Thoughts

[Journye]

Journye sighed softly to herself as she watched Lucaith splash about in the shallows of the lake with her fire lizard Reryu. The two got along so well and had become great friends. She smiled a bit as she rested her cheek on the tops of her knees, her arms circling her legs as she hugged them to her chest.

She had finished her chores for the day and finished helping Master C'lyn in the infirmary. She was glad the Healer had come from the past to take over as Weyr Healer and she enjoyed helping him and learning from him. But she envied him the relationship he had with the older blue rider.

Journye hugged her arms more tightly about her legs and sighed again. She was careful to keep her sad thoughts from Lucaith, the little blue was so naive in his nature she couldn't bare the thought of upsetting him. If only the world was all sunshine and lazing by the lake! She shook her head and allowed her hair to fall across her eyes.

She didn't feel as alone as she had when she first arrived since she impressed Lucaith, but she still saw the looks that people gave her because of her odd eye and hair colorations and those looks hurt more then she wanted to admit. She didn't really know any of the other weyrlings very well and honestly feared getting such looks from them. She spent most of her time in the infirmary just to avoid people, but she knew she couldn't continue doing that. She was confused about what to do. She turned her head to hide her face against her knees, her long hair falling forward the cover her. When she had first arrived to the weyr her hair was only shoulder length, but she had taken to letting it grow out so that it shielded her face from the world around her and the black of it was long enough to hide the white that was her bangs and framed her face.

She had toyed with the idea of putting root coloring on her hair, but that would not do anything for her eyes. She shook her head again and closed her eyes tightly to keep the tears from leaking out and from the sad thoughts leaking over to Lucaith who was still happily splashing about.

[Shikai]

Aclaryn had been wandering aimlessly about the weyr for nearly an hour in an attempt to get settled. Not even a full sevenday had passed since his arrival at Araelen. The candidate’s steps were measured and slow, his boots meeting the floor in rhythmic thumps, and he reached out a hand to run his fingers along the stone as he moved through a passageway. For a while, he had not wanted to explore, to get situated, because doing so, he thought, would mean somehow that he had given in. But what good did it do him to hold onto anger, really? He didn’t have to like the weyrwoman, or forgive her for taking him away from his home, but he did need to move on with life. Aclaryn never had been the angry type, anyway.

Through the passageway, he moved out of the weyr, into open air, and breathed a deep, peaceful sigh. Time to let it go, for now. No need to feel guilty about exploring, he was just making the best of things. Speaking of which, the lake looked lovely, he thought, as he eyed it speculatively with jade green eyes. It looked to be a good place to meet girls. Or…

A grin spread over Aclaryn’s face as a realization struck him. He was no longer at home, in the hold. His future may be uncertain, but there was a certain freedom that came with his new setting. Sitareh had taken him away against his will, after all, what more could she really do? Here, he wouldn’t need to be on his best behavior. Nothing was expected of him. Certainly, there was freedom in that, and perhaps that was a welcome change.

With a newfound happiness, he strode toward the lake. However, he soon noted that the area closest to him was already occupied, by a dark-haired girl and a small blue dragon. What was it she was called…a weyrling? He believed that was the term. Unaware that she was currently fighting back tears and that company was likely the last thing she wanted at the moment, he walked toward her, a large, cheerful grin on his face. He stopped beside her and folded his arms across his chest, peering slyly over at her.

“Hello! This is a nice lake, wouldn’t you say? The water is beautiful.”

[Journye]

Journye couldn't stop herself from jumping as someone spoke to her, she stiffened and very slowly raised her head, her white bangs falling in her face. She stood slowly and brushed her bangs from her eyes, offering a forced smile even as she struggled to push the faint traces of her tears aside "The lake is very lovely and peaceful," she said as she looked out toward the water.

Lucaith had paused in his splashing and was looking at the new arrival curiously, the little blue was always curious. Reryu perched on Lucaith's head and peered up curiously as well, chirping. Lucaith snorted and trotted up the shore to stand beside his rider, ignoring the angry reprimand from the bronze fire lizard.

Journye shook her head and turned her attention back to Aclaryn, holding her hand out politely "You must be one of the new candidates," she said with a slight tilt of her head "I'm Journye, journyeman healer and life mate to Lucaith here. And the fire lizard is my Reryu," she said, looking at Aclaryn fully, allowing him to see her bi colored eyes, might as well get the laughing over with before he heard the whispers of the kitchen folk and such about her.

