The Biographical Pasquinade [J'var]

[The Social Stigma]

Eriloth asleep on his couch was probably best, as the large blue rather disliked the strange feeling he got whenever V’kev managed to find himself stumbling around like an idiot. Wine was not V’kev’s friend. When he drank, he often found himself starting to babble like an idiot – or gamboling away marks he didn’t have. Though V’kev had been endeared to the idea of downing a few beers or a skin of wine, still inwardly uncomfortable at the idea of remaining in the past, abandoning his home of Telgar: Not that Telgar had ever been a particularly fond place for the bluerider. Not to mention the entire headache that arose whenever Malroith did. Having to keep his flirtatious blue from chasing his brother’s green had always been a chore – what with the blue too often forgetting who Malrioth was ridden by until Eriloth was ready to take wing after her and V’kev threw a massive fit. Transferring was immanent; V’kev just hadn’t assumed the transfer would be so… distant.

After all, V’kev couldn’t very well turn up at Telgar near his abandoned son and go “Hey look, I’m not dead after all! Congratulations you’re not actually an orphan and your sister isn’t dead either!” For all V’kev knew, his son could actually be dead. Wherhandler work never was the easiest, though of course – it wasn’t as hard as the work of a dragonrider, like he’d hoped his son would be doing. Dwelling on his “failure” of a child didn’t particularly help the bluerider who desperately wanted a pint or ten either.

Naturally, only one thing could be done, and V’kev desperately hoped somewhere in the Weyr he could find a skin of Tillek wine to drain off into his belly.

The assistant weyrlingmaster promptly found himself to the Weyrhall, hunting around for a drudge to offer up what he desired and instead finding himself at a table of people who appeared to be playing a game. Men of the sort were always good for spotting where the wine would be, and after being tipped into the right direction, V’kev came back and threw the skin on the table only to find himself seated with the other ‘riders and having a grand time watching them all – until the topic of leadership came up. Drunken and proud of their home Weyrs, V’kev was expecting more of a physical fight to break out rather than what did. The men of the table starting having a rather interesting debate – what Queen was going to Rise first and who was apt to claim the Weyr as their’s.

V’kev hadn’t really paid too much attention to the matter. He was sent by Telgar, so he assumed Sheluth was due the positioning. Having no need to really pay much attention to a queen dragon, or to bother with the lady’s Flights, he simply listened to the rattling for a good while before marks started hitting the table.

“Elfreth, obviously she’s due to go up…”

“Neory deserves the spot! She got here first!”

V’kev snickered to himself before he held up a coin. “Neory? Nah, Sheluth’s going to take it no matter. This is Telgar’s Weyr or else I wouldn’t be here.” Leaning forward to demonstrate the matter, aiming to whisper on it as it was such a sensitive subject, V’kev already was starting to feel the candlemark of drinking he’d spent listening to the men chatter in the first place.

Ooc|| Hopefully I got everything right. xD If not, V'kev doesn't know everything anyways... so it matters not really. We'll blame the alcohol.

[Adobe]

J'var knew he'd have trouble controlling the Telgar riders, just as R'net would have trouble controlling his Igen riders. It was important for the Weyrs to intermix, since there was more Telgar and Igen riders and Igen couldn't have a wing of their own. Not to mention, they needed to work together, so the sooner they all got along, the better. J'var needed to play his part as well, and that involved bonding with the boys.

He was drinking and talking, avoiding gambling and dragon poker at all costs. It wouldn't do to have a wingrider beat him and then act all haughty at practice. J'var was pretty charasmatic, and most men liked him and followed him well at Igen, so he only needed to win over the Telgar boys and he'd be set. It was still hard for him to get used to women on greens since Igen and the other Weyrs only let boys stand for fighting dragons, and he would likely continue be prejudiced against them. Still, he drank, laughed and joked with the riders, enjoying himself until he over heard a particular gambling table.

One thought Elfreth would rise first, and J'var smirked, he hope that man was right, because where there was Elfreth, there was Ionuth. He frowned when others said Neory should be Weyrwoman. J'var went closer to the table to hear them better. Of course, he'd take note of which ones were betting against his queen.

