Very Dusty (Chores, Group I, July)

[kysseh]

Sav coughed lightly and waved a hand in front of her face, perturbed by the amount of dust stirred up when she opened the door to the storage room. Piles upon piles and bags of firestone, all were there waiting to be appropriately taken care of. The instructions on the chore had been vague, but the room made it clear enough what was to be done. Tiny unusable pieces went in the barrel off to the side for someone else to deal with. The other pieces were to be bagged into the sacks sitting in piles to join the other full sacks for rider use. There were sacks of all sizes, and Savitri knew that she, in her injured state, was going to be struggling with the largest of the bags at first, which peeved her.

Still, she found a rather medium-sized bag and went back over to the stash of firestone to start sorting, glad she had dressed for getting dirty. Even if it was not the messiest of materials, the dust and dirt in the room had already made her clothing a bit dirty, and she planned on getting no cleaner. She did sneeze once but was otherwise unbothered. Being filthy rarely bothered her so long as she was getting something done. This was not her first choice of chores, but she could hardly complain. She would be on archive duty soon, which meant seeking out some healing records to find and copy over. The thought of that spurred her on.

Having fun, Mine? Hepaticath asked in mild amusement as she checked in on Savitri's progress with chores. The gold was resting again on her couch, but she would be up and moving right around the time Savitri finished her chores in exhaustion. The young woman had learned that life just worked like that, but she could scarcely deny Hepaticath the attention. The gold was surprisingly polite with her demands, which pleased Savitri. An unmannerly or sour dragon would have made her life supremely difficult.

You know it better than I. Savitri replied with just a touch of sarcasm as she set to work on sorting. Too small... that one was tossed in the barrel. Good size, good size.... not firestone. She eyed the smooth, flat gray rock and wondered on how it had gotten in with the firestone. Rapping it on the floor proved it did not crack or crumble, and she tossed it into one of the other barrels that was filled with rock detritus that should not have gotten in with the firestone. Really, who could mistake that?! Shaking her head, she resumed her work, becoming quickly engrossed in it as she worked to fill up the sack. This was no worse than boat duty, really, though she would need a bath or two upon finishing.

[ryanne]

Finally, a chore that was actually useful. Being switched off of boat duty was definitely a relief for Liassa. She was tired of sitting around and doing nothing. If she was going to have to do chores, she wanted to be doing something instead of just wasting her time. She was a capable young woman and manual labor was not something that she had a hard time with. Boat duty was just ridiculous and at the end of it all, she felt like she was getting nothing done. At least if she was going to be sorting firestone, she'd know that she was doing something productive. She could see the end results. Firestone was so vital and she knew that the weyr needed it properly divided into bags for the next Fall. This was a chore she'd do and she'd do almost almost happily.

Dressed in her worst clothes, she entered the room, surprised to see Savitri already there and working. "Are you supposed to be doing chores like this injured?" she asked, itching her nose to keep from sneezing before joining her fellow weyrling in the messy pile of stones. "I don't think that work like this would be very good for it," she continued, beginning to sort through the pieces. She knew that no matter what, her friend would pull her weight. Since the hatching, Savitri had done everything she could with her injury, despite many warnings from the other healers and her friends. Liassa supposed that was just how the girl was, but she worried sometimes that she was going to hurt herself doing it. The last thing the weyr needed was a maimed or permanently injured goldrider.

Something in Liassa was glad, though, that Savitri was here. She'd been meaning to get the girl alone for a while to talk about something. She needed to know what was wrong with her and, even though she had a good idea, she was hoping desperately that Savi would laugh at her and tell her she just had had the flu for the past...three months. Realizing that now would be the time to talk to her and find out, her eyes went to the ground and her hands grew slightly unsteady as she continued to comb through the firestone, looking for the miniature rocks that couldn't be used. It was definitely noticeable that she was all the sudden very nervous.

Be calm, Mine, Tiaeth urged, even though she wasn't exactly sure what was going on. Isn't Hepaticath's a friend?[/i] Obviously the little green thought that Hers' sudden anxiety was stemming from fear of the girl beside her. Mentally reassuring her bonded, Liassa went back to work, picking through the pieces. "Umm," she began, trying to find the right words, "I know now's, err, probably not the be--best time, but I need your advice." She stumbled through the words awkwardly, trying not to flush too red. This was so hard. She knew that she needed to know, but she wasn't ready. She didn't want to know. And that was the hardest part.[/size]

[kysseh]

Savitri was surprised to hear the door open behind her, wondering which weyrling would voluntarily choose firestone over changing glows. She realized a split second later that she should not be quite so surprised, and she offered up a smile for Liassa, sneezing a brief instant later at the dust cloud that arose from the opening and closing of the door. She had not spoken to the girl in awhile, so it was a relief to see her about. Besides that, help was always welcome. Savitri was not averse to working hard, but having intelligent and reasonable company always made it much, much easier.

