[SRP] Research (Reya & T'of)

[Princess_Feylin]

It had taken Reya longer to find High Reaches Weyr’s archives than she would have liked to admit, but the fact was that she was usually too busy, too tired, or both to go on exploratory jaunts through the Weyr in search of additional, unassigned work to do. However, the fact that she had allowed herself so much leeway before she finally dedicated one of her rare free periods to the search was incredibly unlike her and would have shocked anyone who knew her well. Even Raqi had been startled when she realized that Reya’s remark several sevendays past expressing an interest in learning more about the Weyr’s historical tactics for Threadfall had not been idle speculation, but genuine interest, and that Reya still had not taken the time to pursue it.

It was at Raqi’s insistence that Reya had finally made the effort. The young green had assured her rider that she would be perfectly fine on her own while Reya sought out the information she wanted. Reya had not explicitly said that the dragon would be unwelcome in the archives, if she found them, but Raqi had understood that a room full of hides and scrolls all in careful order was not a great place for a young dragon in constant motion with less than perfect control over her extremities to wander about.

I am going to hold perfectly still except for my tail the whole time you’re gone, she declared. And maybe also my head.

Reya had smiled at her dragon’s determination to master her wayward limbs and agreed that her plan seemed sound, but elicited from Raqisath a promise that she would not stay in any position that made her hurt for any length of time. She could only hope that the young green would adhere to that promise in her absence, but she supposed she would be able to sense her discomfort through their bond, just as Raqi was able to do with her during physical conditioning.

Even so, it had taken Reya long enough to locate the archives that she could sense Raqi’s discomfort by the time she found them, and she could not, in good conscience, begin her research that night. Instead, she promised herself that she would return the next evening. It would mean leaving Raqi on her own again, since she could see at a glance that the uncoordinated green dragonet would be a hazard in the orderly cavern, but Raqi didn’t mind. She wanted Reya to do whatever was necessary to attain knowledge and proficiency in this or any other area that interested her.  

[Princess_Feylin]

When are you going to look up those records for me? Makhmilith prodded his rider.

The velvety dark blue dragon had gotten it into his head that falsifying a queen flight more than a generation ago had produced the current Weyr leadership, which he was certain was up to something sinister, having been indoctrinated by a line of successive leadership. Why Makh thought there would be records pointing to this in the archives was an idea T’of could not quite grasp, and he had no idea what sort of records would indicate that in the first place, so he had been putting off the trip, but it seemed Makh’s patience had run out.

I’ll go right now, T’of muttered, thinking unhappily of all the dust in the archives, and the fact that dust was made up, in part, of shed human skin bits. He didn’t like dust.

You could wear gloves, Makh suggested. If you think it would help.

It wouldn’t, the searchrider grumbled. He’d already tried this turns ago while still an apprentice at Healer Hall. It’s damned hard to handle parchment and vellum in gloves.

Makh was not unsympathetic to the discomfort his request for information was causing his rider, but he also could not fit into the archives himself, nor handle the materials therein. Besides, it wasn’t as though he could ask anyone else to look, since that would mean sharing his theory with them, which he knew he could not do without proof, which he couldn’t get without someone going to the library. It had to be T’of.

“I don’t even know what I’m looking for,” he complained under his breath as he walked into a dimly lit portion of the records cavern. Some of the records were quite old, and even the light of glows could be damaging to them, so they were kept in a poorly lit area, to be searched by the temporary light of a hand-held glow, rather than constantly illuminated. There were other, better-lit areas of the archives where a person could take their materials to read.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Reya wasn’t quite alarmed to hear someone’s voice from a dark portion of the archives, but she was apparently sufficiently startled that Raqi sent her a quick query as to whether everything was quite all right.

Yes, was Reya’s response. I think so. I just thought I was the only one in here, and apparently I’m not.

