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 Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 5:45 pm
Jordan wouldn't say he went out of his way to search for Felix the Dolphineer after the party. Things at the Weyr had been in another uproar after that and Jordan had found himself bound to Candidate lessons, the Barracks, or chores more often than he cared for (especially considering how many Candidates Trine had after 'the merger'). It had meant little time to seek his own space or pleasures, or seeking out rather attractive male acquaintances he'd met all of once.
The lake near the new Dolphin Hall seemed like a good place to begin a search though. Suunath had Risen and her eggs were still soft on the Sands. The Flight, however, seemed to have relaxed things just the tiniest bit where the Candidates were concerned-- that or Jordan had gotten lucky to find himself with a few spare hours in the afternoon. He knew exactly how to use those spare hours, too. You were only a stranger as long as you didn't get to know one another, and Jordan very much wanted Felix to not be a stranger. Jordan wasn't really one for big groups, nor did he tend to keep friends long, but he did want some kind of friend-like acquaintances to hang around with when he was feeling social, if nothing else. A bit of play on the side would be nice, too, and Jordan was almost sure that Felix might be interested in that sort of thing with the right person.
When he was almost to the lake, Jordan spotted a man swimming with a gray shape that occasionally disappeared beneath the surface. The single streak of hair down the center of the swimmer's head gave Felix's identity away and Jordan approached the lake at a more casual swagger despite his usual serious expression.
"Felix!"
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 6:16 pm
Felix would never be able to catch Nomah. He knew that, the dolphin knew that, but it still didn't stop either from participating in a fierce game of tag whenever they had the time. Since the incident at the Feast Felix had been focusing his energy at the Dolphin Hall. He'd been working with the other dolphineers and their partners to develop a specialized alert system and brainstorming what could be done if invasions happened by water. With the weyr situated on three lakes, an aquatic watch could be just as important as the watch dragons in defense of Trine and it's territories.
It was a surprise to the dolphineer when his hand clasped Nomah's fluke. "Nomah don't just 'let' me win!" Felix surfaced laughing. He shook his forelock from his face and paused as he realized his partner was looking at the shore. "Nomah?" The dolphin bobbed his head excitedly and dove forward, swimming towards the shallows. Felix followed the dolphin's direction and his face split into a huge grin. He knew that face! "Jordan!"
Nomah clicked and chattered when he resurfaced, turning sideways in the water to look Jordan over. It took a little longer for Felix to catch up. "Hey Hey! What are you doing all the way out here?" Felix stood when he got waist deep in the water, wading his way closer to Jordan.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 6:53 pm
"They finally loosened the leash on the Candidates a bit. I was looking to get as far from the Barracks as possible." The lie rolled easily off of his tongue, in part because somewhere in there was a hint of truth. It just wasn't the primary reason he'd come all the way out here. "When I saw that stripe of yours--" Jordan gestured at the top of his own head (his ponytail not withstanding), "I decided to see about picking up some company. I have a few hours to myself."
Jordan looked over at the not-too-distant Hall and sized it up. From the outside it looked like construction was all but done, but that didn't mean the inside was finished. "Are you almost done building it?"
Finding points of conversation was usually simple if you could guess their interests or knew something of their livelihoods. Felix didn't seem likely to turn him away, but moving into a conversation would make staying that much easier if he did want Jordan gone. As Jordan looked back to Felix for his answer, his eyes caught on the still chittering dolphin in the water. Jordan hadn't known any dolphins himself, but he'd heard tell that after a while of listening you could begin to make out Pernese words in all of their random-sounding chatter. Since there were dolphineers, Jordan assumed that that was true. It was also clear from their antics and the lack of the rest of the pod that this was Felix's dolphin partner.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 8:02 pm
Felix laughed, running his hand over his 'stripe' to wick some of the water away. "Oh yeah? I'd have thought they'd keep you within a dragonlength of the Sands the moment the eggs were laid." His knowledge of dragons covered the basics. He knew the eggs weren't going to hatch so soon but as to how the Weyrs handled them, he'd never needed to know and never thought to find out.
Felix shrugged at the Hall, looking upon his new home fondly. "It's coming along. Still dusty inside but we've put a lot of work into it." He gestured to Nomah in the water behind him. The 'we' being he and his dolphin partner of course.
The dolphin raised halfway out of the water and bobbed his head up and down. He spoke in a combination of trills and pernese, both partners still working on their fluency in the others language. Nomah slipped back beneath the surface, swam in a circle and lifted his head out of the water again to emphasize his point.
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Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 6:29 am
"With the way they've been treating us lately you aren't far off in your assumption. Usually, though, Candidates have a bit more freedom than we've been allowed here." And for an adult like himself, that sort of thing rankled. "I think the riders are more focused on the eggs at the moment, though. Or maybe I got a lucky afternoon." Jordan shrugged and strode closer to the edge of the lake. He nodded at Felix's brief assessment of the new Hall. "It looks like it. Good size, though I can't imagine that it'll fit all of the dolphineers and apprentices. That's what the other buildings are for?"
