Suck It Up!

Writers: AL, KC Free
Date Posted: 29th June 2011

Characters: Meledei, T'aesh
Description: Meledei talks with T'aesh about his worries
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 28 of Turn 6
Notes: Follows: First Up, T'aesh!

It had been a long day for the weyrlings - merely one of many that were
to come. Meledei remembered that time, when it seemed like she was
constantly doing something and her free time was precious. Of course,
even in her free time there had been times where she had done something
to benefit her class. She smiled as she remembered the charts she had
made. She had found them useful as had others.

Dinner was done and now was the time that the weyrlings could rest.
Meledei had made her way back after dinner just to check on them, to be
available if anyone had any questions. She was helping out since she
couldn't do the drills. Of course, she had also been working more on
hide work, but one could only do that for so long, so she was glad for
the chance to do something else while convalescing.

T'aesh stormed into the barracks, a look of anger and anxiety warring
on his face. He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't see Meledei
until he all but walked right over her. He looked up, and it took a
moment for his mind to register who she was. As soon as he did, the
anxiety won out, and his face took on an almost fearful quality.

"He is making me group leader!" he blurted out to her, making the
statement sound like it was the worst possible thing in the world,
which to T'aesh it was.

"Oh yeah?" Meledei's eyebrow shot up and she hopped over to a chair
and slowly sat down in it. She lay the crutches on the floor and slid
them beneath the chair. "You look like you aren't too happy about
that."

"Not happy about it? _Who_ would be happy about it?" T'aesh asked,
looking at Meledei as if he couldn't understand why he had to explain.
"Do you know what a group leader has to do? Well of course _you_ do,
you ride a queen. And to ride a queen you have to have some type of
ability for being a leader. But I don't!" T'aesh exclaimed before
leaning against the wall as if the weight of Pern were on his
shoulders. "I hate being a leader, I hate people asking me what to do
and depending on the right answer. Ugh! This is cruelty at it's
worse!"

"The thing is, T'aesh." Meledei stated slowly, her voice gentle as she
spoke and hoped that he would calm down. "You ride a brown. A lot of
people look at bronzes and automatically think 'leader', but they often
forget that brownriders can and often are leaders in the Weyr also.
You may be wingsecond some day. Shards, it's rare, but occasionally a
brownrider becomes a Wingleader!"

T'aesh looked at the young queenrider with a forlorn look. "I hate
being in charge Meledei!" he said, pounding the wall with his foot.
"People always blame the leader when things go wrong. Never mind what
they did that caused the problem, it's always the person in charge's
fault. I hate being at the center of attention, it makes me nervous
and then I really do mess up." he admitted, talking more out of fear
of failure than anger right now.

"Then maybe that's why you _need_ to be a leader T'aesh." One of many
reasons. She reached out to take his hand and squeeze it gently.
"Look, you're a lot more capable than you're giving yourself credit for
I think. You'll be fine."

T'aesh looked at Meledei as if he didn't believe a word she said, but
knew she spoke the truth. "Well, there is nothing to be done about it
now anyway. I've said yes, so Sh'del has me firmly in his grasp now"
he said, sounding like a herd beast caught in a dragon's sight. "I
wonder exactly how many things can go wrong over the next sevenday?"

"T'aesh, if you're going to go into it with that attitude, you're
already setting yourself up for failure." Meledei let go of his hand
and shook her head. "No. Don't look at it like that. Look at it as
an opportunity to prove yourself. You can do it, I know you can!"

T'aesh looked at Meledei, a little smile beginning to creep across his
features. "The confidence of a queenrider is always a morale booster"
he said giving her a slight bow. "Nothing to it but to do it I guess,
and put your best foot forward and all that." T'aesh sighed, still
not too happy about this turn of events, but seeing no way out of it,
he decided to stop worrying and setting himself up for failure.

**I promised Janani to do my absolute best, and that is what I had
better do** the young brownrider thought to himself.

}: And I will help you :{ Raisheth informed his rider.

Last updated on the August 3rd 2011

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