The Weyr Stereotype

Writers: Devin, Estelle
Date Posted: 26th February 2018

Characters: T'lin, R'fal
Description: T'lin and R'fal talk about weyrling songs, extra dessert, and Weyr stereotypes while feeding their dragons
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 5 of Turn 9

T'lin

T'lin knew many of the other Weyrlings, at least in passing, but there
were a few who had recently arrived as Candidates that he hadn't met.
One of them was a curly-haired brownrider and T'lin headed over to him
as they went to their post-lunch dragonet feeding. He wanted to meet all
his fellow Weyrlings and he probably shouldn't spend _all_ his time with
V'rel and Dessa.

"Hi there. Well met. I'm T'lin and this lovely little blue is Calaroth."

"Well met, T'lin, Calaroth. I'm R'fal, and this is Marlath." The boy
rested a hand on the brown dragonet's head and stroked the soft hide. A
sudden smile appeared on his face as recognition dawned. "I remember
you! You were the first one to Impress, weren't you?"

"I was! Which means I missed everyone else Impressing." T'lin laughed.

"Yours is the only Impression I've ever seen, because Marlath hatched
right after. I missed the gold egg and everything!" The little brown
made a soft, apologetic sound and R'fal hurriedly reassured him that it
wasn't his fault. "Still, I'd rather have him than one of the latecomers."

"Oh, yes. Definitely." T'lin picked up a cleaver and frowned at the
carcasses. Hacking up meat wasn't a pleasant task, but it needed to be
done. Calaroth's hunger pushed at him even though T'lin had just eaten.
"They explain all about the dangers of Threadfall, but they don't talk
about the dangers of herdbeast blood under your fingernails."

}:The big ones say I will hunt my own meat,:{ Calaroth said. }:then I
will not have to wait like now, with all this slow chopping.:{

**Yeesh, you're impatient,** T'lin's words were full of warm affection.

"It's not like the ballads, that's for sure," R'fal said as he started
hacking strips of meat from bones. "I don't remember ever hearing a
harper singing about how the heroic Weyrleaders of old chopped up meat
or mucked out the weyrling barracks."

"You'll be up to your elbows in blood and poo," T'lin sang to a simple tune.

"And you'll smell like both, no matter what you do," R'fal sang back,
completing the phrase. "Oh, right. I forgot about that one."

T'lin laughed. "We should sing that for the others. It's sure to be
popular."

A mischievous glint appeared in the brown weyrling's eyes. "I dare you
to sing it to Santhiath."

The bluerider snorted. "So she can complain that I'm not as good a
singer as Dessa? Or maybe she'll take pity on me because I'm trying to
entertain her."

"At least she can't breathe fire at you if she doesn't like it." R'fal
felt the little brown nudging his side and reached down to feed him a
handful of meat. "Marlath says he liked our singing, so perhaps it's not
that bad. Although he does seem to like almost everything he comes across."

}:I don't like the hungry feeling,:{ Marlath pointed out, swallowing his
last mouthful.

"Calaroth is like that too." T'lin smiled as he watched to make sure his
dragon chewed before swallowing.

"It's fun to see the world through their eyes. Everything's new! Well, a
lot of what happens here in the Weyr is new to me, too, but when Marlath
gets excited over something like the rain or an insect or a flock of
wherries passing overhead..." He paused, having run out of chopped meat,
and reached for the knife to cut some more. "It makes me look at those
things in a different way. And then he has so many questions! It makes
me wish I'd listened in harper classes a bit more than I did."

"_So_ many questions," T'lin agreed. "Speaking of questions, where are
you from?"

"A cothold in Emerald Falls. My family are herders. I definitely didn't
expect to end up here! We hardly ever saw a dragon close up until a few
sevendays ago." R'fal shook his head. It still amazed him to think of
how his life had changed in so short a time. "You?"

"I'm from a little farm hold in Topaz territory. I apprenticed to the
Weyr before I was a Candidate. I've been Standing a _long_ time." It
was worth the wait to have his perfect, lovely blue. Calaroth sent out
contentment as he kept eating his meal.

