Icebreaker

Writers: AL, DL
Date Posted: 17th May 2011

Characters: Meledei, S'ryad
Description: Meledei meets a surprised Surryad
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 1, day 26 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentor Approved

Meledei liked meeting the candidates and so it wasn't odd to find her at the
barracks, getting to know them. But there was one candidate that she always
seemed to miss some how. She had seen him when she had visited a class, but
that was, of course, not a good time to talk. Her subsequent trips had
always resulted in her just missing him, or leaving just as he was coming
and she couldn't linger any longer.

But that was going to change. Meledei had purposefully set out to meet this
candidate she kept missing somehow. So when her duties were done and she
had a little time before dinner, the goldrider set out to the candidate
barracks. If he wasn't there, she'd ask where he was and see if she could
track him down.

He was busy studying, by the time she had been pointed in the right
direction. From the looks of it, he didn't understand the subject. Brows
furrowed, his gray eyes confused and the stylus that should have been
writing instead resting against his head, Surryad was tapping out some
erratic rhythm on the chair he was sitting in.

Hence, he didn't see Meledei approach, else he would have immediately
greeted her as befitting a goldrider. Since Candidates passed to and fro in
the Barracks, he didn't think to look up.

"Ah, I've finally caught you." Meledei grinned down at the young man who
was so intent on his studying. She hated to bother him, but she didn't want
to pass the opportunity to check out a candidate she didn't know -
especially when they'd managed to miss each other so much. She plopped down
in a chair beside him and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Meledei."

Surryad calmly looked up, meeting her eyes. He didn't recognize her. Then
his eyes flicked to her knots and he panicked. "W-Weyrwoman!" he said,
trying to stand up to greet her and succeeding in dumping his studies all of
the floor instead. Luckily, the ink bottle just missed her boots. "Oh, I'm
sorry. I didn't see you standing there!" he apologized.

"Uh, no, I'm not the Weyrwoman." Meledei wasn't about to try and pretend
she was either! She wasn't particularly power hungry and while it could be
interesting to be Weyrwoman, that was something for 'some day', not _today_!
She laughed and shook her head before crouching down to help clean up the
mess. "It's all right. I've been trying to catch you but somehow we always
seemed to miss each other - til now."

"Catch me?" Surryad repeated, looking frightened. Had he done something
wrong? He'd only been in the Weyr two sevendays and he had done everything
his elders had told him to. "Am I...did I do something wrong, goldrider?" he
asked quietly. Whatever it was, he'd make it right. He wasn't going back to
the Hold!

"Wrong? Oh! No!" Meledei assured him quickly as she stacked up the
parchment before the ink could spread to it and damange his reading. "I
just like to meet the candidates, that's all." She stood up and held out
the pieces to him. "And you always seemed to be gone when I was around!"

"They keep us busy," Surryad said without complaint. "As I would assume
someone of your rank would also be," he added with a shy smile. "I'm sorry,
you said Meledei?"

"Yes, they do keep you busy - I remember quite well! And yes, I'm busy, but
I do try to make time for things I want to do." Meledei wiggled the
parchment that she continued to offer to draw his attention to them. "I
assume you want these back."

"Oh! Um, thank you," Surryad said, taking the papers as a blush spread
across his face. Meledei. It was a nice name. "Um, a pleasure to meet you,
goldrider Meledei," he said, putting the parchments in a stack on the chair
and then offering his hand to her. "I'm Surryad."

Meledei took the hand, her hold firm but gentle as she nodd. "Well met,
Surryad, glad to have you as a candidate." She released him and put her
hands on her hips as she looked him over. "So, tell me about yourself.
Where are you from, what did you do, that sort of thing."

"Emerald Falls," the boy replied. She wasn't much older than he was! And she
was a queen's rider? Was she from the previous clutch? "And that's about it.
I was a resident there, a worker," he said, with a small feeling of
inadequacy. "I worked the fields and the herds a lot," he said. "And you? If
I may ask, that is."

"Eh, I'm pretty boring. Born at Thayan Peak, moved to Dolphin Cove when
Thayan was destroyed, spent my whole life here." Meledei's hand made little
circles in the air as she spoke, almost dismissive. "Stood as young as I
could and finally Impressed Elleth last turn. That pretty much covers it so
I'm pretty uninteresting. How do you like the Weyr?"

"With all due respect," Surryad said with a slightly wicked grin,
"Impressing a queen doesn't really fit under 'uninteresting.' But to answer
your question, yeah, I'm liking the Weyr. Much better than Hold life, that's
for sure."

