A Petition for Advancement (M'ta)

[Aftershock]

Lilu stood outside the M'ta's office, standing at parade rest. She was dressed in a pair of tight cotton pants, a long-sleeved tight blouse with a vest over it to cover the open-laced back, and thin wherskin boots. She wished she had some decent riding leathers, but unfortunately she would have to dress in what she had available.

Venideth was lying on the ground beside her. Normally she would have left him in her barracks room, but he was still quite newborn, and though his mind was quite well developed already at hatching, his body was not, and she did not want to leave him alone for too long. Hearing her thoughts, Venideth raised his head from the floor and fixed Lilu with a look, his eyes swirling orange as he mindsaid, "Lilumine, I am not like a human child. I am not helpless without you. I did not have to sit here and die from boredom while we wait for this 'M'ta' person." Matching his glance, Lilu thought back, "Having you here will strengthen my position as a responsible rider for my petition, so you are here. You will not die from boredom, as you say."

Taking her attention from her dragon and to the time candle in the alcove beside M'ta's office door, Lilu verified she was there on time. M'ta should be coming back to his office any moment now, if he was punctual as he should be...

[Requiem]

Squishy squashy wishawashy "Singing in a raaaainboooow!" Proud father though he may have been, even M'ta had to admit that it would probably be better for everyone involved if his daughter didn't sing quite so loud. She wouldn't be able to carry a tune if she had a bucket to slosh it into. Devon was decidedly more musically inclined, but the 'mandyr was equally more likely to sing nonsense. Glancing down at a small tug on his pantleg, he smiled at Riaren's almost pained look and mouthed They're terrible, aren't they? The boy wrinkled his nose, glanced back at his sister of sorts to make sure she wasn't paying attention at the moment, then nodded quickly. M'ta chuckled and ruffled his hair before returning to the painstaking task of crutching through the Weyr to his office. Yay, crutches. If he didn't have healers (and Elysia, oddly enough) barking after him about taking it easy he'd gladly leave them in a corner to collect dust.

So it was that the Weyrlingmaster came upon Lilu's rigid form outside his office, with a trail of adopted children (though no less his for all that) at his back. The song immediately ceased as his three-turn-old daughter walked up to Lilu and stared at her with curious dark eyes. "Whatchu doin?" "She's standin," Ria whispered, and from how close he was to M'ta and the motion to draw Teri back that he made with his hand, it was clear that this strange girl made him uncomfortable. Especially looking like that. The brownrider opened the door. "Go on in, Ria. Teri." A pause. "Teri. Now." The girl wrinkled her nose, then followed Riaren inside, but neither went far; two sets of eyes, one brown and one green, stared at the weyrling curiously from the safety of M'ta's office.

It would be a lie to say that the Weyrlingmaster didn't find Lilu's stance equally curious. He may have been northern himself. From Bitra, in fact, and no stranger to hardship of all sorts. But he'd been at Selenitas now for over eight turns and Behruth was one of Millieth's hatchlings; he wasn't used to the military structure of the northern Weyrs. "Unless you plan on guarding my door, you can come in. You too, Venidenth." M'ta turned to make his way inside, leaning crutches against his desk and pulling himself up to sit on top of it. Terilyn was now taking great interest in the blue hatchling, all but petting him. The brownrider glanced at her, willing her not to start mindspeaking to yet another dragon. Enough people knew about her already to make him nervous.

"What is it, then?" Riaren had drifted over closer to M'ta and was still giving Lilu a wide-eyed, somewhat suspicious look.The brownrider placed a hand on his head. He noticed the tightness of her clothing. It was somewhat difficult not to. Though he wasn't sure why she'd bother with a man who'd taken another man as a husband...maybe she didn't know. Or maybe this was just how she usually dressed and had nothing to do with her appearance in his office. Faranth knew she wouldn't be the only woman who felt the need to validate herself by wearing such clothing.

[Aftershock]

Lilu did her best to hide her own discomfort as the young children appeared with the Weyrlingmaster... and began to observe her like some kind of oddity. She had been trained to keep her discipline despite distractions, however, and did not respond to the children's questions or comments... or proximity. At M'ta's command, however, Lilu quickly snapped to attention, then followed him into the office, summoning Venideth after her.

Marching to stand before M'ta's desk, she snapped to attention once more, saluting crispy before stating, "Jr. Weyrling Lilu reporting, sir. I have a request to make of you."

As Venideth squeezed through the doorway and positioned himself behind Lilu, sitting on his haunches in an attentive, but still relaxed, posture, he mindspoke to Lilu as the children got closer, saying, "These human younglings get much too close to me. It would probably be best, Lilumine, to remind them I have not been fed in the last hour." Her mouth twisting a bit in a combination of frustration and humor, she added, "Sir, Venideth is feeling uncomfortable with the proximity of your children. I politely request you call them back."

[Requiem]

Yes, a brow truly did arch up into his hairline when the girl marched forward and saluted him of all things, her reporting statement clipped, overly formal and decidedly ignoring the fact that he'd just told her to out with it. M'ta didn't have a tremendous amount of patience. His former weyrlings had been wagging their tongues a good deal, if the comments from old friends were any indication. He already had a reputation for being something of a slavedriver without having taught a single class just yet. He might have snapped at her already if her behavior hadn't been so strange to him. The concept of rank was nothing short of abstract to a man from the streets. Yes, he knew that, at least by the knots he often disdained to wear, he was equal to Caden, equal to the spouse of the Lord or Lady of a major Hold. But how was he supposed to digest something like that? Coming from a world where his worth had gone from nothing to how much annoyance he could cause the Hold authorities. Respect was earned in his world, not given, and it was earned by the toughest and nastiest (or most clever) who could take it for themselves.

