Splishie Splashie - T'rel

[strawberrylush]

I love hot water, Ille sent to her dragon as she slowly sank up to her neck in a bathing pool. Southern's waters were always mildly temperate and onlt the lake had felt good during the hot summers. With the cold winters, these hot water pools felt wonderful. You'll turn into soup if you aren't careful, Minirith cautioned her. The dragon was relaxing out on the fireheights, enjoying what little warmth those heights gained this late in spring. It would soon be summer and the nights still frosted over.

Little soup never hurt anyone, Ille replied closing her bright green eyes. Turns ago she had looked just like her brother, both had the same cheekbones and feminine look. I'tel had grown facial hair since she had been forcibly removed from Southern, she'd seen him from a distance, while she had cut her coal black hair close to her scalp. Though she was slim and trim it was easy to see that she was woman. You couldn't miss it. We are leaving tomorrow?, the green asked. Because of their own origins, Ille and Minirith were often sent to Ista after a clutch in Southern hatched to search out any female riders. Stupid South and their stupid code.

[saidaltam]

T'rel was sore, tired, and generally irritable. It had been a very long day, preceded by a very long week, preceded by a very long month...

:...Preceded by a very long life,:[/color] Vijaith finished. He'd heard that particular string of thoughts in his rider's mind so often that even he could remember how it ended without effort. :You whine too much, Mine.:[/color] The bronze hopped off his ledge, spiraling upwards to circle lazily over the Weyr.

T'rel chuckled dryly, snatched up a clean change of clothes, and harrumphed. 'Get me downstairs, you overgrown wherry. I need a bath.'

:You do smell terrible,:[/color] the dragon agreed, circling back down to give his rider a quick hop down the short distance to the Weyrbowl. T'rel snorted arrogantly, swinging up onto the dragon, and slapped his neck lightly. Were it not for his connection to T'rel, Vijaith likely would never have noticed.

T'rel dropped from Vijaith's neck from some ten or fifteen feet above the ground, and Vijaith spiraled back up on the warm air of a thermal, leaving the bronzerider to meander inside and trudge his way wearily to the bathing rooms. It had been too long since he'd had a long, lazy bath, and if there was any time that he'd earned one, this was it.

Pushing the door open, he slipped inside, oblivious to the presence of his fellow rider, piled his clean clothing on a shelf well away from the pools, shucked off his other garb, and positively melted into the water, sighing contentedly. He had needed this.

[strawberrylush]

Okay so he happened to land in her pool, which if the other pools had been crowded would have been acceptable. Only the other pools were not crowded much less occupied. So he hadn't seen her which meant he wasn't paying attention which meant he was being insulting. She may have foreswore herself against the Southern Code but she still thought like a Southern woman and in the South a man did not flat out ignore a woman. It was rude, a subtle hint that a woman was worthless. The only way a rider could insult a woman in the South and get away with it.

"Excuse me", she said politely, leaning forward in the dark water. With little lighting above the pools, the water was often shaded a dark brown to black. The water itself was quite clear, though slightly sulferous smelling to those not used to it, but the rock kept bodies decent. "I'll have you know this is my pool. Go pick one of the others", she muttered. Ille didn't really like male riders even here in the North, but then she was a different sort of woman herself. She'd yet to find a man who matched her quirkiness, in fact she had found close matches among the female blue riders and she preferred for them to catch Minirith in flight.

[saidaltam]

T'rel's eyes flew open in shock, and if it had been possible to fall upwards, that would have been the best description for the rather impossible series of motions that saw him out of the pool. "Shards, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to intrude!" he exclaimed, lifting a hand as though to banish any disbelief, or perhaps block a strike.

Great.

What was going to go wrong, next? Another sharding green flight? An angry former or current weyrmate? A call to interrupt his already interrupted bath?

:I like the first idea,:[/color] Vijiath suggested unhelpfully. At that exact instant, T'rel rather wanted to throttle the big bronze. Instead, he rose and slipped quickly over to the closest empty pool before objecting again, "I didn't realize there was anyone else in here. I really am sorry."

[strawberrylush]

She laughed as he jumped out of the pool, so it hadn't been intended and it was already forgiven before he even opened his mouth. Her green eyes traveled his body as he stood there trying to decide what to do next. He had a nice body and he probably wasn't much older than she was, a few Turns at the most. She had aged rather well or so she had been told. "You weren't intruding", she replied, frowning inwardly when he climbed from the pool and went to another.

Since he'd destroyed any semblance of a peaceful bath she got out of her pool and followed him to his, sliding into the water slowly, without splashing him. "I didn't say you had to leave", she told him, leaning against the wall across from him. "I was just objecting to being ignored". Typical greenrider, to be more concerned with being ignored than anything else.

And yes we are leaving tomorrow, with some bronze and his rider, Ille told her dragon before she introduced herself, "I'm Ille, rider to green Minirith".