"My wounds are mostly closed. Still bandaged, but they pulled out the stitches. He got mostly skin and not a great deal of muscle. It was the blood loss that was the worst," she replied as she tossed another not-firestone bit into the barrel. Of course, the scars still ached and pulled, and they would for quite awhile. The weyrling was not about to sit idle until she healed, though. Keeping carefully active was the best way to keep scar tissue from getting too stiff, that and regular massages and treatments with salve. She was careful with her wounds, but sitting around was not an option. "As long as I'm not tossing heavy bags around or really putting pressure on them, the wounds are closed enough to be fine now. It's been over a month." Her tone was a bit more reassuring this time around.

She managed to fill the bag and tied it off, carefully dragging it over to the pile of already-filled sacks that was present. Her wounds were a bit on the sore side, but she preferred it that way. She would always know when to stop, and right now, it was not near the stopping point. She stretched her back very gently and then picked up another similar-sized bag to head back towards the pile of firestone. It did not escape her notice that Liassa had started right in on the chore, and that pleased her. It appeared that her instincts on the girl had been right after all; she was not as much of a senseless idiot as some of the other candidates and weyrlings.

She glanced over at Liassa again, noting that her eyes seemed to be downcast, her hands just a little quavery. Savitri was no fool, and she immediately paused in her work in favor of looking over the girl she called friend. Something was wrong, and even though Liassa continued to work, Savitri smelled a problem. She straightened and waited as Liassa stuttered something out about advice. The young woman strongly suspected that it was not dragonriding advice... perhaps friendly advice, though... that Liassa sought. Luckily for both of them, Savitri did not waste time beating around the bush.

"Considering there isn't anyone else around, this is a good time for advice, though I can't promise I know the proper answer." She knew that Liassa was far more a diplomat than she would ever be, and she was fine with that. Buttering people up was not her specialty; sewing them up was. "What is it about?" she asked, noting the flush. Whatever it was, it was not something simple, and even though she resumed filling the new bag before her, her green eyes were focused more on her fellow weyrling than on the chore at hand.

[ryanne]

Liassa rolled her eyes dramatically at Savi’s defense. She spoke like a healer, though, so she knew better than to argue. “Well, if you have to rest, don’t hesitate to do so. I know that you’ll do as much as you can and you know that I’ll be able to just fine without you when you have to rest.” She didn’t want her to over exert herself. It wouldn’t be good for anyone. “Okay, then you just take care of the smaller bags and I’ll do the larger ones. I can handle them just fine. I managed to move when some errant dragon hatchlings were rushing at me,” she joked lightheartedly. She didn’t think that the goldweyrling would take her seriously.

Distractedly, she began to grab at the larger bags. Sifting through for a moment, she grabbed a large bag and began to fill it up. She was careful to fill up the bag, carefully making sure that only the proper sized pieces made it in. The largest bags were for the bronzes and they needed the largest pieces. It was a little difficult pulling the sack behind her, but she was careful to make sure not to crush anymore of the firestone and not to pull any of her muscles as she lugged it. It wasn’t too long before it was filled and she had to lift it up and move it back to the edge of the room where the other full bags were.

Pausing for a moment, she wiped a bit of hair out of her face and then bent back down to sort for a second or two before starting to fill a new bag. At Savitri’s response, her hands only shook harder and a tear began to leak out of the side of her eye. Wiping it away and earning herself a black streak across her eye, she sniffed a little before bending back down to continue sorting, looking for the words to begin her story. She had to start somewhere, but she wasn’t sure if she could bear to tell the full story. It was an embarrassment and the last person she wanted to embarrass herself in front of was Savitri. If she had anyone else, anyone else at all to turn to, she would. At least she could be sure of Savi’s discretion. That was a small comfort.

Sighing, she grabbed another bag. She decided not leave out the beginning until it was asked of her. If her, her symptoms fit like she thought they did, then maybe she’d tell Savitri, but only if she asked. She wasn’t sure she was ready to tell her otherwise. She could barely deal with it herself. “Almost every morning for the past four months I’ve been getting sick in the morning. I get headaches all the time—like the one I had when I first met you. I don’t feel like myself. Sometimes I feel myself snapping at people for no reason and the next statement I’m complimenting them. I think, I think I’m gaining weight even though my eating is so off.” Her words became choked at the end as she moved her hand to her stomach. There was a small lump there that she didn’t have a few months ago. “And,” she stopped, clearing her throat and another tear falling from her eye, “And I haven’t had my monthlies since this began.”

