Landers and Lorelai are Searched
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Xanadu Weyr - Main Docks

Jutting out from the land are the platforms that make up the main dock of Xanadu Weyr. The extruded plastic makes an odd sound when footsteps echo across it. From this dock, two others protrude taking opposite directions, each for a special purpose.


Overhead a blue dragon does a low pass over the docks, dipping his wings in a display to the ship before gliding to a landing on the nearby beach. A rider slides off the blue's back, looking to be in some blue leathers. The woman heads up the dock as the blue wades out in the water. "Hey there Landers, heading off for a few days?" She calls out as she tugs riding gloves off her hands. Her jacket is oversized to cover a rather large belly of about six months pregnant. She gives a dip of her head to the girl on the docks, "Don't reckon I met you proper before…" She calls out to the apprentice gal.

The ripple of attention, even if it only lasts a moment from each man, has Lorelai biting her lip lightly and the faintest of blushes blooms on her face. A blush that only deepens when the dockmaster approaches, "Um… I was just looking for Lan. He promised that he'd taste something for me when I picked a recipe to try." She shrugs, "I was hoping I talk to him for a moment." Then the bluerider arrives and she gives the pregnant woman a little wave, "I'm usually in the kitchen, so unless you spend much time there…" She giggles softly, "I'm Lorelai."

The dockmaster gives a calculating eye to the apprentice, turning with a nod toward the crew captain of the fishing fleet Landers is currently heaving fish for. The dockmaster and the captain have a word, with the captain given a few oogles himself to the other crafter on the dock. A few nods are shared and the captain calls up to the line of men working, "Yo Landers!" the said sailor looks up from tossing a fish toward another of his 'new' crew, "Aye sir!" the captain snarks, "Ya got a visitor. We be near finished and ya put in three trips already today." The other crew members hauling fish start murmuring while Landers looks up from his focused line of work, spotting not one but two ladies over near the end of the dock (all the while Lorelai meets Laera). A unlikely fish gets tossed at Landers when he's gawking down the way, beaning him in the head with the fin and systematically leveling him to the dock under the unbalanced and unexpected weight.

A roar of laughter erupts. It was never easy being the 'new guy' in the crew… The captain even took part, face turning beat red with his gales of laughter. Landers pushes the fish off him, looking completely irritated by the laughter, only to break a smile as he gets yanked by up a few of his mates. The captain fans his arm off toward the visitors, while the human chain expands to fill in the whole as Landers leaves, trying to wipe off fish slime from his face as he approaches Lorelai and Laera.

"Well it is a pleasure Lorelai, a pleasure indeed. So a cook, eh? I do like food, but well haven't spent too much time in the kitchens." The rider extends a hand to the cook, "Laera, rider to that blue dolphin over there." She says with amusement as Kereth wades alongside the docks, mindful to be slow so as to not rock the boats. As the fish gets tossed at Landers and falls into the drink, Kereth is quite content to make sure it does not go to waste. Laera looks up to Landers and shakes her head, "New kid on the block, eh? I remember the tortures I endured when I joined the Healerhall. The grose cleanups, getting pulled out of bed middle of night for an emergency that didn't exist and the like."

Lorelai nods, "It's a pleasure to meet you, to, ma'am." She giggles at the dragon being called a dolphin and gives him a wave just like she would give any human member of the Weyr and nods, "Yes, ma'am. Apprentice baker now." Beat, "I've worked in the kitchen for a couple of turns now, though." She grins at Kereth, "My mama rides a blue, too. He likes to swim and everything, but she's always complaining about him wanting to wallow." Then Landers is being clobbered by a fish and the girl glances his way just in time to see him fall to the dock, "Oh!" Her hands fly to her mouth and concern flashes across her face, "I hope he's alright…" She gives a little sigh of relief when he's helped up and grins over at him, "That looked like it hurt, Lan."

