You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

Monaco Bay Weyr - Cove Beach

Sparkling black sends are gently washed over with crystal blue waters, creating a playful blend of colors that twist and meld under the alternating rays of sun and moon. The cove stretches out from the mouth of the river towards the ocean, mixing saltwater with fresh for an invigorating rush that teems with life.

The coast curves eastward, the waters growing more quiet along the broad expanse of beach before finally meeting a large cove. Here there are few waves, the oceans movement reduced to little more than slight swells. What might have been an idyllic and peaceful area however, is interrupted by a brilliantly gleaming structure that stands on the edge of the sands.

Large steel poles sore upwards, supporting a staircase that leads to a pair of water slides. The height of the structure is remarkable, standing at a height comparable to that of a small gold dragon. Pipes pump water upward, creating small pools at the entrance of both plastic blue slides. The rush of water moves with the slides, following their twisting course downwards while easing their passengers journey. Parts of the slides are open and others covered, creating a thrill for each voyager before unceremoniously dumping them into the still waters below. For the safety of all patrons, a large net has been drawn across the mouth of the cove to prevent any accidental drifting away.

Not far from the slides is a small stand that also seems to have been built just recently. A menu is posted on its side and displays a variety of drinks and snacks for beach goers.


A hot, sunny summer afternoon on a restday finds Merius… …still hard at work, seacrafting. Sleeves and pantlegs are rolled up in an effort to deal with the worst of the heat, but the big man is still looking a bit sweaty and haggard as he lugs around a bunch of wood and multiple toolboxes, near the docks but far enough away to stay out of the way of the seacrafters working on proper craft projects. He hefts a large piece of lumber on top of a pile of equal-sized pieces, making a neat little pyramid that he begins to spread a large tarp over.

Heading down to the beach is Briari, who is wearing a simple light blue tunic and a pair of dark brown pants. She is currently wearing her new white knot of candidacy upon her shoulder. As she spies Merius, she makes her way over to him, clearing her throat a bit. "Hey." She says in a soft voice once she nears him, blowing away a small strand of blonde hair that creeps across her eyes. "Hard at work I see."

Merius seems irritated — a combination of the heat and having to do menial labor on his restday, no doubt. He is grumbling to himself about how a certain "grouchy little bossy wherryhen" had "better do a good job" and not make him appear foolish in the eyes of the weyrleader. He straightens when he hears that throat-clearing and turns, dark eyes settling on Briari. He waves in greeting, echoing her "Hey." But then he espies the shiny new white knot on her shoulder and he says "Hey," again, pointing at her shoulder. "You've been searched?"

Briari gives a nod of her head at his question. "Yes. The dragon that rescued us from sea asked to see me again and he decided he would like to see me on the sands to represent Monaco." She reaches up to gently brush her fingers against the knot. "Third time is the charm so the saying goes, right? I moved into the barracks last night." Her foot scuffs against the sand for a moment, then starts to work a pattern along the grains. "So, looks like you have a new friend to work on the boat with. I am sure everything will go fine."

After a momentary wracking of his brain, Merry supplies the name of said dragon from memory: "Ah. Marzoth." He smiles warmly, all trace of his earlier irritation fading away as he says, "Congratulations, Briari. Good luck to you. I hope you find your lifemate." Of course, she points out just what had made him irritable in the first place and the scowl returns to his face. "Friend?" He manages to imbue that one word with so much incredulity and annoyance, simultaneously. "My 'new friend'" he actually makes air quotes with his fingers "Is going to be the death of me, somehow. I just know it." Scowl.

"Thank you. I hope I find my lifemate as well." Briari says as she gives a glance about the beach, then edges closer to him. Reaching out, she takes one of his strong hands and gives it a squeeze for a moment. "Look, I do believe in you, okay? I think we had a miscommunication and I know you were pretty upset at the time. So, I just wanted to say I'm sorry if I said something to get you even more upset. It was not my intent. I care a lot about you, Merry. I want to nip this now before it gets worse."

Merius blinks, his expression growing blank with surprise as she takes his hand. At her words his face, already a bit pink from the sun and the heat, flushes, and he looks away, abashed. He opens his mouth to say something, the gears turning almost visibly in his head as he tries to come up with the right words to explain his bruised ego and general embarrassment, but instead he just rumbles a sheepish "…Sorry." His shoulders slump and his head drops, but his eyes return to Briari's face. If he were not quite so tall he would be forced to look /up/ at her. He gives her hand a gentle squeeze in return.

Nodding her head, Briari gives him a hopeful smile. "Alright, so.. everything is back to normal then?" She asks as she reaches out for his other hand. She brings the four together and upwards, lightly placing a kiss to top of his knuckles. "Now that I am a candidate, it may slow some things down between us, and if I do happen to get lucky enough to impress, it may… you know.. a dragon comes first, especially during Weyrlinghood. I want to know if you are going to be okay with things going a lot slower?"

Merius, still looking a bit sheepish, finally looks up, shooting her a half-grin. "Not so back to normal, I suppose…" He nods along with the rest of her words and points out, "After all, no more drinks at the tavern." His gaze flickers over to the still-damaged docks in the distance and he adds, "Or at the terrace garden, even." A thoughtful silence follows her words, but after a moment or two he nods slowly. "I already told you, I'm not good at this." He squeezes her hands again, trying to indicate just what, specifically, he's not good at it (the list of possibile things is long, after all). "I don't know how to make time from /boats/, I can't imagine how different it would be with a dragon." He shrugs.