Some of her underlying concern about being alone with an unseen stranger accompanied her reply, unfortunately, and she got the sense that Raqi was getting read to charge in and perform a rescue, delicate records or not.

I’ll be fine, she insisted, doing a better job this time of sounding convinced by her own assertion. What danger could I be in here?

That was absolutely a mistake to ask, because Raqi could feel all Reya’s memories of being unsafe bubbling up, and before she could put a stopper on her nerves Reya knew the graceless green was leaving the dorm.

No, stay there, Reya said with a firmness born of five turns of parenting. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and there is no one at this Weyr who means me harm. I’m quite certain of that.

Raqi’s suspicion and worry burbled below her consciousness, making it impossible for Reya to focus on figuring out the archives’ organization scheme. At last, in exasperation, she asked, Shall I just go see who it is, then?

No! Raqi was quick to reply, actually vocalizing as well, but it was too late. Reya had made up her mind to put an end to this anxiety so that she could get down to research.

Reya strode purposefully into the darker shelves and cubbies of the archives, moving in the direction of a single, small glow which moved methodically along the rows and barely illuminated either the writing or the person holding it aloft. Even so, Reya was able to barely make out a male face with cheekbones you could cut yourself on and dark, heavy eyebrows.

“Good evening,” she greeted him, ignoring her dragon's piteous imprecations not to do so.  

[Princess_Feylin]

“Good evening.”

T’of started, taking a quick pair of steps away from the woman who had spoken, presumably addressing him, to put some distance between them and forestall any physical contact she might be thinking of making. He could hear Makh snickering in the back of his mind and knew it was because of his assumption that she might be about to touch him. It was, he knew, an irrational concern, but it was nevertheless a thing he would like not to happen. Especially not unexpectedly.

“Ah,” he said, stalling while his eyes strained to make out any details of the woman’s face. Unfortunately, she stood too far away and was thus cloaked in shadow. He could not recognize her. Well, not quite. Her voice might have been familiar.

It’s the woman who Impressed from beside you at the last hatching, Makhmilith informed him, having taken a peek of his own at the person who had startled his rider, borrowing T’of’s senses. The one I might have Searched.

“Reya,” T’of said, both supplying the name for Makh and greeting the weyrling. “I truly did not expect to see you here. I don’t recall ever being sent to the archives for anything as a weyrling.”

Makh had nothing to contribute. He didn’t recall anything of the sort, either, but it wasn’t the sort of thing he was likely to remember anyway. He did recall several days in which T’of carefully packed up all of the research he had done at the Weyr up until he Impressed, sealing it against damage and decay as best he could manage, and that the research was stored somewhere in the archives, but given T’of’s aversion to dust and the advent of Threadfall, it seemed unlikely those records would ever be visited again. None of that came to mind at the moment, though, being basically irrelevant to present goings-on.

“Unless this is where they hold remedial lessons for weyrlings who are not strong readers…?” Had he been able to see her face, he would have realized that he had just uttered an incredibly stupid string of words. As it was, he had only Makh’s soft advice to tread carefully to warn him that he’d erred.

“Er...That’s not you, I’m guessing.”

Terrible recovery, Makhmilith observed. That was really insulting.

“Sorry,” he ventured.  

[Princess_Feylin]

It took Reya a few seconds to place the man’s voice. He knew her name, and that made her go very, very still for a moment in memory of being surprised in a dark alley behind her work. It took effort for her to release her tension. This was High Reaches Weyr. Only her family knew she was here. She was safe.

And I will protect you! Raqisath reassured her. I’m coming!

No, wait, Reya thought hurriedly. I know who this fellow is, I just can’t come up with his name. I think he’s a rider.

While the man speculated about what she might be doing in the archives, Reya reviewed all the riders she’d met since coming to the Weyr, comparing them to the shaded angles and shapes of her interlocutor’s face. It was difficult, but not impossible. She eventually recalled the hatching feast, the argument with her brother, and her abortive conversation with...T’of. Her palpable relief was reflected back by Raqi.

