Wise Old Men

Writers: Aaron, Dani
Date Posted: 21st May 2019

Characters: Ristaliys, T'ner
Description: Two candidates chat about becoming Weyrlings
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 11, day 1 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: a clutch of eggs
Mentor Approved

Ristaliys stretched as he looked up from what he had been doing. Being
a smith was satisfying, but it also made a man sore after a while. He
looked around the smithy as he rolled his shoulders a little. He
caught Tener's eye and grinned. "These are a lot of buckles," he said
as he turned his attention to a pile of buckles in a basket that
looked like they would fit on riding clothes. "Do you think we're
going to be moving up to the bigger ones soon?"

Tener looked up from what he was doing at just the right time to see
Ristaliys's grin and could not help but smile back.

"Yeah," he said back, unable to think of much else to say, though he
mentally kicked himself for sounding so dull. Ristaliys was basically
his idol. The guy was taller, stronger, more handsome... Certainly
cooler. Tener wanted to be as cool as Ristaliys was, and he counted it
a blessing any time Ristaliys seemed content to work beside him.

"They showed me how to do the bigger ones when I got here," he said.
"And said maybe I was almost ready to walk the tables! But they're
pretty important." Ristaliys was already a journeyman. Tener silently
cursed his wife's cousin again.

"Hey, that's great!" Ristaliys's smile grew a little. "It just sucks
that it's always a "maybe soon" when it comes to walking the tables.
But hey! At least you have a maybe, instead of a not yet, right? Hey,
are you hungry? I think it's nearly lunch time."

Tener stood up straighter and smiled with excitement at the prospect of lunch.

"I'm always hungry," he said. He liked to have lunch with Ayressa when
their schedules aligned, but it was not always feasible, and many
days, they did not see each other between breakfast and dinner. "Did
you... want to grab something?"

Ristaliys nodded as he took off his protective apron. "Me too. My ma
used to say I was an endless stomach. I was one of those kids that
used to always have food and never gain any weight." He patted his
rather flat stomach. "I guess I can't say that anymore, can I?"

Tener laughed. "Well, you've put on plenty of muscle, that's for
sure," he answered. He had no idea why anyone would not be jealous of
Ristaliys's physique. He certainly was. The man had it all.

He hung up his apron and put his tools away, dry washing his hands once he did.

Ristaliys blushed a little. He had put on a _lot_ of muscle since he
was a kid, but Tener didn't know that. "Well. . .I suppose most of
that was added later." The two men started walking towards the dining
cavern. "So how's your little one?" he asked, knowing that Tener was
always willing to talk about his child. "Is he walking yet?"

"He is!" said Tener, indeed excited to talk about Resser. "And he
loves his foster mom to bits. I'm really happy with how everything's
turned out here, with Ayressa getting to work if she wants to. Raising
a kid is tough work, too. So it's nice for both of us to get to have
another job to work during the day, since we'll be caring for the
kiddo all night anyway!" He chuckled.

Ristaliys grinned again. "I'm glad for that. My ma was always busy
with me and my siblings growing up." They reached the dining cavern
and started getting their food. "Is it hard, taking care of a kid at
night?"

"Not usually any harder than during the day," said Tener. "Unless they
get sick and start... well, we're eating, sorry." He chuckled
apologetically. "Mostly just make sure they get dinner, play with
them, read them stories, get them to bed when it's time. But when
you've already been taking care of them all day, the patience can
start to run out. And if you never get any adult human interaction,
you know."

Ristaliys nodded. Anytime his mother got grumpy when he was a kid, his
da would take over for a bit, but he hadn't ever had any kids, so he
didn't know what it was like personally. "Well, then I'm glad you guys
have help. I think we get to see the eggs soon," he mentioned before
taking a bite of his food. "Think you'll get one?"

"Who knows? Seems like if it's all luck of the draw, the odds are
against me," said Tener. "How many times did you say you've done it so
far? This makes three, is it?" Tener was not sure how many Candidates
there were all together, and a gold only laid, what, twenty or so eggs
at a time? Somebody was going to get a dragon, but probably not you.

"Four," Ristaliys answered. "It's not a big deal, though. I mean, if I
get one, then I do. If I don't, then I have smithing to fall back on.
I'm not going to stress about it." He set down his fork and sighed. "I
just. . .I don't know if I want one or not. It's kind of scary," he
shrugged again. "But kind of exciting, in a way. It's like when the
metal gets really hot and we start pouring it into the molds. It's
hot, and it's dangerous, but you also get that feeling like 'wow' in
the back of your mind. You know?"

"Yes! Exactly!" said Tener, feeling a sense of relief he did not know
he had been craving. That someone knew exactly how he had been feeling
and even how to put it into words. He smiled and relaxed a bit.

"It's the whole reason we came here," said Tener. "But sometimes I
think it would be easier if it never happened. I mean, if I never
Impress before I'm too old. But at the same time, I can't back down
from it. It's too important, and it's my duty."

Ristaliys nodded. "It is." He took a drink of his water, thinking. "It
would be easier, in a way. But if I don't. . .it's like. . .I feel
like I'll have let someone down, or something."

"The way I've been thinking about it is, right now, they need me to be
there if a dragon wants me. If no dragon ever does, then I did what
they needed me for, and now I can just go on doing what I love for a
living. If that makes sense," said Tener. Everything would be perfect
that way. It was not to say he did not want a dragon. He still did. It
would just complicate things. And the idea of fighting Thread, of
course, was terrifying.

"That. . .makes a lot of sense, actually," Ristaliys replied. "I guess
I should take it like how my ma used to explain things. 'You can't
count the fish until you pull up the net.'" He grinned again at Tener.
"Or. .. in a Weyr it could be changed to 'Don't count your weyrlings
before the eggs hatch?'"

"Your mother sounds like a wise woman," said Tener, matching his
fellow smith's grin. "That's pretty spot on. At least, from where I'm
sitting. I guess you'd have to ask someone who knows something to get
a real good idea." He chuckled. "Like your ma, of course."

Last updated on the June 15th 2019

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Wise Old Men