Logfile from Norcon.

You head through the entrance to the inner cavern.

This huge cavern lies within the bowels of Telgar Weyr. The ceiling above, somewhat darkened, seems to be black in the dim light of the glows. Under this blackness, it's almost a hive. A large part of this cavern is a place where the lower cavern work is done: washing, making, remaking - endless chatter and noise concentrated around islands of bright glowlight. People come and go from several tunnels to the east and west, adding to general movement. There are several more secluded places with a table and few chairs, used by more idle folk for gaming or chat. In the southwestern part of the cavern, a small opening in the dark seems to be overlooked by everyone, and quite unused. From here there is a large entrance into the Living Cavern, the center of activity of the Weyr. There are also smaller entrances leading off into the weyrfolk quarters, the tunnel to the steam baths, candidate barracks, and a corridor leading to the Nursery.

Metri Alain

Shard flies in from the living cavern. Shard has arrived.

Shard swoops in from the Living Cavern, looking more like he was shooed. He perches himself on the back of one of the chairs, and gives a woeful look to the room he just left. He then goes abot observing his suroundings.

Alain runs a hand through his hair attempting to smooth it down. He nods at the others in greeting.

Metri is tilted back in his chair, the way everyone positively /hates/ him to do, his feet propped up on the table in front of him and his head lolled back over the chair's back. He is rocking it back and forth carefully, slow enough not to put himself in peril, and has a small black book tucked on his lap, reading what he seems to have written, chewing on the end of his stylus.

Jaleran appears from the passageway leading to from the Weyr Entrance. Jaleran has arrived.

Amarie comes out of the steam baths, head wrapped in a towel and wearing her nightrobe. She's got a towel in her hands and squeaking noises come from the towel. "Yes yes, we're going to get you oiled." She moves over to the table and says, "Good evening Metri." She sits down at the table and unfolds the towel, revealing her little bronze firelizard.

Shard tilts his head as Amarie's firelizard is revealed. He chirps a chipper greeting. This could be a new friend. One never knew!

Amarie is sitting at the same table as Metri and has just revealed her bronze firelizard tucked in a towel. Metri is sitting the wrong way on the chair again, chewing on a stylus and holding a book in his hands. Alain is standing and flipping his hands through his hair.

Jaleran enters the cavern from the outside, holding a stack of sketchbooks in one arm. He hears lizard-chirps and his curiosity brings him around to their source. Seeing who is there, and wondering how Amarie comes to have a bronze firelizard he walks up, leaning to peer over her shoulder from behind, "Cute friend you have there."

"I'm charmed, Jaleran. Didn't know you thought so." Metri's voice is stoic and sounds preoccupied, despite the fact that he's smiling and pulled such a comment. He puts the stylus to the page, holding it steady without a word or movement. Hrm...what to write.

Amarie pulls a little jar out of the towel, hidden somewhere in there. She uncaps it and begins to apply oil to the tiny, still-growing baby firelizard. Tinker spies Shard and squeaks softly at him in return. Amarie smiles and says, "Tink you're so cute." She looks up at Jaleran and says, "Thanks. I got him down at Ista about five months ago." She giggles at Metri's answer.

Alain looks at Amarie intently for a moment, as he quits fidgeting and allows his hands to fall to his side. Not one to waste time with pointless talk, he speaks to her "I don't think we've actually had much of a chance to interact. I'm Alain." He offers her a nod as he turns to join the others in looking at the tiny bronze. "You fire-lizard, Tink?" He asks and continues quickly, "He looks very healthy. His hide is beautiful."

Shard makes a -what about me?- sound as Alain makes a comment about the other bronze. He puffs up, showing how grand he is. He strides onto the table, basking in his own granduer.

Jaleran smirks over at Metri, a small chuckle emerging before he claims a chair for himself, sitting to Amarie's side. The other bronze gets a grin as he struts onto the table looking for some love. He nods a greeting to Alain, then grins at Shard, "And who do you look to?" He gives Shard a good looking over, trying to decide if he's seen the bronze anywhere around the weyr before. Then he suddenly thinks of something and turns back to Amarie, "Where have you been hiding your Tink since you got here?"

