Lunchtime Greetings [Shadon]

[nineofswords]

It was the midday meal, so the dining hall was crowded as it usually was at that time of day. L'fy had loaded up a plate full of food and was trying to find an open seat for him to sit. He finally saw one and made a beeline for it, sliding into it before someone else could spot it. His plate was loaded with an honestly absurd amount of wherry meat with nary a vegetable to be seen.

"Man, it is hopping in here today, huh?" L'fy asked, taking a large bite out of a drumstick. "Do you mind if I sit here? It was the first seat I saw that was available, but I can try to move if you were waiting for someone."

He blinked at the woman sitting across from him. "Hey wait a second. I know you! You're in my wing, right? A transfer?" He extended a hand, realized it was greasy, wiped it off on his jacket, and extended it again. "I'm L'fy of brown Dioth! Nice to meet you!"

[Shadon]

The dining hall was new, but the midday meal and the buzz of conversation were not. Allina was still getting used to everything being new here. The people, the dragons, the Weyr itself. It was nice to have something that was the same. The food was different, though, but it was still good! And Allina liked it. She really did. She just hadn't quite had time to settle in, yet, and felt a bit out of place here still.

Someone talking startled her from her thoughts and Allina looked up. Blinking with wide eyes, it took her a second to process what the man who had just joined her had said. "Oh! Yes, it is quite busy," she agreed, turning her head to survey the hall. "I don't mind at all," she replied with a quick smile, taking a bite of her food. It had noticably more vegetables than the man's, which was to say, any. Looking back, Allina studied the man more. He looked vaguely familiar. Had they already met?

She didn't have to wonder long. "That's where I recognize you from! Hello." Allina reached out to grab the man's hand despite the grease on it, though she waited patiently when he decided to wipe it off and shook it after. Appreciating the gesture. "L'fy of brown Dioth, nice to meet you. I'm Allina of brown Donnelith. We've just come from Ista and are still getting our bearings here. Do you have any wisdom to impart on a newcomer?" She asked with a grin, very happy to have run into someone from her wing. Maybe this would be someone who could show her around more, or at least help her get the hang of how things worked at this Weyr.

[nineofswords]

"Great! Glad you don't mind," L'fy said with a smile. He would've moved if she had, but he'd already sat down, and it'd be a pain to get back up again.

He let out a boisterous laugh. "Oh ho, made an impression, did I?" he asked, beaming. He often forgot about the prominent scar under his eye, which was a feature that people tended to notice moreso than one man's personality in a large group of people, even if he did have a lot of energy. "Anyway, good to meet you, Allina! Ista, huh? Bet that's a lot warmer this time of year than here. That's the island one, right? Or is that Igen? I always get those two confused..." He scratched his head, a perplexed look on his face.

"Advice? Sure! Don't be late to wing drills is a big one, nobody likes that. Um...oh, Serapheth, our queen gold? She's pretty mean, so make sure your dragon stays on her good side, especially if he wants to chase her. Oh, speaking of mean, our Assistant Headwoman Houlihan is kinda yell-y, so if you've ruined your leathers or something like that, better to go to Mayella. She's our actual headwoman, she's much nicer. Hmmm, let's see, what else..." He shrugged. "I think that's mostly it? Apart from some people complaining about whers being meaner than usual, but I thought that was just what whers were like? But if you have any questions, I can answer them!" He could - and would - do so enthusiastically, if not necessarily accurately.

[Shadon]

Allina jumped at L'fy's loud laugh, not expecting a man of such small stature to suddenly make such a loud noise. "You did!" She told him, smile widening at his own show of happiness. He's louder than she expected, but seemed nice. "It is pretty warm at Ista, but I'm actually from closer to here originally. Getting used to the warm took a while. Not that it's easy getting re-used to the cold." She thought of the pile of furs she'd taken to sleeping with to keep warm in the turn's fall weather. "I've never been to Igen. Are you from around here?" Allina asked, leaning in with interest.