"I can have juice and water." Briari hints with an amused look upon her face to him as she continues to hold on to his hands, as if to will her confidence and support through her limbs to him. "And you are doing fine with this. To be honest, you are refreshingly normal compared to most. I like you because you're honest with yourself and that speaks volumes. There is an old saying, that sometimes the juice is worth the squeeze. If it is meant to be, then we will work it out together. There is no time limit on a relationship and how they are supposed to work. If it gets serious, we will figure it out. My parents did and they were both riders. My brother has and he is a rider. Sides, if I do not impress, then things go back the way it was, right?" She looks out to the wood for a moment he has gathered, then back to him. "Have confidence?"

"Normal?" Merry sounds skeptical about that, but he's grinning again, amused. "Just /who/ have you met before this, to make you consider me normal?" He makes a face when she says 'relationship,' but it's such a comically overwrought ick-face that it should be clear that he's kidding, and if not perhaps the two quick hand-squeezes he gives will get that across. His dark eyes follow her gaze over to that tarp-covered woodpile and he sighs, heavily. "Now /that/ is going to be a big test of my confidence."

"You are going to build a pretty awesome boat. Merius the handsome pirate fighter and dart player." Briari giggles as she steps into him a bit, then slips her arms around for a quick hug before she lets him go. "I will make sure to peek at your progress as it goes Make sure to paint it bright pink because pink is a manly color."

Merius chuckles lightly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, it's not my ship-building I'm worried about. It's my ship-building-/teaching/." He nods his head toward the assembled materials. "That's for the wherryhen's use." He acts as though it's obvious who he means. He laughs aloud at her last comment, dark eyes twinkling with amusement as he notes, "I can make pink work. I can pink look /super manly/."

"You know, she may surprise you. She is the type that seems to be determined enough to have things work in her favor. Crafty. She is very smart, that much I can tell and she knows she is smart too." Briari warns with a grin. "Just take it slow and give good instructions that a child can follow. I suppose her success would also determine your success, so it is in your best interest that she succeeds."

Aanisah meanders into the beach, from the beach path.
Aanisah has arrived.

A sunny, hot restday afternoon finds Merius at the cove with Briari, the harper-turned-candidate. They are standing together in an out-of-the-way corner of the beach near a large tarp-covered pile of lumber and toolboxes. "Well she definitely has a high opinion of herself and her abilities," Merry grumbles to Briari, eyeing that tarp warily. "I did teach my oldest brother some of the basics of the craft, before I was posted here." He admits, adding, "We'll see how it goes."

"I would have no clue where to start with a boat. I can draw one on paper and that is about it." Briari laughs as she looks back to him. "Need help gathering any more material? I have already finished my chores for the morning, which lucky me, was just laundry and there was not much of it. Otherwise, I was going to work on some writing."

At least Aanisah comes dressed for work. Even with the heat, she wears trousers, not shorts, the material light-weight but heavy enough to guard against splinters, dirt and the like. As she walks along the beach, she hasn't bothered to remove her boots, which would surely make navigating the sand easier, but hardly conducive to what she's here to do. Her usual scowl grows into a full-on glower as she approaches Merius and his pretty blonde companion. She doesn't come empty handed either. She has a long slender tube, the sort one keeps rolled pages or unstretched canvas in, under one arm and three sizable books tucked against her chest. For a girl as slight as she is, were it not for the scowl someone might think she needs help, lest they tip her tiny frame for the weight of them. She stops when she draws near and just lets that glower sink in with both of them. This is how Aanisah says hello!

Merius shakes his head at Briari. "The weyr steward had everything set up for me to drag out here, already. Better stuff than I've ever gotten to use on my own." This last bit is grumbled bitterly, and his expression melts into an irritated scowl. And here comes the source of his irritation, making her way across the sands toward them. He eyes Aanisah up and down, making note of the books she's brought with her. "Great." Is muttered, but he stands up straighter, resting fists on his hips, looking all business as he corrects himself, "I mean, good. You got them. Any time for reading, yet, candidate?" He works very hard to sound like he is in charge, here. Merry is fully prepared to take advantage of being The Boss for as long as circumstances allow.

"Good afternoon. I hope you slept well last night." Briari says to Aanisah as she lifts a hand to wave to her in a friendly manner. She gives Merius a nudge with her elbow before she steps away from them so they can talk (fight) and figure out (fight) what to do with the building of the boat.

"I had them while I was considering our original deal, SeaCrafter," Aanisah makes the title sound like something as great as 'drudge'. Off to a good start! "I thought that maybe if you saw some blueprints," she sets the books down on one of the piles of timber with a thump, to use the tube as a stick that she still won't touch Merius with (though she will jab it in his general direction), "of what a boat is supposed to be built like, we might stand a chance at actually building a boat." Only once she's done this opening snark does she look at the harper. "Briari," at least she knows her name, and it's actually a fairly neutral greeting, until the blunt, "You're not helping with this," in case she needs the reminder.

