So dazzle me.

[glamourie]

"I can't believe it!" Keliris hissed under his breath as he regarded his aching foot with a critical eye. Somehow, despite all of his efforts, he'd managed to step right on a slab of rock jutting up on the side of the river. His entire life he'd been at Selenitas Weyr and more than once he'd climbed that very same cluster of rocks, and never had he ever done more than slip slightly. Yet, somehow, against all odds, the one day he chose to leave his boots next to the bottom of the cluster of rocks was the day he stepped right on something sharp enough to break the skin, and hard enough to hurt. If he didn't know any better, he would have said that the very layout of Pern was conspiring to get on his every nerve. "Of all the -- !"

What was he doing climbing around without any boots on? Answer: Keliris was swimming. His hair was still damp as a result, and his clothes were dripping because he hadn't bothered to remove them. He resembled a drowned feline with the long, darkish locks flaring around his face just slightly, but he was oblivious to his appearance. The water made his hair appear longer, and that, combined with an already almost too-feminine appearance made Keliris definitely resemble a girl - a girl who hadn't yet filled out, but a girl nonetheless. Such mistakes were common for the Weyrbred boy, unfortunately for him, although he'd gotten used to it over the Turns. He was extremely short and built as though he could break relatively easily, despite the fact that the weight he did possess was all muscle. As a result, Keliris was not imposing in the least. No part of him looked half as tough as he felt he was. Not that he'd ever relied on his appearance to make a point, no, Lir was much better at dissuading people from bothering him with sheer unpleasantness. He wasn't friendly, and he made a point of deliberately appearing nasty to keep possible associates at bay.

Needless to say, he was glad he didn't see anyone else around the clusters of rocks. With his bleeding foot, he was sure to attract some laughter; it would have amused him terribly if he'd been the one to spot someone in such a position. Then again, Lir took perverse delight in things most people would find mean. He just had a very dark sense of humour... dark as in black, really, though he didn't see anything wrong with that. Compared to some of his other traits, he thought his sense of humour was downright pleasant.

Keliris hobbled down the rocks, back to where he'd left his boots, in silence. His eyes were narrowed slightly, and he stopped to sit on one of the larger rocks near the riverbed. Sitting down gave him a better chance to look at the somewhat-deep cut tearing into the skin. He was bleeding visibly, and all because he'd been in a hurry to find the source of a sound somewhere in the distance. It had sounded like a dragon, but it was nothing he'd ever heard before, and since he was raised at Selenitas, that made it a very curious noise. He'd rushed up the side of the rocks without putting his shoes on because whatever made the noise might have heard him otherwise and then what would he have done? Or maybe it would have time to move? Either way, he was left with his curiosity unrewarded, unless one counted bolts of pain shooting up his lower leg to his knee as a reward. Stupid, stupid. Whatever it was was surely long gone. No point in trying to put his boots back on and hobble up again. And his foot hurt.

[evendar]

A flit popped her head over the rock ledge, quickly followed by another. They glowed in the bright sun with the brilliance of a dozen mirrors. The green, the more dominant of the two made her way down the rock face to the boy at its base, looking at his injured foot with mild concern. She chirped a command back at the bronze on the ledge, who rushed to obey his green. The green trilled a reassurance to the boy and sat down to wait.

It wasn't long before the bronze firelizard, Kio, flew around the corner, shortly followed by his mistress, Arina. The former slave's mouth was in a testy frown and her brow was knitted in frustration. She had almost made a connection between two of her reports when Kio flew in giving her clear images of a boy on the ground with a bleeding foot. Checking her personal records of current Weyrfolk and came up with Keliris (she had broke into the Weyr Records and begun to make copies of each persons file that she could find. If someone in the Weyr didn't belong, she would know, once she memorized them that is.) A testy, rather aloof candidate that seemed to think he was too big for his britches. Well we'll just see about that.

Arina gave a smirk and looked down at the boy, propping the first aid kit she'd brought on one shapely hip. "Fall on some rocks did you?" she asked acidly, not giving him any leeway with which to dig under her skin. There were few that could do that these days, C'leon being one of them, that Weyrwoman being the other.

