Observations in the Morning[open]

[.K.aci]

It took him several moments to waken, and when he did he wasn’t quite sure if it was a good thing or not. An insomniac, he didn’t sleep very often, and the little he received was a blessing. For a few seconds he lay on the small cot, staring at the ceiling. The warm weight on his feet, purring as she sensed his growing awareness to the world around him, had to be Amora. But the dream, what was the dream he had be having? Something calling… He shut midnight blue eyes tightly closed, trying to remember. A voice, a gentle touch, not human… Matching voices echoing something… What were they asking? Tiny hands wrapped around his neck, kissing him clumsily on the nose, asking him… They flew back open as he relaxed his body, sighing. The tiny hands were Claudia, his little sister. The voices, echoing each other angrily, worriedly, were Kanamar and Deverel, asking him to come with them. But the beginning was a mystery… He tried to cling to it, remember more, but it was quickly fading, dropping into the abyss in his mind that greedily ate everything, suctioned it all, slowly engulfed him.

Thin bare chest heaved a sigh, and he rolled over. The warm weight at the end of his cot gone as Amora grumped and shifted from his feet, still purring, to curl next to his torso, and he buried his face in his pillow. To try and let sleep take over was an impossible feat, but he hoped maybe... After several more minutes of lying there, he knew that it was no good. Slim body rolled back over, one leg propped up, the other falling off the side, as he draped an arm over his eyes. He was exhausted, and yet sleep was not forthcoming… Amora decided the answer to his problem, rising her lean body up, and leaping down, then leaning back over to lick his hand with her rasped tongue.

“Fine.”

He murmured in his quiet tone, rolling out of the bed and onto the stone floor. That served to wake him up, for he was wearing only underpants, and the chill seemed to seep into him like one of those thick black bloodsuckers that lived in the jungle. Quickly he shoved himself up, only the slight twist in his mouth any sign of discomfort. He dressed as fast as he could, yanking on a tunic and breeches, slipping into worn wher-hide boots quickly, banishing most of the cold that seeped up through the very walls. The only male candidate as yet, he was alone in the hall, and gracious for it. While he worked decently well with people, he always managed to get paired with the worst males. Briskly, Amora at his side easily keeping up, he slipped out of the Candidate Quarters, and down to the Lower Caverns. It was early, and only a few of the riders and other weyr residents had braved the brightly light room for a chance at food.

A cup of klah, politely thanking the drudge that stared at him so oddly, then dismissed him, he figured it must be because of the tattoos that marred his skin. He shrugged it off, and scooped up several meatrolls, settling down at a table in the corner. He ate them slowly, methodically, as the room slowly filled up, at times giving pieces to the large feline curled up at his feet, lazily watching the people as he did.

The inhabitants of Pern never ceased to amaze him and as Rukbat slowly started to stretch itself fully over the horizon, he allowed himself a moment to forget who he was, and escape into the minds of others. The rider who sat in the corner, oblivious, with a dazed look in his eye had to be talking to his dragon, and the flit on his shoulder was busy stealing his food every third bite. It was such an intrigue, being someone else for a moment, escaping who he was himself. Idly, he reached down to scratch at Amora’s ear, propping him hand on his painted arm and peering through ragged blonde hair, watching, and relaxing. It was something that didn’t happen very often for him, so he kept it close.

Word Count: 712

[maurel]

Scratch, scratch scratch. Scritch, scratch... Ugh. Maurel had stayed out too much last afternoon- her skin was dry and itchy, making it impossible for her to get comfortable for even a second without needing to toss and scratch at some distant part of her body. Late, late at night, or, rather, early, early in the morning, she gave up entirely. The sunburn wasn't going anywhere soon, and it was a waste of effort to think it would, she decided. In the meantime, why go hungry? She slipped out of bed, the sheets of which appeared to be those of someone with clinical dandruff or worse, and started towards the Kitchens, scratching at her flaming red skin the entire way down.

"I wonder if anyone would mind if I raided the Healer's Wing..." Maurel whispered to herself, seriously considering it for a moment. The ointments they used for her current condition were hardly scarce, and surely they had some extra... The risk, however, was a bit too much for Maurel's tastes, and she decided to just wait until morning to deal with it. Besides, it was just a touch of the sunburn, she'd survive. Her hunger, however..

