Book...dragons? [Cilnah]

[jack]

Now this was peaceful.

A rare smile tugged at the scarred boy’s face as he uncrossed his legs, pressing his back against the wall and bringing his knees up in front of him. He rested the text he had been happily reading on his legs, continuing to read with thoughtful curiosity. It was an old document, a simple…manual of sorts that may have once been used to train Dragon Healers. It was full of all sorts of interesting information, everything from the different uses of herbs and tubers to a brief analysis of betweening and how it could affect an injured dragon.

Soft eyes glanced from word to word silently, the boy making no further move. He was happily tucked beneath a table, a small glow helping him to read in his dark “hideaway”, and a warm body tucked firmly against his own. Socordiath was partially curled around His, his pale blue hide flexing lazily as he took deep, snoozing breaths. V’lin reached out after a moment, very gently stroking his fingers over the dragon’s soft muzzle. The Blue gave a deep sigh of pleasure and lifted his head, thrusting it into the teenager’s lap for easier petting before he went limp once more, his wings tucked a bit tighter at his side and his tail stretched out over the walkway.

The brunette smiled at his partner’s antics and gently rubbed the dragon’s eyeridges, his own eyes returning to scan the pages once more. He would have to talk to B’nyur later about this subject—the more he read about it, the more interested he became. Just thinking about it made him happy…what would actually helping the dragons do to him? He owed them so much, after all. His eyes wandered down to the lazy Blue. If it hadn’t been for dragons, he would still be slaving away, nothing more than a fat-man’s pet. He gave a soft smile. Yes. He would talk to B’nyur.

[cilnah]

If there was one thing about being a candidate, it was that there was always work. Oh, you may work hard and do your job well, but there’s always something else to be done, especially with the decline in number of candidates since the last Hatching. There may not have been a high count of eggs, but it was enough to put a dent in the population. But that was all right. It wasn’t the first time Cilnah had been in this situation, and she had never been one to shirk hard work. Growing up as a weyrbrat who looked after the other weyrbrats had taught her the value of responsibility, and that made it easier on her then for some of her fellows. She even found herself volunteering for the odd extra duty here and there, when she had the time. Some might have called her a suck up for that, but in truth she enjoyed doing things to help. And if she was completely honest with herself, there was no harm in scoring a few extra points here and there along the way. One never knew when they just might need a favor.

So it was that the girl found herself in the Records room, hidden amongst the Queen weyrs, a pile of scrolls and tome in her arms so high that she couldn’t see her feet or the floor in front of them. That was alright, there was hardly anyone ever in this place, as the dust motes flickering through the light showed. It was a bit warm, a bit stuffy, but it was peaceful and she enjoyed the occasional time alone. What she bore at the moment was a set of instruction manuals, bound for a self on the far — A shocked, indignant squawk cut through the silence as a black firelizard was thrown off his perch on the girl’s shoulder, and he went tumbling to the floor, a pile of tomes and His following not soon after.

“What in the name of Pern…?” Cilnah lay sprawled out across the floor, a table just to her right, slightly dazed. It took a moment for her eyes to refocus, and then slowly she rolled over to her back and sat up, pressing a palm to her for head in an effort to keep the room from spinning out of control. Finally, after a few seconds, she was able to focus her gaze downward to what had tripped her: a blue tail. Blue? It was too big to be a flit’s tail, too small to be a dragon’s tail, and the wrong shape to be a wher’s tail. Which left not but a dragonet. And where there was a dragonet… Indeed, now as she traced her eyes down the Blue’s body she saw a pair of legs also hiding under the table, and the dim light of a glow. Why would anyone be under a table when there was light and space aplenty in the big room? She gave a gentle shrug of her shoulders. It was really none of her business anyway.

