The Dead Walk [cerdic]

[Ruby]

Lounging at a table near the food stands, Piden watched Rukbat set over the Fireheights of Blossom. It really was a fantastic sight- being a Wherhandler, he'd almost forgotten the firey glory of sunsets as opposed to the gentle warming of sunrise. He was up early today, for his schedule at least. Pidesk was still back in the Apartments, just barely stirring out of sleep. Piden felt the Bronze at the back of his mind, the Wher's lethargy making him feel a little fuzzy too. He spent nearly ten minutes watching the sun go down, ignoring everything around him.

Once the final stripes of red had faded to blue, however, Piden came back to himself. Pidesk was awake now, yawning and stretching. The Wherhandler stretched too, then had to scramble as he almost knocked his mask off his knees. It was new, one of the all-bone half masks, carved in a knobby way that reminded him of an attractive Wher's skull, or an ugly Dragon's. Small horns curved up from the corners of the mask, tangling in Piden's loose hair as he tied it behind his head. He was dressed in black today, as many other people were now that the sun had gone down. His mask was one of finest he saw, at least in his opinion. Many others were molded hide or painted wood and cloth, some even made of what looked like thin writing hides. Although his salary wasn't huge, Piden had a taste for the finer things in life, and didn't mind shelling out for things that, in his opinion, looked good.

He took a sip of wine, watching a paid troupe caper by. The tables around him had filled up, and people had begun sharing as they would the long tables in the Dining Hall. Piden slid down to the end of his bench, making room in case anyone needed a place. Normally, he would have taken the whole table for himself and kept it that way, but he was feeling generous this evening. Vaguely entertaining the idea that T'san or one of the Wherhandlers he knew would stop by, he started watching the crowd more closely. Even Roivao would be a welcome change. Red, refusing to be left alone, was curled in his collar, shivering. Piden absently stroked the Salamandyr, trying to calm her... and trying to entice someone to come share his table.

[mierce]

Cerdic bounded from stall to stall, pointing at various objects to a man who trailed behind him. The man, while similar to Cerdic in appearance, was taller, tanned, more muscular, and had this long black hair slicked back and tied tightly with a long ribbon. He also did not appear as amused as the younger boy who seemed quite intent on using him as a human wallet for food, snacks and drinks.

At their third time pass by of a sweets stall and the third time the boy wanted a treat, the man had had enough. He closed a hand over the boy's shoulder and held him back. "Your teeth are going to rot out," he said sternly.

"Aw, but Cerwain..." the boy whined.

Cerwain's frown deepened. "None of that now. You're very nearly a man and ought not be behaving like the brat you are." He led them away from the stall and towards where the other food stands stood. "I have to get back home to mother," he said as they slowed to a stop in front of the drinks stall. "One last treat for, then you and your pet best be off."

"His name is Eee," Cerdic stated with a slight turn of the nose. Little good that did though, since he was considerably shorter. As if on cue, the brown fire lizard in question peaked out from the breast pocket of Cerdic's coat. He chirped. Too much noise. Then returned to the pocket. "Feh, shoulda named him Boring instead."

"Hah okay, Eee it is then." Turning to the keeper of the drinks stall, Cerwain ordered two servings of good Benden wine, passing a cup to Cerdic. "To the unruly Candidate," he said as he held his own cup towards his brother. Cerdic smiled broadly, deliberately knocking his wooden cup against Cerwain's and nearly spilling half their drinks. The man gave him a disapproving look, but Cerdic was not to have his spirits dampened. They downed their drinks and exchanged a tight embrace before parting ways.

Without his brother stalking after him (and likewise, without any source of money), Cerdic made his way over to where the food stands stood. He couldn't buy anything, of course, but he rather enjoyed people watching. However, it appeared that most of the tables were filled. Understandably so he supposed, considering it was about time for the evening meal. After a bit of sifting between closely packed bodies, Cerdic spotted an empty space for him at the end of a bench. It wasn't completely unoccupied of course, but the fellow sitting there seemed friendly enough.

A disarming smile formed on his lips and he approached the table. "Hi there," he said, holding a hand out towards the young man. "My name is Cerdic. May I sit here?"