Comforted by her surety, Reya slanted an amused look at T’of, unaware that her expression was hidden in the dark. He couldn’t seriously think she was illiterate. The idea would have been insulting had it not been patently ridiculous. Her amusement reached Raqi, who demanded to know what was going on.

He thinks I might be illiterate, she explained. Well, no. I don’t think he really thinks that. But he’s doing an excellent job at sounding like he does.

Is he stupid? Raqisath asked.

Probably not, Reya replied, and then realized belatedly that she had been standing in silence for several seconds after T’of finished speaking.

“I’m not illiterate,” she informed him not unkindly. Then she added, “But my dragon would like to know if you’re stupid.”  

[Princess_Feylin]

T'of's eyebrows shot toward his hairline. While both he and Makhmilith agreed that he had not done a very good job of conversing so far, and thus expected a sharp retort, even anger, from Reya, he had not expected to be informed that his intelligence was being questioned.

He moved the glow in his hand so that it was closer to Reya, and thus illuminating both of their faces somewhat. Only then did he see that her expression was so carefully blank that she could only be concealing amusement. At least, he sincerely hoped that was the case.

Lucky for you if it was, Makh remarked idly. But also if she hits you, it's not undeserved.

Thanks for the support, T'of thought back to the blue, wondering how it was that he so often seemed to exist solely to provide amusement for his bondmate.

“And what did you tell her?” T'of asked, gambling that he'd read her careful non-expression as humor and injecting a teasing note into his inflection. His eyebrows, of course, told their own story as they dramatically portrayed good humor and intrigue across the backdrop of his forehead.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Reya pursed her lips and looked T'of over to the extent that she could in the dim archives, doing a fine impression of someone who was not especially taken with what she saw, but would nevertheless have to make do because it was the only option available.

"I told her that I don't know you well enough to say."

You didn't tell me that, Raqi protested.

And yet you heard me say it, so you know it's what I would have told you, Reya replied without much sympathy.

In fact, she was a little bit irritated by Raqi's interruption, and her irritation surprised her, because it was not something she tended to feel with Raqisath. It came as something of a concurrent surprise to Reya to realize that she might be annoyed by the interruption because she was flirting. After a fashion, at any rate. Or maybe she was just making a friend? It had been a long time since she'd done either thing, and she was obviously rusty if she couldn't tell which was which.

She took a quick breath and steadied herself. Flirting was forbidden to weyrlings, and for very good reason, she was given to understand. She was not going to jeopardize Raqi's well-being, not to mention her own, just because T'of was unexpectedly - wonderfully - easy to talk to. There would be time enough for relationships once Raqisath had grown up. Or there wouldn't be, and that was fine, too. Dragonriders existed for a reason, and that was to fight Thread. As long as she was doing that, she had enough of a purpose.

I am enough then? Raqi asked. She, too, had registered that Reya was fleetingly annoyed with her, and it made her anxious.

You are enough, Reya promised. She would have to end this encounter quickly, she decided.  

[Princess_Feylin]

"Theoretically I'm above average intelligence," he reported, aware that he sounded like a pompous a** and irked by the awareness. "Clearly I'm not showing to best advantage at the moment though. Maybe I can redeem myself by helping you find what you're looking for in here?"

T'of hadn't failed to notice the indications that Reya was relaxing, and that she seemed to be enjoying his company, and a large part of him could not help also noticing even in the dim light that she was an attractive woman. If she wasn't a weyrling, he would have enjoyed pursuing this conversation further, and maybe seeing if it would develop into something more - at least up to a point - but she was a weyrling and the rules were in place for a reason.

Don't push it, Makh warned. Do. Not.

I'm not, T'of replied, not bother to conceal the irritation coloring his mental tone as he addressed his dragon. When he repeated himself, it felt more like he was reprimanding himself, rather than assuring Makh. I'm not.

