[PRP] Lunch tales (Mari, Dolly)

[Thaliawen]

Marinel had done it again. He'd gotten an old favorite, politely asking the kitchen staff for an extra bubblypie for his brother--but his brother was dead, shard it. He picked at his meat roll with a sigh. He'd asked for it without thinking, and for a moment, it was like the last eight months hasn't happened. Like Dolmar was just a trip between away.

Well. In a way he was. But Marinel shook that thought from his head. Maybe there'd be someone he could offer the second bubblypie to.  

[ShinosBee]

Dolmar didn't care for bubblypies. Not any more. They'd always been his favorite, and once he was gone...it just hadn't seemed right. The sweet juicy berries had all but lost their flavor. As a kid of course he'd loved them, and as a teen he'd resisted because they were fattening...unless Marinel had gotten two and insisted on sharing.

His meal for the day consisted of a selection of a number of vegetables and fruits, and a bit of wherry. He'd always been one for lean eating, and fully believed that healthy food led to a healthy mind and body.

Though he'd definitely gotten double his usual amount this time. Soon enough food would be in short supply he had begun to think. Better to put on a bit of weight now to have more to lose later, maybe?  

[Thaliawen]

Marinel spotted a face he recognized, even if it wasn't a particularly friendly face. He headed over to where Dolmar was sitting and sat across from him. He awkwardly pushed a bubblypie forward. "I er, I accidentally got two," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "Do you want it?"

It'd been habit. It'd been something he'd always done with his brother, until they'd been separated. He didn't seem to want to explain further, and looked away, taking a bite of his meat roll. He chewed, swallowed, and looked to Dolmar.

"Oh, I didn't ask if I could join you for lunch. I'm joining you for lunch."  

[ShinosBee]

It took Dolmar a beat to recognize the boy who sat down across from him. There weren't exactly...negative memories associated with him, but they certainly hadn't gotten off on the best of feet. This seemed more or less like a peace offering though, and now with the calm sense that daylight afforded a person, he had the sense to accept it. There was no reason to antagonize a stranger, and he could always stand to cultivate more allies.

Those thoughts passed in a the second it took for the boy to offer him a pie, and a strange wash of nostalgia came chasing down his spine like warm rainwater. He really didn't need the pie...but something about the entire situation bothered him into accepting. "Better than to waste it, I suppose," He half-sighed, using a fork to snare the edge of the pie and tug it over into his space.

His brows did some complex choreography at Nel's next words. That seemed fairly bold. Maybe without exhaustion making the boy overemotional he was actually decently assertive? Interesting. "I can see that." He speared a bite of roasted tubers, intent on eating everything he'd gotten for himself before he started in on the pie. "So," Of course he'd never talk while chewing. "Finally get some sleep then, Nel?"  

[Thaliawen]

Dolmar's act of taking the pie made Marinel smile. "The kitchen staff at my hold used to make these for me," he said. But they were gone now, assumedly. He didn't think too long on that, though, and instead offered Dolmar another smile. "I used to sneak in and grab two so I could share. Then I'd get another two at dinner." But who he'd share with, he wasn't ready to talk about.

He paused at the question and nodded. "Yes, thank you," he said. He hadn't had nightmares last night, either. No thoughts of loved ones being eaten by thread. "How did you sleep?"  

[ShinosBee]

Dolmar worked his way steadily through his lunch, mowing down tubers and roasted grains and greens with the voracity of a teen boy and the grace of a holder's son. "I'm a bit surprised you're not...well, rounder," He noted. He didn't mean it as an insult (this time) and in fact meant more that he was vaguely impressed to see that Nel apparently had an active enough lifestyle to manage to stay in decent shape despite his penchant for gorging on syrupy sugary bubbly pies. "And at least you were obviously taught to share." it was a bit unusual that a hold's kitchens would just hand off two pies that way...then again, Marinel had done similar things all the time. He jabbed his fork at the bit of wherry on his plate. Not thinking in that direction this early in the day.

"That's good. Can't have you dropping off mid-lessons. Someone will have to pick up your slack, and it won't be me." He nodded firmly to himself, though he did feel a bit of pride in somehow making enough of an impression on this kid to alter his entire quality of sleep. He cared about being influential, that was certainly clear.

"I always sleep just fine, but you have my thanks for asking." Only once the rest of his food was gone did he start in on the pie.  

[Thaliawen]

"Hm?" Marinel took the comment good naturedly and smiled. "I guess I've always run around too much for any of it to stick." He gave another small smile. "I'd always get my brother and I pies, he used to tease me, too. It's that that helped me run away, the running," he shrugged, and listened to Dolmar.

He nodded in thanks. "I'll try to sleep better," he said. It was hard. He could at least lay awake and think. "Do you like the pie?" He asked. "They're my favorite."  

