Xanadu Weyr - Kiddie Playground
A path of colorfully painted slabs of stone cheerfully invites the weyr's youngest residents and their caretakers to partake in the multitude of activities in this elaborate playground. The pathways here are comprised of a thick cushioning layer of dark brown mulch branching off towards distinct sections. Log roll edging with a pale green-brown finish provided an accent to divide wide stretches of well tended grass from long rounded abstract shapes filled with fragrant wild flowers. More edging boarders the back walls made of tall square shaped hedges with the occasional draping of a flowering bush.
Immediately to the left is a enormous teaching garden filled with most of the herbs and the edible plants that can be found on Pern. Each is clearly labeled with their name and use thanks to posts sliced at an angle at their top, the large blocked text easy to read behind square panels of glass screwed directly into the wood. To the right A twelve foot long, seven foot high 'rock' climbing wall with large protrusions and holes designed with young hands and feet in mind. Farther back from here is a section dedicated specifically to a impressive swing set, constructed of heavy pressure treated lumber and includes exactly six swings along each side forming a wide 'vee'. No more than six feet from the swing set is the record setting oak tree discovered when this place was created, and upon it a fixed robe ladder leads up to an amazing tree house. It has a wide porch, and roof build directly into the tree itself. Inside children will delight in the amount of play space, and the range of games to be found. Peg boards, wooden kitchen items, and even a place to sneak away to color or draw with a breathtaking few of the gardens and playground. Just past the tree house is a hedge maze that a small child may lose themselves in, but is short enough to enable an adult to easily guide the little one out again should they get lost.
The center of the playground is likely it's drawing attraction. A huge brightly colored play structure With seven different types of climbing components (including monkey bars), six platforms, two slides and several hand manipulated activities including cranks, large interlocking gears that actually work and a pop flip puzzle with amusing cartoon characters.
It is a cool, clear afternoon, with wisps of clouds skidding across the sky and bright sunshine making the cheerily-coloured kiddie-playground seem even cheerier. But someone is not so cheery today… "Will feed ya to a sharding ovine!" comes the loud, vaguely irritated voice of Cenlia, the threat accompanied by a scowl. She's over by the teaching garden, waggling a small shovel at a rather wide-eyed and terrified looking boy who seems to have his dirt-smeared hands halfway to his mouth. Cenlia glares. The little boy's lip trembles. And then he bursts into tears. "Waaaaaaaahhh!!" goes the kid, and Cenlia groans. A number of other children and nannies are out enjoying the fair weather and the playground, and despite the one wailing terror over there, the other children seem happy enough, their laugher drifting on the occasional breeze. Of course, most of them are keeping their distance from Cenlia. There are other nannies about, though the exasperated looks they give Cenlia might indicate they've been getting used to her particular brand of childcare.
Morlanol wanders into the clearing, attracted more by the noise than by any actual need to be there. Agate wings ahead of him, chittering admonishingly at Cenlia as he nears her. Bloodston is collapsed in sleep, his odd form draped over Morl's shoulders. As Morl gets closer, he whistles and Agate swoops around to land on his shoulder. He gives Cen a lopsided smile, his face bright, clean and open. "Don' abuse th' thing, Cen. What'd he do?"
With it being such a nice day, there is simply no way Rogawani was going to sit indoors and be industrious with his task of mending clothes. Keeping a fair distance away from the wailing kidlets, the ex-messenger is propped up on one of the colored stones, a basket of clothes set beside him. He isn't sewing though, oddly enough. The needle and thread still sit, unmoved, atop the pile. Instead, the boy is sketching on a pad of paper, looking down at it intently. The only thing that manages to draw his attention up is the voices around him, two particular familiar ones. "Poor kid." He chuckles, glancing over at Cenlia, and then on to Morlanol. "You can't solve everything with a shovel, you know."
"Tried to eat the compost," Cen grumbles, eyeing the wailing kid warily. Cenlia's four firelizards are also out and about, but they're all off playing over by the garden. Only Charmer wings back, trilling a greeting to Morlanol's flits and then circling the still-wailing child. Cenlia makes a face, waving a, "Hey," to Morlanol, and then calling over to Rogawani, "Sure I can! 'S not my fault they're all sharding /loud/." The little boy eventually stops crying when Charmer flutters over in front of him, chittering in concern. Cenlia smirks, "X'hil's got it right, he does." Charmer soon regrets getting involved, though, as the little oy reaches for him.
Morlanol approaches Cen the rest of the way, giving Ro an absent wave as he does so. Bloodstone gives a sleepy chirrup from his shoulder as he crouches down by the boy. "Y' don' eat compos'. It's not good fer ya. An' don' snatch other people's flits, it makes 'em made. Y' gotta stroke 'em gentle-like."
"Mmm, compost." Rogawani's eyebrows draw up in an amused expression, running a hand through his hair and dusting out a bit of sand lingering there. "Calm down, Cen, you're going to go pre-maturely gray from all the kidlet stress." He teases, poking the end of the pencil he's holding in the air in her direction. The smile even remains for Morlanol as he talks to the boy, "See, if Morl can handle a few kids, you can, right?" He lowers the pencil then, and finishes up one of the drawings, still dutifully ignoring his assigned task.
Charmer squawks and flies out of reach, over to land on Cenlia's shoulder. The little boy looks up at Morlanol, all wide-eyed. At the mention of making somebody mad, the kid gives Cen a fearful look, and Cenlia actually manages to look somewhat guilty, but she shrugs it off with a grumble, "Shardin' nuisances, all of 'em." She glances over the playing children with a sigh, but does put the shovel away. The little boy quickly turns back to Morlanol, nodding quickly. "Can handle kids," Cenlia says to Rogawani, the gardener girl giving him a crooked grin, "'Cept the ones I had to deal with in South Boll weren't half as loud." Of course, the kids she'd had to take care of in South Boll were probably used to her.
Morlanol smiles at the boy as Agate crawls down his arm. He strokes Agate's headknobs and neck gently, demonstrating for the boy, "Gen'ly, like this. If y' wan' one o' yer own one day, y' need t' treat 'em nice or they won' stay." He gives Cen and charmer a glance, "An' it's gen'rally best t' stay out o' her garden stuff. It jus' makes her mad." He gives the kid a little wink, "An' I'm sure it'd make yer friends sad if ya got sick from eatin' th' compost."
"That's weybrats for you." Rogawani's amusement hasn't lessened apparently. "It's pretty widely accepted that we're the worst of the lot you can manage to deal with." After all, it wasn't all -that- long ago that Ro' had been one of those kidlets. Luckily he's grown up, at least a little bit. "I'd trade you, but I'm guessing that this is more dangerous for you than they are." He lifts one eyebrow and glances towards the basket of mending. "You have to babysit brothers back at home, Morl?" The boy asks, seeming curious as he leans forward a bit. "Seem pretty used to kids, wouldn't imagine they have that many down in the mines."
Cenlia grins sheepishly at Morlanol, when the little kid sneaks another fearful look her way. But the little boy is soon distracted by the firelizard, as he watches Morlanol stroking the critter with all the attentiveness the little kid can muster, even nodding seriously to that last bit. Of course, the little boy then tries to reach out to the flit to copy Morlanol. Cenlia gives the mending a long look, her cheeks actually coloring very slightly as she mutters, "I ain't /that/ bad at sewing. Just… sharding /cot/." Yep, it was the cot's fault. Apparently. Cenlia makes a face, "I'll trade ya and throw in a turnday gift." She sounds almost hopeful, though the girl does add with a bit of a smirk, "Dun't look like you're getting much mending done anyways."
