The World of Pern(tm) is copyright to Anne McCaffrey (c) 1967.
The Dragonriders of Pern(r) is a registered copyright.

This is a log of roleplay on PernMUSH, available online by permission of
Anne McCaffrey, author of the Pern novels, and recorded by A.S. Korra'ti
(piper@murkworks.net), player of Mehlani of Telgar Weyr on PernMUSH.
This log may be distributed freely as long as this header remains intact.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Log Date:
	12/18/97

Log Cast:
	(People) K'star (NPC), Mehlani

	(Firelizards) Holl, Rianet

Log Intro:
	(NOTE: The original version of this log was lost in a crash on
murkworks.net in March of 1998; this version of the log has been kindly
given to Mehlani's player by the player of Kassima and K'star.)
	If Mehlani were a paranoid young girl, she might well decide that
there is a campaign going on in the Weyr to tease her mercilessly,
what with rumors of her impending creation of a kilt for a certain young
brownrider going much too far for comfort and two children winding up
teasing her about how the boys are taking to her. What tops it all off,
at last, is the contribution of Alwyn and Sandar to the roster of people
who feel compelled to comment to Mehlani about the state of her blossoming
love life -- especially in regards to the young riders K'star and E'rian.
Mehlani is at last forced to flee to one of her two refuges of choice:
the Records Room. But even there, she can't quite get a hold of herself,
and even there, she isn't safe from an encounter with one of the very
young men whose attentions are generating such gossip about her...


----------
The faint sound of whistling is the only warning given of K'star's imminent 
  entrance into the room. The young rider--for rider he is, now--has his 
  favorite hat perched on his head at a jaunty angle and looks overall to be 
  in good spirits. He's peering down curiously at a hide, which would 
  explain why he doesn't seem aware of anything or anyone else in the room 
  at the moment.

There's another faint sound in the room... that of a soft sniffle, which 
  immediately cuts off at the sound of footsteps coming in from outside. 
  Mehlani, sitting huddled near the one hearth in the Records Room, amidst 
  a pile of garments she's been awkwardly trying to sew, does not look up; 
  she's frozen where she sits. _Her_ hat sits on the floor beside her, and 
  Holl and Rianet are curled up on it, watching the girl; when K'star comes 
  in, though, the pair of fire lizards croons.

Both the croon and the sniffle are enough to distract Kes from his history, 
  startled. Since Mehlani is sitting by the hearth, it's not terribly hard 
  for him to make out just who's there. "'Lani?" he asks, abandoning his hide 
  to walk over to where the girl sits. "I hadn't been expecting to find you 
  here... though I probably should've. What's wrong?" The young rider sounds 
  concerned, perhaps because of that sniffling.

Blue, liquid eyes go wide, and Mehlani flicks an alarmed gaze to the young 
  brown rider, then to her fire lizards and the hat on the floor, and finally 
  down to the shirt she's trying to sew. "H-hello," she mumbles.

K'star kneels to sit beside the girl, taking in the sight of the hat, her 
  eyes, and her occupation. The second of these makes him frown a bit, with 
  definite concern. "Heya, yourself. Feeling better? You look as though 
  you've been crying." If nothing else, this brownrider can certainly be 
  forthright.

Crying? Her? Mehlani lifts a slender hand and scrubs the back of it across 
  her eyes, whispering hastily, "I-I'm alright." Holl, his eyes a very pale 
  mix of green-yellow, warbles lowly, perhaps in contradiction; Rianet just 
  cheeps.

K'star shakes his head, tugging a black kerchief from one jacket pocket and 
  offering it to the girl. "Then why are your eyes leaking like clouds in a 
  summer rain? Beautiful clouds, of course," he adds, with his most charming 
  grin. "But still, clouds. You can't fool those 'lizards of yours, you 
  know. Care to speak 'bout whatever's troubling you?"

The lass starts turning pink, still not looking up, though she hesitantly 
  accepts the kerchief and dabs at her face with it. "Thank you," she murmurs 
  tinily, but immediately pauses again, stricken and blanking on what to say; 
  she can't exactly tell K'star, after all, that _he_ is at the center of 
  what's troubling her. She fumbles to say instead, again, "Th-thank you..."

K'star shrugs with an affected nonchalance that his hazel eyes give the lie 
  to. "Hey, don't mention it. 'Tis what I'm here for." Again, that grin 
  flickers into being for a moment before the young man lapses into quietude 
  for a moment. "Taken a fancy to the hat?" he asks, looking towards the 
  accessory in question. No, he has no clue that the hat has anything to do 
  with what's troubling 'Lani. He's probably just trying to make small talk 
  to distract her from her worries.

"I like it," murmurs Mehlani, still not looking up, afraid to meet K'star's 
  gaze. Her tone sounds suspiciously doleful, though. On the hat in question, 
  Holl croons again to K'star, while Rianet watches him with consideringly 
  whirling eyes.