A goodly amount of racket came from behind her after the perhaps half minute she had spent discovering the source of her unusual clumsiness. It was that which reminded her that her flit, Makamae, had been sent tumbling. She twisted towards the pile of pages to find… Nothing. The flit, only just under a foot long, was entirely hidden under the wreckage. “Mae?” Cilnah called out with both voice and mind, and instantly a keen came up from under a particularly thick pile, and after a few seconds a deep black head poked its way into existence. The girl couldn’t stifle her giggle. “Silly little Mae,” she admonished with obvious affection, reaching out to pluck him from the pages and settle him back on his perch across her shoulder. He had the slightly sheepish look of any creature who would have been embarrassed by a situation if they weren’t in the company of good friends.

[jack]

A loud crash disturbed the boy's peaceful reading, and he sat up with a start, giving a soft grunt of pain as his head connected painfully with the underside of the table. But rather than be worried about his own skull, or the gutteral, displeased sound that Socordiath made when his tail was partially-stepped on, V'lin's attention was on the poor girl who had fallen. He scrambled out from beneath his hideaway quickly, ignoring Socordiath's half-hearted complaint when his pillow was taken, and moved to Cilnah's side.

"Are you alright?" His voice, rarely used in the first place, was slightly hoarse, his distress at the possibility of having harmed another making it sound even more worn. He reached out with careful hands, scooping up the girl's workload and setting it on a nearby table before offering her a hand. "I am very sorry."

Socordiath gave a soft snort, rising, and snaked his way lazily out from beneath the table, eying Cilnah with absent interest. Do not apologize, Mine. It wasn't your fault. Tail flicking softly, the Blue strode easily to the girl's side, inclining his head delicately, The fault is mine, miss. His eyes whirled peacefully as he tilted his head to the side, oddly charming for such a lazy creature, Are you injured? Mine and I would be happy to escort you to the infirmary if not.

[cilnah]

The sudden appearance of company had her a bit startled. Her head tilted up, following the line of his figure until she met his face. She blinked, once, twice, three times, and then his words filtered into her slightly fogged brain. He’d asked if she was alright. Was she alright? Her brain seemed to have slogged to a halt for the moment. But slowly, the sheepish grin that had been on the snout of her flit changed to her own features, and she laughed softly. “I’m just fine,” Cilnah assured, watching as he picked up the tomes and scrolls. She was about to protest, after all, it was her job and he had been relaxing comfortably before she stumbled into his Blue, but he offered his hand, and her grin turned into a pleased smile, a soft flush touching the edges of her cheeks. It wasn’t often these days that she ran into such a gentlemanly person.

She took the proffered hand, and once she was standing again brushed the dust off of her clothes, adding “It’s really alright. It was my own fault.” The girl’s attention was diverted once more as the Blue that had been her trip up appeared beside her, and she smiled down at the creature fondly. “No, really, there’s no need to apologize, either of you.” Here she glanced at the boy as well. “It was my own fault. I’m usually not so clumsy, but I really should have known better than to try to carry all of those manuals at once. I couldn’t see my own feet, let alone this little Blue’s tail.”

Something in that sentence made her pause. Ramble she might, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of her words. A look of concern clouded her features, and she glanced down at the Blue again. “Oh, your tail! Is it alright? I hope I didn’t hurt you! I’m terribly sorry, really I am. And you too, I heard you hit your head as you got up. You’re not hurt either? Oh, goodness, I have made a mess of things!” Her gaze went from boy to dragon and back, obvious worry flashing in her green eyes. On her shoulder, Makamae gave a soft creel, both of greeting and of apology for disturbing their peace.

[jack]

V'lin easily pulled the girl to her feet, his mouth rather tightly shut now that his apology had been barked out, and a somewhat subservient look to his face. He had improved greatly with Socordiath--no longer feeling that he was servant to anyone and everyone--but he still seemed to have trouble with old habits. Besides, it was much easier to hide behind a mask than face the world around him. He blinked, tilting his head to the side as she spoke, and gave a soft, simple smile, his eyes momentarily lively.

"You can't be blamed for your..." He paused, glancing to the side as he racked his mind for the word he wanted, as well as the correct way to pronounce it. Going 90% of one's life for as long as he had without speaking made it difficult for him to remember and repeat a good number of words. But he found it with little trouble, his eyes returning to Cilnah's, "Burden. Chores must be done...yes?"

