Xanadu Weyr - Caverns
A massive cavern in it's own right, this one has been skillfully adapted for human habitation. The high ceilings have been painted a light, soft ivory, as are the walls where numerous tapestries hang to provide brilliant color and insulation from the stone. The floor has been left in its natural state, pale pink granite speckled through with glittering mica and dark flecks of basalt, leveled carefully but kept sufficiently rough to avoid slips.
The cavern itself is loosely divided into areas, each one set up to be suitable for some segment of the Weyr's population. The most frequently occupied area, however, is the one near the Kitchens where tables of varying sizes provide a place to sit down and eat or chat and a buffet of consumables is almost always kept stocked. Its plain that on most days, this area wouldn't accommodate anywhere near the full population of the Weyr and equally plain that on such occasions when a formal meal is laid out, tables are appropriated from all the other areas.
A big fireplace is set into the wall near the Kitchens as well, several comfortable chairs nearby providing haunts for elderly residents or riders who like a good view of all that happens. Rugs cover the floor in strategic spots, all of them abstract or geometric in design and most in the softly neutral colors of undyed wool.
Evening has slipped into night as those Candidate who were to be found and were interested had been lead to the Sands once more to continue their introductions to the Clutch. One such Candidate, ex-Runner/Holder Avani, has made her way to the Caverns and has a bowl of thick soup (made by one of the Candidates from High Reaches) before her. Thor is perched nearby, the bronze making his way carefully though a small pile of meatrolls nearby.
One absence from the egg-touching was Rished, although one could safely guess he was egg-addled enough the past few sevendays to feel up to visiting them one more time. The young man is, currently, headed to get something to eat — and from the rumbling of his stomach, he doesn't much care /what/ it is, as long as it's edible. Slung over a shoulder is a large leather bag filled with something and he has some wood shavings on him to hint at what he's recently been working on. So much for a restful day off; he's been a busy, busy fellow.
Rio has just come from the sands himself, and it looks like he's seeking food, too. Touching eggs can work up an appetite! And being out there on those hot sands can really make a Candidate thirsty! So he's here as well, seeking sustenance. And his firelizard's tiny rumbling tummies aren't helping his own tummy be any less rumbly, either. He sees Avani and Rished and smiles. "Hello there," he greets, offering a wave.
Avani raises a hand almost absently to return Rio's greeting, her mud-green gaze moving over Rished as well with a slightly nod of acknowledgement. Thor leaves his mistress a few meatrolls, curling up nearby as his stomach has become full. "You know, Thor, that last Egg reminded me of you. All storms, thunger and lightning. And rain."
"Hey, yourselves," is grinned over at Rio and Avani when he spots them, but Rished's greatest focus is on getting food and that's what he's doing. Plates, bowls, glasses — enough to feed two is soon acquired, even though it's really meant to feed four. His three blip out of Between to land on the table near Avani, trilling their greeting and doing their 'lizardly best to hold their owner a spot at the table.
Rio chuckles at Avani's statement, and goes to get himself some food. He figures she's deep in thought, so he doesn't bother her. Rished's greeting is returned, with a wave and he too finds a place to sit with his own plate of food. And three firelizards, too.
Thor warbles back to the trio, only the inner-most lid still in place over his eyes. Avani eyes her bowl of stew and frowns, "I didn't think the Hatchlings would actually fill one's mind with hunger that way. Perhaps they are getting stronger the nearer they are to the Hatching?" she looks to the other two, unsure if they have overheard or experienced anything of importance during Candidacy.
"I don't really know," Rished replies, easing into a seat opposite Avani. "It was startling enough when, uh, when I touched the first and felt its mind. Now, I just don't know /what's/ going on. I don't even know if any of them like me, to be totally honest." He digs into his food all the same, the thoughts clearly not being enough to deter him from eating.
"That could be," Rio replies, since he's managed to sit somewhere near Avani. Near enough that he can hear her statement, anyway. "Who knows, they might be ready to hatch earlier than they do, and just collectively choose to come out of their shells." Pause. "Er…so to speak." He nods to Rished. "I think it's hard to tell, since it seems like the eggs were just…tasting us, for lack of a better word." He chuckles.
Avani nods, a frown playing over the edges of her lips. "Do you think that's because the Hatchlings need to keep their options open? In case one of us is injured, or otherwise can't make the Hatching?"
Rished rolls a shoulder, picking at this or that with a fork before shoveling it into his mouth. "Maybe," he mumbles around a mouthful of something, then falls silent for a moment or two. "Or maybe they don't know who they want any more than we do until they hatch. Like, they know how our minds are, but … what if one likes, uh, you, Ani, but another finds you … then they have to find another, instead." He has no clue and that much is clear, his features distorting a little with thought.
"Possibly," Rio notes. "Or maybe we aren't the one it wants, so it sort of…keeps us all organized somehow, and compares the mind with something else on hatching day? I mean, I doubt it's looks…but it might help" He grins. "If it is, I'm going to be very well liked." He pretends to fix his hair. Then he chuckles. Obviously he was kidding. He nods to Rished. "I've always wondered how they picked. I mean…it's a decision they'll have to live with for the rest of their lives. It's hard to just make a decision like that, I'd think…especially at birth…."
