Unusual Advice from an Unusual Source

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 10th December 2020

Characters: J'ackt, K'yne
Description: K'yne asks unusual advice from an unusual source.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 6, day 28 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: Erivana, Alina, Saibra

J'ackt

K'yne

J'ackt's thoughts were distant as he sat under a shaded tree, watching
Zith dunk himself in the water. He let idle thoughts flit through his
mind as he tried to relax, taking deep breaths as Bertin had advised.
Slow, calm breathing, letting thoughts simply go through his mind
without latching on to them and letting himself become angry.
Just...relaxing. No punching a bag, no making an effort to run. Just
relaxing.

His reverie was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching. He
opened one eye and looked up. "Hey." His voice was quiet. "No kid this
time." That was a relief. He didn't even want to think about them.

"No, no kid this time, he's with his mother." K'yne said as he took a
seat beside of J'ackt. The topic of Erivana was actually one of the
reasons he'd came, but he wasn't sure how he wanted to word that yet.
"How are you?"

J'ackt sat up straight, then cracked his neck as he moved it from side
to side. "Pretty good, I guess. Could be worse. Could be better." He
shrugged. "About the same as last time we talked."

K'yne nodded and let silence fall between them for a moment. "I am
going to ask you a question that's going to seem... strange," he
warned.

J'ackt turned to look at K'yne, his face questioning. "Alright...
Well, I've heard strange questions before..."

"How exactly did you go about courting your weyrmate?" K'yne asked.

"What?" J'ackt blinked at K'yne, utterly surprised by the question.
"Uhm..." He frowned, trying to find some reason for that particular
question. "Well...I don't know if what we did was a proper courtship
as some would see it. It didn't go so well at first. It wasn't until I
got hurt that she opened up, but...that's just Alina. Why?"

"It's Keriv's mother, Erivana. She moved out of my weyr after Keriv
went to the creche. She seems really sold on the thought that I only
had her living with me because of Keriv, which was partly true at
first..." K'yne shrugged a little. "I just don't know how to go
about... dating... her? We did things backward, a kid first, then some
friendship, and now.... nothing, really. She's more of yours and
Alina's age, a little older, so I thought you might have an idea."

"Well, didn't you get her off often enough when she was living with
you?" J'ackt was blunt in his assessment and with his questioning. "I
mean with Alina, I tried all that dating stuff and it didn't really
work at first. She pulled away and then got all quiet and avoided me
for a while. It scared her, I guess. So I just ended up telling
what her exactly what I wanted. It wasn't until then that it actually
worked out."

"Well, I mean, I tried but..." and here the brownrider rolled his
eyes, "Saibra sort of got in the way. That's a long story, but I never
wanted Erivana to feel _obligated_ since she was living with me."

"Saibra's good at that, " J'ackt replied dryly, then snorted. "Well, no
wonder. She was living with you and you didn't do anything or try to.
Why would she think you were interested in more? Faranth, K'yne just
tell her you want her. What did you do with my mam? Tiptoe around her
like some fecking nervous kid right out of being a junior weyrling?"

K'yne chuckled at the mention and memory of Ocktima. "No, I did not
tiptoe around your mother, but she and I were closer in age and she
wasn't exactly the shy type when she was a dragonrider."

"Well, Alina was the shy type about certain things too. She still is.
But it's easier if I just straight out tell her things. Had to get her
to trust me though." He rubbed at his hair, thinking. "Shards, K'yne,
best I can say is just tell her. If she's shy, then she might not know
that you're even that interested."

**Just tell her. As simple as that...** K'yne thought. **Then why
doesn't it feel that simple?** Why was he tiptoeing around the issue?
He supposed it all stemmed back to the fear of not being chosen. "Uh
oh, I just had a revelation. I think I'm ... worried she won't feel
the same way in return. No woman I've loved in the past, Saibra or
your mother, ever chose me. There was always someone or something else
in the way." What would make Erivana any different?

J'ackt didn't know quite what to make of K'yne's words. He'd never
been good with addressing emotional needs with others, only a bare few
people had ever heard him open up. Hearing K'yne do so, and so easily,
brought a bit of discomfort. "Oh." He shifted slightly. "So you love
her, huh? Then tell her. If she doesn't, then at least you'll know
instead of worrying about it."

"It's kind of like ripping a bandage off, isn't it?" K'yne chuckled.
"You dread it, so you put it off, but sometimes the best thing is to
just yank it off and not think about it too much." The brownrider's
situation just went to prove that love could be troublesome and
complicated at any age.

There was a sniff. "I always like ripping bandages off. They fecking
well itch and scars don't bother me so much."

The comment made K'yne's mouth twitch with a smile. "Yeah," he agreed.
It was bothersome living his life this way when he could just put
himself out of his misery. "Alright, you can pretend like this
conversation never happened, like we talked about real manly stuff."

"What conversation?" J'ackt replied quickly. "Manly stuff?" He
chuckled, amused. "And what would that be exactly?"

K'yne rolled up his sleeve to reveal a healing threadscore. "Happened
last threadfall. Injuries and scars are apparently manly topics."

"You really want to compare scars?" J'ackt's grin flashed, feeling
competitive. "I think I have you beat, K'yne."

"Okay, well, your stabbing doesn't count," K'yne said immediately as
he began rolling up his pant leg.

Last updated on the January 13th 2021

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Unusual Advice from an Unusual Source