What the wind blows in (open)

[tariala]

Nebrona still couldn't believe the arrangement with the other Weyrs of Pern about the queen egg. Well, alright, so her more rational side could see how it was an elegant and mostly-fair solution to what could have been a very messy and resentment-filled situation. And she could see as how non-Istans should be allowed to Impress too, and might want to return to protect their own homes after they did.

But the whole thing bothered her more than it should. Maybe- yes, it was the idea that the other Weyrs would deliberately be sending women in to try and take their gold away. Nebrona’s raising and training had both reinforced the idea that interlopers and poachers needed to be stopped, not rewarded. It was one thing to welcome anyone who wished to stand, but this- it had the feeling of thievery, if not the fact. And if that deal was being offered to all foreign-Weyr women who Impressed, or extended to male candidates as well, the practice could cut significantly into Ista's fighting strength as well.

The whole situation set Nebrona's suspicions on high alert. Perhaps she was being paranoid, but who knew what these new candidates would do? Suppose they were desperate enough, or had been bribed, given orders, to use every means possible to Impress the new queen? They couldn't do anything about the queen herself -territoriality aside, it was important to keep in mind that it would be the hatchling's choice- but their competition would certainly be fair game. Nebrona was going to be watching her back carefully until the Hatching.

“I wonder how many the other Weyrs are going to send,” She mused aloud, in the common area near the candidates’ quarters. “Could get pretty crowded around here.”

[phlysolo]

"Oh, I'm sure there will be many, many more," Came such a drawling and cool voice from out of nowhere that it was sure to startle even the dead.

You really couldn't call it spying. No, not at all. Lenia had merely noticed that a door was left slightly ajar and that there was one single occupant inside. Had it been, perhaps, anyone else she would have surely bipassed the room and made her way to her own which she now shared with three other females. While Lenia was certain that Nebrona had her own roomies as well, none of them were occupying the said space. Lucky for her? Possibly, but she doubted it.

Well, anyways, upon seeing that Nebrona was the lone inhabitant of the room, at least for the time being, Lenia couldn't help but pause at the door frame, gazing in and half-staring, half-glaring at her. She still wasn't sure of how she wanted to treat this female, of how she wanted to be perceived by her. It could be exceedingly easy to put her off, enrage her, degrade her, but proportionally more difficult for her to be polite, courteous , and, well, friendly. Indeed, it wasn't really even in her nature to do so and yet...here she was. Oh, by Faranath, she hoped she wasn't developing a crush.

"Luckily for you and I, our rooms are at their full capacity, are they not?"

[tariala]

"Thank Faranth for small favors." Nebrona agreed fervently, waving Lenia toward a seat if she wanted it. She still wasn't sure what to make of the black-haired girl. From what she'd seen, Lenia could be awfully cruel, but when she wasn't trying to be, she seemed to have a sense of wit and fierceness that made Nebrona wonder if there were deeper layers to the girl that she wouldn't mind discovering.

"I'm sure there will be qualified candidates among them, but the whole thing just chafes my-" She caught herself up, smiled wryly at Lenia. "You know. There'll be the inevitable ambitious twits who probably got Searched more for their looks than any brains, and-" She dropped her previously aggrieved tone, and looked seriously at the other girl, voicing her other thoughts. "Maybe I'm being too paranoid, but what worries me more is those who won't be empty-brained. Who are going to be out to win, and Between take those in their way- there's a lot of potential for this to get nasty when the authority types aren't looking."

[phlysolo]

Lenia was pleased to see more and more of the girl's sense of humor; in some ways it really was like her own, though perhaps not as biting. Nebrona wouldn't use her words to hurt others unless the situation arose that she needed to, the exact opposite of Lenia. Still, it was enough like her own that she was both keen and eager to continue their conversation.

"A large favor, if you ask me. If I were to spend more than one candlemark over dinner with some of those...females, I think I would have butchered them all in their sleeps," Her tone was cool and the corners of her mouth twitched with droll amusement as she strode across the room and sat her lanky form down in the chair Nebrona had gestured her to.