Merius gives a dramatic eyeroll. "As long as those are the actual Crafthall-published books I talked about, from Tillek." He shrugs, the better to display his faux-indifference. Eyebrows rise at Briari's words, and he looks momentarily confused, but then his gaze flickers back and forth between the white knots each of them are wearing on their shoulders. "…You're together in the barracks now." Briari is given a look of utter warmth and sympathy tinged with pity. "She is absolutely helping," Is his pointed correction to Aanisah's blunt words to her fellow candidate. "She's here for moral support." And referee-ing, probably. Another one of those great big eyerolls precedes an admonishment for Aanisah, "Blueprints? For a /skiff/?"

"Yes, we're in the barracks now together." Briari confirms with a shrug of her shoulders upwards. "I also don't know if I have enough moral support in me to help get you both through this together. I should probably just go because it is obvious I am not wanted and I do not want to be a reason why your work is slowed down or impeded." Her eyes glance between the two of them, then she starts off after giving Merius a thump on the arm. "Nice see you again Merry, have fun. Remember, smiling increases 'face value." With that, she starts off from the two of them, digging her hands into her pockets.

Aanisah definitely has something to say (when doesn't she) about the books, but there's something more important to address here. She nails Merius with a hard stare, "The Weyrleader," she enunciates carefully, "said she was not to help." It's probably about to become a matter of principle that they'd otherwise butt heads over until Briari is making to leave. The teen throws her hands up with an audible, "Ugh," why does she always have to make the compromises for other people to be happy? The blueprint tube is waved now toward Briari, "You can stay," she allows bossily (sixteen turn olds are great at bossy!), "But there are conditions." Aren't there always? She lists them on her fingers and lets the blueprint tube swing freely between blonde and brunette as necessary to reinforce her stipulations, "No flirting. No touching. No googley eyes. No emotional awkwardness of any kind. And no helping me with my work," that last is to Briari, the workaholic, "Are we clear?" She looks meaningfully from one to the other crafter. This is serious business, judging from the imperious raise of her brows. Who's in charge here, again? Did Merius think it was him?

Merius frowns. "Who said anything about /her/ needing moral support?" He asks Briari, his voice tinged with a whine. The giant, fully-grown man will need alllll of the moral support possible to get through this project. "The weyrleader didn't say she couldn't be /around/ while we were working." He snaps at Aanisah. Surprised blinking answers the teenager's sudden, oh-so-kind allowance that Briari can stay. Merry tries to muster up his earlier bossiness before Aanisah can completely steamroll over the teeny tiny bit of authority he actually does have. "/I'll/ be setting the conditions here, I think." He rises to his full height, returning to that fists-on-hips superman pose while he tries to think of some conditions to actually set.

Aanisah's light frame easily steps up onto one of piles of timber (stability? Who's worried? Not Nisah!), to be more of a height with Merius with every intention of getting right up in his face; it's probably all the foul temper she didn't use on Briari just backlashing onto the not-at-all-innocent-in-this SeaCrafter. "Listen, boatboy," she snaps right back, "I had a shitty life before I got to this place, I've had a shitty life since I got to this place, building this boat and standing on those sands-" she points in the general direction, "-is my shot at something better. And I swear by the First Egg, that if you screw me on this, I will be a plague on your life. You think making a raft with a sail is hard? Imagine how hard it will be when you can't sleep because I'm in your room," creepin', "You think dating is hard now?" She glances toward Briari, even with her shiny new knot, "I will make you endure my puking at every pass you make if it makes you just a teensy bit more miserable. Do you understand me?" The way her glare is dramatically set on Merius makes no joke out of this whole ridiculously dramatic tirade.

"Hey! Listen up you brat. If you ever threaten me, Merius, or any other resident of Monaco Bay I will bury you so deep in these sands that it will take a thousand shovels to find you." Briari whirls back around and starts storming towards Aanisah with the look of thunder crossing her face. Her voice has grown thicker with rage. "You think -your- life sucks? You live with my MOTHER for five minutes and you will realize how great you had it! I do not care what your reasons are but starting now, you will start treating me and Merius with respect or I will personally have a conversation with the Weyrleader about your piss poor attitude. And believe me, I write and tell a GREAT story. Now put your damn attitude into your pocket before I knock it right out of you. Get off that lumber and you listen to Merius and build this damn boat, or you are going to have the first of many worst days of your life!" Her arms fold across her chest, blue eyes intense as she stares at the other. It seems that the Harper has hit her limit in bullshit this afternoon.

Merius, trying so hard to be the in-control bossman, startles as Aanisah hops up to eye-level and unleashes her tirade on him. Even though he is an extra-large-sized, supposedly-adult man, he is taken-aback by the tiny teenager's ferocity. "Now look, you…" He begins, in a surprisingly reasonable tone, but then there's Briari, coming back swinging, and Merry smartly shuts his mouth. Being the son of a no-nonsense headwoman, he is undoubtedly used to forceful females, but still, his eyebrows are raised with a mixture of surprise and grudging admiration. Still, he releases a breath through pursed lips, making an hilariously appropriate motorboat noise. /Women/.

