All references to worlds and characters based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are copyright © Anne McCaffrey 1967,2000, all rights reserved, and used by permission of the author. The Dragonriders of Pern(r) is registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, by Anne McCaffrey, used here with permission. Use or reproduction without a license is strictly prohibited. For more information, visit the Worlds of Anne McCaffrey.

24-06-01: Muscles
Kr'lin is pacing around the barracks, looking for something to do and then there is something to do, or rather...

Kr'lin is pacing around the barracks, looking for something to do and then there is something to do, or rather someone.. Well, there is someone to distract Kr'lin from pacing, whichever is the case, "Hanneke." He has to say her name, apparently, to make sure he has the right person, perhaps. "How are your chest and arm muscles doing? Any feeling?"

Hanneke dawdles out of her and Caeruleth's couch, expression rather the worse for wear--pained and weary. Her head raises at Kr'lin's discovery of a distraction, and she backs away ever so slightly. If she had more energy, and wasn't so sore, perhaps she'd run properly. "You," she notes, without her usual trill. "Hurt." Perhaps the two are related. Perhaps not.

Kr'lin hmms and nods, noting the lack of Hanneke perk, "So it would appear. Well, come, sit." He points at a bench near the oil vat and meat bin, "I hear you were up a large portion of the night working on those pushups." A double thumbs up is sent Hanneke's direction.

Hanneke is perhaps too tired to even respond, and all but collapses into the bench, after wobbling somewhat towards it. One could almost feel sorry for the wretched weyrling--almost. "Yes," she agrees, mournfully. "It was *dark*. Caeruleth liked it." Hanneke, evidently, did not.

Kr'lin is more amused than sorry, but that is just because Kr'lin is evil, "Well, not to worry, you'll be back to normal shortly." And possibly, just to prove that he is evil, "You should be able to move your arms tomorrow, which means you'll be able to do more of those pushups. Maybe lift some firestone sacks." He starts to rub his chin thoughfully, as if thinking of other ways to build up Hanneke's strength, "Maybe have you run a few laps around the bowl, work off some of that extra weight."

Hanneke positively stares at Kr'lin: there's no doubting the fact that she's abjectly horrified. "No!" At least it gives her some energy, as she straightens, insisting, "I can't. I'm fine, as I am! Caeruleth says so, so she must be right. I don't need to do anything extra. She hasn't knocked me down, since!" Except that she hasn't been trying.

Kr'lin decides to take the 'I'm fine' completely in the wrong manner, "You are fine? Alright, then that means we can start with the excercising right away!" Is that a bit of glee in his voice? "And see, it is already working. You are increasing your strength as we speak!" A series of excited head nods follows.

Hanneke slides along the bench as rapidly as she can, although her stiff movements ensure that it isn't so rapid, really. "No, I'm not fine!" Her voice quavers slightly, as she adds, "You're mean, and nasty, and I don't want to talk to you. Go away!" Awwww.

Kr'lin does quite the opposite of going away, he sits down on the bench next to Hanneke and reaches out to pat her on the shoulder, "Hanneke, it is going to be hard work, but believe me, you'll thank me when it is all over." If she is alive, but that's beside the point, "Where do you come from, anyways?" See, he's trying to understand her, see where she is coming from.

Hanneke shifts further, as if squirming away from his touch; I mean, ew, or something. "Huh," she snorts, eloquency lost to sheet exhaustion. "Come from?" She queries the question, adding, "Mother and Father are posted to Lemos."

Kr'lin retracts the hand, not too concerned about it. After all, she probably hasn't worked this much in her entire life, "Posted?" then a glowbasket opens and he recalls an earlier conversation, "Ahh, yes. I remember, you mentioned that your mother was a Harper. Was your father one too?" Nice, innocent chitchat. Lull the weyrling into a sense of security.

Unfortunately for Hanneke's sake, she is easily lulled, and shakes her head miserably--oh dear, that's a tear running down her face. "Daddy is a Mindhealer," she words, carefully, quietly, as she wraps her arms about her torso, all but rocking back and forth.

Kr'lin hmms and has to nod. Hanneke could use one of those right now, he suspects.. A father, not the mindhealer. Well, maybe, but Kr'lin wouldn't know anything about that, "Have your parents met Caeruleth yet? I know it was awful busy for everyone the first couple of days after you Impressed. I would imagine some families had to leave before they were able to congratulate the newly Impressed."

Hanneke misses the nod in her attempt to cover every inch of her boots with her eyes: staring deep into the unglossy finish. "No," she announces, almost decisively, "They had to go." How upsetting. Perhaps she's going to need a mindhealer after all, to get over this trauma.

Kr'lin pauses to think for a moment. An idea starts to form in his head, slowly, but surely, "Hmm. I would imagine we could arrainge for some sort of get together for all of you Weyrlings. Maybe send some dragons out to collect your families. It's been almost a half turn since your Impressions. I understand that is a long time to go without seeing your family." Kr'lin wouldn't know about that. It being several turns since he has seen his.