[Ruby]

Piden was spending his time critiquing everyone around his age that walked by. So far, a tall and strapphing Greenrider had been dismissed for his too-short haircut, a dark, slim Holdgirl for her frumpy dress, and a simpering blonde for looking too much like Saphor, Piden's baby-mama. Not that Saphor wasn't pretty, he just didn't like to be reminded of the baby- Phaiden, he mentally corrected, who was now four. Piden did his best not to read Saphor's letters, but she'd started sending drawings, and Piden had picked up a few things. He didn't know, but Pidesk had been periodically digging the discarded hides out of the trash and hiding them around the room (with Red's help).

A few more were dismissed, men and women both. Everyone here was so old! Or too young, or not pretty enough. Piden discarded the idea that people lived to a much greater age in Holds, prefering the idea that Blossom just wasn't as good as Selenitas. If the gather had been held there, no doubt he'd have found someone pretty by now. Certainly, these people wouldn't make the trek all the way into the jungle for a few dances and a bubbly pie or two.

As it turned out, Piden was looking totally the other direction when Cerdic came over, checking out a brunette. He didn't look around until Red cheeped in terror. But when he did... well. This little one seemed acceptable, and smiling like that too! The boy reminded Piden a little of himself at that age, just in terms of looks, although Cerdic's coloring was different. Just the height, and the smile. Matching Cerdic smile for smile, he took the boy's hand and squeezed it firmly. "Nice to meet you, Cerdic. I'm Piden, and you're welcome to have a seat," he offered, gesturing to the open bench.

"Are you a Candidate?" he asked, eyeing Cerdic's shoulder for a knot. Convenient, those- Piden wore his whenever he could, now. He liked people to know he was a Wherhandler, especially since they so rarely got any notice at all.

[mierce]

The disarming smile broadened, and Cerdic smoothly slid into the vacant spot on the bench and clasped his hands together on the table. “Yes! I am a candidate!” he confirmed rather proudly, then hunched over and leaned in close to add in a whisper while discreetly tucking his little tattle-tale ranking symbol under the epaulet of his shirt, "I shouldn't be out so late, so keep it down. Curfew and all, you know."

He innocently sat upright again and noticed the knot at Piden’s shoulder. Oh no. What did that mean? Mentally clearing his throat, he disregarded the Wherehandler’s knots for the moment, and looked around Piden’s head in the direction the older boy had been facing before.

“Are you watching the peoples?” he inquired while wracking his memory for what Emoyan had said about how various people in the Weyr are ranked. Piden certainly wasn’t a Candidate any longer. Drats, he really ought to have paid more attention to lessons! Well, maybe he’ll remember… or maybe Piden will drop a hint. (Hopefully…)

Catching sight of a young strawberry blonde girl, Cerdic’s eyes lit up. She had slightly wavy hair that tumbled loosely around her slender shoulders to almost her waist. He propped an elbow on the table to rest his head on an upturned palm, he discretely chinned the girl who was at the moment carefully munching on a large cookie. “She’s cute~” he stated with a slight hint of appreciation. She appeared no more than his own age, perhaps even younger. Her dark dress was fairly plain, accented only by a few lengths of similarly dark satin ribbon that reflected whatever light was available.

[Ruby]

"Oh, feh," Piden said dismissively. "Just tell them your a Wher candidate, and you're practicing," he added with a wink, leaning an elbow on the table. Propping his chin in his hand, he added, "I won't tell." Shifting a little on the bench, he looked Cerdic over again while the Candidate was distracted by something behind him. Sweet little thing he was, Piden thought with a smile. What luck. And young enough not to be too biased yet.

Totally oblivious to Cerdic's ranking concerns, Piden shifted around so he could see what the Candidate was seeing. "I was," he mused. "Being a Wherhandler and all, I'm usually up when everyone else is asleep, so it's kind of a luxury to have people other than Pidesk to look at." There, hint accidentally dropped. If the bronze threads woven into the knot didn't give Cerdic a hint on Pidesk's color, the boy might want to attend the Rank lesson again. Not that Piden would ever pull rank on anyone; he simply did not care enough. He really just wore his knots to show off.

