A Friendship Beginning

Writers: Ang, Miriah
Date Posted: 20th January 2012

Characters: D'ret, Paetri, Braret
Description: Daret meets Paetri and her little pest Marli
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 6, day 1 of Turn 6
Notes: NPCs: Braret, T'sin

This was going to make a *great* gift! Daret sauntered down the hall
on his way back to his bunk, a square silvery pendant with a small
shard of green glass in the center being tossed up and caught with
each step. His da was going to love it. He couldn't wait to share it
with him.

It had been nearly two turns since he'd seen his Braret and he missed
him keenly. The weaver sent care packages to his son often since he
knew how much Daret hated the cold but the lad was never able to send
anything back. But now, he could.

With a grin, he tossed it up and nodded to a girl who walked by, only
to realize that his cherished pendant never made it back into the palm
of his hand. Now frowning, he grabbed a glow from a nearby basket and
searched the ground. "It has to be here ..."

Paetri noticed the nod and returned it, becoming used to the
customary, if distant greeting in the Weyr for passersby. She was far
too caught up in her own thoughts of trying to find the stores to
retrieve some oil for Marli.

As though she had thought him into appearance, the little firelizard
appeared with a delighted little croon. Absently patting him, Paetri
looked back at her map when an odd jingling caught her attention. She
immediately stopped, then looked about. **What in the...**
Jingle..jingle...tinkle tinkle..

Her brow furrowed further as she slowly turned to the little blue on
her shoulder. Held in Marli's little claws was a shiny, looking
pendant. "Marli...not again!" Paetri scolded softly. "Where did you
get that?"

Marli clutched the pendant close to his chest and chittered nervously,
wrapping his tail around Paetri's neck firmly. The innocent look on
the blue's face didn't fool Paetri for an instant. The blue slumped a
bit, giving his equivalent of a firelizard pout as he creeled. ~boy
tossing pretty thing. Marli catching pretty thing. Marli in complete
and utter happiness~

The images caused Paetri to hold her brow. "It's not yours. Shame,
Marli..." She gave a long suffering sigh and looked back, seeing the
now familiar boy searching the ground behind her. Walking back slowly,
she carefully took the pendant away from her now visibly pouting
firelizard. She called out softly, "Excuse me...is this yours?"

Having dropped to his hands and knees to get a better look, Daret had
begun to panic. What happened to it? Faranth, he wouldn't be able to
see his father ever again if he lost this gift. Running his hand
through his light brown hair, he bent and tried looking again.

The soft call of a female normally wouldn't turn his head but he
glanced up and saw the girl he'd just passed … with something familiar
in her hand. "My pendant! Oh, thank you!" he exclaimed and jumped up
to cup his hands below hers to catch the pendant. He had no idea that
the blue flit was the one who snatched it. "Where did you find it?"

The boys utter happiness made Paetri squirm with embarrasment. "I
didn't actually find it. My firelizard... uhm..." She glanced at
Marli, who quickly tucked his head under his wing and hunkered low on
Paetri's shoulder.. "Well, Marli likes shiny things." She tugged at
her braid and spoke softly. "I'm very sorry. I'm afraid he liked it
and ...well... snatched it."

It took a moment for Daret to hear what she said, she'd spoken so
softly. "What? He …" then he laughed and dug into a pocket in his
pants. "I think … I have … yes, here," he said with a smile as he
held out an earlier version he'd refused because the backside of the
pendant had a ragged crease from one corner to the other. "Marli,
would you like this one?"

Daret couldn't blame the flit for snatching it. He was throwing it up
in the air after all and he felt bad for taking it from him. "I should
have known. There are so many flits around and they all seem to like
shiny things. You're new here, aren't you … I'm Daret."

She was surprised he laughed it off so easily and it showed in her
expression. She was expecting anger from the younger boy, possibly
recriminations for Marli's bad behavior. As he produced another
similar pendant, she raised her hand. "You don't have to do that.
It'll only encourage him. He should never have taken your pendant."

Marli on the other hand, was far more eager for the exchange. His
little claws were already reaching out eagerly to take the replacement
pendant. He looked at Paetri, eyes whirling slowly as he lovingly
stroked his head along her cheek in a pleading gesture. Paetri sighed
and frowned at the blue who only bumped his head against her chin,
softly humming. She finally sighed, unable to resist the blue's
begging antics. "Oh fine. This time. But don't take things that aren't
yours."

Marli chirruped gleefully and swiped the shiny pendant, holding it
firmly against his chest and chittered happily. Paetri laughed softly
and turned back to Daret. "Thank you. Yes...I'm new. I've not been
here very long." She dropped into a curtsey. "My name is Paetri."

Her surprise confused him for a bit but he realized she must have come
recently from a Hold. There weren't as many flits so perhaps she
wasn't used to how others react to their antics. As she refused, his
eyebrows rose and his hand pulled back a bit. Of course, watching
Marli beg was amusing and he couldn't help but chuckle. "This is
different. I'm giving him something different so perhaps he won't
consider stealing again," he said with a slight shrug of his shoulder.

Just as he was going to hand it to the little blue, Marli snatched the
shiny metal away from him. "Perhaps not," he said and laughed louder
before he bowed to her in return. "A pleasure to meet you, Paetri.
I've been here three turns now so if there's anything you need, please
don't hesitate to ask. So where are you heading?"