Saying it, telling someone, it was unbelievably clear to her. She just hoped that there was some other explanation. Liassa knew, knew in her heart that there wasn’t. All the signs were there. Shards, all the signs were there before the hatching. Now she had Impressed and she had her Tiaeth. It just wouldn’t work. It couldn’t work. And she had a feeling that this wouldn’t be good for either of them and it was too late. Too late to, to take care of it. And it was all beginning to press on her, suffocating her and it was scary.

[kysseh]

Savitri snorted softly. She was initially a bit taken aback by Liassa's comment about moving away from hatchlings but decided to let it slide, mostly because snarking back was absolutely pointless and the girl had not meant it to be cruel. "I've got no doubts that you can handle it," she said lightly, tossing aside another minutely small piece that would not do for use. The bag was going to take awhile to fill with as distracted as she was, but she was not especially worried about speed. "Well, I'd do it again if I had to. Wasn't about to let that boy die, though I hope he doesn't follow the example of the rest of the bronzeriders," she groaned softly. She had had enough of being fussed over.

Liassa's sniff alerted her to trouble, and Savitri glanced over at her friend, brows furrowing in concern at the sight of the tear-and-dust smear across her eye. She stopped sorting and waited patiently for Liassa to explain, shocked when she did. The healer in her went through the list and came to an inescapable conclusion, and the goldweyrling was torn between a smile and a reproachful frown. She settled for a faint smile and left her bag, walking over to place a gentle, if dirty, hand on the other weyrling's arm. She knew that Liassa was no fool, and the tears clued her in that the girl suspected the same conclusion. Barring an abnormal growth in her abdomen, there was no reason for her monthlies to skip so regularly. Even longtime female dragonriders who went through frequent trips between did not have that sort of regular skip. Theirs were irregular, at best, and Liassa was not frequently going between.

"I know this is private, but have you... been with anyone recently? I think you have, or you wouldn't be crying." Sav was not known for her gentle way of speaking, but the compassion in her tone was unmistakable. The hand that Liassa rested on her stomach was telling, and Savitri felt a stab of pity for the girl. She was young, younger than Savitri, and this was a hard burden to bear for even a single adult woman. The headaches and mood swings, the morning sickness.... ohh, there could be other reasons for issues to last a month or two, but the hand was what sealed the deal. She made a mental note to talk to Kalierre about getting Liassa some proper monitoring.

What is wrong, Mine? Hepaticath asked, alerted by the sudden, quick-moving nature of Savitri's thoughts. Later, Cath. Let me sort this out with Tiaeth's first. Savitri soothed, her attention fully on Liassa again. Suddenly, she did a few bits of mental calculations, and her eyes widened. "You knew at the Hatching, didn't you?" There was no way she could have missed that, and she only wished she had paid more attention to her friend's condition before now. It could have avoided a great deal of distress on Liassa's part. "I thought you looked off, but I didn't realize." Now her tone was one of self-recrimination. She should have noticed, but she had been too caught up in the thrill of the Hatching.

[ryanne]

Liassa laughed at her comment about the rest of the bronzeriders. “I met a new one the other day. He was positively irritating, but I guess I had fun.” Thinking about swimming with T’rid, she laughed for a moment. “We got dumped into the water by his bronze. It was a good ride though,” she mused as she continued to fill the next bag.

When Savi’s hand restedon her shoulder, the tears started to flow for real. She didn’t like to cry especially in front of other people. She needed to keep moving and keep working or she was going to have a real breakdown. She had chores to do and she couldn’t breakdown, not in front of Savitri. But the tears just kept falling, streaming down her face and making tracks down her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she sniffed, trying to stem the flow, but they just wouldn’t stop. She ran her fingers over the bump at her midsection again before clutching it, it was going to change her life and she could barely even think about it right now.

And then she asked the question, the question that Lia could barely answer. “The gold Flight,” she murmured, her voice barely audible. “I was in the bathing rooms. I—“ she began to stutter, “I lost control.” The tears continued, gaining intensity with her words. “I never, I never before,” she continued, trying to wipe the tears from her cheeks and only making an even bigger mess of it all. “I’m pregnant, aren’t I?” she asked, barely able to use the word. It had become taboo to her and she couldn’t face that she was probably, most likely pregnant, shard it, that word again.