The hallways in the Lower Caverns were imposing, at best- since it was so early, the glows were all out, and Maurel's shadow danced across the stone walls as she continued toward the Kitchens. A lone drudge, his face buried under a thin layer of grime and ash, walked in the opposide direction quickly, not even seeming to notice that Maurel was there at all. Odd, but he was probably just tired. Or he really didn't see her- the hall was getting increasingly darker, though she could see the light of a fire in the Kitchen hearth dancing on the wall across the hall from the open kitchen doors.

She walked into the dying light, and was immediately hit with the familiar wall of scents and warmth that is found in every kitchen. Only now did Maurel realize how cold she had been- the searing sunburn had distracted her from putting on shoes before leaving the quarters, and she sorely regretted that now. At least she had remembered to put on a robe, though, because Maurel was most certantly not alone; there was a slight scattering of sleepy cooks and drudges, as well as a few other residents of the Weyr, collected in the Kitchen. One, a tall Candidate sprawled at one of the tables, stood out from the rest. It wasn't anything in particular... Well, maybe it was- you didn't see many people at the Weyr with as bold tatoos as those that adorned his gaunt face, and most people didn't tend to bring a feline with them to the kitchen at this hour of the morning. Flitts, sure, that wasn't so strange, since there was such a strong bond, but felines... That was a bit less common. So, though, for some reason, the look of him, just sitting there, staring out at Rukbat rise scared Maurel witless, she stepped closer, trying to think of something to say, eloquence failing her horribly.

"Good.. Morning." She finally managed to spit out. "Quite a view, hm?" Small talk. A new low. Might as well have commented on the weather.

[.K.aci]

The brightly shining star always fascinated him, for some reason. Be it the fact that it rose, was born and hailed and loved, but every night to died, and no one mourned the last few rays that it tried feebly to allow the planet to have. Or maybe because it was never thanked, never congratulated for doing its job. But did something have to be thanked for doing what it was created to do? Was that wrong? Or was it wrong that the people who watched it complete its eternal dance “oo’d and aah’d, but never thought about it like this? Would it be wrong for the star to just give up, decide not to rise?

So entrapped in the mindless musings, he was oblivious to the stares he was getting, and not just from the Candidate girl. It was true, tattoos were not as common, and his tan complexion contrasting white blonde hair offset it to. Ragged, in some places longer than his chin, he had one hand halfway pushed through it, the other curled around the mug of cooling klah. Because of this, the earring he wore that curled up and around his ear was invisible, probably for the better. An odd sight, he was glad of this, and at one point had gone out of his way to look as he did. Under the shadows that cupped his glittering crystal blue eyes, you could see he had been handsome once, beautiful. But a lack of appetite, a fear of sleeping, and his own marring of his body had banished that away, for which he was grateful.

The quiet words startled him, and the ex-Beastcrafter turned his head sharply to look at the girl, taking her in as she asked him about the view of the sun. Startled, and she having done so quickly enough that he looked it, Hauze for a moment only blinked at her, eyebrows risen and pushed together, the blue darkening by several shades as he froze, caught in a question he was not ready for.

“I’m sorry?”

Quickly, he studied her, trying to place a name, anything. Something called out to him; She wasn’t wearing shoes. This just confused him more. Red, bright skin that screamed sun-burn, kind brown eyes, brown short hair. She didn’t have the curves that many of her colleges had, and she was very short, but slight. For a brief flicker, he thought that maybe if he turned her sideways she would disappear, but manners that clung to him from far off in a past better off forgotten kept his mouth shut. She looked younger than him by several years, but he didn’t particularly care. Not one with ranks, he treated everyone equally, which meant females.

“Um, yes.”

Distracted, he pushed his hand through his hair again, leaving it to flop in his face right after.

“Very pretty view. Would you like to sit down?”

He had it again, the politeness, the slight mask he disappeared behind, the cordial smile.

“I’m sorry, I understand you are a Candidate, but I don’t know who you are.”

At this point Amora, wary at Hauze’s shift in moods, rose, her sleek face bending out to sniff the girl.

“Amora.”

The quiet tone called her back, and she settled down at his feet again, convinced she would not hurt him. Slightly over protective, Hauze could do nothing about her, nor did he care.

“I’m Hauze, by the way.”

A tattooed arm that snaked up to disappear under his shirt uncoiled itself from the cup to offer his hand to her.


Word Count: 597