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 Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:10 am
It was the tale end of dinner service, and this, Fellendar decided, was the perfect time to get himself a little bit tipsy. It wasn't too early in the day, he actually managed to get his tuber peeling done today (honestly, who asks a nineteen-year-old boy to peel tubers?), and he had checked up on Roni, his new pet-candidate. All in all, the black-haired youth decided, he was incredibly accomplished today. Therefore, it was only logical that he deserved to get himself drunk today. All he needed was someone to share this wineskin with, because Fellendar wasn't actually the kind of person who drank alone.
Scanning the dining hall, he slowly mingled his way through the tables, peering over shoulders as he tried to find someone sitting by themselves. It wouldn't do to drink with anyone he knew, mostly because those that knew him knew better than to give the boy a good wine, and it definitely wouldn't do to drink with the candidates he was going to have to put up with tomorrow. That left the staff and dragonriders, and considering how he procured himself this particular wineskin, only half-full, but still, he did want he could (and we're not saying he did it illegally, we're just saying it might not have been his proudest moment!), he was fairly certain he'd stick with the dragonriders.
Ah! And there was one he didn't recognize now!
Sauntering over to a mopey-looking brunette, he placed himself across from the stranger and offered him his brightest, most charming grin. (Whoever said a man could only charm women was silly, and wrong. Charm worked on everyone, equally.) "Hey there, stranger!" he crowed, black hair falling around his bright eyes. "I couldn't help but notice you're sitting here, all by your lonesome. I haven't got anyone to sit with, either, which is a shame, because I have this wineskin here and I can't drink alone." He waggled his eyebrows, expression nothing but an invitation. "I'm Fellendar, by the way."
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Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 6:21 am
M'darin poked at the remains of his meal somewhat less than half-heartedly. Maybe quarter-heartedly. He was finished eating, really, but he couldn't work up the motivation to leave the hall. Kuridoth was asleep on the heights, catching the last of the sun. It would be mean to wake him now. At least one of them was sleeping properly. His weyr was still unfamiliar and uninviting, filled up with an absence, a gaping hole in his belongings, in his life. Everyone said a weyrmate wasn't a bonding, but scorch-it, he missed him!
Most of the riders had been avoiding him and his little cloud of angst since he transferred, so the dark-haired boy's approach caught him off-guard. Nice smile, he thought, then berated himself for it. The wine was the important thing. Wine and company. An excellent combination, and definitely better than sitting alone, lonely... was he being that obvious? He shouldn't be that obvious. Startled out of his self-pity, he dredged up his own smile, willing himself to be cheerful.
"Well, by all means, you and your wineskin are more than welcome to join me," he replied with probably more enthusiasm than was necessary. "I'd be honoured by your company. A pleasure to meet you, Fellendar. I am M'darin, blue Kuridoth's rider." He dipped a little bow across the table, complete with a hand flourish. "So what is the occasion, what do you drink to?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:42 pm
Pleased to see the rider perk up a bit when he arrived (whether the smile was forced or not really wasn't Fell's concern), the candidate's charming grin morphed into a blinding beam, all teeth and sparkling brown eyes as his new drinking buddy introduced himself. "Please, the pleasure is all mine, M'darin of blue Kuridoth," he replied with a wink. "Call me Fell. All my friends call me Fell. Fellendar really is quite a mouthful." Settling the wineskin on the table, he raised his head and glanced around for some abandoned mugs.
Finding none, he simply offered the skin to M'darin, generous enough to give away the first drink. "Drinking to?" The youth shrugged. "I find I don't usually need a reason to drink. A nice wine is reason enough, isn't it? If I learned anything at Harper Hall, that was probably it. But if you really need a reason to drink, my friend, we could just drink to our respective healths." He nodded towards the brunette, waiting for his skin to be returned patiently, half sprawled across the table like he'd been there all his life.
"Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before," Fell inquired, carding his fingers through his hair. "I mean, I suppose there are a lot of riders in the Weyr, but I spend a lot of time doing anything but chores, so I'd like to think I have a handle on who is who," he rabbled on, feeling some sort of need to fill the silence (and more than happy to fill it himself). "I could be wrong." His brown eyes twinkled again, lips curling into a dangerous smile. "But I'm never wrong."
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Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 5:44 am
M'darin took the proffered wineskin from his polite new friend. It had been a while since anyone had offered him a drink 'just because'. His old drinking mates had taken to hiding the alcohol, even the skins his foster-brothers sent him.
"Truly spoken, Fell, nice wine is always worth drinking to. Still, I like to have a reason - even if just to explain to people the next morning." He grimaced conspiratorily over ale-heads past. "To your health, then." He raised the skin to his lips and took a small swig. "And that is indeed a nice wine," he approved after a moment, wiping his mouth and passing the wineskin back.
