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If the rumors were true, it wouldn't be long now until all their futures were decided. They had all touched the eggs, and felt how hard the shells were getting. There was probably a sevenday or two to go, and that was it. Peradan was absolutely positive that she wasn't the only anxious one in the barracks, and all their anxiety meant that they hadn't been socializing properly- at least, that's what it meant in Peradan's mind. There was clearly one fantastic solution- betting!

Working on the assumption that most Candidates were as clueless as she was about what could be inside each of the eggs, Peradan had spread the word that she was going to have a fun little event in the kitchens. There would be no marks bet, and nothing on the line but their pride. That should be sufficient enough, Peradan thought. This was for fun, after all. And, to be honest, Peradan didn't think that all of the Candidates would have money to bet, or a head for odds and averages. She barely did herself. What a terrible bookie she would make! Yes, Peradan could gamble (alcohol and gambling did go hand in hand, after all), but that did not mean she could gamble particularly well.

As Peradan had spread the word through other Candidates and notes in strategic places, she made sure to stress that they would only be betting on eggs- NOT on other Candidates. That would only cause fighting and drama, and could potentially shatter self-esteem, or raise it to a point where it was entirely unwarranted. Anyone caught trying to bet which Candidate would Impress what would be not so kindly escorted from Peradan's little party, and they wouldn't want that, now would they? She had meatrolls, and fresh fruit, and even a bit of wine. It was near the end of the day, with no chores left to do. They should still drink cautiously, but at least they could drink without fear of having to go back to work. It was a good vintage too- they would be getting wine hand picked by a vintner, after all.

Satisfied that everything was set up to her liking, Peradan finally took some time to sit down. She had begged a piece of skin to roughly draw the clutch (with no great artistic skill), numbering each egg and leaving space for people to write down what they thought would come from each. The only obvious one was the gold egg- should she even count that one as a bet? Why not? There would likely be plenty of silly guesses, and Peradan had nothing against those, even if she didn't think it was exactly funny. Then again, she didn't really have the best sense of humor.

There were also mugs of klah lying around, in the event that their party stretched on for a long while. Peradan was sipping her own as she finally awaited the inevitable trickling in of her fellow Candidates.

She was still quite giddy over the Touching that had occurred. Those eggs! And getting to touch them, feel sensations from the dragonets inside...! Even if she didn't end up Impressing at this coming hatching (which she thought would be soon and had heard this echoed by fellow Candidates), Narisa was beyond happy for the chance to have seen the eggs first hand and touched them!

Word (or rather a note she had happened across) had gotten to her that one of her fellows was going to have a fun event down in the kitchens. A way to get to know your fellow candidates better. And a little egg betting. What would come out of what egg?! Normally, she wasn't one to gamble much. But seeing as nothing worthwhile (except her ego maybe, but that wasn't very large to begin with), there was nothing to lose. And Narisa did want to meet the others and get to know them better. Coming from a craft hall, she didn't know most of the candidates just yet. And she'd just been a little awed at Trine Weyr in general that it hadn't occurred to her that perhaps she needed to meet new faces.

So, with the goal of meeting new people in mind, Narisa found herself entering the kitchens and looking around until she spotted another couple of girls. Smile on her face, Narisa approached them, unconsciously straightening her back and taking on that confident walk she had learned to use when dealing with customers back at her vintner crafthall. "Hiya there! I...don't think I've gotten the chance to meet either of you. I'm Narisa." She offered a hand out to both girls to shake.

Cetalese was startled to see the Candidates when she walked into the kitchen. She had come down to see if the Headwoman needed an extra hand-- though Cetalese had finished her chores shift of mending laundry just that morning-- but it seemed like she was going to have plenty of people in the way. Klah, a skin of wine, and several chatting Candidates looked like a party to her. It was only when she saw Peradan that she realized this was the competition she'd been told about. Cetalese wasn't the betting sort, so she hadn't intended on participating, but it seemed that fate had brought her right to it anyway.

She glanced over her shoulder as someone came up behind her. She recognized the boy as one of the other Candidates. More specifically, the same Candidate she had shared that terrifying moment of recovery with after she had Touched... that fringe-of-the-Clutch egg.

They stared at each other for a long moment before he gestured beyond her, presumably at the table. She recovered herself and quickly and fluidly stepped aside to allow him to pass, recollecting herself after the sharp reminder of the only real negative moment of the Touching.

She regarded his offer with calm logic. She was already here and there wasn't anything to be lost by it. He was right about that. Cetalese met his gaze steadily. He was sturdy, up-front. There was no reason to his suggestion other than general friendliness and common sense. He didn't look like the gambling type, but you couldn't always tell everything about a person just from looking at them.

She smiled politely at him, an agreement without words, and followed him over to the small gathering of her peers. She let him take the lead mostly out of habit. If she had approached alone she would have introduced herself if someone asked, but waiting suited her just fine. She observed everyone interacting with her usual calm but piercing gaze, picking up hints at their personalities and trying to remember their names.

"Well met, Narisa, I'm Lena...and 'lo, Ruven~" Lena said, quick to butt her way quickly into the initial introductions. The sooner they could get those out of the way, the sooner there could be fun! She'd certainly like to get to know the others better (even if once again she was wondering about the wisdom of standing a candidate when she knew were Impression to occur a year or so of celibacy was right around the corner)... The next two arrivals were another boy and a girl; the girl seemed the observing type and not inclined to talk just yet, Lena'd have to see what she could do to encourage the girl to participate if she didn't join in. The boy was still tall compared to her, but he was one of the rarer males Lena didn't have to crane her head all the way back to be able to carry on a conversation she; she much approved.