K'star absently reaches out a hand to offer the fire-lizards a scritching, 
  though he doesn't actually touch them--that would be rude, and that green 
  looks to be the sort who just might bite him if he tried. "Then it must be 
  something else that's bothering you," he decides. Brows lowering, he 
  wonders, "You're not falling sick again, are you...?" He keeps his voice, 
  which is relatively deep for a seventeen-Turn-old, pitched to a murmur. 
  The brogue that's a trait of his nearest kinfolk is only noticeable as a 
  slight lilt to his words.

Mehlani immediately looks up -- mistake. Shyly, she stares at the boy, 
  looking not unlike a young herdbeast who is not quite sure whether she is 
  about to be descended upon by a dragon. She swallows once and then murmurs, 
  "I'm over my cold now..."
Holl, in the meantime, seems quite willing to let himself to be scritched, 
  and he stretches forth his head towards the rider's offered fingers.

K'star doesn't have a lot of experience with fire-lizards--but he *does* have 
  experience with a dragon who secretly enjoys a lot of pampering. So, he's 
  somewhat adept at this whole skritching thing. "That's good to hear... are 
  you afraid of me, 'Lani?" Kes asks out of the blue.

Her eyes are already limpid, and at _that_ question, they go round, 
  apparently in alarm. Mehlani starts to nod, tinily, and then just as 
  abruptly starts to shake her head; then, looking horribly confused and 
  abashed, she shrinks down a little and mumbles, "I'm sorry...!", as if 
  she feels she's somehow erring by fearing him. Or perhaps by admitting it. 
  Regardless, both her fire lizards creel softly at her, and Lani's eyes get 
  tearier.

"Hey now, hey now...!" Alarmed, too, by the fact that he's made 'Lani 
  cry--something he certainly had no intent of doing--K'star starts to put 
  an arm around her, then thinks better of it and just sits rather 
  uncomfortably for a moment. "What's to be sorry about? Can't help how you 
  feel, I guess." And if he's disappointed, not to mention bewildered, that 
  he's somehow managed to scare the girl, he gallantly keeps himself from 
  showing it. "Is it something I've done, then?" Read: is it something 
  K'tyn's going to track me down and kill me for, later?

Mehlani has ducked her gaze down again, but at that anxious query, she 
  quickly looks up once more, shaking her head vigorously. "It's not your 
  fault...!" she whispers. "You've been very, very kind to me...!"

K'star smiles at that, though it doesn't smooth all of the anxiety from his 
  expression. "'Tis what friends are for, and you're too sweet a lass not to 
  deserve a little kindness. 'Tis my pleasure. But what's scaring you, then? 
  Because I'll swear to you, I never meant to scare you, 'Lani--or hurt you 
  at all. And I'm really sorry if'n I have."

The girl hesitates, turning from pink towards red along her cheeks; her 
  fleeting, wan smile yields to her yet again ducking her gaze. "You've 
  been... different," she murmurs towards the still half-stitched sleeve of 
  the shirt in her lap. Nice, short, safely undetailed edition of the truth.

"How so?" K'star immediately replies, taking his own fedora from his 
  head--revealing, of course, a slightly-tousled ruff of darkening blondish 
  hair--and setting it on his lap. "Different than... what? Is it a bad sort 
  of different? Forgive me for pestering you, if I am--I'd just rather *not* 
  frighten you. 'Twouldn't precisely be nice of me, y'know."

She sniffles once, peeking up from the lock of hair dangling across her pale 
  brow, and blurts, "It's alright... it's alright...!" And down goes the blue 
  gaze again. "You didn't... talk to me so much... at Benden, I mean...!"

"Well," K'star points out, logically, "at Benden, I was a Candidate first, 
  and then I had Indyth to look after and train with. Now that he's 
  full-grown, that's not such a full-time job... so I have more time to 
  spend talking with people I like to talk to."

Once more, Holl croons. Talking. Talking is good. Keep it up, Lani!

"Being a Weyrling is much work," Mehlani agrees softly, readily. There must 
  be something absolutely fascinating about the seam she's been stitching, 
  for she keeps her regard solidly and demurely fastened there. Then she 
  blinks, looking partway up. "You... like to talk to me?"

K'star chuckles, the sound coming from deep in his throat. "'Tis certainly 
  that. You're right on both counts. It is... and I do. Why do you seem to 
  find that surprising?" With a gentle, rather lopsided smile, he notes, 
  "You're quite possibly the sweetest girl in the Weyr, 'Lani. Why more folk 
  don't come and talk to you like this, I swear that I don't know."

"But I don't _say_ anything!" Mehlani protests, her face coming up again as 
  she forgets to keep it pointed down.