Hanneke raises her head, her face turning to allow her to regard Kr'lin with some curiousness; the tear stains are not, however, a very good look, making her face blotchy and red. "Oh!" Sense of security complete, she straightens, adding, "Oh, that would be *wonderful*! Mother always says that we must maintain contact with those we love, because it is important for our..." she trails off, frowning. Well, important for something.

Kr'lin gives the Weyrling a wide smile, hopefully somewhat comforting, but one never knows with Kr'lin's smiles, they have a habit of backfiring on him, "Okay. I'll speak to Kyla about it later today. It might be a couple of weeks before we can get the arraingements together." To show some further interest in Hanneke, he inquires, "Do you have any siblings? Brothers or sisters?" He's not entirely sure why he felt the need to define siblings, but he did none the less.

Hanneke, somewhat hesitantly, manages to smile back, but without the incessant glow that makes many believe she swallows glows for fun. "Thank you!" she -- yes, it's back -- trills, although her face falls slightly as she shakes her head. "No siblings. Mother says that in order to best educate offspring, there needs to be only one, to give them all available time to work with their specific needs."

Kr'lin strokes at his chin in thought, "That does explain quite a number of things, actually." A quick series of eyebrow wiggles, then it is off to the next comment. It's almost as if he's trying to draw Hanneke out of her self pity or something. It seems to be working very well, but none the less, he continues, "Your mother seems to be a very wise woman. It should be interesting meeting her."

"Oh?" Hanneke's perhaps not entirely interested in what her statement explains, but she responds nonetheless, politesse framed through her movements; posture straightens, height is held. "Yes. She is. She knows *everything*." She beams.

Kr'lin can't let that comment escape without making a joke.. It's just too there.. It's his nature, "She knows everything? Oh good. Maybe she knows where one of my boots are. I seemed to have misplaced it right after the Hatching.." Definitely not what Hanneke meant, "You seem to have a fairly good relationship with your mother." Then, turn the conversation again, "Where were you living when we Searched you?" It's twenty questions time!

Caeruleth has perhaps tidied Hanneke's mind somewhat, but this possibly isn't enough: "She might!" So decides the weyrling, nodding her head up and down, although her sores muscles are remembered with the movement, and she stills once more. "Yes. Mother always knows what I should do." Then, she adds, "Harper Hall. Mother says that I should become a Harper, and work with her, when I'm a journeywoman!" Pause. "But I don't think Caeruleth would like that."

Kr'lin just shakes his head, chuckling the whole time, "No. Caeruleth probably would not like that, Hanneke. But then, you also don't really have that option anymore. Dragonriders can not be memebers of a Craft." And really, isn't the world much better because of that? Means you don't end up with Hanneke teaching the younger generation about Pern's history. The mere thought of a generation going up believing sock wherries are real horrifies.

And what, by chance, is wrong with sockwherries? Hanneke nods somewhat dismally, admitting, "I guessed so. So I'm going to be a Dragonrider, instead! With Caeruleth!" Try as she might, her enthusiasm is still flagging somewhat. Not that Caeruleth is anything less than Hanneke's closest, best loved friend. Better even than her invisible sock wherry.

Kr'lin tries to toss a couple more logs of enthusiasm on Hanneke's campfire, so to speak, "Well, just look at it this way, Caeruleth will make it a lot easier for you to visit your mother. Once you graduate, of course." He does have to add that. Something about being a weyrlingmaster brings that out of him, "If you feel the urge to visit your parents, all you have to do is hop on Caeruleth's back, envision Lemos, and in a three count, you'll be there." One of the perks of having a dragon, the ability to travel almost anywhere in a few moments.

Hanneke swallows glows--or so her face insists. "Oooh! So I can! Then I can help Mother, even though I'm not a Harper, and can't stay at Lemos with her and Daddy. Ooh, that's so wonderful, isn't it, Kr'linny?" Whoops. Titles, when one is enthusiastic, often escape the weylring.

Kr'lin's eyes widen slightly at being called 'Kr'linny', "Kr'lin, please." Might as well correct the weyrling, the thought of anyone else picking up on that name just horrifies him to the core. "You won't be able to be there constantly, mind you. You will have duties here at the Weyr, but when you aren't doing anything here, you can go." See, he's slipping weyrlingmaster type information in from time to time. "Speaking of Caeruleth, have you been able been oiling and feeding him? With you being so sore and everything."

"Sorry!" Enthusiasm can't really go amiss, can it? Beaming, Hanneke continues, "Oh! Of course. Er...sweeps, and things?" She's fuzzy, on the exact duties of a dragonrider. "Of course I have! She needs it. She's always so itchy and hungry...She's growing big!"

