How Many Apprentices Does It Take

Writers: Sia, Aaron
Date Posted: 30th April 2024

Characters: Kailis, R'brie
Description: Kailis arrives with a new lightbulb and leaves with a Search token.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 6, day 7 of Turn 11
Notes: Re-sent for missing date.

Kailis

Switching out lightbulbs (or even fuses) was significantly easier than fixing faulty wiring. And a far more common problem at Barrier Lake, too. The place was new enough that problems with the wiring were rare. Unless someone was goofing around with things they were not familiar with. But who would do that?

Well. Kailis would, she supposed. Fiddling with things was the best way to learn how they worked, after all. But it helped if you paid enough attention to what you were doing to put things back the way you found them.

What was she doing again? Oh, right. Lightbulb. She knocked on the door. Was this the right door? Probably. Maybe.

"Come on in!" R'brie called. He was balanced precariously on a small stepladder and holding pieces of a new overhead light in one hand and the busted lightbulb in the other. The old overhead light, painstakingly installed in the original weyr, lay on the floor nearby. "I almost had it all put together, and then I must have blown something."

“Oh. Well. Are you a technician, then?” Kailis asked. She had never known many people who were not trained in the least who decided that messing with all of these things was a good idea. “Maybe not? Did you turn the power off to your weyr before you started poking at that?”

"I might have. Or, I thought I did." R'brie admitted. "That guy at Barrier Hills made it sound so easy. Just swap out the fixture for the new one. No harm. Except uh. There was harm. A bit of harm. You think it's an easy fix?"

“Hm. Maybe. Not as easy as switching a light bulb. Was the old one broken?” Kailis knelt down to take a look at it. She supposed she should make sure the power was off first, but… well, this was shiny.

"No." R'brie said. "Or, it wasn't when I started fiddling with it. I just liked the look of this one and spent some marks on it and the assurance that it would be easy to install. I fight Thread for a living, I figured I could reinstall a light fixture." Then, after a small pause, "I'm not even sure if the lightbulb is busted. Care to take a look? I'll only hover a little."

“Hmm. I install light fixtures for a living, so fighting Thread must be a cinch. Think I could do it?” Kailis started to climb the ladder, but then she thought better of it and wandered off to find the fuse box and make sure the power was actually turned off.

R'brie scooted off the ladder to give Kallis enough space to climb up, and very nearly started to hover behind her when she changed her mind- and he awkwardly hopped back again before following her to the fuse box. "Did I do it right?"

“Yes. I suspect that's why you're not crispy,” said Kailis as she turned to go back again. “You probably just got the wires reversed. Probably.”

She climbed up again and began to detach the thing again so she could see where he had gotten mixed up.

"I appreciate every moment that I'm not crispy." R'brie joked. He followed her back again, watching her undo the work he had painstakingly attempted. "Wait, so which wire is it supposed to be?"

“Oh, you just had them backwards,” said Kailis. “The power comes from this one.” She pointed to the hot wire. “And it goes back the other way with this one.” Then the neutral wire. “Makes a complete circuit. Sometimes there's a third wire, too. For grounding.”

"For what now?" R'brie asked blankly. "Well, thank you anyway! It's good to know I had it sort-of right. Complete the circuit, got it. So it's an easy fix?"

“Oh, it's already fixed. Unless I go turn the power back on and then it isn't,” said Kailis. “And in that case… well, we'll complete that circuit when we get to it.”

"Good!" R'brie looked instantly relieved. "Do you want a dragonride back down? Jalyth wouldn't mind. Actually, she's been asking to take a look at you since you arrived.".

“To take a look at me?” Kailis kept talking even as she went to restore the power to the weyr. “I suppose I wouldn't mind. Unless she's the type to disassemble the things she's curious about, that is.”

"She did get awful curious about the boats when we first transferred." R'brie said sheepishly. "Like she'd dive under them and give them little boops with her nose. Riyanth had to get involved. Then she got fascinated with the hydro station, and then Bilpen…but she can't get in here to mess around with anything."

“Hm, assuming I'm sturdy enough to withstand a good booping, can I have your permission to boop her back?” asked Kailis. “I'll be quite gentle. Mostly on account of how my nose is made of flimsy flesh, and I will surely harm myself if I engage in overenthusiastic booping.” She poked R’brie’s arm. “Boop.”

R'brie snorted. "Oh, I promise you won't hurt her. Give her a smack if she's getting too rough. I'll be right here, too, if she decides to misbehave." The greenrider led her out to where Jalyth was lounging on her couch. The green perked up when she saw them coming, her eyes whirling an excited green-blue.

And she did exactly as R'brie warned the moment Kailis got close enough: booped her with her snout. Except, as big and strong as a little green was (which is, still quite strong), it was really a hard smack to the torso.

“Oof.” Kailis did not have it in her to smack a dragon, so instead, she poked her between the nostrils. “Boop.”

And then she rubbed her tummy where the dragon had pecked her.

“I hope that doesn't mean she's decided she doesn't like me.”

If a dragon could go cross-eyed, Jalyth probably would have. R'brie felt a quick wave of vertigo as the green tried to focus on the poke that she couldn't see. "This is why they don't let us out on Search very often." R'brie said mildly, though more towards the green than towards Kailis. Jalyth ignored him and shoved her head against the woman's torso again with a snort.

"That explains why she was so intent on seeing you-- she thinks you'd make an excellent candidate for the dragons. What do you think? Riyanth is due for a clutch soon. Could be eggs on the Sands in a few months."

“Huh. A dragon for me?” Kailis tapped her chin and pondered. “Flying. Real actual flying. Do you know how they do it? No, I don't guess that actually matters. How can she tell that I'm excellent? Was it the boop?” She pressed on her abdomen. “Optimal squishiness? Do dragons care how squishy you are?”

"I'm not entirely sure how she knows you'd be right for a dragon." R'brie said with a shrug. "Some dragons are just better at it than others. She takes a look at you, bats you around a bit, and then decides if you're right or not. That's how she chose me, too, though she wasn't as gentle about it as she is now."

“Well.” Kailis booped R’brie again. “You don't seem particularly squishy. So that's probably right out. So what do I do next?”

"I give you a search token." R'brie left for a moment to rifle through his things and he reappeared again holding a little wooden piece. "If you want to be a candidate for the next hatching, you need to present this to the Headwoman and she'll get you settled. I recommend doing it sooner rather than later, so you can do the early lessons and decide if you actually want to do it."

Kailis pocketed the thing. By Faranth, she had a lot of pockets.

“Sounds simple enough.” She was not thrilled with the idea of having to make room in her schedule, but if she were going to be a dragonrider, being a technician would have to take a bit of a back seat. She would not let it take over completely, but she would have to be realistic about it.

But how could she possibly pass up the opportunity to fly whenever she wanted?

“Does anything else in here need fixing?”

"Not yet." R'brie said with a grin. "But I'll send the technicians a warning when I try to meddle with the wiring again." Which would probably be soon. "I'll show you out- do you know the way back?"

“If it's the way in.”

Last updated on the July 28th 2024

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How Many Apprentices Does It Take