Xanadu Weyr - Candidate Barracks
A long, low ceiling room opens off the entrance hall to the arena, one wall slightly curved as it is set against the outer wall of the arena itself. Cots are set evenly the length of the room, in two rows, each with its own small press at the foot, for personal belongings. Wide windows are spaced along the outside wall, letting sunlight in, while other lights are available for the night time hours.
There are eggs hardening on the sands, chores to be done, and one uncertain gardener has just finished moving into the candidate barracks, the girl looking wary while her four firelizards make themselves right at home on her cot. Cenlia has been lugging what few belonging she has over to the foot of the bed, with a bag slung over one shoulder and a small, rolled-up rug over the other one. She pauses a moment, giving the firelizards an amused smirk, before shrugging off the pack and then shoving that rug under the cot, where she stows some other things before flopping down beside the flits. Only then does she take some time to glance around properly.
First a bronze firelizard appears, hopping through the doorway. Then a green follows, winging up high before circling down to land on an unoccupied cot. Last, a gold firelizard flits in, chirping as she takes in her surroundings, and then settles onto the pillow at the head of the bed, making herself comfortable. Following this parade of color and wings, comes a a creature that seems more blanket and cloth than human. Carrying a box which seems to contain all his worldly belongings, and with a huge blanket thrown over one shoulder, Rogawani steps in, looking around and blinking. "Wow, they really did manage to clean this place up." He mumbles to himself. Shifting his grasp on the box, the boy steps forward, following the lizards towards a cot.
"Oh great, captain runnerbeast has arrived." Donakan groans from his own bunk, where he's been since just after the eggs were laid. "Yeah, you stay on -that- side. I don't want to have to smell you." The boy wrinkles his nose, and then shoves it into a book, promptly ignoring his half sibling. "Should be on the other end of the weyr. No self-respecting dragon would want someone that smells of dung."
Riyontali is presiding over her coveted window-cot, tidying up, humming to herself. The girl finishes, then flops onto it happily, taking out a pot of oil from the trunk at the end of the cot and setting it on top of said trunk, then clicking softly. Down comes Dolios from some unknown perch, at which point he stretches atop the trunk, apparently anticipating what is to come. It takes Tali a moment to notice that there are people coming in — the door is a few cots away — but when she spots who it is, the girl beams, waving the hand that isn't already covered in oil. "Cenlia, Rogawani!" The girl calls cheerfully. "Hey!" For now, she thoroughly ignores Donakan, smiling. "They got you too? Cool!"
Morlanol is laying on his cot, tossing a chunk of firestone up, then catching it. When Rogawani enters, he gives Donakan a stony glare, before turning a smile on Ro, "Hey, Ro, they got you too, huh?"
Cenlia spots Rogawani and Riyontali, and her eyesbrows rise in surprise as she waves a greeting to them, "Hey, looks like they got you too." The gardener girl grins, and spares a curious glance at Donakan, but she doesn't know him and looks as if she doesn't care to. Instead she tilts her head tells Rogawani with alaugh, "Guess we'll have to wait awhile to see which one of us can hold more booze." Morlanol's voice catches her attention and she smiles at him too, saying, "Looks like a lot of us got searched." She sounds a bit surprised, though her little bronze Charmer trills from his spot on her cot, the friendly critter looking already settled in.
"Love you too, Donnikins." Rogawani replies with exasperation in his voice and a roll of his eyes. However, most of his vision is blocked by the huge quilted blanket he's carrying atop the big box. So, he has to try to recognise each person greeting him by sound alone. "Tali… and… Morlanol… and Cenlia! Hey guys." He leans against the side of one bunk, using it to prop himself as he waves one hand. "Let me get this stuff set down." He mutters, and then lets the box drop next to the bunk his three firelizards have claimed. "Shells." He laughs to himself, and then looks around at them with a smile, pointedly ignoring his brother who continues to mutter. "Hey." He whispers and nudges his gold lizard. "Look there's a handsome one for you." Kassi lifts her gold head, and blinks once towards Charmer before laying her head down again. "So who got you guys? D'had's Siebith got me."
