Opinions Are Like
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Duskdog, Sia
Date Posted: 10th October 2024
Characters: Zaphare, M'thos
Description: Zaphare has an interview with M'thos, instead.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 2, day 27 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: T’lonas, K'yne
M'thos was more than amused with this one. He hadn't _intended_ to be the one to interview Zaphare; he was vaguely aware of Varethos' current paramour and he didn't want to look like he was prying or meddling. His reputation as a 'cool dad' was at stake. But they'd divvied up the kids without much issue, and he had enough kids to give to T'lonas and K'yne that he didn't bother to make it more complicated.
"Hey, Zaphare, come on in." He said warmly when the girl appeared at his door. "The Weyrlingstaff are all officially interviewing candidates now that there's a clutch on the sands, and this is our second clutch as Weyrlingstaff. We just want to get to know you a little better."
Oh, well that sounded routine enough. Zaphare had been a little worried that she was in trouble for something. Well, not _worried_, exactly… more like ready to deny it, whatever it was.
“Well, this is _one_ way to do that,” she allowed with a little smirk. She took a seat and lounged, making herself at home. This was Varethos’ dad. Did she want to impress him? Did she care if he liked her or not? Honestly she wasn’t sure yet.
But he _was_ a weyrlingmaster, so if she wanted to see those eggs, she supposed she should behave.
Or try, at least.
“Interview sounds so formal,” she continued. “If we answer wrong, do we get kicked out?”
"No, you don't get kicked out." M'thos said with a laugh. "But we might prioritize certain lessons if we notice a trend in answers. And a gold egg on the Sands means the girls are going to have extra scrutiny this time around- by us and the Weyrwoman. I know you aren't one of the girls that are intent on the gold egg; you've stood for a few hatchings now. Do you think you could handle the extra expectations of being a goldrider?"
“Well, I sure wouldn’t mind having people kiss my arse all the time… but can’t say I’m very keen on everybody having an opinion on what I’m doing and how proper it is. I came here to get away from shite like that.” She shrugged. “But I wouldn’t exactly have a choice, would I? Once they’ve got their claws in you, it’s not like you can just run away. I’d have to learn to deal.”
"Once you're out there you won't have much choice in the matter." M'thos agreed. "But it's not just the gold egg that'll put you under extra scrutiny, either. There's a girl bluerider at Dolphin Cove and Barrier Lake now, too, and that's a position that everyone will have an opinion about, too."
“Opinions are like arseholes,” she dismissed with a wave of her hand. “You know how the saying goes. Anyway, I… wouldn’t say no to a blue just because people want to be stupid about it. Even if saying no was an option, I mean. But eh, what are the chances, really? Three girls in a couple of turns is a lot, but that’s also three girls in what… hundreds of turns? Thousands?” She opened her mouth to continue, seemed to think better of it and closed it, then opened it again. Hesitating before speaking was absolutely not something she normally did. “I would say that having a boy in my head would be weird, but uh, I’m talking to a man who has a girl in his head, huh? So how weird can it really be, if there’s plenty of guys like you?”
"I don't think the dragons understand gender as much as we think they do." M'thos said mildly, "But no, it's not weird at all. Different, maybe, but I only have the one frame of reference. But you're strong and capable on that front. Maybe this is a once in a lifetime happening, or maybe this is a permanent change. For the next little while, though, I want you to consider how you'd manage those eyes on you, whether it's a gold or a blue. Both could be equally likely. How are you feeling about fighting Threadfall?"
“Oh, I can do it,” Zaphare said confidently… maybe even arrogantly. “Am I _scared_ to do it? Well… sure, a little, I guess. Seems like it’s a lot to keep track of, while you’re flying around dodging death and also catching sacks of rocks and disappearing into nowhere and coming back out again. But anything any dragonrider can do, I can do just as well. People overthink the hard stuff too much. The way I see it is, if other people can learn it, so can I.”
"That's a good attitude to have." Mostly. "It is a lot to keep track of, but we aren't throwing you out in Threadfall right after hatching. You'll have lots of time to practice on the ground before we introduce flying and /betweening/. I think you're capable when you put your mind to it. How do you feel about potential leadership in the Wings? Greenrider wingthirds are pretty common these days."
She snorted. “Oh, telling people what to do is my favorite thing in the world. But responsibility? Eh, I don’t know. I could do the job _technically_ I’m sure, but I don’t know if I have that kind of patience with people. They can do what I say or cry about it -- I’m not gonna waste my time trying to fix stupid, you know?”
"Sure. There are other aspects of leadership than ordering people around, you know." M'thos made a few notes in his notebook that time, "Like what do you do when someone isn't pulling their weight, but you know their weyrmate died a few Threadfalls ago? Or if you get a report from the Healers that one of your wingmates needs an arm amputated?"
She made a face. All that sounded like a pain to deal with. “I don’t know. First one probably needs some time off to grieve or something? I mean, did they get that? Should have gotten it before a few Threadfalls had passed and it got that bad. Who forgot to think about that? Maybe somebody in leadership needs a kick in the pants or something. Oh whoops, that was supposed to be me. I guess _I_ need a kick in the pants. Second one… if the healers say it’s gotta come off, it’s gotta come off. What am _I_ supposed to do about it?” She gave an exaggerated shrug, then took a moment to consider it more, her face softening. “I mean that’s… that’s hard. I guess they need support? I don’t know how to do that though. How do you make somebody feel better about something like that? What can you say that would even begin to make it any easier, that won’t just sound pitying or… or trite, or whatever? I guess we’re supposed to, uh, ‘be there’ for them? I feel like if I tried to be helpful I would mess up and accidentally say something like ‘do you need a hand with that?’ and I wouldn’t mean to be a jerk but it would come out that way and they would cry or something. I only like making people cry when they deserve it, and One-Armed W’ley probably doesn’t deserve that when he’s already having such a hard time.”
"Poor W'ley probably doesn't deserve it." M'thos said with a barely contained grin. "You aren't being graded on an answer today, but I wanted to give you an idea of some of the other things 'leadership' ends up being. There's no 'right' answer, but there are certainly wrong ones. It's ok if you don't have any interest, either. It's good that you know that about yourself. Now, I know you've stood at a few hatchings already, but do you feel comfortable and prepared for this one? Dolphin Cove had a few injuries at their last hatching, and we want to try and minimize the risk for Chioneth's clutch."
“Oh yeah. I’m not looking to lay hands on any baby dragons. Or get run over. There’s so much going on that it’s kind of hard to pay attention to everything at once -- especially when you’re standing there admiring one of the squealy little things and forget to look away -- but I try. Who wants to get sent to the infirmary? Not me. Who wants to get yelled at by you or the Weyrwoman? Not me. Or… does T’lonas yell? I can’t imagine it. But if he does, it’s probably the _worst_. Who wants that? Not me. Yeah, I’m fine, I’m good. Not worried.”
"It probably is." M'thos agreed. "That's good. Nobody wants you hurt, of course, and you need to be very aware of what's going on. If the little one wants you, they'll tell you. Thanks for talking with me, Zaphare. Do you have any questions for me before you go?"
“Nope,” she replied simply.
Last updated on the October 11th 2024