Xanadu Weyr - Meadow
A large, slightly rolling meadow is set high enough above the riverbank on both sides to avoid suffering from flooding, healthy ground cover and grass spreading out from either side of the dividing river. Scattered amongst the meadow are a variety of buildings, each with a narrow path leading up to it from a main, winding road. Some are set under a few trees, while others sit by themselves.
Stables and a smithy are settled on their own plots, while trees border the northern edge of the meadow, and a faint outline of a fence can be seen to the east.
Tamasth gallumphs through the meadow, seedpods and sands clinging to his wet hide. He seems more than a little proud of himself, and it's easy to see why. Trailing behind him is a drenched (and not the least bit properly attired to be so) Cirilia. She mutters darkly, "You sharding creature. When I SAY I don't want to swim, it means I don't!"
The sun is still quite high in the sky, but it's starting to make it's decent down towards the horizon. Thick clouds leave light through in patches, but they seem to be growing thicker and darker as the day goes on, perhaps signaling rain in the near future. Rogawani is closest to the stables, two large messenger bags set out in front of him. The boy is sitting with his rump on one of the fence railings, slowly going through a number of wrapped packages and notating them on a piece of parchment. The sound of someone yelling nearby causes his head to shoot up and a smile to find it's way onto his face. "That looks familiar." He laughs to himself, and sets a package down into the 'completed' bag, folding the parchment in his hand. "Did he get you into the water this time?"
Ruzel seems to be wandering rather aimlessly through the meadow, as usual equipped with his trusty sketchpad and array of pencils. The young wannabe artist seems to just be waiting for inspiration to strike somewhere among the scenic Xanadu meadows. What better muse could he ask for than an unexpected drenched bluerider running around yelling at her lifemate? He does a poor job of hiding his snickering, lifting up the pad and quickly scribbling a few lines as he watches her walk by.
Keziah comes out of the stables muttering to herself as she brushes off hay from her clothes "I will filet that stupid little brat if it kills me." She takes a breath of fresh and looks around a little, noting Rogawani practically on her doorstep, carious people further out and a rather disgruntled looking rider and her dragon. She can't help but grin "Well, looks like someone else has it worse than me. She glances back at Rogawani "Anything in there for me?" she asks curiously.
Oh! There he is! Tamasth bounds to Rogawani, doing his best impression of a young canine.. that is, if a canine had wings and could trumpet loudly enough to scare the firelizards hanging about in the furthest reaches of the Weyr. But yes, canine impression aside, this one was so much easier to get in the water than his cranky old lifemate. Still dripping, still muttering, Cir takes pause for a moment as she hears someone hail her. Oh my… people. She seems to attempt to look more presentable until she realizes all is in vain, and she hefts a huge sigh. Yes, melodramatics are a nice touch. "It seems," she glares at the blue, "That someone has decided that 'no' means 'I don't want to walk there', not 'No, I don't want to, even if you drag me, bump me, shove me or fling me in the water.'"
Ruzel manages a quick sketch of the soaked rider before stopping his efforts for the moment, wandering over in the direction of the others to make polite conversation. It wouldn't be right to just lurk off drawing people from a distance. "Well, I suppose that must be one of the perils of life as a dragonrider. At least you got yourself some exercise! Though it might've been nice to have the opportunity to change first."
"Well, turn about is fair play you know." Rogawani comments with a grin on his face for the rider. "You didn't save me from that fate." He presses his lips together to keep from laughing at her, hopping down from his seat on the fence as the dragon comes closer. "Hey there Tamasth." His amusement lingers on his face for the dragon, leaning himself against one of the fence posts, nudging his bag of packages a bit behind it so that it doesn't get dragon-squished. "You seem happy today." At first, he doesn't see Ruzel with the blue in the way, but he hears the voice to know there's others. His eyes turn towards Keziah though, a smirk lingering there. "Maybe. Were you expecting something?" He asks, his face going into its all-business expression. "I haven't got it all catalogued yet."
Keziah just arches her brows a moment and then she shakes her head "I suppose you really can't put a dragon on short rations." she notes as she looks at the blue and then just rolls her eyes "You would think that they'd be smarter and all that, but I've seen better behaves billies." she notes and then nods to Rogawani "Yeah, mother sent some things for Mirai. Though it may yet be a bit early yet for them." she notes and then she waves to Ruzel as she watches him "You've a point there." she smirks. Excercise in the name of rambunctious dragons.
Morlanol wanders in from the clearing, a slight smile on his face as he glances around, in haling deeply of the fresh air. At least at the moment he doesn't seem to notice anyone… until he walks right into Tamasth.
Cirilia eyes the 'artist' curiously. She can't help but quirk a small grin despite herself. She rolls her eyes, "The hazards of dragonriding began when he decided that the best way to tell me he was hungry was to dump a bucket of innards on me then blame it on some little green that happened by, saying that she heard how terribly hungry he was and that she was just trying to help. Tamasth snorts defensively. Cirilia's eyes narrow, "And don't tell me that if I didn't sleep so late, I would have seen it for myself. She was dead asleep and didn't even like you." Tamasth ignores that last comment and dips his muzzle to try and take a look at whatever Ro is hiding from him.
Ruzel chuckles at the blue dragon and rider, examining both for a moment during the story. "Well, dragons are wonderful and majestic creatures, but they always remain a bit of a child at heart. Sort of like people, only they're more open about it. Of course, that does have a downside." He gestures toward Cirilia and her wet clothes. Curious, he looks back at Rogawani and Keziah. "Anything in there for a Ruzel? That's Ruzel with a z."
Rogawani aims a finger towards Tamasth, not the least bit worried about the big draconic head. "You can look, but no squishing anything." He warns, taking a step sideways but keeping an eye on the two bags with a protective expression on his face. "Last thing I need is to have to replace this stuff out of my own pocket." He mumbles to himself, remembering having to pay for the firelizard egg that hatched into his hands. "Huh?" He blinks and looks towards Ruzel now that he's come into view. "Ruzel, you said?" He blinks and pulls the piece of paper out again, looking down the list. "That sounds familiar." He mutters, and then pokes a finger towards it. "Yep. One sec." Throwing his leg over the fence, he straddles it for a moment as he glances at Keziah. "I'll check to see if you have anything in while I'm looking." And then his eyes sweep to the dragon again. "Excuse me Tamasth. I've got to check these."
Cirilia nods in response to Ruzel, "I think I'll take care of that now." To the blue, she calls, "C'mon, galoot, let's go." Tamasth murrs unhappily but does go to follow his mate, for it really is his fault that she's soaking wet. He'll find Rogawani and those intruguining packages later.
Keziah shakes her head as dragon and rider leave and then peers at Ruzel "And here I thought Ruzel would have been with an R." she remarks cheekily and then nods at Roga. "My thanks. Got quite the load there don't you? Though I'm not sure this be the best place for sortin' or catalogin'. Least the Caprines are out in the upper pastures at the moment."
Morlanol picks him self up, dusting himself off as he does, then looks around, "H'lo? What's goin' on here?" He glances around again, "Wait… wasn't there a dragon here?"
