Reading Records (Open!)

[Invisible]

The height of boredom had been reached. There were many layers and levels of boredom and, sadly, Genet had experienced them all in her lifetime. Or so it seemed anyway. With the hatching over and her brother not around she was left to her own devices. Oh, there were things to do although as of yet she’d not settled into any specific duties. Which left her with lots of time to do…nothing at all. Having nothing to do was not the preferred state of being for Genet. Not just because she was prone to getting in trouble when having nothing to do either. It’s just not what she was made for. She should be doing something. Something exciting and fun and… not so dreadfully dull.

Covering a yawn she dropped down into a chair and peered at the hides she’d taken from one of the shelves. If she was going to be living here she should, she reckoned, get to know more about. Reading hides was dreadfully dull, but she figured that better than spending the day hassling people. After all, they might complain. It wasn’t her fault tasks assigned to her were so boring she finished them in record time so she might get away from them. There wasn’t a lot going on in the records room, but then again was there ever? Genet couldn’t imagine a more boring room in the whole world let alone the Weyr, but it was important she do something with her time. Still, the whole of her attention was certainly not on what she was trying to read. There was always the chance someone would wander in and save her from herself. She definitely needed saving from trying to read since much like her brother when first arrived she could barely fumble through some of the words staring up at her.

[Selvagem]

C'cao
C'cao fidgeted with the long, thin leather-wrapped pouch as he walked, blue eyes distant and misted, barely seeing the corridors falling away beside him, or the riders passing him in bunches after luncheon. A series of packages to be sent to the Lord of Telgar Hold and two other smaller Holds had been his errands for the day, and all had been completed in recird time. Which left him time to brood. Selvagem's leaving had affected him more than he liked to admit, and he took more and more to finding time alone with his music. If he had been a solitary personality before he was virtually anti-social now. Even Opheriath was beginning to get worried - he knew by the flurries of anxious mental thrills he got every now and then that she was concerned about him.

She was fretting now. Her soft mental cadences, audible only on the very periphery of his mind, started to annoy him. He reached out to her, sitting on her ledge at their weyr, and allowed a low soft hum to buzz through their mental link.

I'm fine, love, relax.

She withdrew from him abruptly. He felt her mind close like a wall against him. C'cao sighed. Opheriath could move from concern to annoyance as easily as a storm blew in summer: for the moment, she was angry at being treated like a child, to be comforted or called or dismissed at his whims. That much he understood from the mental backlash that flared just before she disappeared, and the understanding only made him sigh again. He would make it up to her later, though whether he did or not made little difference. Her mood would pass when she was ready to let it go.

The records room loomed on his left, and C'cao turned into it without hesitation. Of all the rooms in the Weyr, this was one of the quietest and most secluded: few people came here unless they had business to, and fewer yet had much business to do with it. It was, in general, a good room to be alone, and to play his flute.

The greenrider halted at the sight of Genet, and surprise lit in his misted blue eyes. Well, not today perhaps. He was still a moment, uncertain, and smiled lightly. He recognized her: one of the candidates who had stood for the gold egg at the recent Hatching.

"Greetings, candidate," he bowed his head lightly, "My duty to you. What brings you here?"

[Invisible]

“No candidates around here,” Genet replies cheerfully. “Or, well, anywhere right now. Well, at Telgar anyway. I suppose maybe somewhere else. I’m Genet.” Distraction. Sweet lovely wonderful distraction. Tapping the hides before her with one finger she grins. “Just looking for something to do. Although now that I’ve someone to talk to I needn’t bother!” Poor C’cao. He will have to make a quick break for it to escape the conversational clutches of the bored and lonely Genet.

