Between Sisters (Genet)

[Invisible]

“Heads have nothing to do with love,” Genet says with a grin. “It’s all instinct and emotion. It’s only later your head comes into it and you feel bad.” Well, at least in her case. Not that she feels bad but if she’d thought it out more she might not have embarked on this particular adventure. Well, ok, or not. She’s never in any past let thought get in the way of fun. “I can’t believe by the time he agreed to the arrangement he did not feel attached,” Genet replies with a snort.

“Considering he came right to my bed after meeting his someday bride for the first time and all.” Well, not this Silvio, but the other one who was pretty much the same. The same as she was pretty much the same. “Well, not that he remembers, of course. But I remember it. You can’t tell me that’s not an attachment. He should have just told your father no instead of trying to be the Golden Boy again.”

It was starting to get her worked up and annoyed so Genet stopped there and was silent. She toyed with her glass and finally set it down to grin ruefully. “I’m sorry. I did not mean to be this way. My problems are my own and it’s wrong to go on to you especially about them. I’ll sort it out! Tell me now, what drew you to G’tet first? I know he’s good looking and all, but it was probably more too.” Well, of course he was good looking being her twin!

[Alsivor]

For this Aleda only had a faint shrug. "I have only loved once. And it did start from instinct, but love and lust aren't the same. The love grew slowly and was very much a matter of both head and heart."

Her thoughts went to Th'ane and she wondered where ... Or when he was. She had loved him long but found that perhaps the boy she had fallen for and the man he became were not really the same person. Or maybe she had loved an idea of him, Teimo as she said and not the rider Th'ane. After that first rush of reunion, she had found in fact that while the chemistry was still there, she no longer quite liked him.

"You judge him maybe a little harshly, Genet. C.aminar are few and Silvio ... Is very much /Caminar/." Which meant what exactly? "That he would even consider leaving the road and not proceeding with this marriage without any assurance from you is a very great deal."

Her smile shaded wry and she leaned back in her chair. "I have always been the one at odds with my father over marriage. But I am lucky., I am a healer and that gives me some independence that others do not have. And I am wilful enough to choose the fun that I want." She smirked lightly. "Like your brother."

"His manner drew me. Not his looks."

[Invisible]

“I’ve never been in love,” Genet admits with a shrug of her shoulders. “Maybe your brother? I really don’t know. I don’t know what love feels like.” This makes her pause and she adds with a grin, “Except Anquilith. But that’s different. It’s the most amazing thing ever. I used to think G’tet just wouldn’t really share how it was, but he couldn’t. It’s better than anything I’ve ever felt in my life.”

And, clearly, any plain old person would come in second. “If he’s so Caminar he shouldn’t have fallen in love with me,” Genet says with a grin. “Not that he could help it. I’m pretty hard to resist and all. Once he danced with me it was all over.” Leaning back in her chair she let out a sigh of frustration. “I want to do what is right, Aleda, but I can’t sort out what that is. A large part of me thinks I should just let him go and not encourage him, but at the same time I can remember what we lost and I’d like at least part of that back.”

“G’tet never had to worry about marriage,” she gave since it got her somewhat off the topic of her and Silvio. “He was searched before it came up. Father tried to marry me off to old men. I guess he thought they’d keep me in line, but he was silly since I could have outrun em all.” And would have. Poor old men would have had heart attacks. And not from any fun activity. “G’tet’s a sweet guy. He deserves to have all the fun he wants. Although at least his taste in women is better than men. Can you believe he has a crush on J’fel?”

[Alsivor]

"I can't say how it compares to a dragon," Aleda said slowly, expression placid. "For that's something I will probably never know," she continued, "but it is a nice thing to feel, to feel happy with another person and to want their happiness, sometimes above your own." Her palms pressed together, moved past each other slowly and she smiled a little. "There are exceptions to every rule and I suppose in the end, people are people and a spark can light anywhere regardless of who you are, or you would not be where you are now."

