Unintended Side effects [Zen/S'fin]

[Alyx]

Rachel and Blue Aslith
-Takes place during Dance with the Wind-

Are you going to tell him? Rachel turned side-on to the mirrored glass, tugging at the folds of her pale blue tunic. 'Not sure. Maybe. Haven't really thought about it.' Aslith snorted at her from his stone couch, the distaste so strong Rachel could feel it without him even trying. Do not lie. It's almost all you've thought about. The Blue wasn't wrong, but that didn't mean Rachel had to like it. Pivoting on a heel, Rachel faced to put her other side to the looking glass and frowned.

"Can you see it?" See it? Aslith's puzzled tone made Rachel stomp a foot softly. 'It! Can you see IT! Do I look fatter in this to you?!' Oh, that it. Rachel didn't at all like how the Blue's confused tone shifted instantly to amusement. 'Stop laughing!' I'm not laughing! Rachel squared on the Blue, eyes narrowing. "It's not funny, okay?" Something in the normally confident Bluerider's tone tempered her Dragon's humor at her expense, and Aslith cooed, reaching his neck toward her. I know it isn't, I am sorry. It's just so odd for me to see you like this. "Like what? Mentally Unstable?" Out of your element.

Rachel groaned, crossing the weyr with soft steps, and tossed herself on the bed with a gentle thump. 'I'm not going.' Why not? You love hatching feasts. 'Because I feel fat, I hate feeling useless, and I don't know what I'm going to do if S'fin finds out.' There was a silent moment, then Rachel rolled over and cursed. What? 'I just remembered S'fin is A'zael's brother.' Aslith's laughter filled their link. You're right, you're doomed. Rachel rolled her head to give the dragon a dark look. "You aren't helping." I'm sorry. "Are not." Okay, partly sorry.

Rachel closed her eyes, resting her hand of her uninjured arm on her stomach. Aslith let her lay in silence for a moment, then reached for her. Tell him? 'Why? What makes you think he'd care?' You know him better than that. And it is better he hears it from you than from the rumors that will start when the Healers tell A'zael and you are grounded. Rachel groaned. Maybe she could bribe Joia to take her White back a couple of months and remind her -

No. Aslith's sharp tone brought Rachel back to the moment, the rider sitting up quickly to stare at the Blue in shock. You will not involve them. You would hate yourself the moment you sent them back, and I will not have that. Rachel wasn't used to Aslith dressing her down verbally, and the woman sat softly in the silence for a long while with her thoughts. The Blue let her, feeling at least for the moment, they were at an agreeable impasse.

After a long stillness, Rachel pushed to her feet and returned to the mirror. Aslith watched her toy with the shift some more, trying to get the folds to lay how she wanted them to. You really can't tell. 'Really?' Rachel had a soft, uncertain tone to the thought as she looked over at her lifemate. Indeed. Only when you put your hands on it is it really noticeable - or if you know it's there. I would expect more people would notice the wrap on your arm before they saw your stomach. The Dragon was honest, and Rachel felt a wash of relief. She turned back to the mirror, dropping her hands to smooth the fabric of the shirt over the slight bump, then grabbed the hem and shook it out to hide it again.

"Ask Rusath if S'fin's at the feast for me?" Of course. The Blue when distant for a moment, leaving Rachel to busy herself with finding a pair of pants that decently matched the light blue of her shirt. Things weren't too tough to wear yet, but Rachel was not looking forward to the next couple of months. Already her back and feet hurt, and the Healers warned her it probably get worse from here. She finally settled on a pair of dark, nearly midnight blue that was mostly for escaping anything she might have to wear a skirt for; soft, low boots completed the look as Aslith reached for her gently. She says he is. 'Busy?' I don't think so. She said he was with the other greenriders and I did not think to pry further. Rachel nodded.

"Give me a lift down?" Of course. Aslith held solid as she climbed aboard, then did his best to keep the glide even as he dropped from their weyr to the doors below. He landed light, jogging forward as best he could to not jar her too much. How was that? 'Perfect.' She waited until the Blue laid down flat before slipping off, aware that she was still very much healing as well. Stepping around, she reached up to scratch the Blue's eye ridges softly. 'Sorry I yelled.' Aslith chuckled, leaning into the scratches. It is okay. I forgive you. You are moody after all. Rachel smirked. 'Don't you start it again.'

