Beware the Dust Motes (Chores)

[Rei]

Raylin trudged through the weyr grumbling to herself. This morning had not been a pleasant one; she had tumbled off the top bunk, much to the amusement of several of the candidates. She rubbed her pounding head, her headache was sure to make this round of chores highly painful. Archive duty, she had been looking forward to it, until the headache. Who wanted to copy text when their head felt like it was splitting in two?

She entered the record room and swept the area taking in the rows and rows of parchment, ink wells, tables, and the INSANE amounts of dust. “They should have a sign saying beware of dust motes. You could choke on the air in this room.” Raylin snorted as she crossed the room and cleared a table for use. She strode over to the shelves and began examining the rows parchment. She was looking for hatching records. Raylin was curious as to who Zesa’s, the firelizard she had met, parents were.

If she had to do chores she may as well learn something right? She found some hatching records and moved them onto a the table she can cleared. She sat and began poring over the papers trying to ignore the pounding of her head.

[nightingale]

"That' very good you know. You should put it down in writing."

The musing, faintly echoing female voice seemed to come quite out of nowhere. There was after all, no one else visible in Raylin's immiditate vicinity -unless a large, antique writing desk counted toward companionship.

As it was, Saeo had chosen her place beneath the writing desk specifically for the warm, friendly feelings it had given her when she first glimpsed it. She sat curled up just behind an old padded chair that wasn't quite pushed in all the way, her back against the sweet-smelling wood. Up until Raylin's arrival, she had been reading a rather interesting old tome about dragon physiology. On guard as she was however, the sound of human footsteps approaching had drawn her back from her enthrallment to listen to the few muttered words that accompanied them.

As one set of footsteps usually only carried with them one speaker, Saeo had simply assumed that whomever this young woman was, they were talking to themself -and when Saeo encountered someone talking to themself, she just had to answer.

[Rei]

Raylin flinched and visibly jumped at the sound of another voice. She had not seen anyone else when she entered the room and it was rather disconcerting to be suddenly addressed seemingly from thin air. She turned her head toward the voice and saw a brown haired girl curled up behind an old writing desk.

She looked younger than Raylin in fact the majority of the candidates were. She was a bit worried by that fact; she had heard that dragons preferred younger candidates. She hoped it wasn’t too big of a deal. Raylin pushed the records aside and pursed her lips. She twirled a lock of her black hair in her fingers and smiled before speaking. “I thought I was alone in here. Are you a candidate? I think I’ve seen you around the barracks. I’m Raylin of Selenitas Hold.” She paused and waited to see if the girl would see fit to answer her fingers moving up to massage her pounding temples.

[nightingale]

Saeo smiled pleasantly, shifting onto her stomach so she could examine her visitor more clearly, but making no move toward crawling out from under the desk. After all, she had just gotten the carpet warm -if she left now she would have to warm it up all over again.

"Candidate Saeo of the same. I'm the newest of the new -top bunk right across from yours. I do hope your head isn't still hurting from your little accident this morning. That looked like it hurt an awful lot!"

Saeo had been alseep when Raylin's little accident had occured, but it was hard to sleep through a thump that loud -especially when it was followed by a chorus of shreiking laughter that could peel the scales off a 'mandyr. Personally, she didn't really get the humour in someone almost breaking their neck.

"I can take you to the infirmery if it is still bothering you. Anything to get out of this stuffy old records room -besides, I was in there there the other day and one of the healers is reeeeally cute. Maybe he'll be on duty and we can oggle him together -it'll be like a sisterly bonding exercise or somethin'."

[Rei]

Raylin watched the girl shift and winced when she brought up the “incident”. That was probably all everyone would be talking about for days. She groaned. “It still hurts a bit but just a minor headache nothing to be too concerned about. I’m really not jumping for joy at the prospect of copying dusty old records either.” She made a face.

Raylin briefly contemplated opting to go the infirmary. The dismissed the notion with a shake of her head. It would probably just result in more chores later. Might as well buckle down and get to work. She flashed a smile at Saeo. “We should have company soon. We weren’t the only ones assigned record duty. Want to sit next to me?” She pulled another chair over to her table. “You can tell me all about your crush.” She teased.

Raylin already kinda liked this girl. She was obviously a bit different but then again wasn’t everyone in a way? Plus she was a resident of her hold so maybe they had some common acquaintances.

[nightingale]

Saeo dug a canine tooth into her bottom lip, weighing her options before sighing in a deeply contented way. She gave her back a luxurious, feline stretch before grabbing her book and crawling out from under the writing desk.

"To be fair, it only counts as a crush if you actually talk to the gentlemen in question."

She said, pushing herself upright and clearing the small distance between herself in Raylin in two small hops. She slid into the chair next to her, setting her book down and letting her hed rest in her hand. Her flint coloured eyes sparkled with mischeif.

"I haven't even figured out his name yet, but goodness does he have a lovely speaking voice! I may very well throw myself down a flight of stars one day, just so he can tell me what medicine to take for the pain."

She winked, the faintest hint of a blush showing beneath her dark freckles.

"And surely mistress Raylin of Selenitas Hold has seen a fellow of interest in her time here? Or does she perhaps chase after the lassies instead?"

[Rei]

Raylin was taken aback by the girl’s temperament and boldness. She had never met anyone quite like her. She was quite curious about the girl and it was nice to have another female to talk to. She didn’t have any female friends back at the hold. They were all too bossy for her taste. This girl was different, honestly curious with an infectious personality. She smiled at the younger candidate.

“Oh nobody of interest, although to be fair I haven’t been here that long. I haven’t met many people.” She paused thoughtfully before continuing. “I tend to avoid the infirmary like the plague. Fear of sickness and fever you see.”