"Well, no, I would probably strangle them with my bare hands and watch those dim lights fade from their eyes," Ah, perhaps that came out a bit too harsh, a bit too serious. Lenia, though cruel and clever as she was did not have the heart to murder someone, nor had she quite the stomach to suggest she could. Indeed, the shallow smile of before had spread into a small, teasing smirk.

The more the other Candidate spoke, the more she intrigued Lenia. Unlike most other female Candidates she'd come across in her lifetime as a Weyrbrat, most had absolutely no sense and were to be permanently unImpressed or had the sheer dumb luck to attaching themselves to the most dim-witted of greens, Nebrona had intelligence and a sharp perception of what was happening around them. What was more was the fact that she was, as much as Lenia hated to admit to herself, funny. Her 'chafing' implications drew a soft 'heh' from the older Candidate as she leaned back in the chair, arms folded over her chest, long legs stretched out.

"Well, yes, things probably will. If I don't end up becoming a murderess, I'm sure one of those girls certainly could," Her mind wandered back to the little spat they'd shared with those three transfers in the kitchens..."But I can understand why Weyrwoman Yselka decided on this course of action. Rather lull the other Weyrleaders into a sense of false security at the fact that they could be bringing home the Gold instead of conniving to steal that golden Egg at first chance."

Indeed ever since Yselka and that moron H'zu had turned their proclamation into a reality, there had been significantly less security around the Hatching Grounds. Of course, Erusth was on constant guard, as were a couple of browns, most notably S'koin's massive Kirith. However, there hadn't been as many as there were the first sevenday or so that, she assumed, the Weyrleaders were hammering out the fine details of their little Candidate arrangement.

"I daresay I'd be rather disapointed if one of them Impressed dear little Golddust," Lenia drolled, shaking her head. "I hope you put on a good show for that sparkling eggie when the Touching comes around."

[tariala]

To the woman who'd been daydreaming of maulings earlier -even if she didn't really want to see them in reality- Lenia's threats passed without much note. "I know why she did it too, but it just feels like a legal way for them to steal it anyway- sending in ringers, as it were."

Lenia's last comment caught her attention, and she looked over at the other girl, cocking her head to the side slightly. Lenia had an open, bold outlook that Nebrona quite admired, but sometimes it could be hard to tell what she really meant, and how much tipped over into that darker sarcasm she seemed fond of. In contrast to most of the other female candidates, Lenia had seemed openly disdainful of the gold. But she was Istan-

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I think I'm bound for a fighting dragon." She said lightly. "Guard and all. Not much chance they'll let a fertile gold meet Thread now." And there was that other, nagging worry that she wasn't intellectual enough to be a gold's rider- Yselka had been a Lord Holder's granddaughter; everything she needed for this job had probably been trained into her from birth.

"Mind you, I'm still going to try for the gold, put on that good show you want." Fear or no, she was stubborn enough to not let herself be intimidated off of trying for the most prestigious prize. "For Ista's honor, if nothing else." Nebrona let her lips stretch into a slow grin. "Would you mind if it becomes more than just show? Be ashamed to keep company with 'dear little Golddust's' rider? Faint dead away from the horror of it all?" She flung an arm dramatically across her forehead, acting to suit her words, but the eyes peeking out from under it at Lenia were distinctly anxious before the emotion flitted away.

She dropped her pose to resume her previous positioning. "'Cause that'd be a shame- wit is hard enough to find around here as is." Most people were nice enough, but it did feel good to indulge the darker side of her humor with someone who'd understand and share it.

[phlysolo]

Indeed, yet another way to look at the growing distressful situation. Some of these...transfers were so desperate to Impress that queen, had been so thoroughly brainwashed to believe that they were the only ones capable of rebuilding Pern if only they Impressed...It was almost as disturbing as Lenia's unusual and vicious distaste for the lower ranking colors and, generally speaking, gold dragons and their riders. Still, Lenia had become one of those 'lesser' evils that could be ignored just as long as she didn't cause any significant trouble and kept her unruly head down for a change.

