A Much Anticipated Arrival (01.28.3189)

[Sher]

Kadia nodded, glad that Eyrlaina was willing to act on her own, but not trusting herself to speak at that moment. Eyalen's words warmed her, and loosened her tongue. "Why thank you!" she said cheerfully, eyes dancing with mischief. She knew he was only saying it to be polite. It didn't stop her from enjoying the sentiment. "Honestly though," she glanced toward Eavan sheepishly, "she'd prettier."

So Eyrlaina wanted a second-level weyr. Interesting. She probably valued her privacy, then; why else would someone pick quarters that weren't accessible by just anyone? Kadia hadn't picked their weyr; Rusith had. The gold hadn't wanted to admit that it was easier for her to simply walk to the Sands from there instead of flying; not when flying was her favorite thing in all of Pern.

The goldrider held herself straight as she started walking toward the queen weyrs, by effort of will mostly. The stairways cut into the stone up to the weyrs around the 'bowl weren't all finished yet, but these were. It wasn't exactly difficult climbing them to the second level; it just made her uneven gait harder to hide. She started to slip, and barked her knee against the edge of a stair, biting back a yelp. Are you all right? Rusith asked her, from where she still stood beside Coreanth.

Fine. I'm fine. Kadia hoped it was true. Felt like a bruise at least, but it still clicked when she bent it, same as always. She glanced inside each queen weyr she passed until she found the one Eyrlaina had claimed. "Oh, this one. It's big," she conceded, standing awkwardly holding the luggage. Big enough for the large young gold. "So, I'm still sort of feeling my way through all this. You probably know what needs to be done better than I do." She set the luggage down and bent to rub her knee a little, pretending that it was an itch. "If it isn't training ground crews and overseeing drills, your guess is as good as mine." Okay. Maybe that was a little bit of an exaggeration. Not much of one though.

Rusith rolled her shoulders, eager to take to the sky again. Are you ready for the grand tour? she said humorously.

[Snow]

The boy was certainly an energetic one. She hoped that energy mainly went to productive means. There was nothing worse than a hyped up child running around and getting in the way of things. ”Faranth, no. Who in their right mind would collect sand?” She asked through her laughter. It was a silly notion, collecting sand indeed. ”There’s a fire lizard egg in there, that’s why it’s fragile. The egg wasn’t laid all that long ago, so it’s still soft.” She explained to him a little more in detail.

Eavan pat the boy on the head affectionately. ”You’re sweet, but I sincerely doubt my looks has anything to do with my capabilities of being a rider. Well, those riders should work hard. No weyr has all perfect riders.” She explained to the best of her abilities. The boy apparently wanted to ask more, but Kadia had walked up then.

Kadia’s comment made Eavan blush slightly. ”My mother always says it’s better to look like a watchwher and have a heart of gold, than to be the most attractive person on Pern and have an attitude like a tunnelsnake.” She said as she waited patiently for Erylaina to pick a weyr. Eavan figured she’d just start following Kadia when she was to help carry the luggage to the new weyrwoman’s weyr. That tactic worked well enough, for when the Weyrwoman started walking towards the weyr she followed.

The weyr Erylaina picked was wonderfully spacious, much better than the candidate barracks. Then again they should be better for a goldrider. Eavan put the luggage down at her feet and waited silently till she was told where to place it or if she should leave the two goldriders to talk in private.

[ambigious]

It seemed Eyalen's popularity was vastly growing as he issued compliment after compliment to both women. Still, it was in his nature, and he meant every word that he said, which was rare for a boy of his age. Thus, a charismatic grin spread across Eyalen's face as Eavan laughed at his comment, clearly pleased with himself. But then the candidate explained the contents of the egg and Eyalen's hold on the jar tightened. He stared down at the thing as if it were a tunnelsnake rearing to strike, clearly wary. "Really? A firelizard egg? And you're trusting me with it?" The boy asked incredulously. The honesty that was becoming an evident part of his nature was not only directed to others but also to himself, it would seem.

But then the lad felt a pat on his head, and all worry over the egg vanished as he beamed up at Eavan. "Thank you, you're very sweet yourself for saying so," Eyalen responded vigorously, but quickly got side tracked as Kadia approached. At her comment, the boy cocked his head to the side, clearly at a loss for words. Then, abruptly, he lifted his chin in an odd way that cast his features into an almost sage like expression. "You're both pretty in your own way," he announced, pleased with himself for this line of reasoning. Then he heard Coreanth's words, and hurried with the other woman as they climbed to the second level.