Rachel stepped back and took a breath. "Ask Rusath to let S'fin know I'd like to talk to him when he's not too busy?" Aslith nosed Rachel softly, rumbling at her. I will. Now, go, get something to eat. And drink. Relax, and enjoy the evening. "Yea, right." She didn't think she could relax honestly, but she turned and headed into the lower halls all the same.

So many people were already there. And baby dragons too; she quickly sidestepped as a young boy with a green in tow darted through the doorway and into the Feast. Shaking her head, she slipped into the room herself, instantly wincing at the Harper's pitch. She wistfully watched one of the many trays of drinks drift by but collected herself one of the non-alcoholic juices set out in mass for the Weyrlings before finding herself a comfortable spot to watch the crowd.

Don't forget to eat. Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled. 'Why do I have to tell him again? You are fathering it enough.' Aslith sent her a rush of warmth but didn't push again.

Zen(Can I steal S'fin for a thread? ):P

[Zen]

S'fin :: Green Rusath

The hatching had certainly been something. Two maulings and a gold-green hatchling made plenty for the Weyr to talk about. S’fin was just glad there were no betweens this time. It had been over a turn since Mavros had witnessed a hatching, what with the twins going back in time with very limited spectators, and the last had been the worst by way of betweens that S’fin had ever seen, and he had attended quite a few hatchings in his life. Despite the maulings, this hatching was easy to celebrate. The young women would survive their ordeals, if with a few more scars than before, so overall it had gone… well?

As with most others, S’fin had no idea just what to make of the gold-green. Rusath had confirmed that she was both, that her name was Steleneth, and that was all his green really had to say on the subject. The dragons always seemed far less shocked and confused by these surprises than the humans watching. S’fin had jokingly accused her of knowing in advance and not warning him, but Rusath had only assured him that dragons simply accepted each other as they were hatched and that humans should learn to do the same. He couldn’t help but agree.

Still, Steleneth was a big topic of conversation when he arrived at the feast and found several fellow greenriders to sit with while he ate. He sat beside R’get, listening while C’lin speculated on what sort of hatchlings might come from Steleneth if she was allowed to clutch. Would they all be mixed, like she was? A’zul seemed to think leadership would sooner have her chew stone and not find out. And with mention of leadership, A’zul grinned over at S’fin and R’get, “Then again I suppose we could just ask them. What’s leadership have to say about it, Wingsecond and brother to the former Weyrleader?”

S’fin laughed, “Despite what you may think, Azzy doesn’t exactly share all his potential plans with me.” He could laugh now, but it had hurt that A’zael hadn’t told him of the timing plan, even if part of him had understood, another felt like his brother didn’t trust him well enough. It was done now, and he’d moved on, but it was a reminder that A’zael did keep some things to himself when it came to his leadership. “As for me, I think that’s above my rank to decide. Has anyone thought to ask the dragon and rider in question what they might prefer?”

C’lin scoffed at that, “Well it’s not as though greens get a choice. You’d think with how Mavros needs dragons they might try letting a green or two have a few clutches. S’not like they can’t start chewing eventually, after we’ve got more dragons.”

S’fin laughed again, “You’d rather swelter on the sands for a month than fight Thread? Don’t get me wrong, I think Rusath would make a splendid mother, but I’d rather be fighting.”

A’zul shrugged, “Rather too late for us to have any say, anyway… though it’s a decent point for the young ones that haven’t chewed yet.” He cast a glance in the general direction of one of the green hatchlings.

“Hm,” S’fin considered the merits of it, following A’zul’s gaze, “Azzy might have considered it. B’rax is another matter.”

A’zul rolled his eyes, “You don’t have to tell me. No, I doubt we’ll see any option given to our newest greenriders while B’rax is in charge. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not a bad Wingleader or anything, but he’s definitely… well, there won’t be any greenriding wingseconds in his Wing, that’s for sure.”

S’fin was distracted from the conversation as it turned to the merits of different bronzeriders as leaders and the possibility of choice being offered to future greenriders when Rusath spoke to him. Aslith asked after you. Rachel would like to speak with you when you have a moment. I tried waiting for a good break in the conversation to tell you, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen any time soon.

Oh, it’s fine. Just idle speculation mostly. Did he say why Rachel wanted to talk? That Rachel was seeking him out specifically like this was somewhat odd. It wasn’t like he was opposed to spending time with her and had she come to find him and asked to join them he would have happily invited her to do so, but this seemed more… private.

