Checking Up, Catching Up {Nia}

[Admin]

Your hands are bare,
And worn down to the bone.
But you're still holding on me.
So I tighten my grip.

Kerath sat a great deal of a ways back from the barrack. He watched his rider quite intently. He was highly amused, and it wasn't even from a joke! The world was such a funny place. He tried to act refined as he saw his rider fidget a few strides away from the door into the big building. He didn't understand a wink of why the blond man that was entirely his was nervous. He hardly understood why exactly they were there at that time. However, that made it interesting, and interesting made it fun, and the fun happened to be good, and good fun brought joy and amusement.

At the door of the barrack, W'al straightened the hem of his shirt, swallowing. What in all of Pern was he doing? He didn't know. Fulfilling his duties? He'd never really been sure of what those were from the beginning. He wasn't doing anything wrong. He just felt nervous doing whatever he was doing. Trying to act like whatever he was supposed to be with the title he had, he pulled the door open and stepped into the enclosed hallway beyond. As he closed it, he ran a hand through his bright blond hair, before shaking his head and entirely messing it up. He felt ridiculous. He also felt silly, but he didn't so much mind feeling that. Silly was nice and usual.

Finding some comfort, he smiled as he walked forward with an easy stride, looking at the doors. He knew which one he wanted. He stopped at it. He had no bravery. He might, but he didn't really think upon having such or particularly care. He took a deep breath, frowning at himself when his smile fell. Then he brought it back, rekindling it. He was doing as he should. Rather than hoping for bravery, he hoped to become more used to his shift in position. It had been long enough. He should feel sane doing as he was doing.

Finally, he knocked on the door he stood before. "Hey, C'elin, it's W'al. Mind if I come in?" The thought that the young greenrider might be out, or his roommate, K'lay, might be there instead, occurred distantly to W'al. After a moment, he gently opened the door, peering in slightly. "I've just come to check on you, simply, well, because it's my job." As he said it, he felt odd. He really didn't feel it was because of his duties. He was simple concerned for the boy. The boy who was only just younger than him. Did his duties make him care? Did it matter? He felt worried, that was all.

That I am on your side,
I am on your side,
Although it may seem useless,
I am on your side.

[Nia]

C'elin sat on the floor with Upiditath, the Green was sprawled out on the floor rather than on her dragon couch because she needed to sleep near C'elin and there was no way she'd be able to go on his cot without breaking it. Of course, it hadn't occured to the Green that she could probably fit them both on her own couch, but, well, she wasn't all that smart. But the blond didn't mind, he liked being close to Upiditath. He didn't mind being close to dragons, it was just other people that worried him and made him occassionally have seizures. C'elin was alone for once, K'lay had gone out somewhere with Invidiath, so without anyone to talk to Upiditath had ended up falling asleep.

The blond sighed, looking down at his sleeping Green. She was... flirty. Very flirty. She flirted with everyone she could reach, which worried him. Shards, if she got everyone to fall in love with her, how many people were going to join her Flight? C'elin shuddered at the thought, as much as he loved Upiditath, she really had to learn to be less promiscuous. Not that that was every going to happen, and C'elin knew it. He sighed. What had he done to deserve all this?

Hearing W'al's voice startled C'elin out of his thoughts. Oh shards oh Faranth oh shells, had he figured out that C'elin snuck out almost every night with Teslana to go meet Pratyba and start a sharding scavenger hunt that involved all of the Weyr?! He immediately panicked inside his mind, but outside he smiled nervously. "Um... of course I don't mind, come on in," he said, feeling strange and nervous. Were Weyrlingmasters supposed to check on the Weyrlings? Well... apparently.

Miiiiinnnnneeee, is someone here?

[/i] Upididtath drowsily asked, sitting up and spotting W'al right away. Ohnoohnoohno! Mine he figured it out! He figured out you and Oorth's and Irathsiste--[/i] Shush! You'll make me nervous! Play it cool, okay? he quickly shushed the dragon, smiling at W'al, though still looking rather nervous. "Oh, um, alright. Did something happen?" he asked, feeling somewhat awkward with the Weyrlingmaster. C'elin was rather old for a Weyrling, having only been Searched because he was sharding kidnapped, so he was definitely one of the older ones. But maybe W'al had just been informed about... that... and that was why he was being checked up on? If that was the reason, it kind of embarrassed him. He didn't want everyone knowing what had happened to him....[/blockquote][/size]

[Admin]

Sometimes these thoughts have a way making sense,
Secrets that we keep turn into accidents,
If you burn away the bonds with the fires of selfishness,
The positive the negative have a way of blending in.

