Indiscretion (1/4) His Second Best Tunic
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: Bree, Eimi
Date Posted: 24th February 2006
Characters: Carmora, Almonteo
Description: Carmora and Almonteo fight on the eve of his most important concert to date.
Location: Vintner Hall, Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 10, day 1 of Turn 0
"Carmora! Have you seen my Gather tunic! The new one!" Almonteo called from their bedroom.
"Check with your other tunics," Carmora replied, raising her voice to be heard over her daughter's crying. She had her daughter perched on one hip, trying to soothe her tears without letting their dinner burn. Carala had taken a tumble in the sitting room and cut her lip open on a tooth, though her sobs had finally decreased in volume once Carmora had picked her up. "It's not there!" he called back. Shards, he needed it for when he played!
He couldn't be in just his usual harper blue tunic, he had to look his best!
"Look harder," Carmora retorted, sounding exasperated. Carala's tears increased again at the sharp tone in her mother's voice, and she bounced the young girl on her hip for a few moments before checking the food again.
Shards, did she have to do _everything_? Almonteo grumbled as he flipped through the tunics in their closets. He just could not find it. Shards, he only had two candlemarks before the dragonrider would come to fetch him and he wasn't even packed! He walked out of their bed chamber. "Carmora, it's not there. Could it be in the laundry still?" Carmora glanced toward the large basket of laundry she'd set next to the door, meaning to take it to clean. "I don't think so, but you could ch--shards, no! Carala!" Carmora slapped at her daughter's hand before the girl could reach the side of the hot kettle their stew was cooking in. The slap brought a fresh stream of howls, and Carmora bit back another curse.
"Almonteo, can't you help me for just a few moments?" He sighed and shrugged, throwing his hands in the air. "All right. I'll give you a hand. But then can you help me? I'm supposed to get on a dragon in two candlemarks."
"I know," Carmora replied darkly, handing their daughter to him. It wouldn't be the first time he'd been gone for a few days, but she hated having her husband so far away at Turn's End. Maybe it was because she was feeling so worn down...
But there wasn't time to brood. She had to clean herself up, finish dinner, feed her daughter, help Almonteo pack and somehow forget the fact that she felt so tired she thought she could fall asleep standing up. He took his little girl in his arms. "Come here Carmora, let's let mama do what she needs to do." Almonteo placed kisses on the crying baby's cheeks and tickled her belly lovingly. He would miss the little tyke while was gone.
By the time Carmora made it back to their dinner it was starting to smell suspiciously scalded. Sighing gustily she took the pot off the heat and stared mournfully at what had started off smelling so wonderful. Well, they'd all just have to deal with it being a little burned. Wiping her hands on her already stained skirt, Carmora moved tiredly out of the kitchen and looked at her husband and their now giggling child. Of course she decided to behave for her _father_ when she'd been running and knocking into things and trying to burn her hands off the whole afternoon.
"If you want something to eat, you should get it now."
"I need to finish packing before I can eat," Almonteo said as he bounced the little girl on his legs. "Did you find my tunic?"
Carmora sighed and forced herself to start walking again, this time in the direction of their bedroom. After a brief, fruitless search she remembered the unsorted laundry that she'd washed but forgotten to put away. Without thinking, she scooped up the entire pile and dumped it onto the bed, only then remembering that her child had dumped their dinner down her shirt and skirt. Naturally, Almonteo's tunic sat on the top of the pile, now smeared in what had started off as an excellent meal.
Almonteo walked in, little Carala in his arms, as she held up the now dirty tunic. "Oh, shards, Carmora I thought you were going to have that washed for me! This is an important performance!" "I _did_ have it washed," Carmora retorted hotly, tossing the tunic back to the bed. "It still _would_ be clean if you'd used your eyes and found it yourself, instead of waiting until your daughter had covered me in food and sending me to find it for you!" "I looked for it everywhere you said it might be," Almonteo replied just as tersely. "Shards, Carmora, what is _with_ you lately! You get angry at me over every little thing! I'm getting really tired of this."
"Oh, _you're_ tired?" She fought off tears by letting herself feel a fresh dose of anger and resentment. "I'd like to see you live _my_ life for one day and still tell me you're tired!" "What's that supposed to mean?" her husband demanded. "What do you think, I just sit around and do nothing all day? I have been working hard ever since he came back to the Hall, and all I ever hear about is how hard _you're_
working! I have classes, I have rehearsals, I have my own Master's projects to do, not to mention lessons, and one of the biggest Turn's End Concerts on the Southern Continent that I am featured in coming up. I'm tired too you know!"
"Of course you are," Carmora replied angrily. "I'm so sorry, husband. In the future I'll stick to cooking your meals and washing your clothing and taking care of your daughter and cleaning your rooms and make sure I don't _ever_
say _anything_ about it." "And just who do you think it is who provides rooms for you to clean and clothing for you to wash and food for you to cook? And a future for your child?" Carala began to respond to the tension in the room and started to whimper again. Almonteo rubbed his daughters back soothingly, but his eyes were anything put pacifying as he glared at his wife. Did she really think that he did _nothing_ for their family?
"Give me my daughter." Carmora took Carala back onto her hip and pushed past Almonteo. "She needs to eat her dinner. Your second best tunic is on the bed, I'm sure it will do." Almonteo hated the fact that they would be parting on these kind of terms, but he had taken as much as he could stand. As much as he wanted to go after her, he was much too angry to say anything, and obviously she was too.
Maybe things would be better once he came back. Maybe they just both needed time to calm down. With a frown he carefully folded his best tunic with the food streaks on the inside. Perhaps he could get it washed really quick in the Weyr. He would take his second best tunic just in case.
Last updated on the February 24th 2006