A Lesson in Humility [R'nya]

’Go wash the tables.’ She had said… Bordtai, while he certainly didn’t mind washing the tables with then WeyrHall was quiet like it was now, was beginning to think that washing the tables was a chore they had him do 20x more often than necessary just to make sure he was stuck close enough to be put to a more useful task when one came up.

Even so, he pulled the cloth from the wash bucket and wrung it out before spreading it on the table and kneeling on the bench to better reach the other end as he began to scrub.  Unfortunately, he’d only made it halfway down the table before he saw the larger, thick fingered hand snaked out and snatched the rag from between his hand and the table.  Bordtai couldn’t help the sigh that left his lips as the larger Weyrbrat tossed the rag to another.

“You’ve lost your rag, Bordtai, it looks like you’ll have to lick the tables clean.”  The first boy said as the second laughed and tossed it over Bordtai’s head to a third.  The three taunted Bordtai for several minutes as he stood there, eyes downcast and simply waited through it silently.  Deciding that they weren’t going to get a rise from him, the dipped the rag freshly into the water before hitting the smaller brat square in the face with it.

“Dimglow doesn’t even know how to be entertaining.”  The largest of the brats said as the three shuffled out of the Weyr looking for better entertainment elsewhere.  Bordtai took a moment to carefully peel the wet cloth from the side of his head before wiping his nose on his sleeve and re-dipping the cloth, this time properly wringing it out and finishing the table he had been working on.

He was wiping the side of his face dry with a sleeve as he moved to the next table, this one was occupied by a single person, but just one person wasn’t enough to make Bordtai skimp a whole table on his chore.  So dipping the rag in the bucket, he climbed onto the bench on the opposite side and began to wash his way around the man eating.  The man didn’t have to move for Bordtai to be able to get most of the table clean, so he wasn’t going to ask him to.

While there was a plate beside him and a knife resting upon it, it was quite obvious that the majority of R'nya's attention was focused heavily on the sheets of parchment he was occasionally shuffling around, and the pen he was twisting between his fingers, occasionally tapping the tip of it against the parchment before shifting to another sheet and jotting down a note.

He'd only been Wingleader for a short period of time, and while R'nya knew he had vastly over thought the process in the first few sevendays, he was content to think he'd found his pace when it came to organising the lessons. The evaluations the month prior had been insightful and R'nya had reacted accordingly - he liked to think. There were complaints, of course, but he had the Wing playing children's games in the Gather Square when he didn't have them running laps or doing pushups. Complaints were to be expected. Thus far, the Weyrleader had yet to respond negatively to any of his reports and so R'nya was content with his progress. He could only improve, and improve he would, and so too would his wing.

As he shifted sheets, R'nya picked up a slice of wherry, chewing it thoughtfully and wiping his fingers on the cloth beside his plate as he watched a group of weyrbrats gather around a table without really seeing them. He was busy trying to decide what it was he should have the Wing undergo in three days time when they were due for their next practice... The tossing of the cloth by the children brought his attention back to them more fully and R'nya watched without expression as the ringleader stepped forward and mocked a visibly smaller brat. The bronzerider's eyebrows twitched slightly, almost frowning, before he slowly took his gaze from the children as the group walked off, leaving the tiny brat alone.

When the child made his way to his table, R'nya again lifted his gaze from the sheets of parchment he had been working on. Watching as the boy started at the far end of the table, R'nya carefully and neatly stacked his papers into a pile and put them to one side. The wingleader gave the weyrbrat a polite nod of his head as he also shifted his plate to one side, shuffling the papers and picking out the one he wanted. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully  before lifting to look at the boy.

"What is your favourite game, boy?"

while his voice very well may have come out of no where, it was rich and low, a warm and soothing sound that R'nya didn't play up at all. His eyes were clear and pale as he searched the boy's face, not unaware of the various evidence in his posture and body language that belied various styles of abuse, but not feeling it worthy of his comment at that point.

Bordtai had been surprised to find the single man at the table move both his plate and papers out of the way so he could quickly wipe down the spot.  Taking quick advantage of it, he had the man’s space clean in two efficient swipes before moving down just a little bit.  When the man spoke his question about a favorite game, however, Bordtai stopped what he was doing and looked behind him.  Finding no one there, he made sure there was also nobody on either side of him before returning a confused look back at the man.

“Me, Sir?”  he asked, a little confused that he was being address by a man with rider knots on his shoulder.  More complex than most knots too, so while Bordtai wasn’t sure exactly what the man’s rank was, he knew that the more complicated the knots the higher he was on the food chain.

Deciding that the man was in fact talking to him now that he returned his searching gaze, Bordtai managed a small shrug.  He would have liked to answer the man, his voice was one that could have easily been used to coax answers out of anyone unwilling to give them, but he really had no answer for the man.  Bordtai picked up extra chores just to stay out of trouble and when there was no chores or he was chased out from under foot, he made a point of avoiding other weyrbrats so that the world was quieter and his headaches would not seem as terrible.