[glamourie]

Flitter. There was a firelizard near him. Keliris cringed, visibly. Firelizards were notorious gossips and if one of them saw him bleeding, odds were every firelizard at Selenitas would find out he was bleeding, maybe all of Pern if they found it particularly interesting, not to mention the dragons and the people the flitters looked to. Great, just great, and there he was thinking he'd managed to avoid being caught. At least the flitter wasn't squawking at him as some of them were won't to do. It was a regular pain to have to deal with noisy firelizards. No, the little green was - from the sounds of things - bossing around a bronze. He didn't recognize either of the firelizards but that wasn't terribly unusual since the only ones he knew looked to candidates and they were hardly the only firelizards at the Weyr. He was sure they were not wild and that was the extent of what he knew. If they were wild, they would not have come so close to the Weyr. He didn't know enough about firelizards to know the meaning of the sounds, except that the one directed at the bronze sounded very bossy. He blinked, twice, at the little creature sitting on the rock so near to him. How bold. He was tempted to swat her away, but fascination stopped him. Were all firelizards prone to randomly sitting next to people they didn't know?

His answer came in the form of the bronze returning, along with, blast it, one of the few people in the Weyr that Keliris felt genuinely guilty being nasty to, not that he'd ever spoken to the woman. Actually, beautiful women tended to make Keliris run away (being pretty himself, he always felt weird talking to anyone remotely attractive, as though somehow that would come across as wrong and get him laughed at) but that was not why he felt inclined to be nice to her. The only knowledge he possessed of Arina was that she had flitters (apparently the two nosy ones bothering him) and was dragonless, from Fort. He could piece together a nightmare of what might have happened to her there, and his imagination was one of his more valuable tools. Being snappy to someone who had already suffered something as terrible as losing a dragon (which, being raised at a Weyr, came to Keliris's thoughts as the worst thing that could happen to a person) was more cruel than even he was capable of being. He just... could not bring himself to treat her - or anyone like her - the same way as the other candidates, Weyrlings, and Weyrfolk. Even riders received icy reactions. People who were dragonless somehow managed to make Keliris drop his defenses.

Not that he liked it one little bit, especially considering the way she was smirking at him. He wanted to snap something nasty back at her in response but stopped himself, instead indicating the flitters curiously, "Do these two both look to you, then?"

He didn't answer her question, and he knew it. How was he supposed to respond? Tell her the truth, that he heard a sound that reminded him of a dragon in pain? And that he'd climbed right up the rocks in a rush to see what the source of it was, and, oops, he'd cut open his foot but that was okay because he took a morbid fascination in strange sounds? That kind of explanation would be cruel. Most any response would have been, actually, since his pride was pricked. Keliris responded very badly to blows to his pride. Why was she smirking? -- It wasn't funny. Okay, yes, it probably was; he would have laughed himself silly in her position. But at least she had a first aid kit...

"... I suppose it would be presumptuous to believe that you brought that," and he indicated the first aid kit with a nod, no anger in his face nor any sign of emotion whatsoever showing in his voice; he was good at hiding things ever since he'd gotten so sick, "with the intention of helping me... wouldn't it?"

[evendar]

"Perhaps," Arina replied, only slightly put off by the lads sudden change from the attitude she was sure he would give her. She had gotten more than that from others, thinking she was a fragile twig because she'd lost half herself. She was stronger than that. She dropped to her knees and pulled Keliris' injured foot into her lap.

"And yes the flits are mine," she said as she wiped off the wound with redwort before dabbing it gently with numbweed. Despite her rather tart outer appearance, she her hands were gentle as she dealt with the boy's injury. She didn't want to press him to much on how he got it, though it would be fun. His file said he was quick to snap and liked to keep himself on a pedestal. She wished she could knock him off a peg or two, but decided not to push him to far it wouldn't be polite.

Kio and Sirca watched as their mistress bandaged the sulky ones foot. He was odd, most people were snappy at their mistress, or falling over with kindness. This one was just, there. He wasn't snappy, though their mistress kept thinking he was, and he wasn't pitying. He was just, him. It was confusing to the two flits who were used to shooing off the pitying ones and snapping back at the snappy ones. They decided to be there too. Sirca walked up to the boy and presented her neck to be scratched, expecting it. Kio followed suit, rubbing himself under Keliris' other hand.