“Neory? Nah, Sheluth’s going to take it no matter. This is Telgar’s Weyr or else I wouldn’t be here.”

J'var recognised the man as Bluerider V'kev. J'var pursed his lips, the poor man had had potential, but this had to be taken into account. Pride got in his way, and doubled V'kev's bet by throwing his marks on the table. When the men looked up, J'var smirked, "Don't be so sure of yourself, Bluerider. I'll bet that Elfreth rises first."

[The Social Stigma]

V’kev had to laugh as he noticed the coins tossed on the table, leaning back with a bit of annoyance at the fact he was simply addressed as ‘bluerider’. Rank had always bothered him, enough so that V’kev had to stop a moment to register if he’d even worn his knots today, only to discover – as usual, he wasn’t. He snorted a bit regardless as he waved his hand dismissively to the person behind him who had just jumped right on in on the discussion.

V’kev wasn’t the type of person who could just burst in on a group of people talking; he had to wait for people to realize he was there before he’d join in, and yet some guy just thinks he can waltz up behind him and start in on the group discussion? Too bad for V’kev that he didn’t even recognize the man’s voice, though he assumed the rider had to be from Telgar to know him. “Oh yeah? I don’t care who rises first – I know who I’m listening to and who I'm not, and I certainly ain't listening to some hauty Igen girl I don't know or care 'bout,” the bluerider stated. It was then that he threw back his head, blue eyes instantly catching the face of a man he rather didn’t expect – his wingleader. Right, a bronzerider’s vote was better than his on what queen ought to hit the skies but that didn’t make the situation any better. V’kev had practically just stated he was going to be a terrible wingrider, and worse yet – that to the man who was in charge of his drills.

Shards! This is why I don’t open my mouth!

"Ah...J'var. Fancy seeing you." Naturally, there was a bit of laughter from the other men at V'kev's expense, something he was more than used to in his lifetime at this point, so the blue-eyed man just swallowed what little pride he had. "Glass of Tillek wine?"

[Adobe]

J'var listened to the man dig himself deeper and deeper into a hole. It was almost amusing, if J'var wasn't so prideful. He raised his eyebrows at V'kev's rather insulting remarks. More so irritating than insulting, but none-the-less, J'var wasn't too pleased. He said evenly, "Well I think she has the right to be haughty, don't you?" She was a second cousin to the Lord Holder of Bitra, and she was a queenrider, more than he could say for most people of the Weyr. J'var felt it was his duty to defend his Igen girl.

What to do about the bluerider? Well, he could make a public example of the man- punishing him for speaking against J'var so the others would learn from V'kev's mistakes. It was something that would work in Igen, but he feared it wouldn't work here. Igen didn't hold the majority here, and they didn't hold the Weyrleadership, yet. That would be unwise, so he would play it cool, like he was just another guy. J'var could be relatable, right?

"Why, I'd love some." J'var smiled, maybe a bit more wolfishly than he had wanted. He'd socialize and make them think he wasn't such a bad guy. Maybe he could win a few for their side. J'var sat down, "So other than betting on queens, what else is going on these days?"

[The Social Stigma]

Idol chatter wasn’t really V’kev’s thing, though he poured the man a glass and quickly found himself absorbed within his own. Obviously changing the subject was a good idea, but to what he wasn’t sure. V’kev never really had a knack for just plain carrying on with someone, and obviously the tenseness of the situation made the next words fall on him. Despite having only opened his mouth to true conversation once, now he’d landed himself the gut-wrenching task of speaking again.

What was going on with him anyways? He couldn’t very well say he’d been playing with his daughter. Children weren’t really a comfortable topic for most given as so many had lost them or given them up. V’kev just sloshed his drink in silence as he really debated. He could say he was just homesick, but then he’d feel like he was just making excuses up for himself. He wasn’t going to back up his words with that – he’d already backed them up with money and having his pride crumbled beneath the strange look J’var had given him. V’kev sober had a tendency to pick up on the ill-intentions of others, having skilled eyes, but with clouded vision all V’kev got was that J’var possibly was either faking that smile or being an annoying high-minded bronzerider like all the rest. V’kev assumed that both were probably right. Especially given the little speech J’var had decided to give on the worth of his woman.