[ShinosBee]

He nodded slowly, was chewing slowly, gears slowly whirling and clinking away behind those pensive, olive green eyes. "Well, it's good you've done. If not, life as a candidate would be terrible, right? Though it's useful to know that you could probably pull your weight if needed. And I mean that literally, if you're that...energetic, running around so much." He set the fork aside, maybe half the pie eaten now. He really wasn't used to gorging like this any more, and he'd rather avoid a stomach ache halfway through the next chore or lesson. "I used to do the same thing to my brother. None of it ever seemed to sink in though, never bothered him." He huffed the smallest of laughs. It was a good thing Marinel had never taken it to heart. He'd never meant anything that'd hurt his brother.

"If something's keeping you up, again, talk to the candidate master. That's why they're there, wherrybrain," He sighed. He didn't know why he cared about Nel's sleeping habits. Scratch that, he didn't care. Not at all. Certainly not. "It was decent," He snapped, his confusion over his own emotions manifesting in irritation aimed erroneously at Nel. "Not as good as my home's, but good enough."  

[Thaliawen]

"Really?" Marinel asked curiously. "How old is your brother?" He didn't mean to pry, but he wanted to get to know Dolmar better. "My brother teased me all the time, but I knew he never meant it." At least, he didn't think he had. "We were always close, then he went off to be an apprentice."

He nodded. "I will," he promised. "It's just been hard." A lot of people had gone through the same thing, he knew, but he found he didn't particularly care about how they felt. Not right now. "Where do you come from, then?" He asked. If they had the best pies, maybe he'd have to visit.  

[ShinosBee]

He debated the question of his brother's age for a long moment, lost in distant memories of birthing-days shared over turns and turns. Byt the time he'd come back around to himself enough to consider answering, Nel had charged on ahead in the conversation, going on about being teased and his own brother leaving. "Mine was younger than I am," He simplified, "And I think that's fairly normal. most families with more than one child apprentice at least one. Training is important, constant bettering of one's self."

He took a moment to hand off his dirtied dishes to a passing drudge, then flicked a few stray crumbs off the table. Away from himself of course. "Northern continent, originally." Exactly where didn't really matter. It didn't exist any more anyway, and though some people may have heard of it, unless Nel was secretly someone much more important than he seemed, he'd never have heard of it.  

[Thaliawen]

Marinel caught the use of past tense when Dolmar spoke of his brother. He reached out a hand awkwardly, and then pulled it back. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have..." So they'd both lost brothers. Probably to the same thing.

"Really? Same," he said. "It took a lot of time to get to where I am," he added, thoughtfully. He'd trade all of that to be able to have his brother back, though... "I'd never thought too much about traders until they found me and invited me to travel with them," he said, abruptly changing the subject. "Where did you study?"  

[ShinosBee]

He stared intently at the hand approaching, retreating, curling back towards its owner with detached disinterest. I understood the feeling behind the gesture, the attempt being made. It obviously wouldn't bring anyone back though, or ease any pain. "It's no matter. Like I said last night," He shrugged one elegant shoulder. "Everyone's lost someone."

Nel's comment about taking time to get where he was took a moment to decipher. His initial impression was that he'd meant in terms of some crafts apprenticeship, but then he determined that he must mean physically, in this location. "You came by caravan? Even after threadfall?" Dolmar lit up at the thought, almost indignant at the apparent stupidity. "It's a miracle that you're even alive, Nel! You have a shard of Faranth's egg in your pocket? Crackdust," He shook his head, muttering heatedly. "And thank all the stars that it wasn't wherever you studied, if that's what you thought was a good idea! Please tell me you actually came by dragon...?"  

[Thaliawen]

"Yeah," Marinel agreed, sighing. Everyone had lost someone. He looked away for a moment. "I hate Thread," he said, sounding uncharacteristically hostile. "I hate it."

"Oh, not to here," Marinel shook his head. "I rode with traders until I apprenticed to a woodcraver. But I was with them a long time. I hope they're alright..." His face scrunched in thought. Had they found safety? Somewhere, anywhere? "A dragon Searched me," he clarified, looking awkward.  

[ShinosBee]

It seemed uncharacteristic for Nel, despite Dolmar only vaguely knowing the boy, to be so vicious. Admittedly, his sentiments on thread were the exact same. He wondered distantly how many other candidates had come to the weyr out of anger, as opposed to fear. "That's exactly why you have to stay fit to ride. You need that anger to fight the enemy." Not really, but it might work to motivate Nel. Who knew?

"Well that at least is a relief. You're not totally cracked." He was dragging his hand through the rough stubble of his hair before he could stop himself (a gesture he'd made a hundred times before in exasperation at his own brother) and moved to flick a longer lock of hair that no longer existed behind his ear. "A dragon searched me, he says. As if anything else could? A wher, maybe?" He didn't know why it was so...amusing to taunt the other kid. He almost felt himself start to smile as he'd asked.  

[Thaliawen]

"I don't know if anger's any better than grief for baby dragons," Marinel said, and shook his head. "I've never been so angry before," he admitted. Or so sad. It was a different sort of combination, he hadn't thought it was possible.

"Yeah. My brother'd probably say the same thing," Marinel smiled slightly. "Hey, I don't know from experience, but I've heard where are pretty smart."