Hatching must be soon/cleaning 02.10.89

[azure]

Julim had his arms filled with mops, buckets and rags. Others behind him had sweetsand, soap and who knows what else. They were to thoroughly clean the barracks for the hatchlings to come. The older Weyrlings had moved out a while ago, he didn't remember how long. His friend T'Prin had told him about how the Weyrling pairs had flown all over everywhere trying to find and claim the best empty Weyrs, even flying into some occupied ones! The full grown dragons had been noisy that day.

He had never had to clean the Weyrling barracks before. In High Reaches you had to be a Weyrling or Weyrling master to go in there. Probably the Queen's rider and the Weyrleader could go in, but mostly the Weyrling barracks were carefully kept separate from the Weyr.

Julim walked in slowly, trying to see everything at once. More care had been taken here to smooth any rough edges, which made sense. You didn't want clumsy hatchlings cutting their hide on corners or walls.

The entrance was big, big enough for a full grown green and most blues to get in. There was a turn about 2 dragon lengths in, probably to keep drafts out. Thick metal bound doors were around the turn, to keep drafts and snow out and to be sure the Weyrlings were secure, he guessed.

The individual area had been cleared out of possessions but there was dust,, bits of sand and the smell of dragons and sweaty people left behind. Julim looked around at all the floor area and furniture there was to clean and sighed. This could take days!

He poked his head in the bathing area - that at least had been cleaned. It was dusty, but nothing stank. He'd start by the front, working top down. Wipe the furniture, then sweep then mop.

[ambigious]

The moment they'd stepped into the Weyrling barracks that morning, an odd thrill ran through Ophelia. Her black hair, as normal, flew away from her head in carefully crafted spikes, and her hazel eyes were keen as she surveyed the inside of the barracks. A pail filled with sweetsand hung from one hand, and a pail filled with warm water hung from the other. It was her duty to scrub the floors after the dust and outer film had been cleared away. For some odd reason, the task suited her; she wouldn't have to talk to anyone, and the repetitive tasks would keep her mind occupied. Besides, it wasn't like Eavan was in her chore group on this fine day, thank Faranth. With an audible sigh, the tall, willowy candidate set down her pails and stepped to one side of the room, waiting for some of the dust to be cleared away.

As a few of the other candidates began cleaning, Ophelia wrapped her arms across her stomach and watched. She'd already gathered a lot of intel on most of the candidates, mostly due to how they'd responded to both her and Eavan in the Candidate barracks, but she wanted to learn more. Thus, her hazel eyes skimmed over the group, and she almost passed Julim before she did a double-take and rested the full weight of her gaze on his back. Immediately something akin to curiosity, mixed with caution, stirred within her. That was the boy who had spoken up, and she couldn't tell his motive. The other day at the barracks he had seemed...understanding...but that could be for any number of reasons.

But then she remembered how Julim had responded to Eavan, and a grimace crossed her face. It vanished after another moment as she remembered something else from that experience that had piqued her memory. "I remember you from the candidate dinner," she called as a way of greeting, and arched a slim brow of his. "I'm curious, though. Did you bring up the rule about candidates not touching as a respectful young candidate, or were there personal feelings involved?" Her tone was intentionally neutral, as was her expression, to see how he responded.

[azure]

Julim stopped, puzzled. What did she mean? him respectful? Oh yeah, he remembered.

"I've seen people kicked out of the Candidate Barracks for getting too - friendly - and sneaking off together. I'd rather not do anything to help that happen. Keeping the sleeping beds apart and making the sitting area right close to the door where you get seen immediately is the best way to do that."

"I don't really have anyone here to share their weyr with. Well, I know one person who'd let me, but it would change our friendship completely." He blinked thinking about what he'd just said. "I really sounded like a girl then, didn't I?"

Julim shook his head. His father would never have said something like that. Oh well. His father was an arrogant fool.

"It is to my advantage to follow all the rules and be a good little candidate. What could I possibly gain by being a rule breaker? If I get left standing again I will drink my full then and someone will most likely take me to their bed for a sympathy CUDDLE" His voice came down hard and sarcastically on cuddle. She knew what he meant.

"It won't be much longer. I could keep my mouth completely shut for a few days if I had to."

[ambigious]

For some reason, the fact that Julim responded to her thinly veiled jibe with open amiability caught Ophelia off-guard. All of the candidates she'd come across had either grown irritated or had disliked her from the start, so she'd come to expect that sort of response. It wasn't that she had anything against any of them, personally. She simply had no use for them. So it took Ophelia a moment to process what he was staying as she stood and studied him gravely, her face expressionless.

After another moment of thought, however, she broke out in a grin. It was obvious this boy was Weyrbred, as he'd said in the Candidate barracks. "Don't worry, not all women want to be with arrogant, shovanist men," she told him easily in response to his comment about sounding like a girl. "In all honesty, I hate it when cuddling gets in the way of a relationship." The next few comments instantly piqued her attention. Something about the way he said it suggested...something more, something beneath the surface. She arched a slim brow at him, one of her trademark characteristics when she was thinking or had a suspicion.

"Sounds like you'd prefer not to keep your mouth shut," she murmured thoughtfully, and couldn't help but chuckle ruefully. "You and I both know that it's the dragon, and not the candidatemaster or even the weyrleaders who decide what person they impress." Of course she got the comment about cuddling, but rather than respond chose to ignore it. "What would you say, if you could?" Ophelia asked boldly, honestly curious.