Agate hummms contentedly as the boy strokes him, his first lids beginning to shut as he does so. Morlanol smiles to Rogawani, "Yeah, we had 'bout 6 families livin' at th' mine an' they all had tons o' kids, so I watched kids 'til th' next kid was old enough to, then I went inta th' mines. Mos'ly takes patience."
Rogawani's eyebrow twitches up again, over the fading bruise on his eye. A few days and one might forget completely about it. "Fair enough deal. I probably wouldn't be able to talk you out of the turnday gift anyways." His smile is bemused as he gets up, nudging at the basket of mending with one toe. "All yours." He takes his sketchpad with him, moving closer to the kidlets and offering Morlanol an understanding smile. "My mother is a nanny, she's down with the younger ones today. Used to get all sorts of practice." He reaches into one of his pockets, and pulls out a banded roll of drawing sticks. "Hey, got a fun project for you guys." He calls out, gaining the attention of a few of the nearby children. Leaving the first page on the pad, he begins to tear off sheets. "Come on over."
"Patience," Cenlia wrinkles her nose, mumbling, "Worsen' watching seedlings grow. Got patience when they dun't make noise, do what they're told." The kids in South Boll must've just loved her, right? Cenlia wanders over to grab the mending, actually looking a little relieved as she watches Rogawani and the kidlets. Shaking her head, Cen says, "Shards, I hope if I impress, the dragon ain't as bad as them," she indicates a few of the more rambunctious kids, "Some of them eggs, shards." She shakes her head again and pulls out something to mend, being very careful this time to mind her pantlegs. At least she can't sew herself to the bench.
Morlanol glances over at Cenlia and rolls his eyes, she was so strange sometimes. Both flits squawk, suddenly awake, as the waves of children come towards Rogawani shouting, "Game? Game?" Agate wings away, choosing the perch near Cenlia instead, watching her sew. Waiting, perhaps, to see if she'd sew herself in. Bloodstone chooses to stay on his shoulder, tightening his tail around Morl's neck. Morlanol stands, loosening the tail with a slight grimace before waving at the kids, "Calm down or y' can' play. Don' run an' don' yell." He does his best to look stern, but it's hard to have an authoritative figure when you're still baby-faced.
Putting forth is best 'this is exciting' voice, Rogawani bends down to the circle of children and hands each of them a page and one of the writing sticks. "So, I want you to imagine your favorite animal." He says, accentuating his words, "Maybe a runner, or a hound, or a firelizard." He suggests, looking at each of them as he crouches, smiling to them. "And then we're all going to draw them on the paper, okay?" He encourages, and then looks up again once they are started. "I don't know, A'li was telling me that the hatchlings are just like big kids." He warns, waggling the pencil at her. He gives a sideways look at Morlanol, and then speaks in an undertone. "This should keep 'em occupied for a few." That wry smile of his returns, settling down to sit a bit away from the children as they work. "So you got out on the sands with the eggs, too?" He asks, looking over his shoulder. "Pretty trippy, huh?"
Cenlia giggles a bit at Morlanol's attempt to be autoritative, the gardener girl calling over, "Tell 'em I'll go an' get m' shovel!" She winks, though, and gets to threading a needle, veery veery carefully. The former gardener girl makes a face, muttering, "Just what I need, big dragon-sized kid." She glances over to Rogawani and nods, though there's a slight frown as she says, "Was… strange. Amazin', I guess. 'Cept the last ones. Them three, dunno 'about them…"
Morlanol gives Cen an indescribeable look, somewhere between a frown and a sardonic grin, "I'm tryin' t' *not* scare 'em, Cen." Agate chirrups next to her, watching her sew intently. Morlanol backs away some from the kids as Ro gives them a suitable distraction, then turns back to Cen, "Which were your last three? The one tha' wierded me out most was th' oddity egg.
"Let's not threaten them any more than we have to." Rogawani chuckles again, still amused by Cenlia's way of handling children. No motherly sorts in this candidate group, that much is for certain. Still keeping half his gaze trained on the kids, who seem more than happy at the chance to draw, Ro' nods his head slightly. "Kind of overwhelming?" He asks, his face showing understanding, and probably sympathy. "Some were confusing to me… others just sharding amazing. And some that… well I don't know if I'd like to meet the dragon inside it. Like this one…" He hesitates, and then frowns a little, eyebrows knitting. "It felt like it had grabbed one of my memories, and lit it on fire." His face tilts, looking a bit abashed, as if worrying the others might think him mentally unstable.
"Couple of 'em hurt," Cen mumbles with a shrug, though she doesn't explain. Cenlia appears distracted as she tries to thread the needle, squinting and sticking her tongue out the side of her mouth, tucked between her teeth. After a moment, she apparently succeeds, as she ties the thread off and then glances over to Rogawani. The gardner girl doesn't speak for a while, as if thinking something over, before she finally says, "Overwhelming, yeah." She does nod at his description of the fire, saying, "Yea that one was… wierd." She looks rather subued, suddenly, glancing off towards the garden, "Dunno 'bout this whole impresson thing." But it sounds more worried than doubtful.
"Yeah." Rogawani's voice takes on a softer tone, as if he understood exactly what sort of thing Cenlia might be meaning. His eyes move away to look at two of the children, who have swapped pages and are now doodling over each other's creatures. When his gaze filters back, though, one eyebrow lifts and a momentary look of concern replaces the amusement from before. He pushes himself up, pressing a hand down on his knee in the process, and then walks over, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets. "Dunno 'bout what?" He immitates her way of talking, but not on a mocking way, as if trying to make her more comfortable.
Agate chirrups, then flutters down to Cenlia's lap to 'help' her thread the needle, trying to stick his tongue through the eye, but failing because even at his young age it's too large. Morlanol chuckles softly, "Yeah, some o' th' eggs didn't seem t' like bein' touched much, did they? I'm kinda scared 'bout th' 'pression itself, bu' I'd love t' 'press an' have th' constan' companion.
"Just… dunno," Cenlia frowns, glancing over at Rogawani and Morlanol, and then shrugging, turning back to the mending, "Thought Sir Kinseth was alright, it weren't like I expected, he's loud, but it's still just like talkin', only in yer head, but them eggs-" she acks as Agate tries to help her, the girl shaking her head and attempting to raise the mending out of the flit's reach. This doesn't work too well, as Charmer, still on Cen's shoulder, also tries to stick his nose onto things.
A thoughtful look passes Rogawani's face, and he seems to shift his balance a bit before raising one shoulder in a small shrug. "They're babies, though." It's the only explination that he can seem to grasp at, "I mean, they're stuck inside this tight little shell, with no experience of the outside world except through us. I think it's like… a painter." He scratches at his cheek, obviously not one that's good with metaphors. "Like the canvas is blank, and they don't have any paint. Then we come around and we're the paint. So they play?" He guesses, and then looks between the two of them again, that same worried expression there. "Or… maybe I just need to be taken off to the funny farm with the other crazies."
