Can't a Girl Just Have Dinner in Peace?

Writers: Duskdog, Heather
Date Posted: 28th June 2024

Characters: Saibra, M'kayre
Description: M'kayre not-so-subtly makes his ambitions clear to Saibra
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 8, day 22 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: K'reyel, R'enh

Saibra

M'kayre

M'kayre had no particular ill will towards K'reyel, nor any particular
complaints about the way he had run things, other than the simple fact
that K'reyel was not, in fact, M'kayre himself. The unexpected loss of
Dragonsfall's Weyrleader was a tragedy, indeed. Nevermind that he was
still alive; his use as a leader and as a dragonrider had come to a
tragic end even so, and in the cogs of the great machine that was the
Weyr, that was really all that mattered, wasn't it?

But all's fair in love and Threadfall, as they say, and K'reyel's
misfortune was destined to become someone else's _good_ fortune.

Whomever seized it first.

Nothing personal.

He'd been keeping an eye out for his opportunity to approach the
Weyrwoman -- _without_ her pesky weyrmate around. (R'enh was, he had
to admit, the most annoying sort of competition right now. How
convenient for them, and inconvenient for the rest of the Weyr's
bronzeriders, that the Weyrwoman's _actual_ weyrmate just so happened
to be in a position to take over as acting Weyrleader when K'reyel
found himself the unfortunate filling in a midair dragon sandwich, as
it were. It was _so_ convenient, in fact, that M'kayre might have
suspected them of setting up the whole thing, if it didn't seem like
such an impossible contrivance to manufacture, and if he hadn't been
absolutely certain that R'enh had neither the stones to do such a
horrific thing, nor the brains to pull it off. He would, no doubt,
have a double advantage when Chioneth's mating flight came, and that
irked M'kayre to no end.)

His opportunity finally came when he spied her at the Dining Hall, for
once unburdened by R'enh or anyone else who might run interference
when he was trying to _work_.

"Weyrwoman," he greeted smoothly, sliding into the seat across from
her with his tray. Taking the seat beside her, he had decided, would
have been far too bold. "My duty to Chioneth. I do hope I'm not
interrupting what looked to be a lonely dinner for one?"

**Ah, M'kayre,** Saibra thought with an inward sigh, even as she
outwardly gave the bronzerider a polite smile.

"You are not interrupting," she said. She'd known that with K'reyel's
departure as Weyrleader that the bronzeriders of Dragonsfall would
start circling. She did wonder whose bronze would succeed, seeing as
how R'enh's Mnoranth had tried to catch Chioneth several times in the
past but never managed it.

"Lovely. I'd hate to be a bother." M'kayre smiled back at her, his most
charming version (if he did say so, himself), and then set about
carefully separating the food on his plate with a fork. He hated when
the sauces touched things that they weren't intended to touch. "I do
hope you've been getting along okay. I imagine things have been
stressful lately, even with someone you trust stepping up to fill
K'reyel's shoes."

No sense pretending it wasn't on his mind. Regardless of what else he
may or may not think about her, he did not consider her stupid.

**Oh, I can't wait to memorize every detail of this conversation to
recount to R'enh later,** Saibra thought.

"Yes, even with R'enh stepping up, it has still been stressful.
K'reyel and I had a certain.. rhythm to our working relationship. A
well-oiled machine, you might say. " It was certainly a little more
difficult now to leave work at the office when she and R'enh came home
to their weyr.

"Mm," M'kayre acknowledged, adding sweetener to his klah. "That's
ideal, I'd say. I don't think the Weyr can run smoothly if the
Weyrleaders can't match step. It can _function_, I suppose, but not
_thrive_. And, of course, not to discount the personal toll an unhappy
working environment can cause."

He grimaced, bitter thoughts bubbling to the surface like bile in his
throat. Taking orders from someone whose job he believed should be
_his_ grated on him enormously. Every. Single. Day.

"Having someone new will be an adjustment, for sure, but I'd like to
think that anyone _worthy_ of the position would be able to set a beat
that you could match. Or one that complements. I daresay there aren't
many who would understand that."

Saibra studied M'kayre as he spoke, wondering if he realized that his
disdain naturally bled through his tone of voice when he talked.
**Pity. He could be such a contender for Weyrleader if he just
wasn't... well... _M'kayre_.**

"I'm actually thinking of opening the flight to outside bronzes as
well," she said, interested to see his reaction.

