Join Me For Dinner? [open]

[Ruby]

Caden scowled down at her tray of food. She'd been at Inverness for almost three turns now, but to the Goldrider, it still felt like her first day at the new Weyr. Word had gotten around fairly quickly about the 'crazy southern Goldrider', and by the time Nitrath's first northern hatching rolled around everyone was pretty much convinced. Her behavior at Selenitas had improved somewhat for the clutch sired by Kallandrith - after all, nothing had happened at Nitrath's first hatching - but the move North had shaken everything loose again, it seemed, and Caden was as irrational as ever. Perhaps that was why Nitrath had chosen tiny Epifayrmuth as her mate, but the choice was not a popular one at Inverness, and the small, sickly, measly clutch that only hatched 6 dragonets seemed to make Caden even more crazy-protective than usual.

And so her reputation grew: Crazy goldrider was crazy.

Which meant that no one sat with her at meals. Even as she thought this, Caden scowled deeper. What a juvenile complaint. When they first moved, Er'ani and Mo'rya at least would be her occasional meal companions, and of course she had a spot at the head table for every meal, but Er'ani had gotten busy with his kids and Mo'rya got his own Wing, and Ce'thian was a bit dramatic about the team building so her favorite Bronzerider had mealtime responsibilities, too. The head table was out of the question as Caden had no desire to be anywhere near Arga or Liosa, two of the most odious women she'd ever had contact with. That was basically all her options, setting aside R'men who came by occasionally but whom Caden had been avoiding ever since he Weyrmated Vellani.

Honestly, the Goldrider didn't even mind sitting alone if there was anywhere to sit alone, but the Weyr's dining hall was furnished primarily with long tables with benches or large round tables with chairs, the better to promote Weyr unity. Generally Caden solved this problem by eating at odd times, but she had been tied up with paperwork this evening and when she tried to get a drudge to bring her food to her quarters Nitrath politely informed the kitchen that if they enabled Caden's anti-sociability they would regret it, per the Mindhealer's instructions. Which, of course, meant that Caden vowed not to eat, but large golden dragons are hard to resist when they can simply pick you up and deliver you to the dining hall. Which was what Nitrath had done, much to Caden's chagrin.

Of course by the time she arrived it was the peak dinner hour, and there wasn't a single seat that didn't have at least one adjacent person. All seats next to her few remaining acquaintances were filled, and when Caden turned around to head back into the kitchen where she could hide in a dark corner a stream of drudges suddenly flooded out into the hall, blocking Caden's way. Was that you too? she asked Nitrath, who only hummed in response. Of course. You're awful, you know that?

It will be good for you, girl. I promise.[/i]

Caden grumbled aloud this time, barely taking her eyes off the floor as she made a direct line for the closest empty seat, far to the back of the hall with the lowest-ranked Weyrfolk and Chromatic riders. It reeked of smoke and beer back here but Caden didn't mind. It was dark enough, too, that hopefully no one would notice her. To her left was an empty seat, to her right a person she didn't even look at long enough to determine their gender. Slamming her tray on the table, she took a long draft of her own beer, then set to her dinner with the ferocity of a wild animal. The sooner she could get this over with, the sooner she could get out of here.

[Requiem]

He laughed. "Not afraid to choke, I see."

He really couldn't help it. There was just something...refreshing...about ravenous animal savagery from a female after the not-so-past debacle with Cairenn that began with inadvertent flashing, led to not nearly so inadvertent toplessness and concluded in tears, shrieks and slaps. Women. That wasn't to say that A'nd didn't jump at the goldrider's sudden appearance and subsequent tray slamming before the laugh, though. Who wouldn't? Strange to see any of the higher ups over here in the corner reserved for the Weyr's lowly, however. (Normally A'nd didn't actually hang with this crowd himself, but he was avoiding his own wingleader until he could be certain that M'gnum didn't hold Cairenn's hysterics or the Kaius-Roselle boob punch against him. A'nd didn't think he'd be likely to survive a duel with the prim and proper bronzer.)