Morlanol shakes his head, smiling, "Naw, I think yer righ' tha' it's somethin' like tha'. Like they're babies with jus' li'tle bits o' personality an' they're tryin' t' express themselves through us." He glances over at Cen and gives a harsh whistle. Agate stops trying to help and droops his head as if saying, 'sorry' and climbs up Cen's torso to sit on her shoulder to observe more closely. If Morl can't do anything else, it seems he can discipline his flits… or maybe it's a fluke since Agate then begins exploring Cen's ear with his tongue.
Cen gives Rogawani a grin, "Yeah, I guess so. Just weren't expectin' it to be like that. Awful… personal." But she doesn't look too displeased, "Wish I could get to know 'em when they hatched." Cenlia raises her brows, apparently impressed by the whistle and the obedient flit. That is, until it starts licking her ear. Cenlia lets out what might be a squeak, and tries to wave the firelizard of with a laughing, "Oy!" Charmer croons at Agate, apparently pleased by Cenlia's reaction, for he sticks his nose in her other ear, snuffling at her.
Still looking not too sure of himself, Rogawani toes at the ground and looks downward, finding it easier to say such odd things when he can't see how others judge him. "Well, they are going to be sharing the heads of some of us. Seems like a pretty personal thing to me." It's not as if any of them could know. It's at that point that a little girl comes up to him, holding up a picture of a cute little sheep. "Aww. It's adorable." Chuckles, taking the picture from her. "We're going to put all of these up in the nursery." He explains with that same, put-on sort of smile. Some of the others seem excited about it, "Why don't you draw some more with it?" He suggests to the girl.
Morlanol shudders slightly, "I'll admit, th' though' of some o' those pers'nalities bein' in m' head scares me a tidge. Bu' I don' think dragons'll impress t' someone radically diff'rent from them." Morl whistles again, at a slightly different pitch, and Agate, looking turoughly dejected, stops nuzzling Cen's ear, instead curling up in a ball on her shoulder. He smiles down at the girl with the sheep, then notices that two others are drawing sheep and one seems to be drawing Rogawani. He snickers softly, but doesn't point it out.
Cen relaxes once Agate stops exploring her ear, and even Charmer looks up at Morlanol, though the goldeny bronze trills back. But he leaves Cen's ear alone…. for now. The gardener girl grins at Morlanol, saying, "Shards, wish I could get mine to listen like that." Cenlia grins lopsidedly, and then eyes Rogawani for a moment, "Yeah, you're prolly right. Guess it just ain't sunk in proper yet." The little girl with the sheep gets an amused look, Cenlia grinning wider, "Should tell Izzy to make X'hil go pick up his kids sometime… bet he'll love seein' that on the wall." Cenlia snickers, looking back down at the mending and asking, "Any eggs you guys think y' might have a chance with? I figure I liked all of 'em, 'cept them two that were mean."
The snicker from Cenlia seems to be echoed in the almost sly look that forms on Rogawani's face, "I was just thinking that." He strokes at his chin, like some old man with a particularly cunning plot he's devising. Still, he shakes off that idea for the time being, plotting more torture for later, it seems. "What do the firelizards need with a playground if they have you." He muses, and then runs a hand through his hair, trying to split his attention two ways. "I…" He pauses, and his eyebrows furrow a little. It doesn't hurt anymore to do that, which is probably a good thing. "I don't know. There were only twelve and then there's Kilaueth's eggs that we didn't get to go near." Tapping his toe against the ground, Ro' just looks uncertain. "There were one or two that seemed… interested?" Is that the right word?
Another young boy walks up to Rogawani to show off his art. His are just stick figures: a small human, a larger human, and what is probably a horse. Each are carefully labelled in child's scrawl: 'me', 'Ro', and 'Ro's Runner'. Morl snickers softly, but continues the egg-based conversation, "Th' one with th' collapsed buildin' on it was so… touching… I dunno… A couple of th' others were nice too." Bloodstone chirrups at Agate, who chirrups back and they chitter like small children for a few moments, then Agate shifts and nudges Charmer off balance before flying away to hide on Morl's shoulder cackling like an old auntie.
"Shardin' flits," Cenlia chuckles, tilting her head to regard Rogawani again, though the girl's hand reaches up to give Charmer scritches, the bronze flit snorting at Agate as the other one leaves, though he's soon crooning and nuzzling Cenlia's fingers. "There was this one, think it wanted to drag me off somewheres. Shardin' strange," the gardener-turned-candidate muses.
Luckily, the distraction of keeping an eye on a group of kidlets is enough to keep Rogawani from dwelling too much on any one thing. His face lights a little at the boy's drawing. "Aww." He leans down, and picks the boy up with one arm, ruffling his hair with the other. "Bet you want to see Rider again, huh?" He asks, then leans in closer and whispers loud enough for all to hear. "Maybe I'll see if the nannies will let me bring him by for another visit." This brings a bout of claping glee from the boy, who Ro' carefully sets back on his feet again. When his eyes come back to the two other candidates, he seems more himself again. "That could be something good, right? Who knows." His hands shift into his pockets again, in that easy-going sort of way that he had when not bothering to act like more than a fifteen, nearly sixteen turn old boy.
Morlanol chuckles as Bloodstone and Agate begin to play keep away with a small seed, though he's chuckling at Cenlia, "A'least they're not flaming ovines." He gives her a wink, "I was watchin' from th' stands, what made ya say tha' t' th' one egg?" Agate and Bloodstone continue to toss the seed back and forth, eventually taking flight and seeming to turn it into some sort of game. Bloodstone gives a gleeful trill as he 'scores', throwing the seed past Agate and straight into Cen's chest.
Cenlia shakes her head, watching Rogawani and the kid with an amused, lopsided smile before she says, "Figure there's some that'll grow up to be right proper getaway dragons. Like that one…" but she shakes her head, "Hope I at least get to know their riders, if I don't impress." She chews the inside of her cheek for a moment, while absently working on the mending. She grins at Morlanol's mention of the flaming ovine, and chuckles, "That one, shardin' felt like fire m' head. Was the first thing I thought of." Cenlia makes a face, "Shards, I hope Thea didn't hear me…" Cen ignores the flying seed, though Charmer chitters at the playing flits, flaring his wings suddenly, jelously. His human here. Rawr. Cenlia glances sideways at Charmer, the bronze firelizard chirping and settling down on her shoulder and curling his tail around her neck.
Rocking back and forth on his heels, Rogawani offers a small smile towards Cenlia. "Well, you knew me before, and I'm sure you're getting to know the rest as a candidate, right?" His head tilts in a strange way, as if trying to figure out exactly what she means. "If nothing else, we're all tied together because we're all here." He does chuckle under his breath, listening to the story about the 'flaming ovine' comment. Unfortunately, his gaze is still lingering between the kidlets and the conversation, so he misses the firelizard games. "You think we'll get a chance to touch the other clutch at all?"
An odd smile lingers on Morlanol's face for a moment and he seems lost in thought, then Agate and Bloodstone start up a chorus of chitters, easily breaking his revere. They're clearly aimed at Charmer, however, as if asking 'want to play?' Morlanol himself shrugs at Ro's question, "I hope we will, but it's hard t' say. I mean, I'd hate t' be limited t' jus' one clutch, but th' other queen seemed so protective of her eggs, like we might never get near 'em." His face gets a little more serious, but not much, it's hard to be serious with all these kids around, "Wha' scares me is who migh' no' impress. Fer th' mos' part we're a pretty tigh'-knit group an' I don' wanna lose any o' y'all as frien's either way."
