[Firebrand] An End to Solitude

[Arcane]

Athan wasn't supposed to have a room to himself. But there hadn't been any Dragon Days since the last hatching, when Leona Impressed. Until now, Naxen seemed to have forgotten him.

Athan had liked Leona, but he also liked alone. He could bring Sannah to visit, as often as she wanted. If they were willing to break the rules a little, she could even spend the night in the spare bunk, like they had for so many turns. The rest of the time, he didn't have to fill the air with words or worrying about breaking some strange rule he'd never known existed. Athan liked the silence. It was familiar and comforting.

And it was nice having somewhere he didn't have to try to be a good candidate. Being a good candidate had a lot of rules, some of which didn't make much sense to him.

But that was all about to change.

Naxen had finally remembered Athan didn't have a roommate and had decided it was time to fix that. She'd told Athan their name, but he didn't remember. The weyr had a lot of names and they tended to blend together in Athan's head.

Athan hadn't had much to prepare, for this new roommates arrival. He didn't have many things and what he did have, he kept safely tucked away in the little trunk besides his bed, the one he'd bought from the pirates that was too thick for the tunnelsnakes to chew through.

He hoped whoever it was was nice.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Quentin walked through the candidate quarters looking for their room. They were still getting used to navigating the weyr, it was so much larger than they had imagined, and absolutely dwarfed the farm Quentin had grown up on. They were used to going days without seeing people outside their family, but here there was a constant thrum of people and creatures milling about their daily tasks. Hopefully their roommate wouldn't mind some quiet time, or even better, prefer to spend time outside of the room so Quentin could have a space to decompress.

The Candidatemaster, her name was Naxen, Quentin was pretty sure, had explained that all the candidates were assigned to shared rooms with another candidate. Honestly, it had been a bit of relief to hear Quentin would only have to share the room with one other person. Back home, they had shared a single room with all their older brothers, and had always gotten the smallest, most uncomfortable bed in the corner of the room with a draft. Just one other person in the room would be a breeze, space-wise.

If they got along was another matter entirely. Their roommate was someone named Athan, and that was about all they knew.

Based on the directions Naxen had given, Quentin should be at the room they were assigned. The stared at the door for a moment. Then another. On one hand, they knew they had to knock on the door and meet whoever was on the other side. On the other, who knew what this Athan was like? Was he nice, or had Quentin inadvertently signed up for a new tormentor to replace their brothers?

Quentin took a deep breath and lightly knocked on the door.

[Arcane]

His new roommate was apparently a knocker. Athan wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Some people knocked because they didn't want to scare people. Some people knocked because they had way too many rules in their heads for anyone to keep straight.

Like right now- Athan didn't remember if he was supposed to open the door or just tell his new roommate to come in. Athan really hoped his roommate wasn't someone who cared too much about manners.

"I'm coming!" Athan called, settling for something in between. He swung the door open to reveal one of the largest people Athan had ever seen. With scars. And muscles.

Someone who looked exactly like what a rider should be.

Awesome.

"Hi. I'm Athan," Athan said, doing his best not to stare, "Are you my new roommate? You look really strong."

[FirebrandPhlox]

Quentin waited patiently outside the door, waiting for a response. Maybe Athan wasn’t in the room? As they began internally debating if they should just enter, Athan called from inside, and the door opened, revealing Quentin’s new roommate.

He was small, not just short, but thin. Quentin was used to being bigger than most folk, but they felt like even more of a giant standing next to Athan.

Quentin suddenly felt very self-conscious, even more so than usual. They looked around the room, avoiding Athan’s stare. It was barren of decoration, with just a few pieces of drab furniture to indicate it was even lived in. "Um, yes. I’m Quentin," they said plainly. They didn’t have a response for Athan’s comment, so they chose to leave the greeting at that. Quentin stood in the doorway, unsure of the protocol at the weyr and if they should enter the room now or not.

[Arcane]

"Right. Quentin. Nice to meet you," Athan said. He was pretty sure that was the name Naxen had told him. Probably, "Do you want me to knock when coming back to the room too?"

Athan's last roommate hadn't made him knock. But this one seemed a lot more proper than Leo had been.

That was probably the reason they were just standing there, looking anywhere but Athan, like there was something he was supposed to be doing or saying.

"Fair warning- I'm not really good as this whole 'being proper' thing, in general. We didn't do much of it, where I grew up," Athan said, because there was no way he could have pretended to upright and fancy, "So if there are things you want me to do or say, you're going to have to tell me. Like now, if there's a special word you need to hear to come into the room, I don't know it."

[FirebrandPhlox]

They paused a moment pondering Athan's question. Quentin didn't want to be a burden on anyone, but having a least a moment's notice that Athan was coming into the room would be nice. On the other hand, it was also Athan's room, and knocking to enter your own room did feel odd to Quentin. They and their brothers had never bothered with such formalities.

Quentin decided to err on the the side that Athan seemed more likely to like. They wanted to get along with their roommate after all. "You don't need to knock."

Noticing the pointed way Athan said the last bit, Quentin stepped into the room, face feeling flushed with embarrassment. Outwardly, there was no indication of the internal discomfort they were suffering through at the meeting of a new person they were going to have to spend quite a lot of time with.

Quentin shook their head. "I don't know much about manners either. If I offend you, please say something." They hoped that never happened, and if it did, they would probably shrivel up on the spot. They decided to avoid Athan's eye contact further, scanning the room. "Which side is mine?"

[Arcane]

"Okay. You don't need to knock either then. Come right in whenever you want," Athan said, with a smile, glad that Quentin didn't sound like they were too uptight, "Don't worry. I've spent lots of time around all sorts of people. Like the pirates. They're not proper at all and they're much more fun than stuffy Bendenites. I don't think I really get offended."

