Bi-Winning (L'nu)

[Aftershock]

Samael was ecstatic. It has been a pretty quiet couple months, and so when the dragonrider L'nu's firelizard Rose had Risen, the weyrfolk had taken the opportunity to celebrate the impending clutch by making a gift from all of them to L'nu. After deliberation among the weyrfolk for a few weeks, they had finally decided on something simple... a large clay bowl to keep the eggs safe when they were clutched, to both honor L'nu's love of pottery and to avoid any incidents as had occurred during the gold salamandyr Dementia's hatching, where tempers had flared when a young rider had tried to jump over the clutch, which had ended up in the middle of the hall in the Main Hall.

First, the weyrfolk had chosen their best potters... and Samael had been included in that group. His blindness caused his sense of touch to be incredibly sensitive, so he was well known to be able to make interesting pottery unique to him, using touch alone to guide the shape of the item. After the group of potters had been chosen, they'd drawn straws to see who would have the honor of actually making the gift... and Samael had drawn the long straw. So, in a manner, he had won twice in a row, and he had immediately rushed to the small pottery room alongside the Main Hall to begin.

Currently, he sat at an open potter's wheel, a large chunk of wetted clay spinning slowly on the wheeltop as he formed it slowly with his hands, creating the rough shape of a bowl. Beside him, Heimdall lay on the dust-covered floor, his jowls spread out along the floor and creating a small cloud of clay dust with every breath. Suddenly, someone else entered the room, Samael being alerted both by his sensitive hearing noting the sound of boots slapping the floor, and Heimdall lifting his head and giving a soft "woof" to alert his master of his new company. The person said nothing, however, so Samael resumed work on his bowl, mentally noting it as he heard the visitor sit down on a potter's wheel next to him and the slap of a fresh clump of clay striking the wheel's tabletop. As he finished making the general bowl shape, he reached over to where his clayworking tools sat to grab a bone pick to help him make a design along the bowl's edge, but his hand encountered empty space. He knew he had put his tools exactly where he always put them, so he could find them easily by feel and memory alone, but feeling about the surface, he felt his other tools, but not his bone pick. His brow wrinkling in confusion, he asked the stranger beside him, "Um, excuse me, do you see a bone pick lying on the ground nearby? I seem to have misplaced it."

[dragon]

He was bored, for once. And laying about lazily was rather ... not an option. Not with Rose being insufferable the way she was. Demanding this, that, and the other, and Faranth help him if he did something she didn't approve of. So he'd just up and left. Off to find somewhere else to be more than to find something to do. Wandering aimlessly, he was rather careful to make sure he kept his hands in his pockets. Mostly so he could make sure they stayed empty. Meandering here, meandering there, he really didn't care where he went. Boredom was boredom. It was the nature of the beast.

It was much to his shock that when he was passing by the hall that he heard the familiar whirr and hum of pottery wheels. What in Faranth's name?! He hadn't known there were any of those here! Turning his steps toward the old familiar, homesick sound, he stepped through the doorway and looked around.

It was small ... especially for a weyr. But it was a pottery room! How awesome could this seriously be?! Even better, there were some people actually using it. Ironically, he'd never imagined that there would be other potters in the Weyr. How stupid. For a time he stood there and just watched the people turning, a small smile upon his features. It reminded him of home almost. How many turns had it been since he'd been home? He'd have to go visit sometime soon. Just as soon as he could get out of the Weyr without being tackled out of the air for being suspected of treason that is.

When one of the turners remarked about not being able to find a tool, it drew L'nu's attention. Which ... also clued him in that said potter was blind. Double trouble, that. Stepping into the shop proper like, he looked around for the mentioned tool. He wasn't sure if it was a specific one that was being searched for, but he did find one. "Here." He remarked, bringing the desired item over to the fellow. "I am not sure if this is your pick, per se, but it is a pick." he set it down next to the other tools, lest he accidentally stab the fellow with it when he went to reach for it.

[Aftershock]

Samael smiled as the new arrival brought him a pick to use, the click of it hitting the table telling him that the man had put the pick down on the table. Feeling out for it carefully, since he didn't know which direction the man had faced the sharp tool, he found the pick, running his sensitive fingers over it carefully. It was a fine pick, and would do the job, but it wasn't his, he could tell. "Thank you, um..." Samael trailed off a bit before adding, "...I don't recognize your voice, kind sir. Who is it I am speaking to?"