Landers flaps out his shirt as he approaches, footfalls hard on the wooden slats, the sweat and fish slime making his shirt stick to his chest. He looks good natured about the fish prank, though the laughter did follow him for a time until it broke due to the work getting back underway. His eyes travel to Laera first, having missed her dragon's fly by since he was concentrating on his duties, thus, he nods to her, rolling his eyes high with an easy smirk on his face, "Aye. Earn ya place on the ships. Tis hard ta work for another crew, back at the bottom…" There was a pit of sorrow in that tone, though not as evident as it was before. In turn, Lorelai gets a smile and a nod as well, "Nay, didn't feel a thing." A darting look between the two, "One of ya better kiss me before them fellas think I be whipped…" he teases, as he puts his hands on his hips, a slight panting breath between his words. The job he was doing was not an easy one, not by anymeans. It was like firestone tossing, but heavier and coated with slime and sharp scales. "Wha brings ya by?" a question for both and not particularly asked to one before the other.

"Oh who is your Ma, perhaps I know her?" Laera asks of the young woman as Kereth lifts his head from the water, content with the small offering given to him. "He likes swimming, though we both prefer to fly. It was how he learned to fly, strengthen his wings in the water with my Mothers's dolphins." She says giving hint why she referred to her own as one. She looks over to Landers as he she notes the tone of his voice and she extends a hand to rest on his shoulder. Then the request for the kiss causes her to grin and she gladly obliges, giving a full on kiss to the man despite the smell of the man. Kereth chooses this time to lift his head up and wuffle the cook and the sailor, giving his rider a nudge in the process. "Oh Kereth,what is up with you?"

Lorelai wrinkles her nose a little at the smell of fish coming from Landers. She gives him a curious look at the comment about being 'back at the bottom' and the sadness in his voice, but doesn't press. It's not like she really knows him well enough to really demand to know anything, after all. She looks satisfied when he says he wasn't hurt, blushing at the thought of kisses and glancing over in the direction of the other sailors. Then she doesn't have to worry about the request for a kiss because Laera is kissing him instead. She giggles softly, looking back and forth between the two for a moment before answering the rider's question, "Immanai's my mama." The reasoning for calling the dragon a blue dolphin gets a little 'oh' and a giggle, "That sounds like it must have been fun!" She grins at Lan's question and bounces on the balls of her feet, "You said you'd be my taster when I found a recipe I wanted to try…" Her eyes dance with excitement, "I found something that gave me an idea. I just need to get some good fish and then I can fix it." The blue wuffling at her and Lan has the girl giggling softly, "I think he must think that Lan smells like dinner if he likes fish."

Lan doesn't back away from the kiss, though it earns a few whistles and cat calls from behind them and a groan from Lan as he pulls back, "I reckon I won't hear the end of it," a shake of his head. Some crafts were very strict when it came to apprentices not involving themselves in relationships, however the seacraft was not quite the same. Men and women who were a part of the craft never knew if they'd make it back to port. It was a risky job and most were told to live their lives to the fullest whenever they were in harbor and that went for simple fishing fleets as well. Still, Lan catches himself glancing away from Laera under the cackling group behind him. Though once they make noises that bait him on, he shoots a look back at them, yelling, "Oh shut 'tup will ya!" Which earns more laughter from the other seacrafters. Exasperated, he pinches the bridge of his nose, "Tis going ta be a long Turn…" Trying to deal with the heckling going on behind him (albeit from a distance), he catches up to the conversations for the most part, quirking his eyebrow up at Lorelai for her excitement. A pleased chuckle follows, "Tis true. I did promise tha." A pause inbetween as he listens to her bubbling excitement, "Do it call for a certain type of fish? Thar be many types and tastes. I reckon those that we hauling in be the easiest ta eat, for most people. Has a pleasing taste but tis strong went served raw." The commotion of the blue whuffling has him sidestep away, especially at Lore's suggestion that he might be considered food. He's never had any good luck with dragons, especially not D'len's. A weary eye falls on Kereth. It wasn't a fearful one, just suspicious.

Laera leans back from the kiss and looks over Lan's shoulders, "You guys just wish it were you!" She calls back to the group heckling before looking over to Lorelai as she settles at Lander's side, "Aint heard of her, but I been living up near Fort for a few turns." She responds to the girl before Kereth draws her attention again and she looks down at the Blue who has lifted his head to snuffle both Landers and Lorelai and something changes to Laera's face. Her eyes unfocus as she bespeaks her lifemate, the blue swaying his head to look intently at his chosen.

