Honest Conversations

Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 10th July 2025

Characters: C'rin, Riveenata
Description: C'rin and Riveenata have an honest conversation the morning after she shows up at C'rin's weyr.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 2, day 8 of Turn 12
Notes: Follows "Seeking Safe Harbor" https://triadweyrs.org/story.php?st_id=15440

C'rin

C'rin woke before Riveenata and retrieved breakfast from the Dining
Cavern. He'd lain awake long into the night trying to determine what
to do with his guest. He knew that he still loved the greenrider, he
was sure he always would, but he was also afraid of getting hurt
again. It wasn't necessarily that she had chosen K'lvin _over_ him,
but she hadn't chosen _just_ him, which is what he had wanted at the
time.

A couple of Turns ago that had seemed like a very important
distinction. Maybe it still was. He had been learning to live without
her, and finally succeeding, to have her show back up.... He didn't
know if he could do it again. Expose his heart to her again.

By the time she began to wake, C'rin had breakfast on the table, along
with a pitcher of fresh klah.

Riveenata had fallen asleep easily, but her dreams had not been such.
They roiled with a mix of what she’d seen the last few days with what
had happened in her past. Add in things that had never come to pass
and it was an awful stew of nightmare. J’nus cradling the fragile
Kapera and begging her to stay merged with remembering being in an
Infirmary bed herself when she’d been Threadscored, led to the image
of it being C’rin limp and near lifeless, led to fear that she had
lost Savith… she kept half rousing to check in that she still had her
dragon and was safe, and startling at the unfamiliar ceiling every
time.

It was the smell of klah that stirred her fully to wakefulness. She
sat up, blinking hard and scrubbing the crust of sleep dust and dried
tears out her eyes. The sight of C’rin setting the table was - soft
and domestic in a way and her heart ached at seeing him. Alive.
Hearty. Handsome.

“Good morning. Shards, what time is it?” The words came out a bit mumbled.

“Dawn,” he answered, enjoying the familiar sight of her sleep-tousled hair.

She yawned again and got up, stretching. "And yet you still have
breakfast. Impressive."

"Yesterday was Threadfall here. I've got sweep duty this morning."
C'rin made a face. "Lucky me."

"Morning sweeps are the worst," she agreed firmly. "Hope you were able
to sleep soundly with no disruptions."

"I slept okay," he said, honestly. "What about you?"

A sad expression crossed her face. "Nothing but nightmares. But I'm
glad I wasn't just alone in my weyr for it."

But she was alone out on the couch, C'rin thought guiltily. Inviting
her into his bedroom had felt... unsafe. Which sounded ludicrous in
his mind, but it was how he had felt in the moment. "I'm sorry I wasn't
more... inviting, Riv. I," he broke off, searching for words. "I don't
know how to do this." He gestured between them. "I want to comfort you
and be there for you, but also protect myself."

"It's okay, really," the greenrider said. "I showed up in the middle
of the night crying when we haven't been seeing each other in months.
I know I'm not entitled to everything being like it was at Dolphin
Cove again. You could have turned me away."

"I could never turn you away," he confessed.

The words felt like the first thing that had warmed her heart since
the accident. “I don’t want to take advantage of that. Of your heart.”

C'rin absorbed those words in silence and then asked, "How long are
you staying today?"

"I have nothing until the 15th candlemark, Barrier Lake time. I have a
few people I can catch up with here while you do what you have to do,
then maybe we could also have lunch?"

"I would like that," C'rin said sincerely. "We have a lot to catch up on."

"Then I'll wait for you to get back," she promised.

Last updated on the July 15th 2025

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Honest Conversations