All Lessons Have a Gold Lining (open, Mem)

[LyricalBlue]

With her elbows planted firmly on the desk and papers scattered, a dark eyed young woman stared dreamily out at the recumbent gold form lit by the late morning light. A cup of klah sat next to the young woman, untouched and still steaming; beside that was a platter of fruit. On the desk lay papers in a semi organized fashion, the whole of the room in fact carried that idea of a hurried life otherwise organized and neat. The woman's eyes, half lidded and as dark as bistre ran over the golden form, the dragon Zharieth, perched on the rock ledge. She was all sleek lines, muscles covered by a gold silken skin that gleamed with health. Her belly though was bulged considerably and lumps extended out in places. It would not be long now, the golden dragon could barely fly with all the weight the eggs added.

The woman sighed deeply, she loved that golden form as she never would anything else; but, that golden from was the reason for all her responsibility. Sometimes the young woman found herself half wishing that Zharieth had been born a green. One large, opalescent eye opened to watch the woman, her woman, her rider.
You are troubled.
It seemed the gold always knew when Lyrai was upset, no matter how she tried to hide it.
"Yes love, I am." She spoke softly, knowing the sound of the words themselves did not matter.
I have troubled you? The gold's tone was almost pleading, a quality that none but her rider had ever heard. Lyrai let out a deep breath and shook her head.

"No love, its just... there is much to be done. Love, would you remind Tujal that she has a lesson with me this morning?"
Zharieth rumbled an agreement then was silent a moment as she communicated with the young Weyrling. Lyrai watched silently, her mouth slightly drawn. As much as an asset as the young woman was, she still hadn't quite gotten used to another rider speaking directly to her dragon. Catching the thought, Zharieth's eye once more focused on her rider.
She comes and do not worry, you are mine. She is Amenth's
Lyrai smiled and laughed quietly. One couldn't fault dragon logic, at least not in this case.

[Memorie]

Golden Queen Zharieth reminded Tujal of her lesson, and the weyrling nodded imperceptively. Thanks, Zharieth. Please relay my regards to your rider and tell her I'll be there directly. She rolled off the bed in her room, sad at having to get up. Late mornings were always her favorite time of day; lessons and chores were usually held early morning or late afternoons, alternatively, and this meant that Tujal could come back to her bed and loll for at least a few minutes before having to hurry off to some other thing.

You're as lazy as I am, her queen told her fondly.

"Aye, but nowhere near as fat," Tujal replied, teasing her dragon and smiling. In truth, the gold was looking more sleek and slim everyday, a testament to her growth and maturement. The dragon was now coming up on the bronzes' sizes, but since she had come from a small gold, she was unlikely to surpass them. Still, that was fine with Tujal, since she was no great height herself.

Tujal walked by to the door and patted the gold's eyeridges lovingly. There was an expression on her face seen by none but the dragon, and a tenderness that Tujal had come to associate with looking at the rainbow reflected eyes. "I'll be back as soon as I can get away, Amenth. Then maybe we'll go do a bath?"

Yes, please, the gold replied, obviously excited by the notion. See you soon.

Tujal nodded and walked out the door to the Weyrleader's Weyrs. It tended to be quite a walk, but always worth it when she arrived. The lessons with the Weyrwoman were never a waste of time, and the attention she got when not in a room with other weyrlings suited her learning abilities much better. Although...if this were another lesson on mating flights...

You'll still through it because Lyrai is a Weyrwoman and Zharieth is the Queen, Amenth told her. Tujal cringed; she was sure there had probably been some other dragons that had heard these sentiments.

Aye, I will...

When she arrived, she knocked on the Weyrwoman's door before entering, as was fit for good manners. "Weyrwoman Lyrai, I'm here! Shall I come in now?"

[LyricalBlue]

At the suddenly boisterous noise invading her room, Lyrai startled and glanced around like wherry in a dragon's weyr. The woman's dark eyes fixed on Tujal and she grinned brightly.
"Yes, yes! Come in!" The Weyrwoman stood and gestured for the Weyrling to come take a seat, from the ledge, Zharieth rumbled a greeting. Lyrai smiled and shook her head at the gold, that was about as good a greeting as the queen ever gave. Most of the time she felt it unnecessary to acknowledge visitors at all. Her eyes fell on the dragon's bulging belly and she nearly winced with worry. Zharieth was so heavy... and that poisoning had affected most of the dragons, even the queen had not been spared. Luckily there had not been a sufficient amount to do much more than give Zharieth a right bad bellyache; however, she had just been flown right before it had happened... If it had effected the clutch... Lyrai quickly threw that thought, not wanting to upset her gold. She turned back to Tujal with a bright smile.

"You should like today's lesson somewhat. Weyrwoman above all else must know how to do one thing and do it well. For the Leader rules when we fight, but Weyrwomen must run the Weyr." Lyrai sat back down at the table, still grinning. She gestured for Tujal to take the seat opposite her.
"Do you know what that one most important thing might be?"
On her ledge, Zharieth still watched with one half lidded whirling eye. And Lyrai knew as sleepy as the Queen appeared to be, she was paying rapt attention to the conversation. This topic was one she enjoyed as much as her rider did.

