Lets Fish! }{ For Manda

[escape]

Tinsley hadn't been at the weyr for a very long time, perhaps maybe just two sevendays so far. When he had arrived there was a clutch on the sands that people said were getting closer and closer to hatching. He wanted a dragon, but of course every candidate wanted a dragon. Mostly Tin just wanted someone to love him, to make him feel needed. Devi, his little green firelizard, made him feel wanted but that was just because she hadn't found any other bag of flesh that would do everything that Tin did for her. Once she did find someone like that, there might be a chance she would abandon him for something bigger and better but until that day came well...she would stick around.

Tin had adventured around the weyr, but there was still so much that he hadn't seen or done. The work was hard and new, he was doing chores he had never done before and he found himself becoming tired quickly. He really wanted to hang out with other people, have friends in this large place but he had yet to have the time or energy to do so. He wished that someone would accept his friendly invitations and do stuff with him.

The male ended up back at the very place he had started at in the weyr, the weyrbowl. Now though since it was day time he actually took more notice at all the things that went on in the bowl. He noticed the creak the bubbled down the middle of it. The male watched it before suddenly beginning to unbutton and shimmy out of his pants. When his pants were halfway off his hips though, he thought better of it and pulled them bakc up and buttoned them up before forging into the creak. The water splashed up around his legs, soaking the pants legs as he cried out with laughter at how sharding cold it was! Fish darted around him and for a moment he stared down at them before stomping around in the water, he wondered if he would be able to cross all the way over. He was content walking up and down the slippery rocks.

[mandafloon]

Meltel had opted to take his free time today to do some fishing. Many of the firelizards about adored the treats, and he knew the kitchen crew would be glad to have the extra catch for some fresh dishes. He'd taken a length of rope and a rod and reel with some bait of old crusty bread and a sack and wandered down to water's edge where he'd set to casting out, reeling in, and generally thinking deep thoughts, most about the upcoming clutch. What would the eggs contain? Would his dragon finally be in the batch of them? He hoped so. He'd love a brown, or maybe a blue. He didn't dare dream of a bronze, or any of the other high ranking males. Maybe his patience would be appealing to them though, maybe he'd...

...Maybe he'd toss out his line only to feel it snag, and look down the line to see...an ear. A human ear. Attached to a boy standing mid-stream. Apparently he'd gotten into the water upstream and waded down. Probably scared the fish too.

Still surprised at the turn of events, he gave a slight tug on the line, seeing if it would just pop loose. Nope. Ouch. That had to hurt. "Hey, you!" He called out, slipping to his feet and walking towards the poor fellow, reeling in slack as he went to keep from stepping on the line and just tearing it from the boy's ear. "You're scaring the fish...and...sorry about that." He frowned, blushing under his freckles. What a great first impression. Surely this boy was new to the weyr--he didn't know his name. GREAT. Probably here to stand too. "Hold still now...it might tear...and this might hurt." He tried to sound calm and soothing as he lowered the rod to his side and gingerly reached up to grasp the hopefully-standing-still boy's ear. "Sorry about that, really...Uhm. I'm Meltel. You're new, aren't you?"

[escape]

Okay so wandering around in the water was cold and particularly slippery, people weren't really paying much attention anyways. Perhaps it was time for him to get out of the water before he fell over, slowly the male began to pick his way over to the shore. Something hit his ear and there was pain, at first he thought he had been bitten. His hand flew up and smacked his ear, causing only more pain when he pushed the hook deeper into the flesh. He fingered the hook in his ear, a sort of dumbfound surprise on his face as he slid his fingers over the hook and the thread, Devi chirped in curiosity from her perch on his shoulder.

There was a sharp tug on his ear and he let out a yelp in surprise and pain just as he heard someone calling to him, or at least he thought they were calling to him. He turned and without even thinking called back, "I'm not a fish!" It wasn't angry or anything, it was simply a statement to make sure that they knew though they had probably figured it out. Tinsley carefully made his way towards the male who was walking to him.