Cenlia nods slowly to Rogawani, "Yeah, gotten to know some, but if some impress an' I don't? Shards, X'hil an' I got on great, but I don't ever see him anymore 'cause of all the sharding work. A'dar too," and her brows suddenly crease with worry, the girl glancing off in the direction of the meadow. "Thea either. 'S like they never have time for nothin', not drinkin, not even just bein' outside." But her gaze does not return to the playground for a while, as she mumbles, "Dunno if we'll get to touch the other eggs. Hope so." She does turn back to nod in Morlanol's direction, "Yeah, they didn't look too happy to see us out on the Sands." Charmer eyes the tw chittering flits, but he seems content where he is, though now and again, the goldeny-bronze firelizard scans the trees, as if looking for someone. Perhaps someone shiny. Cenlia sighs, "Well, if I impress, I ain't ever gonna do that much work. Seems like taking care of a dragon is loads of work already. Ain't no reason I can't go right back to the garden." And she grins a bit, "Or maybe get you guys to come along when I go to snatch some tuber ale from back home."
With many of the kidlets finishing their drawings now, they start to get up and run around with their usual energetic cries and laughter. Nothing too terrible that needs attention from Rogawani with the other nannies nearby. So, he lets his attention shift back to the other two candidates, his friends. "Yeah, that scares me too sometimes." His eyes look away, as if there might be at least one candidate in particular he's afraid of losing. Then, as his gaze lifts again, he straitens a bit. "Hey, either way, I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere. No dragon is going to make me some stodgy old rider who sits up in his weyr and can't be out and 'bout with the rest of us lowlifes having fun, right?" At least, that's what he keeps telling himself. He looks expectantly at the other two, as if hoping they might feel at least somewhat the same. The look on his face brightens a little, seeming amused once more. "Yeah, nothing will keep me from helping you on that. Shards, keeping you stocked in booze is almost a fulltime job.".
Agate and Bloodstone come up with another seed, seemingly unhurt by Charmer's disinterest, and begin tossing it around again. Morlanol nods, still somewhat lost in thought, "I know none o' us woul' do it 'tensionally, bu' with all th' work tha' goes into dragons, it's hard t' 'magine us havin' nearly so much time t' spen' together." He smiles now, perhaps having had a happier thought, "'Course, once th' Weyrlings c'n go ou' on their own we coul' have all types o' a'ventures, an' that'd be fun."
Cenlia grins at Rogawani, "Yeah, unless you impress a bronze. Might catch a weyrwoman, an' then we'd never see ya, ever." THe girl pauses a moment, then adds, "'Cept D'son gets out, so I figure it ain't the job. Saw him in the garden. Even signed the letter I needed and everything. Was pretty swell." At the mention of keeping her stocked with booze, Cenlia laughs, "Yeah, 'specially since now B'miel's all cozy with his weyrmate. Ain't got time for partying, an' he sold off most of his wines 'cause B'ky dun drink much." Cenlia makes a face, grumbling, "No wonder he loaded me up with all them bottles. Knew he was gonna hafta give up his stash." She nods at Morlanol, saying, "If we all impress, would be swell."
"Bah." Rogawani raises a hand dismissively towards Cenlia. "Come on, you think I'm really going to just up and disappear? Besides… me on bronze?" He rolls his eyes. "I'll just be lucky to impress at all." He mutters, and then shoves his hands back into his pockets, looking towards Morlanol, "Hey, you're always welcome to come down to the stables and visit me. Just remind your dragons that Rider isn't food, okay?" He chuckles a little bit, shifting his weight to get more comfortable. "I'll be sure that there's booze for you after this is over, B'miel or no B'miel." The boy assures with a nod towards Cenlia, then his voice seems to trail off. "Yeah, it'd be nice… but someone's gotta get left behind."
Thea walks into the playground, clipboard in hand and heads for the swings, dodging running little ones as she walks. As she nears the structure, she is in time to overhear Cenlia's comment to Rogawani and his reply. Her lips quirk in an amused smile. "Afternoon," she says pleasantly, including Morlanol in the greeting. She pauses beside the bench, "Might though, Rogawani. Have you thought on that?" Still amused is she, but she makes a pretense of studying Cenlia's sewing job. "Are you improving your skills?" A glance towards Morlanol, "If all of you Impress, you'll be sick of one another by the end of Weyrlinghood." She's not serious, but it is an indication of just how much time they'd be spending together.
Morlanol shrugs, still smiling, "We wouldn' all have t' 'press, jus' enough t' carry th' others. Though it woul' be easies' if we all 'pressed." Agate has the seed and he's making a breakaway towards Morl and Ro, trilling happily as he does so. Morl gives Ro a wry look, his face screwing up into a picture of perfect innocence, "I'd be s'prised if'n y' don' 'press, Ro. Bu' in tha' even' or even if y' do, I'll make sure th' baby dragons know runners aren' food even if I don' 'press." He waves to Thea as she wanders in, "I come from a hold where th' only time apar' was when diff'ren' shifts were in th' mines. There's no such thing as too much time t'gether."
Cenlia grins at Rogawani's promise of booze, her eyes sparkling merrily as she says, "Can't imagine what dragons'd want with a gardener - still ain't sure that guy who searched me was all right in the head," the girl shrugs, but then smiles mischievously, "…Though I know a rider whose dragon really liked her runners." Cenlia giggles, then winces as she jabs her thumb with the needle. Paying slightly more attention to the mending, the gardener girl continues, "I bet you'll impress. Gonna put m' marks on it," and she grins confidently at Rogawani. ut her expression is short-lived, as Thea arrives, and Cenlia immediately glances about, as if looking for somewhere to hide. But, somewhat sheepishly, Cenia calls a, "Hey," and then looks down at her messy sewing. It's clearly not the best work, but it could be worse. Much worse. Little bronze Charmer trills the moment he sees Thea, the firelizard swooping over towards her with a croon. Clearly, someone is happy to see the goldrider. Cenlia eyes her firelizard, but mumbles, "Yeah, mending's bettern' watching kids," and then she adds more quietly, with a smile, "Hope we all impress."
Rogawani, for all the people trying to talk him into having that glimmer of hope, just rolls his eyes and mutters a quick, "Bah." Nope, not going to let that sneak in just to be squashed down later on hatching day. "Don't waste your marks. If you want a sure bet, put it on Donakan familing miserably." He smirks, and looks towards Morlanol then, "I think as long as everyone tries, we can all be friends afterwards." There's that whistful look again, as if he's dealing with his own worries about losing certain candidate friends. And then Thea shows up and he quickly puts on his best, dopey kid-brother type of smile. "Hey Thea. No worries about being sick of each other. That'd only happen if they let me in the kitchens again."
"You might be an exception to the rule then," Thea answers Morlanol drly amused. That furtive look of Cenlia's recieves a blink, "Not gonna bite unless you've been up to something you souldn'tve done." Then she smiles, "Nono, don't tell me, I don't want to know." She reaches a hand towards Charmer, offering a scritch. She glances askance at Rogawani, eyes fleetingly moving over that eye he'd had punched, but she doesn't comment on that. "Hmm, we'll see Might we could take bets on that after Impression, if you all do."
