Xanadu Weyr - Meadow
A large, slightly rolling meadow is set high enough above the riverbank on both sides to avoid suffering from flooding, healthy ground cover and grass spreading out from either side of the dividing river. Scattered amongst the meadow are a variety of buildings, each with a narrow path leading up to it from a main, winding road. Some are set under a few trees, while others sit by themselves.
Stables and a smithy are settled on their own plots, while trees border the northern edge of the meadow, and a faint outline of a fence can be seen to the east.
Ryski is done. Oh yes he is. Done for the /day/. There will be no more lessons, or other such annoying things…like listening to a gaggle of teenage girls fawn over eggs. He's had quite enough of that for the day. Or the sevenday. Flopped right over in the grass, Ryski just concentrates for the time being on working together a few blades of the green stuff, breathing against them to create a slightly buzzing whistle. Not too far away is Delenn, to which the boy speaks every so often, sending a tired look in his brother's direction. "And they made me /go/ with them! The instructor said we had to all stay together, so then /I/ had to go too! It was /so/ annoying. And boring. And they wouldn't stop laughing all the time." He huffs, going right back to buzzing with the grass.
Stretched out on his stomach, Delenn lays on a blanket spread on the grass of the meadow, a book ever open before the young nanny when there was time to do so. Looking up he does, however, every single time that Ryski starts to speak again. Though increasingly his brows start to sink down over his pale green eyes, a touch of annoyance at being unable to finish the paragraph he'd been stuck on since his younger brother arrived to complain about lessons and giggling gaggles. "Young girls are often amused by silly things, Ryski." he says soothingly, smiling comfortingly. Once that's said however, back to his book he goes and tries for the tenth time to get to the last sentence on the page before him. Elusive as it has been.
M'lak looks rather greasy as he makes his way from one of the homes that are in the large meadow, turning to talk to the owner of the home he's leaving as he goes. "That should fix it. There were just some connectors loose - I think the panel is all set back up now - Let me know if you have any problems from now on." And touching his fingers to his forehead he excuses himself, hands shoved in his pockets as the older gentleman crosses the meadow, rather near to the pair of siblings. "Including boys. You'd best watch out now, you know." He offers simply as he passes by, catching a portion of their conversation and seeming to have no qualms with butting into it.
Ryski blows on that grass again for a moment, and then just sighs, giving Delenn a hard look as the older man goes right on reading. "You're reading one of those sex books, aren't you?" The boy speaks flatly, not at all interested in what his brother may or may not actually /be/ reading about. He does, however, toss the loose blades of grass away, brushing his hands off on his tunic once another man interjects into the conversation. Brows lift, staring up at the rider for a moment. "Watch out for what? I like stuff, too, but girls are stupid with all the giggling and carrying on. There was this one a little while ago, that wouldn't shut /up/. And she winked at me. Which was gross. /Real/ gross."
Really, Delenn could have swallowed his tongue right then and there. Eyes widening, he is suddenly staring slack jawed at the young boy before his cheeks brighten nicely to a dusky rosed hue. "Romance novels." he stresses after a few seconds of sputtering at a loss for words. Really, from the partial glare that the teenager throws Ryski's way, it's fortunate that the boy was not within arm's reach, for likely a cuff to the back of his head would be in order. "Faranth, Ryski." Distracted from his brother by the rider, Delenn just smiles and greets the man quietly, leaving out his opinion of girls. He can't help though, chuckling, as Ryski happily gives his own, returning himself to his book. Ah, chapter two.
"I bet she likes you, if she kept talking to you, and even winked at you." M'lak offers good naturedly, a teasing tone in his voice as he looks at the younger of the brothers. "After all, girls your age are starting to like boys." Though, rarely it seems can the reverse be said. "Though, they'll probably be distract with them there eggs, at least for some time being. Perhaps wear more mud, and you'll be safe." M'lak's eyes almost sparkle at Delenn's shocked expression, the man shaking his head quickly. "Kids say things that ya can't even imagine. I'd have though you'd realized that, being a nanny." It seems that even if he doesn't have a name, he's noticed Delenn's occupation amongst the weyrfolk.