In the meantime, Eyrlaina had quickly set her satchel on the bed and had then crept over to the order some bubbly pies and klah to be delivered to her Weyr. Thus, when Kadia and Eavan walked in, the aromatic flavor of the pies mixed with the spice of the klah greeted them. "Thank you," Eyrlaina responded to Kadia as she walked forward to meet them, graciously taking the satchels that Kadia had been carrying. "I figured Coreanth could use the space. She's a bit picky about those sorts of things." The queen didn't respond, for there was only truth in the statement. "Actually," Eyrlaina added as Kadia bent to inspect her knee, having lugged the satchel to one side and deposited it by the wall, "I was hoping you would join me for a snack. Thank you, dear," she added to Eavan as the young woman set down the satchel. "And Coreanth tells me that you have a firelizard egg to tend to. Congratulations, dear!" And a genuinely warm smile spread across her face for the young woman. "If you need to go tend to your firelizard egg, dear, don't let me stop you. But I do hope to see you in the future."

As Coreanth half-listened to her rider's conversation, still gazing about the weyr, she felt the first stirrings of possession within her. The Weyr was like any other that she'd been to, yet she had the same feeling that Eyrlaina did; it was probably infectious. Thus, when Rusith asked about the tour, Corenath's wings snapped open automatically. I thought you'd never ask,[/i] the young queen responded in amusement, and launched herself into the air after waiting respectfully for the older queen to rise.

[ooc: sorry for that, but just wanted to get that in there so you can have Rusith take off and assume that Coreanth follows haha]

[Sher]

Age-spotted wings spread immediately wide. Come along then! Rusith said, unable to hide her eagerness as she leaped skyward with a heavy wingbeat. In the brief time she had been living here, she'd become pretty well acquainted with the sights. The frozen land was starkly beautiful in its own way, and herdbeasts were that much easier to hunt when they stumbled through snow. The smaller, older queen did keep mental tabs on her human, but it was such a light touch that it wouldn't distract either of them. If anything, she could've strengthened the emotional link a bit more, in order to know if Hers would need reassurance- or reminding- of anything.

The gold definitely couldn't cut Hers off entirely. From what she could foresee this would be a pleasant visit with young Coreanth; she'd missed the company of other golds, honestly. What Hers thought of Eyrlaina's company was a bit more ambivalent.

In Eyrlaina's new weyr, Kadia was nodding agreement; Coranth was close to being the largest gold she'd ever seen. The woman raised her eyebrows (well, one eyebrow anyway; the other was just sort of there) and wondered how Eyrlaina had managed to arrange refreshments so quickly. The new queenrider must have a marvelously organized mind! If it weren't for the age difference between them, she might have become more openly diffident. As it was she had to keep reminding herself that she was the senior rider here, and whether she personally liked it or not, that meant she was compelled to act a certain way. She did take a moment to congratulate Eavan on her firelizard egg, though she almost asked where she could find one. Wherever the girl had obtained it didn't matter as long as it wasn't stolen property.

It was just so hard to pretend to know what she was doing here, when that wasn't the case at all. Her weyr was currently in a shambles of half-finished documents, partially read Weyr records, and several articles of clothing that she'd... outgrown. The only thing that was still organized was her cheat sheets of supply inventories. (She couldn't understand half of them, but every week, someone always managed to bring her a new set.) She took a careful breath, trying to straighten her spine a little and not feel self-conscious.

"I'd be glad for a bite," Kadia said. It'd be a good excuse to push the informality envelope some more, maybe get Eyrlaina to come out of her shell a bit. To Kadia, figuring out what made the younger goldrider tick was every bit as important as discussing their shared responsibilities. It sounded more fun, anyway. She glanced over discreetly to assure herself that Eavan wasn't privately laughing at her fumbling, then mentally cursed herself roundly. The girl really didn't seem to be the type- and if she had a firelizard egg to take care of, that made her doubly unlikely. At least Eyalen was probably too young to even notice her quirks, except for the physical sort. So she told herself anyhow.

[Snow]

Eavan laughed again, the boy really was a sweet thing. "Yes, I'm trusting you with it! You see like a trust worthy lad, I'm sure you wouldn't do anything like drop it after all." She was still young, so the thought of having her own children didn't cross her mind that often. However, she did think to herself that if she did have kids one day she wouldn't mind them being like this little rascal at all.

Weyrwoman Eyrlaina addressed her then, even smiled warmly at her which made Eavan's day all the more better. Not that a day where she had found a firelizard egg or gotten to be one of the first to meet the new Weyrwoma was bad to start with. "Yes, there's a resident gold flit here that likes to hide her eggs in different places. Her owner said if we could find them we could keep them. Not sure if any others have been found yet." She explained briefly.

Eavan wanted to stay, but knew she couldn't or shouldn't stay. "Thank you Weyrwomen. I look forward to speaking with you again, Weyrwoman Eyrlaina. I'll be around if either of you need an extra hand with something." She knelt then and gently took the pot back from Eyalen. "Thank you, young man. I hope I'll see you again soon, too." She gave the boy another pat on the head before she bowed respectfully to the two goldriders and then left.