Morlanol chuckles, "I don' think any o' us shoul' be 'llowed in th' kitchens again, did anyone actually eat those cupcakes?" Agate shoots, he scores! nailing Ro in the forehead and trilling happily. Score tied, 1-1. Morl gives his flits a glare, but since no one's actively complaining, he lets them be. "I alrea'y pu' my marks on Kez 'mpressin' a gol'. I think she's th' mos' likely to. An' even if we all 'press an' do get tired o' eachother, we'll still have t' be t'gether, so it'll be easier that way."
Cenlia shrugs at Rogawani, the girl chuckling and then nodding, "He's one I hope dun't impress. Shards, him an' that other one," the name apparently escaping her, if she even knows it. But then she gives Thea a sheepish grin, and says nothing. Though perhaps she looks a little relieved. Charmer just croooooooons at the scritches, the sound descending into almost a sort of firelizardly purr. The flit's behavior earns him a raised eyebrow from Cenlia, the girl muttering, "'Least he ain't collectin' rocks no more." She tilts her head at Morlanol, "Cupcakes? Shards, /I/ ain't done nothin' bad in the kitchens. Er," and she glances quickly at Thea, "An' Master Denna ain't mad at /me/. We were talkin' aboiut brandycakes awhile back. When this's all over, I got a bottle of Sunny Orchard for her." The girl grins, and nods in agreement with Morlanol, "Gonna save up the marks for it."
Plink. Rogawani blinks as he's nailed in the forehead with a seed. "What the?" He mutters, and raises his hand to rub at his forehead, and then looks at the firelizards with a bemused expression on his face. "I am not a goalpost." As he turns back to glance at Thea, it's clear that his bruised eye is healing, only a dull purple remaining at this point. Then, he looks back at Morlanol. "I don't have marks to put on anyone really, just figure I'll let things fall where they may." He shrugs his shoulder, and then chuckles slightly at the discussion of cupcakes. He opens his mouth to say something, only to get interrupted by one of the nannies coming up and asking quickly which of the candidates is assigned to kidlet duty. "Guess that'd be me." He says, although he'd swapped with Cenlia. "We're taking them inside." Understanding shows on his face, "Ahh, sure. I'll be right there." With an apologetic look, he raises his hands in a 'what can you do' sort of expression, and then heads off to collect the little drawings the kidlets had been doing.
"They weren't bad, Morlanol. Once they frosted them, you couldn't really taste the rum all that much. Some of the weyrfolk wished they had more in them!" Thea headtilts at Cenlia, "Finally tried that bottle of stuff you gave me for Graduation." Her smile is bittersweet, but she doesn't comment further. She snickers a bit at that seed-hit he gets to the forehead, then lifts her hand to give him a small wave as he departs.
Morlanol waves a jaunty goodbye to Ro as he takes his leave while Agate admonishes him for taking his goal away, surely he can't beat Bloodstone at… whatever they're doing now. Morl gives a lopsided grin to Thea, "Y'mean people actually *liked* 'em. I though' they'd be icky fer sure." Bloodstone takes advantage of Agate's distraction to scoop up the seed and lob it at Cenlia, but Agate makes a swift, diving save, rolling into Cen's lap, seed held up in his claws.
Cenlia looks a little guilty as Rogawani gets wrangled to go look after kiddies indoors, though the gardener girl eyes her own swapped chore and makes a face. She grins a bit at the mention of rum, and then chuckles, "Finally tried it, huh? Wait'll you try the next batch. Is even sweeter." Next batch? Cenlia seems about to say more, but acks as she gets a flit rolling in her lap, quickly lifting that needle out of the way so she doesn't jab him.
"I liked them." Thea says simply as if that ought to reassure the boy. There's no accounting for some people's tastes. She smirks at Cenlia, "Can't wait." She eyes her clipboard, then the playground equipment. "Well, I'd best check that stuff. Someone reported some rot in the wood. Must see if our handymen are called for." She gives a little flip of her hand to the pair and heads off over to the swingset to have a look.
Agate looks up at Thea with an inquisitive chirp as Morlanol starts to walk over towards her, then gets pegged with a well-aimed seed from the little blue. He sighs and sits down on th bench next to her and flashes a smile as Agate clammers up to his shoulder and bloodstone lands nearby, "Want some help?"
Cenlia eyes Thea and shakes her head, "Shards, more work? Seems like everybody's wrokin' half to death-" but she breaks off, glancing quickly in the direction of the meadow. There's a moment where she bites her lip, but Morlanol is offering to help with chores! "Sure," Cen nods, nudging the mending basket in his direction, though she does waggle her needle at him and warns wryly, "But if you try that trick ya did in the barracks, I ain't responsible for where this needle ends up." There's a mischievous glint in her eyes. She's only half-joking, riight?
Morlanol grabs a torn shirt and an extra needle and begins deftly stitching up the tear as he gives Cen a smile, "Thea made me promise never t' kiss anyone again wi'out their permission firs'." Agate chirrups happily, straddling the two candidates with a foot one foot on each's shoulder while Bloodstone prefers to stay curled up by Morl's thigh. He stitches a few more times before he sighs softly, "Wha's gonna happen t' us after th' hatching? Whether we 'press or no', everythin' will change."
Cenlia smirks, saying, "Thea's got the right of it. Better not make her mad, she's scary when she's mad." Cenlia grins, though, and then shrugs, dislodging the flit in the process, "I dunno, ain't nothin's gonna change for me," despite her words, Cenlia is still chewing her bottom lip. "I go right back to the garden. Got a proper job and everything. Can stay here till I make journeyman, then gonna set up an orchard somewhere. Just like my uncle," and despite how much she complains about the man, there's a tinge of pride in her voice. "If I impress…" she trails off with another shrug. What does she know about dragons, after all?
Morlanol nods, grinning slightly as Cen dislodges Agate with her shrug. He squawks in surprise, then goes /between/, reappearing on top of Morl's head and chittering angrily at Cen as if she's just committed a most heinous crime. Bloodstone chirps smugly and switches sides so he can stay warm snuggled between Cen and Morl's thighs. Morl mostly ignores the continuing antics of his flits, "Yeah, an' I'd go back t' th' mines, bu' woul' it really be th' same? We'd be th' can'dates wha' failed. Ev'ryone we encoun'er will know we were can'dates, bu' didn' make th' cut." He grins at her apparent fear of impressing, "If y' impress yer dragon c'n help y' dig the furrows 'n' holes t' pu' th' plants in."
Cenlia and Morlanol are sitting on a coloured stone near the kiddie playground, although no children are about, having already been taken inside for the day. The two candidates are doing mending, with one firelizard, Bloodstone, sitting between them and another, Agate, on Morlanol's head. A third firelizard, goldeny-bronze Charmer, is sitting a little ways off and crooning unhappily now that Thea has wandered off to go check playground equipment. Cenlia is ignoring all the flits. Instead, the former gardener eyes Morlanol, saying defensively, "Wouldn't have failed nothin' - just means that shardin' dragonwas wrong. Or crazy," and she snorts, waving her needle in the air in the direction of the garden, "Ain't nothin' wrong with bein' a miner neither. Besides, not like y'can't stand fer another clutch."