Athan who was not the keenest student of the human condition did not, in fact, notice Quentin's discomfort or seem at all bothered by their failure to meet his eyes.

"I've been sleeping in that bed," Athan pointed to the one nearer the window, "But I don't mind switching if you want it." Both beds seemed basically the same to Athan and he didn't see the point in getting attached to any one of them in particular.

"If you see a gold firelizard, her name's Tollbooth. She's out right now- she likes flying around Semaca- but she'll be back eventually. She doesn't bite but might steal some of your snacks," Athan said, trying to think of anything else Quentin might need to know, "My little sister, Sannah, sometimes comes here looking for me. Please be nice to her. Otherwise- I don't mind whatever you want to do in here."

[FirebrandPhlox]

Quentin nodded, feeling a slight bit of relief. Adjusting to life as a candidate and the weyr was difficult enough as it was, knowing that Athan wasn't easily offended. They would still worry that there might be some social norms unknown to them they might infringe upon, but at least around Athan they were probably fine to act as they normally did.

"This bed is fine," they said, walking to the one Athan had not indicated. They placed their bags on the desk next to the bed. They didn't have much to unpack, but they thought they should get it done sooner rather than later. Try to make the place feel more like home.

The mention of a flit caught Quentin's attention. "You have a gold?" They asked, the slightest hint of excitement in their voice. They had seen plenty of firelizards in the wild and while they were traveling to Semaca, but their family never had one, as it was another mouth to feed. Now they'd get to live with one! And a gold, no less! Quentin could not wait to see the critter in person.

[Arcane]

Athan nodded, smiling as Quentin sounded interested in his firelizard, glad to have something his new roommate seemed interested in, "Yes, I do. I got her egg from a dragonrider from a northern weyr...The one that starts with a t...Telgreen maybe? Something like that...Anyway, he had a green dragon who could tell which firelizard eggs were gold ones. I don't know why he came all the way down here to give them away. I can call her if you want to meet her. She usually comes when I do."

Athan sat in his bed, trying to stay out of the way as Quentin unpacked. They didn't have as many things as Athan's last roommate had.

"Do you have any pets?" Athan asked. People kept all kinds of animals as pets at Semaca- firelizards, canines, felines, ferrets, even birds and herdbeasts and wild felines, "They can stay with us too if you do, as long as they don't bite. I like animals."

[FirebrandPhlox]

Quentin unpacked their bags at a steady pace, listening to Athan talk. He seemed comfortable with keeping the conversation going largely by himself, which suited Quentin just fine. They would prefer a comfortable silence, but just listening to Athan go on was also acceptable.

At Athan’s offer to call the firelizard, Quentin hesitated. They didn’t want to be a bother, but they were also quite eager to see the flit they’d be sharing the space with. After some deliberation, they nodded. It didn’t seem like that much of a burden for Athan to call Tollbooth, especially since he was offering, and Quentin’s curiosity was outweighing their anxiety, for once.

”No, I do not have pets,” Quentin responded, shaking their head. Pets were a luxury their family couldn’t afford, they had enough mouths to feed between their family and the herdbeasts they raised. Now that they were a candidate and food was no longer as much of a concern, maybe they’d see about getting a firelizard egg. ”I do like animals though,” they hastily added. They didn’t want Athan get the wrong idea.

[Arcane]

"I didn't have any pets either, before Tollbooth. If you want a firelizard, there are lots of ways to get an egg," Athan explained. It felt nice to know something other people might not about the weyr, for a change, "Riders and handlers give them away for free sometimes, because they've already got lots of food and marks. The pirates down in Lominsa sell them too, if you save up your candidate wages or have something worth trading. I've heard there are also wild clutches, but you can't go into the jungle alone or the spotties will eat you."

Athan closed his eyes and concentrated on the shimmering, golden strand of thought that led to Tollbooth. Sannah had told him he didn't need to close his eyes or picture anything special, when he explained it to her, but Athan found it easier to have something concrete to focus on. The strand flared brighter and Athan caught a flash of green and blue- a lake, Athan thought, somewhere in the jungle, with a sliver of rocky beech on the shore. He gave the string a gentle mental pull and sent back an image of his barrack, complete with its newest occupant and felt the shift in Tollbooth's presence as she popped between.

Tollbooth materialized just as Athan opened his eyes, a fish clutched in her claws, which she dropped promptly on Quentin's lap in offering, eyes a friendly blue as she peered at the new candidate.

"This is Tollbooth," Athan said proudly, as the gold firelizard hovered near Quentin, "She's mine. Is the fish still alive?"

Tollbooth tried to give Athan treats, like he gave her treats, but what was tasty to a firelizard was usually too small for a person to eat, so Athan ended up letting a lot of what she caught go when he could.

[FirebrandPhlox]

TW: Animal Death

As Athan explained the various ways to get a firelizard, Quentin nodded. Perhaps once they were a bit more settled in they'd look into getting a flit. Dunsmith might know of someone selling eggs in port or dragonfolk giving them away. The older man had a way of knowing these things, Quentin would ask about it the next time they saw their friend. They certainly didn't want to try grabbing a wild egg and end up as a spottie's meal instead. They still weren't even entirely sure what spotties were, and weren't keen on finding out.

Quentin's eyes widened with delight as Tollbooth materialized out of thin air. The delight quickly changed to alarm as the fish flopped in their lap. Swiftly, they reached into their bag and grabbed a small knife. In a fluid motion, they grabbed the fish, held it against the wall, and plunged the knife into its skull. The fish gave one last feeble flop.

"It's not alive any more." Quentin said matter of factly as they looked up from their handiwork. They eyed the hovering flit. "Um, thank you."