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Post by glamourie on Sept 7, 2008 4:44:24 GMT -5
Eriannath rumbled slightly, quite blatantly amused. In her opinion, males were very funny about the term 'cute' being applied to him and she thought that was silly. They were cute. Being cute wasn't a bad thing. Better than being termed unattractive, wasn't it? Why were they so picky? Males! Pfft! Unlike many of her color she was not prone to flirting continuously, and Corinth was reminding her of exactly why. Not his behavior, no -- surprisingly enough he seemed like quite an approachable bronze. No, his rider was the problem. They were all so very weird about taking compliments as insults. She secretly longed to collect flowering vines and leave them in Corinth's weyr for his rider, but refrained. He probably would not appreciate the gift. Why was it that the people who needed gifts and shinies the most were always the ones most resistant to receiving them and most nitpicky about it? She didn't understand that at all.
I don't think that canines are cute. Mine insists they are loyal, but I don't find them cute. They drool and make a great deal of noise and are annoying, but wouldn't an annoying pet be excellent if he wanted to get under someone's skin? she reasoned, quite sure her logic was sound. Eriannath detested canines, finding them to be obnoxious pets, but that was her rider's influence; Juliya did not like anything that drooled or slobbered on her, and had once explained that to Eriannath as her reasoning for not wanting to keep a mate. It didn't make sense to the green, but surely hers knew what she was doing. The little ones are loud. Mine has one, he is a brown, she calls him Shine. He likes to roll around in the rain and the mud. Very silly.
Slam. Hand met table. Juliya smirked and released his arm, leaning back to watch the bronzerider tend to his wounded foot. Big baby. She didn't weigh that much. At five foot seven she was not an imposing woman and she was more slenderly built, like a bird, than anything else. Yes, she'd put strength into it, but he'd be just fine, she was sure. Big tough bronzerider undone by one little greenrider stepping on his foot? For shame. She was tempted to tease him but instead grabbed her klah and took a sip, relishing in her victory. As he spoke, she looked over the top of the mug, without interrupting - at least aloud. He's okay, right? - I assumed, given that he's considerably bigger than me, that he'd be all right, but I don't mean him any harm. I don't want to ask him and risk insulting him, she questioned, though she couldn't keep a touch of amusement out of her 'voice.' It wasn't her fault, though. Corinth was very amused, and Juliya was highly effected by dragon emotions. So she had always been.
To T'rid, Juliya replied simply with, "You failed to specify the ground rules, sir, and I have several brothers. One must always learn to use and abuse any advantage they have. Future reference but when arm wrestling a woman, foot stomping is only one thing you need to consider. I could have flashed you." She sniffed and took another sip of her klah before smiling. It was definitely a cat-who-got-at-the-canary grin, and she did not bother to try and disguise it. If he was so naive as to think she would make a bet without being guaranteed to win, that was his problem. Silly child. "You're not going to back out of our bet now that you've lost, are you? That would be very embarrassing to tell the bronzeriders."
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
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Post by Avu on Sept 7, 2008 10:51:13 GMT -5
Canines, not cute? Corinth blinked, surprised and amused. Most people thought canine puppies were adorable. And when you fell in love with puppies, you had to take the whole package deal, grown, ugly, drooling thing included. Corinth loved the puppies, and tolerated the older canines, but he was sure he could always pretend that the grown-up canines were still little round balls of fat. He’d be the first to be annoyed by it, though, Corinth pointed out, And he doesn’t like to be annoyed. Just annoying. And only when he’s irritated by the person in question.
His eyes widened curiously when Eriannath mentioned that Juliya had a fire lizard. Didn’t they always stick with their Bonded? Why wasn’t he with her now? Oh, didn’t they always stay with their Bonded—? If they didn’t that was bad. Because then T’rid would take immediate evasive actions and knowing him, he’d somehow manage to give the poor thing the slip and get away. I’d like to meet him, Corinth offered. Why isn’t he with Juliya? He sounds fun, he added thoughtfully.