Raylin smoothed out the hatching record she was looking at and untangled her fingers from her hair. “As for your other question I am straight. Why you interested?” She teased, her brown eyes feigning surprise as she playfully batted her eyelashes at the girl.

[nightingale]

"Oh hardly!"

Saeo chuckled, giving her free hand a dismissive little wave.

"Don't get me wrong, you're absolutely gorgeous -some fantastic legs on you- but if bedding women was that easy for me I wouldn't be expecting a green come next hatching."

A small tilt of her head allowed the girl to look over Raylin's shoulder. She raised one eyebrow questioningly at the hatching record, her dark grey eyes breifly skimming over the text. Not much to see really -names dates and colours printed in a few neat rows. No pictures at all.

"So is this the kind of thing we're supposed to copy out, or are you just curious about 'mandyrs? Can't say I'd blame you if you are. They're gorgeous little beasts."

[Rei]

“Gorgeous?” Raylin repeated not even attempting to conceal the surprise in her tone. Nobody had ever called her gorgeous before. Nor did she think herself anything close to gorgeous. She was too plain for that label, to angular, not enough curves, and her breasts were too small. She wasn’t bothered by that fact though who wanted to ride runners with a pair of boulders threatening to slap you in the face?

The older girl stretched a leg. In fact the only part of her body she really liked where her legs. They were slender yet well muscled from all her years of gripping the sides of runners. She appraised the other girl for a moment. She was obviously working class like herself, very bland in the looks department but her personality more than made up for it. The girl was almost addictive in a way.

She smiled at Saeo’s query. “Not manders, they are too well, obnoxious for my taste. At least the only one I have had the unfortunate experience of meeting was. I prefer firelizards. They are elegant, gorgeous, and have manners.” She pushed the paper closer to Saeo before continuing. “We are supposed to copy and damaged, fading, or messy records. I was just reading this for my own benefit.”

Raylin rose and strode over to another desk grapping blank parchment, some utensils, and ink. She returned to her seat and plopped down next to Saeo. “Might as well get this over with, then we will have some free time. If you want we could go to lunch together.” She stopped and reevaluated her statement before adding. “As much as you wish it however lunch does not count as a “date”. She gave the girl a teasing look and pulled over a record to copy.

Yes, she liked Saeo she hoped they could become friends. It had been to long since she had a friend. In fact she hadn’t had any playmates or anyone to really talk to since her mother’s death.

[nightingale]

Saeo couldn't quite keep from grinning as she watched confusion register on Raylin's face following the compliment paid to her. It would seem that the older girl didn't get complimented very often -that was a shame, she thought with a pang of sympathy, because she really wasn't a bad looking girl. Nice smile, good skin, glossy hair -she might have come from one of those overprotective families though, which would make sense because spending all your time inside didn't give the general public much time to admire you.

"Well I personally find a little bit of an attitude refreshing -keeps people form taking themselves so seriously all the time."

She chirped in defiant response to Raylin's comment on 'mandyrs. She rose and followed her over to an adjacent writing desk where she gathered together an armful of parchment, writing impliments and some ink. She set them down on her side of their work station, then set about examining the immidiate area for any documents that looked like they were on their last legs. After a few minutes search, she found one rather woeful looking scrap of parchment that looked as if it had had something spilled on it. She felt a little sorry for the thing, and so decided that it was as good a place to start as anywhere. She took it back to the writing desk and set it down amid the rest of her supplies. She has just sat down and was rolling up her sleeves when lunch was mentioned.

"Well, aren't we a feisty one?"

She mused, throwing an impish wink in Raylin's direction as she reached for a pen.

"I like that in a women. It really is a shame that we're breeders, because I bet we'd make a great couple."

She carefully dipped the tip of her pen into the ink she had procured earlier, gently tapping it against the glass so that the exess would drip off. She then quickly began to transfer the information from the battered vetran of a scroll she had selected to a fresh sheet of parchment, using long whispy strokes.

This was nice, she though with a quiet but deply contented sigh. This sitting and talking freely to another girl without being judged -very nice indeed. She couldn't remember the last time someone had been so benignly welcoming of her company. Saeo had always been aware of her 'uniqueness', and so had simply gotten used to the snickers and strange looks she often recieved. This...this was new, and she rather liked it.

[Rei]

The raven haired girl made a face. “Attitude is not the right word for them. You will see what I mean if you are ever unfortunate enough to come in contact with one of the annoying beasts.” She inwardly flinched at the memory of Stupid’s sharp little claws and overly loud voice. Yes manders were not one of her favorite draconic creatures.

“Breeders?” Raylin laughed, “Well that’s one way to put it I guess.” She mused merrily. “Besides we don’t have to be involved to enjoy each other’s company no?” She fell to writing her pen making small elegant strokes. They wrote in silence for awhile when Raylin suddenly broke the peace with a question. “I thought others were assigned to chore with us? Maybe they find us distasteful?” She broke off again and contemplated that thought.

[nightingale]

The girl tilted her head ever so slightly to the left, reguarding Raylin with what was her characteristicly open expression. She keep her pen poised just above the last word she had written, knowing full well that it she set it down it would be nearly impossible for her to bring herself to pick it up again.

"You're right...I wonder where they all are. Perhaps they came in early and got drafted into dusting or whatnot?"

Perhaps they had gotten their rotations confused? No, if they had there would be other candidates in the record room right now, doing the same duties they were. It was rather odd though now that she came to think about it.

"I doubt they find us all that distasteful. With your legs and my sparkling personality we might set ourselves to making a rather appealing young woman."