It’s bad when you annoy yourself. (Tags C’oar)

[Rei]

Head bowed, sweat dripping from her forehead Erilena sighed and leaned back to stare at the ceiling of the forge. Stupid. Stupid. This was what the fourth time she’d messed it up. Biting her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood she again reheated the glass, this time making doubly sure it was hot enough before starting the shape. K’sel’s birthday was only about three days away now. The greenrider had wanted to have her little project done well before. It was hard being so busy all the time. Stupid that she felt guilty taking time off studying to make a present for her brother. He better appreciate it. Returning her attention to the hot glass Erilena carefully worked it into the desired shape and pleased with the outcome reheated the bottom to flatten it. One final examination and she placed it in a separate hearth to cool checking the fire to make sure it was the proper temperature.

If the cooling process didn’t stay exact it would crack or stress and then she would have to do it all over. Aggravating sometimes but totally worth it when she had it right. Lucky enough Tenlie had most of the equipment she needed and Erilena herself had enough supplies left over for this last project. If the greenrider wanted to do anymore however she would have to send to her dad for supplies. Or buy them herself from one of the nearby holds. Sitting down on a nearby stool and eyeing the fire one more time she turned her attention to the finished part of the project. Well now her ‘hobo’ brother would own his own glasses. Unique and quirky as he was. Each drinking glass was a bizarre shape and a set of four seemed appropriate enough. The last two where working on cooling.

Erilena ran her finger along the edge of one of the finished glasses and sighed the sound tired. About time that she needed to be studying. Leaning over to dig through her bag she pulled out a few scrolls and smoothed them out over the table pausing only to brush at the wisps of hair that had escaped her runner tail somewhere in the process of glasscrafting. Tapping her finger against the hide she murmured the words on the page. Burns…The topic brought up memories the greenrider would rather leave alone. Pushing the scroll away she lightly drew a finger along the scars marring her left arm. Dressed as she was for the heat all of Erilena’s scars where visible, besides the ones arching across her hip. Her right shoulder and left calf bore scars from feline claws as well. The scars bothered her because of the stares they caused, but she had to dress for the heat here, so she didn’t really have many options. As sweaty and flustered as she looked the scars where probably the least of her worries anyway. Nevertheless they where a huge part of why she was so alone, if only in her mind.

Wincing at inward thoughts Erilena blinked and swallowed thickly, tapping her notes again. What if after all of this she was still useless? Turning her head back towards the scroll on the table she sighed and started to go over it again. Purely so her thoughts would leave her alone. When the door opened the greenrider quickly turned her head to see who it was and half froze. A half formed memory rose and Erilena winced. That night was not something she remembered clearly at all only in bits and hazy half formed pieces. Almost slowly she turned towards the large brownrider and offered him a very faint smile that never touched her eyes. “Fancy seeing you here again?” He did look mildly familiar after all, and a part of her couldn’t help the thread of nervousness that coiled around in her chest.

[dragon]

"I don't suppose you could open the door could you?"

What makes you think that? Frosstyth asked, flopping down in the shade of 'his' tree. It was, after all, the tree he curled around nearly every day. The ground around the trunk was packed hard and generally swept pretty clear, for having a dragon laying on it regularly. Small miracle the ground wasn't hollowed out there, for it. He was tired, and it showed in his every line. Making a special run to the holds for material was not something he enjoyed doing at all. But he'd done it simply because somehow C'oar had managed to run out of the specific grades of metals he'd needed to complete his current task for the Weyr.

Now, C'oar was trying to figure out how to get through the door with his armload of goods, a whole lot more of it laying in heaps around on the ground, without setting down said armload. It was heavy, after all. But, with no way of opening the door otherwise ... C'oar ultimately ended up setting down half his self assigned load, to reach over and open the door to the forge. It was a good job the door was so big, doubtlessly designed like most forges to allow projects in and out of the place. Or ... as in this case ... loads of material. Picking up the load again, he stepped through inside.

He wasn't the least bit surprised at the wash of heat that greeted him upon entry. He was not, after all, the only smith in the Weyr, and certainly not the only one that used the place. There were even other crafter types that used the forges to do their work. What did surprise him was the deer-in-the-lantern look he got from the girl that was there. Scrolls spread before her again.

She looked healthier this time. C'oar smiled slightly, trying to set her at ease again. Even if it was just as liable to not work this time as last time. "Fancy that." he answered, stepping carefully to get his armload of goods through the door. Walking over to a holding bin, he dropped the haphazard load of metal into it with a clang. Pushing one that was propped up on the side down inside, he turned to look at her with some curiosity. "So what brings you here today? It's not storming outside this time, I noted." he asked, pleasantly.

C'oar didn't bother to move to reclose the door ... another draft to wick away the heat was welcome, as well as he was aware that the last time at least, she'd been really twitchy about the door being shut. So he left it open, and stayed well away from it. And her. The last thing he needed was to have the same girl freaking out in his forge all over again. It would be mighty hard to explain, for one. "This is kind of a strange place to go to study things you know ... fires and scrolls don't tend to go together that terribly well."

[Rei]

Erilena watched with only mild curiosity as C’oar went about this business trying to keep her nervousness from expounding anymore. It was ridiculous and unfounded. So why. Why did she want to twitch? The clang of metal reverberated through the room and caused her to swing her head that direction to watch. Hazel eyes regarded him silently for a moment before the rider voiced a question. “I’m working. Why else would I be here?” Her words if they where a tad curt where at least voiced in a pleasant tone.The greenrider intentionally declined to comment on anything regarding storms. At all. It wasn’t a good topic for settling her nerves. Better to leave that sleeping dragon lay. The next storm that blew though was likely to be….bad for her.