“I don’t think I can do this,” Liassa murmured, trying to continue to fill the bags. Her hands were shaking too badly, though, and her eyes were too blurred by the tears. Frustrated, she sat down in the middle of the rocks, tears still falling down her face even though no sobs were wracking her body. The only thing she could do was cry and it was killing her.

[kysseh]

Savitri chuckled lightly and shook her head. Ah, but males could be among the most idiotic of creatures. Annoying, too. The one at the Hatching Feast had forever earned himself a place in her dislike. "Some of them aren't quite so bad, but several I could live without. A few of our fellow weyrlings aren't so bad either." As'lin and M'ritz immediately came to mind. She hadn't seen the boy from the hatching except once, briefly, at their lesson. She had a feeling she would need to introduce herself to him too.

She was concerned when the tears really began to flow, and she made a soft noise meant to soothe the other girl. "Nothing to apologize for," she said, her tone compassionate but firm. And really, there was nothing for her to be sorry for. That is what friends were for, after all, and she was sure she would need to vent at someone after Hepaticath's first Rising. She got a distinctly uncomfortable feeling at the simple thought. Heedless of the grime on them both, she gently patted the girl on the shoulder, her eyes full of concern. The way she clutched at her belly implied that she was already fond of the child, albeit understandably afraid. Savitri got scarcely blame her for either emotion, even if the healer did not approve of the timing.

Oh, Aslath's Flight! Understanding dawned, and Savitri offered a rare embrace, sliding her arm around Liassa's shoulders for a gentle squeeze. Yes, that explained quite a lot. She could not understand how the sensible Liassa could have been so reckless, but she had heard stories of Flightlust and remembered the sudden rise in unfamiliar urges. She had thrown herself into an organizing fit and had Shadow stand guard until the unwelcome emotions passed. Liassa, apparently, had not been so lucky as to have a guard 'mandyr on her side.

"Without an examination by a journeyman, I couldn't tell you for sure. But it's the only explanation that makes any sense, and the timing is about right," Savitri pointed out as delicately as she could manage, trying to figure out the best way to proceed. It was easier on strangers or near-strangers than friends. "I think a lot of people fell under the influence of Flightlust. Whatever boy was with you certainly did too." Then again, men were a little more carefree about it. They did not have the risk of pregnancy hanging over their heads.

She snorted softly and made an attempt to swat Liassa's hands away from the bag, kneeling down carefully before her when the girl sat down. Sudden remembrance hit, and Savitri rummaged around in her little belt pouch until she lit on the wide strips of cloth she kept for emergency bandages, which she had never had to use so far. She pulled one out--it wasn't but the size of the girl's face, but it'd do--and offered it. "Here. You're making a terrible mess of your face with all the dust," she said, trying hard to keep from smiling at the amusing picture the girl made, even with her sorrow. "And yes, you can. You had enough wits to Impress, didn't you? There is no reason you can't handle a child."

She wanted to inquire who the father was but decided that that tidbit could wait until the girl was more in control and less upset. Poor thing. Why hadn't she approached Savitri earlier?! Busy though she was, this was something that was a little more important than a round of sharding chores. "I'm sorry you're upset. It should be something joyous, really. What can I do?" she asked, shifting the weight on her knees a bit.

[ryanne]

Her tears continued to flow but she tried to stop them. Trying to think of anything but the topic at hand. But she couldn’t help it. It hurt so much to know that she had to deal with this now. She’d hoped for months that she was wrong, that her monthlies would come back, that it would all go away. But it persisted. Every morning she woke up and all but ran to the privy. Sometimes she would just be so sharding hungry and she couldn’t explain it. She was irritable one moment and happy the next. She couldn’t keep up with herself and she hated it. And this was only the early stages. She still had so many left to go.

She used to laugh at the women who got knocked up without any stability. They should have known better, she always thought. If they weren’t ready to have children, they shouldn’t have had sex. But she turned into one of them. She should have had more control than that and it was killing her. Her control was something she was always proud of. No guy had gotten the better of her. She’d been through so many Flights, but she’d lost control in this one and she had gotten herself pregnant. She was a weyrling! With a small dragon and now she was going to have—have a baby! Shards, she didn’t know what to do with a baby.

When Savi wrapped her arms around her, the tears just broke loose. For a moment, she let herself sob, letting it all out before she choked it back up. She couldn’t do this. Not now. She needed to be strong now. “I can’t have an examination, not now. Your word is enough,” she told her unsteadily. She didn’t want anyone else knowing. Not until they had to. Sure, healers would keep it quiet, but she couldn’t bear to have to tell the story again, to have someone else look at her with the understanding of what she had done. She couldn’t deal with it, it would hurt too much. She always thought she would have children when she was ready. Shards, she wasn’t even in a relationship with Swithin and now she had to display to the weyr the fact that she couldn’t hold her own during a Flight! She couldn’t catalyze it, she couldn’t let more people know before she had to.

