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 Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:46 pm
Oh, well that made more sense; Y'kar was well aware that he wasn't exactly the most attractive of people. He wasn't really ugly but he was... gaunt, skinny, generally uninteresting to look at. "She's certainly full of herself even if her opinions are based in fact," he said with a slight grin, "and looks like I'm along for the ride." Was he full of himself? Was she? No. It wasn't egotistical to say you were good when you were. Kannaroth didn't claim to be physically strong, if she did that would be false pride. Knowing she was clever and not holding back with that was just too much truth for some people. Some people would rather you floated around being self-deprecating all the time. Not His; she let the world know what it was dealing with and yet... yet it didn't take her seriously. Apparently people were even stupider than he had hitherto imagined.
"I expect there's people that'll never look past it," he went on with a shrug, "but we'll never stop trying to show them. Anyone whose too blind to see what she has the potential to be... well that's too bad for them." They would be crushed, one way or another. "Nothing in the future's guaranteed though I guess," Y'kar frowned slightly. "I guess all we can do every day is our best." La-la-la, rainbows and happy flitts; if everyone just tried their best the world would be a shiny and lovely place for everyone to live in. Pah. No amount of effort could make a world like that, but it suited him to let Yulu believe that he was the sort of person who thought just trying hard could fix anything. He was, after all, just the boy who had Impressed more than he could deal with.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:59 pm
"Like I said, I look forward to it - just don't kill anyone in the process. It's a dirty job to have to come behind and clean up, not to mention the mountains of paperwork. But if someone does have to die, make sure it looked like an accident, I'm sure you're both clever enough to get something like that in order. Oh, and I'd prefer it not be me, my life's pretty much sharding bad but I'd like to keep going for a while longer."
Holy. Did she really just say that? Yes, she did, it was not really even on her mind. It came out without a second thought, but sometimes that just how Yulu spoke to others. Towards this runt there was no need to sugar her words, even if he was pulling punches in his. There was no way he'd really talk like this, yeah? It sounded scripted to her, and she knew the fine art of saying things people wanted to hear.
"Anyway, why don't we talk about something other than the fact you impressed one of the dragons that two-thirds or so of the Weyr find to be useless. You've got to have more of a personality than that of a rider ready to think his dragon is the best now and always."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:13 pm
"Yea... I can see how that would be messy," Y'kar said with a grin that let Yulu know he was joking. "I'd have to leave the planning to Kannaroth... though I guess she couldn't really do it, dragons can't, can they?" Could they? Could she plan the death of a human so long as she wasn't the one to carry it out? An interesting question, which wouldn't be answered right now as his lifemate seemed to have dozed off. "You don't need to worry," he added with a slight laugh, "you're not in our way, so you don't qualify for the List. Hehe. Mmm."
What else could they talk about? He wanted to talk about something she wanted to talk about, but she was not proving to be an easy scroll to read. "Well, yea, of course," he grinned over at Yulu, "sorry for going on, guess I'm a bit fixated at the minute. Let's see... I like to bake, learned from my maternal grandmother, and I quite enjoy reading, trying to learn new things... Guess I'm a bit of a loner here though. I said I was close to my mother... I guess she was my best friend when I was small, so I never really learned to make friends. Seem to be getting on well with the other two who Impressed though... I'm talking a lot," he grinned in an apologetic, slightly embarrassed manner. "I'm not shy, as you see, but I guess I'm a bit awkward socially. There's a lot of things I need to learn that everyone else already knows."
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:46 pm
Yulu had shifted from sitting on her knees to having them crossed beneath her, the stance that of a young man with no modesty instead of a young woman. Her legs hurt her to sit that way for too long, not to mention it seemed stupid to be doing so. There was no one here to impress, really, and this style was far more familiar to her. She even dared to stretch her arms a bit, letting them fall back behind her to support as she leaned backwards.
"So you were a bit of a mama's boy until you Impressed Kannaroth, hm? I can see that. As for me, I didn't know my mother, and Father downright refused to speak of her. Told me all the time she was dead, and I learned quickly not to bring her up around others. Never knew my grandparents, or aunts and uncles if I had any - it was always just me and him."
And lots of traveling, but Yulu figured talking about that probably wouldn't be interesting. She wanted to see how far she could get this kid to do outside of his 'I have one the Greens!!' shell, and it seemed to be working somewhat. She knew a good deal about him now, or at least plenty more than when she'd stumbled over him earlier.
"Anyway, keep going. I'm listening."
