Oil and water and how to mix. [74.11.18]

[Shoki]

Just after dark
Wher dens/Lower caverns

A whistle pierced the air, high pitched and distressed. Lan still had his fingers poised to whistle again, as he stared down both Ethilask and Syne. They were both, in their own way, creatures that were not to be trifled with if one valued their safety. The Black-Gray Wher was attempting to get at the bird, whom she found interesting in a ‘let’s see what happens if I catch it’ sort of way. This distressed Syne, who, like all none dragon related animals, had a deep fear of dragons and their kin. Well, firelizards didn’t bug him, he could probably take down a flitter if he had the jump on them. So Syne was violently hissing at Ethilask, his ‘ears’ lying down flat on his head. Both stopped to look at Lan, who was giving a rather nasty glare to both of them. His long term goal still was to get them to ignore each other but this was proving difficult. They had, however, come to understand that he was not to be trifled with when he wanted them to knock it off. So Ethilask sat down, looking like a very graceful young wher (who was quite pretty), and Syne merely moved to one side on his perch and sat quietly. Lan watched carefully for a few moments, then picked a rodent out of his bag and placed it on the perch for Syne. The bird went for it instantly, while Lan gave Ethilask a strong pat on her head. He had learned, rather quickly that there was something about the Wher that made physical affection very effective, and at the same time, it only worked if it was strong enough to be felt well. The thick hide she had was something of a disadvantage so he had to put some strength to the pets and rubs he gave her. Not that he could try that for too long, his arms would get tired. Still, it worked well to show more rapidly when he was pleased with her.

“Prrrrrrrrrrrrr” Ethilask rumbled with her favorite call, moving her head back and forth with a pleased look. Wasn’t she pretty? Yes, she was. Lan was just dying to be near her so she let him pet her. After a time he stopped and gave a series of whistles. She was starting to understand them, this one meaning, ‘I go, you stay’. Ethilask peered up at him as he gathered the bird and gave her one final pat before leaving. She didn’t move, merely waited. Lan was a creature of habit, and she was becoming used to the fact he came and went. Then he would come back and spend the rest of the night training her. “Prrrrr.”

---

Lan, having put Syne away, started out into the halls of the lower caverns. Shards he felt like he was getting nowhere on that front. He wanted something he could do that wouldn’t mean Ethilask would snack on his favorite bird if he failed. He let out a deep sigh, still having forgotten to take of his glove he had been using to handle Syne. He hardly ever took it off now, if only because life was easier if he had something softer then Wher hide to push on if he needed. He started to wander, thinking of new ways to go about training.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar had had a reasonably good day, all things considered. That was to say, it was evening and he wasn’t exhausted yet. Of course, it was questionable as to whether anyone else would consider that a good thing.

Dodging around another corner, K’tar slipped Garvalla’s supply ledger down the front of his shirt. It might well be childish — was certainly childish — but he couldn’t wait to see the chaos that would probably fill the Lower Caverns when the thing turned up missing. In fact, he was a little surprised that the place wasn’t being taken apart already; he’d taken the thing well over an hour ago. He still needed a place to hide the thing, but for now, this would do.

K’tar turned another corner. He was near the quarters where the young Wherlings were staying, and he’d thought to perhaps hide the ledger in there. If possible, he wanted to hide it in that Crimson WherHandler Dalonia’s quarters. However, he nearly ran into one of the Wherlings instead. He didn’t know the other young man’s name, but, encountering him like this was certainly a complication. After all, the whole point was to not be implicated in the ledger turning up where it did, and that wouldn’t happen if some random Wherling could point him out in a crowd.

The taller young man had spotted him, nothing for it now. Hoping that the other young man couldn’t tell that K’tar had something hidden in the front of his night-black shirt, K’tar opened his mouth to greet the brown-haired man, only to have his eyes land on what looked like the kind of glove used when training birds like the one Sakalas had.

“Do you have a trained bird?” The words left K’tar’s mouth before he even had time to consider them. Immediately afterward, he wished he could call them back, for it was hardly a proper way to start a conversation, but… “I’m K’tar, of Purple Viarth,” he added, offering the other boy his hand.

