|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
 Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 5:04 pm
"And vomitrocious," Tofir added. "That's the important adjective here."
Shiv whistled dismissively at Tofir and redoubled his efforts. Layla had acknowledged him and responded positively to his overtures, though he wanted nothing to do with her soup. It was soup and there were vegetables. How disgusting. He made sure she knew that he appreciated the offer, but her food was unacceptable. If you could even call it food. Which he wasn't sure about.
"I hope you get a gem of a dragon," Tofir said honestly. "But even if you get a snarling beast I'm sure you'll manage. I imagine there's more to you than meets the eye."
For himself, Tofir wasn't even really sure he wanted a dragon. A dragon would thoroughly derail his research. One couldn't be a mindhealer and a dragonrider. Particularly not if one had projects and research to focus on. And since it was impossible to turn a dragon down - at least he'd never heard of anyone doing it - that meant all that mindhealing he'd spent the last twenty turns doing was pointless. That was a thoroughly unsettling thought.
When Layla tapped her spoon on the bowl Shiver skittered backward, fanning his wings for balance until he put one hind claw on his abandoned meat and took to the air with a distressed shriek. The whole world was against him! Tofir tried not to wince with the onslaught of firelizard emotions bombarding him.
"I hadn't considered that," Tofir admitted.
"In truth, even living around them I sometimes forget that dragons are sentient beings, and not just creatures. I'm afraid little Shiv doesn't really help, since he's the closest thing to a dragon that I interact with on a regular basis. Even if he is greedy, neurotic, vomitrocious, and sometimes sweet, he is not particularly bright." He spoke of his firelizard with affection, despite the disparaging nature of his words, and Shiv was soothed a little, having heard both his name and affection. Maybe the whole world wasn't against him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 4:56 am
"Vomitrocious," Layla echoed the word, grinning broadly. "Might have a disgusting meaning, but it's a funny sounding word... I hope you get a great dragon too." It was pretty easy to forget that dragons were intelligent on occasion, especially after watching something like the last hatching. There had seemed to be no reason behind the actions of those dragons, especially the one that had gone between. This clutch wouldn't be like that though. Shards. She hoped it wouldn't be. Nine angry dragons as opposed to four. The very idea was enough to made her shiver, and question her decision to stand at all... but then she remembered the eggs, and the expressions on newly bonded riders' faces. It was worth the risk. It was.
"Do you have any idea what colour dragon you'd like to ride, or that you might end up riding?" Layla asked tentatively after a moment. "I mean... I know it all depends on the personality of the dragon in the end, but different things are expected of you based on the colour you Impress. I really don't know where I'd fit, I'm not sure I can see myself taking on the role of a gold rider, but I'm not sure I can see myself flying in a fighting wing either... I guess it's all just such a big change, it's a little hard to imagine."
Her imagination worked just fine, but it was never her in the stories she thought up. The brilliant gold rider tended to be taller than her, more beautiful, bold and witty. The riders of fighting dragons she dreamed up were usually men, but sometimes she thought of a plucky, tough woman who cared nothing for what people said about her and her lifemate, and flew against the Thread just as well as any of her male wingmates, better than many of them... But that brave green or blue rider wasn't her either.
If a dragon chose her, she wouldn't be like those women, she would still just be Layla; bright enough, but not very sharp tongued, and certainly not bold. If a dragon chose her, whatever colour it was, she would do her best to do right by it but she was no fantasy heroine. She was just Layla, a little scardy flitt, wondering if her life might be about to take a sharp turn in another direction. Whether it was a green turn, a blue one, or a gold one, she would have to face a lot of challenges, and they all seemed so huge and insurmountable right now that she couldn't begin to decide which she would prefer. Was she even doing this for the right reasons? You were supposed to stand because you thought you could lead, or because you wanted to defend Pern when the Thread came back, weren't you? She was just doing it in the hopes of finding a creature that loved her completely, and that she would love completely in return. Should she step back, let braver people Impress all the dragons, or was it alright to be there just because you wanted to have that indescribable bond?
So many questions she couldn't answer, so many fears she couldn't quite put aside... but she would stand, because she couldn't bear the thought of missing her chance. If her dragon was out there, she was going to find it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 9:08 am
"Oh, well. It's a new technical term," Tofir said with mock sobriety. His expressive eyebrows belied his solemnity instantly. "I coined it only recently. That's probably why you think it sounds funny. Healers use it all the time, I assure you."
