Great Egg-spectations (candidates)

[tariala]

It was hard to believe how much the feeling among the candidates had changed in the short time since news of Lyeth’s clutch reached them. Or maybe that was just Nebrona’s opinion. Even more than the news that she would clutch at all (which some of the weyrbred candidates had been weirdly dismissive of), the appearance of an actual clutch stirred up a new current of excitement. Now there were actual eggs to speculate over, wager on (human nature being what it was, Nebrona would be keeping her ears open for somebody to start the candidates’ pool. She wasn’t mathematically-inclined enough to start one herself), and point out as the one most likely to hold *your* dragon. Well, once they actually laid eyes on the clutch, at least.

Among a certain segment of the candidate population, particularly the female half, talk of the gold egg seemed the prime topic of conversation. Now, wouldn’t that be a kick in the pants, to Impress Pern’s only other fertile dragon? Nebrona herself had mixed feelings on the issue- competitive enough to feel she could hold her own with anyone here, but practical enough to see problems ahead for the lucky Impressee. There’d be a lot heaped on her shoulders from day one. And would a transfer to another Weyr be in the weyrling’s future? The other Weyrs had to be desperate for a fertile queen –particularly the one that had lost its golds entire- and Ista already had one of their own. Would the Weyrwoman be pressured to “share the wealth”?

Nebrona was still pondering the whole thing when at dinner that night, which was about when she realized she was thinking way too hard about the whole thing. She would face the eggs with the other candidates- the rest was the Weyrleadership’s worry at the moment. The blonde chose a seat where some of her fellows had clustered around a table. “So, has anyone started thinking about a rider’s name yet, now that they’re here? Or had one in mind already?” She asked lightly, glancing around. “Or is that considered bad luck before you actually Impress?”

[dotta]

It was about time the fertile gold had become burden with her load. Kathal had almost exploded from his excitement. With a grunt, Kathal quickly corrected himself. Well, he wasn't that excited of potentially receiving a dragon. He was merely anxious of planting his feet upon those sands during the time of Impression. He didn't doubt he would more than likely receive one. After all, Kathal was a burly youth. What he did wonder however, was what would Impress.

Being the awesome lad that he was, Kathal knew he would relieve a great dragon. Well, Bronze was the absolute best so, yeah, he'd Impress that. However, he wouldn't have felt that bad had he Impressed a Brown instead. Disappointed, but glad; few were even get a dragon.

Kathal quickly shoved a spoon full of food into his mouth. Mouth gaped, Crabby barely just missed his chance. The firelizard let out a disapproved squawk. Kathal flashed the young brown a glare and with almost what seemed liked a sigh, Crabby slithered from his large shoulder and landed with a small plop upon the table.

He clawed at the piece of roll, tearing a piece only large enough for only his paws to take a hold of. Taking a moment to admire his work, his eyes whirled slowly before looking to Kathal. He then held the piece of bread out to Kathal.

The boy returned a dry look at his little lizard. As the months rolled on, Crabby grew in age was well as length. He had continued working on Crabby's lazy tendency and the creature had improved. Now, the lizard, when persuaded, reached for his own piece of Kathal's meal. The dimblow still demanded to be hand fed.

Kathal set his utensil down and tore off a large piece from the roll and shoved it into Crabby's moment. The brown firelizard devoured it quickly, afterward, placing the small piece within his grip into his mouth.

As the boy aided his firelizard, he overhead the voice of a curious young girl. But as his ears tuned in to this voice, he soon thought how familiar that voice was. Before the question ceased, Kathal turned his head to the source revealing the candidate girl in that one class.

His eyes narrowed. That know it all. Looking away from the girl, he spoke aloud.

"What reason do you have to be excited? I hope you're not looking for anything more than a green."

[tariala]

Nebrona narrowed her eyes at the youth -that surly one from class!- and wondered yet again what his problem was. It was a shame his mama had apparently let him out of the hold before she'd trained some manners into him. "Last I checked," she explained patiently, "a green is still a dragon. And, thus, I would still require a rider's name. Now, do you have a name in mind for yourself, or it that firelizard there the only thing you think you'll ever Impress?"

A little tetchy, that, but at least it got back to her question.

