Fun at the Feast

Writers: Mirren, Yvonne
Date Posted: 4th March 2016

Characters: Jaffra, Ricker
Description: Ricker forces Jaffra to have fun at the Hatching Feast - whether she wants to or not.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 17 of Turn 8

The Hatching feast was better than the Hatching itself. Not being a dragonrider or coming from a dragonriding family, Ricker didn't have to deal with the same sense of nostalgia, jubilation and fear that some of the other Weyrfolk did. But the feast and the dancing afterward... that, he liked. Dinner was huge and delicious and Ricker was more than happy to help push the tables aside when the Harpers took to the stage and started a jig. He watched the dancing for a while, then headed toward the back of the cavern in search of a drink or a familiar face.

When he spotted Jaffra, the Technician made his way through the crowd toward her. "Lovely day for a hatching!" he said by way of greeting. The moment he said it, he wished he'd picked something less inane to say.

"It might be if people weren't wearing fashions from last turn." Jaffra scowled at a woman walking past. "Or the turn before that."

"How can you tell?" Ricker slid onto the seat beside her and put his elbows on the table. Everyone's clothes just looked like clothes to him-- except fancier.

She gave him a droll look over her glass. Was it her third or fourth, she couldn't remember. "It's my job to know."

"Fair enough." He grinned back. "So who decides what's fashionable in a given turn, then?"

"Are you _really_ interested?" she asked.

"I suppose that depends on whether or not you make it interesting."

"That seems unlikely," she said dryly. "You'd probably be quickly bored to tears."

"And here I thought you could be an interesting conversationalist," Ricker said sadly. "Ah well."

"No one asked you to sit with me and try," she said coldly.

The Technician tipped his head in apology, unbothered by her retort -- and maybe a bit pleased that he'd provoked a reaction. "I'm just teasing you. If you were truly that boring, you're right that I wouldn't have sat next to you at all. But if you'd rather not talk, maybe I can persuade the lady to dance instead?"

"Only if you like getting your toes stepped on," she replied. Why did he persist in being nice to her when she provoked him so much?

Ricker stood and held out his hand. "I love it, in fact."

She snorted. "You're even less sane than I'd supposed." She still took his hand and rose, a little unsteady on her feet.

"You supposed me less than sane?" Ricker shook his head, too full of wine and music to be insulted. "Whatever did I do to give you that impression?"

"You're spending time with me." To her, that was explanation enough.

He laughed at that. "I'm pretty sure that spending time with you is not the definition of insanity. The last I heard, it was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Or cackling like a crone and howling at the moon. And I'll have you know, Jaffra, that I have never cackled in my life."

"Yet." She almost smiled at him. "I'm sure you'd do it, just because you never have."

"And now that I've been accused of such a thing, a cackle will never pass my lips," He stepped into the dance and held his arms out for Jaffra to join him. The dance was a lively one and he hoped that he'd remember the steps well enough to keep from knocking into anyone. If he kept them to the edge of the crowd...

Jaffra hadn't danced in turns, but she knew how. Still, her steps were stiff and out of time. She flushed, feeling awkward, but strangely not wanting to give up. Maybe it was time to have some fun.

The music ended with a flourish, so Ricker spun Jaffra around a few times just to make her dizzy.

Mission accomplished, she had to grab his arm to keep from falling, and hold on for several moments.

He held her steady, then escorted her off the dance floor in case she wanted to fall over. "Thanks kindly, Journeywoman. I think you're the best partner I've done a set with this Hatching."

"And how many was that?" she asked, obscurely put out by the thought of him dancing with half the women present.

He arched his eyebrows, pleased by her frown. "I wasn't counting. Why-- are we comparing dance cards?"

She snorted. "As you're the only one I've danced with, that'd be an exercise in pointlessness."

"Really?" Ricker blinked, taken aback. Jaffra was a bit prickly but he hadn't pegged her for a wall-flower. **Maybe she's a climbing rose?** "That's a shame. You're not a bad dancer, and your skirt does the-- the twirly thing." He gestured with his hands, trying to explain just what the fabric did. "It's made for dancing."

She glanced down self-consciously. "It's a Hatching feast dress, that's what it's supposed to do, even if it's not used that way."

The Technician shook his head and abruptly changed course to head back to the dance floor, towing Jaffra with him. "Can't have that. A waste of a Craft. Come dance with me again."

She sighed. "Fine. If you insist." Inwardly she was pleased at the attention. Sort of.

He shook his head in exasperation even as her tone made him smile. Ricker decided then and there that he would do everything he could to make sure that Jaffra enjoyed herself-- just to be irritating.

Last updated on the March 6th 2016

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Fun at the Feast