Terror has a name (and it is soapsand) open

[laionii]

Amber eyes flitted fiercely to the corner in which the usual furious scrubbing always began. Hands already armed with damp brush and ample soap sand began the routine of scouring the Weyr floors. Once Breena entered a cleaning frenzy there was no telling what would happen, Jenafa had returned once to a room that was so clean she nearly walked back into the hall again thinking she had been in the wrong weyr. Candidates had learned that the furious scrubbing meant they needed to round up anything the drudge might consider refuse that had value to them.

Today’s session seemed more of a vent of intimate frustrations rather than anything else. The girl had no one to vent this frustration with at the moment and had resorted once again to the furious scrubbing she had taken up in her child hood.

[hrsegrl]

A'stin walked back from drills with a serious look on his handsome face. He was not in a good mood. Not only had he lost his Weyrmate close to a month ago but he had to deal with rising anti ranker sentiments throughout the Weyr. T'keal's death had started a lot of other violent behaviors. He was sick of dealing with it all. To top it all off, he was remaining Weyrleader until Jenafa's next flight which wouldn't be for months! If only that boy hadn't flown her, then he could have resigned his position and been able to deal with his own problems. Instead he had to be the leader and be strong... and what in the name of Faranth was that girl doing?

If ADD existed on Pern, A'stin had it. He stopped in his tracks and watched for a moment or two. She certainly was scrubbing that floor with an intensity that most people would not put into scrubbing a dragon, let alone walls and floors. His next thought was her blonde hair. A'stin had a partiality for blondes, though he promised himself not to get drawn in simply by her hair. He was obviously lonely and that was bringing out a much too desperate side in him. A side that he would prefer no one ever saw. He wanted the world to believe now as much as before, he was the best Bronzerider of the Weyr.

There was something to be said for her ferocity but it was also a bit sad she was wasting it on scrubbing. " Excuse my interruption, but what did that floor ever do to you?"

[laionii]

Fierce amber eyes shot back to the figure of the Igen Weyrleader, but too late to hide the displeasure on her creamy features. Unfortunately for her at the moment she was not in any state of mind to be a happy little obliging drudge. Her chin was upturned, having to look up at the man, giving her face an even sharper look than usual.

“It isn’t so much the floor that’s done the harm as much as riders such as your self tracking sand and dirt in all over the place” she snapped. What was remaning of her good sense told her she would pay for such insubordination but he had been the one to interrupt her one and only venting activity. She tried to calm herself but as usual her emotions were too turbulent for control.

“Unless you wish to live in a sty I have a lot of work left to do.” She finished before beginning to return to her furious scrubbing. The fact that he was good looking didn’t help her frustrations ether.

[hrsegrl]

His hazel eyes betrayed no anger or even shock at her words. He knew two Weyrwomen in his time at the Weyr and both of them very intimately. He understood this mood that the young woman was in. He could hardly hold it against her that she was upset about something and it probably had nothing to do with him.

He found her to be a stunning creature, especially her eyes, though he was not in any place to compliment her eyes just now. A'stin kept himself from amking any joke at her expense. He knew exactly what to say and how to say it. That was one of his better qualities really. "For that, my lady, I can only apologize and say that we rider's appreciate all that you do, even if we do not mention it." He was sure she was still going to be irritated by his presence but he couldn't bring himself to leave just yet. He wanted to leave an impression on the woman and a good one.

A'stin smiled and looked down the nearly spotless hallway. "I see." He didn't even have the grace to be offended by her ignoring him. "That intereferes with my plans though." Hopefully that would catch her attention. He was a determined man, once he wanted something he would not stop and he wanted to take her with him to dinner. Though he had no doubt she would refuse him at first.

[laionii]

Her eyes flashed fiercely at his words. The curve of her mouth giving away her indignation at his words. She was a drudge, not a holder, and certainly not one of his weyrmate’s. She pulled herself up from the crouched position she had been holding, drawing on her full height as she curved a brow.

“That is certainly one I have never heard before, next I will imagine you’ll tell me you love a girl who does laundry.” Her tone was sharp as she brushed away the curls from her eyes. Inspecting the Igen Weyrleader like a dragon selecting its next meal, she crossed her arms over her chest.

“I will believe you appreciate it when you have spent six days scrubbing every floor in the Weyr only to have Weyrlings track it up again.” Her eyes narrowed. Oh was he good looking. She caught herself giving him a good once over, and mentally scolded herself for such thoughts. She grinned devilishly at the word plans.