[saidaltam]

"Oh. Sorry. Most people don't much like having strangers drop into their... wait, Ille?" T'rel furrowed his brow, trying to remember what it was he had been told that had included that name. It didn't take long. His conversation with the Weyrwoman, among other things, had been significantly memorable that it sprang to mind quickly. "Oh, you're the rider going to Ista! I'm T'rel, of bronze Vijaith." He cheered a bit at that, and it showed--he really did fancy the idea of adding to the Weyr's strength, even if it did mean Vijaith would get his wish of green flights more frequently. Besides, the poor girl was probably scared silly, by now, to say nothing of her dragon.

:Green rider? Minirith, was it?:[/color] Vijaith spiraled up higher, scanning the weyr for signs of the green in question. He didn't recall ever having met her, and he did so love meeting pretty new dragons.

[strawberrylush]

"Is there something wrong with", she began only to amend. "Yes. I take it, you knowing that, you are T'rel?", she asked, a hidden smile on her face. She was pretty in the harsh classical sense. There was very little softness to her features, and her skin was a pale bronze not as dark as a true Southerner but it would never be white like a true Northerner either. So he was a bronzerider, she scowled inwardly at that. It was a bronzerider who had driven Minirth onto the boat and since then Ille had rarely had dealings with them. They were all arrogant wherries who had nothing better to do than boss people around.

Were you looking for me?, Minirith unfurled her wings so the bronze could find her on the fire heights. She chased off a few close blues so he would have room to land. She was likely to talk his ear off tomorrow so best she get to know him today, she'd be asking the same questions tomorrow, no doubt about it. "Have you ever done one of these rescues?", Ille asked him. She considered them rescues, she had done one, besides her own, and the poor dragon had been so skinny and had never grown to full length.

[saidaltam]

T'rel shook his head. "I noticed the boat, though, leaving, so we know for certain there's someone needing it," he replied, leaning forward and looking suddenly very serious as he reflected on the events leading up to the next day's venture. "I didn't notice the hatchling or the girl--there was rather a lot going on at the time--but Vijaith might've seen something, and anyway, I can't imagine, with two dragons, that we won't be able to find one hatchling." He pursed his lips contemplatively, furrowing his brow and trying to lay out every possible scenario for this in his mind. The notion that the rider of the fallen blue might be there never once crossed his mind.

Vijaith settled down beside the green, positively preening. :You're even prettier than I'd hoped,:[/color] he purred, folding his wings up. :I am Vijaith, pretty one. I and mine fly with you and yours tomorrow.:[/color]

[strawberrylush]

I think you'd do well to keep a civil thought in your head. You will not be flying me anytime soon, Minirth snapped. She hated dragons who flattered her. Minirith! That was uncalled for, you keep a civil thought in your own head, Ille scolded her dragon and turned her snout away from Vijaith to pout. "Please tell your dragon Minirith doesn't know better. She obviously left her manners in the weyr", Ille apologized for her green.

"It will probably be a green hatchling, I don't think the South has ever had a girl Impress blue", but then with riders like Ille willing to steal away candidates it was no wonder. Ille had taken a girl from Southern just a sevenday before Northern's Hatching and the girl had Impressed blue here. She rather thought it was a shot in the eye of those unbending Southern riders. "It won't be that hard. Usually they follow the herdbeasts to greener areas or at least that is what I did", she shrugged, "I also lit a fire to, the captain having given me a torch. The captains don't always do that though".

[saidaltam]

T'rel smiled dryly, getting a cheerful update from Vijaith. "Hate to say this, but he's going to take that as a challenge. Vijaith seems convinced that the only thing better than a friendly dragon is a dragon that's a challenge. The overgrown wherry's landed me a black eye and at least six unpleasant mornings-after with his... amorous tendencies," he explained, clearly torn between affectionate annoyance and self-depreciating amusement. "Mostly, I ignore him. You may want to advise your green to do the same."

He shook his head, then moved back to the rescue. "What sort of mental state can we anticipate the girl will be in, then?" he asked.

:I meant to Ista, pretty one,:[/color] Vijaith explained remorselessly. :And I would always be happy to chase, even if I never did fly you.:[/color] He stretched his wings, then folded them back up and nudged her shoulder lightly. :Don't be sad, pretty one.:[/color]

[strawberrylush]

Sad? I'll have you know I am never sad. Why do I attract the idiots?, she snapped at him, causing Ille to blush a bright red. Minirith he just trying to be nice, the rider cajoled her dragon who snorted, giving Vijaith the evil eye in anger. No he's trying to flirt with me and I don't like it, the green replied, making sure the bronze caught it. Well then ignore him. But, but he took up all my space, so it was the fact that he had taken up the room next to her that had her so upset. Silly dragon, she'd chased away the blues in that spot so he could rest there. Hopeless is what she was.