Piden's eyes lit on the blonde just as Cerdic gestured to her, and he looked her over before leaning in to half-whisper, "Little minx, eating a cookie like that. Believe me, Cerdic, she'll lead you on a wild wherry chase worthy of a rising Gold, but there'll be no happy ending there. Too snooty." Too young, too, for him if not for Cerdic, but that had never stopped Piden before. "Nice to look at though, that's for sure."

Shifting his gaze, the Wherhandler eyed a boy somewhere right between their ages. Loosly curled dark brown hair flopped into his almost black eyes a little, and his black clothes closely sheathed his slim frame. A little long in the face, but not too much to preclude good looks, he was laughing shyly at a joke made by one of his less attractive friends. "What about him?" Piden questioned, also subtly gesturing with his chin.

[mierce]

Cerdic smiled broadly at Piden’s suggestion. Of course! “I will do that,” he said with a nod of conviction. Tonight, he is a Wher candidate. How hard could that be? Just as long as he hid his knots… “Where is your wher?” he inquired, leaning forward to hear Piden better over the surrounding hubbub. “Were you so sick of looking at him that you left him back at the Weyr?” The question may have come out as either a joke or in all seriousness. At the moment, it was a little hard to tell which the boy meant.

Piden’s comments about the girl earned a chuckle in return at first, then an outright laugh. His first thought would not have been to describe the girl as a minx, but reflecting on his past luck with drudges at the Weyr (he was just playfully flirting t’was all!), he supposed Piden wouldn’t be too far off from the truth. Still, the joking warning sounded like quite a challenge to him and Cerdic was about to announce his intentions to flirt with her snoot or not just to see what would happen when the Wherhandler pointed out another person.

Cerdic, not being a very observant person in such busy environments, was completely oblivious to any signs of interest Piden may have expressed towards him. Even the older boy’s inquiry about another male did not ring any bells as Cerdic simply took it as a question of what he thought of the subject’s behavior. A somewhat odd segue in the conversation after checking out a girl, but Cerdic was not against making seemingly odd jumps in conversation flow.

“Hmm…” He leaned back a bit, nearly toppling over in the process since they were seated on a bench rather than a chair with a backing. Thoughtfully rubbing his chin, Cerdic considered the unsuspecting boy for a moment, then cracked a smile. “He looks nice,” he said in reference to how he perceived the boy’s personality. “Wish he’d smile a little more though.” Happiness makes the world go round, after all. “Do you know him?”

[Ruby]

Whatever Cerdic had meant, Piden laughed aloud. Oh, he liked this candidate very much. He downed the rest of his wine, shaking his head as he turned back to the boy. "No, no, Pidesk is lovely to look at if I do say so myself. He's only just waking up, and he wouldn't be able to see in the daytime anyway. I doubt a Gather would be much of his cup of tea." In response, Pidesk grumbled noncommitally. He MIGHT have liked to go, if his handler had ever bothered to ask. Piden dismissed this, of course, knowing Pidesk would never really leave the Weyr of his own free will. The Wher was too attached to his birthplace. "Pidesk thanks you for asking, though. He's flattered that you're interested at all."

The subject of their current observation had lapsed into silence, brushing his dark hair back from his face- and looking longingly at the blonde with the cookie. "Hmmmm..." Piden considered, glancing at Cerdic. "Looks like you might be right. A smitten boy is a boring boy. And no, I don't know him, I was just enjoying looking at him. He's quite pretty." Piden gave Cerdic only a second to consider THAT little pearl before glancing into his wine glass and digging into the bag of marks tied to his belt.

Raising an arm to flag down a passing serving girl, he asked "May I buy you a drink?" before proceeding to simply order two glasses of Benden red. "You're welcome to food, too, if you're hungry. Just let her know what you want," he added, winking at the girl. She tittered, waiting a second to see if Cerdic would order before she headed off to one of the stalls. Meanwhile, the dark-haired boy was being teased by his friends, obviously considering saying something to the blonde. At least they had something interesting to watch.

[mierce]

Cerdic smiled broadly at being told that Pidesk would have reacted so positively to his simply inquiry. “Can I meet Pidesk sometime?!” His grey eyes grew large as his imagination took a wild ride on what a wher would be like. Even though he had set his eyes on Impressing a dragon, he found all draconic/lizard-like creatures absolutely fascinating. Admittedly dragons moreso, but only because they could fly. Fly!