[azure]

"I've been left standing for 5 years when all the search dragons say I'm a good candidate. My father has a bronze and my mother a green. They expect me to get at least a brown and certainly not a green. Both were originally from Holds. If you were me, wouldn't you wonder if their dragons were somehow influencing the 'WRONG" color hatchlings away from me?"

His voice came down hard on the word wrong, the tone expressing quite clearly he didn't agree there was a wrong color.

"As to what I should say or not say? The first year I was a candidate, we had a really old, really great brown rider as candidate master. He told us that it would be our duty to try to keep negative words and emotions to ourselves or to only share them with a trusted friend, preferably a non rider. If I am mad, I have to try to keep my dragon from being upset. If I yell at you even though I'm not mad at you, then there are 2 mad people and two upset dragons. That two can become 4 then 8 - emotions can shoot through the dragons like a fire. Riders need to work to keep it like a fire in a fireplace, not like a wildfire. So I guess I practice. Sharing good emotions, like how great it is that I have a fire lizard is supposed to be a good thing to do, by his philosophy. "

[ambigious]

[ooc: totally thought I finished this...sorry about that]

When Julim mentioned the fact about his parents, Ophelia couldn't help the surprise that flitted across her face. So they had more in common than she'd first expected, which only furthered her instinct that there was something about this man that didn't quite meet the eye. "That's one way to look at it," she agreed, a humorous look in her hazel eyes. "And I'd say it's a rather confident way to see the situation." Clearly this satisfied Ophelia on some level; it was better than whining or sniveling that one didn't Impress a dragon on their first try. Then again, this was her first time, since she had missed the hatching at Fort.

When Julim mentioned his mentor, however, Ophelia couldn't help the scowl that crossed her face. The mere mention of mentors..and yet, if the other boy believed strongly in the brownrider, so be it. Ophelia was less inclined to do so. "I disagree," she said after a moment. "People need to stop holding so much back and start expressing their true feelings more. There's a place for respect," she added in an undertone, "but when people disregard their own feelings they merely build until they are issues that cannot be overcome. It's much better to get everything out into the open. As for dragons," Ophelia added with a snort, and folded her arms across her chest, "they don't have memories for such foolish things as human emotions."

Then abruptly something occurred to Ophelia and she cocked her head to the side. "So you have a firelizard egg too, huh?"

[azure]

She had a point. He even agreed with her. You couldn't let emotions build up inside you. How to do that though was more difficult then it sounded.

Julim prefered to burn off energy by runingn or swimming. back at High reaches. There was a running trail laid out through the passages for foul weather because you needed to stay in shape despite the weather. Riders could go somewhere warmer to exercise, but the Queens' riders, candidates and the rest of the Weyr folk didn't have that option. So, there was the running through the passages, playing ball in the sands when they were unoccupied, and of course the headwoman had been known to decide to have storerooms rearranged if candidates or kids got too rowdy.

But here? There wasn't as much to burn off energy - or he hadn't seen it. He'd have to ask. Running for a candlemark left him too tired to be angry, usually. He would have to think about this. And not tell Ophelia she was right. At least not until he'd thought some more.

"Yes, I have an egg. A pink and brown one. I'll show it to you when we get back, if you like. The pink is really bright. What does your egg look like?"

[ambigious]

It hadn't escaped Ophelia's notice that Julim failed to respond to her comment about feelings. But since he seemed to brood inwardly, Ophelia patiently let him think. They really were more common that she'd first anticipated. It was something that she wasn't quite sure how to feel about. Would he get in her way? She certainly hoped not, because she actually didn't mind his company and didn't want to have to remove him from her presence. So for the moment, it seemed as if everything would work out alright.

When he mentioned the egg, Ophelia tilted her head to the side. "A pink and brown, huh? Now that is manly," she teased, referring to his earlier comment about being a real man's man. "Sure, we could do that. Mine is blue with yellow speckles on it." Abruptly, an impulse came over Ophelia. She wanted to know if she could trust Julim as a friend, or even as a person in confidence to her. But there was no way to do that if they were in the Weyrling barracks doing chores, with dozens of other Candidates standing around them scrubbing away. Thus, a plan occurred to her, which left a spark in her expressive hazel eyes.

"Let's get out of here," she whispered, her outward expression rather calm as she spoke to him. However, her tone held a very subtle hint of anticipation, belying her need to get out of the Weyr for a bit. All of the expectations, the people who demanded respect when they hadn't earned it... "Meet me out by the runner beast pens." Having said that, Ophelia strode over and continued her scrubbing. At that point most of the room had been done by the others as they talked, so Ophelia waited for another minute or two before she slipped out of the room. Whether or not Julim followed was up to him.

[ooc: =P I'll make a post in the wilderness area hah]

[azure]

'Lets get out of here!'

Ever wanted something badly but not let yourself know you want it? That is how Julim felt at the thought of getting away from the Weyr for just a little while. He'd been so good and so careful for a long timenow.

Getting away from judging watching eyes for a candlemark or two sounded really good. Even if they just sat in a stall or up in the hay loft it would be away and out of the Weyr proper.

"That sounds good - so long as we don't get too stupid? I want to be at the hatching more then anything else." He half sighed and half warned her. It sounded very strange, even to Julim.

He shook his head and grinned at Ophelia. "You know what I mean, right?"

[ambigious]

[ooc: I responded to Julim's comment and started a new Thread here ]