Ruzel chuckles a little self-consciously at Keziah's correction, scratching the back of his head. "Well, the R part isn't the one that most people tend to get wrong." He glances at the bluerider and dragon as they depart, snickering and shaking his head. "I can't even imagine having to deal with one of those every day." He then looks back at the mail. "Find anything?"
"Yeah, big haul today." Rogawani replies as he bends down, pulling one package out before setting it aside dismissively. "Blackrock and Ressac mostly, and some things the message dragons brought in." His eyebrows edge down in concentration, moving letters and packages around in the sorted bag. His eyes, however, flash towards Keziah, chuckling a bit. "Easier to sort it here after dropping my runner off than dragon two big bags halfway across the weyr." His face shows a wry smirk for a moment before his hand settles on something. "Ahah. There it is." As his head comes up, he blinks to see dragon and rider gone. "Hrm." He mutters, and then offers a wrapped package out to Ruzel. "Yeah, saves me the trip."
Keziah just grins at at Ruzel "No worries, was only pokin'" she notes and then hmms at Rogawani "I suppose. Course, you could ride up to the caverns, take it in, and then send for a stablehand. They're lazy enough as it is. They need the excercise." Theres a glance back in at the stables "In fact, you ever need one for some grunt work. I know just the one."
Morlanol glances over, noticing Keziah for the first time and smiles, "Hey Kez," he turns to Rogawani, "need any help with that?"
Ruzel accepts the package with a happy smile, turning it over in his hands a few times. "Ah, wonderful! This must be the new set of paints and brushes I ordered specially from Landing… thanks a bunch! This got here way faster than I thought it would." When his joy over the delivery fades a bit, he peers curiously at Keziah. "Oh, really? I know a couple of the stablehands here. Who's been slacking off?"
Rogawani returns the smile to Ruzel, always happy to make a delivery. "Not a problem. It's my job." He puffs his chest out a bit with boyish prie, chuckling to himself before shrugging towards Keziah. "My foster parents are stablehands. They taught me not to bother them at work when I don't have to." He explains, and then pulls the other bag over. Since this is likely to take longer, he sits down and pulls the unsorted bag into his lap. "It might take me longer to check for your stuff, Kez, hope you don't mind." He doesn't glance up towards her when saying this, but does offer a smirk towards Morlanol. "Nah, I got it."
Keziah snerks a little "Well, it's one thing it's responsible adults. And sides, they're my stablehands." Sorta, being just assitant stablemaster and all, but more in her care than the other. "Sides Gairons my personal little project, and well even if he has to run to one of the minor holds to fetch a runner. It's not a bother at all." she remarks and glances over at Ruzel. "Gairon's got it in his head that at age 13 he doesn't have to work as hard."
Ruzel keeps turning the package over in his hands, as though even the plain brown exterior is fascinating. He's like a kid with a turnday present. "Well, thanks all the same. I appreciate it. Nice of you to sort through the bag just 'cause I asked." He looks up again to listen to Keziah. "Gairon, huh? Not one of the guys I know. So go ahead and work him til he passes out, or whatever it is you stablemasters do." He says with a grin.
Morlanol cranes a little, trying to look over Roga's shoulder, but failing due to how short he is, "Is there anythin' fer me? My da' said he might write."
Rogawani seems to take more time with this second bag, carefully lifting each package and then placing it to the side when it deson't match what he's looking for. "Don't worry about it, Ruzel. It's all part of the job." He lifts his head and looks at the older boy. "You do drawings, though, right?" He asks, head tilting as he pushes another package to the side. "I might have a job for you. Almost my mum's turnday." He says before glancing at Morlanol. "Letters are in that bag. The pouch on the outside if you want to look." He points at the sorted bag, and then speaks to Keziah without lifting his head. "At thirteen? Jeeze, I wish I had a job when I was thirteen."
Keziah chuckles at Ruzel "Well, his foster mum might have something to say about it, but she'd also likely agree with you." she hmms at Rogawani "Well, I suppose in a way it's connections and part of dare I suppose. Cora doesn't think I can whip the boy into shape. The poor lad though. His parents were both killed and none of his other relatives really wanted him. Bounced him around quite a bit tell he landed here and under Cora's eye. Bit of a trouble maker and such, but he is good with the beasties."
Ruzel lights up at Rogawani's question, nodding enthusiastically. "I certainly do. Drawings and paintings both, actually. Are you looking to get your mother a present? I'd be very happy to help… and very cheap, too. I'm just getting started selling my work. What would you like a picture of? And by when?" Keziah's story seems to bring down his mood just a bit. "Too bad. Kids who have had rough lives are always a bit tough to deal with."
Morlanol jumps over to the bag Rogawani had indicated and starts digging through it, tossing a "Thank you" back as a second thought
"Try not to mix 'em up, will you?" Rogawani murmors to Morlanol, but isn't watching him closely. Moving a few more packages to the side, he finally finds one with Keziah's name on it. He opens his mouth, about to say something, but Ruzel sidetracks him. "Oh, I was hoping for maybe a sketch of the wildflowers that are growing in the gardens?" He looks up an seems curious, and perhaps a little bit unsure. "Women like flowers, right? What would you get drawn for your mom?" He asks speculatively, and then seems to realize he's still holding the stablemaster's package. "Oh, Keziah, here." He holds it out towards her, leaning a bit under the fence to reach.
Keziah can't help but grin at the kid going through the mail and then nods to Ruzel "Yeah, they are tough to deal with. Especialy when they get it into their head that they're bored. He's not a bad kid. Just, misdirected. He doesn't want to go into the craft either, which is a shame. I think he'd do very well. But he's yet to come to the realization that he is good enough to apply himself. Being shifted around left him with quite the poor self image. I think he's still waiting to be shifted off again, course it has only been a few months." she notes and then ohs as Rogawani finds her package and she leans to get it. "Thank you. And yeah, a lot of girls like flowers and such. Though I think for my mothers, she'd be thrilled with a portrait of Mirai or myself. After all she's always saying she doesn't see me enough."
"Well, I think it would depend entirely upon the mother." Ruzel responds to Rogawani, smiling happily at the prospect of work. "But flowers seem like an excellent choice! Tell you what. If you'll tell people I did nice work for you, and you tell your mother who made the picture, I'll be happy to do it for free. I could use the advertising. Can't get a better deal than that, can you?" Sensing another opportunity, he grins at Keziah. "Would you like a picture as well? I can tell you'd make a great subject, if that's what you'd like."
A few moments later, Morlanol emerges from the bag, holding a small envelope triumphantly. He looks it over carefully, then scoffs, "Leave it to da' to misspell my name…" He starts to open the envelope as he glances over at Keziah, "Has anyone ever asked him what craft or crafts he wanted to try?"
With the package handed off, Rogawani listens more closely to the tale of the miscreant stablehand, his eyebrows furrowing a little bit. "I'm sure the kid will come around." He nods his head a bit, eyes on Morlanol. "I'd probably have figured it out. You're kind of hard to miss you know." He notes, and then seems thoughtful of the boy's suggestion. "You could always have him work with one of the crafters, it might encourage him to give it a try?" He offers his own alternative, and then beams towards Ruzel. "Sure. I'd be happy to be your spokesman. Shards, draw me up some fliers and I can even get you some work from the holds I bet."