She might have caught M'ta flatfooted so to speak, but her next words caused a change in the man's face. Terilyn was already half-stumbling back, pressing against M'ta's uninjured leg and sticking her tongue out at the two of them now that her courage was strengthened by the touch of her father at her back. Without even looking at her, M'ta slapped her cheek lightly and the tongue disappeared back into her mouth. Her glare didn't diminish though. Riaren hadn't moved from right next to M'ta and was now looking from the Weyrlingmaster to the weyrling and back. "Politely," the man growled. "Referring to my children like they're dogs is polite to you?"

A wry, humorless smile that was more a bearing of teeth than ought else was flashed at her, then. "Might I suggest you fucking get on with your business like you should have when I asked you the first time before you piss me off anymore. I can't imagine you're as likely to get as desirable a response from me when I'm about one more wrong word away from throwing something large and heavy at your pretty little empty head." Okay, so maybe he hadn't taken her request very kindly at all.

[Aftershock]

Lilu was taken aback by the man's reaction. They were children, they shouldn't be in a meeting between a weyrling and the weyrlingmaster to begin with. The man should have excused them as soon as he saw that Lilu was here on official business. Then... then he insulted her? Called her empty-headed? Lilu's ire rose at that, and when she replied, it was with all her professionalism holding back her anger. "Well, sir," she began, doing her best not to speak through clenched teeth, "since I have already been through weyrling training back at Benden, as can likely be verified by either Rider Elisabeta or Rider Farryl, both of whom were present when I was Searched after my... traumatic experience... at Igen Hold, and likely saw my Benden knots, I would like to request being allowed to be immediately promoted to full rider status. I understand that Venideth is still immature, and will stay in my Jr. Weyrling barracks room until he has gained the ability of full flight, but I believe I would be better utilized as a full rider than going through training I've already completed."

She dropped into parade rest, feeling her clothing stretch tight as she moved, and cursed a bit in her head, knowing the clothing was reducing her appearance as a professional and undermining her position, but there was nothing to do about it now. As she stood waiting for a response, Venideth spoke to her, saying, "Lilumine, this man is a brownrider, and I don't believe I have the capability at my early development to take him or His in combat. However, we shall remember this slight, and when the time is right... he will pay for his insolence." Venideth's posture remained unchanged, but his eyes flashed orange-red at M'ta for just a moment before returning to their neutral blue coloration.

[Requiem]

Flashing his teeth at her again, he leaned forward, eyes narrowing to mere slits. "Full rider of what?" the brownrider questioned in a dangerously soft tone of voice. "A rider without a dragon to ride is not a rider. Surely your arrogance doesn't render you blind to that fact." Anything else the brownrider might have said was interrupted by Terilyn. "You will not! I'm gonna tell on you! Maman, the stupid bl-" M'ta merely fixed his gaze sternly on Teri. "But they want to-" "Enough." Then, a touch gentler, "You can tell me later, Teri." This didn't quite satisfy her, but she fell silent. Ria, however, had something else to add as his small hand came up to twine fingers with M'ta's. "Angry eyes." His greens were locked on Venideth.

It was hard to say what it was exactly. Whether it was the reaction of the children, the distinctly uncomfortable look of the girl with her clothes so tight she looked fit to burst out of them at any moment, or the fact that her little baby dragon was...well, a little baby dragon, some of the fury went out of M'ta's face. Instead he just seemed tired. "Your dragon needs to be taught by a dragon. You did not teach your first dragon how to fly and you have never flown yourself. There are things they cannot learn from people."

His eyes flicked briefly to Venideth and then back to Lilu. "Perhaps you'll find that you have not learned all there is to learn yet. Perhaps you'll gain something from your classmates or from me. Whether you do or not, though, the answer is no. Even had I been inclined to, it is not my decision to give you special treatment. You will earn everything you get like everyone else. You're dismissed."

[Aftershock]

Lilu fought to hold back her emotions, made even worse by Venideth's aggression towards the brownrider, and simply grit her teeth as veins protruded from her forehead as M'ta continued to dress her down. Then, the little boy saw Venideth's eyes flash with anger, and M'ta seemed to suddenly calm down.

Lilu sat there, slowly calming herself as the tension, seemingly vanished from M'ta, drained out of the room. Her muscles, tensed like cables, slowly relaxed as M'ta explained his reasoning. Then, he dismissed her. Lilu almost said something, starting with, "Bu-", but then cut herself off, and sighed visibly (her tight shirt straining with the effort) before nodding once and saying, "Yes, sir, I understand." Snapping to attention again and giving another crisp salute (ignoring M'ta's apparent dislike of proper military protocol), she turned on her heel and marched from the room, calling Venideth to follow her. Venideth, for his part, stalked out of the room after His, but kept his eyes locked on M'ta until he finally squeezed out of the door, following His back to their room.

((End Thread))