[Weyrling PRP] Grab Your Study Buddy! (L'ux & S'lvar)

[TawnyAngel]

[Backdated to month 4.183]

Well that had happened.

L'ux read through his marked test again with his lips pursed and a frown making a crease between his expressive eyebrows. It was a pass, but it was a pass by half a mark that he'd been awarded for improved spelling. It kind of felt like a pity pass, he didn't think the weyrlingmasters would do something like that but it still felt like it. Doing badly on tests hadn't bothered him that much as a candidate, he'd expected to be behind everyone else and - well - if he was completely honest with himself he just hadn't really cared either. Why worry, right? They'd learn everything really important once they were weyrlings.

And now he was a weyrling.

And he wasn't doing that great at learning.

The practical stuff hadn't been a problem so far, Cochith's hide was healthy - still rough but that just seemed to be how it naturally was for him - and he hadn't got thicktail or anything but....

L'ux set the test paper aside on the table he'd occupied off to one side of the classroom bit of the barracks and pulled out the notes he'd made in class to compare. How was anyone meant to remember this stuff? It was sharding complicated and he just... he wasn't that complicated a person. He wasn't smart or educated or.... What if he let Cochith down?

You won't let me down, Cochith replied sleepily, yawning and uncurling from his nap to rest his chin on his rider's lap. If you're worried why not ask to study with somebody else, work on the bits you're struggling with? The most important part of being in a formation is teamwork after all, somebody said that right? Cochith wasn't one-hundred percent sure if they had, but it sounded like the kind of thing somebody ought to have said - it made sense to him anyway.

"Hu." L'ux quirked a crooked smile and reached down to give Cochith's eyeridges a rub. "You know, that's actually a great idea Cochith." Who to ask though? He didn't trust all of his classmates with something like this, he was pretty sure that some of them would either laugh or be pleased that he was doing badly because they thought it made them look better. Luckily though there were a lot of classmates to choose from, compared to the green clutches anyway. Do you know anyone else who didn't feel good about their score? Working with somebody else who felt a bit down about it might benefit them both, right?  

[The_Muffin_Puppy]

How had he managed to do this poorly?

S'lvar wasn't a prideful young man, quite the opposite in fact. Still one of the few things he actually thought he was good at was academics. Reading and remembering information was one of his main qualities. Something that he thought he could rely on. Yet, as he walked into the Barracks, that seemed less and less certain.

There were many that wouldn't think anything of the weyrling's hunched over posture as he walked and looked down at the test in his hands. S'lvar was known for keeping to himself, and reading was hardly a surprise. It would be easier to notice the irritation in Recareth's frame as he walked alongside his rider. The sensible dragon walked with his eyes forward, a stray spark of red glancing through as he heard yet more of his rider's self-deprecating thoughts.

This does not define you. The blue said finally, twisting his body and causing the Weyrling to falter. S'lvar looked up from the paper, hair shifting enough for his watery gaze to meet the calm regard of his dragon. S'lvar sniffed, wiping a sleeve over his face. He managed to keep eye contact with Recareth for at least a few seconds before his eyes drifted back to the test in his hands, a shaky intake of breath as he looked at the worst score he could have gotten.

That seemed to be the final straw for Recareth. In a flash of teeth the blue darted forward, mouth closing over the sheet and wrenching it from the teen's grip. Throwing his head back the dragon snapped his jaws shut over the offending document. There. It is gone. You need not worry about it anymore.

S'lvar could only look back at his dragon sadly. "That's not how this works." Reaching up he ran his hands through his dark hair. "It isn't gone. I still know. The Weyrlingmaster still knows." There was a defeat in S'lvar's voice. There was no coming back from something like this. A mark this bad would surely stay with him for the rest of his time as a Weyrling. Less than a quarter of the way in and he had basically ruined it.

You panicked, Recareth said calmly. Despite his even tone, the blue's voice overflowed as his need to protect S'lvar warred with the youth's own defeatist attitude. It is done. The only thing you can do is strive to be better next time. You will work. You will overcome. The blue looked his rider in the eye, the ease with which he did so become more and more obvious each day. S'lvar looked back at his dragon, slowly nodding and lifting his sleeve to wipe at the tears that threatened to flow again.

"Where do I start?"  