[Shoki]

Lan was lost in thought as he wandered the halls, but not enough that he didn't have time to see the Weyrling rushing toward him. The Wherling’s attention snapped up too look at him, looking surprised at the urgency with he was bolting around corners. Lan noticed that the Weyrling was pretty quick at changing what he was doing, from running around to jumping into conversation with a quick swap of thinking. As it was, it took Lan a second to register conversation and get himself thinking about what he was saying. An outstretched hand was being extended to him, so first and foremost, he checked to make sure nothing was on his glove before extending it and shaking K’tar’s hand.

“They call me Lan. I guess I handle Ethilask. It’s nice to meet you K’tar.” A resigned smile spread over Lan’s face before taking a look down at his glove. “Yeah, I have a rather big bird that I own. Do you have one?” Lan was vaguely curious as to how he recognized the glove he wore for its true purpose. Admittedly, he knew that people like Lord Holder and the like could get birds, since he had been involved in the acquisition end of that sort of transaction. Still, he wasn't sure, since one never knew. He was kinda curious what this new person was up to, but he wasn't quite sure how to vocalize that yet. Still, being pleasant wasn't a chore, not really. He could use conversation to keep his mind of his own personal troubles. Or more accurately, the troubles between two creatures he had to mediate.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” K’tar responded. “I haven’t got one, but I had a friend back home who did, so, that’s where I saw the glove before. Well, and one of the other Weyrlings in my class has a bird.” He smiled. This was perfect. If anyone asked him if he had been involved in the disappearance of Garvalla’s ledger, he’d be able to say that he couldn’t have, he’d been exploring and bumped into Lan. Hopefully, nobody would think to point out that the ledger might have been missing for awhile before its absence was discovered. Admittedly, it wasn’t as perfect as things would have been if he’d actually gotten the ledger into Dalonia’s room, but you couldn’t have everything, and K’tar knew that he would settle for being less likely to get caught.

“You doing anything in particular?” K’tar asked. After all, it wouldn’t hurt to actually do some roaming around and exploring, and that was always more fun with a buddy. Holt hardly ever could be convinced to go exploring after dark, but maybe Lan would be more open minded. Besides, since Lan’s “day” was probably technically starting, at least if the young whers followed the same schedule as the older ones, it would be a lot easier to talk the kitchen into some actually edible food.

[Shoki]

“Really?” Lan certainly didn’t know how many people at a Weyr would have a trained bird, since firelizards seemed to be the pet of choice. Still he was kinda glad that he wasn’t the only one, since trained birds were lovely thing in his view. He was rather biased, since he had basically grown up training them. “Good to know. I might have to get to know more Weyrlings then.” A smile flitted onto the man’s face, kinda glad for a chance encounter. He didn’t suspect anything about K’tar, as he wasn’t the paranoid type.

“In particular? Kinda wandering toward the kitchens. Still, not too set on anything. Why? Need something to do?” Lan wasn’t sure exactly what a weyrling was doing running around at this time, but it wasn’t really unreasonable. As far as he knew, there were a couple dragon colors, who were more active at night if they could help it, like Midnights. Not the case here, knots told him he was dealing with a Purple rider. Still reasonable though. Purples were high energy, quite possible K’tar was used to being up at all hours anyway.

“Or maybe you don’t mind coming with me to get something to eat?” Lan wasn’t actually on a completely flipped schedule, well not yet. This was more like his lunch hour then his breakfast. Get up in the late afternoon, sleep in the early morning, when it was still dark. It was pretty bad though, getting used to it. Still, his favorite creatures were night time people so he got used to it.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

“Mind? Why would I mind? Food sounds like an awesome idea to me.” K’tar wasn’t technically always hungry, but he was definitely at that stage in his growth when he needed a minimum of four large meals per day, particularly with the workload that Weyrlings operated under. Considering that there were technically only three meals provided, that meant that obtaining the fourth one was up to the individual in question. Not to mention the fact that if anyone asked him why he’d been in the Lower Caverns, he would be able to honestly answer that he’d been getting something to eat along with Lan, and never have to mention Garvalla’s ledger.

