They would talk. [Tag: Parker/Locke]

[Saerle]

---

@Parker/Locke

Merinna sat on the ground outside of the door, her hand clenched around a well-worn scrap of paper with words barely legible any longer. It was fine, though, she had long since memorized the information Locke had written on it. A thousand times she had watched the scene she didn't remember. Had watched herself take the scrap. Rin didn't know what to do and she wrestled with her own mind. Did Locke actually mean it? His cane sat in front of her, her eyes trained on it as she weighed the pros and cons. Really she didn't know what to say to him or why she had come. What more was there to say?

She let a breath escape through her lips, releasing what she had been holding without realizing. There had been many times she had taken this walk, but never had she actually let herself make it to his door. She had seen it, just to make sure the slip of paper was real. Once Rin had seen him leaving, but she turned and walked the other way. There was no desire to sneak up on him or accidentally eavesdrop now. No, not when she wasn't sure he even actually wanted to see her. So why was that particular day any different than the others? Why had she gone to sit where she was?

Before she talked herself out of it, Rin reached out an arm to her side, tapping her knuckles quietly against the door. There was a chance he wasn't home, of course, but the girl thought at least this way... if he didn't answer, she could tell herself she tried. Immediately the thought felt disingenuous and she stood as carefully as she could, steeling her will and raising her chin in determination to see it through. This time when she rapped her knuckles against the door it was a real knock, not a half-assed attempt at getting away with an excuse of him not answering just because she had barely made an effort. "Mr. Locke... it's Merinna." she said in a low voice.

---

Our brokenness summons light into the deepest crevices in our hearts.
And we remember the people who show up in our darkest hours.
Hold yourself back, or heal yourself back together. You decide.

[Parker]

It was a free day at the weyr, though, in truth, most days were basically a free day for Locke. Well, as much as a father with six children could be free. He still had some duties at the weyr, but considering he'd never been one to enjoy following others' rules, he tended to do only what was really necessary. Locke was finally starting to pick up his plans again. He wasn't rushing to do so, of course, though the goddess knew that he was dying to get back out there. Regardless of what he wanted he was going to do what he always did...take the time to watch, gather information, and make a solid plan.

Locke was in his small kitchen now, an apron fitted around his waist. He was just finished cutting up some fresh cilantro for the tomato soup he'd made for lunch. There were three bowls of the steamy soup on a plate with a grilled cheese sandwich. He sprinkled some cilantro on the top of the soup and a bit of shredded cheese and carefully took them to the small dining area. Before he sat the meals down on the table he heard the soft rap of a knock. "Finch, Colt, come eat. Lunch is ready," Locke said to his two boys that were currently home with him.

While they moved to the table, Locke moved up to the door. That tapping could have been nothing, but he had good ears and figured it wasn't. A breath after her last knock he was opening the door and looked down at her. He wiped his hands off on a towel before throwing it over his shoulder, apron still in place. The wraithrider looked every bit the domestic husband, an odd sight when compared to what he did. "I wondered if you'd be by. Come in. Have a seat," Locke said as he gestured her in. "Are you hungry? Would you like some tomato soup and grilled cheese?" He asked politely. Colt and Finch had stopped their eating to look at the strange girl. "Colten, Finch...this is Rinna. Rinna...two of my sons. Finch and Colt." He introduced them and pointed to each as he said their name.

[Saerle]

---

Merinna was blinking at the sight of Locke in an apron still, remembering their previous conversation and the unspoken confession of what had happened between him and the slavers who had killed Asa. An... apron. But she heard, or perhaps imagined, the warning not to speak of that conversation in front of his children and nodded in agreement. No, that was not a conversation she really wanted to have with anyone else besides the chimerarider. "I... yes, I would love to have a meal with you all." she recovered quickly, though moved slowly as she caned her way to the table and sat next to one of his sons, Finch, she reminded herself. To the boys she gave a small smile, they reminded her of her brother. "Hello, it's lovely to meet you." she told them.

