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News was quicksilver in the Weyr, and finding out that one of his closest female companions had done something unspeakable while the queen was away from the eggs had shaken the young Bronzerider more than he'd like to admit. In the course of a brief conversation, he suddenly found his loyalties divided - and it was an uncomfortable feeling for him.

Routine was an unexpected blessing for O'asis right now. Uktenath needed this, needed that. The young dragon needed more than ever right now, in fact - it was probably less true need, and more invented tool to keep his bonded busy. But going from feeding to bathing to oiling to exercise with the little bronze, O'asis could be nothing but grateful. What kept him busy - and particularly, what kept him away from the intrigue within the Weyr - kept him from getting placed in any uncomfortable position between Weyrwoman and Candidate.

At a time like this, one would think it would be wisest to lay one's head down. Draw no attention, speak with no strangers. Particularly, make no unnecessary moves with a certain underground organization that could add fuel to the fire threatening within the Weyr. But it was Uktenath's judgement that Cheoth would not be harmed by an idle conversation, maybe an idle recruitment, with some likely-looking Candidate; and in fact, if what they were doing was truly best for the Weyr - and it was, they both knew - then it could only help to reassure the Queen that the Ista Liberation Army was gaining strength, clearing the way for the safety of herself, her Rider, and all her future clutches.

So, once they were both good and tired out after a long jog and some swimming, the bronze and rider pair returned to the Weyr and began to snoop around the working-places of the Candidates. There were signs to watch for, they'd learned over the past few weeks of recruiting. There were the heel-draggers and the shoulder-slumpers, the complainers and whiners - in moderation, these could be good signs, but there had to be care taken to find the right kind of person as well. The ones who were like these, but worked hard just the same; or the ones that might complain, but did so articulately, reasoning out their hardships. The ones that had the heart or mind that knew change was needed, that they could do something about it, if only someone could give them a guiding hand....

Hrm. This was going to be more difficult than he'd thought. Today, all the Candidates were made of fury to some degree. O'asis hesitated to reach out to any of them, at this rate, but there had to be some way that he could sort at least one of them out....

When it came to this sort of intuition, Uktenath was the stronger of the pair. Sensing the hesitation of His, the bronze scouted the area dutifully. There was a boy over there that might have some potential, maybe - but then again, he seemed just a bit too vicious kicking at a rock, so perhaps he wasn't approachable. But there was one that seemed calm enough there. Mine.

O'asis knew who the bronze was suggesting without another word, Uktenath was pleased to find. His was learning to listen better in this manner, and sporadic as these successes were, they were more common now than before. And in return, Uktenath found the vague impressions that O'asis had of the Candidate. He'd heard her name a few times, Rinfala - she'd had less luck in the last Hatching than he, and had the scar to prove it. He knew nothing about her that would disqualify her from their interests. They both agreed without needing agree, that she would be worth talking to.

Uktenath started forward first, O'asis less than half a step behind him. The bronze drew up to the Candidate and seated himself, arranging his wings neatly on his back and poising himself properly; with less regality, O'asis grinned and waved as he drew near. "Hey! You're Rinfala, right?"

"Maybe." He couldn't help but be cheeky; O'asis was just naturally a tease like that, and the way that Rinfala was eying him absolutely demanded that he act coy.

Beside him, Uktenath gave a soft snort. Don't be showy, O'asismine, the bronze warned him. Naedreth was the one that would goof around and lose track of his goals; he expected more of His!

"Of course," O'asis assured the young bronze briefly, then returned his attention to Rinfala. "Are you busy right now? Have time for a chat?"

O'asis glanced down to Uktenath. Rinfala was turning out a bit more aggressive than he'd counted on, and he couldn't help but wonder how much of that was due to the circumstances of the day, and how much was just her inherent... Rinfala-ness.

"Depends on the listener," he answered easily, while the bronze rose effortlessly to a stand. "For an impatient one, though, the most I've got are questions. What do you think of things in the Weyr these days?"

O'asis seemed to relax as the laundry list began, and grew longer... and longer... and longer. By the end, he was nodding habitually, enough so that he avoided giving a guilty start of association at the mention of Cheoth. Kyllae... shards, he'd need to talk to her about that soon....

"What I've been seeing, exactly," O'asis concurred. "Too many folks in the Weyr, and it's causing trouble. It's fardling obvious when you're in the Lower Cavens, isn't it?" He had to be gentle still, he thought; build her up, let her come to her own conclusions. She already seemed to be much in agreement with him, but there were questions that needed answering yet. He just needed to be easy about it, make sure where Rinfala stood before he said anything damning. "There's one or two folks in the leadership that see it, too. Weyrwoman Favan for one, though I'd imagine," he grimaced, "she's got more on her plate now than she can handle, to be working on her solution."

"Sickness," O'asis filled in for her, a bit grimly. "Two of my friends were hit with it." That Kyllae was one of them, was possibly better left unsaid -- shards Kyllae, I hope you can get yourself out of this one!

"And it's exactly because of overcrowding," he went on. "We should've figured it out when that lice plague hit - that was our warning. We're lucky that this didn't do anything other than lay a few people abed for a couple days. Next time...."

Uktenath exhaled loudly. We will stop it.

"Right. There won't be a next time," O'asis predicted confidently.

Well, that was a bit of an ambiguous question. "S'van?" O'asis asked uncertainly. That was the only one that would make sense in the context of the situation, he thought; after all, it was while he and S'van had still been selling their Itch Fix that his friend had Impressed, and surely that would be the association most people would make to that period of time!

"Oh, shards no!" The blond exclaimed of Rinfala's proposal, laughing. Itch Fix had been a catchy enough name to sell a product; even ignoring the propriety of attaching it to a bronzerider (particularly one that was bonded to such a bronze as Uktenath!), he couldn't imagine going by such a strange moniker! Though if he were still a Trader, there might be some utility in....

"It's O'asis and Uktenath," he offered with a grin, dispelling the useless wanderings of his mind. The little bronze seemed to straighten up even further on his name being mentioned, attention called his way. The bronzerider offered out a hand in introduction.