[Meeting] Darkness Falls (L'vey/Tekaine)

[lithle]

Sunset. The sky seemed to bleed and the sun was a redfruit hanging low for picking. L'vey watched it intently, but if he took comfort in the beauty, there was no sign of it in his tense posture. He stood, his bare feet in the moist sand, waves not quite reaching his toes.

Faeth?

Which one this time? The usually helpful green sounded downright testy at the moment. But she and L'vey were not given to actual argument. She was prepared to wait and nag until he showed himself ready to be reasonable and do as she said.

Tekaine.

Obediently, Faeth contacted the guardmaster, asking him to have someone escort Tekaine to the beach where L'vey was waiting. Then, in a blast of cold, she appeared in the sky above her rider. She quickly dove into the warm ocean waters. Settling into the shallows, her eyes whirling with just a hint of yellow, she stared over his shoulder, toward the Weyr and prison. Toward their home, where so many faces were now missing.

This is not the way to mourn.

It's the only way I know.

And so, they waited.

[Cansi]

Tekaine looked up, startled, as a pair of burly guards came to escort him from the recreational area where he'd been doing some stretching. They didn't tie him up, but neither of the pair lacked for alertness. The young man didn't bother asking where they were going. It was something new, incongruity fit to break up the monotonous rhythm that life at Warden's threatened to become. Needless to say, the skinny lad was having a hard time fitting in, feeling simultaneously that he wasn't like the rest of the criminals and that he was more like them than he would ever know.

The guards walked beside him, wordlessly. For some reason Tekaine could have sworn they didn't like each other, though their movements were purely professional and businesslike.

The little man's ears should have been pricked to attention like a canine's. The guards were leading him outside the walls, and he looked around curiously. Not that there was anywhere to go, but shells it was lovely out here. "You're to meet with L'vey," one of the guards abruptly said, as though continuing a conversation that had been interrupted. It made Tekaine miss a step and stumble. The guard's gaze actually softened slightly. Or perhaps he was just narrowing them against the glare of a setting Rukbat.

The ruddy light cast things into an almost dreamlike state. Tekaine was reeling from the implications of a meeting with L'vey. The man looked fit to live up to the whispers about him, even as careworn as he appeared to be. The gray-green dragon that had been staring over his shoulder completed the picture. The guards drew to a halt and introduced the young man to the weyrlingmaster, and even as Tekaine made a slight inclination of a respectful bow, he couldn't help but think to himself- This guy is no older than my father. It sure put things into perspective, and helped the petite man to contain his sneaking hope. For all he knew, somebody had tried to implicate him somehow (though he doubted it; there were advantages to keeping to oneself- few allies, perhaps, but just as few enemies).

[lithle]

"Thank you for your assistance." L'vey was polite, as ever, as he addressed the two guards, inclining his head in greeting. "I'll have Faeth call you when he's ready to return, until then, I'm sure you could both do with a bit of a break."

That was clearly a dismissal, if a gracious one. It was also one that offered a bit of extra time to rest in an unquestionably grueling schedule. The guards retreated and L'vey turned his full attention to Tekaine. He did not smile, but he was not a man given to smiling at the best of times. If his expression was serious, it was not severe. Simply a bit sad.

"Journeyman, I'm sorry to interrupt your day. Thank you for joining me." Not that Tekaine had been given much of choice, but it was something one simply said. He gestured to the sand, "If you'd care to make yourself comfortable, I'd like to discuss the hatching with you. Before I begin to lecture, do you have any questions?"

As if to make that point a bit more clear, he moved out of the reach of the waves and sat, settling crosslegged into the sand. While the word 'graceful' didn't suit him, there was an ease to his movements, as if he was as perfectly at home here on the beach as he would be behind his desk. Faeth came out of the water to lay behind him, shaking herself delicately as she stepped out of the ocean. Nearby, the a patrol of whers stepped onto the beach, making the evening's first rounds.