Keziah blinks at Ruzel and then just shakes her head in bemusemet. "Don't see how's I'd be a great subject and all, but yeah, sure. Mother would be pleased and might get her off my back fer a bit." she notes and then nods to Morlanol "He's been asked, mainly he jsut shrugs." she looks thoughful "Course, havin' him work with another, that ain't been tried yet. Might see about that."
Morlanol nods, unfolding the letter as he speaks, "Yeah, I grew up with no choice but t' be a miner and bein' down there with another worker what wasn't family helped a lot to get me t' actually be interested."
Ruzel tucks his package under one arm and claps his hands, grinning brightly. "Wonderful! In that case, I'll get you your drawing straight away… when did you say your mother's turnday was? I'll definitely make certain you get a top-notch drawing well in advance. And maybe come up with some fliers too, that's not a bad suggestion at all." He then nods to Keziah. "Well, I think you have a naturally striking look. The freckles would certainly make you fun to draw. You'd get the same deal as my new friend here. How about it?"
"No choice?" Rogawani asks, looking at Morlanol more curiously now as the messenger begins putting the packages away again. There is a sound of leather rubbing leather as he pulls the drawstring tight, and then pulls out the piece of parchment to check off the deliveries he just made. "Three down, too many to go." He laughs to himself, an then taps his pencil on to the page. "Her turnday isn't for two months, but I don't make much so I was hoping to use the extra time to save up extra." His face takes on a bemused expression. "Guess I didn't need it afterall." He rubs at his nose, perhaps scratching an itch there. "But no rush. Take your time." He waves a hand towards Ruzal and then smiles. "Rogawani's the name. Ro' to most. Messenger by trade as if that much wasn't obvious."
Keziah blinks againat Ruzel "My freckles would make it fun?" she then laughs and nods "Why not, it's a deal. I'll help advertise you. Would certainly be something." she notes and then hmms at Morl "Yeah, family can be that way, though you seem to be fitting in well with your field."
Morlanol nods, putting off skimming his letter for the moment, "Yeah, Ro… grew up in a small crafthold. Just me, ma', pa', m' sister, and a handful of other miners. I did discover I liked it, but when y' don't have a choice, sometimes it takes a while to realize how much fun something is."
Ruzel seems quite energized by the prospect of actual work involving art, even if he isn't actually going to be paid for any of it yet. "Well, I'm very pleased to meet you, Rogawani. Ro. You already know it, but just to be formal my name's Ruzel. I make my money as a handyman, at least until people start buying my art. I really appreciate the help." He grins at Keziah once more. "Sure! I've never drawn anyone with so many freckles before. It could be really interesting. Actually, I usually only get to draw people when they're eating dinner, it's the only time people sit still long enough around here. I'd really appreciate the chance to work with you."
"Man." Rogawani murmurs to himself, shaking his head. "My foster parents were stablehands, but they always said I could do whatever I wanted in life. Da wasn't to thrilled with me being a messenger, but he's dealing." His eyebrows furrow, trying to imagine a world where your profession isn't your choice, but as it isn't the world he's lived in, nothing really fits. "Well, at least you're having fun. Satoris seems to be riding you though, I noticed?" He asks, and then turns towards Ruzel again, "If my mom likes it, you can be sure I'll toss some coins at you when I have some to spare." He seems sheepish at this part at least. "What's not going to new tack for my runner."
Keziah frowns a little "So many freckles? I don't have that many." Well, maybe she does, but she'll denie. "Do I?" she eyes her arms "It's just freckles." she hmmphs a little but she smiles. "Well, if it'll help you work on your stuff. I Don't mind sittin for ya." a pause "How longs it likely to take and all?
Ruzel glances at Morlanol and grins. "I suppose I can see why there'd be pressure. Both my parents were dragonriders, luckily. They can't really pressure me to follow in their footsteps, so I end up getting to do my own thing." He then turns back to Rogawani. "Well, don't feel obligated or anything. The way I see it, if you advertise for me and get me some business, you'll have paid me more than enough for the drawing. Besides, us working guys have to look out for one another." He chuckles at Keziah again. "Well, I didn't really mean anything by it, but you do have an interesting look! And that depends. A simple sketch would only take… oh, I don't know. Fifteen, twenty minutes? But if you wanted something more involved, it might take longer. When will you have some free time?"
Morlanol starts skimming his letter, that usual 'letter from home' smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as he does so. To Rogawani, he says, "Yeah, my da's glad I'm here, 'course he sent me. As to Satoris… yeah, I guess news of some of my early activities here got back to him in the worst possible light, but I think we're on an even keel now."
"I think she's got more than just an 'interesting' look." Rogawani comments, pushing himself up onto his feet now that the bags are situated once more, tucking the scrap of paper into his riding jacket. "Shards, if I knew being an artist would let me sit there and eye pretty girls, I'd probably have picked that profession instead." He smirks a bit, and then shakes his head, bemused at his own lie. "Okay, probably not, but it's certainly a perk." Throwing his leg over the fence again, the boy reaches over and tugs the two bags with him, "Hey, you do good for me, though, I do good for you. Makes us even, right?" He smiles companionably to Ruzel before smirking at Morlanol. "Wonder what Satoris would think if that runner had taken your head off. You've got to be more careful if you go into the stables again, you hear me?"
Keziah just eyes the boys and just shakes her head but she smiles. Ahh, youth. A thoughtful look "Well, likely I'll be free later this evening, and tomorrow for sure. I've a day off." she notes and looks thoughtful "I suppose a sketch though would be just fine and such." she hmms somewhat. "Though I dunno, if you do something a bit more elaborate, I'll pay ya fer it." she then glances back at the stables "Though for now, I should be getting back to work."
"Sounds great. You can find me at the residential hall most evenings. I'll look forward to it!" Ruzel says with a smile and a wave goodbye to Keziah before he looks back over at Rogawani. "That is definitely one big upside to the work… well, it is now anyways. Like I said, never actually got anyone to let me draw them before. I usually just do landscapes, or people occupied with other things."
Morlanol smirks, "I believe that incident was filed under me 'being careless and nearly getting someone killed.' I think that one was what got me on his radar to begin with."
As Keziah heads back into the stables, Rogawani's face falls a little and he just shakes his head. "Bah, I'm no good at that." He mutters to himself, and then throws himself the rest of the way over the fence. "I need a book on how to talk to girls." He mutters, feeling at least somewhat safe in admitting this fact among the two other guys. "At least you're lucky, you can always use your art as a pick up line." With a smirk, Rogawani pulls the unsorted bag over, settling down to work through it. As he lifts one package, his eyes look over the edge of it at Morlanol. "Well, Thea probably reported you for that one. You almost killed her lover. Not a good thing to do on your first week in the Weyr you know."
Ruzel arches his eyebrows, surprised. "Nearly killed somebody? I'm going to have to hear the story behind that… I hope nobody was hurt?" But Rogawani's suggestion makes him laugh and shake his head. "I don't think there are that many girls interested in a guy who can barely make a living… so, you're sweet on the stablemaster, huh?" He grins and leans in a bit, conspiratorially. "I could make you a copy of my sketch of her. Just between friends, right?"