There were several personal questions that came to mind, but Jordan didn't want to push his luck too soon, so he set them aside for the moment and went with a question that might be a bit less intrusive. "What's your partner's name?" The dolphin had been doing its best to get their attention for the span of the brief conversation, and Jordan could only imagine that meant he was saying something or other to Felix. His firelizard didn't speak to him so much in words as images, so the experience of having a non-Pernese creature talking to him was impossible to really comprehend.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 1:00 pm
"If you got an evening free you probably did something to deserve it."
"Yeah. We aren't exactly as numerous as dragonriders, but there's going to be barracks for the Apprentices, and another for Journeymen as well but it'd be less barracks and more... I don't know. Sort of like the lower cavern's set up, individual rooms and living spaces, but all in one building. The big Hall there has the classrooms, meeting suite's, records and whatnot." Felix rested his hands casually on his hips, his posture open and relaxed.
His teeth flashed in a wide grin. "Nomah. He's not from the original Malvren pod. They picked him up on the trip south." Felix watched as Nomah rolled sideways in the water, watching them in turn with one dark eye. The young man chuckled."Now he knows he has our attention."
Nomah repeated his previous question in pernese this time.
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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 2:15 pm
Well, Jordan did work hard (sort of). Maybe he had earned the time off. Either way, he had taken it and didn't intend to give it back, even if someone came looking for him.
He let his eyes glance over Felix's half-clothed form once while the man was talking, but otherwise managed to keep his eyes to himself. Jordan didn't know much about the dolphins of Malvren or their trip south, so he accepted Felix's story at face value and didn't pry much into it. That didn't really interest him. The fact that he thought he had understood the dolphin's last set of sounds did, though.
"Did he just ask us to swim?" Jordan asked, raising his eyebrows. If so, that would be the first time that Jordan had understood a creature other than a human being. (Firelizards didn't count.)
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 1:57 pm
Felix cast his eyes sideways at Jordan, liped curled in a half grin. "Close! He wants to know if YOU swim. He's been asking since you showed up." That Jordan had understood Nomah made Felix proud of the dolphin. His pernese was getting clearer since he joined the Tri-lakes pod. His grammar could use some work but he could make himself understood among the other dolphineers.
It also perked his interest in Jordan. It wasn't terribly uncommon, but some people didn't catch on to dolphin-speak so quickly unless it was a Tillek or older dolphin speaking. Sure it was two words in pernese, but Felix was suddenly interested to see if he would understand more. "You might want to answer him."
Nomah's head bobbed up and down where he floated. He asked Jordan directly, seeing as the young man had caught on.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 2:33 pm
Jordan didn't like the look Felix was giving him. He couldn't tell what that look meant... and so he didn't like it in the least. The conversation felt like it was getting away from him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. Felix's suggestion to answer Nomah followed by the dolphin's reiteration of asking if he would swim with them (or could swim?) forced Jordan to make a decision or look foolish.
"Yes, I do swim, actually." Neither Bitra, nor Benden Weyr, had been on the coast, but there were always lakes to practice in. He wasn't good by any stretch of the imagination, but he could keep himself afloat well enough. Jordan looked between the pair for a moment, then looked back to Felix and grinned. "Though not as well as a dolphineer, I imagine.
"Or a dolphin," he conceded, inclining his head at Nomah. "Did you grow up sea-side, Felix? Or is that graceful swimming all from training to be a dolphineer?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:29 am
The look wasn't that malicious. More satisfaction than anything else. Once Nomah had his answer the young dolphin was pleased. Waiting in the shallows listening to the two of them talk was getting boring though. A couple clicks and a 'not now' between the pair had Nomah making for deeper waters.
It was enough of an answer to satisfy Felix as well. He'd have hated to hear that his new friend was afraid of water, even if that'd give him a chance to change Jordan's mind. He never understood those fears. As long as there were dolphins, Felix wouldn't fear the ocean. "Little bit of both. My dad was a fisher at Namor Hold, so yes, I grew up sea-side. Then I moved to the Malvren Dolphin Hall... when I was 14? and began my apprenticeship. I've been interested in dolphins since I was small."
"What about you? You haven't been a candidate your whole life have you?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:29 am
Jordan glanced away and tucked his hands in his pockets again, leaning back to look nonchalant and hide the darkening in his face. He blinked a few times and the look vanished. Jordan shrugged.
"No. Like I said, I grew up in Bitra Hold with my family. Dragon picked me out of the line-up when I was 18 and I ended up at Benden. I've stood for a few Clutches now, but my time's running out." He stretched his arms above his head and rolled his shoulders to loosen them up. "If my dragon isn't in the next Clutch or two, I'm not getting one."
