Distract Me - PLEASE!

Writers: Anika, Jelena
Date Posted: 25th April 2015

Characters: Genna, Ilyssia
Description: Genna helps Ilyssia take her mind off things.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 1 of Turn 7

Genna

Ilyssia

Ilyssia got her food and a large cup of klah and headed to find a
place to sit. Most of her Weyrling class was here for their midday
meal but the only open seat was one she'd really rather not take.
Though not one to shy from difficult or uncomfortable situations, she
had a killer headache and wasn't in the mood to deal with that
particular gaggle of girls. Spying Genna at another table she veered
off in that direction.

"Mind if I sit here?"

Genna looked up from her meal and smiled a welcoming smile. "Of course
not Ilyssia!" She waved at her with the piece of tuber on her fork.
"Sit down. How have you been doing?"

Ilyssia sighed heavily. Normally she would answer positively
regardless of how she felt because she hated whiners and she grew
tired of the petty complaints of some the girls in the barracks, but
her head hurt an she was in a sour mood. "I can't wait to be in my
own weyr and away from the sharding gossip mongers and drama addicts
in the weyrling barracks."

"Ouch, that bad, eh?" Genna said sympathetically, putting her fork
down for a moment. "Want to talk about it, or shall I distract you
with something completely different?"

"Distract me, _please_," Ilyssia answered dramatically with a twinkle
in her blue green eyes.

"Well, Lissath wants me to dye our riding straps, you could help me
come up with counter-arguments," Genna said with a laugh.

With a chuckle Ilyssia shook her head and took a long drink of the
klah which really hit the spot. "What put that idea in her head? What
color does she want them to be?"

"Pink," Genna winced. "She's picked up that it's a female colour. I've
tried to convince her it's more girly than womanly, but she keeps
insisting." The young goldrider sighed. "I am certainly not wearing
pink, but Lissath's nagging is getting irritating to say the least."

"The red dyes use to accomplish pink riding straps, very well might
rub off on her hide. Can't you appeal to her vanity? Tell her how
silly she'd look with pink markings all over her?"

"Good one!" Genna said, waving her fork in the air in acknowledgement.
"That I hadn't thought of that! Any other obvious counter-arguments
I've missed?" she asked with a grin.

"Well, it sounds as if you might have already tried this argument, but
you could tell her that pink is more for _little_ girls and if she
wants to be taken seriously by the other queens as a _mature_ queen
when she moves into the Queen's Wing she might want to reconsider. Of
course neither of these arguments keeps her from choosing a different
color."

"Well, she wouldn't want anything marring her pretty gold hide, I
guess. Is there such a thing as gold-coloured leather dye, though?"
Because that would be Lissath's next choice, obviously.

With a chuckle, Ilyssia took a sip of her klah, hoping it would help
the pounding between her ears. "Yellow, but not really gold, at least
not that I know of. I'm no tanner, though, so I could be wrong.
Lissath sounds like she has quite the personality. She must keep you
hopping."

"Hopping indeed, sometimes through hoops," Genna laughed. "Well, as
long as she isn't listening in, between you and me, I'm proud of her
really. She's really secure in what she thinks and believes about the
world and herself. Sometimes I wish I could be a little more like
that, you know."

With a tilt of her head, Ilyssia tried to hide her surprise. "I do
know what you mean, but I would have guessed that was a trait you
shared."

"Oh no, I think everyone is secretly just as insecure as the rest of
us, don't you?" Genna smiled. "Except gold dragons, obviously."

Thinking about some of he girls in her barracks, Ilyssia shook her
head. "I don't know. I might agree with you that all of us have our
insecurities, but I do think some people got double or triple
helpings. I think that's what makes some people so difficult to deal
with. They spend their time trying to prove that they are somehow
better than others because inside they're worried they're not as
good."

"It's frustrating," Genna nodded empathically. "I guess I just always
try to focus on the fact that it's probably more difficult for them to
deal with them for me. I can't help but feel sorry for people who live
like that when I really think about it."

Ilyssia smiled wryly. "You're either more mature or far more
compassionate than me. Or probably both. My momentary pity quickly
changes to irritation." After taking another sip of klah she sighed
contentedly, thinking just maybe her headache was receding. Thinking
back to Genna's comment about insecurity she asked, "Do you think
maybe you feel more pressure because Lissath's gold? Like maybe
people expect more of you?"

Genna laughed at that. "I guess it's easy to talk like this when
you're not really in the middle of it. I remember there was a time
when I felt like smothering a certain person just so she'd stop being
so stuck-up." When Ilyssia mentioned Lissath, she nodded. "I did,
certainly at the beginning. There are more eyes on me and sometimes it
feels like everyone has an agenda. But I'm starting to see that that's
no way to live and I try to let go of those thoughts as much as
possible."

"That's good. My foster mother used to tell me to only let those
thoughts that are good and useful take roost and to shoo the others
away. Sometimes easier said than done, but pretty good advice
nonetheless, I think."

"It really is," Genna nodded. "I'm sure following up on it will get
easier with time. I hope so, at least!" Finishing her last bite, she
put down her fork and folded her hands, leaning towards Ilyssia a bit.
"But if you ever need to just rant for a bit, you're always welcome to
with me. Sometimes it helps to let off steam."

"Thanks, Genna. I might just take you up on that, though it could
very well scorch your ears. The distraction was just what I needed
today, though," Ilyssia replied drinking the last of her klah and
deciding that's all she really wanted. She rose from her seat,
feeling ready to make it through the rest of her day. "I appreciate
it."

"Your welcome, Ilyssia," Genna smiled. "It was a pleasure talking to
you, as always. Good luck today!" And with that she got up to leave as
well.

Last updated on the April 29th 2015

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Distract Me - PLEASE!