When was the last time she had had such a... familial meal? Sure, she ate with Aunty Syra on occasion but since coming to the Weyr it had mostly been with people of her own Candidate class. Or by herself in the Infirmary. Rin wondered if he had already made the sandwiches and looked toward him, wondering if she should tell him that she enjoyed them being toasted darker on the outside than most people. The crunch through the crust into the soft, cheesy inside was one of her most favorite sensations. Her stomach rumbled at the thought and she suddenly remembered the exact last time she had had a grilled cheese and tomato soup meal. "It has been exactly 14 months since I had this meal last." she commented offhandedly, watching Locke and reveling in the sight of him in an apron. In fact, she was trying very hard to conceal the laughter tugging at her cheeks and revealing her dimples.

---

Our brokenness summons light into the deepest crevices in our hearts.
And we remember the people who show up in our darkest hours.
Hold yourself back, or heal yourself back together. You decide.

[Parker]

"Hi!" Colten said brightly in his young voice. Finch stayed quiet but he did give a small wave. It was obvious that the timider of the two was the older boy. Both of them used to be street rats living in The Bottoms, one of them had vivid memories of how horrible that place was and one didn't. For anyone who knew what The Bottoms was like would know that Finch was the one with the more vivid memories. Colten would thankfully grow up only knowing a life that was full of happiness and joy. With introductions out of the way, both the boys went back to eating their food.

Locke moved back to his kitchen and went about the process of putting together another sandwich and bowl of soup. "Go ahead and take mine there, Rinna. I will make myself another so that one doesn't go cold." This meal was delicious regardless, but it lacked some of that comfort if it wasn't warm when being eating. The pan he had used for grilling was still hot, so it didn't take any time at all before he was taking off the apron and sitting down at the table as well. A pitcher of water and glasses were set on the table for the children but Locke enjoyed himself a glass of wine with his meal.

"When you're done eating boys you may be excused, but please go play in the other rooms or go outside to play," Locke told his boys as he unfolded a napkin and put it on his lap.

Finch's face lit up a bit, "Can we go to the pavilion and visit Wraith?" There was no questioning that he loved his father's dragon. Seeing as how Locke loved his children very dearly, Wraith didn't seem to mind their company. However, there was something about Finch that made him special to Wraith. There were times that Locke was sure Wraith liked Finch more than himself.

"That's fine. Just remember the rules for playing with Wraith," Locke reminded him. Finch nodded and then began to eat faster. His attention then turned to their guest, Rinna, "How's your leg feeling?" He asked curiously.

[Saerle]

---

Merinna watched the by-play between father and sons as she picked up the grilled cheese gingerly in case it was hot and bit in. While it wasn't as grilly as she liked, it was still perfection on the tongue. Her eyes closed in pure bliss as she savored the first bite. Her next bite followed after being dunked in her soup and she had a moment of looking up toward Locke because she wasn't sure how he felt about manners and whether dunking was allowed at his table. "My brother taught me about dunking my grilled cheese in soup... thank you for the meal." Rin said quietly, explaining before the memory swept her away from focusing on the people in the room with her. Asa was wiggling in his seat, excited as their father placed the grilled cheese on their plates and bowls of tomato soup in front of them... later, when Asa wasn't around anymore, they'd had the same meal again and Merinna had cried. It was his favorite and he'd never have it again.

Back in reality, the girl cleared her throat and dipped the sandwich again. Rin looked at Finch from the corner of her eye; she didn't want him being scared of the dragon he so clearly loved but Locke had asked about her leg. Her gaze turned to him and she looked at him solidly before responding, [oolor=white]"It aches, actually... the dragon that hurt me because I was dumb did a number on the muscles so the Healer sent me off today with a vial of fellis."[/color] she eyed his wine glass, having been taking her fellis in small amounts of the same stuff depending on who the Healer was bringing her the medication. "May I have a small amount of that?" she asked, pointing to his glass and pulling out the vial to explain. Locke probably knew about hiding the taste and why water wouldn't work for that particular reason.

Wanting to make the boys feel included she shoved away her earlier thoughts and gave them both a genuine smile, "So will you guys be Candidates when you're old enough?"

