"Caeser, I don't know what's gotten into you toady." Acacia smiled at her flitt as the blue chirped and buried into her hair, winding his tail about her neck and lettign his hot breath feather across her neck. Making Acacia giggle softly.
"Stop that. It tickles." She laughed, sitting down on her own bunk and pulling her legs up so she was sitting cross-legged.

Caeser chirped happily, crawling out of Acacia's hair and onto her shoulder, his tail sliding around her neck with each movement he made. His wings flared briefly, to make sure none of her hair had gotten caught on them, then lifted himself so he could rest one forepaw on Acacia's ear. Trilling happily. So funfunfun! Today was such a nice day and that nasty, icky girl wasn't about. So why shouldn't he be happy, happy?

Acacia laughed, reaching a hand up to scratch the soft underbelly, a sound that was Caeser's laugh escaped him and he dropped down from her ear. Flittering to her lap. There he sat, wings flipped along his back, eyes bright as he looked about. Fun! Acacia laughed again, pushing her now messy hair back from her eyes, for having a blue flitt crawl through one's hair was not the best way to keep it neat.

A soft laugh from the door frame made her look up, of course. Today had been to sharding perfect not to warrent something messing it up.
"Can I help you Tracey?" Cold and distant, her voice lacked the shy, timid note. And the kind tone that usually lightened everything she said.
"No. I just came to see what you and that thing were doing." Just like Acacia's, Tracey's tone was cold. Neither had any idea why the other disliked them. It was an agreement. Tracey didn't like Acacia. Acacia didn't like Tracey. Though, thanks to the lake incident, she had a reason.
"That /thing/ is my flitt. Caeser." Acacia told her calmly. Wondering what she was really here for.

"You were playing with him." It was a statement, not a question. There fore needing no reply. Yet, Acacia felt one was due.
"Yes." She agreed, one hand stroking the now hissing Caeser.
"Can I?" Tracey asked, a sly smile on her lips. Acacia shrugged,
"He doesn't like you. So I'd prefer not. As it would distress him." She told her, narrowing her eyes as the candidate came closer.
"He likes me." Tracey said confidently, reaching out a hand-

-Only to jerk back with a yelp of pain. Caeser had sunk his teeth into her hand, and was now flaring his wings and higging, curling tighter into Acacia.
"Your stupid thing bit me!" Tracey yelled, the normally happy girl angry.
"I told you not to touch him! I told you he didn't like you!" Acacia snapped back.

The new candidate watched, with a heavy lump of apprehension in the pit of her stomach, the door frame of the cubice she was fairly certain was the one the Candidate Master had just assigned her; the glowbaskets within illuminated it brightly, and the apprehension would've been pleasant if it wasn't for the raised voices she heard from the general area, and what she was almost certain was the room.

Grudgingly, she checked the small slat, and saw with little surprise that the number etched onto the wood piece matched the one the Candidate Master had readily recited. She exhaled and then squared her shoulders, stepping into the lighted doorframe.

She'd bound her blond hair into a tight knot with her most practical leather strap, and it had kept quite well through the ride. She almost sagged in exhaustion when she saw the small, red-haired candidate wringing a slightly bleeding finger, and the slim, small, black-haired one, holding onto a hissing blue firelizard. "Um," she said half-certainly; she didn't fancy a walk back to the Candidate Master's office to inform her she needed a new assignment. "I'm a new candidate. I think I was just assigned this bunk?" She winced at her own accent, distinctly different than the voices either of the two candidates' she'd heard previously, while speaking. Despite having come from the nearby Izvand Hold, she'd picked up on her parents' accent, having spent the majority of he rlife with her mother or siblings, who likewise picked up an accent from them rather than having adjusted to the Izvand environment totally.