“He’s a good man, the best I suppose for the situation,” Lia choked out, managing to still the sobs, but the tears continued to fall at a rapid pace. She wasn’t sure if Swithin would want her to tell people that he was the father. She knew it was hard enough for her as the mother. Everyone would have to know that she was the mother, but he still had his discretion. Shards, she still had to tell him. Their awkward friendship would be shattered by the fact that they would have a constant reminder of their first meeting. For a moment, she wondered if she should just keep it quiet and, if he asked, tell him that it was someone else. But then she had to discard the notion. It was crazy and he would never believe it. He knew how awkward it was for both of them and, somehow she was sure he knew that she wouldn’t go and do it again. She was way too upset for that. She would have to tell him. That would be harder for her than talking to Savitri. She wasn’t only ruining her life now, but his.

[kysseh]

Savitri patiently let her finish crying, knowing she had to get it all out at some point. While Liassa rid herself of her sorrow, Savitri's mind was working as quickly as it could to figure out a reasonable solution to present. Betweening was likely out of the question now, and she doubted very much that Liassa would want to abort the child, not with the way her hand had drifted over her abdomen like that. No, the girl would want to carry it to term and probably foster. Shards, but to have a newly hatched weyrling plus a baby on the way.... no wonder the girl was in tears!

Kalierre, the journeyman healer, could be trusted. If she could convince Liassa to appeal to Kalierre for help, the healer would be able to guide her where Savitri couldn't. The girl would have to be careful about chores and over-exerting herself, and though she doubted she could convince the girl to slow down much, that would be a necessity. Unfortunately, it all depended on Liassa having the courage to admit what happened, but Savitri trusted her to make the right choice by her and her unborn child. The girl had more sense than that.

Or... perhaps not.

Pulling back a bit, she looked over the girl's face to see her hesitance. Why couldn't she be looked over by a healer?! The weyrlingmasters could not make her abort at this late of a stage, and people were going to find out eventually. "I still think you should see a healer," Savitri said as firmly as she could manage without being completely overbearing. "And not just to be looked at for confirmation but to make sure that you and the baby are healthy. You can't be doing chores like this. It's not just your health to worry about anymore." There was the child to consider too, after all, and Savitri did not want to lose sight of that in favor of trying to help her friend. "I know one of the healers very well. She's a rider too, so she'd understand... Flightlust and all that better than I can." Far, far better. She had witnessed Phremath's Flight... Run.... whatever... through the weyr and its rather interesting effect on the riders involved. "She can help."

Sighing, she blotted lightly at the tears with the cloth in her hand, the practical healer in her tempted to slap Liassa across the face and sternly force her to face reason. Her compassionate side wouldn't let her, though, so the weyrling was stuck with no options but to let the girl finish choking on her own tears, which was a pitiful option at best. "If he's a good man, then you can rely on him to help you. Have you told him yet?" Based on the sobs and her uncertainty, her guess was no, and Savitri fervently wished there was something more she could do. She just had to tell someone, though. If Liassa would not see reason, she would have to threaten, for both Liassa's and the child's sake. There was no other option.

[ryanne]

Shard these tears to hell. They were not helping. She couldn’t think clearly anymore. It seemed that every time word “pregnancy” or “baby” ran through her mind, she broke down into another bout of tears. But it just wouldn’t do. She needed to clear her mind. Crying was good and everything, but it needed to end, now. She needed to get a hold of herself and stop acting like a dimglow. She was sharding stronger than this and she didn’t need to be dumping this all on Savitri. Sure, the girl was her friend, but it wasn’t her job to pick up the pieces as Liassa fell apart. Lia was the one who other people leaned on, not the other way around.

Her tears finally stopping, she took the cloth from Savitri and wiped at the dirty tracks that covered her face. “Thank you,” she murmured softly. She was lucky to have a friend like this right now. Most people were alone through this, but she knew that Swithin would support her and Savi would be there for her. Her mother would be angry with her, but she knew she had plenty of friends that would be there for her and her mother would come around eventually. If she thought about it clearly, she really wasn’t too badly off. She just had the Weyrling Master to worry about. They wouldn’t be too happy that she Stood when she was pregnant. She could just argue that she didn’t know because, technically, she didn’t.

