A Night Out on the Town

[PhazonDragon]

He was going to get it--Rafael was sure. Biting his lower lip, the historian's face twisted into a frown, and he glanced behind him. His worried blue eyes looked back at the group that followed him--a sizable amount of people that forced him to take them out. Just hours before, a group of weyrlings jokingly threatened the German's precious books, urging him to sneak them out of the weyr, and get away from the lockdown that plagued the weyr as a result of the storm months back. Only when Rafael's pleading ceased, and he agreed to take a group of people out of the weyr, did the offending residents leave Rafael's books unscathed.

Clutching said books to his chest--a history of World War Two, something on the beginnings of the Earth, and a historical non-fiction novel as light reading. Since the scare with the threats against his beloved books, Rafael wasn't about to leave them behind. He faced forward again, worry lines crossing his features. Oh, this was a bad idea. The group he was bringing with him to town wasn't exactly small, and they were sure to stand out. Thankfully, he wasn't watching after kids, and they could hopefully take care of themselves. Even that notion didn't stop Rafael from addressing the group just on the outskirts of the town.

"Alright," he started, turning on his heels to face the group. The German cleared his throat, all of a sudden more aware of his foreign accent that stood out from the rest. "Iz gud, iz gud..." He murmured to himself, assuring his brain that this was fine. "We're here. The town's just that way--" he raised an arm and pointed behind him, the lights of the town slowly turning on as the sunlight faded away. "It's getting dark, and so the Weyrleader and Weyrwoman shouldn't notice if you all are gone... But still, stick around with someone, so you don't get lost. And please, be back here in..." Rafael adjusted his glasses and peered down at the watch he brought along, "--four hours. At eleven fifteen. We'll still need time to get back to the weyr."

"If you need me, I'll be at the bookstore," Rafael finished with a glare towards those that had threatened him, as if saying it was their fault. "Before you go, any Pernese need to be given Earth names, just in case. Decide on that as soon as possible. Now go on. Remember, no firelizards, and no dragons or whers. We want to keep Rocky hidden for as long as we can. If you go blabbering about it, then we'll have to head back, and you all will be stuck inside the weyr longer. So no complaining. I took you this far, and I don't want anyone to seem ungrateful about it." Not to mention the greenrider J'kent offering to cover for them while they were gone... The historian snorted. "Go on," Rafael repeated, stepping to the side to allow everyone past him and into the town. "Stick together too! Don't get lost!"

[Dragonmage]

Nocia walked past Rafael with trepidation clear in her body language. This was a strange place and she could not afford to be careless. After much convincing, Sasath had let her rider go to the town without hovering over Nocia protectively. Even after the storm rescues, having a big blue dragon looking over your shoulder as you walked through town wasn't very conducive to keeping the Weyr a secret. She'd changed into more typical Earth clothes before leaving the Weyr and the slightly tacky brown "National Sarcasm Society" T-shirt and blue jeans still felt strange.

It might be fun to get a pet while she was exploring. She'd never managed to find a firelizard clutch that had a viable egg and wanted a pet of some kind. She had to remember though that for now and any later expeditions into town her name was Nicole. Nocia was not close enough to a name from Earth to be safe. She asked the group, "Anyone else want to go see if they can get a pet? I know I'm looking for one."

[shadowreine]

Loren shook her head. "I'm happy with the one I have." If she didn't mention that her pet was a green firelizard, then there could be no suspicion. People would simply think it was a cat or a...hamster or something.

No firelizards. Which meant she had to be careful even *thinking* about Ivy, as did the others. Even a hatchling could between to its owner and if the flits got curious...then they might show up en masse.

The Between thing was very, very neat...and would be highly useful once Woruth was mature...but in the firelizards it could, at times, be interesting. "But I'm not going to stop anyone else."

"I don't want a pet either, but I'm not above looking at them." Tad had his hands full with Kimath. The dragon was not smart.

Not actually retarded, mind, as he had at first feared. Just very simple, a straightforward mind that did not grasp difficult concepts yet, often, cut to the heart of things nonetheless. Exactly the kind of person Tad was happy to spend the rest of his life with, even if it was a person with wings and a tail.