[TawnyAngel]

Um.... Recareth just ate S'lvar's paper. Is he hungry? Cochith raised his head back off L'ux's lap as he spoke and peered curiously over at the pair, S'lvar definitely seemed unhappy about something but he wasn't entirely sure what. Maybe he hadn't done well on the test either? He was talking about the Weyrlingmaster knowing so maybe? Either that or he'd done something against the rules and got caught out.

Doing something against the rules didn't sound like S'lvar, if there was one thing he knew about S'lvar it was that he wouldn't do something to draw attention to himself or draw the disapproval of- well of pretty much anyone as far as he'd been able to tell. L'ux hadn't exactly got to know the shy kid while they'd been candidates together but they were classmates now and anyway he couldn't just leave a sad kid standing there in the middle of the room with people staring at him.... Doing badly on a test though? It was kind of hard to imagine that happening, the one thing he did know about S'lvar - other than him having a sparky twin sister, oh and other than him not liking attention too much as he'd thought previously - was that he always seemed to know the answers to the candidatemaster's questions. Maybe he'd just failed to get a perfect score and was overreacting, some high achiever did get like that. Still, only way to find out was to talk to him. Cochith, can you ask them over? Private like. First things first though, whatever was going on, he should try to end the scene that was being stared at by what felt like at least half of their class.

Cochith hummed agreement to the request - he was getting a lot better at not blurting things out - and sitting up neatly with his tail now curled around his feet he reached his thoughts out to his slightly larger sibling. Recareth, hello! Could my rider talk to yours for a bit? Over here, away from the others.

Tell him I've got snacks too!

Oh, and he says to say he has snacks - I think it's dry fruit and nuts and things. Cochith was curious to try these things, they didn't smell all that appealing but he still wanted to try! Apparently he wasn't allowed though, or not allowed yet? Oh well he could wait, and if necessary maybe one day he'd steal the pouch and try the treats whether L'ux liked it or not! Hehehe.  

[The_Muffin_Puppy]

Recareth's head tilted as he felt the mental presence of his brother. Turning his head towards the greeting the dragon hummed in answer. He will be there shortly. Turning back to the teenager Recareth crooned gently, leaning forward and pressing his forehead against the human's. S'lvar's hands came up to run across the blue's jaw. He took a deep breath, trying to ground himself, using Recareth as a stable point. The dragon provided an immovable point for the young weyrling to focus on. For a moment he would put aside this particular problem. Even if it was guaranteed he would come back to it later.

When Recareth started to move, S'lvar went with him. Following at the blue's side as he was led over to where Cochith and L'ux were sat. He didn't know L'ux especially well. Recareth was always aware of all his siblings, so he felt he knew more about the dragon that his rider. Still the other seemed friendly enough for S'lvar to not be fearful of the encounter. He was curious what he had done to gain his classmate's attention, but too much energy had gone into his test result for him to worry about it excessively. There was enough that when he reached the older dragonrider S'lvar was unsure of how to proceed. "Um. You- uh, you wanted to talk to me?"

Recareth had no such worries for the meeting. Stepping forward to brush his head against that of his clutchmate. Recareth had shown no intention of reducing his relationship with his clutchmates, and was regularly free with affection throughout the class. With only some very specific exceptions.  

[TawnyAngel]

Great! Cochith chirped again and wriggled on the spot, staying still wasn't something he was any better at than his rider which definitely made sitting in classes difficult. Why did so much have to be chalk and talking? Going out and actually watching the wings on the other hand, now that had been good and when they actually got to start testing the moves out themselves on the ground? He could hardly wait! There was always going to be more sitting around though according to L'ux, but hopefully less as he got bigger and stronger.

As S'lvar approached L'ux gave him a friendly grin and a nod, deftly swiping his paper off the table and folding it in half as he greeted; "Wotcha! Yeah, I did, I was wondering if I could ask a favour actually." Up close S'lvar looked even more awkward and forlorn, was that because of the test or was it how he always looked? "I got to admit, I didn't exactly do myself proud on that test," L'ux went on, waving the folded paper by way of explanation before slipping it away in his pocket because there was no need to actually compare marks right? "And I don't know how you did," he continued smoothly, "but you always seemed to know your stuff in candidate lessons so I wondered if you'd like to study together for a bit on formations? I just can't seem to keep them all in my head." Maybe if he'd been born in a Weyr he'd be better at this, he'd have soaked it up somehow - they probably taught weyrbrats basic stuff right? And then you got to be a candidate when you were twelve, he'd have had turns to get his head around it all!... But then he wouldn't have been the same person, right? Coming from where he had made him who he was, and that was who Cochith had picked.