He did not say. If you want to find out, I suggest you find her. She should be about somewhere.

He pushed away from the table then, drawing the attention of his companions as he stood, “I’ll be back for more gossip, don’t worry. Apparently a friend is looking for me so I have to go find her.”

“Her?” R’get glanced up at him with exaggerated confusion.

S’fin rolled his eyes, “It isn’t like that, obviously.” With that he left them, shaking his head with some amusement. It didn’t take him too long to find her. She was one of few women attending that wasn’t wearing a dress. For a moment he tried to imagine Rachel in a dress, but the image wouldn’t quite form in his mind’s eye and he gave up rather quickly. It just didn’t seem to suit her. He grinned when he neared her, “Rachel! Rusath informed me I’ve been summoned. How’s that arm of yours healing up?”

Alyx

[Alyx]

Rachel and Blue Aslith

Rachel thankfully wasn’t alone very long. Had she been, she might have reconsidered this fool’s notion, grabbed some food, and fled back to her personal weyr. She’d tried not to think too much, simply enjoying the dancers on the floor and the chatter around her until the familiar voice of the Greenrider pulled her back to the present.

She shot S’fin a smirk, lifting the bandaged and braced forearm into his view as he closed the distance toward her. “Healers say it's mending perfectly, but I think it's taking too much sharding time. I’m convinced they are using it just to keep me around so I can’t get into more trouble.” Granted, they didn’t need to use the arm anymore for that, not now. Aslith sent a rush of warmth over their bond, tinted with sympathy. The next few months were going to be hard.

Waving him to join her, Rachel tried to fathom a way to even start the topic that didn’t make this sound like a practical joke or a bad Harper’s song. “Aslith said Rusath let on you were chatting with the other Greenriders; hope I didn’t drag you away from any juicy gossip.” Was it just her, or did her voice sound tired? She hoped softly it wasn’t as noticeable to S’fin as it was to herself. Rachel took a sip of the cooled juice in her cup, then shifted a little in her chair to face the S’fin.

Shards, how was he gonna take this? It was all on her, honestly. She’d been the irresponsible one that forgot to Between after the rise. She shouldn’t have even been involving him! It was all on her, one way or another, and he might not take too kindly to her dragging him into this drama. She took a breath, blew it out gently, and shook her head softly. Rachel gave the room around them a glance, then steeled her nerves and managed a tired, tight smile as she refocused on S’fin.

“Look, I don’t want to ruin your evening or the feast by dropping complicated things on you out of nowhere, but um… we need to talk before I lose my nerve. I kind of screwed up, and well…” Rachel sighed, closing her eyes for a moment to try to decide how to continue. Be blunt? Be gentle? Just offer to talk to him later? Opening her eyes, she scanned the man’s face. She was probably scaring the daybreak out of him right now. Why was she having so many problems just speaking her mind?!

“Oh, shard it. Okay, so after Aslith caught Rusath in her last time up, we banged my arm up a little bit in the moment, but nothing too bad. Healers gave me some stuff for the pain, got over it, no problems.” Rachel gave a soft shake of her head. “Except in my addled brain, I forgot After Rise basics 101, and I didn’t take the proper ‘precautions’ I guess you could say.” Rachel huffed gently, downing the rest of the juice in her mug before refocusing on S’fin.

“I thought best you heard it from me rather than the rumor mill or your brother went the healers tell him and I’m grounded for the foreseeable future.” She couldn’t help but chuckle at the odd, odd pairing they were - not the slightest bit each other’s type, and yet? “And yes, before you ask, Healers have confirmed it. You, my dear friend, are going to be a father.” Rachel couldn’t help the half smile, hoping the man didn’t pass out flat on her right here at the feast. “Yea, so… surprise? I don’t even know what else to say, but Aslith was pretty positive you’d want to know, and I mean, it's only right to tell you. Better sooner rather than later.”

Zen

[Zen]

S’fin :: Green Rusath

She seemed as good natured about her arm as one could expect, and S’fin smiled softly, glad she was healing, and actually resting so that she could heal. “You know I’ve heard that your body will find ways of making you rest when you need it, whether you want to or not,” he teased lightly. Her complaint was expected. Rachel was quite a well known workaholic. With a soft chuckle, he shook his head, taking a seat at her gesture of invitation, “Oh, the gossip will still be there later. And I have a nose for it anyway.” He tapped a finger to the side of his nose with a grin and a glance back toward the table of greenriders he’d left. They’d have plenty more to say, and be happy enough to fill him in on anything he’d missed, whenever he made his way back to them.

