[ORP] Not All That Glitters (R'gan, Rizdax, & Weyrbrats)

[DruidTigeress]

As the weyrlings got older, rest days became more common for R'gan. Which was to say, he was able to pry a few away from the grasp of his die-hard workaholic of a dragon. No ifs or buts about today. It had been far too long since he'd gotten together with Rizdax to do this. Slowly he had started to be able to work on his craft again every now and then, and this was long overdue.

The table stall was a 'store' in name alone. They were never not willing to take a 1/32 Mark, a 1/64, or whatever spare change a child happened to have in their pocket, from bits of string to shiny pebbles, in return for one of their wares. They had given a necklace to one girl for a hug and a high five once (after she had shrewdly talked them down from their original offer of two hugs).

R'gan first got the idea when his friend from candidacy had complained about not being able to get the kind of jewels he needed to practice his craft. It was then that he had the idea to try and recreate the gemstones out of glass. It had taken some practice at first, but it was an interesting project and a good study into the use of colored glass. Though they'd originally made them just to practice, the cheap and colorful trinkets were popular among children. And they'd soon made a habit of 'selling' the leftovers to kids from the creche whenever they made enough to fill a table.

A weyrbrat once himself, R'gan was familiar with their schedule, and knew they would be finished with lessons now and would soon be let out to play. He looked at Rizdax and grinned. "Ready?"  

[Hattaki]

If he didn't know just how active R'gan was with his Weyrling training he might have mentioned once or twice that his Candidate classes and training sessions made it hard to have these sorts of things happen, but Rizdax was no quitter. In fact he was more than happy to do this sort of thing with the younger teenager as it made his heart feel full and fuzzy for once, something he hadn't felt in the past Turn or so. When that little girl had given him a high five, he was glad to let the hug go on to his friend, it reminded him a bit of his little sister's exuberance with how intent she had been when bartering with them to get out of the second hug. A rare laugh had pulled from him that time when he'd accepted the slap on the palm by her much tinier hand.

Had he ever been that small? Rizdax tried to remember how he was when he was tiny but he had always been working, so maybe he had haggled a bit when he was six and seven and just a little too young to work for enough food, but that had been more to feed Xazri and Izrad than just for the sake of it. The two of them had always been his first priority and biggest concern, right up until the day that...

Taking a deep breath and pulling himself back into the present, Riz cast a glance over at R'gan and nodded his head, fingers already twisting up some cord so he could thread a few of the glittering beads onto it with ease. If the Weyrbrats of High Reaches wore some beautiful jewelry it was because the Weyrling rider was a very adept glass crafter and had little to nothing to do with his own skills in jewelry making. Holding up a soft blue bead into the light so he could catch a bit of the shine coming off of it, the short teenager nodded his head at the clarity and threaded it on there. This would just be a short bracelet but he had made other things with some of the wire that he'd managed to find, one girl had wanted a wire necklace and another had demanded something to wear on her head. Both times he had acquiesced but he would have to dig through his dwindling stock of wire to see if he could replace it.

"You make these clearer and better formed than anything I could do with so little spare time. I'm impressed as always R'gan." Rizdax winked at him and let a grin cross his pale features. Children always got his biggest grins and occasionally they earned a true smile with their antics. He hadn't been a Weyrbrat, in fact he'd been pulled to the Weyr without any memories of the ride there as he'd been unconscious and then been offered to stand as a Candidate.

Riz figured that this was a good opportunity to get a handle on everyone that was in this Weyr, even if it was just the younger ones he was meeting for the time being.

DruidTigeress

 

[DruidTigeress]

Hattaki

R'gan lifted a shoulder, looking away shyly. He'd never been very good at taking a compliment. "Nah, I just make some shiny junk.." he said, nudging one of his faux rubies around on the table. "You're the one that makes them look good." he said, and he meant. When work for him usually meant making things as mundane as agothee bottles and storage containers, it was nice to see his work be used to make something as beautiful as some of Riz's creations. He liked to watch him twisting the metal wire, setting stones, and turning simple beads into elaborate artworks. But even something as simple as a leather chord could turn a scrap of glass into a treasure in a child's eyes.

