Starting Off On the Wrong Foot

Writers: Duskdog, Estelle
Date Posted: 15th April 2024

Characters: J'kellar, Gienah
Description: Gienah remembers getting to know J'kellar in the early days of weyrling training
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 1, day 26 of Turn 11

Esieth flicked out of /between/, right in position in her formation with
her rider poised, gripping a sack of firestone and looking about
immediately for another pair in need - while keeping a sharp eye out for
the ropes, dripping with paint, that were being dropped from above in
place of Thread. If she got caught by one of those she'd be out of the
drill and facing the wrath of the Weyrlingmaster - and the knowledge
that in a few sevendays, in the Blooding, that mistake could have been
the end of her and her lifemate.

Off to her left, a bluerider raised his arm. **Rokolth.** Esieth veered
closer and, with a now well-practised swing, Gienah pushed up in the
straps and sent the sack soaring out across the gap between them to land
in her fellow weyrling's arms. She'd only a moment to appreciate a
successful throw and catch before she was unclipping the next sack and
looking for another rider who was out of stone. If she hadn't been in
the midst of drill, she might have remembered how she and Rokolth's
rider hadn't always worked together so smoothly...

** Flashback: m9 of turn 10 **

Gienah watched as Esieth curled up in her couch in the weyrling
barracks, her newly oiled hide gleaming like a jewel and her belly
bulging from her latest meal. They'd been together almost a sevenday
now, but it felt like a whole, wonderful lifetime of non-stop classes,
chores, exercise, bathing, feedings and dropping into her cot exhausted
at the end of each day.

There was still a little time before their next class, so she headed
outside to join some of the others, shivering and pulling her jacket
more tightly around her in the freezing air.

"Brr." She smiled at the weyrling nearest her, a bluerider. By now she
knew all her classmates by sight, but she hadn't known him that well
before the Hatching. "At least it's exercises next - that should warm us
up."

J'kellar certainly hadn't gone out of his way to interact with any of
the girls in his class over the past sevenday. It was easy enough, as
busy as they were, with so little time to socialize for more than a few
minutes at a time, anyway. The stupid thing was that it was almost
ironic -- only a few sevendays ago, he would have been happy to talk to
a pretty girl. As many pretty girls as possible, in fact. But things had
changed, and nothing was as it should be anymore.

He glanced at her, his eyes flicking up and down in a quick look-over,
and huffed softly. She's what he would have called "cute" not so long
ago, and he would have liked it. Now "cute" seemed less desirable, and
more like a weakness. "Yeah, it'll warm us up. But you think you can
even keep up?"

"What?" Gienah was more confused than anything by his response. She'd
been in the Weyr long enough to almost forget the attitudes holder boys
could have about the abilities of girls, and she wondered for a moment
if she looked particularly tired this morning. Maybe he was concerned
about her? Though from his voice and the way he was eyeing her, it
didn't seem that way. "Why wouldn't I?"

"You're a _girl_," he replied bluntly, because to him, it was the most
obvious thing in the world.

He didn't actually think she was _stupid_. Probably more like delusional
-- like his little sister, thinking she could actually compete with
him... when she was five turns old, that is. Too young to really
understand that she was at a disadvantage and always would be, too young
to understand that men and women filled different roles not just out of
tradition, but because their physical capabilities were different. But
an inability to understand was normal for small children. He was less
forgiving of a girl who looked to be of marrying age.

"Or have you just, like... not noticed?"

"Seriously?" Gienah's confusion quickly vanished, and she gave the boy a
withering look. She'd thought she'd left those kind of comments behind,
but at least in the Weyr she could answer back - well, not that anything
had stopped her before, but here she wouldn't get in trouble for it.
"Yes, I have noticed that I'm a girl. Have you noticed that you're a
dimglow? Because it doesn't sound like it."

"I'm not the one who doesn't know where I _belong_," J'kellar growled,
bristling at the insult. It was one thing when he and his guy friends
were calling each other names. And even his siblings, sisters included,
could get away with it... well, so long as his sisters weren't doing it
in public. But he didn't think he had to take that lip from some random
girl who had decided to put herself out there to join a fighting force
that should, for the sake of everyone, be _elite_. "Or do you really
think you're built to compete with a grown man?"

"Depends what we're competing at," Gienah said. "If it's lifting heavy
rocks, maybe not, but for anything that requires brains..." She looked
him up and down, then raised an eyebrow. "Let's just say I'm not worried."

"I'm sorry that the truth makes you think I'm stupid, just because it's
something you don't want to hear," said J'kellar, turning away from her
and crossing his arms. "You'll see when I leave you in my dust in
_everything_ here."

Gienah rolled her eyes. "Do you boys listen to a single word the
Weyrlingmaster says in class? Weyrling training isn't a competition,
it's about learning the skills we need to work together as a Wing and
fight Thread. That said, I doubt you're going to do better than me at
_everything_."

"_Everything's_ a competition," J'kellar said resolutely. "Even if
you're learning stuff. People are gonna compare each other all the time
about everything. The Weyrlingmasters are _definitely_ gonna compare us,
even if they swear they don't. Even if everybody's doing good, they'll
definitely notice the person who does the worst, and that person'll look
worse than they actually are just because they're not as good as
everybody else." He grit his teeth, remembering all the times that he
came up short next to his brothers. It wasn't his fault that he was
younger, but a loser was a loser, just the same. "The sooner you realize
you're getting judged all the time, the better." He paused, actually
reflecting for a moment. "You _sound_ pretty competitive, actually. You
don't want me to out-do you, do you?"

"Of course not. But that's because you're a wherry's armpit, not because
I want to beat everyone in my class." Still, she had to admit - she was
a _little_ competitive, and it would be fun to show him just how deeply
wrong he was about girls and their abilities. "I guess we'll find out
when we get to training, won't we?"

He smirked. She might be just a girl, but she was spunky, he'd give her
that. He didn't think for a moment that she would actually be able to
outdo him (of course not, he'd be worthless as a man if she could, and
he was _not_ worthless -- he wasn't!), but the challenge invigorated him
all the same. Maybe it would be worth it to see what she could really
do. He had to admit that he'd never actually been in a situation where
girls could really let loose. If she outdid all the other girls, well,
that was _something_, at least.

"Yeah, I guess we will." He grinned with wolfish anticipation. "I'm
looking forward to it."

"Me, too." Gienah gave him a sidelong look, considering. Should she take
the risk? Beating a boy at a flat race or sacking firestone would be
difficult, but if the class was something that didn't require strength
alone... "Are you confident enough to wager on it? I've got a few chores
I wouldn't mind not doing." Cleaning out the barracks came top of that list.

J'kellar's eyebrows went up. He hadn't expected her to be willing to put
her marks where her mouth was -- even figuratively, let alone literally.
She must _really_ be confident.

"Yeah, I'll wager on it. What chores are we talking about, here?"

"How about a sevenday's share of barracks cleaning duty, for whoever
does best in our next class - whatever it is?" She grinned. "After all,
since boys are apparently faster at everything, it shouldn't take you
too long."

J'kellar sniffed. "Cleaning's more a woman's thing... but yeah, if I
have to do it, I'll do it faster and better than anybody! I'll take you
up on that bet." He hesitated a few seconds, then extended a hand.
"Shake on it."

That settled it - there was no way Gienah was going to get stuck with
J'kellar's cleaning duties if he was going to be smug about it being a
woman's duty. She just _had_ to win. She took his hand and shook it
firmly. "You're on."

Last updated on the April 22nd 2024

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Starting Off On the Wrong Foot