Hitting and Melting

Writers: Chelle, Mirren
Date Posted: 19th December 2015

Characters: Asley, Zaeryn
Description: A meeting of two diverse, yet similar minds.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 5 of Turn 8

Zaeryn stared over at the dragons. She always liked to watch them. Making jewelry in their shape was one of her favorite things to do. A difficult one, to be sure, compared to other things, but enjoyable. When she was focused on them, she was totally unaware of the world around her.

Asley hadn't been around the dragons till she'd come to the Weyr from the Hall the first time. So they still weren't quite old hat to her. The printer sometimes found herself wondering what set the dragonfolk apart from normal people and why they were chosen. She had never aspired to be more than she was. Printing was her chosen calling for good reason. She could stay in her own corner with her press and shut out the world. Her eyes caught a young woman who seemed to be doing the same thing while her hands worked. **Wonder who she is?**

Zaeryn drew out a few sheets of paper she kept in her pocket and attempted a quick sketch, but the dragons kept on moving. Frustrated, she screwed up and sheet and threw it.

That was a very familiar reaction since Asley had a bit of a temper herself. "It's not worth all that you know-though it is satisfying sometimes to destroy a small bit of something." As a printer, she had multiple opportunities to do that most days. However, she knew how valuable paper was.

"I know." Zaeryn stared down at the paper. "I just get cross and it's better than hitting people." As a child she had done that. It hadn't really helped much at the time, except to get her into trouble.

"Mmmm I tend to just use sarcasm. Or if I really need it I can always just throw stuff around the press. You get to bang things in your craft, though, don't you?" Smith knots-not exactly common for a woman. It was satisfying though, to see them. The woman must be strong indeed.

"Oh yes," Zaeryn replied. "I get to hit things quite a lot, although I prefer to melt things." Watching metals and glass heat and change form to whatever she wanted it to be was satisfying.

"Sounds like a perfect craft for you then. Me....I just play with ink and throw plates around and press and mash things besides being messy." Her fingers were so stained it was a permanent reminder of how much she was in a mess. Her blonde hair was safe though since she usually kept it up and out of the way. "I'm Asley."

"I'm Zaeryn. You're a printer, right?" The smith didn't often have much to do with them; she seldom needed anything printed. She tilted her head slightly to one side. "I think we both have messy jobs."

"Guilty. And that sounds about right. I have to deal with smiths sometimes when I need parts for the press. It can be cranky. That doesn't sound like your specialty though." Finding herself interested for a change, Asley watched how Zaeryn's eyes changed when she was talking about her craft.

Zaeryn shook her head. "I make jewelry. I know _how_ to make the bigger things, I had to learn, but I wouldn't want to try making it. I'll leave that to those smiths and they can stay out of my things." She ended with a fierce note in her voice. She hated when people touched her tools. Or worse, moved them around.

"Well jewelry is pretty and it's pretty exacting work too. So good on you for doing that. A very good trade and easy to make marks from. Did you learn here?" She was trying to think if she had ever seen her before. Asley knew most of the Weyrfolk unless they were new or people she didn't deal with. The Lower Caverns and crafter bunch though, she saw often.

"Yes, did you?" Zaeryn was thinking much the same thing. "Sorry, sometimes I'm so focused on work and ideas that I don't notice the people around me. Even the pretty ones, like you." There nothing ingenuous in her tone, she was simply stating a fact as she saw it.

That was something the printer didn't hear much and it caused a soft smile as well as a shift in stance. It wasn't an overt reaction but a subtle one. "I started at the Hall at Topaz Seahold then came here when it broke. Then when we left, I went to Emerald Falls but I've been back for sometime."

"Oh, you've been lots of places." Zaeryn bent to pick up the tossed paper ball and started to straighten it. "Especially places with gems in their name." She tended to notice things like that, that probably no one else would care about.

"Very true. I was born at Southern Boll Hold though. No gem there. Or at Dolphin Cove." She smiled, appreciating the quirkiness of the statement. "There are a lot of gem Holds in the south. Sapphire Meadows, Garnet Valley, Opal Cove, Amber Hills, Jade Harbor, Amethyst Cliff used to be.." It was actually pretty common now that she thought about it. "Probably a good place for a jeweler eh?"

Zaeryn laughed softly. "I suppose so. How pretty they'd all be if they were made of their names. Especially Opal Cove. Imagine how the light would - I'm sorry, I go on too much." She looked rueful. It was hard not to go on when she was interested in what she was talking about, but other people didn't seem to appreciate it.

"Oh you're fine. And yeah it would be pretty. Emerald Falls' grounds is green like that though. So at least sometimes it's right. So what else do you do?" Asley didn't do much else besides read and collect little things when she wasn't working, but she was trying to be a little better about it.

"I like to swim and fish," Zaeryn replied. "And I like to read, but I'm not very good at it. I like when the harpers tell stories and I can see them in my mind. It's nice to close my eyes and just listen."

"Ahh....that's why I like printing pictures with some stories so you can really see what it looks like." She couldn't draw though, so that fell to the harpers. She could make their work into stamps, though. "I can swim, but I've never been fishing."

"I'm not very good at that either. It's mostly just sitting next to the water and enjoying the peace. It gets boring eventually, unless you catch something." Sitting still wasn't her strongest skill, but it was nice sometimes.

"Ah well...if you need someone to sit with you to stop the boredom...you can find me in my workshop most days. Otherwise I have quarters in the crafter area." There weren't that many of them so the smith could find her if she really wanted to. And Asley hoped she did.

"Really? That would be fun. I know a nice little spot." Didn't everyone who fished? "Maybe on rest day?"

"Oh sure. Sounds like a plan. I can meet you in the Dining Cavern." Asley figured that was easiest.

Last updated on the December 21st 2015

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Hitting and Melting