Lucaith nuzzled against his bonded's leg and stood beside her, sending her loving thoughts as her sad ones leaked over. He didn't understand why she felt so sad about how she looked, but maybe he would see if this person made his own cry. Well the person better not or they would answer to him! He thought, puffing up his chest as he looked at the boy. Reryu chirped in agreement with the little blue and watched the boy closely as well.

[Shikai]

Aclaryn grin became apologetic and slightly sheepish as the young woman jumped. He hadn’t intended to startle her, but he was quickly learning that in the weyr, talking to riders who had previously been alone with their dragons usually resulted in startling them. His eyebrows furrowed slightly in concern as he noticed that her smile looked rather pained. However, he politely followed her example as she looked out at the lake, smiling at the sight of the water. Perhaps he would go swimming later, it was a nice day.

His attention shifted from the water to the dragon and fire lizard, and he grinned at the sight of the flit perched on the blue dragon’s head.

He immediately turned back to the weyrling as she spoke, and reached out to shake her hand gently, nodding as he did so. A large, amiable grin on his face, he introduced himself in turn. “Ah, pleased to meet you. I’m Aclaryn, and you’re right, I’m a candidate. I’ve got a fire lizard too, she’s…not here at the moment, it seems!” He said, looking around himself, puzzled. “Valera. I don’t know where she’s gotten herself off to!”

“Must be easy to tell who’s new around here, hm?” He remarked, laughing to himself. Aclaryn then looked back to her face, locking eyes with her, and was immediately struck by the fact that her eyes were two different colors – one blue, and one green. “Hm.” He remarked, looking closer, interested. “Your eyes are lovely.”

[Journye]

Journye was about to defend her from his laughter and was completely taken by surprise when her spoke.

“Your eyes are lovely.”

Journye felt a blush coloring her face, rising all the way up her neck to her hair line. She licked herl ips slowly before speaking gathering herself "T...thank you," she managed to stutter out, a shy smile touching her lips "I think you are one of the only people to ever think so," she added after a long hesitation.

Lucaith nudged gently against his rider's leg I like your eyes mine[/color] he informed his rider lovingly. Journye glanced down at her little blue I know my dear heart, but you are my life mate and thats a bit different. I will explain later, she told him, knowing the little blue would have questions.

Lucaith looked back at Aclaryn and sniffed toward him. Once his curiosity was satisfied her nudged Journye's leg once more then headed back to the water's edge to splash about again.

Journye chuckled and turned her attention back to Aclaryn "I only guessed that you might be a candidate because I hadn't seen you around before and we haven't had any people volunteering to be kitchen folk and the like," she said with a soft smile.

She looked down slightly, allowing the white hair framing her face to fall forward, was he laughing silently at her differences? She wasn't sure, but she still wore the blush from his first comment "Do you like it here so far?" she asked as she once more gained the courage to look up and meet his eyes.

[Shikai]

A smile played about Aclaryn’s lips as he noticed the blush quickly spreading over Journye’s face. Perhaps…but no, he thought, berating himself mentally. She was a weyrling! Sadly, it seemed that /all/ the girls his age were weyrlings. This was yet another aspect of weyr life that would be difficult for him to adapt to, for Aclaryn wasn’t at all used to practicing restraint when it came to girls. Irritating as it was, he would just have to go along with the rules, now that he was at the weyr. After all, having to go without flirting for a while was surely a better alternative than facing the wrath of the weyrleaders and some unthinkable punishment.

His smile turned into a curious frown at her next comment, for it seemed to him to be an odd thing to say. What, did others not like her eyes? They were different, but not in a bad way. But then, he supposed there were those to whom any kind of different was bad, and perhaps Journye had simply met too many of those people of late. Aclaryn folded his arms across his chest, and smiled reassuringly at her.

“Oh, that can’t be true! I’m sure there are many people out there who can appreciate their uniqueness! Besides, the types of people who’d say bad things about your eyes are the types whose opinions don’t amount to a sack of deadglows anyhow. Just jealous, probably, every one of ‘em. You, a weyrling, with a fine blue dragon and good looks to boot? Can’t hardly say I blame them, it must be too much for some people that one girl’s so lucky and they’re stuck working in the kitchens! Got to get back at you somehow, don’t they? Shouldn’t bother listening to them, letting it get to you.”

Aclaryn said, and while his tone was colored with laughter as he joked, there was an undertone of seriousness, for he meant what he said. He’d had many an unpleasant rumor spread about him back at the hold, after all. Not that he’d been much bothered by them, especially given that many were true.