Ryski leans back a bit, giving Delenn a wary eyeing. Hey, he might not be within reach at the moment, but there's no telling if the man will actually come /after/ him one day to give him a good smack. Best to be on the safe side. M'lak's suggestion earns a somewhat disgusted face from the boy, however, and he looks up again, shrugging. "But she was /old/." Not that eighteen is old, but..well it sure is from the perspective of someone who's twelve. "And stupid. Kept talking about the eggs and everything." There's a shifty-eyed look given about then, before he leans slightly that-a-way, toward the rider, voice lowering in a…not-really-quiet whisper. "She thinks it'd be /interesting/ if the whole Weyr watched /her/ having babies. She's got something loose in her head, I think." He gives a small, almost offended sniff then, and a faint nod. Maybe mud /will/ work.. Though his lips push together slightly at his brother, giving Delenn a long look. "Delenn. I looked at one. I don't care what /you/ call it, but I know what it /really/ is."
Delenn gives up on his book, closing the leather bound item and setting it aside. He merely goes on to smile at M'lak, nodding a bit. There wasn't much to add to that part of the conversation, as far as he saw it anyway. Drawing himself up into a seated position, the things coming out of Ryski's mouth continue to amuse him, trying to laugh quietly to himself as to not incur the wrath of his little brother. Though when the nanny comes under the scrutiny of said sibling, Delenn blinks a few times. "You know how to read?" he quips, before sticking his tongue out at Ryski before plucking up his book and clutching it to his chest. Yes, very mature.
"You never know. And, there's one every season who ends up having her baby in the caverns. I've been around long enough to know that. If you hear screaming, you should go the other way." He advises the boy carefully, shaking his head at the chaos that tends to ensue when one of 'those girls' ends up having her way. He makes no comment on the sibling bickering, instead shaking his head with a soft sigh. "Your brother's old enough ta read what he will, I think." He almost reprimands Ryski, before his gaze flicks back to Delenn, grinning as the teen clutches the book tightly. "You shouldn't discourage it. Might keep him out of trouble." And even then his gaze remains on Delenn, head tilted to the side curiously as he watches him.
Ryski just blinks quickly, staring at Delenn with a slight frown. "Of course I can! I'm not /dumb./" How rude. A hand clenches into the grass, pulling up a few stalks of it, only to fling it at his brother. ..Not that the projectiles really make it too far. Grass doesn't make a horribly good weapon, considering it's distinct lack of weight. Thus, the blades of greenery simply flutter to the ground again uselessly, earning them a slightly evil look from the boy. Though it's M'lak's story that earns an almost horrified look from him, gawking at the rider before a shudder goes through him. "Ugh..that's…/gross/. They should carry 'em off to the infirmary for that stuff!" Ick. "Delenn, if some girl is gonna do that around you, you better take 'em to the infirmary. You're a healer, right? You can do that."
Ryski might be irritated with Delenn right now, but he managed to get the lad off the topic of his current reading material. Mission accomplished, the childishness is set aside as he lifts his chin and regards M'lak a moment, tilting his head to the side and slowly coming to smile again. "Have I something on my face, sir?" he asks, however rapidly distracted by Ryski's icky question. A crinkle of his nose and the teenager makes a soft sound of disgust. "I'm not that kind of Healer, Ryski. Remember? We talked about this." Gross. Girl goo, everywhere. The nanny turns a little green.
M'lak tears his attention back to Ryski at the fluttering of the grass bits, shaking his head with a toothy grin, before looking back at the elder of the two. "Adenylath just finds you interesting, and he keeps making me look back at you." As the nanny turns a bit green, the bluerider shakes his head again. "In fact, Adenylath is wondering if you would be willing to put up with the girls the boy here finds so annoying, and stand as a Candidate for this newest bunch of eggs." And there's a trumpet from one of the houses ringing the meadow, and a blue form is seen shifting this way and that upon its reinforced roof.
Ryski can't help but blink at M'lak's sudden question of his brother, staring first at the rider, then at the trumpeting blue…and then finally at his brother. There's a slight loss for words there as he stares at Delenn, clamping down on his lips to prevent him from saying anything…not nice. Really, it's probably not a good time for it, right? Though the confusion is quite evident on the boy's face, fingers tearing up a few more of those poor blades of grass, working at them a little to roll them in his palms.
