Ghosts of Their Past

Writers: Avery, Yvonne
Date Posted: 4th September 2019

Characters: Kapera, J'nus
Description: Kapera always calls for J'nus.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 8 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: K'ran, Saibra/Chioneth, Panitath
late due to Avery LOA follows after DCW: The Shadow Of The Day and the DFW hatching events

Kapera

~*~

A candlemark had passed since K'ran had dropped her off at her weyr.
Kapera was halfway through the flask of liquor, the moons were creeping
higher in the starry sky and casting their light over her pale skin and
Riyanth's hide, and it was well on its way to morning. The tears she
thought she'd wanted to shed just hadn't come. And while her grief felt
somewhat blunted at the edges by the liquor, ange and despair still
defined her, yet she felt no closer to sleep.

Because of how draconic memories worked, the gold dragon had forgotten
the loss of her brown dragonet Turns before, and yet now she was
re-experiencing the loss of the moment because of how it was fresh in
her rider's mind. It made the gold agitated and restless. She also
picked up blurry images of her rider in J'nus' arms as she'd fled
outside for air surfacing and then disappearing from her rider's chaotic
mind.

So Riyanth did the most sensible thing she could think of - she reached
out to Kopth, with the full mental force of an agitated gold dragon.
}:Kopth. Wake up. My rider _needs_ your rider.:{

Kopth sent an acknowledgement, then turned his attention to his rider.
}:Wake up.:{

It took a bit of mental prodding, but after a few moments J'nus sat up
in bed and stretched. **What's going on?**

}:Riyanth's rider requests you.:{

The bronzerider blinked sleepily. **You woke me up for that?**

}:Yes.:{ Kopth was firm. }:We go.:{

J'nus suppressed a wave of irritation. It was well into the night, and
Kapera hadn't bothered with him much of late. She was probably drunk
from the Hatching feast at Dragonsfall and her first choice of bed
partner had been taken. Probably her second choice, too. He pulled his
sheet over his shoulders and lay down again.

}:Riyanth is upset. We _go_.:{ Kopth let his rider feel some of the
anxiety that Riyanth was sending his way. }:Now.:{

J'nus let out a sigh, but there wasn't much that he and Kopth could do
about it when Riyanth put her mind to something. And maybe something was
really wrong. His irritation slowly changed to worry as he pulled on the
first shirt that came to hand and met his dragon on his ledge. He
climbed onto Kopth's back and they took to the air to make the short
flight to Riyanth's ledge. Kopth crooned his concern for the gold dragon
as he landed and J'nus slid off his back.

He took a few steps toward the entrance to Kapera's weyr as Kopth rubbed
his head comfortingly against Riyanth's neck. "Kapera?"

Riyanth was crouched oddly on her ledge with one wing arched out. She
extended her neck to rub her muzzle against Kopth and shifted slightly
to make room for him. Her eyes were whirling an agitated color. The gold
dragon looked at J'nus for a moment and then shifted the left wing that
had been held out over her side to reveal Kapera, curled up against her
with her face buried against the gold dragon's hide.

The goldrider was
still in her Hatching finery, which was crumpled and mussed around her
now, and a flask lay at her feet. It took her a moment to look up and
see that they had visitors.

"J'nus?" she breathed out in surprise.

**Shards...** Something very bad must have happened at the Hatching. He
took a few steps toward her, wary of the gold dragon and her moods,
before crouching down a little distance away from where Kapera was
curled. She looked so young, and although the moonlight wasn't bright
enough to see much, her eyes looked swollen and tearstained. "What
happened?"

She swallowed and looked up at him, getting to her feet and trying, in
vain, to smooth down her dress. "Did you hear what happened? Did Riyanth
call you?" Because it was astounding that he was here right now to
comfort her.

The bronzerider shook his head. There was usually only one thing that
provoked so much grief at a Hatching. "What happened?"

"One of Chioneth's hatchlings died. Right there, on the Sands. She
just stumbled around, crying, and crying. Tore up the back of a
Candidate pretty bad..." She closed her eyes, remembering. Riyanth let
out a noise somewhere between a keen and a croon.