Such an awkward creature! W'al tried to make his smile more reassuring at seeing the awkwardness and nerves that C'elin was experiencing, though he didn't exactly feel overly comfortable himself with everything. He hadn't exactly seen C'elin be all that brave or forward ever, so he thought nothing odd of his behavior or his question. It was that sort of way that the weyrling held himself that had brought him to come visit. He was trying to be all fatherly and stuff, though the concern was entirely his own. He was worried. He did care. The situation just felt all blurred and warped. He wished it would magically become fun.

"Oh, well, I've been helping the Weyrwoman try to figure out things with the scavenger hunt. She's a tad concerned and upset about the thefts;" he said. He refrained from mentioning Fajra's competitive drive. His smile came easier. Personally, he and Kerath thought the hunt quite funny, but poorly executed due to the likely ramifications. "However, nothing really involving you, no;" he added. He briefly considered how awful it would be to have to get any of his weyrlings in trouble. This was bad enough, for the oddest reason. However, Pratyba was F'del's responsibility, not his. It would all work out.

"I was just wondering if you're alright;" he continued. He tilted his head, smiling kindly at the boy in front of him. He refrained from glancing at the green dragonet also present as he spoke. He didn't think that Upiditath could be easy to handle, though she was still a dragon like any other and he was sure C'elin loved her. "I mean, I'm supposed to here for you to talk to;" he tried to explain. Shards, why did he sound more awkward than the awkward youth in front of him? Probably because they were the same age, and he wasn't very mature. He tried not to wince in shame at himself. He wasn't one to admit fault, so keeping it at bay wasn't that hard.

Kerath, listening in through his rider once he knew that he was inside, decided to help out. Hello Upiditath; he greeted the young green pleasantly. He had no doubt that she might speak easier than her rider. Out of two, she was certainly much more confident in most ways. How are you? It would be helpful to hear what both of them had to say. He felt his rider, aware of what he was doing, offer weak thanks. He wanted to salvage the situation that should have been fine.

If I could find a way to turn back time,
Had to let you know I'm on your side,
Am I now everything that you wanted me to be,
tried my best took a shot in the dark and I lost.

[Nia]

For a moment, C'elin thought he was going to confess everything and apologize in order to save himself, and probably end up taking all the blame on himself since there was no way he could ever tell on Pratyba and Tesla, but he caught himself when W'al said it was nothing involving him. Thank Faranth, he probably wasn't the suspect. If anything it'd just be Pratyba who was caught, but if she was caught C'elin would certainly turn himself in as well. He wouldn't let her take all the blame, his conscience wouldn't allow that, either.

Perhaps some of the awkwardness then came from the fact that he and W'al were nearly the same age. He was one of the oldest Weyrlings and probably one of the most passive and shy out of the current Freedomfighters, though he was probably just after V'lin in that aspect. He didn't feel any sort of seizures coming on with W'al in his room, so he figured the Weyrling Master truly did care. C'elin just wasn't used to that and didn't know how to react to someone actually caring about him, even if it was in a fatherly sort of way. But that just made their relationship even more strange because of their ages. He didn't want to be seen as immature or like a kid, but he was a Weyrling.

"I see...." he said, and decided to talk more on what W'al had said next. Was he acting strange? Most of their Weyrling class were boys and C'elin felt okay around them, and no one had made any sort of pass at him lately, so he hadn't had a seizure in quite some time. "I'm fine," he said with a smile, not sure how much W'al had even been told about his strange circumstances, "I...." he paused, "think I'll be okay, now. A lot of time has passed since... I was Searched and I think my medical issues are starting to heal by themselves," he began to ramble.

