What do YOU Want?! [Tags Asdra]

Several days had passed since Aria had dealt with an incident regaurding an irrating young woman and a fork. Work had no doubt passed through the weyr by now and Aria could only image that someone would eventually call her out on her behavior. She didn't really care what anyone thought though, she'd done what she'd had to. Now she was more than happy to finally have a quiet meal without any interuptions from someone annoying like her cousin Tylar. She loved her cousin, really she did, but sometimes....The young woman sighed. Tylar got on her nerves...badly, and she just didn't know how to react around the other young woman. Still, it was a good thing that people had left her well alone since the fork incident. Aria HATED it when people held grudges and kept bringing things up that had long since passed. At least now she could relax and enjoy herself a bit.

Jyluu sat in her customary place on her Pet's shoulder. The golden dragonet was keeping a closer eye on her surroundings and had been since the fork incident not to long ago. Right now, the dragonet was content to sit where she was and occasionally steal scraps of food from her Pet's hand. Yes, this was the life.

Asdra was striding towards the dining cavern again. Word was getting around that he was as hungry as he was almost all the time, and the cooks had even begun to keep extra food prepared just in case he showed up, as he did as many as 5 times a day on some occasions. Cobalt fluttered lazily about his head, getting himself ready to steal any scraps of what His got for himself that he could.

As Asdra strode into the cavern and picked up his tray, his mouth began to water at everything that was there to eat...and his stomach felt like a hole through him that was growing wider and wider by the minute. He quickly grabbed several plates, piled them all high with food and made sure to grab some extra for Cobalt before he went to sit down somewhere.

While he was looking for a place to sit down, Cobalt suddenly stopped where he was, staring at who he had found. He quickly sent images to His, along with what he felt about them based on what he knew.

Asdra quickly saw the images and whirled around to look, food mountains wobbling a little, and he saw her with her dragonet. He remembered her...from just the other day? She got hit with Adrienne's fork, and whipped it right back at her. Asdra chuckled, remembering the scene, and decided he could stand to at least eat a meal with someone who stood up for themselves like that.

As he got to the table, he set his tray down, food mountains wobbling more dangerously, and he said with a smirk, "Pardon me, m'lady, but do you mind if I dine here?" He sat himself down at the table, tossed a meatroll to Cobalt despite his complaints that he hadn't stolen it and he gave a little flourishing bow. "I don't know if you remember me, but I am Asdra. I recall you from the other day, but I don't remember your name..."

Aria's hope for a quiet meal spent with only the company of her dragonet vanished the moment she noticed a dark haired young man enter the Dining Hall. If she remembered correctly, that young man had been present at the time that she'd had the fork incident. She had a moment to hope that he'd simply pass her by before he came right to her table and basically invited himself to sit there. So why had he asked if she'd minded? Snorting in annoyance, she looked up at the man sitting next to her. "Actually, I DO mind if you eat here. I was trying to enjoy a nice quiet meal." She eyed the young man as he threw a meatroll to blue firelizard she could only assume belonged to him. The firelizard was probably the most decent thing about him. And what was worse, he'd recongized her from the incided before.

Sighing to herself, she resigned herself to dealing with this particular annoyance. "Very well then, since I doubt I could make you leave; even though I don't want you here, and since you've already introduced yourself...My name is Aria, and I'd say it was nice to meet you, except that it would be a lie and I try not to lie if I can help it."

Jyluu looked with a slight amount of interest at the blue firelizard that had accompanied the man that was clearly annoying her Pet. Chirping what amounted for a greeting, the gold fluttered her wings and settled back down to protect her Pet.

Aria smiled very faintly at the gold and reached up to hand her a scrap of her food before gently rubbing her along her eye ridges. The dragonet was one of the best things in her life right now. Maybe the gold could help her get rid of the annoyance of having to socialize when she didn't want to.

"Very well then, since I doubt I could make you leave, even though I don't want you here, and since you've already introduced yourself...my name is Aria, and I'd say it was nice to meet you, except that it would be a lie and I try not to lie if I can help it."

Asdra burst out laughing, a loud bark of a laugh, at her comment. "Well now...Aria, was it? I must say, I do like your conversation. Certainly cracks me up."