[dragon]

Sir. He called him sir. No one called him that! Much less kind sir. L'nu was fail, everyone knew that. He was so fail that even he knew that. Shards, even his pet walked on him like he was dirt. So being addressed in any such kindly fashion ... well ... it blew his socks off. And left him gaping for a moment, searching for words.

All for a pick?

"Uh ... I'm just L'nu. That's all. Nobody special ... I don't know you either, so you probably wouldn't know me..." he logically offered. That and ... well ... L'nu rather thought he didn't have a very distinctive voice anyway. It just ... was. At least it wasn't cracking and squeaking anymore. That had been rather awkward.

"How ... how long has this pottery been here? I didn't know it was." L'nu asked, with real interest. Of course, had he known, he would have been spending copious amounts of time in it. Potting was one of the few things he'd found to curb his kleptomania.

[Aftershock]

Samael flushed a bit when he learned the identity of the finder of his pick, his sensitive fingers discovering the pick was, in fact, not his, but this fact was quickly left to the wayside after discovering he was in the presence of a rider... in fact, the very rider he was making the bowl before him for. Thoughts whooshed through his mind... Was the bowl supposed to be a surprise? Should he try to keep the fact that it was for him hidden, or should he tell him the truth and perhaps get some input on exactly what kind of bowl he'd like?

His mind still racing, he stumbled across his words as he responded, "Er, my name is, um, Samael. Yes, Samael. You're really L'nu, the bluerider of Paglieth, bonded of the gold flit Rose? It's an honor to meet you," he gushed, blind eyes staring straight ahead as his hands deftly continued to keep the bowl in shape before him, though he was too distracted by his new companion to do anything other than keep it from collapsing into a formless mass of clay again. In response to L'nu's question, he thought a bit, then responded, "It's been here as long as I've been here, as far as I'm aware. It's not as big as the ones they had in Blossom Hold, from what I remember, though I only heard about them. I only began visiting this place myself a couple months ago, and though I've obviously never seen the fruits of my labors, others seem to find them to be artistic," he concluded, still unsure how to proceed regarding the knowledge of who the bowl he was making was being made for.

[dragon]

He just looked at the fellow for a moment, mystified. The guy was reacting as if he'd just announced he was the Weyrleader or a Lord or something. What gave? Maybe he was touched in the head or something. Had to be. That or he was mocking him. L'nu was willing to bet he was mocking him. Had to be. "Uh, yeah. Actually."

It was rather disturbing to have a complete stranger rattle off who he was and who his pets were and all that detailed stuff, though. Someone was watching him, taken an interest in him. Why? Sure, his ability to screw everything up was pretty spectacular, but really now. Why the special attention? "Uh. Why ... is it an honor?" L'nu asked, confounded beyond belief.

"I've never been to the pottery in Blossom." L'nu admitted. In fact, the only one he'd ever been in had been his own family's pottery barn. Though he wasn't at all sure how to reply to the comment about his work being artistic. What was he supposed to say to that? Was be being baited to disagree? L'nu was decidedly getting creeped out by this guy, and didn't have the first clue what to do about it.

"Uh ... Okay. I am glad, I guess?" L'nu offered uncertainly.

[Aftershock]

Samael would have scratched his head in confusion, if said hands weren't currently covered in clay. He was as confused as to why L'nu wouldn't think it's an honor to meet him as L'nu was confused that Samael thought it was an honor. "Er, why wouldn't it be an honor meeting a dragonrider? You protect all of us from Thread, none of us would be here if it weren't for all of you. It's always an honor to meet a dragonrider... especially a Selenitas-born one," he amended onto the end of his statement. "Let the Wasteland riders get eaten by Thread, I say," he added to himself mentally.