“Have a seat? I was just trying to learn more about the history of Telgar. And I think I was annoying people with all my questions because finally someone snapped at me to go read about it or something and leave them be.” Her eyes lowered a moment and she looked wounded, hurt, sad at being talked to in such a manner. But when she looked up again she was grinning once more. “So, I came here. Where it’s dreadfully dull. And I can’t just ask my brother because he’s still not back yet and that’s ridiculous because he’s the only one I really know here and I don’t like being alone and he knows this and still did it to me.” She hmphs quietly to punctuate her words before asking, “Who’re you? I don’t think we’ve met? Probably not or you’d have known my name.” Because who could forget Genet?

[Selvagem]

C'cao
C'cao, caught by the flurry of words, was stunned a moment, and staring. He recovered himself a fraction of a second later, and felt a wain smile begin to draw his lips upwards. Well, just a lone girl looking for someone to talk to. He had braved worse people, and worse talkers. Genet was chatty, but she was also cheerful.

He inclined his head once more, gracefully, at her invitation to sit, and did so while allowing the flood of words to continue washing over him. Pale blue eyes, distant, held a hint of laughter. The long, thin pouch he laid before him on the table. Listening to the cadence of her tone, he nodded and sighed accordingly, enjoying the rhythm of her speech. Fast though she spoke, and in torrents, she had an interesting beat to her words. As she mentioned her brother he tilted his head at her, curious. She had reminded him, from the first moment he saw her, of someone. Who was it? He frowned, briefly, and let the smile wander back onto his face again. Yes, she did resemble someone he knew in Telgar Weyr.

She pulled a dam shut on the river of her words just then, and asked him a question.

“Who’re you? I don’t think we’ve met? Probably not or you’d have known my name.”

'No," his voice was soft, though not lacking in strength, "I havn't met you personally, though I've seen you at the Hatching. Thus I knew you were a candidate. But I'm sure I've seen someone like you before...G'tet, perhaps?"

He sat back against the chair, the thin pouch toying in his fingers, his sky-hued eyes peaceful, "And me, my name is C'cao, rider of green Opheriath. It's a...pleasure to have met you."

[Invisible]

“C’cao, it’s so nice to meet you! Oh! Yes! G’tet is my brother. We’re twins.” Genet grins widely and leans forward as if she’s imparting a secret. “He says he is older, but I am quite sure he’s lying and that I am.” Leaning back again into her chair she smiles. “And Opheriath? That’s a very pretty name. How long have you been here? Did you impress the first time you stood? What’s it like living in a Weyr? I’ve only ever been to the hold I grew up in and it’s not that big. We rarely even got traders through and had to go to other places.”

If C’cao was looking for silence or solitude he was out of luck. Lots of rapid nearly inane conversation on the other hand was in great supply at Genet’s table. Nothing was worse in her mind than dull, dreary silence. When one could cure it by chit chat they really should. “Do you know my brother? Or just by name? He has lots of friends, but he always did. So did I, of course.” In case he was thinking otherwise. “It’s just I don’t have them here yet because I haven’t been around long enough and, of course, most of the people I did know were candidates like me and some went home and others back to their work and I’m just sort of here, yea? I mean, I have work, but nothing serious. Just whatever.”

[Selvagem]

C'cao
The greenrider settled back into obscurity as Genet took center stage once more, gushing on and on in rapid-fire form. All thought of silence and solitude were gone, and with them came a hint of annoyance. He was thwarted, again. Not that he got thwarted in his intentions very often, but after his hopes for Selvagem every blocking of his goals was met with a flaring annoyance that surprised even him at times.

Genet, however, was far too interesting to be angry at for long. His temper died away as he listened, and a small blush of pleasure lit his heart and coloured his face with a soft smile as she commented on Opheriath. That, however, was followed by a flurry of questions so quickly delivered e could hardly track one before the next came at him. Mildly bewildered, he blinked as she continued yet again about her brother, and started to raise a hand to halt her so he could speak.

A mild tug at his mind drew his attention away. He opened himself to it and found Opheriath. Her presence was oozing with curiosity and questioning: she had discovered another presence near his, and wanted to know who it was. He smiled softly to her and opened his eyes to his green, allowing her to see through them as Genet finished her torrent of words.

