Cleaning and Conversation

Writers: Francesca
Date Posted: 29th April 2022

Characters: Chalzie, Orisia, Nessala
Description: Chalzie and two other senior apprentices talk about their lives and future plans.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 2, day 6 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: Arrilon

The three senior apprentices left their advanced cartography class,
Chalzie sighing in relief. "If I wanted to draw so much, I'd have
become a harper" she complained, keeping her voice low so the
instructor wouldn't hear.

Orisia rolled her eyes at the dramatic comment. "Your map wasn't half
bad. Besides, you'll mainly need to be able to read maps and notice
when something has changed. Unless you've decided to specialize in
cartography?"

"No way!" Chalzie said, perhaps more forcefully than necessary. "I'll
leave that to you," she added, giving Nessala a nudge with her elbow.
"Your map was perfect."

Nessala shrugged and gave a small smile. "We all have our strengths,"
she said amicably. "I still remember that great water rescue you did a
few sevendays ago."

"That was fun!" Chalzie most enjoyed classes where they got in the
water and needed to react to real-life scenarios.

The trio moved down the hall to the equipment room. They had a
candlemark until the evening meal and were going to do a deep cleaning
of their equipment. They wouldn't have made it this far in their
studies without understanding how important it was to keep their
equipment in perfect shape. And, they had learned that cleaning in
company helped pass the time. They quickly grabbed their gear and
cleaning supplies, then went outside to their normal spot, a
relatively sand-free place in the shade. It was a hot day but all
three were used to it.

Chalzie started with her goggles, carefully wiping them down and
checking the glass for cracks. "Any news from the Masters?" she asked
the other two.

Both shook their heads. "You know as much as we do," Nessala said.

Unlike Chalzie, they were the children of dolphineers, had apprenticed
as soon as they were able, and were expected to walk the tables soon.
"So, no marriage yet then?"

Orisia sighed. "Rillon wouldn't mind doing it now. I'm not sure
anymore. I wanted to be able to focus on my studies some more and
settle into being a journeyman before marriage and kids and
everything. But, it's not like a few months either way would make much
of a difference. And, I'm ready to move out of the dormitories."

"You should go ahead and get married," Nessala said encouragingly.
She'd had a few short-lived relationships with other dolphineers but
was currently single. And, while she couldn't help but be a bit
jealous of her friend, she was also happy for her. She and Rillon, a
journeyman dolphineer, were a good match.

Chalzie wasn't quite so excited. She would never be comfortable with
the strong desire most of her fellow female apprentices had to marry
and have kids. However, Nessala and Rillon had been together for
almost three Turns and she was fairly confident that he didn't just
want a meek wife to take care of him and have a bunch of children.
"You can always get married and hold off on children for a bit." She
had previously shared information about the tea she sometimes took.

"I guess so," Orisia said, shifting uncomfortably. It felt deceitful
to agree to a marriage and then prevent pregnancy. And there were
examples of other female dolphineers who managed to juggle their craft
and childrearing. She was sure she could figure it out if she got
pregnant quickly.

"Hey, what do you think of this flipper?" Nessala asked after a few
moments, her voice filling the slightly awkward silence. "Can the
strap be fixed or is it time for a new one?"

Chalzie took a close look, noticing the fraying edge. "You've already
sewn it back once?" At Nessala's nod, she continued. "I think it's
time for a new strap." She passed the flipper to Orisia. "What do you
think?"

Orisia did her own examination and expressed her agreement with
Chalzie, then passed the flipper back to Nessala.

They worked in silence for a bit, removing salt water stains and
checking for rust. Even after Turns of this, the speed at which
equipment wore down still surprised Chalzie. One day everything would
be in good repair and the next, something would be frayed or broken.

Then Orisia, a small smile crossing her face, asked, "Any news from
the harper you were seeing?"

"No," Chalzie quickly answered, trying to keep the emotion out of her
voice. "I wasn't expecting to hear anything. We're not together
anymore." After five months, it still hurt a bit to think of him,
which had come as a surprise to her. She knew it was the right
decision to break off the relationship, but it was still hard to think
that she would probably never see him again.

"I still don't get why you didn't stay with him. You were together for
almost a Turn." Nessala was glad she wasn't the only single friend,
but she definitely would have chosen differently in Chalzie's
position.

Chalzie shook her head. "It wouldn't have worked out. It's not like I
could have transferred to the Harper Hall. And he wanted to spend at
least a few Turns there." She repeated the same arguments she had
already shared with them, and that she used to convince herself.
"Besides, you might be ready to marry, but I definitely am not. I'm
just going to focus on my studies for now. I still have a while to go
before I'll be ready to walk the tables." Not wanting to talk more
about her nonexistent love life, she smiled and looked at Nessala.
"Has anyone caught your eye recently?"

Nessala scoffed. "No way. I'll need to hope someone transfers from the
northern Dolphin Hall, or another crafter comes here on assignment or
something."

"Well, let me know if you ever want to come to the Weyr on a restday,"
Chalzie offered. "There are holdbred crafters there." She had met some
of Arrilon's harper friends whose views weren't so widely different
from those of her Hall raised friends

"I don't know," Nessala said, skeptical. While Chalzie was a good
friend, she still only went to the Weyr sometimes for Hatchings,
preferring to stay near the comfort of the Hall.

"It's an open invitation," Chalzie said with a shrug. "The Weyr isn't
going anywhere."

After some more scrubbing and conversation, everything was clean. They
gathered up their equipment and headed back to the equipment room to
put everything back in its place. "Want to take a quick dip before the
evening meal?" Orisia asked as they walked down the hall.

"Yes, please!" Nessala said immediately. "I'm covered in sweat."

"Well, you'll never find a husband like that!" Chalzie joked. "Let's go!"

Last updated on the July 15th 2022

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Cleaning and Conversation