"Elleth's really the only interesting thing about me." Meledei giggled and
nodded. "You'd be surprised at how many people say that. I'm glad you like
it here. How long have you been here now?"

"Almost two sevendays," Surryad said. Then he added, "It's gone by rather
quickly. Eighteen Turns at a Hold where days went by at a crawl and then I
arrive here and I barely know what day of the sevenday I'm on. If I may ask,
what..what was the Hatching like?"

"Hatchings are really neat, but very choatic and yet somehow...no, just
chaotic." Meledei giggled and plopped back in the chair. "The eggs start
rocking and cracking and all of a sudden there's a dragonet here, a dragonet
there...and then they start coming toward you...you think that one's yours,
but no, she's someone elses. Sometimes you're left with disappointment."
Meledei wasn't going to sugarcoat. The young man needed to be prepared for
the possibility that he would be left Standing. "But then, after turns and
turns of waiting, one turns her eyes to you and she's more beautiful, more
glorious than any dragon you could imagine! And she's yours...all yours.
And she fills a hole that you never knew existed and you ache with how much
that void was in your life, can't understand how you could have missed it,
but now it's filled with the most perfect being..."

Surryad couldn't help himself - her words were so infectious that the
normally reserved teenager found himself smiling with unashamed hope. It
sounded just like what he was looking for. Well, except..."Hopefully mine
won't be a she," he said as she trailed off.

"And if she is a she?" Meledei knew what that meant and obviously Surryad
did too. She couldn't help but wonder what sort of reaction that would get
from him and she just couldn't resist asking.

"I like girls," Surryad said flatly, with a birdlike tilt of his head, as if
to say there could be no other option in it. "Did you ever hope to Impress
gold?" he asked her. "I guess that's a dumb question," he said, looking
away, "Every girl wants gold, right?"

"I would be lying if I said the thought never crossed my mind." Meledei
lifted a finger and placed it against her nose. "But really, I just wanted
a dragon and really, while I thought it would have been nice to Impress a
gold, I didn't hold my breath either."

}:Hmph. You were too good for a green.:{

**You're too good for me!**

}:Nonsense.:{

Surryad watched her eyes lose focus with slight fascination. "Does she just
pop words into your thoughts like that? Or can you...well, can you hear
her?" he asked, curious, and tapping his ear to indicate what type of
hearing he meant.

"She doesn't control my thoughts." Meledei shook her head. "But she does
talk to me whenever she likes, unless I ask her not to." Which Meledei had
yet to ever really do. "But yes, it's all in my head, it's not really
something I physically hear. It's really hard to explain."

"Maybe one day I'll understand," he said with a shy, small, hopeful smile.
Outside, a dragon roared and the Candidates in the Barracks began heading
out. Surryad grimaced. Time had slipped by - just when he was starting to
get into the conversation. Would Meledei want to talk again another time? Or
was this just a polite thing she did?

"It's time for our next lesson," he said wistfully. "Let me walk you out?"
he said, offering his arm. It seemed the polite thing for the situation,
just in case.

"Sure." It was a bit formal, but some people were just like that. Meledei
slipped her arm through Surryad's. "It was really nice to finally meet you.
I'm sorry it took so long." She followed his lead without protest, waving
to a couple of candidates who had stood with her before she had Impressed.
"If you want, feel free to join me at the table I'm sitting at during
dinner, even if there are others."

Surryad paused just a tad in their walk. He shot her an incredulous look,
and asked, "You'd...you'd let me sit with you? And talk again?"

Now it was Meledei's turn to give Surryad an odd look. "Sure. Why not?"

"Because you're a...well, you're a goldrider and I'm just a Candidate,"
Surryad said, then he quickly added, "I mean no offense. I'd love to talk
with you again! I'm just...well. Somewhere between honored, shocked and
glad, that you'd let me see you again. If that makes any sharding sense."

"Um, you know, I'm still just a person, right? I was a candidate too before
I Impressed." Meledei pointed out with a shake of her head. "I have
friends from all walks of life. Dragonriders, Crafters, Weyrlings, and
Candidates. So don't start going and thinking you're special." The last is
stated with a giggle and as they came to the doors, she slipped from his
grasp. "Anyway, you'd best get to class before you're late."

"Oh, class! Shells, I have to get my writing stuff," he said. Torn between
etiquette and letting her know he had enjoyed the brief chat, Surryad
finally decided on a smile and squeezing her hand quickly. "Thanks for
um...thanks for coming to meet me. I really enjoyed it," he said.

"No problem. Now get before you get into trouble." Meledei made shooing
motions, then turned to head out before she distracted the candidate any
further.

Last updated on the June 12th 2011

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Icebreaker