As L'fy started listing his advice, Allina got a determined look and nodded along. "Punctuality, got it. I can be on time. I mean, I think. Donnelith will help me with that." She sounded less-than-confident. The rest of what he told her was probably more important and less common sense, so she tried to pay attention to that. She did have questions, but was hesitant to ask. Still, Allina forged ahead. For Donnelith's sake, if not her own. "So, I'll definitely do what I can to keep Donnelith on Serapheth's good side. I'd rather he didn't chase her, honestly, but he'll probably want to. In that case, do you know what sorts of things make her mad or to avoid with her? I don't want to accidentally have him get on her bad side right away or for something silly."

Right after asking that, another question came to her. Allina asked it right on the tail of the previous one, not thinking how that may be too many at once. "Is there anyone you think I should meet? Just, good people to know? Interesting people, good friends, whoever you recommend?" It can't hurt to ask. L'fy seemed like a nice enough person.

[nineofswords]

"Oh yeah, the cold sucks," L'fy agreed. He hated the cold. Having to layer up in furs? Horrible. Give him a stiflingly warm summer day over a chilly one any day. "I was born right here, at Fort Weyr, actually!" L'fy said, his tone showing the pride in his birthplace. "I've never really been to any of the other Weyrs either, but I've heard lots of stories! I gotta stick around, though. I'm gonna be Fort's Weyrleader one day!" He said this like it was a fact, like the fact that it hadn't happened yet was just a formality.

"Yeah, I'm uh...not always great with being on time," L'fy admitted with a self-conscious laugh. "Which isn't a big deal unless it's during actual threadfall, but getting yelled at isn't super fun." It still wasn't enough to motivate him to actually stop being late, of course, but it didn't mean he enjoyed it.

He rubbed the back of his neck at Allina's question. "Well, most of the time, I'd say just avoid her, and that'll work out. But if he's gonna chase her...well, her biggest thing is she doesn't really like blues trying to chase her, but that won't be a problem for Donnelith. And I guess make sure he doesn't insult her? But I think most dragons don't do that to the lady they're chasing, so it should be okay?" He shrugged. "Dioth's got manners and is super polite, so he's never had problems with her, and we avoid her for the most part if he isn't chasing her, and it's worked out ok. Just make sure he's on his best behavior if she's around and you'll probably be okay too."

"Great question!" L'fy said, lighting up. "I've got a good buddy named E'lis of green Plemeth. They're both pretty nice." He thought about it some more. "I guess it's always good to be friend with wingmates? And Harpers are always interesting, when they're not trying to teach you stuff anyway. I've heard sometimes Healers will sneak goodies to patients they really like, so it's good to make friends there, too." He beamed at her and jabbed a thumb at his own chest. "And then there's me, of course. The future Weyrleader's always good to have in your corner."

[Shadon]

"Wow!" Allina tries to lean in more, but she's already pressed up against the table. If she did any more she would be in her food. "That must have been so great. Growing up around all those dragons like that. And all kinds of people! I'm from a tiny hold, so I hardly got to meet anyone." She drew in a sharp breath at L'fy's confident statement about becoming the Weyrleader, eyes widening. "Really? You want all that responsibility?"

"Well, if you are going to be Weyrleader, maybe you can make it against the rules to yell at people for being late?" That might be a silly suggestion, but it made perfect sense to Allina. She didn't like the idea of being yelled at either. And besides, if L'fy is going to take on all that responsibility, he should do something with it to make life better. Like no more yelling!

"I think I can manage to stay out of her way most of the time. It's not like I'm another goldrider or something," Allina said with a self-deprecating laugh of her own. Imagine if a gold had Impressed on her. That would have been terrifying. "What's she got against blues, though? Well, I guess I should be glad Donny isn't one most of all. And insulting her shouldn't be a problem. He's pretty quiet, but when he does talk, he's pretty nice." She had never heard Donnelith be mean to another dragon when they hadn't started it. Though L'fy had said that Serapheth was mean herself, so...maybe Allina will need to warn him to be on his best behavior. Just to be safe. "Okay! I think we can do that. Thanks. You're super helpful," Allina points out. Glad that she ran into L'fy. Or he ran into her, really.