[glamourie]

"You don't have to --" Keliris blinked as his foot was pulled into her lap and a hint of scarlet flared up over his face, but he trailed off. If she wanted to handle the injury, he wouldn't complain. From the location of it, on the sole of his foot, he would probably have trouble handling it himself anyway. He didn't think she was a Healer, but Keliris wasn't going to argue with help and it was highly likely that Arina knew more about tending to such injuries than he did. Just because he was conceited didn't make him stupid and he was grateful whenever someone helped him, even if he had a funny way of showing it most of the time. Since his words ended, he bit his bottom lip and then added, barely audibly, "Thank you." His pride was still stinging, so he couldn't be expected to say it very loud, but at least he'd had manners enough to thank her at all. Were she anyone else, he might have pretended they somehow owed him. That was Keliris's way.

The boy turned his amber eyes back to the flitters cautiously. They were interesting little creatures, weren't they? So resembling little dragons, but their demeanors seemed to be different. At least, he didn't know any dragons that would come right up to a perfect stranger so casually. They were charming, in a pet sort of way, Keliris supposed. He'd been only to one flit hatching before, and he hadn't Impressed, although Kaliran, his younger brother, did. The two firelizards made him jealous, in a way, though he gave no voice to that fact. No point in saying it when there was nothing that Arina could do about it in any way.

"What are their names....?"

His eyes remained on the firelizards, which quite efficiently distracted him from the pain in his foot and what was going on down there, and thus detracted away from his anger bouts of pride. When first the little green moved up to him, he wasn't sure what she wanted, having only minimal experience with firelizards often involving them screeching in that high-pitched and horrible sound they so loved to make. It didn't take long (with the bronze one nudging his hand) for him to figure out what it was she was asking for, though, and he gently rubbed her neck while running his fingers over the little bronze with his other hand. My, they were friendly, weren't they? He hadn't ever met firelizards that didn't dislike him... except Chipper, his brother's green, but Chipper liked everyone. Even Rawign's blue, Beggar, seemed to dislike him, although Keliris suspected that was because the blue had picked up that he wouldn't give him food. It wasn't his job to feed someone else's pet!

... although, if there were any flitters half as friendly as the two at his sides, he probably could be persuaded to change his tune on that.. a little.

"Are they always this charming?" Keliris asked quietly as he watched the two; his eyes flicked back and forth with the casual curiosity of one who had very little experience. If he'd known that Arina didn't think much of him, he probably would have been very upset. As it was, he had no reason to suspect she'd even noticed him; most of the Weyrfolk had regarded him as just another one of the Weyrbrats until he got sick, and then became a candidate. It didn't really matter, though, did it?

[evendar]

"The green is Sirca and the bronze Kio." Arina replied as she finished. "And most often then not people get on my nerves. They either shoo them off for being to pitiful, or hiss at them for being to kurt. There are very few who can make my darlings react in this way. So count yourself lucky." she said offiring her hand to help the lad up. "Now, the numbweed should last for most of the day, but I trust you can care for this little injury on your own and remember to take it easy. Numbweed jsut dulls the pain, it doesn't get rid of the injury." she chided, wondering in the innermost part of her mind when she'd become so caring of others welfare. She supposed since she discovered how bad a life one could live and didn't want anyone else to suffer what she had.

Sirca looked at the boy with a glance that said "You actually had to think what I wanted." but leaned into his hand while Kiio flipped himself onto his back and crooned in pleasure.

[glamourie]

Keliris did not need to be told to count himself lucky. He was Weyrbred; he knew that it wasn't common for firelizards to be so bold as to perch on someone else that they did not look to, and he took it for the compliment it was that they acknowledged him at all. So their names were Sirca and Kio. He blinked at the two firelizards inquisitively. What strange names, though not unpleasant. He didn't know whether to be grateful or not that they didn't think he was pitying, though. Truth was, he didn't pity Arina; he couldn't relate to how she felt, so how could he possibly grow to pity her? But he did feel like if anyone could understand what it felt like to be completely alone in the world, she could. Whether she realized it or not, Arina got to see Keliris beneath the arrogant facade; his real personality, and just a touch of fragility that no one else, not even his brother Kaliran, got to witness.

He lightly rubbed the flitters for a few seconds more before turning his attention back to Arina. Her instructions spurred an inner defensiveness and the desire to childishly reply that yes, he knew that, did he look like a little kid? But he resisted, and instead smiled weakly, though it was genuine, "Those are nice names." He took her hand and pulled himself to his feet, his good foot slipping into the appropriate boot. "Thank you for your help." He couldn't put the other boot on, so instead he picked it up and glanced back at the firelizards. "And thank you two." He wasn't arrogant enough to ignore that it was they who went and got help for him, after all. No other explanation for Arina's appearance made any sense to Keliris, though really, that one didn't make all that much sense either.

