Special Subscriptions

Writers: Devin, Shawna
Date Posted: 20th January 2025
Series: Bronze and Blue Entwined

Characters: K'mai, Zariah
Description: K'mai asks Zariah for a book subscription, but it's not for him.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 17 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: I'serin, M'thos, T'mhas

K'mai

As soon as drills ended, K'mai jogged toward the greenrider. "Hey
Zariah! Got a minute?"

"Sure. What did you need?" Zariah turned towards her wingmate with a
welcoming smile.

"I heard you're doing deliveries for the Printer Hall? How does that
work?" As he reached her, he tucked his riding helmet under his arm.

"Which part? Are you looking for a side job- because it doesn't pay
great- or do you want to subscribe for books? I have the catalogue
back at my weyr." With a grin, she added, "You'd love the weyr romance
series about the dashing bluerider..."

K'mai laughed. "I bet I would. Do you have non-fiction too? History?"
he asked eagerly.

"Oh, sure. Wouldn't have picked you for the history fan. Are you
looking for something specific?" That wasn't the part of the Printer
Hall catalogue that Zariah knew well, but surely there would be
something.

"Actually I was wondering if I could buy a subscription as a gift."

Zariah frowned for a moment, then shrugged, "I can't think of any
reason why not. Who's the lucky recipient?"

"The Weyrleader." K'mai smiled. He was so glad he'd thought of this. A
little present that would show up regularly and hopefully brighten
I'serin's day. "He's a friend of mine. We grew up together, you know."

"Oh," her face brightened, "that is a good idea. He definitely isn't
signed up yet, I'd have remembered that." Zariah looked sheepish, "I
hadn't thought about it, but that does make sense. You would have
known him from River Bluff. Sometimes I still forget we have so
many..." she hesitated, wanting a better word than 'refugees',
"transplants. Were you close growing up?"

"Not very," he said honestly. "But lately . . ." He obviously couldn't
say I'serin had come to him for sex and now they were suddenly much
closer. He couldn't explain about the night Barrier Lake's Queen had
been killed and how much I'serin's comfort had meant. "Well, being
thrown into a job like that, it can't be easy. I know he loves reading
and history, and I want to do something nice for him."

"K'mai, if I didn't know better, I would think you were going soft,"
Zariah teased before getting down to business. "How do you want to do
this? It costs a mark a month and he can exchange his current book for
a new one whenever I come through. Did you want to pick out the books
he gets, or let him choose? I think it would be fun to get a surprise
book every month." And she reasoned if the Weyrleader wanted to make
his own selections, he could have just signed himself up.

"Hmmm . . . I'll pick out the first one and let him know he can pick
the others if he wants to. _Don't_ tell him until the first delivery,
though. I want it to be a surprise," K'mai said. "And just to be
clear, I've _always_ been soft . . . except when I'm hard." He winked.

"I don't mind playing dumb. I can tell him I don't know who it's from,
let you have the fun of telling him." Raising an eyebrow, Zariah said,
"That's what's wrong with you, K'mai, you're always thinking with a
certain part of your anatomy. Anyway, did you want to stop by my weyr
and look through the catalogue? Pick the first book?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "And write him a note for you to deliver with the
first book. If you don't mind." He pictured I'serin smiling as he got
the gift and saw who it was from. Well, at least K'mai _hoped_ that he
would like it.

"Alright, but don't go telling everyone about this. I can't be giving
special personalized deliveries to everyone," she joked. "I'm a
professional representative of the Printer Hall, you know."

"I'll keep it quiet." K'mai laughed. "But everyone knows I can charm
the hide off a wherry, so if someone finds out you can blame it on
that. Can we go to your weyr now? Or are you busy?"

"Sure, come on." Zariah turned back to remount Relsath for the quick
flight back to her weyr. It wasn't the tidiest place, books and
knitting projects scattered around. Grabbing the 'book of books' from
a spot on her shelf, she said, "You know, you could join up too. Read
the same book if there's two copies available. Talk about it after."