Being told she had a good question made Allina preen, happy for the praise. "Those all sound like really great suggestions. Any ideas where I can look for E'lis? I can ask Donnelith if he has met Plemeth, too. Anyone you say is nice has really got to be." His other suggestions were more vague, but Allina still tucked them away for later. She could definitely use them. She laughed at L'fy's thumb-jabbing motion. "Well, of course! I've already decided we have to be good friends. And that was before I knew you're going to be Wingleader. I won't pass up any friend that's so helpful and friendly." She seemed to just accept it now that he'll be the next Wingleader.

[nineofswords]

"For sure, growing up at a Weyr was great!" L'fy agreed. "And if I ever wanted to travel, it was super easy to do it, even before Dioth picked me! Not that there's any place cooler than a Weyr. I mean, what on all of Pern is cooler than dragons?"

"Of course I wanna be Weyrleader!" L'fy crowed. "Being Weyrleader means you're the best dragonrider there is! It means you get to help people and make sure all the other dragonriders are doing their best as well!" That was not at all how that worked, but he said this with absolute conviction, it was clear he believed this wholeheartedly. "Besides," he said, thumbing his nose and adding conspiratorially, "I promised someone I'd be the Weyrleader someday, and I'm not the kinda guy who goes back on his promises." There was a seriousness to him as he said that that was lacking most of the rest of the time he talked, and it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"Hey, that's a great idea!" he said in response to the no yelling rule. "I mean, it's not like it works anyway, right? Surely the wingleaders can find other ways to get people to follow the rules. Otherwise, what are they doing being wingleaders?" L'fy, it seemed, also thought the suggestion made a lot of sense.

"Yeah, she's pretty easy to avoid when she's not rising. But she just did that, so I doubt she'll do it again soon. I mean, she went a few turns without rising at all, so who knows? Maybe that was the last time she decided she was going to do it?" He paled suddenly at that thought. "Oh...actually, I hope not, because that'll mean I can't be Weyrleader then..." Would Tuckal stepped down if that happened? Or just appoint people? He didn't know, he didn't pay attention enough to remember how these things worked in situations like this, but he hoped he hadn't missed his last chance to be Weyrleader! Sure, he could always transfer to another Weyr if that happened, but there was something about getting to be Weyrleader of his own home that was very appealing!

"I dunno what her deal with blues is," he admitted. "Maybe one insulted her real bad once or something?" He was conveniently forgetting the three day memories most dragons had. "She also doesn't let girl dragons chase her, and I think other dragons do. I guess she's just weird?" L'fy didn't care for flights that didn't have a Weyrleader position on the line, so he never really paid attention to them, even the few that Dioth opted to participate in. He was about as far from being an expert on the subject as a person could be. He nodded encouragingly, though, when Allina said they could stay on Serapheth's good side. "Yeah, it's not too hard to do, really, it's just that the few people who don't uh...well, she gets kinda violent sometimes. She killed someone when she first hatched. After she'd impressed. Tuckal tried to stop her, but he kinda wasn't respecting Serapheth's personal space, so she...yeah..." L'fy had been on the sands himself when it had happened, Dioth and Serapheth having hatched in the same clutch. He wasn't the most squeamish person, but having a front-row seat to that still had not been an experience he'd enjoyed.

He puffed up proudly when Allina said he was helpful. "Thanks! People don't seem to realize that about me, but I've got all kinds of great ideas. That's why I'm gonna be such a great Weyrleader." He stopped to shove some food into his mouth and chewed in thought at Allina's question about where to find E'lis. "Eeerm..."