Aleda's hand slid across the table towards Genet's seeking to rest atop it lightly. "I would say, have your fun and see what comes. But let him know what it is. The rest is up to Silvio, it's his choice where he commits himself. I think that perhaps the only thing that is right for /you/ now is tending to your dragon and doing your duty by the Weyr. All else pales beside that, doesn't it?"

"Old men. Yes. I'm familiar with that," Aleda said with a wrinkled nose. "It's not so much that they're old that is the problem, only that they were not my choice. And that I would not want to change my life or hand over my independence to anyone." Genet's confession drew a laugh from the sabedoria and she nodded. "G'tet seems to like good looks, regardless of what lies beneath. He's very ... straightforward. Forthright. Passionate about life. Those are the things about him that I like, but at the same time, I cannot ignore what lies beneath J'fel's pretty wrapping, what little I can guess at anyway." Her shoulders rolled and she made another face. "He's ... callow. Untried. Maybe even shallow? I am not sure, but he does not sit well with me, the Weyrleader."

[Invisible]

“Never say never!” Genet said with a happy laugh. “I never expected to get Anquilith. We never know what will happen! You could be stopped in the wrong place and get searched and then off you go!” Stranger things had happened. But since Aleda did seem to understand part of it she smiled brightly once more. “It really is important. I mean, I don’t care about the Weyr stuff so much other than it’s a place to live and G’tet is here. I won’t do bad things or anything, but I want to graduate and get to go exploring. And see the ocean! I was promised the ocean. Silvio said he would take me.”

“I know I need to talk to him, but finding time is impossible. To really talk, you know? To not just get a few words in and such.” Genet also didn’t really want to have the conversation. “I didn’t want to marry anyone from my hold. They just wanted me to have babies and clean up their mess. Eww. That is not what I wanted to do with my life. Thank goodness G’tet arranged to get me out of there. He was my rescuer! He got a friend to search me so I could come here and now I never have to leave!”

G’tet and J’fel were an interesting comparison. Genet would agree G’tet was awesome and J’fel not so much. “G’tet has a lot of good qualities. He’s the best brother you could ask for.” And J’fel? Well, she snickered at Aleda’s description. “He just wants to get laid. That’s how I got him to meet me to ask about you guys. Well, I didn’t promise so much with Anquilith because I couldn’t, but I sent this note. It was gross writing it. Then I showed up with Silvio. It was funny.”

[Alsivor]

"This is true, highly unlikely though," Aleda conceded and countered both at the same time. "And I for one, would be happy enough not to see the world strangely changing again." Her hands folded together atop the table as she listened to Genet. "He said he would take you to the ocean? Ahh, we do go down south, to the sea at least a few times per turn, sometimes along the coast road up from Big Bay," the sabedoria said softly, reminiscence in her eyes. "The air there is full of mist and the sound of waves crashing on the beach or against the cliffs." She re-focused on her companion. "I think you would like it there."

Sympathy creased her features about being able to find time to talk. "Do you not have rest days? And are your walks not enough time for speaking frankly?" The rest of her story lofted Aleda's brows with surprise. "He asked someone to Search you? Well, truly, your brother is a determined man." And somehow that came out as admiring on the Caminar woman's lips.

"G'tet is an honorable man, I think, and yes, both your brother and the Weyrleader are very interested in satisfying those wants, but in my experience, G'tet is not slimy about it." She laughed merrily at Genet's further description. "Oh to have been a vtol on the wall for that! What did Silvio do?"

[Invisible]

“Well, I told him that G’tet promised to take me and that he hadn’t and then he said he would take me. But that was before-well, not with Anquilith I think because I wouldn’t need anyone to take me with her just show me the way. Although maybe that was it?” Her brain rolled around different ideas to the point where she thought her head would explode. Luckily for her when this happened Anquilith was always there to soothe away such concerns.