Another glare at the red-headed candidate, before Acacia stood, facing the other while keeping a firm grip on Caeser. She smield as best she could with the anger of another person daring to touch her flitt running through her, she managed, if only just.
"Hi, sorry about this. I'm Acacia, this blue is Caeser." She placed the blue on her shoulder with a firm command of 'stay', otherwise the blue may have attacked the still whining candidate.

"Normally he's very sweet, but he doesn't like Tracey, and she touched him even after a warning." Of course she explained the situation, realising now how silly it might seem to someone who didn't know of the dislike between the two girls. Turning her head away, Acacia chose not to comment any further, intstead concentrating on calming her flitt.

Could this moment get any more embarrassing? Acacia doubted so, as there was nothing worse than having a stranger seem to laugh at you. It was even worse when someone you disliked did laugh at you. Acacia would have prefferred to make a better impression on the candidate who would be sharing with her, but knew that it wasn't possible at this moment.
"It's me you'll be sharing with, Tracey is further down."

A bright smile was forced on Tracey's face as she looked at the other candidate, after all, that was her nature. Happy, bright. Yes, she could do this. Though inwardly she seethed, when she had her gold, well, Acacia would definately sent from the Weyr, stripped of her position as candidate. Sent back to her Hold, a failure. A moment Tracey would certainly cherish.

"Yeah, I'm Tracey. Nice to meet you, of course it is. I love making new friends and you seem like a nice person to get to know." She didn't deny annoying Caeser, but nor did she admit to it. Why would someone do something silly like that? To actually look bad?

"O-oh." Erein blinked somewhat uncertainly in the light, and then shrugged. "Well, alright." She dropped her moderate-sized bag on the bunk she now saw was indeed unoccupied, and attempted to smile. "Acacia," and she paused, and turned slightly. "Tracey." Could the moment have been any more awkward? "Well, my name's Erein, and I'm from Izvand," she said, meeting Tracey's gaze with her own, and still attempting to smile. "I don't... I don't have any friends. I just got here." She half-laughed at her own stupidity; silly of her to state the obvious. She turned back to Acacia. "Caeser? I don't have a pet. Well, I never have had one." She gazed intently at the little lizard for a good, long moment. Something akin to dragons, right in the very room with her. It was marvelous, truly astounding.

Looking back up, Erein laughed halfheartedly. "Yes, so... as it seems to be free time, I guess I'll just... get to know you guys," she said with a smile. "I don't want to interrupt, though, if you were busy... um, I can just... leave?" She didn't know where she would go, but she could find somewhere. Moving and changes were always hard on her, and Erein was a bit frightened by the proportions of the Weyr. She felt so lost already, and she hadn't been present for a half a day.

Acacia's smile was no longer forced, she seemed to have forgotten that Tracey was even in the barracks as she faced a new comer that was as shy as she had been when she'd first come to the Weyr. She'd been made welcome by the Candidate Master, so it was only fair she try and do the same for her room-mate. They would be sharing quaters, so it would be best to at least try and get along. Then, Erein wasn't as annoying as Tracey, nor did Acacia instantly dislike her.

"Really? Would you lke to hold him Erein?" She affered, holding out her arms for Caeser to crawl down onto her hand. The blue flitt seemed to have calmed down now that Tracey was no longer trying to hold him and was trilling happily. He was quick to make his wy down his bonded's arm, looking at this new girl with curiousity whirling in his bright eyes. The small wedged head tilted to one side, though there was a questioning feeling about him. As though Caeser was asking if she was afraid of him.

His wings flipped along his back and he seemed to start towards Erein again.
"Caeser, stand." Acacia's voice was soft, but firm. Caeser instantly stopped, sitting on Acacia's hand and staring at Erein. The command may have been simple, but Caeser obeyed it without question.

"You treat that thing like a canine. It's no where near as intelligent." Tracey cut through, shrugging her shoulders as the flitt ignored her. Most likely another command from his good-for-nothing mistress. Tracey couldn't help but be nasty to the dark-haired girl, there was no reason she should be... However, the shy candidate just annoyed her, and thus she annoyed her right back. Never reffering to Caeser by his name.