"Well he sleeps alot on my cot," Amarie says thoughtfully. "Sometimes I think he thinks it's too cold up here because he nestles in my hair alot." She reaches back to lift the long length of it up. "You mean you haven't noticed him in this entire time?" She looks surprised. She reaches into the jar of oil and begins to oil the tiny lizard's hide. "I suppose he is rather small right now," Amarie admits. She smiles at Alain and says, "Hello nice to meet you Alain. I'm Amarie. From Beastcraft." She applies the oil on the small lizard. Tinker, for his part chirrs at the actions of Shard but doesn't move from being lovingly oiled and massaged.

"I like this one," Metri decides at Shard's antics, pointing the end of his stylus towards the other bronze. He shrugs at Amarie, rocks his chair back some more, and politely drops his booted feet from the table. After all, he's not alone anymore. The chair gives a thump as it collides with the floor boards and Metri is righted.

Alain looks at the other animal. He inclines his head to the little one. "My apologies. You are a very handsome fire-lizard yourself." He looks back up at the others. He acknowledges Amarie's words. "I'm from Igen." He remains standing.

"Really?" Amarie looks interested. "Did you know a Nidria there at Igen?" She continues to oil her lizard all over, putting a light shiny, glossy, sheen on him. She finishes, a little lizard is easy to oil, and caps the oil jar. Only then does Tinker rise to his feet and creel at Shard. He can puff around too! He begins strutting around, a pint-sized bronze baby!

Jaleran shakes his head, suddenly feeling like the most oblivious person on Pern. But instead of blushing or stammering he leans to the side so that his voice only carries to Amarie and whispers something to her.

You sense Jaleran's voice, for once, doesn't carry as he whispers, "How could I see your bronze hiding in your hair when I keep getting lost in your eyes?"

Metri upholds an admiration of Shard. "Aye, that one's better," he says, looking at Jaleran carefully before shrugging and poking one of the chairs with his toe. It gives a small buck and backs away from the table slightly. "Sit, Alain, sit," Metri invites.

Shard looks to Metri. He cocks his head to the side, trying to make head or tails of him. He ruffles his wings a bit and watches Tinker strut. He emits a firelizard version of a laugh; and goes about showing the younger bronze exactly how to strut properly.

Alain shakes his head in response to Amarie's question. "No." He folds his arms across his chest. "I didn't. Who was she?" He unfolds his arms and moves to join them at Metri's invitation, thoughwhen he sits he pushes the chair back a slight distance from the others. Not so far that it seems like he doesn't want to be there or be with them, but far enough away that no one will touch him inadvertently.

Amarie is unable to answer Alain's question. She tilts her head at Jaleran's whisper. Whatever he said though, has her head rearing back and looking at him thunderstruck. Her gray-green eyes are wide open, and she looks truly speechless. She doesn't even hear Alain's question. Her mouth drops open slightly, shock rendering its way across her face.

Metri seems quite taken aback at Amarie, just letting his jaw go slack and holding the end of the stylus there by sheer force of will. "Ah, shards," he finally says to Jaleran in what could be scolding, "you broke her."

Tinker struts around in his own little walk, looking more like a chicken on two legs. He spreads his wings and twists his head from side to side and squeaks at Shard. His squeaks are not quite the sound of an adult lizard, still a small halfgrown one.

Alain arches an eyebrow and looks first at Jaleran then at Amarie. His gaze is cool and slightly calculating, as though he is attemptong to divine what exactly the nature of the relationship between the two is.

Jaleran's face falls when he sees the effect, completely unintended, that his words have on Amarie. He quickly looks away, gnawing at his top lip and drawing himself in to be as small as possible. In not-looking at Amarie, he keeps one eye on her bronze... automatically trying to get some indication of her mood through a person's bond with their firelizards. His other eye is on the sketchbooks he had with him when he arrived, making sure he doesn't damage the small treasures.

