==== November 10, 2013
==== Sienna, O'ell
==== Faulty flamethrowers and weyrling staff plotting.

Training Grounds
Here, a wide and spacious field, devoid of all but more of the glare of ubiquitous, fine white sand of Igen: not even a blade of grass dares lift its head against centuries of clumsy draconic antics. To one side, ever-present firestone bins are set, kept supplied by many a hand, while agenothree tanks line the curving angle just outside the barracks, primed and ready for use. Very often, a glimpse of classes in session or dragonets at play may be caught under the open sky under the watchful eye of diligent Weyrlingmasters and older dragons.

On a perch much farther up lies Jafyth; ever vigilant, his eyes sweep the training grounds below and the skies above to report back to O'ell below. Who, at the moment, is checking the agenothree tanks with the watchful eye of someone far more used to using them than making sure they're in working order. He prefers the point and shoot if he's going to have to use the things anyway. And it's kind of evident in the way he's holding the offending item. In fact, if someone sneaks up on him they may even notice him playing with one of the attachments that needs fidgeting. 'I eat thread. Rar!' (falsetto included). beat "Not if you don't work you don't! Sharding stupid thing. Oh wait, maybe it's this little lug here. Mmph. I should coerce D'nel into transferring. He's good at this shit."

Sienna isn't sneaking on /purpose/, but the small, curvy greenrider just doesn't naturally lumber along like some folks do. "Or you could ask one of the Smiths," she offers, stepping up beside him and peering at the tank. "What's wrong with it?" Pushing curls away from her face that have fallen free from their runnertail, she slips her hands into the pockets of her dusty work jacket, glancing briefly away to watch a few pairs working their way through the obstacle course.

O'ell doesn't even have the grace to look embarassed that he was talking to the tank. No, he just glances over and gives Sienna a nod before holding up a finger to signify that universal 'just a sec' gesture. "Watch." Mindful the pairs not too far away who are no doubt eyeing the newest addition to the weyrling team with amusement, he steps away from the other tanks and aims the flamethrower towards the stone wall. A bit of agenothree dribbles when he tries to activate it, and after a second there's a weak and wimpy looking flame that sort of flares briefly. "I'm not sure whether to call it premature agenothration. Or, limp flamethrower syndrome." he deadpans. "Also, asking the smiths would just be too easy."

Sienna steps clear and watches, tilting her head slightly. Lips press together for a moment, no doubt holding back a laugh, and then she shrugs and responds in an equally deadpan voice, "maybe it drank too much last night. Or maybe it just doesn't have that…spark…with you." There's a faint smirk and she steps forward to peer at it. "You should ask the Smiths. I'd really rather not have you suffer burning death disorder."

"Well, I told them all they'd regret it if they drank too much. But they never listen." O'ell laments, as if he truly means it. "No spark with me. Hnph." he adds, after a moment's thought and a side-eye at the other assistant. "Suppose I should." is admitted. "Easier just to know who's handy with the things, sometimes. But what's a guy to do." It's a moment where he definitely misses just -knowing- everyone and their capabilities. But, one adapts. And he shrugs. "I'll bring it over when I'm done checking the rest. So, how's things?"

Sienna shakes her head, "They never do," she agrees. There's a little smirk at his side-eye, though her expression quickly shifts to innocent. What? Then she nods. "Try Tanmorand. He's good with fiddly mechanical things. Things are pretty calm this morning. Geoeth's case of thicktail eased up overnight, and H'val learned his lesson about overfeeding, no matter /how/ much Geoeth begs. So there's that. Others seem to be working through the obstacle course pretty well. Some even blindfolded. Things are good, I guess."

O'ell doesn't buy anyone's innocent expressions anymore. He's seen (and attempted) way too many of them by now. "Tanmorand, eh?" He nods, setting the faulty tank to one side before picking up one of the others to play with. Er, check. He's checking them, not playing with them. "Thicktail. I don't miss those days. I'll bet he learned. Having to stick your hand up your dragon's tail's a sure way to make an unpleasant memory." He brightens and smiles when the obstacle course is mentioned. "Blindfolded. Good. They all need that level of trust before they graduate. Nice to see some getting that bond early. They all seem settled after what happened to the Senior?"

Sienna nods her head, turning to watch one of the brownriders head in the wrong direction, and his dragon seeming /pleased/ with this until one of the blueriders calls him on it. "It's a good activity. Been thinking about how we could even up it even more…maybe have them team up? One rider and dragon pair are blindfolded, maybe, and paired with a sighted dragon and rider. The seeing rider tells his dragon, who tells the blindfolded dragon, who tells his rider. Just lengthen that communication chain a bit and make sure they can pass information reliably." Dragon telephone! "They seem to be. Had a few nightmares last night but Kehemath soothed them pretty quickly." The odd green dragon is good at dreamwalking, that's for certain.

O'ell tries not to smirk at the sight of the brown purposefully leading is lifemate astray. "Gonna have to keep an eye on that one." He may be noting it for himself, or her, or for the both of them. But regardless, he's watching em. He even gestures with two fingers at his eyes, then at the brown dragon with the same two finges. He trusts that Jafyth is translating. "That sounds like a good idea. They'll have to learn to focus with a lot of chatter too. Maybe the most advanced lesson can include random comments from the rest of the class." Okay, it may be a little cruel, but it'll work. "Jafyth will keep a light touch on them today, just in case."

Sienna nods, "Yeah, for sure," she agrees, watching the group. "Good for that bluerider to call them on it though. Who is that? C'sen? He's quiet, that was good of him." Ahh, all the dynamics of teaching a huge class. Plus dragons. "Oh, that's a great idea. Yeah, they'll need to sort through the chaos. We can do that for sure. Make the course harder too." Really, really hard. She likes that idea. "Good mental preparation for them. As good as we can do anyway."

