February 26, 2003
R'hyn and Mechelle exchange chatter in the Living Caverns one morning.

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You head through the narrow tunnel and into the bustling living caverns.

Mechelle sits at a table near the doorway, hides scattered over the surface in several piles. She keeps her head down, studying them intently.

"I'll come and visit the boys /tomorrow/," promises R'hyn to a taller woman whose features are similar enough to his own to suggest some kind of relationship. "I just finished filing some reports, Saera, I'm just too tired. And then there's Serri..." He trails off, expression hopeful, and the woman - Saera - rolls her eyes in exasperation, and stalks off. R'hyn's gaze catches Mechelle, and he moves to sit nearby. "Women," is his glum conclusion. "Who'd have 'em?"

Mechelle continues her survey of the hides, moving several from one pile to another..and then back again. "Shards.." she mutters under her breath, before looking up, her attention drawn away from her work as R'hyn sits down. "Well, the same could be said of men." she retorts, taking a moment to drink from her mug that she's sat on the next table, away from the hides.

"Oh." For a moment, R'hyn's expression turns quite contrite. "Sorry, Mechelle, I kinda... Forgot." He presses his palms down onto the table's surface, adding, "What's that you're working on?"

Mechelle raises an eyebrow slightly, watching R'hyn for a moment, "Forgot? Forgot /what/?" she wonders, idly picking up another hide, glancing at it and then putting it back down where it came from. "Well, if you don't know, then I sure don't know. After all, they're hides that /you/ sent for from Fort...Old Threadfall charts, to be exact." she informs him. "Something about old patterns?"

R'hyn turns his head away. "Uhm," he says, eloquently. "That you were a woman, too. Sorry." The shy little boy surfaces, briefly. "Oh, those. You're a... gem, then. Old patterns, yes. Learning from the old, and stuff." He reaches out to pick one up, regarding it with his head tilted to the side.

Mechelle has to laugh at that, "Well, I've never had anybody else forget that I was a woman." she has to admit, eyes sparkling up with humor, "A gem...well, a compliment is a compliment, I guess. I'll take one any way it's given, I guess." she shrugs, "If you say so, though I've gone over enough of them to know that so far, we just keep seeing patterns that we already know about. There's been nothing new in the hundreds of hides that we've gone through. How long are we going to keep doing this?" she wonders curiously.

"I guess I'm just preoccupied?" says R'hyn, not without a grin. "Though I'm not sure with. You're just Mechelle. And that's not intended as an insult, mind," he concludes, quickly. He glances back down at the hide in his hands, skim reading it hesitantly. "Mm. Until we've read them all, I guess. I mean, just in case there's something useful. There's no rush or anything."

"Just Mechelle. That's me." Mechelle laughs, "Of course it's not an insult. I wouldn't dream of /thinking/ it was, of course." she says, maybe just a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She finishes her redfruit juice, plunking the mug back onto the next table before taking up another hide, "Hmm, well, that's not what /Shiae/ is telling me." she sighs, "Of course, she's /always/ in a hurry to get things done, it seems."

R'hyn's expression registers confusion, but he says nothing of it, merely smiling. "Uh, that's right. Yes." Elbows leaned up upon the table top, he adds, "Shiae's very good at what she does. Better than I am. She knows best, I s'pose." His tone is dubious.

Mechelle shrugs it off, "Yes, she is, including shutting her friends out." she says, letting her anger get to her for a moment. "She does that every time.." she stops, shaking her head, "Oh, never mind.." she adds, frowning, "Shiae's just Shiae. Nobody's ever going to change /that/."

"Shutting out her friends?" echoes R'hyn, confusedly. "I guess she is. Can't change who she is. Or who you are. Or me." He lets these words hang in the air, then repeats, "She's-- shutting out her friends?"

Mechelle eyes R'hyn for a moment, confusion on her face now, "Well...I guess not." she drawls out. "But then, if we could change people, it'd be a totally different Pern, I suppose." she sighs, nodding at his question. "Yes, she is, as a matter of fact. Or at least me. She thinks that I...well, she had the audacity to say she thinks /I/ spread gossip around! Me! She's known me a /long/ time, and she thinks /I/ spread gossip? She should know me better than that!" Yup, she's upset!