Riyontali smiles faintly towards Morlanol, then Cenlia and Ro'. "It does!" She agrees with the girl, giggling. Absently, she oils Dolios, who takes to the attention like a fish to water, croooning and stretching and burbling happily. He /does/ seem to notice the other firelizards who're hanging about, but almost ignores them — he's busy! Tali keeps on oiling away, chuckling softly after a moment. "Re're and Saenkarith…his daughter, Dreia, is sweet. I think she has a brother in here somewhere. She wanted me to meet Saenkarith. Apparently he liked me. I gave him a good scritching." The girl beams cheerfully. "I /never/ expected that! Shells."
Morlanol sits up, grasping the firestone firmly in his hand as he does so, "Marte and Vwayath got me. I was allowed a break from th' mine after a particul'rly difficult extraction an' I ran into 'em in th' Meadow an' star'ed talkin' an' nex' thing I knew, Vwayath asked m' t' be a can'idate. Said i' was a turnday present."
Charmer crooons towards the gold, the bronze firelizard hopping up to Cenlia's shoulder and posing, wings half-extended to show off his goldeny-bronze hide. There's a cheeky little trill, as if to say, 'Why /hello/ there.' Cenlia smirks and watches her firelizard with some amusement, glancing sideways at the critter before shaking her head and then saying, "Dunno who got me, never met 'im before. Some rider," the girl shrugs, "Said Mazunth chose me. Thought he was jokin', what with Thea and all them questions about animals…" Cenlia makes a face, apparently still not entirely convinced that it wasn't some joke that Thea was in on, but the girl shrugs, adding, "Figured I better dump my stuff here anyways. Shards, I'm glad he didn't jump me or anythin' wierd like that." Seems Cenlia's opinion of poor E'gin hasn't improved, despite having being searched by his dragon. The girl does add, however, "Hope his dragon's alright. Said he was sad…" but she shrugs it off, tilting heer head to regard Morlanol and asking, "Turnday present? Hey, happy turnday!" She glances back towards the door, muttering, "That reminds me, I gotta find Satoris sometime and check out the mine sometime."
"Saenkarith's a good search dragon. He searched my friend Xaliyan last time around and he impressed a green." Rogawani explains, offering an encouraging smile towards Tali. "Not sure about the others though." He admits sheepishly, reaching down to toss the quilt onto his bunk. Within the box, a few other things become visible, mostly runner tack, but there's a book or two thrown in, and a pad of paper and a set of pencils. He offers a small smile towards Morlanol, showing no hard feelings for their last encounter, "Happy turnday." He chimes in easily enough, and then sits down onto the cot, unfastening his boots. "Guess we all have to get to know each other, right?" Kassi lifts her head again, obviously more than interested in getting to know Charmer. The gold firelizard gives the faintest flex of her wings, and then crawls towards the end of the cot, her tail waggling behind her.
"Happy Turnday!" Tali says cheerfully, beaming over at Morlanol. "How old're you?" Her eyebrows crease faintly, but she grins again quickly. "That's a great turnday present." The girl laughs, spanning out Dolios' wings and carefully oiling them until they shine faintly, then discreetly wiping off the excess with a bedsheet. Cenlia gets a blink and an almost comical wince. "Oooh, that doesn't sound fun." The girl murmurs. "I've never met any that're real weird. But I guess you get 'em everywhere. Awww, his dragon was…sad?" This only bothers her for a minute, though, before she brightens again as Ro' speaks. "Oooh, really?" The girl beams. "That's great! Maybe I will too. The little greens are so pretty." She seems to have been sparked into daydreaming by this new turn — a few days ago, she wouldn't have said anything even vaguely like that! "Guess we do." The former stablehand peers nosily across the room while they unpack, but doesn't say anything. "Soo ummm…" A glance between the three of them. "Have you guys lived here all your lives, then?"
Morlanol shakes his head vigorously, "Naw, I've only been here for a sevenday or so. An' I'm thirteen in a couple days. I've never really though' abou' a dragon. Never figgered it was a possible fer someone like me t' even imagine it."
"'S what he said, that his dragon'd be sad or was always sad or something," though Cenlia doesn't seem too sure about it. At the time, she'd been more worried about the crazy rider. On her shoulder, Charmer continues to pose, puffing out his military-marked chest in what he likely thinks is a handsome display. He tilts his wings to catch the light, all but covering Cenlia's face. The girl tries to shove him off her shoulder, but the bronze firelizard simply hops onto her head, still crooning at the golden flit over there from his higher vantage point. Cenlia looks only momentarily exasperated before she's distracted by Tali's question. "Nah, I'm from Southern Boll. Only been here a turn maybe. My Uncle Cern is gonna have a fit when he hears I got searched," the girl grins a bit at this, nodding in agreement with Morlanol, "Never figured I'd get searched neither. Not in a hundred turns." Although a thoughtful look passes over the girl's face as she seems to consider it now. Charmer continues to balance on her head, looking like some shiny, extravagant hair ornament.