"Yep, that's him. He and his blue got a mental pat on the shoulder for it." O'ell may be obvious with the watching, but he's subtle with the praise. Another tank is set down, and another picked up while he listens. Always keeping himself busy, this one. "They'll need a mock threadfall, I think. It's still not real for them. Probably not real for most of the full riders either." Which, obviously, prompts a frown. "Seeing themselves covered with paint will be a good scare."

Sienna nods, "Good, thanks. And oh yes, certainly. Lots of them. W'rin had a few wings run a mock threadfall, and then had a rider who had experienced thread - remembered it - share the experience with everyone." She twitches. "It was horrible, but it really helped us all /see/ what flecks of paint would truly mean. So yes. Lots of threadfall drills. With Mosaic, with the other wings…I'm sure W'rin will be holding lots of those and our riders need to be able to jump in. I want them versatile. Able to run firestone reliably, but then…shards, worse case scenario, jump in and join a wing if they're needed.

O'ell fills his lungs, and exhales heavily. That'd be his version of the twitch that Sienna just did. And his expression remains serious and solemn, despite the earlier display of dry humor. "Good, good. We'll do a good job with them. Training them, making sure they can jump in when needed." If nothing else, he looks confident saying that. But then, that's kind of what he does. Appear confident no matter what. Sometimes it even works! "I'll be interested in seeing which of them actually takes up the roles of Wingleader and Wingsecond for the team and does a deccent job with it."

Sienna nods, shifting her weight a bit and fiddling with the inner lining of her coat. Looking out at the group of young weyrlings - /their/ weyrlings - and knowing they're going to be rising to meet thread in less than a turn… It keeps her up at night. But she bites her lower lip and doens't speak about it. Not yet. That's a conversation for a drunken night in a bar. "Agreed," she murmurs, nodding. "I think so far we've done a pretty good job making sure they /all/ understand that every color is important and has a role." Especially seeing C'sen speak up. That was great to see.

O'ell twitches an eyebrow up there, glancing at Sienna when she bites her lower lip. But he doesn't press. It's just not his style… most of the time. "There's no sense in letting talent go to waste. Especially not right now." he agrees. "You like working with the weyrlings, then. You've been doing this awhile?" Being that it's his first run at helping train the young ones, he can't quite help the curiousity.

Sienna dips her head slightly as she watches another pair - green - work their way through the course. Methodical and slow, they make it without any mistakes, but much, much slower than their peers. "I really do," she says. "Kehemath and I were good in Whirlwind, but this is where we do our best, I think. And yeah. I filled in as the WLM for the last group, and before that, back in oldtime Ista, I was AWLM for turns. Almost right after graduation, actually. Had a short stint in a search and rescue wing. That's where Kehemath /really/ shines. But we're good here."

"Hm." The nod O'ell gives could be approval or simply acknowledgement; his expression makes it hard to tell. "We haven't decided if this is a better fit for us then being a Winglead like we were back at Benden. But, it's a change. And sometimes that's enough." At least, it has been for him. "And how's the rest of the team here? The healers, the crafters - competent?"

Sienna glances at him, her brows lifting. "You gave up wingleader in Benden to come be an Assistant Weyrlingmaster in Igen?" Forgive her moment of incredulity. "Why?" Because that's a hell of a change. "Competent, yeah, for the most part. There are good ones and bad ones, same as anywhere I guess. But W'rin's really whipped the weyr into shape. People don't perform, they're out."

"My 'second was more then ready to lead the wing. And I stayed about 10 Turns too long." The words are thoughtful, almost, because O'ell has asked himself the same thing a few times. "Sometimes, you just need to go. And Igen needed bronze and brownriders." he points out, giving a shrug. "Truth be told, I'd prefer to be the Weyrlingmaster. But that's not a role the new guy can expect. We'll see how things go." He's not about to try and usurp the position from someone perfectly capable either. He's too laid back for that. "Well that's good to know." he adds, almost an afterthought.

Sienna nods a little bit, glancing around. "Yeah, sometimes you need to go," she agrees. She'd know, right? "Maybe you could work up to WLM for the next group," she says with a little shrug. "Really, I'm not sure. He might bump you up sooner than you think, once you've shown you can do it."

O'ell settles a more knowing glance on the greenrider, but just nods his agreement. "I'm in no hurry. And if there's someone better to fill the role… more power to them. Once htreadfall starts, they may need me in a wing as just another rider." Jafyth, above, seems to rumble some kind of agreement. "I think we're all lookin' like we need another round of klah. Weyrlings included. Think I'll go grab some from the caverns. You done your shift till tonight, then?"

Sienna nods in agreement. "Klah would be welcome, thanks. And no, I'm not done. I've got paperwork to do." Until they get a real WLM, she's been stepping up to keep the paperwork in order, since she has the most recent experience with those tasks. "So I'll be in the office. Thanks."

O'ell fires off a playful salute to Sienna, picking up the faulty tank so that he can drop it off on his way to gather the klah refills. "I'll bring your breakfast." he adds, figuring she might be one of those types. The ones who forget to eat. And if not, he /always/ has room for extra breakfast. "Paperwork." He makes a face at the word, the entire way back to the Weyr proper.

Sienna grins as she returns the salute, adding in a 'thanks' for the breakfast. No, she's not one of those who forgets to eat breakfast, but she's already hungry again so it'll be welcome as she turns to head inside. Paperwork. It's not that bad.