Making Acquaintances

Writers: Kaysea, Kurt
Date Posted: 1st September 2008

Characters: Feydik, Treya
Description: Treya begins to come back out of her seclusion and has Feydik in her sights
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 11, day 20 of Turn 4

"Is this seat taken?" Treya asked, flashing the journeyman a bright, but
slightly tremulous, smile. This was only the second meal she had taken in
the dining cavern in the past month; being convinced by some of her
wingmates that she shouldn't hide herself away anymore.

"Er, no, no, of course not!" The tall technician slid his tray to the
side to make more space and scooted himself over a few inches, so as not
to crowd. He reached to move his cup of redfruit juice and very nearly
upended it in the process, saving it at just the last second. "Sorry,"
Feydik said, "Didn't mean to be so clutzy. But ah, feel free, yes."

"Thanks." once more a brief smile as she took the seat next to him. She
hadn't missed his eyes, nor his height - or what she guessed to be his
height from the length of his torso next to her. "I'm Treya..." she said,
before taking a sip of her klah.

Feydik smiled awkwardly. "Hi Treya." He then added as an afterthought.
"Oh, I'm Feydik." He paused, not really certain as to how to proceed.
"I'm not sure I've seen you around here before. But it's possible that
maybe I was just, uh, distracted. Sometimes I get, uh, lost in my
thoughts." He followed this with an uncertain look. Perhaps he'd
volunteered a bit too much.

"I haven't been down here for a while." she admitted. "Though I'm always
out on the wings for practice and during Fall." she flashed him another
smile, admiring his long, lean looks. "What do you do?" she asked, eyeing
his technicians knots.

"I...fix things," Feydik answered. Well, she hadn't lost interest yet, so
that was good. "Electrical things. I mean, that's what I do. I'm a
technician. Most of my time is spent correcting issues with the lighting,
but I also get to work on more complex systems from time to time. And I
research too. We have lots of experi-" He cut himself off and cleared
his throat. "Sorry. I tend to ramble. So...well...what brings you here
today? Change of pace?"

She laughed, "It's good to hear someone talking of something other than
Falls, and the mundane rider discussions." she said, taking a bite of the
redfruit from her plate. "But for me? I...I had some time away from
riders and people in general." she shook her head, as if to infer she
really didn't want to discuss it, and hoped he would understand. "Tell me
some more about the things you're here to fix."

"Oh. Well. If it runs on electric current, it's my jurisdiction."
Feydik gave a small smile. "The main use of electricity here is the
lighting, so that's one of my primary tasks. A lot of times it's just
replacing burned out bulbs, but occasionally I get to do something more
interesting, like finding shorts in wiring, or repairing blown
transformers." He sat up slightly, as if gaining more composure. "Right
now, there are a lot of barriers that need to be overcome, but when we do,
we'll be doing a lot more with electrical components. The possibilities
are literally endless."

"Oh... I think it's a bit too involved for me to understand." she
laughed, "I'll stick to riding I think, but if ever I need a new bulb,
I'll know who to look for." She flicked back a stray hair, it _was_ good
to be back in contact with people, especially someone who was so animated
when it came to his craft. Maybe this was what she needed, someone who
wasn't a rider, who may have more holder-like ideas where relationships
were concerned.

Feydik chuckled. He was thrilled that the conversation had gotten this
far without Treya coming up with a reason to be elsewhere, as happened so
often when he talked about his work. That was a problem, of course.
Being so engrossed in the field didn't leave much else for him to talk
about. He chided himself inwardly. He needed to get out more...badly.
"Absolutely," he smiled. "And if you're lucky, I'll throw in a free
lecture on your choice of topics in electrical physics. Can't beat that,
now can you?"

Her laughter was genuine, "I'm sorry I haven't been down to the dining
cavern before now. Who knew I was missing such an entertaining dining
companion." she smiled. "I could have done with meeting you a sevenday,
or more, ago." For a moment her eyes clouded with memories of C'pouk, but
he was long gone, and so were her chances of a partner who would
understand all that she went through on a daily basis.

"Oh?" Feydik asked, his food pretty much forgotten for the time being.
"Having trouble sleeping nights? Because I've been told that I'm
exceptionally good at putting people to sleep. In fact, I think some of
the apprentices specifically request my class because it is the only place
they get any rest." He smiled crookedly. "In all honesty, I run out of
things to talk about when I'm not talking about scientific research. So,
uh, maybe you should tell me about something you do. I'm sure it only
seems mundane to you because of familiarity."

"I'm a rider, and there's more than enough of us here, that I'm sure you
know what our days entail." she replied with a shrug, "All mundane once
you've seen and done it a few times." She could feel the depression
settling on her again, and felt the gentle touch of Cenith in the back of
her mind.

