Bitter Sweet News (D'seus )

[freya]

M'nor was sitting at a empty table with his third cup of Benden wine as he raised his hand for another one. He watched as one of the lower cavern women shook her head saying, "No, more M'nor,". The wingsecond wasn't going to take a no for an answer because he needed more wine to be able to take the news. His mind thought back to late evening when Aleina a lower caverns woman had come to him to tell him that she was carrying his child. The brown rider had taken the news well enough with gripping the side of his dragon for support. It wasn't that he didn't like children he just never thought of himself as a father figure. His main concern was his dragon and having a few drinks to let off steam. He had been with women before and nothing like this happened before because the women had always in between. When he'd mentioned the fact to Aleina she had slapped him and stormed out.

The wing second had his head in his hands and just said, "I can't believe this has happened,". He thought back to a month ago when they had spent a night together after his failed attempt at a mating flight with a green. "I can't believe this," said M'nor as he thought that maybe repeating the fact would make it all disappear. She didn't want anything from him and didn't expect him to claim it. M'nor had to think would he even bother to claim it because many dragon riders did not and the child was just raised down in the Creche.

His own father had claimed him and he sighed wondering if it would be a son to follow in his footsteps. M'rek had a funny image of him taking a young boy up on his dragon and showing him the wonders of being a dragonrider. The groan that escaped his lips kept coming out as he took another swig of drink then went to reach for another pitcher that was nearby. He very clumsily poured it into his cup as he lost most of it's contents on the table. "Ahh, look at that," said M'nor as he sat the pitcher down and he ended up standing up to fall backwards on the floor. The impact to his head made him black out as terrible thoughts of raising offspring appeared in his head.

[HG]

The knock on his weyr door was not expected. Faranth tell him the boys were not in trouble this time! He would like to go at least one sevenday without having to deal with some situation or other involving them or disorderly wingriders. “Gimme a sec!” He said to whomever was there while he threw on a shirt and some shoes. He opened the door to find a young woman standing on the other side of it. “Wait? What?” He said groggily. It had been a long day and D’seus had fallen asleep reading records on his couch.

“It is M’nor.” The pretty woman admitted quickly. D’seus had no idea why the woman was talking about M’nor. She must know M’nor at least. “What about him?” The Bronzerider asked. “I’m Aleina. HE is the father of my unborn child and he wants me to take it Between. You have children, couldn’t you talk to him. I thought he would be happy.” She began to cry suddenly. By the Egg, why did he always get the crying women at his door late at night and not the ones who wanted to bed him?

“Where is he?” D’seus asked thinking anything would be better than consoling a pregnant woman right about now. “He’s been drinking all evening. I don’t want to fight with him about it anymore.” The woman was adamant that he be the one to go. Shrugging he closed his door and locked it. The Dining Hall would take him a few minutes to walk to. Once he was there though it was quite apparent this was bothering M’nor.

“Evening M’nor. Special occasion?” He asked as he indicated the wine skins in front of the man. He knew what was going on but he fully intended to hear the Wingsecond’s point of view. IT would no doubt be better than hearing some pregnant woman sob about the wrong doings of men. Not like he was the one who knocked her up in the first place. “Or were drills today harder than I thought?”

[freya]

M'nor tried to focus his eyes as he looked up at the ceiling and then heard the voice of his best friend D'seus. "Ahh, I don't want to talk about it," replied M'nor as he propped himself up with his arms. When he slowly moved to stand then used a nearby seat to pull himself up then carefully got himself comfortable on the seat. "Another drink," said M'nor as he looked at his friend who seemed to be moving to fast for the wingsecond then went to pour himself another drink. When he slushed most of the contents on the table then went on to drink it down. He just hoped that drinking this much would take away the pain.

The wingsecond looked over at his friend then asked, "When did there become two of you," as he continued to slur? It was quite apparent that he was drunk and that he would most likely black out very soon. "I can't believe this happened," said M'nor as he laid his head down on the table and then continued to look up at the two D'seus. "I can't be a father," said M'nor as he started to close his eyes then was soon snoring. He had blacked out as just laid out on the table as his mind was already having nightmares of raising children.

[HG]

He let the man drink at first, slowly realizing there was nothing he could do to stop the man from drinking one more drink. “Take it easy there.” D’seus glared at the women who continued to serve the Wingsecond alcohol. No more for him by order of his Wingleader. “M’nor, you’ve had quite enough of that.” He took the glass from the man seated next to him and began to think over the ways to approach the situation.

Now that M’nor was seeing double it would be even harder to get the man to feel anything at all about the woman’s position in all of this. “I do not believe you have a choice in the matter. She wants the child and refuses to Between with it.” He looked the man square in the eyes.