The girl grins at the sailor remembering his promise, though she wrinkles her nose a little at the question about what kind of fish, "Well… The recipe called for a white fish, but I was going to make some changes to it." So it could be that something different would work better. Lorelai giggles at the laughter from the other men, covering her mouth with one hand and nodding at Laera not knowing her mother, "We've lived here since I was born. I'm sure you'll meet her if you stay long enough."

Lan regards Laera out of the corner of his eye for the sudden change upon her and knowing it had something to do with the blue 'dolphin' whuffling around. His lip curls in spite of himself, a distrustful reaction for he doesn't necessarily understand what is happening between rider and dragon. So his eyes flash back to Lorelai, waiting for her answer in regards to the fish. However, he finds himself taking another step away from the snuffling, mindful to give the dragon room and to keep a better distance incase the dragon did mistaken the smell on his clothes for him being a fish. One who really didn't spend his time around dragons didn't really know the ins and outs. Of course he wouldn't be eaten, but it was more of an instinctive 'don't want to get bitten' sort of thing. When Lorelai finally does respond, he nods, "I reckon ya can pick out any of the fish we have hauled in the last few days. I will even help ya pick out which is better quality."

After the 'consultation' with her lifemate, which seems rather long and intense, Laera looks over to Landers for a moment with a look of mixed feelings then over to Lorelai. "Kereth wants you both to stand for the clutch on our sands." She says as she looks to the pair most intently, her gaze flickering to Landers. "I tried to tell him you were an water man, but he reckons…well that you should give the sky a chance while you heal." She says and she looks to Lorelai, "He thinks a dragon could be quite happy with a cook."

Having grown up with both of her parents having more conversations with their dragons than with their children, Lorelai doesn't really think anything about Laera having a silent conversation with her dragon. She positively beams at Landers when he offers to help her pick out a good quality fish, "Thank you!" Now she owes him again: Being her taste tester and helping to pick out the perfect fish to try to experiment with this recipe she's working on. Once the conversation is over, however, the girl's eyes widen at the offer she and Lan are both given, "Me?" Her voice is half an octive higher than usual with surprise, "He wants meboth of usto be candidates?" She's stunned for just a moment before she's grinning, "It would be an honor!"

While some would be head over heels for the extended offer, Landers seems as if he didn't hear at first. An instant afterward his face darkens with a squinted look, perplexed. All he can say is, "'E do whar?" it wasn't a look of confusion, perchance a little, but mostly one of skepticism, his tone speaking as much, "I reckon I be right daft when it comes ta Weyr matters…" Eyebrows remain poised up and questioning, shooting a look over toward the cook, then back to the bluerider. It seems that the grinning Lorelai does not rub off on the sailor. He's wearing a scowl when the title 'candidate' is thrown in there. The bloke doesn't even know the first thing about what it means to be a candidate, not by the look on his face.

"Yeah, apparently he landed for that, not for me." Laera says shooting her dragon a look. Yes she knows what this means for her and Landers and D'len. Her weyrmate is gonna kill her and Kereth. "It means Kereth reckons you got whatever spark it takes to be a rider. That your fate is meant to be tied with a weyr. It may not mean you impress,I can't promise either of you that…but it is an honour.." She says as she nods to Lorelai's reaction. "It means you will spend the next few sevendays with other chosens, learning about the weyr and dragons better and learning about each other." She says before she looks from Lorelai more directly to Landers, "It means no sex, nor booze, nor fighting…its apprentice rules…"

"It's not hard to do, from what my brothers and sister have said." Lorelai chimes in with her own opinion, "And you don't have to know anything about the Weyr to be a candidate! That's what being a candidate is for." Or so she's always been told, anyway. The girl nods at the rules that they would have to follow in order to be candidates. Not anything she does, anyway, even before she got her apprentice knot. She blushes suddenly, "I just got my apprentice knot, though… I don't know if Master Denna would like that I've been asked to stand so soon after she asked me if I wanted to be a baker…" Beat, "T'maz is a rider, too, though, so I guess it's alright?"

