No, I haven't forgotten about this: just had hardcore writers block. Hopefully I've worked through the worst of it and will update sometime soon.

1248.08.24

Igen Weyr

The cloudless sky offered no protection against the summer's boiling heat. The Weyrlake, which was already dangerously low, had been transformed into a writhing soup of humans and dragons. Those uninterested in jockeying for space at the water's edge had long since retreated deep into their walls of the Weyr. Heat waves of this magnitude usually were able to beat even the hardiest residents of Igen into languid caricatures of their normal selves. This afternoon however, the entire Weyr was irately restless.

K'lain was no exception, and was in an exceptionally foul mood. He figured that the best way to sooth himself was to retreat to the dining caverns where he sat, legs askew in a desperate attempt to shed heat, and made a general point to be exceptionally foul towards any drudge that dared approach him. His general posture and facial expression was so exaggerated that one would was prone to overlook the blonde greenrider sitting across from him. The greenrider, a man named J'nah was one of K'lain's closest friends. J'nah said with a thinly disguised layer of contempt, "And you claim to like goldflights."

K'lain adjusted himself slightly, so that he was facing his friend, "I like goldflights when they force the wingleaders to cancel drills. I like goldflights when they permit me to have completely anonymous relations with some pretty face in the lower caverns. I like goldflights when they are followed by delicious food. I also like the fact that goldflights usually result in clutches, which usually result in searchduty. However J'nah…I do not like goldflights when they involve this."

He spread his arm wide indicating the largely empty dining cavern. A combination of the heat, and a recent tithe consisting mainly of half-rotted tubers had ruined most of the appetites in the Weyr. A handful of surly looking bronzeriders lingered in the fair corner. It seemed to be painfully obvious to everybody but the servers that Darkly the bluerider added, "You should go over and make nice with the brutes."

K'lain had selected his words deliberately and knew from J'nah's wounded silence that he had struck a vein. He felt very pleased with himself, despite having hurt his friends feelings. It was, after all, J'nah's fault that he wasn't prowling the lower caverns looking for somebody to enjoy some of the ambient dragonlust. In a softer tone K'lain suggested, "It's not like we're going to be actively involved in the flight."

J'nah shook his head, and said quietly, "It's different for me. We've had this conversation many times before and I'm not keen on repeating it."

In the most melodramatic way possible, K'lain sighed and collapsed himself in a resigned matter on the table. Without bothering to lift his face up from the wood he said, "If it's bothered you all of your life why don't you do something about it?"

"I can't."

Propping his chin up with his palms K'lain rose, and watched his friend carefully, "Don't you get used to it?"

"I've gotten used to a lot of things. There is a reason I didn't stand until my late teens though, they didn't think I was stable enough."

K'lain smiled mischievously and wriggled his finger in the air, "And that my friend is why you must never forget to 'Yes Sir' the right people. Although it's probably safe to say that Old Baggy Bones would probably do anything in his power to prevent us from standing if we had to do it again."

The bluerider's mood began to lift nearly immediately as memories from his weyrlinghood sprang to mind. Y'grek had been Weyrling Master for so many turns that most of the 'riders at Igen had been taught by him. He retired shortly after J'nah and K'lain graduated. It was generally agreed that their was some correlation between these two events. J'nah closed his eyes in mock reverence, "Remember my friend…the look on his face when B'rem invited us to join his wing…"

"Frankly my darling, I am insulted that you think I could ever forget that. It's probably the first time that anybody had to be forcibly removed from a Graduation Ceremony," K'lain stood up, and impersonated his old teacher with unflattering accuracy, "Oi B'rem you ignorant suckling! Aye you fardling dimglow! On the first egg the entire Weyr will be consumed by flames within the end of the turn!"

Although J'nah had to work to stifle laughter, he pulled his friend back down into his seat, "Shhhh! They're staring."

"So?" He offered a sly wave to his audience and shook his head, "You have to admit I was pretty good. I should've been a harper, don't you agree? J'nah?"

A piercing shriek reverberated through the thick walls of the Weyr. J'nah had suddenly stood bolt upright. His eyes had adapted a distant glaze. K'lain felt it several seconds later: a fleeting, but electrifying jolt of anger and lust. The bronzeriders had adapted a facial expression similar to J'nah's, but were already recovering and making their way silently to the junior Weyrwoman's quarters. K'lain could see his friend struggle to regain some sense of composure. He asked, "How is Deleriath?"

J'nah merely exhaled, "I am glad she's mine," he pursed his lips tightly and gathered himself, "So, any thoughts on whom the winner will be?"

K'lain shook his head, "We should talk about something different, at least until the flight's over."

"It's fine, yes, I'd like a cup of that please," the drudge looked slightly bewildered, but filled the empty mug in front of him. Goldflights buzzed nicely in the back of K'lain's mind. He found himself noticing things about his friend that he usually forgot about: how his honeyed complexion was smooth and sunwarmed: the way his light hair seemed to shine with its own light source. J'nah looked at K'lain oddly, "What are you staring at?"

Although he felt guilty, K'lain wasn't one to pass up the opportunity to flirt. Giving his best smirk he said, "You."

J'nah wrinkled his brow and despite the heat, nursed at his drink, "You are not helping. At this rate we might as well be talking about the flight….she's still angry at them…flying higher and higher….gold and bronze."

K'lain didn't say anything, but considered his possibilities. J'nah was one of those rare greenriders whom preferred the company of females over that of males. This preference was nearly pathological. Judging from the slight twitching in his upper lip, the greenrider's preferences were slowly being swept away by the residual lust of the queen. While most people, particularly those that were either Weyrbred, or had spent any significant time at the Weyr could easily shrug off the vibes of a rutting queen and her suitor, J'nah was unusually sensitive to dragons. Dragonlust was no exception. K'lain had agreed to stay with him until the flight was over; to make sure that nothing happened, but with his own inhibitions removed, this task was rapidly proving harder than he had anticipated, "How big do you think the clutch is going to be?"

J'nah answered stiffly, "That depends on if you believe that thread is going to come back."

"It's how many turns overdue?"

The greenrider shrugged and said cryptically, "It has been an unusually long interval. It's important to keep this in mind."

"Keep what in mind."

"If it falls again, it will be within our lifetime."

"That's crackdust. C'mon. Let's go see if List is around. She's always good for a laugh."