Slow and Steady...dusts the records? (Chores)

[Mango]

Who: Valee and whoever
What: Chores
When: Early Afternoon
Where: Library

---

Valee stretched as she walked into the space that would one day be an organized library. She felt like this task was perfect for her. She had the patience to really get some stuff in order. It just might take her a Pass to do it. She knew others had been assigned to come and assist in this task, but they seemed to not have arrived yet.

She shrugged, she didn't mind. She could get stuff done now and maybe be able to chat and get to know some people once they arrived. This job wasn't too incredibly taxing physically or mentally. Well, it didn't have to be. Organizing would be the most mentally challenging thing they had to do. But for the moment, dusting was in order. She took a rag and tied it around her mouth. She had dealt with dust before wasn't extremely fond of it. Though getting dust off of yarn was much harder than getting it off of records.

She grabbed another cloth and set to work dusting. After that, she had a plan. She would start to organize then. Hopefully, they could be arranged easily into categories. She wasn't sure how exactly would be the best way to do it though. She pondered this as she thought. The records could probably be put chronologically. Any teachings would hopefully be titled and contain the Harper's name. This task wouldn't be so bad, she thought as she continued to raise a cloud of dust.

[Maykat]

Well this puts a kink in the plan, Batavia thought as she walked a few steps into the library. Apparently it was rather low on the new Weyr's priority list. She knew it made sense, you couldn't eat books, but it still was annoying. "Hey there," she said to Valee with a grin.

Her time at the Weyr had been a whirlwind, full of shifts in the infirmary, candidate lessons and getting to know her way around. She had been looking forward to a few quiet hours reading and taking notes, and indulging in a little daydreaming about the upcoming Hatching. She'd been too busy to think about the eggs on the Sands and a few hours of frivolous speculation and worry were just what she needed.

Batavia dropped her sheaf of hides on a table and stood looking at the boxes and stacks of books and scrolls. "Is there any kind of order to this at all?" she asked. The part of Batavia that folded her dirty clothes and actually liked taking inventories was itching to put the books in order, while the part of her that liked the beach was itching to give up, tell S'lain things weren't unpacked yet, and just take the afternoon off. "That's probably too much to hope for, isn't it?"

[Mango]

Valee had been vigorously wiping off scrolls of dust when the other girl walked in. She didn't notice her at first. No, it was more important that she get every speck of dust off these scrolls. They would be the freshest records anyone had ever read. The jumped at the sound of a voice.

"Oh hi..." she said, smiling at the other girl with a sheepish grin. She hoped the other hadn't seen her jump like that. The girl seemed just as shocked at the lack of order as she was. It wasn't much fun, but it was the chore she was assigned. That made her wonder.

"Nope, no order yet. I'm getting to organizing them once I'm done dusting. It would drive me crazy if I didn't." She was talking quickly and,she soon realized, muffled due to the rag she had tied around her mouth to keep the dust out. She pulled it down and took a deep breath. Ewww, the air was still dusty.

After a short cough to clear her throat, she smiled at the other, "I'm Valee. Are you a Candidate too?" She kind of hoped this was another Candidate assigned to help with this tedious chore. It was too much work for one person, especially Valee.

[Maykat]

Batavia's face twitched and her nose wrinkled as she suppressed a sneeze. "You're not alone there," she muttered. The chaos would drive her crazy too. "I'm Batavia. I'm a candidate too, but I haven't been around the barracks much. I'm a dragonhealer also," she explained, "so I spend most of my time in the infirmary." She recognized Valee from classes and was glad to have a face to go with the name. "I transferred here from Southern."

She continued to look at the mess, standing with her hands on her hips. "I was just going to do some research," she added as an aside. Instead she reached up to the brightly colored scarf tied around her head and unwrapped a corner. She pulled it across her nose and mouth and tucked the end securely back up. "I guess I can't let you do this all by yourself, can I?" She grinned at the other girl. There was no way it would all be done today, even with the two of them, but Batavia couldn't just walk away and leave Valee by herself. "Keep an eye out for some kind of shelving guide." She grabbed a rag and a book and started working. "They had to have a system for this mess."

[Mango]

"I transferred with the original clutch over here," she said with a sort of sad smile, "I was left Standing unfortunately. There's always second chances, right? And, thanks, I could really use the help." She laughed at this, shaking her head at the mess. It was ridiculous. Good thing she wasn't a Harper or she might be ready to strangle someone.

She nodded to the girl and replaced the rag around her nose and mouth. She felt bad letting a Candidate do a chore assigned to her, but she was supposed to have help anyways. If this girl wanted to find anything anytime soon, helping seemed like a good option for them both, especially with Valee's pace. She turned and returned the work. The other girl didn't seem like a huge talker, but Valee hoped she wouldn't prove to be one of those chatty people who had to hold a conversation while working. It really just slowed Valee down.

[Kira]

S'ren rounded the corner so quickly she tripped over herself, and it was only her ability to land in a roll that probably kept her from getting hurt. She was sad no one saw that awesome maneuver, but...also thankful no one saw her trip either. "Shards," she muttered under her breath, popping back up to keep running.

If you were more responsible, you wouldn't be running. You're of no use to me with a broken leg, so don't get hurt, a sarcastic voice echoed in her head. There was affection laced in it, and she knew the admonishment was Feynth's own way of letting his worry show.