He felt himself wanting to talk to W'al, or really anyone about it, since he hadn't gotten to and it was wrong to bottle up feelings, because then they just kept building until they finally burst. And he couldn't talk with Upiditath about it, because, being who she was, she wouldn't have seen anything wrong with what happened and wouldn't be able to understand. C'elin wasn't sure how to bring it up, though, and he didn't want to make the conversation any more awkward than it already was. But he wantd to trust W'al.

Upiditath was more than happy to talk, though. I'm great! Me and mine are having lots and lots of fun! He's so nice,

[/i] she purred to Kerath, nuzzling C'elin affectionately and then sitting up so she could talk to Kerath better, and so Hers could have some aloooone time with W'al. Well, more so she could have some... alooone... time with Kerath. She giggled to him, attempting to sound coy. But Kerath... you look soooo handsome today,[/i] she continued, unable to resist flirting, even at her young age. But she was just learning, so it was kind of a cute attempt. Besides, she couldn't even get a good look at Kerath from where she was, so it was obviously just an attempt to flirt with him. Lucky for her, C'elin wasn't paying attention to her, so he wasn't stopping her like he usually was.[/blockquote][/size]

[Admin]

Do whatever comes naturally to you,
You know she just don't care,
Cause I'm always where I need to be,
Yeah, and I always thought I would end up.

W'al listened quietly, and felt himself calm. Forgetting his rank was easy, when he thought to let it go, when the situation resolved itself to be a little less uncomfortable by itself. With C'elin talking, the situation was less awkward, and he forgot he was a weyrlingmaster, some high and mighty force of teaching power. That made it even less awkward for him, doubts and questions set aside. It was easy for him to forget rank, and than the two of them could just have been friends. He was the friendly sort, the nice sort, the sort to smile and have a hand to lend when the need arose. He could be C'elin's friend. The shy boy certainly seemed like he could use a friend. That was what had brought him there, he believed, he hoped. He still wasn't entirely sure on that, though he was no longer worrying quite so much. Worrying didn't suit him.

The purplerider listened, trying to understand, the broken up words that the greenrider spoke confusing. He understood that most of his weyrlings had some issues - D'lios was a Lord Holder with a nasty personality, V'lin was at least atypical in personality, N'tal had issues with authority and the universe, Teslana was a tinge off normal in nature, C'elin was hardly confident and a bit timid and stressed looking and a lot of other things. Well, K'lay was normal, except for having Invidiath. However, he couldn't remember distinctly hearing about where C'elin had come from or what had happened to him. "Maybe Upiditath has helped too. Nothing more solid than a dragon in that sort of sense, whether green or purple, brown or blue!" He chuckled faintly to himself, awkwardness returning as he sought out what to cut in and say.

The situation of entirely going about relieving himself of uncomfortableness was not helped by the fact Kerath clued him in on his and Upiditath's conversation. The purple was rather taken aback by the forwardness of the young green. He was perfectly capable of the odd intimacies of a dragon, but they didn't hold the entirely greatest interest to him. Flirting was in fun. Upiditath was a tinge adorable, trying her best at her age, but it made Kerath feel awkward, an odd emotion for the confidently happy dragon. In the actual room, W'al glanced at the young green. Oh, Faranth, she was going to be a handful. He mentally prodded Kerath to make a response, hurriedly shifting his gaze back to C'elin so it wouldn't look as if anything was the matter. How nice of you to say. How do you think your lessons are going; Kerath simply asked her, shifting his weight about outside. He wasn't going to compliment her back. She was young. She would learn, with any hope or luck.

Shifting his own weight on his own long legs, W'al settled so he was leaning lightly against the place where the wall met the frame of the door. "Where do you come from;" he asked, curious, about the greenrider's past. It wasn't his job to know, but it seemed the thing to ask. He wasn't afraid of asking it. He wasn't uncomfortable when it came to speaking. It was the unsaid things, the complexities of humans that so caught the attention of the dragon he'd Impressed, that left him unsure. However, he moved past that, smiling faintly. Asking where C'elin came from seemed more appropriate than asking him what might have happened to him. "If you don't mind me asking." He wasn't prying.

I'm a man, I'm a man on the scene,
I'm a man, and I can be so obscene,
Because I always think that I know how to be,
But I always thought that I would.