Landers is not going to be an easy sell, he looks incredibly unconvinced in the matter. The sailor even gives his head a shake, "I reckon I never thought ta be caught up in all this… ta be a …." rider, a dragon rider? Yes, the man had other ambitions, granted they were built upon the sea. The sailor is still frowning when learning what the position of a candidate entails, until his lips curl back with something akin to disgust, closer to flabberghasted. "Whhar…?!" he chuffs through his mouth, a snort like sound but rather a puff of grunted air. Now his eyes were on Laera, a 'what do you take me for' kind of look, which he speaks as much, "Ya can not be thinking I be able to thrive without my needs met Laera. I be well inta my fifth Turn.. with the seacraft. Why should a man give up his livelihood fer a tight noose?" He regards Lorelai with his nose wrinkled up a little now, as if something smelt and it wasn't him!

"Well you will have each check with your Masters and any other you hold allegience to. Reckon Denna will be alright, but check with her all the same. If you say yes, well head to the candidate barracks to collect your knot." At the reaction of Landers, Laera takes a breath and nods, "It won't take you from the sea Landers. My own ma is a Dolphincrafter and a rider. She ain't never had a day where her feet ain't touched the water." She says perhaps trying to settle her own mind with it. "You won't have to give it up, just take a break for a short bit. Most of the riders bend to one craft or another. Just…just a short time, it will be over before you know it. Then we can celebrate.." She starts as she reaches out to Landers, a conflicting emotion in her own eyes. "You can say yes, but…its an honour, it means something to all of us who were raised this way…"

Lorelai blinks a couple of times at Lander's last objection, "But you don't have to give up your craft. There's lots of riders that have crafts." She nods when instructed to ask Denna and where to collect her knot, still excited by the idea of getting to go out on the Sands with the eggs while they're hatching, "Thank you, Laera." She beams, "I'll find her and ask right away!"

"I jus dun understand it… Why be so enforced when ya riders be the most sex crazed and booze fiends I ever did see? I be around ta see a few Weyrs. Be all the same. Easy lovers and drunk companions in every corner. Dunn make sense ta have them rules," the puzzle pieces were not connecting, "Whar about my dream ta make Cap'n…" Did he ever mention that before? Likely not, at least not to Laera. The man was taking this seriously. No ceremony here. No thank you for the chance. The way he was approaching the situation had a bit of ire to it. His mouth tenses up, forming into a thin line as a hand lifts to rub down his face, falling then to his side to put on his hips as he pivots away from Laera in a moment to think. "Do ya have ta have me answer now? Or do I get some time ta think about it?" His eyes return to Lorelai for her own excitement, adding in before he starts to take a slow walk down the dock as if to pace, mind wheeling, "Lor, good luck."

Lorelai has an almost hurt look on her face as she watches Landers leave, giving him a little wave as he starts pacing, "Um… Yeah. Thanks." She looks like she hopes he makes the same decision she did: Accepting Search.

Landers is much too caught up in his thoughts then to do more than wish Lorelai good luck. Time will tell if he will join her in the barracks or not. The options had to be weighed and carefully.

Laera does look a bit stricken at Landers words and she follows after him up the dock, "I know it sounds silly, but its to prepare you for impressing…you impress them as babies who don't understand adult feelings. Who don't understand passion and being drunk. Who can't cope with the anger of a fight." She moves quickly after him, reaching out for his arm. "Give it a few weeks, if nothing else…you will learn more about the weyr, about riders, about me and D'len…and you will be back on your boat after the hatching." She sounds as if she is trying to convince herself as much as him.

He wasn't walking toward the crew he had left, he was walking away from them. The men on the fishing boat had finished unloading their fleet, most were seated, taking a break and watching the interaction from afar. So when Laera reaches out her hand for his arm, she sufficiently stops him, pivoting him a quarter turn so that his eyes dart back toward the men on the dock and then dart back to Laera. Her pleas make him cast his eyes away from the bluerider, down toward his feet, falling closed as thoughts evidently churn. When his chin lifts, his eyes flutter back open and his gaze delves into Laera's, "Ya mean ta keep me…" from sailing, from leaving Xanadu, from danger - they fit and yet one couldn't be too sure what he meant. His hand lifts to her cheek, knuckles brushing across them, a momentary reminder of what would be missed, and then the most sincere words ever spoken, "Iffin it were any other but you, I would've said no," a short hiss of breath, whispered, "Ya've baited and netted me well." Almost ominous as he sighs gravely, a sigh of an undecided and unconfident mind. The life of this man had been turned upside down the day he set foot on Xanadu beaches.

