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+--- Thread: [G] [P] 742.01.03 | Rhymes With “Witch” (/showthread.php?tid=4887)
742.01.03 | Rhymes With “Witch” - Helyna - 02.Mar.21
Helyna had been pleased to have Vondal back… for the most part. It had been great to have her friend by her side again, and to have his (rather confused) support during the gossip and whispers spread by that poorly written lurid note. She also appreciated how well he’d handled N’mor’s rather judgemental introduction of himself when dropping Vondlyn back off, and her friend handled the inquisitive little boy surprisingly well.
But lately, every single little thing he did seemed to be striking a nerve.
First he’d sorted her yarns by color rather than weight. Then he’d put a project back on the wrong shelf “just tidying up”. Yesterday he’d hung up one of the projects she was working on with Cazan over with Iliyith’s harnesses. And today—
“How many times are you going to drop that spindle? How they could decide to make you Journeyman and I had to learn everything secretly I’ll never understand.” Helyna snatched up the fallen spindle and deftly rejoined the thread, scowling at the thick slubs in the spinning. “Where’s your head these days, Von? We’ll be lucky if this is good enough to mend with, let alone make lace.”
RE: 742.01.03 | Rhymes With “Witch” - Vondal - 02.Mar.21
Vondal raised an eyebrow, leaning back slightly at yet another snap. He certainly didn't remember the woman being so... snippy before. There was a reaction deep in his gut to just call her a catty woman from his time on the ship, but he was especially sure that would only lead to something worse. No, his best friend and wife... former wife, deserved better than that. He would have to handle this a bit more delicately.
"I don't remember you being quite so.... bitchy." Ah yes, he was definitely a master of diplomacy. He very quickly added, "I remember some of the sailors talking about their wives having a personality shift, getting angrier, snippier, finding more things wrong with things when they were pregnant. So... is this because of Vondlyn?" No, he was fairly sure this was also somehow worse. "Not that I'm upset about that, he's a wonderful boy. Though I thought those sorts of things ended after the birth now that I think about it."
He paused, pursing his lips as he watched Helyna very carefully. "You know, maybe I should just go make you a cup of tea. Would you like some biscuits with that?"
RE: 742.01.03 | Rhymes With “Witch” - Helyna - 02.Mar.21
”Excuse me?” Her own dark brow arched toward her hair as her friend dug himself into a verbal hole. What the hell was he talking about; it was perfectly reasonable to be upset with the way he’d been messing up her things. And what was he on about talking about her son like he was the one causing her to be moody? “Of course it’s not Vondlyn. Don’t be an idiot.” Helyna wound the cop of thread a bit more aggressively than needed, then caught herself.
“Fuck,” she muttered, mostly to herself. It was early, wasn’t it? It had been two years the first time, though some golds were on far shorter cycles. Setting the spindle and fiber aside, she stood abruptly and crossed to the door to Iliyith’s space to confirm her theory.
The lighting wasn’t ideal, but the gold did seem brighter than usual. Maybe Vondal had just oiled her? No, Helyna didn’t have that sort of luck. “Fuck,” she swore again, more vehemently this time. At least Vondlyn was with Nem tonight so she didn’t have to worry about him picking up bad words. Heading back into the living room, she poured herself a glass of wine instead of the tea he’d offered to make.
“Iliyith’s going to Fly any day now.” She saw his moment of confusion and clarified, “a mating flight.” She took a long sip of wine, fingers playing with something on the mantel to have something to do. “We pick up on their emotions and they can color our own, especially when the golds or greens are going to mate. We call it being ‘proddy’,” she added, finally sinking back into a chair.
RE: 742.01.03 | Rhymes With “Witch” - Vondal - 02.Mar.21
Vondal had definitely heard stories about these sorts of moods from the sailors with wives, and he'd always thought that their rather harrowing allusions to near death had been for comedic emphasis. But the way Helyna had responded had him thinking that perhaps he didn't want to be near her shears at the moment as he scooted a little further away. At least he resisted the urge to go steal and hide them as she rushed off to her dragon (hopefully not to tell the golden beast it was finally okay to eat him).
