Table for Two [Shadon]

[FirebrandPhlox]

M'lcolm sauntered through the dining hall, looking for a place to sit. No matter the weyr, it seemed like every place that called riders and dragons home was also the home of crowded eating facilities. Breakfast and dinner especially were rife with overpopulation, as they had to share the space with wherhandlers on their opposite schedules.

Spotting an open seat, M'lcolm made headway over to it. Sitting opposite the vacant chair was a young rider, a woman, who seemed to be eating alone. He approached her, putting on the most dazzling grin he could muster. "Um, excuse me? Miss? Is, perchance, this seat open? I've been searching all over for a place to eat my dinner, and this is the only spot I've managed to find that isn't currently occupied. I'd like to eat my dinner before it's as cold as the, er, winter's wind. Would it be alright if I joined you this fine evening?"

[Shadon]

Allina pushed a vegetable around her plate, trying to figure out what it was. She was sure it would taste good if she could actually bring herself to eat it, but being unable to actually identify it was making her really not want to do that. She knew that she was behaving childishly though and should probably just eat it. And yet...

A man's voice cut through her contemplation of the Mystery Vegetable, and Allina looked up in surprise. She hadn't even noticed him approaching, she'd been so engrossed in her food. Now, her attention was fully on him and his enchanting smile, though. "Oh, hi! Yeah, the seat's open, feel free to sit. Have we met? I don't think we have, but I'm not the best with any names. Not that I think I got your name yet. But your face doesn't look familiar, either. Oh, um, not that your face is, uh- not that I wouldn't remember your face!" Allina said awkwardly, waving her hands to try and wave the words away. Somehow. "All that is to say...I'm Allina of Brown Donnelith. And you are?"

[FirebrandPhlox]

M'lcolm chuckled as he slid into the seat opposite of Allina. She was clearly flustered."Don't worry, I don't bite. Well, uh, not people anyway. I will be biting into this food, now that I have a seat in this packed room." To make his point, he began eating his dinner, though not too quickly so he could make polite conversation with the younger rider.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, uh, Allina. I'm M'lcolm of bronze Burranth. Don't fret your little head too much. I'm still pretty new here. I transferred from Telgar just, er, this past autumn. I'm still adjusting to life here. It's almost the same, but just different enough that it doesn't feel like home quite yet." He took another bite of his meal, looking over Allina. She was definitely too young for him, but he could at least enjoy a pleasant chat. "So, ah, is this where you're from, or are you a transfer too?"

[Shadon]

M'lcolm's cool response in the face of her babbling helped Allina calm down some. She let out a somewhat nervous chuckle at what he said about biting, glad for the joke to break the tension on her end. "Well, I would hope that you would. Be biting the food, not people. Otherwise it would go to waste." That was probably too many words. But at least she was starting to feel a little more at ease.

"Really, you're from Telgar?" Allina asked, surprise evident on her face. "That's even colder than here, this time of year. I mean, Telgar is always colder than here. Well - you know what I mean," she said with another laugh, figuring M'lcolm would generally get it. While she was nervous to meet him, he seemed like a rather collected individual. Allina ate some of her food while she listened to him. Almost the same but different was a good way to put it. "I just transferred in from Ista. It's like you said - a lot of things are very familiar, but just different enough to feel strange, still. I'm sure with time, Fort will grow to feel like home, but right now it's rather uncanny."

She thought for a minute, taking another bite of food. "What do you miss the most about Telgar? And how long were you there? Is that where Burranth hatched?" Her questions were probably too rapid-fire, but Allina was eager to learn more. She wanted to ask about Burranth, too, but didn't want to be too nosy. At least, not too quickly.

[FirebrandPhlox]

"Oh Ista, eh?" M'lcolm asked with a crooked grin. "That's, ah, just about as far from Telgar you can get with the weather, unless you're going to the southern continent. I bet they still have plenty of sun and warmth, even though it's winter. Why would you move away from such a lovely place?" He asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

He answered her questions about as rapid-fire as she provided them, picking at his food as he did so. "Honestly, I've hardly been gone long enough to, er, miss much. Everything here is still new and exciting to keep me from feeling homesick. I was born and raised there, so about 38 turns. And yes, that's where Burranth hatched, and that I believe was 14 or so turns ago." He smiled at the young rider. "Anymore questions? I'm enjoying this lightning pace of get-to-know you."