The joking about his made-up word was mostly to cover the fact that he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to Impress a dragon. Blasphemous, certainly, but it wasn't as though he was a proper candidate or anything. He had permission to be on the sands with the others, but his first look-out on the sands was as a healer, and not a candidate. It was so he could watch the Impressions close-up and maybe learn from them. He took a few moments to put on his "Gee, I hope I Impress" face.
"Thanks. I think if I had a choice I'd want a blue. That way I'm not likely to have to worry about being a wingleader or a wingsecond, or about my dragon rising all the time, which could definitely be awkward around here, since I really prefer women." He shrugged.
In an undertone he confided, "Considering what I've heard about the women who presently have golds, someone with your temperament would probably be looked on as a gift. You don't seem particularly vicious or power mad. Though I suppose I could be mistaken."
He sat back, grinning again while Shiv came to land on his shoulder, quaking as he settled. "I think you'd adjust well enough to being a rider. From what I've observed most people do. And even if you don't, it's not like they can take your dragon away from you. They'll just not assign you to a wing, like that blue fellow...Lapin?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 9:25 am
Layla giggled at the jest, and put on an expression of mock awe to match Tofir's mock sobriety. "Well, that's why then! I don't know anything at all about healing, but I'll remember the word and tell all my friends!... As for me being power crazy, well I suppose we won't know about that unless I end up with some power," Layla's mock awe switched to mock power crazy, or what she thought it ought to look like; all angry squinted eyes with a bit of a cackle to go along with it.
"Maybe I'd make really stupid rules if I was a weyrwoman, like banning anyone from looking at me because they're just not worthy of seeing me in all of my power crazy amazingness!... In seriousness though... I don't know. I'd do my best, and maybe I'd do alright if I had a strong dragon to support me... I don't know. It's all just fantasy at the minute, isn't it? Right now I can just nod and say I wouldn't mind never being in a wing if that was the weyrleader's decision but I might feel differently if I was ever actually in that situation... I guess you know all about that though, about how people think something will be one way but when they experience it, it's not? Do you learn about things like that as a mindhealer?"
The profession had always interested her, it seemed so much less... less concrete than standard healing, and after all, what was more fascinating and mysterious than the mind? She'd certainly pay a good few marks to know why her's worked the way it did, and perhaps to be able to change the way she thought about things through such an understanding.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 12:27 pm
Tofir felt unreasonably gratified by Layla's giggles. Spending as much time with Yulu as he had been, he'd begun to seriously doubt his ability to make girls giggle. Not that Yulu was anything like the kind of girl he usually tried to charm into fits of giggles, but she was basically the only girl he hung out with on a regular basis lately. His guy friends didn't giggle. It wasn't manly. Instead they chuckled. Because that was so much more masculine. Tofir didn't tend to chuckle so much as guffaw or outright laugh, though he sometimes snickered if the situations seemed to call for it.
"Be sure that you do. I just know it's a word that will have all sorts of applications beyond the healer profession. Once you're running the Weyr it will definitely be within your power to see that it's implemented and integrated into everyday usage." He tried out a villainous grin. He was good at those. The thick, dark eyebrows really lent it something.
He laughed, though, when he saw Layla's attempt at looking power mad. The girl didn't really have it in her, he decided. She was utterly unconvincing. He'd bought her awe more readily than that. Though the cackle was a nice touch. As far as laughter went, Tofir's was the sort to carry, so in the not-full hall he probably attracted some stares which didn't bother him in the least. He liked attention.
"Honestly, I would be much amused if you did that. Though probably from another Weyr. Those sorts of quirks are only funny when you don't have to deal with them on a daily basis." Actually, he'd dealt with a few people who were truly not right in the head who had even worse quirks and been perfectly fine with it, but they hadn't really been funny until some time later. Temporal, rather than spatial distance. "In fantasy it's absolutely amusing. Remember? Fun's the important part."
Tofir cocked his head to one side, considering how much he could say in response to Layla's question. Well. He could definitely agree that he'd handled cases where people had expectations dashed even after they got what they thought they wanted, but he couldn't really go into specifics. No names, that sort of thing. They'd handled the ethics of mindhealing early on in his training, of course, but it was impossible to cover every situation and much was left up to an individual's discretion.