Who was pouting a bit about not being able to come with his young rider on this particular expedition.

[FaizahPandora]

Nakia and Virika walked eagerly past the German man, heading for the town. They already had a game plan. Find some booze, drink until they could barely walk, and flirt with whoever they felt like. Perfect plan, Nakia thought to herself. Nothing could go wrong.

Nakia had left Isath at their weyr, having gotten no arguements from the dragon. Go and have some fun, Isath had told her. Well, Nakia fully intended to have some fun. Missy, on the other hand, had been quite different. The green had wanted to follow Nakia everywhere, including into town. After an hour of firm commands, the firelizards had curled up under the comforter and pouted as Nakia walked out of the weyr.

---------------

Virika was fully in on Nakia's plan. Sounded great to her! With the current lock down at the weyr, times had become very dull. There weren't even chores to be done, although Virika had cleaned her personal weyr over a dozen times out of boredom. Virisk wasn't complaining however. That green enjoyed staying inside, especially hanging out in the hatching grounds where she could sleep in the hot sands. Thusly, it wasn't hard to convince the green to stay there while Virika went into town. Rannoch, her brown hatchling flitter, was even easy to convince. He was currently staying in Nakia's weyr with Missy, which he was loving. The brown was a flirt, even at his young age...

Virika was listening to Nakia, but at the same time was searching the fellow weyr residents with interest. There were some cute and some hot guys there... Some of them were worth her attention, perhaps. She decided to wait and see how the rest of the night went.

---------------

La'as walked generally by himself down to the town. He had been curious as the rumor spread of getting out of the weyr. Having spent his entire life on Pern, excluding the past few weeks, he wanted to see what Earth was like.

So far he had seen beautiful mountains and trails. Below he could see the town, which resembled a Hold slightly. It was interesting to see the lights, giving the town an almost eerie glow. Eerie, but beautiful. He wished Taspaloth could see it.

Thinking about the little green put a smile on his face. She had immediately worried about his safety in an unfamiliar place. Then she worried about what would happen should the weyrleaders find out he had left the weyr. He had calmed her of both worries. He would update her every so often, and he had a senior rider covering for their abscence. It was only after promising to keep her updated that she had agreed to stay behind.

La'as heard about a pet. He had often wanted a lap dog back home, but had never earned enough to get one. Here he was given a seven-day amount to spend as he saw fit.

He nodded as he moved up to his fellow Pernese. Nocia, her name was. But in town they were to call her Nicle. No... Nicole. "I will. I've always wanted a lap dog. Sounds like something worth looking into."

---------------

N'lon, or Nathan as he was to be called for the night, dint have the slightest want for a pet. He would bide his time for an egg from one of the gold clutches. Maybe get one of the runnerbeasts like the weyrwomans gold one.

At that moment Nyketh was in his mind, worry most prominent in his mind. He calmed the clingy blue, sending him images of where he was while at the same time enforcing the need for the blue to stay at the weyr.

((Done. Crappy N'lon post, but I'm still feeing the characters out.))

[PhazonDragon]

[ooc: To H'vas]

Priding himself on the fact that he was one of those weyrlings that threatened the poor historian, Hy'ka practically beamed his joy as he bounced, hands shoved in the pockets of his Earth jeans. Rafael glared at him, but that was okay. They were going to town, to get away from the secrecy of the weyr. Hy'ka did give Brynath explicit instructions not to let the brown flitter Kivral out of his sight. Hopefully the blue would stay awake long enough to keep the pest out of his hair for the night.

The bluerider walked alongside his greenrider lover, the dashing H'vas. Though the couple was no longer a secret in the weyr, Hy'ka resisted the urge to entwine his fingers with H'vas'. That was the only thing souring his mood at the moment. The impulsive Hy'ka wasn't going to keep the feeling at bay for long though. The second the aging historian, with his silly and hard to understand accent, sent them on their way, Hy'ka's hand shot out of the confines of his pocket, and he quickly wrapped his arm around H'vas', holding the older rider close.