Morlanol looks somewhat taken aback and even Agate hisses slightly at the girl, shifting to Morl's shoulder as he does so. "I'm sorry… I di'n' meant t' say tha' we would've failed, bu' tha' we woul' be seen as having failed. An' I do like bein' a miner, too, I jus' worry tha' I'll be trea'ed diff'ren' if I have t' go back."
Back straight and agitated, a new face appears in the playground. "Sharding wherryhead dunce…," Sigam is muttering, eyes dark and brooding, hair askew. After crunching down the path as if he were heading to war, he comes to a sharp halt in front of the teaching garden, obviously looking for something in particular. Eventually, he stoops, violent victory lighting up his stubbled face. "Ha! I knew it was peppermint. Eledri and his 'superior technology.' My foot!" Plucking a single leaf for reference, the Dragonhealer stands straight again, a delirious grin still on his face, before he finally spies the pair of candidates off to one side, obviously trying to have a serious conversation. Whoops. "Er. Hi. Sorry."
Cenlia wrinkles her nose, eyeing the hissing firelizard for a moment, but Rogue, Cen's midnight blue, wings back from the garden and does some hissing of his own. Cenlia just shrugs, nearly dislodging Rogue this time, "Anybody treats me off, I'll show 'em just /why/ I got that pitchfork for my turnday." And she smirks, just slightly. Charmer croons, turning his attention back to Cenlia, and flaps over, doing his customary tail-waggle for attention. Cenlia ignores him, about to say more, perhaps, when she hears her brother's name. Her gaze swings up to Sigam, eyes narrowing atthe picked leaf as she asks, "What /about/ Eledri?" There's an edge to her voice, though it's likelynot clear whether the previous conversation, the interruption, or the name itself is the cause. Possibly all three.
Morlanol shrugs, nearly dislodging Agate who, for the moment before had been trying to make friends with Rogue. Bloodstone simply makes an odd little barking sound at both of them and moves on to his snuggling. Morl is about to speak when Sigam enters and Cenlia reacts to him. Both his flits perk up as well as he mutters dumbly, "Wha' abou' peppermin'?"
Sigam, briefly amused by the antics of the various firelizards, doesn't seem to pick up on Cenlia's sharp response… or, if he does, he neglects to react to it. "Eledri and I were having a discussion on the properties of peppermint," he explains, holding up the leaf and finally tearing his gaze away from the flits. "He thought the leaves were used for their aroma, but I argued that they were actually most used for their calming of irritable bowels." With a sniff that is too delicate for the kind of nose he has, Sigam steps a bit closer, eyeing the candidates briefly. "Mending?"
Cenlia wrinkles her nose, saying, "'Least he ain't punched ya yet." She doesn't comment on the use of peppermint, after all, she specializes in food herbs, not medicine. But the girl waves off the persistant Charmer and goes back to the mending, still looking grumpy. For anyone who's had any close contact with either of the siblings, the resemblance between the two is rather striking, despite Cenlia's developing curves as she gets older.
Morlanol gives Cen an odd look, "Is he really all tha' ba'? I mean, he's yer brother an' all." Bloodstone chirps to Charmer, suggesting that Charmer join him between the two candidates. Morlanol is obviously not related to either Cen or Eldari, but he, at least, favors poor Sigam with a grin, "Yeah, mendin'. 'Course, back home we always used peppermin' t' calm unse'tled stomachs an' such. Though they do smell nice, too."
"He wouldn't dare," Sigam drawls, but it lacks a firm of conviction. He doesn't really know what the Computercrafter is capable of, and it shows. Instead of dwelling on it, though, he waggles a couple fingers in hello to the girl's bronze. "Brother?" Morlanol's statement causes his attention to snap back to Cenlia, speculative and sharp. Well, now that he was actually looking, he could see a similarity in their facial structures… "You poor girl." His smile is wry as he finally shrugs to the boy. "Brothers are never much fun, but sisters are undeniably the worst." Wink. "They come right after mending, in my book. I never was good at handling a needle, mum said." He shrugs at the rest of Morl's comment, accepting it, but refusing to admit the other crafter may have had a point.
Morlanol stands suddenly, dislodging poor agate and causing Bloodstone to give him a nasty look, "Sorry, guys, I jus' 'membered tha' I have kitchen duty t'night. I'll fin' ya later." With that, Agate and Bloodstone winging behind, he makes his exit.
Cenlia makes a face at Morlanol, "Y'ain't gotten t' know him yet. I got enough shardin' brothers. Don't need one runnin' my /life/." Ouch, sore spot, anyone? She glances up to smirk at Sigam, grinning wryly, "Don't bet on it. 'Specially if ya annoy him too much." The smirk remains as she adds, "Hits like a girl, though." However, her comparison is based on the fact that she can do worse, which might be somewhat biased. "How much peppermint you ever eaten?" Cenlia asks; she may not know about medicine, but she sure knows about food. Charmer poutily rests his head on Cenlia's knee, lacking in attention. But the moment he spits Sigam wriggling fingers, the little bronze is off like a crossbow bolt, leaping over and crooooning for attention. With Morlanol's sudden exit, Cenlia sighs, shaking her head and grumbling, "Hope he dun't make a mess in the kitchen."
Sigam has to bite his lip, hard, to keep from chuckling at poor Cenlia. She obviously has enough to deal with without a 'healer laughing at her brotherly plight. Instead, he nods, considering what she's said. "I can see how his wires would snap pretty easy," he agrees, scratching at his stubble, "But if he hits that weak, I don't think I'll have much of a problem with him." He scrunches his nose in a brief smile. "Honestly? Not too much, I suppose. Just from sweets I've bought at gathers. I'm blessed with a healthy digestive system." With a bright smile, the lad eagerly responds to Charmer's croon, taking delight in giving the little flit's head a good scritching. It's obvious that the little beasties are a joy of his. "Who knows. We may need the 'mint tonight," Sigam replies, watching Morlanol go with a wry smile on his lips.
Cenlia smirks, but makes no immediate response, instead finishing the stitching and dumping the repaired garment back in the basket. Charmer, on the other hand, crooooons happily, obviously pleased that /someone/ appreciates him. As she threads another needle, the gardener girl comments, "Nothin' a good amount of tuber ale can't cure," though she makes a face, adding, "'Least the headache's bettern' the other stuff."
"Aren't you just the sweetest thiiing," Sigam all but croons back, lips forming a little pouty face as he shifts his scritching to beneath the bronze's jaw. The expression, coupled with scrunchy eyes and a wrinkled nose, could be considered comical. "Ale, or a good dousing of wine. What I wouldn't give for that! Huh, little guy?" Shifting, Sigam plops himself down in Morlanol's vacated seat, taking up more room than the candidate for sure, but trying to respect her personal space as well. "Headaches are easily curable, too. Stomachaches, not so much." As an afterthought, he offers, "I'm Sigam."
Charmer eagerly tilts his head up and croooons, undoubtedly happy about chin scritches. Cenlia quirks a brow at the expression on Sigam's face, the gardener girl eyeing him the way she might eye a particularly strange weed. Cenlia doesn't seem to mind him sitting there, though she grabs another piece of clothing to be mended, saying, "I'm Cenlia." She glances over at Sigam, but her eyes go to his knot rather than his face, likely trying to figure out if she needs to tack on a 'sir' somewhere.