Dioth had been listening in on L'fy's side of the conversation - he always paid attention when L'fy ate, mostly to try and badger him into putting something green onto his plate for once - and taking pity on the new transfers reached out to Allina's brown. Good day to you, Donnelith. I am Dioth. I hope I am not interrupting anything, but our riders are chatting, and my L'fy is telling yours about his friend, E'lis. I believe I could introduce you and yours to Plemeth and her rider if you so wished? L'fy is a bit hopeless with directions, and might get lost trying to find his friend.

[Shadon]

Allina sighed dreamily. "That sounds amazing. I wish I had grown up in a Weyr." She tried to imagine it - how awesome would it be, to be surrounded by so many dragons and riders at all times. Allina failed to think about how that was her reality now even if it hadn't been growing up.

"I guess I understand wanting to be the best." That made sense to Allina, even if she didn't personally care about it much. And she was willing to take L'fy's claim about how being Weyrleader worked at face value. "And helping other people, too. But what about all the responsibility?" She lowers her voice like 'responsibility' is a terrible word not to be said in public. "Aren't you afraid of letting people down if you make a mistake?" She got a thoughtful look as he brought up promises. "Well, you can't go back on that. Promises are very serious."

"Yeah! Yelling at people just makes them scared to be near you. It doesn't actually teach anything." L'fy really seemed to understand how things worked. He would make a great Weyrleader. He had Allina's support, not that she could do anything to help him. "Maybe they could- could- reward people instead! I bet everyone would like that a whole lot more." Allina felt brilliant, coming up with that.

"Well, that's good," Allina said about Serapheth. "If we can avoid her and not make her mad, I'm all for it." Seeing L'fy go pale, Allina felt a sudden shock of panic. "I'm sure it'll be fine! She'll just want to rest a little bit and then rise again, right?" She asked, trying to be reassuring even though she had no idea. She didn't want L'fy to be upset though. He was so kind. "Weyrs need eggs, so it's not like she'll just stop laying. I mean, greens and garnets can have some, but not as many as a gold. Are there other golds here?" Allina asked, suddenly unsure how much she was helping. Maybe it would be better to suggest another gold would take over? But that would be implying Serapheth would die. That didn't seem great, either.

"That is weird. I guess everyone has preferences, though." Since Allina hadn't met Serapheth, her instinct was to be forgiving. There could be all kinds of explanations for her behavior! Maybe she just had a really bad day. A lot of times. When blues were around exclusively. It was hard to keep a positive spin on her thoughts when L'fy brought up Serapheth killing someone, though. "Oh, wow." Allina went quiet for a second to mull that over before speaking up again. "Has she hurt anyone since then? I know hatchings can be violent sometimes. Not that that uh, makes it good or anything." She was really just wondering if it was a one-time thing, or if Serapheth had a tendency to go around killing. She'd really need to avoid her if so, she didn't want her or Donnelith to die.

"What! How can they not realize? You know like, everything!" Allina was surprised L'fy wasn't Weyrleader already. Or at least Wingleader, since Weyrleader depended on dragons chasing. "What other ideas do you have?"

Donnelith stirred where he was sunning outside his and Allina's weyr when Dioth's voice reached him. This wasn't a dragon he recognized, but neither were most of the ones at Fort, yet. Hello, he replied with a tinge of sleepiness, slowly coming to full wakefulness from his doze. He took a moment to ponder Dioth's proposal. That sounds like a good idea to me. Allina would do well to make some friends here. Thank you for the offer.

[nineofswords]

"Yeah! Growing up in the Weyr was the best!" L'fy crowed, conveniently forgetting that sometimes it was sad or hard or stressful, just like living anywhere else. The fact that there were also dragons was hardly going to make up for it.

