Welcome Company? [Mevrit]

Brown slacks hug loosely from hips that  finished off the ‘V’ shaped torso nicely and in an unusual display of casual dress (that actually included clothing rather than the lack thereof) it was topped off by a tight fitting tank top of a lighter color.  The tank top left very little to the imagination of Lorenuo’s well shaped torso and tanned arms seemed to be sculpted with near-perfection as the man made his way through the morning crowd to the breakfast laden tables at one end of the WeyrHall. 

It was busier than normal today, but a crowd was something that had never bothered the trader.  The larger the crowd, the better the business – not that he was on business today.  On the contrary it was a rest day for most of the people in the Hall and Lorenuo was up to his usual; people-watching while catching bits and snippets of gossip from those within earshot.

Approaching the table laden with morning food, he couldn’t help but recognize the back side of a fellow candidate.  Pausing a moment to admire the slight figure of the woman, he smiled as he reached over her shoulder to take one of the empty plates in front of her and follow her along the table. 

“Good Morning Mevrit.”  He said, a smile playing on his lips as he looked down at the shorter candidate.  While the two had been acquainted through classes and various chores, he had yet had the pleasure of having a truly personal discussion with her and while certain curves on her body were lacking, Lorenuo always appreciated the fine, slender forms of women to that of men.

“Don’t take the redfruit juice, I heard someone spiked it this morning.”  He added with a playful wink before helping himself to a few meatrolls as he continued to follow her – welcomed company or not, it wasn’t really a factor he took into consideration.

"Pardon me," Mevrit spoke softly as Lorenou reached over her shoulder to grab a plate. Naturally, she assumed that she was in the way, or that the other Candidate was eager to grab some food. She was familiar with Lorenou, though not enough that she had actually sat down and spoken with him. Her social group was painfully small, and Rhaedalyn seemed to be the best at tolerating Mevrit's awkward social chatter. Indivara seemed to find her amusing too, but most people seemed put-off by Mevrit's dishonest attempts at friendship. Overall, she was not adverse to talking to the young man, especially if it meant making another friend when she had so few.

The young woman was completely oblivious to the way Lorenou dressed. She never had much interest in men or women. The first time she had been with a man was when she got pregnant, and she was not eager to repeat the experience and go through another difficult pregnancy. She had abandoned her children to the crèche as soon as they were old enough, and as soon as she didn't feel guilty about leaving them in the care of someone else. Most women would be better mothers than Mevrit was. Lorenou's trade would be of absolutely no interest to her, and while she knew what it was, she pretended not to. It wasn't that important, anyways.

"Seeing as I am no longer pregnant, I think I can survive the risk." As if to be daring she took a cup of redfruit juice. She really doubted that it was spiked, and if it was... well, she was not one to get smashing drunk so early in the day. It would probably not be enough to get her tipsy off of one glass. Mevrit was a serious individual, but it was clear that she was at least taking some effort to be humorous. It likely failed, as did most things when it came to Mevrit socializing. She still had Trader blood, and unfortunately it meant that her social skills were fine tuned towards a more business-oriented world instead of making friends or lovers (not that she would ever take a lover).

"How are you doing, Lorenuo?" she inquired softly, to be proper and polite.

Hearing her comment about no longer being burdened with a child, Lorenuo couldn’t help but smile as she did, in fact, reach for the redjuice.  She’d either called his casual bluff or was a bit daring.  Honestly it was too early to really tell, but either way he took her following question of his own health as a good sign that he was going to be welcome company rather than a complete annoyance.  Well… for the moment anyways.  Continuing to follow her through the line, he picked up the polite chatter easily.

“Nothing I can complain openly about.”  He admitted.  Oh, there were always things to complain about, but not to her ears and certainly not in the middle of the social world that was the Weyr Hall.  After all, this was where folks came to gossip and over-hear gossip.  His complaints were defiantly not something he wanted folks to be spreading around.

“Where would you like to sit?  If a chair is taken, just say the word and I’ll empty it for you.”  He said, jokingly again, though if she called his bluff this time as well he might just have to go through with it to save his own face.  He had a reputation to uphold after all.

“Speaking of empty chairs…”  he said as he glanced up to the head table that was meant for the Weyrleaders of the Weyr, Lorenuo looked back at her.  He knew himself that D’ren never actually sat at the head table and much preferred to mingle with his riders, but the point was made easily enough.  “Have you heard anything on D’ren’s condition or if they’ve been getting anywhere on the search for who poisoned him?”