Now of course A'nd recognized Caden, as did Cootie as she divebombed the woman's plate in an attempt to sneakily capture a goldrider pinky. Whether or not Caden would recognize the dinky 12-turn-old Armind in the nearly 20-turn-old A'nd was rather another story, though his tiger-striped 'mandyr may or may not help with that somewhat. The boy had "disappeared" in the earthquake, not wanting a dragon after the ugly wastelander slaughter that Caden had Impressed at, and as far as he could remember the now bluerider hadn't interacted with the woman since he last discovered her cootie-spawned breasts on the Hatching Sands.

There were several reasons for that, his adventure around the collapsed former Selenitas Weyr merely one of those. Another was what had seemed to be (at least to him) clear evidence of the cootifying effects of extended exposure to girls. The more serious reason was she was a weyrling, and a goldweyrling at that. Rather above him. More so as a junior weyrwoman. Then of course there was Er'ani. Or, really, Rosa who A'nd still regarded as an older sister-type most days, but Er'ani didn't like A'nd around Rosa or their daughter. A'nd ignored that...but that wasn't to say he didn't go out of his way to minimize his contact with the albinorider, which of course extended to his friends. Read: Caden.

None of this kept him from smiling rather lopsidedly at the mannish goldie, however. "Slumming it today?" Not an invalid question given the general company was on the lower end here even for A'nd. He really should be with the rest of his wing right now. "I hear we chromatics can rub off on you metallics, if you stick around too long," the bluerider added facetiously, more than aware that this concept smacked of the "cootie" one that he'd embraced wholeheartedly as a child.

[Ruby]

Caden snorted, but she did slow her food intake slightly. She'd never been worried about appearances (well, appearances in the polite sense, she'd been VERY worried about her appearance for several years at Benden), so she didn't look even slightly embarrassed by the noise she had just made, but instead added "Nope" through a mouth of food. She'd learned to eat fast during the war but this anonymous rider didn't need to hear her whole sob story. Plus, if she told it, she'd probably still get choked up.

That said, there was something familiar about the anonymous Bluerider, once she actually looked at him. Caden scowled at the young man, trying to place him. Too young to be a Benden rider if she really did recognize him, and if she knew him from Inverness he would look more familiar, so it must be Selenitas. The Goldrider had never paid much attention to salamandyrs, not being an owner herself, but Sel, for all her spotty memory, recognized Cootie immediately. She'd always been partial to the green ones, or the female ones once she went blind, but this creature's mental presence was one she recognized. Flashing green at the salamandyr, Sel leaped from her hiding place in Caden's collar, flaring her wings at Cootie and attempting to tag the smaller draconid. Unfortunately for Sel, her aim was off, and she missed the mandyr by about six inches, tumbling into the space that had very recently been occupied by Caden's glass. Luckily the Goldrider had gotten thirsty at exactly the right moment. Stumbling to her feet, Sel twittered uncomfortably as she groped around for something else to hide behind. She must not be seen!

Caden ignored the drama going on in and around her plate. She was used to the antics of pets by now, even if the Inverness population was significantly less dramatic than the Selenitas population had been. The bluerider was more interesting, Caden supposed, although you couldn't tell by looking at her. She'd dropped her head back to her plate once she discovered that she could not, in fact, identify the younger rider, and answered his question about slumming it with an "Mmm." As he went on, though, she glanced back over again. "Always liked the chromatics. Never understood the shinies so much." There was a good reason for that, even if she had been Nitrath's rider for half a decade or so, now. You really need to get over that, girl. There are many good people among the Bronze and Goldriders here.[/i]

Caden ignored her gold, but squinted at the Bluerider again. "You look familiar. Selenitas rider? How'd you get here?" she asked, gesturing at his knots with her fork. It HAD been five turns after all, and Caden was never great with names or faces anyway. Another thing that the Inverness upper crust did not appreciate, since Caden regularly snubbed Lord Holders in meetings. Meanwhile, Nitrath identified her Rider's companion's blue, and sent a friendly greeting thought to Xinatenth. Good evening. I see yours has chosen to engage Mine in dinner conversation, so let me be the first to apologize,[/i] the Gold offered, humor obvious in her voice. Not that she was lying, but still.