[Nia]

C'elin's heart sank as he realized he'd been babbling for no reason, W'al hadn't been told of what had happened. Of course, he reasoned mentally, why would the Weyrling Master have been told? No one had been told, and no one probably knew except for B'rak, and that was only because B'rak knew T'el from before. Shards, he was going to have to explain himself now, wasn't he? That was the last conversation C'elin wanted to have, but something told him it was necessary to at least let all his stressful emotions out. He'd never been one to bottle up his feelings and made it quite known when he was upset, but... that was before. But C'elin had been trying his hardest to recover and end up being the same way he'd been before. He had been brave enough once to stand up to T'el, right? ... with a broom, no less, but he'd still tried. If he tried that now, he'd probably get a seizure.

The blond smiled at W'al's attempts to make it less awkward, but hey, this was going to be awkward no matter what he said. "Yeah, she has... helped," he hesitated before saying helped, because, if anything, Upiditath had made his seizures come back. Or was going to, eventually. She was a flirty little thing and there was no way to deny or stop this. She was making it her goal to flirt with every male dragon she met, and even a little bit with the female dragons (though maybe he was being too paranoid and was just mistaking that for friendliness), much to his chagrin. Shards, she wasn't even an adult yet! But C'elin had smartly decided to just ignore that fact and wait for her to get older before trying to teach her a lesson. He'd lightly push her in the right direction, because that would work, right?

Anyway, he looked down and didn't make eye-contact with W'al when he finally began to speak. "I came from Crescent Hold," he said, "And... I was cleaning one night when I heard something, so I went to go... look," Was he going to spill every little detail? Of course not. But he might as well give the concerned Weyrling Master some sort of clue as to why C'elin was so stressed and why he had such odd medical issues. "It was a Renegade. I tried to defend by I.... was..." he closed his eyes, "...taken captive by him. The Ironrider," he ground out, opening his eyes again and trying to make eye-contact with W'al, but he found he couldn't.

Of course, Upiditath was completely oblivious to Her's struggle, and she was quite happy to block him out and focus on Kerath. Besides, she'd already smothered C'elin with her love regarding this matter anyway, and it was due to her that his seizures were beginning to go away and that he was able to talk about it. C'elin didn't realize this, but Upiditath did, which was why she could unabashedly flirt while Hers was telling such a traumatic story. Hey, as long as he didn't know, it didn't matter, right? Right! They're going great! You're a reaaaaally good teacher,

[/i] she purred to the Purple, swishing her tail.

While that was happening, C'elin continued, completley unaware of Upiditath's flirting. "After a few sevendays I escaped thanks to his dragon, and then B'rak Searched me, so I came here," he finished, finally able to look up at W'al. He wasn't crying and he wasn't about to have a seizure. ... that was a good step, right?[/blockquote][/size]

[Admin]

Imagine no possessions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man.

W'al listened very, very carefully, making sure to note each of the pauses that C'elin took. He tried to be objective, consider what it all meant, even as emotions on the subject began to conflict as he understood the story. The weyrling had been kidnapped, by a renegade. The greenrider had managed to escape, had been searched and then Impressed at the renegade clutch. Fate? Cruel irony? Maybe Upiditath wasn't so much a help. Maybe she was a reminder! He cursed himself for what he had said, not that he let it show. He scrambled to think of what to say, not on top of things in the conversations, momentarily feeling uncomfortable with the story. Then he just felt a wash of sympathies that sent everything else scurrying away. He couldn't even begin to think to exactly understand it, but he'd seen bad things in his life. He could try.

Ducking his head down to the level of the shorter and just younger man, he caught his eye. He smiled, an obscure smile that wasn't meant to be happy but hopeful. His job was forgotten. "You move on. You'll be alright. I can see you being alright. Pern turns, eh?" He wanted to give C'elin a hug, but he wondered if that was inappropriate, simply because of how well they knew each other, not even considering the awkwardness of their differences. The moment seemed to call for a hug, but he didn't even know if C'elin would be alright with a hug. He wanted to do something. He paused for a moment. Then he reached out with a lanky arm to lightly touch the weyrling on the shoulder. It rested where it touched for a moment, and then he withdrew it, still smiling a kind and reassuring smile. He kept unneeded sadness from his face.

