Planning {open}

[Kaemi]

Who: Tevon and whoeverrr.
Where: Library
When: Just before dusk
Why: Scheduling and writing out lessons

Tevsk was still asleep. The brown would wake soon, Tevon was sure, but they didn't have to be on Watch for another few candlemarks. His wher would do fine on his own until he had finished in the Library. Anyways, it was necessary that he write out the very basic outline for the wherling lessons that would be taking place sooner or later. He had yet to be one caught unprepared, and he refused to start that trend now. Assigned a job, he would do it, and do it well. Still, after a minute or two, he sighed and pushed the papers away from him. This was exhausting.

Looking around the Library, Tevon took a moment to marvel at the number of Records that were here. For a Weyr that had been decimated by sickness, then hastily moved to a new location, they had a significant amount of information. Moving his mind quickly from the thought of the sickness and Silver Cove at all, he focused back on his own work. The only experience he had with wherling lessons was when he had been attending them, himself. This was bound to be interesting, but to be honest, Tov was quite happy for the distraction. He didn't mind teaching, as long as the little brats didn't mess with him or try to become his friend so as to garner favor. Or even try to become his friend at all, for any reason.

His wher, too, was excited. Tovsk was interested in the idea of little whers and smaller people who would be the little whers' handlers. The brown was staunchly ignoring the fact that wherlings tended to be an older group of people, often failed-dragon candidates. In Toven's opinion, the brown would do better with the creche boys and girls, but that just wasn't going to happen. Shaking his head, the wherhandler pushed the thoughts of his wher from his head as he had done with Silver Cove and the sickness (albeit for different reasons) and again began to write out the lessons.

[Rouxy]

It was getting later, but she didn't mind, there were plenty of glows and candles and she had a small circle of light around her working space. It was rather typical for Naoko to be around libraries late, looking up some obscure piece of information on her current project of choice.

Earlier that day, she'd caught the stray piece of a teaching ballad she'd never heard before, and she was now scouring books trying to find a mention or something similar. She was particularly fond of the harper's teaching ballads, and an opportunity to learn a new one or perhaps rediscover an old one was something she couldn't pass up. She'd already looked through several books without any luck, and in her sevenday worth of time at Cerulean she'd already become familiar with the strangely dust-less tomes.

So absorbed was she, she didn't notice that there was anyone else with her in the library, and she made a little excited noise when she finally, finally found another reference to the ballad she'd seen a piece of. Jotting down the notes on the spare paper she had with her, she busily flipped further pages to see if it was a single mentioning or if the book held the entire piece.

It was a few moments later that she closed the book with a deep sigh of discontent. Still no ballad. Noticing that her table was strewn with books, the ex-rider twitched a small smile at her own eagerness and she stood, shuffling her papers and arranging and closing the various assortment of books to place back on the shelves. She gathered an armload and began walking around to find where each book belonged, rounding a corner of shelf and entering the space of another late library user. Blinking for a moment, the woman ducked her head in greeting, then returned to unobtrusively re-shelving the books that belonged in that section, murmuring titles under her breath as she found their homes.

"Teaching through the Turns.... The Timelessness of Ballads.... Harpers and the 'How To' of Songwriting..."

[Kaemi]

Toven had become absorbed in his writing. He was actually making progress, up to the fifth lesson... which was more than he could have said before entering the Library this evening. It was slow work, but he was devoted to making sure that his future wherlings would be well-taught, and would use their time with him to the best of all their abilities. He wouldn't let idiots with dangerous creatures leave to join the Night Watch, for sure! His attention was drawn by a loud sigh, but when he raised his head and looked around, there was no one there. About to look back down, a rather pretty woman found her way around a corner.

Although it wasn't odd to find others among the stacks, it was to find someone around so late. Most people didn't stick around when it came time for supper, not to mention that they may actually have to light a glow or two to be able to see. Toven looked at her in surprise, doubly so when she merely nodded at him, and continued what she was doing. It seemed that she was very comfortable in here, and knew what she was doing. Certainly, she had more familiarity than he did.

That wasn't saying much, but still.

She began muttering; breathy words that he couldn't understand. Putting away the volumes in her arms with a sureness of their position. Maybe... maybe, then, she could help him find a title that he had been searching for earlier. He had been told that the book was here, but after a little under a candlemark of searching and no Record, had given up. This woman, though, she seemed very familiar with the Library. Maybe she would know where it was, or at least a general position for it that would narrow down his search.