About the harper's rage? Yeah, Aanisah doesn't care; it's obvious from her expression and from the way the other woman's stare and instructions don't stop her from starting eloquently with, "Listen, bitch-" She definitely has more, from the way her face is preparing to give the white-knotted woman a piece of her mind, but turning toward her on the timber? That's where she went wrong. Her footing slips and she topples sideways. Merius (or more exactly, his reflexes) have the choice: catch her, or let her fall on her face (half-literally) in the sand. Hey, maybe she'll smack her head into a toolbox as she goes down and cure everyone's headaches for them!

Maybe this isn't really the best time to be happening past this little get together the way that she is, but that doesn't keep Wilough from stopping nearby and staring openly at the trio. She doesn't look surprised or scandalized or anything like that. She looks intrigued, like one might look at a pissed off, wild feline in a tiny cage after it's been sprayed with water. She squeaks and comes forward a few steps when Aanisah starts to fall, though, betraying her (admittedly not very secret) eavesdropping.

Continuing to storm forward, Briari's anger melts away into concern as she calls out, "Hey! Be careful! You're gonna — " As she starts to slip, her voice rises up, "Merry!" Pushing off with her back foot, she sprints back towards them quickly across the black sand. Talking tough is one thing, but she does not want to see Aanisah actually hurt.

"Ladies, ladies…" Merius is trying so very hard to be reasonable, even holding his palms out in the universal gesture for 'can't we all just get along?' Of course, Aanisah decides to twirl about on top of a rickety pile of lumber and loses her balance, and no one could be more surprised than Merry when he does, in fact, reach out without thinking and catch Aanisah easily with his big seacraftin' arms. Well, maybe Aanisah /is/ more surprised, particularly since she was caught in an awkward being-carried-over-the-threshold pose. Merry stares, open-mouthed, down at the younger girl's face, and after an awkward moment intelligently goes "…Um."

There is shock first, for certain. Aanisah didn't intend to fall. There also hadn't been time to expect (or not expect) to be caught between losing her balance and ending up in Merius' arms. For a moment her expression is unguarded; it makes her look her young age in a way she rarely does. In the next moment, her scowl returns and she's squirming to be set down, "I said no touching." It was one of her conditions. This is not a 'thank you,' but then Aanisah so rarely expresses true gratitude that she doesn't thank the SeaCrafter shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

Once she reaches them, Briari looks relieved to see that Aanisah's brains are not splattered across the sands. That would have been difficult to clean up (and hiding bodies is not very fun). "Hey, are you alright?" She asks as the previous anger has long dissipated. "Geez, you just scared the crap out of me. Good catch, Merius! You probably just saved her life."

There are a few more steps taken toward the group in the seconds between Aanisah falling and Merius catching her. And then Wilough stops, standing there in a way that's likely either awkward or creepy depending on how someone reads her expression. And then she finally speaks up, "That fall wouldn't have killed her. Faranth, you're all so dramatic."

The blank confusion on Merry's face melts away to be replaced with a big 'ole /smirk/. "Don't be ridiculous," he tells Aanisah, making his voice as patronizing as he possibly can. "You're my student, after all. I can't put you down until I'm sure that you're /safe/." Despite his words there is a glint of downright maliciousness in his dark eyes. Wilough's sudden words are met with one of Merry's patented surprised blinks, but he glances back and forth between the unfamiliar girl and Briari, and he slowly nods. "She's right." He nods his head at Briari, then looks down at Aanisah, taking a step twoard the other two denizens of the beach while still holding the other girl. "I saved your liiiife."

"Put. Me. Down." This is Aanisah's one and only warning and it's probably uttered so low that only Merius can hear it as he steps toward the other girls. The tiny brunette would most likely be inclined to agree with Wilough (though would that surprise anyone?). Only seeing as how Merius does not move immediately to release Aanisah, the girl takes matters into her own hands. "My hero," she says with a sweetness that should probably be warning in and of itself as she leans up to, apparently, kiss his cheek in reward for his life-saving efforts, only to turn the move into a she-means-business bite to his neck.

A big old eye roll comes from Wilough, but she doesn't keep arguing. It must seem pointless. She also doesn't try to make the huge guy release his tiny captive, even pulling a possibly slightly disgusted face when it looks like Aanisah is making out with his neck. Gross.

The 'my hero' line gets Aanisah a condescending smile. Probably he should not be so condescending while also being an idiot. "Now now, no need to thank meeee-OUCH!" Nisah gets her wish as she is outright /flung/ from Merry's arms. He is swearing (like a sailor, natch) as he brings a hand up to his neck, flinching. "Am I /bleeding/?" Manful attempts are made to replace the panic in his voice with stout matter-of-factness as he turns to Wilough and asks, "Did you /see/ that? Can you /believe/ the ungrateful little…"

Wilough jumps when Aanisah gets thrown from Merry's arms, but probably more because he yells than because she's worried about the smaller girl falling. Again. She does glance at her, then at the big dude. And then? Then she busts out laughing. The whole, full-bellied BAHAHA sort of laughing. Fortunately it doesn't take her long to recover so she can assure Merius that, "You totally deserved it. I think she took a chunk of neck with her. Don't get any blood on me." Whether these things are true or not isn't the point, obviously. Wilough's attention shifts to Aanisah, the real victim here, and she beams a, well, a smirk as she offers down a hand to help the other girl up. "Kick him in the balls next time. They like that."