A little wistful now she says, “I’ve wanted to see the ocean always. I never thought I would get to and then G’tet impressed and I knew I would get to only I haven’t.” She smiles brightly and throws off wistful for determined. “But now I can go as soon as I can! And I don’t need G’tet to take me so I can take whomever I want with me!” Like Silvio although the thought of that left her momentarily distracted when she considered the whole combination of the ocean and Silvio. A little shiver ran down her spine and she cleared her throat. “Oh, sorry. Was just distracted.” Uh huh.

“As for rest days, to be honest? When we get time to really rest I just want to collapse into a little ball and not move. There’s so much work to do and I can’t fall behind. I won’t have them saying I can’t keep up because I’m a girl.” Because she might hit whomever said that and she’d promised herself no more fighting after the way she’d upset Anquilith last time. “As for our walks…Well, there’s not always a lot of talking is all.” Not that they did anything to really earn that blush appearing on her cheeks, but still. “I should make time, I know. With the snow coming and all. I should make time.”

Should was not the same as would, but it would have to do for now. Because her brother was being spoken of well so she had to grin widely and agree. “He promised he would bring me away as soon as he could. My parents wouldn’t let me come to a place so immoral just because I wanted away from them. But if I were searched? For a possible queen? They couldn’t deny me that chance! But since there was no guarantee I’d even get searched he just made sure it happened.” He was, her tone implied, the best brother in the whole world.

She could have gone about her brother’s many virtues, but here was a chance to tell a story about how amazing she was so Genet let G’tet go for now with just a quick, “Yea, well, he’s a man.” Then she launched into her tale. “Well, I bothered J’fel at the hatching feast about you guys and I was, maybe, rude to him? Anyway then I met your brother and we learned we had something in common and he offered to come with me to confront J’fel to keep slimy hands off me. And so I sent this note saying I wanted to apologize and Silvio came to the meeting to and he was wonderful! And J’fel was bothered. It was so great!” Which was not really what Silvio did, but…he hadn’t done as much as her. No one ever did.

[Alsivor]

There was sympathy on Aleda's face as Genet tried to work out all of those changes and the sabedoria's fingers toyed with her napkin restlessly. What had they done, she and the others? These changes they'd wrought. Look at how they'd affected Genet, how confused she was. And Silvio. Poor Silvio. What had he lost? She made herself pay attention to what Genet was actually saying.

"It's good that you'll be able to go," Aleda said with a smile then tilted her head to the side. "Maybe we could all go, make a day of it. A picnic?" She set the napkin down, smoothed it out. "And if you need help finding or making time, let me know. I might be able to at least get some of Silvio's time free from chores and work." She winked at Genet conspiratorily then quieted again to listen.

"You take good care of each other, your brother and you. It's what family does," Aleda opined thoughtfully and she looked away for a moment, out the window, thoughts turning over matters within her own family before returning to Genet. "And it sounds as if you and Silvio had quite the adventure, quite the ... connection for meeting. I hope J'fel wasn't too put out."

[Invisible]

If she were asked Genet would say the confusion was well worth it. This was a whole new world after all! She could retain little pieces of the last time just to compare them to what was now. Even the occasional dizziness that still hit her when something seemed briefly wrong was welcome. Besides Anquilith was sure it would sort out soon. That’s what she told her anyway and Genet was inclined to believe her green. “A picnic would be great!” Genet said and then the smile faded.

“Only by the time Anquilith and I can go you’ll be gone. It’s months before we can leave and all.” It sounded fun. Everyone at the beach. Not as fun, granted, as having gotten to haul Silvio off on her own, but that could be done too! “Maybe next summer. You’ll be back in the area then. If you remember us.” Not that she doubted her and G’tet’s ability to be remembered.

And J’fel? She just snorted. “J’fel was pretending not to care, but I know he did. He’s an idiot. Oops. I shouldn’t say that. Especially cause of Anquilith. Well, you won’t tell!” Genet beamed brightly at that statement. Of course she wouldn’t be tattled on, but she did need to be more careful. “But I should probably be going.” She sounded less thrilled about that.