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:37 pm
"Well... Yea," he shrugged rubbing the back of his neck thoughtfully. "I was searched here when I was thirteen, didn't have any hobbies when I arrived. Mama's boy thing again," he grinned ruefully, "just did what she told me before. I'd learned pretty much everything from her too, so the harpers fascinated me. Their lessons were a lot more interesting than how she'd taught me, and less... Skewed. She'd always said the only dragons worth having were metallic. I believed that for a while, quite a while, but then I actually started looking around, seeing the things the chromatic dragons could do that the big ones couldn't. If I hadn't come to my senses I don't think I'd ever have Impressed; I was fixated on bronzes, but I'm not really the right type for one. I've not got the... the charisma I suppose, or the natural dominance." He was not, Y'kar was well aware, the leader type. He was the type who stood behind the big stupid handsome bronze rider and steered the fool into doing what he wanted, whilst making the man think it was all his own idea... Mental note, try to get close to the best candidates for Weyrleader. In all probability they wouldn't give him the time of day, but it was worth trying.
"As well as working out that no one kind of dragon is the best," he continued, "I found pastimes. Swimming for one, couldn't swim when I arrived but one of the other candidates taught me when he found that out. Its useful, and swimming in the hot springs is relaxing after a busy day... So what kind of things do you like doing?" he tilted his head questioningly at the strange, rather mannish woman. "I feel like I'm just talking you ear off here."
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:58 pm
"What do I like doing? It really varies, I've got no specific interests in anything. I can't do anything domestic like weave or bake, I was never taught it, but the people here tell me I'm not suited for the heavier types of labor thanks to my frame. Since I was brought here I spent most of my time peeling potatoes in the kitchens, seeing as I can handle a knife fairly well."
Yulu wasn't as keen on talking about herself to this boy as he seemed to be about sharing himself with her. It was as if Y'kar wasn't entirely jaded like he seemed, but only learning to cover his skin against others rather quickly. As for her outer skin, it was probably thicker than the shell of any egg on the sands, unable to be broken by human hands or words.
"I don't know how to swim, never got a taste for getting naked in front of others. It's not that I'm a modest guy or anything, just doesn't tickle my fancy. I do like the hot springs, but I'm usually alone when I get there. People probably won't like what they see when my clothes come off."
Yulu's bandaged finger moved to the corner of her neck, where the faint splotch of a scar stained itself against her skin. She idly touched it as if picking at a scab, though the motion probably would look to Y'kar like she was scratching at an itch.
"Like I said before, I'm not an interesting guy."
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:14 pm
She was a girl, calling herself a guy... She was a she, right? Well, it wasn't as if it mattered all that much either way to him. "Eh-he, people aren't too fussed by me," he said with a shrug, scratching his neck in sympathy to Yulu's apparent itch... and what had happened to her hands? Hum, well, he wasn't going to ask, not now anyway; he didn't want to agitate the... guy? Whatever. "Too skinny," he went on with a shake of his head, "doesn't seem to be much hope I'll fill out either. Still, nevermind, it's not like I'm trying to attract girls right now." Or guys, but he didn't add that bit.
"Oh, well, yea, one ambition I have though that I might be able to achieve sometime soon is getting a flitt." He nodded to emphasize. "They're cute little things, and they can be useful if you train them right... though I guess I'd need help with that, I don't really know that much about them." He'd liked the idea before, having one as a status symbol, but since Impressing Kannaroth he'd thought rather more about it. The little beasts seemed to like her, and she could probably train them pretty well all by herself. A mini army of spies or thieves to do their bidding; what good fun that would be.
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:46 pm
"Skinny? You're barely out of puberty, you'll bulk up. Caring for your dragon will also give you more muscle, so don't put yourself down just yet. Just like people are underestimating Kannaroth for her color and size, it seems like it would be stupid to do the same to you."
A coy smile spread on Yulu's lips, her right hand coming to rest on her chin. Her fingers were only bandaged down to the lowest knuckle, allowing the faintest bit of stained red skin to show through. The rest of her hand appeared to be just fine, if not a little scarred on the back of her palm.
"I don't have one of my own, but a lot of our hands on study at the hall in regards to Dragonhealing involved Flits. They're so much like dragons and have the same basic needs, but are small enough you can smuggle one under your shirt without having to raise many questions. Hurts when they snap at you though, seen many a nasty bite."
She'd never been bitten, naturally, as common sense ground into her by her father refused to let Yulu try anything so stupid as stuffing something under a tunic.