The purr of Upiditath's mental voice unnerved Kerath. Where did she learn such ideas? C'elin didn't seem the sort to teach her such things. He seemed strong enough in that sense of subtleties of mind. The older dragon managed an easy reply. No tricks or jokes. It was going to be boring but tiring conversation. I do my job. Do you and Invidiath get along? He considered her. She was quite a nice shade, that he remembered amongst the wash of the seven weyrlings. As the idea of such a thought occurred to him, he rustled his wings. It was just so odd, that she would flirt with him and it would become bad that he even thought her cute. Mine, help me; the purple requested, making sure it was done privately. He didn't like to admit defeat too much and bother his other part on such a matter, so he did it quietly and focused with his mental voice.

W'al fought the urge to laugh at poor Kerath, since the situation wasn't one for laughing. He glanced between Upiditath and C'elin once again. His mind warred with itself, which led him to produce several silly images of odd slimy creatures launching food items at each other that brightened the purple's spirits. Parts of him didn't want to tell C'elin the things that Upiditath said, given the conversation and his state and everything. The majority of him knew that C'elin needed to know, or it was going to become a problem. "Upiditath is a very interesting dragon;" he commented lightly, sparing her another glance. His mind had comprised on the subtle approach. He hoped that it might mean that C'elin would start paying enough attention to the green from then on that Kerath wouldn't beg him for more help with her.

You may say that I'm a dreamer,
But I'm not the only one,
I hope someday you'll join us,
And the world will be as one.

[Nia]

C'elin hadn't looked up to watch W'al's facial expressions as he told his story, and he was rather glad he didn't. He didn't want to be pitied so much and he really wasn't looking for attention, he just wanted to live his life. Well, he didn't want to be ignored either, but lately being ignored was looking a lot better than whatever he had now. To be honest, C'elin hadn't seen Upiditath as a memory of the Renegades, as even though he said Renegade, he really meant T'el. C'elin hadn't had a lot of contact with the other Renegades except the angry, tan Blackrider, who he actually hadn't even seen since the first kidnapping. T'el had been one of those that went on his own and did his own thing, really....

But the blond managed a somewhat relaxed smile. He'd told someone, he'd finally let it all out.... well, not nearly all of it, but just being able to trust W'al with that information was a start. "Yeah. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay," he said, assuring himself just as much as he was assuring W'al. He would be okay, wouldn't he? The blond was almost taken aback by the small touch from W'al and for a moment he was afraid he was going to lapse back into his seizure attacks, but his heart slowed it's quickened pace and relaxed when he forced himself to notice that W'al was just trying to comfort him, and he quickly removed his hand shortly after. "Thanks... for listening. I've never really... told anyone before," he said, and it was true. B'rak had assumed what had happened from the context, but other than that C'elin had tried to ignore it and maybe that was what brought on his seizures. He thought for a moment that maybe he should tell W'al that he felt he could trust the Purplerider, but that might just make things way too awkward, so he chose not to.

Upiditath, on the other hand, did not have nearly enough shame. However, she was growing rather disappointed with Kerath's reactions. She was pretty, wasn't she? Beautiful, even! Cute, even! She was perfectly adorable! Why wasn't he responding the way he should? It was confusing to the poor Green, who couldn't understand the fact that she was really only a child, in terms of dragons, and certainly not old enough to be flirting like she was. And it was beginning to frustrate her. Yes! Invidiath is sooo... nice! But sometimes she gets angry at me,

[/i] the Green continued, and while her mindvoice still had that rather... flirty tone to it, she was clearly getting frustrated with the fact that he wasn't responding to her advances.

