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 Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:33 pm
"You are upset."
"I'm not upset. I had a bit too much fun last night." M'cel winced and threaded a hand through his hair. The turns were taking their toll on him, at least in the mornings after. He look pinched and drawn and winced from any loud noise.
"You were upset. Last night."
"Leave it, Tairoth." He could hear Tairoth grumble in his head before the dragon likely wandered off to find some place warm to sun himself. M'cel groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose before sipping his Klah carefully.
He had been upset. Of course he was. Even with eggs on the sand he couldn't drag himself out of the funk he'd been in lately. The man had never been a fan of Benden, and with the hostility between their weyrs at a fever point he wasn't getting any more relaxed. And with what had happened with the Weyrleader...
He'd been a good man. A damn good man. He hadn't deserved what had happened to him.
M'cel sighed and sat back at his table, closing his eyes and grumbling to himself.
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:44 pm
Even with the prospect and promise of a new clutch to come, no one in the Weyr seemed to be as excited as usual about a potential Hatching. Bad things had happened. Very bad things. H'tel and his dragon were gone forever. There was no bringing them back, no getting around that. Answers had to be found.
But for all that, Anneke was still smiling. Humming, really, as she wandered through and headed for the tables, to get a cup of juice. "Good moooorning."
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:46 pm
M'cel winced at the cheerful greeting before looking at the speaker and smiling. She was a pretty young thing, wasn't she? He couldn't recall her face too clearly; perhaps she was a new candidate?
"Mornin', Love." He leaned back a bit, stretching and forcing himself to smile. He looked tired and bleary, but completley cheerful. "How're you this early, early morning?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:53 pm
"It's not so early," she argued cheerfully. "I've been up almost, hm. Well. A full two candlemarks by now, for certain. Too much to do and too much to think about to be sleeping in," she piped. Redfruit juice, and a topped off mug of it too, which she carried heel-toe heel-toe, oh so carefully, back to the table he'd claimed before she set it down with a triumphant smile. Not a drop lost.
Then she took a better look at weary-looking rider, tilted her head and asked, "Do you want some klah?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:56 pm
"I used to be like that. Always up first thing in the morning. It'll serve you well if you Impress this hatching." He opened both eyes to smile at the girl, leaning forwards onto his elbows. "Just learn what I haven't, that sometimes you shouldn't do things in excess. All right?" M'cel beamed at her.
"More Klah would be amazing, but you don't have to get up for me, little miss."
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:05 am
"I'm already up," she told him cheerfully, swiping his mug off the table to get him a refill. That one she didn't top off so high before carrying it back and setting it down for him, then twisting the mug so the handle pointed at him just so. "There you go!"
She sat then and tugged her mug toward her, cradling it between her hands like something precious. "Was it cider or ale? Oh, or wine? I hear cider's worst for making your head feel fuzzy the next morning." She beamed at him. "And it's Anneke."
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:13 am
"Thank you, dear." M'cel smiled at the girl and sipped his Klah, sighing. He rubbed a temple and eyed the girl. Cute. And nice! He stretched agian and tucked a bit of hair behind his ear.
"It was wine." He snickered. "A bit too much. Anneke? That's a nice name. I'm M'cel, Tairoth's rider. New candidate?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:17 am
She was nodding along, making a sympathetic face at the reflection in her mug of juice, right up until he said his name. Then her gaze snapped up and she lifted her head to look at him again. To take a better look. Oh. Oh oh! So this was M'cel? He was on the list.
"Not so new," she answered. "I mean, I've been here all my life. It's my first time Standing, though. Studying him, sizing him up, comparing... though it wasn't really fair, given that she hadn't been drinking too much last night.
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:25 am
Perhaps luckily for him M'cel didn't seem to notice her scrutiny. He just sipped his Klah and nodded. Weyrborn, good pick. He himself was. He wouldn't lie and say he didn't prefer people who were weyrborn. Tended to be good to get along with.
"Well, good. Glad you're giving it a try." He grinned again. "S'nothing like it. Hatchings are fun, no way aruing that. Always so much life.... Heh." His eyes unfocused for a moment as he checked on Tairoth. There were only feelings of warmth and happy coming from the dragon, so all was fine there.
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:44 am
"I've heard," she agreed again, with a little nod of her own. "My father was -- is -- a rider too. That's what the Aunties say, at least." And she really had no reason to doubt them, did she?
"I don't know if it's the best time to be a rider, what with all the trouble," ahe admitted. "But I think we need as many riders as we can have right now. At Malvren, I mean. Just in case someone else tries something funny."
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:48 am
"Oh? It'd make sense if you were born in the Weyr. Aunties gossip, though." M'cel crinkled his nose at her. "Nice women, though. Most of 'em. I'm Weyrborn myself. Always gave the poor women hell..."
"Mmm. Well, it's always a good time to be a rider. S'long as yours is there with you." M'cel's face darkened and his fingers twitched towards his hip. No flask, Marcel! Tairoth was awake enough to scold him. "As for tha tmess... Don't worry about it. You're too young to worry. You're going to get wrinkles."
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:55 am
She couldn't help but smile. Smiling came more naturally to her than almost anything else. "They do gossip, but you figure out pretty quickly what to listen to and what to believe." She had, at any rate. Her eyebrows lifted. "Why would you want to do that, if they were so nice?" she wondered, mischief sparking to life in her eyes.
It winked out in short order. "I'm not too young to worry. I wish I was," she confessed. "But, I'm old enough not to be scared, either. We'll see what happens. Maybe riding's in my blood!" She wrinkled her nose at him, then, just as he'd done. "Definitely too young to get wrinkles."
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:05 am
"Why not?" He asked with a grin. "I always had too much energy! Always out getting myself into trouble. Rules were boring. I can't count the number of times I had my ears boxed for making them worry...." M'cel spoke fondly. Clearly he didn't find any previous transgressions to be something to be ashamed of."
"Maybe I'm just getting old. You all look too young to me." M'cel mentioned. "But that's all right. You're a smart young lady, you seem to have a good head on your shoulders."
"Blood doesn't always tell. All that matters to the Dragon is that you're the one they want."
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:19 am
Yep, he had her laughing, because she'd done a lot of things for no other reason than 'why not'. Why climb to the top of that rock pile? Why not? Why see how long she could stand on one foot? Why not? "I haven't got into that kind of trouble," she said, tugging at her ear absently. The 'yet' was unvoiced but nearly audible.
"Blood doesn't always tell?" She tilted her head, curious. "What does that mean, exactly?" She picked up her mug and took a long drink of juice, watching him over the lip.
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 10:28 am
The Black rider grinned at her laughter and leaned back a bit, looking pleased with himself. "It comes with time and practice, dear. You can't be as good as I am without practice." He was confidant, wasn't he?
"Well, it doesn't always mean that what your parents did you'll do. Either you'll make a cracking good rider, or your path will go someplace else. Never get... I dunno. Suck in the idea that you have to do something because it's expected. We're new weyr peope, dear. We don't get hidebound."
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