“And what plans could a Weyrleader have that would involve a drudge, whose name he doesn’t even know? Really Now A’stin. . .” Soft full lips formed into a disappointed pout as she shot him her best, ‘oh yeah called you on it’ glance.

[hrsegrl]

" I've loved many women who do laundry and they have never complained of it to me." A'stin said, although he had not meant to prove that he was promiscuous, only that he had no trouble loving women who didn't ride a Gold. Sometimes it would be better if he kept his mouth shut. She sure was a spit fire when she was angry. A'stin had recieved worse from far more impressive women.

He sighed and with a tone that showed he could be calm and level headed even when people were aiming at wounding his ego or pride, "So, you are saying that unless someone does a job for a few days they can not appreciate it? Well then tell me, do you appreciate dragonriders? Weyrwomen? Weyrleaders? Anyone who doesn't do what you do everyday. Are you telling me that I cannot appreciate a Healer saving a man's life simply because I am not a Healer? Your a smart young lady but I don't think that that is a logical reason for someone not to appreciate what you do for the Weyr. As Weyrleader I have to notice the little things. The Weyr would not run if one group of people stopped doing their job properly."

He smiled at her, as a charming as a dragonrider was supposed to be. "Oh, well you haven't really given me a chance to say them now have you? I'd very much like to know your name and after you tell me, I'd like for you to accompany me to the Weyrhall, where I plan to eat." A'stin wasn't going to corrupt her just yet, nope, this was a person he'd like to keep around for a while. "You can refuse, of course, but I see no reason why these floors can't wait till later."

[laionii]

Many women, the words may have been intended as a defense but she honed in on them like lightning. How typical of a bronze rider to defend himself with how many beds he has shared. It riled her all the more and her better half of common sense told her to drop the conversation and return to scrubbing in that instant or she would probably grow to regret it later.

However she was more intrigued by the secondary statement which had followed. Huffing out the air from her chest she parted soft full lips to shoot a sharp remark.

“I appreciate some dragonriders, but I can’t claim to understand the pressure’s they undergo. Unfortunately there is very little chance of me understanding their word.” She hissed refusing to let him be entirely right. “As for the pressures of any task I haven’t preformed I cannot say. No I appreciate what they do but I do not understand how it affects them.” She almost added that she didn’t like the Weyrleader because he tended to keep her from her scrubbing but bit the comment back.

The charming smile and next speech painted her face in mild shock. Didn’t he seem to get the fact that she wasn’t interested in being a play mate? She knew enough bronze riders to know that most of them were rather prolific.

“Breena” she gave in mostly out of annoyance. “And I’ve far too much work to be done to go around sharing meals with strangers. The headwoman dislikes me enough as is without adding skirking duties to the list.” If she caved here there was no telling where this would end up in the future. No better to say no now and prevent herself another crying session alone in her quarters.

[hrsegrl]

It wasn't really a suprise to him that she would defend her own words. Most of the women he liked would rather die then admit he was entirely correct. He was glad she had that fire of spirit, it made her all the more interesting to him. Little did she know that what she was doing was not throwing him off at all and was more likely to be doing just the opposite.

"Breena." He said while looked down at her with one perfectly arched eyebrow raised, "I see." He looked rather dissapointed that she had refused him but he wasn't the sort to give up. He was almost pouting while he thought. She was exasperating and completely out of order because she should be addressing him as his station commanded but he could not find fault in that.

Then it dawned on him that she might think this was an invitation of another kind. Now if he simply wanted to bed someone really quickly and have done with it, he could find someone much easier and more willing, who probably had a lot more experience than some young girl."I don't suppose there is anyway I can convince you to come? Janesa, while she does have her share of power will have to talk to me about this particular event since I would be the one who asked you to abandon your job. "

He thought of Shaye and how it had always been so hard to convince her to leave work and take a break. While the rest of the Weyr seemed perfectly happy to move on, A'stin was left grieving alone. Most people did not even register the fact that A'stin had just lost someone he loved and that even a Weyrleader should grieve. He could not tell this girl that he did not want to eat alone, because being alone made him think of all the things he had to push aside to make it through the day. The look on his face was faraway, as if he were talking to his dragon but his eyes were full of unmentionable sorrow. He was not looking at Breena but rather at the wall, as if to avoi d eye contact. His arms were crossed but he didn't expect the girl to budge, though he may want her to.