K’tar stepped back slightly, so that he’d be able to fall into step with Lan as they headed towards the kitchens. “Say, once we’ve gotten something to eat, would you be up for some exploring?” he asked with a broad grin. With any luck, Lan would be willing to do just a little, and K’tar could use that as cover for hiding the ledger someplace. With a little more luck, no one would see them to associate them with the location of the ledger once it was found.

[Shoki]

“Well in that case, I’m glad to have someone grab a bite with.” Lan smiled, pretty happy to have someone to hang out with. Admittedly, he’d been rather busy with Ethilask of late, and what time didn’t go to her, went to Syne. Humans had been slightly neglected of late. He started walking toward the kitchens, the Weyrling falling in step with him. Lan reminded himself to not rush, which tended to be his natural inclination. He was used to walking with Ten, who had the same nature as he did. He was broken off from this idea when K’tar spoke.

“Exploring? Where did you have in mind?” Lan’s thoughts immediately went to the areas outside the Weyr. K’tar wasn’t planning on doing that, was he? Well, Lan didn’t know. “Not saying it doesn’t sound fun to explore places, I just want to know what I’m in for.” They came up quickly to the kitchens, and Lan entered, briefly looking around. Around now, he was about to get really quiet. It wasn’t busy, exactly, but the people who did work at this time, well, some of them were familiar with his stuttering habit. Usually he didn’t get made fun of, exactly, but he did get some looks when he opened his mouth to try and talk to them. He’d rather have a quiet lunch today.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar gave an airy wave of his hand. “Oh nothing much, certainly nothing too far away.” He glanced around, which was probably a good thing, because his grin might have been a giveaway otherwise. “I was really thinking just the paths along the WeyrHeights, and maybe some looking around the less used parts of the Lower Caverns, but if you have some kind of assignment about familiarizing yourself with a given area, we could always look around there too.”

K’tar’s gaze landed on a tray of meat pies, and he strode over to the counter.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be asleep?” one of the kitchen workers demanded.

“No. Curfew isn’t for another two hours, and I have a special dispensation, on account of my dragon’s activity.” Neither of those statements was true, but K’tar reckoned on the fact that there wasn’t anyone there who would likely know that. Besides, it wasn’t yet curfew for the senior Weyrlings; he’d only overstated the amount of time left because he didn’t want Lan realizing that there were rules being broken.

“You have any warm ones?” K’tar asked. “It would hardly be appropriate to feed a Wherling,” he nodded at Lan “cold food.”

[Shoki]

“Sounds good.” That was as much he got out before K’tar went up to the kitchen staff and started up a conversation. Lan merely smiled a bit and followed behind as he examined what they had. Cold pies, not much to be surprised at. He’d like warm ones, to be sure, but cold would do. Just as long as he had enough of them. He realized he was being referred to, and changed his gaze to K’tar, who was telling him the state of things. As a response he gave a small shrug, which must have seemed a little disappointed or something because one of the kitchen workers noted it and began to observe him. Lan looked at the worker for a moment without much change. He debated his own discomfort with the prospect of a warm lunch and otherwise backing up K’tar. Eh, whatever.

“If y-you had w-w-warm ones I w-would r-really ap-p-ppriciate it.” Dang it, he needed to get that stuttering in check. As is, some of the people working seemed to recognize him now that he opened his mouth. Go figure.
“Well, I can go check.” The one who spoke looked like she was trying not to smile, which didn’t exactly fill Lan with the warm and fuzzies, but hey, food. He spared a glance at K’tar, who he realized might not have caught before that he was going to talk like that. If he had known K’tar better he might have been more willing to keep it a secret, but he merely gave an awkward smile, indicating that was just what he did. He’d explain later he supposed.

“Found some.” Lan’s expression got all the more pleased when the hot meat pies appeared. Mmm, warm food. He could get a one word answer out without letting the stuttering get to him.

“Thanks.” He acquired several of the meat pies before motioning to K’tar to grab a seat with him. This was actually going to be his largest meal of the day. His family subscribed to the breakfast, dinner and supper policy, and it served him well here. Especially since any decent food was hard to get at the hours that Wherhandlers were going about their work. So lunch was served. He didn’t think that K’tar might be hungry, but he would probably share if it came to it.