Shard pulls his wings up, clicking as he does so. He then moves with dignfied steps across the top of the table. He snakes his head back at Tinker, and encourages the younger bronze to mimic him. Being a proper bronze was all about how a firelizard carried himself.

Tinker is a terrible indication of how Amarie is, because the bronze is busy trying to show off to Shard and prove he's a 'manly man'. Amarie shuts her mouth, her eyes finally blinking after what seems long moments of simply staring at Jaleran. She swallows and turns to regard Alain and Metri both with a gaze that doesn't seem to be looking at them, as much as through them. When she finally does speak, she babbles a little, "We-we-wel-well...Well.." She seems to have trouble just getting that word out. "Umm..ww-w-well.."

"We-we-well...What?" Metri asks none-the-politer, leaning forward and grinning at Shard. "Aye, that's how a bronze should carry himself," he affirms for the bronze 'lizard. As though he doesn't /know/.

Alain speaks softly, evenly, a slightly sardonic look indicated by the look on his face. "Not that it's any of my business, but I'm also curious." He looks from Jaleran to Amarie to the lizards and then back again.

Jaleran makes a slight effort to regather his wits, focusing on putting the sketchbooks on the table. Then, while carefully not-looking towards Amarie he shrugs at Metri and Alain.

"Well.." Amarie is stuck on that word for a few moments and then suddenly she shakes her head, seeming to come back to reality. She glances at Jaleran and says diplomatically, "I will think on it.. and get back to you." She glances at Metri and Alain and says, "What was I saying? Oh yes, do you know a Nidria at Igen?" She goes back to her previous question for Alain. But her expression says that's the furthest thing from her mind at the moment.

Shard hears a whistle from the Living Cavern; his signal that its time to go. He churpples his good-bye to the little bronze and exits through the door he had previously used as an entrance.

Alain leans back slightly in his chair. The ghost of a smile touches his lips. There is a question that lingers in his eye, but he puts it aside. For now. "No," he answers her question, "I didn't know a Nidria. Who was she?"

Shard flits through the large entrance to the Living Cavern. Shard has left.

"Well earlier I found a deck of cards with a stamp from an artist on it from Igen Weyr," Amarie explains, "I wondered it perhaps you knew the artist, but I guess not." She falls somewhat silent but her mind isn't really on Nidria anymore.

Tinker creels when the other lizard goes away. With a little snort the bronze begins exploring the table, wandering down towards Alain's end.

When he hears Amarie's response, Jaleran also sees in his future getting cornered at some point in the near future. But when she mentions the deck of cards, he blushes slightly. He watches the larger bronze fly away, then shifts his attention to Tinker. "He'll be growing a lot soon." Yeah, there ya go Jal. Way to bounce back. Idiot.

Alain looks from Jaleran to Amarie and back again. He says, "Now that you mention the cards I recall her. We weren't close, but I have heard that her work is quite good. She's an ink mixer also, or so I've heard." Then having finished with the obligatory small talk he says, "Do the two of you need to be alone?"

Amarie quickly assures, "No no..it's alright!" She waves her hands to motion him not to go. A quick glance at Metri reveals he's not yet started in on them. She glances at Jaleran saying, "He's grown alot since he cracked his shell." To Alain she asks, "Do you have a firelizard?"

Alain shakes his head. He contemplates the bronze for a moment, admiring how the light seems to set the hide a glow, how graceful and purposeful Tink is. His expression darkens ever so slightly. "No," he says probably needlessly. "I haven't. I wasn't sure I wanted one."

Jaleran shakes his head to Alain in synch with Amarie's hasty decline of time alone. But since he's still recovering from foot-in-mouth disease, he stays silent and instead opens the top sketchbook to start looking at the finely detailed work inside.

"They are hardwork," Amarie admits, "It's like having a baby," She reaches out to stroke Tinker as he struts by her, still practicing that walk of his. "When he was little and he was hungry, sometimes I'd get hungry. And he seems to know when I need him the most." She chuckles as the bronze lizard lets out a giant squawk, first at Jaleran and then down the table again to squawk at Alain.

