Cupcakes and Questions

Writers: Corrin, Sia
Date Posted: 23rd April 2024

Characters: T'gyrlan, E'kavas
Description: T'gyrlan visits E’kavas, looking for info about the greenflight he won
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 26 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: Jevikas, Zariah
Mentor Approved!

T'gyrlan

E'kavas

It wasn't often that E'kavas had a moment alone to attempt baking. He wasn't the _best_ at baking, by any means, but he could do it well enough to enjoy the result at the end. Especially when the result was a dozen cupcakes in nice sparkly wrapping paper that was picked out by Kevia the last time he took them to a Gather. They were just mixing a soft baby-blue icing and beginning to decorate the cupcakes when he heard the sound of dragonwings out on the ledge, and a sulky grumble echoing from Roquath.

Kevia, being ten and not a dragonrider, perked up and slid from the chair to peek out. "Uncle T'gyrlan!" She shrieked.

Oh. Well. E'kavas looked amusedly at the cupcakes that mostly and messily spelled 'congrats on the sex'.

“Kevia! How’s my favorite girl?” T’gyrlan bounded down from his bronze and into the family weyr that felt like home. Kevia was looking more like her mother every day. He felt a pang but tried not to dwell on that as he scooped the kid up into a hug and spun them both toward the kitchen where he smelled something delicious. “E’kavas, I need your help,” he called for the brownrider, putting Kevia down. “You know that greenflight that went up earlier today--" T’gyrlan broke off mid sentence as he laid eyes on the cupcakes. “...I see you do.”

"I'm familiar." E'kavas answered. "Though I'm surprised Roquath didn't go chase. A pleasant surprise." He added, loudly, and directed at the brown. "Because the cupcakes would have burned!"

"They're for Zariah." Kevia said between fits of giggles. "Because she said Relsath's Flight was going to be today."

T’gyrlan cycled through surprise, embarrassment and grief as he realized the cupcakes were not, in fact, for him. Still, he managed to catch a crucial detail between Kevia’s giggles and his shame. “Zariah!” he echoed triumphantly. “That’s her name!”

“Well, her flight _was_ today,” T’gyrlan continued. “And guess who caught!? Guess who’s flying better than ever?” It was not a hard guessing game. T’gyrlan stood there bursting with excitement and pride, as much as he had when W’ser cleared him to fly full ‘falls a month ago. It was a far cry from the broken man he’d been in the Turns since his accident and grounding. He’d always put on a strong front for the kids, but E’kavas knew the pain went deep.

"Well, congratulations Hanassath!" E'kavas matched T'gyrlan's wide grin. "Relsath's tricky for the big boys." He felt Roquath's grumble more than heard, which he again chose to ignore. "These were meant to be a bit of a joke, but I think you deserve them more than Zariah does. This is worth celebrating."

“Smells delicious, for a joke. I feel bad depriving her of them, she was very decent to me after the flight. It just all really hit me at once… we’re getting our life back. All of it.” His feelings were still a bit raw on the matter and he felt the emotion welling in his chest and laughed to disengage. “Ha, it’s still getting to me. What this all means. Finally.” He was going to tear up again and turned to his niece for an out. “Kevia! Do you want to eat cupcakes now?”

"Uh, yes!" Kevia agreed and reached for the nearest cupcake that had "rats" spelt on it. "I picked out the wrapping, too." She explained.

“Very beautiful,” said T’gyrlan dutifully. He picked the ‘sex’ cupcake and toasted with her.

"I saved a couple extras for us, we can remake the ones we eat." E'kavas said, though he had a feeling he would have to remake the cupcakes if he really wanted to follow through on the joke. "She made- or probably had someone else make- a cake that said 'You'll Miss Us' when it was announced I was moving to Azure Wing." He considered a moment, thinking how he'd want to ask the question. "How have you found flying 'Fall this month? Not too bad, if Hanassath is back to bullying blues?"

“The flying is good. Whatever those dragonhealers did, it worked. We’re not in any pain.” He seemed pleased about that, but the rest… T’gyrlan’s brow began to knit darkly. “The wing though… the new wingleader is a northerner that only recently arrived and, as far as I hear, this is his first full command. He’s still studying our formations and tactics.” T’gyrlan’s own accident had been partly due to difference in weyr-to-weyr protocol.