[laionii]

Breena might have had the illusion before that this would end her way and she would be left to scrub the floor in peace, but it had all but faded away entirely now. As he spoke and tried his plea for her to accompany him her stance said everything he needed to hear. A simple resounding NO. But as his gaze distance she caught something other than ego in his features.

She felt an inward pang as she realized it was a deep sorrow that was written in his clear hazel eyes. It was then that she remembered, that the senior queen had died. It was not that she had forgotten, for the keening she had heard that day would forever haunt her dreams. Life had to move on though, That had been the price of Jenafa’s senior ship, Igen now held only one mature queen, Elfreth wouldn’t be mature for a turn or more, and even then the little gold did not have much promise of living up to the size of the dead queen or her mother. What would Igen do if they lost another? She shuddered to think on that topic. She fixed gleaming eyes upon the man, a softening to her fierceness making it self plain. He had lost too she realized and it was far more likely that he sought her company to stop himself from drowning in his own grief than a bed companion so soon after Shaye’s death.

“That” she finally said, with the hint of that devilish grin that announced trouble for so many. “Is entirely up to whatever the cooks have decided to prepare today, I have been craving some of the cold meat rolls it is too hot for much else to sit well in my stomach. And of course you get to brave Janesa’s temper if she finds out.”

[hrsegrl]

He was brought back to reality and the present by her voice. With a growing smile he said, "I'm sure we can request whatever you like. I am the Weyrleader after all." He wondered what had made her change her mind but decided he probably didn't want to know. Things were somtimes better left unsaid. "Janesa and I get along quite well Breena. I wouldn't worry about me facing her." What woman with two beautiful young daughters would want to ruin a possible future for those daughters by being rude to a Bronzerider of so high a status? None. Janesa had more reason than that for getting along with him, he hoped but it was certainly plausible that that had something to do with it.

A'stin was focused on Breena now. "So Breena, are you a Candidate as well as a floor scrubber?" He had not known all the girls who stood for the Gold last time and like most people was suprised at the little Gold's choice. The girl, whom he had only met briefly was cold, unfeeling and much to demanding for one so young. His weyrsecond had suprised him by speaking so favorably of her. It seemed to A'stin, looking back on it, that the boy must be besotted with her not to see those things as faults.

He had been the same with Shaye. A'stin did not like to dwell on the past for long and already he was thinking of her more than he would like to. He had begun walking down the hallway in the same direction he had previously been headed, which was toward the Weyrhall. Rodreth was sunning on his ledge, quite content not to move, though rather amused by his rider. The Bronze always found the man's interaction with women to be completely odd. This coming from a dragon who had much experience in giving chase and attention to Gold dragons.

[laionii]

She smiled at the thought of even Janesa being frightened of something. As long as she had known her she had been an ambitious kind of woman, and she blamed her for Larissa lying in the infirmary maimed. Breena made a mental note to visit the girl again soon, with a nice plate of dried meat for Cymmi.

At the word candidate the girl gave a very visible flinch. She was a candidate if by blood right only, but the last hatching was something she didn’t like talking about. She recalled the delirium she had experience and rubbed her side thinking of how she had attempted even in her illness to crawl out of the infirmary. She had given the healers a fair bit of trouble, and worry too.

“I was under quarantine during the last hatching.” She said finally. She was not happy in the least that Laszreen had impressed the little queen that should have been hers, she did not think highly of most of the candidates who had stood. Laszreen abraded the worst.

She was a little surprised at how easy it was to talk with the weyrleader of Igen. A bronze rider higher in rank than she ever could hope to achieve, especially since the queen that was supposed to be hers impressed to Laszreen. She sighed.

[hrsegrl]

A'stin wasn't sure what he had said that could have gotten that sort of reaction. He watched her features and realized this was a sore subject. Like many people who did not impress she seemed a bit bitter on the subject. He did not recall seeing her on the sands but as forementioned he didn't know everyone standing. It had not been his clutch that he should be concerned of whom was standing.

"I see." He said again, not wanting to reveal anything akin to agreeing with what the Healers had done. Women were hard enough to get along with when they were determined not to like you. "Breena, Elfreth made her choice, and would not have made a different one, even if you were there. The dragons always know." He paused thinking of how to make it seem like he wasn't siding with Laszreen who he didn't particularly care for. " There will be another Gold, just you wait and I will do everything I can to make sure you are on the Sands."