"It wasn't intentional, y'know… and I still don' think it was totally my fault. Yeah, I startled the thing, but I followed your instructions and tried to stay calm. Th' fact that he accused me of not workin' just 'cause his foremen didn't notice me was what really hurt, but… it happens."{
"Nah, it's not like that." Rogawani shakes his head as he notes the package and shifts it into the sorted bag. "I've just been hanging around Thea and Kav too long. It's got me all wound up in the wrong way. I see them all lovey dovey and I keep wishing some girl would even look at me. Maybe it's the runner smell." He sniffs at himself, and then shrugs. "No worries man, plenty of girls in the weyr, right?" That's what he keeps telling himself anyways. "Anyways, the runner story is kinda rough. Kav got his head nearly knocked in when the beast threw a stall door off it's hinges. Mor over there spooked it." He bites his lip, as if about to say something in addition, but… he leaves it at that.
"Well, Enk was leaning against its stall when I showed up… and I got hurt, too. Why're you two so interested in girls, anyway? They're so boring most of the time."
Ruzel just peers at Rogawani for a moment. He clearly has the impression that something in this story is being left out, but he has enough tact not to pry further. "Well, at least it sounds like everything worked out alright. I'm sure in a couple months everyone will have forgotten all about it." His grin returns, leaving the less pleasant topic behind. "And you're sure right about that. Not that I seem to have any luck with them either."
Emerging from the Forest is Riyontali, carrying a small bag and wearing a determined expression. The girl trots across the meadow back through the clearing and into the caverns, then emerges once more a few minutes later. This time her pace is unhurried, and she takes a moment to haphazardly stuff her hair back in its' rather pitiful and short runnertail, though half of it still escapes. "Ugh," She pauses when she spots a group of semi-familiar faces, smiling. "This place is /huge/, you know. Hi." The girl lifts a hand in greeting, drifting closer.
"He was across from it, and the runner was fine until you face-planted in front of it." Rogawani's voice takes on a bit of a defensive tone, obviously not liking that the miner is trying to lay blame on his friend. Normally it takes quite a bit to get him irritated. "Thea's the only one of the four of us that got out without getting hurt. All I'm saying is you need to be more careful around runners." Ruzel's words don't seem to calm him much, but the boy pushes himself back into his work, sorting another package into the second bag, which seems to be getting quite full by this point. Still somewhat sore from Morlanol's comment, he mutters, "You'll figure it out when you're older." He snorts, and then looks up as a girl's voice catches his ears. His face brightens just a little. "Hey there. Yeah, it's a pretty big place. Looking for someplace?" He asks.
Ruzel seems relieved by Riyontali's arrival, since she promises to turn the subject of the conversation away from the unfortunate accident which has become the focus of an argument. "Well, well. Case in point, I suppose. Hello there Riyontali, I see you're working hard as usual. How's it going? Having a nice day?"
Morlanol grumbles, "Yeah, I know, an' I am… Keziah showed me some stuff…" He goes quiet, reading the letter from his family. Suddenly, his eyes widen and a smile cracks his face, "Oh! My sisters betrothed!" Then he sees Tali, "Oh, hi. Are you the new candidate?"
Riyontali peers between the boys levelly, apparently having caught onto the tension. An eyebrow quirks up for a moment, then smooths as she flashes a sheepish little grin. "Oh, no…I got lost earlier. But. Now they said I just needed to be back in time to help later. I was going to go check and see how they're doing with me not in the stables…" A one-shouldered shrug and amused grin. "Prob'ly well, though, I bet." Then she blinks over at Ruzel, eyes narrowing curiously. "What'm I…case in pointing?" The girl asks somewhat warily, then grins. "Pretty good. It's a lot more walking than stable work, right now, but. Not too bad. How are you?" A glance around to the other two extends the question to them as well, head canting to the side. Mention of the word betrothed darkens the girl's eyes, and she glances away for a moment, then smiles back. "Good for her." The candidate manages to muster some enthusiasm and a smile for Morlanol. "Yep, I am. Tali. Nice t'meet you."
Rogawani doesn't speak directly to Ruzel, but he does eye him for the 'case in point'. Then, his eyes sweep towards Morlanol, but without the same irritation as before. "Congratulations? Or condolences, not sure which." The boy offers, shrugging his shoulders non-commitally. As another package joins those already sorted, Rogawani looks up towards Tali, his usually relaxed smile showing on his face again. "Keziah just went inside, I'm sure things are surviving without you." He offers, and then inclines his head in introduction. "I'm Rogawani. Ro' to most. Donakan's my kid brother, he's in your candidate class. But don't judge me by him, please. The kid's a prick." Ro' smirks slightly, and then reaches for another package. "I'm good, though. Just sorting these before the evening deliveries. You weren't expecting anything, were you?"
Ruzel does a double take at what Morlanol says before he peers at Tali again. "You were searched? Well, congratulations!" He laughs happily. "I suppose that will make it a lot easier for you to stick around in the weyr, huh? Well, that's fantastic news! I'll have to make sure I'm around to see this hatching… not that I ever miss them, of course." At her question he looks back at Rogawani, then smiles at Riyontali once more. "We were just discussing how many pretty girls there are at this weyr, of course."
Riyontali giggles quietly at Rogawani, managing not to grin too widely. "Some girls actually like to go get married." She notes with a giggle. "I know my little sister says she's going to go find a holder's son to marry one day. How old's your sister?" The girl wrinkles her nose and snorts, then grins again. "I bet they are. I'm going to miss the runners." She sighs, wistfully. "Ro'? I saw you at the clutching, I think. Donakan." A flash of instant dislike — apparently, she's /already/ been making friends among the barracks. "Next time I see him, I'm going to send him flying into a pile of runner dung." A harrumph, then a shrug. "I'm sure you're a lot better than that one." An easy smile for the messenger, before she shakes her head quickly. "Nope! They sent somebody to tell my parents, but…" Thankfully, the subject of her parents seems to be distracted for the moment, as she grins at Ruzel with a sheepish duck of her head. "Shardin' yeah, I don't know how /that/ happened." The girl groans. "It will. I was thinkin' about that last night." Here, her smile broadens, genuinely pleased. "They can't drag me off if they want me for dragon bait!" She all but bounces on her toes, glancing back at the Weyr with a wry wrinkle of her nose. Then the girl turns back around, an eyebrow lifting quite far. "Uh," A snort, and snicker. "Are there?"
"Nothing wrong with a girl getting married. I intend to find myself a nice girl someday." Rogawani replies, with an easy shrug of his shoulders, knowing full well that that was part of the conversation going on before Tali arrived. "But sometimes girls don't get a choice in the matter. I hate that." He mutters to himself, sorting another package into the stack before turning his eyes back on the girl. "Oh yeah. Thought I saw you there." His face lights a bit more, though. "Oh please, please if you do, can you warn me first? I -so- want to be there to see it." Any sign of his previous irritation is gone as the thought of his brother flying into dung floats blissfully through his mind. And then the happy image hits a brick wall as Ruzel fills the girl in on what they were talking about. "Errr." A faint bit of red marks Rogawani's cheeks as he glares towards the artist/handyman with an accusing look. "Well, just sayin' being around lovebirds makes a guy want a girl of his own, that's all." He mutters under his breath, and then looks away.
