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"I'm alright," Set'al answered Va'en, "Definitely ready to get started. I've got a lot of catching up to do."

Hmph. A touch of red-orange worked its way into Pipith's eyes when Morgath spoke to him. That was the only acknowledgement the larger bronze got, as the smaller chose what he deemed to be the best seat for him and His: at one of the ends of the semicircle, so as to be away from Akerth, and on whichever side of the brown Morgath was not. Even as he claimed their spot, he scolded Set'al for speaking to Va'en.

I told you, ignore them. We are better.

You do what you want, Set'al allowed, But I'm not going to be rude.

Set'al proceeded to obey when J'ev spoke, gathering his breakfast, settling in the seat Pipith had chosen, and taking his turn introducing himself before the lesson began. When it did, he paid very close attention. Everyone else here had been a candidate, as far as he knew, but he had not; he couldn't afford to not pay attention. Fortunately, there wasn't much of anything in the classroom to distract him.

Do you have any questions, Mine?

...not really, Set'al replied after a moment of thought. That seems pretty straightforward to me. A little disappointing, maybe, but quite clear, and so he shook his head.

Pretty good thing I'm not a drinker or a whore then.

You do have an attitude though and you can be cruel, making me wait to eat.

Y'ul's mental snickering stopped when Erath cut in sharply, her hunger echoing enough that it had gotten to a point where it outweighed her itches and her desire for a nap. She didn't seem upset or anything, just hungry, and she kept her head on Y'ul's leg even as the girl ate her own food. It was easier for the Rider to focus on her dragon's wants now that her own stomach was full and her thoughts were rumbling around. Also not being hungry of her own accord allowed her to pay closer attention to what J'ev was saying and she took special notes, wondering how she'd try to adapt. It was just as she'd thought, she wasn't a drinker or a whore who enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh, but sometimes she did have a problem with her temper despite trying to keep it calm. Very seldom did she act on it though, other than during the hatching, in which she'd gotten her revenge on Cass.

"She had it coming you know. Should have kept her manners in place and remembered who she was dealing with."

That doesn't mean you hit them in the face.

"Ask me if I care. Go on, do it. I'd probably hit her again if I could, make the marks matching."

Y'ul was whispering, not quite grasping that whole speaking in her mind thing like J'ev was suggesting they try to do. She was content to have her own voice in her for right now, thank you very much, but soon she'd have to give in and use the telepathic link that made her and Erath inseparable. Everyone else seemed to be getting it down pact to the point of near perfection, but hey - she couldn't be blamed for not getting it so awesome on her first try. It's not like she spent every day of her life growing up and practicing to master the art of talking in her head.

You really shouldn't talk like that.

T'rus's attention darted around the room as everyone arrived and settled. The look he wore was one of casual interest in curiosity but in truth he was noting names, temperaments, groupings, anything that might later prove useful. Va'en with his large, friendly bronze, certainly had a secure position in the group, and for the moment, T'rus saw no reason to begrudge him it. Oh, he could resent him in his own quiet way, but better to make a friend out of him.

Akerth, too, was observing.

Good morning, Tatleth. I would remind you, we are here to learn. Do not chatter. I know you will do well, if you listen. Always, always, that odd sort of patronizing affection in his tone. Perhaps a bit more affection, for Tatleth. She had chosen well, at the hatching. She would be as much of an asset as any green could, with a little training.

Morgath, meanwhile, got a mild, incurious look at his greeting. We are well. You and yours seem well. I am interested to see how we will do. To say he resented Morgath would be inaccurate. Bronzes were foolish, proud, vain creatures, yes. But he could work with that. Pride meant hardwork, sometimes. But, for what it was worth, he wasn't unaware of T'rus's resentment. For that reason, Morgath presented a problem, of sorts. He did not want his rider's vision to be clouded.

At the Weyrlingmaster's instruction, T'rus stood and gathered up food with the others. He was hungry, yes, but it was a confused sort of hunger, coming more from Akerth than himself. Not that Akerth was the sort to complain of such things, no. The Brown's focus was on his clutchmates, as the lesson did not yet concern him directly. T'rus, meanwhile, did not seem concerned about the rules so far. Everyone knew that Weyrlings were banned from fun. He introduced himself in his usual level, confident voice, pride leaking through just a little when he stated Akerth's name.