Socordiath gave a soft trill of agreement to His's words, his eyes whirling with pride that the shy boy was willing to say so much in so little time. He leant against the scarred child's legs lazily as the girl continued to speak, sending warm happy thoughts all around him. V'lin's hand reached out in response to those thoughts, unconsciously stroking the pale Blue's skull. My tail is quite fine., Socordiath crooned lazily, his eyes already at half-mast, Thank you for your concern.

The dragon stretched out almost sloth-like, arching like a spoiled cat into V'lin's grip before sitting back on his haunches and stretching up, peering at Cilnah and her little flit. Introduce us, if you would, Mine. It is the rider's responsibility.
The teenager's eyes widened suddenly and he fell immediately into a bow, repeating the action twice before the dragonet's tail thwacked him soundly in the back of the head. "A-Apologies. My name is V'lin. This is Socordiath." He offered his hand, intending to take hers and kiss the knuckles as he had been taught, "A pleasure to meet you."

[cilnah]

Cilnah looked at him curiously as he clamped himself shut, wondering vaguely if she’d upset him in some way. But no, after a moment he began to speak again, though he seemed reluctant to do so, keeping his eyes away from her first glancing to the side, then to the pile of pages that she’d managed to make a mess of when trying to clean up. “No,” she agreed thoughtfully. “Chores definitely have to be done. Unfortunately this wasn’t even my assigned chore. I finished that hours ago. I was just doing this as a favor to keep myself busy.” Opps. There she was, rambling again. Her smile returned as his eyes met hers again, and it was obvious she was pleased by his company as her attention turned to the somehow feline-ish Blue. “I’m glad you’re alright. I’d have felt just horrible if I’d ended up hurting you. I really would.”

It was then that the dragonet’s attention returned to her, rather than his bonded and she realized he was looking at the little Black who was perched on her shoulder. The girl was just reaching up to pull Mae down, him curling his tail around her arm, his head and the front half of his body resting in her open palm, when her companion suddenly dropped into a low bow. She danced backwards two steps out of her surprise. When he repeated the gesture, her eyes widened in confusion. Why on Pern was he bowing? If anyone should be bowing it should be her, considering he was a Weyrling and she only a Candidate. Though she couldn’t help a small chuckle at the slap he received from his Blue. “I’m Cilnah,” she said after she recovered, regaining the lost ground, then giving a small bow of her own, out of respect. “And this is Makamae,” was added after she reached out her free hand took his own, shaking it without realizing his intent. After all, no one had ever kissed her hand before. Why would they? She was a weyrbrat, not a Holder’s daughter.

[jack]

A faint smile curved onto V'lin's lips as he gave an almost energetic nod, tilting his head subtly, "I understand." He murmured, licking his lips absently, "The need...to be busy, that is." For once in a long while, he continued to smile even after he had spoken, a soft light shining in his eyes and a look to him that made it seem that he recognized Cilnah as a like soul. Somehow, despite knowing very well the girl was not the same as him, the urge to work was similar, and...he liked that.

Curiously, the scarred boy peered at the flit, for once dropping at least half of his slave-like manner. He'd never really been around fire lizards...at least not up close. He blinked, leaning in further, but stopped himself, only to give a surprised start of his own when his hand was shaken. But a smile returned to his lips in favor of a confused expression, and he tilting his head to the side, turning his attention again to the flit. "Cilnah and Makamae." He confirmed, blinking, "He is..." He paused, eyes lifting as he searched out a word...to no avail.

Gorgeous, Mine. Socordiath supplied, eyes whirling in smug happiness now that His was beginning to relax.

V'lin gave an awkward grin, looking very much as though he hadn't made the expression in a long while. It seemed to surprise him, and his face immediately snapped back to a more serious one. "Gor...geous. Gorgeous. He is gorgeous." He repeated, nodding as though to confirm 100% that his words were true. "He's...a...fire lizard, correct?"