Of Teachers and Parents [Jayedi]

B’jin had wasted very little time after talking to S’kef, in order to scratch up his proposed idea for the new Weyrlinghood scheme. Unfortunately, B’jin was a bit of a perfectionist in some areas, and while he was quite sure he had gotten the lesson plan to where he was quite sure it covered everything in both an efficient and timely manner without risking lives, he was not one hundred percent positive it was ready. He had expected to be happier with the plan when he had promised to show it to his fellows, and now that the day was upon him, B’jin was hard pressed not to be frowning unhappily.

He knew the plan worked; if the dopy young blue, T’bia, could make it through all the lessons – including a fast-forwarded betweening lesson due to the unsavoury need to evacuate the Weyr prior to the execution. Well, then B’jin was quite sure that just about anyone would be able to do it. His main concern came down to convincing the other Weyrlingmasters.

Wisely, or perhaps foolishly, B’jin had approached G’rem first. He had been both shocked and more than a little frightened by the massive bluerider’s stubborn and clipped ‘no’ in regards to his class being adjusted to the new schedule. B’jin had barely refrained from trembling the entire time the man raged about ‘tradition’ and how bad change was, and roar, roar, roar! The greenrider had fled as soon as he could, and made a note to sick J’ver onto the bluerider, if he could manage it.

S’kef would probably just snort at the old bluerider being difficult; in all likelihood, B’jin figured, G’rem would probably retire in a huff after he graduated his class. Unfortunately, there was still a list of Weyrlingmasters to approach, and B’jin was not really looking forward to being yelled at by any more of them. Most of them, he would up founding, were agreeable to the idea, with only a few on the same side as G’rem. The bluerider, Jayedi, had been left until last. This was mostly because Amorandii had overheard B’jin talking to R’nd about the woman, and demanded to come along to see her mother when B’jin went to see her.

The pair walked rather quietly, Amorandii looking spectacularly pretty and girly in a short, powder blue frock that B’jin had put far too much work and effort into acquiring. Her soft blonde hair was drawn back, and pinned with a pretty ribbon, and her little hand had a firm grip on B’jin’s as he lead the way to Jayedi’s home. Larrikith, uninterested in the course of events and what was likely to be an awkward family reunion, had opted to take Indamor out flying for the afternoon.

“There it is!” B’jin smiled as Amorandii let go of his hand and ran to the door, stopping just before she ran into it bodily, little fist lifting to knock daintily upon the wood.

By the time that B'jin -or more accurately, Amorandii- came knocking at her door, J'di had had fair warning of his most likely topic of conversation. She had been one of G'rem's assistants and still talked to the man fairly often. In any case, G'rem's agitation over B'jin's insult to tradition, the Weyr and Faranth Herself was rather difficult to miss.

Now, now. He could be here for a pleasant family visit. He has the young one with him. Her blue reminded her, crooning a greeting at Amorandii. The dragon was quite fond of her and usually had more success in dealing with her than she did. Of course, all he had to do was stay blue and look cute. What, nothing about my charming personality?

Your personality thought mine was compatible, didn't it? That should tell you something. J'di replied tartly as she went to answer the door. "Amorandii..." The look that crossed the bluerider's face wasn't quite a smile, but it did put a certain softness in her expression. "It's a pleasure to see you, child."

B'jin got a slightly cooler, more professional greeting before the bluerider gestured them both inside. "And what brings you both to my door today?"

“Mummy!” The fact that the woman was not on the list of mother of the year mattered very little to the girl as she threw her arms around Jayedi’s waist and hugged her tight before letting go and dancing happily into the house, either completely unaware of the tension between the two adults, or wilfully ignoring it.

B’jin’s smile was just as guarded, a vague and mild wariness lingering in warm brown eyes. B’jin liked the bluerider well enough, but she was still a bluerider and a woman, and the greenrider was reluctant to trust either – but especially not a combination. The fact that Jayedi had not done anything to fuel his mistrust was not a reason to trust her; it was simply a matter of time. Women were untrustworthy creatures, and blueriders were in a whole other category of dangerous.

“Business,” B’jin replied honestly as he waited for the woman to move, so he could step through the door politely without skirting around her with any particular obviousness. Brown gaze swept the room, quickly finding and focusing on Amorandii, who had seated herself with much dignity on a chair, her hands folded neatly in her lap and little feet kicking back and forward. She smiled brightly at both adults.

“Amorandii caught wind of where I was heading,” he smiled fondly at his daughter, and the girl’s smile flashed into a brilliant grin. How could he say no to such a sweet little girl? The fact that she had her father firmly wrapped around her finger was probably oblivious only to B’jin – and possibly R’nd, who was in much the same position. “You’re free?” He was sure they’d made prior arrangements, but it wouldn’t do to take up the woman’s time if she had obligations to be elsewhere.

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Featuring (Amorandii)

"Quite free." For Amorandii's sake, J'di was being much more patient than she otherwise might have been. It wasn't that the bluerider was particularly uncomfortable with any tension between she and B'jin- she'd come to terms with the fact that the man was a flighty creature, as many greenriders tended to be. And, Faranth knew, every one of the Plague survivors had their own bundle of issues, or so she assumed. Life tended not to be shy about handing those out.