“Excuse me, lady,” he said. “I was wondering... well, I am Toven of brown Tovensk. I was hoping that you could lead me towards a title that I was told was here, somewhere: Development of Whers. I can't seem to find it.” He never had had a problem asking for help.

[Rouxy]

Naoko just tipped the last book into its place when the man at the table spoke up with his question. Several emotions suddenly filled her at once. A handler! Maybe this could be the start for her wher based research! Then a tinge that came from acceptance of a challenge -finding that book of his- and finally simple pleasure at being able to help someone. It wasn't quite teaching, but it was close enough for a sleepy astronomer.

Turning to the handler, she nodded with a brief, tight smile. "Yeah, there's a smallish section for whers further back. It's a little hidden..." She gestured towards the back, intending to get the book herself whether he followed or not. She would have to read it another day or even later that night, after this Toven was done with it. She began to move towards the indicated spot, glancing back over her shoulder as she did so. "I'm Naoko, new to the Weyr." and that was it for her attempt at the niceties. She bit her lip lightly in concentration as she walked the aisles back to the corner, able to see the table he sat at the entire time, the title in her mind as her eyes scanned the volumes of information.

It took her three passes before she found the right spot, and her fingers zipped over the spines, a soft "Ah hah." when she found her quarry. She snagged the book by its rather new and unused looking spine, and turned back to the handler.

"If you don't mind leaving this out when you're done, I'd like to read it myself. I must have missed it before... maybe someone else had it out." Naoko resisted launching into a question and answer session with the veritable trove of information presented before her in the form of this handler, but there would be time and time for learning more. She considered herself lucky to have run into one so early in her time at Cerulean.

[Kaemi]

"Oh, good," he murmured as he stood to follow the woman. "Greetings, Naoko," Toven added as she introduced herself. He rocked back on his foot as she did as he requested, searching for the book that he couldn't seem to find. Then again, he hadn't even known about this 'wher section' that he was apparently in. Wanting to commit it to memory, the handler took the time waiting for her to memorize the look of the shelves. Truthfully, it all looked the same to him, and he knew that if he wanted to find it again he'd have to rely on either dumb luck, or someone else's assistance. He'd never been good around books anyways.

It really didn't seem to take her long at all, considering the amount of time he had searched for it. Giving Naoko a small smile, he nodded his thanks. "Oh, of course I can. I'll leave it on the table tonight, if you're not still here. Why do you want it?" It wouldn't take him all night to find what he was looking for in it, a candlemark at the very most. After all, he couldn't spend all day and night reading it from cover to cover, as he may have liked. He had Tovsk to take care of, first and foremost.

However, it was an interesting question. What would a woman want with a book utterly on whers and their growth? He was a wherhandler, and Toven probably wouldn't want to read it unless he thought it would be crucial for his wherling lessons. It would probably be a fairly dull read, but he wanted to make sure that Rozsk's children grew well and that they and their handlers were trained adeptly.

[Rouxy]

Naoko gave another small smile, leaning against a table as she handed over the book in question. "I have been loosely studying whers for a few Turns now, and a new book on their development would be just what I need. I've read several books on the subject already at Honshu, but they only have a single handler pair." She gestured towards Toven, clearly caught up in the moment. She had a smile on her face and her hands moved avidly when she spoke.

"You as a handler have direct access to your wher, and I'm sure you know more than this book could about how one actually works and thinks. Physical contact that gives you a deeper understanding of their potential and their abilities." The brief light of something akin to fanaticism in her eyes showed how much she believed what she spoke of, but it quickly cooled back down to general interest, as if she'd let slip something personal and now sought to gloss it over.

"Why are you interested in the book? Looking to glean more information about your brown?" Turn about was fair play, right? Not to mention a decent way to change the subject. The astronomer was curious about the handler's interest, though in all honesty, he had a good enough reason in just being bonded to one. Still, better to connect and maybe earn a helper in the days to come when she truly launched into the training she had come here to do. Riders certainly wouldn't know anything about whers, and this she knew from personal experience. Many didn't even like them. Of course, she had been the same way, to a lesser degree. Life was funny that way.

[Kaemi]

Not many people studied whers. They tended to stay away from them, frankly, due to their unattractive appearance and a violent wher's voracity. However, Toven had heard of some of the more eccentric studies undergone at Honshu, and so he wasn't all that surprised that someone was undertaking such a project. “Only a single pair? We're not overrun by whers here, nor are we in any danger of ever having such an issue, but that wher must be terribly lonely,” he said with minimal concern. It would have its handler, and even surrounded by dragons and researchers, it would be fine. As long as it wasn't neglected, or anything of the sort. That was absurd- what handler could abuse a creature in that way, whom they shared empathy with? So the wher would be fine.