[Memorie]

"Good Morning, Queen Zharieth. You are looking in good health," Tujal said courteously to the dragon. She looked heavy with eggs, was how she looked, Tujal thought, but she kept this thought heavily guarded. She passed the WeyrQueen and took a seat across from the Weyrwoman. She grinned back at the woman, in much a good mood now that they were going to talk about something helpful. She decided to take a stab at the question. "Is it...how to get people to listen to you?" Tujal had one person in mind when she thought this, but as the Weyrwoman didn't know about that little affair yet (or she didn't think she did, anyway), Tujal mentioned no names.

[LyricalBlue]

Lyrai smiled and inclined her head.
"That is an asset indeed and part of what we will be talking about. However often understanding people will lead to to influencing them. So we start with the basics, today we're going to work on teaching you how to think and how to analyze. Because if we know why a person does what they do and what leads them to a decision it can make getting what we want much much easier." The Weyrwoman paused for a moment to study Tujal and to see what the young woman thought. She herself had a highly unsual education and intended to pass the benefits of such on to others. And what better pupil than the girl who was likely to succeed her.

"The first thing we must realize is that people always desire something, however most of the time they really have no idea what they do want. They also have a set of preconcived notions on how the world around them must opperate, if we can understand these two things we have a good start on understanding their actions and reactions." Once again Lyrai paused to study Tujal, she smiled and noticed Zharieth shift her head so she could hear the conversation better, her large eyes whirling brightly blue.

[hrsegrl]

Sharieth spoke quickly to Lyrai, Rue comes. She is sorry to be late on teching the young one. The gold figured the Weyrwoman didn't need Ruet to help but Rue liked to attend the lessons to see if there were anyway she could help Tujal. She was going to be Junior , like she.

Ruet walked into the weyr as quietly as she always did, almost innoticeably. Today she wore a blue woolen dress with a cream colored shaw. Her hair was up and out fo her way. SHe was carrying a couple records, as she normally did these days. Flashing Tujal and Lyrai a smile, she said her greeting to Zhariath. "Good day, Zhariath. You are looking marvelous." She smiled. Both her Queen and Lyrai's were very special to her... mostly because they were twins. Even among humans twins were rare. "Sorry for interrupting." Ruet added and sat down next to Lyrai.

[Memorie]

Tujal smiled. She had been partially right, anyway. This would be a fun conversation. And though neither of them would admit it, Lyrai was going to teach Tujal the fine are of manipulation. Tujal, being a female, had a delicate grasp on the subject already, but was absolutely sure that she could learn much from the Weyrwoman. "Yes, Weyrwoman, I can see that." She nodded, smiling a little evilly. Wait til she saw I'slen after this lesson. The Weyrling had on her finest cream-colored short, with drak brown breeches. She was doing chores after this lesson, after all, and was much determined to bother I'slen some more in the evening.

She had appreciated what he did for her after that vile man had tried to rape her. Quietly she seethed, but she was not going to interrupt this lesson with that old news. "I can understand preconcieved notions." She had her own set, afterall. "But how are we supposed to figure out what people desire, if theuy don't know themselves? I'm guessing I can't just pull up and chat with their beasts about such things...."

Tujal was interrupted as Ruet's floaty presence entered the room. "Good morning, Ruet." She smiled at the slightly older woman.

[LyricalBlue]

The Weyrwoman beamed at Sharieth's message and then Ruet's appearance a moment later. She sent a loving mental caress to the Queen and then turned her attention to her junior.
"Fantastic timing Rue, we were just starting." She gestured to the third chair at the little table as Zharieth raised her head to greet her twin's rider and spoke openly to all three women.
We are thinking today. She then reached out to the other two queens and invited them to her ledge. It would be a bit crowded, but where Amenth hadn't reached her full growth yet, the three of them should fit snugly. And more bodies meant more heat to soak up, the sun was bright today.

Lyrai turned her head back to Tujal and nodded slowly.
"That is why we must know and understand these preconceived notions. For they can lead us to an understanding of what people want. There are the simple things like food, water, shelter and clothing; after that things can get more complicated. People want luxury. But lets take a step back for a moment. People place the world into a box so it is easier to understand, for most people are quite lazy when it comes to thinking. They want to label something and be done with it, but these labels are often wrong and thus they are lead to such things as unbased biases and stereotypes."
Lyrai glanced at both women and smiled brightly, Finally reaching over to her klah and taking a drink. She pushed the tray of fruit toward them with the other hand.
"Shall I have something more sent up while we talk? Klah? More fruit?" One of the benefits she loved about her station was the ready and good food.