The brown weyrling felt a little guilty when he heard that, as if he'd
pushed to the front of the queue by Impressing on his first try. Still,
he thought, there were worse ways to spend your time than being a
Candidate in the Weyr. "You're an apprentice? Which craft?"

"Technician. And I'm not an apprentice, I'm a journeyman." T'lin
smiled to show he wasn't bothered. He wasn't wearing his journeyman
knots afterall, just his weyrling ones.

"Oh! Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude." He hoped that wasn't a terrible
insult, even if the other weyrling didn't look upset. "If it isn't also
rude to ask...isn't there a Hall for technicians? Didn't you want to go
there?"

"I thought about it, but Halls aren't the friendliest places for boys
who like boys. My parents and I decided it was best for me to come to
the Weyr." T'lin rubbed one of Calaroth's headknobs. "I'm very glad I
did."

R'fal's eyes had gone a little round at the other weyrling's reply. As
surprising as it had seemed to him that a boy might be attracted to
another boy rather than girls, he hadn't realised it would cause such
obstacles in their lives. But then, he knew even less of the Halls than
he did of the Weyr, and perhaps he shouldn't pry into what might be a
painful subject.

"It's good here, isn't it?" He fed Marlath one last handful of meat and
examined his hands. "Despite all of the blood and the chopping."

"Wonderful," T'lin agreed with a smile. "And that won't last forever.
Once they can fly, they feed themselves."

}:I will like that. I will eat as much as I want!:{ Calaroth licked
blood from his muzzle.

"I can't wait. And neither can he." R'fal gestured towards Marlath, who
sniffed his hand for another mouthful. "He asks me if he's big enough to
fly yet at least twice a day."

"Must be hard, watching all the other dragons do it."

"I suppose it must be." He stroked the brown's head, promising him that
it wouldn't be long and he was already growing very well indeed. "Though
in some ways I like that he's my size for a short while. The older ones
are so grand and impressive, and I know one day he'll be like that too,
but for now I'm enjoying him being...well, sweet and adorable." He hid a
grin as Marlath objected to that description of himself.

"Like dragon like rider?" T'lin couldn't resist a tease.

"You might be right!" R'fal replied, laughing. "Sweet and adorable gets
a lot more extra helpings of dessert from the kitchen staff than grand
and impressive."

"Ahh, you know that trick too?"

"Yes! But let's keep it a secret." He glanced around as if checking to
be sure they couldn't be overheard. "We don't want everyone doing it, or
there'll be no dessert left."

T'lin laughed. "That would be a tragedy. Heading in after a long day
only to find all the dessert is gone."

"Devoured by a horde of adorable dragonriders," R'fal said, shaking
his head sadly.

"Actually that's my plan when we graduate to senior weyrlinghood." T'lin
winked.

The holder boy blushed. "Um...good plan. I like it."

The bluerider laughed again. "I should watch my mouth. You're going to
think I'm a Weyr stereotype."

"What - a heroic, fearless and dashing dragonrider?" R'fal asked, a
little too innocently. "That's the Weyr stereotype where I'm from."

T'lin put a hand to his chest and gave R'fal a coy look. "You think
I'm dashing?"

"Of course," R'fal said earnestly. "That handprint in herdbeast blood on
your shirt is especially stylish."

T'lin looked down at his shirt with a frown. Then he put on a smile
and struck a pose. "It _is_ the latest fashion."

The brown weyrling did his best to look impressed. "Very dashing. Soon
everyone in the class is going to want one."

"Luckily for them it's easy to make your own and they won't have to
spend any marks." T'lin noticed Calaroth looking a little droopy. "I
should get him to his couch. Then I need to wash up and change."

"Yes, I don't think the Weyrlingmasters would appreciate the 'latest
fashion'," R'fal smiled. Marlath was still looking at him hopefully, but
he shook his head. **No more for you. If I let you overeat, you'll feel
ill and you won't like that at all.**

T'lin took a rag and wiped the last bit of blood from Calaroth's mouth
and then started to lead him away. "See you later!"

Last updated on the March 2nd 2018

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