A bit defeated, Liassa nodded. “If you trust her, I’ll go see her. I need to know that my morning sickness is normal. It’s a bit harsher than I heard from most people. And she’ll know what chores are safe and which ones aren’t.” It worried her a bit, but she also knew that some women got it worse than others. Unfortunately, she seemed to be one of those people who had to deal with it a lot and badly. With the chores, she would still continue to pull her weight, but she’d try to do it so that she wouldn’t affect her baby. The last thing she wanted was the injure the little one growing inside of her. As much as it was going to turn her life topsy-turvy, she already felt responsible for her child and an odd connection to the little one. She couldn’t do a thing to hurt the unborn babe. “She won’t tell anyone, right?” She felt wimpy, asking that question. “Nevermind,” she took it back hastily, “I suppose it won’t matter if people find out now or later. I should probably talk to the weyrling masters, too, should I?” It really wasn’t a question. She knew it would be better that they found out now before she started showing noticeably. They would not be happy at all. But there really was nothing that she could do about it…

“No, I haven’t told him,” she replied, finishing wiping her face. The cloth was dark now with soot. “I'll clean it for you,” she muttered distractedly. “I think he’ll take it well. I just don’t want him to feel obligated to do anything. I can take care of my babe myself. I don’t want to turn his life upside down too. We made a silly mistake and I can deal with it myself.” It wasn’t completely true. Part of her wanted help, but Liassa would never admit that. She would do her best to make sure that Swithin didn’t get into anything he didn’t want. It wouldn’t be fair to the male.

[reqqy]

The Headwoman had told him that this was what needed to be done - which did not particularly amuse him. Mutasim knew that candidates weren't often left to bag firestones. He'd pointed that out to the overbearing diddy, too, but she'd only laughed at his protestations. "You've been here long enough to figure it out, don't you think, lad?" Well, he thought it was rather irresponsible of her to allow any candidate to handle firestone that dragons would be using, as it wasn't something they were trained in, but what did he know? He was just a candidate, after all. Mutasim certainly didn't want it getting back to the candidatemaster that he'd refused to do what she'd asked him - and he was quite positive that the Headwoman would not be forthcoming with the details of the task.

With a quiet sigh, the candidate pushed through the door to the storage room, and - well, coughed. So much dust and ground up minerals in the air he could barely see, much less breathe. Just absolutely great. He'd have to go and bathe again today, apparently, and he'd just washed up, too. Mutasim wasn't a big fan of bathing more than once a day. It seemed like an utter waste of water. In fact, it had been such a luxury when he first arrived that he was quite certain half the candidates avoided him due to his stench - the young man had been loathe to waste something as precious as water - as much as his surly attitude.

Only then did he notice that there had been female voices. Female voices that now were silent. There were others here? What did the Headwoman need him for, anyway?! Mutasim was almost afraid to look upon what further tortures the woman might have set up for him, but his morbid side kept his eyes open, the young man blinking away the grit with some effort. He could feel all the particles weighing down his eyelashes. What an absolute mess. Once he did note who was with him, a random series of impressions whirled into a knot in his belly. Recognition. Mild pleasure at finding Savitri. Displeasure because he'd rather be with strangers. Distress that the other one - Liassa he thought her name was - seemed to be in tears. Disdain that she should be crying at all. And general confusion as to why the girls were apparently in the middle of a weeping session in the middle of the firestone storage room.

Opening his mouth to apologize and beat a hasty retreat, Headwoman's orders or no, he inhaled yet another lungful of firestone particles and doubled over, coughing violently. "Shardit!" he managed, rather breathlessly. "How can you two stand this?"

[kysseh]

"You're welcome," Savitri replied softly, watching Liassa attempt to clean the mess off her face. It was likely futile, considering the amount of airborne debris in the room, but it seemed to give her some measure of comfort which Savitri was loathe to take away. She had never been completely comfortable with feminine tears and had rarely cried after that Turn of awful puberty had hit, not even when she had been particularly angry or upset. She just was not one for tears, though she could not think of herself being in a great deal of better shape than Liassa were their situations reversed. Then again, she was stubborn enough to lock herself in a room when Flightlust took over. She would rather not paw at a random stranger, thank you.

She nodded in understanding as Liassa finally consented to seeing a healer, wishing she had a bit more knowledge to impart on the girl. As it was, she was stuck. Liassa's feeble attempt at a question had Savitri's eyes widening until the girl quickly retracted it, and then the young weyrling turned her eyes skyward in a show of seeking patience. "Well, someone has to be told. It's not like you'll be able to keep it a secret much longer," she pointed out, gesturing with one dirt-encrusted hand at Liassa's middle. No, that could not be hidden forever, much as she was sure Liassa could have wished for it. "The weyrlingmasters and healers, for starters. How you'll teach Tiaeth to fly if you can't ride her is beyond me." She spread her hands in a gesture of helplessness. She was new to this too, after all. This would certainly make life interesting.

