Your Future Plans

Writers: Avery
Date Posted: 1st January 2018

Characters: Jadirah, A'kades
Description: Jadirah asks A'kades about his plans
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 1 of Turn 9

The new weyrlings were slowly trickling in from the barracks and getting
their meals. A'kades and Jadirah had spent some time talking with
T'lin's family, since it was obvious their sons were affectionate enough
they'd be getting to know each other. They also had made some time to
speak with some of the River Bluff people who had wound up here, as
people had recognized them and dropped over to say hi and congratulate
the bronzerider on his son's Impression.

Now the Harpers were cuing up music and space was being cleared for
dancing, and Jadirah saw her opportunity. He hadn't danced with her at
Chioneth's hatching. She knew he had shown up for the event itself, and
eaten at the feast, but Jadirah had seen him disappear shortly after the
entertainment began there. Perhaps here at Dolphin Cove, happy for his
son, his defenses will be down and they could speak more honestly.

Jadirah tugged at A'kades' hand. "Come on and dance with me."

The bronzerider was distracted, looking around. "I was hoping V'rel
would be back by now."

"He's got to settle his dragon and eat. He'll come see you and you know
it. He was so excited to see you here, he's not going to blow you off,"
the Healer said in her most reasonable tone. "In the meantime, we can
dance."

He continued to hesitate and she was sure that he was going to say no,
but then the bronzerider surprised her by standing up and taking her
hand. "All right," he said.

Jadirah led him out onto the dance floor as the next song began. They'd
known each other for so many Turns that they had a comfortable rhythm
they could settle into every time they danced with each other. She
didn't speak at all for the first half of the song, letting A'kades get
used to the feeling of their bodies in close proximity and responding to
the music, rather than trying to pressure him.

"It's a good day for dancing. Your son Impressed, the Weyr is alive with
happy faces. I think they seem happier than Dragonsfall did at the
hatching," she said finally. "It seems so much more meaningful to people
when there's a gold egg involved."

"All Hatchings are a sign of new life and new hope. But only a gold
dragon creates those new lives. She's the new potential mate for these
bronzes and a sign of continuing the Weyr's bloodline. It's a good omen
for them," A'kades mused. The thought of gold dragons was still
personally painful for him, but he pushed through it to give comments on
the mood as a whole.

"Did you even notice her hatch, or were you just watching V'rel?" she
teased.

"I was looking to see if any of the Bluff girls would catch her eye," he
said. "But you know my primary concern was for my son."

As the song ended, he inclined his head at her. "Thank you for the
dance," he said.

"Won't you indulge me with a few more?" she asked him. "Unless there's
other people here you'd like to dance with, like friends from River Bluff."

"I haven't much been in the mood for dancing," he said automatically,
knowing she expected the response but feeling compelled to make it
anyway. The expression on her face made him add, "but let's go sit and
talk."

They walked to the refreshments line and picked up a plate of finger
items to nibble on. He took ale and she took fruit juice. When they sat
back down, Jadirah was still thinking about the earlier topic. "I'm glad
you told him what you did."

"Hmm?" A'kades asked.

"V'rel. When you told him you were proud of him no matter what he
Impressed. It was a good thing to tell him," she clarified.

"It was the truth," the bronzerider said, wondering why it was worthy of
praise.

The Healer sighed. "Kad, you know how badly the holdbred folk treat
their sons who like sons. Not even every weyr-bred man is comfortable
with it, they can be disappointed by how it turns out. You started off
holdbred. I'm not saying that you're close-minded," she added quickly
when she saw his expression.

"Then what are you saying?" he asked.

"I'm saying you weren't weyrborn and your son was, and he might have
been afraid you wouldn't love him for Impressing green or blue. But you
didn't even hesitate in your acceptance of him. I think that's going to
go a huge way in repairing any damage going on with your relationship,"
Jadirah said.

"You mean because I didn't go to Dolphin Cove like he wanted," he said,
feeing one of the familiar pangs of doubt he'd been feeling since
V'rel'd gotten upset at him about it.

The Healer nodded. "He misses you and he idolizes you, and your approval
is going to mean so much. Imagine if you'd disapproved of what he
Impressed. Wouldn't that be a mar on his Hatching Day?"

"Yeah," A'kades said, and he thought about some of the blueriders and
greenriders he'd seen through weyrlinghood, the ones whose family hadn't
been happy about what they'd Impressed, had caused a scene, or had cut
off contact. He knew how much that had weighed on many of the boys.

And that led her to the next thing she'd been waiting to ask him. She
used the hand holding the juice glass to gesture around the cavern at
all of the happy people feasting and celebrating. "It's a lovely Weyr,
from what we saw from the air and during this time. Are you still
considering the move? You could see him all of the time."

"Maybe? I'd have to make sure there was a place for me."

"You can be a wingrider as easily here as you can at Dragonsfall," she
pointed out. "We could cut out on the feast, take a walk around, you
could talk to a few people you know from River Bluff and see what they
think about it here so you have more information."

"You've got the night all planned out for me, don't you?" he asked,
arching his eyebrow.

"No. You could stay here, giving me another dance, and talking to your
son again and watching him and his clutchmates. I'm just offering you
ideas."

"I'll make up my mind what to do soon," he told her. "I just need some
time to think. And research. Even if I was committed to doing it, since
I haven't spoken to the Weyrleader, I won't tell V'rel tonight. Just in
case it didn't work out."

"Let him enjoy his night as is?" she guessed. "Eminently sensible."

"That's me," A'kades said.

"Oh look, there he is. Come on, let's go say hi," Jadirah said as she
saw V'rel enter the cavern and get into line for food, along with a
couple of his clutchmates.

Last updated on the February 28th 2018

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