True enough, the other's mouth pursed. Annoyance on her features, Tracey turned to the other.
"You can get to know us. Sure, we weren't doing anything important." A smile as bright as Rukbat was given. Sure, Tracey could be nice and charming, but the thoughts that lurked beneath the surface were anythng but friendly. Inwardly she was sizing up this new girl, finally deciding she was no competition for the gold that wouldbe hers. A green maybe. If she was lucky.

"You're just trying to find something spiteful to say, Tracey. If you believe any sort of dragon kin is less intelligent than a normal canine, then you really shouldn't be in a Weyr." Such biting words, but the speaker of them would have a motherly tone that held a mere titter in it, as if gently scolding an errant child. A young woman came around the corner. She very much looked her age, if not older in the docile manner she carried herself, the serene expression that promised the making of a good mother. A basket was propped slightly askew upon an ample hip, obviously the womans laundry. Who was she? A woman from the lower caverns? The candidates knots on her shoulder belied that though. No, it was merely a 21 year old candidate, barely young enough to be there.

Without a hint of malice, Zaela set her freshly washed and dried clothes down on her bunk, which was only a few away from Acacia and where the new girl had just bunked. "If you have thoughts like that, you are sure to not Impress at the hatching." Though Zaela was truly a docile and demure creature, she did not stand to hear people be so rude to one another; especially if they were women, and especially if they were younger than her. Craftbred? Absolutely. She'd probably never speak so bodly to a man.

(sorry if I'm butting in but I -never- get to play this character. XD teehee)

"Oh, really? Is that OK?" Erein tentatively held out her hands and watched the firelizard with something near awe. "He's amazing," she said softly, and looked up to Tracey half-sadly. "Are there many firelizards here? We had few back home, and I like them a great deal. I've never..." She bit her lip. "Never been near things so close to the dragons. But then, there's dragons here, too, of course." She grinned wanly. "I've still only touched the blue one that I was Searched on. But I've seen some others, just on my way in. They're so amazing, aren't they?" And she smiled contentedly. "To be able to be friends with one of those magnificent creatures..." And she looked at Caeser. "This... Caeser. He's the closest I've come to any other dragon, since the blue who Searched me didn't really talk much. Just a quick transport to the weyr."

She smiled again, and stated calmly, with a friendly glance at Tracey, "Canines are real smart. We had one, but he was old and sort of stupid. Some of the other families in the Hold had real good ones. But our Trinny, he was the best, even if he was old. When he was younger he was the best dog ever. Still is, even though he's not as good as he used to be." She paused. Well, Tracey was friendly enough to her. She didn't know why the two, Tracey and Acacia, didn't seem to like one another. Then again, it hardly mattered, she supposed. As long as she wasn't made a part of their conflict. She hoped she could have both as friends. "So, then, what does everybody do around here for free time? For fun?"

-No it's fine!-

Acacia managed to stop the giggle that came forth at the new woman's arrival, promptly putting the other candidate in her place. Instead, she grinned at the woman, she looked much older than either she or Tracey.
"Hello, I'm Acacia. This is Caeser." She was polite, and even friendly. Something that had completely dissapeared off Tracey's face.

"Hm? Of course I don't mind!" Acacia laughed then, shrugging her shoulders. "It's not my choice anyway, if Caeser likes you he'll look anyway." She continued, looking at the blue flitt. Who was currently trying to stretch out as far as he could without moving from where he was, just as his mistress had told him.

"You can move Caeser. No biting, promise me?" Acacia was doing her best to make sure a repeat of what happened with Tracey would not happen again, she raised her hand to the happy flitt. His tail curled around her smallest finger, shaking it in a sign of promise. Once he'd done this, he happily hopped onto Erein's hand, cooing. He nibbled at her fingers, not enough to hurt, tickle though. Before crawling up her arm to nibble her hair and blow in her ear.