Throth? My clutchmates are hungry. They will focus better, fed. Will you tell yours this? Akerth was, of course, perfectly confident that it was his right to look to the care of his clutchmates. His tone was confident, but not so patronizing as it was when he spoke to the other weyrlings.

T'rus, picking up on his Brown's actions, bit back a sigh. Say something polite. Quickly.

Please. Akerth was not reluctant to obey, only confused. His please came off more like a statement than a question, though it was accompanied by a wave of moderate puzzlement.

"I'm sure you'll catch up fine. If you need help with anything, I'd be willing to help you out if you need it." Va'en said with a nod to Set'al.

The large bronze sniffed impatiently at Pipith before returning his attention fully to Vespereth. 'Me as well. I'm ready to get something to eat, but I can wait until its time for us.' Morgath said to his sister before again addressing Skananth. 'We did. Thank you. It is. I look forward to it.'

Va'en had grabbed himself a plate of breakfast and some Klah before taking a seat next to Cass, Morgath settling in next to him and looking around at each of his clutchmates as they assumed their seats as well. When it came time to introduce himself, he did so. He had no questions at present, so he simply settled into his seat and took a long sip of his drink. The rules given weren't unfamiliar, but he did make a note to go back and forth with Morgath later on them to keep everything fresh.

Cutting meat for the dragons, that was a handy skill to learn. He had been mid-sip when he and Set'al were called on to the be day's volunteers to cut up the wherries for everyone. He quickly put it down and rose, moving to the front where they were going to be working. Not being the squeamish sort, Va'en wasn't bothered by blood or meat. It was just another thing to be learned and to do for his lifelong companion, as well as the rest of the class for today.

'Good luck, Va'enMine.' Morgath said encouraginly. 'You'll do great.'

Va'en took a deep breath and made sure his grip of his knife was firm. He took note of the first few cuts the J'ev helped him make. Making sure to set a steady, even pace as he took to cutting up the wherry in front of his. he paused to glance around at the other weyrlings. He had an idea as to the answer of the offered question, but he was willing to let someone else answer. If no answer came, he'd be happy to offer what he had in mind.

'Mine, if you know, answer.' The bronze rumbled softly from his seat. His rider quirked a brow at him and Morgath simply looked back with blue swirling eyes and gave his wings a small stretch before refolding them against his back.

Looking from his dragon back to the task at hand, Va'en sighed and spoke. "J'ev, sir, I may have an answer but I have a quick question first. When cutting meat for the young dragons, should we make all of the cut pieces of meat be of equal small size or could there be some variety for the larger colors? I'm not suggesting pieces big enough to choke. No indeed, but if all the meat is to be cut in equal size then I'd assume the larger dragons would have to eat a bit more to fill up when compared to smaller ones." He briefly paused in his carving up his wherry to offer a bit of a smile to the Weyrling Master. "I'd rather know than not." It was just a thought that occurred to him and one can never know unless they ask.

Cass gave a start as she was called on to go get the knives, with Y'ul of all people. She nodded her head to the weyrling master and smiled slightly, saying "Yes sir." as she got up and fetched the knives as she was bid. She contemplated dropping them on Y'uls foot as she passed the other girl on the way to the table that J'ev had motioned to, but decided against it. For one, Cass wasn't the type that liked to cause blood shed, and two, that seemed like a bad idea in the middle of lessons. She needed to make a good impression after all.

The little blond deposited the sharpened blades on the table and winked encouragingly to Va'en as he took his place behind a wherry and proceeded with the task. She gave Set'al a little smile of encouragement as well. No doubt he was a little overwhelmed, more so than the rest of them. He had been dragged into this so unexpectedly, after all.

She returned to her seat and was lovingly leaned against by her little green, making her smile down at her.

