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Post by dreamer on Oct 30, 2008 17:26:45 GMT -5
A month or so ago Brulen would have laughed if anyone had told him he would dislike having empty bunks and space all around him. He wouldn't have been able to imagine anything more luxurious then having empty beds around him. He had extra pillows, he could sort out his new clothes on another bunk - life was quiet and nice.
A month ago he wouldn't remember who used to sleep in the bunks. He wouldn't see them, all smiles and tired circles under their eyes as they went through the hugely busy Weyrling life. He wouldn't know why they smiled so much. He was just jealous. Not angry, he used to always be angry about his lot in life, he was jealous because that could have been him.
A nearby bunk made a good place to kick as he worked his way through the mess of his mind. Jealousy was really not fun to feel. You couldn't do anything about it. Anger was easy, you could work it out or fight it out. Jealous about something like the hatching? That just left him feeling guilty and small. He'd heard enough stories after the hatching to know that he had time, and that the dragons chose. A dragon wasn't a new shirt or a belt knife. He had no right to be jealous because he didn't get a dragon.
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Post by dragon on Oct 31, 2008 12:26:57 GMT -5
Cloar looked up from a spread-out parchment he had been reading on one of the farthest bunks from the door. He watched in silence as Brulen went about his strange gyrations that seemed to portray pent up frustration at something. And maybe a tad of something else.
And then the lad kicked a bed.
"Whoa, hey now." Cloar said, just loud enough to be heard. "Don't be taking your woes out on the furniture. It's a lot of work to replace it, and you can be sure you'll be part of that replacing project if you break it." he warned.
Gaining the attention of an irritated lad never crossed Cloar's mind. It never occured to him that it was entirely possible that he was opening himself up to some of that abuse. He was a well-centered young man that very little ever upset. And being yelled at by another lad most likely wouldn't even phase him in the slightest.
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Post by dreamer on Oct 31, 2008 18:16:10 GMT -5
That was a surprise. He’d been sure no one was here. Oh, right the guy had been laying there reading. Sneaky of him, or was he deliberately hiding himself?
“Break these? Three wherrys could sleep in these things and they wouldn’t notice it”. Brulen said, prodding the substantial hardwood frame of the bunk.
“They make holding tool handles of this stuff and we had a terrible time trying to break them on purpose. I’d break my foot before I’d break it.”
Who was this guy? Brulen had seen him, but he was quiet. Brulen was taller, but the other was no weakling by the way he moved.
“I’m Brulen, I got here about a seven day before the hatching. Who are you?”
Brulen was not one for subtlety or indirect questions. They weren’t taught or valued in the fields and he certainly wasn’t worried about careful manners with someone his own age and gender.
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Post by dragon on Oct 31, 2008 22:45:31 GMT -5
Cloar himself was also of a type to get to the point of things, and as such, appreciated the directness presented by the lad before him. Taking the weights off the parchment before him, Cloar allowed the thing to roll up of its own accord. Maybe it would refrain from getting wrinkled, that way.
"Stout they may be." Cloar agreed. "But I don't think I'd like to see three wherries try to fit on that, much less sleep there." he added, thoughtfully, before breaking into a grin.
Cloar dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement of the self introduction. "I'm Cloar. Apprentice blacksmith ... or I was, until I got Searched. I've been here for ... gosh. I don't know how long. About six months? Not terrible long, but not long enough to really know who is who yet in this giant place." he gestured vaguely at the weyr beyond the walls, though it was out of sight.
Cloar got to his feet, and stretched out his cramped muscles. Oh, but he'd been sitting still too long reading that thing. He hadn't been aware of how long he'd been reading, nor of how still he had been. Leaning on the end of the bunk, Cloar looked Brulen up and down for a split instant. "Where did you come in from?" he asked, out of curiousity.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 1, 2008 21:50:42 GMT -5
Cloar got searched six months ago? And Brulen was the one kicking the furniture.
"I was a field worker at Southern. The jungles and vines are always trying to take back over, I spent my time with machete and hoe beating them back. When the search rider offered me a way out, I grabbed it despite the tales the old ones tell about the Weyr."
He was dressed much better then he ever would have been back home. The women were more attractive and the food was better.
"As I always thought, the old ones know a lot less then they think they do."
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Post by dragon on Nov 2, 2008 17:28:03 GMT -5
"Depends on the old ones, actually." Cloar said, though he nodded in agreement. "Some know what they're talking about. Some are just biased."
Cloar thought for a moment, and then a crooked grin appeared on his face. "I used to make machetes and hoes and things of that nature." he admitted. "I like the place here better to some extent ... though I get bored at times. The supply of food is undiminishable. Really. I tested it several times." he joked.
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