"Same here." Ruzel chips in on the subject of marriage. "Sounds rather nice, finding somebody perfect and settling down… but yeah. When it happens, I want it to be somebody who wants to get hitched, know what I mean? Not somebody who's getting forced into it by relatives or something else." He grins at Rogawani. "Anybody in particular you mean? Maybe I can help you out. You know, make you a nice gift or something." The other topic just seems to confuse him. "So who is this Donakan guy? Some sort of troublemaker or something?"
"Not me, I don't want a girl, she'll just try to hold me down or make me grow up, bleck." Morlanol makes a face, sticking his tongue out and scrunching up his brows
Riyontali's frown is faint and thoughtful, but eventually she shrugs, lifting her chin. "I dunno. I guess not." The girl mutters, then wrinkles her nose. "I do too. It's disgustin'." Flatly said, though her expression doesn't vary from moderately amused. "I dunno, though," A glance between all three of them, and a faint smile. "Then you've gotta…well." Pause. "It's different at home. The girls all get married and then they all get stuck inside taking care of babies. /Babies/!" She /would/ scowl and mutter, but the girl just has to grin at Morlanol. "Aw, boys're just as bad." The girl chides with a giggle. "And I don't think they /ever/ grow up." Here she levels the older two with a challenging stare and lifted eyebrow, still amused. But she's distracted, again, and giggling brightly after a moment. "Okay. I'll tell you next time I've got stable duty with him." Apparently not one to make idle statements, the girl actually /growls/, crossing her arms. "Donakan's a little wherry. He pushed Misoli and she fell and got all cut up. Then he didn't even say anything even when I told 'im to." Grumble grumble growl.
Letting the discussion of marriage drop, Rogawani just rolls his eyes to Morlanol's boyish comments regaring girls. He'd grown out of that stage -turns- ago. "You've got at least one thing right, we never do grow up. But that's part of the charm at times." He tries to put on one of his best smiles, although it still comes out looking a bit awkward. "Hey, at least you're here now, right? No babies, and your pick of the guys around here." He smirks, a playful expression lingering on his face up until the point that Ruzel asks about his brother and Tali expands on. "That little… tunnelsnake." He mutters, fingers clenching on a package. "Donakan's my half-brother." He admits ruefully. "Thinks he's better than everyone else because his da's a rider. Insists he's going to impress bronze, and looks down on us non-rider born folk." He glances at Tali, "Your friend wasn't rider born?" He says it more as a statement than a question. "One of these days I'm going to shove his head in a latrine." He tosses the package own with more force than necessary.
Ruzel has another laugh at Morlanol's comments on the subject of women. "Trust me, in a couple turns, you are going to see things very differently. You'll be surprised by how quickly. And growing up may not be such a bad thing then, either." He listens to Riyontali and Rogawani's explanations, both of which bring a scowl to his face. "Hmmm. That's too bad. I can't stand folks like that… feel entitled to everything because of their birth. Being born to a rider doesn't make you any different from anyone else."
Morlanol shakes his head, continuing to read his letter, "Naw, girls are wierd… sure, some're cool, like some of the ones I work with in th' mine who aren't afraid of gettin' hurt, bu' when they tippy-toe around like a breeze'll break 'em. No need fer one-a those."
Riyontali snorts and giggles, rolling her eyes skyward. "If you say so." She teases faintly, giggling. "No babies!" If she had a drink, for sure she'd toast. "Hmmm." To the next, with an amused quirk of an eyebrow. "Right." She doesn't sound convinced, though — and seems quite cheerful to let it stand behind the subject of Donakan for now. The girl scowls once more, nodding. "He seems like one. Dunno if he meant to push her down, but she'd just said that he'd done a shoddy job with his chores, so —" She shrugs and glances back towards the Weyr. "No, she wasn't. Came in from Ressac a few sevendays ago." Muttered faintly. "I haven't met too many folks like that." Finished lamely, before her grin is somewhat more impish. "An' I bet you can fix 'em. Maybe a couple falls into runner poo'll work. Or latrines! Latrines are nice too." The girl agrees all-too-cheerfully, then giggles at Morlanol. "Girls can be such scairdy-cats sometimes." She agrees.
"I'd figured he'd have wisened up after he got left standing last time but it's only getting worse." Rogawani sighs to himself, obviously feeling some pressure from others to do -something- about his wayward half-brother. "The problem is, if I do something, my mom steps in and I end up the one at fault." He mutters in a way that seems far too childish for his normally responsible/adult behavior. "At least you're lucky, if he keeps it up you can always get the weyrlingmasters on his case." He suggests, and then reaches down all the way to the bottom of the unsorted bag, pulling out the last of the packages. A quick scrawl, and the now limp bag is tossed over his shoulder. "I should be getting these delivered. Sorry to run guys. I'm still on the clock." He points to the sun, rather than the clock in the forest, out of habit. With a grunt, he pulls the heavier bag up onto his shoulder, and then scans the paper to figure out where to go first. "Nice meeting you Tali, Ruzel with a 'z'." And then, with some effort, Ro' hauls his deliveries with him as he makes his way towards the weyr.
"Yeah, I don't really see myself as the fatherly type either. At least not for a great many turns to come." Ruzel agrees quickly. "But, girls can be plenty of fun without you necessarially wanting to be a father. You'll understand what I'm talking about when you're older." The talk about the brat makes him continue to scowl. "In my experience, there's almost nothing that'll straighten prideful idiots like that out. Maybe when he gets too old to stand he'll change his tune. Oh…" He gives Rogawani a wave goodbye. "It really was a pleasure meeting you, Ro. I'll get to work on that sketch soon. Hey, maybe we should grab a drink sometime, when you're off work."
Dry, changed and dragon clean of water and seed pods, Cirilia heads through the meadow. The blue warbles and chortles to himself, quite pleased with the sheen of oil coming from his hide. The pair don't seem to be bickering, for once, instead, Cir's comments float around erased dry patches of skin and new flight straps. Tamasth does seem to be paying some mind to his mate, though his whirling eyes peer questioningly at even the slightest bits of movement around him.
"Tali! Tali, can you help me real quick?" A call comes across the Meadow, even as Tali starts to speak again. The girl casts an apologetic grin to those gathered. "Be right back — that's the girl I was just talking about — Coming!" Then she turns and trots off towards a figure a dozen or two dragonlengths off, who's waving and looking rather stressed.
Ruzel gives a wave to the departing Riyontali. As he watches her hurry away, he notices the previously drenched bluerider and her lifemate returning to the field. He smiles warmly at them both and gives them an enthusiastic wave in greeting. "Well, hello there! Glad to see you've managed to clean up and dry off."
Tamasth stops mid-warble at the trotting girl. His head tilts curiously, and Cirilia looks in Tali's direction. She chuckles dryly, "No, not her either. Faranth knows you've nearly drowned enough candidates in your day." Ruzel's greeting similarly catches the bluerider's attention. Her brow furrows as she tries to place the name. Suddenly, it smooths, "Ruzel? With a Z, right?" Tamasth veers in the boy's direction. That's the one that kept looking at them and scribbling!