When Helyna returned swearing, he considered just going to hide in his room to try and stay further out of the way, but then she mentioned that Iliyith was going to fly. But... didn't dragons just do that? He couldn't imagine the stately gold just walking everywhere. And then she began to clarify and it dawned on him. "Oh." Helyna wasn't pregnant... she was just... in heat? No, that seemed a poor comparison. Or maybe it was from the short chat they'd had about it before? Either way, she was some sort of dragon moody. "Proddy," he repeated just to give the word a try. "I see... so when dragons start to have their time of the... ah... year? Their time, the riders also get proddy. Got it."
This seemed like a much easier and more temporary thing to handle and Vondal scratched at his chin while he thought. "Should I go to the kitchens and tell them you need some desserts? Put some bubbles in the bath for you? I can also try warming a towel to wrap you in. Does being proddy give you cramps or anything?"
RE: 742.01.03 | Rhymes With “Witch” - Helyna - 02.Mar.21
She couldn’t help a small smile at the attempt to compare it to a human’s courses. “Something like that. Though the cycles can vary. Especially in younger dragons or greens. But you’ve already experienced a little of a green flight.” They had talked about it a little awkwardly afterwards, Helyna having completely forgotten to warn him about that aspect of weyr life. But this was different.
“You’re sweet and I will definitely take you up on all of those later,” she said with a mischievous grin. “At least the desserts and the bath.”
“But you’ll need to make yourself scarce when the Flight actually starts. I’ll probably have a little bit of leeway to warn you, but I need to focus on Iliyith and making sure she controls herself at the start.” She explained what would happen so he’d be better prepared, taking her time and answering questions if he had them.
RE: 742.01.03 | Rhymes With “Witch” - Vondal - 02.Mar.21
The few green flight that Vondal had witnessed had been initially awkward, he'd found it rather hard to stay locked in his room and not go try to prowl about after one of the oh so many handsome men in the Weyr. After that talk and a bit more preparation, the others had been much easier to handle to the point that the latest one hadn't really bothered him at all. He probably wouldn't have even noticed it if not for the racket. So if this was just the gold version of all that then it probably wasn't too bad and Helyna would get back to normal soon.
"I will gladly get you some treats and bubbly bath things if that will help you not be so.... proddy." He was busy pondering this newest word in his vocabulary while Helyna talked about the differences, something about how the golds were much more noticeable and he'd have to leave to not be in the way. That was all well and good, he could just go do something to bide his time while he waited for all that to be over with.
He scratched at his chin again, still stuck on the word. "Is it called proddy because... you get prodded? Or is it a bit like touchy?"
RE: 742.01.03 | Rhymes With “Witch” - Helyna - 03.Mar.21
She laughed at the question, smiling at her friend. “I think the latter, Von. I could do without the reminder that I’ll be… prodded.” Helyna made an exaggerated face at him.
“Hopefully Iliyith will behave and not be so dramatic since Rhezalth is here this time. She connived to have him come to Fort last time.” The goldrider rolled her eyes at her dragon’s antics.
RE: 742.01.03 | Rhymes With “Witch” - Vondal - 03.Mar.21
"Fair," Vondal said with a small laugh. At least Helyna was starting to relax a little now that she realized what was going on. Hopefully it meant she'd be a little less snippy soon. "It's still odd to me that they can plan and plot and try to sneak their boyfriends home. But hey, at least you know who it will be right? So that should help."
At least Vondal hoped it would help. He wasn't sure how he'd feel waking up after having a roll in the hay with some strange woman. He doubted it would be a very pleasant feeling though. "Did you want me to do anything for after it's over? I can try to sneak in, get some tea made. Or pour you a glass of wine and have some cheese ready." Sure he wasn't her husband anymore, at least not really, but Helyna was still his oldest friend and it was easy to want to help take care of her in little ways.