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Carltis gave a short snort of amusement and shook his head. "I think I'd want the use of both eyes again before I try anything dangerous like that." Joking the matter aside seemed like the best idea for now, because he didn't know where he stood with her. She liked Aleck, didn't she? Nice quiet Aleck, who was no harm to anyone. After a moment of thought he amended that to 'no harm to anyone, so long as you don't damage his father'.

Seen as Rochelle had made the offer, Carltis sat down and stretched his legs out in front of himself. "I think you might," he said with a frown that was now thoughtful rather than cross. "They say that you should just be yourself for dragons, and if you're right for them they choose you. Going for whatever reasons you have, and not fooling yourself, and not trying to be something you aren't are important. Supposed to be. Who really knows though, with dragons." He'd stood when he was twelve, when he was thirteen, and then again at sixteen when he returned from the Hall. He'd stood every time since but no dragon had wanted him. Every time he managed to convince himself that this time had to be the time, had to be his time. "But that's gambler's fallacy," he muttered to himself, having temporarily forgotten he had company.

"Both parts! Anyway. Mmh." Carltis scowled on principle and shrugged. "Yes, I have, probably for very ignoble reasons." Be somebody, have status. Have a status symbol? Was that how he'd thought of dragons? He didn't think it was, but when he worded it like that to himself it sounded like it. Maybe it was part of it but really... really....

His fingers dug down into the pebbles and curled around them.

When it came down to it, when you had a dragon you weren't alone and there was always somebody that loved you. Maybe that was a sappy reason to want a dragon, but it was a better one than 'me want big shiny make look good'.

"I'm sure you must be very proud of your man-whacking ability; it's an important life skill, or has been for me anyway," the muscular weyrbrat went on with another smirk at Rochelle. "I like blacks," he added with a shrug, "that exceptional betweening skill sounds useful and, well, I like black. They can't earn ranks though, least not the ones I want. Can you imagine me as a weyrlingmaster? Somehow I can't see it going well." Silver was still what he wanted, nasty and elitist though it might be of him. Crimson was an option too he supposed, but he couldn't imagine living with a female in his head. Maybe he was just being closed-minded, and his dragon had already passed him by because he shut out the idea of a green or crimson.

He was pretty sure she'd just made a really filthy joke.

Carltis grinned. "If you're very good I might let you practice on me sometime. Got to keep those hands in right?" Nothing wrong with making filthy jokes together, wasn't like it put him in a vulnerable position or anything... so long as they didn't actually go through with them at any rate.

"Anyway, golds don't get to decide how wings are made up but it's a nice thought," he went on, still sounding in good humor from the banter. "While the thought of getting to terrify stupid kids is amusing, I'm not sure how long I'd last before either going mad or imploding under the force of my own sour bitterness.... They've got that new post now though; Warden. Maybe I'd be cut out for that if I got the right kind of dragon, combat orientated and all that. A black would be nice for that of course; make me look hard." And if she didn't pick up that line he'd tossed her then she was an idiot.

"Oh, well, a bit of anticipation is always fun isn't it? And I suppose you can have more fun if you're morally flexible," he batted back casually, still smirking and starting to relax a little more; this was alright, non-threatening, he could deal with snark and innuendo.

"Thought I might use C'tis," he went on with a nod, "seemed to have the best ring out of the possible options to me." Not that he'd spent ages and ages considering it; that would just be sad. Eheh.

Rochelle really didn't let up with the dirty jokes did she? Well he wasn't about to quit if she wasn't. "I'm sure you'd find us very impressive," he grinned, "a large powerful black, but one with a deft touch would match me perfectly I think."

Carltis grinned. "Well, that was more or less the effect I was going for." She was probably teasing him about the name, but... but not unkindly? Something like that. Ugh. Words, and thoughts; how did they work again? He really was awful at this social stuff, but for the moment things seemed to be going well regardless. "I suppose we'd better drop it then," he added with a raised eyebrow, "I'm sure we'd hate to be inappropriate...."

Picking up a flat-ish stone from the ground Carltis trailed off, now looking thoughtful again. "I could go for a blue too I suppose," he shrugged, "but maybe not a crimson actually. I feel like it would be... odd having a girl in my head. I know it's perfectly normal for men to have greens and crimsons but it feels like it would be weird. Probably wouldn't be if it actually happened."

Carltis shrugged and scowled. "Tradition," he muttered, making the word sound poisonous, "I suppose a lot of girls still just don't think it's the done thing." He supposed that went the other way too, in as much as men who Impressed changed their name as a matter of course. He then remembered Aleck's father and amended that to 'almost all men'. "I want to change my name for the same reason you made yours longer, or a similar reason," he went on before she could point out hypocrisy. "C'tis would be a name that I chose, that would mean something to me rather than something I was given by parents who had no interest in me, or crèche workers who were contractually obliged to take a basic level of interest." There, that was a reason that made sense; he'd made it up on the spot but he'd done so smoothly so Rochelle wasn't to know that and anyway, now he'd thought about it he liked that reason. Taking ownership of his name, of himself.

"Hu, anyway, glad we males have some uses in your opinion; I'm sure they're many and varied." An eyebrow was raised again, and another slight smirk given. "The last clutch here can't have been that long ago; they're junior weyrlings still," he continued on a more practical note. "They do have that junior queen though who must be nearly mature enough to rise by now, and that one that came from Benden too so we might see eggs from one of them soon, or maybe one of the breeding crimsons will manage to clutch." That would be good news for him; a crimson clutch was more likely to contain a silver than a gold clutch was.

"Short compared to things like trees, short tempered compared to things like sun-crazed whers," Carltis showed his teeth in a snarl but it didn't reach his eyes, and a moment later it faded to a bit of a smirk. "I just have a low tolerance for bullshit, that's all.

"As for tongues, well, do you know how quickly and accurately you have to be able to move it to play the ocarina, and how long you have to be able to keep that up?" Carltis stuck his tongue out just a little for just a moment, adding; "My favourite wind instrument by the way, and no, I wouldn't ******** them either or treat them to any of my Harper-acquired skills. Mmmh. Imagine getting a white! They can't get those big lofty ranks either but they have status of their own, I mean we've only got the one alive in the whole of Pern at the moment, and the Timing skill sounds nice." Riders were not supposed to Time without permission of course, but Carltis never had been one for listening to rules when it didn't suit him.

Carltis laughed and swatted lightly at the poking hand. He could go crazy and paranoid, he considered; he could assume she was just buttering him up, and snarl again and... it wasn't actually a lot of fun. It was safe, yes, but those weeks at Malvren had... well... he wasn't sure. Opened his eyes maybe? He didn't really want to shut everyone out anymore. Most people? Sure, but not everyone. Anyway it still wasn't like any of this was too personal, just banter that apparently made him look good.

Carltis stuck his tongue out and then rolled it and folded it back on itself. "You be amazed the things I can do with it," he said once he'd unfolded it again, musing that maybe he should get an ocarina too and take it back up. After a moment he added; "Both. Either. Depends." He'd sort of told her already with the whole rant about bronzes and browns, now hadn't he, so where was the harm? Wasn't a big deal outside of the sphere of dragons in any case. "And don't ask me," a shrug, "Maybe I just don't advertise my skills enough; perhaps I should do a public demonstration."