"Now that's over with... I'm not letting you out of my sight, H'vas," Hy'ka joked, sticking out his tongue playfully. The mention of an animal shelter made the bluerider's ears perk up. "A pet? Would you want one? Or are you good with your single firelizard? I think I'll be good with just Kivral. He's a handful already. I don't think I need a canine or something to bother him... That'll make him more irritable. If that was even possible." Hy'ka trailed off, his eyes and mind wandering.

"Where to first? The historian's out of our way... Can't be left behind in the dust, can we?" Hy'ka asked, twisting his head to stare up into the face of the greenrider.

[Houka Ryuu]

Adair
Adair had arrived only a few days ago at Rocky Weyr and already, he was itching to go outside. He couldn't believe how the others were still sane having been locked up and grounded inside the Weyr. And so, when he heard the whispered news of an expedition to go outside, he was in on it. He sorely wanted to see what this new world, Earth was like. Having been stuck inside the Weyr wasn't conducive to a good impression of the place since the inside of a mountain is basically the same even in Pern.

Adair had made friends with Lesla even if the young weyrling was rather really shy. Adair sort of felt like her big brother and tried to drag Lesla around to meet new people whenever possible. He even helped Lesla with Houkath if he had free time after completing his chores.

He had a hard time convincing his flit, Finder, to stay put. After all, the two of them have been rather inseparable since Finder Impressed on him. However, since Finder will be with other flits, Lesla's flock of flits, hopefully the flit will follow Adair's orders to stay put in the weyr.

And so, when the group gathered, Adair dragged Lesla with him so that they could explore their new world outside of the weyr.

Lesla
Lesla had been overwhelmed at first when Adair kept on talking to her. She'd never met anyone be so... well friendly. Adair wasn't talkative per se, but at least he wasn't shy around people and would talk to them if need be. She didn't really mind about the enforced grounding of the dragons and for the folks to stay mostly inside the Weyr.

Houkath didn't grumble since she still wasn't used to being with too many dragons so having to stay in their weyr for however long that may be, was fine with her. So long as she got to eat and bathe every so often, then life was paradise from her point of view. She readily let Hers go for the night and assured Hers that she would keep an eye on the flits, Seichou, Zeus, and Lovely. Adair's Finder was with the flock of flits as well but Houkath couldn't communicate with Finder except probably through one of Hers' flits. And when the time for the outing to the outside of the Weyr came, Lesla let herself be dragged by Adair.

Adair & Lesla
The two, Adair and Lesla, walked with the group arm in arm as if they were very close siblings. They had both decided on Adam as Adair's Earth name and Lisa as Lesla's Earth name. The Earth names were close enough to their Pernese names so they should be able to answer to them if they were called by those names.

At the mention of animal shelter, Adair... that is, Adam perked up and looking down at Lesla... that is, Lisa, he asked, "Want to go with them?" After a pause, he added more enthusiastically, "Maybe we can get a pet?" as he then turned to the others to say, "Lisa and I would like to go as well." not even waiting for Lesla's reply.

Lesla... Lisa who had been about to say no to Adair... Adam, just closed her mouth and sighed. What's the use of answering when Adair already made up his mind of where they were going. Still, at least, she didn't have to actually talk to anybody yet and so she wasn't too shy about being with the others. She did look around for Lyrah for the other Weyrling had sort of been grouped with her and Adair. Lesla did wonder what Lyrah had decided for an Earth name.

Samari & Guin
Samari had heard about a few folks going out for a night out of the Weyr. Guin feeling a tad homesick for the outside world had invited Samari if she wanted to go with the group. Their minds made up, the two made sure their Whers understood that they were to stay put at the Weyr.

Bronze Orn did not want to be left behind but a stern word from both Samari and Samarsk had the flit sulking at being left behind. Blue Zed was still young enough that he mostly just eats and sleeps most of the time. Samari had instructed a drudge to keep on eye out on her flits that were staying with Samarsk.

Guin had decided to make Guinsk stay with his mother Samarsk. Arwen Keilani had to be pried away from Hers but in the end, she settled on top of Guinsk's head. Guinsk despite his young age knew to stay put where he was told. When Guinsk and Arwen were settled peacefully with Samarsk, Orn and Zed, Guin and Samari left to join the group going out for the night.