Tracey scowled, all happiness draining from her face as she glared at the woman. Who in the name of Faranth did she think she was?
"I was being truthful, the stupid thing -bit- me!" She snapped angrily, upset that this, this stranger would dare treat her like a child.
"Everyone knows that Fire Lizards and Dragons have nothing alike." She was defensive in a heart beat, now looking cautious.

Who was she? Knowing her luck whenever she was around Acacia, she was someone of importance. However, when she merely put her things down, it became obvious she was just a candidate. Like them.
"I will so Impress! I'll Impress, you just wait and see! When I'm a gold-rider and you're still grounded, you'll apologise. "

"Who's the stupider one? The tunnelsnake or the person that stuck their hand in the tunnelsnake hole?" Zaela said smoothly, now folding her things. A nod of acknowledgment was given to the two more approachable candidates, but she quickly returned to the conversation with the belligerent candidate. "Frankly I don't care whether I Impress or not. I'd very well leave you to being the rider while I get to go home and have a family without the guilt of a Weyr being on my shoulders, being with men not of my, or at least my parents choosing. Then, having myself not even in control of my own actions when the dragon rises? No, you can have it." It was the first time a bitter tone crept into the womans tone, but she didn't look at Tracey. She couldn't help but add one more thing.


"And if you listened in candidate lessons you would know that firelizards and dragons are cousins, just as they are to watch-whers and they all have the same abilities, if only to a lesser quality."

Now, she shrugged the girl off now, smiling towards the new girl and Acacia. "Cute little beast, though. Maybe when another clutch is in the Weyr I'll try for my own. Acquiring a miniature dragon isn't as daunting as a real one."

Erein watched wide-eyed and chuckled nervously as the blue firelizard first nibbled her fingers, then scaled her arm and whuffled into her ear. "He tickles!" Uncertainly, she attempted to stroke along his ridges with a finger, but the motion was complicated due to his proximity, so she gave up and turned around.

Erein attempted to return the older candidate's nod but did a poor job of it, being overly conscious of the lizard on her shoulder. "Um, wait. You're also a candidate, right?" She paused. "So we have lessons? When do they start? And how many more of us are there?"

Acacia was still trying not to laugh as attentions from both candidates turned to her, one concerning her flitt. The other concerning lessons and such, he gaze remained on the one she didn't know well, and hadn't expected to put Tracey in her place... She couldn't help but admire her, though she and Tracey had gotten into matches in which the louder one could yell determined the winner, this time this canidate had done so without raising her voice.
"Oh they're darlings, Caeser's been my friend for ages, I'm actually really nervous. I mean, I don't mind if I Impress or not, but... I mean, if I do, I'm worried about Caeser's reaction. I mean some people's flitts don't allow Impression, and Caeser might think I don't love him any more..." Her voice trailed off as Tracey snorted in a scathing manner.

Wide eyes were watching the blue crooning and enjoying the company of Erein, though he often looked at her to see if he was being good. Acacia decided to ignore Tracey as she smiled,
"He likes you, and there haven't been many lessons. Nor are there too many of us. Mostly on how to react upon Impression, how to look after our dragons, oh and there was a lesson where we had to help look after an injured dragon."

Tracey rolled her eyes, honestly, it was pathetic. This wherry would give up the chance at a dragon for a flitt? It was rather annoying, being put in her place by a candidate that Tracey had by now decided wouldn't Impress. No one like her could, you had to be nice didn't you? Well, she was nice.
"I pay attention, doesn't mean I believe it." She snapped, before snorting at Acacia's words.

"Wherry-head. Dragons are better than flitts any day. I know I'll get the gold." Tracey smiled, though it seemed far more forced, superior to the others. She ignored the hissing of the blue to her left, feeling that to move at all would makeher statement loose ground.

When she tried to pet his eyes ridges, tehn let her hand drop, Caeser chirped and quickly crawled so he was clinging to the front of her shirt. Eyes begging for a pet, making soft trillign sounds as he stared at her.

