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Amna & F’rell - It seemed Amna's luck today to find herself on the dance floor with men more than a foot taller than herself. This time as one song had wound down and another spun up, she'd found herself twirling from one set of hands to another, the partners rotating like clockwork... and this time, the hands that found hers belonged to one of the new weyrling pairs. "Well hello there! And congratulations to the both of you!" She beamed, giving a fond little wink down at the brown dragonet at the boy's side. Looking up and catching the eyepatch... aha. She remembered now. "And a double congratulations for your resiliency. I saw Vimiath's clutch in action... glad this one went better. For you, at least."

She made sure to never stand too close, or to keep the young man's focus for too long as they spun and stepped. She remembered herself how sensitive baby dragonets could be, and she had no interest at all in getting between the boy and how brown. They made such a cute pair, after all...!






D'mar & Lelte - It was a funny thing, habit. Despite all conscious thought being removed from the equation, sometimes one still found themselves falling into old patterns. When a particularly challenging song kicked up, one that was known for its shifting rhythms and challenging steps—one D'mar had practiced at for so very long and with such a specific partner—he found himself, quite unthinkingly, approaching someone rather like the sort he was used to stepping with, and offering a hand. "Candidate," he cut a quick bow, eyeing her knots and the High Reaches black and blue thread of them. He wasn't terribly familiar with the candidates in his own Weyr, so he did not feel bad not knowing her name. "Would you care to dance?"

She was tiny, petite and short and entirely different from his own tall, lanky self... but then, his longest standing dance partner had been much the same. He didn't imagine this stripling of a girl would have half the wild creative zest as Shahera had done, nor the practice with a partner as disparate as him... but he'd already asked, and he was confident enough to be sure he could still make the pair of them look good.






Ilauria & Iafri - Ilauria had taken a short break from dancing to eat and check in with her brothers again, and now, returning to the floor a bit late, the next song having already kicked off, she found herself hovering near the edge of the area, partner-less and alone. It was a shame, she internally pouted (though she never would display such an unpleasant expression outwardly if she could help it) because the song was a more tricky one... but usually tricky meant fun. She still had a few good dances in her, and having to sit one out when she wanted to dance was disappointing. It was really a shame but... oh. Hey, hey wait a moment.

"Iafri!" She called out, crossing towards the other woman. "Do you not have a partner for this dance? Would you maybe... would you like to dance?" The greenrider was a member of her wing, and though Ilauria had to look up to meet her eyes, she was inordinately fond of the younger woman. They were both on the smaller side, and Iafri was fairly quiet and meek... it brought out a protective streak in the shorter woman, as well as gave her more confidence, as if to make up for Iafri's shyness. "If you don't want to it's okay, but I figured I'd at least ask."






L'an & Helane - Almost without thought, L'an had swung from song to song, taking whichever partner was matched with him along for the ride, letting them swap and come and go as they liked without paying too much mind. It wasn't unusual to look down as another song fired up to find someone new taking his hands, and he was passively happy to give so many weyrfolk the chance to spin and twirl... even if they barely registered on the man's memory.

This time it was a little different... when the last song had ended, rather than bowing a goodbye to a retreating partner and a greeting to a new one, the same sprightly little candidate had stuck around. That was... odd. But not unwelcome. He didn't mind a double-feature, and as the tune spun up he twirled her around, passively and calmly taking up the new steps to lead her through them. Distantly he wondered if she'd been friends with his son, perhaps... but then he'd remembered her black and blue knots, not the Western black and purple. Probably not then, unless his boy'd been corresponding with High Reaches. Soon she'd be packed back up to the mountains, so, he supposed, he might as well make sure she took back a tale or two of Western's warmth, both in temperature and hospitality.






Raen & Z’haq - On a whim, as yet another song began, Raen opted to approach one of the riders she had never spoken to before. A bronze rider, a wingleader, a flight leader, Z'haq was known to her, but not she to him. Which of course made sense—they'd never once spoken. Still, as she dipped in a curtsy and offered the only slightly shorter man a hand, she felt a swelling of personal, intimate gratitude. His leadership, after all, worked to help keep the wings fighting fit, and that meant the land and the people on it were kept safe. The people of Pern owed all riders so much, but a few, maybe, just a bit more.

As they found a spot on the dance floor and took a starting position from which to spring quickly into the dance, she smiled, leaning in jsut a bit to say, "I wanted to thank you, flight leader Z'haq, for all the hard work you do. I know it must be an incredible burned on you, and I want you to know that my door is always open to you, or to anyone in your wings." And then, on a slightly happier note, "No doubt some of these new weyrlings will be under your command in the coming turns. A large clutch. A boon for Western. Congratulations in advance for helping to direct them to be the best they can be in the fights to come. We all trust you to do it."