[Shadon]

"Isn't it? Winters in Ista are definitely cooler than the summer, but they're still pretty nice." Allina longingly thought of the relative warmth Ista had compared to Fort. She didn't exactly love the cold. "Oh, well..." She really should have been expecting this question. It was a bit complicated, but that didn't mean she had to explain everything to people right away. "I have family near here," she said. Hoping that would be enough of an explanation. Sure, dragonriders could travel by going between, but it made her feel better being one of the ones knowing they were safe during Threadfall. Even with how their relationship was. "What about you? Why did you transfer from Telgar?" She was also curious, though M'lcolm had a lot more of an obvious weather-related reason. While she listened for his answer, Allina ate some more of her food.

Called out for her lightning-round of questions, Allina blushed. "Oh, sorry. Sometimes I get carried away. Unless you actually meant that and are enjoying it." She didn't know enough about M'lcolm to tell yet, but he seemed in a pretty good mood. "Hmm, what about...were you hoping for a bronze partner? Have you ever wanted to be a Weyrleader? Okay, okay, now I think you have to ask me some," she said with a laugh.

[FirebrandPhlox]

"Oh no, no need to apologize, I'm, ah, being completely sincere here. I enjoy the probing from an inquisitive mind." He smiled crookedly at Allina. She was awkward, but certainly a good kid. At least, that was the impression M'lcolm got from her. Young riders like her were the future of the weyr, so entertaining her questions and being friendly was also a smart move if he had any hopes of establishing himself in the political sphere of the weyr.

At the mention of family, he nodded sagely. "Ah, a family woman, then. A completely respectable choice for transferring."

He chuckled as she asked more questions. "Well, those actually tie together. I do want to be Weyrleader someday, and after spending so much time at Telgar without Burranth managing to win a flight, we, er, figured our chances were better here, at Fort. New scenery, new dragons, a fresh start seemed like a great idea. Our luck wasn't any better with Serapheth's last flight, but that's okay. There's always next time." Truthfully, he had been quite disappointed that Burranth had not won the flight immediately after transferring to the weyr, but knew better than to outwardly show his frustration in front of her. He also felt no need to admit the finer details about why he was struggling to establish a political career at his home weyr.

"I wasn't necessarily wanting a bronze when I was a candidate, but I could not be happier with the partner I ended up with." He decided to shift the focus off of him, at least for a moment. "How about yourself? Did you have any specific hopes for your dragon? Any desire to pursue some leadership roles?"

[Shadon]

M'lcolm really did seem sincere, so Allina decided to not be nervous about him. Or at least try not to. Which was harder said than done, but she would still do her best. She almost made a face when he called her a family woman, thinking about how her relationship with her parents was pretty much in shambles. But it fit with the explanation she had given. "Yeah, family's definitely important. Do you have any family around?" She asked, aware she was still asking questions but trying not to be self-conscious about it.

"Huh." Allina pushed her food around her plate a little bit as she listened to his answers. "It's funny, it seems like everyone I meet wants to be Weyrleader. That makes a lot of sense though. Have you and Burranth spent a lot of time with Serapheth yet? I've heard she can be kind of..." She searched for a kind way to put it. "Difficult to get along with." She had been wondering if that extended to how the queen treated her suitors in flight, or if it was just particular people and dragons. She hadn't been around the weyr long enough to know; M'lcolm hadn't been around that long either, but since he had political aspirations, she figured he might have gleaned some insight.

"My biggest hope was that any dragon would choose me. Honestly, I thought if anything, a blue or a green would. Imagine my surprise when a brown did! I thought he made a mistake at first." She laughed, thinking back to her Impression day. "Leadership? Me? Oh, no. As long as I can help people by fighting Thread, I'm happy. There are tons of people around more suited to leading than I am, and I wouldn't want to get in their way. But it's really nice to learn from people like that, they usually have good insights."

[FirebrandPhlox]

M'lcolm chuckled as he sipped from his cup of wine. "Around here? I don't, ah, believe so. Granted, I could have some offspring here whose mothers decided to move. But currently not any that I have been made aware of." He spoke matter-of-factly, unconcerned about the unknown number of children that he had. If it turned out he had kids here, great, if not, no worries for him either.

"I can't say I personally have had much time to personally get to know Serapheth and our Weywoman, though we are in the same wing. The rumors are, ah, certainly true though. The last flight had a bit of a nasty altercation when our queen was, daresay, insulted by a blue attempting to chase her. If you don't have much stomach for conflict, I would certainly steer clear."

He smiled at her quick response about not wanting to pursue leadership. "There's nothing wrong with just wanting to be a thread fighter. If everyone wanted to be a leader, we would have chaos! We need people like you who, ah, are content to fill their roles to keep Pern safe without greater aspirations." His tone was playful as always, no insult intended towards the younger rider.