A Kink In the Plan

Writers: Devin, AL
Date Posted: 17th October 2009

Characters: Meledei, Z'ku
Description: Z'ku and Meledei have chores together and he asks a personal question.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 5, day 6 of Turn 5

Z'ku

Meledei picked up the basket of laundry to be folded and sighed. Laundry was not one of her favourite chores, but it had to be done. She glanced over at Z'ku who had been assigned with her, wishing that F'gol had been assigned with them as well. Alas, it was not to be. "I think there's more here than there was last time."

"There always seems to be more." Z'ku shook his head. "My brothers would love to see me doing this."

"They would tease you horribly wouldn't they?" Meledei inched closer to the chairs set aside for them and lowered herself into one. She set the basket in front of her, then plucked a shirt from her pile. "We could force them to help us."

"Ha! Not likely." Z'ku shifted his chair so he could face her.

"We could whip them into shape!" Meledei's voice was strong with confidence and she grinned over at her fellow weyrling. "What do you want to bet?"

"Only if we threatened to send our dragons after them." The thought made him chuckle.

"My thoughts exactly." Meledei giggled. Elleth was small, especially for a gold, but she was still a great size compared to a person. "I should dare you to try!"

Z'ku grinned. "I can't wait to show them Xemroth. They were at the Hatching, but he was so small then."

"Where are they?" Meledei's eyebrows arched up. She realised she really knew very little about Z'ku. She was going to change that.

"A Hold in Rising Moons territory. I was Searched to that Weyr before coming here." He picked up another shirt to fold.

"I've never been there - what's it like?" Maybe that was something she could do on Restdays after she graduated, visit other Weyrs. "And what brought you here?"

"The Weyr itself is a little smaller, I think, but there seemed to be more people there." He shrugged. "When Dolphin Cove asked for older riders, I wanted to have an extra chance at Impression. So here I am."

"Do you miss your old home?" Meledei was fortunate in that she Impressed at her home Weyr. As much as she would have liked to Impress, she didn't think she would be willing to go to a different Weyr for a chance.

"Sometimes," Z'ku admitted. "I miss my family. And I miss the cooler weather, actually. Dolphin Cove is too hot." He smiled a little.

"I guess I'm used to it." Though it could get quite hot there, it was usually not too bad. Meledei _was_ used to it though and someone from a cooler region might indeed think it quite warm. "Does it snow at Rising Moons."

"A few times a turn, at most. It snowed a little more at the Hold, but it was still only during the middle of winter." He tried to imagine living in a place like Dragonsfall, where it snowed for months.

"We never get snow here." It never got _really_ cold at Dolphin Cove. Most of those who lived in colder climates laughed at the natives who shivered when it got the least bit cool. "I've seen it, but I've never been around it for any length of time."

"Maybe we can do that after graduation. Go somewhere with snow on a restday." Living in a place as hot as Dolphin Cove, visiting somewhere cold would feel like a treat.

"That could be fun." The jackets they wore helped protect them from the cold of /between/ and would surely protect against the cold of the snow. "Where would be a good place to visit do you think?"

"I hear Dragonsfall gets a lot of snow. And it would be easy to get a visualization from someone." He looked down at his basket and saw he had made good progress.

"That's a thought." Yet there was something about the idea of going North. Perhaps a second trip some time later. "Winter is coming and I believe our graduation will be in the midst of it. Perhaps that will be a good time."

"Yes, it should be." He looked down again, feeling suddenly shy as he found an opening to broach a subject that had been on his mind lately. "Speaking of graduation ... I assume you've, uh, had the necessary experience." A slight lift at the end almost made it into a question.

"Experience?" The question caught Meledei off guard and it took her a second to comprehend what he meant. "Oh...ah...not quite."

Z'ku blinked. "Really?"

"Not yet." Meledei affirmed. "Eventually F'gol and I will, but for now we're just taking things slow. We have some time after all."

"Ah, well. It's good that you have someone." A bluerider? At least he wouldn't be a rival when Elleth rose, but it put an unexpected problem in Z'ku's plan to get closer to Meledei.

"You don't?" Meledei raised her eyebrows at the young bronzerider. Surely there were a hundred girls eager to 'practise' with him.

"No one special." He shrugged.

"But I'm sure there are plenty of girls willing to practise with you." Meledei grinned. Z'ku was a bronzerider and not a bad looking one at that. He'd probably garnered the attention of plenty. "You just have to take your pick."

"I've had experience," he admitted. "Back at Rising Moons. I was sure I would Impress, so I thought it best to be prepared."

"Then I guess you haven't anything to worry about." Meledei wasn't surprised - even the holdbred who came usually fell into the practises of the Weyrfolk. Not all, but a good number of them.

"No, nothing to worry about," he agreed without enthusiasm.

Meledei carefully placed the last folded shirt into the basket and stood. "Hah, I beat you. At this rate, I'm going to finish before you."

"I didn't know this was a race." He forced a smile.

"Only if you want it to be." She grinned as she skipped over to another basket and brought it back to where she was before. "It doesn't have to be. It's just a way to make a dull job a little more interesting."

Z'ku shrugged a shoulder. "Talking to you is interesting."

"You're sweet." Meledei picked up a pair of underwear and wrinkled her nose. She wasn't fond of handling a stranger's things. "Are you sure? I must be frightfully dull at times. I'm not the greatest conversationalist."

"But you're always pleasant, and the mood tends to rub off." He pulled out the last article of clothing from his basket.

"That's just because you haven't seen me in a bad mood." Meledei commented as she placed one folded pieces of laundry into the basket she had emptied earlier. "Or when my temper has flared."

"That can't happen very often. Or has Impressing softened your mood?" A few ill tempered Candidates he'd known had become much nicer after finding their lifemate.

"It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, you had better watch out." Meledei snapped at shirt toward Z'ku. "I'm mean when I get riled up."

"Then I'll make sure to stay on your good side."

Last updated on the October 18th 2009

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

A Kink In the Plan