A pretty name, he thought to himself. Cobalt chirped at Asdra as he heard the thought, then sent Asdra some images. Asdra glared at the firelizard before hastily pushing them out of his mind. "Oh, and this is Cobalt, my firelizard." He indicated the little blue flitter that was too busy munching on the meatroll in its front paws to even look up and chirp a hello or anything. Asdra nudged him, and Cobalt sort of half-chirped at Aria and at the gold dragonet in turn, then went back to the obviously more important food.
Asdra turned his attention back to Aria. "So, what do you do around here? I don't usually see you much, and my curiosity is currently getting the better of me." After a moment's pause, he added, "Also, is that your dragonet?" before promptly shoveling more food into his mouth, quickly cleaning one plate and moving on to the next.

Aria couldn't the rather vocal snarl of rage that left her lean form at how all this person could do was laugh at her. "It certainly wasn't my intent to 'crack you up' Sir Asdra. And if you think so, you aren't as intellegent as I first pegged you to be." Her mahogany eyes sparked clear outrage and anger at his more-than-rude reaction to her words. She'd meant to chase him off from the table, not make him laught. 'What is wrong with him? Who laughs at getting told what for? He's worse than Tylar.' That was a scary thought and she mentally shuddered. His only redeeming qualities were the blue with him and his interest in Jyluu. Mahogany eyes gentled at the sight of the firelizard and the young Weaver found herself again longing to have one of the wonderful creatures for her own. Jyluu was wonderful and she'd never trade her for anything, but Aria wanted to have a firelizard too.

So she offered a small smile as she watched the firelizard complain about not stealing his Pet's meatroll and finally comment. "She's mine, her name is Jyluu. And I take it that blue darling there is yours?" She barely refrained from crinkling her nose up in distaste when he began to shovel food into his mouth at an alarming rate. "That is so gross, your eating like that. It reminds me of the infant dragons. I'm suprised you haven't choked yourself by now." She shrugged before going back to her own plate and eating at a much more sedate pace than her unwelcome companion. Every once in a while she'd hand a peice up to the gold on her shoulder, but that was all.

Jyluu eyed the odd man next to her Pet, as she also eyed the firelizard with him. She couldn't understand her Pet's desire to have one of those creatures. They were smaller than she was and she was certain her kind were infinitely better. They'd been on the planet when the humans had arrived, firelizards like Cobalt however, were engineered and had only been around for a very short time. So she didn't understand it, but she accepted it. So if her Pet wanted a firelizard, Jyluu would do everything in her considerable power to make sure she recieved one.

Asdra looked up from his mostly-clean plates again to remark at her comments about her insult and her question about Cobalt, until she said, "That is so gross, your eating like that. It reminds me of the infant dragons. I'm surprised you haven't choked yourself by now."

He raised his hands, the smirk on his face increasing a notch. "Your pardon, m'lady, but I have always eaten as such, and honestly can't see myself changing that any time soon unless my appetite begins to dwindle; that isn't very likely either."

He turned his attention to Cobalt and motioned towards him. "But to answer your question, yes, this is Cobalt and he is my firelizard." Cobalt barely looked up from his current meatroll to chirp a greeting meant for both Aria and the gold dragonet before returning to eating.

Now Asdra returned his attention to the first thing he noticed - her apparent outright dislike of him for whatever reasons she might have. "Though, I have to ask, why the cruelty treatment? As far as I recall, I haven't done any wrong by you, and if I have then I duly apologize. Why loose your venom on me when I only hoped to have decent conversation?" His face no longer bore his trademark smirk, and the cold seriousness that came across even made Cobalt shiver a little bit.

Aria merely rolled her eyes at his comment. "So you've always eaten like that? Guess I can't fault you for that. I've simply never seen someone eat so much so fast before." She looked over the blue firelizard with clear interest then shook her head and sighed. "Well he's a very handsome fellow then." Aria watched as Asdra's expression turned serious. And he basically asked her what her problem was wit him.

"Though, I have to ask, why the cruelty treatment? As far as I recall, I haven't done any wrong by you, and if I have then I duly apologize. Why loose your venom on me when I only hoped to have decent conversation?"