[Requiem]

Xinatenth was, at times, mistaken for a rather vacuous creature given how rarely he chose to speak to his brethren. He was not a creature of poor manners, however, and though he didn't move from his vantage on his ledge (ideally placed for dragon and people-watching) or otherwise acknowledge the golden queen with words, the wraithlike blue did in fact return her mental brush with one of his own. No words like the average dragon. No images like a flit or wher. Merely a complex, subtle tapestry of emotions that wove together as lightly as a butterfly's wing might brush a man's skin, a tapestry that suggested pleasure at Nitrath's attention, gratitude for her words (yet no surprise that suggested he expected anything less) and gentle amusement that didn't (quite) smack of mocking the gold's rider. It likely wasn't widely known because of the blue's general reticence, but he all but worshipped his rider, so naturally he found nothing at all out of place in a queen's apology that His was being "engaged in dinner conversation" by someone Xinatenth could only consider to be inferior. Naturally of course it wasn't her fault. A god walking among men must always be addressed by inferiors, yes? Even gods could grow lonely. One doesn't kick a canine for walking on all fours rather than upright, and canines could be quite pleasant to their superior bipedal masters.

It really was a good thing that A'nd hadn't Impressed Xina until after his self-image was rather firmly cast, or he might have been the most odious man on Pern. Even now he couldn't help the mild embarrassed flush (not that anyone would have a clue as to what might be provoking it) that crept up his neck at the all too familiar taste of the blue's mental presence in the back of his mind. It was also quite fortunate that playful little Cootie had been bonded to him since the age of 13. No hero worship from her. The cheeky thing had aborted her "capture the pinky" game in favor of slinking around the plate in pure predatory glee, zeroing in on the flit's tail. A pounce and friendly nibble later, she claimed her prize with a joyful Sel! and removed any doubt as to whether or not she recognized the firelizard.

Keeper of mine hearts, Xinatenth purred into A'nd's mind, managing to sound both amused and mildly scandalized at the same time, have you so dazzled the eyes of the rider of the sun that she recognizes you not? I'd imagine it has rather more to do with being nearly a foot taller and not so snotty as when she last spoke to me, but we can go with eye-dazzling if you prefer, the young man responded to his bonded with his usual wry humor. I should like to think the future ruler of dragons possessed of a wit befitting such position. Eye-dazzling it is. Well, King of the Backhanded Compliment, now that we're agreed on that, I probably should stop staring at her like a mute, retarded ape. He ignored the mild amused reproach from his blue in favor of shaking his head at Caden's question, the wry smile still very much in evidence.

"Well, I can't say as I'd know much about shinies, seeing as how my experience is limited to the man who thinks the world should be populated by knights. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that M'gnum isn't the most accurate representation of all metallic riders. Never had a problem with chromatics, myself." Unless you counted Er'ani. Roselle. Cairenn. Hm. Girl trouble. Every guy's bane. He regarded her for an extra moment then, just to see if her memory would jog. Unlike Xinatenth, he didn't really expect Caden to remember a snot-nosed brat from her candidacy or recognize that same brat in the bluerider, though. Especially since he was about a thousand times better spoken with the dragon bard constantly peppering his brain with crazy poetic phrases and uppity words.

Having given her sufficient time, he responded (after swallowing a sizeable bite at leisure) "Xinatenth and I are Inverness through and through. Doryith's 3021 clutch. I'd like to think you remember me as the first guy to feel you up, but given there were probably guys before me and I didn't actually expect to find any breasts, well...that's most likely wishful thinking." His cheeky smile gave the lie to the dramatic sigh that punctuated the statement. Then he attempted one last comment to see if that little Armind scamp had made enough of an impression on Caden to be remembered. "I hope you'll be happy to hear that I did not in fact get so cootified as to grow breasts of my own." Now his eyes were very definitely jumping with silent laughter at his own boyhood silliness. Even if he really was still just a boy in most ways that mattered.

