Thinly Veiled Advice

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 2nd August 2008

Characters: Ylisahn, Zelle
Description: Ylisahn and Zelle have a short conversation in the dining hall.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 11, day 10 of Turn 4

"Greenrider Zelle," Ylisahn said with a smile for the young woman as she paused by the otherwise empty dining table. "How is your weyr suiting you?"

"Hello Headwoman." Zelle straightened up from where she slumped over her bowl of stew and smiled to Ylisahn. "It's suiting me wonderfully.
The view is magnificent."

"Yes ..." Ylisahn turned slightly and held up a hand to attract the attention of a passing staff member. "Could I get a pitcher of klah here, and my mug?" she asked, then turned back to seat herself opposite the greenrider. "I hope you don't mind me joining you for a moment?"

"Of course not. I always enjoy friendly companionship." Zelle's smile was bright before she took another bite of her stew. "So how have you been?" She asked in between bites.

"I've been fine. Busy, as always, but not as busy as you've probably been as a newcomer to the Weyr and your Wing. How are you getting along with your neighbours on the cliff-face there?"

"Oh fine. I actually managed to pick a weyr next to K'hetah's, whose a friend of mine." Not that K'hetah had seemed too pleased about Zelle being right there. Of course, she could understand why, especially after _her_, but at the same time, Zelle felt like he should have known her better than that. "We've had a couple of conversations ledgeside."

"I've noticed you and the Wingleader together and wondered if you had known each other before." And wondered more if the young woman had chosen the cliff-face weyr deliberately.

"Oh yes." Zelle nodded. Known each other for quite some time, actually. "K'hetah and I were wingmates back at the old Weyr." And his dragon had flown hers before, though that wasn't mentioned - no point, really. "Before he left, that was."

"Ahh. Wingmates? Friends? Lovers?" Ylisahn prompted with a calm disregard for tact and privacy.

"Wingmates yes, friends, yes, lovers, no." Zelle looked down, shrugging slightly. "Just friends."

"On his part," Ylisahn suggested gently. She had seen the way the greenrider looked at the Wingleader and didn't have any doubts that the young woman would like something more than 'just friendship'.

Zelle's gaze slipped back upward to regard Ylisahn. "Yeah, well, I've told someone before that he wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole."
Thanks to _her_. Not that he'd really had any indication of interest before all that either.

"It would be silly to break your heart over somebody who felt like that, wouldn't it?"

"I suppose so." Zelle took a bite of her food and lingered over the chewing for a moment. "And I suppose that was a thinly veiled bit of advice for me, eh?"

"Veiled?" Ylisahn smiled. "I must be losing my touch. It was out-and-out meddling, Zelle, and you've every right to tell me to mind my own business."

"I would," Zelle pointed her fork at the Headwoman, "Except that I believe you mean well and I appreciate the gesture, even if I won't necessarily take the advice."

"Ahh." It was like that, then. "For what it's worth, I count him as one of my friends, too, though I've only known him a little while."

"He's a great guy, he really is." Zelle's expression relaxed into another smile. "He's just been burned."

"Was that the reason he moved? Wingleaders don't, often, do they?"

"Yeah, it was." Zelle nodded slowly. "But if you want the details, you'll have to ask him. It's his story to tell, not mine."

Ylisahn nodded. "Did you choose the weyr on the cliff because -?"

"No, I chose it for the view of the sea." Zelle admitted, "I had no idea where K'hetah's where was. He supposedly showed me, but to be honest, I couldn't really pick it out, he was so vague. That and he hit me and that just sort of really ruined the chance of finding out more."

"He _hit_ you?" Ylisahn found it very hard to believe. "Zelle, are you _sure_?"

Zelle's smile quirked upward and she couldn't help but follow that expression with a laugh. "It was an accident. I twisted my ankle and was falling. He hit me in the attempt to try and keep me from falling."

"That sounds more likely. I remember you being injured. Was that when you decided to transfer here? Did you like our infirmary so much then?"

The smile faded from Zelle's lips and she shook her head. "No. I decided to transfer after my brother died from threadscore. After he was gone, I didn't have any other family left. There wasn't much keeping me there."

"I'm sorry to hear about your brother, Zelle, though it seems like that's the lot of dragonriding families, these days."

"Yeah." The greenrider looked down and suddenly didn't feel like finishing her food. She pushed her plate away. "So anyway, that's when I decided to transfer here."

"It's a lovely place. Beautiful, and that can be good for the battered spirit."

"And it's by the sea." That had appealed to her from the very beginning and had helped to really make her feel at home. "I love being by the sea."

"You couldn't be any closer, where you've chosen to live." The Headwoman nodded. "It's been good to talk with you, Zelle, and remember if there's anything you need you can always come to me. We don't begrudge the dragonriders much, here."

Zelle grinned at the headwoman. "Thanks Ylisahn, I appreciate it."

Last updated on the August 3rd 2008

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Thinly Veiled Advice