Alain nods. "Yes, they are. Though that's not why I didn't want one." He looks at Jaleran and Amarie and changes the subject. "Have you thought about it? If you impress?" He looks at both of the dispasionately. "What kind of life will it be? What are riders actually going to /do/ when threadfall ends?"

Jaleran grins up at Tinker as the tiny bronze squawks at him, then answers Alain without even pausing, "Dragons and riders will always be able to find useful things to do. At the most basic, dragons will always be useful for relaying people between far-flung halls and holds for meetings or emergencies. Then there's search-and-rescue riding, which will be needed more during an Interval with everyone traveling all across Pern without the worry of Thread. Helping after storms, landslides, avalanches, and the like." He shudders slightly, "And in the south, there will always be dragon-led feline hunting parties. Those things are almost as bad as Thread sometimes."

Amarie looks at Alain and says, "I don't know." Apparently she hasn't thought about it. "I guess I just don't expect..." She pauses and then reaches out to touch Tinker and scoop him up in her arms. "I don't want to get my hopes up," she says. "Because I've seen dragonets maul and I've seen those left behind." She's lost in the memory of it. "If you had seen their faces. They were so distraut." She looks at Alain and says, "I don't want to end up like that. I'll do my duty as requested. I'll stand and if it happens, it will, but I won't expect it."

An interlude by Kassima

TGW-LC>> Kassima walks in from the bowl.
TGW-LC>> Kassima has arrived.
TGW-LC>> Pierron humphs thoughtfully as the Wingleader of Thunderbolt arrives.
TGW-LC>> Kassima tap-dances into the Living Cavern in a spangled leotard and fishnet hose, with a feathered top hat perched jauntily atop her head and a black boa shedding more plumes from around her shoulders. As she makes her way up to Pierron, she sings, "That's the story of, that's the glory of looooooove!" and proceeds to give the cook a big, fat smooch. Then she bows to the +watchers and resumes being IC and stuff.


End Interlude

Alain looks at Amarie. "I have seen their faces. It's one of the more awful things there is." He shakes his head wryly. "I expect I'll want to die if I don't impress. To have come so close and still have failed." He snorts derisively. "It doesn't bear thinking about. That's why I keep wondering if I shouldn't just go." He looks at Jaleran. "I don't want to spend my life being useful -- I want to be /needed/." He flexes his hands on the table.

Jaleran gives Alain a long, pondering look then just shrugs slightly, "You have the choice of not standing." He's decided to stop trying to encourage the various reluctant candidates here and just be secure in his own reasons for not refusing the search dragon.

"I'm not certain what to tell you," Amarie looks at Alain and says quite honestly, "Everyone's decision to stay or go is different. When I saw the dragonets mauling the girls, I wanted to go. It scared me. But I had the support of my friends," she glances at Jaleran and smiles as she says the word /friends/. "And they're going to help me not be scared anymore."

Alain looks at Jaleran evenly. "I know that. And I'm not looking for encouragement or advice. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts about these things. That's all." He looks at Amarie and nods his head to her. "Thanks, and that's really good. I'm glad for you."

"Those are my thoughts on the matter." Jaleran shrugs slightly, pausing briefly to nod to himself at the slight emphasis in Amarie's words. "Dragons and riders will always be needed on Pern. But beyond that..." he looks like he might be trying to put thoughts together into words, but he doesn't have the best record tonight with advice or coherent thoughts and he'd rather not have another four-course meal of his own words.

Amarie settles Tink onto her shoulder. She stands to her feet and says, "Excuse me." She tilts her head in Alain's direction saying, "Nice to have met you." She turns, facing Jaleran to look at him, her back to Alain. Then she turns and walks away, heading for the barracks.

You part the curtain and step into the Candidate Barracks.