It's probably satisfying that Aanisah shrieks as she drops down onto the sands (it's a long fall!) in front of Merius on their out-of-the way corner of beach near the piles of timber and toolboxes that can only be for their joint boat building project. Perhaps she didn't think the whole biting thing through. She takes a moment to recover, glaring up at the SeaCrafter, "Don't you ever touch me again. If you want to lay hands on someone, go try your girlfriend," is snarled in a way that definitely should tell Wilough that Aanisah was not, in fact, making out with the crafter's neck. It's to Wilough, the innocent bystander in all this, that Aanisah reaches up her hand, "A little help?" See? She can ask for help when one is not being an outrageous, arrogant… fill in the blank! Despite the decided dramatics on this end of the beach, it's a beautiful sunny, hot afternoon.

Merius touches his recently-bitten neck tenderly, still wincing as he does so. "Ugh, I /am/ bleeding." He makes an ick-face as he pulls his hand away and eyes the one tiny single drop of Merry-blood suspiciously. Wilough's laughter is met with a blank stare that dissolves into a look of horror at the mention of ball-kicking. "Hey, I saved your /life/." Is announced to everybody on the beach, not just Aanisah. Talk about dramatics. Since he's been assured that he isn't currently bleeding to death, Merry is able to answer Nisah with a scowl of his own. "I will definitely let you fall next time. And she's not my /girlfriend/." The very word gets another ick-face.

With a few candidates already occupying the barracks Syd's job has begun in earnest. He has found over the past turns that often times the candidates and the junior weyrlings that need the vast majority of his attention. The senior weyrlings don't need as much. Though it isn't weyrling or candidate supervision that brings him to the beach at the moment. It's the dark bronze that is with him that wished to come down here at the present moment. So when S'dny arrives on the beach with his lifemate he soon enough spots the…incident…going on and recognizes that one of the candidates is involved. Aren't they always involved in something? It seems duty calls. He tromps across the beach toward the assembled group with Marzoth at his side, "What is the meaning of this?" he asks, directing his attention mostly at Aanisah since she's the one who is under his authority, but the others get a frowny face too. Marzoth lowers his head to the assembled group and snorts loudly, making sure that they realize he is here as well…just in case they missed it.

"Does she know that?" Aanisah shoots back at Merius as she uses Wilough's hand to pull herself up, actually grinning at the taller girl briefly, "I'll keep that in mind." Not that her knee would likely reach the bits that make that move a success on someone as tall as Merius, but it's always worth a shot, right? She puts her hands on her hips to look at Merius, but then there's The Man, who in this moment is represented by the assistant weyrlingmaster. She meets his gaze evenly a moment before paying her respects - a salute, and if not a coming to attention, at least a bit of straightening. She does have some respect for some authority, it would seem. "It's a matter that's been resolved." She decides as the answer glancing toward Merius, and then the more important male on the beach: Marzoth.

"At best, you saved her from a mouthful of sand," Wilough tells Merius like she knows this for absolutely certain. She offers Aanisah a smile in return, but before she can offer anything else to the smaller girl, her attention turns toward the dragonrider. "I just got here," might be a reflexive sort of throwing people under the bus, but it's at least relatively true in this case. And mild as far as throwing people under the bus can sometimes go! "It's all his fault," she adds, pointing directly at the already injured Merius without apology.

Merius, ever the obedient wingmember, snaps to attention at S'dny's entrance. Considering that they're members of different wings, Merry's reaction probably has more to do with the bronzerider's authoritative tone of voice. "Sir! Uh…" His gaze snaps back and forth between S'dny and Aanisah for several agonizingly long moments. One of his big seacrafter's hands slooowly rises up to delicately cover the teeth marks on his neck. Less to protect Aanisah from reprisal and more to protect Merry's manly pride. "I didn't do anything." He answers Wilough's accusation, miserably. Marzoth, his past — and let's face it, probably eventual future — rescuer is given a polite nod in greeting.

S'dny looks from Merius, to Wilough to Aanisah, "Uh huh." he says as she informs him that the matter has been resolved. He'll be the judge of that after all, "So…which one of you is going to be the one to tell me the truth about what just happened?" Because the truth is always better than fiction! "Because I'm sensing some tension here and we aren't going to be having any of that." At least not the sort of tension that leads to neck biting. Marzoth continues to bore his goggle covered red eyes into the trio of apparent miscreants. It isn't often that he notices people, though when he does it's rarely a good thing for those that he 'notices'. A rumble begins somewhere deep in his throat and a very soft hiss escapes his lips. Syd looks over to his lifemate and states clearly, "Not yet. Not until we figure out what is going on." He snaps his gaze back to to the young folks, "I let Marzoth determine consequences for misbehavior. He's more creative with that sort of thing than I am. Convince me that I don't have to let him." Syd and Mars have the good cop/bad cop thing down after turns of playing the roles together.

