Monaco Bay Weyr - Hatching Galleries
The Galleries consist of a multitude of rows, cut into the rock of this vast cavern. The heat here is stiffling any time of year, but the breeze coming in through the open roof high above makes it bareable. Sheltered from the coast's weather, this cavern looks out into it but rarely experiances any of it. Stairs lead down to the Commons Cavern, from one side, while at the back of the galleries there is a passage way leading out to the treetop dwellings. Far to the other side of the galleries are several stairs leading up to the multitude of ledges where the dragons and riders view the hatching.
The cavern has gained the added illumination of daylight, filtering down from above, but from this angle, the majority of the light still comes from the multitude of papercovered electric lanterns that cast their cheerful warm colors on the galleries and the rest of the cavern. Springtime has arrived on Eastern Weyr, the flowers budding with wild abandon and all about new growth of the jungle seems to be the theme both in the animal and plant kingdoms.
A mild summer morning finds Merius once again in the galleries, spending his free time watching the eggs harden. He's settled comfortably in a front-row seat, his feet up on the railing as he reclines back in his seat, occasionally sipping from a wineskin at his side.
Now that chores are over and completed, Briari heads down to the galleries with her shoulder bag full of knick-knacks. As she spies Merius in the front row, a look of relief rushes over her face as she heads down to settle at his side. Without a word, she leans into him, propping her head against his shoulder. Sigh.
Merius, oblivious to the harper's entrance, blinks in surprise as a head finds its way to his shoulder. He pauses in the act of bringing that wineskin to his lips and greets, "Oh! Good morning." Of course, once he says the word 'morning' he eyes the wineskin sheepishly. "Ah, it's early, but I have evening craft duties." He explains with a shrug.
"I ain't gonna judge. At least you can drink." Briari says as she stares out across the sands to the eggs, offering a hopeful smile towards them. "How are you doing?" She asks as she worms a hand out to settle into his, giving his fingers a firm squeeze.
Merius smiles. "No rules about drinking for seacrafters," he agrees, lightly. "They'd all mutiny if there were." He grins, following her gaze down at the eggs. "Fine, fine." Is his answer to his question, and he pauses to take a sip from his wineskin after all before noting, "I've never seen a dragon's clutch before. It's pretty remarkable."
"Oh, yes. They are really great. It is so exciting to watch them hatch and find their lifemates." Briari giggles as she reaches out with her free hand to take out her sketchpad and her colored pencils. "How is the boat coming along on the sands?" She asks curiously, lifting a brow upwards.
"I've never been to a hatching, either… obviously." Merry adds, at the mention of impression. He looks over at Briari and wonders, "What does it look like? When they impress?" His eyes flicker back to the eggs when she asks about the boat, but not before rolling emphatically. "Slowly. She…" He pauses thoughtfully, trying to come up with the right words to describe Briari's fellow candidate, and he finally settles on "…Overthinks things."
"It is both scary and exciting at the same time. As you stand out on the sands, you can really feel the heat and it grows uncomfortable, even in your sandals." Briari explains as she shrugs her shoulders before turning her head to face him. "It is scary because some dragons come right out of their eggs and go charging across the sands and you don't know if they are going to run you over in an attempt to get to the candidate next to you. I have heard stories of candidates getting trampled and crippled in the past but it is pretty rare." Her jaw shifts slightly as she settles back against the seat. "Sorry to hear that it is going slowly. I tried to make some peace with her and she bit my head off." She sighs out. "Do you think I'm being fake?"
Merius glances back at Briari, listening carefully as she describes the chaos possible at a hatching. "It sounds scary." Merry-the-giant admits. Her latter comments are met with an incredulous raised eyebrow. "You tried to make peace with her?" He snorts at the very idea. Her question causes his eyebrow to rise again. "Fake? How can a person /be/ fake? If you're /being/ you're obviously real, right?" Focusing on the semantics has caused him to completely miss the point, of course.