He smiled softly down at the little blue dragon as he splashed back into the water. Despite Aclaryn’s rather off-putting first encounters with the creatures, it seemed that they certainly weren’t all bad. He looked up as Journye spoke again, locking his jade green eyes with her blue and green eyes as he gave her his attention.

A slight shadow passed over his face, however, as she asked him whether he liked the weyr. Well, he didn’t dislike it, really, although he felt guilty about not being able to muster up a greater amount of antipathy, given what it had done to him. He had preferred not to think about how much he liked it so that he wouldn’t have to deal with these conflicting emotions, but Journye’s question put him on the spot. He hesitated, struggling for the right words, and was forced to settle for the rather vague, awkward, “Well…it’s different than I…expected.”

[Journye]

Journye couldn't help but chuckle softly at his joking, he was very kind with his words and deep down she knew it was probably true. She glanced down for a moment then back up to him, a gentle smile curving her mouth.

She looked at him for a long moment, noticing the slight change in his eyes at her question. She frowned slightly and tilted her head when he finally spoke "They forced you didn't they?" she asked, shaking her head. Many of the others had told her the same thing, like S'lem, a weyrling from her group, he even had a scar now from the Search rider's "persuasion".

Journye sighed and reached out, lightly resting her hand on his arm, her fingers were long and slender, her touch light as she offered him a reassuring smile "If you ever feel that you need some space to think or just breath you are welcome to come to the Infirmary. I know Master C'lyn wouldn't mind and well, I could honestly use some human company from time to time," she said softly, feeling her blush deepen on her cheeks.

She bit her bottom lip lightly at her boldness, but then she smiled to him, the first person besides Shikai and B'kay to have an actual conversation with her out side of weyrling lessons, well he was also a good looking young man.

"The weyr really isn't that bad once you get used to things around here," she said with a slight squeeze to his arm and a soft smile "I'll be glad to help in any way I can," she offered, her eyes sparkling with laughter.

[Shikai]

The shadow instantly passed from Aclaryn’s face as he heard the disapproving, caring tone in Journye’s voice and saw the frown on her face. In its place, the smile retook possession of his face, and he grinned down at the weyrling, hoping to dispel any negative feeling his comment had created. His feelings about the ordeal were hardly a topic he wanted to discuss with someone he had just met, after all, especially a girl. It would do him no good to weigh down this opportunity with his own emotional baggage, after all.

“Oh, I would hardly say ‘forced’. I don’t know, I just didn’t know what I wanted, I suppose. I don’t mind it here.” He said, and his smile had a slightly aloof quality about it as he shrugged.

His eyes darted swiftly down to his arm and back as he felt her soft fingers against his skin. For a brief second, they widened slightly, but Aclaryn’s momentary loss of his cool was but a flicker, and he reclaimed control of his features almost instantly. His smile remained in place, although beneath his cool exterior, he was not as calm as he seemed. He was used to flirting, and used to girls (well, as used as one could ever be to girls!), but he was not used to restraining himself in his advances. Aclaryn hadn’t even been conscious of his flirting, but now he saw the affect it had had on Journye. She was past simply being cheered up; she looked up at him with a smile, had her hand resting against his arm, and was inviting him to spend time with her in the infirmary! All signs he was well trained to recognize as female body language showing that she was interested in him, likely flirting back.

What was he doing?! She was a weyrling; he could clearly see the innocent blue dragon splashing about nearby! The weyrleaders had been quite clear that weyrlings were not allowed to have romantic relationships. Aclaryn was aware of his low status at the weyr, and he was determined to avoid getting in trouble. After all, the only way to have some freedom there (and it did seem to be good freedom offered) was to impress a dragon, which he wouldn’t have a chance at if he was kicked out of candidacy.

With a mental sigh, he realized that this was going to be much harder than he had thought. Such behavior had been engrained into him for years, to the point that he hardly even realized he had been flirting with Journye. No, he must try harder! Somehow, he would find a way, or be forced to live out his days washing dishes. Surely there was no worse fate.

He was determined not to let these thoughts show to Journye, for he didn’t want to hurt her feelings, after all. Especially given her emotional state! Casually, he shifted his weight, which drew his arm away from Journye’s touch. “Thank you for your invitation! I don’t know much – well, anything, really – about healing, but it would be nice to see the Infirmary.”

Aclaryn’s eyes sparkled, showing his happiness at her kindness as much as his smile did. “Ah, thank you. It is good to know that I have someone to help! It is a bit much to get used to.”