[dotta]

A retort. He should have seen such a thing coming, but he would have preferred the girl to have broken into tears. She was definitely acting out of nature. Women were to be meek, housekeeping creatures. Not bold, and especially not dragonriders. But the girl's poor choice in a career wasn't what upset him. It was her tone!

She had spoken to the boy as if he were a retard! What did it mattered if her question was not answered! Kathal quickly decided green riders shouldn't even deserve names because of their rank. But how amusing he found that the lowest of rank mostly impressed to women. It was justice if anyone asked Kathal.

But if she wanted her foolish question answered, he would indulge her.

"Well, only one name is deserving of me: K'al the great Bronze rider." He answered with a sneer. Soon after he asked,

"What about you?"

[tariala]

Huh. Sorry to say, he probably would get a bronze at that, unless some bold blue claimed him. That arrogance would probably be too much for the other colors- unless he put them all off. The thought made her smile cheerfully at him, and let go of the comment that had sprung immediately to her lips (though a one-syllable name was probably all the boy *could* manage).

"N'rona. There's not a whole lot of ways to fiddle with it, really. So, once you get your bronze, do you want to be a Wingleader someday? Or something more unusual like Weyrlingmaster?" Maybe ignoring his lapses in civility would get him to cut it out- like the child who misbehaved to get his mother's attention.

[bookworm]

Wynec was sitting near the pair, listening with half-hearted interest to their conversation. He was growing bored with endless candidate speculations. As a weyrbrat, wondering about your shortened name or what color dragon you would ride was a daily part of life, and not the most original topic of conversation. He started paying more attention when some antagonism came up between the two, however. He smirked at the young man's arrogance.

"Confidence isn't the only thing that attracts a bronze dragon, you know," Wynec commented. "An arrogant, moody person is just as likely to Impress a green." He smiled innocently at Kathal, then turned to Nebrona. "To answer your question, though, I don't think it's bad luck to think about shortened names before the Hatching. Us weyrbrats have been doing it since we could talk."

[tariala]

Hello, new best friend. And he wasn't bad looking, either. She ignored the guilty feeling that came hard on the heels of that thought -she and Olorn had firmly parted, so she was allowed to look- and smiled at Wynec. "See, it's things like that I like to know. They can teach us all we need to know to be weyrlings, and riders, but all the other stuff children learn and take for granted growing up in a Weyr- well, sometimes I feel like I'm missing something, being holdbred."

She paused for a moment. "All this hatching talk that's exciting to me must be kind of boring for you, huh? So, what else do weyrbrats talk about instead?" She smiled teasingly, all the while keeping a mental eye on Kathal- no way was the boy going to let that one go.

[dotta]

Kathal took a moment to actually consider this girl's question. His head titled upward and his gaze took a distant look; and while he pondered, a single index finger stroked his strong chin. Yeah, Kathal was amazing. The thought of being called as a Wingleader was exciting. Soaring the heavens upon his dragon, Giving commands to his underlings. However, a Weyringmaster too held such power. He didn't like the idea of hording young impressionable brats though.

Crabby was making a slow tread across the table, the sound of his raking claws being heard faintly. As he passed a new face, Crabby looked up at the stranger, eyes whirling in excitement. Why the lizard was excited, who knew?

Kathal's free hand reached out and clamped around Crabby's tail. Still, the firelizard continued his walk until he realized he wasn't moving. Confused, he looked back to see the massive hand around his form. The boy had almost let a sigh escape. Really. Did the pest have to do this now? He glared at Crabby and pulled him back.

He was suppose to be thinking about something...Oh, right!

"I'm not sure what I want to do, but it'll be alot better than your career."

Kathal smiled to himself on a job well done. This happiness was short lived, however. A new voice was added to their conversation and it was to insult him. But the strong boy's mind didn't work as quickly as he'd like, being all brawn and no brains. When he did clue in on how he was being insulted, his snarled expression turned to the boy who said it.

"Green? Only queers and women oppress to that! And by no means am I either!"

Crabby looked to his large friend and then to Kathal's adversary. Oh, right, he had to emulate his master's emotions! Even if he didn't know what was going on, Crabby chirped in discontent.

[bookworm]

Wynec watched as the flitt scuttled across the table, noticing how his eyes were whirling. It seemed like he had gotten the fire lizard's attention, although he didn't know why. Chuckling, he reached out to pet the flitt, but then his owner pulled him back roughly. Wynec frowned, first at the rough treatment of the fire lizard and then at the candidate's stupid comment about female riders.