He blinked at Allina when she asked about responsibility, not totally understanding what the issue there was. "We all have responsibilities. We're dragonriders, after all. And of course I'm going to make mistakes. But that's why you gotta have a crew of people around you to help out! So that when you mess up, you have people there to help you put things back together again. That's why we have whole wings of riders fighting thread, right? So that if one person messes up, there's other people there to help out! Hey!" His eyes lit up like a lightbulb had gone off in his head. "We're friends now, and in the same wing, so I can watch your back, if you want! If you're okay with watching mine too, anyway!"

"Rewards are great! Everyone likes getting them!" L'fy agreed. "Man! You're really smart! You've got tons of great ideas." He'd definitely have to keep her around when he became Weyrleader. She'd make sure he didn't do something stupid, surely.

L'fy relaxed a little when Allina reassured him. "Oh yeah...she can't just stop laying eggs at all..." Right, that made sense. "And yeah, there's another gold. Ustreilith of, um...or no, Katelline of Gold Ustreilith. She's pretty nice, actually, she let a blue catch her last time, the rider's our junior Weyrleader." He heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Yeah, you're right, there's no reason to worry. I got plenty of time to keep trying." He could still be Weyrleader some way!

L'fy fidgeted awkwardly when Alina asked about Serapheth. "I don't think she's killed anyone since then? I mean...well, apart from in like self defense and stuff? Tuckal's gotten better about controlling her now, but she's still pretty violent. And she doesn't really warn people before she lashes out." He shook his head. "It wasn't just her hatching. She's super mean. Which is why I just avoid her a lot, because Dioth thinks I'll make her mad. He can be near her okay, though. Something about having manners?" L'fy gave an elaborate shrug and took a too-big bite of meat. "No idea what he means." L'fy was - naturally - speaking with his mouth full of food.

"I am pretty great," L'fy said. "I've worked super hard to get this way, though. I mean, not gonna become Weyrleader by just sitting around not trying to get better or come up with good ideas!" He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, let's see...I've always thought it was super unfair that Semaca gets to have pirates wandering around all over the place. They're super cool, we should have them here! And drill practices should happen later in the day, so people can get plenty of sleep so that they're rested and ready to do their best. Hm...oh, I think it's silly that firelizards can't be at hatchings, and we should let them. And we should have more indoor things be outdoors so dragons can enjoy them too! It's silly to have them all be inside."

You are most welcome, Dioth said. We can work out the particulars later, if you would prefer we discuss the particulars of this later, that is fine. You sound as though I have just woken you from a nap, for which I am terribly sorry.

[Shadon]

Allina bit her lip at what L'fy had to say about responsibilities. He made some good points, but that didn't make it less scary. "I mean, yeah, but the responsibilities you have as just one dragonrider are a lot less than what you have as a Weyrleader. Weyrleaders are responsible for pretty much everyone, aren't they? But you'd probably be way better at that than me, not that I want to be Weyrleader. It just sounds really hard." Honestly, if Allina had known before being Searched how much responsibility dragonriders had, it might have given her pause. She wasn't exactly secure in her ability to handle them. But she'd done okay so far. "When you put it that way though, it doesn't sound so bad to mess up." She looked at L'fy as his eyes lit up, wondering what thought just ran through his head. "Oh! Yeah, definitely! That would be great. We'll both be safer during Threadfall and have someone we can rely on any other time. Thanks!"

"Yeah! I mean if I got rewards for showing up on time, I'd be way more likely to than if I knew someone was going to yell at me for being late." Allina wasn't sure how to take being called smart. It was definitely a compliment, but not one she received often. "You think so? I just think about what sorts of things would motivate me and go 'hey, maybe it would work with others as well'." She definitely didn't mind that L'fy liked her ideas though. She'd have to think about if she had any more to share.