"I'm sure you have lots of friends Genet," he spoke firmly, before she could launch into another avalanche, "And I know G'tet is fairly popular too. I'm sorry...I can't really remember all the questions you've asked, so I can't answer them, but I have a suggestion."

He gestured to the doorway, "Opheriath is very curious about you and would like to meet you. How about you come with me to see her?"

[Invisible]

If Genet knew she was overloading the greenrider she gave away no signs of this knowledge. The odds were good that she was completely unaware of this fact. Her nature was to be chatty with people and she never considered that she might be too much so for someone else’s comfort. When C’cao informed her he didn’t remember her questions she was prepared to wave away something so paltry and just offer them again.

He seemed to have a different idea which suited Genet just fine. She looked at the hides in front of her and then shoved them a little closer to the middle of the table. “Yes! I would like to meet her. That would so much fun! Much more interesting than reading boring old records!” Shoving her chair back with a loud scrape she hopped to her feet. “Being outside’s a lot of fun I think. Don’t you? Inside is nice enough, but it gets horribly dull. So, have you been here long?” Because that was one question and surely he’d be able to remember that!

[Selvagem]

C'cao
C'cao nearly breathed a sigh of relief at Genet's eager agreement to come with him. The enclosed and musty records room had began to feel like a trap, and especially so in the face of the girl's rapid-fire nature of speaking. The greenrider was naturally a person who did better with open air and space to think, and going up to see Opheriath would do much for his mood. Not to mention she would help with distracting Genet's talk from coming at him all at once. He rose from his chair and pushed it back neatly, then inclined his head politely to Genet as he indicated the doorway with one hand.

"This way," he started out slowly to lead, "I do agree that outside is fun, I've always enjoyed the outdoors more than an enclosed space. As for how long I'vce been here..."

Memories tumbled in a rush, images of a bitter childhood and a mass of abandoned dreams. He caught his breath, blinked once hard, and smiled again. Opheriath crooned into his mind, soothingly, her presence wrapping his soul like a blanket, bringing warmth.

"I was raised in the Weyr," his soft boice held no hint of the turmoil that had just rushed through him, "And then I Impressed Opheriath 4 turns back, and I'm permanently here now."

He chuckled, "I take it you havn't been here long?"

[Invisible]

There had been but the briefest of pauses in Genet’s actions when C’cao stood. She allowed him to motion to the exit and then she was already on her way. Not quickly because conversation would have been impossible then, but certainly with no hesitation. “Oh! Well, at least you’re used to it then. I mean, that’s good. Oh! Four turns? You impressed with G’tet! So Opheriath is Kalpeth’s sister! That’s so neat!” Neat being one of the best things ever in Genet vocabulary.

“I’ve been here since before the hatching. That’s all. G’tet promised to bring me here after he impressed, but our parents wouldn’t hear of it.” Genet paused and lowered her voice to an amused confiding tone. “They said it was too immoral a place for me. That I’d cause no end of trouble.” Eyes rolling she chuckled and raised her voice to its normal level once more. “But now he’s not around and I’m here by myself which is not as much fun. He made sure I got searched because that was the only way my parents would let me come.” Clearly disobeying her parents in some large matter was Not To Be Done. Only small disobediences were allowed.

"If my parents had known how dull it was here I don't think they'd have worried so much," Genet added thoughtfully. "I mean, it's not entirely dull!" Lest she be accused of offending his home. "But it's not at all what they thought."

[Selvagem]

C'cao
C'cao smiled: yes, it was certainly "neat" that he retained the ties he had contemporaries from the same weyrling class, and the social circle just kept getting wider with their sisters, brothers, parents and other friends. As a child he had never bothered to observe if weyrlings stayed together after graduation, or if they drifted apart with their new associations to Wings and Wingleaders. He knew now that how things turned out depended to the bonding strength of the weyrling class in question: some remained close, others became strangers to those they'd once held close.