They were in the rear section of the group and just barely heard Rafael's instructions about having Earth names and sticking together. Samari will now be called Sam and Guin will stay as Guin. However, someone had suggested going to an animal shelter and possibly looking for a pet. Guin didn't think he'd have time to look after another pet since he already had Guinsk and Arwen Keilani. He looked over at Samari, a question in his eyes.

Samari, that is Sam, seeing the question in Guin's eyes said aloud, "Sure why not. I would like to see what there is of Earth." as she and Guin joined those that were planning to go to the animal shelter.

((OOC: Meh, fail post on Guin and Samari, but at least they are there. XD))

[redwerecat]

Tag and Em
The twins had been more than delighted to go along with the group when they caught wind of the expedition (from a well-placed rumor, and not at all a result of Halderoth's habit of eavesdropping...). Hell, Tag hadn't left the Weyr since he'd gone to pick up his sister, and Ember was letting on she wouldn't mind a little normalcy-she was still getting used to ...well, everything.
(Though, it must be said in her defense, that after the initial shock, she had quite gotten used to Halderoth continually speaking to her unannounced. Tag at least had the permanent connection with the chimeric dragon, and was therefore rarely surprised when it spoke to him, but it had a habit of scaring the living daylights out of Ember.)

So there they were, grinning like idiots (which was very likely a decent description for the pair of them) and practically buzzing with energy. Ember was wrapped up in a large sweatshirt, and Tag had the leather jacket he had begun to grow quite fond of since moving to Rocky, and they were murmuring excitedly to one another. The topic? Having to use their regular names- if even the Pernese had to pick 'normal' names, they grudgingly agreed to go by their actual names rather than their strange nicknames. So they were Kenneth and Emily again, much to their chagrin (and Halderoth's utter amusement.)

Ember overheard one of the girls talking about going to the animal shelter, and she seemed to brighten up at the thought. Tag gave her a stern look, but after about four seconds of her giving him puppy-dog eyes, he broke.
"If you want to go, fine. But remember you have a pile of cats waiting at the Weyr, right?"

His sister made a delighted noise and hugged him, and ran to catch up with the group heading to the shelter. He just sighed and smiled- it was good to have his sister around again. Even with so much to do, he hadn't realized how much he'd missed her. At the thought of the dragon, Tag paused to check in on his two 'pets.' He found his darling gold Tiggy curled in his shirt drawer, and a moment of searching found Halderoth curled up with his dark clutchmate- and Tag frowned. Why the hell was Hal so companionable with the one person's dragon he happened to want to speak with least in the world?

Even Halderoth, who was a master of long-winded exposition, had to question that rather convoluted thought. Tag shushed it angrily, and the blue/green mix gave him a tired and resigned sigh before they parted, Tag going back to following his sister, Hal back to it's nap.

Liam
The tall and decidedly silent blonde man towards the back of the group rolled his eyes as he caught a deadly glare from the redhead towards the front. Liam muttered under his breath a moment, pitching his voice just loud enough to carry to Tag.

"I take it you're still mad, then?" He hissed, and he felt Skirth's mental disapproval even before he'd finished speaking. The black dragon certainly did not approve of him picking a fight, and, as Tag turned to acknowledge him just long enough to reply with a curt "Yes." , Liam found himself agreeing. Despite his annoyance with his former lover...

So he let the redhead leave without further comment and tried to find a way to avoid the animal shelter at all costs. Shrugging, he finally decided to tail their erstwhile sponsor- the German man had mentioned a bookstores, and at the moment, it sounded like a perfect place to be in Liam's opinion.

Trinity
She so far hadn't spoken to anyone on the trip down, but that did not mean she wasn't paying attention. In fact, with a little prying, she'd managed to figure out the plan the Weyrwoman's sisters had concocted, and, as the pair split off, she followed them. As she walked past the tall dragonrider, she raised an eyebrow, catching Liam's irritated words, but they shared a look, and neither seemed willing to converse with the other, and they left well enough alone.

The thin woman, who had chosen the rather plain Earth name of 'Trina' for the evening, caught up rather quickly, but she suddenly found herself without words.

