Eyes Closed

Writers: Aaron, Halyonix
Date Posted: 17th May 2024

Characters: K'far, Vaile
Description: A reunion via children turns into a...date?
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 19 of Turn 11

Moraile was still at the age where he was content to be in her arms but Miravaile was all exploration. Their fostermother said that Mira was often trying to escape on adventures with other weyrbrats, which both relieved and scared Vaile, even though, aside from tunnel snakes, which were assiduously kept in check, or an errant tumble, there was very little that could actually harm a child in the Weyr.

Still, Vaile was trying to catch up to Mira, hampered by a heavy Moraile squirming in her arms. "Not so far, Mira please!" she called. But Miravaile had disappeared around the corner and was already making a new friend.

"Well, hello!" K'far greeted the wandering tyke with a chuckle. "Going somewhere fun?" He had always loved children, but raising them had to be exhausting. He thought it best to keep an eye on this one until he could be sure she had someone looking after her.

Miravaile stopped and grinned at K'far. "Esploring!" she cried brightly. "I'm Miravaile! Who are you?"

"I'm K'far," he introduced himself. "It's nice to meet you, Miravaile. Do you have an exploring partner today? Mama or Papa? Big sister, maybe?"

The little nodded emphatically. She pointed behind her, where no one was, and said, "Mam!" as though her mother would suddenly, magically appear.

She did not.

Unperturbed by this, Miravaile continued with her conversation. "Is 'far a dagonrider?" She shook her head, then said, "duuurraaaaaagon," as though training her young mouth to pronounce words correctly.

"I am a dragonrider," said K'far. "Is Mam a dragonrider, too?" His eyes kept flitting back behind the girl, expecting her mother to appear at any moment.

Mira's expression immediately brightened. "Yes!" She opened her mouth to say more and suddenly, the aforementioned mother appeared, carrying a smaller boy and looking a bit hindered. "Mom! This is Kfar!" She didn't say his name _quite_ right but it was close enough.

Vaile, on the other hand, immediately recognized K'far from the Queens' Wing and smiled breathlessly. "Hello, K'far, how are you?" she asked. She shifted Mora onto her other hip while she adopted a more conversational stance.

"Oh! Vaile, hello. I'm outstanding. Was just having a riveting conversation with this young lady here; do you know each other?" K'far winked.

While Vaile chuckled over the joke, Miravaile completely missed it and took the expected childish affront to such a thing by saying brightly and loudly, "A course we do! She's my mama!"

Vaile pat Mira on the head gently. Moraile slid from her hip and began toddling towards the brownrider curiously. "Yes, sweetie, he knows. K'far is my friend. His dragon is Torth."

"Torrrrrth," Miravaile repeated, drawing out the letters like she was writing down the name in her mind. "Torth. Ka-far and Torth."

Mora reached K'far and held a chubby hand up to touch the brownrider. Vaile conversationally said, "How's Torth and the Queens' Wing?" Vaile's pregnancies meant that she had spent time in and out of that Wing and even though K'far had only recently joined the Wing permanently, Vaile still kept in touch with many of the riders from it. It was a sisterhood of sorts.

"Hey, buddy." K'far knelt down and offered a fist for Moraile to bump.

"Everything's great," he said. "How are you and Liranth the family?"

"We're...fine," Vaile replied. Her tone sounded off though and she heard it. She let out a long sigh while she watched Moraile wrap a chubby fist around K'far's hand. "There are days that it's easy, K'far, and there are days that it's not." She nodded her chin at Moraile. "He looks so much like M'vel," she said, bringing up her deceased weyrmate. Even though he had died of firehead two Turns ago, there were still moments were the grief just...appeared, like a dragon coming out of /between/.

K'far nodded. He had never had a family of his own. But he knew as well as anyone did what it was like to lose someone. He was a dragonrider. He could imagine how much deeper that loss would be with a weyrmate.

Still, he smiled at the boy. It must be so hard, yet so wonderful to have. Some part of M'vel lived on, but he was a constant reminder of what Vaile had lost.

"If there's anything I can do to help, you only have to let me know," he said. "I'll either make it happen or find someone who can."

She smiled softly. "Thank you. Honestly, I think I need to do things that get my mind off of what happened. Liranth complains that I've been dragging myself down with the past for too long, even though I know she doesn't really have an idea of how much time has passed. I spend time with the kids as it allows me but maybe I need to get out of the Weyr a bit too."

"You know any good places to visit around here?" asked K'far. He had scarcely left the Weyr since he had arrived, apart from attending a wedding. It was much warmer within than without. But he could stomach a bit of a chilly outing for Vaile's sake, assuming she wanted him along.

Vaile actually blinked in surprise at the question. She hadn't considered _where_ to get out, just the growing desire to get out. "I..." she started to answer, then the memories of all of the places that she and M'vel had gone suddenly flooded her mind. All at once, she remembered that beach, that meadow, that song, that meal -- a dozen dates slamming into her. She closed her eyes, hung on to the present as best as she could, held on to Liranth, held on to Miravaile, held on...

"Mamaaaa, you're hurting meeee," Miravaile complained, snapping Vaile back to the _now_.

Vaile released the grip she hadn't realized she had been doing. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I just...had a moment." She kissed the aggrieved upper arm, setting her daughter's world a-right again. Still, she fussed over her daughter for a minute while she answered K'far. "Have you ever been to Citrus Bay? I hear there's a lovely beach, maybe a vineyard or pottery place? I'm not sure anymore."

"I don't think I have, actually," said K'far. "Would you like to visit? Or maybe we could ask for suggestions and find someplace new?" Thinking of these places certainly seemed to have dredged up something.

Going somewhere new, somewhere she and M'vel had never been, sounded like a great idea. Fresh memories and all that. "Let's go see what Citrus Bay has to offer," she suggested. And then, she shook her head, blushing. "I'm sorry. I...how presumptuous of me. Would you like to come with me there? I'm not sure what we'll find but it would be nice to leave the Weyr for a bit." And she would leave the kids in the creche so that she was focused on her time then and not her children.

"Of course, I would love to." K'far smiled. "And not presumptuous in the slightest." He had offered first, after all. At least, he had meant to. Perhaps he should be a bit more forward.

Her smile was soft, broken, but sincere. "How about in two days?" she suggested.

"Two days," K'far agreed.

Last updated on the May 24th 2024

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Eyes Closed