Candidate Barracks(#258RADHJL$) This cavern has a rather low ceiling, with many openings for air, since this becomes an abode for a large number of people before every hatching. Every inch of the floor is kept clean, although little of it can be seen due to the many rows of cots that fill most of the space. The central part of the cavern is rather dim, as most of the glows are on the walls. Little decoration is evidenced except for a few personal effects. You wouldn't call it uncomfortable unless the unusually low ceiling for a weyr makes you claustrophobic. On the wall, scrupulously maintained, is a list of Candidates and their assigned chores for the day. Tampering with it is rumored to be an offense punishable by death or latrine duty for the rest of one's life. The normal ruckus of the barracks is almost constant.

Amarie Enwi

Jaleran emerges from behind the curtain across the entrance.

Enwi, in the event of actual RP, is snoring loudly on a cot near the back of the barracks. If the threat of RP is real, expect drooling as well.

Jaleran, in the interest of keeping his feet out of his own mouth, is only here IC if he is showered with bribes. ;)

Enwi, flopping an arm over the edge of her cot, finds nothing with which to bribe, save for some dustbunnies and a handful of crumbs. Evidently her bribery is a cheap, cheap thing.

Amarie is sitting on her cot. Of all things, she's got those romance scrolls from storage and she's peeking through the ledgers. "Beautiful eyes," She flips some pages, "Beautiful eyes.." And the words change to, "Gorgeous blue eyes. Dark, smoldering brown eyes." She flips the pages, looking for words. "No, no no, nowhere does it say, lost eyes."

Enwi, likely easily swayed by things she hears in her sleep, begins mumbling something barely coherent about bubbly eyes in between her snores.

Jaleran opens just the corner of the barracks curtain, hoping to see Amarie comfortably asleep in her cot. When he sees her reading, he sighs and ponders turning right around again to wait a bit more. But after a moment, he decides that there's no point in being a coward and steps in to start towards his own roped-together collection of cots.

Amarie doesn't notice Jaleran's entrance. She picks up another ledger and skims it. "Jade emeraldine eyes," she mutters. "Stormy, gray, unkempt eyes?" She shakes her head and fishes through the book some more. "smoldering gaze," she suddenly says, "Aha! Lost in the eyes of skies so blue!" She finds a passage and then reads back. "Herazide suddenly found herself gazing up into M'rkel's eyes, finding herself lost in the eyes of skies so blue."

"Blue..." Enwi murmurs -- or perhaps snorks is the better word for it -- in reply to Amarie's mutterings. "Blue... berries... wherries... blueberrywherry... very tasty..." Sleeping involves a lot of ellipses, you see. "Bluewherry!" is, however, suddenly blurted out as the young woman's eyes blink open to stare blankly up at the dark ceiling. "Somebody lost a bluewherry," is the followup, and judging by the rather deadpan tone, she might well still be sleeping for all she's talking.

Jaleran stops dead in his tracks as he hears what Amarie is reading... out loud. He really, really wants to turn around at this point, but that would be obvious to any other candidate still awake. So instead, he opens one of the sketchbooks and, pretending to be completely engrossed in memories of his ancestor's past, attempts to casually walk past and onto his own bed.

Amarie finally realizes there's other people's in the room when Enwi speaks up. She glances up and down at Enwi's cot saying, "Go back to sleep Enwi..it's just a dream." Her eyes catch sight of Jaleran and she grabs her sheet, curling it up to her, right under her nose. She watches him pass by her cot, her gray-green eyes wide and staring at him. She looks like she wants to ask questions, but can't at the moment.

"Go back to sleesnorfle," says Enwi dreamily, eyes fluttering shut again. She sighs heavily, her arm still dangling off, figners brushing the floor. "Mrmmrmrmmr," is all she has to say for a bit after that.

Jaleran reaches his cot, puts the sketchbooks carefully inside his press, then looks over his shoulder to see if... ah... he meets Amarie's gaze as she is staring at him. He gets a stunned look briefly, then sits down on the edge of his cot-bundle and meets her gaze with a rueful expression of his own. He seems to be inviting the questions that seem to be lurking, even if he might not be welcoming them.

