Difference between revisions of "Logs:Promises of Corruption"

Peregrine is putting some glass pieces carefully into crates, while other apprentices are doing the heavy lifting to move the crates to the loading dock. There are a couple other apprentices that are also packing, but they are going at a much faster pace than the young girl. She seems to be a little *too* careful with packaging the delicate pieces. She's also using a lot more packing materials than the others so less pieces are fitting in each crate. There's no way anything will happen to /these/.

Sweaty Smiths are a more common site in the forge than in the complex, but there's hard work to be done here today and some of the brawny lads who spend most of their apprenticeship time beating on hot metal have been lent out to the more delicate sides of the craft's focus to do some of the heavy lifting. Apparently, they're taking it in shifts because three new have arrived to replace three of the ones who've been at it a while. One of the three is the one who had been moving most of the oh-so-carefully packaged boxes that Peregrine has been packing. He was a patient lad. His replacement, Wakizian? Not so much. The young man saunters over towards the glass smith and lingers a moment before saying, "You know, they like efficiency as much as they like thoroughness. Do more with less and all that." Fingers flick to critically indicate the well-wrapped items.

Peregrine looks up at the newly arrived apprentice. She blushes a little at the comment as she carefully places the next piece into the very cushioned box. "But I might break something. That would be so sad." From the look on her face, it seems breaking glass would be the highest form of tragedy she can think of. Still, she nods a little. "I can try to use less packing material." She closes up the crate she just finished and grabs a new one. "My name is Peregrine, by the way. I'm new to the Weyr."

Wakizian's knot is a plain white loop - one he traded recently for his familiar Smith apprentice knot. But he's obviously from this Craft and continuing his Craftly duties as most crafter-turned-candidates do. He sounds like he knows what he's talking about at any rate. "Think of breaking things as a part of life. Things break. We make replacements. Think of it like math too - if it costs more to package it as you'd like to than it costs us to make a replacement, then it's not worth the packaging cost, you know? It always comes down to balancing the numbers. Which is hard, I know, when you've worked hard to make something." He flicks his fingers towards the glass, "That's why I like working with the metals more than the glass. Less heart and other kinds of breaking." His smile's a little goofy, but genuine. "Welcome, Peregrine. I'm Wakizian. I'm not even a little bit new to the Weyr." The way he says this is a touch teasing of how she offered her new-ness, but not cruelly.

Peregrine nods seriously as she listens to what the other has to say. She doesn't seem to have noticed the knot yet, perhaps assuming that he's an apprentice like her if he's got box moving duty. "True, yes, that makes sense." After the introduction, she continues with "Welcome Wakiz- wait, Wakizian? I've heard of you!" She reaches into a pocket of her trousers and pulls a small bundle from it and holds it out. "I came from Tillek Hold and when they knew I was coming here some had me bring messages to people here. I hadn't been able to find you yet." She continues talking as if she hadn't interrupted their conversation with that news, and the other two girls are looking at her strangely for whatever reason. She shakes her head with a smile. "None of this is mine and won't be for awhile. It's not good enough yet. But I like glass because it's so malleable, at least at first. You can do so much with it. Not that you can't with other materials of course."

Wakizian looks flattered at first when she says she's heard of him. Then defensive a moment later. "Lady Smith." He mutters under his breath, "Sharditall you stupid-" Clearly this is all directed to himself and it stops only when he catches up with what she's saying. So this isn't about his choice of costume for the Turnover party. "Oh!" Then "Oh?" The first surprised then the second, curious. He eyes the bundle as if it might bite him, but reaches for it a beat later. "From Tillek? I was born there. But I didn't think I caused enough trouble before Mom sent me away to be know there." But his mother, Journeywoman-now-Master Wakina certainly would be! Self-centered silly-head. He glances to the glass and then to the apprentice, "Soon enough you'll be able to do some of the things. Have they started you trying your hand at glass beads yet? Those are-- well, complex but simple if that makes sense. Good practice before you start on bigger projects."