Tin would have glanced down at the comment about the fish, but the line was still hooked in his ear and Devi was giving the barely visible line the evil eye like she might just attack it soon. He hoped she wouldn't take her aggression out on it until it was out of his ear or they'd have bigger problems on their hands. "It's okay." Tinsley would never admit that he would gladly have taken hundreds of hooks to the ear just so people would talk to him and give him their sole attention. The male was trying to stand as still as he could in the water as the other male grabbed his ear. Devi had to switch shoulders to avoid falling from her perch, she chattered angrily at the other male making sure that she had not approved his actions. He blinked and would have nodded if his ear was being held. "Yes, I am new...my name is Tinsley." He committed the male's name to memory. Meltel, a candidate hopefully...maybe a friend. He hoped he would be a friend.

[mandafloon]

Thankfully the boy was cooperating, and Meltel grimaced at the green twined about his neck. "I'm trying to get it out, silly thing," He scolded the fire lizard. She looked about to attack him, or the hook, at any moment. that wouldn't end well, he knew. His hands worked quickly over the flesh, pinching it here to make the hole the hook had made flex, to let the barb pass through again without tearing. A moment more's work and it slid free, the smallest bead of blood spotting the boy's ear to mark where the hook had been. Mel swiftly tied off his line on the pole to keep it from swinging about or catching someone again.

"Tinsley? Good to meet you then. I'm sorry about your ear. I wasn't paying attention to where I cast." He held out a hand to shake. "You're a candidate, I presume. Right age for it, at least. Or a tradesman, perhaps, sent to journeyman with us? I'm of the prior sort, myself." He looked the boy over. There was something nervous about him. He supposed that was reasonable. Just arriving in a new place full of strangers who were already paranoid and on high alert. A weyr wit ha dead weyrwoman and a mourning gold refusing to let anyone near her eggs. And now he'd hooked him. Quite the first impression this place was making.

"If your little friend there is upset, I have some fish she might like. I caught a few before...well before I caught you. And it's the least I can do to make it up to you, hmm?" He stepped back up the stream a little ways, reaching into the water and pulling up the rope he'd brought. It was strung through the mouths and out the gills of several flopping fish. He shook some of the water off and then slid the top-most fish up and off the line, holding it out even as it squirmed. "Here. See if it'll calm her. She's quite protective...what's her name?"

[escape]

Tinsley was beginning to rethink the thought of taking a bunch of hooks to the ear just to have a friend, it hurt just enough to have one. Tin had to resist the urge to squirm out of the other male's hold because the pinching of the skin and the wiggling of the hook wasn't what the male would call pleasant. He clenched his jaw and flexed his hands, wanting nothing more then to pull away. Just take it out. He thought miserably, suddenly having the impulse just to tear it out even though the pain would probably worse.

Soon as that thought was finished, the hook was removed from the skin and the boy released him. Surprised, Tin reached up and poked around at his ear. It hurt and was bleeding only a little, he rubbed his ear. The hole wasn't something that would alter the very look of his ear, but it certainly was big enough for one of those hoops that he had seen some other people wearing at gathers and other things. He ran his finger over the hole, knowing he would probably play with it until it closed completely.

Devi didn't like the way that the male was talking to her though, so she hissed back at him knowing that he wasn't saying pretty things about her. Tinsley reached over to comfort the green who nipped at his fingers more out of irritation then to hurt him. The male blinked at the apology, most would have told Tin that it was his own sharding fault for wandering into the creak, he reached out to take the male's hand. Tin found himself blushing a little and simply nodding along obediently. He had been close to becoming a journeyman but he had left the hall to become a candidate for the upcoming clutch. "I am a candidate, I just arrived a sevenday ago." He said between the other male's words.