Amarie glances around and seeing Enwi is *sleeping* or still sleeptalking she gets quietly out of her cot, carrying her blanket over with her to Jaleran's makeshift king-size cot. She perches on the edge of his cot, bringing her feet up under the blanket and curling there to look at him. She opens her mouth to ask those questions but no sound comes out. She closes her mouth, taking a small breath and then murmurs, "Nobody's ever struck me speechless before." Well that's a good way to start.

Enwi snores some more, in that even sort of cadence that suggests sawing logs. For the moment, she seems inclined to be quiet. Perhaps she's got a sense of appropriateness to the scene?

Jaleran's face reddens in a blush and he, too, seems to have a problem forming words at this point. When he manages, his voice is a mix of appology and bashfulness. "I didn't mean to." Of course what he actually meant to do is someting that's evading even him right now.

"Well.." Amarie is back that word again, appearing to be her favorite word of the night. "Well," she repeats, dropping her head down into her blanket and covering up once more to her nose. Her cheeks flush pink and she says, "We're both adults... I think." She doesn't look at him as she says this. "And we're both candidates." She doesn't have to be uncertain about that one. "So ..." she glances at him, trying to convey her meaning without having to say it out loud.

Enwi's silence was unlikely to last long, given the way things usually go. "Onward to glory!" She announced to the room at large, one arm shooting upward into the air, a finger pointed at the ceiling, no doubt to the consternation of others sleeping nearby as well as those not so asleep. The outburst is short-lived, but indicates that yes, she is still very asleep.

Jaleran can't help it. Although he knows full well what she means, and his head agrees fully, he can't help but feel a twinge of defeat at this moment. But outwardly all he does is nod simply. "Aye... I know."

Amarie stands to her feet. She wraps her blanket around her shoulders and looks at Jaleran sitting on the cot, though technically, she's looking him in the eye because of his height. "Jaleran?" she says softly to get his attention once more. "If..." Her lower lip disappears into her mouth, nibbled on momentarily by a nervous girl. She releases it a moment later and says in a quick, breathy voice. "If neither of us impress, I'd like to talk to you afterwards." The way she says it, sounds a bit hopeful. "Besides," she adds a moment later, "You said you were coming to Beastcraft to visit me." She smiles at him and says, "So you've got to keep that promise anyways." She heads over to her cot and sits down on it.

"Issa wubbely bubbely day," Enwi notes gravely, her hand dropping to her side -- after a cursory swipe at her mouth (is she drooling? eew!). "An day lib habbily evmrmrmrpsnorfle..." And the sound of snoring begins anew.

Jaleran keeps the rush of hope from showing too much in his eyes, which he can't help their slight shifting to a fragmented blue-gold, by biting the inside of his lip. But he does nod, "I did promise, didn't I?" Although if he's refering to that promise or to another or maybe to every promise he's made to Amarie silently or aloud is anyone's guess. Even his.

Amarie smiles at Jaleran and nods. "Aye you promised that." She glances over at Enwi and since the girl is near her cot, she gets up and goes to her own clothespress. Rummaging around in it she pulls out a handkerchief. Wadding the white cloth up in a little ball she moves over, first removing any drool from Enwi's mouth. "No Enwi," she says to the sleeping girl, "They lived quietly ever after." And so she stuffs the handkerchief into Enwi's mouth, hopefully quieting the snoring, stopping the talking and taking care of the drool problem all at once. This before she goes back to her own cot and closes the glowbasket dimming the room further.

Telgar Weyr> Enwi HOWLS!
Telgar Weyr> Amarie snugs. ;)
Telgar Weyr> Jaleran cackles and has to leave the log to end with that pose! :D
Telgar Weyr> Enwi, the next morning... o O ( Why does my mouth feel all cottony? )
Telgar Weyr> Amarie says, "Yes it will make a fun story for you to tell tomorrow :)"
Telgar Weyr> Enwi says, "Yeah. I'm pretty sure I couldn't do a darn thing to top that. ;)"


FADE TO BLACK