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It had not been a good day. Rieta had become oddly accustom to not good days. She hadn't expected it when Awunrayth's voice had first echoed in her mind, but somehow being a dragonrider was not exactly what she'd expected it to be. There were times, many times, when she missed the easy familiarity of life as a farmcraft apprentice. She tried not to think about it much, it upset Awunrayth. And the sweet natured dragon was the reason that everything was somehow worth it.

So, ever boisterous, ever enthusiastic Rieta was quiet at the feast, picking at her food while she attempted to keep thoughts of any sort to a minimum. It was a technique that seemed to be serving her well until the Weyrleader collapsed.

The whispers of the return of the plague had bothered her, nagged like a toothache and refused to be completely forgotten. Now, as the whisper became a roar, as the Weyrwoman announced that they would not be permitted to leave, panic bubbled up and Rieta's hands began to shake. She clenched them into fists and gritted her teeth.

Mine? Mine. You are not sick. You will not get sick, mine.

It isn't me. It's everyone. The Weyrleader--

No, mine. Please, it will all go well. But even sweet, level-headed Awunrayth could handle only so much. She wasn't proof against her bonded's fears. Her mindvoice wavered and her eyes whirled in anxiety.

M'darin had been idly staring into his wineglass, trying to guess the vintage. A little difficult, given he'd already downed two cups before considering it, and the hall had that slight spin it got when he drank too fast. If D'tan was here, he'd have confiscated the glass by now, ordered M'darin to eat the cooling roasted meat lying ignored on his plate. But D'tan wasn't his weyrmate anymore, so he could eat or not eat as he chose.

It probably wasn't even Benden wine, he decided, and knocked it back anyway, just as the Weyrwoman made her announcement. He nearly choked.

At first he was grimly pleased. He'd wished to catch plague to spite his ex-weyrmate, and here his new Weyr had put one on for him especially! He was more concerned when he began to hear the local riders discussing the plague symptoms. It hadn't been mentioned much back at Benden, and the bluerider had always assumed plague was something lingering and unpleasant, possibly with pustules, but the people around him spoke of something as quick and deadly as an unfocused jump between. That wasn't what he'd wanted!

"Are you serious?" he demanded loudly of the riders near him, waving the empty glass in emphasis. "We're to sit in here, waiting to die? Will we be dead by morning, or will we have to wait a whole day?"

Heads turned his way at the outburst.

"No." The mental voice was surprisingly sharp in his wine-soaked state, and cut off any further rant M'darin might have made. He felt Kuridoth pushing reassurance upon him, though he suspected the blue dragon was more concerned than he was letting on. He must have been listening in.

"You will not die. I am with you. Be calm."

M'darin was not calm. He bit his lip and reached unsteadily for the wineskin.

Normally, Uuni would have refused and explained to Amelia that she didn't drink, but instead, getting a skin of hard alcohol sounded like a dream in heaven. So she shrugged and nodded.

"That's a surprise," Uuni answered blandly to the note of Sharath not being stupid. It was impossible to tell whether it was a sarcastic remark or complete truth. Like most things about Uuni, it went both ways.

"Boring," Uuni answered simply. "People talking about their boring lives, ther latest crushes, and oh, ever so exciting, the gossip around the weyr." This last part she emphasized with her hands just to point out that no, it really hadn't been that great. "I think one person next to me got on a talk about dragonhealing." Gag. It had been the most interesting thing to listen to. Well, lies. It was the most useful thing to listen to.

"He Faranthdamned better be--" But she was cut off by the ever low, ever calm voice of that greenrider she knew so well and failed to avoid so much.

Running was never an option, and today, of all days, she didn't want to run. "That's great, Kesslan," she said, trying to remain cheery. "I won't mention everything I already ate tonight." She let out a hefty groan and leaned over, taking Kesslan's arm and tugging her closer to the table.

"Sit down, Faranth shardit." All this standing left her feeling burnt out. And when her eyes caught on the flask, she gave Kesslan an uncertain look. "Are you sure? Because I'll drink all of it." Modesty was for people that weren't in a crisis.

--

On the outside, Makereth was standing calm, patient, but his eyes a distinct yellow. Uuni felt fine on the inside, but her constant worry made him very uncertain.

It wasn't until Avery showed up that he seemed to relax more, and it wasn't only Ptoth who would have benefited from the encounter if they were to meet.

If there was one thing Makereth could do, it was cheer up a few fellows even when he was worried himself. Granted, there were some events that were out of his control. Heartbreaks, deaths of family, but this hadn't turned completely sour for everyone yet, so he chirred and stuffed his nose in Avery's hair to get her to calm down.

Some dragon saliva would give her something else to b***h about, he thought.

Uuni took the container without a word and sat looking at it for a moment. She had two choices, really. Look decent, drink it like a woman, or get some use out of it.

She held up one finger to keep Kesslan quiet and unhooked the flask. "Don't judge me," she muttered before she raised it to her lips and grimaced. It tasted foul, but she swallowed it down anyway. It was like one of those old games you played when you were a kid, trying to down the whole glass of klah without taking a breath.

It was a testament to her lack of sex lately that she had to take one breath in between. She had warned Kesslan about the contents.

When she'd finished, she set it down lightly, licking the leftovers from her lips and letting out a sigh. The faster it worked, the better.

"It certainly will be now," she answered and gave a sigh, closing her eyes and waiting. "It is alcoholic, right?" Uuni asked after a minute. One could never be sure if Kesslan had decided to give her something else.

Uuni had been staring straight ahead, and when Kesslan threw the poor joke at her, she merely strained her eyes, but did not move her head.

"You're shitting me," Uuni answered. Besides, that much Fellis would probably kill a person. Oh, shards, Kesslan was jealous and wanted to kill her! Jealous of what, though?

Uuni finally turned her head and gave the woman an upset look. "Don't freak me out, K'lan."

That disaster out of the way, she could feel the slight haze starting to pull over her eyesight and the seconds longer that it took to process whatever Kesslan was saying. "Oh, you know. D'astel is nice," she grinned and then followed with a frown - there might not be a nice D'astel around anymore.

She swung her leg to the other side of the bench and leaned her back against Kesslan's shoulder so she could look over at Amelia. "It wasn't fellis. I can tell." But it was alcoholic.

Had Avery been there, Uuni would have no doubt gone on a long ranting spree about the clothes the girl, wore.

But, given that Avery was not there, Uuni had nothing to drawl on about. So, Uuni went for the next most obvious thing.

"Why haven't you made a move yet?" It was a very simple question and one that she'd always wondered.

"You know, you're all talk and no bite. You walk around the weyr, love, love, love. You sound like you're tripping out on fellis." She leaned back her head on Kesslan's shoulder and closed her eyes for a moment, snorting and chuckling at the idea of Kesslan making a move on her before blowing gently on a few strands of blonde hair that she could see near her face.

"I'm so glad I'm not in love. You people are crazy."

"You shouldn't say things like that with a goldrider so close. You might lose an ear." Uuni grinned and winked.

The patterns on the ceiling were not something she'd noticed before. Not that there were many, but, you know, the rocks were kind of cool. Maybe. It gave her something to try and focus on.

"Sure it is," she answered, picking up her hands and moving them around in a dramatic fashion. "You practically fell down on your knees and worshipped me when you transferred it. You're in denial. You might want to go see Roka. I hear she's good at things like that."

She took in a breath and trailed her fingers down Kesslan's arm. "Well, now that's a little better. But you should stop there because we're friends, you know. Tripping over yourself is bad for our platonic relationship."

She added, with a choked down laugh. "Platonic relationship. What an oxymoron."