Was she actually nervous? She scoffed, and tried to remember how easy it had been for her back when she had been a rider...it was all a matter of attitude, anyway. She double-checked on Trinsk and his babysitter, her beloved flitter, and Hama gladly re-assured her that the blue wher was fast asleep and that the older Wherhandler with the odd accent and the grotesque white wher was keeping an eye on him.
(Though Trinity positively loathed whers, and the white beast hardly tilted her opinion in a favorable manner, she found the white's handler to be perfectly civil, if just a bit off-putting. Still, he'd agreed to keep an eye on Trinsk for her that evenng, and she'd been so desperate to get a break that she'd not cared about anything other than being free of the desperately clingy blue.)

Trinity- Trina, she reminded herself- mustered up her courage, and gently tapped the young rider on the shoulder.
"Ah...Nakia, is it? And...Virika. I...would you possibly mind if I accompanied you? I overheard you mentioning getting drinks...of the alcoholic variety?" She forced a smile to her face, but it came out as more of a grimace, so she stopped and went back to her blank but vaguely civil expression.

R'ner
R'ner smiled, taking in the pale sparkle of the lights from the town. It never ceased to impress him- the light was much more akin to the stars than it was to the gentle light of the glows he was used to. He couldn't help a pleased laugh, and he gratefully grinned at the historian before trailing after some of the weyrlings.

Alright, so he was hardly a weyrling himself, but that certainly didn't mean he didn't crave a chance to explore. And it wasn't as if he'd never bent a few rules before, so why not now?

R'ner- he'd chosen the name 'Ron' for the night- yet had little interest in visiting the animal adoption place he heard some of the others talking about though. His fancy lay in exploring this wholly new world he'd come to, and so he followed the few others who'd chosen to forgo the animal shelter. Perhaps he could get to know some of the weyrlings...Noxceventh was certainly eager to get to know the young dragons better, and he was strongly encouraging His to do so as well. A faint mental peep from Lucis added to the dragon's statement, and with a smile, R'ner headed off to do just that.


((...aaarrrg. I just wanted to play with the fact that Tag and Liam are really pissed at eachother, but noooo...my characters had to butt in and go off on an adventure.))

[FaizahPandora]

Nakia turned around at the tap on her shoulder. She smiled at the question and the girl whom she vaguely recognized but didnt have a name for. She nodded.

"Of course you can join us. And yes, we are questing for alcohol this evening. More specifically, vodka. Have you ever had vodka?" Nakia asked back.

---------------

Virika managed to glance behind her at the new addition to their group. She smiled at her, trying to welcome her among them. After Nakia was finished speaking Virika spoke up.

"Yes, I'm Virika Pandora. Faizah and Nakia's cousin. You are?" She asked politely.

Virika pulled out a pack of cigarettes, pulling out one to hand to Nakia, putting one between her own lips, then held one out in an offer to the new girl. Nakia snatched the zebra print lighter from her pocket and lit her cigarette.

---------------

N'lon walked by himself, then noticed another person walking alone. Her approached the fellow blonde man.

"Hey, I noticed you were alone. Figured you would welcome some company. Mind if I join you?" He asked the man confidently.

((Horrible post I know. And N'lon is talking to Liam incase anyone is wondering.))

[PhazonDragon]

At the head of the group, Rafael crossed his arms, books gripped tightly in his hands, giving the assembled 'children' a look of exasperation. They fell into groups, like he asked, and started to walk into town, some chatting up a storm with each other. Others still were proceeding forward with empty mouths but full minds. The German rather liked the quiet ones. Because they didn't glare at him like a few of the more rambunctious weyrlings did.

"Go on, go on! Shoo!" Rafael said, waving his hands to motion for his large group to move away, and into the town. Once the last resident had trickled off into town, Rafael sighed deeply. Bad idea, definitely. But he couldn't do anything about it--the historian had no real authority over them, yet he was one of the elders at the weyr. He had to at least watch out for them, even if some were no longer on his good side.

Books still in hand, Rafael crept forward cautiously into town. A bad idea... The phrase kept repeating over and over in his head, and no matter what he did, he couldn't calm himself. Perhaps a long night spent in the bookstore would be good. As per his own words, Rafael walked down the street, and slipped into the small, local bookstore.