Aanisah probably can't help looking annoyed (it's just how her face looks, most of the time). She lets out an exasperated breath and lets her arms fall from her hips. "Merius and I were having a disagreement about how to go about the boat project and the degree of help Candidate Briari was permitted to provide, given that the Weyrleader said she wasn't to help at all," she shoots Merius a pointed side-glance just in case anyone thought she was going to miss a chance to reinforces that, "I was on that pile of timber and lost my footing, and Merius—"

"And he caught her and wouldn't put her down so she had to defend herself. He's probably some gross, pervy criminal. I mean look at him." Wilough obviously makes great friends everywhere she goes. "You can't blame a girl for wanting to get away from all… that." The last word is said with a gesture at the entirety of poor, poor Merius.

Though not typically mentally equipped for such a challenge, Merry resolves to mend fences. The joy of seeing Aanisah punished must be weighed against the horrors of having to join in with a punishment meted out by Marzoth. He nods along with Nisah's version of recent events, then is quick to jump in with "And then I /saved her/ from cracking her head on a toolbox." Probably. Gears turn, almost visibly, within Merius's head as he tries to come up with an explanation for what happened /after/ that. Of course, Wilough pipes up then, and Merry's jaw goes slack. He gapes at the unkown crafter for a long moment, and then, "I'm not… I didn't…" Suddenly-wide eyes snap back to S'dny. Please, save him from these sixteen-year-old girls.

Poor Merius indeed! There doesn't appear to be anything that can save him from his present sitaution, "So you bit him? How classy." S'dny says in a tone that clearly indicates that he is already tired of this incoming class of candidates and there are only 2 of them so far! This is going to be horrible. Syd reaches up a hand to scratch the top of his head before letting it rub across his face, "Ok. Here's the deal. There is no fighting during candidacy. There is no dating during candidacy. If I find out anyone is doing these things they will not be candidates very long…and for added measure…no one here is to touch anyone here…ever." Because you know Syd can totally enforce that rule. Not! "Is this all understood?"

"Thank you!" Aanisah tells S'dny emphatically, and, for once, means it. This is one candidate who will be only too thrilled to follow those rules (except the fighting, but only if someone makes her). She gives Merius a look. "So next time, you let me dash my head against a toolbox." You hear?! She looks to Wilough, "He's a gross seacrafter," for the record, in case that's better than criminal, though she doesn't try to defend the title 'pervy.'

That's all well and good for Aanisah, but Wilough starts looking a little unhappy about being told who she can and can't touch by some dragonrider and his big, scary dragon. "What? You aren't my Journeyman. You can't just tell everyone what to do, I don't care who your dragon is." Granted, she does not look at said dragon. She glances at Merius instead. Because this is all her fault. She shouldn't be getting into trouble with them!

"We," Here Merius gestures frantically back and forth between himself and Aanisah. "Are. Definitely. /Not/. Dating. And definitely /not/ touching." He holds up his hands, palms out, to emphasize this fact. "Not with a ten foot pole." The candidate in question gets a scowl mirrored back at her. "I would have let you dash your brains out /this time/ except that you haven't yet made a boat to present to the weyrleader." Arms cross over his chest and he lets out a heavy breath in a very put-upon 'harrumph.' Wilough gets an incredulous side-eye. "He's a /weyrlingmaster's assistant/," he insists. Trying to gentlemanly (and not pervily) help her out, sort of.

It seems that the response was something of a mixed bag. Which earns another sigh from the AWLM. It's going to be a very long day. "Who is your Journeyman then? And who are you?" he asks Wilough. Time to gather more information. Merius and Aanisah are ignored for the moment. Poor Wilough has Marzoth's attention now.

Aanisah takes the opportunity when S'dny is distracted to move to step around Merius to return to the collection of items on the beach to search for the cylindrical blueprint case she lost in her fall. Talk about throwing people under the bus. Good luck, Wilough!

Wilough glances at Merius for his help, then at Aanisah when she starts moving, then at the dragon because he's there. And then S'dny because really there's no one left. "Uh." Thinking about these questions probably isn't necessary. "Journeyman Datri. Wilough. But he knows I wouldn't do anything like this. You can't just go make something up to get me in trouble with him, too!" That's not faaaair. Now's a fine time to look at Merius again like he might, for some reason, help her.

Merius apparently just can't get enough of rescuing prickly teenage girls and getting nothing but grief in return. He makes that harrumph noise again, but it turns into a sigh by the end. "Bystander." Is insisted, simply, index fingers and thumbs making fingerguns that he points at Wilough. But that's all she's gonna get, as Merry's attentions flicker back to the number one slot on his 'bane of my existence' list. Aanisah gets watched thoughtfully for a moment, because he simply reaches across the pile of lumber from his considerable height and easily produces the cylindrical case, shaking it wordlessly at her. Looking for this? Hopefully not, since Merry is, obnoxiously, holding it up juuuust out of reach.

Marzoth is indeed /there/ and for a dragon who thinks he runs the universe (even though he doesn't) someone telling him that he can't do something is irritating. Very irritating! So irritating in fact he begins to thrash his tail from side to side sending sand everywhere. Syd is the good cop so he just ignores Marzoth's irritation for the present, "Sure I can. I make up stuff all the time. Prior to this job I was a law harper. I made up stuff professionally." he assures her. He then glances back to his frustrated dragon, "You can have this one." he says thumbing toward Wilough, "I'll deal with the other two." Apparently satisfied by this response Marzoth immediately stops thrashing his tail as some grurgling sounds come up his throat. Is he laughing? Probably. "Best of luck." he says to Wilough before turning to Merius and Aanisah, "You two need to figure out this project and how to do it together. First warning. If I have to warn you again things are going to be ugly fast."