“I dunno, Sir.”  He finally said, his chest falling a bit before he looked back down at the table and rewashed the same spot he’d just done.  “I guess the game with the rag ball looks fun.  The brats, they choose teams and kick the ball to their friends.”  He said, not really sure what the name of the game was since he’d never really joined in or asked questions.  He’d just stop to watch for a few minutes before moving along.  To be honest, he never wanted to give them a chance to kick the ball at his face, or trip him like some of the larger brats would do to the smaller ones during the game.

He's a bit dense, isn't he, Sir? Xyreith's voice was mild and amused as he watched the exchange between Wingleader and Weyrbrat through R'nya's eyes. The rider made no response as he watched the boy stare around before finally looking at him. A single eyebrow arched upward, and R'nya gave the weyrbrat a dry look of amusement.

"Apparently." The word was drawled, but not unkindly as R'nya nibbled absently on a slice of wherry meat, blue-grey eyes watching as Bordtai considered his question with droll amusement. The bronzerider wasn't used to children, and had little to do with them if he could avoid it; preferring instead to watch them from a distance. If he had any brats in Katila (which he was sure there was one or two) R'nya had not claimed them, and had no desire to do so. Children were best viewed from a distance.

He speaks! Xyreith mocked, playing at shock as he snickered in the back of R'nya's mind when the young brat finally took to answering his rider. Again, R'nya ignored him but Xyreith was unworried; R'nya rarely took part when the bronze dragon mocked others. It was something that their partnership had never encompassed together; Xyreith was all the colourism and nastiness that had been washed clean from R'nya's slate by the time the pair graduated. Where the rider would obey anyone that was higher ranked than him, his dragon was not above making snide comments about them on the side. A habit that encompassed all creatures: no one was safe from Xyreith's snide commentary.

"Hrm," R'nya responded, flicking through his papers to find one in particular and bring it to the top of the pile. He considered for a moment before shaking his head slightly. "That one will not work." He said, more to himself than to Bordtai as he mulled it over. The game might work in the future, but he considered the group too green presently to play a game such as that. His gaze lifted to meet that of the child. "What other games do you know of?"

Hearing that a game wouldn’t work, Bordtai gave the man yet another puzzled look as he moved down another seat and started wiping the table clean there, though he was working noticibly slower now.  His own curiosity had him wanting to stay within talking distance until he figured out what was going on.  “Won’t work for what?”  he asked before he heard the question of other games.  Pausing in his work to think about it, he answered again.

“Well, there is tag.  Though the slower, smaller kids always end up the one chasing everyone else.”  He said, trying to be helpful though he wasn’t sure what he was helping with.  “Or hide and seek.  There’s two ways you can play that.” 

It was probably a good thing that Bordtai couldn’t hear the dragon’s little mocking comments to the rider.  He’d have a red face and would have probably tried to shrug off the rest of the conversation, preferring to walk away than to be teased.  As it were, however, he didn’t hear and the man now had him curious about what was going on with kid games.  Especially since it was an adult who was asking about them and not another kid wanting to know how to play.

R'nya smiled slightly, the expression incredibly subtle and something most people wouldn't even consider a smile on someone else. For the bronzerider, it was almost as out there as grinning. Blue eyes sparkled softly as the boy asked his question, the bronzerider feeling perhaps a little more mischievous than he was want to display.

"My wingriders," he said, voice low and almost sly as he watched the child wipe the table almost absently now. "Tag should work," He murmured, flicking through his sheets and making a couple of notes as he did so. "Not hide and seek, however." That was pretty much asking his riders to all vanish for the remainder of the day and avoid being spotted by him, which, while not the total objective of the game, he didn't doubt they'd interpret it. That would be an enjoyable day to spend the day, Sir, Xyreith inserted, his voice mild and serious.

R'nya smiled slightly again. "Any others?"

---

eck, sorry it's so short ><

“W-wing Riders, Sir?”  he asked, caught off guard by the answer – his next words blurted out before his head could keep up.  “But Riders are adults.  Why would adults want to play children games?”  he asked before blushing furiously at his outburst to a man of rank as he realized that the man was a WingLEADER to be calling the rider’s ‘his’.  “S-sir.”  He added on after the blush to make sure he was still addressing the man properly.  He suddenly found that perhaps this wasn’t as interesting and curious of a conversation as he had first thought – his mind now distracted by the fact that he didn’t want to get in trouble. 

Even so… Why WOULD adults be playing children games?  When another question was posed in his direction, Bordtai was forced to stay within talking distance, though he did move down a little further to wash a new section of table. 