"So what?" K'star meets Mehlani's gaze, his eyes twinkling with a hint of 
  mirth. "If I want to be rambled to, I can go talk to Cousin Kassi. You're 
  a great listener, 'Lani--and when you do say something, it's something of 
  value. There are times when I appreciate that. Don't devalue yourself just 
  'cause you're quiet--*someone* needs to be quiet around here, after all."

Mehlani sniffles once, a tiny little noise, but she still meets the hazel 
  gaze resting on her, a fraction less fright in her own. As Holl gives her 
  a few soft encouraging cheeps, the lass ventures timidly, "We haven't... 
  _ever_ talked!"

K'star smiles, as reassuringly as he can--which could be saying a lot. The 
  lad does have a certain charisma to him.... "We're talking now, aren't we?"

Charisma enough, it would seem, to keep Mehlani looking shyly up at him, and 
  to nod solemnly. "_That's_ different," she murmurs, succintly illuminating 
  her earlier remark.

K'star tilts his head, looking thoughtful. "That I'm talking to you, or that 
  anyone's talking to you? I can hardly believe that no one likes to talk to 
  you, 'Lani, so it must be the former... and is that what's scaring you so?"

Mehlani is nothing if not a truthful, honorable girl, even if it does make 
  her blush again to have to admit, "A little..."

K'star looks down at that, toying with the brim of the fedora in his lap. He 
  sighs, a quiet and almost inaudible sound. "Would you rather I didn't talk 
  to you, then?"

"No! No... I mean...." Mehlani pulls in a nervous little breath, then lets 
  it out, and finishes shyly, "I like talking to you."

The expression on K'star's face couldn't be mistaken for anything but what 
  it is: relief. "Oh! Well, that's good then... 'cause I like talking to you, 
  too. I just don't want to frighten you or anything."

"I'm just not very used to talking much with boys," confesses the blushing 
  lass. "Except my brothers, and Devlin..."

That elicits another quiet chuckle from K'star. "I'm not that used to 
  speaking with girls, either, 'cept for my sisters and my cousins--so I 
  guess that makes us even, eh? Honest, though--you've got nothing to fear 
  from me. Really and truly. I've already promised that I won't do anything 
  that makes you uncomfortable, and I plan to keep my word."

Mehlani's mouth curls up on each end, slowly. You'd think she was a shy fire 
  lizard hatchling, now, being coaxed out of her shell by a handful of food. 
  She bobs her head at K'star. "It, um... helps to talk." She considers, 
  then abruptly offers, "I'm scared of a lot of people, before I get to talk 
  to them!"

K'star grins outright, his teeth flashing against his tanned skin. The young 
  man must've been spending time down south lately. "We can talk all you 
  like, 'Lani. Any time you want to talk, if I'm not on-duty, 'twould be my 
  pleasure." He tries to bow grandly to her, but that's a pretty ineffective 
  sort of gesture when you're sitting down with a hat in your lap. "Are you 
  scared, or just shy?" he then wants to know.

"Both," murmurs the lass, briefly dipping her blue regard again -- but it 
  comes back up. Polite conversation dictates you look at someone when 
  they're talking to you, even if they _do_ have a tan and sunbleached hair, 
  and eyes whose color you can't quite identify, and a fascinating little 
  scar along the chin. "I... never know what to talk about, much... it's why 
  Devlin gave me Tiamanth, to try to get me to talk more...!" A hand flitters 
  up to her collar; there's a small gold dragon pinned there, winking against 
  the pale cloth of her shirt.

"Tiamanth? 'Tis a lovely pin," K'star observes. If he's even a smidgeon 
  jealous that someone *else* is apparently giving 'Lani gifts, again, he 
  tries his best not to show it. Those eyes of his *are* rather expressive, 
  though.... "Talk about anything you want to. Talk about the dragons, talk 
  about the work you're doing for Rennick... talk about anything. I think you 
  underestimate yourself as a conversationalist." He winks, his dimple showing 
  for a moment before he glances up and towards the Bowl. "Ach... Indyth's 
  making a pest of himself again. I hate to leave, but if I don't start oiling 
  him presently, he'll go into the silent suffering routine!" He stands and 
  puts on his hat once more, then pauses. "Is there anything else you'd like 
  to talk about first, though, 'Lani?"

Mehlani's gaze lifts, as the youth rises, and his question catches her by 
  surprise. She blinks a few times and blushes yet again, but all she can think 
  of to say is, "If you ever need any aid... with Indyth... let me know? I miss 
  helping Father, with Tzornth...!"

K'star nods, smiling broadly. "A'course, 'Lani. I'd be pleased any time you'd 
  like to help--and so would he. He rather likes you, y'know."

She's blushing. Again. But there's another peek of that little smile across her 
  face, and Mehlani murmurs, "I have to finish my sewing... but thank you...!"

K'star grins again and tips his hat to Mehlani. "Any time, 'Lani. Any time!" With 
  that, he's away--whistling cheerfully once again.

[End log.]