T’rid finished his inspection. Possibly a bruise, as his foot had been resting near the table leg and Juliya had not only stepped on it, she’d rammed it backwards against the hard wood. But that was all. Corinth was still laughing, so it took a while for him to procure an answer to Juliya’s question. Even so, he sounded half-strangled with amusement. Him? Oh, yes. He’s fine. A bruise, maybe, but nothing serious. He’s not irritated or anything—not yet. He might be after he oils, though. T’rid made a face, clearly aware Corinth was still laughing at his pain. You really need to shut up and care about your Rider, like all dragons should, he commented dryly.
“Ground rules? It’s implied that you use only your hands, but fine.” T’rid sighed, picking up the mug of klah again and sipping at it broodingly. A smirking grin appeared at her suggestion. “At least being flashed doesn’t result in my getting hurt,” he responded. Her grin was irritating in more than one way. The first, most obvious, was that it was all but a bragging statement. And the second, more obscure, was because T’rid was used to seeing that smile on his face. And he rather resented anyone else smiling so.
Resigned now to his fate, he stood, pushing the klah away from him. “I’m not going to back out of anything I promise except getting a feline. And that was like breaking a promise to myself, because it was Corinth who wanted it. Now, or later?” he added, in reference to when he should oil Eriannath.
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Post by glamourie on Sept 8, 2008 6:52:33 GMT -5
Yours sounds to me like a very complicated man, full of tricks and confusion, Eriannath pointed out shamelessly; it did not occur to her that this comment might be insulting for it was not meant at all as such. To her there was only utterly simple honesty, good or bad. She was incapable of lying or misrepresenting the truth in any way. Eriannath was not, however, a cruel entity by any stretch of the imagination, and the fact was that if she meant insult she simply would not say it. Nevertheless, she could be very naive, particularly concerning those that were not Hers and she had, on more than one occasion, unintentionally caused great insult by thoughtlessly saying what she thought without buffer. Typically in such instances, Juliya had to intervene and explain that the silly green meant no offense. Most dragons took Hers at her word. Juliya never lied if she could help it.
As for Shine, the reason he wasn't with Juliya was simple, and Eriannath rumbled her amusement. Because he is with me. However, since the bronze seemed to want to meet him, she snaked her head around to nudge the little brown firelizard. He was lounging in the sand next to her and that one touched startled him awake, earning an indignant squawk. She sent him the image of Corinth from her memory, then nudged him again. Little cousin, go see Corinth. He wants to meet you. Go on then. The brown chirruped agreeably as he recognized that he was not being inconvenienced intentionally, then took to wing and winked between with flawless grace. Eriannath continued to rumble, her eyes whirling pleasantly. He is coming to see you; he is good at rubbing eye ridges just right, too. I have trained the little cousin very well. There was no small amount of pride in the green's 'voice' as she addressed this issue, for why should there have been? She took credit for that as she was the one who convinced him it was good to perch there and riggle. Haaarumph.
The brown firelizard reappeared in the air near Corinth and made a wide loop above before gliding down to land right next to him. Politely, the little firelizard bounced right up to look at the larger bronze, not remotely intimidated by his size (there were far too many dragons nearby for them to frighten him anymore) and fluted, chittered and squawked in perfect succession. The question was clear - he was asking Corinth if he could perch on him. Shine was well-aware that it was never a good idea to perch on a dragon not his own without express permission. Many of them did not like it at all, and this one was shiny. His dragon was only shiny when she was about to Rise. So this one was a super Bronze. Not his dragon.
Juliya, meanwhile, offered T'rid a cheeky grin. "No, I don't suppose you'd object to being flashed," she teased, unable to help herself. He was male. Most of them had no problem with females losing their shirts. The scars might have distracted him though. She thought the foot stomping was kinder. At least then he wasn't presented with the awkward question of how she came to have scars across her breasts. Explaining policies of the north to southern riders was decidedly odd, and Juliya rarely did so if she could help it. "But we can't change the past, now can we?" She shook her head and grinned, unable to help herself. His next question though made her cock her head to the side, and the grin took on a slightly more mischievous expression. "Oh, now, later -- it doesn't matter. I think I'll enjoy seeing a big tough bronzerider oil a pretty green. She's not that large, I assure you." She wasn't small for a green either, though. She positively dwarfed Reysalth and Tanith, although both of them were a lot more predatory in personality than Eriannath was. She'd have bet on them both in a fight over her green, sadly.