"You...you really don't have to make it up to me." He replied, feeling bad for taking the fish. What if the other male had been sent to catch them? He did enjoy the attention he was getting and he knew Devi would give him trouble if he didn't give her the wriggling fish in his hands. He offered the fish to the green who warbled her satisfaction that her bonded was a smart pet before she took the fish and flew off to find a rock where she could eat it in piece. She didn't go very far, but she eyed both of them as if to say 'I refuse to share.' Tin turned his attention back to Meltel, considering telling the male that Devi wasn't protective...she just didn't want to lose her primary source of food and affection just yet. "I wanted to call her Devitto, but she wouldn't respond to that name so I shortened it to Devi...I think she likes it, she usually responds to it at least."

[mandafloon]

Meltel essentially ignored the chattering green, aside from giving her a few sharp looks. If she got in the way it'd only hurt her bonded more, though he knew she was trying to help. He did all he could to ignore her, instead, just working and working until the hook slid free. He chuckled a bit at the boy feeling his ear. "That hole will close. You might want to put some numbweed on it if it hurts, or see a healer if it gets runny or discolored." He eyed the hook. "Not sure what kind of things fish have in their mouths that can cause infections. Probably be alright though. You are alright, right?"

"No, no, I want to. I wasn't watching what I was doing. The fish stopped biting anyway, so it didn't make me lose anything. Well aside from that." He nodded at the greedy green gobbling her meal and smiled. "She's quite protective. Beautiful too. Devi is a good name. She likes you." Now that things were calming down he could appreciate the tiny dragon-like creature. How long ago had they been things of myth? He'd hear tales of those times. Of course they were still fairly rare. He'd long wanted one to help him keep an eye out around the weyr and to take messages here and there for him. Luck had never come his way though.

"Well then. I'm Meltel. A candidate. I was born right here in Soalce, so if you get lost or need help...ah...I didn't get your name...You can just come find me. Or send your Devi to me, if you've taught her how. I'm not sure how easy they are to handle. So, where did you come to us from? I'm surprised I haven't seen you around...but then, things haven't exactly been usual around here the last few sevendays. You've come at a bad time, but the hatching's soon, and hopefully things will go back to normal after that."

[escape]

Tinsley was relieved when the hook was out and no longer a problem to deal with. He couldn't help but frown though at the male's words about his ear getting runny or discolored. He shuddered a little at the thought, letting his hand drop back to his side. What stuff did a fish have in it's mouth anyways? Oh well, maybe if his ear got infected the male would feel pity and be his friend since he basically caused it all. The urge to reach up again and mess with it was rather large.

Tin glanced towards his firelizard, watching the green sniff at bits of the fish before devouring it. The green did love her boy, not as much as the other candidate seemed to think but really enough to keep her to stay. She would have gone wild probably if he hadn't been so loving with her, if he hadn't needed her so much. The green didn't need him as much, she just needed someone to make her feel and look pretty.

The candidate introduced himself again and then asked Tin his name, again. Tin blinked, wondering if perhaps he had mumbled his name earlier. They had already had this conversation, but maybe he had only imagined the conversation earlier. "My name is Tinsley." He replied, blinking at the male in obvious confusion. The male nodded though, it seemed that he had come at a rather bad time with all that was going on. Grenth was a mad queen due to the loss of her rider and everyone seemed on edge with things.

[mandafloon]

It dawned on Mel that he'd already asked after the boy's name and he sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry. My mind's still distracted. Like I said, it's been rough lately. But it's good to see new candidates coming anyway. We don't have enough some how...It's a hassle. The dragons all need people, right? So we'll need all we can get." He smiled at the boy and turned to gather his things. The rod, the fish, his pack.

"Were you planning on staying here a bit? If not, you're welcome to come with me to drop these off. The kitchens can use them, I figure. Maybe we'll get some fish stew out of it, hmm? Have you seen the kitchens yet?" How much could one explore in a sevenday? He tried to think about it. Hard to say. He'd been roaming the weyr since birth, and never been anyplace else. He had no clue what newcomers would have seen and not seen.

"So where're you from, Tinsley? One of our holds, I assume. Do you remember who searched you? We've plenty of good blueriders that do that." He started heading slowly towards the tunnel to the weyr proper, looking back to be sure the boy was following. "Have you made any other friends yet?"