No wonder she was out on Riyanth's ledge. They hadn't spoken much of
late, but it didn't seem to matter as he stepped forward and wrapped
his arms around the goldrider. Ghosts of the past mingled with the
grief of now as he rested his cheek against her hair. "I'm so sorry."

She breathed in and out, her whole body trembling in his arms as she
fought back tears and grief. "She just cried, and I couldn't stop
thinking about that - that brown dragonet. It's so awful. It's..."

"I know." Watching a dragonet cry on the Sands and die for someone who
wasn't there... J'nus' heart ached for the doomed little thing, and
for Kapera, who had to bear witness. Again. He tightened his arms
around her and wished there was something he could do to erase it from
her mind, even as he was grateful he'd chosen not to go to
Dragonsfall.

Now that he was here, his arms around her, she felt like she could
relax a little, try to distance herself from the sights and focus on
something else. It was a familiar embrace. She felt safe in his arms.
"I'm sorry Riyanth troubled Kopth," she mumbled into him.

"There's no trouble. I'm happy she called." The bronzerider pressed a
kiss into her hair. She'd used some sort of oil in it that smelled
vaguely of flowers, and of her.

"She's very independent-minded. And happy to be with Kopth."

The bronzerider smiled a bit. "Just like her rider." Even though the
riders' relationship could be rocky, Riyanth and Kopth had continued
to seek each other out. Perhaps it was the nature of bronze and gold
dragons, but J'nus' dragon sought out Riyanth's company more often
than he did Panitath's. And here he was.

"Yeah..." And then she stretched, realizing that despite the warm
night the stone was leeching her body heat. "Would you come inside
with me?"

A part of him wanted to say no, but that was just a very small part of
his pride. J'nus had never been any good at saying no to Kapera. He
smiled. "I'd love to."

"Thank you," she said softly, taking a few hesitant steps and swaying
slightly. Her legs were cramped and hurting, the feeling pins and
needles. "I didn't mean to just...fall apart."

"I know. I don't mind. And--" he hesitated, then discarded what he
wanted to say: that she was safe with him. That he felt honoured that
he got to see her when she was vulnerable. It made her seem more
human, and it made him love her more. Foolish him. "What happened at
the Hatching will do that to anyone with a heart," he finished, a bit
lamely.

"It's brutal, but it's over." She took a deep breath as she led them
inside and sat down on her bed, reaching for a glass of water. "Want
some?"

"All right." He chose a seat on a chair, rather than beside the
goldrider. "The rest of the Hatching, though-- that went well?"

She poured some water from the pitcher into a second glass, handed it
over, her fingertips brushing against his hand. "It did go well. I
look forward to Riyanth's next."

That was a good sign. J'nus held the glass between his hands. "What
was the best part?"

"K'ran and I spoke to Saibra afterwards to make sure she was okay. It
felt good to be able to be supportive and run some interference for
her. And, he was surprisingly good to work with. I underestimated him
when we were both at Dragonsfall," she admitted. "I always like the
dancing, too. You know that."

He nodded. "Can I claim another dance from you now, for Riyanth's next
Hatching celebration?"

"You can always claim a dance from me, any time you want," she murmured.

J'nus gave her a small half-smile. "I'll mark it in my calendar," he
said quietly. Kapera wasn't always subtle. Briefly he debated whether
or not bedding her was a good idea. It was always both. He set the
glass of water aside. "Are you asking me now?"

Maybe if she fell asleep in bed with him, cradled against his warmth
and his strength, she'd be fine. Despite all the times they'd orbited
closer and then pulled away in what felt like a cycle as endless and
unbreakable as that of the sun around Pern - she trusted J'nus
implicitly. She knew this even when she preferred not to acknowledge
it. Riyanth knew it, it was why she chose Kopth over and over again.
Not in her mating flights, but when Kapera needed someone, Riyanth
always seemed to call the same dragon.

Shaking her head to dislodge the images, she stretched her hand out to
him. For once, all she wanted was comfort, not sex. Not that she'd
turn down the latter, but it wasn't, directly, what she was asking.
"Stay with me tonight. Please. It doesn't have to be anything more
than just lying in bed together tonight, but I don't want to sleep
alone."

J'nus took her hand in his and brushed a kiss against her knuckles.
"All you ever have to do is ask."

Last updated on the September 11th 2019

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Ghosts of Their Past