R'hyn listens wordlessly, dropping his hands down into his lap. Head nodding, at length, he wonders, "Have you, uh, talked to her about it? I mean, really tried to convince her? Everyone gossips, I suppose, but..."

Ohhh, wrong thing to say, R'hyn! "Not /everyone/! /I/ don't /ever/ gossip!" Mechelle says heatedly. "And I've tried. But if Shiae doesn't want me as a friend, fine. I don't want to talk about it anymore." she adds quickly, taking up a hide and hiding her face behind it. "It doesn't matter, anyway." Sulking? You bet!

R'hyn freezes - rodent in the headlights. "Oh," he says, succinctly. "Sorry. Do you, uhm, want me to try and talk to her? I mean, I'm not good at that kind of thing, but if you're upset... It's not good, for people to be upset. When they work together, and all."

"No!" Mechelle shakes her head, "In fact, if you do, she'll probably say I'm gossiping again." she sighs, putting the hide down, "No, don't worry about it, R'hyn. I shouldn't have said anything at all. I'm sorry..Just forget it." She shrugs, "Anyway, how about talking about something more pleasant? How's Serriena?"

R'hyn picks up another one of the hides - a reflex movement, of sorts, something to keep his hands busy. "Oh. All right, then. I suppose that's fair. I don't know much about... how the whole gossiping thing works." He seems more than a little confused, but continues, after a pause, "Oh. Good, I think. You can see the baby, now." Pride registers within his tone.

Mechelle seems a bit more relaxed as the subject changes. "You can /see/ it? Oh, you mean that she's showing finally? Is it kicking?" she smiles, "I usually just get the daily reports from the triplets. One of them usually ends up stopping by my weyr during the day." she smiles, "They're getting so big already.." always the nanny at heart. "So, I take it you're hoping for a boy?"

R'hyn gives a proud nod, accompanied by an almost goofy smile that stretches across his face. "Yes. Yes! It's so exciting, I guess. I mean, nerve-wracking, too, but... Exciting." He tilts his head to the side, wondering, "You don't get it straight from Serri? You should. She's feeling lonely, I think. I'm not sure why... Oh, no, actually. A girl. My mother wants a girl."

Mechelle chuckles as she watches R'hyn's face as he talks. "I love talking to expecting fathers. They're so funny." she admits. "And it never changes. They're one of two things. Excited or else mad. Never in between." She shakes her head at his question, looking down at the hides again, hiding the look on her own face, "Ever since the two dragons were on the sands together, we've...um...well, it's hard to explain." she finally says. "If dragons don't get along, riders aren't too likely to, either, I guess. Though, again, I've tried talking to her. But we've all been rather busy lately, so.." she lets the subject fall away once again, "A girl..Well, if it's a girl your mother wants, lets hope it's a girl, then, huh?" she chuckles again.

R'hyn flushes pink, at being placed so easily, but his attention is diverted quickly. "Is there anyone you're on good terms with, at the moment? I suppose, being busy is a good excuse. We're all busy. But you need to be friendly to work together properly, don't you?" His certainty runs out towards the end of the statement, resulting in a lift of his voice - a question. "I hope so. She gets very down if things don't go the way she wants."

Mechelle sighs, "It /does/ seem that I'm out of sorts with everybody, doesn't it?" she shrugs, "Who knows? I just do my best to do my job and be friendly towards everybody. I mean, /I/ haven't gotten mad at anybody. It seems that everybody gets mad at /me/." she frowns at R'hyn, though her eyes sparkle with amusement, "Now don't /you/ get mad at me for anything.." She shrugs at his statement-turned-question, the sparkle turning to seriousness as she thinks about it for a moment, "It's much easier to work together when you're on good terms, but what can /I/ do when I'm not the one who made the other one mad? Tell me /that/?"

R'hyn, pink again, lifts up his right hand nervously, as if begging silently for peace. "Of course," he murmurs, lowly. "Of course, of course. It isn't your fault. Umm..." he adds, changing the subject. "So. How are you, other than all of that?"

Mechelle takes a deep breath, calming down. "Right, it's not. But that doesn't matter. Yes, change the subject. It's better to change the subject when one is uncomfortable, isn't it?" she smiles tightly, "I'm fine, of course. Now that Selynth's wing is fully healed from that last Threadfall, we'll both be fine. The healer said that we could be put back onto duty. Selynth's ready for it. It was hard enough to keep her from flying at all those first couple of sevendays, but then having her making short hops was even worse, since she wanted to be up there fighting Thread again." she says with a wry laugh.