Kathal's insult to greens was annoying, but Wynec just laughed at the other boy's ignorance. He was going to get such a kick if the arrogant boy actually did Impress green. "Look, if you want to stay in the Weyr, you're going to have to learn to act more kindly towards...queers and women." He shook his head, then turned his attention to Nebrona, deciding the best approach to Kathal was to ignore him. "We gossip a lot, of course. A lot of it is about girls...or boys, depending where your interest lies." He grinned.

[tariala]

Nebrona also frowned at the Kathal's treatment of his firelizard- it'd serve him right if the thing bit him for that. But she was just fine with ignoring the boy, and smiled at Wynec again. "I think gossip is a universal activity- although living in a Weyr must give it more fodder than in a hold. More people coming and going, less permanent relationsips, flights-" she waved a hand to encompass it all. "Though relationships are complicated no matter where you live, I imagine."

[dotta]

Kindness towards queers and women? The stranger acted as if Kathal had an ill feeling toward such matters. He didn't loathe these people, he merely believed they received more freedoms then deserved. Women were only useful for reproduction and pleasing her mate. Queers...Well, they couldn't even reproduce to sustain human population, so what good where they? Kathal let out a light snort. There was no reason for hims to reveal these thoughts to the candidates anyhow. He doubted they'd have the capacity to comprehend these concepts.

The two candidates then began conversation among themselves, leaving Katal out. Had he been a...more observant person, he would have been wise enough not to intrude. However, he wasn't wise, nor was he observant, but their was nothing the boy wasn't could grasp a hold of to include him. Well, not until the girl's folly. Well, to him it sounded like a folly. What reason did they have for relationships? They were bred to defend!...and produce only when necessary!

Kathal let out a throaty laugh then. Crabby, disturbed from his daydreaming, looked to his master in question.

"Sounds like this girl here just wants to be bed. Typical."

[bookworm]

Wynec was about to reply to Nebrona when Kathal spouted off his obnoxious comment, causing his mouth to fall open in surprise. Not only was the comment downright rude, but Wynec was at a loss as to how Kathal had reached this conclusion.

"I don't think that's it at all..." He said, looking at Nebrona for her to confirm this. He thought she was probably more than capable of defending herself, so he would let her debunk Kathal's statement.

[tariala]

Kathal's insult was so blatant and so obviously wrong that it brought peals of laughter from Nebrona. Though Wynec did earn himself some bonus points in her eyes for both being willing to defend her, and backing off to let her defend herself.

"Boy," Nebrona addressed Kathal directed when she'd finished, expression steely, and voice dripping with condescension. It might change someday, but here and now, Kathal was not someone she had to defer to in any way, shape, or form.

"Whether or not I want to be bed by anyone is not your concern- because *you* will not be be in that category for me. Ever. This is what mature, civilized people call con-ver-sa-tion" And yes, this time she did deliberately use the 'talking to a particularly dense child' tone. "It is a part of re-la-tion-ships. And if you do not learn to master it, that attitude of yours is going to see that no woman's bed is going to be a concern for you for a *very* long time to come."

[dotta]

Kathal was taken aback by the girl's amusement. Crabby no longer paid any mind and had his body flung across the length of Kathal's shoulder. Brows furrowed, he frowned at her. What on other did she find funny? Was she laughing at him? No one laughed at Kathal! Meanwhile, he had completely ignored the other boy's opinion.

He listened to ther girl insult him fiercely. Was this a woman's wrath? No, Kathal didn't think this creature was even of the female beast. She had to be an asexual beast! And Kathal could too bed women. That was merely something that didn't interest him at the moment. All he wanted to be was a dragonrider. Once he accomplished that then he could worry about bedding.

Either way, Kathal certainly didn't have a retort for the girl's stinging words. All he could do was give her a piercing stare and he wasn't evn sure that would work anymore. Kathal, grunted something beneath his breath. Perhaps the words, she-devil? He quickly covered it up by voicing his farewell.

"I've wasted enough time with you."

With that, he rose from his perch and retreated to lick his wounds.

[tariala]

Nebrona watched him go, then turned back to Wynec. "It's a shame he had to leave. Was it something I said?" She asked, feline-got-the-cream innocence in her voice.