---

Our brokenness summons light into the deepest crevices in our hearts.
And we remember the people who show up in our darkest hours.
Hold yourself back, or heal yourself back together. You decide.

[Parker]

"My brother taught me about dunking my grilled cheese in soup... thank you for the meal."

Locke gave a wide, slightly wrinkled smile. "You're very welcome. This is one of their favorite meals and it isn't hard to make at all. I never had the pleasure of enjoying it when I was young. I must admit...it is one of my favorite meals now too." Locke would be the first to admit that he spoiled his children. How could he not when he was able to do for them what he couldn't do for himself or his siblings growing up in The Bottoms. "Colten there is still rather fastidious when it comes to food. Finch and I have tried to get him to realize what he is missing out on by not dunking, but so far he refuses to believe us." He said in a teasing way.

"Daddy!" Colten huffed at him. "It makes the bread to mushy. I don't like it."

"It only does that because you leave the sandwich in the soup for too long. You gotta dunk and take a bite, dunk and take a bite." Finch explained again.

That started the two to bickering, "Alright boys. No bickering when we have company. You both can eat how you want...as long as you don't make too much of a mess." He turned and looked at Rinna to give her a wink to assure her he wasn't really upset with them.

"It aches, actually... the dragon that hurt me because I was dumb did a number on the muscles so the Healer sent me off today with a vial of fellis. May I have a small amount of that?"

"Yes, let me get you a glass." A small bit of wine was not going to hurt her. Locke got up to get that for her.

Finch looked over at her with a sympathetic glance. "It's alright. We know it was Wraith. Dad made sure we knew about how he is with strangers when we first came to live with him. I'm sorry he bit you and I'm sure you wasn't being completely dumb. Wraith is loving with us kids, but he's not fond of strangers...or Dad sometimes."

Locke came back then, "Out of the mouth of babes." He sat the small glass of wine in front of Rinna. "It's a sweeter red. Thought that might taste better for you than any of the drier wine I have."

"So will you guys be Candidates when you're old enough?"

Colt was in the middle of a big bite, but he shook his head ecstatically. Finch nodded as well, though I bit more solemnly before speaking, "I want to be a greenrider like Pappa was. Even if I didn't get to know him...I want to do that for him." He explained, his eyes watering a little. The secret he'd held inside since the day he was rescued by Kent and Locke remained deeply buried but still hurt him greatly. Locke still had no idea that his beloved son held such a secret, but it warmed his heart to hear Finch say that. The lad might not have gotten to know Kent as well as his other children, but he knew what Kent had done in order to save him.

[Saerle]

---

It was so easy and normal to have a family meal that Merinna's heart felt heavy in her chest. The boys were making her miss her brother and the image of Locke in an apron would probably remain one of her favorite memories. She smiled at them when they finished bickering, "My brother taught me to do it like this," she paused, holding up her sandwich, "Dunk it in and say '1 Faranth' in your head. Though perhaps... '1 Goddess' would work better for you guys?" in either case, the girl demonstrated by repeating her dunking action and showing that the bread was still crispy before she bit the soup-dunked area. The crackle of the toasted bread when she bit it gave her goosebumps... it was one of her favorite sounds and flavors.

When Locke returned with the small glass of sweet wine Rin carefully emptied her vial into the glass and took a gulp. Half of the wine was gone with it, but she found that it was actually very nice tasting. "It's a lot better than the wine they were giving me in the Infirmary. It was very... medicinal tasting. And not because of the fellis either." she smiled and finished her medicine as she had promised to do before following it with water and more soup.

Returning to the conversation, though, Rin looked up with a sheepish smile, "No... it was actually stupid but I appreciate the encouragement. See, I had just recently come to the Weyr and I don't have a lot of family here. My aunty is a Searchrider and I'm staying in the Candidate Barracks... I got lonely one night and snuck out after curfew and I ended up accidentally sneaking up on Wraith. He bit me because I wasn't where I was supposed to be when I got lost looking for Aunty Syra. It really was my fault... I can't blame Wraith when I wouldn't have been hurt if I'd stayed in bed." Finch seemed like the quiet type and Merinna felt special that he had spoken so much to her in one go, so she gave him a genuine smile -- especially because Asa would have loved Finch as much as he had loved Voss.