Aanisah searches some moments more before she glances back at the others, which is when she realizes the seacrafter has got her prize. She turns and stalks toward him only to stand in front of him with an impotent glare. It's almost as if she were the 'snake and he the charmer; she does look like she might be about to break the rules right in front of the assistant weyrlingmaster if Merius keeps up, especially when Marzoth's sand flinging tail can't be helping her mood as she's showered with it. The warning from S'dny has her shoulders shifting out of their 'ready to act' tension and she takes a breath and exhales hard, as if this were asking so much of her. "I want to make the stupid boat," she tells the once-harper who might now be roped into mediating, "If he would quit bossing me around and work with me-" She shoots the crafter an accusatory look. Only then does she seem to realize that the computercrafter has been left to the whims of the dragon and she raises her brows at the other girl - it might be silent communication - perhaps 'you need help?' or maybe just 'sucks to be you.'

Wilough looks at S'dny like he might possibly be insane but then he's leaving her to the whim of his dragon and the skinny brunette squeaks a sound of protest after him. Wait, he can't do this, either! She looks at the dragon, though, stepping back as though putting some distance between herself and the bronze will somehow be helpful. "I'm not afraid of you," she tells Marzoth, even though she's obviously intimidated. She'll put up a good front.

Sand being flung at him is not out of the norm for Merry, but still he ducks, triyng to avoid the worst of it. After S'dny's warning, Merius is quick to hand the blueprint case off to Aanisah. "Yes, sir!" The bronzerider gets a smart salute from the seacrafter, but his dark eyes lock, warily, on Nisah. He's utterly flabberghasted. "Bossing you around?" His tone is skeptical but not argumentative. "You're the one who was setting /conditions/," he reminds, "And yelling. After I lugged all of this stuff out here for you." The lumber pile is given a lazy kick, but it's not much of one. Merry looks /tired/. Too tired to even think about coming to Wilough's rescue, alas!

Typriaeth wings along the beach with a merry carol of a greeting to anyone who is here. Ooh, look a bronze! Smashing. She lands with spray of sand on anyone who she has landed near.

Typriaeth waves a wing.

If Marzoth is in any way impressed with her brave front it doesn't show in the least. He does what a Marzoth does best. He takes a few steps toward her until he is face to face with the girl. For the moment though he doesn't do anything else other than that. The arrival of the green is largely unnoticed since his attention is completely focused on the insolent human. Syd looks between the the arguing pair, "Enough already. I get it. You dislike each other. Thats what makes it amusing." Surely that is what T'revs had in mind when he came up with this little scheme. He points a finger at Aanisah's knot, "That knot says you want to be a dragonrider. Which means that if you impress you will be having loads of people telling you what to do for a very long time. Get used to it." he points out. "You both need to work as a team. Thats just how it is."

Clearly, Wilough's doing just fine on her own, and Aanisah has to jerk to turn her face away from yet more sand. The spray fuels Aanisah's mood back toward foul, snapping at the seacrafter, "And you're the one who wanted your— Briari there after the Weyrleader explicitly told us this was our project," Aanisah's voice squeaks (embarrassingly) as she counters his words about conditions. "I was doing you a favor. Just because I didn't want to be in the middle of your— whatever," she makes a gesture. "My terms were quite reasonable," she tells S'dny now, "They even included no touching," which was S'dny's own new rule, so clearly Aanisah's other terms must have been just as reasonable! Only then will Aanisah sigh her (temporary) acquiescence to getting along and open the cylinder to produce the blueprints she brought. They're good ones, too, though not SeaCrafter marked. She's careful when she unrolls them and then she turns the pages toward Merius so he can see. "This will float," she tells him in no uncertain terms, like she knows anything about boats at all.

Wilough backs up a little bit more, glaring at the dragon as though she has some chance of standing off against a thing a gabillion times her size. "Okay!" She tells the bronze. "I'm going!" This is the only thing she can think to do, admittedly, but it seems like as good an idea as any, so Wilough turns to start trudging her way back the way she'd come, glancing back briefly to where Aanisah and Merius are still being scolded.

Merius is not quick enough to avoid the worst of the sandshower that results from the newly arrived green dragon. He brushes the worst of it out of his hair as he nods to S'dny. "The weyrleader won't be disappointed." And in fact, Merry is already making progress, because he does not argue with Aanisah, despite there being plenty of bait for him to rise to. Were S'dny not here to admonish them for it, he probably still wouldn't argue. It's exhausting, and his menial laborer's brain is spent. He gives the blueprints she shows him the once-over, then casually waves them off. We don't need no stinking blueprints! "It will float." He agrees, then shrugs, "Almost anything can /float/." Then he adds with an actual grin, "/Rafts/ float." Sharing a private joke with Aanisah is very possibly even more maddening than arguing. "This." He gestures to the pile of lumber at their feet. "Will sail."