Vespereth was so proud of hers! Sure it wasn't exactly a hard task, but she had done it well and had encouraged the others. That was nice, her's was a nice person. Vespereth didn't pay much attention to the weyrling master's question, but when she heard her's rolling it around in her mind, thinking she might know the answer, Vespereth gave a little encouraging croon 'Speak up mine! No one else seems to know.'

Cass looked around the classroom and noted that no one else seemed to be jumping to answer, so she said "Because it will make them ill, sir?" It seemed logical. After all, people always felt ill if they ate too much, often ending in bed rest and perhaps quite a lot of vomiting. That was never pretty. Dragonets were just babies, after all. Well, talking babies, but babies all the same. They didn't know better.

It had been a good idea that Cass had tried nothing on Y'ul when the pair were sent to retrieve items, as Y'ul would have made sure that Cass had matching bruises. Erath warned her that violence was not the answer and that the Weyrlingmaster already had his eyes on the two of them from hatching, which was actually the only reason Y'ul hadn't tried something as well. She wanted to make a remark or two about Cass needing to match in order to look like such a pretty young lady, but that would have to wait until later. Erath could seem to understand Y'ul's want of holding a grudge as she appeared to be torching one of her own against a few people, but it was in both their best interests to just stay calm and quiet for now. There was always a chance for them to get their problems sorted out in future lessons, mainly when they were in flight. Y'ul was pretty sure Erath would have no problems then at doing various things.

When things had been set up and questions asked, Y'ul frowned that no one else appeared to be wanting to respond to such a simple question. Had they not been paying attention in Candidate lessons? Common sense, people! And what was with Cass's answer? Vague at best, what a lucky guess.

If you know, then say it or stop grumbling. You're doing us all no good fuming.

"If you overfeed a dragon you have a chance of rupturing their stomach as well as creating block tail, which results in having to manually remove the offending stoppage. Both are incredibly painful and sometimes fatal."

Good for you.

T'rus shot a quick grin at Y'ul when she answered, feeling he'd been proved right on his earlier thoughts about the use of a healer, or former healer, in their little group. She would certainly be useful. If only they could keep Erath and Akerth from trying to kill each other, anyway. It was an issue he had not yet decided how to deal with. Akerth didn't seem to bait the other dragon deliberately, but if they were seen snapping at each other, the weight of blame fell to him, the male rider who should know how to keep his dragon under control.

Turning his attention back to the Weyrlingmaster, he answered in his usual clear tone, speaking just a bit faster than normal to get out the words before Akerth shushed him. "A young dragon whose hide isn't oiled enough can develop cracks in their hide, sir."

Not that he could imagine a weyrling forgetting to oil their dragon. He could feel a sympathetic itch already, right at the base of the wings he had to keep reminding himself he didn't possess.

Akerth sent him a mild, Now let the others speak. But his concern was for other issues at the moment.

Yours answered well, Erath. The patronizing 'for a female' was so implicit in his tone that it needn't have been stated.

Tatleth, you must encourage yours to speak up. I am sure you are capable of it. Considering a moment he ignored Vespereth and turned his gaze to Skananth. Be sure yours contributes soon, Skananth.

Well, her answer hadn't been quite so detailed as Y'uls, but at least she'd had the guts to speak up, unlike everyone else, so Cass wasn't too irritated that the other girl had shown her up. Even then, J'ev corrected Y'ul, for all she was a former healer. The weyrling master posed another question, and though she knew an answer for certain, she decided to give others a chance to speak up as well.

Vespereth, crooned quietly at hers, proud that she had spoken up. The little green did bridle slightly when Akerth didn't acknowledge her's for a job well done, but she didn't let it show and went on ignoring him. She didn't want his attention anyways, the pushy prat. She was inwardly pleased when her sister shrugged him off. That would show him. The green's attention span was soon caught up by the wafting scent of fresh meat, making her stomach churn even more. She was hungry, and wished that Throth's would stop talking so that she could eat.

Cass winced slightly when her dragon's increased hunger started to gnaw at her own gut despite the fact that she'd just eaten a heart breakfast. The sensation almost made her go back for seconds, but she firmly put a mental foot down. She had to watch her waist after all, and she knew she was full, even if her stomach didn't seem to realize it. Once Vespereth was fed, she would feel better.