"Not yet," she told Gauden with a grin. "Eager, are we? I think I'm the only weyrborn in this group so far, so if you don't know much about dragon eggs, I think I can offer everyone a hint or three. The dragons'll surprise us no matter what, I'm sure--they do like to do that--but there are a few things to keep in mind when 'betting' on eggs." And one could never quite be sure. Blues were sometimes laidback, sometimes playful--then again, so were blacks! Greens had a reputation for earthiness and sensuality (they did Rise an awful lot, but there were greenriders who dreaded every occurrence) but their temperaments could vary wildly... And even if she'd teased S'ren about knowing him by knowing he rode a brown, he was right that she could've been wildly wrong. Tereth had spoken to her though, so that'd been a bit of a hint where on the spectrum S'ren's brown lay.

"Ooh, am I crashing in on something here?" The speaker - who had just stepped in through the doorway - was a woman who looked to be in her early twenties with a mane of curly black hair, and a large bronze flitt perched on her shoulder. She was dressed expensively but seemed unaware of her expensively dyed dark purple shirt and various gold accoutrements; wealth certainly wasn't anything new to her.

Dark brown eyes dancing merrily Xan sauntered in and squeezed through the crowd until she could see the diagram. "Egg guessing hu," she beamed, "another betting pool going? Is it candidate only or can anyone join?"

Cetalese blinked at a woman pushed by her to get at the table with the charts, but simply moved aside to leave more room in case there were more people looking to reach the table. There were several people now who were well dressed and looked to be people who knew what they were about when it came to 'being the center of the party', so to speak. Suddenly, Cetalese wished she was wearing any one of her skirts-- all kept in good condition-- rather than her new pants. It wasn't that she normally minded the pants now that she was used to them, but this was a party and pants coupled with a plain cream-colored shirt simply didn't seem appropriate for a party. She smiled when she caught one of the girls looking her way, but the acknowledgment quickly passed and moved on to the more bold woman. Cetalese calmly listened to the rider's-- for a rider she surely was-- queries and glanced at Peradan, waiting for the party host's answer since she had no answer for the rider herself.

Moving quietly around the larger group, Ceta took her own peek at the sketch from the sidelines. She was sure she would guess every egg incorrectly, but it would be fun to try anyway. Besides, some she thought she could approximate based on size and generalized personality traits she'd drawn when she touched the eggs.

Having overheard something about a gathering of candidates while tending to the laundry, Balt headed for the kitchen as soon as he finished the last of his chores. He was always a bit slow to finish – not because he was clumsy – because he always wanted everything perfect. Most candidates wouldn’t give a shard about folding laundry just right. Balt saw it as a reflection upon his character, so he always took a little extra time to make sure everything was done properly. By the time he arrived at the kitchen his father was already off duty, probably searching for him so that he could tell Balt again how not to get his hopes up and that he should start spending more time thinking about a back-up plan. Just because he failed his last three Impressions didn’t mean Balt would give up. He was quite pleased with tonight’s opportunity; not just to size up the other candidates, but to avoid his father by hiding in the last place he’d ever look.

Balt waded through the crowd [NPC candidates], pushing past anyone who got in his way without apology. They should have seen him coming. He was a bit older than some of the candidates, seventeen going on eighteen. The son of a crimson rider and a baker, he was a regular sight around Trine and had been his whole life. He claimed a front row seat as Peradan explained her drawing. Balt was no artist. He found it impressive that Peradan’s eggs looked like eggs and not blobby circles. “So you’re the one who organized all this,” he said, grinning. “I heard about it in the laundry room. Sorry for coming late. My name’s Balt.”

She didn’t look like a weyrbrat to him but he was willing to set that aside. They were just here for fun, right? He was quite excited for people to start betting.

"Larger colors are often larger eggs, but sometimes you'll get all sorts of size variations. The real thing to keep in mind are the atyps'll be smaller eggs just like the greens, and most every clutch I've seen has had at least a couple atyps...though, with the Mystweed, there's really no telling, I s'pose," Lena explained to Gauden with a grin. And she didn't mind the question at all; though certainly to some the reminder of "failure" might be taken personally, Lena was not at all one of those sorts. "And yes, since I was old enough really--that's sort of how it goes, if you're born here and you've the inclination to Stand." Or felt the need to out of duty, as Lena did. And really, save for those who chose to devote themselves wholeheartedly to a craft, what child of weyr wouldn't at least try to be a dragonrider? "So it's been a few clutches. Still doubt I'll manage to guess more than a few of them right, though, I've always been pretty rubbish with betting." It didn't stop her from trying though.

The slightly older woman with the expensive taste and the charming bronze flit on her shoulder who'd joined the group--she was definitely a rider, Lena was just trying to remember who the dragon was. She didn't generally pay much attention to specific dragons (save females about to rise, it was always good to be aware of that given the inevitable emotional carryover for Flights closer to the weyr), so it made the task of recognizing riders slightly more difficult as well. Hmm...maybe when she gave her name Lena'd recognize her better.

Speaking of recognition, Lena most certainly knew Balt--they were the same age and both were Trine-born. She moved to tap him on the shoulder and offer a little wave, but was distracted from offering a verbal greeting by Ruven's gesture of... generosity? Hmm, most likely not really all that altruistic. Still, it was his offer to make, and whomever won probably wasn't going to be complaining about it. She had to chuckle at his assumption the rider woman wasn't from Trine though, but she'd let the woman handle that.