Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows

Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold

Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold

Elsewhere on Pern
NPC Weyr
River Bluff Weyr
Seacraft Hall

Story Listing
Series Listing

Weyrling Training

Writers: Rochelle
Date Posted: 1st December 2007

Characters: Tatitem
Description: Tatitem gets unnerved in her empty weyr, and realizes that she will soon becme an empty-nester.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 6, day 21 of Turn 4

The weyr was echoingly empty as Tati single mindedly straightened the room, ignoring the silence. Her grandchildren were with her daughters, so she didn't have to babysit. M'nex was off somewhere looking for a friend for the night, and J'ritem was playing dragonpoker with frinds. Susha was out with Turoar again -this crush of hers was holding on longer than usual, to Tatitem's irritation-and Thief was keeping an eye on the pair for her. She hoped. The silly green could be off snitching again, but had enough intelligence not to tell her when she was -although she didn't always figure out that she had to hide the evidence. It was just as easy to tell when Thief had been in the pantry as when Zip or the children had been. Her movements seemed to echo around the weyr as she gathered some recipes Susha had been studying earlier, and moved on to put away some dishes. She caught herself straining, listening for the sounds of children or the feline slinking around. Silence made her suspicious.

She shook her head, privately glad no one could see her folly. There was no one in the weyr but her. There was no reason to be listening for noises. All she was going to hear were the noises she made. She might as well listen for the Red Star.

But still... It was quiet, she mused. And not the quiet before a storm, or the brief lull between peaks of a disaster either. It was just... silent.

She wasn't used to quiet. Before she'd come to the weyr, she'd lived in a bustling hall with little privacy for her family, and after she'd arrived she'd stayed in the candidate barracks until she married. Even before the children were born, it hadn't been quiet. She could always hear Jerase muttering to himself in the next room, or snoring on the couch. Or friends over, talking and laughing and sharing wine and stories. And then she'd had small children, followed by a dying husband, and then fosterlings. And pets.

It had been an uncommonly quiet day for the weyr, as well. She had been pleasurably surprised by how smoothly most things went, despite their determination not to. It was the kind of easy workday where everything went right, even the unpredictable conniving of the side oven. So of course, she had nothing in mind that could distract her from the nagging emptiness that was starting to form as she moved around her weyr. Tatitem frowned at herself. There was no reason the empty weyr should bother her. After all, it wasn't the first time she had been in her weyr alone. It had become increasingly frequent of late as Susha continued to run off with Turoar.

Turoar irritated her. She knew it was irrational to dislike someone because they were dating your daughter, but then again, his past wasn't exactly clean either. He had done a remarkable job staying below her notice, but the fact remained that had built a reputation as a lazy, irresponsible drunk. Hopefully Susha would get this "bad boy phase out of her soon, and move on to less irritating prospects. Susha. She knew that was what was troubling her, and if she was honest with herself, it wasn't because of Turoar either. Susha was the last one.
The last child. When Susha left, there would be no one else to fill the evenings with but a feline and a flit who liked to race each other around the room. Not much there for conversation, or sense of prescence.

Her stomach was knotting, and she forced her self to take a deep breath, then let it out in a sigh. If Jerase had lived... she shoved that line of thinking aside almost immediately. There had been signs, visible even to Thief, that her marriage to Jerase was getting rocky and uncomfortable, even if neither of them had been willing to admit it. She doubted she would still be married if he had lived. She was too different from the child she'd been then.

It was like Viri had told her, the uneasy feelings of warning that came when the last one prepared to leave. Susha had shown no desire to have her own place yet, but the time would come. When she walked the tables, it would practically be a guarantee.

She could take in another fosterling, but dismissed the idea immediately.
Today aside, she had far too much to do as Headwoman now to be dealing with small children. Her grandchildren were staying with her daughters, and Tatitem did not really want them to live with her. There were times when she found the privacy intoxicating, besides.

She settled on the sofa with a dress she needed to rehem and let her fingers fly as she thought.

Damn Viri, for being so right. Susha was growing up. Whether she decided to stay with Turoar was up to her, and Tatitem had no say. Her last little bird was getting ready to fly from the nest, and she could do nothing more than watch and wait.

Last updated on the December 2nd 2007