"Yes, we are candidates together. If we both impress, we may be weyrlings together and that means we would be in the same wing. We will have to work together as our lives may depend upon it depending on the situation." Briari's hand begins to work along the sketch pad while her other squeezes Merius'. "But she told me that I was being fake and that I was not acting like the real me. I guess it sort of stuck with me the last couple of days."
Merius, as often happens when Aanisah is around — or mentioned — rolls his eyes. "What does she know about the real you?" He sighs, heavily, then adds, "Or seacrafting? Or /anything/." Irritation creeps into his voice, at that. "Don't take a sniping wherryhen's words to heart," he advises, earnestly.
"I am sure she knows a few things about something." Briari says as she rubs her jaw with her free hand before she goes back to sketching with it. "She seems pretty smart, even if she is … direct." Even if the Seacrafter is irritated, she does not show any herself. She seems a bit sullen. "So, do you want to get dinner with me later? Maybe spend some time not … you know… talking about bad stuff?"
Merius emits a loud bark of laughter at that. "Direct. That's one word for it." He rolls his eyes again, then takes a hearty sip from his wineskin. He glances over at Briari, frowning slightly, disappointed. "Unfortunately I've already got a dinner date with some hardtack and seacrafters. We've been tasked with finding more the wreckage from that Half Moon ship, so I'll be out at sea."
"Oh, it's alright. I hope you guys are successful! Just be careful out there." Briari says with a smile as she gives a last squeeze of his hand before letting go and tearing the sheet off the sketchbook she was drawing in. Carefully rolling it up, she hands it over to him with a grin on her face. "Got an egg out there that is your favorite? Any that calls out to you particularly?"
Merius nods in between more sips of wine. "We'll be fine. I just hope they can find out what happened to that ship." At her question about the eggs he glances back at the sands, eyeing each of them carefully. "I suppose I like that one," he admits, pointing to a particularly serious-looking crimson-and-gray egg with black swirls. "But they're all pretty amazing. I've never seen them before." He repeats with a shrug. "What about you?"
"I like that one." Briari points towards the Jubilant egg with a wry grin on her face. "It is very colorful and just seems like a happy egg. But, I have realized that no matter what egg you may fall in love with, your dragon will surprise you and pop out of an egg that you barely gave a thought to. Had a few friends that was dead set on a certain egg, then they found their lifemate in another." She gives his shoulder a bump. "Your egg is really nice. Maybe your lifemate is in there waiting for you." She winks.
"It suits you." Merry announces after regarding the particularly colorful egg for a few moments. He laughs aloud at her comment about his potential lifemate waiting in the morose crimson egg. "Somehow I doubt that. I'm no candidate. I ride ships, not dragons." He falls silent after a moment, regarding that egg thoughtfully. "I've never thought about it. Not once. I've never imagined a dragon in my life." Is admitted with another shrug.
Smirking at him, Briari leans over and pecks him on the cheek. "Keep an open mind. You never know. I mean, Nisah pretty much demanded a knot. Why don't you? At least for the experience. Tell T'revs he owes you because he made you get stuck out there building a boat with her. Why should she get something out of it and you get a headache?" A crafty smile spills upon her face. "Who knows. Maybe that egg will take to you. They can feel who you are inside by the way. When you touch the eggs, you merge with their minds. They see /you/, and you see /them/. It is fantastic. They take you on an adventure in your mind and you can sense who they are and what they dream and love. That is how they impress to you. You bond with them in the shell, then when they hatch, they chase you down! To find the one they fell in love with."
Merius turns an incredulous gaze back on Briari. "Tell the weyrleader he has to give me a candidate's knot?" He chuckles lightly and freely admits, "I'd never do it. As much as it pains me to admit, I don't have the bollocks Aanisah does." He's smiling, though, one dimple even visible in his cheek as he waves away the idea. "No, no. I ride ships, not dragons." He repeats. But he does lift his wineskine in the general direction of the sands before taking his next drink. A toast to the queen and her clutch.