Afternoon Break (OPEN, esp. other Candidates)

((OOC: SHHHH! I'm totally cheating here and throwing this out there right after lunch...))

The dining cavern wasn't as full as it had been earlier for lunch, but there were still a fair amount of people around this time of day.  Riders whose wings weren't practicing, kitchen and lower caverns workers finally getting a chance to eat their meals after the usual lunch rush, older weyrbrats who had nothing better to do with their time or who were possibly skipping out on their chores.  Emberlynn had been rather amused at the the thought of the 'brat pack', as a number of such children were somewhat fondly called, since learning of them-- including at least one of the Weyrwoman's own sons.  The exploits she'd heard tell of reminded her of the fun she and her siblings and friends used to have.  

Of course, those were slightly bittersweet memories at the moment, as she had yet to see her siblings since learning of their location at the Holdless settlement near Telgar.  Their presence had been confirmed, but neither Flynn nor their brother had come to greet her when she arrived.  No notes had come from them since, though she continued to hope each day would bring some sort of news.

Her time wasn't spent idly waiting, though.  She was being kept busy by the candidate master and the harpers, as well as by whoever she was assigned to report to for chores each day.  She particularly liked kitchen drudge duties as she was able to speak to the most people that way and learn their stories.  But she wasn't above doing anything else and never shirked her assignments.  Then again, that wasn't to say she'd never been late after spending too much time speaking with a new-made friend.  The trait probably hadn't endeared her to all of her supervisors, but she was also gifted with the ability to charm her way past most of them.

Something some of the brat pack members also seemed to have in common with her, along with a few of the riders.  Ember was guessing at least a couple of the bronzeriders had been members of such a group when they were younger, given their familiarity with the kitchen staff and other lower caverns workers.  Not that she could blame the other women for caving to their charm.

So far, she herself had resisted.  It was no different from working at the Wild Green, where she had fended off all sorts of would-be suitors and lovers.  Even those who seemed to have good intentions, like a particular former guardsman who had somehow made his way to Fort Weyr along with her.

Now that they were both candidates, she supposed things were different-- he was no longer a guard, may not necessarily feel obligated to hand her over to whatever authorities he was duty bound to serve upon discovering she was Holdless, but that didn't change the fact that she was still unsure of just what would happen to her, or what she would do, would she be left Standing on the sands after the eggs hatched.  And despite his own change in occupation, there was no guarantee Bladen wouldn't turn away from her should he learn of her status.  She rather thought it still too much of a risk, even though there was no indication he'd do any such thing, given his actions so far.  He'd warned her to watch her back when the guardsmen were looking for possible accomplices to the smugglers at Fort Sea Hold, after all.  And if he was willing to do that, when he was fairly certain she'd had a hand in keeping his attention from Thatch so the captain could escape... then maybe he could accept finding out she was marked as one of the exiled.  But she wasn't going to count on it.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Emberlynn headed for the tables laden with pitchers to grab something to drink, all the while keeping an eye out for anyone she knew, as well as anyone new who looked like they could use some company.  She was tired of studying her letters and wanted to give her eyes and hand a rest, despite carrying a stack of hides she was supposed to be studying and copying.  

Maybe it was a normal progression, but she felt so slow in learning how to read and write-- children could do it, so surely so could she.  But her brain some days decided it only wanted to hold so much information, and with everything else she was learning about dragons and weyr life, the simpler, less exciting things sometimes were pushed to the background.  Who needed to read and write, anyway?  It wasn't required for dragonriding, as far as she could tell, so what did it matter?  Apparently someone thought it did, though, otherwise neither she, nor any of the other candidates who needed help would have to sit through lessons like little children.  Sometimes even with the children.  She happened to enjoy those lessons, though, as the weyrbrats always found it exciting to have 'visitors' in their classrooms and liked to show off what they had learned.

For now, though, she was taking a mental break in the hopes of finding something or someone much more interesting with which to occupy her time.

Usually keeping his schedule in line with that of S'dric or one of the cousins, Mahyeul wasn't used to fending for himself for lunch -or at least eating alone. Most of his meals were spent with family and he was grateful for it because they'd been able to grow closer over the last few short months he'd been at Fort Weyr. However, he'd neglected to make an abundance of new acquaintances outside of those he met while performing the work that he did to earn his keep. So today, in that light, would be different from the rest at least.

Not that his days had been specifically lacking in excitement since it had been only a couple of days prior that the young Bronze pair X'ilor and Saolth and another rider had been involved in an altercation during what was supposed to have been a fun sparring session. It was lucky that the rider who'd instigated the trouble wasn't castrated on the spot by his WingLead. Mahyeul had been there to give his account of things in more formal terms since that happened to be his specialty in a sense, and the WingLead had been none too pleased. And if that was the man's response, he could only imagine how livid it made the Weyrwoman and Weyrleader when they caught wind about what had happened.

In any case, Mahyeul was happy he'd been able to help bring a more professional eye-witness account to the case to determine how the entire situation would be resolved.

The entire event though, two days back, had been the cause of terrible bruising across his midsection, and soreness through his ribs, and he'd been coughing a lot more, lately, because of it. But, it simply couldn't be helped. His body would heal, and things would go back to the way they were.


With some hesitance as for knowing just where to go to sit, Mahyeul caught sight of the same girl that his cousin Bladen was always watching after and showing particular interest in, so he carried his tray of food over to the table where she seemed to be sitting alone. They had met at the autumn Masquerade. Even though Bladen had monopolized most of her time then, thus they hadn't had much of a chance to speak, perhaps she would remember him.

Coming to Ember's table, Mahyeul was garbed in his usual way and his lustrous black hair, done up in a high ponytail, was long and full enough to be the envy of many girls, the ends of it gathered to neatly hang over the front of his shoulder.

He stopped short of setting his food down and taking a seat, making sure that it was okay that he joined her. "Is it alright if I sit here?" His smile was happy as ever.

Emberlynn smiled warmly in welcome as Mahyeul approached.  Indeed, she did recognize him, though that wouldn't have made a difference-- she was here to socialize and anyone would be welcomed to join her (even if they were more in the mood to study at the moment, like Veyani.)  "Of course," she waved towards the bench on the opposite side of the table.  "Are you eating a late lunch, too?"

Of course, the young man wasn't given much time to answer as Teylarrin's roll came to a stop near the end of the table.  Ember heard it, as well as a strange shuffling sound, and leaned back slightly so she could see, but Teylarrin was surprisingly quick for her injuries.  "Goodness, my friend, should you really be chasing after food on the floor?  Are you sure you're supposed to be out of the infirmary yet?"  Frowning slightly, the former barmaid maneuvered herself off the bench in preparation for helping Teylarrin onto it.  "Why don't you sit down and I'll go get you a fresh roll?"

Bladen's arrival brought the smile back, and she waved him to the table as well.  "You're welcome to.  I was just going to get another roll for Teylarrin, since she dropped hers on the floor.  Does anyone else need anything?"