Interesting, if not Ominous
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Xanadu Weyr - Observation Level

Dark blue seats form a semi-circle around the sands below, the lowest row separated from the multicolored red and white sands by merely a railing. The seats climb upwards, each row a bit higher than the previous, and they are broken up into sections by three sets of staircases. Between the first and second section, a glass wall descends to separate the observers from the heat of the sands. Air is kept in motion through a set of fans, and so these seats are quieter and cooler than the rest… though the noise and heat of the sands is still present.
Lights are evenly spaced along the outer wall, lighting the seats and the sands easily, though they tend to be dimmed unless a major event is taking place. A large balcony overhead connects to the glass wall. Vents for cooling run along the bottom of it, and the ledge provides a place for observers of the draconic kind to watch without obstructing the view for others.
The sand below is variegated in hue, individual grains of red and white that have a pinkish hue when seen from across the circle of the hatching grounds but - up close over that railing - are clearly two varieties mingled.


Early evening, and Maelle has found some time to wander over to the observation level to get a look at the eggs that are on the sands for one of the first times. She is in a small group of candidates, though most of them wander off as the heat from the sands becomes too much for them to want to deal with and they leave her sitting alone in one of the seats in the front alone. She is slouching, propping her head up on her hands and just staring at the eggs with an expression that doesn't look terribly amused at all despite the babbling of the other candidates about their favorites in the pile of eggs as they pass anyone else on the stands.

Esiae is a common figure in the galleries, and it seems as though this evening is no exception. Instead of taking up her usual residence halfway up the seating platform, the junior instead traipses down to the very railings, brown eyes focused out on the sands for a long moment, taking in several mostly-buried eggs with a troubled frown. It's only after a couple minutes that she glances around her person, spying Maelle's less-than-amused slouch in the front row. "Don't like whatcha see?," the goldrider asks gently with a crooked grin, curiosity in her gaze.

Maelle seems quite lost in thought for a while, ignoring the movement of the junior as she comes down towards the front. Movement isn't uncommon, especially with how hot it is, so she doesn't pay much mind to it until she's spoken to. Her gaze lifts, and she straightens a little to give a terrible looking salute to the weyrwoman. "Oh. It's not like that." She is quick to backpedal, then shakes her head. "I mean, it's the first clutch I've seen but they aren't as colorful as I'd expected. I heard they're getting close to being able to be touched. It must be a scorcher out there though."

"Don't worry, I was only joking," Esiae says, one hand swishing in the air to wave off her salute, her backpedaling, or perhaps both. "That's a peculiarity of this clutch, to be sure. They come in all sorts, eggs, but this is definitely amongst the most drab that I've ever seen." When Maelle mentions they're close to touching, Esi's lips purse, gaze flicking out across the eggs again. "Some of 'em are. There's still a few Kairoikyriath hasn't allowed to be unburied, but it's only a matter of time, I suppose." Esi issues a hard snort for it being a scorcher out there, nodding fervently. "That's an understatement, as you'll find out soon enough. Dress in as few layers as possible," she advises with a wry grin. "Excited to get out and touch 'em?," is asked, too, since they're on the topic.

"Doesn't seem to matter how drab they look, candidates are always excited to pick their favorites." Maelle says, getting herself to her feet to walk over and look over the edge to see if there are any worth being excited over for herself - but so far, she isn't entirely sure. "Rumors are rumors, so I don't put much stock into whether they're ready or not really. Not until someone actually /says/ they are." She admits, giving Esiae a longer look over before adding, "I'm Maelle, by the way. I don't think I've met you.. well, any of the Weyrwomen here at all, actually." She says, and lifts a hand to brush through her short hair and glances towards the eggs once more. "Is it weird to touch them? There are some candidates that have been to a few touchings and say it's strange. I'm looking forward to seeing for myself, of course."

"True," Esiae admits, skimming the visible eggs as though debating over favorites herself. "Most of the ones I liked are still buried, but the bright one's interesting, if not a little ominous," she says, fingers pointing out the neon-based egg somewhere in the middle. "Smart thinking, though. It's not like you can touch 'em 'til their ready anyways, and you'll be pulled to the sands when they are, so why worry, yeah?" The goldrider glances back over with a grin for the introduction. "I'm Esiae. Nice to meet you, Maelle," she replies with a bit of a sheepish look. "We've probably passed like ships in a storm. Busy time of life for us both." As for touching eggs… "A… little. Especially if you don't have prior experience with someone else's dragon or flits being in your head. What happens depends on the egg, really - some are nice, and some really aren't, but in general, 'weird' is a good way to put it," Esi admits with a laugh. "Sorry there's not a more definite answer to that."

"They all look a little omnious, honestly. Drab." Maelle says, trying to pick out the 'interesting' one out of the bunch that are visible - though the one Esiae is talking about certainly isn't one of those, right? "No point in getting all excited over something you can't rush or change." She says with a bit of a grin, and nods, "Been busy, for sure and I'm sure for you it's always busy. I've never met a goldrider that has said they had a lot of free time, at any rate." She admits, though her goldrider access has been pretty limited, so who knows if it's the actual truth or the perceived one. "I have no firelizards, though Saburath .. talked to me? It was weird, but he wouldn't just let me go do my work without agreeing to stand. That isn't normal, is it? I mean, well.." She shakes her head, "It's alright, it doesn't matter. I'm sure I'll experience it for myself and be weirded out anyways. It's a fun experience, I'll give it that. I can see why people are excited to stand."