“You are going to be a father M’nor whether or not you want to be one.”
He smiled a little at the man’s statement. He could be a father if given the chance. “You do realize I have a few children myself. And despite Hinuk’s mishaps here and there, I wouldn’t trade being a father for anything except perhaps being a dragonrider. You needn’t worry about raising it. The child’s mother will raise it along with the Creche. ” Maybe there was more to this than he realized. Did M’nor think he had to make Aleina his weyrmate now? He hoped not.

“Look, you cannot change the woman’s mind. She showed up at my door in the middle of the night crying. This is her chance to have a baby. Do you want to ruin her dreams and plans for her life because you don’t want to be a father?” He hoped not. D’seus thought M’nor would have had a child or two by now anyway.

[freya]

M'nor listed to his best friend talk to him and then watched as his drink was pulled away from him. He gave a few mintures worth of thought to what his friend was saying and then spoke up where he said, "No, I don't want to be a father,". The man was laying his head down on the table now as the room was starting to spin and then asked, "What child would want me as a father,"?The brownrider was worried that no child would want him as a father because he was a drunk and liked to gamble. When he closed his eyes then said, "I'm not the father type," as he just shook his head. It was apparent that M"nor was just pitying himself and sighed for a moment.

He just shook his head then said, "The child would be embarrassed by me," as he could imagine the child just being ashamed of him. A child would prefer a more straight lined father like his best friend who was the perfect dragonrider. M'nor just laid his head down on the cool table and started to fall asleep as he was starting to pass out. It had been a shock to his system to find out that he was going to be a father. He'd come close the last few turns with the child either lost during child birth or the mother choosing to go between to abort it. When he whispered, "Your such a good friend D'seus no matter what I do," as he looked up at his friend. It was true that his friend seemed to be the more straight shooter out of the two of them and more worthy of being a father.

[HG]

He could just slap him... knock some sense into the guy but D'seus really had no reputation for violence. Unlike his offspring. He was irritated. Maybe it was the alcohol talking but it wasn't like M'nor to whine and moan over issues like this. He tended to be more laid back. So instead of smacking him, he looked the man straight in the eyes and used his Wingleader voice.

"M'nor. Cut the crap. You are a Wingsecond. A Brownrider. A member of my Wing. What child wouldn't be proud of that? If you are worried so much about the child not liking you, don't. Mine don't even care that I'm a workaholic, womanizing, loser of Gold flights. So chill. Children admire people in their life that seem to be strong, seem to confident and give them attention once in a while. Why should that be any different for you?"

He paused only a moment before standing up. "Look. I'm not telling you what you can and cannot do but I am telling you that this is not your choice. Ostracizing the mother of your future child will only make things worse for you. If you want to straighten your life out, a child is going to help with that more than hurt. Look at me. Spending more time with Hinuk has been a good experience for me. I didn't realize how much my children want to be seen and acknowledged by me until Emera brought it up. You don't have to be perfect to have a child who wants your approval and love. They naturally want that. Growing up in the Creche I was told I wouldn't be a rider because my parents were not. Your child is going to have an advantage over those children."

He tried not to shout but he made an emphasis on what he said next. "You are a dragonrider of Pern and you need to do your duty by your Weyr. The weyrs population is low. Allowing women to ride greens has only reduced the number of children being born here at the Weyr. To put it quite frankly, we need women to have children, we need more people. I refuse to allow you to terminate that woman's pregnancy as your Wingleader and your friend. Hope that gives you something to think about. "

Zorometh, let Oreth know he is not permitted to take Aleina Between. If she decides to terminate the pregnancy she is to come to me first.

With that D'seus turned on his heel and left the room.

[freya]

M'nor just looked at his friend with dumb look of shock because D'seus had never talked like that to him before. He'd yelled at him before and had even berated him infront of their wing before yet nothing like this. The wingsecond held his head up a bit and then between both of his hands as he thought about what the man had said to him. It was all true though he hated to admit that fact and would not speak of it later to the man. He never admitted when he was wrong however his actions often spoke louder then his words. A few thoughts went across his head as he thought of what it might be like to have a son or daughter.

He had to admit that he would be proud to have either one become a dragonrider. A son riding a brown just like him or a daughter impressing a green would trully make him proud. The man just lingered on this thoughts for a moment before he ordered a water which the worker gladily brought him. "About time M'nor," said the woman as she smiled at him and this caused M'nor to smile. He might become a father yet he wasn't going to give up his ways with women and in turn after drinking half the cup of water down he slowly made his way over to the woman. "You know I'm sorry for being such a jerk earlier," said M'nor with a good smile and a wink. She just shook her head yet smiled back at them and their conversation continued on into the night.