Ruzel still has that sketchpad in hand, full of the scribbles from earlier. He smiles and nods to the rider when she approaches. "That's right. You've got a good memory. Must be lots of new names and faces to sort out around here just about now… I hope your day's gotten better since earlier?"
Cirilia shrugs and nods to Tamasth, "He remembers sometimes. His latest chew-toy had a package for you, so he fixated on that." She smiles as the blue skids to a stop near Ruzel and none-too-politely nudges him. She coughs, "And he also saw you scribbling something."
Morlanol jumps back as the blue lands, dropping his letter and scattering some dirt, "Whoah, those things do get big." He reaches down and picks up his letter, whapping the dirt off before continuing reading. He says, mostly to himself, "Hmmm… a cave in uncovered a new vein… interesting."
"Oh… heh." Ruzel looks just a little embarassed at that, flipping his sketchpad around to show a hastily drawn image of Cirilia, dripping water. "I just thought it was a bit of a funny image. I'm an artist, you see… or I'd like to be, anyways. Not much money to be made in it when you're just getting started. Hope you don't mind."
Cirilia peers at the picture curiously for a long while. Those who know her mother may worry about the bluerider's reaction. Thankfully, she has her father's sense of humor, and she snorts in amusement, "That's what I looked like? Shards, it's a wonder you all didn't go running for the hills." She cocks her head, "You know, it's not horrible at all" and taps her chin thoughtfully, "Ma had a friend once.. named T'burk. I don't suppose you've ever met him?"
Morlanol glances up, "Hey, that's a nice picture." He ponders for a moment, then strikes a dashing pose, "Wanna draw me?"
With his bag only slightly lighter, Rogawani can be seen at the edge of the meadow, mulling over the list in his hand. He's distracted at the moment, so caught up in his work that he doesn't notice that Morlanol and Ruzel have been re-joined by the blue dragon and his rider. "Who in Faranths name is…" He mumbles, and scratches at his hair with the tip of his pencil, seeming a bit confused.
"Well, it may not have perfectly captured your look. It was pretty hasty, and I was going for more of a humorous rendering." Ruzel assures quickly, just to make certain there aren't any bruised feelings over the drawing. He smiles and shakes his head. "No. The name sounds familiar, though. I've made a lot of riders over the years… was he an artist as well?" When Rogawani returns, he speaks up quickly. "Ro! Our dragonrider friend from earlier is back. And clean now."
A firm nod and a muttered, "Green" is Cir's only answer. Tamasth takes his opportunity to bugle a greeting at Rogawani. The blue never forgets a face, or a happy chew-toy. He stops short of bounding over to the boy, though, as he realizes Ro with that 'I'm working' look on his face. He turns his attention back to Ruzel instead. He rumbles deeply. Cir grumbles, "No, he doesn't need more red in my face.. my face is fine, thank you."
Morlanol drops his pose, feeling slightly shunned, then turns, smiling at Cir, "Hi, I'm Morlanol… can… can I pet your dragon?"
It's the bugle that draws Rogawani's attention from the unknown name on his list. Looking up, the boy laughs a little bit and waves a hand towards the dragon. "Oh, you two are back huh?" He continues the faint smile as he looks at Ruzel. "I see that. Showing off your artwork?" His voice carries, still a bit in the distance. The blue coming to meet him softens the 'working' expression a bit, "Nice to see you again, Tamasth. Done dousing your rider?" He asks, following the path back towards the others as he ponders over the name, "I swear people need to get better handwriting." He mumbles.
Ruzel loos back at Morlanol, chuckling a bit. "You know, you might make a good subject too. I find almost anyone has something interesting to make them worth drawing… the problem is finding people willing to stay still long enough to draw." He grins at Rogawani. "I don't know if 'showing off' is the appropriate phrase. I just did a quick sketch earlier I was showing them… it's not really an example of my best work."
Cirilia looks at Morlanol with an expression of mixed suprise and bewildermint. "Pet my dragon?" she echoes, truely dismayed. It has got to be the only time she can seem to remember that the blue hasn't pounced upon, nudged, picked up, nearly trampled or demanded a scratch from someone new. She looks at Tamasth for only a moment before shrugging, "Yeah.. I mean, congratulations on surviving un-molested enough to ask me that." She blinks again, truely trying to understand the blue's lack of attention to detail today. Tamasth really seems unperturbed by this. This 'art' is amusing, and Ro is back, what else could he want in life?
Morlanol nods to Ruzel, "Yeah, standin' still fer a long time might be hard… who knows…" He looks up at Tamasth, then inches cautiously towards him, reaching out his hand until it lightly touches the blues leg. His mouth breaks into a huge smile as he strokes the dragon's hide, "He's soft!"
"I'm sure you could fix it up." Rogawani suggests, still dragging a quite full bag on his shoulder as he approaches. "Maybe try drawing some dragons or firelizards as examples? They hold still pretty well." His eyes shoot to Morlanol, watching him with an odd expression on his face as the younger boy reaches out to pet the blue dragon. "You could eat him you know." Ro' quips to the dragon in an undertone not meant to be heard by any but the blue. He lifts his eyebrows, and then swings his bag down, setting it on the ground. Then, his eyes turn back to Cirilia. "Nice to see you not waterlogged."
Ruzel chuckles and flips through a few pages of his sketchbook. They're mostly drawings of people and places around the weyr, with the people seeming much more hastily drawn. "Dragons are great, but they have this unfortunate tendency to take off flying halfway through my drawings… ah well. If you'd ever care for a proper portrait for yourself or your lifemate, I'd be perfectly happy to oblige."
Tamasth almost looks hurt at Morlanol's comment, his eyes whirling a thread of orange. Cirilia sooths him softly, "Some people don't realize that you're not a large, more colorful wher or something." She nods to Morlanol, "Lots of oil helps." Tamasth nudges Ruzel again he won't fly away. Time to draw a fitting subject. And now.. the pose… wings displayed, mouth open in a silent, snarling roar and tail whipping about, the blue only cocks his head slightly to make sure the artist is paying attention.
Morlanol is oblivious to the dragon's mood, too absorbed in stroking his soft hide, a stupid grin on his face.
Lifting one eyebrow, Rogawani reclaims a spot leaning against the fence, trying to relax even though his job isn't complete. "I've got three names I can't figure out. I wonder if they mis-routed them." He's half-talking to himself, and half filling in the others on why he's back so soon. His eyes shoot to the artist, though, smirking a bit. "Looks like you've got someone willing to be drawn. I've learned it's not a good idea to keep Tamasth waiting. He gets very nudgy if you don't do what he wants." The messenger winks, tapping his finger on the page one more time as he tries to make sence of the name written there.
"Draft a list and I'll get it to Crom. They should be able to provide everything we need." Satoris is walking along, speaking to one of the senior apprentices that tends to oversee things at the mine. They're taking a route that /ought/ to avoid any chaos going on, but when there's dragons and firelizards involved, anything can go awry. And as one of his browns pops in from *between*, the likelihood increases.