"My turnday is coming up." Rogawani says in a low voice, shooting a look over towards Cenlia. "Too bad you can't get me drunk for it, now." He teases a little bit, and pulls out the pad of paper and pencils, setting them on the bunk and kicking the rest of the runner-related gear under the cot. Odd, the boy really doesn't seem to have a lot to call his own, does he? His eyes look towards Tali, seeming to find his own spirits lifted with her enthusiasm. "I was born here, spent all my life here. Never even set foot in another weyr." He rubs the back of his neck with an almost shy expression, one that re-doubles as he looks more sympathetically at Morlanol. "Me neither. Someone used to tell me that folks like me didn't get searched." He keeps his voice down, obviously trying to exclude his half-brother, but it doesn't seem that he needs to. Donakan seems to have fallen asleep, his head face-down in the book he'd been reading. Kassi, on the other hand, seems interested enough in Charmer to hop down from Rogawani's cot, walking slowly across the floor with a wiggle in her movement. "Behave." The boy shoots a look at her, but is ignored.
Riyontali smiles pleasantly, finally seeming to finish. She sits up on her cot and Dolios follows, curling up in her lap with a little trill. "Couple sevendays for me." She says pleasantly, stroking the little bronze quietly for a moment. "Made a couple traders take me with 'em. Da didn't like it, but ma agreed it'd be best." AKA, her oldest would terrorize the household if she didn't get her way. Cough. "I never ever imagined I'd even get asked t'stand — I'm not really dragon-rider-stuff, y'know? They're — not anything like my runners. Or even Dol here." She's contemplative but not unhappy, as she smiles at the other three. "I hope his dragon gets better." Said quietly, with a little crease of her eyebrows, but the smile doesn't go away. "Aww," To the subject of not getting drunk on a turnday, she giggles. "Poor thing." Oh, no, she doesn't sound too serious. Maybe even a little bit teasing? But playfully, as she flashes a little grin. "If folks like us didn't get searched where'd they get their riders?" Level, but with the faintest of /looks/ to Donakan — perhaps she's connected the dots of the last conversation the other candidate came up in.
Morlanol smiles, "Yeah, I suppose they need all sorts fer riders… jus'… 'fore I came here I'd only even seen two dragons ever." He goes quiet, staring at the orangish rock in his hands, "I… I never even though' abou' a life outside th' mines b'fore…"
Cenlia gives Rogawani a grin and chuckles, "Shards, I'm gonna have to get you something else you can actually have now," hinting at what his present likely was, "But I'll get you something neat. As good as a model of Sir Kinseth," she promises, still sounding enthuasiastic about the turnday gift, despite it having been half a turn ago. Charmer trills sweetly to the gold firelizard, obviously happy to see her approaching. Cenlia also glances that way when Rogawani speaks to the golden flit. The gardener girl raises an eyebrow, waving Charmer off her head, "Go play, ya shardin' flit, an' stop squawking in my ears." Charmer gives her a curious look. He wasn't sqawking! He was making a friend! A very /pretty/ friend. But the bronze swoops down to land at the foot of the cot, letting out a low croon that is almost a purr. If he could, he'd be waggling his eyeridges. Cenlia rolls her eyes, muttering, "Shardin' nuisance, that one," but there's no annoyance in her voice. Cenlia glances over towards Tali, grinning, "I dunno, I figure we could be riders. The dragons said so, right? I mean, we ain't searched otherwise." She doesn't sound entirely sure, but she chuckles and adds, "Before I came here, the only thing that came near me was trundlebugs." Morlanol's mention of the mines catches her attention, and Cenlia asks, "What're the mines like? I ain't never been in one, but I wish I could. All sorts of neat stuff can grow underground." Says the gardener.