The longer he stared at his cup, the more V’kev really wished one of the other guys would talk. He didn’t really feel like being bothered in training the next morning – especially with the hangover he assumed he was going to get considering the fact that his wine was looking more and more interesting every second.

“So…” he coughed, feeling instinctively to draw out his time before talking even more, “not…much. You know. Doing….stuff?” There were definite times in V’kev’s life when he wished he wasn’t so socially awkward: and then was one of them.

[Adobe]

"Doing stuff. Interesting." He said almost sarcastically. J'var was suspicious of the man now. What kinds of stuff was he doing? Dealing with contraband? Illegal activities? Maybe V'kev was a spy for Telgar. Ha. How could J'var turn this to benefit himself? He could do blackmail if only he could find out what V'kev was hiding. (Because he was sure the man must be doing something illegal, he was, afterall, from Telgar, and they thought of this plot first. Sneaky, they were.) Igen had proven themselves very good at blackmail, and J'var was Igen born and bred. "I hope nothing you are doing will get in the way of wing practices. Since thread is back, I hope to work my wing extra hard to make sure we excell. I do not accept failure. You would agree, V'kev?"

Yes, he hoped to make the man nervous, let him drink, let him spill his unworthy little guts to J'var. The bronzerider put his cup up to his lips, but he did not drink. Instead he paused it and then put it back down, licking the little bit of wine that stuck to his lips. Let them think he was getting as drunk as they were. J'var desired all the information on his men as he could get.

The bronzerider smiled charmingly, he motioned a fellow (npc) Igen rider and whispered in his ear. To his companions he said in a very friendly tone, "Tonight, we shall drink from my private stores. My friend is going to get a nice bottle of Benden red for the next round." (because all bronzeriders have a private store complete with Benden, said to be the finest on Pern, better than Tillek, and better than High Reaches brandy. duh. ) "May I propose a toast to you lads? May the skies remain clear, may our beds be warm, and may they be filled by good women," He gave a wink and a lift of his glass. "Cheers, eh?"

[The Social Stigma]

Private stores? V'kev about choked when the comment was made. J'var must have really thought himself something special if that was truly the case, acting like he'd already won being a Weyrleader. This man was some kind of joke, that was for sure, but V'kev never really had been one to try and clip the nose of a bronzerider.

V'kev, once calming down from his choking, took a deep breath and clapped his hand against his chest before those dark blue eyes to the Wingleader. Not to mention, V'kev was always skittish when the topic of sexuality just so happened to pop up as if often did, even more so as he thought of his dead beloved. Looking somewhat more like a deer caught in the headlights, V'kev started to sulk to himself and avert his eyes. At least he hadn't been asked a question this time. Thank Faranth there wasn't any questioning, or V'kev felt like he just might internally explode. Or had he been asked a question? He strained a moment to remember. J'var had turned to promptly (at least by V'kev's slow and measured standards of conversation) to the rider to ask about the wine that V'kev had to take a moment.

And of course, the fact that aside from the general heralding of the wingleader, a few people were looking at him as if to expect him to speak again. What was it that J'var had asked him?

Right, something about ....something. Sharding memory. Or was it the wine? No, V'kev looked down at the wine. He couldn't bring himself to curse the wine. The wine was his only friend right now - well, other than Eriloth, but Eriloth was going to be 'yelling' at him left and right once the blue woke up.

The best thing to do in a case like this, V'kev supposed, was to throw out the first probable answer that the bluerider could think of. "No. Maybe. I don't know, what? You're a strange one, you know that?"

[Adobe]

"You don't agree that we should strive for success?" J'var smirked, sensing V'kev wasn't paying much attention to him. Not that J'var was surprized. Blueriders. . . A few earned his respect, but with hard work and patience. Telgar riders would find themselves at odds with him, unless they showed him support, which was looking unlikely by the day.


(terrible post. I shouldn't have posted it but I unexpectantly have to go)