She waved a dismissive hand at Liassa's offer to clean the square of cloth. "Don't bother. I only keep a few for emergencies in case my wounds break open." Liassa's insistence on taking care of her own child was shocking. How would she keep up with a child and a weyrling dragon?! Shardit, but Savitri had barely enough time and energy with just Hepaticath, even with the occasional help that Virast lent her. "If he's half as good a man as he should be, then he'll help you out. I doubt he'd feel obligated unless he was holdbred and-"

She coughed and waved her hand ineffectually as the door opened and another cloud of dust arose. She spluttered indignantly and glared in the direction of the interloper, her expression softening at the sight of Mutasim. "Well, it was settling down until you opened the sharding door!" she grumbled before getting up and stalking over to shut the door, one hand clapped over her mouth and nose in a futile effort to keep from sneezing. "Hello to you too, Mutasim." Strangely, she could not summon up any real ire at the boy, mostly for his lack of knowledge.

[ryanne]

Finished trying to wipe the tear tracks off her face, she looked down at the cloth, seeing how dark it was with soot. Her face probably wasn't much more than a smear of it all, but the tracks, the tears, they were gone and that was oddly what mattered to her at this point in time. She didn't want to have any evidence of her little breakdown. She always thought that she was stronger than that and she would rather look like a sooty mess, like she'd fallen face-first into the firestone than like she was weeping on her friend's shoulder. Somehow, it was less embarrassing. She could deal with being clumsy all day long, but weepy was a whole other story and she didn't like it. And she refused to shed anymore tears over the issue. That was it. She accepted it and she would deal with it.

Lia nodded, "I know, I can't hide it forever. I just need to deal with it." Part of her sensibility was back, her weakness slowly dropping. Unconsciously, her back straightened and her eyes brightened a bit. She was going to have a baby. Sure, she'd always wanted to be a mother. Later, when her feet were grounded and she had a steady weyrmate to be with her through it all. She needed strength and solidity before she brought a baby into the world. But she wasn't going to have that and she was going to have a child all the same. Sure, she had friends and family and she would make deal to the best of her ability, but it wasn't going to be the most solid atmosphere for a child. Lia was stubborn, though, and she knew right then that she'd do all that she could to do right by the child. "I'm already four months into the pregnancy. We won't be learning to fly until after I've given birth probably," she told her friend after thinking about it for a moment. She wasn't certain. Shards, she'd never been a weyrling before, but she remember vaguely the timelines from previous hatchings. She hadn't seen flying weyrling pairs for a while after the hatching.

She was listening to Savitri when the door opened again. This time the stirred up soot caused her to sneeze three times in rapid succession, making her eyes water a bit. Shards, there they went again. Distractedly, she wiped her eyes before looking up at the intruder. Great, a candidate. She was pretty sure she remembered him from before the hatching. He'd been around for a while. She laughed at Savi's scolding before adding her own greeting. "Greetings Mutasim." Yes, Mutasim, she definitely remembered him. From what she'd heard, he was now the senior candidate. She felt bad for him, that meant that all the other candidates would be running to him for advice. It's not the best position to be in.

Realizing that she had to look like a mess, she balled the cloth up in her hand. It was still blatantly obvious that she had been crying and she was not okay with that. So, hurridely, she bent down in the firestone, nonchalantly loosening her tunic around her waist before returning to fill the bags. She'd forgotten that they were supposed to be working. That wasn't a good thing. Taking the larger bag that she had been filling, she began to shove pieces in, still checking to make sure that they were large enough.

[reqqy]

"Not supposed to be in here anyway," he muttered testily, giving way to Savitri so she could get the door closed. He was only grateful that Jabari was still asleep. The flitter always insisted on accompanying him everywhere he went - when the brown was awake. Poor thing would have his lungs so coated in soot he'd likely keel over from instant asphyxiation. Or at least exhale clouds of smoke for awhile. Hopefully this task would be completed before the flitter could wake up. Only yelling at Jabari ever got him to leave, and once was enough; Mutasim didn't intend to do that ever again. Of course, one look at the state of the room was enough to make Muta despair of ever again seeing the light of day. They'd obviously been neglecting this place. He'd have to think up something really nasty for the Headwoman. Sharding wherry, forgetting about the firestone and then saddling him with it. This was probably some form of retribution for nearly taking off that weyrbrat's ear...the thought of which provoked a nasty grin.