He nodded politely as Genet continued, and kept nodding as appropriate while she spoke and he led the way down the corridor at a sedate pace. He chuckled, amused, at her mention of the Weyr being "immoral". Well, that was the general view of Holdfolk, of course. Having been raised in the Weyr, he felt no inclinations to such beliefs, and had never quite understood them himself. His two years with Master Synjor at Telgar Hold had taught him respect for the Holdfolk's views, but failed to impress their values onto him. He conceded with slight puzzlement.

"Yes, I havn't seen G'tet since the Hatching too. I expect he's on some Weyr business, but it's strange. He's never been missing so long before."

Genet went on, and C'cao lapsed into silence again. He glanced at her, "Well, I don't think it's dull if you know what you need to do...or if you have things to do."

They were now well up the corridors, and approaching the passages that led to the greenrider weyrs. From there various openings in the rock face led off to the different private weyrs of each rider. Higher up, the passageway would eventually become a ledge, and then peter off into nothingness. Weyrs beyond that point belonged to the dragonriders of higher station, and were accessible only by flight. The greenrider smiled back at Genet as they walked.

"Weyrs often arn't what most people think of them, at any rate. Have you ever visited any besides Telgar?"

[Invisible]

Genet skipped along next to the greenrider thrilled mostly to be doing something other than nothing at all. He wasn’t the most interesting person to be around, but she’d definitely talked to worse. Maybe he would lighten up some eventually and be more fun. What was wrong with people being fun anyway? When C’cao talked she was careful to pay attention since he did so little of it. Not that this was a problem since she had more than enough to say for at least two or three people.

“It’s more than strange. It’s…wrong. I’m telling you, something is wrong. There’s no way G’tet would have missed the hatching with me out there. It’s a…a..mystery!” The former candidate latched onto that word with a somewhat unholy glee. Anyone with any sense would probably run fleeing. It heralded certain trouble if not outright doom. “And I am going to get to the bottom of it. Thinks he can throw out the charm and no one will care what he is really saying? Well, he’s got another thing coming. I am completely immune to that sort of thing!”

Her plans for trouble causing circled around her brain, but were not enough to keep her from continuing to converse. “I’ve never been anywhere but here and home. This is the first place I’ve been to other than the hold I was born in. Such a dull place it was. But, that’s in the past now. I don’t have to go back there so who cares if they are all content being dull and stupid.” Genet holds most people in such high regard you see.

[Selvagem]

C'cao
Something was tugging warningly at C'cao's mind: something, perhaps, in the way Genet skipped and spoke, in the thrill of her movements and her speech, spoke to him of impending trouble. Some mischief at work beneath. But he saw nothing to directly suggest anything of the sort to him, and so dismissed the thought as mere moodiness. He had been so cranky lately, one might have thought he was getting proddy. But Opheriath was still well off in her cycle. It would be another three months, at least, before he became concerned for her (and himself) in that regard. He inclined his head to Genet as they walked, nodding at her words.

"No doubt it's a mystery," his cool, quiet voice was an even match to the girl's bubbliness, "Though I am well certain you would get to the root of it, if you wished. But that may not always be the best thing to do. Sometimes people need their own space, their own rules."

The greenrider smiled as she continued, still listening. There was so much one could learn from just standing still, and listening. He marvelled, of course, at the great 'regard' she held for her relatives, but then having never known his own, he held no opinion or judgement over her for speaking such. Parents were wonderful things for some people, and a dreadful bane for others. That was life, and C'cao was content to let it remain that way. He smiled as they turned the final corner, and he pushed open the door to his weyr.

"Indeed. Well, if you say so. Now, here we are."

He led the way into the weyr as a fresh breeze swung in from the open ledge, passed lilting over the pair, and fled through the open door behind them. C'cao's adobe was neat, tidy and orderly, parchment sheets placed in rolls on shelves near a small table with two chairs, saddles and riding equipment hung on holders near the ledge, and bed made nicely in the deepest, most sheltered corner. The greenrider strode through the midst of it all, and called a soft greeting to the shadow that fell over the ledge at his approach.