Blink. Delenn now stares at the bluerider in absolute disbelief. He opens his mouth a few times, stops, closes it, before starting the process all over again. There's a quick darting of eyes to Ryski, but otherwise, M'lak has the nanny's full attention. "B-but…" he starts to explain, his hands a flurry of motion before his brows crease towards the middle in an expression of concern. There's a bit of an emotional dilemma in play, even as the teenager's shoulders slump slightly and he drops his gaze to the fidgeting hands wrestling with his intangible perplexity. "All right."
M'lak chuckles as his attention drifts to Ryski, and he shakes his head. "Perhaps your turn will come, boy. Things like this tend to run in the family, so you never know." The confused expression gets another, almost pitying look, before Delenn is beginning to speak, and the rider tilts his head. "But what, hm? You don't need to say yes if you'd rather not." And then as the teen accepts, he nods again. "Then you should move your things over to the barracks. Probably pretty empty yet, so you should be able to find a good spot."
Ryski still looks rather confused about the whole thing, before those hands of his slam against the ground. "But he /can't/!" It's blurted, quite loudly in fact, before he looks instead at Delenn. "You can't! What the heck am I supposed to do if you do that? I'm not looking after your place all by myself, you know." Oh no he won't! He's not going to dust the man's pillows or anything! Ha! He squirms a little on the ground, not entirely sure of himself in the moment, before tilting his head to look at M'lak again. ..Or glare at him, really. "Who said I wanted a turn? You just can't take /him/."
You would think that Delenn had just been condemned to death from the solemn expression on his face, even as he slowly rises to his feet with his book tucked against his body with a curled hand. Stooping, he plucks the blanket up off the ground, shakes it out; proceeding by folding it up neatly. He nods simply to M'lak, though he seems started as Ryski throws himself a bit of a tantrum. "Ryski…" he starts softly, though quickly his mouth clamps shut and he purses his lips to a thin white line. He gives the bluerider an apologetic look before he strolls over and crouches before his brother, book tucked into his belt, taking the boy's hands in his. "I have to. It's my duty to accept, just as it would be yours if you were asked to stand." Delenn says tenderly, smiling upwards at the younger boy and giving those little fingers a squeeze affectionately. "You'll have to see that Nazaya and Briana meet the man coming for them, because Uncle has called them back home." he says seriously, cryptically, his green eyes locked firmly with Ryski's blue. "You have to be a man. A brave one. Okay?"
M'lak lets the nanny try and defuse the situation as the younger boy begins to throw a temper tantrum, the rider sighing softly to himself and shaking his head. "You'll be able to show him that you're a big boy, you know." M'lak offers in a tone that problem won't help the situation, though he then remains quiet as messages are passed between the two, simply letting them have the moment, actually turning to pace a few strides back and forth, gaze on the blue on the roof instead.
Ryski certainly doesn't look pleased with the development. Or with any messages passed between him and his brother. He pulls his hands free of Delenn's however, getting up to his feet. "It's not like I can't do it." Hands find their way into his pockets then, the boy looking angrier than he had before. "Just..whatever." He turns then, promptly, moving distinctly /away/ from Delenn, heading for the beach path.
A sigh pulls it's way free of Delenn as Ryski yanks away and wanders off, pushing himself back up to standing. "I feel like I'm abandoning him," he says softly to M'lak as he makes his towards the antsy bluerider, with yet another of his apologetic smiles. "And likely he feels the same of me. That I'm abandoning him. Like our father did to him." He doesn't know why he feels the need to explain these things to a perfect stranger, but there it is. Gathering the blanket up a bit, he casts a unreadable look over his shoulder in the direction his brother had huffed off.
M'lak shakes his head, offerng Delenn a sympathetic look. "He's young. Everything is rough at that age. I remember getting angry because a canine I had claimed as my own was lost during a hunt - I swore they did it on purpose." From the wrinkle of his forehead, the rider has long since realized otherwise. "He'll manage to get over it - you shouldn't concern yourself with it too much. You've things to rearrange. The weyrling staff can acquaint you with the rules of your new position as well."
Delenn is quiet and says nothing further, keeping any other thoughts to himself on the matter. "I can find my own way, if that's all right with you, sir?" he says, though it did come out sounding more of a request for permission to take his leave. Despite the tone, the young Journeyman's long legs carry him briskly back in the direction of the weyr proper. Blanket, book, teenager and all.