Being Someone

Writers: AL, Devin
Date Posted: 28th February 2010

Characters: Cosani, Meledei
Description: Cosani reveals she isn't a good dancer, and Meledei decides to solve the problem.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 12 of Turn 5

Cosani

"You're going to the Gather, right?" Meledei asked as she poured
Cosani a glass of wine. She had told F'gol to go have some fun with
some of his guy friends while she had a girl's night in with Cosani.
She lifted her glass and sipped at it as she lowered herself onto her
chair.

"What Gather?" Cosani asked.

"You haven't heard?" Meledei had been certain all of the South had
heard! "Amber Hills is holding a gather on the third restday of this
month." It was hard to imagine that Cosani didn't know about it.

"I might have heard something." But she hadn't paid attention. Gathers
and parties weren't something she gave much thought to. "But I guess
since you're asking, that means you're going?"

"Yes, I'm going, so is F'gol. I think most of those in our Weyrling
class are going." Meledei took a sip of wine and eyed Cosani over the
rim. "Don't you want to go? It's going to be a lot of fun."

"I haven't been to a Gather in a really long time ..." she mused.

"Have you ever been to a Winter Gather?" Amber Hills was the only
hold she knew of that did one - in the South anyway. Meledei had gone
a couple of times, but it had been a while for her. She was glad to
get to go again though. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

"Okay. I'll come." It wasn't like she had any plans, and she didn't
want to be left behind.

}:I want to see snow!:{ Shalith commented from where she was sprawled
on her own ledge.

"Good. You'll get to see me fall on my butt." Meledei wondered if
Cosani knew how to ice skate - or even F'gol. She'd have to ask.
"And there's a scavenger hunt too. The list of activities looked
pretty fun."

Cosani lifted an eyebrow. "Falling on your butt is an activity?"

"When you're trying to ice skate it is." Meledei giggled and set down
her drink. "Have you ever ice skated?"

"No." It hadn't snowed, back at the hold, and she hadn't taken the
time to do things like ice skating during her short stay at
Dragonsfall.

"It's a lot of fun, though I'm not very good at it. I don't get to do
it much." Dolphin Cove never got snow, but Meledei had visited colder
places - just not often enough to get good. "There's going to be
other stuff there too, and there's a dance at the very end. I bet
you'll have so many guys tripping just to get one dance with you!"

Cosani made a face. "They'll step on my toes." Or she would step on
theirs. She didn't dance much and wasn't very good at it.

"Oh come on, not all of them will and dancing is fun!" Meledei eyed
the young woman. "Do you not know how to dance?"

"I know how ... I'm just not very good at it," she admitted.

Meledei pondered this information for a moment, then announced, "We
should practise!" She stood up and began to move the table upon which
their glasses perched out of the way. "The more you practise, the
better you'll get!"

"Now?" Cosani's voice was almost a squeak.

"Why not? We're here, it's just the two of us so you don't have to
worry. I'll be the guy." Meledei puffed up her chest and did her
best to look manly. She swept a bow to Cosani, then held out her
hand. "My lady, would you honour me with a dance?"

Cosani bit her lip against a laugh. "You're too pretty to be a boy.
Unless maybe you're a greenrider," she joked.

"Oh come on, use your imagination!" Meledei managed to surpress a
laugh and beckoned Cosani with her hand. "Pretend I'm...I'm...the
most handsome man you've ever seen, or something."

Cosani couldn't hold back her laugh any more. She took Meledei's hand
and stood up. "This is silly."

"Now now, hush my dear and listen to the music." Meledei slid one
hand around Cosani's waist and then clasped Cosani's hand with her
other. "Let the music guide you, let it move you." Then Meledei
began to hum even as her lips twitched in amusment. Her voice, even
used in such an abstract manner, was quite pleasant and she kept the
key quite well. She took a step, starting slow, and began to guide
Cosani in one of the more popular waltzes.

Cosani did her best to follow Meledei's lead, although she was often a
second off. The toe trodding was minimal, at least. "I wonder when
people ask me to dance if they just see the Weyrleader's daughter. I'm
not sure if I like that, or not."

"We're going to be at Amber Hills. If they know a Weyrleader's
daughter, it will be at Dragonsfall, not here." Meledei paused and
reached under Cosani' chin. "Don't look at your feet, look at me.
Look at your partner. No, they won't know who you are. They'll look
at your knots, find out you're a greenrider, and probably ask your
name. They won't know who your father is unless you tell them."

"But that's the thing. Sometimes I _like_ them knowing." Cosani fought
the urge to look down at her feet again. "I like being someone."

"You are someone, whether you're his daughter or not." Meledei wished
the girl had more confidence in herself. "I mean, you're a
greenrider! A defender of Pern! Shalith chose you and no one else.
Didn't want anyone else. Doesn't that make you someone just by those
merits?"

"I'm someone to her. I'm perfect to her." The corner of her mouth
turned up as her thoughts turned to the dozing green. "But there are
lots of greenriders here. I'm the only Weyrleader's daughter." She
took a step back from Meledei, too distracted to keep dancing. "I was
nobody at the hold. Worse than nobody."

"Just because someone says you're nobody doesn't mean they were
right." Shards, who were the idiots who treated Cosani like that and
why didn't they get a nice clobber on the head? "You can't believe
everything people say, especially when they say stupid stuff like
that.

Cosani shook her head. "You don't understand. Everyone said it. I'm a
bastard, the daughter of a dragonrider's slut." And she still blamed
her mother for not taking her away from that place. N'vanik said he
would have taken them in, and her life could have been like it was
_here_ instead.

"Yeah, that's the holders talking. Holders who don't understand
anything." Meledei had been lucky, her father had loved her mother,
had taken her away. "But that doesn't mean what they said is true.
So what if you were born out of wedlock? That doesn't mean you're
less of a person for it."

"I know. And I hate myself for still thinking like they want me to
think. Why can't I get over it?" Cosani clenched her jaw, trying to
fight the tears that were threatening.

Meledei encirlced her arms around her friend and hugged her tight.
"When someone keeps telling you something for so long, you start to
believe it. Just don't listen to them. Listen to what Shalith tells
you, and T'kob, and your friends. Listen to what I tell you.
Whatever they said is untrue and stupid." How could someone be so
cruel, especially to their own family? Meledei didn't understand it.
"You've already showed them that you're not what they said you were."

Their words and the way they treated her had scarred her childhood.
Maybe damaged her for life. "I wish they would all stand out in
Thread," she muttered.

"Don't lower yourself down to their level." Though Meledei had to
admit it was easy to want that very same thing. "You've already
beaten them, shown that you're better them, better than what they said
you were. Just don't you forget it."

"You might have to keep reminding me." Cosani's voice was colored with
a touch of humor. If she'd had a friend like Meledei at the hold,
things would have been different.

"That won't be hard to do." Meledei gave her friend one more squeeze
before stepping back. "After all, it's easy to remember to tell
someone they're great when it's the truth."

"I hope you don't get tired of telling me before it starts to stick."
Cosani told herself that someday it _would_ stick, and she would stop
doubting.

"Nah. Between Shalith and me, surely we'll have you convinced soon
enough." Meledei grinned, then held out her arms. "Now come on,
we've got dance lessons to finish!"

Last updated on the March 6th 2010

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