A First Attempt

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

Characters: Zelle, T'marek
Description: Zelle shows T'marek her first attempt at whittling.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 16 of Turn 4

"Hey Tam!" Zelle fairly bounced up to the brownrider and fell into step beside him. She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned over to gaze into his face, offering him a bright grin. "How goes it?"

"It goes." The brownrider replied dryly, his features pulled into their usual frown as he eyed the woman with disinterest. He hated to admit she was growing on him. Maybe if he didn't say much she'd go away.

"It goes where?" Zelle pressed without much regard for the lack of detail.

T'marek sighed. "Nowhere." He said in a deep voice that was clipped and bespoke his desire for silence.

"Then it doesn't seem to be going, does it?" The cheerfulness didn't fade from Zelle's voice. "Oh hey, I finished that piece of wood."

Thinking that maybe if he looked at the carving she'd go away, the brownrider finally looked at her. "Oh?" He asked, one bushy brow arching. "How did it turn out?"

"Terrible." Zelle admitted, putting her hands in front of her and holding it out. The shape was roughly that of a fish. The nose was far too pointy, the side fins misshapen and one was bigger than the other. The dorsal fin was crooked and far too large while the tail was far too small.

Reaching out, T'marek took the mutilated fish and inspected it closely. He actually had to fight not to laugh. "Well, it is your first attempt. You can't expect it to come out perfect. A very nice try though." Thankfully he could still do a better job, but her first attempt looked quite a bit better than his.

"I've started on a second one. Also a fish." Zelle stated as she watched T'marek. "It's okay, you can laugh. I laughed too."

Despite her permission, the brownrider shook his head, eyes sparkling. "I would never do that. It was a valiant attempt." But his lips did twitch upwards and he had to bite the inside of his cheek. "I'm very impressed, really."

"Hey, laughter is the best medicine, right?" Zelle grinned, "But thank you for your kind compliment."

Dipping his head in response, T'marek looked around. "Well, good luck on your next try." With that he attempted to lose her by turning quickly down a corridor. It wasn't that he didn't like her, he supposed he did well enough, it was more that he wasn't used to company and preferred solitude.

"Hey wait!" Zelle ran after the brownrider, catching up to him easily. "You forgot something."

Suppressing a sigh, T'marek paused and turned toward the greenrider. "Oh?" He asked. "And what exactly might that be?"

Zelle took the carving he had given back to her and placed it in his hand. "That's for you."

Blinking, he looked down at the awkward looking fish, then back at Zelle. "Me? Why?" Why in the name of the egg would she give him her first attempt? Surely she'd want to keep it or something.

"Because, I want you to have it." Zelle had to fairly bite her tongue to keep from laughing at the expression on T'marek's face. "You're my teacher. It's a sign of my appreciation."

"Uhm..." Well shells, now he'd have to take the sharding thing. Otherwise he'd end up hurting her feelings. And a grump he might be but not even he was mean enough to do that. "Thank you." What more could he say?

"You're welcome. So...when's my next lesson?" Zelle wasn't going to give up on him that easily.

Next lesson? Shells, he'd already taught her everything he knew. "You really don't need one, I mean... from here on out it's just a matter of refining your ability."

"Well, it's nice to have someone give advice." Zelle shrugged. "At least it would be nice to have company, but if you don't want to we can do something else instead. Ever play chess?"

"Not very well." T'marek replied. "In fact, I haven't played in turns. Why?" She was going to ask him if he wanted to play and he was going to say no and then she'd go away. It was that simple.

"Oh good, I don't play very well either." Zelle took T'marek's hand and began tugging him down the hallway. "Come on, let's not play very well together."

Digging his feet in, he put his weight into keeping from being moved forward. "Don't you think you should ask me if I even want to, first?" The brownrider asked, a bit miffed that his plan had been thwarted.

"Come on, it will be fun." Zelle insisted, still tugging against him and her grin growing with her amusement. "You can make fun of me on how bad I play."

"You didn't by any chance change your name, did you?" T'marek asked with a grumble. "From Ania to Zelle?" She was reminding him all too much of his sister and the way she used to be able to get him to play games with her. That thought brought a wealth of guilt he thought he'd forgotten turns ago. Apparently he had been mistaken.

"I've always been Zelle." The greenrider stated with a laugh. "Who's Ania?"

"Nevermind." He said with a shake of his head. "No one important." Trying to tug his hand from her grip and failing, he gave her a long look. "You're not going to let me get out of this, are you?"

"Nope." Zelle chuckled softly. He was definitely a grump but he knew when to give up a fight he couldn't win.

Sighing heavily, the brownrider finally relented. "Fine, one game. But only _one_." He glared at her, wondering why he bothered, he simply couldn't win with this woman. He'd never met anyone so stubborn in his life aside from his sister.

"Great! Come on!" Zelle began tugging in earnest. She had a feeling that one game would turn into two. Maybe three. If not, well, she'd figure out something else to do with him instead.

Last updated on the January 22nd 2009

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A First Attempt