Typriaeth settles down in the sand, burrowing a little, and simply seems willing to stay here. Is she waiting for her rider? Perhaps! Or perhaps she's waiting for someone to randomly come and scritch her. Either way she seems unrepentant for spraying random strangers with sand.

S'dny is just about ready to give up on the pair of them. At some point you have to step away and let someone figure it out on their own, "Alright then. No more biting. Spend your energy building a boat." he says as he steps away from the pair of them and out of the corner of his eye watches the arrival of Typrieth. Another AWLM dragon on the beach. Excellent! That will probably be helpful. At least it couldn't hurt. This allows him to finally return his attention to Wilough, "I don't think he wants you to go yet. He'd like you to pick up shells on the beach. The shiny ones." Apparently that is going to be her consequence. Marzoth turns his head away from Wilough and looks to the green, « Hello. » he says to her.

Wilough pauses to glance back at S'dny, looking cross, but instead of leaving, she goes to start heading down along the beach instead. If she can make this all go away with a few shiny shells, why not!

Perhaps it speaks to Aanisah's work ethic that once Merius seems prepared to actually focus on the project, she's already sort of kind of forgotten S'dny's there, in favor of giving an annoyed look at the SeaCrafter. "It will sail, if we follow the blueprint." She looks at the man and then at the wood. "Are you going to be any help at all?" she wonders before stepping away from him to focus on getting her bearings with the items assembled. Would it surprise Merius that Aanisah actually looks like she has a clue about what she's doing?

"I have been helping you. I've brought you your materials." Merius comes close to whining as he repeats this fact. "And they're better ones than the craft ever gives me for personal use." Rather than being disgruntled about that fact, he just gives a light shrug. "So, if you put in the effort…" He trails off after a moment, watching as Wilough makes her way down the beach, picking up seashells. Doing something he genuinely enjoys doing and is actually good at (yes he is so good at it, Aanisah) seems a far preferable fate. "If /we/ put in the effort," He corrects with a sigh, reaching down to heft up a large toolbox, "There's no reason we can't turn out something every bit as good as what the junior apprentices at Tillek make." Typriaeth gets a wary glance. So far she doesn't seem as eager to mete out punishment as Marzoth, but Merry will stay on his toes, just in case.

With Marzoth content that Wilough is taking care of his task he settles himself on the sand to rest. Syd watches the girl as she moves up the beach and seems to be doing as she is told. Though the pair that appear to be still going back and forth, "Hopefully this won't be too hard for you guys." Since as Merius said they have good materials. He motions over toward Typ, "I wouldn't worry about her. She's Anique's." As if they have probably met Anique yet and know that she is probably far less grumpy than Marzoth.

"You were right the first time. If I put in the work," Aanisah grumps at him. "You're just here to help teach me when there's something I don't know how to do. Teacher-" she points at Merius, "doer," Aanisah points at herself; understood? "And I could've brought this stuff here myself, if you'd just told me where it was," she continues ungratefully. "Do I look weak to you?" It might be a joke but for the way the petit teen gives him a no-nonsense stare. It's to S'dny that she calls, "Sir, how strong do dragonriders have to be? What kind of physical training do the weyrlings do? Would Anique have been able to, for example, move all these supplies from wherever Merius got them down to the beach on her own?" She glances beyond to bronze and green as if trying to imagine the range of physical requirements asked of riders of dragons tinier than they are (and then up to their size and so on). She considers Typriaeth then and looks to the timbers, sizing up the green. "Actually, do you suppose asking dragons to help is cheating? I mean, for the boat," this, too, directed to the AWLM, but clearly she's looking at the green, not bronze in terms of conscripting said help.

The comment about Typriaeth might be more reassuring if they were coming from someone other than Marzoth's rider — grumpiness is relative, after all. And Merius has had just about as much grumpiness as he can handle, this afternoon. But he remains on the receiving end of yet more grumpiness from Aanisah, which is answered only with nods and a put-upon "Yes, yes. Consider my offer of actual, physical help rescinded." He drops the toolbox with a thud. Right on his foot. A surprisingly high-pitched yelp escapes his lips, and he begins hopping up and down on one foot, rather comically. Lest one think the injury is serious, Merry manages to keep his (considerable) swearing under his breath and mostly inaudible. A few big breaths, in and out, and he is able to get out through clenched teeth, "You," An index finger is pointed at Nisah, "start laying out pieces for the hull." His injured foot is gingerly placed back on the ground. "…While I go to the infirmiry." S'dny gets another salute, and then Merius begins the long limp back to the weyr-proper.

"Dragonriders have to be physically fit." Syd says, "Though there is a great deal of variation from rider to rider. There is no one set standard. Some will naturally be stronger than others. It's just the way of things." If there was one set standard it would be a huge problem anyway, "You'll do jogging, lifting, all sorts of things really. The dragons train as well. They have wing stretches and all sorts of things. Though thats a conversation for another day. I'd not worry about it unless you impress." Which is always a mysterious thing anyway. No one can predict who the dragons will pick, "Probably is cheating…" he adds. Poor Merius…he's been unlucky today, "Good idea…get that food looked at." As for himself its time he wanders away as well, "Keep working on the boat. And don't bite anyone." he says to Aanisah, and with that wanders off. Marzoth appears to want to stick around so thats just what he does.


Add a New Comment
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License