Bad Dreams Bring Company

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 20th August 2008

Characters: Menore, Mehan
Description: Menore has a nightmare and goes to Mehan.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 11, day 20 of Turn 4

It was dark as the form made its way to quarters that were not her own.
Menore didn't pause, but knocked upon the door, then crossed her arms over herself. She shivered, but not from any cold, rather from the memory of the dream that had haunted her, had woken her from her slumber and caused her to slip from her bed, into her robe, and out into the night to seek company.

Mehan pulled the door open, one eye still closed, the other peering blearily at the person who stood on the threshold of his room.
"Menore? What's wrong?"

Menore hugged herself all the more tightly and croaked, "May I come in?"

"I -" He stepped back and opened the door further. "Sure. I'll find my shirt."

"It doesn't matter." Menore muttered as she slipped in past Mehan.
She found a chair and sat down upon it, still hugging herself.
"I'm sorry. I just didn't want to be alone."

"Why not?" Privacy was rare on the Moonflower and most people enjoyed a little break from sharing a room.

"I had a bad dream." It seemed childish when she said it allowed and a flush crept into her cheeks. "It...was bad."

"Oh." Mehan couldn't remember the last time he'd had anything like that but Menore was lot younger than he was, and ... Well, if she was upset by a dream then she just was. It wasn't for him to judge her. But it did feel odd standing around in only his trousers. He waved he toward the chair beside the desk and rummaged around at the side of the bed for his shirt. "Do you want to ... Talk? Talk about it?"

"Not really." The memory haunting faces of the dream made her shiver and she shook her head. "I just don't want to be alone and...well...you were the first one to come to mind."

Mehan thought of the others in the boarding house. "I should hope I was the only one to come to mind," he growled, straightening his shirt and sitting on the end of his bed.

Menore's gaze snapped up to Mehan and her lips turned down into a frown. "What do you mean by that?"

"Who else would you visit in the middle of the night?"

"There are a couple of other crewmembers here." Menore pointed out. To be honest, she wasn't sure why Mehan had come to mind, why she had really sought out his company. She could have gone to another crew member. She got along well with Salrea. But no, it was Mehan who had come to mind, and she hadn't given it a second thought at the time.

"I was thinking of the others ..." People who weren't family; weren't Moonflower crewmembers. He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You're here now."

"If you don't want me," It seemed that he didn't. So why had she bothered? Menore should have known that he wouldn't have been sympathetic, more annoyed by her late night arrival. "I'll just leave."

"I think you've done enough traipsing around the guest house for the night. You can stay here until you're ready to go back to sleep and then I'll escort you back to your room."

"I'm not eager to sleep at the moment." Menore was afraid that nightmare would come back. Maybe Mehan was inwardly scoffing at her, but it had been truly frightening. She'd had nightmares before, but that one had just been far too realistic.

"And you don't want to talk about it?" He was at a loss over what to do to fix the situation for her.

"I just want to be here with you." The words had slipped out of her mouth before Menore could stop them and she lowered her gaze, hugging her legs tightly to her chest.

"Oh, well." That was nice that she trusted him and ... Well. It was nice. "Look," he said, getting to his feet. "Why don't you snuggle into the bed and I'll sit over there. You might get back to sleep if you know you're not alone."

Menore glanced at the bed and slowly nodded. She eased herself off the chair and took off her robe, her shift pale against her tanned skin.
She slipped under the covers and lay down, but her eyes remained wide open.

Mehan looked at her for a moment and then went to take her place in the chair. "Let's talk about something else until you feel sleepy again."

"What do you want to talk about?" Menore slid one hand under the pillow, regarding her captain. "Where are you going to sleep?"

"I'll just doze here." He tried to think of something to talk about, but the only subjects that came to mind related to the riverboat. "Er -
have you ever wanted one of those firelizards? Like Lineal's wife has?"

"It could be nice." Menore knew they could be useful, and if she did have one of her own, she could train the creature to take messages for her instead of asking for another's to do it for her. Despite that, she had never thought to actively seek out an egg. "What about you? Do you want one?"

"Not really. We didn't have pets on the boat I was raised on." He shrugged. "Wouldn't mind a feline, though. Some riverboats have them."

"I like felines." Menore admitted. "We had one once when I was really small. A black and white one. He was very sweet."

"What was he called?"

"Guffer." A slow, lazy smile crept upon her face. "That was the sound he made whenever he tried to meow."

"Guffer?" Mehan smiled. "What sort of name is that for a feline? He would have been ashamed to show his face at the stops for fear people would laugh at him. Guffer!"

"It was appropriate for him." Menore laughed softly. She regarded her captain, "You're not going to be comfortable."

"I've been uncomfortable before, and for lesser reasons."

"I shouldn't take your bed." Menore had half a mind to get up, but the bed was warm, and she was tired.

"I don't mind. Stay warm. You might go off to sleep." Looking at her he thought she had relaxed and might just do as he predicted.

"What about you?" Menore let her eyes close, unable to keep them open any longer.

"I'll just sit here and keep the bad dreams at bay," he promised.

"Okay." She was too tired to sleep. It weighed upon her, dragging her down and leaving no room for struggle and Menore gave in.

He smiled. There. He had thought she would drop off. For a while he was happy to just watch her sleeping. She was a sweet little thing, his sister-by-marriage. Scrappy when she was awake, but sweet when she was asleep.

Last updated on the August 20th 2008

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Bad Dreams Bring Company