And I picked the best! Cochith told his rider confidently before turning his attention to his brother with a croon and leaning into the affectionate face-rub. I have to ask Recareth, what did the paper taste like? If you didn't ask you'd never know! More importantly though; And is your rider alright? It sounded like he was worried about something, about the weyrlingmaster? R'ulfr could be a little bit, err, a little bit blunt and tactless but he clearly cared for them a lot! That probably didn't help if you were worried about him being disappointed in you though; Cochith was glad that he got to talk to Isbranth instead, he liked R'ulfr but Isbranth was a lot better at feelings and things than his rider was.  

[The_Muffin_Puppy]

It was unfortunate that L'ux's attempt at being friendly didn't ease S'lvar's nerves. Usually it would have helped to some degree, but given the current situation there weren't many things that would ease the young man. As L'ux went on a sound escaped. Something between a groan and a whine. S'lvar becoming more and more uncomfortable. He'd always seemed to know his stuff? Well look how that had turned out. Looking down at the ground, S'lvar awkwardly twisted his fingers together, doing pretty much anything to avoid looking at the other Weyrling. "Um, I'm not sure you want me helping. I didn't do well myself," S'lvar replied quietly.

There was a brief pause when Recareth was asked what the paper tasted like. His eyes briefly darted to his rider, currently too caught up in being uncomfortable to notice what he was doing. As slyly as something his size could the blue dragon dipped his head below the table, opening his mouth and letting the soggy wad of paper hit the ground. Awful. He replied to Cochith as he straightened up. You wouldn't like it. It's bland and the texture is unpleasant. Recareth wasn't a picky eater when it came to meat, but he was fairly certain that he intended to stick to just that for food.

He's upset, Recareth replied, settling down next to his brother. The test made him panic, so he could not remember the answers, or he wrote them down wrong. The blue was free with the information. It had happened, it was the truth. He didn't plan to lie about it. And maybe Cochith's could do something to help his. S'lvar thinks that the Weyrlingmaster will write him off now, that he can't improve past this. It was ridiculous to Recareth. He knew how wonderful S'lvar was, and the potential that he held. If only he would stop putting himself down all the time.  

[TawnyAngel]

Ah, poor kid. L'ux was kind of worried about his own result, disappointed in himself, feeling a bit dumb, but it was pretty obvious that S'lvar was a lot more upset about the results than he was. Dealing with less than cheery emotions wasn't exactly L'ux strong suit, and so for now at least he decided that not addressing them at all was the way to go - probably S'lvar didn't want to talk about it with somebody he didn't know anyway right? He wouldn't if it were him.

"Oh, well, you know," L'ux gestured vaguely and scratched an ear, "a test's different to when you can actually study, right? If you'd rather not study with me that's fine, not trying to force you or nothing, but I'm not worried by whatever you scored. Here," L'ux pushed another of the stools out from under the table with his foot and made another gesture, a less vague one this time, in its direction. "Have a sit down at least, I've got some snacks if you're hungry." Food always helped him feel better, but perhaps that was just him.

When Recareth spat out the paper Cochith croon-warbled, his mind radiating amusement and affection in equal measure. You're always taking good care of us, he said fondly as he gave his brother another nuzzle. I'll take your advice and not try it - it definitely doesn't look very good, or smell very good. Some things he was curious about trying, but this not so much thank you very much.

Settling down seemed like a good idea for now; Cochith joined his brother and listened carefully, the tips of his tail swishing back and fore as just a little outlet for his constant energy. That sounds difficult, he began slowly after a pause, it was difficult to get his head around human worries like that but because L'ux's were similar - though not as intense by the sounds of it - he was trying. I don't think the weyrlingmaster will write him off though, we're all young and learning so we're not going to be perfect all the time. If we were perfect, we wouldn't need lessons and tests right? Cochith's tail paused in its swishing for a moment as he hummed thoughtfully and added; Do you think there are such things as lessons in tests? If it was the test that had made S'lvar get so worried that he forgot everything then learning about tests might help, or practising them, or something like that anyway.