Old Friends: A Nice Guy (3/4)

Writers: Devin, Duskdog
Date Posted: 13th May 2025

Characters: N'vanik, G'zan
Description: N’vanik and G’zan remember a conversation several Turns ago.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 6, day 26 of Turn 12

N'vanik

G'zan

Dragonsfall Weyr, Month 9, Turn 3

It had been months and N'vanik hadn't heard any rumors. Well, there
were _plenty_ of rumors about him, just nothing about him being
holdless, so G'zan must have kept his word.

N'vanik noticed the greenrider was friendly to everyone. Even him,
despite N'vanik treating G'zan like a tunnelsnake his first day in
Cyan Wing. All those Turns ago G'zan had been kind too. Somehow being
holdless hadn't turned him hard.

Sometimes he watched G'zan chatting and laughing with their wingmates
with such ease and the bronzerider felt a pang of jealousy. A few
times he even wondered if they could be friends.

Then one afternoon Loseth not-so-coincidentally asked for a bath when
Panghuth was already at the Weyrlake. }:Do you mind some company?:{ he
asked. She wasn't the most beautiful green, but she was a strong
Thread fighter and he admired that.

Panghuth no longer recalled her rider's conversation with N'vanik, nor
would she have cared overmuch if she did. }:I do not mind,:{ she
replied. }:The lake is large, and I am small. Come and enjoy your
bath.:{

**Who you talkin' to, baby?** G'zan asked, just as he glanced around
and recognized Loseth. Oh. He stiffened a bit, not sure what to expect
from N'vanik if he saw him.

Loseth waded into the lake next to the green and N'vanik frowned at
his dragon when he saw who it was. **You did that deliberately.**

}:Maybe you'll be nice this time.:{ Loseth didn't remember that far
back, but his rider did, so the bronze knew N'vanik had been rude to
G'zan. To Panghuth, he said, }:You flew Thread well the other day.:{

N'vanik fussed with his sweetsand bucket and brush longer than he
needed to, feeling Loseth's mental pressure to say something. After a
moment he gave in. "Thanks for not saying anything."

"Yeah, well..." G'zan cleared his throat awkwardly. "Still can't claim
I understand it, but I don't have to understand it -- it doesn't
really hurt me to not tell, but it makes you feel better, so... why
not, right?"

}:Yes, I did,:{ Panghuth replied, self-assured as ever. }:But thank
you for noticing. You, too, flew well.:{

}:I always fly well,:{ Loseth said with all the confidence of a dragon
with poor long-term memory.

"Some would use it to try to cause me trouble, and I don't know you or
anything so . . ." N'vanik shrugged. "But you seem like a nice guy."

G'zan's usual grin quirked _almost_ back to life. "I try to be! No
point in not, you know? If you're a jerk, you just make enemies
everywhere, and don't even get to have fun doing it. I'd rather have
friends. ...'Course, sometimes people don't wanna be friends even when
you're nice," he scratched his head, thinking of all the times people
had seemed to find him overwhelming or reckless or silly, "but eh, I
guess it takes all kinds, right? Like you. You're, uh... hrm...
cautious? I guess? I'd've called us friends, but I guess you're right
-- we didn't really ever get a chance to get to know each other."

"I think I'm full up on enemies." N'vanik thought of U'kaiah first,
but he was far from the only one. "Maybe we could pretend like we just
met?" he asked cautiously.

G'zan thought about it for a moment. "You know what? Yeah. Yeah! We
can do that. We just met, and we can become friends for real now... if
you're not scared of being friends with a Holdless guy?" He grinned.

The corner of N'vanik's mouth turned up. "If you're not worried about
my bad reputation."

"Well, I guess my good name can handle a little bit of tarnish." He
held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, N'vanik!"

"Nice to meet you, G'zan," N'vanik said as he gripped the greenrider's hand.

}:See? It feels better when you are nice,:{ Loseth told his rider.

Last updated on the May 26th 2025

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Old Friends: A Nice Guy (3/4)