"Well, perhaps someone of them will see the light...or have it beat into them and they'll stay if they're so lucky enough to Impress," Lenia commented, though it was clear by her tone of choice that she doubted it. "I prefer it like this anyhow. I'd rather have descriete Candidate squabbles over marshal law."

Ah, now there was something interesting. A female, who for all Lenia knew was as straight as an arrow, who seemed to think that she wasn't fit for the gold. All the other girls Lenia had had the displeasure of speaking with, or having overheard, all insisted that they, because of their looks, brains, or sheer number of marks, were the best thing that happened to Pern since heated klah. Indeed, it was such a startling change of pace that it was wonderfully refreshing and Lenia's interest in Nebrona was redoubled.

"Oh, I don't know about that. From what I understand, dragonets don't care about what you did or who you were before, they care about what's inside. Surely you were a, guard was it?, before, but now you're Nebrona the Candidate, Nebrona on the verge of Standing to meet your new life. All of that is more important than anything," She said, surprising even herself with her insight. Where by Faranth had that come from?

Her mouth twitched up into a genuine smile and she chuckled, cocking her head lightly to the side. Lenia's normally sharp and icy blue gaze had become uncharacteristically soft, enjoying the spectacle of the girl before her. A sharp pang stabbed at her chest and she realized that she must indeed be as shallow as some people had claimed about her for Turns if even Nebrona, who barely knew her, believed that Lenia would sever all ties with her if she managed to pull off Impressing "Golddust."

"For you. my dear," She said with such teasing flippancy that she wondered if Nebrona could possibly take her term of endearment as anything other than jest. To be truthful, Lenia herself wasn't even sure if she was joking or not. Gah, adolescence was indeed a painful thing. "I think I could possibly put aside my pride, morals, and keep from swooning if given the proper persuasion."

For a moment, the smile faded into a serious expression, not all unlike the anxious gaze that the other Candidate had given just moments before.

"So it is. It's rare to find someone who..." The briefest pause, a slight flickering behind those blue icebergs. "Who can take a joke." And the finality of it was painful. Of all the emotions, of all the things she could have said, leave it up to Lenia to pick the most shallow.

[tariala]

Lenia was confusing the blue blazes out of Nebrona. The woman flipped from encouraging to teasing to cold in the space of one side of a conversation, and Nebrona ran that last exchange back in her head as she studied her with some degree of hesitation. She wasn’t the most proficient person at ‘people skills’, and she didn’t want to say the wrong thing now.

Lenia’s encouragement had both pleased and surprised Nebrona. After Kathal’s negativity (not that she gave his filth much credence, but it still wasn’t fun to hear), hearing someone who believed in her ability was heartening.

Lenia’s smile, glimpsed in a flash beneath her arm, had been gratifying to see. It was a surprisingly nice one, and made Nebrona wonder if she could get it to appear more often.

Teasing felt like comfortably familiar ground, but something about it and the seriousness afterward made Nebrona feel like she’d missed something. The joke thing… that could be it- it struck her as too shallow for Lenia’s expression at that moment.

Unless the other woman meant her? That this sudden friendliness was the joke that Lenia would have a good laugh about later? For a moment, dismay flooded Nebrona, along with an angry hurt at letting herself get taken in, but she checked the impulse to call Lenia on it immediately. Better feel it out first, in case she was mistaken.

That last expression of Lenia’s combined with the all-too-brief flicker of emotion in her eyes, and her teasing words, to spark Nebrona’s previous warm pleasure at Lenia’s company into a blazing wildfire. No, that wasn’t a figurative term for a sudden wave of passion- rather, the feeling of something deeper and exciting that could easily spin out of control, and that Nebrona wasn’t certain she wanted to unleash.