As L'nu spoke, Samael noted the tension in his voice, and slowly realized that L'nu might be a bit freaked out by Samael's deep knowledge of him. In order to prevent L'nu thinking him (any farther) some kind of blind stalker, he decided to out with it and damn the consequences. "Er, well, sir, just so you know, I know so much about you because this bowl... it's for you. Well, for Rose. For the hatching. I... well, all of us weyrfolk heard about the troubles at the last hatching, and we figured we would make you a gift, from all of us, to show our appreciation for all you do to keep us safe. I was lucky enough to be chosen to make it." Not able to read L'nu's expression, he paused a moment, then asked, "Are there any suggestions in particular you have for me that would make for a good clutching bowl, you think?"

[dragon]

L'nu paused to consider what Samael said ... and supposed it was true. He, too, had been raised to respect the riders of great, fire breathing flying lizards that could chomp you in half on a whim. But then, despite all these turns, he was not at all used to being one ... or being respected by anyone. He was still used to being treated as gutter trash to be kicked around by everyone else. "Oh." He answered, simply. "But ... I'm not born here. I came from a hold." He answered. Who was saying he was born in Selenitas? That was decidedly odd, to be sure.

The news that Samael provided so very suddenly shocked him as much as the initial introduction had. "M ... me?" He asked. What, exactly, had he done to earn anyone's gratitude and respect? Other than put up with Rose? Not that he had a terrible lot of choice in that matter, but still. "Um ... congratulations?" No one had ever made anything specifically for him before... not since his mother had stopped mending his britches anyway. "Suggestions? Uh ... not really. Um." He scratched the back of his neck as he shifted his feet awkwardly. "I've never seen a clutching bowl before ... and I wouldn't have the first clue in how to convince Rose to use one either. Um? I ... I just... uh. Wow?" He certainly never would have seen that coming. A punch from around a corner? Sure. A gift of appreciation? Never!!

[Aftershock]

Flushing a bit at L'nu's words, Samael stuttered out, "Oh, er, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean born here. I meant you, as a dragonrider, were 'born' here, when you Impressed. As in, Llanu was born in Hyphen Hold, but L'nu was born on the Hatching Sands here in Selenitas." Grinning a bit sheepishly, he said, "I shouldn't have tried to be clever. I apologize."

As L'nu reacted in shock to the news, Samael hoped he hadn't made a mistake telling him about it. Would it have been better had it been a surprise? Of course, maybe now he would have time to work with Rose and convince her to use it. "Well, sir, I was thinking a central depression for Rose to lie in, and then a depression for each egg to sit in, with room for some sand underneath each egg in the depression. Would newborn baby firelizards need anything else?"

[dragon]

"Oh." Was all L'nu offered up at first. And then he just couldn't help but ask. "Okay, if you were assigned this project to make this bowl for me ... though I really don't see why ... I can understand you knowing my name and Rose's, and possibly even Pag's. But how in Faranth's name do you know my given name?? No one uses it, especially not here." He asked, completely mystified. "I am pretty sure that I am not so interesting as all that."

But as to the questions, he really didn't have much of an answer for that either. "Uhhhhh ... I've never seen a bowl of that type, so I really dunno? Just about all new flitters need is some food and someone to give it to them." Though this bowl idea sure sounded like a concerted effort to get all of those eggs Impressed to just one person. Most pointedly: him. He would be flamed before that happened. Rose was more than enough to handle all by herself, without having all of her kids hanging around too!

"Have you ever had a flitter?"

[Aftershock]

Starting to work on the bowl more, having gotten over his preliminary case of being star-struck, Samael smiled slightly at L'nu's question about how he'd known his given name, then responded, "We weyrfolk are a tight-knit group, and often come from a wide variety of places. I wanted to know everything about you, so I could make the best bowl possible for you, so I asked around, and found that the head cook knew the junior seamstress, who was friends with the sister of one of the stablehands, who used to date a scullery maid, who's the daughter of Crechemother, who used to work in the creche in Hyphen Hold when you were a child there." Pausing for a moment, he added, "I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable, it's not my intent, sir."

As L'nu explained about baby flits needing meat, Samael had a great idea, and stopping the spin of the bowl, he began to form small depressions for the eggs, and smaller depressions next to each egg to hold a little meat, in case the flitters didn't Impress immediately, so they wouldn't starve. When L'nu asked him about ever having a flitter himself, he laughed a bit, and replied, "No, sir. The only pet I've ever had is Heimdall, here," pointing down at the canine as he glanced up at the two humans, wondering why his name was mentioned, "And he's less of a pet and more of a best friend, really." Cocking his head, he then asked, "Why do you ask?"