Seeing L'fy relax, Allina was able to stop the mild panic she was feeling, too. Crisis averted. She took the chance to eat some more of her food. "Yeah, otherwise we'd have no more dragons. And no one wants that. It's good that Ustreilith is nice. Having two grumpy golds in one Weyr seems like it would be a recipe for trouble. Like, one of them gets mad and snaps at the other, and then they're fighting, and it becomes a whole thing. You could end up with none, or two badly injured ones!" She had to take a second after that to remember what they were actually talking about as her mind started conjuring up thoughts of fighting golds. "Who's the junior Weyrleader? I'm sure someone told me this when I got here, but I'm not the best with names. And yeah, even if Serapheth stopped flying, you'd find a way!"

"Well, it's good she hasn't killed anyone since then, at least." She returned to trying to look on the bright side. While Allina would still do her best to stay out of Serapheth's way, there was a part of her that couldn't help but wonder if she could win the gold over somehow. "She should stop being so mean, though. No one will like her if she keeps that up. And if she likes people with manners, why can't you be around her? You have tons of manners!" She seemed to fail to notice how L'fy spoke with his mouth full, or maybe didn't count that as bad manners. It was hard to tell, even though Allina herself ate more carefully.

"I can tell you've put in a lot of hard work on yourself!" While she was complimentary, Allina wasn't simply being flattering. She really did think L'fy was great. His first suggestion made her give him a confused look though, but it slowly grew more understanding. "Pirates? Like, friendly ones? You wouldn't want them stealing our supplies and things, right? But if they were on our side, that would be pretty cool. Where would we get them?" Maybe some of the ones at Senaca would want to come to Fort? That might work. "Wow, your ideas are really good. I've always thought drill practices were too early, too. And it doesn't make sense that fire lizards can't come to hatchings, or that we do so much inside! Why aren't we including our dragons more? They want to be part of everything we do!"

Donnelith was now partially paying attention to Allina's conversation. I do not need to be part of everything that you do. The thought was tinged with amusement.

He turned his attention back to Dioth after.No, it is all right. I am enjoying the sun but I do not mind speaking. Tell me more of this - you said E'lis and Plemeth? Do you happen to know where they spend their time so that we could make introductions?

[nineofswords]

"Sure, Weyrleaders are responsible for a lot," L'fy agreed. "But that also means they get a lot more help! I mean, think about it. When you're little, you don't have a lot of responsibilities, right? But if you mess up, everyone makes you fix it yourself. But now, as an adult, you have a lot more responsibilities, but you get a lot more help if you mess up, even if people are mad at you about it." L'fy had definitely been the kid who'd made countless messes and been made to clean them up again. "Sure, it can be bad or even scary to mess up, and yeah it sucks when people are mad at you, but when you have a ton of people to help you fix it, you don't have to stress out as much over it! And that's great!"

"Yes!" L'fy crowed, throwing his hands over his head in joy when Allina said they'd watch each other's backs in threadfall. "This is gonna be great. I love having friends in my wing. I wish all my friends could be in my wing, but since they only let certain sizes into certain wings, it doesn't work like that which sucks. Maybe that's something I'll change as Weyrleader! Anyone can be in any wing they want!" This was clearly a great idea with no unforeseen consequences, at least certainly none that L'fy could see.

"I would totally show up early more if I got rewarded for it too!" L'fy exclaimed. "Like...getting to leave drills early! That'd be a great reward! Or...or a slice of bubbly pie!" L'fy was clearly a simple man with simple dreams, but he looked so pleased at the idea of such wonderful treasures being offered to him.

"Yeah. I'm glad not all golds are like Serapheth. I mean, just because she's a queen doesn't mean she has to be all bitey about it," L'fy said, scowling slightly. His face cleared up again almost instantly, though, and he shrugged. "But Dioth doesn't seem to mind, and he's the one who'd have to put up with her. I'm just glad being Weyrleader doesn't mean I have to spend any time with her." He gave a little shudder. "Oh! The junior Weyrleader is...uh...oh yeah! Kreta of Blue Eseath. They're also nice." He balled his hand into a fist. "You're right! I wouldn't let it stop me becoming Weyrleader if there were no more golds at Fort. It's gonna happen! I can find a way!" A promise was a promise, and he had to keep it, after all!