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:56 pm
"Hehe, maybe," Y'kar pinched the place where a bicep would be on one of those buff bronze riders who swanked around being so damn handsome. "I've got a good few years of growing left." Hopefully upwards, too. He wanted to end up... maybe a bit below average height, but not much. Blending in, that was the thing, seeming innocuous. It would be hard to do that if he suddenly shot up a foot or something like that.
"I think I'd avoid carrying it in my shirt if I got one. It'd probably just hang around sitting on Kannaroth anyway; they seem to love her to bits." Not that he blamed them, but he did wonder what it was specifically that attracted flitts to his lifemate. He doubted they liked her for her devious brilliance, like he did. "Maybe I should see if I can get three of each colour," he went on with a snort of amusement, "then I'd be famous for being the crazy flitt man and people would adore me, and pester me for eggs." Good plan; get hold of a female and see that it laid where he could find the eggs. People adored firelizards, eggs would make excellent bribes.
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Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:49 pm
A snort escaped from Yulu's mouth at the mention of being a 'crazy flit man', and Yulu quickly clapped her hand over her face, eyes wide. She hated the sound of her laugh, let alone snorting, and she was pretty shocked that this kid had gotten her to laugh at all. There wasn't much humor at this Weyr, not like the fun back at the Halls, so she hadn't had to watch out for anyone being funny. Her cheeks slowly turned red on the skin visible beneath her hand, though she quickly composed herself and went back into her relaxed position.
"If you somehow manage that, keep me in mind. I'd have some bragging rights that my flit was specially raised by the crazy man who hoards them, along with special training by Kannaroth the Green, flit master extraordinaire."
There was humor in her voice, but not the kind that meant she was mocking either the boy or his dragon. Yulu though it was good that he had interest in something other than his mother, whom she figured he would be tied up on for much longer than he was letting on, and the Green who rested her head on his lap.
"I think I've run out of things to ask you. That was quick."
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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:15 am
Ha! Success! He'd finally got a half decent reaction out of her. Y'kar grinned. "I certainly will, what's your colour preference? Kannaroth is going to develop special powers to tell what kind of flitt is inside any egg... Yea I guess I've run out of things to just ask you as well." He could try some probing questions, but he didn't think that the mannish woman would take well to it. "I'd offer to take you to the kitchens and show you how to make a tasty pie or something else sociable, to give me more of a chance to practice my social skills," he went on with a slight grin, "but as you can see I'm a bit tied up here," he nodded at the dozing green. "Don't have time for anything much other than looking after her right now... I don't really mind, but it would be nice to be able to leave her alone for short periods of time. Still, I'll be able to when she gets a bit bigger; maybe then I can try a bit harder at getting to know people, making friends and that."
Making connections in any case. It wouldn't be easy given what most people of any useful rank thought of Kannaroth, but that wasn't going to stop him trying. He still doubted this girl would ever really be of use to him, but he was getting practice if nothing else, and you never did know.
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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:30 am
"I don't have a color preference, I see flit colors the same way I see dragon colors - it only matters how they're raised. It would be interesting to get a Gold though, if only for the purpose of selling eggs like you mentions. A guy like me could make a small fortune that way, and I'd have enough money to go and do what I please."
Yulu watched as Y'kar once again looked at Kannaroth, and she gave her own nod of agreement. Dragons were probably a handful to everyone at first, most likely not even easing up in terms of care giving once they passed their first few turns. Being a rider was a full time job it seemed.
"Eh, if anything it keeps you from being idle. Idle hands lead to things no one wants, like accidents or children. And don't lie, you'll probably never leave her side."
There was a smirk.
"The two of you belong together, and I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to part from here. Sure, your non-existent social life will probably stay that way, but you said it yourself before that Kannaroth was all that mattered to you anyway. I'm actually a bit...well, no. Not quite."
She was going to say jealous, but Yulu wasn't jealous of all the verbal abuse that came with this past Impression. She'd had enough of that, thank you very much, and didn't need any more of it to remind her who she was. The girl who'd Impressed was probably getting rain showers of dung dropped on her, and idly Yulu mused if she was as much of a venom-word user like Y'kar before her.
"And as for teaching me how to bake, you're just looking to see if I'm really a Healer, aren't you? Both of us wouldn't come walking out of that experience without some form of injury, so perhaps its best to leave cooking to the trained and to the women."
If Y'kar wanted to ask her anything, anything at all, Yulu most likely would have answered. It was a fair trade, considering how much she'd unintentionally peppered him with questions, and Yulu had an odd sense of fair and unfair.