"Looks like the weyrlings aren't pulling their weight," he commented, just to be a pain in the arse. It wasn't their fault. But he was in a mood, and he preferred everyone to be in a mood with him. Wasn't that just nice of him? To share? Blinking at Savitri, he snorted. "Hello, Sav." Apparently she felt he was being impolite. Well, too bad. The young man kicked a stone out of his path before beginning to wrestle some of the larger stones that the girls had left into it. Was there such a thing as too large? He didn't think so, but if there was, these dragons would find out. It certainly wasn't his fault that he'd never been trained in firestone and then summarily exiled to the dust closet.

Mutasim nodded in acknowledgment of Liassa. He already had Savitri talking to him. Another one was bound to just make life more bothersome. Although, in all truth, he noticed that she seemed to wish to hide from him. It was easier on her if he didn't try to engage her in any conversation, and if she came out of her shell a little because he was acting like a brat - which he was more than willing to admit, since he was - then so much the better. Shardit, but he needed to stop this nonsense. Rephrase. He didn't care about Liassa at all. She was a stranger and likely someone annoying. Yes, that was it. Flinging big rocks about wasn't improving his mood much, so he decided to kick at a pile in his way - and earned a few sneezes for his troubles.

Okay. Time to act like a rational human being before he started sneezing some of his gray matter clear out of his head. Mutasim slowed down, glancing toward the two girls and seeing what they were rejecting. Looked like just those tiny stones. A brief flicker of uncertainty crossed his face. He pushed it aside. Why did he care if he was doing this right? It was the Headwoman's fault anyway. "So, what did you two do to be thrown into the cesspit?" he asked, a touch of irony tainting his tone. Perhaps a little conversation might get his mind off how many different ways he'd like to slowly torture the woman to death...

[kysseh]

Savitri gave Liassa a briefly sympathetic look, not wishing to say anything more before the other boy and fervently hoping her friend did not break down again. She had a distinct feeling that Mutasim would be less than sympathetic were that to happen, and she was loathe to anger him again. Hepaticath had come alert the instant Savitri recognized him, and the gold weyrling was already insistently prodding to make sure the boy was behaving himself this time around. He is fine, Cath. Just.. cranky. That was not the best word for it, and it did not mollify the protective weyrling. Savitri opted to disregard that for the moment and return to her started bag of firestone, picking up a clod of dirt from amongst the piles and grimacing.

She caught a brief glimpse of Mutasim's less-than-kind grin and glared at him, flicking her eyes toward Liassa in a gesture to imply that he had better be nice to the other weyrling. Savitri could handle his attitude just fine, but the other girl needed no further prodding. She still bore significant evidence of her tears, and the healer-turned-weyrling was not about to stand for her friend being bothered while in this state. "Well, we were trying. You raising up another dust cloud did not help," Savitri stated bluntly, ignoring the nickname he had graced her with. Responding would only encourage him at this point, and judging by the way he was kicking the rocks out of his way. Men...

No... she corrected herself. Boys...

She paused in filling her bag to wave her hand in the air, wishing that Mutasim would stop with the rapid movements. It was rapidly getting more annoying, and she kept violently coughing in response. "Would you-" Cough. "-stop?!" Another cough, plus a glare. "You're making it worse!" She was relieved when he slowed, offering up a quiet grump of frustration before returning to the half-filled bag of firestone in her hands with the intent of finishing it quickly. She picked up a clod of dirt and tossed it toward the barrel of non-firestone rejects. Honestly, could this not have been done before all the rock got into the tiny, airless room?! Was dirt that easily mistaken for a bit of firestone, or was this just a chore dreamed up to punish the weyrlings for some unremembered crime they had committed? This was sharding dangerous, and she was tempted to just order Liassa to leave. Granted, she did not outrank the other girl, but her status as a healer gave her enough force to boot her out before she harmed her or her unborn child.

Mutasim's query distracted her, and she glanced over at the boy, wondering what ill he'd done to get stuck in here. "I was just assigned. It needs to be done, and apparently, the big strong male weyrlings have their noses shoved into hides in the archives on this rotation," she stated with more than a bit of irritation evident in her tone. She supposed they all needed to practice handling firestone for when fighting came around, but, as Hepaticath had reminded her before she got here, she would never be using it. But, all the weyrlings were to be treated equally, so here she was, sorting firestone with the rest of them. She glared at a particularly awkward chunk of stone and dropped it into the bag, coughing at the puff of dust that arose. "Who'd you anger, Muta?" All right, so she was a bit cranky today too. It came from inhaling firstone dust for far too long.