Another message

Writers: AL, Clancey
Date Posted: 12th May 2008

Characters: J'darin, Zelle
Description: Zelle delivers another message to Weyrleader J'darin.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 4 of Turn 4

J'darin

Ah, Weyrleader J'darin!" Zelle trotted the rest of the way down the hall as she caught sight of the weyrleader. She hadn't gone straight to see him, but had made a stop to visit with K'hetah. She hadn't been told that the message was urgent, so felt it was okay to visit him for a bit before making her delivery. She had just come from visiting with him when she had seen J'darin in the hallway. "Fancy meeting you here."

It took J'darin a moment to recognize her, then Hasaarth stepped into his head with his usual excellent timing.

}: It is the message carrier. Her dragon has been sunning near me for quite some time now. :{ A questioning glance at her. "Greenrider Zelle? Visiting are you?"
They were in the hallway near K'hetah's Weyr.

"For a few minutes." Zelle stopped short as she came to the weyrleader. "Though I do have another message for you. Someone said you were busy, so I decided to go pick on K'hetah for a bit first. I was just coming to find you." She turned to a satchel that she carried, opened it, and took out said message, holding it out for him to take.

"Poor K'hetah.." He murmured, barely heard. Louder, he said, "I should hope your message wasn't important, lass. What _do_ they teach you in your Weyr?" He shook his head over that rhetorical question and took the message from her, reading silently.

"If the message was marked as urgent, I probably would have interrupted you during a goldflight." Zelle placed her hands on her hips, lips twisted in a sardonical smile. "I was told it wasn't urgent, just that they wanted a reply back some time today or tomorrow if you wanted to think over your decision." Zelle, of course, hadn't been given details regarding the message, but she had been told that much at least. Otherwise, she never would have dallied.

His eyes widened a bit at the contents, and a frown appeared. "Come along, greenrider. I can hardly write an answer here in the hall."
He bowed to her and smiled. "After you, then?"

"Right." Zelle turned and made her way down the hallway. She had to pause a couple of times and look at J'darin, waiting for him to indicate which turn to take, but they eventually made it back to his office. She was starting to get a feel for the weyr, and not having to ask directions quite so much. "You don't look to happy. I hope it's not bad news I've brought. I hate being the bearer of bad news."

He had only meant to let her pass him by, then lead her along the halls, but instead he decided to enjoy watching her try to find her way to his office. He had difficulty hiding his smile, and was thankful for the distraction from the message.

As they took up their seats around his desk again, he finally answered her question. "It could have been better news. But it will be fine..." He trailed off, thinking to himself. More feline attacks.
His mother sick. It was not anything he could really do anything about, though. Wounded dragons so that he might need to send riders to help.

Oak appeared just then and scolded both his person and Zelle. The brown flit hovered between them, watching while J'darin scrawled a reply.

"Hey there handsome." Zelle reached out, offering her hand to scritch the brown's eyeridges if he would allow it. "I didn't know you had a firelizard."

J'darin looked at her for a moment. "His name is Oak. He thinks he should deliver my messages." He twittered and fluttered around her hand, not sure if he wanted to trust someone who brought messages instead of asking him to bring them.

The flit didn't understand to that level of course, but he was certainly agitated.

He finally retreated to the back of J'darin's chair, still chirping at the two humans.

"He's quite silly. But a good friend." The Weyrleader returned his gaze to the message in front of him. "Why are they using you as a messenger, Zelle? Surely dragons bespeaking one another or flits would be faster? Or at least a better use of time than taking a fighting greenrider from her wing." It struck him as a bit odd. Just a bit.

"I've been volunteering." Zelle gave the weyrleader a rueful grin.
"I think most of the messages do go through firelizards, but I volunteer when they need something and there's no threadfall. It gives me a chance to visit." It gave her a chance to see K'hetah.

"Pestering my Wingleader, are you?" J'darin's eyebrows drew together as he looked at her over his nose. The look was identical to one his father had often given his younger sister and was really suited for a much older man. Had he but known that, he would have stopped it immediately. But it was J'darin. And sometimes the obvious was not clear enough for him, on some things.

Zelle shrugged, not sure what to make of the expression. She wasn't a little girl but that seemed to be how he was regarding her. "We were good friends before he transferred. I've missed." A lot. A lot more than she would admit to K'hetah - at the moment anyway. "I came down here on an errand and saw him and...well, I've been volunteering whenever one has been needed." She gave the weyrleader a cockeyed grin. "As for pestering him, well...consider it payback for my time spent in the infirmary thanks to him."

J'darin shook his head, chuckling. "Not enough bronzeriders of your own at home, hmm?" Then he caught on to the last line and frowned at her. "The Infirmary? Do I want to know what K'hetah gets up to when I'm not looking?"

"There are _plenty_ of bronzeriders where I come from." Zelle cross her arms over her chest, her lips turning down into a frown. "I'm not friends with K'hetah just because he rides a bronze." She reached up and flipped back a strand of her hair. "It was an accident. I was grounded for several days. Got a nice fist to the eye as he tried to catch me and a gash on my leg from the rocks. Obviously, I got better."

"Obviously." he merely looked at her for a moment, his lips quirking as he fought back a smile. Touchy thing. "I'm glad you recovered enough to deliver my messages, lass." He wasn't sure why she struck him like a younger sister; he couldn't quite discern her age. But she did. Odd, that.

Lass? "Yeah, well, I'm not that easy to kill. K'hetah still owes me, though." She grinned then, the expression more of mischevious than malicious. "I'm going to figure out some way to make him pay. Don't worry, I won't do anything permanent."

He frowned just slightly at her; they were not two friends planning a prank! "I will pretend I didn't hear you say that, Zelle. I'd have to make a comment to your Weyrleader. And definitely do not hurt him, he's the only Wingleader I've got at the moment." Mischief aside, she should be more serious about a Wingleader, and to his Weyrleader. Or so he thought. Greenriders!

Zelle's smile faded. The man had no sense of humour whatsoever.
"Sorry." She muttered, letting her gaze wander away. She reached up, batting that blasted strand of hair back into place once again and remained silent until the weyrleader finished his reply.

J'darin finished his note in the silence caused by his simple statement, and almost had to laugh. She seemed to be pouting, almost. Though she was far too old for that sort of thing. His usual charm with women seemed to have failed him with her, and he wondered if he was just becoming a grouch, as everyone already thought he was.

After several long minutes of silence, he rolled it back up to hand to her. Oak went a little wild then, trying to jump on the note and take it himself.

Oak's antics brought a smile to Zelle's face. "Greedy little one, aren't you? I'd offer you some meat as a consolation, but I'm afraid I don't have any on me. I really ought to keep some on hand with so many firelizards around - hard to remember without having one of my own." The words were spoken more to the firelizard than to the weyrleader. Zelle reached for the message again and managed to snatch it before the brown could grab it. "Come on Oak. I promise I'll bring you a treat next time, okay?"

J'darin settled his flit with a bit of treat from his pouch. "Here, Oak. Settle down now!" He scolded him lovingingly, the tone completely at odds with his lack of a sense of humor, patronizing attitude with Zelle.

Focused back on his now seemingly unwilling messenger, he nodded to her. "There you are, Zelle. All done. If you'd like to visit more with K'hetah, I'm sure that would be fine. As you were told, none of this is urgent.. " And he waved toward the note she had grabbed.

"Thank you Weyrleader." Well, she wasn't going to turn down that opportunity. Zelle gave him a smart bow, then turned on her heel.
That man needed to gain a sense of humour.

Last updated on the May 18th 2008

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