Early Morning Breakfast [R'lar]

[catnip]

It was not that uncommon of a sight to see the short brown rider up early in the morning, as he had been an early riser in his youth, and had never outgrown the habit. There were advantages to that as well, and when he arrived in the dining hall, to snag some breakfast before flight practice, there were freshly baked sweet rolls. He was rather pleased at that.

He snagged a couple of the rolls and a mug of redfruit juice, as he wasn't as much of a fan of klah as some people were, and then went to find a seat. It wasn't hard, seeing as there weren't that many people up yet, or still awake for that matter, and he set his tray on the first empty table he came to. None of the people in there were ones that he particularly wanted to sit with at the moment, and if anyone wanted to sit with him, they were free to join him. He'd never turn anyone away.

He took a bite of the roll. Perfection. This would be the perfect breakfast to start the day.

[moonchilde]

Mornings weren't R'lar's favorite time of day, but Kharouth had woken early, and he'd awoken hungry. The dragon was off feeding; R'lar didn't have the guts to face watching his dragon rend and devour a few wherries before having his own breakfast. He could feel Kharouth's satisfaction in his mind, however, as the dragon leapt onto his first herdbeast.

He took a seat, helping himself to some food. The man beside him was a familiar face, though it took R'lar a minute to remember his name. Finally, it came to him. "Good morning, F'nell."

[catnip]

"Morning, R'lar," he responded. "How's Kharouth this morning?" He wasn't sure if he would label the bronze rider as a friend or not, but he had known the bronze rider for awhile, since being a candidate even, and while they might not be close, he was certainly someone F'nell didn't mind sitting with.

"Are you looking forward to flight practice?"

It was a good place to show off ones skills without having to worry about the danger, and while F'nell could care less about showing off, his dragon always enjoyed it.

[moonchilde]

"He's doing well," and a rare smile flits across R'lar's face. If there's one thing he loves, it's talking about Kharouth, or being asked about his wellbeing. And he manages to remember F'nell's dragon, too, to return the favor. "A little ornery, but he'll be fine once he eats. How's Krith?"

Ah, flight practice. He takes another sip of his juice. "Wish it weren't so early in the morning, but," and he shrugs, "I always enjoy it once I get started." He polishes off his plate quickly, and begins to help himself to more. "The first practice after a new batch of candidates arrive is always the most fun. I never get tired of seeing their eyes after we land." Being looked up to by a group of future-riders is a bit of a rush.

[catnip]

That was good to hear. Sure, most dragons, unless they were injured, tended to stay in rather good health, but it was always reassuring to hear. "Krith's doing fine too. He's still asleep at the moment."

He chuckled. Lazy bones.

F'nell finished off one of the rolls, licking the glaze off of his fingers. He didn't normally have such bad manners, but he made an exception for sweet rolls. "I think most of the weyr, excepting the nocturnals, would likely agree with you." He grinned. "Yeah, and since we've gotten a few new candidates in, we're likely to have quite a few watchers." It would be nice, and maybe he'd even take the chance to talk to some of the candidates. Get to know some of the possible riders.

"Should be fun."

[moonchilde]

"If we're going to be placing bets on who'll impress, or what they'll impress, it could be a good time to do a bit of scouting," he notes idly. He gulps some of his juice, gets to work on his second plate. "I can usually spot the men who'll do well as riders, but I never have any idea with the women. It all seems so arbitrary."

Another plate of sweet rolls is handed down the table. He takes two, then offers the tray to F'nell. "I've got marks that there'll be 18 eggs this time. It was a good flight. I'll be surprised if there isn't a Queen."

[catnip]

F'nell nodded. "Yeah, some of the boys are really easy to tell, but I've always had better luck with the females." Hmm. Maybe he'd have to compare notes with R'lar after they had a chance to mingle with the little brats. There was the potential for them to completely sweep a betting pool there.

Later. "I'm down for 21, with a queen." It had been a really good flight, and if some of the betting for there being a queen was wishful thinking, well, no one would ever know. There was always at least one person who bet for there being a queen egg every hatching. "Think there'll be a lot of nocturnals this time around?"

[moonchilde]

"Probably," R'lar says, not really too concerned. "It's hard to tell, the distribution seems so random." He shrugs. "So long as they can fly and fight, or do something useful anyway, I can't say I'm too particular."

He's starting to get full. "I'm more concerned with how many will be holdbred. Takes ages to catch them up with the weyrbrats."

[catnip]

There was no doubting that fact, that the nocturnals were useful, and F'nell merely nodded taking a drink. He was less concerned about holdbred vs weyrbred, he had been holdbred, and hadn't found that the weyrbred weren't that much ahead of him, but perhaps this batch was.

"Sounds like something to bring up to the candidate master." Did they have a candidate master? Maybe that was the problem.

[moonchilde]

"She's assured me they'll be brought up to speed," R'lar says dubiously. He pushes his plate away, content to just sit for a minute and let everything settle. "Seems like every turn they get younger and more foolish, but there's a few promising ones in the bunch. I have my bets placed already on who'll impress which colors, of course."

[catnip]

"I think it's more likely that we've grown older, and forget just how foolish we were at that age." He teased back. They weren't old, not really, but he could see where the bronze rider was coming from. "If they impress, most of them will end up growing up pretty quickly." Not all, admittedly, but for some of them they would.

"I've not decided what colors are going to pop up," F'nell admitted. "And I make it a point not to bet on candidates." You could never know just what the dragons would be looking for at any particular clutch, and thus he wouldn't waste his marks on it.

[moonchilde]

"Maybe," R'lar responds, unconvinced. Ah well. Either way, the weyrlings will be brought up to snuff eventually. And it's not as though hes personally responsible for handling the ones who might be behind.

"I always bet on the candidates. Quick way to make some marks, and it doesn't hurt to have the motivation to get to know them." He likes the chance to pick out the ones who show promise, try to win their favor. If he's going to shoot for wingsecond eventually, best to have people behind him. "Would be nice to have a few more to spread the burden between." He can't help but feel the wings are stretched a little thin, these days.

[catnip]

F'nell poured another glass of juice, thinking. "Yeah, I suppose so. We probably should get to know these kids before they impress, since some of em'll end up being riders." Hmm. Maybe they should let the candidates shadow them for a day, so that they could have a better idea of what they were getting in to. Maybe he'd have to suggest it. Later though.

"Yeah, and hopefully we'll end up with a whole bunch of the upper ranks. The smaller dragons are nice, but we could use a few more with the longer stamina." Unlikely, but something to be hoped for.

[moonchilde]

"Right," R'lar agrees. He's leaning back in his chair now, relaxed now that his ever-growing appetite is sated. The food here is consistently good, for which he's thankful. Some weyrs aren't so lucky, he's had a few bland meals while visiting other ones. "I'm hoping we'll get at least a handful of new bronzes. The smaller ones have so little stamina. Nuisance when half your wing has to switch out during thread."

[catnip]

Maybe he had a bias, but he would think that brown ranked dragons would be more efficent. They had more stamina than the blues and the greens, but didn't necessarily impress to those who might cause problems with their position in the ranks. Not that he'd mention it to R'lar.

"Perhaps. You never know." He drank down the rest of his juice, and then yawned. "Guess I should be getting back to my weyr. I've got a few things I need to do before flight practice. " He stood up, and smiled at the bronze rider. "I'll see you there." He gave him a chance to respond, and then headed out. The future would come when it would, and while talking with the rider had given him a few ideas, first he had to get through flight practice.