[Journye]

Journye lowered her hand back to her side slowly, a blush brightly coloring her cheeks as she looked down. She was mentally kicking herself for her boldness, hadn't she already nearly gotten in trouble with Reryu flying after that Queen fire lizard, and now here she was flirting with Aclaryn when she didn't even know the young man.

She cleared her throat softly as she listened to him speak. For all she knew he probably wasn't even interested in her in the first place, just because he had said her eyes were lovely didn't mean a sharding thing! She took a deep breath and slowly looked back up, forcing a cheerful smile to her lips. She could sense Lucaith getting curious, but sent the blue comforting, reassuring thoughts. She was being wherry headed!

"I and another Weyrling actually put the Infirmary mostly together before the Weyr Healer arrived. It was kind of hard for us to get anything being only candidates at the time, but I'm really proud of what we did get done," she said softly, turning her attention toward the water when Lucaith was now nosing in the mud, making a mess of himself.

"It is a lot to get used to," she admitted "I still have trouble at times and with some of the tensions running in the Weyr its hard to know where to turn sometimes," she said with a sad shake of her head. She bit her tongue then and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

She smiled a bit lopsidedly "I didn't mean you would have to help, but I could always make up a chore for you if you needed to escape the Kitchen Women. They do enjoy tormenting the Candidates, making them do the chores they themselves don't want to do," she said with a soft laugh. She hugged her arms around herself, staring at the water for a long moment.

Journye finally found the courage to face him once more "I want to apologize for my boldness just a moment ago. I don't want to get you in trouble and it was wrong of me to assume that you would even welcome such boldness," she said with a soft sigh.

She reached up and brushed a strand of her hair out of her face as she looked back down, she didn't know of anything else to say, but she just hoped he wouldn't hold such actions against her.

[Shikai]

Aclaryn’s eyes slipped from Journye’s face down to the sandy earth by his feet as he saw her arm drop, so very slowly, and the blush on her face was so bright that he could see it even though he couldn’t look her directly in the face for shame and embarrassment. Shards, now he’d hurt her feelings! That wasn’t at all what he’d wanted to do, but he couldn’t blame her! Here he’d been leading her on, no doubt, and then just when she was starting to reach out to him, he’d turned her down. Aclaryn clenched his teeth in frustration. He’d never been in a situation like this before, where he had to keep his distance, abstain from flirting, and ensure that he didn’t go too far. At the hold, he’d had no more to fear from overstepping behavioral codes during flirting than a slap in the face. Now, he had the opposite problem – if his flirting was successful, he was in trouble. What was he supposed to do? Not start flirting in the first place seemed to be the reasonable answer. But he hadn’t been trying to now! He’d meant to cheer Journye up, was all, and before he knew it…and now this.

He listened as she described her work in the infirmary, although his eyes were on Lucaith and the fun he was having in the mud. The dragon showed no signs of his rider’s emotions presently, that was certain! Aclaryn found that reassuring, for he wasn’t sure if he wanted another being sharing all his thoughts and emotions. Now, had he any idea what the full scale of being bonded to a dragon was like, he would certainly have thought differently, but all he knew presently was that the two communicated chiefly through mental speech. Shard it, he had enough of a time censoring his physical speech; keeping inappropriate thoughts from being heard by a dragon would be challenging indeed. So seeing Lucaith playing so blissfully came as a relief.

Aclaryn looked back to her as she spoke of tensions in the weyr, and looked at him from the corner of her eye. Hard to know where to turn? “Tensions?” He repeated, curious and somewhat concerned.

He smiled, chuckling to himself as she mentioned the kitchen women. “Ah, that explains it! It was a suspicion of mine, actually. Nice to know I wasn’t just being rude for thinking so, eh?”

His smile faded, replaced at once by a serious, apologetic look as Journye turned to face him, and apologized for her boldness. Imagine, she thought she was at fault! Aclaryn’s eyebrows raised in amazement. He was used to the blame for such things being pinned on him, as, more likely than not, it was his fault, after all. He couldn’t help flirting. Aclaryn smiled wearily, and stepped closer, gingerly placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t apologize, the fault is all mine, really! I have…a habit…of being too bold…and I’m quite certain that this is because, well…” He could hardly say it was because he flirted too much and was used to it, and so he left his statement open. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong! I’m just…new here, as I said, and still adapting to all the new rules.” He looked down at the ground, but his eyes flicked to her face, nervous to see how she would react.