[hrsegrl]

Ruet grinned at Lyrai. Of course they would all be needing to think about this. Too bad for the both of them they had no one to teach them about Queens and their duties at the Weyr, except for men. It was an entirely different story here. "As Lyrai is saying, it would be very easy for you to see a green in your class and assume that she is vain and flighty. This is a misconception, it is just as likely that the green is hard working and unconcerned about her appearance as it is for a blue."

Sharieth was on the ladge next to her sister within moments. Greetings Zhariath.The lighter Queen said before landing gently. She really thought it would be nice to be aroudn a couple other queens for a while. Bronzes were getting on her nerves, especially her mate.

"No, thank you." Ruet said smiling. She had plenty to eat earlier that morning. Rue wasn't a person who ate much. She was a health nut after all... being a healer. "Three Queens on a Ledge, it would make a good song for the harpers." She said looking out at the Golden beauties.

[Memorie]

"But isn't it true that most sterotypes have a basis in truth?" Tujal plucked a decent sized fruit from the platter and began turn it in her hands. "I mean, why would most people say Greenriders are vain and flighty, if they hadn't been at one time? And a stereotype about Brownriders is, you know, that they are mostly sturdy, good people, and that's mostly true. I've met only one irresponsible brownrider," she said.

Amenth decided to join her elders on the ledge. Flying up slowly and gracefully, she landed lightly next to the bigger queens. Good morning, Queens. Nice and warm, isn't it? Tujal almost laughed aloud. Just like her rider, Amenth aimed to be well-liked by the leaders of the weyr.

"They certainly do look comfy," Tujal remarked as she watched Amenth settle in next to the larger hulks of the queens.

[LyricalBlue]

Zharieth touched her wedge nose to her twin and her daughter in turn. The dusky queen nearly purred in pleasure and scooted over to make more room for the other two. She yawned and stretched before settling back down, circling till she found a comfortable spot to lay.
Yes it promises to be a good day for sunning.Zharieth turned brightly blue eyes to look back in on the riders and rumbled happily again. This was how it should be, the Weyr followed the Queens after all. Such a display had more than one use, but the warmth of the other two golds' bodies took priority in Zharieth's mind.

Lyrai nodded once again. "Stereotypes have a basis in fact, which is a label and not always accurate. So we have to differentiate fact from truth. While stereotypes can hold truth you can not apply the label as a whole. If you place a person into a stereotype you are simply labeling them, not understanding them." She took another sip of her klah then continued. "So in order to begin the process of understanding we must first realize that we really know nothing and discard all labels. It is an exceedingly hard thing to do and a process Harpers have been tackling for many many turns. However it is not an impossible one, because every label you discard and every question you ask brings you closer."

[Memorie]

Tujal understood, and nodded. Lyrai had a way of explaining things that made them simple. A thoughtful look came over her face, and she fell silent. Then she spoke. "So, we have to just forget all the things we think we know, and start over new?" Once again, she spoke with the second person, as though she were speaking for herself and Amenth. She nodded, that sounded right. Tujal had known, of course, that not everyone was like everyone else. Not all blueriders were dimwitted, and not all bronzeriders were arrogant. I'slen proved that himself, she thought, and a light blush rose in her cheeks. She quickly got her emotion under control and looked at Lyrai. "So, when you've disregarded stereotypes and labels, how does that get you to understanding what people want?"

[hrsegrl]

Ruet was happy to hear that Tujal was a fast learner. "Exactly. Forget all you know, or think you know of people. If its one thing you will learn, people are always more complex than you will give them credit for." She knew that from her own experiences. Though she must admit she was bad at not stereotyping Bronzes.

Tujal's question was a good one. "Therein lies your job." She grinned. The Weyrwomen were responsible for the well being of those who lived at the Weyr. That meant knowing what people wanted. "Some things we can derive from old records...events that have occured in the past and what people have done." As boring as records were they did have their uses. She would let Lyrai add on to that of course.

[LyricalBlue]

The Weyrwoman nodded and smiled once more.
"It will also help you deal with all the diplomatic functions that you will be placed into as a Weyrwoman. And it will help you figure out what they really want because you forget all those things you think you know but do not. So often you can figure out what they want before they even know or are willing to admit." At Rue's mention of old records, Ly groaned dramaticaly and rolled her eyes. She hated those blasted records

[Memorie]

Tujal nodded. Now she understood the connection. "Okay, so to really learn what someone is about, you have to forget your own preconceived notions about how others like them have been. Oh!" she exclaimed, and the light of understanding clearly visible in her darkly colored eyes. "And then you can make them do what you need them to do, by helping them, right?" She grew excited; she loved to understand things and make that knowledge gained work for her.

Amenth flicked her tail and raised her head, excited by her rider's emotions. She crooned softly in response, lovingly and affectionately. Tujal immediately sent loving thoughts to the dragon, and as the dragon sent them back, Tujal swooned slightly. Sometimes the emotion was too much for her. She straightened and laughed. No doubt I'slen would be the first charge of this newly found knowledge. "But how can you get rid of those preconceived notions, Lyrai? Do you just chastise yourself whenever you start thinking those things?"