"I am not sure she can ignore him. She's not smart enough for that", Ille replied shaking her head. "Mental state? Probably shock, some anger. Outright denial maybe even fear about us", she explained, "The dragonet will either help us or hinder us so we'll have to approach her carefully. Mostly though anger and fear. Extreme gratitude for us then severe depression once we take her to Ista Weyr", she remembered the time she had been rescued quite vividly. She'd been angry and upset, grateful to her rescuer then when it actually hit her she was not welcomed at Southern, she'd been depressed.

[saidaltam]

T'rel nodded, tucking a knee up under his chin, and pursed his lips again. "It might be safer for you to approach her directly, then. I can't speak from experience, of course, but if some bronzerider had shunted me onto a boat minutes after I impressed, I wouldn't be too fond of bronzeriders when I finally got off that boat--and probably not too fond of men, in general." He pushed the hair out of his face. It was starting to curl in the humid air. "I should probably keep my distance for at least the first few minutes, though Vijaith might be a comfort to the hatchling. Sometimes, the smaller colours seem to like having the bigger ones around, and even he doesn't flirt with babies."

'And speaking of, stop flirting with Ille's green. She doesn't want you to.'

:Mine, I am not fond of the strong-and-silent game. Besides, she is just playful.:[/color]

'When she nips your head off, don't you come whining to me,' he replied. The bronze merely sent back kindly amusement.

He also took a tiny step over to give the green a little space, nudging her shoulder lightly. Again. :If you are never sad, pretty one, then you should share your happy with me, so that I do not ever need to be sad, either.:[/color]

[strawberrylush]

Ille gave him a knowing smile. "I had planned to do that myself", she agreed with him. It would be better for Minirith to acknowledge the Hatchling first, so the young creature didn't get scared by strange dragons descending on her. "But you are right. As long as Vijaith waits until the green notices him everything should be fine. Minirith tried to take our rescuer's head off when he first landed". That had been a funny memory. A brown had landed on Minirith's last herdbeast, scaring the poor creature to death. The green had charged the brown growling angrily and accusing him of theft before Ille could get her into silence. "I am hoping we will get there soon enough both of them will still be in good shape".

Minirth turned to eye Vijaith warily before giving him a short purr. You would not like my kind of happy dragon, it might be too much for you, deliberatly she scooted next to him, touching his leg with her own gently. She'd gone from anger to flirting in ten seconds flat. No wonder Ille was hard to get along with, her dragon was crazy.

[saidaltam]

"We'd best," T'rel replied somberly, leaning back and furrowing his brow as he reflected darkly on the alternative. It was always terrible to see a hatchling go between, but one that's already impressed... The cry of loss and anguish that had torn, gut-wrenchingly, from the the throat of the blue rider in southern whose dragon had been lost had given him nightmares for three consecutive nights. He would rather time it than allow a child as young as this girl might be to experience that, and he wasn't fool enough not to know the dangers associated with that. He sighed softly and shook his head. "We'll leave as early as it's safe to, then. We'll just get there before there's time for anything to go wrong for her." He paused, then amended, "More wrong."

Vijaith's confidence and pleasure washed over T'rel, along with a smug sense of satisfaction--he knew she'd like him, eventually--and he purred cheerfully. :I would learn,:[/color] he replied. :I study swiftly, when I have a good reason.:[/color]

[strawberrylush]

The green shimmied her shoulders teasingly, purring under her breathe as she rubbed her neck against Vijaith's chest. A good reason is it? Do you see any of those around here? I happen to be a bad idea, where Minirith had gotten that line, Ille did not know but it was one of the few things the green remembered from day to day. One of her strange quirks you could say. And another reason that drove Ille absolutly mad on some days. It was usually only blues, who could be just as crazy as her green, kept up with Minirith. The smarter dragons just couldn't handle her sudden mood an dpersonality changes.

"Tomorrow about noon will be early enough to leave. It'll make it closer to dinner time in Ista and if we bring dinner for both of them we will be more readily accepted", she explained, leaning forward. Flirting dragon or no, T'rel was kind of good looking and Ille was a greenrider whose morals were as loose as her dragons. No harm no foul. "We'll have to hope we can get a ship out of Ista Hold to pick them up otherwise they'll be there for a bit", she smiled warmly.

[saidaltam]

:You're too pretty to be a bad idea,:[/color] Vijaith replied cheerfully, very much enjoying the little green's affectionate gesture, a state which was audible by his cheerful purr. His preference for anyone and anything female meant that this particular encounter had vastly improved his mood.