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 8:31 am
"Yea, any colour would be nice... If I had more than one though, it would be good to have a male and a female. Breeding them would be pretty awesome." Some for him, some for A'li and Jasrai, some to sell, some as gifts for people he wanted to bribe. "I wouldn't want to be away from her for long," he went on, admitting that truth with an easy shrug. "A couple of candlemarks, maybe, when she's bigger but never for very long. Even though we can talk at a distance it isn't the same as being together." He suspected, however, that it would get a lot easier as she got older. Kannaroth was already quite independent as dragonets went, she didn't pine if he took a while over eating in the dininghall, but she did start getting snippy after a while.
"I guess cooking always has the chance to go badly wrong, and Kannaroth would be very upset if I burned myself too badly to go to lessons for a couple of days or something. Hehe. If there's one thing she likes more than being mean to people, it's learning." Though she didn't remember what she'd learned after a few days, she picked it up again the instant he or somebody else mentioned it. Did that mean she had some subconscious memory store that she couldn't access at will, or just that she was really good at using his memory? She probably wouldn't know if he asked, but it was worth doing so just in case; it would be interesting to know for sure...
Now that was interesting, he'd only just realised it but she'd done that guy thing again. Trained people and women, a guy like me... It was weird, and he wanted to know the reason behind it, but he didn't want to piss her off... Well, what was the worst that could happen? "So... probably a pretty personal question," Y'kar said slowly after a moment or two of consideration, "but... I was wondering, why do you refer to yourself as a guy? The way things are here, the traditions and the way most people see women... well it can't make life very easy for you."
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 2:59 pm
"Does it bother you how I speak?"
Yulu stretched her arms over her head and gave a little grunt from effort, her eyes closed as she thought about what to say next. This was a pretty uncommon question since most people mistook her for a guy anyway on first glance and actions, so for this boy to know she was a girl Yulu figured the dragon must have seen her out. It most likely was nearly impossible to fool a dragon.
"It's a habit I picked up from when I was little, since I didn't have any friends that were girls. I hung around the guys, acted like one of the guys, so naturally I picked up how to speak like them. After a while it seemed harder to try and talk like a girl, so I kept my speech this way; no one's really questioned me since I look like a guy anyway."
She was still stretched as she spoke, her long arms rotating about her body as she tried to ease out the aches and kinks from sitting like she had during the conversation. It felt good to release the tension, not to mention she just liked stretching. Very soothing.
"But yeah, about how all the old fogies act around here - it can really piss a guy off. They'd better learn their place by the time I reach the sands or everyone is in for a seriously rude awakening should I Impress. I won't be looked down upon, I won't be backed into a corner. I have a name and a place in the Weyr, just like everyone else. Just like you do."
Yulu actually had it pretty easy considering her rank in her trade, being a Sr. Apprentice in Dragonhealing actually making her seem useful to those who worried over their dragons since the time of the Plague. It also helped over her appearance, though many people did treat her poorly about standing as she did for those Greens. But who cared? No Yulu.
"Anyway, was that all you wanted to know? You're sure not curious enough. How do you expect to get people to bend to your whims if you don't ask the right questions?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:27 pm
"No, it doesn't bother me," Y'kar shook his head slightly, "and I guess that makes sense, you pick things up from the people around you, right?..." Now what made her think he was a whim bending kind of person? Short of miraculous psychic powers she had to just be paranoid, or assumed like rider like dragon. "I'm not sure I'd ever have much luck with making people do what I wanted," he said, frowning at Yulu, "I'm not sure why you think I should want to... Well obviously just being able to make people be reasonable would be useful but... Well, just because Kannaroth is devious doesn't mean I am. What would you like me to ask?" he went on, now looking rather annoyed. "What your secret weaknesses are? What you want more than anything out of life? I'm just trying to get on with you, and I'm sorry that I'm not very good at it... I just didn't think it was polite to ask too many probing questions of people when you first meet..."
Trailing off, Y'kar's expression faded from annoyance to uncertainty. "Is this some kind of test?" he asked, running his hand over Kannaroth's head nervously. "I mean... was I supposed to laugh it off? I'm sorry if you've got the wrong idea about me, or if I've got the wrong idea about why you said it, but everyone seems to be thinking that because I impressed a canny dragon I must be canny and I'm sick of it." The anger returned with his last few words and Y'kar cast his eyes down, apparently uncertain of what to say next after his little outburst.
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