Reaching her head into the weyr that was too small for her to enter, Opheriath set her whirling blue eyes on Genet, and the sense of her welcome was so strong it needed so croon or warble to emphasize it. Without a sound, the green extended a questioning sense towards the girl, bidding her to come closer to introduce herself. C'cao smiled as he rubbed the headknobs of his dragon fondly.

"Here Genet, this is Opheriath. She's very pleased to meet you."

[Invisible]

Impending Doom followed Genet around like a cloak. It was certainly not her fault she gave off that air. There was just something about her overly energetic self that encouraged others to think of an accident waiting to happen. The good news was, at least to her, that she was rarely the one involved in the accident. Just the cause of it. Besides, if C’cao had talked more she wouldn’t have had to say so much. But since she was never one to be silent there was little she could do but chat onwards. “G’tet doesn’t need space from me. I’m his sister. His twin. We’re close. It’s silly to think he’d want to be away from me. No, it’s not his fault. It’s all- Well, I am going to get some answers. That’s all I have to say!”

Upon entering the weyr, something she would never have done with any but a greenrider, she stopped and looked around. A wistful sigh escaped into the silence she let linger for a moment. “It must be the best thing ever to have your own room. I always wanted my own room. But even if I got married I’d still have to share.” Giving her head a shake she advanced upon the green waiting to meet her.

“Hello, Opheriath! It’s so very nice to meet you!” Genet took a moment to really look over the green and smiled brightly. “And aren’t you so pretty! Why, you’re probably one of the prettiest dragons I’ve ever seen!” It was such a sincere and honest compliment it was impossible not to believe it. Besides, if one took seen to mean met it’s not like she had that many dragons to compare her too. Kalpeth wouldn’t remember even if she were around to hear of it so there was no worry about insulting her brother’s dragon.

[Selvagem]

C'cao
The greenrider's smile broadened into a grin as Genet praised his dragon, a rare event in itself. C'cao knew well enough how few people would look so kindly on a green, and a green such as Opheriath as well. The thought that the girl might have spoken such of his dragon because she knew so few of them did not occur to him. In his view, Genet had been in the Weyr since before the Hatching, and she would certainly have seen her share of greens, or enough of them to make valid comments at any rate. She seemed sincere, and that was enough for him. Opheriath's pleasure at being spoken well of washed over them both, and C'cao strode off to find two chairs as he called over his back.

"Opheriath is very pleased by what you've said, Genet, and she'll like you to sit with her a while. I was thinking," he started to drag the chairs back towards his green and the girl, "that is you wanted a room of your own, why couldn't you use G'tet's weyr first? I'm sure no one will mind, and you'll know straight off when he gets back."

He set the chairs down beside the green, who had settled onto her stomach and was butting Genet's shoulder with her head for a stroke.

[Invisible]

Having a greenrider brother certainly makes Genet more susceptible to the prettiness in other greens. It is what she is most used to after all. She looked over her shoulder when C’cao translated his dragon’s desire to her and grinned brightly. “Oh! I would love to! Thank you very much, Opheriath.” Inclining her head towards the green she waited for the chairs to be brought back while listening to the words the greenrider said. His suggestion was not something she had considered before and there was a gleam of something, purely innocent surely, in her eyes as his words sunk in.

“Oh! Oh, what a great idea. I am sure he would not mind. I just wish he were back. He’s been gone so long. But, I should stay there. Oh! Maybe he left a clue about what was going on! I can search his whole weyr from top to bottom. That’s an excellent idea. Thank you so much!” She looked between the chair and the dragon head butting her and sat down before attending to the other. With a happy expression she reached out to scratch at the green’s head. “So do you guys get to pick your weyrs or are they assigned?”