It might reassure him if he found out that Eriannath isn't all that large. Nothing compared to your brilliance, I'm sure. Was she deliberately fluffing the bronze's ego? Why yes, yes she was. She couldn't help it though, she tended to bias toward dragons over people most of the time. I'm glad he's not hurt. I would feel dreadful if I injured him by accident; it was meant to surprise, not wound. If she'd meant to wound T'rid, she'd have thrown the klah into his lap and scalded his groin. Ouch.
"Don't sulk," she added absently as she put her mug down and moved to rub her hand and wrist, "if you do a good job I might be inclined to help you oil Corinth to make it go by faster. Sound fair?" Wait, what had that statement about a feline been about? "What do you mean you backed out of a promise about a feline? I think it would suit you, a little ball of fluff to lick your fingers, keep your feet warm and rub against you lovingly whenever you're upset. At the least it would give you something to amuse yourself. But then --" She cast a sideways glance, "-- you strike me as the type to name the poor thing 'Feline' or 'Canine' or 'Fluffy' -- something silly. Maybe it is more merciful that you backed out." Was she trying to deliberately provoke T'rid into seeking out a feline? Maaaaybe. Telling her that he'd backed out on Corinth was not the best of ideas. She was faaaar more inclined to side with the bronze than she was his rider. Dragons had never hurt her. Bronzeriders had.
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
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Post by Avu on Sept 8, 2008 11:00:18 GMT -5
Corinth considered the comment. It was very straightforward, true, and quite honestly the bronze didn’t mind so much. A deceiving dragon he was slightly contemptuous of, even if the half-truths were aimed to be compliments. Well, he is most of the time, but I’m trying to make him stop being so… The bronze faltered, unsure of how to phrase his Rider’s quirks in one word. So strange, he settled upon. T’rid was quite used to his being called names by Corinth, although admittedly the bronze had never called him ‘strange’ to anyone else. But they did argue about—well, almost everything. Not because they constantly clashed, but just for fun. It was rare that T’rid and Corinth actually were irritated with each other and when they were, it tended to fade quickly—it was rather hard to be angry at someone who shared a mental link with you.
The bronze blinked, surprised. Oh… He waited as Eriannath fell silent briefly, and when she spoke again he rumbled in pleasure. Thank you. Well, Eriannath was very nice, wasn’t she? So even if her Rider harmed T’rid, that didn’t matter. It was the dragon’s personality that mattered, since they were bigger and their Riders generally went along with them if they had a dispute, unless they were forced to see the truth or something. He paused, considering the fact that a dragon could train fire lizards. He hadn’t been aware that they could—or, come to that, that any cared to. Most of them left that to their Riders, didn’t they, and just admired the fire lizards? Was it difficult? he asked. Perhaps he could train T’rid’s fire lizards, whenever he Impressed them (not Impressing them did not occur to him). That way His could be more accepting of them, as opposed to having wild fire lizards roaming around his Weyr.
He lowered his head as the brown fire lizard appeared, but seeing as he didn’t seem particularly frightened of him, Corinth soon raised it again, tilting his head to one side to admire the brown. He’s very polite, he said to Eriannath happily, and then nodded, a happy croon in his throat, at the inquiry. You may use me as a perch, the bronze agreed, his eyes whirling in delighted shades of green and blue. Eriannath—you trained him to do all of this? the bronze queried. Had Juliya had a hand in it?
T’rid was very tempted to throw a fruit at Juliya and claim that she hadn’t said he couldn’t. It would have caught her nicely by surprise and T’rid wasn’t exactly a bad aim, especially at such a short distance. He grunted in irritation at her statement, although he had to admit the truth in it. He would much rather be flashed than be stomped upon at random. He sighed, shaking his head. “If you really wanted to, I’m sure you could have figured something out. Something that didn't involve hurting me." Well. Later? He could deal with ‘later.’ Later he could mysteriously disappear or something. But that was only if Juliya didn’t stay with him to make sure he didn’t do so. He was sure he could loose her if he was that desperate, but avoiding work meant going back to doing nothing and he didn’t really like the thought of sprawling mindlessly again. Corinth rejected the idea at once with a cringe.