Peregrine is taken back by his reaction for a moment but recovers quickly when she realizes it's not directed at herself. "As far as I know you haven't caused any trouble. I was just a convenient carrier of something too big for a firelizard. I was coming here, and you were here, and there you go." The other two apprentices are whispering amongst themselves, something about 'talkative today', whatever that means. She nods as Wakizian returns the conversation to the glass again. "Yes, and I've been observing a lot of the glass blowing that's going on - it really is fascinating - and some of my duties include maintaining the heat of the glass (though for now there's usually someone more experienced around just in case). It takes getting used to, knowing the right temperature of glass from the look of it, but it's important to know for when I get to do some glass blowing." When she takes a breath again she finally notices the other's knot. "You're a candidate now? Congratulations. I didn't know you kept doing craft work once you became one."

Wakizian listens as Peregrine talks about the glass, but his fingers also move, first finding the folded paper that's attached to the little bundle. He tucks the bundle under one arm to unfold it and his eyes bounce from note to apprentice - still listening! Inside the folded note is: another folded note. This one is also unfolded and read. His brows climbs at whatever the second note says. "The fundamentals are the things that you always need. It's always about process. Learn the process and you can apply it forward to anything else that uses the same. And the sooner you can show them you know it, the sooner they let you do cool stuff." Wise words brought to you by Waki. "Uh, thanks." Seems the young man doesn't quite know how to respond to the congratulations. "Yeah. The Weyrlingmaster told me before I asked-- she offered -- whichever, that you keep doing most of your usual crafting duties. It'd be a waste, according to her, to have candidates do otherwise. Makes sense."

Peregrine nods in apparent agreement. "Yes, I agree. They pick more candidates than there are eggs usually, don't they? So there's probably plenty of other candidates that they can assign to other things so a crafter can keep up their studies. I don't know what would happen if I couldn't study for that long a period of time. I'd probably have to start over. Though I suppose if I did, then I'd be better in the end than otherwise. Reinforcement and all." She is doing better with this next crate. She's just as careful and slow with how she's placing the glass in the box, but she's using a more appropriate amount of cushioning material. Seems she's taken half the lesson.

"Yeah, and with so many eggs-- Quinlys said there are twenty-four of them, which is more than any other clutch I've seen-- they'll be needing a whole lot of breathing bodies in white robes when the time comes." Wakizian responds, "And it probably keeps the crafts a little happier - their apprentices don't lose as much study time and, as you suggest, have to start over after the hatching's over and done." He waves the folded notes, "So my mom knows your mom and they want me to 'watch out for you... or else'. And apparently this decorative fishing net," He waves the still wrapped bundle, "Is a bribe to convince me to do it." He eyes the apprentice as though evaluating how difficult a task that might be. "Are you a troublemaker?"

Peregrine shakes her head emphatically. "No, I'm not. Well, the only trouble I caused was not joining the Seacraft. But I don't like the water, so that wouldn't have worked out that well." She barely gives the net a glance as she closes another crate top. "Glass is enough liquidity for me." She shrugs a little. "Though troublemaking is in the eyes of the beholder, isn't it? I might do something wrong because I don't know anything about this Weyr. Well, any Weyrs. I grew up at Tillek and then spent some time at the Hall, and now I'm here."

"Seacraft? Was that the family tradition?" Wakizian tilts his head to one side, a single brow arching. He straightens as he laughs, "If you weren't a troublemaker in a Hold or Crafthall, the chances of you getting in trouble here are virtually non-existent. As has been pointed out to me, things are much stricter elsewhere and Weyrs - if anything - are just going to scandalize and spoil you for ever wanting to deal with Holder pomp and circumstance ever again."

Peregrine nods. "Yeah, it's not like all of them were in the Seacraft, but a lot of them were and I was supposed to be. Though that's the trouble with parents having an idea of what their children should be before they get to know them." She thinks about Wakizian's comment for a second. "If you look at it one way though, it might be easier to get in trouble at a Weyr. If you define trouble more as what you do to yourself than what you can get punished for by other people for doing." She nods. "Well, I don't know anything about pomp and circumstance, I get flustered in large groups. And around anybody important. Or anybody intimidating. Or both at the same time."

Wakizian grins, "Then we should get along just fine. Both renegades from the family craft. Parents still talking to you? Supportive and all that?" The note gets shoved into his pocket as though that's settled, and the bundle gets untied just to get retied onto his belt so his hands are free. "Why would you want to define it that way? Then you'll think of yourself as doing the wrong thing when you could just embrace how you want to behave without applying any of the morals you grew up with to the actions you choose to take. Living in a Weyr-- it's freedom. By comparison. Obviously the big things still matter - don't steal, don't start fights, don't kill anyone-" Although judging from some of the party rumors, maybe that killing people thing is something easier to get away with in a Weyr, too. "-but other than that, you can just... be yourself. Doesn't matter if you remember to swallow your food before talking or put your elbows on the table-" To some people anyway. At this point he realizes he's rambling a bit and trails off. "Why get flustered? What's the worst that's going to happen?"