Aria had to blink at the question then blinked again as she thought about what he'd asked. Was she really being that bad? Sighing and pushing her dark hair away from her eyes, she did something she didn't do often; she apologized. "Listen Asdra, I think I owe you the apology, not the other way around. I've just been frustrated lately with everything that's been happening, including an incident not to long ago involving a girl and a fork. I came here to have a quiet lunch without having to worry about people telling me what I should be doing and how I should be feeling. So when you came and basically invited yourself to sit with me, I used it as an excuse to snap at you even though the fact that my last few days have been terrible isn't your fault at all. Now I'm mature enough to admit when I've done something wrong, and I have. So I'm sorry, I'm just not used to people coming up to me simply for conversation." She smiled wryly at that. "Well, except for maybe my cousin Tylar, but that's different."

Jyluu snorted at the blue firelizard's lack of manners in greeting she and her Pet. Well she'd just have to show him the proper way to do it. Chirping curiously at Asdra, then head-butting Aria to show she was interested, the golden dragonet managed to send both her Pet and the one she was talking to the sense of her curiousity, her slight annoyance, and her intent to greet.

Aria smiled at the gold then shook her head. "Jyluu says hello, by the way. Now as for us, how about we try this again?" She cautiously held her hand out in silent greeting. She'd try this the right way, but if Asdra said or did anything she didn't like, she was so out of there.

Asdra allowed his grin to return ever so slightly, but it was from ear to ear in his head. He was starting to like Aria more with every minute that passed...he shook his head at that thought and held out his hand as well, mimicking her greeting. "I concur," he said simply. He turned to the dragonet - Jyluu, she had said the name was - and said, "Hello, Jyluu." To both, he said, "I'm sorry about Cobalt's manners, though; he gets like this around food. Nothing else matters when he's eating, and it takes some effort-" Asdra took that opportunity to nudge Cobalt hard enough to make the flitter look up before continuing, "to make him see anything else." He smirked at that...seemed like something he himself would do, but he had at least learned when to keep track of other things...like people he was talking to.

He watched Aria cautiously, waiting for her to move first. This was just another game of strategy, to Asdra - one quite dangerous, at that - and while he had no intention of letting her know he thought of it as such at that point, he knew that in the long run he would have to see how things played out. He wondered if she thought of it the same way he did - a fleeting thought - but it left him curious. He wanted to know what would come from knowing her.

Aria shook her head and again refrained from the urge to snap at him. His grinning like that made her think he was making fun of her. Since he probably wasn't, she kept herself in check. So she gently took Asdra's larger hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze before letting it go. Taking a calming breath in and out, she greeted him properly. "Alright then, lets try this again. My name is Aria Louisa Montgomery, I'm a Weaver and I live here with my cousin Tylar. I'm also one of those that has been chosen to try and Impress one of those dragons like the ones that hatched not so long ago." She carefully put her hands behind her back, using the gesture to hide the fact that she was rubbing her hands against the back of her pants. His hands were warmer than she'd expected.

Shaking her head, she continued speaking in her even tone. "The gold dragonet you see with me is Jyluu, and I won't lie and say she's friendly, but she'll be polite to you if you're respectful to her." Aria grew silent and waited to see what Asdra would do next. This reminded her very much of a game of chess where her every move could lead to either victory or defeat. She couldn't help but wander what he thought of her, but that could just be that she'd been hanging around Tylar to long. She didn't need anyone to like her, but this man was....well different.

Asdra gently squeezed her hand back, a firm handshake as he had always done. "And I am simply Asdra; I have no other name I go by. I am a strategist, and I too have been selected to stand as a candidate for the dragons. It's nice to meet you, Aria Louisa Montgomery." He mentally ground his teeth together. He hated formalities like these, he would much rather be himself. At the same time, though, he didn't want to irk her again...something told him it was the wrong idea; this had never happened to him before, yet he knew that it was the right thing to do.

He turned again to the gold dragonet and said "Hello, Jyluu. I hope I can earn your respect." Cobalt, now thoroughly distracted, chirped a proper greeting to both Jyluu and Aria. Cobalt sent Jyluu images of Asdra in action as a strategist, making the best moves he could think of in games and the like.

Asdra had no idea what to think, or what to do next. This girl...Aria...she seemed to be so much more different than any other girls he knew. He wondered where their conversation would go next, and wondered how long they would be talking...if they'd find anything in common...he just didn't know, and he wanted to.

Aria finally couldn't stand it and snorted. "Don't you just hate formalites like these? I know I do. I suppose it can't be helped sometimes though." She shrugged and rolled her eyes as if the formalities annoyed her as much as they annoyed him; which they actually did.