"Ah, well, I'm not much of a reader. I never seem to find the time."
K'mai shrugged. "I read some of the Weyr Romances, though usually I
just skip to the good parts." He was making his way through the one
I'serin had bought him, even if it was only a chapter here and there.

Zariah snorted, "And by good parts, you mean the steamy parts, I'm
sure. Some of them are funny! You're missing out. Hopefully our
esteemed Weyrleader is more of a reader. He seems like he would be. If
you want to go through that today, you can just let me know in the
next few days what I should add to the next delivery. It's usually the
second sevenday."

K'mai nodded, suddenly a little bit nervous. What if I'serin didn't
like the book he picked out? Well, it was the thought that counted,
wasn't it, and I'serin could pick out the next book if he wanted. "Oh,
do you have some hide? I want to write that note."

"Oh, sure, right over there." Zariah went over and cleared a knitting
project off her little desk, revealing hide and pens and ink, "Help
yourself. You want something to drink?"

"Ooh that would be nice, thanks." K'mai took a piece of hide and a pen
and thought over it for a moment before writing: 'For when you don't
have time to go to the bookstore, I'm bringing the bookstore to you.'
Then he signed his name and drew a little smiling face. "And thanks
for making a special exception." He set the note down and started
looking through the list of books.

There was banging in the kitchen, but Zariah eventually emerged with a
couple of glasses of a nice spiced cider, "I picked this up on one of
my last runs. Sometimes people tip the book dragon," she set the cup
next to him. "Honestly, I've had more lucrative side jobs, but this
one is a lot of fun. And I get to read whatever I want now as long as
I don't fold over the page corners."

K'mai took a sip. "Mmmm . . . that's good. What do you like to read?"

Zariah gestured towards a small but overfilled bookshelf, "Mostly
fiction. I like the weyr romances. The ones that are actually a
romance, not just the spicy ones."

"I like the swoony stuff too. It's just that it seems to take forever
to get through a whole book." K'mai shrugged, with a little
self-deprecating smile. "I have some friends who love romances and
they tell me all about them, so I probably know some of the ones
you've read."

Laughing, Zariah teased, "I have two children and a side job. What are
you doing with all your evenings? I like the series with the two
greenriders finding love," she sighed. "I don't like the ones where
the greenrider is just mean and easy. Someone has a chip on their
shoulder."

"Oh I've definitely heard _those_ rants." K'mai laughed. "I'm annoyed
that every time a bronzerider falls for a man, it's a greenrider.
Hello? What about us blueriders! Can't we get a piece once in a
while?"

"Oh that's probably M'thos and T'mhas's fault. They were so dramatic.
I'm sure the stories made the rounds. Since when are you interested in
a piece of the romance?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, "I thought
you were all about the thrill of the chase? As many as possible, no
attachments?"

The bluerider filed away that bit of information. Did that mean Zariah
knew about them too? K'mai laughed. "Zariah, I have _plenty_ of
attachments. And I like stories about people falling in love. I like
seeing my friends fall in love. It's all about people being happy,
isn't it? I just don't fall in love myself." He shrugged.

"K'mai," Zariah sounded more serious, moving to lean her hip against
her desk while she sipped her cider, "It's not an attachment if you
don't get attached. Have you never considered settling down?"

"Friendship is an attachment, to me. I love my friends, I have sex
with lots of them. It's just not romantic."

"You're missing out. It's different. The romance makes it so much more
fun," she shook her head. "Have you really never done the swooning?"

K'mai shook his head. "I don't feel like I'm missing out. My life is
filled with love, just not that one specific kind, and I don't need it
to be happy."

"Sure you can be happy without it, I'm happy. That doesn't mean I'm
not a hopeless romantic still holding out for the right one. And yes,
I know that sounds silly," Zariah said with a little laugh.

"It doesn't, though. I hope you find them." K'mai lifted his glass.
"May your quest for love have a happy ending."

"I'll toast to that," Zariah clinked her half full mug with his

Last updated on the January 25th 2025

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