Peregrine nods. "They are talking to me, and semi-supportive. They're disappointed, but they aren't trying to convince me otherwise anymore. I have three older sisters and one of them joined the Seacraft, so I think since there is an age gap, they were probably hoping when I was born that I'd also join since they thought they wouldn't have any more children. Now they've switched to waiting for grandchildren to follow the tradition. I don't envy the first one." She thinks about her answer before responding to Wakizian's first question. "Well, if I don't define it that way, what if I get used to misbehaving and then get transferred to a Hold or Hall and I'm not used to being good anymore? And if something is bad for you it's bad for you even if it's allowed, isn't it? You're just punishing yourself rather than letting someone else do it. And, what if I do something because I think it's allowed and it's really not and I get everyone mad and me and get kicked out of the Weyr and the Hall and have to go home and learn to swim?" She pauses to take a couple of breaths. Seems she has some worries to contend with. "That's the worst that could happen." It's unclear if she means getting kicked out or going into the water. Or both.

Wakizian points a finger at Peregrine when she asks about what happens when she'd be transferred to a Hold or Hall and have to change her behavior. "And that is exactly why I'm going to Stand for this clutch and Impress a dragon." See? It's not about becoming a rider and all those silly boyhood dreams some Weyrbrats have. It's just about not having to act like a Holder! Clearly, he hasn't considered the full implications of Impressing. "Swimming's fun, but I can see how getting kicked out or going home would be pretty unfortunate." He purses his lips thoughtfully, "So that's why you need me to show you all the lines not to cross. The first thing you need to do is get in good with the Journeymen. If they like you, they can ease some of that concern that if you put a toe out of line you'll get kicked out. Usually, you just get extra duty."

Peregrine smiles brightly. "You really will? You'll teach me what not to do?" She may not be considered the ramifications of what Wakizian might considered all right to do, but the impressionable young girl seems happy enough to take all the advice she can get. "I don't want to embarrass the Hall after all, or my family. Or Hold. Or me." She seems to be a blank slate to influence one way or another behavior-wise.

"Sure. I've found most of the what not to do things in my turns here. Although," Wakizian pauses and his expression turns from smiling to serious, "I cannot promise you won't embarrass yourself. You won't embarrass the Hall or the family or the Hold. But I embarrass myself all the time. Like, last night I put on a dress and hid from drunken bronzeriders attempting to make a very serious mistake." One lesson he has certainly not learned is to think before he speaks. If he was hoping that his Lady Smith ensemble wouldn't get around, maybe the first step is to not bring it up himself.

Peregrine laughs. "Oh, that was /you/. I saw you, but I didn't realize it was the person I was looking for. You wore your dress better than I wore mine. Which is appropriate, since it wasn't really mine. It was handed down. I only got here a sevenday ago so I didn't hear that it was a costume thing so I just wore what my mother gave me for formal occasions. I didn't have to worry about anybody drunk making a mistake with that outfit. But I'll try to keep that in mind, maybe I have to stop worrying about being embarrassing since it's unavoidable?"

It's at this point that Wakizian realizes what he just did in bringing up the party. He winces slightly and then squares his shoulders, "Yep. That was me. And for the record it's not my dress. I borrowed it. But thanks." He smiles kindly about her dress, "Don't worry, if you cozy up to Weyrwoman Brieli, I'm sure she'd be glad to help you find some fancier clothes - if that's the kind of thing you like. I hear she's good at that." Then there's a nod. "Yeah. Embarrassment happens. Better to embrace it than live in fear of it. You have more fun that way. When in doubt, laugh with them. Better everyone's laughing than no one." He looks like he might say more, but he's interrupted by a call of a journeyman who came in to check the loading progress, "Hey, you two! Keep at it! They won't pack themselves! Move that box, Waki!" The candidate sighs, "Annnd back to work we go. Lesson one, when they're looking, do what they tell you." He grins at Peregrine. "We'll talk more later." And then he's hurrying his way towards the waiting box to be moved.