Building [Chores, August, GWS]

[randi]

General Weyr Service seemed to be an okay task, on the whole, though given the choice of cleaning up the Weyr or building, the answer was obvious. Zolten liked construction, because, unlike other things, the operations were very simple, and you often had someone around to help. The candidate had shown up at the Wherhandler Apartments, fetching nails, hammers, or anything for anyone who was working.

The heat and activity of the day seemed lost on those slumbering inside, and the idea that there were people asleep at this time seemed a wonder. Once, when he had been far more curious, he had waited until nightfall to peek at one of the whers. The small green he had encountered seemed sweet enough, though her 'handler seemed misplaced. Why anyone would choose one of those strange creatures over the majesty of dragons seemed really odd.

The boy had grabbed a tool for one of the older ones working on building, turning carelessly. Forgetting to take thing seriously, he had misplaced a foot, falling over into the sand. The laughter of those around rang on deaf ears as he stared at the thing he had picked up. Oops. The wooden handle had broken into two pieces when he had tried to catch himself, and a sliver of the larger piece had embedded in his palm. The sharding splinter hurt, even moreso when he tried to move his hand, though his focus was easily on the handle. Chewing slightly on his lower lip, Zolten silently pondered exactly how much trouble he was going to be in for that.

Standing up, he brushed the sand off of him using his not-splintered hand. The hurting one held loosely onto the broken handle, trying to make it look normal, though he knew far too many people had seen that not to know better. Maybe he could get some cloth or something and fix it up? He didn't know. Whether he meant to or not, Zolten looked completely lost for the moment, his shoulder sagging in defeat, though his attention was more on getting in trouble for breaking the handle and less on his ego being forced to shrink.

[Ember]

Ceryl hated General Weyr Service, construction, and just plain chores in general. No matter how much she hated them she still had to do them. Early on the others working with her discovered that she made a good builder. She may just be a girl but her frustration made her excellent at pounding in nails and keeping a steady pace. Ceryl just wanted it to be done with. The only thing that made it bearable was the fact that most of the others were boys were doing a fair amount of the work.

Ceryl would much rather be sleeping like the wherhandlers. At least they got to be awake when Pern started to cool off and not when he it was the hottest. Probably why she had chosen to stand for wher Hatchings instead of dragons. There was also a clutch for whers already, wasn't there? That helped lean her decision in favor of whers, but it was mostly because not as many people are active at night. less people to bug her as she sewed or just plain thought.

The sudden laughing from those around her brought Ceryl out of her thoughts. What was so funny? Looking around she noticed a boy on the ground looking very worried. No one seemed like they wanted to help him either. With an annoyed sigh she set down her hammer and sack of nails. She wandered over to the now standing candidate with a slight frown on her face. Ceryl couldn't help but give him a bit of heck for his stunt. "You're generally supposed to use those, not break them," she noticed that he already felt bad and her frown grew deeper, "but I suppose it can't be helped. Those tools aren't very sturdy it looks like. I'm sure they won't mind too much."

Ceryl forced herself to try and be friendly with the older boy. "My name is Ceryl. And you are?" she asked, though she still couldn't get the undertones of annoyance out of her voice. Despite being shorter than Zolten she still gave off the feeling of looking down on him. Ceryl brushed a strand of light brown, curling hair behind her ear, eyes watching Zolten calmly.

[randi]

Laughter that he was missing out on? Interest piqued, the lithe frame of the weyrling turned as he set his current materials down to glance at the candidate on whom the eyes were turned. For a moment, the boy smirked slightly, hoping that the crafter of the broken item might be among the others gathered. Hearing a crafter weep over their objects being used to the point of breaking was always an enjoyment, but that didn't seem to be fate's idea today.

L'ron became aware of others getting back to work, but he could personally use a small break, and this might be entertaining at its best, but that someone had lingered to either help or mock the candidate, and he had high hopes when he saw her frown. Yet, all she did was tease him. Faranth, did no one else have any fun around here?

Zolten was glad that most eyes were turned away from him, but the sight of someone drawing nearer, with a frown, was always helpful to help boost his spirits. The fact that she was a girl didn't change matters; he could be scolded just as hard from her as anyone else. His pride hurt, but somehow he managed to smile at her slightly. "I've been doing it all wrong, thanks," there was the slight tone of sarcasm, though it was mostly just poking fun, trying to be cheery.

The comment on the handiwork made him inspect it, squinting at it slightly before he shrugged. "Looks like it was going to be fine to me," then again, anyone who produced decent equipment had Zolten's respect. He couldn't do it, not easily.

Despite the fact she still sounded annoyed with him, he was glad to know her name. His eyes flitted over her, the broken handle switching hands as he stretched the hurt one, wincing slightly from the action. "Nice to meet you Ceryl," he said, hoping she would disregard the brief flash of pain. "I'm Zolten."

"He's got a lovely splinter," L'ron commented from the side, having seen the object that seemed to be paining the other boy. "It'll restrict his hand if you guys," he wasn't involved here, "don't get it out."

[Ember]

Ceryl may be easily angered but she wasn't cruel. Admittedly she probably wouldn't bother seeking the clumsy candidate out in the future anyways. She was slightly surprised at the smile she got in return for pointing out his obvious mistake. What was he so happy about? He just broke the sharding tool didn't he? One brow raised curiously at the even more surprising reply. "Yeah, happy to help," she said lightly, adding a very small smile. She wasn't one for joking around much but not biting someone's head off after just meeting them was do able.

Ceryl gave it a cursory look before shrugging. "Trying to make you feel better about breaking an actually not-so-bad tool doesn't help, what else do you want?" The question was sarcastic and not meant to actually hurt his feelings. "I could try and make you feel worse but that wouldn't be overly nice." it really didn't make any difference to her

Unfortunately for him, Ceryl was pretty good at noticing the small things. She heard his name but was concentrating more on his hand until some person bothered to comment. She glared at the weyrling boy who looked more like a girl in her opinion. The worst part was that he was right about the splinter. "I already know that, pretty boy," she snapped. "So unless you plan to help, keep your mouth shut." With a roll of her eyes she turned back to Zolten. When people said she had a short temper they really meant it.

Ceryl frowned as she looked at his hand. "Now come on and let me take that out. I'm really good with things like that." Her voice was a lot calmer with Zolten but anyone who knew her could tell she was still annoyed at the weyrling of Pointsouttheobviousjusttoannoyherth. Really, what kind of person just walks up to someone, points out their problem, and walks away? Okay...so she was originally planning to do the same thing to Zolten minus checking to see if he was okay and sending him off to get another tool for whoever needed it. Now of course she had to be the mature one and help out.