Fell's deductions took him a little by surprise, but he could only chuckle at the boy's self-assurance. It took a certain kind of bravery to walk up to a dragonrider and announce you weren't doing your chores, but the boy had judged him right, he wasn't about to turn anyone in, even if he'd known who Fell reported to. "There's no fooling the Harper-trained, is there? You're not wrong, I'm something of a new arrival. I've come up from Benden to join your fine Weyr." And the transfer had been completely his own idea, and no further questions were required. "And yourself? A candidate, right?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 3:20 pm
Fellendar accepted his wineskin gratefully, all but beaming when the rider agreed with him. He did like wine, and if there was anything useful about Harper Hall, well. It was all the wine knowledge he'd gathered up over the years, storing it carefully in little compartments for days like today. He might be exceptionally average at singing and absolutely dismal at remembering the teaching songs, but wine was another story entirely. After all, what could be more important than how to get smashed in style?
"To our health," the black-haired youth replied, raising the skin to his lips and knocking back a good gulp. Satisfied (for the time being), he handed the skin back to M'darin. Sharing it would make it last longer, or at least he hoped so. Nothing went with a good drink quite like a good conversation. Warm eyes twinkling, he shook his head.
"Benden? If I were so lucky to be as Benden, why." Fellendar's grin all but split his face in two. "I think I'd probably be drunk all the time." The candidate sighed blissfully, shaking his head as he imagined the possibilities. Oh, hmm? Yes! Yes, I'm a candidate. I've stood two clutches, now, but I've been at Harper Hall. Was born and raised at High Reaches, though. I bet you'll like it. I'm here." The candidate winks. "And I am always a good time. The other candidates could tell you."
Fellendar's life was nothing but a constant party, after all. Maybe no one else had a good time, but he was always sure to.
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 6:33 am
M'darin snorted. Was that what they thought of Benden in the rest of the Weyrs? It wasn't as if they had more wine, as such, just better wine! And a better shaped Weyrbowl. And easier to navigate passageways. Better temperatures. Familiar faces. One particular familiar, beloved face... Momentary homesickness turned to heart-sickness, rising in him like bile. But the skin was in his hand, and he drowned it out.
When he looked back to Fell, he was smiling again, and it made his cheeks ache.
"I wouldn't like your chances on Benden Sands, in that case. Though I guess you'd never have to have the hangover," he added, lifting the wineskin again thoughtfully. It was still more full than empty, but the wine was already lightening his head. Possibly he should have eaten more. He passed it back across the table. "Your egg will come. I lost count of all the Hatchings I stood for before my Kuridoth found me.
"I haven't met the other candidates, but I don't doubt it," he said, "You've certainly brightened my evening."
Though if Fellendar didn't stop winking at him, the bluerider was going to have to cut the drinking session short. He was fairly sure the boy didn't mean it, but it was very distracting. He hadn't come here to swap one heartbreak for another.
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 7:00 am
"Hungover?" Fellendar couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I've Stood hungover once before. My friend mooned the dragons, or something, I'm not really sure what he was thinking, but that is completely beside the point." The candidate gracefully took the wineskin back from his new drinking partner and took a long swig before speaking again. "All I'm saying is...all I'm saying is..." The former Harper frowned then and glanced at the skin of wine. "I'm not particularly sure what I'm saying, but apparently, it was not of any great importance."
Grinning, the black-haired youth helped himself to another long guzzle before offering the wineskin back to his new companion. "Well, I guess we can say my work here is done," he replied, already congratulating himself on cheering up the transfer. "You were one sorry looking fellow, I have to admit." Fellendar chuckled and shook his head, settling his arms across the table. A nice rosy blush had already taken residence across the candidate's cheek bones (and it was more than likely that skin was actually full when he'd found it and the Harper had taken to 'sampling' it before he rustled up some company to finish it off).
The ex-Harper was nothing if not a friendly drunk, however, and the more he drank, the friendlier he got. (We'll leave the definition of friendly open to whomever has the honor of drinking with youth on any given day.) Resting his chin on his palm, he caught M'darin in a steady gaze. "You'll like High Reaches," the boy insisted. "I came back after Harper Hall, so there must be some good reason." Beyond the call of dragons, but M'darin was already a rider, so that didn't help him much. "But, you know, if you're ever bored or something, I'm always looking to get out of chores and I will be more than happy to help alleviate boredom. It's what I do best, I'd like to think."
Between hunting for flits and kidnapping other candidates to take on adventures, Fell never found himself short of something to do and if he could extend that to lonely dragonriders? Well, he saw no harm in the offer (even if he was being a little more friendly than necessary, it wasn't his fault, he liked drinking partners!).
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