Ruzel goes wide-eyed, apparently quite impressed by the posing blue. "That's perfect! Please, try to hold it just like that. Let's see…" He snatches the pencil from behind his ear and flips his sketchbook to an empty page, starting with a quick outline of the dragon. Without looking up from his work, he replies to Rogawani. "What are the names? Maybe I've heard of some of the people, I could help you out."
Cirilia grins broadly at Tamasth's antics. She nods to Ro, "Rude, even, but as long as he gets what he wants quickly." She rolls her eyes, "Spoiled brat that he is." To Morlanol, she quips, "Careful back there." She sidles closer to Ruzel to watch his work. Nodding, she comments, "I'll have to see if Tamasth can track down Vinteth. If they're still flying, I'm sure T'burk would want to talk, though his art may not be what it used to be."
Morlanol continues to stroke the blue, moving where he's stroking from time to time, "What should I be careful of?"
Soon the Senior Apprentice has gone off and left Satoris to his own devices. The journeyman happens to be looking over, catching sight of Rogawani's sketch. He moves a bit closer, watching a moment, glancing to the dragon, then back to the drawing proper. "That's very good."
Flicking one finger at the parchment, Rogawani just shakes his head. "I know just about everyone here except for the newcomers. These aren't familiar at all." He scratches his head with one hand, and then just shoves the paper back into his pocket with a frustrated expression. "I'd wager it's old mail. Probably some rider found it hidden back somewhere and tried to mail it out. Maybe folks who moved on somewhere. Need to ask the archivists if they have weyr records from a few years ago, try to figure out where they went." He mutters the last part, apparently not liking the extra work that such research would mean. "I should deliver the rest soon, but I needed a break."
Cenlia is heading out of the garden, the girl looking a little dazed, or perhaps she's just spent a bit too much time in the sun. There are twigs and leaves stuck in her hair, and dirt smears on her clothing. But pinned to the girl's shoulder is a pristine white knot, possibly the only thing on her that isn't covered in dirt or bits of plant material. Her bronze firelizard, Charmer, is perched on her left shoulder while the girl's midnight-blue Rogue curls on the opposite one. Blue Mizzle and booze-brown Trouble trail behind the girl as she makes her way across the meadow. Cenlia spots some familiar faces and waves a greeting, "Hey," as she wanders over towards them.
Ruzel begins to fill in the details of his drawing. This is going much more smoothly with Tamasth actually cooperating and staying still for the drawing. He continues to converse without taking his eyes off the work. "Well, I'd be delighted to meet this T'burk guy. We artists are a social bunch, I'm sure I could learn a lot from someone more established. What weyr is he in?" To Rogawani, he adds. "Sure, take a break. No need to work yourself too hard, is there?"
His tail would be the first thing that would come to Cir's mind as Tamasth whips it about, waiting for his drawing. Cirilia shrugs.. if he gets bonked, he'll learn to duck next time. She appraises Ro, "How you manage that mess without a dragon is beyond me." Ruzel's work is glanced over again. She hums, "You know.. a great deal of the dragons /are/ vain enough to pose if you ask." Tamasth snorts in objection to the word 'vain', but he refuses to move. It might destroy the work of art.
Morlanol moves forward a bit, stroking the front of the blue's haunch now, looking for all to see like a canine surrounded by felines.
The brown that came with Satoris spots Cenlia's 'lizards and zips in that direction to start trying to get them to play. This is done by nipping at their tails, then darting off. Satoris nods to Cirilia in respect, before shifting his feet to plant them more solidly. He seems to be perfectly happy to watch the sketch at work.
A curious look passes Rogawani's face, lifting an eyebrow to look at the blue's rider. "Why would I need a dragon to manage delivering a few packages?" The curiousity gives way to a bit of a proud smirk. "We do pretty well with just runners and bags and address lists." He pats at his pocket, and then shrugs one shoulder. Then, his eyes spot others approaching. "Hey Cenlia." He raises a hand in greeting, and then lowers hit slowly, looking oddly towards her. "Shells." He finally realizes that she's wearing a white knot. "They got you too?" He laughs a little, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Shards, all my friends are running off to be riders. Betcha 'Kav will be next."
Ruzel laughs a bit at Cirilia's comment on the vanity of dragons. He's still busily working at making sure the drawing comes out both accurate and flattering. His focus on the task leaves him oblivious to much of the sudden influx of activity in the meadow. "Well, perhaps you are right about that. But… well, I feel a bit bad, taking them out of their daily work to pose for my drawings. Dragons have many important things to do after all, don't they?"
Cirilia shrugs, her face amused, "They do. We all do, but that doesn't stop them from sunning and taking naps or tossing people in the ocean." Tamasth's head cocks to try to see how the drawing is coming. He can hold this pose a while but not indefinitely. Tail whipping to keep his balance, the tip comes very close to Morlanol's head. Cirilia, of course, is paying no attention. Ro's rationalization has it instead, and she laughs, "Runners and bags are nice, I suppose. I sometimes forget what it was like to work without Tamasth. He occasionally /does/ make things easier."
Cenlia's firelizards chitter and hiss at Satoris' flit, but brown Trouble chases after and then Mizzle follows to play. Rogue and Charmer remain on the girl's shoulders, though the little bronze does trill at the people around him, ever-friendly. Cenlia joins the miner in peering at the sketching, the girl tilting her head curiously at and glancing at Tamasth briefly and then back at Ruzel. "That's neat," she says, before turning to glance at Rogawani, saying, "Dunno if I had much choice." The girl makes a face, "That rider who handed this too me looked like he was two ale's short of a brewery. Thea said he wasn't joking, though. Kept askin' me about animals. Figured I was safer accepting it. Looked like he wasgonne cry or jump me," she makes a face, "Or sic an ovine on me." The girl runs a hand through her hair, pausing to pick out some twigs.
That senior apprentice soon comes back and rushes up to Satoris, speaking in hushed tones. The journeyman sighs, excuses himself, and follows the boy.
Morlanol squawks and ducks as the dragon's tail comes so close to him, "Shards and shells, is that normal?"
"You're worried about animals when you'll have to go face dragons?" Rogawani asks, looking at the gardener with a bemused expression on his face. "Well, good luck to you on that one. I'll be cheering for you." He offers a thumbs-up sort of gesture, although it's clear that the day is starting to wear on him. "I should probably get the rest of these done. It'll probably take me the better part of a few hours to track down these last three." Lifting one hand, Ro' rubs at his eye and then looks towards the rider and her dragon. "I think Tamasth's being kept busy enough I can sneak off?" He asks, pulling the bag up to his shoulder again.
Ruzel looks up from his work just long enough to spot Cenlia. He smiles even brighter. "Oh, hey, Cenlia! Didn't even notice you there. Look, I've got a dragon modeling for me. Isn't that something?" He draws another line, then pauses and looks more carefully at Cenlia. "Wait, you're the one who got searched? Congratulations! They really are snapping everybody up… I suppose that means we won't be having that drink for a while." Before he gets too distracted, he resumes his drawing of the dragon. The details are really filling in now.
