Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Sorry bout being late...))

Tala had been down in the pens spending time with the new group of runners here in the Weyr. Its strange, she thought to herself, I always seem to run for the pens before I even start thinking about meeting other people. Petting a runners muzzle she started as she heard another candidate coming in. Sticking her head out of the stall she called cheerily to the other person, "Your up early aren't you? Couldn't sleep?" Dusting her hands and breeches off she stepped out of the stall. Seeing the other person shoveling out a stall she decided the best way to get to know someone is to work with them. She grabbed a shovel and began mucking the stall next to her.

Tala smiled warmly at Layla. The poor girl looked close to death. "Names Tala. Just got in the other day...Search riders dragon decided to cut a trip to the market short for me. To be honest I still don't feel like this is all real...But I figured I would calm myself down by coming out here early and spending time with the runners. They always help!"

Small chores like this came easy to Tala and quickly her stall was finished and she moved on to another one. Looking up at Layla she seemed like she was drawn tight as a bow string. Best to take this one slow then, she thought. Tala smiled again at Layla and laid her shovel down. "Come over here for a moment. I want to show you something. And its alright I'm not going to turn into a boogie man or anything!" She laughed and headed for a runner stall down the way.

Tala beckoned Layla over to the farthest stall. There was a mare with a newborn colt.
"This. This is what I wanted to show you." Tala walked up to the mare soothing her as she came. Laying a hand on her muzzle and blowing lightly into her nostril, the mare quieted and shook herself and then laid back down next to the colt. The colt looked up at the new comers and nickered softly. Tala motioned for Layla to sit beside her as she sat down next to the colt.
"This little guy was born just before I got here. But just look at him now! He's growing bigger by the day and everything is new to him!" Reaching into her pocket for a sugar cube she held it out to the mare first. The soft lips of her muzzle tickled Tala's palm and the sugar cube disappeared.
Reaching for another, she held it out for Lalya to take. "Just hold your hand out palm and fingers flat." She motioned for Lalya to give the cube to the young colt.

Tala laughed whole heartedly. "I grew up in a family of Beastcrafters. Both my parents were Runner Handlers. As soon as I was old enough I applied for apprenticeship. That's what I was doing before I came here." Looking lovingly at the mare and colt she sighed. "I have always just been more comfortable with animals then with other people. Animals don't lie about whether or not they like you. If they don't like you, they let you know."

Rubbing the colts muzzle gently, "You seemed timid so this little one seemed a good start. Plus, who could resist this cute little face!" With that she rubbed her own nose to that of the colt and when the mare snorted, Tala laughed and scratched her cheek roughly and rubbed noses with her as well.

Tala's ear twitched as she heard another person enter the pens. Standing up slowly so as not to alarm any of the pens occupants, she glanced around the barn. So there was someone else here! She cleared her throat loudly and then ducked back down into the stall. Giggling silently she motioned for Layla to keep quiet.

The sounds that grasped his attention once more made him stop shoveling, the spade half-raised and half-full. He glanced at it, then back through the small slats at the girls, and smirked slightly. Beginning to whistle an old Harper's tune in a low, disjointedly melodious way, he emptied his shovel and casually walked around to the other side of the pen where he knew them to be hiding, making sure to alter the volume of his whistle to cover the soft shuffling sound of his work boots, but to keep it at a relative volume to their hiding spot.

He wasn't one to play games during work, typically, but it seemed like at the moment little was getting done anyway, had they been sent as well to clean out the pens.

Under the cover of his whistle, he sneaked into the pen on the opposite side of them, keeping low so the pen walls would hide him from them at least very slightly as he hid on their other side, his whistle stopping abruptly when he was crouched in the empty, filthy pen.

Right. Fairly soon somebody was going to jump out on somebody else. She didn't want to be either party. Rising to her feet, Layla glanced around herself, hoping to spot the mysterious whistler before they pounced on her. She'd probably jump so much that she fell over, and then she'd knock herself out on a wall or the floor or something. She'd certainly fall in some dung and look stupid, and then Tala and the whistler would laugh at her...

Wrapping her arms around herself, Layla moved cautiously to the stall door and then out, making sure to close the door behind her so that the runners didn't get out. She didn't want to spoil anyone's fun here, she knew some people liked scaring and being scared, but she didn't really want to be a part of it. Hopefully she was making herself too easy a target to be interesting to jump out at... or maybe the whistler would think it even more fun to jump on somebody who looked a bit nervous.

Glancing over her shoulder every so often, Layla waited uncertainly for the situation to change.