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A few days after the hatching and in the most technical of senses, Roni was still a candidate. That was, she still wore the knot that indicated her as such and still had the chores associated with said 'honor'. But, well, whether she'd actually stay until the next clutch was laid, that depended on who you asked. And it was probably best not to ask her. If she had an opinion in the matter, she was certainly keeping it to herself.

At the moment, her usual candidate chores had been interrupted when a rider had grabbed her and sent her on a quick errand to the kitchens. Having just finished her little delivery service stint, she was walking back along the lake, through the grassy areas where many of the dragons enjoyed sunning themselves.

Mostly, she tried to give them a wide berth, from respect, or fear, or both. But dragon dodging could be difficult as evening fell and dodging away from one seemed to bring her all that much closer to the next. Good thing they were so big and flashy or she was sure she'd step on a tail. And then the dragon would get mad, and then the rider would get mad and then they'd kick her out of the Weyr. And her brother. And her father would go out of business. And they'd all starve to death! Yep, seemed like a logical progression of events to Roni. So, best not to step on any tails.

The poor little girl, usually prone to skittering, walked very slowly and carefully as she moved back toward the Weyr. On her shoulder, her green firelizard, a tiny thing as well, likely recently hatched, made small encouraging little thrums a person cheerleader for this momentous task.

If Roni were a dog she'd be whining and exposing her throat. Everything about her posture from downcast eyes to shuffling feet said 'please don't kill me scary rider man, sir!'. Also, she appeared to be trying to tie her own fingers together, a task that seemed to take almost the whole of her visual attention. A'ram only got darting, brief glances upward as she focused on this oh-so-important task.

"S-sir?" She asked, bowing in a stiff, awkward manner that looked like it just might knock her over if she wasn't careful. "I--"

She what? Well, she didn't want to piss off a big scary brown dragon, that much she was clear on. Which meant she better go along with the rider or risk being devoured. No. Dragons didn't eat people. That was just something the weyrbrats had said to scare her. Fell had promised. Dragons were nice. They were heroes. She knew that. Which begged the question, why would one want to talk to her? Because she'd done something wrong, obviously.

Okay. So the dragon would just chew on her a bit.

No. Nice. Nice dragons.

Right. Darting her eyes upward then back down again, she shuffled forward a few stuttering steps. "Sure. I'll come. With you. If you want. I mean him. If he wants. I'll come. He isn't..."

Her words trailed off into a mumble and she had to try again, "He isn't mad at me, is he?" And married to that question, though not spoken was the equally important inquiry about whether or not A'ram himself was mad at her.

"S-sorry, sir. I didn't do anything. I don't think." She ducked her head and mumbled the response to her feet. If nothing else, studying the ground was a good way to avoid stepping on dragons, something she was still concerned about. Sensing her increasing nerves, Stain was cuddled as close to her as possible, nuzzling her neck and making little murmuring croons. "It's just. He's a dragon. I don't know why he'd want to talk to me. Unless. I messed up. Made him angry."

Her shoulders were slumped, her posture defensive, but getting that much of a thought out seemed to give her a bit of courage. At least, she managed to raise her eyes. "Sir? Can you tell him thank you? For talking? To me, I mean. I mean, to you, first. Not straight to me. Dragons don't do that, they said."

Nerves were making her babble and she knew it. Catching her lip between her teeth she did her best to shut up. It wouldn't do to make the rider made before she even got to really meet the dragon.

Browns were such big dragons! As, for that matter, were golds, bronzes, blues and greens. Even the little hatchlings at the last hatching had been uncomfortably on the large side for poor Roni's taste. She was more comfortable with firelizards, hand sized and not intelligent to realize how many mistakes she was making. Like poor Stain, who was crooning to her even now as she stared and stumbled.

"He's. That is, you're very handsome, sir." Roni murmured, clearly addressing dragon instead of rider. She was prepared to call them both 'sir'. As far as she was concerned, Rath outranked her by a rather considerable amount. And, if the rider said she should address Rath directly, that was what she was going to do. She was good at listening to directions! At least, she tried to be. Sometimes Fell gave directions like 'relax' and those were a bit harder.

"I. Well. I try, sir. To be good. It's sorta new. I never used to have to be anything," she seemed surprisingly willing to address Rath directly, perhaps because on some level she found a presence that did not speak to her directly less threatening. "I'm glad. That you're not mad. I try hard. Not to make people mad."

The question about Stain seemed to surprise her. Her eyes went wide and her gaze jumped from her feet to the firelizard on her shoulder. Stain churred, but stuck to her owner like glue, however curious she might be about the giant brown. "This is, well, she's Stain. I found her. Her egg. She's still little. But. She's good. I want her to be good. With manners."

"Oh!" Roni blushed a bit, taking a few shuffling steps backward before returning to her original position. She'd moved her hands, holding them clasped behind her back, her posture very straight. She'd never gotten a compliment from a dragon before! In truth, she didn't get many compliments. Her father loved her very much, and because of this, was very strict with her. Her brother was the same way. As to other people, well, until the Weyr, there really hadn't been any other people. "Thank you. I. Well, it's important. To be polite. Me and Stain both. Who I named. She didn't have one. Or. Didn't tell me. Maybe she has a firelizard name."

Another little shuffle. "It's not a very good name. Her brother though. He's Rain. They match."

She reached up to stroke the little green, who churred at the touch and rubbed her tiny head against Roni's outstretched fingers. "I. Well. She's special. Because, I got her here. I'll always remember. Being here. Because I'll have her. To remind me."