Disclaimer: If it were mine, would I be calling it fanfiction?
A/N: I started rereading Dragonriders of Pern, and the plot bunnies wouldn't leave me alone. So here's my first foray into DRoP fic (and I've got a few more coming, I suspect, because the bunnies were not satisfied with this). Inspired, I suspect, by Overreaction by Kinnorite and Being Me by Leni. Kinda pointless, just a little situation I can easily imagine happening. Tell me what you think, please!
Shards!
Alia blearily opened her eyes. Looked around; found herself in a weyr not her own. Shards! "T'lan?" she squeaked, threw on her clothes, and promptly bolted.
You hurt? Wonderful. Her distress had roused her dragon.
Alia sighed. I'm fine, Sarieth. Just confused. Nothing for you to worry about.
More or less satisfied with that explanation, the golden dragon returned to dozing on her weyr ledge.
Technically it was Sarieth who had gotten her into this situation, but, like any rider, there was no way Alia would ever blame her. The queen had risen for her first mating flight yesterday. Which was all very well, only her rider wasn't dealing so well with the consequences.
"Hey, Alia!" Just when she thought she'd succeeded at sneaking back into her own weyr, a new voice hailed her.
"Oh, hey Karan," she replied automatically to her closest female friend. Karan was another junior queen rider, some three years older than Alia, who had been a great help showing her the ropes as she adjusted to life in the Weyr and generally a valued companion and confidante. Nevertheless, she was not a person Alia wanted to see just now.
"So, spill," Karan demanded cheerfully. "Come on, I want details! I gave you all my juicy details!"
"Karan, you're shameless. I didn't want your details," Alia muttered.
"Never mind that," Karan said breezily. "Stop stalling." Then she noticed the younger girl's downcast expression. "Oh, not good? Who was it?" she asked sympathetically.
"Zaneth and T'lan," Alia said flatly.
Karan's brow furrowed. "But … he's nice. I thought you liked him?"
"Yeah," Alia replied. "As a friend. He's like a brother. I just had sex with someone I consider practically my brother."
"Ohhh," Karan said slowly. "Right, I always forget you're Hold-bred."
Alia shot her a challenging look, like 'what does that have to do with anything?'
"Don't beat yourself up. It could be worse," Karan advised.
Alia took a deep breath, tried to consider things rationally. "Yeah, I guess – no. No, it really couldn't."
Karan raised an eyebrow. "I understand the panic, but aren't you blowing things out of proportion a bit? You could've gotten someone you don't even know, or someone who's a total player, or…. Hey, I got N'red my first time, remember?"
Alia returned the expected sympathetic grimace, but she replied, "Sure, that's definitely disappointing, embarrassing for a while, but what does it matter in the long run? Shards, Karan, I'm losing my best friend. I'm never going to be able to look him in the eye again!"
"Whoa there. Calm down, give the dramatics a rest," the older girl advised.
"But…!" Alia protested.
"No. No more of that," Karan shushed her. She took on the authoritative tone that made it clear why she was a queen rider, forcing her friend to sit down and listen. "Nerves are understandable. Happens to everyone. But you've gotta stop overreacting. This isn't your back-of-beyond Hold anymore. These things happen; it's just a part of Weyr life. And you'll get used to it, sooner than you think. I guarantee it."
"So you say," Alia grumbled.
"What, don't you trust me?" Karan demanded, feigning hurt.
"Sure I do. Look, I love you and all, Kar, but I'm just not sure you know what it's like to be me and in this situation. We tend to handle things differently, is all," Alia explained.
"Has my advice led you wrong yet?" the older girl demanded.
"Uh … yeah, there was that one time, with the Weyrlingmaster…. And then there was…."
"Okay, fine, but does my advice usually lead you wrong?"
"Well, no," Alia admitted.
"So trust me on this! You have to get used to it sooner or later, so let's try for sooner," Karan said.
"What do you propose?" Alia asked, resigned to her friend's meddling.
"You don't have to sound so glum about it," Karan laughed. Then she turned businesslike. "Step the first. Face your fear."
"Not liking this plan," Alia muttered.
"Come now, it can't be that bad. You have no basis to believe it'll be that bad. …Unless…." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What did he say?!"
"Say? As in when I talked to him?" Alia somehow managed to be meek and sarcastic at the same time.
"You didn't…?" Karan let the sentence hang, willing her friend to contradict her. She sighed. "You bailed."
Alia nodded. "It was pretty much a case of wake up, look around, and bolt."
"Well, no wonder," Karan grumbled under her breath. "This must be remedied," she declared.
Karan caught her friend by the arm, and proceeded to pull Alia after her halfway across the Weyr. The latter girl protested all the more the closer they got to T'lan's weyr, but to no avail.
"Karan!" she protested.
"Go." Karan seized her shoulders and pushed her through the doorway. "I give you leave to go."
She stumbled, and ended up sprawled on the stone floor. A glance back proved that Karan had already deserted her. Time to face her fate.
"Uh, hi," she said.