Was Lenia flirting with her, in her own way? The uncertainty of whether Lenia had been serious or not with her words rose again. Nebrona knew well enough that Lenia was a woman-lover, and Faranth knew she’d been accused of the same though more than once (most often by a male who took issue with her chosen career), but she’d never been attracted to women in the past like she had been –and still was- to men. She didn’t really feel the urge to run around panting over other women now. But was that an ironclad rule? Was it natural to be curious? Who could she ask?

And did she want to? Everything she’d been taught at home said that same-sex relationships were wrong, and while Nebrona had come to decide that those relationships were none of her business here at the Weyr, she wasn’t sure she could accept the same for herself. Should she start something anyway, knowing she might not be able to follow through on it? And being less than completely straight scare off the gold, and did she care? Shards, relationships were complicated. That was probably why she’d only had the one.

Or she could be reading way too much into things, and chasing trouble that might never matter. “What kind of persuasion?” She finally asked, probably doing them both a favor by bypassing Lenia’s last comment. Her expression was guarded, but her tone nearly held a purring note to it. The invitation was there, if Lenia chose to take advantage of the opening. If not, she could make another joke and laugh it off. Nebrona just hoped she got her own mind figured out soon, either way.

[phlysolo]

It was hard to read this blond former-Hold guard's expressions. Although she was willing and able to merely sit and gaze upon the girl's plain, yet simply attractive face, Lenia was much more keen to figure out what was going behind those brown eyes of her's. Though she might be trying to hide it, Nebrona appeared hesitant and almost wary of Lenia, as though she was a small feral feline that if petted could purr with delight or, if stroked backwards instead of forwards, would turn inot some ravenous, wrathful tiger that would eat her face off. Lenia wasn't entirely sure on which end of the spectrum she was even on. She would like to think of herself as an animal that, if fed and indulged, would remain docile and nonchalant for most of her time spent awake. In reality, it was much more the opposite...

Still, either way, she saw no reason for the surprisingly charming Nebrona to have anything to fear from her. Lenia's attraction had allowed the other female to barrel through most, if not all of Lenia's personal defenses, most of which were rather feeble in nature anyways and only needed firm shoves to break through. Well, perhaps the only thing Nebrona needed to be concerned about was what could potentionally happen if their...whatever it was turned sour. Lenia wasn't quite one to hold a grudge, but she always was brutally vengeneful. Good thing Nebrona didn't know that...

As the small passages of thought passed across Nebrona's face, Lenia wished that she could read her mind, as if she could someway be empathetic enough to hear her thoughts as easily as a dragon. Then again, what fun would that be if she could easily counter anything negative or enhance anything positive that managed to flutter through her thoughts. Really...the only thing Lenia was hoping for was, at best, a good friendship. It had been...too many Turns for the Candidate to count since the girl had someone who would really listen to her, really pay attention to her, really speak to her as openly and candidly as Lenia.

Then again, the romantic prospect in this whole little game they were now so subtly playing was even more exciting than simply having a good shoulder to cry on, in the most figurative way. Lenia had taken up a lover or two, though the encounters with those rare females were always strictly physical, strictly a means to an end. She'd never been in a real 'relationship' and now that this wonderful opportunity presented itself she was practically jumping at the chance, like some proverbial canine smelling a randy bitch's sent.

It didn't honestly help that Nebrona was, in Lenia's opinion, leading her on. Sure, her expression might not say much, but, that little...purr. It nearly made the hairs on the back of her neck stand and she ground her teeth together in a edgy smirk. Now, now, this was interesting. She didn't know much about the girl, but had never caught wind of any rumor pegging her to be on Lenia's side of the fence, or balancing on the fence itself, waiting to be tackled to one area or the other. How best to respond to this cunning little invitation?

From her stretched and leaning position on her offered chair, Lenia sat up, hunching forward, palms of her hands placed firmly on knees. Her head was tilted in such a way her hair was obscuring a bit of her face, her blue eyes glinting both mischeviously and seductively over the other female's body. They lingered on the aspects of Nebrona's body that clearly suggested she was of the fairer sex before coming to an abrupt halt, locking on Nebrona's light brown eyes.

"I'm sure, my dear Nebrona, that you can come up with something that will suit us both."