Jordan looked out at Nomah, who had taken it upon himself to go find something to do. The brief conversation between the dolphin and Felix made Jordan feel like perhaps the man had sent his partner away. Good sign number one. "I didn't mean to pull you out of the water. If you and Nomah are busy, I could always join you so you don't have to stop what you're doing just to chat."
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Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 11:56 pm
Felix gave an appreciative whistle. "Bitra's pretty far north." Outside of his move to Malvren, and the retreat to Trine, Felix hadn't traveled much, and never so far north. Snow was still a foreign concept to the young man. "Well, they've got what? Three golds and Faranth knows how many Crimsons holed up in there now. I figure your chances are better than they've ever been." Shells there were two clutches on the Sands as is. If they were anything like flits they'd probably have to build a whole new weyr just to hold the babies.
"Don't worry about it. You're not interrupting anything. We were just messing around." Felix shrugged it off. "So, besides getting away from the Barracks, what were you planning on doing with your time? Want to check out the Hall?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 4:23 am
"Sure." He didn't have other plans-- his plans had been to find Felix and potentially coerce his way deeper into the other man's affections. He'd liked what he saw at the Gather, before it was ruined, and that sort of a reaction wasn't one to be wasted. "I've wandered all the way out here after all." Thinking about it like that, he realized the Candidatemaster might be put out with him upon his return, especially if he ended up staying out later than intended.
A smile curved his lips and he turned his head to look at the Hall down the shore. "Where to first?" He didn't think the Masters would have an issue with Felix showing him around, and if they did, tough luck. It wasn't as if people weren't in and out of the Hall all day. Besides, Felix was actively pursuing things they could do together. If he was willing to expend the effort, Jordan wasn't about to let some strangers get in the way, no matter their rank. It also gave Jordan the opportunity to try to peel away some of Felix's proverbial layers to see if there was anything interesting underneath the surface. His choice of appearance suggested that there was, and that always intrigued Jordan.
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Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 9:52 pm
Felix turned towards the Hall, letting his legs carry him at a casual pace and trusting Jordan to follow along. He loved his new home and anyone showing interest in it was good in his book. If Jordan came out here to have a look around, Felix would be more than glad to give him a tour. It gave the young man pleasure to show off what he and the other dolphineers had accomplished since they'd fled Malvren.
Really, if you thought about it, the Revolutionists had given Felix the greatest of gifts. Because of their actions Felix felt that he'd finally grown up and discovered where he belonged. Here at Trine with Nomah. It was what he'd always wanted come true. He couldn't fault the wherholders for desiring equality. Their methods were less than noble but they had valid reasons.
"We could run through the apprentice barracks and the meeting rooms, there isn't too much to them so it shouldn't take long. The offices and records are more interesting, and the classrooms. At least to me. Most of the apprentice lessons are out of water, learning weather patterns, as well as beginning your basic signals and gear. Then of course everything about dolphins. Biology, language, culture. They're really interesting creatures!" Felix's face lit up as he talked. He'd spent turns learning everything he could. "We're like the other crafts, you never stop learning and growing. The Pact may not be a bond like dragonkind but we take it just as seriously. " Even now he was still taking lessons and training with Nomah. Sure they spent a lot of time horsing around, but Felix also saw it as another form of training. He'd learned to swim as a human, with other humans. Now he was learning to swim and move with dolphins.
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 5:20 pm
Jordan shrugged. "I'll follow your lead. You'd know how best to show off your home."
Jordan's warm gaze met Felix's and an almost indecent smile curved his lips. He held that look for only a moment before he turned his gaze away and the smile became almost more mocking as he gave a passing apprentice a once-over. Felix's passionate description of his classes and his dedication to his craft, all of the dolphineers dedication to their craft, drew Jordan slightly out of his single focus mindset. All right. Sometimes pure devotion was boring, but Jordan couldn't blame Felix. He imagined that when-- if, at this point-- he got a dragon, he would feel the same way. It was his saving grace, whether he admitted that aloud or not. If it weren't for the Searchdragon, Jordan would still be at Bitra, forced into a mold he didn't fit, rather than here at Trine where he could be who he wanted to be and damn everyone else.
He realized he had been silent for a bit too long just as they entered the Hall and he quickly looked back to Felix. Time to salvage the situation and hope Felix was the type to brush off this sort of senile behavior.
"Any bond should be taken seriously. Weyrfolk appreciate the dolphineers for their skills as well; I'm not surprised to hear that they're hard-earned." Jordan 'accidentally' brushed against Felix's arm as they fell into step again. "Candidacy lessons tend to be basic, and after all of this time I think I've likely gone through them all twice-over. What lessons are you on now?"
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