Squadmate Luncheon [Ageno]

[nineofswords]

The first half of Dawn Squad's shift was over. They'd worked hard, as they always did, and Ronnie felt rather pleased. She made a point of trying to have a meal with her fellows, just so she could get to know them a little better outside of work. Today, she'd invited Ginny to join her in the dining hall for their midday meal. Midnight meal? Even after turns of being a wherhandler, Ronica still wasn't sure which terms were the best to use regarding the activities of the nocturnal denizens of the Weyr.

Ronnie grabbed some food and a table. Honestly, she never knew if any of the squadmates she invited would actually take her up on her offer to eat meals with her, and she had been stood up more than a few times. But she had high hopes for Ginny. Although perhaps that was wishful thinking. She seemed like the sort of person Ronica could really get along with, and she did hope they'd become friends.

While she waited, Ronnie started half humming, half singing to herself as she daintily picked at her food and people-watched.

[Agenothree]

Ginny had to work hard to keep from looking nervous, a small frown pulling at her face in her worry. Through squad activities, she had grown steadily more aware of Ronica, finding her to be a valuable squadmate whom she appreciated, but she was quite surprised to find an invitation being extended to her to take a midday meal together. It was midnight, well into night for everyone else who wasn't a wherhandler, but that wasn't what was most important. What was important was making a good first impression. Ronnie was someone she hoped would come to like her; her invitation seemed a good start! Ginny do great! Iniask encouraged in her mind, causing Ginny to smile to herself. It was a much better look than a frown, especially as she spotted Ronica where she was seated, slowly working on her food while she waited. Ginny lifted a hand in greeting as she mirrored Ronica's initiative and hurried to get herself some food too, moving to sit down across her once she'd acquired what she wanted. "I'm here," she reassured Ronnie, unless that was Ginny reassuring herself? It was hard to tell, but she was definitely addressing Ronnie as she went on, managing a small smile as she spoke. "Sorry that I'm late, but thank you for inviting me, Ronica."

[nineofswords]

Ronica saw Ginny arrive, saw the hand lifted in greeting, and offered the other woman a wave in return as she rushed off to get food. Excellent! Some good company and a chance to get to know a squadmate better.

"And I'm very happy to see that you are!" Ronnie said, giving Ginny a bright smile when she had her food and came to sit down.

"Oh perish the thought, you aren't late at all!" Ronnie assured Ginny. "I presumed you had some task or other that needed your attention before you could come join me to relax. There's only so many candlemarks in a day, after all, and so very many things to do in them."

She laced her fingers together under her chin. "I'm pleased you were willing to join me! I love getting to know my squadmates better in our downtime. I find it makes me a better teammate. I know not everyone tends to feel the way I do about it, and I do try to respect that, but it's alwasy perfectly lovely to have friends among those you spend most of your day around, don't you think?"

"I'm always so curious how people ended up with their bonds," she said. "There's so many different ways one can bond to a wher, after all. It's part of the fun of them. For instance, my Onisk was a gift from my parents. They had an...odd sense of what a young woman would want, but Onisk is absolutely the best thing to happen to me, hands down. What about you? Your green is Iniask, have I remembered that right? How did you two come to be bonded?"

[Agenothree]

Ginny managed a small smile as she nodded. "It's quite true," she agreed, though she didn't seem upset at her duties requiring most of her time and focus in a day. "I'm glad you understand." Perhaps being Ronnie's friend would be...easier than she thought. It was always easier to keep her head down and focus on her duties, but building a friendship between Ronnie and herself couldn't hurt, right? As she went on to explain how she made a point to get to know her squadmates, to improve relations and work together better, Ginny nodded again, her smile a little looser than before. "I agree completely," she answered easily. Being among friends was always a little easier than being surrounded by colleagues, she had to admit. As Ronica went on to detail how she'd acquired her wher, Onisk, and ask how she had gotten her own, Ginny didn't need to ponder her words. "How wonderful, for you and Onisk both," she commented, genuinely. "Yes, Iniask is my green, your memory is correct. I was fortunate enough to be chosen for her at her hatching, actually! Relsk and Tamisk had four eggs between them, and she selected me for her first. It was an honor I still think about quite often."

[nineofswords]

"Lateness is all a matter of perspective, anyway," Ronnie said, waving her hand in a gesture that was dismissive of the very concept. "In the Holds, if you're invited to a large gather, it's expect that you should show up late, partially to make a fashionable entrance, and partially to give the party throwers more time to set up. Everything always takes longer to set up than anybody expects, don't you find? Meanwhile, if anyone shows up late to a threadfall, even by only a few moments, the consequences can be quite dire. And there are countless situations that fall somewhere between those two extremes. A casual meal between squadmates to my mind is far closer to the former than the latter in terms of how forgiving it is in timetables. Anyone who says otherwise is merely a boor." Ronnie rarely cared about people arriving late to things like this. After all, she'd grown up with a very different set of rules for punctuality. It had been something of a culture shock when she'd first arrived at the Weyr and learned that "drills start at 5pm tomorrow" meant "drills start promptly at 5pm tomorrow", not "drills start between 5:30 and 6pm tomorrow".

The more Ronnie talked, the more Ginny seemed to be relaxing, which made Ronnie's own smile grow warmer. She had missed just getting to sit and chat with another woman, just getting to know someone with no task to complete accompanying it.

She nodded in thanks and acknowledgement when Ginny called her and Onisk's bonding wonderful, and listened attentitively as she spoke on her own bonding. She was pleased she'd gotten Iniask's name right; nothing worse than saying the wrong name, after all. It truly was one of the worst social faux pas there were. "Oh how marvelous!" Ronnie said delightedly when Ginny said she was chosen first. "I always think it's such an honor to be deemed worthy of an egg by the clutchmother herself. I've always wondered if I would've been chosen for Onisk in a similar situation. I would hope so, but I suppose it would depend upon who else was present for the hatching, who the mother found more compatible or promising for her egg. Buying one is such a gamble, and it's lovely when those work out well, but one is far less likely to be guaranteed a favorable outcome in such an instance than if they'd presented themselves before the wher mother."