It was then that C'elin understood what W'al was trying to hint at, and he turned his attention the dragon right away, his blue eyes widdened. "Upiditath, no!" he sounded exasperated, like he'd deal with this before and was used to it, but his face was bright, bright red, and he felt like he was going to die of embarrassment. What have I told you about flirting! You aren't old enough, and you're just weirding everyone out! I'm trying to have a conversation here! he said to her, sounding stern, even in his own mind. Not faaaaiiiirrrr! You don't have to flirt! I didn't even do anything! But you like that guy, right? So it's not a problem, right?[/i] Don't confuse trust with affection! Not faaaaaaaaaiiiirrr![/i] You're weirding him out! Hmph. You're not fair.[/i] He could feel her mentally pout, but at least he'd stopped it. Shards, it was a good thing she'd cut him off from the conversation, though, or he might have really had a seizure. His heart was racing but he felt like he'd be okay. For now, that is. "I'm sorry," he said to W'al, this time looking down and not looking back up at the Purplerider, trying to hide his extremely red face. Sharding dragon was going to be the death of him![/blockquote][/size]

[Admin]

Time will ease your pain.
Life's about changing, nothing ever stays the same,
And she said,
How can I help you to say goodbye?

Something about hearing C'elin tell him that he'd never told anyone before made something in W'al feel light and airy. It felt good, to be trusted. Maybe he was a good weyrlingmaster! Or a good friend! He cared so little about the position; it was only a little bit of a massage for his ego. He didn't need anything else said, from the weyrling. He beamed, a not totally happy grin, because not everything was peachy, but he really did think it was all going to work out alright. Even if the situation was going to end up terribly awkward, over and over again, it was all going to be perfectly fine in the end. He was confident, about how it was all going to turn out good. He was optimistic, about the outcome of everything. So, despite everything else, despite Upiditath, despite how sort of awful things looked, he smiled at C'elin, cute, adorable, little C'elin, and tried to think nothing of himself thinking in such a fashion about the weyrling.

Kerath floundered again, not liking that she sounded frustrated at him but not knowing what to do. She was mad at him because he wouldn't flirt back at her! He couldn't! It would be bad! He felt awkward, and no longer amused. However, before he could even get to simply offering his sympathies and encouragement about Invididiath, the green's rider finally caught on about his dragon's actions, thanks to his rider, and he let out a big puff of air through his nose. He waited patiently, shifting some more outside, wishing he was inside though he was a bit big as a fully grown purple, for C'elin to handle Upiditath. Then, once he was assured that the green was in check and done, he decided to try to cheer her up a bit, entirely appropriately. Invidiath can be quite mean; he told her quietly, voice suggesting a conspiracy and mischief. Upiditath simply needed to be taught a proper definition of fun, and there couldn't be a single soul in Dalibor more qualified than him to teach about fun!

At C'elin's apology, W'al paused. Then he laughed. It was a light, kind, happy laugh, entirely unoffensive, meant to draw one in and make them see the wonderful joke hidden just around the corner, out of sight. He hurriedly quieted himself to a grin, shaking his head with some fondness for the greenrider. If he and Kerath couldn't handle something like that, they were in the wrong job, and probably had been living the wrong life! A dragon's nature was never something to be sorry about. It was something to be nurture, grown into what was needed, grown to protect Pern. He and Kerath were no somber, simple creatures. They had life. They had vigor. They understood. They might end up feeling as awkward as nothing else, but they wouldn't get bent out of shape and needed no apologies. Thus, he enjoyed just a small bit of laughter from it all. It was a fleeting comfort, but some of the joy remained, lingering for him in his chest.

"Don't apologies. Dragons are born as they are born. Unlike humans, they can't be so influenced by environment with who they are, at least most of them. You have to do your best, and, hey, I think your best might be good enough, C'elin;" the purplerider said, reassurance and a playfulness in his voice. Briefly, he was confused after he spoke. He hadn't been flirting. He couldn't be flirting. However, the last line sounded a whole like a silly, unintentional flirting on his part, and that was usually how he ended up flirting. C'elin was too pretty and too close to his own age for his own good. Glossing over how he was being awkwardly complimentary, he scrambled for something else to say. "Well, anyway, you don't need any help with her?" He'd come to see if C'elin was alright. He could offer a helping hand. That seemed sane. All he wanted was for a blushing C'elin to look up at him, maybe smile a nice, pretty smile.

Come, let me hold you and I will try,
How can I help you to say goodbye?
I sat on our bed,
He packed his suitcase.