Jyluu chirped quizically at the newcomer and his firelizard before she seemed to shrug and settle back into carefully nibbling at the scraps of food Aria was handing her. She extended a calm greeting to the gorging Cobalt since he made a small effort to be polite. Oh why did her Pet want one of those silly creatures? The gold dragonet's head tilted to the side as she was bombared with images of the blue's Pet doing various things. This only made the gold snort. Was this supposed to impress her? Well...thinking about it, they sort of did. Maybe this person was a match for her Pet? Maybe not, who knew.

Aria eyed her dragonet as she interacted before sighing. "Alright, I hate silences like this. I think what I'm supposed to say here is what do you think about the dragons?" She tilted her head to the side in a very firelizard-like gesture to show her curiousity.

Asdra's laugh rang through the dining hall, and he ignored the couple of people who turned to stare. "Well well, we do seem to have some things in common then!" He threw his head back with laughter again, his usual air of casualness coming off him in waves. "In all honesty, yes, I hate formalities, and whether they can be helped or not, I suppose I always will.

There was a bit of a silence, and Asdra could tell Cobalt and Jyluu were communicating, but that was it. When Aria broke the ice, however, he felt his stomach twitch a little and he said, "I think that the dragons will be great, some day, and anyone who rides them great as well." He bit off a long-winded rant about strategies and dragon wings and the like; he didn't see Aria as being too terribly interested. "For the time being, I'm just waiting to see if I Impress, and hopefully put my skill to good use soon." He casually gestured towards Aria. "What about you? What do you think of the dragons?"

Cobalt chirped again at the dragonet, tilting his head to one side. Images flashed between them describing the question: why was His acting so...different? Did the gold know? Cobalt wasn't sure. But he wanted to find out.

Aria tilted her head to the side quizically at the comment Asdra made. Finally, a grin found its way onto her features and she shook her head in clear amusement. "That makes two of us then." She paused to think about his next comment. "As for the dragons, they are showing all the signs of being great beings but that doesn't mean the same will be true for their riders. After all, a jerk that Impresses a dragon is still a jerk. He's just now a jerk with a dragon. So I'll wait and make a descision on the riders individually and not based on their dragon." She blinked when asked what she thought of the dragons. "I think the dragons are wonderfully beautiful creatures, They are intellegent and different from anything I've ever seen. I enjoy getting to sketch them for my tapestries." She shook her head again, eyes turning serious. "I also think that they'll be a huge help with our current Thread problem. And that being a dragonrider means putting yourself into dangerous situations on a regular basis. I hate meeting people that think being chosen to try for a dragon isn't all fun and games. It's dangerous and frightening and wonderful all at the same time." She ducked her head for a moment before lifting mahogany eyes back to the man she was talking to. She wasn't ashamed or embarrased by what she'd said; it was just how she thought.

Jyluu tilted her head to the side, taking the time to decifer the images and feelings coming from the blue near her. Finally understanding what he was asking she sent warm feelings of reasurrance to the blue as if to tell him all would be well with his Pet. Asdra may be acting differently that Cobalt was used to, but that didn't mean anything was wrong with him. It was simply likely the way Cobalt's Pet socialized.

Asdra grinned. "Well....perhaps I've been keeping myself from socialization a bit too long...I haven't met many people, so I wouldn't know about people as you described, but I can see your point." He sat back, not sure of what to say. He really had no clue what to do; his normal methodology just didn't apply here...and he had no idea why.

Cobalt was thoroughly confused, as well. Wasn't His normally more...forward? Everything was off-kilter to him. His uncertainty flashed back to Jyluu, but the little blue understood...to a point.

Aria found herself secretly amused that her unwanted companion was at a loss for words. Shrugging to herself, she tried not to show her amusement at his loss on her face while she spoke. "Well if you don't go and meet people, you'll never find out who you'll get along with and who you won't."

Jyluu again sent the little blue reasurrance about what was going on. Then she sent him her curiousity and flicked her tail in the direction of Cobalt's Pet to show that was who she was curious about. Did he always invite himself to sit with others who obviously didn't want company? Did he always act the way towards others that he was towards Aria? The golden dragonet was genuinely curious to know these things.

Asdra's face suddenly became as unreadable as a boulder, and he stared towards the floor some distance away. "That's not such a good idea, from my experience," he said quietly. More of his original demeanor was returning now; without realizing it, Aria had stumbled into one of the few things Asdra didn't really talk about with anyone at all. Period end.