Blinking at the open door Erilena worried at her lip and then turned her head back to one of the hearths. The movement of air was likely to change temperature and that would do her no good. Ignoring C’oar for the moment she made her way over to the hearth and examined the glasses briefly and with a practiced eye. It was acceptable. The rate of cooling. As long as there was no large fluctuation of temperature, at the point they where at now, it should be fine.

Relived that she wouldn’t have to fix or redo them yet again. Erilena turned from her work to catch C’oar’s words. Raising an eyebrow the greenrider gave a mild shrug. “I don’t see why it is weird. I used to come here all the time when I was a younger weyrling. By myself and with someone else.” It wasn’t like she got close enough for the scrolls to burn and smiths made plans for things on occasion didn’t they? How was that any different from reading in a forge? He was making no sense.

Making her way back to the table Erilena drew up the stool and sat upon it again. Drawing a finger lightly over a diagram she jotted down a note with a well practiced hand. The found herself to nervous to keep her attention to the page in front of her. Instead she tapped her finger against one of the finished glasses and turned her gaze back to C’oar. Hopefully he was done making noise. “Don’t let me keep you from doing whatever it is you’re doing. Just stay away from the hearth to the left.”

[dragon]

She was working. C'oar couldn't help but wonder what she was working on, but he left that one alone. Lots of people used the forge, but he hadn't known she did. If he had, he might not have thought her in the forge that night was so unusual. But then ... when he got busy, the rest of the world generally ceased to exist. People could come and go and so long as they acted normally he wouldn't pay them a whole lot of mind. It would take erratic or out of norm behavior on someone's part to get his attention off what he was working on. Smithing was a craft that required a lot of attention being paid to it after all. So he wasn't going to argue that point either. For all he knew, little green people with red behinds were using the forge!

She settled in again to read some more after checking on what looked like glass ... that explained a lot. Glass. After her comment, he merely nodded and headed back outside to get more material. It was going to take quite a few trips, but he was a patient sort. Work was work, and it all needed done. Picking up another arm load of the metal, he carried it back in through the open door. Inside he took more care with the load, since it wasn't as precarious as the first. Of course, metal landing on more metal was going to make some noise, but nothing like the crash that had been the first load.

The girl was an enigma, that was for sure. But that didn't make her any different from any other girl he'd ever met. So it wasn't really anything special, that. She wasn't being all weird like she had the last time he'd found her in there, so he was content to leave her to her devices, as she asked. Though he did occasionally glance over to see what she was doing as he went back and forth with loads of metal. But that was just basic human nature, to see what all was going on around one's self when doing a mindless, menial task ... like moving inanimate objects. That most definitely were not fragile.

[Rei]

Erilena for the most part ignored C’oar. Now that is was established that he was obviously busy she kept to her own work. Not much time to spare anyway. Had to get this done then finish her evening shift. Still had Feyrianth to bathe, K’sel to find and give his present to, food to get, possibly sleep to grab. Now what was this about partial thickness burns? The constant clang of mental was….annoying. Each clang slowly grated on her nerves until she almost wanted to throw something. But he greenrider stayed silent only twitching at random intervals.

Finally with a sigh Erilena rose and made her way to the hearth checking the glasses and banking the fire more before removing them both with tongs and setting them on the stone counter. With a careful eye she examined each one. Pleased with the result she left them be to start packing up her things. Idly she played with the dragon shell bead hanging around her neck. The rest of them would be dolled out at graduation to her remaining classmates. R’ven had already received his. A long time ago. Some of her classmates never would get them. Maybe she should drop them between. As a sort of memorial.

Rolling up the last scroll Erilena slipped it into her bag and carefully packed the cooled glasses into it as well. With a final glance to C’oar she walked to the counter and gingerly placed a finger on one of the warmer glasses. Satisfied that it was not hot enough to burn she tucked them into her bag as well. Crossing to the forge door she paused in the doorway. With a sigh she turned and watched the brownrider for a moment debating before speaking. “Thank you for letting me use the forge and sorry about that night.” Although she had planned on just leaving she couldn't without at least apologizing for being an idiot.

[dragon]

C'oar paused in his work when it appeared she was on her way out, and had spoken to him. Looking over at her, he listened to what she had to say, then shrugged. "Not a problem. It's here if you need it." He answered. As much as he tended to think of it as his forge, it wasn't. It was the Weyr's forge, he was just the individual that used it most often, it seemed. Being there nearly every day and all that fun stuff.

But, she mentioned that stormy night, too. To that, again all he had was a small shrug. "Nothing to apologize for. Everyone has their moments." C'oar answered, simply. "Have a nice day, and good luck with your glasses." he inclined his head slightly, before going back to rearranging the metal so more of it would fit in the bin.

[Rei]

Erilena gave a very light smile at C’oar’s words. Silly man. Of course it was here when she needed it. It always had been. All the same he seemed mildly possessive about the building for whatever reason. Shrugging it off the greenrider adjusted the strap on her bag and turned, only to flinch at his next statement. Nothing to apologize for. Everyone has their moments. Yes. They did.

Still he had deserved an apology and he had gotten such. It made her feel better to know there where no hard feelings. Relaxing slightly Erilena half turned light hazel eyes watching the brownrider as he worked. “All the same. Thank you.” The words where offered in response to both of his statements. With a small wave she turned and set her feet down the familiar and well beaten path towards the weyrs.

{End Thread}