Surprisingly, Makh did not answer T'of's ire with his own. His response was mild, almost consolatory: There will be plenty of time to explore later. If you want to. Although...

Makhmilith did not need to finish the thought. T'of knew what he meant. T'of was not much good at romantic relationships. He felt all the emotions and had all the physical responses one might expect, but contact was too hard for him, and few women cared to remain long-term in a relationship which would never have a physical component, except during mating flights, and those were even worse, given how he always reacted to finding himself entangled with and contaminated by another human being.

I know. But I can still be a friend to her. He wanted to be a friend to her. He thought they could be good friends, and T'of was usually an excellent judge of character when it came to that sort of thing.

True. Though I do wish Raqisath was old enough to be interesting for me to talk to.

You could talk to Reya.

Makh's laughter echoed in the back of T'of's head as he waited for Reya's response to his offer of assistance.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Reya nodded seriously. "Ah. Theoretical intelligence."

She thought she was familiar with people like T'of. Not dragonriders, necessarily, but people who were defined themselves by their intellect. She was one such, for example. Her brother, she had always thought, was another, even though he didn't usually mention it, he also seemed very confident in his intelligence. Joha had been a man who thought himself very clever indeed, but had proven mentally mundane but for a gift for barbed and backhanded compliments. Self-proclaimed smart people were a mixed bag, like everyone else.

"I'm looking for historical information on Threadfall tactics," she said. "Diagrams, for instance. Maybe something describing the way Thread actually moves through the sky when it falls, so I can try to put that together with formations and tactics to get a picture of what will be most effective when Raqi and I are on a wing."

Saying it aloud, Reya felt a blush sweep across her cheeks. Doing the accounts at the brothel, she had grown accustomed to the people around her expecting her to go above and beyond in the name of thoroughness and research. It was apparently not expected behavior for weyrlings, however, and she didn't know if that was because they were held in so little esteem that no one expected more of them or because it simply wasn't required and she was inadvertently trying to get ahead of the curriculum. Still, she blushed, knowing that for a grown woman to seem so eager to learn anything was abnormal and a thing easily made mock of.

Despite her blush, she kept her chin raised and her gaze level. She was not going to be made to feel ridiculous for caring about her future well-being and the well-being of her dragon.  

[Princess_Feylin]

I definitely would have Searched this one, had she not Impressed before I was given the chance, Makhmilith declared to T'of. This is someone who asks questions and wants to know the why of things. She belongs in the Weyr.

I don't disagree, T'of replied. Aloud he said, "I can help you with that, actually."

He almost volunteered that he had conducted similar research after impressing Makh, once the blue was able to be left alone for a decent length of time. Maybe this was a thing that mature weyrlings did if they Impressed from the stands instead of on the sands. Except he knew that wasn't the case. Rarely did someone who Impressed from the stands seek out the archives to supplement their lessons. They were already taking a lot of remedial classes to learn Weyr basics. He remembered those well enough, even though he'd lived in the Weyr for a bit before Impressing, doing mindhealer research.

He began walking, looking over his shoulder to make sure Reya followed. It meant going deeper into the darkness, and so the glow he held was the only source of illumination, but he was familiar with the section.

"Frustratingly, you won't find a great deal of difference in Thread fighting tactics. They haven't changed in centuries, really. The inclusion of whites in some wings is about the only thing I can think of. But you might find something useful, especially if you haven't studied the subject before. As for information about how Thread moves, you don't need diagrams for that. You could always take a look outside during the next Fall."

He ignored Makh's laughter at his suggestion, defending himself by pointing out, "First hand observation is always the best way to gather data."  

[Princess_Feylin]

"Thank you. Lead on."

Reya followed the bluerider at a distance which kept him and his glow in her sights, but beyond the reach of his arms. She had, after all, spent the majority of her life doing accounts for a brothel, and that engendered a distinctly cautious approach to being alone with near-strangers in dimly lit, empty places. Not that she actually believed T'of would try anything, but a woman did not easily give up her caution.

