Dinnertime!

[midnight]

Tirana walked through the dining hall, weaving her way around the crowd. It was dinnertime and almost everyone in the Weyr was here to eat. She grabbed a plate and got in line, wondering what "delicious" food there was going to be tonight. Tirana was used to having luxurious meals in the Hold and Skysong's dining hall wasn't living up.

She thanked the cook with a terse smile when she got her roast herdbeast and vegetables, then went to look for a seat. There was an empty table near the back, and she quickly claimed it. Tirana wasn't afraid of sitting alone, since she knew people would join her soon. It was too crowded for people to be picky about their tablemates.

[Astarte]

Toska had been working hard, and had every intent to eat in exactly the same way. Hauling sacks of firestone hither and thither really did it for a girl, and she was absolutely starving. With a plate piled high with herdbeast and tubers (and possibly a few greener vegetables in there somewhere, buried under everything else), she was ready to sit down, zone out, and eat dinner.

Of course, the sitting down bit was the hard part. She hadn't been at the Weyr long, but she had been there long enough to know that sitting with the young mutated dragonriders wasn't a good idea, and that sitting with the old Fort riders just led to awkward pauses. Which left sitting with the Crafters (interesting, but not overly enthralling) or sitting with the Candidates. In general, because they were the people she was going to be spending the rest of her time at the Weyr with, Toska tried for the second one.

There was a largely empty table near the back, with only one other girl occupying it, and Toska made a beeline for it, plopping herself down with just enough grace to avoid spilling her food. Glancing at the girl, whose name she couldn't remember, and giving a wan smile, she inclined her head in greeting and then took a bite of her meal. It was excellent! "Good food tonight," she said cheerfully, once she had swallowed.

"I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name. You're a Candidate too, right?"