Toven nodded in agreement- everything she was saying was accurate. Her interest lit her eyes, and sparked her tone quite obviously, which encouraged a smile onto his own face. “What are you saying?” he asked bluntly. “It sounds a little like you wish to ask me questions. Acceptable.” Most of that he entered into the conversation, not from the goodness in his heart, but rather in his own interest to see what this woman was after. What exactly she was studying and why on Pern she was so interested.

He should have expected her to question him, as well. After all, he did already have a fully-matured wher- what business would he have to study them further, when he could go back through his own notes oh wherlinghood? “I've been employed as the WherlingMaster of Cerulean, actually,” Toven told her with a small smile. As soon as Rozsk Ran and clutched, that is. Seeing and opportunity to recruit whercandidates, he attempted to make his smile even brighter as he continued, “Our resident gold is due to Run soon, and then she will clutch. I hope you're going to request an egg from her. It would surely improve your studies a great deal, so that you wouldn't have to read second- and third-hand accounts, and rather experience and experiment for yourself.”

[Rouxy]

The woman seemed surprised at Toven's sudden offer to answer questions, and was momentarily knocked off track. As she worked to regain her mental focus, questions ran through her mind, a dozen, no a hundred! She couldn't ask them all! Woah girl, back off a bit. She was a little too tired to be properly notating which questions to ask, much less to get to the ones she wanted. She wondered if she could extract a promise of a later conversation from the forward handler, perhaps early morning... but no, then he'd be tired and it just wouldn't work!

As she debated on whether to ask for just that thing, the handler went on to say that he was the Wherling Master, of all people to run into. Naoko couldn't help but smile, slightly overwhelmed. "You're the Wherling Master? That must be a job and a half. Teaching not only all those newly impressed people, but their beasties too. I don't envy you, but then again, it sounds rather exciting, and not a little bit challenging." She seemed to enjoy the idea of such a challenge, as it brought a wry grin to her lips that swiftly settled back into a softer more generalized smile.

She blinked at the suggestion that she actually request an egg from the clutch, or even stand in for it. For the briefest of moments, she actually considered- but no, no, she was crazy. She avoided hatchings in general because they always reminded her of...

Taking a deep breath to settle her nerves, Naoko pulled a gracious smile from somewhere and shook her head. "I can't take away a legitimate partner for any of those soon to be babies. It wouldn't be right, but I will take you up on those questions. Your brown, do you find that his mental capabilities, his capacity for reasoned though, developed at a rapid pace, or was he nearly fully grown before it fully came into bloom?" There, a good question. Set them on the right track and all.

[Kaemi]

“I'm not entirely sure,” Toven admitted, “this will be my first time teaching them. I got the position when I arrived here, and this is the first wher clutch we've had.” Hence the research aspect of his evening. However, he, too, enjoyed the challenge the new wherlings would pose. A little challenge, a little distraction, and very little free time. Not to mention, his Tovsk would be beyond amused, which was always a good thing. If the brown was happy, then chances were, it would be difficult for his handler to stay unhappy.

It was odd, how surprised Naoko seemed at the thought that she may Impress from the wher clutch. The idea of requesting an egg had always seemed so necessary to Toven, who had wanted to be a handler for a majority of his Turns. And, while he was sure that there were plenty of people out there like this, it was still odd to openly confront someone who didn't share the same views. However, firstly there was a legitimate question that she wanted answered. “I wouldn't identify it as a rapid pace, but he was developed mentally before the allotted time for his wherlinghood. At least by a few months, I would say.”

Although being a little offended, he knew better than to be too shocked. Not many people at all liked whers, he knew that, she knew that, and it wasn't uncommon in the least. It was something that wher handlers had to learn to deal with, even though none of them particularly liked it. Just because Toven wasn't a social butterfly didn't mean he enjoyed being a pariah, so he didn't make too much of a fuss about it. Generally.

Shaking his head, Tov looked back up at her, . “Do you not like whers, then? I know they're not pleasing, visually, and they're not as majestic as dragons, but they're very useful and they have their own particular charm. Intelligent beings, and you're obviously not as biased as many people. You are researching them, after all.” It would be plenty refreshing to possibly have someone like her Impress to one of the wherlings. A mature adult, an intelligent woman who knew what she was doing and, when she didn't, knew enough to research it or ask for help.