Kr'lin examines the dragon quickly, not getting up mind you, just giving her a good look over, "That is good. You might not want to, but your dragon has needs as well." Then she shows confusion on the duties of dragonriders, "A lot of your time is spent in the care of your dragon and your equipment. You aren't going to have to oil her whole body like now, but you'll need to inspect her, make sure there aren't any cracks in her hide or dry areas. You'll also inspect your riding straps." Another wiggle of the eyebrows, "You don't want them breaking when you are in midair, now do you?"

Caeruleth raises her eyelids, all three sets fanning out slightly as she observes Kr'lin at his examination from afar. Without making comment of any kind, she returns her eyelids to shut position, tail twitching ever slightly. "Of course! She's very important. She needs it, too. Even though she eats nasty." Her attention is placed upon Kr'lin carefully as she listens, "Oh. That stuff." Boring. Her smile, nonetheless, doesn't cease. "Breaking off! Oh, no! I shall embroider them, and make them pretty, and ever so strong!"

Kr'lin would caution Hanneke against embroidering her riding straps. since she'll be replacing the straps frequently, but he doesn't want to rain on her parade. She'll learn soon enough, "You think they are disgusting eaters now? Wait until they start feeding themselves. There is nothing worse than seeing a dragon eating a live prey. The bones crunching, the initial scream of the prey.." He shudders at the mere thought. "It isn't uncommon for visitors to lose their prior meal if t hey happen upon the situation."

Too soon. Innocense is lost too quickly, alas. "Oh." Her face goes more or less pale: "She's already tearing it to strips, and making a nasty, horrible mess!" Caeruleth is unconcerned: she curls her tail up about her, dozing upon the barracks floor.

Kr'lin nods slowly, he's quite used to dragons feeding, so he doesn't always notice these things, "They aren't very modest when they eat, are they? YOu put food in front of them, they gobble it down as quickly as possible." And then, to bring up another unpleasant topic, "On the plus side, once they start flying, most dragons don't do their business on the floor of the barracks anymore." Oh no, they do it while they are in the air.. Do you have any idea how disgusting it is to get nailed by falling dragon doo?

Let's take a flying guess. Very disgusting? Hanneke nods, then gets confused, attempting to change the nod into a shake of her head. "No! They're all--yes." Words, as like in so many other situations, fail her. "They don't? Ooh, that will be good. I don't like it; it stinks, and it smells, and Caeruleth's not apologetic."

Kr'lin takes the side of the dragon, perhaps a little too quickly, "It's not like they can hold it. Although, you would think someone could come up with a latrine for dragonets or something." Hey, that's a good idea.. Kr'lin could make millions! Millions I tell you, Millions! Well, okay.. Probably just millions of thanks from future weyrlings. And really, does he want a latrine named after him? Dragon's would be 'going to the kr'lin'. "Although, it does mean you have to work on your upper body strength.. Lifting all that stuff with a shovel and all."

Hanneke makes a face, scrunching her features into a mass of still somewhat blotchy skin. "It's still messy, and nasty. I don't like it." As emphasis, she nods her head rapidly, smoothing her uniform with one hand. "Does it? Is that a good thing?"

Kr'lin nods his head, "I'm sure you've noticed since your day of pushups how your upper body muscles hurt while you scoop." A few scratches at the back of his head, getting closer and closer to his original length now, can't even tell that he was shaved bald, actually, "As for it being a good thing.. It all depends on whether or not you want to attract a mate for yourself." He contemplates tickling Hanneke, but that would probably hurt.. Him.

"Ow," agrees the somewhat troubled Hanneke, who nods her head slowly. "Attract a mate?" she repeats, frowning obviously for a long moment, before comprehension dawns. "Ew!" We'll take that as a definite 'no', at least, as long as she doesn't eventually grow up. Tickling would not be a good idea, no. For either of them.

Kr'lin has the urge to ask, so he does, "Ew? How old are you, Hanneke?" He didn't really mean for those two comments to come out so close to each other, but they did, so he must move on, "You should be getting to the point where you are noticing guys.." Although, he should amend that since this is a Weyr and all, and relationships aren't really limited to the opposite sex, "... or other women."

Hanneke's face turns pale. "I'm sixteen, and I'm never, ever going to notice guys--or girls! Ew, ew, ew! Mother says that it is immoral to look at girls like that, and I don't want to have babies!" Those two statements, together, are perhaps confusing. Seperately, however...

Kr'lin has to comment on the use of those two statements in the same sentence, "But Hanneke. If you don't want to have babies, then being with another female is the best option. There isn't a chance of you getting pregnant that way." And, because he is evil, as noted earlier in this conversation, "I won't worry too much, though. Once your dragon turns proddy, you'll find riders of male dragons very attractive.. No matter what gender they are."

Hanneke turns brilliant red -- making a redfruit pale by comparison -- and shuts her eyes. "No! Nonononono!" Regardless of her aches and pains, at this point, she makes no reluctance about making a dash from the bench, back towards her couch, with Caeruleth in somewhat more languid, and surprised, persuit. Poor Hanneke. Maybe.