R'hyn nods his head rapidly, allowing a smile to be pressed into the corners of his lips. "You're not going to turn up pregnant now, are you, after all this time without Betweening, are you?" His tone is teasing, though layered beneath his usual quiet blandness - sometimes it's hard to tell. "It'll be good to have you back in the wing, I'm sure, though," he adds. "For your sake, and for the weyr. Better for morale."

Something flickers over Mechelle's face, but is quickly hidden by a smile that seems not quite genuine, "No, I don't think you have to worry about /that/, Weyrleader." she says solidly. "Besides the fact that Galieden has been gone to visit his family for the last couple of months, it seems that having children isn't something I'm capable of." and that, it seems, is enough of that subject. "Yes, I'm ready, though I must admit, it's kind-of scary. After knowing the pain of a Threadscore, not to mention the emotions from Selynth getting hit...I sure hope it never happens again. Have you ever been scored, R'hyn?" she wonders curiously.

"Oh." R'hyn's expression turns apologetic. "I /am/ sorry, Mechelle. I didn't know..." Uncomfortable, he shifts in his chair, and finally goes back to the other - safer - topic. "Oh, yes. Twice. Minor ones, only. Arisvath's right shoulder, and my left arm, on different occasions. It's-- /not/ something I recommend," he concludes, after a pause. "So I do understand how you feel."

Mechelle waves off his apology. Enouogh of that subject, her action seems to say. "No, it's not something I'd recommend, either." she says wryly. "But then, who would? I can't imagine anything being hit so much it dies...The pain of it.." she shudders, her memories overwhelming, it seems. "If only we could find a way to get rid of it forever..."

It is currently early evening on day 13 of the 7th month of Turn 10 of the 11th Pass.

R'hyn has the sense to refrain from returning to the previous subject, and nods his head sharply. "Oh. Yes. If only. It seems kind of hopeless, sometimes, in knowing that we've another forty turns until we can stop fighting it, but that it will be back. Again, and again. Forever."

Mechelle nods her agreement, "Hopeless is the word for it. But yet we keep fighting. The technique of survival. We do it because we have to." she shrugs, "And we'll continue to do it. Because we want to survive." she smiles wryly, "It seems like a pretty good idea to me. And the dragons are definitely a perk, wouldn't you say?"

"Of course we do," agrees R'hyn. "Even though sometimes we don't want to. Sometimes, you know, I almost wish-- well, not that I'd no longer be able to fight, because I know how helpless I would feel, like my mother does, but that I didn't have to." He pauses, grins. "Yes," he concludes, firmly. "They are."

Mechelle nods her understanding, "I think that's how every dragonrider feels at one time or another." she smiles. "And I suppose that every older dragonrider who doesn't ride 'fall would feel a bit hopeless when they're not able to go after Thread anymore. I'm sure their dragons feel even worse off." she notes thoughtfully. She chuckles as memories surface, "You know, when I first Impressed Selynth, I thought that riding in 'fall would be the worst thing ever. And I was right. It's the worst, but yet it's the best, too, because I know that I'm doing the right thing. And having Selynth with me, right there whenever I need her...I wouldn't go back and change it if I could."

R'hyn nods his head, lips parting sharply. "That's one of the worst parts for my mother. Indoth is fine - he could still fly. It's just that she can't, not really. Dragons need to fight, it's bred into them." He drops the hide in his hands back to the table, then shoves it onto the top of the pile to add, "Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's what being a dragonrider is all about."

Mechelle picks up the hide that R'hyn drops and puts it on a different pile. "It goes /there/." she tells him, grinning. "And I don't suppose any dragon would go up without their rider. After all, it would be a horrible thing to happen if a riderless dragon went up, then got scored and went between, not to come back out..." she shudders at the thought. "So what about Arisvath? I take it he's doing very well?"

"Oh," says R'hyn, flushing. "Sorry." He merely nods, hesitantly, at Mechelle's words, and carries quickly on to a more comfortable topic - his lifemate. "Oh, very well, yes. Quite as besotted with Niaryth as ever, and in good health."