Cirilia looks from Ro to Tamasth. Amused, she nodes, "He's having more than enough fun posing for Ruzel." Morlanol gets a firm nod, "It is when he's not paying attention. His tail's dangerous." To Ruzel, she comments, "He says his wings are getting tired and wonders if he can relax now."
Morlanol nods, "I'll pay better attention from now on." He goes on stroking, this time keeping a whether eye on the tail. In so doing, he catches sight of Cenlia, "Oh, hey, Cen… you're a candidate now, too? Wow, congratulations."
Cenlia makes a face at Rogawani, "You ain't never run into that mad ovine! Shards, that thing was scarier than a dragon. Well, sorta. Sir Kinseth's lots scarier, but he ain's mad or grumpy. I hope." but she grins, "Guess I gotta wait a while to see which one of us can hold more booze." She doesn't sound /too/ disappointed about that, grinning at him and then at Ruzel, "I can still watch you guys get drunk sometime." She smirks just a bit. After all, candidacy isn't /that/ long, right?
"Nope, I missed all the ovine fun." Rogawani admits, without any sort of tone of regret in his voice. The boy's mouth curves up into a challenging smirk as he nods his head towards her. "Guess you'll just have to wait. Gives me more time to build up my tolerances while you're off playing candidate. Then you'll have some good competition." He winks towards her, and then offers a smile to Cirilia. "Well, I'll sneak away now while he's distracted." He shoots a half-glance at the dragon and at Morlanol, before shrugging up the bag and starting to head off for the second time tonight, this time towards the forest.
Ruzel snorts with a brief laugh at Cenlia. "In that case, sounds like candidacy is just going to delay embarassment for you when I inevitably drink you under the table… well, congratulations all the same." Ruzel looks up at Tamasth, then down at his paper and quickly fills in a few more lines and a little shading. "There. Done for now… perhaps later I will color it. Or it might even make a good basis for a painting. What do you think?" He tucks his pencil back behind his ear and flips the pad around so the subject can view his work.
Cenlia grins at Ruzel, "We'll see about that." She glances off towards the caverns and then sighs, "Gotta goget moved in. Oh hey, found your underpants yet?" she calls back as she begins heading off, covering a snicker and waving at the others.
Tamasth MUST see. Morlanol is completely forgotten as he bounds away to look at Ruzel's sketch. His head cocks, and his whirling eyes take in the picture. Oh, this is good! Cirilia laughs, "He thinks you'd make an excellent side-kick." She shakes her head, "However is he going to do that? You like to fly far too much."
Keziah wanders back out from the stables just on the tail end of finding underpants. "Okay…" she murmurs and then looks at Ruzel "Check the flagpole." she notes with a smirk and then stretches, several vertebrae popping up and down her spine. She then sways. "Woo, dizzy, oh but it's good to be done for the day."
Morlanol is knocked to the ground and goes sliding a few feet, "Shards! Ow! That better be a good picture, Ruz." He says this good-naturedly as he stands up, dusting himself off… again…
"I shall take that as a compliment." Ruzel says with a laugh, pulling the sketchpad back once the dragon has had a sufficient opportunity to look at it. "If you'd like, you're welcome to have it after I've had an opportunity to color it in. It's the least I can do for such an excellent subject." He smiles when he notes Keziah's return. "Oh, hello again… flagpole?" He peers around, looking for one.
"Absolutely," Cirilia replies firmly, though there's distraction in her voice. She clears her throat a little. "Ruzel…. what do you think of the side-kick business?" Weird blueriders.. Tamasth nudges Ruzel gently. Yes… as long as he gets what he wants…
Keziah chuckles "Well, oft times when underwear goes missing, it has a tendency to be hung from somewhere up high, like the gather poles." she notes and then moves over towards Morl "Hey kiddo, you okay there?" she asks with a little bit of concern.
Morlanol nods, "A little bit worse for the wear, but I'll live." He bangs against his pants again, knocking a bit more dust off as he does so. "Are all dragons so… oblivious?"
Ruzel continues to admire his own work for a moment before he looks back up at the dragonrider, not quite certain what she means. "Sidekick? Well, if that'd give me the chance to draw more pictures of such an excellent subject, I'd be more than happy to sign up for that."
Tamasth rumbles. It's settled, then. Cirilia shakes her head, "You have to share him first." For one of the rare times she realizes that only half of her conversation with Tamasth can be heard by others, she elaborates, "I think you'd make Tamasth very happy.. if you were willing.. you would agree to stand for the clutch on the sands? You see.. he's got this plan and.. feel free to say no if you don't want to. I'll try to promise that he won't drag you into the ocean." Tamasth snorts.. no promises there.
Keziah gives a smile to Morl and then hmms "I wouldn't necassarily call them oblivious, but that's an apt term. Seems many a time they really don't notice anything outside their rider, or what their mind is set upon." there's a blink and then a glance at Cirilia, her dragon and then Ruzel "Bes tbe safe. Always wear clothes you don't mind getting wet."
Morlanol laughs, "That makes a certain kind of sense, Keziah." Then he catches the conversation going on behind him and turns back, "Whuh?"
Ruzel seems taken aback by the offer, doing a little double take and looking away from the sketchpad. "Huh? What? You mean stand as a candidate?" He takes a moment to mull over that thought. Then he grins and shrugs his shoulders. "Hey, sure, why not? That sounds like a lot of fun! Plus I'll meet all kinds of new people… count me in!"
Tamasth trumpets merrily. Now he has a captive artist to chronical his mightiness. Cirilia smiles warmly and noticeably relaxes, "Good. I'm not sure if I'd truly be able to convince him not to stalk you for the rest of your days if you had said no." She eyes Tamasth, "You best share him with the eggs before you claim him as your own."
Cenlia is just heading back across the meadow with a bag over her shoulder, when she hears the conversation going on, having wandered over to the people and dragon. She grins ar Ruzel, waving a greeting to the others and perhaps hiding a snicker. "Guess you ain't gonna be drinkin' me under the table anytime soon, either." The girl grins though, saying, "I'm just gettin' moved in. 'Least I'll know somebody there who ain't dull."
Keziah just can't help but snicker "Oh yeah, you'll meet all sorts of people, and see them, and hear them, and smell them and get in trouble with them." she notes oh so sweetly. "Oh yes, great fun. Until they try and kill you. THough I dunno if they're still doing that. Hmm."
Ruzel chuckles a little and nods, giving the blue an appreciative smile. "Well, I'm lucky to avoid that fate. I love swimming, but not when a dragon is unexpectedly dumping me in the water. That said, I'm very grateful. I won't let you down. So… what now?" He glances over at Keziah, chuckling. "I still have to catch you later, I think."
Cirilia smiles and gestures briefly, "I think I need to show you the way to the barracks, and you're free to come back. I doubt that you'll have much in the way of chores if anything today."
Keziah watches as Ruzel heads off with the rider "Well, he'll be lucky to find time after today for just sitting and drawing." she notes and then grins "Course, you never know."
Morlanol stretches, popping his back in the process, "I should probably go to bed… I'll have more heavy lifting to do tomorrow. G'night all." With that, he heads towards the resident dorms, dragging his feet a tidge as he goes.