Scraps of Fabric

Writers: Devin, Francesca
Date Posted: 26th June 2025

Characters: N'vanik, Talryne, Tolna
Description: Tolna meets the scantily-clad Weyrleader and his weyrmate in the water.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 7, day 13 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Chalzie

N'vanik

Talryne

Tolna

Having debriefed the apprentices' swimming class with Chalzie, Tolna
decided to go for a quick swim before getting changed and ready for
dinner. She jumped back in the water and swam towards the Weyr, Zan at
her side

After almost a quarter candlemark, Zan nudged her, getting her
attention. "Dragon!" he said happily.

Tolna looked up, seeing the metallic glint of a bronze dragon
overhead. She watched, curious, as he approached, then landed nearby.
She had ridden a dragon a handful of times, but never a bronze. He was
enormous.

She was so distracted by the dragon, it took her a moment to see that
there were two people mounted. When she finally noticed them, she gave
a little wave.

"Dragon!" Zan said again, pushing her towards them.

N'vanik lifted a hand in return as Loseth waded into the gentle surf.
When the bronze was up to his chest, N'vanik and Talryne jumped from
his neck and into the warm, clear water. They both wore almost
nothing, and neither of them had their knots on. "Hey there," N'vanik
called as he swam a little closer.

Loseth rumbled a soft greeting to Zan and Tolna, though mostly Zan,
and then stuck his head in the water to bugle. One dolphin was nice,
but he wanted more.

Tolna tried not to stare at the scraps of fabric they were wearing.
How did the woman's top even stay on? She was relieved when they
quickly submerged and glad none of the apprentices were around to
giggle and gossip. "Nice day for a swim," she said pleasantly. "Do you
come this way often?" Zan left her side to join a few others from the
local pod who were approaching.

"We get out when we can," N'vanik said with a grin. "Loseth loves dolphins."

}:They're fun,:{ the bronze said, eyes whirling happily as he watched
the dolphins leaping.

"'I'm N'vanik, and this is my weyrmate Talryne."

"Nice to meet you," Talryne said. She'd kind of hoped they'd be alone,
but it wasn't unusual to run into people between the Weyr and the
Hall.

Tolna didn't know many dragonriders but she had heard the Weyrleader's
name. And the woman he was with was definitely not the Weyrwoman.
Doing her best to pretend this was just an everyday conversation and
not an extraordinary event, she said, "Nice to meet you too. I'm
Tolna. I've been at the Hall for about a month, but I'll admit I
haven't made time to visit the Weyr much."

Zan approached Loseth. "Splash? Make waves?" he asked excitedly. Two
of the other dolphins echoed him, swimming around the large bronze.

Loseth happily obliged them, rearing up on his hind legs and then
bringing his forearms down to send up a huge wave.

N'vanik realized what was happening a second too late. **Wait, don't--**

The wave crashed over them. When it passed, N'vanik sighed, wiping
water from his face. "Sorry about that," he told Tolna.

"Maybe go a little farther out, Loseth?" Talryne said with a hint of amusement.

Tolna laughed at the bronze's antics and the dolphins' obvious
delight. "Are all dragons so playful?" He reminded her of an enormous
canine that had belonged to one of her friends growing up. He had
loved playing with the dolphins and even been trained to ride on their
backs for short distances.

"Not all of them," N'vanik said with a chuckle. "But sometimes he's
still a hatchling at heart." He looked over at his bronze with a fond
smile as Loseth headed into deeper water, beginning to swim as the
dolphins played around him.

"Like dragon, like rider," Talryne said fondly.

Aside from the lack of clothes, Tolna was enjoying meeting the
Weyrleader under such informal circumstances. "So, is this a prime
swimming spot, or were you both just going for proximity to the Weyr
today?" If she had a dragon, she would be tempted to find an
uninhabited island and spend her afternoons there.

"We came here so Loseth could play with the dolphins," Talryne said.

"We're mostly just tagging along," N'vanik chuckled. "But it is nice
the Hall is so close to the Weyr."

"Do you have a specialty?" Talryne asked.

"Meteorology. My research tries to improve our methods of predicting
the weather," Tolna explained. "At some point, I'd like to make an
official request to do some data collection from the Weyr, but I've
barely finished setting things up at the Hall. How about you?" she
asked Talryne. The woman didn't seem to be a dragonrider.

"Oh, meteorology, that's fascinating," Talryne said. "I'm a weaver,
but I don't have a specialty yet."

"Tapestry making," N'vanik said with warm pride.

She gave him an amused look before turning back to Tolna. "I'm only a
Senior Apprentice." Still, she thought to herself.

Tolna wondered at Talryne being an apprentice, but it didn't feel like
the time to ask a potentially uncomfortable question. "That's
wonderful. My youngest hasn't chosen a craft yet and I'm hoping being
close to the Weyr will give him exposure to a wide range of options.
To be honest though," she added, "I don't think he has the patience
needed to be a weaver. So, do ... you're weyrmates ... do you have
kids? I know things are different at the Weyr." She was realizing the
usual questions she asked when meeting someone new didn't quite work
with weyrfolk.

"I don't," Talryne said with a little shake of her head. Sometimes she
still felt a pang when she thought about how she'd hurt N'vanik by
ending her pregnancy, but they'd talked about it, many times, and
N'vanik had assured her he'd gotten over the pain. It was Turns in
their past, and they'd put it behind them. She still didn't want kids
of her own.

"I've got four," N'vanik said. "One's all grown up. She's a
greenrider. And I've got three little ones."

"That sounds like a handful. I have three, but none of them are little
anymore." Tolna was a bit perplexed about their family situation but
was yet again finding a topic she didn't feel comfortable exploring.

She watched the bronze dragon playing with the dolphins, debating
between asking another fairly bland question and making an excuse to
head back in the direction of the Hall. Instead, curiosity got the
best of her. "Ok, I have to ask. Do crafters make special swimwear for
weyrfolk? Or do you make them yourself? Because, I've seen many styles
of bathing suits, but nothing like what you're wearing." She didn't
consider herself particularly modest, but just the thought of wearing
so little made her blush.

Both N'vanik and Talryne laughed. "The tailors at the Weyr make them,"
Talryne said.

N'vanik swiped wet hair out of his eyes. "Lots of folks at Dolphin
Cove don't wear much. You can take that as a warning or a reason to
visit."

"That will take some getting used to," Tolna admitted. "I would like
to visit soon. But, I'll leave the kids at the Hall for at least that
first visit." She knew she couldn't keep them away from the Weyr for
long, but would have to think about how to handle it when the time
came, especially for her son.

"I should get back now," Tolna said. She had a few meetings before
dinner, and didn't want to take any more of their time. "Enjoy your
swim, and I'm sure I'll see you again." Hopefully fully dressed.

"Nice meeting you, Tolna," N'vanik said. Both he and Talryne waved as
the dolphineer turned away.

Talryne gave him a look that said she had Ideas about what they could
do as soon as Tolna was out of view.

Last updated on the July 7th 2025

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