[Cansi]

As the guards wandered off, Tekaine found himself meeting the serious gaze L'vey turned on him, and the smile that had started to curve his lips faded in response. He listened to the grave words, and nodded acquiescence when it was indicated that he should sit down. If it hadn't been suggested, there was a good chance his legs would have given out when the weyrlingmaster mentioned the Hatching. Either way, he plonked down as much as sat, hand twitching with the urge to rub his temples. "Sir," he said, "I'm still not sure of anything around here. I've only just started to settle, so... please, lecture away."

The presence of the dragon was somehow comforting, especially when the wher patrol set about their business not too far away. Not far enough away to suit the petite prisoner. Wild whers were much more dangerous than the Bonded sort, but he had always kept clear of them in general. Tekaine didn't want to admit to himself that he was afraid, just that they captured his gaze and made his nerves jingle like a harper's bell. He didn't want it to seem that he wasn't listening to L'vey, so he schooled his expression to calm and looked at the taller man, head slightly tilted as he trailed his fingers through the slowly cooling sand, tiny shards of seashells and other detritus.

This whole situation should have been spazzing him out, but it made a certain kind of sense. Nobody liked to see baby dragons between. Correction: very few. And most of the people that might like to see it were probably here at Warden's already. With him being only a petty thief (and prostitute, though that hadn't been explicitly mentioned when he was taken into custody) it was at least demonstrable that he was not of a violent nature. Easily embarrassed, always... but never violent.

[lithle]

After his experience with the last class of Weyrlings, anyone who wasn't automatically defensive and sullen already had a point going in their favor. Tekaine was showing no signs of wanting to start their conversation with an argument and for that, L'vey was thankful. He didn't know this one well, a relatively new arrival. And perhaps there was some risk in putting such a an unknown quantity of the sands.

Better though, to try, to do something, than to stand about wringing ones hands.

Then again, maybe that was the sort of thinking that had gotten them into this mess. It was all a bit much and for a moment, L'vey was silent, watching the sand run through the prisoner's fingers. When the silence began to stretch a bit to long, he felt the firm nudge of Faeth's tail.

Time to lecture.

"Very well. As you know, I'm the Weyrlingmaster. I have the charge of those who impress to the clutches now on the sands. Given your behavior, you have the opportunity to stand, should you so choose. If you impress, you will be placed on probation. When you graduate weyrling training, you'll be a free individual."

And, those were the basics, the bits that got them so many prisoners lining up to stand. The rest of it was what led to so few non-prisoners willing to stand. Less this time than the last.

"As a prisoner you would be assigned a guard for the first six months of their training. You will be required to sleep in the stone barracks for that amount of time. However, should either Iiateth's or Semith's clutches contain any unusual hatchlings, all the weyrlings will be assigned guards and be required to stay in the barracks. There have been hostilities in the past." It was a lot of information, offered quickly, but L'vey wanted to get some of the basics out of the way before he even got to the details. "We think that such dragons are very likely."

He gave a soft sigh, not exasperated so much as tired and perhaps a bit sad. "What I'm trying to say is, should you wish to impress simply with the goal of earning your freedom, it is unwise to stand. You are likely to find yourself more constricted in some ways, and certainly your time will not be your own."

[Cansi]

Tekaine's fingers stilled; he watched L'vey's vaguely sad demeanor as the man remained quiet for a long breath of time. Some unknown prompt set the greenrider talking moments before the silence would have become uncomfortable. The weyrlingmaster's words were less of a surprise than might have been; the probability of prisoners standing for a chance at eggs had been a rampant rumor from the moment he stepped out of detox. So much so that even he had heard the basics. Not that he'd behaved any differently afterward. In the presence of alcohol he might have become the source of problems, but... enforced sobriety seemed to agree with him. He'd woke up the previous night with a tongue parched from that second and more agitated thirst. As long as the desire to get a little sodden didn't affect him during the day, he didn't think there was a problem.

Clear green eyes blinked their owlish astonishment in the gathering shadows as his mind latched onto what it all meant to him, personally. He composed himself before speaking, but his hands still shook slightly where they were now shoved wrist-deep into the sand. "If it's a choice I have," Tekaine said with a quirk of an eyebrow, "then I'd gladly stand, on the off chance that any would rather choose me than go between. If one were really that desperate, I'd be humbled and honored to give comfort. No matter what." The tone of his voice made it plain that he thought it an unlikely prospect. Equally clear was the fact that he really had no idea what it was like to share a mind. "But sir," and now a thread of agitation swelled in his words, "why would unusual hatchlings cause hostilities? Dragons are dragons. I mean, they aren't coming out with two heads and no wings are they?"