A'stin was completely serious. He believed that there would be another Gold. There needed to be. The Weyrs had to repopulate. Every single one, was understrength. Even Telgar with its super Gold and her enormous clutches. "In the meantime you could try to befriend the girl that did impress. If you impress as well, you are going to have to work with her."

[laionii]

It wasn’t as much not impressing that made her cringe though even Breena would confess that she was unhappy about it. No it was the illness that terrified her, never before in her life had Breena experienced such utter helplessness. The fact that she was for the most part unscathed testified to the healer’s skill.

Sharp amber eyes flick to the bronze rider as she listened to his words considering them carefully.

“You are right no doubt, and I am not so upset about not impressing . . . it’s just.” She paused searching for the right words but could find only the ones she had.

“I have never felt as helpless as I did when I was laying there in the infirmary. . . The humming . . . I tried to move, but my body didn’t respond the way it was supposed to.” Tears threaten in the corners of her eyes, but she fights them down. She forces composure in her voice. She regains control of the turbulent emotions beneath the surface before again speaking.

A faded glance said that she was sure another queen would grace the halls of Igen, but when being the operative question. Without the threat of thread to quicken the flights of the gold’s it would likely be after her twentieth birthday when the next gold was laid. There was something in the undertones of his voice that stirred thought. Igen had one queen of age, and Laszreen was now Jr. by default though still a weyrling and thrust into the position. Illness had claimed too many.

Her eyes fixed more firmly on A’stin, “Igen has lost more than a queen and a weyrwoman. She responded in a simple tone. “I wonder that without thread’s return would we see gold any time soon.” She admitted, “And Laszreen is a difficult girl to get along with, I make no guarantees about befriending her. I will however give respect where respect is due.” She was honest and forthright, she could only try and impatience was one of Breena’s loftier virtues.

[hrsegrl]

"I don't doubt that it was a painful experience. Especially for one with so much ambition..." A'stin thought ambition was a good thing when the right person used it, however much like power, too much ambition corrupted a person so that they only saw what they wanted to gain and not what they already had. He was guilty of that when he was younger but now he knew better. The Bronzerider just let himself smile and take in what her thoughts were.

He didn't think that he could say anything that would make it easier for her to take this as something other than a defeat. Threads return was always a touchy subject with him. While most of his life at the Weyr he had been reassured that it would not be returning, the intelligent man had found quite a bit of documentation to just the opposite. He would not use this opportunity to undermine the Weyr but he would put some doubt in her young mind. Somewhere between her last comment and his next one his smile faded into something more serious.

"Larger clutch sizes, more Gold's hatching and Pern on the brink of civil war and everyone seems to think that there is no chance Thread will return. I can't help but question it all." A'stin may look the part of handsome play boy but he was honestly more interested in the future of Pern. Straightening his jacket, he kept his attention away from her. He didn't really want to know how his words affected her.

[laionii]

The amber eyes cleared with a sigh. “It was fortunate that I survived at all really and a miracle that no one else was Ill.” She said finally. Unsure of what else to say on the matter.

She sighed, a tight line forming where her lips pressed together. Before she could help it she began to giggle.

“Yes as if more golds is such a terrible thing when the Weyrs are as under strength as they are now. Bronzes will have to fly more often and that would be a nightmarish concept now wouldn’t it?” The bright flicker in her eyes was one of laughter and teasing.

She smiled at the prospects of danger on Pern; perhaps it was the serious approach the weyrleader took to it that put her in such spirits. Not so much that she laughed at the danger, but that his seriousness caught her off guard.

“Lots to worry about undoubtedly and it is difficult to frame doubts about the belief that thread will not return when so many seem convinced of its eternal disappearance. Pern survives, she always has, and should thread return the riders of this weyr will rise to meet it, and those of us who doubted will eat a slice of humble bubbly pie.”

She sighed. “The holds are another matter entirely, If thread is truly gone . . .” she furrowed her brows. “The Weyrs and halls and holds have always been dependant on one another, we all served a purpose and if the Weyrs have truly lost their purpose it seems it is time to find another.” She answered simply, unsure of how the man she was speaking with would react to her words. She was a simple drudge perhaps elevated slightly because of her working under Jenafa, even then the course of her words was rarely one to give her true opinion of things.

“Will you fly when the senior queen rises?” she asked remembering her duty to Jenafa.