"Who's a good boy?" Stroking his back now, Sigam settles more comfortably onto the rock, returning Cenlia's expression with a look that plainly says 'What?!' So he turned into a gushy auntie over firelizards; sue him. "Nice to meet you, Cenlia. And uh… don't worry about any of that business." He flicks a hand at her interest over his knot, leaning forwards so his elbows rest on his knees. "I'm not old enough to have a title slapped on, thank goodness. I have a long ways to go."
Cenlia grins crookedly, eyes flicking to his face momentarily, though her attention is back on the mending as she says, "Old enough. Shards, even Eled gets a sir." There's a slightly amused snort as she adds, "Sometimes. When he ain't stuck workin' all the time on some shiny thing or other." She shakes her head, frowning at a bit of tangled thread, and asks abruptly, "You workin' with K'vin?"
"It's all in the perception of self-importance," Sigam says through a chuckle and a shake of his head, hardly doubting that Eledri enjoyed being called 'sir.' "I am the epitome of humble, of course." He gives a sagely nod, though the corners of his lips are twisted up in an amused fashion. "Can't blame him, though. Some work hard for their rank," he murmurs, giving the 'crafter the benefit of the doubt as he pats Charmer. "Yeah, I probably will be, sooner or later. We've got opposing schedules currently, so we haven't had the chance to really meet, but…," he trails off with a noncommittal shrug. "I guess that's not a bad thing; means stuff's calm on the Dragonhealing front. Much as I like to poke things, no news is very good news."
Cen is still sitting and doing mending, Sigam sitting beside her and petting a very happily crooning Charmer. Cenlia smirks, "Had some crazy rider calling /me/ Ma'am awhile back, askin' about shardin' animals," and the girl makes a face, adding sourly, "An' then he searched me." Apparently, Cenlia is still going on about that, though the girl does nod and say, "Yea, Eled would." She nods then, and tugs at the newly-finished seam. Apparently, the girl is getting faster at this sewing thing, although her stitches are still messy.
"Ma'am, huh? Ouch!" Sigam laughs more openly at this, a rich if not barking sound. "I'd tag you as more of a miss, personally, but, well…" He shrugs, not really knowing where he was going with that. "Searched you though, huh? What's that like, knowing a dragon thinks you have some kinda potential?" His grin is lopsided, curiosity evident as his gaze. "'Cause let me tell you, it's torture to work with dragons every shardin' day and know that not a one is interested in you as anything besides their doc." While it's a fact he seems to have accepted, there is a twinge of honest sadness in his wryly tugged lips. He shakes out of the mood quickly, though, looking over her work as she tests it. "Good job."
Morlanol wanders back into the clearing, grinning sheepishly, "Apparently I have dinner duty tomorrow, not today…" He stops cold, causing Agate and Bloodstone to run into his back, "Hey, you stole my seat." Then he grins, his flits scolding him before flying over to Sigam as if slighting Morl somehow, "Y' shouldn' worry so much… what was yer name again? Sorry, I didn' catch it… bu' jus' 'cause yer no' righ' fer this clutch doesn' mean y' won' be fer th' nex'."
"I ain't no miss, neither," Cenlia remarks, though she wrinkles her nose, muttering, "Feel like it was a mistake." She pauses in her mending to glance over at Sigam, eyebrow raising as she says, "Didn't know you could be a dragonhealer without a dragon?" But Morlanol's arrival shifts her attention and her curiosity, the gardener girl grinning and saying, "Surprised they're lettin' anyof us in the kitchens anymore. Didja see Master Denna? I gotta get that bottle of brandy to her sometime."
"Then what are you?," Sigam cajoles, glancing at Cenlia out of the corner of his eye. "Sorry you feel that way, though." He smirks. "You don't wanna know how many times I've gotten that question. You can be a 'Healer without a dragon, but you certainly lack the advantage of having one as a resource. It'd make blood transfusions and calming a lot easier." A shrug. "But in general, it's a skill like any other." While the sudden cloaking of firelizards may have perturbed someone else, Sigam couldn't possibly be more pleased; he only wished he had more hands! Alternately scritching Agate and Bloodstone, he grins up at Morlanol. "Oops! Sorry about that, I didn't expect you to come back." The Dragonhealer doesn't make a move to stand up, however. "Thanks, I appreciate your reassurance. I hope you're right, but… if not, well, that's life, isn't it?" He snorts at Cenlia's observation, but doesn't reply.
Morlanol nods, settling himself on the ground as he does so, being young, he can still do that, "Yeah, I saw Master Denna. She laid about me with her ladle and muttered something about getting the kitchen staff drunk on cupcakes before kicking me out. An' it's not a pro'lem 'bou' th' seat. I was jus' joshin' ya."
"I'm Cenlia," the girl states flatly, but she's still grinning at Morlanol, "Heard she pretty good with a spoon. I'm just glad she likes brandycakes." There maybe a hint of glee in her voice, though the girl follows with s sigh and a grumbled, "Shards, it'll be nice when I can go boozing again. Just wish X'hil would, too." If Cenlia were the sulking sort, that last part might have been suspiciously sulky. As it is, she just looks quite grumpy all of a sudden. Midnight-blue Rogue croons and curls onher shoulder, sticking his head under her chin. Charmer, meanwhile, chitters irritably at Agate and Bloodstone. He saw this one first! However, he doesn't move away, apparently hoping for more scritches.
"Alright, Cenlia," Sigam concedes, a mirthful note to his tone of voice. "You made brandy cupcakes? Now there's something I would've liked to have seen. A drunk kitchen staff." He laughs and shakes his head, taken back to his apprentice days all of a sudden. "You wanna know what's really fun? Cliffdiving when you're right at that rift between tipsy and sober. We used to make trips and do that all the time at Ierne." As if suddenly realizing what he's saying, Sigam straightens his back and grins a bit sheepishly. "But you don't know that. We were supposed to be the good kids at the Weyrhold." He issues an eyebrow waggle. "X'hil though, huh? Why won't he?," he enquires, though it's up to her if she answers. He's back to lavishing Charmer with attention, trying to make up for his earlier negligence. "Sorry, buddy. I didn't forget you." Morlanol's given a quick wink. "No worries."
Morlanol gives Cen a fake glare, "I wasn' askin' ya an' you know it, Cen." He turns back to the boy, "Wha's *your* name, I didn' catch it." Bloodstone and Agate are both more than content with the attention they're getting.
"Cliffdiving?" Cenlia raises an eyebrow, but then snorts, "Ain't no such thing as good kids. Only brats, bullies, an' boring ones." She shrugs and doesn't seem particularly hesitant as she explains about X'hil, "Sir Kinseth won't let him." At least, that's Cenlia's answer. She chews on her lip, though, despite the lightness in her tone. Bur Morlanol's fake glare earns him another grin from the gardener girl, "Glad you came back, anyways." And then she nudges the mending basket, eyes sparkling merrily.
"Oh shards, I'm sorry, you did ask me that before. I'm Sigam." The 'Healer proferrs a hand to the boy in greeting, light sparkling in his eyes. "And who are my lovely companions here?," he asks, gesturing to his flitter drapery. "Cliffdiving," he confirms to Cenlia. "They have some nice cliffside seashores that are great for taking leaps off of. You just gotta watch that you aren't too messed up - one of my pals almost didn't come back." A fierce grin appears on his face. "And which of those stigmas would you apply to me, /Cenlia/?," he asks, emphasizing the use of her name. "That's a shame, though. Boozing's a good time, if you do it right." He smirks at the girl's less-than-subtle indication of the mending that needs done. "I'd offer to help, but you'd end up getting into more trouble than it's worth, with my messy needlework."