It wasn't exactly a joke, but the healer in him was unhappy to be faced with such a dour countenance on such a lovely evening. Tekaine reminded himself with a nearly inaudible sigh that there had been a lot going on here, most of it things that would need to be lived through to fully empathize with. The death of the Warden, the breakout. In an abstract sense he could appreciate the consequences, and even anticipate the way these folks were reacting to it. Didn't mean he had the slightest inkling what to say about it all. Bringing it up in conversation might just make things worse, and he really didn't think cheering anyone up with his particular brand of physical therapy would go over well. Casual contact just wasn't something he'd seen a lot of since coming here... to his relief...

[lithle]

To L'vey's forgiving ear, the prisoners of Warden's often seemed a fragile bunch. Hurt by past experience, cynical, defensive. And, yes, they were often full of bravado, but it was such a weak, surface pose. Tekaine seemed much the same, already convinced that he could only ever be a last resort for a dragon. As if it worked that way.

"Dragons only have one choice, Journeyman. The one they choose is always the only one they could have ever chosen, the only right choice. If you impress, you will be the perfect partner for the dragon that chooses you. They know." He spoke with intensity, though he didn't raise his voice. Behind him, Faeth rumbled her agreement. "I am glad you are willing to stand."

But, of course, the important topic was what would become of this clutch, even if it was not, as Tekaine pointed out, full of two headed dragons. Thank Faranth for that much.

Hopefully.

"Tradition is important to people. So much is unsure, dragons have always been our constant. When they start to change, well, to some it seems a sign that times are getting worse." And that was the simple bit. "There's also the fear that the dragons might be unusual in some way. It isn't unfounded, had we known Iiateth's flight would be so-- intense, we could have prepared. And so prevented much loss."

There was, of course, the other issue. The unspoken one. The secret kept between himself, Leshta and Master DragonHealer La. The fearful were more right than they realized.

"If you wish to stand, you must realize, you may impress an irregular dragon. And that may come with a stigma you will never be able to shake. As things now stand, no other Weyr will accept an irregular dragon as a transfer. They are not being taught to between. The rumors of them being culled and crippled are completely unfounded, of course. But there are restrictions."

[Cansi]

"I didn't know it was like that," Tekaine said with a bit of a sigh. Perfect match. Sounds like an old-timey harper's love ballad. L'vey would know better than he would, so he didn't voice his doubt. He was honestly a little crestfallen that his pun had fallen flat, but it only made him determined to try again soon. Maybe not this very moment, unless the opportunity came. He didn't want to jeopardize the chance to stand at the hatching and bear witness. The way people talked about it put it in a completely different category than, say, fowl eggs hatching. Some visceral, gut-level response (aside from seeing Impressions form- or maybe because of it) put reminiscences under a bright light of enthusiasm. Even the maulings and deaths were chalked up as unhappy accidents.

He listened, leaning back on his hands to stretch his legs in front of him as L'vey elaborated a bit. "I understand," Tekaine said with a nod. He started to say something else, but started coughing when a flying insect found its way into his throat as he breathed in. A few moments later, eyes watering, he wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his prison garb and grimaced. "That was nasty. Um, anyway. What was I saying...?" His forehead wrinkled in a frown. Idiot. "Oh. Well, with my, err, history..." He looked down at the wet spot his saliva had left on his sleeve. "I don't know that I could go anywhere. I won't lie and say I wouldn't want to go elsewhere. But, you know... if it isn't permitted, it isn't permitted," he finished.

Tekaine sat silent for a moment, then a thought occurred to him and he raised a hand. Immediately he felt foolish and quickly brought it down, shoving it under the opposite armpit as if by hiding it he could wipe the memory of it being up there in the first place from history. "What about regular dragons? Are they being kept from going places too?"

At least in the near-darkness, he was pretty sure L'vey couldn't see his embarrassed blush. Not so sure that he was hidden from Faeth, though.