"Do people have to like her?" L'fy asked, more curious than cynical. "I mean, she's the senior queen of Fort Weyr. Doesn't matter if people like her or not, she's still the senior queen." He took another huge bite of his platter of meat. "And I dunno why she wouldn't like me. Dioth is the one who thinks I should stear clear of her, so I haven't really tried to spend time with her. But most people agree that she's mean and scary, so I don't think I'd like her very much anyway." He shrugged. Serapheth and him probably wouldn't ever be friends, but he was okay with that. He didn't need the whole Weyr to be his friend as long as he could be Weyrleader someday.

"Yeah, friendly pirates!" L'fy agreed. "They're so cool, running around on the water, having all kinds of adventures and stuff! Sure, being a dragonrider is cool, but being a pirate is probably the next best thing if you age out of being a dragonrider!" He banged his fists on the table. "I do not know where we get pirates," he said with deadly seriousness and intensity. "But I am going to find out. Just as soon as I'm Weyrleader." He beamed as she said she liked his ideas. "Thanks! I've been thinking of ideas for a while." He scratched his head a little sheepishly. "I'm not as good at thinking them up as you are, so I gotta really work at it," he admitted. He wasn't perfect, and he knew that, and sometimes, very occasionally, he could admit his weaknesses. Most of the time, though, he simply didn't realize there was a problem.

Dioth was listening to the riders' chatter, pleased that L'fy seemed to have found a friend, and one in his own wing no less. But he was giving most of his attention to his fellow brown. Yes, E'lis and Plemeth, he confirmed. He poked around in L'fy's memories for the information he could find on the pair. L'fy and E'lis went fishing the last time we spent time together. The rider strikes me as the outdoorsy sort, so I am unsure that there is a particularly specific place you might find them. But I can give you the coordinates of their weyr and show you what Plemeth looks like, if you wish? And let her know when I see her next that you and yours would like to meet her and hers.

[Shadon]

"Huh...I never thought about it that way before. I guess a Weyrleader would have pretty much everyone in the weyr to help them if something went wrong. You know, L'fy, you say I'm smart, but you're the one with all the smart thoughts!" The idea of being in charge and messi by up still sounded pretty daunting to Allina, but he made it sound like not a big deal at all. "You'll be a great Weyrleader, L'fy. You're really good at motivating people and making difficult things sound doable instead of scary."

"Wings would be so much better if they let people decide which ones they wanted to be in. What's the point of restricting them by sizes and colors, anyway? I think opening them up so people can be with their friends would make much more sense. That way, people would be in wings with people they like and work even harder!" What was the point of making people work together if they didn't get along, anyway? They wouldn't cooperate well.

"Yeah! I don't know how they've never thought of this before. It seems so simple." Allina wasn't sure if there was really a point to showing up early just to get to leave early, but she wasn't one to crush L'fy's dreams. If that was what worked for him, she wouldn't say otherwise. She did look down at the dwindling food on her plate now though, craving pie.

"I think queens should be nicer than other dragons. They kind of have to set an example, right? I mean, they're leaders. Usually. So being a mean, bitey one is extra bad." It made sense in Allina's mind even if it maybe didn't make much sense outside of it. But she wasn't concerned with how things worked in reality. "Do you get along with her rider? Tuckal you said his name is? That seems more important than getting along with her. Though I don't actually know how often Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen work together. I'd assume it's a lot?" This seems like something that was probably covered in her lessons, but maybe she wasn't fully paying attention. She did a lot of daydreaming about dragons back then.

Allina gave L'fy a surprised look at his question. She'd never really considered if people had to like a queen. "Well it's like I said, I think they should be nice and likeable. I guess they don't have to be, though. Dragons will still follow them no matter what, but if they're not nice...well, they're setting a bad example. I bet people in the weyr feel less safe, too. I never worried about if the queen at Ista was going to bite me." Not that she'd interacted with her much. "I guess there's no point in spending time with her if neither of you think you would get along. As long as she and Dioth get along, that's what's important for you."