"I do. A lot, actually. You think you want a thing, then you get it and it's great, but then maybe it turns out not to be so great. Or others do or say things that detract from your enjoyment of it to the point where you can't even remember why you wanted it or learn to hate it." He frowned while coming up with an example that didn't actually relate to one of his cases.
"For instance, let's say there's a dress you wanted sewn in a particular color and pattern, and you save up for it for months and finally you have the marks to commission it and you think it's beautiful when you get it and of course the tailor tells you you look wonderful. But then you wear it out and your friends say, 'Wow, is that lacy enough?' Or, 'That's the exact same color as my firelizard's vomit on my boots this morning.' They might not mean to be mean - or they might, depending - but by the end of the day you wish you'd never worn the thing. You know?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:13 pm
"Yes... I can see that." That was her. Did he know, or had he hit that nerve by mistake? He was a mindhealer, he knew things, so maybe he had said it on purpose. She was always sure people meant to be cruel, and she could never see how stupid she was being until she'd cried or worried about it for a couple of days. Maybe she would Impress a sensible dragon that would be able to convince her that she was being silly before she got herself worked up over some little thing somebody had said or done that wasn't even meant badly in reality. Maybe.
"I've always thought it must be nice to have a craft," Layla said after a moment, forcing herself not to wonder any more about whether or not Tofir's words had been directed at her on purpose. "I mean... You'll be something, even if you don't Impress. If I never Impress I'll go from weyrbrat to lower caverns worker... I mean I could do that, so long as you have friends almost any life is fine, but I can't help feeling that it would be more interesting to be a crafter than to be a person who just does odd jobs here and there..." A lifetime of peeling vegetables, washing clothes, and cleaning floors. She could cope with it, she had no illusions that she was meant for a 'higher destiny' or something but... but if she couldn't be a rider, she'd rather be a baker crafter than some woman who helped out in the kitchens, that was all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 2:18 pm
"It happens all the time. People really don't think about the damage words can do. They figure that since there's no visible physical damage, it must not hurt. That kind of thoughtlessness is...unavoidable, unfortunately." Tofir gestured helplessly. On one hand, that kind of thoughtlessness kept people like him employed. But he wasn't really selfish enough to be glad of it for that reason.
"You want to know the really sad thing? I'm trained as a mindhealer, but I still say stupid, thoughtless things that hurt people, too." He shook his head. "I guess it's just the way most humans are."
He sighed and Shiv whistled low. In an uncharacteristic display of affection, Shiv licked Tofir's chin. Tofir wished he wouldn't. The affection was appreciated, but the licking...There had to be better, more sanitary ways to express affection. But he patted Shiv's head and reassured him that all was well. He was just disappointed in himself and people. It happened sometimes. He'd get over it. He always did in the past.
"I like having a craft. It gives me something to do, keeps me from having to do the majority of the less pleasant candidate chores, all that good stuff. There's also the whole helping people thing. I guess." He grinned. He was only joking. It was the people part that he really liked, the knowledge that he was doing good.
"I honestly have no idea what to say, except that it's the people who do the odd jobs that make things work. I mean, so many things wouldn't get done if they were left up to crafters. The degree of specialization makes people say, 'Oh, that's not my job. I was trained to do something else.'" He feigned a posh lord holder's accent. Not that he'd ever heard a lord holder speak, but this was how he imagined a lord holder would speak.
"This is really heavy conversation for dinner," he added. "How's the soup?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 3:09 pm
"I guess people are always people, no matter how much they know, or how basically nice they are. Nobody manages to be kind and tactful all the time..." She knew this, but she never felt it, or thought about it until after the fact, why was that? It didn't make any sense at all. It was probably another people thing, but she didn't bring it up. Like Tofir had said, this was kind of heavy conversation for having over dinner, and she didn't want to being his work into his free time in any case, not any more than she already had in any case.
"It's pretty good," she said with a grin. "Nicely seasoned, not over or under cooked or anything. Wish I could take credit for it, but I wasn't in the kitchens today. Is yours good?" She supposed he was right, there needed to be people at the bottom of the heap making the meals and washing the clothes so that the mindhealers and the glass smiths and the dragon riders could go about their every day business... Somehow it still didn't sound as tantalizing to her as one of the more specialized jobs. Vital, yes, engaging and mentally stimulating? Not so much. There were only so many ways to mop a floor, and peeling vegetables wasn't going to be revolutionized any time soon. Still, as she'd already thought, at least mopping a floor was alright when you had friends to chatter with. It might not be glamorous, but you could make a good life out of making sure other people's lives ran on schedule.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 4:51 pm
"Well...it's hot and I didn't have to make it, so I have no complaints. Better still, I don't have to do the dishes afterward." Tofir grinned. Personally, he would have liked to have been there to supervise every step of his meal's preparation, starting with the dishes being washed and stored. He simply didn't trust people to understand cleanliness, and doubted that if he actually saw what was going on in the kitchens he'd be able to convince himself to eat anything that came out of them.