A more open smile came to Paetri's face, her eyes twinkling at his
reaction to Marli's antics. "Perhaps not indeed. It'll end up in his
stash, where ever he has hidden the rest of his shiny things."

Marli ignored them, far too busy rubbing his chin and cheek on his
newest acquisition. He crooned at it, licked it, then cuddled it
close. Paetri was far too polite to roll her eyes at his behavior, but
she did arch her brow as Marli jumped to Daret's shoulder unexpectedly
and rubbed his cheek against the other boys.

"Thank you again, Daret. You've just made a friend." She paused.
"You've been here three turns? You must be very used to things by now.
" She nibbled her bottom lip. "It still seems to be such a large place
to me. I was trying to find the stores for some oil."

"Whoa, hello there," Daret said as Marli settled himself on his
shoulder. Flits were so sharding cute! He reached up and stroked the
small headknobs as a soft smile came to his face. For all the turns
he'd been here, he'd been offered only two eggs before but at the
time, he wasn't ready to have one of his own. Just like he wasn't
ready for the real thing.

"As used to things as I can be. I'll walk with you since I could use
a small bag to put this in," he said as he tucked the good pendant
into his pocket. Extending his arm towards her, he asked, "Shall we?
Is it oil for this little scamp's hide you're looking for? We'll have
a better chance getting it from the storeroom near the weyrling
barracks. There's always plenty to slather on the young ones. Have
you met any of the other candidates yet?"

Marli crooned as he was stroked and settled down on Daret's shoulder
firmly, chirping at Paetri with satisfaction. "He definitely likes
you. Most people chase him off after he swipes something."

She blinked at the arm and then smiled, and tucked her hand in the
crook of his elbow. "Won't we need a chaperone or something? " She
whispered softly to him. "I don't want to get into trouble." She
glanced around and then remembered to answer his question. "Oh, not
really. Just in passing to be honest. Everyone seems so busy. I've
only just started classes...and..." She looked down and shrugged. "I
guess I'm not used to crowded places like this."

"Then it's their loss! Honestly, people need to be more
understanding. They can't help reacting to what fascinates them," he
said with a wicked little grin since he was often accused of doing the
exact same thing. He couldn't help staying out of bed any more than
most greenriders, which he definitely wanted to become.

"Nah, we don't need one when we're in between schedules. I was just
on my way to get lunch." Daret wove their way back to the barracks
and continued talking. "You'll like the others, they're nice enough.
But there are always those few who like to get under your skin. Avoid
them if you can and if you can't ignore them. They'll go away
eventually, especially during the next rising. Wish it was soon," he
sighed dreamily, thinking of who could claim his attention for that
encounter.

Snapping back to her, he grinned. "It's not so crowded once you get
used to it. Just walk with a purpose, is all. People tend to get out
of your way then."

His easy manner made it so easy to relax. He was outspoken and
friendly, much like she remembered her brother to be. She paused, her
brow knitting slightly as her mind made slight connections, then began
walking again. The grin cemented it. But she couldn't just _ask_ him
if he were like her brother. That would be quite rude and she didn't
want to offend this friendly boy.

At the mention of the gold her brows shot up and she gave a slight
smile. "Oh, I doubt a gold would even look at me. I'm not the type to
ride a big gold. They like strong women and I'm just...well...I'm just
me. No, if I Impress, it'll be to a green, I'm sure." She gave him a
sidelong glance. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Daret asked back and laughed. "Oh, I'll give you one
guess … and as for you on gold, you'd be surprised at what *they* find
interesting."

He could see how reserved she was but he felt her relax as they
continued getting closer to the storeroom. It was always fun seeing
the inner person emerge in these shy people. Curious about the pause,
he asked, "Is everything all right?"

Paetri shook her head at his comment about golds, but shrugged it off.
She was certain a gold would choose someone who knew better than she
about dragons in the first place, but who knew how dragon's chose
their riders? She certainly didn't!

She blushed at his next question and her fingers twitched against his
arm. It was best to be honest, as her mother always said. " Well, you
remind me of my brother. Some of the mannerisms, I mean. He, he
uhm...Impressed a green." She looked at him and her cheeks became far
more rosy. "I know enough that uhm...green riders, male green riders
at least, they like men." She cleared her throat. "It's not any of
my business. I'm sorry...what a man does is his own concern."

Having come to the storage room doors, Daret stopped and looked at
Paetri who was practically eye-level with him. His lips quirked up at
the corner as his eyes twinkled with mirth. Then he started laughing.
"You, my dear Paetri, are safe from me," he said after he'd wound
down. Imagine being mortified to speak of something so obvious. "I'm
most certainly into boys and I am honored that I remind you of your
brother. Know that I'll always be around if you need me. Here's the
storeroom … I take it you know where to find your oil? I need to get
to my craft lesson."

His laughter brought her own bubbling out of her throat even though
her face was bright red from embarrassment. She was thankful he had
taken it so well and had not been offended. "Thank you, Daret, and for
showing me the way. I appreciate it. If I need help, I'll know where
to look." Paetri gave a bob of a curtsey and Marli, taking his cue,
hopped off Daret's shoulder to Paetri's waiting shoulder.

Giving a smile and a wave, Paetri stepped into the store room and went
in search of oil.

Last updated on the January 22nd 2012

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A Friendship Beginning