"Why wait 'til you're Weyrleader? You should start looking now! That way when you are Weyrleader, you'll have pirates ready to go! We could go to Semaca and ask around sometime, if you wanted?" She suggested, figuring that was a good place to start. L'fy might have better ideas though, but that was what jumped out at Allina. "I think you're really good at it. I can't wait to see what else you come up with."

Donnelith tuned into the conversation more as well. He felt some concern at this talk of finding pirates, but it did sound mostly benign. For now. He returned his attention to Dioth after a moment though. Allina also enjoys the outdoors. That bodes well for them. Yes, I would appreciate the coordinates and what Plemeth looks like, thank you. Hopefully they can meet soon.

[nineofswords]

"Wow, really? You think I'm smart?" L'fy asked, puffing up a bit at the praise. A rare compliment! Allina really was a friend if she thought he was smart! He blinked a little in surprise. "Really? That's cool! I mean, it's not like I'm trying to be motivating or anything, I just think if something's important, you can't let anything stand in your way from making it happen!" It wasn't that he was fearless, exactly, it was just that it rarely occured to him to be scared.

"See? You get it!" L'fy said when Allina agreed with him about the wings. "We just got a new wing recently anyway, so even the Tuckal agrees that we have too many dragons in each wing. Why not break them up more, let anyone who wanted to join whatever one their friends were in? That'd make way more sense." The logistics of that clearly hadn't occured to him, like how greens were meant to have the stamina to stay in tight formations with bronzes, or how bronzes were meant to be able to keep up with the agility of greens or dodge out of the way of thread clumps in the higher altitudes.

He shrugged. "Dragons aren't really like people, though, right? I mean, they are, but they also aren't? Cause they can't remember things as well as us, so it's harder for them to become better, right?" He scratched his cheek. "Tuckal? I mean, I guess she's fine? I haven't really talked to her much, but she seems smart and much much nicer than her dragon. She doesn't seem to like when people get mauled, so she's already way better than Serapheth." Not a hard bar to clear, but good enough for L'fy! "I...think they work together?" L'fy said, more question than statement. "I mean...I haven't actually had the chance to be Weyrleader, so I don't really know, but Tuckal has to take over that position a lot. Weyrleaders change a lot, but we also have a hard time keeping one until the next flight for some reason. All sorts of different reasons, I don't think it's because of Tuckal, but she does have to fill in a lot."

"Yeah, Dioth can get close to her without getting bit, and that's all that matters to me. I don't think he likes her exactly, but she's his queen, and he takes that pretty seriously, so he's always pretty polite to her."[/b] It was a simplified understanding of the situation, but it was as much as L'fy understood it. Concepts like chivalry and duty were a bit beyond L'fy. He didn't consider threadfighting a duty, he just thought nobody should have to be hurt by thread! Things were either good for people or bad, duty didn't come into it for him. But Dioth took things like that pretty seriously.

"Heeey, you got a point!"[/b] L'fy agreed. "I guess I don't have to wait, huh?" He thought about it. "Yeah, I could go to Semaca and ask. Or talk to the pirates there, ask if they'd wanna come up to Fort." He pumped his fist into the air, beaming at Allina. "Another awesome idea! You really are super smart!"

Dioth sent Donnelith the weyr coordinates, and sent him a mental image of Plemeth, a small green with a pale minty color and vibrant green on the backs of her wings. If yours likes the outdoors, I'm sure they'll get along famously, Dioth agreed. From what my rider remembers of the interaction, Plemeth was quite kind as well, perfectly polite and lovely company. I am sure the pair will do well as friends for you and yours. It had been too long since Dioth had spent time with them, so he didn't remember firsthand, but L'fy's mind was an open book to him, one the human didn't mind him riffling through for information or memories.