"Of course, Shiver got more of the meat than I did. But the vegetables were nice. He won't touch those. He's also not too keen on soup from what I've noticed. He doesn't like to be wet." He rolled back his cuff to show some scabbed cuts. "I tried bathing him as an experiment. It didn't go well. But a valuable lesson was learned."
Shiv wandered over and sniffed at Tofir's cuts, barely able to remember how they got there. There was something involving water and his unwilling submersion. Tofir deserved them. He tried to convey that to Tofir, but his human was already distracted.
"You know, meeting you was fun." Because that wasn't a weird, random thing to say at all. He wanted to do a facepalm for that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:32 am
Poor flitt. Still, he needed to be washed somehow, so she hoped either Tofir found a way of doing it that the blue didn't mind, or that he just got used to it eventually. She doubted it would do any good, but she tried to let the firelizard know how much she loved a long hot soak. This would probably be like the stew thing; you go ahead and enjoy it, you weird person, but I certainly don't want any...
Eh?
Layla blinked, and after the moment of surprise at the slightly odd statement had passed she grinned. "Well, I've liked meeting you as well... Do you have to go now?" Was that why he'd said he? He really wanted to get away and do other things but he didn't want to hurt her feelings so he'd been searching desperately for something nice to say, but he really wanted to go so he'd rushed and that was what had come out... She hoped that wasn't it. If he was in such a rush to leave then meeting her couldn't have been all that much fun, unless it was fun because he was now going to go and find his friends and mock her for everyone's amusement... He was a mindhealer, surely he wouldn't... but he'd just said that people were essentially people no matter what their profession and people could be cruel.
The grin had faded slowly from her face over the course of her thought process, and when she came to the end of it Layla looked back up at Tofir uncertainly. "If... if you do have to go somewhere then don't feel you have to hang around making pleasantries... Not that I want you to go but... but if you want to."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:21 am
"No, I don't, actually. I have...no idea why I said that. I mean, it's true, but it was a really odd thing to say. The timing was..." Off? Misleading? "...not ideal. I'm sorry."
He wasn't entirely sure he should be apologizing for saying he enjoyed meeting her, but for upsetting her, yeah that probably warranted an apology. She was cute. In the same way Shiver could be. Something about her made Tofir want to protect her from all the nasty, scary, hurtful things in the world. Which he told himself was just a side-effect of being a mindhealer. He wasn't chivalrous. Not at all. Goodness, he was jerk. Jerks weren't exactly paragons of chivalry. They weren't supposed to be. And being a jerk occasionally was how he made up for being entirely too considerate as a mindhealer. Not that he was a jerk to girls. But that didn't make him chivalrous, shardit!
Realizing that his internal debate was not likely to be solved in the next few seconds, Tofir set it aside. Yay, compartmentalizing. He shrugged Shiver off his shoulder and thought very clearly that perhaps the blue might like to make Layla's acquaintance. It was part of a thought he'd hat that firelizards could work as ambassadors for people who had a tendency to always put their foot in it. The problem was that Shiv was a reluctant ambassador at best, half the time too afraid of strangers to approach them and the other half the time totally uninterested in being endearing or charming. Still, Tofir kept trying.
Shiv remembered still that Layla had thought nice things at him, though, and that she'd been willing to share her food, even if it wasn't food he wanted to eat. Maybe he would like to make her acquaintance. He climbed shakily down Tofir's arm and made his way across the table until he was sitting on the far side of Layla's soup bowl again. He slunk around it, giving the bowl a dirty look for containing less-than-food and plunked himself down directly in front of Layla and chirped. Tofir hoped he wouldn't decide to turn into a ball of claws if she touched him. It would be hard to convince her that he hadn't meant for that to happen.