{{Hopefully This is okay, I'm like still half-asleep}}

Zaela couldn't help but feel that everyone was exaggerating. She emitted a soft sigh, putting her clothes back in her cubby neatly. "The only instance of a flitt intervening in Impression was when the person had already Impressed and lost their dragon, so I don't think you should worry about that. More than likely if he tried, Iolath would scare him to the point he'd never come back." Now -that- had certainly happened in a few instances. The firelizard bond was nothing like that of a bond between dragon and rider.

She merely quirked a brow at the overly confident female. "What gold egg? We don't even know if there will be one. What will you do if a green or blue wishes to bond with you? Will you send it -between-?" for the first time, anger rose slightly within the woman. Sure, she feared becoming a dragonrider, terrified at the thought of being torn away from everything she knew, but never would she wish harm upon a dragon. Even though the girl had yet to imply this, the mere thought sent this demure woman's blood boiling.

Erein's expression faded slightly into a lapsed disappointment. "There's nothing wrong with Impressing a dragon that isn't Gold," she said softly. "My uncle rides Blue and it's an honor when he remembers to come home and visit at Izvand, during Turnover, and..." She trailed off, looking slowly at Cesar and then continuing to caress him, mildly uncomfortable by the lizard's position. She didn't know her father's brother well, and they weren't even full-blood relatives, but she loved having a rider in the family, even vaguely, and despite the fact that she'd only met the man once.

She looked up in slight alarm as the other candidate-- Zaela-- also responded to Tracey. "All the same, there might be a Gold. I don't know, but I haven't been here, so..." She paused, as if finding her place. "You might know better. But can you really send your dragon /between/?"

"Some people love firelizards more than dragons," said another voice at the door, and another candidate entered, apparently drawn by the noise. "Well, there's wherhandlers who have little desire to Impress a dragon, so it could be that Acacia will develop a passion for firelizards more than for Dragons, and she mightn't necessarily Impress." Kai peered slightly owlishly at Tracey. "Zaela does have a point, though. What would you do if a dragon who wasn't golden came to you?" The young healer cocked an eyebrow curiously. She wasn't trying to challenge the candidate, but she felt a thread leading back to an anger similar to Zaela's. Harm of any life was absolutely beastly, really, and intentional harm of life was barbaric and unforgivable. "Not the certainty that you won't be faced with that situation, either-- what would you do, really?"

Erein swallowed and looked back and forth between the other four candidates, all who were a great deal more comfortable with each other, and all who seemed to take peevish attitudes to Tracey. She felt a little bit sorry for Tracey, and hoped secretly that the other candidate would still want to be her friend tomorrow, or wondered if she'd also told these girls that she wanted to be their friends, and that they now treated each other with thinly-veiled annoyance. More than anything, though, she wanted a friend; and if Tracey didn't think she was annoying, Erein wanted to be her companion.

Caeser, sensing her nervousness about him, moved onto her shoulder again. Unsure what it was he'd been doing that had upset her, had it been something he said? No, because the two-leggeds didn't understand his words, so... Oh so confusing.

Acacia did seem relieved to hear this from the older candidate, her eyes filled with affection for the little blue she'd bonded to. What more could she want in life but someone that really, truely cared about her to the extent she was sure Ceaser did. He'd never been nasty to anyone but Tracey and he'd certainly never bitten anyone before Tracey.

A new person entered the space and Acacia wasn't sure what to say in response to that. Yes, she loved her flitt, but having more than one was certainly something she hadn't considered. Having Caeser was luck, she'd been lucky to get such a darling little blue, but..

Tracey was beginning to get annoyed, what weren't they understanding? No other dragon would approach her because they knew she was a Queen rider, and that she only deserved a Queen. Sheesh, slow on the up take much?
"No I wouldn't send them between." She muttered finally, giving up on actually geting any information through their thick skulls. Silly wherries.