[Alsivor]

"Something to look forward to," Aleda said with a merry laugh and a nod. Her own smile faded too and she refolded her napkin, started to clear up the dishes. "Perhaps," she agreed about the imminent supposed departure of the Caminar. "It ... remains to be seen. I know that many are eager to be back on the road, Silvio included. I think he's very torn. Between the wanderlust and need for the open sky and another part of his heart," the sabedorie mused softly.

"And how could we forget you anyway, hmm? Caminar do not forget, just because we wander," she noted with an upraised finger and another warm smile until laughter took her once more. "Have no fear, I will not tell." She rose though, moving to a trunk near the back of the wagon and flipped this open, removed a wrapped bundle and brought it to Genet. "Something for you. For after you and Anquilith have finished your training."

(Inside is a gown similar to the ones that Aleda wears in warm, bright shades, of reasonably good fit for Genet though it might need a little tailoring. There's rich embroidery from cuff to sleeves and along the modest sweetheart neckline.)

[Invisible]

When dishes are cleared up Genet rises. “Thank you again for lunch,” she says with a warm smile. “It was a nice change of pace.” At the mention of Silvio she looked down and then up with a grin. “Oh, he’ll remember me even if he heads off with the others.” And then the grin was gone and she was looking much less wicked than a moment before and just her usual exuberant self.

“We’ll go to the ocean. The four of us. It will be wonderful!” It was a promise. “We don’t forget things either,” she assures the Caminar woman. And then she is taking the bundle and opening it up right now. There should have been no doubt she would open it right then and as the wrapping falls away she gasps and looks up with brilliant eyes. “Oh, my! Oh! Aleda! It’s lovely! So very wonderful! Thank you so much it’s the most beautiful dress I have ever had!” She bounced in her excitement and held it up to herself to look down at it. “I’ll wear it at turn’s end! Thank you! Thank you so much!”

[Alsivor]

"You're welcome, come again sometime," Aleda tendered the invitation sincerely and chuckled at Genet's quip. Then she was dancing around and around with the gift while the sabedoria finished tidying up the table and she smiled again at the other woman's exuberance. "It is not ... new, technically," she explained with the faintest hint of embarrassment. "A sample my father had that he was willing to part with at no cost, but it is good sound work, only a few flaws here and there in the embroidery and it is very much of my father's style. Which whatever disagreements I may have with him, I quite like."

She approached the weyrling and reached out to tuck up one side of the sleeve, nodding. "The colors will suit you well, bring out your eyes." Her hand slipped upward towards Genet's chin and she regarded G'tet's sister thoughtfully. "He won't be able to resist you in this," and one corner of her mouth tipped upward, grin wry. "And perhaps it will make for a very memorable night for you both." Aleda's hand dropped away and she took a breath, released it. "I should let you get back to your duties and also me to mine."

[Invisible]

“It’s new!” Genet insists with a happy laugh. “And I love it. Thank you again.” She looks at it again and at Aleda when the woman tucks the dress up. Before she steps back she gives the other woman a hearty hug. “Thank you!” she says again before skipping backwards the few paces to the door. “Thank you again!” she offers as she opens the door. Before stepping out she winks, “Oh, he’ll remember any night with me.” Then she’s racing off down the steps to get back to her duties while carefully holding the dress close to her where it will be safe.

[Alsivor]

For that, Aleda only had a smile and a little nod. "Clear skies, as you say in the Weyr," she said as Genet skipped off happily. The sabedoria watched her go, sitting on her steps again. Carolina looked up from the fire at Aleda then off after the girl, trying to figure out why Genet was leaving with one of her husband's sample gowns. The almost wistful look on her daughter's face though forestalled any questions and Caroline left well enough alone as Aleda retreated back into her wagon and brought out the dishes for washing up, then changed and headed out to see patients.

End Scene