Worth the Wait

Writers: Halyonix, Iluva
Date Posted: 13th May 2025

Characters: M'rhas, S'yen
Description: The two blue weyrlings discuss their futures over breakfast
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 24 of Turn 12
Notes: A little foul language
Mentioned: Th'reyos, Z'renh, T'lonas, Saibra, T'mhas, M'thos, K'yne, Sybana

M'rhas

S'yen

"Well, well," S'yen purred in his usual bland tone, "Look who's joining us."

Truth be told, S'yen _didn't_ feel bland at all anymore. It was like
Jenith had filled him with...warmth. Sunshine. Hope! But he had no
idea how _not_ to be cynical and jaded and exude indifference. It was
everything he had done for most of his life!

Though he was in the same post-Impression metamorphic glow, M'rhas had
always had the opposite problem -- feeling too much, being too loud,
taking it too far. Rarely a chance to be truly bored. Or bland. Or
satisfied.

So Alzaryth was an absolute trip for him -- his quiet place in a
crowd. When the little blue wasn't drastically overloaded by the 'so
muchness' of life, together the world was fresh, raw, beautiful, new.

Hence M'rhas striding up to S'yen with his own silent impression of
the _him_ and his gloom, which immediately broke to a huge grin as he
grabbed the other guy by the shoulders and gave him a companionable
slap. "Hey bud. You forget you owe me five marks?"

Having totally forgotten, S'yen asked, "For what?!" He tried to scowl
sharply but it fell flat.

"Oh don't think you're gettin' out of it just 'cause you found your
other half! Or 'cause I found mine!" M'rhas smiled, planting a big
kiss on S'yen's cheek for good measure regardless of anyone's feelings
on it. Finally releasing the older weyrling, he clarified, "I bet you
five marks we'd Impress in the next clutch, remember? And here we
are!" His arms wide, as Alzaryth had indeed opened the rest of the
world to him, he said in a calmer, deeper voice, "S'yen, we _did it_."

That last line released a knot within S'yen. They had done it! _He_ had done it! He had Jenith now, after waiting for so very long. That knowledge allowed S'yen to forgive M'hras for giving him that kiss. His previous self would have definitely made a caustic remark about it. "Okay, fine," S'yen admitted. "But you're going to have to give me a few sevendays to get it. Th'reyos cleaned me out at cards right before the Hatching and I doubt we weyrlings are going to have a whole lot of free time to get those back."

Unaware he'd just dodged a proverbial clump in the air, M'rhas' frown broke through his smile, "What? Nah, that was a joke. But, if you ever find a bottle of rum to swipe..." His elbow met S'yen's playfully. "Man, what are you doin' playing with Th'reyos? He's old enough to be my dad. _And_ my other dad."

That was easy. S'yen shrugged one shoulder. "I was bored. Tired of being cooped up in the Barracks waiting." Waiting and worrying. But now that all seemed so far away. He looked at Jenith, who was chewing his meal, and a disbelieving smile broke through.

"Yeah, good thing we're outta there." M'rhas was in far too good a mood to gripe as well, though it was a little odd to be anywhere without his brothers. "I'd sleep on T'lonas' floor at this point. Or Saibra's, as long as Al got the bed." Grabbing a nearby knife, he set about ribboning some of the larger chunks left in Alzaryth's bucket, whistling to himself and his blue even as that little wedge shaped head occasionally jerked up, uneasy, scanning about. Anticipation humming through him all the while.

His rider nudged his neck with a bloody knuckle. **Don't worry, I'll punch anyone-**

}:What?:{ Alzaryth's eyes flashed yellow, anticipation threatening to grow into alarm, and M'rhas hastily retracted the thought. **No, no, no, no no. Nevermind. I won't punch anyone.** Not unless Z'renh and Adamanth tried to pull another fast one...

But so far it was just the two coolest pairs in the class, and Alzaryth hesitantly settled back in. **You eat up, I'll keep an eye out.** It was M'rhas' turn to smile disbelievingly as bright green trickled back into the whirl of his dragon's eyes and a wave of relief flowed across their bond. Faranth. Had he ever been more ecstatic about not punching someone?

As he turned back to S'yen, M'rhas suddenly realized he had tears flooding into his eyes all over again. "Shard it-" His forearm tried to cover it, but it was probably too late. "Fuck sakes. Don't say a shardin' word."

"About what?" S'yen asked. He had been lost in his own wonderment at Jenith and had missed whatever exchange had been happening between M'rhas and Alzaryth. "What the shells would I say about what?"

"Nothing!" M'rhas retorted, all the while wondering what the blazing shells was wrong with him. "I just... got meat in my eye! It burns. It's nothing."

It was confusing.

All of it, every single amazing moment of Alzaryth and Weyrlinghood thus far. He could only guess this was how seacrafters felt when they came ashore after months away, or how Aluneth felt when Galgaith first hatched. It was a lot. His brothers also never let something like tears go unnoted, regardless of their reason, and it was foreign and.... freeing, and maybe even a little frightening to think that was no longer a thing here. No one was looking out for him like that anymore.

"This is just... a lot more than I... Anyway, Alzaryth, it's almost bath time." The best thing to do was to pretend this never happened. S'yen was being weirdly chill right now -- there was no way of knowing what was going on with him, either...

"Yeah, bath time soon," S'yen agreed absently. "They're a lot. Little dragons. Eat, sleep, bath, repeat. But man, I can't wait for it to be worth it. Worth it more, I mean."

M'rhas watched the two blues chomping and chewing and finally exhaled, glad for the distractions. "What're you gonna do, once you're allowed then?"

"Something I'm not allowed to think about right now," S'yen complained bitterly and darkly.

A bestial snort escaped M'rhas there, followed by the heady feeling of relief when it actually seemed to realign things inside him again.

"Oh, I can't wait." He muttered sympathetically, smirking behind Alzaryth's back. "And I can't wait til we don't have my dad looking over our shoulders. Can you imagine having our own weyrs and no curfew? We could be in Benden or Fort every night for all they'll know."

Even S'yen had to smirk at that thought. The ability to go anywhere, at any time. "Yeah, I bet it's worse for you with your dads being Weyrlingmasters and all that. Just wait until they give us the mating flight talk."

"Hey hey, only one's a Weyrlingmaster." M'rhas quickly corrected-- though both of them joining staff would be _just_ the sort of thing they would do. "Pff, I ain't worried. I know how flights work." He patted Alzaryth's flank for emphasis on that point. Except... having the gory details packed into a long formal lecture from his father _was_ a bit of a sobering thought. "Think maybe K'yne will give that one? He's the Third."

"He's a boring lecturer," S'yen remarked, "He'll make it sound so cut and dry and unfun that everyone will swear it off."

"Doubt it." M'rhas shook his head, skeptical. "Anyone with eyes's gonna know the difference soon enough. It's gonna be great though--" he smacked his palms together at the next thought, "I can't _wait_ to see some of the holdkids' faces when they gotta watch their dragons catch their own meals. I'll bet you anything Sybana's gonna faint." Nothing like a little schadenfreude to displace his own discomfort for the future.

"Worth it," S'yen replied dryly but he was internally smiling. This was going to be great.

Last updated on the May 19th 2025

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Worth the Wait