Morlanol grimaces slightly, but still happily picks up the next piece of mending, a pair of britches with a torn crotch seam, Morl shakes Sigam's hand before he takes up needle and thread, "I'm Morlanol and those two children are Agate and Bloodstone." Then he begins to work on the mending, stitching much more neatly than Cen. Agate and Bloodstone give eachother a look around Sigam's head, then simultaneously stick their noses in his ears. He gives Cen a glance, "Why d'ya call him 'sir Kinseth' anyway? An' what'll y' do when y' have a kid, since y' dislike 'em so much?"
Charmer chirps, and Cenlia smitrks, indicating the overly-friendly bronze firelizard, "That one's Charmer." Charmer tilts his head at Cenlia and crooons. Cen listens to the description of cliffdiving, eyebrows rising again, though she mutters, "Seashores, huh? Probably need to know how to swim, too." The girl then eyes Sigam critically before stating, "Brat," and she smirks, "Considering what I did the last time I had this shore, I dun think they'd notice." But the girl grins at Morlanol, snickering a bit at the garment he's chosen to mend. At the question about the dragon, Cen smiles almostfondly, saying matter-of-factly, "'Cause he deserves the title. And he's the best getaway dragon on Pern." Apparently, her opinion of the weyrsecond's dragon hasn't changed, despite what she said about him not letting his rider drink. But then Cenlia makes a face, pausing in her own stitching to mutter, "Ain't never gonna have kids."
"Merrily met," Sigam grins, eyeing the flitts as they are introduced respectively. Then he squeaks, promptly backwards off the rock he's perched on with the introduction of draconic noses to his ears. "Shards!" He notes from his supine position, a laugh bubbling in his chest. "That was the last thing I was expecting." He picks himself up gingerly, one hand rubbing a hip that may have a bruise come morning, and settles himself back at his seat, shooting an apologetic glance to the bronze, who had no part in that affair. "Sorry, Charmer." He turns his still-laughing gaze back to Cenlia. "Yeah. My dad's a seacrafter, so I basically got tossed into the sea at the ripe age of three, and it was up to me to sink or swim." Sending a raspberry her way at the indication that he's a brat (the nerve!), he scoops up an article of clothing and glances about for a needle. "If you're sure, I can speed along the process at least." He smirks. "No kids? Yeah, I bet that last long."
Morlanol whistles and his two flits come to attention, looking mildly apologetic as they do so, then they chirrup at Sigam as if asking, 'can we still have scritches?' Morl chuckles, finishing up the britches and grabbing next an indistinct shirt, "No kids, huh? Me ma always said a woman couldn' be certain o' tha' no matter how hard she tried."
Cenlia blinks, and laughs as Sigam topples over, though she asks, "Y'alright?" Charmer chitters scoldingly at Agate and Bloodstone, though he settles back next to Sigam easily enough. The scritchy human isn't broken, after all. Cenlia grins at the raspberry, saying, "Definitely a brat." She shrug, though, turning that grin on Morlanol and saying, "Bet your ma ain't never had rider friends willing to take her Between an' back." And that sort of thing is coming out of the mouth of a fifteen-turn-old. Yep. Though Cen smirks a little and addsto Morlanol, "Why d'you think the weyr ain't overrun with babies after all them greenflights?" Her grin is particularly mischevous.
Sigam, Mr. Softie himself, can't help but aww at the pair of firelizards. "No worries, I forgive you," he says, proving it with a couple chin-scratches for each of them, making sure to include Charmer in his attention-giving rounds this time. Finally, he spies an extra needle in the basket and, threading it, sets to work repairing the shoulder of a shirtsleeve. Giving his friends a last pat, he goes to work helping the candidates. It's not the best work ever (he wasn't a liar, at least), but it holds the fabric together. "I know you are, but what am I?," he returns jauntily to Cenlia, winking at her jibe. "You're right, I was a brat, but I earned that title." He listens to the rest of the exchange with a small smile on his face, keeping his thoughts about potentially pregnant greenriders very much to himself, thanks.
Morlanol snickers, "Makin' babies still takes th' righ' timin', righ' healer? Jus' 'cause their dragon's proddy doesn' mean tha' they are." Agate and Bloodstone trill happily and nuzzle in on different sides of the healer as he sets to work. Morl tosses his most recently finished mend in the 'done' basket and he grabs another, holding it up, you can see that the shirt isn't torn, it just looks like someone painted a giant heart on it in a material that is beginning to stink, "Wha's this doin' in there?" His nose crinkles at the smell, "Shouldn'a this have gone t' laundry?"
Cenlia grins at Sigam, "Glad t' hear it." She titls her head at Morlanol, smirking and asking, "Guess you talked to Rei, huh?" She finishes up her stitching, and grabs something else, saying, "Used to think all them rumors about dragonriders weren't true, then I came here an' found out half of 'em right." She smirks, then eyes the garment Morlanol picks up, the girl making a face and shrugging, "Dunno. Can toss it back in an' I'll drop it off when I take this stuff in."
Squished between the 'lizards, Sigam couldn't be more at home. Well. Maybe he could if it were dragon pieces in his hands instead of clothes, but we can't help that, can we? Either way, he seems contented and almost pleasant as he knots and bites off his string, the shirt quickly following Morl's into the second basket. "Yik. What a waste of dye," he comments, nose wrinkling at the stink. "Ah well. As to dragonrider rumors, well… Let's just say you can be suspicious of the other half." He winks, then winces with a his as he jabs his finger fumbling with a pair of rather ragged pants. "Half truth, half questionable. Really depends on the rider." Smiiiirk.
Morlanol chuckles, tossing the dirty shirt to the side so as not to do any further damage to the mending and grabbing a new piece from the pile, finally revealing the bottom of the basket as he begins to work on it, "Wha' rumors abou' riders?"
Cenlia chuckles at Sigam and says, "Rumors ain't half as fun as the truth, I'll bet. 'Specially with dragonriders." She smirks in Morlanol's direction, then grins a bit, seeing the basket bottom, "Should get this stuff in. I gotta go make sure nobody's snagged my bunk too. Shardin' lot of Telgar folks now." Cenlia gets up, stretching a bit and gathering the mending. She does not answer Morlanol's question about rumors, instead grinning and heading beack towards the weyr, her flits in tow.
"You'd be betting right then," Sig agrees, mouth tilting in a huge half-grin. He quickly tosses his piece of clothing into the basket she's gathering before standing, arching his back like some creaky old man. "As for that," he says to Morlanol, "Well… Why don't we walk a while and talk about it, eh?" He asks this with a wicked grin on his face, as if educating the boy on the ins and outs of sighing weyr-harpies was a great big cookie that he's just been handed. "'Less you have some other chores you need to be doing…" He follows Cenlia regardless, though at a much slower pace.
Morlanol hmphs, Agate and Bloodstone joining him as he starts to stand, "Yeah, I shoul' too. 'Specially since I got so little stuff t' save m' place." He follows the other two from the playground, doing his best not to fall behind as he does so.