[tariala]

Oh, well played. Nebrona took in the picture that Lenia presented for a moment, all mischievous interest, her hair draped charmingly over those rare blue eyes, and felt a definite stir of attraction. It was flattering to have Lenia’s attention like that, and even more exciting that she could dance a conversation like this.

But Nebrona always did prefer to fight her battles head on, and this situation was clearly too important, one way or the other, to play around with. “Possibly I could.” She replied, voice gratifyingly calm to her own ears. “Lenia- I’ll be blunt, and admit that I have no idea what I’m doing here. Or what ‘here’ is, really.” Alright, she could hear her voice start to speed up now, out of nervousness and the rush to get out what she needed to say before Lenia could interrupt. “I want you as a friend, definitely. I’ve never had any female friends outside of my sisters, really, and it sounds like it would be fun.”

“As for anything more- again, I’m not sure what to do about that. It’s just never come up until now. I mean, I’ve never been interested in women before that way, and I don’t think I am now. As a rule. But you seem to be a bit different.” She took a deep breath, collected herself, and continued more deliberately. “Look, I’m not sure where I want this to go, or even if I can let myself go there. I don’t think either of us is expecting a True Love, exclusive type of thing of this, so what I propose is that we go on as friends, and be willing to see what other…benefits…happen along the way. Can we go with that?”

She regarded Lenia earnestly as she spoke, and made a grimace as she finished “I just want everything to be up front here, so neither of us gets hurt by the other- or more importantly, ticks the other person off. I know myself well enough to admit that I do hold grudges sometimes.” Held them, cherished them, and had them preserved for Turns to come was more like it, but Lenia didn’t need to know that.

[phlysolo]

The other Candidate's directness surprised Lenia. Even with girls who stoutly believed themselves to be solely attracted to men, they loved back and forth teasing, flirting, that usually ended with nothing more than Lenia soaking herself in the cold lake for about a candlemark or so. Then, there were the instances, which she had felt mirrored this current situation, that the straight girl fell hopelessly in lust with the Candidate. They'd gone on and done the deed and hadn't spoken after that. Of course, Lenia was hoping that, if things turned out the way she was banking on, they wouldn't spend the rest of their Turns ignoring the fact that the other existed.

However, she was completely caught off guard by Nebrona's brisk, momentarily business-like approach. For a moment she sounded so sure, and at the same time so unsure, about what was happening, what could be happening, between them that Lenia had stared almost confoundedly at her until the tone of her voiced pitched up, her words came out quicker and there was a look in her eyes that suggested that she was more nervous than she was letting on. How charming. What a wonderful effort to be brave in the face of, well, Lenia.

And what an interesting proposition. She herself had never been friends with any other female, either, surprisingly. Well, perhaps not too surprisingly. She didn't have friends at all to begin with. Acquaintances, perhaps, but certainly not friends. It would be interesting, as loathe as Lenia would like to admit, to take Nebrona on as a friend first; and with her 'open' suggestion that they could definitely try other things should the situation arise, well...things were starting to look up for the brash and snide Candidate.

All the while while Nebrona spoke, she found herself straightening up, a cool and cocky smirk widening over her lips as she prepared herself to speak once she was sure that Nebrona said all she needed to. Her blue eyes were dancing with both merriment and appreciation for the other female's desire to set things straight, in a manner of speaking, between them. Not a single look on her face displayed dismay or disappointment, but acceptance and excitement. She was as eager to try out this "friends" idea, almost as eager as she was to take Nebrona to bed.

"As much as I'd like to tackle you and strip you down, I..." She paused, her smirk fading into a smile. "I would cherish your...friendship just as equally as anything else."

The word friendship came out as though she'd never used the term in her vocabulary before, as though it was hard to say, but she hoped that wouldn't suggest that she wasn't scencere. Indeed, her eyes searched over Nebrona's face and then locked with her light brown orbs almost for approval.

"At least, however, you should know that if we take the wrong turn, I won't begrudge you...Can't say I won't do anything else though."