Mechelle laughs, "It's amazing to see dragons as in love with another dragon as their riders are." she says, apparently very amused. "But that's good. At least we don't have to worry about any dragon squabbles, eh? But what about Niaryth? Is she as besotted with Arisvath as he is with her?" she wonders.

R'hyn's expression turns rueful at this, as he admits, "I'm not quite sure where they get it from. It /is/ sweet... Though I probably could have done without it. I mean, if it meant Arisvath didn't keep catching her and all." Nodding, he continues, "Oh, probably moreso, I think."

Mechelle raises one eyebrow in question, but doesn't put that question into words. "Sweet...well, I guess we should expect something like that from dragons. After all, they have their own personalities, too. Though they /do/ tend to reach over from their rider's personalities..most of the time." she says with a shrug. "Selynth and I are pretty much alike, though at flights.." now it's /her/ turn to get just a bit pink, "Then I'd rather be anywhere but near her." she has to admit.

"True," agrees R'hyn. "Though it's still unusual, I guess. Most dragons don't seem to have such close favourites. I don't think Arisvath gets it from me. I don't think." His hands are drawn under the table again, fiddling with the fabric of his breeches. "Ah, but flights are always like that. Different. Not a lot of fun, at least in my opinion. Thankfully, Arisvath doesn't chase often - and at least Selynth doesn't rise often, mm?"

Mechelle nods her agreement, "Every dragon I know has /something/ different from it's rider. In fact, I've heard some dragons and their riders arguing about why they act like they do." she chuckles, "And some of the stories that Selynth tells me, about talks she has with other dragons...Sometimes they really do amuse me." She rolls her eyes expressively at the talk of flights, "True..I was just talking to another rider earlier today, telling him that if /I'd/ Impressed a green, I don't know how I would cope." she shudders slightly, "Flights are the worst part of being a dragonrider, in /my/ opinion, though I know of some that think it's the best." she says wryly.

R'hyn's lips quirk into a smile, and he nods. "Arisvath and I are... opposites, in a lot of ways. But still the same, somehow, beneath things. It's fascinating, isn't it?" He wrinkles his nose as he admits, "I'm glad I didn't get green, too. I wanted a blue - no, that's not true. I /expected/ a blue. Arisvath was a surprise. A welcome one, of course. Flights aren't so bad if you think about them in terms of them being important to your lifemate. I mean, just like you and I enjoy..." he trails off, muttering the word 'sex' beneath his breath "So do they."

Mechelle nods as she listens, "I expect so..And, as they say, dragons know best, when it comes to choosing lifemates. I don't know how many times I've heard someone tell me they can't believe that this dragon picked that person." she chuckles, "In fact, I don't know how many people /still/ tell me they're surprised that Selynth chose me." she shrugs, "But she did. To tell you the truth, I was expecting a blue, too, if /anything/. After those first two times on the sand, I was actually ready to go back to the Hold nursery yet again." she admits. "I was comfortable in my position as head nanny. But now? I wouldn't change it for the world." Her face pales and then flushes red as she hears his last statements, coughing as if to drown out his words. "Well, if you have to think about it at /all/." she finally says primly, looking everywhere but at R'hyn. "Ot's better not to think about it, that way you won't be so embarassed." Or so /she/ won't be, that is..

"Same here. Surprised... surprised isn't the word. But I wasn't surprised that you got Selynth, I don't think, no more than I would have been for anyone else because I didn't know any more than anyone else. You know? Things happen for a reason." Even becoming Weyrleader, R'hyn. Hint, hint. The bronzerider adds, flushing scarlet, "Yeah. That's always a, uh, good idea."

Mechelle has to think a moment to get what R'hyn says straightened out in her mind. She finally smiles, nodding, "I know what you mean. I remember how that one girl from Tillek was /so/ angry when Selynth walked right by her. She had put down two whole marks on the bets, saying that she would Impress the gold." she remembers, laughing lightly. "Of course, I didn't actually think I'd Impress at all, but I wouldn't have bet on her. Though perhaps if it was a different Turn, she could very well have Impressed. You just never know." she shrugs it off. Cheeks still rather pink, she just tries to ignore the last subject, "So how long have you had Arisvath, now?" Yeah, changing subjects is always good, right?

R'hyn says, reflectively, "I've never liked the idea of betting on yourself, especially when it's something like Impression. Especially to a queen. I mean... how arrogant can you get?" He shakes his head, something akin to disgust playing upon his features. "More than ten turns, now. I can't believe it's been that long."

