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Cass hummed cheerfully to herself as she all but skipped into the kitchen, gathering up an apron as she went, and deftly donning it. Smiles adorned her cute, heart shaped face today and the petite woman went to work with a will as she gathered up the things she would need after a few quick directions from the head baker. The woman soon left Cass to her work, knowing she didn't need watching over, and the girl plopped her things down onto the counter not far from another girl. She seemed vaguely familiar, and Cass was quite certain she often worked here in the kitchen, though it was a big and busy space so it wasn't unusual for neither girl to know the others name. People came and went quite often, after all.

Still...it seemed like Cass had seen her before somewhere besides the kitchen...The petite blond took a closer look and the glow came on. Of course, she was one of the other candidates! Cass had only just recently started taking the classes herself, so she didn't know everyone yet, but now that she thought of it, she was quite certain she had seen this girl amongst all the young faces in the few lessons she had attended so far.

Cass' normally extroverted nature kicked in right on schedule and, still mixing, turned towards the girl and smiled brightly as she addressed her "Hi! Aren't you one of the candidates? Wasn't that a great lesson this morning? I'm sooo excited about the touching, aren't you?" she said in her bright, friendly voice "My name's Cass, I think I've seen you around the kitchens before, but I don't think we've been introduced."

"Nice to meet you too!" Cass said cheerfully, turning her attention briefly back to the sweet bread she was making, deftly adding a bit of sugar. "Augh, I'm nervous too!" the blond admitted, looking back at Layla "But I think the excitement will overwhelm that pretty easily. I've only been able to sneak a peek at the eggs though." She said with a sigh that shadowed the smile on her face. It didn't last long though, and she was her chipper self once more "I'll get a better look at them during the touching though, that's for sure! Hopefully Kaveth won't make a fuss though. Some queens are pretty broody." she said, making a face, poking her little tongue out slightly at the thought.
"I only just started lessons," Cass admitted "Have you been going long?" she asked curiously. She had always been interested in the dragons, and their riders. She envied them their freedom, able to pop in and out, go wherever they wanted...sure, there was that whole responsibility thing to go with it, and that was certainly important but...the freedom of flight a-dragonback seemed glorious to Cass. She'd never had the privilege to go as a passenger before. She was just a lowly kitchen worker, after all. She'd thought she would all her life, but this time she would take her chance on the sands! She knew that she would be crushed if she didn't impress, but...she just had to take that chance. A chance to find out if she was good enough to be a rider. So after kaveth's mating flight she had signed herself up to be a candidate, and so far, she was loving every minute.

Cass paled slightly at the memory. She had managed to attend the hatching, her first one in a long time. She wished she hadn't. Those vivid, bloody memories would be tatooed on her mind for the rest of her life. "I...I try not to think about it." She said with a weak smile "I mean, you can't go through life afraid of what might happen. You'll never experience anything that way...well, that's what I tell myself anyways." she gave a slightly tremulous chuckle and then shook herself, tucking away those ugly memories and turning her attention back to her bread. "Even with the stakes so high," Cass said after a moment of silence "I think it would be worth it if you were able to impress." she said in a firm voice.
She turned to Layla again, smiling once more "Anyways, it doesn't do any good to dwell! What kind of bread are you making?" she asked, changing the subject from such ugly thoughts.

Completely unaware that she had nearly given offense to this pleasant girl kneading dough beside her, Cass smiled dreamily at the memories of those lucky people who got to impress a dragon. That look of bliss that came across their features, wreathing their face in smiles when they found their other half...it just seemed so beautiful. "Oh it does it does." she agreed with an envious sigh "Just looking at them you know that they feel like they've found some lost part of themselves...the last piece to the puzzle, from the way they smile. They don't even notice what is going on around them." she said with a small laugh, pausing to brush aside a stray bit of hair that had fallen into her face, and earning herself a streak of flour across her cheek in the process.
"Thought so," Cass said with a nod, when Layla said she was baking regular rolls "I'm making some sweet rolls for dessert. Kneading is my favorite part too." she said with a bright smile.

"I think everyone's wondered that at one point or another." Cass said with a laugh and a smile. "People from all calls of life, weyrbrat, crafter, holder...I'm sure everyone has had that dream of impressing a dragon at one point or another. I'll be rooting for you though!" she said with a grin and a wink.
"Oh, thanks!" She said when Layla offered to get the water for them. She had just been thinking of it herself "I'll make sure you get one. They're quite tasty, if I do say so myself." Cass said cheerfully as she poured a liberal amount of water into her mix and began working it in with deft hands accustomed to such work. "And I agree, its a great stress relief." she nodded in agreement "work it as hard as you want and it still comes out great! granted you do have to stop at some point or it over glutenizes..." she remarked thoughtfully with a slight frown "Still, its fun while it lasts."
There was a moment of silence while Cass managed the more difficult part of the mixing process, getting it all mixed in nice and even, until the dough started to thicken and she could take her eyes from it once more.
"How long have you been working here in the kitchens?" she asked curiously, looking for a new subject they could share in.

Cass laughed then, a pure, ringing tone as she worked her dough "We say that, to seem nice to one another, but neither of us really mean it." she giggled, pausing to wipe a stray strand of hair from her face with the back of her hand.
"How about this, once I've impressed my own dragon, if I'm lucky, then I'll be rooting for you." she said in a light, playful voice, but behind those large, pretty dark eyes, there was a rather shocking amount of pure determination. Cass looked, and mostly acted, all sunshine and firelizards, but when it came down to what she wanted, for Faranth's sake, don't get in her way. After Kaveth's mating flight, Cass had earnestly set herself to become a candidate, and, if a dragon would have her, a dragonrider. She would do just about anything to make that come to pass. Unfortunately, there really was only so much one could do when it came to impression. After all, it was up to the dragons, in the end. She would do her damnedest, though, to make herself the best candidate she should be, put herself forward where others would cower on the sands, and get herself a dragon. If not...well, she would have tried her best, and there was always the next hatching, after all.
"Same here, really." Cass said, delicately wrinkling her little nose, thinking of how many turns she had been working in these kitchens. It was something to keep her occupied though, and she quite enjoyed baking. "My birth mother works here as well, so its not that surprising that I do too, I guess." Cass said with a giggle, deftly sectioning her dough into little round balls and plopping them onto a tray.
Cass turned and grinned winningly at Layla "It is very nice to have someone to talk about candidacy too! I think most of my friends are getting sick of hearing about it, since they're not candidates themselves." she said with a laugh.

"Right?" Cass said in agreement as the other girl pointed out that everyone was out there for themselves on the sands "I mean, I wouldn't shove someone in front of a charging hatchling or anything" she said, shuddering in mild horror as she remembered how bloody the last hatching had been. No, no matter how desperately she wanted to impress, she wouldn't purposefully do anything that could potentially add to a body count. If they were lucky, maybe no one would be hurt at all this time. After all, sometimes there were hatchings where no one died...Cass certainly hoped that that would be the case this time.
There was a pause in conversation as the little blond finished up with her batch and went to the ovens to pop it in to bake. Finding a place, she inserted her pan amongst many others and checked the time. A distracted look came over her face as she did some quick math before returning to Layla where she flopped down on a stool to wait.
"In the end, I guess all you can do is hope." she said with a smile and a helpless shrug, though she mentally added 'And make sure you're good at dodging'. There was no need to add that aloud though. Layla seemed rather more introverted than herself, and worried enough as it was. No need to worry her further. Whatever the results of impression on hatching day, Cass did sincerely hope that no harm came to the girl. Or herself for that matter.