“Uhm… There is Dragon, Dragon, Wher.”  He said, confused why adults would want to play tag but not hide and seek.  Come to think of it, besides a few who played with the children, he’d never seen a full wing of riders play any games at all.  Until recently, there hadn’t even been wings at the Weyr.

R'nya looked up quietly at the stuttered words of the child, watching patiently for the explosion he knew was bound to arrive. Most people reacted oddly when he admitted to having his wingriders play children's games, and he wasn't the least bit surprised that such a serious child as the one before him would be just as blown away by such an announcement. R'nya allowed the smallest of smiles to pull his lips up at the corner, the expression alien to his features as blue eyes danced with amusement. "Indeed they are."

This child is a pansy, Xyreith noted in amusement, watching the fidgeting and flushing child through his rider's eyes, You should say 'Boo!' and see how far he jumps, Sir. I bet he squeals. The dragon waited almost with baited breath for his rider to respond, though he already knew the man would do no such thing. R'nya had absolutely no idea how to have fun. That was why he had Xyreith! I would not, were I you. R'nya warned mildly, not even bothering to include the reasoning why Xyreith would regret invading the child's mind - which was exactly what the bronze had currently been planning.

Yes, Sir. The dragon's voice was mellow, almost pouting as he withdrew back to himself and away from where he had been mentally lingering around the child, preparing to spook him. R'nya ignored the beast, focusing on Bordtai with crisp blue eyes. "Ah, yes. That went down quite well." He replied, nodding his thanks to the child and his suggestion. 'Well' was a speculative term, but R'nya believed the game had gone quite well, particularly when he'd started rewarding those that got caught out with laps and push-ups. A lot more effort had gone into the game than, though he would have more issues with the lazy greenrider, B'jin, he was sure.

"They do not, mostly, by the way." R'nya continued, finally answering the question the young weyrbrat had posed so much earlier. "I believe them to be a good manner in which to promote teamwork." And he didn't really care about those that objected to his manner of speaking. The games were working well enough that he felt it was worth putting up with the grumbling and the sour looks. Xyreith had been quizzing the dragons at any rate, and many of those that made a scene about playing the games had been caught out by their dragon admitting that they enjoyed it. R'nya wasn't worried, the wing would get over themselves. It was as much a way to remind them that they were all riders, as much as it was to get them to function as a group. Regardless of the colour of their dragon's hide!

Teamwork?  Well that actually made sense to Bordtai… though he thought of a similar lesson by the harpers last turn about working as a team with his fellow weyrbrats and Bordtai had keenly disliked it.  Mostly because his ‘teammate’ had been one of the many who enjoyed to pick on him and the day and ended with everything going horribly wrong.  Even so… Bordtai couldn’t help but wonder if the riders would take the same lesson any better than some of the brat pairings had.  Some had done superbly well, while others (such as his own self) had failed miserably with the unwilling partner.

“The Harpers… They taught us about team work last Turn.  We had different races and exercises we did.”  He said, trying to be helpful to the rider once more as he seemed pleased and even smiling while talking to the brat.  How often did Bordtai get a chance to talk to someone who smiled back, even one so small as on this man’s face.  “They took a small rope and tied my right foot with another boy’s left.  We had to have a ‘three-legged’ race around the hut.  If you don’t work together, all you do is fall over.”

Xyreith burst out laughing at the images that suddenly flooded R'nya's mind as the bronzerider pictured his reluctant wingriders paired off with their legs tied together and told to run laps. It was brilliant! We are going to make them do this, correct, Sir?! Xyreith asked, nearly begging as he revelled in the horror that would be felt by the wingriders when they were told of just what was expected of them. R'nya raised his hand to hide the subtle smirk that was pulling one corner of his lip upward beyond his control. Partly fuelled by his dragon's amusement and partly by his own, R'nya found he deeply enjoyed the promise of this game.

"That," R'nya said slowly, as his hand lowered and he dug up a sheet of parchment and found the part he wanted, picking up his pen and quickly writing something down, "Is exactly what I am after." He lifted his head, nodding respectfully at Bordtai, and while he wasn't smiling or outright showing his appreciation, it was fairly clear the bronzerider was more than pleased with the outcome of his little chat with the young weyrbrat.

It will be brilliant, Xyreith added in smugly, far too pleased with the prospect of the impending torture. Indeed. It is a pity there is not a dragon equivalent. That shut his dragon up, and R'nya shook his head slightly as he wrote some more on his sheet of paper. Some of his wingriders would partner more willingly with one another than other's would - weyrmates, one would hope, would do better than non-mated - but he was most interested in the partnerships of a short or unfit rider with one that was tall or especially fit. seeing how they could work together to over come the differences was what he was seeking with his games.

"Thank you, young man. That will work wonderfully." R'nya was very pleased.