She listened to him opine on the helpfulness of written sources for learning about fighting Thread and thought that she'd like to find out for herself, thanks, and that if she'd wanted his opinion, she would have asked for it. She kept these thoughts to herself as best she could, although Raqisath could sense them and sent her some cheeriness to counter the mild irritation she sensed from her rider.

"As you might expect, I have never willingly gone anywhere near Thread. The effects of getting too close weren't anything I wanted to risk. And, honestly, I never had much curiosity about its mechanics until it became my life's work to fly about in it," she replied to his suggestion about watching Thread's behavior during the next Fall.

Reya had just finished saying this when T'of stopped walking and stood expectantly in front of a cubby space filled with rolled hides. He held the glow closer and peered at the markings above the cubbyholes, apparently able to make sense of the numbers there and how they organized materials. Reya would have to learn how those worked, too, she decided. Then she would not need anyone's help again. Not that she really minded T'of's help, or even his opinions, per se. She just preferred to be self-reliant.  

[Princess_Feylin]

"I'm not surprised. It would take a special brand of idiocy to investigate something as dangerous as Thread up-close unless there was a pressing reason to do so," T'of commented. "Of course, one of my friends at Healer Hall wants to do just that, but she really is an idiot in many respects, so my point stands."

Which friend is this? Makh asked. He did not remember meeting a healer who wanted to study Thread, but he did not tend to remember lots of the humans he met in passing. They were all squishy quadrupeds with minimal variation around the hair.

Ansha, T'of answered absently. The one who wanted a sample of your hide to test Thread against to see how Thread-resistant it would be.

Oh. That one, Makh replied darkly. He didn't disagree with the idea of studying the threat of Thread, but he was also a fighting dragon and could not spare patches of hide to satisfy a healer's curiosity. He now recalled that he had not liked the way that woman had looked at him, like she would have liked to dissect him.

"Anyway, these are what you're looking for," T'of said. "I'll leave you to your research."

He smiled and set the glow down in a nearby sconce so that Reya would be able to see what she was looking at, and then he moved away into the dim archives. He knew them well enough that he didn't really need the glow to find his way around. It simply made it easier for him to find specific materials.

You're showing off, Makh pointed out as T'of departed.

How in the world am I showing off? he asked.

"Oh, I know the archives so well, I don't need light to get around. I'm so knowledgeable," Makh mimicked. Tell me I'm wrong.

You're wrong, T'of said firmly. She just needed the glow more than I did. To read by.

The blue's laughter echoed in the back of his head.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Reya wondered about T'of's "idiot" friend. Her intention to learn more about their enemy seemed sensible to Reya, but T'of hadn't seemed particularly dismissive when he discussed her. A tiny sliver of her mind wondered how close the two of them had been. Before Raqisath could get her claws on that thought, Reya shoved it aside, nodded her thanks, and looked toward the cubby T'of had indicated, eager to begin her research. Nevertheless, when he excused himself and thoughtfully left her with the glow he'd been carrying, she found that her attention wavered from the rolled hides.

You like him, Raqisath observed as Reya's gaze followed T'of's disappearing form until he was swallowed by the dark. Don't you.

He seems intelligent, Reya answered, but it was prevarication.

If she was being honest, she did like him, despite the brevity of their acquaintance, and she would not mind at all having the opportunity to extend their acquaintance and develop some sort of relationship. But she could tell that he was just the sort of man she could fall for, and she didn't have time for that. She didn't even think she had the emotional wherewithal for that, to be perfectly honest. Between Raqisath and her family, she felt she must be about tapped out when it came to caring for others. In this she was mistaken, but that was how she felt at the moment.

Not stupid after all, Raqisath observed. Good. You should probably have some humans to talk to about human things.

As you say, Reya agreed, reaching for the first roll of hide.