Biting his tongue, Keliris gave another glance at the rocky ridge before shifting his weight. "I don't suppose you by chance heard a strange sound from over the ridge." That was as close to admitting how he'd been injured as Keliris was capable of getting short of telling her the truth, which he wouldn't do. His pride wouldn't allow that. "Rather faint, really. I might have imagined it, I was a bit distracted by swimming..."

[evendar]

"I didn't hear anything. But I was in my room, going over papers." she said, holding the kit under one arm as she snapped to the flits. Sirca gave an indignant chirp. First the boy ended before she was done, and now her mistress wanted her on her shoulder. Would the poor green's work never cease? Kio flitted obligingly to Arina's other shoulder, looking at Keliris with one great eye.

"It was probably just a wherry, or one of those mutants." The dragonless woman had been appalled to see that such atrocities had been aloud to survive. The Weyr was setting up about a dozen children and teenagers to go through the exact same pain she herself had endured. There was no avoiding her fate, but not letting those poor mutants live past Hatching could have seriously been the best choice in her opinion.

"That how you injured your foot? Climbing over the rocks to see the noises source?" that would have accounted for the boys damp attire.

[glamourie]

Keliris watched the flitters glide back to their mistress's shoulder in interest, giving them both a friendly nod. Humans would have been ignored. Firelizards got acknowledgment. Some people might have found that backwards, but Keliris was a strange one by nature. Firelizards were a lot less annoying than people were. Sure, they were insufferable gossips, but they didn't judge as much, whereas people were completely judgmental, annoying, disgusting, hypocritical --- those thoughts came to an abrupt halt as he forced his disdain for society down deep, away from his mind, away from his heart. He wasn't up to it, really, just was not up to dealing with his own anger. He'd vent on some unsuspecting candidate later, but for the moment he was capable of being pleasant. Hurt and bad feelings could remain hidden away in his heart under lock and key, to avoid anyone finding out about how he felt. For the moment.

Mutants, she'd called the dragonets, and in that instant, Keliris disliked Arina. Oh, he'd be nice to her, but she had crossed a line. Just because the dragons were not as handsome or beautiful as the others, just because some of them were sick and weak, did not make them any less dragons, and they deserved respect. Dragons, at least, had earned it. Their people were another story. To refer to them as mutants so callously was -- was an abomination. He wouldn't give voice to that thought, but Keliris respected dragons if not their riders, and he couldn't bear the idea of anyone disrespecting the Weyrlings. They had suffered enough without people treating them as inferiors for things they couldn't control. He could relate to that to some degree.

His defensiveness was again shut down, though with more effort. "Yes," he said simply, without elaboration. He was annoyed at being forced to explain it, but he kept that from his tone to the best of his abilities. He didn't pity Arina, but he didn't like her very much. He had enough control of his moods to know that scorning her would be detrimental to him, and he was grateful for her help. That didn't mean he had to think highly of someone who would insult any dragon that way. But just because he wouldn't be mean didn't mean he'd continue to tread lightly on topics. She'd brushed his ego; he'd brush hers right back. With a slight shrug, he replied casually, "I thought it might have been an injured dragon. It sounded somewhat similar to the noises they make when they're in pain, if Threadscore is anything to go by." And wouldn't she be an expert on that sound? Yes, the topic was meant to bite, but outwardly he kept any sign of it from showing on his face. "I suppose I must have imagined it, or maybe one of the Weyrlings stepped on one of their wings; I've heard that's rather painful for them." Well, the ones with wings...

[evendar]

The mention of Threadscored dragons did sting at Arina's heart, but she pushed the anger away. This was that prickly side the lad's profile had mentioned. Always wanting to prod at a persons soft spot. But it was rarely unwarranted. What had she said? While she desperately wanted to retort acidly back at the boy, and Sirca's hiss betrayed that emotion. She shushed the green.

"If your acid tongue implies I think the mut," she chose a different word. "Weyrlings, from the last clutch were inferior in some way, I'm afraid you'd be mistaken. I think that we must do all we can to ensure their acceptance and survival within the Weyr." the fact that she thought they shouldn't have been aloud to Impress at all remained unsaid. If the lad knew that, well she was sure his acid tongue wouldn't be the only thing stinging her.