"Friends?" he asked. And then, in the spirit of friendship, he warned her, "Shiv doesn't always like being touched, no matter what he tells you. Let him initiate contact."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 5:06 am
Oh, okay, good, he wasn't looking for an excuse to go, he'd just said an awkward thing and goodness knew she did that all the time. Layla smiled again as the nervous flitt approached her, and made a chirp noise in response to his greeting. "I'd like to be friends very much, with both of you," she looked back up at Tofir with a little grin, "and thanks for the warning." In light of it, she laid a hand palm up on the table not far from Shiver, but made no move to touch the little flitt.
"So," since it seemed he'd be staying a little while, might as well bring up the matter that had been on her mind almost constantly for the last couple of days, "do you have any guesses what's inside the eggs? Other than the obvious one that is!" Grinning, Layla took a sip of the fruit juice that she had so far utterly neglected. "I think that the purple one, the blue and white one, and the pink one might be greens."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 5:31 am
Tofir watched carefully as Layla showed good sense in listening to his warning about Shiv's nippy habits. He never bit hard, but teeth were teeth, and they were never pleasant to feel sinking into, or even skimming, one's flesh. He remembered to smile, though, when Layla assured him that she'd like to be friends. Maybe he hadn't put his foot in it, too deeply. Though Faranth knew how that had come to pass. It had to be the fact that he could rely on Shiv to intercede when things needed a break.
"That's a relief," he said, grinning widely.
Shiv's tongue shot out almost like a tunnelsnake's and whispered against Layla's palm. No food, but probably no danger either. There was no way he was hopping into her palm, though. Not in this lifetime. But...maybe she could rub his eyeridges. Humans being the foolish creatures that they were, he'd have to do it himself, but her hand could help. Having made that decision, Shiv rubbed his head against the tips of her middle and ring fingers, indicating that he'd like rubbed now, thank you.
"Other than the obvious? I'm sure it's unprofessional and all that, but...yeah. I have guesses." He made a mock-shifty eyes face. "And now I'm definitely beginning to think I'm mistaken. So far only one of my guesses matches up with yours: the purple egg as a green. I'd pegged the grey one and that yellowy-green one as greens, too."
Good thing he had no marks riding on the hatching. He was better at cards. Barely.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 8:00 am
"It's fun to guess," Layla said with a grin and a nod, gently rubbing Shiv's eyeridges with her fingertips. "I've never actually made bets," she went on, "but I enjoy trying to work it out, and then seeing if I'm right or wrong. Of course, seen as I'm actually standing this time I'm more excited about it than usual! I'd guessed the yellow one leaning on the queen egg and the grey one to be blues, and I thought the blue and green in the center might be brown? I'm not really sure on that one, blue or brown I think but at the minute I'm leaning towards brown."
A rather large part of ehr hoped it was blue instead; another dragon that might look to her was always a good thing! The two large eggs that flanked the gold, however, she was pretty sure wouldn't be interested in her. "I think the orange striped egg is a brown," she continued, "and the mottled red and orange I think is a bronze." She couldn't wait for the Touching, to see them up close, to change her mind on what she thought they might be... Not long to wait, she was sure, certainly not as much as a month, maybe as little as a few days, she really didn't know. Quite soon though, quite soon.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 8:33 am
Tofir nodded. Guessing was fun, and it did no harm. And like Layla said, it would give him something to do while he was on the sands. Well. He'd also be making ready to tend any injuries and trying to observe the dragonets and pinpoint the exact moment they knew who they would choose. Maybe even predict who they would select before they made their decision public. Maybe there were clues he could look for. He'd just have to see. There'd been entirely too much blood at the last hatching for him to do much more than serve as a healer. He regretted that for any number of reasons.
"I could see them being blues. I'd guessed that the blue and green might be blue, but brown's a possibility. I thought the pink one might be a blue, too. Not really sure why. I guess some perverse part of me wants to match the feminine coloring on the egg to a male dragon." He rolled his eyes.
Shiv made happy "murr" noises. Layla was not bad at giving rubbings. His person was better, but she wasn't bad at it. She wasn't going to touch his belly though. No. Nonono. He scuttled backward and fanned his wings at her, reminding her that he could be a terrifying creature at need. And then he returned for more rubbings. Demanded them, in fact.
"I think we're in agreement over the orange striped one and the mottled red, though. It's kind of funny, though. I'd thought the blue and white egg might have a brown. One of us is going to be very wrong, it looks like." And it would probably be him. Maybe he'd be able to guess more accurately after the Touching.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
