Friendship (1)

Writers: AL, Elyriel
Date Posted: 20th January 2009

Characters: Zelle, T'marek
Description: Zelle takes T'marek up on teaching her to whittle.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 14 of Turn 4

"There you are." Zelle fairly hopped up to T'marek's side as he traversed down the hallway, catching up to him easily despite her shorter stature. She gave him a wide grin, her eyes sparkling as if holding some private joke. "I've been looking for you!"

For a moment, the brownrider just looked at the small, far too energetic woman. Then, slowly, he remembered bits and pieces of why she might be there beside him. "Oh?" He asked, one brow arching, the only movement on his features. "And why would you be doing that?"

"You were going to teach me how to carve toothpicks." Zelle reminded with with a cheerful tone. "So I thought we could get started."

Snorting softly, his face remained expressionless but there was a spark of humor in his eyes. "You did, did you? You figured my days are so empty I'd be able to anytime you wanted?" There was no harshness in his tone, but no smile on his lips either.

"Nope, but it's a rest day and you did say you would teach me. You also said you would teach me today, fourteenth candlemark...which is in less than a quarter candlemark." The greenrider pointed out, her smile curling with amusement.

Okay, that he hadn't remembered. Just how much had he had to drink anyway? "Right." T'marek said, hoping to bluff his way through his memory lapse. "Are you always so early?"

"No, not really." Zelle couldn't help but wonder if the dragonrider didn't quite realize how much he'd had to drink the previous night. As much as he tried to hide it, she could tell that he hadn't remembered at all. "So I'm ready to make my first toothpick. Or dust. Whichever."

Sighing slightly, the brownrider shook his head. "Very well, come on." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, his large shoulders sloughed forward. "I have supplies in my weyr."

"Lead on." Zelle was on the heels as T'marek made his way through the halls. "I hope you're not suffering too badly from yesterday." Overindulgence did have its consequences.

Deciding not to give her in depth details on the exact tempo of his pounding head, T'marek shrugged. "I've felt worse." He replied, thinking that it had been a long, long while since he truly had felt worse than he did in this moment. "I warned you I'm not very good, right?"

"Yes you did." Zelle stated cheerfully as she kept close to the bronzerider. "But that's okay, because you're still better than I am."

A soft snort found it's way past the brownrider's lips. "That remains to be seen." As they arrived at his weyr, he opened the door and motioned her inside. "Come on in, I'll grab the stuff you'll need." Without seeing if she did as he said, he quickly began searching through his things before he came up with a long, round piece of wood and a carving knife. "Ah, here we go." Turning, he handed them to her.

Zelle had, of course, followed T'marek right in, closing the door behind her. She took the wood and knife and merrily plopped down upon his couch. "Great, so, where do I start?"

"First, you hold the knife like this." He reached out and formed her fingers so she had the proper grip. "Then, you put the blade to the wood..." Moving her hand over the strip he tilted it at the right angle. "Like so. Then picture what you want the stick to look like in your mind's eye. See it?"

"I see....I see..." Zelle scrunched up her nose and managed to keep from laughing. "I see a stick!"

Turns of never cracking a smile stood him in good stead. T'marek was able to keep himself from grinning only by sheer will. "Very good. You know what a stick looks like, I'm impressed." The brownrider said in complete deadpan. "Now what do you see it becoming?"

Zelle turned the wood around in her hands, pondering. After a moment she stated, "A smaller stick."

T'marek couldn't help himself, he actually laughed at that. "Okay, let's try this a different way. What would you like to make out of that stick?"

"How about...something simple." Zelle turned the stick over again and suggested, "Maybe a fish?"

The brownrider nodded. "Okay, so now picture the image in your mind and make it come to life in the wood." He gave the young woman a sardonic grin. "I know, I know, it's not very instructive, but that's the way it was taught to me. Which is probably why I'm still not very good at it."

"I picture...a fish. Maybe a packtail?" Zelle held the wood even with her eyes and stared at it. "It still looks like a stick."

Doing his best not to smile, but failing, the barest hint of one actually cracked T'marek's usually stoic features. "Picture it in your mind, like you would a leap /between/." He informed her. "Then just let your hands move along the wood in the shape of it."

Well that certainly put it into perspective. Zelle pondered the wood a moment longer before lifting the knife and running it across. "First slice!"

"Just remember what mine end up looking like and you'll know you can't go wrong." He said encouragingly, wondering why he was being so helpful. It really wasn't like him.

"Toothpicks!" Zelle laughed, then regarded the wood before taking another swipe. She made a notch, then a few more swipes. "Hm. This might make two toothpicks."

"If you're really careful, you can get three out of it." T'marek said, actually teasing the young woman. "But only if you're really careful."

"Hm. I'll try to be especially careful then." Zelle made another notch on the other side of the stick and scooped out another chunk of wood. "Really small toothpicks."

Last updated on the January 21st 2009

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Friendship (1)