He diverted his attention back to the shy boy and pondered Piden’s remark on his physical appearance. A boy be described as pretty? He tilted his head and thought about it, ultimately coming to the conclusion that his new friend must simply use “pretty” as suitable applicable for both males and females. After all, he’s met many people at the Weyr with bizarre ways of describing things. It’s sort of been a whirlwind course of learning a new language

After a moment, the black-haired candidate nodded in agreement to the wherhandler. “He is rather good looking,” Cerdic declared, voice completely devoid of any doubt in his words. Of course, all he really meant was that he liked the boy’s style and presentation.

Piden fiddling with his marks bag attracted the boy’s attention and he smoothly swung his head around to watch the handler’s movements. “Oooh!” If his smile would widen anymore, his face would certainly split in two. “I’d love wine! Thank you. I have no money though…” A giggle escaped through his lips as he showed his empty pants pockets. He was about to tell the serving girl that he would pass on the food, but he suddenly had a somewhat strange idea.

He held up two fingers to the girl. “Two cookies, if you would please?”

While the serving girl went to fetch their order, Cerdic folded a leg up onto the bench and leaned his palm against the side of the knee. “I think you’re the first wherhandler I’ve spoken to,” he commented, neatly interrupting Piden’s people watching.

[Ruby]

"Pidesk would love to meet you, I'm sure," Piden responded, smiling. The Wher was certainly sending positive thoughts in his Handler's direction, even if they were tinged with a note of caution. Nothing Piden would translate to Cerdic, of course, but Pidesk knew his handler better than anyone, and knew what he had in mind. He wasn't sure he approved. "We're generally up in the middle of the night, either in the Handler's Apartments or the Main Hall, or somewhere in between. You're welcome any time."

Piden's mouth turned up a tiny bit at the corners at that thought, then a little more when Cerdic admitted to finding the boy good looking. He wasn't about to grin openly, but he WAS about to take this conversation in a more exciting direction. Eventually. After the wine, perhaps.

Piden raised an eyebrow at Cerdic as he counted out an extra mark into the girl's hand to cover the cookies, eyeing her half-exposed clevage as he added, "Keep the change. And if you have time later, stop by for a... dance." The girl tittered again, putting a hand over her mouth as if to stop her laughter. As she left, Piden merely asked, "Cookies?" shrugged, and let it drop. Doubtless Cerdic would explain eventually.

Meanwhile, the Wherhandler kept staring out into the crowd. Whether he was watching people or the middle distance was up for debate, but he WAS listening to the Candidate at his side. "Yeah, we tend to be pretty reclusive people," he replied, tearing his eyes away from the Gather to look over at Cerdic. "Not that I like it, understand. Its just hard to keep up friendships and... other relationships when you're only up at night. People aren't very exciting when they're asleep," he added ruefully.

[mierce]

Cerdic, though ecstatically appreciative of womanly curves, was far bold with his looks. While Piden nearly outright eyed the girl's breasts, the candidate only dared a ninja glance. At the wherhandler's office, Cerdic smiled and leaned in close while wagging a playfully warning finger. "Haha! I'll hold you to your word then and randomly pop up!" A big toothy smile sheared across his face. "Liiikkeeeeeee tonight? Since I'm a wher candidate and all already!" He settled back onto the seat, bringing his other leg up so that he was sitting cross-legged and sideways on the bench. "Orrr were you planning to flirt with that serving girl when she comes back? ;D"

He leaned an elbow on the table, head resting against the knuckles of a balled fist an looked curiously at Piden. Being reclusive sounded downright saddening to him. His bright face dimmed a bit as he imagined what it must be like to wander about the halls when nearly everyone else had fallen asleep. Having no one to talk to except your bonded wher was a bit frightening to Cerdic!

"What about the other wherhandlers? They'll be up at night, too, no?" Cerdic tilted his already tilted head some more. "Surely some of them would be wanting for some socializing as well."

[Ruby]

((possibly we shouldn't post here anymore... but Cer'c is welcome to visit Piden anytime ))