'Oh, sod off, Fey,' she shot back with a grin. They'd both fallen asleep under this lovely little grove of palm trees, lulled by the sound of the waves and the heat of the day. She'd woken not five minutes prior with the strange sensation that she was supposed to be somewhere...and then was a blur of motion as she took off toward the Weyr in a stream of curses. Feynth was also awakened by her alarmed thoughts, and he felt he was justifiably snippy about it.

Finally making it to the library, she let out a loud whoosh of hair and bent to put her hands on her knees to catch her breath. ...Only it was dusty, and that resulted in an attack of coughing, and worse wheezing. She could feel the smug snicker. "Ack!" she said in disgust when she had control of her lungs again, wrinkling her nose and fanning the air around her away in vain.

...Oh yeah, library. "Er, sorry," she called...semi-quietly. She ran a sheepish hand through her hair when she saw the other two girls here looking like they were working already. Were they the...Adelle and Valee she was supposed to work with? Crumbs.

"Doubly sorry, actually. I'm S'ren. ...Am I late?" she winced and tugged on a lock of the hair at her nape in embarrassment.

Well that's a wonderful first impression.

'Shut up, Fey. Really.'

[Mango]

Valee looked up as they were joined by a new face. She waved at the girl and pulled the rag around her mouth down, "It's fine, we're just getting started," she said, looking the girl over, "You...might want to cover your nose and mouth. We're dusting, so it's bound to upset some lungs." She laughed, then quickly added, "I'm Valee. A Candidate." She wondered if the other girl was a Weyrling. Her name sounded like it might have been shortened. But it was a girl, right? Did girls get there names shortened?

What would that her? V'lee? She laughed mentally at the picture and replaced her rag to continue dusting. She didn't really want to be there all day. It was a good thing someone else had come to join them. She wasn't too late either. Probably right on time. And though Batavia wasn't supposed to be helping them, Valee certainly appreciated the help. But would the other Candidate leave them now?

[Maykat]

“Well in my case there’s been second, third and fourth chances,” she said with a bit of a chuckle. After only a few minutes of work Batavia was dirty; her hands blackened at the fingertips and her tunic splotched with red rot from the volumes. She looked up when a new girl burst into the room, but kept wiping.

"Hey there." Her eyes crinkled above her handkerchief as Batavia smiled at the new arrival. S'ren. She didn't know of any female riders to elide their names back at Southern, maybe this was just something that had started at Silver Cove or here at Cerulean. "I'm Batavia, dragonhealer and candidate. You might want to step outside to catch your breath," she suggested. "Unless you like coughing your lungs out, that is."

[Kira]

S'ren knew it was a bit out of the ordinary to shorten her name, but she also knew it could catch on easily enough. One of the books L'cin had managed to get her to read about dragons had told the origin of the shortening - that dragons had at first had a hard time saying human names quickly, and so during threadfall would slur them. Queenriders' names were usually left intact simply because they weren't part of the major action - and partly out of respect - though sometimes they were given one or two syllable nicknames. After awhile it just became a mark of honor for a wingrider, and with girls rarely Impressing anything other than golds for so long... It was actually pretty fascinating. And, well, S'ren was going to be in a fighting wing, just like every other non-goldrider. Thus, why shouldn't her name be shortened just like theirs? And though she would readily launch into that discussion if asked, she liked just saying it as it was and letting people absorb it. If she didn't make a big deal, they'd think it was more normal, right?

"Good idea," she managed to get out, right before a small sneezing fit took her. "Gimme a tick." With that, she stepped out and located the hankerchief she kept handy. Taking a few deeps breaths of clean air, she tied it around her face and stepped back into the warzone. Or, well, the library. It kinda looked like a warzone right now, though.

"...I'm so surprised that no one's had a fit about this place yet. Especially the head Healer. She's got this strange obsession with books." S'ren shook her head. She liked some light reading on occasion, but...really. Finding a rag and a stepstool, she started in on wiping down another shelf they hadn't gotten to yet. "Or my brother. Queth's kept him busy enough to not have time, I guess. Libraries were always his haven. You had to be quiet in them." S'ren snorted, clearly showing her antipathy for that notion. ...If her chatter wasn't already a clear indicator.

...Do they even have a clue what you're talking about, Mine?

'...Er. Um. Oh, shells, likely not.' Laughing in a way that would seem sudden to those not privy to the silent communication, S'ren turned to the other two girls. "I've been a little rude now, haven't I? I'm S'ren as I said, of blue Feynth. I'm sure he'd love to say hello if he wasn't busy sniping at me and trying to go back to sleep." The crinckle to her eyes belied her devilish grin hidden under the hankerchief. "I've got a twin brother named L'cin, who has brown Queth and a gold fire-lizard named Brillia...and I tend to talk about him a lot, I've been told.

"Both Candidates? I wish you luck, then! It's a really small clutch this time, though - only eight. We only had six, too - I was one of the ones who Impressed here at Cerulean right after the...move." The word was only a little awkward. S'ren wasn't the type to stay long on topics that bogged down the mood. "I think there's only two or three times as many Candidates as eggs this time. Which seems like a lot, but...they need choices, y'know?" She didn't think it a good idea to mention what happened when there weren't enough choices.