And that was nice. he thought, smiling as he remembered some of the better moments from when they would do this in the past. Kids could use a little more joy these days. More and more orphans filled the creche with every threadfall. And even those who had parents saw them less now that turns of practice had turned into reality. People who thought kids were somehow sheltered from what was going on outside were fooling themselves. Even as High Reaches marched on with optimism and determination, an undercurrent of anxiety ran through every corner of the Weyr. He'd be up there too, soon enough.. And no matter how hard he tried to protect her from it, he'd be a fool to think that Tia would somehow be unaware or unworried by that fact. It was the same for everyone.

He looked Rizdax and smiled, leaning his head against his hand. "How are things?" he asked, missing everyone in the candidate barracks that had become like a family in the few turns he was Standing. "How's everyone?" He couldn't pretend he wasn't disappointed that Rizdax didn't impress at same clutch as he did. And though he knew probably no one wished that more than Rizdax himself, it still sucked that all his friends were still candidates. He could hope that they would impress soon so they could be riders too, but still they would never get to go through that together like he'd always hoped.  

[magnadearel]

Nalacko was on a mission herself. On her spare time off, she worked with clay and made bowls, cups, and plates. She also made purely ornamental pieces. Most of the time she didn't mind what her masters did with her pieces. There was some that she held back though. She knew R'gan and his big heart. She liked to take his discarded beads and put them to a new use.

The teen embedded the less than round beads into her pottery. Today she'd collected quite a collection and was bringing them for R'gan to include in his giveaways. She was sure they'd make some great presents for children to give their families. With an armload of small pottery pieces, Nalacko shyly approached the table.

Usually when she stopped by she'd never seen Rizdax here. She nodded a quick hello to the boy. Hidden behind her pottery was a necklace that he'd given her, that he'd made from R'gan's beads. It was almost never taken off for it reminded her of both her friends.

DruidTigeress

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

He had seen R'gan's humble nature once or twice before of course but Rizdax always shook his head as if to tell him that he didn't believe him. And of course he didn't! All the beads laid on the table before him were beautifully crafted and to call them junk...

"Well, I don't think that any of them are junk. I've dealt with glass for years and this is quality for sure. Plus I was only an apprentice myself, so I don't know exactly how good some of these pieces are. I enjoy it though, so if the kids enjoy it then... well then I guess I did something good." Glass had been what he had to start with when he joined the jewelry crafters as an apprentice, gems and precious metal of any sort were held for only those studied enough to respect it properly. As far as his master had been concerned he learned quickly enough but showed maybe too much interest in things of inferior quality. So Riz had been grilled and taught and trained to know the difference of each gem and the different cuts that they could have versus the raw starters cut straight from the mountains. No matter what he learned though, glass and simplicity had stayed his true nature, making it a sort of treat to be able to work with R'gan outside of the chance to see him again of course. It had been some time since the younger boy had Impressed, not an entire Turn yet, but that meant that things were only about to get harder for the boy and his blue dragon once the training took off for them to become full fledged members of a fighting wing.

Taking up the ruby shaded glass bead that had been rolled about, Rizdax set about twisting some metal up for a choker for it. "Quite well actually. After the last clutch some of the slackers in the group actually began to focus on their lessons a bit more, but we'll see how long that lasts." He offered a gold wink towards his friend for the nostalgia he could see on his face. "It's still a Candidate's life. How about you though? How've things been with training and maneuvers? I hear that you'll get to start flying soon! Or have you already? Man that must be awesome."

Crossing his face was a look of awe and maybe even the slightest hint of envy, ever since he'd been saved by a dragon that was all he'd wanted to do, have the chance to save someone else in return. It would be like repaying the favor to the nameless rider and dragon that had risked their lives for his own. To a boy that had been about to die and then was pulled from the clutches of death by a passing dragon it would be the height of honor for him to do so. Plus flying, flying looked like a lot of fun!

Pulling his attention from the choker and up to the short brunette that appeared from almost nowhere, at least as far as he could tell, it took him only the breifest of moments to place Nalacko's face. The girl was a friend, if a new one, and the redhead felt a private uprush of pride to see the necklace he had made still resting around her neck. So this was what she did with all the pottery she made of R'gan's beads, brought them back for him to give away. Maybe R'gan had been doing some of these himself from time to time, or maybe he just threaded them on cords? Rizdax wasn't sure but it made him smile inwardly to know that the precious things came back to the Weyrling in one form or another. Offering a wink to Nalacko for bringing her hard worked pottery here to give to others, Riz turned his attentions back to the piece he was making and twisted it up a little more into a filligree effect he had seen his master use once.

DruidTigeress

magnadearel