It was small, that's for sure, but homey. He wandered between the books, eyes traveling from cover to cover, an occasionally smiling at one that he recognized. Near the back, a small reading area with a couple of chairs a-waited. With a half-smile, Rafael sunk into one of the chairs... literally. The cushions were soft, and showed years of use. Rafael sank further into the chair than he expected, but hardly complained, instead placing his books in his lap and opening the top one.

His nose was soon into the history of World War Two, his eyes scanning the page and drinking in the information. The rest of his mind blocked out the other noises in the shushed bookstore, and he focused solely on his book.

[shadowreine]

Loren had hesitated, not sure WHO to follow. Oddly, she felt very naked and alone this far from Woruth, who was asleep in the bowl.

Odd because until not that long ago there had been no such thing as Woruth. He had been conceived, incubated and hatched recently, yet he was already so much a part of her life that the Time Before Woruth was...empty. The girl drifted outside the bookstore Rafael had gone into. Coming up behind her, Tad hesitated.

"Hello, fellow bluerider," he greeted, finally.

She supposed that she and the former...ranch hand, she thought...were of equal status now. Their dragons the same age, the same color...although quite different other than that. From what she had seen, Kimath did not have much in the way of, well, smarts. Woruth was better. But. "Hush," she whispered. "If anyone hears you..Rafael is right in there to come out and ground us for months!"

Likely, Loren had a better grasp of security than the young man...

[redwerecat]

Trinity smiled faintly and shook her head at the offer of one of the odd pipe-like things the girl offered. She'd never taken up smoking pipeweed on Pern, and she found little interest in doing so now.

"Trinity. That is my name in truth, but I suppose while we are among the unknowing Terran public you should call me Trina..." she shook her head, obviously disliking that name. "I'm one of the other handlers back at the Weyr." She said, more to Virika than the other, as if to jog her memory. "I had thought we met, but...I suppose not. The wher I watch over chose not to attend the hatching, but I thought it wise to keep an eye on the new wherhandlers..." She tried to keep any hint of disdain from her voice, and failed. So instead she switched to another topic.

"Vodka...? No, I don't believe I've had it..."

~~~

Liam nearly jumped out of his skin when the young man spoke to him. He'd been lost in his thoughts and hadn't heard him approach.

Clearing his throat nervously and to hide his startled reaction, he stared at the boy for a long moment, then sighed. "Company, yeah. Uh, no, I don't mind. It might be...pleasant..." He sounded unsure, but at the same time, his eyes held a mischievous glint that clearly said he was only joking.

[mimiheart]

Xzavier had heard that a froup of people were going to break the rule the weyrwoman had imposed and go out for a night in the nearby town. He also knew he was probably too "young" to go with the group, but he didn't care about that.
For several reasons.

One, they were breakign a rule, and that was always fun... at least until you got caught... And two, he wanted to be wherever any action was. And with the weyr on lockdown, some excitement was lacking.

He'd gotten into bed early so that Bretta, the weyrfolk woman who looked after him, would think he was asleep after he'd left.
An hour after she'd gone to sleep, he snuck out of their quarters and down to where the group of people were gathering. He slipped into the small crowd and went out mostly unnoticed.

He looked around and spoke outloud, not speakign to anyone directly.
"I'm happy i don't have to use a differnt name!" he chuckled. If, for some reason, they went to his town, he might have to use a different name: his motheer was pretending he was away at a school out-of-town.

He cleared his head by shaking it. He wanted to have Fun, not think about his boring old town!

He heard someone talking about a petstore, and decided that following them might be fun.

[FaizahPandora]

Nakia smiled in an evil way. "Oh... You are going to love it!"

She took a long drag of her cigarette as she looked over at Virika. "Vodka and orange juice is best. Straight vodka burns a bit on the way down. Captain Jack and Mountain Dew tastes good too." Nakia mentioned absently.

---

Virika put the pack away, lighting her own cigarette with her blue lighter. She listened carefully to Nakia, nodding at the vodka part. She smiled herself when Captain Jack was mentioned.

"That stuff is good." She agreed fully.