[dragon]

That ... was a long ass crooked line to follow. L'nu tried to follow the who knew whom's, but got lost part way through. Recalling and retracing, he ticked it off on his fingers for a moment before finally giving up and heaving a sigh. He couldn't remember being that noticeable a kid. He'd hardly ever left his turning wheel, actually. Very sheltered and naive... some to this day still thought he was. He wasn't sure he wanted to argue that point. "I see ... I think." He answered, curious why it was so very important to this fellow to do that kind of research into him. "I'm not that interesting, really I promise."

"What ... are you doing? Just how many eggs do you expect Rose will have anyway? She's just a flitter, not a dragon." He reminded, eying all those extra scoops suspiciously before glancing at the dog. "Nice dog." L'nu answered. "The last one I met tried to bite me. I was asking because ... um ... I guess if you had a flitter you might know more about how flitter hatchings happened?" He suggested. "Just a thought."

[Aftershock]

Samael smiled slightly as L'nu self-depreciated himself again, replying, "You're actually quite interesting, sir. I mean, you not only have a firelizard, and a dragon, but your firelizard is gold, and is having a clutch. Having a firelizard at all, not to mention a gold, by itself makes your life more interesting than many a weyrfolk or Holder. Most of us are simple folks, no flying through the air or bonding our minds with draconic creatures."

Finishing up the egg holders, he responded to L'nu, "Well, I have no idea, sir. I've never been to a firelizard hatching. I just figured better too many than not enough." As L'nu mentioned Heimdall, he scratched the canine's ear with his foot and said, "Don't worry, Heimdall won't hurt you unless you attack me, and I'm sure you wouldn't do that, sir," he added, smirking. Grinning a bit as L'nu said he should have a firelizard, he replied, "Well, sir, I'll bring the bowl with me when Rose clutches, so perhaps I'll be especially lucky and be one of the few weryfolk with a firelizard to Impress to me. Though they'll likely pass by someone as normal as myself," he added, and heaved a small sigh.

[dragon]

L'nu only shrugged, not realizing that it was a gesture in communication that a blind person would completely miss. He was more than just not used to trying to talk to a blind person, and it showed. Eh, so he had a dragon. So he had a flitter. There were hundreds of people just like that in this Weyr alone, not to mention the other Weyrs out there. More so, his dragon was a blue ... how many hundreds of blues were there? He was definitely not special. But, it was also rather clear to him that he wasn't going to be able to successfully convince this fellow of that, so he dropped the topic. Eh, whatever.

"Rose's hatching was the first and only flitter hatching I ever attended." L'nu remarked. "Barring her clutches of course, but I always try to get away from those as quick as I can." No way was he wanting more flitters. "Her hatching was rather ... chaotic. She didn't get along with her mother at all. Her momma was a nice flitter, from what I remember. How she came out a big hellion with an attitude, I have no idea. It must have been the father's genes or something." Again, he shrugged.

"When she clutches? Eh. I have no idea when she'll clutch, or where. Be my luck, she'll try to do it in my laundry hamper." L'nu answered. "But yeah, no. I don't go around attacking people. I get into enough scrapes and interesting situations without inciting them on purpose, thanks. I certainly don't want to get to know your dog better."

"Normal? Since when do flitters ignore normal folk?" L'nu asked. "Normal has nothing to do with it. It all has to do with how much food you have to lure them, I think." The only glitch with that, was that he hadn't had any food when he'd impressed Rose. Go figure. "They impress to who feeds them soonest."

[Aftershock]

"Well," thought Samael out loud, "Perhaps it will be nice to have the food available in case others forget to bring some? We don't want the babies starving. Do you think this depression I made is big enough to hold enough food for a newborn baby flitter?" he asked L'nu, gesturing in the direction of the inner depressions he had made in the bowl's interior. "Oh, and in case she does decide to use this, which I certainly hope she does, is the center area large enough for Rose? Is there anything in particular she would like in there to make her more likely to use it?" Despite L'nu's admission of ignorance, Samael continued to try to probe him for information, since he did know Rose, and had been to at least one firelizard clutching.