"So we were candidates together but I'm not a Selenitas rider. How have you and Nitrath been?" A'nd might venture a guess, given she was 'slumming' it far from the head table, but he tried not to make judgments like that whenever possible. Xinatenth had taught him the value of patience and observation, at least, on top of the little master huntress' mad stalking skills. He could (at times) wait and watch to satisfy curiosity. At times.

[Ruby]

Caden choked on her bread.

Now she saw it, the half-grown boy from her candidacy in this mostly-grown young man. Plus, no one on Pern had had been as worried about cooties as Armind had been, and Caden could count the people who had touched her breasts outside of flights on one hand. Add flights and you still wouldn't be up to 10. Pounding on her chest with a fist, the Goldrider coughed, then cleared her throat before croaking, "Armind? What now, A'mind?" Allowing her perma-scowl to break into a grin momentarily, Caden leaned sideways, running her shoulder into the bluerider. "Grats. Out of Weyrlinghood too, huh? And breast free? Time flies." Caden hadn't been at Xinatenth's hatching; she'd been barred from all hatchings but her own ever since her behavior at Nitrath's first hatching, which didn't bother Caden one bit. Two less official appearances each year was a win in her book.

Remembering something else, Caden scowled again. "Thought you died in the quake. How the hell'd you make it out?" She'd been sad, too, when his name turned up on the list of the missing, but there had been so much to do that she'd made her peace and moved on. And forgotten, apparently, although that wasn't totally unreasonable given all that had happened in the following Turns. She imagined Armind would have quite the story, though. He always did.

While the humans were busy catching up, Sel was busy getting her tail caught. Squaking indignantly when Cootie landed on it, she spun around, flashing sharp greens to anyone paying attention. Trying to get her tail free and avoid the nibble, Sel jumped sideways and promptly tripped, writhing on the table and making a strange happy hissing noise. That tickled! Sel did her best to envelope Cootie with her wings, awkwardly hugging the other green. So nice to run in to another with such a pretty color, she told the salamandyr. Now, shouldn't they be hiding? Could Cootie help her find a place where she couldn't be seen?

For her part, Nitrath acknowledged Xinatenth's greeting with a pulse of warmth, then left the blue alone. She was aware that he was not much of a talker, and she respected that. Not all dragons were much for conversation, and Nitrath herself was happy either way. She couldn't help but be polite, though. Stretching one wing, she rolled onto her side, making more room on her enormous ledge. If you feel inclined to move or if you lose the sun, you are welcome to share my ledge. It stays bright until the very end of the day.[/i] If he didn't feel like it she wouldn't be offended, though, which she hoped was clear. The gold understood the desire for isolation sometimes, if only because of Caden's influence.

As the conversation rolled on, Caden realized this was probably the most she'd spoken to someone she didn't have to speak to in quite some time. It was nice, running into old friends. Maybe she should seek out more of them, if she ever had time. Maybe it would give her a more pleasant story than the one she was about to share, too. "Nitrath's good, likes being a Jr. Queen and all and getting along with Baith and Doryith, but she misses Millieth and her babies at Selenitas I think. Me..." Caden trailed off, gesturing at the crowd with a forkful of meat. "Not so hot. They" - she leveled a venomous glance at the High Table - "Don't know what to do with me, since I'm no good at being a Weyrwoman or a lady no matter how much time they spend teaching. Which is time they don't have, which they don't mind telling me all the time. You have no idea how sharding boring meetings and supplies requests and tithe reconciliations are. Bronzers're alright I guess, but Nitrath's been throwing duds so I think they're afraid talking to me will mean they'll have to mate me and end up with an embarrassment for a clutch." Another grimace. Clearly things were even worse than Caden was saying, given how much she was talking. Usually she was about as reticent at Xinatenth, but the floodgates had opened, it seemed. Or Caden's version of floodgates.

Looking suddenly self-conscious about how much she'd inadvertently shared, Caden looked down at her plate again, mopping up some of her meat juices with the remaining bread. Time to turn the conversation. "You? How come you're way back here? Thought there was an A'nd on M'gnum's wing, I guess that's you?" Trust Caden to know the wings by heart, even though she wasn't involved in anything relating to wings.