[Nia]

Was it weird for C'elin to be trusting W'al after only talking to him for a little bit? No, not really, he guessed. He had always been a pretty trusting person, though as of late he'd been closing off his trust because of the whole renegade incident. Not that it had anything to do with trust, but he'd just been more on edge than he used to be. It was probably a good thing he was trusting W'al like this. He was the Weyrling Master, so it made sense. And thankfully he hadn't seemed too put off about Upiditath's... issues. C'elin adored her with all his heart but... yeah. It was her fault for making him feel so embarrassed at the worst possible time. He was angry with her, but she was still ignoring him, clearly angry at him as well for stopping her flirting. But at least she'd stopped.

Indeed, she had stopped, but Upiditath wasn't going to give up that easily. It just wasn't in her to stop flirting, and hey, maybe she could just claim she didn't know what she was doing! That would work. She was young, right? Right? So they would forgive her if she started to coax the Purple on to her si... oh, right, he wasn't really responding, was he? Not to her direct advances. Upiditath's little mind whirled as she tried to think of a new approach, something that wouldn't get her in trouble and something that would make Kerath like her. The tone of his next comment gave her an idea, though. He sounded kind of mischevious. Mischief! Upiditath likedthat! Oorth and Hers had taught her lots and lots about it during their scavenger hunt! She can! I don't know what to do about it,

[/i] she said in a somewhat fake forlorn voice, egging Kerath on. He could help her deal with Invidiathsister and then he would like her! Perfect. Her logic was flawless.

Back with C'elin, he felt the mood in his room immediately lighten with W'al's laughter, and soon enough he was joining in too. It was obviously not mean-spirited laughter, as C'elin knew plenty about that, and he was able to easily laugh along with the Purplerider. C'elin wasn't exactly a serious person either, and the atmosphere really could've used some laughter to help lighten things up. After exposing his secrets to the other man he'd felt less nervous and much more relaxed. Maybe that was all it took to get himself close to someone? No, that was a dumb thought, he wasn't about to go tell his story to everyone he met, that was... wrong. Very wrong. But it was okay to tell one person and get it all off his back. He felt lighter. W'al wasn't going to see him any differently for this, right?

"Thanks," he smiled, a genuine smile, though it was somewhat small, "You really think so?" he said, sounding somewhat shocked that W'al already had that much confidence in his abilities to take care of Upiditath, and blushing a bit more. It was a challenge, but what dragon wasn't? Well, okay, surely there weren't many dragons as high-maintence as she was, but most dragons had some sort of personality quirk that made it hard to adjust at first. If all the other dragonriders could do it, then surely he could deal with Upiditath's... slight problems.... If W'al had been flirting, C'elin hadn't really noticed, or maybe he had and just chose not to think about it. They couldn't be flirting. But he smiled. "Maybe I need a little help with her... but I think I can handle most of the stuff on my own. I don't really know how I'd stop her from flirting, it seems to a part of her personality, and I can't just get rid of that."[/blockquote][/size]

[Admin]

You look pretty low,
You look pretty low,
Your dream vacation,
Is my hostage refuge.

Kerath saw nothing wrong at the melodramatic forlornness of the young green's voice. It was all in good fun, wasn't it? A prank between the two of them, because he was trying to help Upiditath. He didn't particularly care. He liked the idea of a prank or a joke. He usually did. Still, some sensible things ran through his head. He had to actually teach her too. So meddlesome. Still, it worked out in the end, in his head. It was different in practice. It always was. He straightened up. She was complicated to deal with, more so than all the others. Irath had anger issues. Perbiath was proud to a fault. Avartiath liked to steal. Gulath liked to eat. Socordiath didn't do anything. They were speaking about Invidiath. Yet, Upiditath was odder. He could handle her though. He knew what to say. He could be her responsible friend and everything. It sort of was like basic, simple multitasking.

To start, stick up for yourself. She's just envious most of the time. She doesn't mean any harm. She isn't going to start a fight. I certainly hope you aren't. Don't let her bully you; he started. There was genuine concern for her. She was his charge, and she wasn't getting along with another of his weyrlings. It was a problem. He didn't think that it wasn't objective to side with her. He knew Invidiath. He'd seen her. She wasn't mean by any fault. She just tended to see the world badly. Upiditath seemed ill-equipped to deal with that. She seemed ill-equipped for most situations. She couldn't discriminate. It was a problem, but she wasn't bad herself. Of course, if you happened to think up something small to do to bother her, you wouldn't have to mention it me; he continued, entirely innocent, except for the fact the mischief was entirely back in his voice. A bit of light bothering could be fun.

