eyes drawn to the whirlwind of rich, dark fabrics sheafed throughout the lost and found sections with hope. "Hmm let's try over here." He said with a deep tone of interest, flashing a wide smile at her over his shoulder before he surveyed the shelves, eyes raking over them at a relaxed but intent pace. He hesitated a moment, and then plucked a small stack from a shelf near the top and began carefully flicking through the collars so as not to undo someone else's very meticulous organization. "It normally wouldn't be a big deal, but she -- my ma, I mean -- is going to be here for this Hatching. If by some chance I Impress, then I don't want to show up at the feast looking shipwrecked or holdless when she sent me something that nice. And green really goes with everything, you know? And..." Neymar trailed off, realizing he was rambling.

After a long silence he glanced up, and asked, "what about you? You excited for this hatching? It's your first, right?"

Riali only half-listened as Neymar spoke, her attention on finding his shirt. Knowing that some young men weren't very discerning, she pulled out all the green shirts she found to show him, just in case.

His change in tone made her realize he was asking her a question and she caught enough of it to attempt an answer. "Yeah, it's my first," she said, still looking at the clothes. "I'm glad we got to touch the eggs. They're so big."

Neymar replaced the stack of clothing high up on the shelf with no luck to be had so far.

"I know. This is only my second clutch, but I can't imagine how that part could ever get old. Who gets to just _touch_ dragon eggs?" He
said with pleasant awe, eyes systematically running over the stack of greens Riali had compiled for him. "And it's very good no one got eaten, either. Imbeth's one of the feistier mothers, from what they've said in the barracks. That's not a way I'd want to go." Once he found one to investigate further-- it being roughly the right shade in this light-- Neymar tugged it free of the others with a gentle shake, peering at the details affixed inside. "Ah scorch it." He muttered down its neck a moment later.

Trying to fold it back up the way it had been before, it turned out... passable. "Sorry." He murmured. Then he did another slow scan of the shelves, really taking everything in, then crouched down and, planting a knee on the floor, inspected another richly hued stack of what could promisingly be shirts. "So where are you from, Riali?"

Riali's mouth twitched at the bad folding. She didn't want him to feel bad, so she'd wait to redo it until after he left. "I'm from Sunstone Seahold. My mom and sisters and I worked in the laundry together. So," she smiled, "this place kind of feels like home."

"Oh -- no way!" His eyes flew up to meet hers, lighting with recognition. "I'm from Sunstone, too." The grin that followed was twice as wide, and as he turned back to the pile, shifting in a little the closer he got to the bottom. "I've been here a couple Turns now. I'll probably say something that'll scandalize my mother while she's here and not even realize it... Hey -- did you know another candidate, Wayell, is from Sunstone, too? Imagine if all three of us Impressed in this clutch."

Neyrmar honed in on a deep purple shirt draping over the last few in this pile, peeking beneath its lip. "What do you think of the rest of the place? Now that you're sorta settled in."

Riali felt a stab of fear hearing they were from the same Hold. Was he friends with the young man who had impregnated her? Would he tell his friends when the baby was born? Hearing he had been at the Weyr for Turns calmed her a bit.

"Yeah, I've seen Wayell," she said. The two hadn't really talked though. She felt more comfortable with the other female candidates. "I like it here. I'm glad we're still near the water and the dragons are loud but amazing. I guess you like it here too?"

"I do. It was difficult at first, to be completely honest with you, even though I'd heard plenty of stories about Weyrs and their folk. All the really crazy, outlandish things that turned out to be talk." He grinned up at her, amusement in his eyes, "Mostly."

Plucking the bottom shirt from beneath the pile, at last Neymar emerged-- triumphant. The shirt, perfectly pressed and a lushly hued green, did bunch slightly in his big hands, although the fabric hardly caught on his callouses. "Oh, thank the Egg. That's a relief." He said, straightening and sighing a small, satisfied sigh. "Hey, thanks for your help, Riali. I was actually starting to worry a little bit."

Riali wasn't sure how to react to his comments about weyrfolk and was glad finding his shirt ended the conversation. "No problem," she said with a nod and a small smile. "See you in class."

"Yeah, you will." He beamed back, waving his shirt over his shoulder at her.

Last updated on the October 3rd 2025

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Pressing Questions