Fort Weyr - Living Caverns
This cavern, having been created by bubbles in the volcanic flow of this extinct volcano, has a breathtaking ceiling — a vast dome that arches high above the heads of the weyrfolk that scurry around beneath it. A hollow echo can be heard from loud enough noises, and the chatterings of various firelizards are consequently multiplied into a chaotic babble. All in all, the living cavern is a loud place.
Tables are scattered around the room, apparently in no particular order. Over to one side near the kitchens, two medium sized serving tables are constantly spread with snacks, klah, and other goodies. The tables look worn, yet perfectly fitted to the atmosphere of the caverns. In the 'corners' of the cavern, smaller two and four place tables are set up for more private talks or just a less chaotic atmosphere in which to eat.
The sun has firmly set and the moons have yet to even consider to rise when Lunetta makes her way into the living cavern of Fort Weyr. She keeps near the entrance, only leaving the shadows long enough to take a quick plate of meatrolls and a half-scoop of stew before returning to the doorway. She remains standing as she eats, eyeing the firelizards with distrust.
Talmar is just here to eat today, no clay in sight. How strange. But, he's still human, he does still need to eat. He grabs a bowl of the stew on offer and a few meatrolls, then looks around for someone to eat with.
Lunetta catches sight of Talmar as the lad makes his way to the food table and takes his meal. And shifts her stance slightly and takes a step further into the shadows, bitting into a meatroll and carefully catching the crumbs upon her plate.
Talmar munches on one of the meatrolls while he decides where to eat. A bit of movement is caught in the corner of his eye, and he turns to face the source: Lunetta. He waves at her, and heads over to join her in the shadows. Or to bring her out of the shadows. It could be either.
Lunetta sighs softly as she's noticed. Lovely. Young eyes and all. She shakes her head slightly and scans the cavern quickly. No Riders, at least none that she recongnize, are present, so she waits for Talmar to make his way over and stares down a runt of a bronze who has perched upon the back of a nearby table and is just waiting for her to drop something.
Talmar nods at Lunetta, with a cheery smile. "Hey. You looked lonely." he says, with a shrug. "Wanna sit with me?" he doesn't waste time with conversation, does he?
Lunetta eyes Talmar warrily. "I'm just grabbing one last bite before I hit the road." She offers softly, her skin still showing sighs of the burns she received during her original journey. "I figured that night would be saver." She pauses. "I've always had a fondness for dark places I guess." She glances towards the exit to the bowl and shivers.
Lunetta eyes Talmar warrily. "I'm just grabbing one last bite before I hit the road." She offers softly, her skin still showing sighs of the burns she received during her original journey. "I figured that night would be saver." She pauses. "I've always had a fondness for dark places I guess." She glances towards the exit to the bowl and shivers. "At least I never had to go and meet one of them." *fix*
Talmar frowns slightly. "Safer? Safer against what?" he asks, confused. He continues to eat the whole time, of course. He's a growing boy, after all.
Lunetta smirks. "The sun and I don't get along much." Her reply is tinted with amusement. "Never bothered to play together when I was young and now I find she has a viscious temper."
Talmar nods slowly, then shrugs. "Oh. That doesn't sound like fun. I really like going outside and stuff. And pottery dries faster in the sun, too."
"Skin burns faster there too." Lunetta offers. There's a length pause then, and she doesn't even eat during it either, her vivid jade eyes looking troubled. "Less people around during the night as well. I won't be missed."
Talmar shrugs a little, then nods. "Well, I guess. Can't you wear a hat or something?" he suggests, trying to be helpful. As for the latter comment. "I think you'll be missed." he says, nodding. He doesn't say he'll miss her because he doesn't really know her yet.
Lunetta smirks. "Sure. Once the next batch of snakes hatch I'll be dearly missed, I'm sure."
Talmar blinks, and shakes his head. "What about those things you draw? I think they're pretty cool." he says, then brightens, You should do that for a craft." he suggests, enthusiastically.
Lunetta raises and eyebrow. "Scribbles are not a Craft." She offers evenly. "And I can't uphold my part of the bargain I made to stay here. I'm already a sevenday overdue to leave…"
Talmar shrugs. "I got to make fun stuff, and it's a craft." he says. "Don't you *like* those things you draw?" he asks, apparantly forgetting about the nightmarish bowl wall she'd shown him previously.
Lunetta looks somewhat bemused. "I never thought about it much. It's new and it goes through a lot of paper, but except for the canine I did for Journeywoman Alyanna and the moonlit wall I haven't really shown them to anyone." She frowns. "And that one certainly didn't help me to explain myself." She sounds like she might have shown it to quite a few people.
Talmar nods, and then says, "If you did it for a craft, you could buy lots of paper. And stuff." he says, nodding. "People buy nice looking stuff, easy." he grins at that.
Lunetta shakes her head slightly. "I traded some sketches for more paper on my trip. The first firelizard I ever saw, actually." She pauses. "But it's not a Craft. I need to earn my keep and some marks as well, for the moment I'm unable to pay what I owe and I've been in this cavern for the last nine nights trying to convince myself that now is the time to depart."
Talmar shakes his head. "I think that you should stay. Really." he says, although he appears to have run out of reasons. "I like your sketches." he adds.