Esiae chuckles for the observation, but she can't argue with that, really. "Yeaaah. Even the prettiest of them seem to have their dark sides, and one of them literally looks like a trashheap, but supposedly they're healthy so I guess we'll just have to see." She smirks and nods for the mention of her lack of free time. "Can say that again. Somewhere between Turnover and the clutch, and now the rider shadowing, it's been insane, but I suppose it's better than being bored." Or it is in her book, anyways. And then there's Saburath. "He really kept you from your work?," Esi asks, eyebrows raising. "It's… not normal, no," she continues, voice laced with ample amusement. "But then, he's bespoken me as well, so perhaps that is normal for Saburath." Eyes widen jokingly over at Maelle to tell her what she thinks about that. "He means well, though, and it's quite like that. An invasion of your mind-space, the sudden presence of thoughts that aren't yours. Enjoy it, there's definitely nothing like it," is said with an agreeing nod. "Shells, yeah. Can also see why people submit to standing more than once."

"I just hope the dragons that come out don't look like a bunch of dragons from a trash heap too." Maelle says, though her mind does wander to try and /think/ about what a dragon that looks like it's made out of trash would look like. May be interesting, so.. who knows? She ponders a bit before adding, "I'm sure I should be shaking you down for some kind of lesson or something from the list that we have, but you deserve a reprieve." She says with a broad grin, before nodding a couple times about Saburath, "I guess it could be normal for him, I know just the bare minimum about dragons. He only spoke to me the once, but it was unsettling. It must be hard for new weyrlings. I couldn't imagine it all the time, you know? Well, of course you do. Shards, I sound like an idiot." She sighs and rolls her eyes, "Really, I'm here for the experience. It's a nice vacation from studying in the hall, even if there's still a lot of things to be done."

"There's always the potential for that," Esiae says with a slight shudder. "Seen some scary dragons in my time. There was a bronze that looked like a living skybroom, and a brown that looked like… well, something lumpy and brown," she says discreetly before flicking Maelle an amused look. "I'd deserve it if you did, being one of the minds behind the idea, but I appreciate the thought. I usually have time right around midday, however, if you feel like getting a jumpstart on learning the radio commands," the goldrider drawls, matching her grin for grin. "Though I'm pretty sure I have one of you with me here in a couple'a days." It might even be Maelle - she isn't sure without looking. Still, she chuckles for the candidate's eyeroll, head shaking to and fro. "Nah, you don't sound like an idiot. Not everyone comes into this knowing everything - sometimes there's a learning curve. It is hard on weyrlings, though, yeah, not going to lie. That's half the reason their first couple months are, for all points and purposes, spent doing 'nothing,'" she says, air quoting around the words. "I hope it winds up being a good experience for you, regardless of the outcome. What hall are you from?"

"I wonder if these will all look .. strange. Because the shells do. But, Saburath isn't a bad looking dragon, so maybe they'll be fine." Maelle wonders, but only time will tell once the dragons are hatched, so she'll just leave it at that. She narrows her eyes as Esiae admits to being one of the minds behind the chores, "It was /you/?" She asks, then grins a little. "Thanks. It's a lot better than mopping or fixing chairs or taking care of rugrats. I'd /really/ appreciate you teaching me and maybe some of my group some of the radio commands. We're doing pretty well on points, I think." She admits, and nods a couple times, "I'll figure out weyrling stuff if it comes to it, if not - well, that's fine too. I'm a Journeyman from Healer's. Not technical at all, really. Well, not /me/, there's some healers that use a lot more tech than me. I'm a trauma healer, so you can't carry those things with you."

Esiae only 'hmm's quietly for the speculation, equally willing to let time tell, for now at least. She's too busy flashing an unrepentant grin for Maelle's narrowed eyes anyways, entirely unabashed. "Yeaaah. Can't take full credit, but I was a brain behind the outfit." She seems a little surprised when the young woman expresses appreciation instead of some level of scorn. "S'what we were thinking, really. If you lot should impress and end up a real riders, you wouldn't have to do any of that anyways if you didn't want to, so what's the point. There's better ways to build morale and good character." By sitting next to a radio for hours? Maybe. "I'd be glad to, at any rate." The golrider nods, too, for points and for the zen approach to potential weyrlinghood both, though both brows twitch upwards when Maelle reveals she's a trauma healer. "Shells, really? You've seen some things, then," she says appreciatively. "Well, regardless, glad to have you. I wish I could linger, but…" Hands swish expressively, as though referencing their earlier discussion about her busy life. "Hopefully I'll see more of you soon, though. Midday, any day." With a nod of farewell, the junior ambles back the way she came, a few of those other, pesky candidates trailing along after her.

"I can't say I'm eager for all of the tasks, but most of them should prove to be interesting even if not entirely useful for the future if I don't Impress." Maelle admits, but then she already has her life planned for what she'll do if she doesn't and hardly seems worried one way or another about it. "I've seen plenty, yep! E'tan came to the Hall for some help, and I'd just gotten back from one of the fires in .. shards, where was it now? Ierne?" She shrugs a little, hardly matters since the fire is taken care of. "I didn't expect to be swept into candidacy, but it's been interesting. Met some people I'd probably never have met otherwise." She says, and wanders back to her seat as the Weyrwoman looks to be leaving to deal with her duties, "Nice meeting you, Esiae. I'll look for you for that radio lesson soon." She offers another salute before sinking down into her seat to stare some more at those eggs.


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