Full Once More
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: Eimi
Date Posted: 16th July 2007
Characters: B'ram, L'kub
Description: B'ram remembers his best friend and a prediction he once made
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 6 of Turn 4
B'ram carefully unwrapped himself from the greenrider's arms. Leaning down, he kissed Eleada's cheek softly before pulling the sheets tight around her once more. She was sleeping peacefully. So peacefully.
He envied her...
Slipping his legs into his trousers, he ran his fingers through his spikey red hair, breathing in the sea breeze as he moved closer to the ledge. Looking down into the Weyrbowl, he could see a ring of debris along the cliffside wall, the only evidence left of the flood that once filled it. He could see weyrfolk moving in and out of the large cavernous opening to the Hatching grounds. They were cleaning the drift wood, the sea plants, the ruins of weyrfolk's belongings that had come to rest there during the flood. Some of it, he knew, was Traelyn's. But not all of it. There was one object that had not been taken from the flood. He had made sure of it.
~*~
"B'ram... if anything should happen to me..."
"Stop talking like a wherry's ass, L'kub. Nothing's going to happen to you. We're both going to survive this Pass and be old men with glorious tales of heroics to raise our grandchildren and great-grandchildren on. So shut up and drink." The brownrider refilled his friend's glass with rum, but suddenly the mood in the weyr had grown rather somber. Why in Faranth's name did he have to keep _talking_ about it!
The bluerider sipped at his glass thoughtfully. "There's just... so many things left undone."
"Then do them later. Tonight we drink." Afterall, only a fool would let themself go and get thunderously drunk the next day. No one wanted to get trashed and face the first Threadfall of their lives hung over.
"There's just so little time," L'kub sighed, fingering the edge of his glass.
"Please, don't make me wish I was getting drunk with someone else tonight." They had already decided that this was their night, just the two of them. One last night for the best friend they ever had. Tomorrow was for Atreyn and Vicessa, but tonight was supposed to be just for them. Now he was starting to wish he had insisted other people should be there. He should have known L'kub would be all... realistic and philosophical.
"Your the best friend I've ever had, B'ram. You're like a brother to me. Closer even. There's no one on Pern I can talk to like I talk with you. And there's so much I have to say..." And who knew how much time any of them had left. Many of them would be dead this time the day after tomorrow. It could be either one of them. Or both of them.
Shards, now B'ram felt like a wherry's ass. He stiffled a silent sigh. "I know. I know. So what did you want to say, L'kub?"
The bluerider gave him a small, grateful smile. "There's something I want you to do for me if something ever happens to me."
"Anything," his friend nodded.
L'kub set his glass aside and crossed over to the table. He picked up what appeared to be a jewelry box, plain in design, but beautiful in grain pattern and color. "I want you to hold onto this for me, and if anything ever happens... I want you to give it to Trae."
"Oh shards, L'kub," B'ram muttered, shaking his head in frustration. "Please, just let it go." The brownrider downed the remainder of his glass in one swig and reached for the bottle to refill it. "Shards, man, you have got to move on. You have a good thing with Vicessa. That box and whatever is in it aught to be dropped /between/ or left out for Thread to devour. You have to forget her." L'kub gripped the box tightly, almost protectively. "I know. I love Vicessa, B'ram. I do. But... They say you never forget your first love..."
"Well you have to actually _try_ to forget her, L'kub! She sure as Thread Falls has forgotten you!" B'ram suddenly struck by the meaning of that old saying. For most of his life Thread Falling had been all but a distant memory. In two days, it was going to be a very real fact of life. "Let her go. She's not worth holding onto."
"It wasn't her fault, B'ram," he said shaking his head emphatically. "She couldn't help the fact that I Impressed a blue."
"Oh, and you could?" That was such a flamingly lame excuse!
"I just... I just couldn't be all she needed..."
"Will you stop being such a sensitive and understanding soul for _once_
L'kub!" B'ram growled, jumping to his feet in his frustration. "All the men in the whole _Weyr_ doesn't seem to be enough for her and that golden wherry of hers!"
"Are you going to do this for me or not!" L'kub finally shot back, having had enough of B'ram ranting. "I'm not asking you to bed her, I'm asking you to just give this to her if anything happens. You don't have to talk to her, and you sure as shards don't have to actually _understand_. You just have to do this for me, all right?"
B'ram snorted. Sharding right he wasn't ever going to bed Traelyn, with her legs spread as wide as the Hatching Cavern's door! "Give me the sharding box," he finally whispered.
L'kub walked over and carefully placed it in the brownrider's arms. He lifted his eyes to meet his best friend's. "Someday B'ram you're going to fall in love, truly in love. Then you'll understand."
The brownrider gave another breathy snort. "Yeah, right."
~*~
But it seemed L'kub's prediction would prove true. B'ram finally did fall in love, and he did understand. He learned how love could fill you up to overflowing, and how the loss of it could make you feel as empty as /between/. Only he could never be as forgiving as his sensitive friend. And it ate away at him deep down inside. He hated Atreyn for breaking his heart, for ruining his life. It was an ache no one could really take away, not even Eleada. She just couldn't understand. He didn't _want_ her to understand. It seemed the only person on Pern who could understand, ironically, was Trae. Her hate ate away at her too, only the person she hated most was herself. In some mysterious way, when the two of them came together, that hate they felt turned to love, and for those brief passionate moments they were full once more.
**Eleada is the one I want... But Trae is the one I need...**
He looked down at the bustling weyrfolk, walking in and out of the Hatching cavern, making way for the Eggs, the queen, and her rider. "L'kub," he whispered into the gentle morning breeze, "I understand you now."
Last updated on the July 18th 2007