From the tunnel leading in and out of the bowl, among the crowds coming and going out of the living cavern, comes the silentl figure of O'lek. He glances around the cavern, before moving to the serving tables, getting some klah, before he moves to a seat.

"Exactly..But then, I never bet." Mechelle reveals. "It's just a waste of marks. Even as a child, I never could make a good bet." she says with a grin. "And, yes, several of the female candidates were pretty disgusting, thinking they were 'good' enough to get the gold, their own words." she rolls her eyes expressively. "And then their were those who flocked to her, so that if she /did/ Impress the gold, they would be in her good graces. People like that.." she shakes her head, "Well, that's the way it is with any hatching, I guess. The three candidacies that I went through were /all/ like that." she admits. "Ten turns? Really? Hmm...I didn't think it was that long..But then, I guess I Impressed when I was a bit older than a lot of people who Impress. How old were you?" she wonders, before nodding to O'lek as she sees him enter.

R'hyn misses O'lek's entrance, and continues his conversation with Mechelle without interruption. "I've been known to bet, once or twice, but not often. And certainly not on myself." Wrinkling his nose, he admits, "I think gold eggs bring out the worst in people, but it's the same regardless of whether there is a gold egg, to some degree. Ten turns," he agrees, wryly. "I was just fifteen, when I Impressed. It doesn't feel that long, really."

"I was twenty Turns when I Impressed Selynth." Mechelle admits. "Though I'm glad I was older. For some reason, it irks me to see the younger ones Impressing. Not that it's bad or anything, just because it seems that their lives are changed so completely once they Impress..and some not for the better, I say. But then, we have to go with what the dragons say, and they do seem to like the younger ones more than the older end of the Impressing age. Of course, the younger they are, the more Turns to be together, I know." she adds. "Time goes by quickly.."

O'lek waves a bit to R'hyn and Mechelle after he sits down. "Hey Mechelle, sorry about leaving so suddenly." He says to her. "Something came up." He added, raising a bit of a brow at the conversation.

R'hyn turns, slightly, finally noticing O'lek, and greets the rider with a quick smile. "Twenty," he marvels, turning his attention back to Mechelle. "By your age I'd already been a Wingleader, once, and Arisvath had sired a clutch-- Selynth's clutch. I suppose you're right. Things happen for a reason."

Mechelle turns to O'lek, nodding slightly, "That's alright." she says, smiling, "Things happen. I don't remember /how/ many times I've had to leave in the middle of a good conversation because of something I had to do. Duty before conversation." she chuckles, before nodding at R'hyn, "Twenty it was. And maybe I needed to be twenty before I Impressed. I think that I was more ready for it after that third candidacy than I was after the first one." she admits. "Those first two were interesting, and I learned a lot, but I guess I wasn't ready..and my dragon wasn't out there, though I did stand for another gold clutch...The one where Serriena Impressed Niaryth, in fact." she remembers.

O'lek smiles slightly, and takes a sip of his klah as he listens to the conversations going on, though not joining in too much yet.

"Maybe," agrees R'hyn, with a wry smile. "Well-- I think a twenty-turn-old is far better equipped to handle the pressures of Impressing gold than a fifteen-turn-old. The added maturity would have been of assistance, I think. Come to think of it, Serriena and Llilian both Impressed when they were older, too, I believe."

"That's true enough, R'hyn." Mechelle says with a nod. "Serriena's a couple of Turns older than me. And Llilian is older, too. Maybe that's how it is with golds. But...well, I guess there /have/ been younger girls to Impress golds. I think I remember someone saying that there was a girl at High Reaches that Impressed a gold at age fourteen..So young." she sighs, then turns to look at O'lek, "You said your dragon is about fourteen Turns? How old were you when you Impressed her?" she wonders curiously.

O'lek takes a sip of his klah, and then looks to Mechelle. "Uh, no, about seventeen turns." He replies to her. "That was about...uh, I'm 32 now...so..." He tries to think.

R'hyn's expression turns amused. "Always a good thing, to remember the important details." He rises to his feet, nodding again at Mechelle. "True enough. Seems that Istan queens, at least for the moment, tend to prefer the older candidates. Interesting, that. I've things to do. Good night!"

You head out through the narrow tunnel to emerge in the bowl.

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