U'zan & Phryana - "Ah, there she is! The light of the morning, gem of Western, queen of all she surveys! ...My Phryana." With all the flourish and volume he usually wore like a cloak, U'zan came cutting towards the weyrling pair through the throng, one hand holding a goblet of fine wine, the other thrown wide in a sweeping gesture. Usually such a motion would have ended with him lightly tracing her jawline as he closed in, but this time, recalling the different situation now (but not faltering, never faltering!) he drew up short, that wide-out arm curling in to press against his chest as he stepped into an elegant bow to her... and the golden dragonet at her side. "I suppose she's rather your Phryana now, hmm? Well, you couldn't have chosen better, not here or among those left at High Reaches!" His voice was full of boisterous amusement, a bit quieter now, but certainly not shy.

Focusing back on the magnificent woman before him, it did take some conscious thought to keep from automatically taking her hand, drawing her close as he'd done so often in the last months, though he still of course just had to ask for a dance. One last chance to be seen with such a gorgeous creature on his arm... or maybe, to be seen on her arm now, he mused to himself. Thankfully for the young pair, Balizarth remained firm in the back of his mind for him to mind his manners around the hatchling. His littler ledgemate was a rider now, and of a gold dragon—certainly no High Reaches-quality gold, nothing like Eveleth, but still—and she deserved more care than any other weyrling present. Perhaps now, once this... distraction was left behind in this hot, humid, unnaturally-ordered place, his rider would be able to focus, the bronze was thinking to himself. One more dance or two wouldn't hurt. A final goodbye. Then, to work, yes.

"Really and truly, my darling," he continued, his tone more intimate as he waited with his hand outstretched in offering to her. "She's a stunning dragon, almost entirely as much as one such as you deserves. A pity she was shelled here... I shall miss you, and all the lovely times we had together."






Wione & T’rik - "T'rik! Oh T'rik!" Skirts in hand, Wione came bubbling towards her wingmate, having spied him just as her previous dance partner excused themselves to go and have a drink. "Would you like to dance? C'mon!" Without pause she found his hand, holding it between both of hers, eyes alight and gently pulling him towards the dance floor. She knew, of course, of his injury—had seen herself his trouble with dismounting his oh so handsome blue, but hopefully he'd know that she wouldn't judge him for any faulty steps he made. This dance was a complex one to begin with, after all—and she was still feeling unready to spend much time at all alone. For those who'd known her over past turns, this wasn't so shocking—it was a rare thing for the blonde to leave an event without a man on her arm, after all, and from the outside looking in there was no real way to tell just how different this time was for her.

She'd almost been ready to sit this dance out. Almost. But then as she'd turned away from the dance floor she'd spotted someone with their hair done very similar to... well. It wasn't who she'd hoped to see, of course, but it'd got her heart racing again. Now the thought of being alone and sitting quietly was just not to be had. Again she gave T'rik's hand a slight squeeze and a tug. "C'mon T'rik, please?"






X & Nua - It had taken the first hour of the feast to work up the willpower to actually enter the main area. X had lingered outside the affair, hidden in a shadowy corner, torn between charging in and running as fast as they could away. Being around people felt like a mistake. Like they would only bring the mood down, and make everyone's morning feel spoiled. But being alone felt worse. Like just asking for pain and for the haunting silent void to come yawning back. They'd forced themselves to watch the hatching, and the sharp sting of bittersweet joy at all the infants finding their own partners, seeing their eyes go rainbow with love... X wasn't sure if it had helped or hurt, but it had needed to be done, either way.

They supposed... this needed to be done too. They could not be a recluse forever. Could not be only a ghost haunting the halls of the Weyr. They were contributing, in small ways, but should find a way to contribute socially to, to be... a part of things. Halcyath would not have wanted them to be alone, if they could manage it... at least, they thought that was what he'd want.

With that in mind, just as the next song kicked its tempo up, they sucked a breath and strode through the doors, diving into the chaos of the crowd with no real aim in mind. They swapped passing words with any who spoke to them, smiling kindly for the Weyr's visitors, who might not know upon sight who they were (and glad for it), but in time that level of constant, multi-directional socialization became a bit overwhelming. Unthinking, they angled towards another rider... someone they'd known before, at least in passing, when they had been more than just X.

"...Greenrider Nua," Their voice was barely above a whisper, only just audible through the crowd's dull roar. "Will you... dance? With me...?" She probably wouldn't want to. X wouldn't mind.