At this point, Cobalt perked up. That was more like the norm! He looked over at Jyluu at her curiosity, and sent some feelings and images, explaining that he was more like this all the time, to pretty much everyone, about pretty much everything. This was the Asdra the Cobalt was much more used to, much more accustomed to being around.

Aria rolled her eyes at the sudden change in mood of the man beside her. Deciding she liked him better when he wasn't acting that way, she offered him a sweetroll and nudged him gently. "Well maybe it's not such a good idea, but neither is spending all your time alone." She shrugged. "Ignore me, I can't tell you what to do. If I'm honest, I'm much the same way. I hate to deal with others, or they're to sensitive to deal with me. So I have no room to talk really." She shrugged again. "Let's change the subject then since you obviously are uncomfortable with this one." She grew quiet for a moment while she thought about what to say. Then it came to her. "I've got it, what made you decide to come here to this place? Not just where we are now, but I mean here to Pern?"

Jyluu regaurded the blue curiously. So his Pet was this solemn all the time? That made no sense as he was speaking to her Pet like he was. So which way was this Asdra-person really?

Asdra looked at the sweetroll she offered in a forlorn manner, listened to her comments, and was about to make a remark on her being more like him than he originally thought when she changed the subject.

He returned her shrug. "I dunno, really. Seemed like a good idea at the time." He took a bite out of the sweetroll. "I mean, I just didn't have anything better to do. I was out on my own, never really knew anyone anyway, and for all the time I was there before coming here, people tended to avoid me, so I avoided them after a fashion."

A part of his mind suddenly reeled. Why was he suddenly sharing his past with her? He knew she wasn't good with people either...which had startled him, in a way...but why was he just randomly letting his entire history fly from his lips? Why not just ask her if he could court her, too?

Asdra shook his head at that last thought, hoping his face wasn't showing what he thought about that.

Cobalt sent many more images of Asdra being the way he normally was, insisting that Jyluu's was probably the reason he was acting strange. The blue had nothing else to say.

Aria blinked at the half-hearted answer she received from Asdra about his coming. Then he started talking about his past and the people in his life. "If they avoided you then they were ill-mannered fools that you shouldn't have dealt with to begin with. I'm sure you had at least a few friends though. I tended to stay away from home myself but I've grown up around my cousin Tylar." And why was she telling him such personal details? Maybe because he'd done so first or maybe because of how forlorn he looked. Deep down, Aria was a person that didn't like seeing others upset and therefore she was trying, in her own way, to cheer Asdra up.

Jyluu snorted at Cobalt but saw his point. And what was worse, now Hers was acting oddly as well as Cobalt's. What had gotten into them?

Asdra looked at Aria curiously. Now she was sharing unnecessary details of her life, too. Why? Because he had? Asdra's head was reeling. He quietly said, "Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who seems to think a good many people are fools."

Cobalt couldn't decide whether to keep watching His or to keep sending images to Jyluu in a sort of mad panic. What was going on? He fluttered over to the gold dragonet and chippered quietly, a sound of complete, unadulterated uncertainty.

Aria looked down at her feet in silence. He'd put her at a complete and utter loss as to what she should do next. She didn't know what do to or how to act in situations like this. Then something finally occured to her. "My cousin told me once, you'll never know who's stupid or a fool if you don't talk to them. Which I think actually was her not so subtle way to make me socialize. Don't you hate people like that, who push you into things that will make you uncomfortable?"

Jyluu chirped gently at the little blue, trying to calm him. Things would be alright, Cobalt would see. She projected her calm to the blue and like the queen she was, used her calmer emotions to try and help him calm down.

Asdra laughed loudly at the comment; he knew exactly what she meant. "Yes, I do. Mind you, what makes me uncomfortable is far different than what makes anyone else uncomfortable. And those things are few and far between. But those people are annoying, when they do pop up."

Cobalt felt the gold's calm, and steadily calmed himself, chirping thanks to the gold for it.

Aria nodded, grinning broadly and secretly grateful for the renewed calm atmosphere. "I know right, and people think we have to socialize so we aren't lonley but they just don't get that we don't have to do so. Then they're all like, 'Oh she's so anti-social.' and the like."

Jyluu was more relaxed now as she watched the two. This was more like her Aria.