Avani nods. "Me and Ayvin discussed that a few times. We thought that might be why it's lucky for a bronze to Hatch first." Her brow crinckles thoughtfully, "Wouldn't it be luckiest if a gold Hatched first, though?" She shakes her head slightly, looking down at her bown of stew. "It's good that they don't set their minds on anyone, though. Just in case…"
Rished pokes a little at Navy when he seems to be edging Suede out of meat, then turns his attention to Rio. "If it's looks, then I'm running a race that I /can't/ win," he quips, mouth drawn into a lopsided, too-wide grin. "Anyway. I don't know. It, uh. It always seems like they pick /right/, but- maybe they still aren't fully them, even after hatching? Maybe they just kind of … fuse, over time?" He wrinkles his nose, then looks to Avani with a slight nod.
Rio nods. "Yeah, until they hatch," Rio comments. "Still, you have to wonder how they decide…." Then he smirks at Rished's comment, chuckling. "Ah well…we can't all have dashing good looks, eh? Just like we all can't all be strong. Which I'm not." He grins. Hey, he'll freely admit his shortcomings.
Avani shakes her head slightly as her fellow Candidates slip into friendly banter. She's not made any mention of her looks, and it doesn't seem like she will, as she pushes the bowl of cooling stew towards Thor and picks up one of the discarded meatrolls. The bronze flicks up the last lid on his right eye and then looks to the other firelizards nearby and warbles his offering of the food. He, it seems, is full.
Rished's pair of males happily set about skittering over to peruse the offerings that Thor leaves, leaving Missy to gloat proudly over her stack of strips. "Eh. Maybe they /look/ for weak, ugly, clumsy people. That's really the only hope for some of us," which seems to include him, by his good-natured tone. "But, uh. Yeah. We'll just have to wait and see. It could be that none of them find anything interesting in us and wind up going up to the observation level, instead.
Stew? Rio's firelizards are all over that! Particularly the twins, Riot and Jetta. Pizazz seems interested, too, and chirrups in question. Offering? Meanwhile, Rio grins to Avani. "If it /is/ looks, you should do pretty well, too," he teases lightly. He nods to Rished. "Exactly. Maybe they'll go for someone in the stands instead of all the Candidates that are on the stands." He pauses a moment, thinking. "You know, I've actually never seen that before."
A small smile plays over Avani's thin lips at Rished's comment, "I could just imagine my Father's face if one of my sisters Impressed from the Observation Level…" Though her tone is playful, her mud-green eyes betray her concern. She blinks at Rio's comment but just waves it off, a slight blush colouring her cheeks for a moment as she watches the 'battles' over her discarded stew. "Look what you started, Lordling," she murmurs in Thor's direction, shaking her head slightly as all three lids close over the bronze firelizard's eyes and he settles into sleep.
"Well, yeah. She'd do a lot better than, uh, some of the others." Not that Rishy will name names … but, then, he's not exactly /that/ guy. "Maybe. I haven't seen it ever, either, but I've heard of it … so it had to have happened at least once, right? That would have to be something, just sitting there … and, boom, dragonet in your lap" Navy and Suede claim a side of the stew bowl, dunking their heads in shamelessly to feed. "They're going to eat themselves sick," he mutters with some dismay.
Rio snickers to Avani's statement. "Would he be too terribly horrified?" he inquires, with mock-horror. "Oh no! We cannot have that!" He's teasing, as his chuckle states. Rio snickers as Rished speaks. He's also nice enough not to, y'know, not name names. But he nods. "Oh, I bet. All of a sudden, bam! 'AH! DRAGON!'" He grins. "Must be fun, though." He shakes his head at the firelizards. "I hope not," he remarks with a frown.
Avani blinks and looks down at her hands. "Moreso than if I Impress," she confirms, "Though he would be displeased if that happens as well." She glances at Thor and shakes her head slightly, getting to her feet. He'll find her when he wakes. "It's been a long evening. I should get to bed." She offers, nodding to her fellow Candidates. Then, without further pause of comment, the young woman strides from the Caverns.
"Yeah, but you know, Ani? It won't matter how horrified he is. What will matter is how happy your lifemate will be, you know?" That being Rished's rather humble take on things. He coughs, offers up a few rapid nods to Rio, and then he's digging into his food quickly. There's a snorted laugh after a moment and he grins, "Yeah. Well, mine can be bad about it. I'm still trying to reassure them that food won't be an issue, ever." Pause. "Oh. Uh. Sleep well, Ani."
Rio nods to Rished's statement. "He's absolutely right, Avani," he agrees. "Your father can fight all he wants, if you Impress, you have a lifemate. And if he tried to come between you and your life mate, something bad will happen to you." He's heard all the bad things that happen when riders and dragons are separated. And he frowns at the thought that it might happen to her. But a moment later, he offers a smile to the departing Avani. "Good night," he says brightly as she begins to walk away.
"Well, something bad will happen, anyway. It's not like he'd be able to, uh. UnImpress her." Still, it's a pretty sobering and awful thought in many ways. Rished rubs the back of his neck, then settles further into his meal, though there's not much meal left to be had at the rate he's been plowing through it. He falls silent for a moment or three (or more, actually, since his sense of time isn't great when he's thinking), brow furrowed in thought.
Rio nods. "Well, there /are/ ways, I hear…but it would mean they /both/ would die," he states. Then he frowns. "That's a horrible thought," he admits. "Awful. I'm sorry I thought that." He sighs. "Well, on those oh-so pleasant thoughts…" He chuckles, and stands. "I think I'd better get some sleep, too." He gathers his brood, the firelizards that have all but curled up inside the stew bowl to sleep. "You sleep well when you find your cot, hm?"
"Yeah and that's. That's no good." Rished shudders, then lifts a hand to Rio as he makes good his departure as well. "Hope you sleep well, too. See you later." And then he's left to deal with the potential for asplodey, over-eating 'lizards and weird, thoughtfulness-induced brow-furrowing. It could be worse.