Early Morning Clumsiness

Writers: Devin, Rochelle
Date Posted: 30th June 2009

Characters: D'ren, Eleada
Description: Eleada confronts D'ren about his difficulties during drills.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 16 of Turn 5

**Could you ask Menanth to have his rider come over?** Eleada asked Gliorith as the wing glided in for a landing. Her green did a sort of hop-skip, favoring her hindleg. She frowned at the awkward landing, but since they'd just completed a double drill session, she decided to ignore Gliorith's favoring of the stiff leg. **I want to speak with him for a moment.**

A few moments later, the bronzerider arrived. "You wanted to see me, Wingthird?"

"Yes." She adjusted the helmet she'd just placed under her arm, shaking her sweaty hair back into place before studying the young man before her. "I noticed you two were drifting a little close on the right side. Not enough to be a problem, but close enough it could have been. And in the first catch drill you fumbled the first few tosses." She said simply, raising an eyebrow. "Was that just early morning clumsiness, or was there something else going on there that I didn't see?"

"Sorry, Ma'am. I ... didn't sleep well last night," D'ren admitted.

"Thread doesn't care how well you slept, D'ren. It just eats." She studied him for a moment, weighing his answer with what she knew of the young bronzerider. "Something on your mind?" She asked a bit more kindly. "You've been... quiet recently."

D'ren shrugged. "Just things."

"Just things." She repeated. "Are those 'things' keeping you awake at night, or are they the reason you're so quiet lately?" She prodded. If there was something bothering him that needed dealt with, she needed to know before D'ren's distraction spread to Threadfall. Of course, if it was really just simple inattention due to lack of sleep, that was easy to fix.

"Both," he admitted. "I have nightmares." Menanth made a gentle croon.

"Mmm." Eleada grimaced. She knew about recurring nightmares all too well... "If they're bad enough to keep you awake, maybe you should talk to someone." She suggested gently, knowing that he'd probably already heard it before, but hoping that it might bear more weight coming from his wingthird. "It doesn't always help, but it's better than nothing. Or you can try sleeping with Menanth." She offered a little smile. "That's what I do."

"It helps." The bronze bent his head down so D'ren could lay a hand on his muzzle. "So you have nighmares, too? I suppose most of us do." Facing Thread on a regular basis, watching comrades and loved ones die ... it would be hard to imagine someone not having nightmares about it.

"Some worse than others." She agreed with a sigh, repressing a shudder. "But yes, I have some pretty horrific ones." She met his gaze then, making sure she had his attention. "So if you need to talk to someone about them, or just want some company after one, feel free to come bother me. But don't just let them interfere with your life, D'ren. Once in a while we all have a bad day or night. But if you let them make every day into a bad day, pretty soon Thread will take care of the rest."

"I'm sorry, Wingthird. I wouldn't ... I wouldn't want to cost the wing any casualties," D'ren said. He thought about her offer, but he didn't want to burden Eleada with his troubles.

"I know you don't." She agreed. "And I don't either. So I want you to promise me something. If they keep coming back, I want you to talk to someone about them." She said firmly. "I don't care who. And if you can't think of anyone else, come talk to me. I don't care what time of the day or night it is -chances are I'll probably be up anyway, and I'd far rather see you at midnight than in the infirmary for mistakes caused by exhaustion. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am." Maybe he would finally talk to someone. Having another death to blame himself for certainly wasn't going to help, and Eleada was right about exhaustion being a risk factor. "If I need to talk to someone, I will."

"Good." Eleada nodded, hoping that D'ren was telling the truth. He seemed sincere enough, but it was so easy to 'forget' this kind of thing, especially if they thought it was somehow degrading to admit to dreams as a weakness. "I'm going to hold you to that promise. And for tomorrow's drills I want you both to keep an extra close watch on your surroundings. Menanth is a good enough flyer he shouldn't have been drifting so close."

"I know. It was my fault, not his." D'ren patted his bronze.

That point Eleada doubted since D'ren was not actually the one flying, but he still should have noticed their misplacement before she did. "Either way, I don't want to see it happen again."

"Yes, ma'am. It won't."

Last updated on the July 4th 2009

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Early Morning Clumsiness