Laera closes her eyes as his fingers touch her cheek. It is clear there is something there between them. "My mind and my heart are having an argument here…my duty says I should not talk you out of this. My love of Kereth…that bond we share..I would not deny you if it was yours to find. The selfish part of me wants to turn you around and push you on that ship and say, see you in a few days." She opens them at his words and lets out a slow breath. "I am sorry and I am glad for you…and I am not sure which is stronger right now. If there is a mate on those sands for you, I would die rather than keep you from that chance. You can say no…you can walk away at any time."

Once she has given him time to respond, he murmurs quietly, "Duty be different for me. I be bound ta say no, ta keep going with my craft… ta sail on ta get somewhere in life. Laera…" he frowns at her, echos of his anguish behind his eyes, while his free hand lifts to his shirt collar, pulling free a brass ring which didn't appear to be jewelry, "I owe it ta them… Laera…" his hand grazes it, obviously some artifact to evoke memories of those lost, "I be sharding terrified, every day I be out thar now. But I do them no good iffin I run from it. And this, I be terrified of whatever it is ya offer me. Tis nothing I know and only by yer good graces do I be bound here and want ta know it. I do nar want ta see ya cry," the strong man letting out some of his emotional build up, while his hand drops back down to his side, leaving the brass ring to sway like an oversized necklace. Then abruptly he cups her chin after she tells him she'd rather die, "No. You best live. I do this fer you and yer mate, iffin because I do…" oh he stumbles, he can't say it, his teeth clench, "adore ya both, and do not want ta hurt ya." There's a long exhale of a breath afterward, sparing a look out toward the sea and those of his 'new fishing' crew, whom would be informed shortly of his departure for candidacy. The captain already seems to know what is going on, the clever man having watched like an eagle the whole way through.

"I know Landers, you are bound to the sea as I am for the air. I would never take you from the sea. I never meant to…" Laera says as she steps in closer. "I just wanted to get to know the guy that turned D'len's head, then he turned my head as well." She says, reaching a finger to caress his cheek. She looks over to her dragon for a moment then back to him, "Perhaps this will give you more time to find yourself…to find some peace. If you find a lifemate on the sands they can help take the burden of the fear…that I wish I could take from you. Oh how I wish I could share that with you as well as D'len and I do…" She says breathlessly and leans over to kiss him, "You won't hurt me no matter what you decide.."

Landers puts his chin up when she steps closer, as if to shy away like a spooked runner might do, or a proud feline would when something intends to touch it. Although he allows the caress upon his cheek. He shakes his head, "Tis something I never considered," he says in response to the matter of finding a lifemate to whom could share his burden, "T'was a struggle jus ta stay a seacrafter four Turns ago…" and yet, he finally glances to Kereth, as if seeing him for the first time. An inner struggle continues to play, displayed in the knotches of flesh between his frowning brows and in those dawn blue eyes of his. Abruptly when she means to lean over to kiss him, his finger lifts to prevent her from kissing his lips, a barrier between them, "Then I cannot do this… iffin I say yes…"

The finger is kissed instead and Laera nods, "Alright…" She says softly. "Just a month of candidacy, if you don't impress then you can go right back to your life here. If you do…I can promise you, you will have no regrets." She says softly and looks over to Kereth who has finally approached the pair and gives Landers another light gentle wuffle, keeping his head lower than the sailor. He is definately the gentle one of the pair, a complete opposite to Szayelth. "We will wait for you."

The decision, however unsure the man really is about it, seems to have been made with that one gesture alone. If he had to wear the noose there would be no languid goodbyes, he would jump and let it be snug against him. There is a simple nod for it all, a look down the dockside and back up, until the large blue head of the dragon seemingly impedes all other views. Lan does not offer Kereth a scritch or any sort of physical or verbal greeting, here merely eyes down the creature that very well changed the course of the sailor's life. Friendly dragon or not, the sailor had all but avoided contact with them before and he continued to do so; Szayelth much to blame for that. "Are you to take us somewhere then. I believe Lor has been waiting…"

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