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+--- Thread: [G] [C] 13.11.742 Letters for Ladies (/showthread.php?tid=4718)
13.11.742 Letters for Ladies - Zarel - 12.Nov.20
"Mama! Alekse letters came!" Zarel shouted as she came around the corner into the makeshift section of their home that Mama had made into a little workstation for her lamps and creations. Zarie knew better than to bust in like she was a low flying dragon, so she slowed down and bounced a little.
She'd met the Runner carrying the parcel of mail for the Weyr, too, and they'd let her take some letters around with them. Or, really, Zarie'd just followed them but they were very kind and she was very interested and asked lots of questions. They didn't even mind answering! She waited for her mother to finish sticking some piece of glass into place, still bouncing a little.
"Faranth, Mama, don't you want to read it right now?" Her mama made a soft shushing sound and then turned with a smile. "I can make us klah!"
RE: 13.11.742 - Zahrah - 12.Nov.20
When her daughter came running in, Zahrah hid a grin. Not only was her daughter always running, always moving, she did so with an unmistakeable presence. It was a heady rush of emotion, a jumble of brightness, but rather than addressing her right at the moment, she continued with working a shard of orange glass into place before she turned to Zarel.
"Of course I want to read my letter," she said with a bright laugh. "You make us klah, then, love. I see you got a letter, too. That's brilliant. I bet he appreciated your last one so much." Zahrah hadn't read it because she believed her child should have her privacy but she had offered spelling corrections when asked. Remarkably, there were few requests but Zarie was a bright child. She washed her hands a few moments later and settled into the fur lined couch with klah and her daughter sitting next to her.
"Did you meet the Runner again?" she asked softly, working her letter open.
RE: 13.11.742 - Zarel - 12.Nov.20
"I did and I went the whole Weyr with her, too," Zarel said, trying not to be as gleeful as she felt, but it was pretty hard to not have it show through. She was proud of herself after all. "I helped because I know where most of the people are. She said she does, too, but that my short-cuts are super helpful, isn't that the best? I would be a good Runner, she said so. I'm clever enough and I'm really fast."
She fell silent for a while reading the letter Alekse had sent her. Soon, she was fairly glowing.
"We keep him in good spirits," Zarel said solemnly but with a touch of pride, there as well. "It didn't take too long for these to come and that means he's almost here. I bet he comes next week. I'd bet a mark on it. He's pretty fast, you know, though he says he walks, too. That's good. You have to pace yourself when you run traces, you know. Alekse says so. And so did Brina, the Runner lady. It means I have to slow down sometimes."
Her expression was very, very serious.
"Even if I don't want to slow down." She huffed a little and smoothed out her letter a little more.
RE: 13.11.742 Letters for Ladies - Zahrah - 14.Nov.20
"I suppose I should just give you a mark then," Zahrah said with a laugh. "Alekse said he'll be here by the end of the week. You're very clever, little one."
She ruffled her daughter's hair and laughed. One look at Zarie's round eyes and she laughed again. A whole mark was a pretty big deal. She tilted her letter so her daughter could read it and smiled at the excitement on her face.
"What would you spend your mark on?"
RE: 13.11.742 Letters for Ladies - Zarel - 14.Nov.20
"<I>Spend</I> it?" Zarel's eyes went impossibly wider. "Mama! That would be saved. Jays, Mama, you don't just spend <I>a whole mark</I>. That's ridiculous! It would have to be save and spent very carefully on something very important. Like Runner shoes or...or...a firelizard egg. Something that <I>means</I> something. You said 'spend it' so casually like, like it's no bid deal."
Her words were punctuated by aghast frustration, wide eyes, and fluttering hand gestures and she could see Mama trying not to laugh again. She pushed Mama on the shoulder in exasperation.
"I take my marks seriously."
And then she paused.
"When Alekse comes, can he stay with us? I want to make sure I can ask lots of questions without waiting because I want to know all about Running and stuff. Do you want to write him again? Can we go see where his station is? I really want to see it and talk to Runners!"
RE: 13.11.742 Letters for Ladies - Zahrah - 14.Nov.20
It was just like Zarel to make a fuss about marks and saving them and as usual that dissolved into questions about other things. Zahrah noted the things her daughter wanted - runner shoes, as usual the firelizard egg she dreamed about - and did a poor job of not laughing but she was just so precious when it came to these things. Every question on top of all the others, quick as a dragon could fly, that was her daughter.
And then her daughter asked about Alekse staying and Zahrah's eyebrows shot up. Well. Great Faranth, out of the mouth of babes, so to speak.
"When I write him again, darling, I will ask if he wants to stay with us," she said in a soft voice. "Don't be upset if he must stay elsewhere, love, alright? He has duties to do." Zarah had to cover all of her bases or daughter would be in a mood if Alekse did decline. The relationship was very, very new, after all, but the longing on her daughter's face was just so intense.
She had a million questions for the Runner running on repeat in her mind. Their weyr was certainly big enough for all of them but she didn't want to put words in Alekse's mouth. That look of excitement on Zarel's face made her smile.
"I'll see if I can arrange use passage to the station via one of the Weyrlings but it might cost you that mark," she said softly. Zarel didn't even blink before she was nodding fit to roll her head right off her shoulders.
RE: 13.11.742 Letters for Ladies - Zarel - 14.Nov.20
"I'd give every mark I had to fly on a dragon to the Runner Station," she said with a whoop. Wow. Mama even meant it. She got up because her excitement couldn't quite fit inside her and she swooped around like she was flying on a dragon and even made a few roaring noises because she could. Faranth, but that would be amaaaazing.
"Can we go between or are we flying straight?" Zarel asked a minute later after she'd zoomed around the couch a few times. "I want to fly between there and then straight after so I can see everything fly by. Also I want to talk to the Station Master, too. He'll let me, right? Right, Mama?"
RE: 13.11.742 Letters for Ladies - Zahrah - 14.Nov.20
She watched her daughter's excitement grow and then burst from her and smiled as she twisted her hair away from her face to glance at the letter a few more times, just to read it through. Zarel had been so good lately that it was silly not to grant her a flight down to one of the places the little girl seemed to covet the most. If she didn't Impress, why she'd be a fabulous Runner and she'd get to see most of Pern doing it.
"We'll have to ask the Weyrling and see what they want to do," she murmured. "And yes, I'm sure the station master would love to talk with you. Now, you best get started on a letter if you want to be ready to fly tomorrow."
The both of them would be quite busy writing their responses. And there was the lamp to finish. Zarel looked as if she were soaring there in her mind already and Zahrah wanted to give her daughter the biggest of hugs - but letters first.
Letters first.
RE: 13.11.742 - Zahrah - 19.Nov.20
[End Thread]