"We'll get a ship," he replied firmly. "If I have to buy the blasted thing, we'll get one." He didn't really have the marks to buy a ship, of course, but that was entirely beside the point. There was no doubt in T'rel's mind that he could find a ship, and if he could find one, he could convince the captain to sail. It wasn't that he was often overly persuasive with people, of course, but rather that, when he decided a thing needed to be done, it would be, come hell or high water, if he had to do it himself. It was probably that that had won him Vijaith, his most beloved and significant headache.

[strawberrylush]

The green looked up and winked at him before walking across him, then whacked him on the nose with her tail. That is why I am a bad idea. Get over yourself, she told him, leaping off the heights with a teasing chuckle. Surely you didn't think it would be that easy?, she asked while she did barrelrolls in the air, a green spiral. Minirith enjoyed fancy flying which she didn't get to do often because Ille could, and did, get motion sickness. And the green was proving a point to the bronze, he couldn't keep up with her. She was just to fast for him.

"Buy a ship?", she shook her head at that. Ships were rarely sold, they were usually passed down from father to son or through various captains who worked for a fish seller or some such. She doubted he would find anyone to sell a ship and if he did she also doubted he had the marks to buy it. And he was being oblivious, everything could be decided tomorrow when they got there, but now. She was all but purring. Minirith wouldn't mind sharing her weyr for the night, that is, if she could get the rider's attention. "So why exactly are you going tomorrow?"

[saidaltam]

"Only if there are no alternatives--I'm not wealthy, you know," T'rel replied dryly, admitting in a backhanded way the silliness of the notion. Then he sighed and sank a good two inches into the water. "The day after Astoth's flight, did your green hear Brennanth announce the trip south to try to retrieve the eggs? I was part of it. We were supposed to bring them back, safely. No accidents, no casualties, no complications for anyone. As you can tell, we were...less than successful. Everyone acts like it was just the gold egg we lost for our tardiness, but it wasn't. If we'd been there in time, that girl wouldn't have spent the last sevenday sitting on a boat, wondering what was to become of her. I saw the boat, when we were down there. I told the Weyrwoman about it. It was as much my failure as anyone's that things went as wrong as they did. It's my job to help make things right, now." He paused, then added, "Besides, the girl has been through enough, now, don't you think? The last thing she needs is negligence on our part. We're supposed to be there to help her. What kind of rider would I be--what kind of man would I be--if I wasn't willing to take to the skies to help her? Doesn't she deserve that much, after what she's already been through? I'm sure your presence will mean more to her, but that doesn't make it acceptable for me to ignore the situation."

:If it were, pretty one, it wouldn't be worth the effort,:[/color] Vijaith replied brightly, springing into the air after her. His was a lazy roll, however--he had been in and won enough green flights to know that he didn't have her speed or agility, but waiting a green out had rarely failed him. He could fly for far longer than any green.

[strawberrylush]

She'd heard about the attempted re-theft but she had not been a part of it, she wasn't a wingsecond or leader after all. Minirith had been a bit upset about it but had quickly forgotten being left out. Ille hadn't been upset at all, she didn't want to go back as part of an invading force, she'd been the scout. He didn't owe the rider anything, Southern Weyr did certainly but not Northern. The fact that Northern helped these riders was for the Weyr's benefit not the pair's. She sighed, melancholy riders made her sick, she'd gone through more in her life than they had. Ille moved across the pool slowly, not splashing any water as she moved beside him. Before she could lose her nerve she tilted her head up and kissed him wondering if he would respond.

I do not see you making any effort yet, though the green was not in rising in a flight, she did consider this a contest. She flitted back to Vijaith's side and began to fly in circles around him, rolling over and around him without touching. Come on. I feel like I am chasing you, she complained, chirping in his 'ear'.

[saidaltam]

:You are far too swift for me, pretty one,:[/color] the bronze replied brightly, then twisted midair and dove at her. :But I do not fret. Fly, prettiest. I will chase you, anyhow. To the end of the sky, if you wish.:[/color] And he meant every word of it, the silly, overgrown wherry.

If he hadn't had his back against the wall of the pool, T'rel may have tipped directly over and landed flat on his backside, but, luckily for him, he did, so instead, he merely half-jumped in surprise. He had anticipated a lot of things for his admittedly unnecessary melancholy, but they had begun with a sharp word and ended with a sound dunking -- or, worse, a sound thrashing. This had not been among them. Before his mind even caught up to the moment, however, the rest of him saw fit to respond, almost as though the situation were some sort of reprimand for his conduct of late. He was a dragonrider, not a holder, to closet himself away in his Weyr and reject a little friendly company over too-high standards for permanent relationships, or to assume that a night meant a lifetime, and everything but his own overthinking mind was in agreement about that particular bit of misconduct, to say nothing of his unjustified melancholia. Besides, Ille was warm, agreeable, and pleasant. Of course, none of this was quite so orderly, or really more than a passing burst of emotion and half-thought, in his head, as his arms slid up and twisted around her back.