She listened as Finch told her why he wanted to be a dragonrider and ride green, her hearth clenched in response. Without realizing it, Rin's eyes dropped to her bracelet where she fiddled with the braided hair there, "I wanted to be a dragonrider for my brother, too. It was his dream to ride through the skies of Pern and when Aunty told me I could be a Candidate and get away from... all the bad memories, I took it and came here. I think it's wonderful that you want to honor your father that way. I'm sure the perfect dragon will find you one day and you can make that dream come true."

The longer Rin spent with the children that Locke had adopted as his own, the more she wished she could have more dinners and time with them. She missed her family and being alone at the Weyr was hard for her to adjust to. She'd always been part of a group of friends, or with Asa and Voss... the adjustment was hard -- especially since she'd spent so much time since coming to Atricis in the Infirmary that she hadn't had a lot of time to make new friends her age, or friends with her Candidate group. Rin shook her head to clear it again, memories had tried to surface once again but she didn't want to get bogged down in the past. Instead she took some deep breaths and compartmentalized her emotions to deal with later. Taking a deep breath she let her enjoyment of lunch surface again. "I think I'd be happy no matter what color chose me, though. Asa really liked female dragons, so maybe one day a female one will choose me." She herself had quickly fallen in love with Sandalphonth, a zultanite, and secretly she would have loved to help her future dragon take care of eggs.

---

Our brokenness summons light into the deepest crevices in our hearts.
And we remember the people who show up in our darkest hours.
Hold yourself back, or heal yourself back together. You decide.

[Parker]

Finch and even Colt were kind enough to give her full attention as she showed them how it was her brother taught her to do it. "See Colt? I told ya that's the best way to do it." Finch said rather triumphantly to his little brother. He liked that this strange woman was agreeing and confirming everything he had tried to tell Colten about the best way to eat grilled cheese and tomato soup. However, he hushed up when he saw his dad give him that warning look to not keep bickering. "Thank you, Rinna. It's not every northerner that acknowledges our beliefs," Locke stated with sincere gratitude. On a small stand, off to the side of the fireplace, he had a small shrine set up for the goddesses. To any who didn't know it would just look like a piece of decoration, but it meant more than that to him.

Locke picked up his own glass of wine and took a sip before he chuckled at her complaint of the infirmary's wine. "Yes, well...that seems typical for the infirmary. For people dedicated to making sick and injured people feel better, they certainly aren't the sort to care about the small things like...if something tastes good." Locke didn't deal with healers if he didn't have to. The last time he'd been a patient himself had been when he'd gotten poisoned while fighting a Justicar.

Finch waved off Rinna's argument that she had been dumb and was mainly to blame for getting bit. "Eh, say what you want...we all know what Wraith is like. What do you think, Dad?" The young man asked curiously.

"I think Wraith finds excuses to be an ass sometimes," Locke answered honestly and quickly. There were some things he couldn't be honest with his children about, but what he could be he would be. Including the attitude of his dragon. He turned to Rinna and said, "I could argue you wouldn't have been hurt if Wraith was nicer. Best to not try and pin the blame when it is obvious we won't agree with where it should fall." He gave a wink and hoped that would end the conversation.

"That's what I tell Finch. His father would be proud of him no matter what color chooses him...or even if no color does or if he bonds to something other than a dragon. Kent will be proud regardless," Locke assured him in a loving voice. His eyes looked up slightly though to see Kent standing behind Finch, a hand rested on the lad's shoulders. Locke wished that their son could feel the weight of that hand he knew wasn't really there.

A few minutes later and the boys were done eating and asking if they can go see Wraith. Locke told them to take their dishes to the kitchen area and then they could. Once, they'd done that and was out of the room, Locke's full attention was on Rinna. "So..."