[glamourie]

She thought that was acidic? Keliris resisted the urge to laugh outright at her. If she thought that was bad, he pitied her the day she caught him on a day when he was in a foul mood. But his eyes flicked to the green flitter, who hissed at him. He was pleased to know he'd touched a nerve, just as she touched one of his, and the little green portrayed the emotions that she didn't want to show. Pity for her; that meant she could never hide her feelings very well, and Keliris was extremely good at it; still, he wondered whether she actually picked up on what he was annoyed by, or if she was guessing. Either way, he wouldn't deign to tell her the exact reasons. His secrets were his own and Keliris kept them guarded deep inside. He was of the opinion that something wasn't a secret anymore once more than one person knew. Once he confided in someone, it lost its charm. Not even his brother Kaliran knew most of what Keliris felt. His motivations were private.

"I agree that the Weyrlings," and he emphasized the term, not because he wanted her to know his thoughts but because he wanted to make it clear that he did not appreciate the term 'mutants' being used, "should be treated with the same respect any dragon receives, regardless of age or appearance. Because they are dragons, whether they look different or not, and they've suffered enough coming into the world than any should. Acceptance is a good thing to promote. I appear to have offended little Sirca; my apologies."

He did not apologize if he offended Arina. He didn't care. She offended him and he didn't believe her when she said she thought them equals. No, he was quite sure that she thought they were inferior to normal dragons in some way, and it wasn't entirely inaccurate. The one without wings would never fly, for example. But that didn't merit calling them mutants and insulting them. In fact, the fact that they were weaker and still survived so far was enough reason to give them more respect than normal dragonets. The roads those Weyrlings walked and flew was a lot rougher than most, and they seemed to all take it in stride. Anyone who didn't see that was a fool, and Keliris had no patience for fools. Annoying Sirca did bother him; she was a very nice firelizard. Annoying Arina was another story. She'd earned the response, and besides, she asked him how he hurt his foot. He'd merely answered her question. She should learn not to ask things she couldn't bear the answer to.

[evendar]

Offend Sirca, what a nice way to get around apologizing for offending her. She'd keep her eye on this one. He was bound to stir up trouble.

"Well then, let me not keep you from your search for that wounded hatchling." she said with heavy sarcasm. Sirca had remembered her training and returned to an impassive state, her eyes barely glowing red. Kio had been indifferent this entire time, and looked on with an air of aloofness, which drove Sirca to imitate him. She hated seeming the lesser flit. Without a word about watching his step or protecting his foot she turned on her heal and left. If he wanted to be rude, let him. She could be rude too.

[glamourie]

Hmph, was he offending her still? How funny. He didn't comment, instead giving her a plain look. Let Arina take of his words whatever she wanted because honestly, Keliris did not care. The fact that he hadn't verbally demolished her (And he was sure he could, regardless of their age difference -- Keliris was not without his own arrogant streak, after all.) was evidence to his restraint. From her own, he surmised he'd definitely touched on a particularly sensitive nerve. Who knew? At least he hadn't taken to insulting everything about her; he could have, he was sure. The only thing that seemed remotely attractive and going for Arina was the fact that she was pretty, but beauty covering poison lost its charm. And all that seemed to linger from that woman was poison. He'd heard about her, heard her to be unpleasant, and despite her attitude, Keliris really was being nicer to her than most. If anyone else had dared speak of the dragonets as mutants (no matter how well it fit), his fist would have met their jaw. It didn't matter if that got him disqualified as a candidate. One did not insult dragons that way. She got leniency based on being dragonless. Leniency wasn't the same thing as pity, though. Keliris didn't pity her; Keliris didn't like anyone well enough to pity them.

There was a time when he would have thrown a fit, but not anymore. He didn't care enough to throw a fit over such a comment. He'd go inside, though. Whatever made the noise, no matter how haunting it was, was bound to be long, long gone. He had no intentions of chasing her down just to get the last word in edge-wise. If it made her feel better to say something sarcastic and run-away, so be it; in his eyes, that was what she'd done. Leaving after making a comment rather defeated the potency of it in Keliris's eyes.

Silently gathering himself up, and all of his belongings, Keliris gave one last look up the rocks. His injured foot prevented him from leaving. So instead, he bit his tongue and then hobbled back toward the Weyr. He was not a Weyrbrat who needed to be told every little instruction; he was smart enough to keep his weight off his injured foot and to know that he should stay off it for the rest of the day, at least. Basically, that meant he was going to bully his brother Kaliran into tending to him all day long. Nothing unusual about that though.


[ Thread finished~ ^^ ]