}:You will find someone to love you rider mine and if not human, you still
have me:{ the quietness to the message showed Treya how much she had upset
her lifemate.

**Oh sweetling, I know you love me, and you know I love you dearly, but
sometimes its nice to just feel the touch or embrace of someone just like
you.** she answered, **Please never doubt how happy you make me.**

She turned her attention back to the journeyman, "Sorry, I didn't mean to
ignore you. What were we saying?"

"Just, uhm, debating what we each find to be interesting or mundane,"
Feydik drummed his fingers lightly on the tabletop. "I honestly haven't
had a lot of contact with dragonriders. You know, on a one-on-one level.
So...it surely is not mundane to me." He paused a brief moment. "Just
then...when you went quiet like that...were you talking with your dragon?"

"Yes," she smiled softly, "Cenith worries about me, and I needed to
reassure her, or her me." she shrugged, "You live in the Weyr and yet
haven't had any one on one contact with riders?" she found that an
extremely odd thing to hear.

"I didn't say that I hadn't had _any_," Feydik corrected, "just not much,
and never in much depth. I do live in the Weyr, this is true, but I have
not lived here all that long, relatively speaking. And, part of it could
be due to the the fact that I don't get out of the laboratory enough. Part
of it could also be that people just tend to form their own social
circles. Without an external reason to interact, I don't think most
people will." He gave a small smile and an equally small shrug. "So your
dragon is worried about you? Does she think I am a bad influence?"

"No, quite the opposite, probably. It's just...me." she didn't elaborate,
not wishing to sound even more morose than she already had. "Look, would
you like to get to know a dragon more intimately than just watching them
fly and land?" she asked, an idea forming in her mind.

Feydik found himself somewhat curious about what Treya had said, or more
rather, what she had not said, but he didn't press the issue. When she
brought up dragons, he raised his eyebrows.

"I...might be somewhat intrigued by the opportunity," he admitted. "Did
you have something in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking, you could come and meet Cenith if you like? She's
sunning herself up on the heights at the moment, but I was thinking of
getting away for a few hours this afternoon - you could come too, if you
can bear to be away from your work for a couple of candlemarks?"

"Well, let me think about...I mean, sure!" Feydik interrupted any possible
diversion into his thoughts. "I mean, if you don't think she'll mind. I
wouldn't want to, you know, be an imposition." It was hard to imagine a
man-sized creature being an imposition upon a dragon-sized one, but Feydik
thought it wise to be cautious, given how very little he knew about
dragons.

"No..no imposition." Treya shook her head, "We'd love to have some company
on the flight." She took another bite of fruit, a pleased smile gracing
her face. "It'll give you a new view of dragons and their riders."

"Flight?" Feydik for some reason hadn't thought about the possibility of
riding with Treya. Not that the idea was particularly frightening or
unsettling...it just was...unexpected. "That sounds...pretty neat,
actually. I mean, if you don't mind having an awkward passenger who might
very well be afraid of heights when you finally get up there."

"She's a very gentle ride, and she's also very careful when she has first
timers up there, so I think you'll do better than you imagine." she had to
cover her smile with a sip from her mug. He was an amusing mealtime
companion, she hadn't thought she would enjoy being back in the dining
cavern with all the hustle and bustle - not to mention all of her
previous partners - but Feydik had made the time fly by.

"Good with first timers?" Feydik offered a small smile. "So I hope that
means she doesn't drop many. So...uhm, I mean...when should we arrange
for this aerial experience? And where should I meet you?"

"Later this afternoon, say in about...." she glanced up at the time keeper
above the servery, "two candlemarks time, up near the feeding grounds?"

"Let me think..." Feydik tapped his fingers upon the tabletop as he ran
through his duties and obligations for the rest of the day. "Yes...uh, I
think that should work out just fine." He glanced down at his tray then,
which was still, for the most part, untouched. "Oh, look," he pointed
out. "I've got food here." The conversation had flowed so easily, he'd
forgotten just how long he'd been talking.

"Well, I guess we should both finish our meals, and then we'll catch up
later, yes?"

"Haha, yes, that would be the thing to do," Feydik chuckled. "I must say,
you made me forget that I was hungry. I'm not usually much of a talker,
especially here in the dining hall." He picked up a piece of bread and
bit a small piece off. "It's been very pleasant. So...hopefully you'll
remember me like this, and not when I am getting vertigo from heights."

The remainder of the meal passed in pleasant conversation, she found
Feydik an amusing companion during the meal, and hoped the commaradery
would continue throughout the rest of the day. With a new sense of hope
she left the dining hall a lot happier than she had been when she arrived
for the meal. A friend was what she needed, and she hoped that Feydik
would prove to be just that - a friend.

Last updated on the September 1st 2008

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Making Acquaintances