Gossip Grown-ups

Writers: Corrin, Shawna
Date Posted: 6th February 2026

Characters: Liannor, Zariah
Description: Two greenriders meet and swap gossip.
Location: Printer Hall
Date: month 11, day 27 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Aydhan, N’kevyn, L'keri, N'kyri (not flatteringly), K’mai

Liannor

It was a Threadfall day at Barrier Lake and they were still too new to the wing to join the fight in the sky, but staying grounded while others fought would have driven Lariath mad, and her rider by association, so Liannor had done the only sensible thing and taken her dragon out of the weyr at dawn.

They flew east, to the Southern Harper Hall, which she had been dying to see anyway. And while Lariath investigated the Emerald Falls dam, Liannor explored the joint Harper-Printer campus. Of course, it paled in comparison to the First College, where she had trained, but the newfangled buildings had their own sort of charm. She took to it like a fish to water, speaking with the local masters and entrenching herself in their libraries. The hours flew by until Lariath finally reminded her to eat and she hurried to catch a late seating at the Printer’s dining hall.

Liannor meant to find a young master to sit with, to grill him about better ways to deal with parchment mold--and to poke the feline aka explore the South’s discomfort with female crafters--but she saw something more intriguing: another greenrider. She wasn’t also a crafter by the look of her knots, nor were the colors right for the local Weyr, Dolphin’s Whatever. Yet here she was, by herself, so probably not visiting family--

}:Why?:{

**Yes, yes. I’ll ask.** Shushing her dragon, Liannor took a seat opposite the other woman and smiled. “I thought I’d be the only dragonrider novelty here today. What brings you to the Hall?”

“Oh, well, you’d be wrong, Relsath is practically a Hall mascot these days,” Zariah quipped. “I do a lot of deliveries for the Hall, so I’m around a lot. I ran a load of wallpaper earlier.” She’d been hoping to ‘accidentally’ run into her daughter today, but the other greenrider didn’t need to know she had such a silly reason for grabbing a meal here rather than heading home.

Liannor snapped her fingers and beamed. “Relsath. Of course. You’re the Head Subscription Service Rider! I’ve been hearing about you! In fact, I signed up for a series earlier today.” A slow, mischievous smile curled her lips as she took a moment to assess Zariah anew. “Tell me-- the books you deliver, are they all wrapped up when you get them or are you privy to what the weyrleaders and Lady Holders are requesting these days?”

“Mostly not. Some of our higher ranked holders do make special orders and request discretion, but the actual official book list is pretty open. Anyway, I handle the order sheet, no matter how it’s packaged. Math, reading, and ‘not bronze’ were part of the job description,” she said, a laugh in her tone. “What brings you to the Hall today? Is it the breadrolls, because I feel like they’ve gotten less light and fluffy lately. Very sad.”

“Oh, I transferred down to Barrier Lake a few days ago,” Liannor explained. “Too recently to be ready to fly Fall with my new wing today, so I had to get my girl out of the weyr before she noticed it was a Fight Day. It seemed like a good time to come see the Halls.”

“Oh, well, look out for the Hallmaster. He gets a little testy these days when he sees dragons on the grounds. Too much poaching of his apprentices apparently,” Zariah sounded more amused than afraid. “Where did you transfer from? Any exciting news from up north?”

“I'm from Igen Weyr, but Fort Hold originally,” said Liannor, settling back in her chair. “And I'm afraid it's been dreadfully dull lately. Nothing like the South with your poison and stabbings, it's just been the usual relationship drama and -- actually. I don't suppose _you_ know the local relationship drama? I don't just mean your own weyr, but… Barrier Lake? Only I started seeing a bronzerider there and he's not just weyrmated, he's _married_, but he _swears_ they have an open relationship. Of course, you know how they lie when it suits them, but-- his wife _is_ the Weyrwoman Second, so if they're really open it can't be that big a secret, can it?”

“Those two,” Zariah rolled her eyes. “Oh, you’re at least a month behind the news. One of my wingmates managed to tangle with them first and regaled the wing with his sexual adventures, but wouldn’t name any names. So two others decide the first case for the Dimglow Detective Agency was going to be solving the great mystery. But who else was it going to be but the newest bronzerider, goldrider pairing to transfer down south? If Saibra and R'enh were that exciting, it would have been all the gossip ages ago. Anyone who sleeps with K’mai is either too new to know better, or doesn’t care if it gets out.”

“Well, I suppose that answers that,” Liannor laughed. “N'kevyn is nice enough, but it wouldn't have been the first time a bronzerider lied about his relationship status when it suited him. It's good I ran into you. I wasn't sure who I could ask at Barrier Lake, especially since things had… already moved rather fast.” Her smile seemed more pleased than repentant.

“You should know what you're getting into. N’kevyn,” Zariah said seriously, “does not return his books on time. And his wife pays all his late fees. She's delightful, though. Always willing to take romance recommendations.”

Liannor gave that a moment of solemn consideration before nodding in satisfaction. “If that's the most notorious of his flaws, I think I'll risk it-- so long as he doesn't borrow any of _my_ books.”

“I haven’t heard anything more offensive,” Zariah admitted, “though I don’t know him beyond book delivery duties.” She gave the other greenrider a grin, “But you do move fast if you’ve just moved here and you already found yourself a bronzerider who might be trouble.”

“What can I say,” said Liannor, mirroring the grin. “I like things exciting.”

Last updated on the February 21st 2026

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Gossip Grown-ups