The weyrlingmaster had been sincere in all his had said, except for the blatant joking bits, so he nodded with some amusement at C'elin's shocked question of his honesty. That was he had come. Right there. To fix any of the shy green weyrling's thoughts of self doubt or stress. Mission accomplished. At least sort of. Hurray, hurray, sound the celebratory gongs. There was a smile there, on the boy's face. It made him feel pleased. So, being a weyrlingmaster was entirely worth it. Who would have thought such a thing. He smiled back at the adorable blond, listening to his thoughts. The little blond seemed fine. His job was done for that day. He had no more to say. Not that he could say. A few random ideas of random things to say flickered through his mind, but he wasn't going to go saying any of those silly little things out of nowhere. He would stay on task.

"Well, if you ever need anything, just come and talk to me. I'll be around. A lot." He grinned as he spoke. Touches of the awkwardness still remained. Was he leaving too soon? He did have other things to do, paperwork he had yet to understand and other things. "Now, I have to go. Thanks for the talk;" he said, voice light with joking. It had been good for the both of them, hadn't it? He reached out and gently clapped the weyrling on the shoulder in farewell. He turned for the door. Outside, Kerath was rising, offering a quiet and swift farewell to Upiditath. He eagerly stretched his wings. Away, away, off about the Weyr and in the sky, to return another day! W'al chuckled at the eagerness of his purple. He turned his head back once, and smiled at C'elin. Then he stepped through the door. He didn't linger. He couldn't. Too awkward. Enough awkward already.

Hey, are you okay?
You look pretty low,
Very handsome awkward,
Do you feel okay?

[Nia]

Upiditath considered what Kerath had said at first, first. Stick up for herself? She could do that! She stuck up for C'elin all the time! Wait, did she? The Green's mind began to spin as she tried to think of a time she'd defended Hers. Nope! Looks like those had all just been dreams of hers. But she was sure she could do it! But Upiditath didn't like fighting. So she thought it was good that Kerath said Invidiath wasn't going to fight with her. Envious? That meant... she steathily dove through C'elin's knowledge to figure out what envious meant, and finally figured it out. Oh! Invidiath was jealous of her! Aww, poor Invidiath! No one should be jealous like that, everyone should love each other like Upiditath! Okay! I can defeinitely do that! I won't ever start a fight with anyone, ever!

[/i] Which wasn't just her trying to score points with Kerath, Upiditath really didn't like to fight. If she'd known the term, she probably would have said, "I'm a lover, not a fighter," but she wasn't smart enough to coin it.

Now the second part didn't take much thinking at all. Ooohhh...[/i] was all she responded to that, but she did giggle as well, which got her point across quite well. C'elin heard that in his mind, as Upiditath had stopped blocking him out of her conversation, and he glanced at her. Please don't be planning something bad, he warned her. It's okay, Mine! Kerath said it was okay,[/i] she informed him, sounding rather pleased with herself. C'elin just decided to turn his attention away from her and ignore whatever she was doing with Kerath. If it was anything awkward, he was sure that W'al would bring it to his attention again. Sharding Green....

While there was still that hint of awkwardness in the air (C'elin really, really hoped it wasn't being caused by Upiditath anymore. He was fine with his own awkwardness) it didn't really seem as much as it had before. Well, not to C'elin, that is. They'd had a nice conversation that had really helped the blond in his attempt to get over... what had happened. He didn't feel like he was going to get a seizure, which was good, and W'al didn't appear to be rushing to get away from him, which was also good. He nodded, "Thanks. I will!" he said with a smile, glad that things weren't bad between them because of Upiditath.

What am I going to do with you? C'elin sighed to the Green as soon as the Purplepair had disappeared. Play with me! I'm boooored now,[/i] she responded innocently, nudging C'elin with her head. The blond sighed and rubbed behind her eyeridges. Man... he really didn't know what he was going to do when she got old enough for dragons to start flirting back....[/blockquote][/size]