"Oh yes." E'kavas' eyebrows knit as he tried to put a name to a face. "K'rel? Moving to a new Weyrv is tough. He'll get the hang of it. Certainly odd that R'enh promoted him over a senior Dragonsfall bronze, though. Are you going to be okay?"

“They’re probably counting on K’yne to show him the ropes,” T’gyrlan frowned sourly, before sighing. A short, frustrated huff. “I’ll be fine. It’s just galling. If I hadn’t been out of commission so long--" He let the sentence go unfinished, opting instead to chomp viciously at his victory cupcake and chew angrily. There was blue frosting in his golden stubble.

Kevia giggled, unaware that her own face was smudged blue around the mouth.

"Well, you're back now. Ease into it. We don't want you and Hanassath back in the infirmary again so soon." E'kavas said. "One thing at a time, remember? You need more Threadfalls under your belt before you start thinking about taking over as Wingleader. Although, with K'reyel out of commission there will likely be a new Weyrleader."

Restraint and moderation weren’t exactly T’gyrlan’s forte. He didn’t entirely discount E’kavas’ well reasoned caution, but he did protest a little: “We’re not as behind as you might think. I’ve been studying too. Harder!” He realized that sounded a bit childish, so he took a steadying moment to wipe his and Kevia’s face (“Hey!”) with his handkerchief. “Yes, shame about K’reyel,” he finally said, and he meant it, but there was a thoughtful turn to his tone all the same.

"I'm sure you'll be flying circles around K'rel in no time." E'kavas said. "Just don't hurt yourselves trying to do it." There was concern in his tone, though he grimaced at how the words came out. "But hey, outflying all of Relsath's chasers is a huge step."

"Hanassath deserves a treat, too." Kevia said, subconsciously matching her father's seriousness. "Can I go give him scritches?"

“He would love that.” T’gyrlan waited until Kevia had run off before continuing, turning the conversation away from his health and to another important point. “How are the children adjusting to your promotion? I don’t think I was ever as busy as when I was D’lere’s wingsecond. That position gets all their own work, plus delegation from the top.”

"It's fine." E'kavas said a little too quickly. Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure, but all three of his brood were old enough to be pretty independent these days. Especially if he didn't think too hard about it. "I've always been pretty busy. It's just different work. I'm picking up less extra shifts and it almost evens out."

A raised eyebrow suggested that T’gyrlan doubted that very much, but he didn’t press. Not directly. “I’ll try to swing by more. Spend time with the kids.”

"They'd like that." E'kavas agreed. "They love swimming in the summer lake, if you ever want help with Hanassath. Hm." E'kavas considered a moment, "And maybe you can check in with Jevikas? He's taking his candidate duties very seriously and is going through a phase."

“Alright,” T’gyrlan nodded simply. He was glad to lend a hand. His sister would have wanted it that way.

"What were you looking for help with? When you came in? Was it just Zariah's name?" E'kavas asked after a moment of awkwardness.

“Oh, yes,” and T’gyrlan had the grace to look a bit abashed about that. “I couldn’t place her and it seemed awkward to ask after the flight since _she_ seemed to know _me_… You said she was a wingmate, right? Do you know what she likes besides flowers? I’d like to do something for her.”

"She knows everybody, I think." E'kavas said with a chuckle. He'd probably pointed T'gyrlan out to her at one point, or she might've asked who he was sitting with in the Dining Hall. "Flowers _are_ a good bet, but if you don't want to do that…if you can nab a bubbly pie from the caverns, or some wine. If you're going over there, can you bring me back my mugs? She borrowed them when her kids had a sleepover a few sevendays ago and she never returned them."

“Mugs, got it. And pie, huh? Sensible woman. Maybe I’ll write something on it too.” He poked one of the blue frosting bowls. “Where are those extra cupcakes? I’ll fix what we ate at least.”

"I'll get them." E'kavas rose to retrieve the undecorated cupcakes from the kitchen. "Kevia," He called, "Do you want to decorate cupcakes with T'gyrlan?"

"Yes!"

Last updated on the April 26th 2024

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Cupcakes and Questions