It was, rather, that she appreciated directness. Pussyfooting around things spoke of a weakness that got under the woman's skin. But deep down in her soul, where only Caymath was allowed to see, J'di was aware she owed it to Amorandii to at least make these visits as pleasant as was within her power to do. And that included being... nice... to the clearly-adored father who was a better parent to their daughter than she typically managed.

J'di found her own chair. glancing at Amorandii before focusing on B'jin. "Well, I suppose the sooner we get to business, the sooner I can catch up with this young lady. What, exactly, has G'rem all in a lather today?" The bluerider settled back into her chair, a note of carefully telegraphed relaxation to her posture- except for the keen-eyed gaze she pinned the greenrider with, waiting to hear about the matter straight from the horse's mouth.

B’jin grinned, the expression impish in nature. He enjoyed getting under people’s skin, and getting under G’rem’s was especially rewarding, because B’jin was quite positive the massive bluerider was a parading bully. Who ran around hitting their weyrlings with an oversized stick, anyway?! Besides, the fact that what had gotten G’rem all riled up came with S’kef’s blessing (more or less, sort of.) only made it all the sweeter to B’jin. The greenrider set himself down on a chair not occupied by someone else, and actually managed to present a serious air as he sorted his thoughts into some sort of order before speaking.

“I spoke with S’kef,” Weyrleader B’jin’s arse, “earlier in the week. He has agreed to allow a review of the Weyrling course, in favour of shortening the duration.” The greenrider paused, and leaned forward slightly, expression serious as he met his fellow Weyrlingmaster’s eye. “My group has already learned all the need to know, six months ahead of schedule.” Not that B’jin was wholly responsible for that; S’kef deciding to kill a bronzerider had forced his hand into teaching the kids how to between well before B’jin would have actively taught them himself. But Faranth knew, if even little T’bia could learn to between ahead of schedule and not kill himself – anyone could!

“I drew up some drafts,” leaning back again, B’jin lost a hand in the depths of a pocket, to withdraw a few sheets of slightly crumpled paper. He scrunched his nose up slightly at his own lack of regard for the notes, before smoothing them flat and pushing them towards J’di to look at if she so desired. “We can condense them down to fifteen months, instead of the full twenty-four.” Leaning back again, B’jin paused again thoughtfully, before shaking his head slightly.

“G’rem disproves; we’ve been operating under the twenty-four month system for as long as anyone can remembers. But these girls are packing a punch with their clutching rates, and not enough of the Riders are interested in stepping up and teaching; we can’t be stuck with a mature class when we can be teaching a fresh batch.” B’jin frowned slightly in worry, eyebrows furrowing above expressive brown eyes as he waited – visibly anxious – to see which side of the fence J’di was going to be on.

The set of J'di's mouth tightened with instinctive displeasure at the thought of change, but she motioned for B'jin's drafts to be handed over anyway. "You've managed the compression without neglecting any particular conditioning or skills?" J'di knew there were riders out there who, shockingly, did not believe Thread would return, and made a fuss from time to time about spending time teaching such skills to weyrlings who would never use them. She wasn't about to encourage the decline of Weyr education in that regard.

But the man had a point- several of them, in fact. The teachers were having trouble keeping up with Krypth's schedule as it was, even if the lucky bastards only had a fraction of the sort of class the rest of them typically ended up with. And it would only get worse.

A few more weyrlings might be lost without the extra hand-holding of the usual schedule, but J'di wasn't overly fussed about that. If they couldn't keep up, they'd only weaken the fighting force anyway.

“Of course!” B’jin’s tone was indignant, and a scowl momentarily took over his features as he frowned at the bluerider. At his core, B’jin was a teacher, and his ability as such was something the man took a great deal of pleasure and pride in; He was a good teacher, better than good often, and the implied insult cut deeper than Jayedi had likely ever intended it to. Pride was something B’jin did not often display since Impressing Larrikith, but it was certainly something he retained in dragon loads.

“The course has been condensed, and some lessons have been rearranged to make more sense,” like teaching the green and goldriders about their dragon’s flight before the beast was inclined to take flight. Krypth’s maiden flight at the tender age of nine months had taken everyone by surprise, and B’jin still cringed at the idea of Jada’s virgin experience with S’kef. Something he could, unfortunately, relate to; not that anyone but a very select handful knew that.

“But you’ll see none of the content has actually been removed. Some of the kids in my class are not naturally gifted, and they have all managed to survive the course on a condensed schedule. I’m quite confident others can, too.” B’jin shrugged just slightly, showing a droll, cool exterior as he made an additional note: “I doubt we’ll lose any more than we would given our current course. Krypth’s classes aren’t big enough to excuse that kind of negligence, and if you look here,” B’jin leaned forward to tap at the tail end of the course, “I’ve included the option to assign senior aged Weyrlings as class assistants for younger groups. It will spare mature riders, while forcing them to recall their own education and assist with educating the newest Weyrlings.”

B’jin was rather proud of that part of the course, though he had made sure to leave such requirements up to the Weyrlingmasters of each class, rather than forcing one class upon another. B’jin himself was quite aware that he would not want some Weyrlings assisting with his class, but he was also aware of how much help they could be – especially if one of them got stuck with a class the size of Jayedi’s batch. Even splitting the group and working with another Weyrlingmaster, the woman had one of the biggest classes to hit Katilan sands. Granted, it was good all the golds clearly weren’t going to clutch the crumbs Krypth did, but still!

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Sorry for the delay! The thread got lost in my bookmarks :(

@Honey Love

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SP Team