Lunetta eyes the lad and shakes her head, laughing softly. "Unless you like them enough to fork over a quarter-mark then that's a nice thought but not much use." Her expression hardens slightly. "And even if you would, I couldn't accept it. Freebies always have Threads attached. That's one lesson you don't forget back home."
Talmar shrugs, "If I had it, I would… And it wouldn't be a freebie." he says, frowning slightly. "I use all my marks to buy clay for fun, if I've got any leftover from buying stuff for craft work." he admits, with another shrug. "I like what I do."
Lunetta looks thoughtfully at the boy, stepping towards the nearest table — and the runt bronze incidently — she put down her bowl and turns to face Talmar directly, ignoring all others in the cavern. "I'll make a bargen with you then, Apprentice Talmar of the Potter's Craft." She pauses for just a moment before slipping into more official tones. "If you can find someone who is willing to pay a minimum of a quarter-mark for one of my sketches before this senvenday is over I'll stay at the Weyr, at least for another moon, and you'll be intitled to the difference in marks for your troubles."
Talmar grins, triumphant. "Deal!" he says, with a grin. "That'll be *easy*." he adds, nodding. "You're really good."
Lunetta takes hold of his hand and gives is a firm shake to seal the deal before sitting down beside her bowl and turning towards her meal. Her surprised and annoyed cry sents the runty bronze *between* to reappear at the far side of the cavern. "You little _theif_!" She snaps in his dirrection before getting to her feet. "Quick though," She mutters, "Didn't even see him go for it."
Talmar glances at the firelizard just in time to see it pop between, and he giggles. "You scared him." he points out to Lunetta, still giggling.
"Good." Lunetta replie shortly, though not unkindly now that a certain stress has been lifted from her mind. "Maybe that'll teach him not to steal." And maybe the moons'll come play in the daytime too. "I can see now why no one had any back home. All they seem to do is eat and don't have any other uses."
Talmar shrugs, glancing over at the poor frightened firelizard. "Master Jopier has one, a brown. He's trained it to take notes and stuff. Pretty good at it, too."
Lunetta looks doubtful. "What use would that be? Anyone you need to talk about should live close enough to see personaly at least once a moon." Taking more food she shoots the bronze another look and sits down. A moment later there's a questining chirp as the bronze reappears on the back of a nearby chair along with a green and a pair of large blues.
Talmar shrugs. "Well, they're good for emergencies and stuff?" he suggests, although he doesn't actually have a firelizard of his own yet.
Lunetta smirks. "I'm taking that as an offer to dive in front of my if any of those pets decide to make a long-term contract with me." Her tone is one of dry amusement. "Thankfully those that I've seen so far seem more or less content with their present partners."
Talmar giggles. "Sure, I'll take a firelizard for you." he agrees quite readily.
Lunetta's face softens into a smile. "Thank you." She offers gently. "I'm not quite sure how to tell if one's interested though." She gives him a questining look. "Do they change color or something? I've seen some of the greens go rather bright."
Talmar frowns slightly, glancing at the firelizards. "I dunno. I always see people with food when their eggs hatch, but maybe they're just hungry or something?" raised in a Weyr you think he'd know a little more about it than that.
Lunetta looks thoughtful. "So the innitial contract is often made by bribe then?" She replies. "In that case I should keep food away from then when they're small… What about when they're older? What are the dangers then?"
Talmar frowns slightly, thinking. "I don't know… I don't see people with new older firelizards, only new younger ones. I think you need to form the bond soon, or whatever."
Lunetta looks pensively at the little pests who watch her bowl intently. "One can always respect loyalty." She states finally before looking at the creatures and, speaking slowly and firmly, address them. "Which is why their _partners_ can be reasonably, morally and perhaps legally be expected to feed them."
Talmar shrugs absently. "I guess people get busy?" he looks around, then frowns. "Plus, some're probably wild."
"Wild?" Lunetta offers blanching slightly as she glances towards the exit to the bowl. "Are many wild, do you think?"
Talmar considers, then shrugs. "Well, I don't see many with banding on them, but that could just mean that people were too busy to band them." he says, with a shrug.
"Banding?" Lunetta asks with a frown. "Are you saying they get marks of _ownership_!?"
Talmar nods. "Yeah… Kind of like knots, but for firelizards." he says, with a shrug.
Lunetta frowns. "Knots…" She shakes her head slightly. "I still haven't figured those out either."
Talmar blinks, but explains anyway. "Well, you know. Knots. They say where you live, and what you do." he gestures to the knot on his own shoulder. "This one says I'm from this Weyr, and that I'm an apprentice Potter." he says.
Lunetta blinks and looks at the bit of colored string. "If you say so, Talmar." She counters doubtfully, her own shoulder is and always has been void of any knot or marking."
Talmar shrugs. "Why don't you have a knot? I've had one since as long as I can remember. Not an apprentice one of course, just a kid one."
Lunetta opens her mouth and carefully takes in a heaping spoonful of stew, effectively buying her sometime. She eventually settles on something close to the truth. "They didn't believe in knots back home."
Talmar frowns at Lunetta, then shrugs. "Okay… Well, knots are handy. You should ask Weyrwoman Elara for one." he says, with a grin. And with that, he gets up and walks out into the bowl.
Lunetta shakes her head at the idea of being marked as property of any area and sends a bemused wave after the retreating form as she turns her full attention to her meal.