His eyebrows rose before he could properly process and school his
expression (though he did so almost immediately). "Is that so? That
would be an... interesting... choice. Do you find your bronzeriders
here underwhelming, Weyrwoman?" The corner of his mouth twitched into
a smile. _He_ found many of them underwhelming, obviously -- he'd only
just implied as much -- but he hadn't expected Saibra to express
similar sentiment. "River Bluff gave you our _best_."

He couldn't keep the pride from his voice even if he'd wanted to. His
heart beat and bled for River Bluff and always had; he had come to
_accept_ Dragonsfall, but never truly embrace it the way he yearned to
embrace something, _anything_ with all the passion he'd once poured
into his abandoned home.

Saibra's eyebrow arched a little. "It's not that I find the
Dragonsfall bronzes underwhelming, but above all other ambitions, I
wish the best for Chioneth, and the best bronze brings her the best
possible clutch. That's what I want." Was there a tiny part of her
that was annoyed that Chioneth had never clutched a gold egg? Yes, but
she had contented herself over the years by the consistency and size
of Chioneth's clutches. They always produced strong dragon-rider
pairings, except for the one hiccup a couple of clutches back when the
green dragonet hadn't found a lifemate and /betweened/.

"And the best bronze may very well be at another Weyr, which sounds
_exactly_ like you're unimpressed by Dragonsfall's bronzes," M'kayre
replied, though he seemed more amused than offended, pausing to take a
sip of klah. "That's certainly how it'll be perceived, anyway. But our
delicate masculine feelings aren't really the point, are they?
Chioneth's clutch is. You've all the power here, and it's good to see
you wield it." He leaned forward intently, his smile all sly, all top
teeth. "Weed out the unfit in one fell swoop, here and _everywhere
else_."

The Weyrwoman doubted that's how it would be perceived by others with
half a brain, but she decided the lecture of bloodlines was not one
for M'kayre. If he wanted to think his dragon from River Bluff was
superior, he could continue living in that delusion, she supposed.
"It's interesting, K'reyel and Erdenth were from Dolphin Cove, K'reyel
actually lived there when it was Thayan Peak. The Weyrleader before
him, G'nir, was of Dragonsfall. So it will be interesting to see if
Chioneth changes it up again."

"Indeed it will." He found her hard to read, and he didn't think he
liked that very much. It certainly could be an asset in a Weyrwoman
and he couldn't fault it entirely for that reason, but it also made
his current endeavors that much more difficult. He wasn't under the
delusion that she _liked_ him, regardless of how this particular
conversation went, but it would have been nice to be able to tell if
she found him _interesting_, at least, so he would know what direction
to take. Perhaps it didn't matter, so long as he was on her mind in
_some_ way. He had complete faith in Bhelth, but also didn't believe
in leaving it all on his dragon's shoulders. The intricacies of being
Weyrleader were on the rider, after all, and not the dragon. "I
haven't noticed her lounging with a favorite. Does she have one, or
does she play as close to the vest as you do?"

"Chioneth never takes a favorite, not even Mnoranth, whom she says a
weyrcouch with. She'll accept favors and attention from all, but
that's never seemed to have any bearing on who ends up catching her."
Saibra smiled at M'kayre. "She's unpredictable."

"Probably for the best. Makes all her suitors certain they have a fair
shot, whether it's true or not. Or perhaps it would do them good to
feel as if they have a disadvantage to overcome. Motivation! Not that
they should _require_ any motivation beyond the obvious, of course."

His lip curled in disdain. "I don't expect that any bronze who needs a
fire lit under his tailfork to strive for the ultimate honor to be
worthy of such an honor in the first place."

"It's true," Saibra agreed lightly, "that I think a bronze should
require no motivation to chase the senior queen. I'm equally
disappointed when bronzeriders _discourage_ their dragon from joining
the chase because they don't want to be Weyrleader."

"A disgrace to the color," M'kayre agreed vehemently. "No excuse for it. We've all been chosen, by our dragons, to be ready and willing to accept that burden, should it ever fall to us. There is no denying or shirking the duty." He paused to sip his klah again -- more a gulp than a sip this time; uncharacteristic of him, but he had strong feelings on the subject of duty and couldn't easily hide it. "I am suspicious of any bronzerider who is content with a lack of responsibility and authority, let alone one who _enjoys_ such a thing."

Ah, finally, something they both agreed on. "To duty then," she said, lifting her cup of klah in toast to the bronzerider.

“To duty,” he agreed, lifting his own cup. As to all the rest of it… they would see soon enough, wouldn’t they?

Last updated on the June 30th 2024

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Can't a Girl Just Have Dinner in Peace?