Maybe Someday

Writers: Chelle, Len
Date Posted: 2nd August 2011

Characters: Qorri, Sh'del
Description: Qorri and Sh'del muse on the fate of Meledei's first Flight and other things
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 3, day 12 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Meledei, N'vanik, R'enh, T'nom, Z'ku

She was sitting there, eating her breakfast, when she felt someone sit down.
Wondering who had the gall to interrupt her biscuits and sausage, she looked
up to find Sh'del. "It's a little early."

"You don't say," he muttered, snitching one of her biscuits from her
plate and biting into it before she could protest. "Been up all night
with a green with tummy troubles."

"Ah, no fun that. I have fosterlings from time to time that have those
problems." Qorri didn't foster as much as some, but she usually had at least
one at a time.

"She wasn't so much the trouble as her overexcited Weyr boy
lifemate." He shook his head, thinking of the boy with a voice pitch
that could wake the dead. "My ears are bleeding, I think."

"Ah well. That can be sometimes. You're the one who decided it was your
calling to play with the little ones though so it's your own fault."
She grinned.

"It wasn't my bloody calling! It was bloody N'vanik and his sad puppy
dog eyes asking me to do this for his bloody dragon's offspring."
Sh'del laughed and took another biscuit off Qorri's plate.

"Right...and just because he bats an eye at you, you say yes. See that's
where you fail. Me, he just asks. He knows if I'm going to say no, I'm going
to say no and that's it. And if he makes me mad enough, I'll spit in his food."
She liked the current Weyrleader, but that didn't mean he was above reproach
if he acted like an idiot.

"Easy for you, he's not been one of your best mates for turns and
turns." Sh'del grinned and chucked her under the chin. "Though if
and when you_do_spit in his food, let me know so I can watch too."

"Ach well..you can still say no to a friend too if it's warranted, though
I admit it is harder." She herself didn't have a friend exactly, just those
she took more care of. Qorri was wont to favoritism.

"Ah, I don't mind, really. I just like to have a moan every once in
awhile." Feeling cheeky, he took a sip of her klah.

"You do that again and you'll be wearing it," she threatened, pulling her
food closer to her. "Get your own if you're that thirsty."

To that he kissed her on the cheek. He liked teasing Qorri, and he
liked her directness. To change the subject, he asked, "so who's your
latest victim then?"

"A real lady never kisses and tells. And anyway, that's for me to know and
no one else to find out, though if anyone were observant, they'd have guessed
already." She shrugged and finished her eggs, moving onto the bread.

"Yeah, but you're not a real lady!" Sh'del laughed and ducked. A
serious reparation for that had to be coming.

"Sure I don't have the Blood, but compared to how some of these girls flounce
around here, I might as well be." Qorri shrugged, not taking the bait.

"Hey, some of us like the way the girls around here flounce."

"Suuuuureee you do. And some of you need said girls to get pregnant so you can
have more candidates. Me, I'm beyond babies." Which gave her more freedom to
do what she wanted. Qorri could be choosy.

"_I_don't need them pregnant! They're women not broodmares." He gave
her an odd look, as as he never liked this sort of attitude towards women.

"They're not as bad as the Holder girls, but they are the breeders in the Weyr.
Dragonriders can't have children most of the time with duties and betweening.
It's a fact. So my Lower Caverns women bear most of the babies." Qorri knew just
how many since she had to schedule the pregnant girls off.

"We_do_have Searchriders, y'know." Geez, Qorri was making it sound
like they had a hard time getting kids to come to the Weyr!

"We do, but they've only been able to Search for so many turns now, remember?"
She looked him right in the eyes, a reminder of the Long Interval that
had just passed.

"Nope, I've only been with the Weyrling staff a few months now.
Before that I was blissfully unaware of the Weyrbrat shortage you seem
to think we have."

"We don't have a shortage of Weyrbrats. I'm saying that most of the Weyrbrats
are birthed by the Lower Caverns women, not the female riders. I never said that
we didn't have many of them. Actually, we have more of them than we
have outsiders." Sometimes men just didn't listen.

Sh'del harrumphed at that and stood to get a cup of klah. Not waiting
to ask, he took Qorri's cup as well as it was mostly emptied. When he
came back and sat down, he asked, "So how's Meledei doing? I haven't
seen her in a few days now."

"She's better and will likely be flying again before too long. I think
it was mainly the shock that her gold could get hurt that did it. Of
course, N'vanik
was angry, but that's his business." She hadn't missed that look and
she understood it. "It
won't be long now before Elleth will go up, if I don't miss my guess."

"True." He looked at her cup. "You_do_like sugar in it, right?" He
hoped so as he had put a bit of sweetener in her re-filled mug.

"Sometimes.." She took it and drank anyway. "I've got an idea of who
might catch, I think."

Sh'del snorted at that. "You mean, who_might_catch or who you want
to catch?"

"Both," she answered quickly.

"Do tell." He gave her a cheeky grin.

"Do you know Z'ku?" she asked pointedly.

"I_knew_you were going to say that boy's name!" he sat back and
laughed. "Why don't you have your wicked way with him and let poor
Meledei choose her own lover?"

"No..he's not for me. Not that one. It's sweet really. They could be so good.
A real connection, you know? It doesn't always happen but when it does, it's
a good thing, right?" She didn't understand rider relations completely, but she
thought she knew a bit about things.

"Hmmm...he's more for you than for Meledei." If he was a betting man,
he'd put everything on T'nom. "And anyhoo, Z'ku's just a kid. He
won't win Elleth's flight, no way. Winning her Flight...my hunch
would be R'enh."

"Yeah but it's also about choice too and maybe..just maybe...a young dragon
could win a weyrling gold. It's happened before, but we'll see." Qorri
was hoping. She didn't know the new Wingsecond that well just yet,
though she'd seen him
around the Weyr.

Sh'del could only shake his head. "Just let Meledei decide, okay?"

"It'll be Elleth's choice, but the final one will be up to her. I
don't care as long as it's someone who is good for her. And that boy
cares." She wouldn't let
anyone hurt her little goldrider.

"Like I said, let Meledei decide for herself. Who knows,
she_may_fancy a nonrider." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"That may be, but for the time being she doesn't have a history of
that. And-it'll still be good for her to have someone she can depend
on for flights."
Looking down at her food, she saw that it was mostly eaten. "And I
need to get back
to work unlike_some_ people." Raising a brow, she got up.

He snorted at that. "Well_some_of us don't actually get time off of
work y'know."

"I don't either. At least not until I find an assistant that's worth it. Maybe
someday..." she said wistfully, as she headed off in the direction of
the scullery.

Last updated on the August 4th 2011

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