"Well, I'm still glad you liked it." Rogawani says, his face softening a little bit as he plucks at the end of his shabby quilt, his mouth turned up in a small smile. His eyes follow away from Cenlia, down towards his gold firelizard, who gives a bit of a chirrup of challenge towards the bronze, before flapping her wings and taking to the air. A moment later, she blinks out into between, daring the bronze to follow. "Lizards." Rogawani mutters to himself, and then props his head up on his hand, looking tired. "I've never thought about a life other than being up on runnerback." He looks away from Morlanol, and then eyes his sleeping brother for a moment before admitting, "Some people get picked for the wrong reasons, but… I don't think any of us were worrying away waiting to find lifemates." Thoughtful, the ex-messenger pulls himself up onto his cot, laying back onto the pillow and staring upwards at the ceiling.
Riyontali's smile is faint and amused as she glances out of her window. "They used to come down to the cothold every now and then. And they'd fly over all the time. But we weren't too far from the Weyr, so…" She lifts her shoulders in a shrug, absently unwinding Dolios and setting him on the cot, then sprawling down on it herself. "I didn't either. I thought maybe I'd go see if I could get apprenticed, but I wasn't even thinkin' too hard on that one yet, and now…" Stubby fingers spread wide and she giggles softly. The firelizards are watched with amusement — Dolios is absolutely sound asleep, and is even snoring a little. "We could be! I mean…yeah. They think so, least. And they're right /sometimes/." She nods happily. "They're the ones that pick th' candidates and all." The bit about trundlebugs gets a little giggle, and Morlanol a glance after, but quickly her attention flicks over to Ro. "Me too." The girl says with a stout nod. "Runners're all I ever even thought of, Da would never have let me out on the boats for working or anything…" She's quiet for a long minute, glancing once more at Morlanol, seeming curious about the mines too — but, quietly, she says after a moment, "Yet. I dunno. Now it's kinda…just…there. Y'know? Hard not to think of.."
Morlanol makes a face, sticking his tongue out, "Trundlebugs, uck… I only saw a couple o' those up north too, then I come down here an' I can't get away from th' things." The questions about mines cause him to perk up some and he smiles, "I love th' mines, bu' they c'n seem kinda cramped 'till yer used to 'em. Never seen much grow inna mine, bu' then again I ha'en't looked much, either. I jus' always went fer the shiny bits."
"Was the best turnday present," she assures Rogawani, the gardener girl seeming sincere as she leans over to retrieve something from beneath her cot. Charmer doesn't even hesitate when the golden firelizard takes to the air, leaping upwards and disappearing *between* after her. Cenlia furrows her brow when her bronze flit leaves, glancing at the door and muttering, "Hope he dun steal anybody's underpants." From her cot, a sleepy booze-brown Trouble lifts his head slightly and chitters at her, but the girl ignores him. Instead, she pulls out a wood and glass mock-up of a dragon, setting it at the foot of her cot. Her blue flit, Mizzle, curries over to invesitgate it while Cenlia, too, sprawls on her belly on her bed. She seems thoughtful at Tali's words, the gardener saying, "X'hil told me the dragons just know. That's why when I almost got sent home he didn't…" she trails off, frowning slightly, mumbling almost to herself, "Shards, I better ask him." She girl's lips purse together, looking rather suspicious for some reason. Morlanol's comment about trundlebugs brings a lopsided smile to Cenlia's face, "Shards, there's a lotta trundlebugs 'round here. Yer lucky you missed when they got into the resident dorms." Cenlia makes a face, "Got bugs in places nothin' ain't /ever/ supposed to go." She grins, though, and nods, "Shiny bits are neat too, I guess."
"You know, it's ironic that right before I get my freedom, and my runner paid off… I end up here." Rogawani laughs to himself, still looking up at the ceiling, although perhaps his eyes are looking beyond it, to the stars and the great open spaces that have been given up, for now. Taking a deep breath, he lets it out in a sigh, and the smile returns to his face as he looks sideways towards Cenlia and the mini Kinseth. "I'm glad." Is all he says, pushing himself up on one arm as he looks to the others. "I'm going to nod off, guys." He mumbles, letting a yawn slip out from between his lips. "I'd come back from an overnight run when D'had caught me, so I'm going on being up twenty-six… no… twenty-seven hours." He rubs at his eyes, and then laughs a little. "Feel free to keep talking, I'll probably sleep right through it. G'night. Or day, or whatever." So, Ro' rolls over and draws the thread-bare quilt up over himself. His green lizard curls up next to his legs quietly, like some small guardian. It doesn't take very long for the boy's breathing to shift into a deeper, slower rhtyhm. Not quite a snore, but certainly recognizable as sleep.