There was a shift in the energy suddenly as it seemed like Rachel was gearing up for something, and S’fin refocused on her with brows drawn slightly in concern. Ruin his evening? Was it bad that when she said she’d screwed up his first thought was that she had hurt someone? Anyone that incurred Rachel’s wrath more than likely deserved it but, well, one couldn’t go around throwing punches or pulling knives on anyone that got on one’s bad side. A lopsided sort of smile pulled at his lips as he tried to lighten the mood a little, “I don’t need to help you hide a body, do I?”

He wasn’t entirely sure if she heard him or not, her eyes were closed and she seemed to be digging deep to decide just how she wanted to continue the conversation. She started off bringing up Rusath’s rise, which had been quite an interesting experience for him. He’d never woken up beside a female bluerider before. After the shock had worn off he’d laughed. It hadn’t been his first time with a woman, he’d tried a couple times before, with a friend who had hoped they might parent a child together, but it hadn’t gone well. Even a gold’s flightlust giving him some help hadn’t been something he’d ever wanted to do again. It had just felt off somehow, and it had been endlessly disappointing that their plan could not come to fruition.

At first S’fin thought that his and Rachel’s… flight time activities had made her injury worse or something, which it seemed it had a little, but didn’t seem to be the reason she was acting so strangely and insisting on talking to him about it. It wouldn’t really make sense if that was all it was, unless they’d really messed it up bad, but she’d already said it was healing fine. After Rise basics? Maybe it was because she was a bluerider rather than a greenrider that he somehow didn’t connect that she might need the same sort of after Flight routine as a woman who rode a green, or maybe it was a deep rooted belief that he would simply never have what he wanted so badly, but he didn’t reach the reason for this conversation on his own, and it took him a long moment to process when she finally spelled it out for him.

“You, my dear friend, are going to be a father.”

He was… what? “Wh… what?” he breathed, the shock quite plain on his face, the single word coming out in something like a gasp as if he’d forgotten how to breathe. Maybe he had, for a few heartbeats. His eyes burned, everything got blurry, and he realized only after a few tears slipped down his cheeks that he was crying. He reached up to wipe them quickly away, sniffling them back with a soft, incredulous laugh, “I’m… I mean… you’re not… you’re….” He shook his head, still trying to come to terms with it. He was going to be a father? If she was joking, it would be the cruelest prank anyone had ever pulled on him. “You are…? I mean… you… you could still….” She could still get rid of it if she wanted. Most female riders would. He would have assumed Rachel would too. There wasn’t any shame in it, regardless of what some people thought. He had never imagined, if this was going to happen to him, that Rachel would be the one….

His hand came up to cover his mouth as he choked back a sob, shaking his head again, “I’m… I’m sorry….” Did she really want this or was she just against getting rid of it at this point? Did she feel stuck, trapped in her now nearly inevitable parenthood? And here he was blubbering like a fool, happier than he’d ever been except when Rusy found him on the sands. Rusath wrapped him in warmth and love, I am happy for you, fool of mine. Her tone was thick love and pride, but she was ever the voice of reason, But perhaps you could regain control of yourself for a bit longer to speak properly with the mother of your child?

He nodded, not that she could see it, and drew in a deep breath, repeating to Rachel once more, “I’m sorry…. I….” Another laugh escaped him. He felt giddy and lightheaded. He wanted to ask her if she was sure, not that she was pregnant, but that she really wanted to keep it, but that would be a stupid question. She had the means, if she didn’t want it, and she was choosing not to use it. He didn’t doubt her or her convictions, he just had a hard time believing it still, for his own sake. “I’ve tried… I’ve tried in the past… but I… I thought… I thought I’d never be a father.” He wiped at his eyes again, looking over at her with slightly clearer vision, “I don’t know how you feel… about it all… about me being… being the father… but I’ll be there if you’ll let me. I would love to.” He laughed once more, “Ruin my evening? Shards and shells… this is the best news I’ve ever gotten.” Another shake of his head had some sense returning, “But um… how are you? With this? I mean… are you alright? You clearly weren’t… planning for this.” He didn’t want to assume anything about how she felt about it, she had said she messed up, so he couldn’t help but wonder if she had some negative feelings about the situation.

Alyx