Brilliance? Corinth rumbled, amused. Perhaps you and he could trade dragons each day for oiling, he suggested. Ridmine does complain about me being too large to comfortably oil. It was only in fun, a good-natured taunt, but Corinth still managed to make his voice plaintive, as if hurt by the statement. If he was hurt, I probably wouldn’t be laughing, Corinth added. It amuses me to see him embarrassed, and things like that, but if he was seriously hurt I’d have already called a Weyr healer down to see to him. He wasn’t that bad a mindmate that he’d leave T’rid with a broken foot while he bowled himself over laughing. I’m sure if you intended to hurt him you could have done a much better job. Especially considering how close the kitchens were, and kitchens had plenty of very sharp objects in them.
The Bronzerider made an irritated face. “Who’s sulking?” he protested. He thought he had done quite well in not sulking, although it was against his usual nature to try not to. Although her ‘deal’ sounded quite good to him. T’rid nodded. “All right, then. I oil Eriannath and you help me with Corinth. I can deal with that.” Corinth was the big one, so in the end he figured he’d do about the same amount of oiling he regularly did on Corinth anyway. At her words, he sighed. Go figure that just about anyone who learned about the kitten trouble—E’ri, Kalerary, and now Juliya—either sided with Corinth on it, or got irritated at him. He swallowed against the irritation rising in his throat. “Yeah, thanks. I’d rather not,” he said, his tone a bit sharper now. Kittens were one thing that he could not abide, right there along with ‘mandyrs. Fire lizards were, at least, mildly bearable. “And don’t worry. I wouldn’t name it any of those names if I did get one. No. I’d probably name it a nice little oath, to show exactly how much I cared for it.” Oh, dear. Back to the sarcasm again. He didn’t really back out, Corinth told Juliya, But he said that instead of getting a feline he’d try to Impress two fire lizards instead of just one. So we kind of traded off. He sounded oddly smug.
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Post by glamourie on Sept 9, 2008 6:59:20 GMT -5
Eriannath rumbled softly, clearly amused. Yes, Corinth's rider was clearly one of the more strange individuals at Selenitas. She rather wanted to sit him down and give him a good stare, perhaps circle him and nudge him a few times with snout and tail, just to determine what sort of reactions he gave when she did so. It was a scientific curiosity, the way a researcher might observe a lab specimen to understand them better. Only the fact that he was another dragon's kept her from following the teenager around whenever she had free time. Poke, poke, poke. No, no, she doubted that Corinth would like that much but the strange human male was certainly a matter of interest. And he was going to be oiling her? Perhaps she would nudge him with her tail a few times and see how he reacted when he was near her. Surely Corinth wouldn't begrudge her a little curiosity? She wasn't used to being presented with such obviously strange humans. How silly. Maybe his clutchmother had neglected his egg. It would explain why he was so determined to be number one in everyone's eyes after hatching. If her egg had been neglected, she would have been, too.
The bronze's question made her flick her tail as she tries - very hard - to remember when Hers had Impressed Shine. It was quite awhile ago, though, and the green ended up sifting through Juliya's memories to find out the details she wanted to know, as they were lost on her. Juliyamine and I both spent time teaching him. She taught him how to treat people-things; not to perch on another firelizard's Mine and not to beg, how to ask please and say thank you. I taught him not to perch on other dragons if they don't say that it is okay, and to nudge my eye ridges. I also taught him to stay far, far away from Aslath's hatching sands, she said with no small amount of pride. Why shouldn't she be proud of herself for accomplishing what so few dragons had? Firelizards could be made useful. They could. I am glad he is being polite to you. He remembers; that makes me very happy.
Indeed, Shine did remember that he was not supposed to perch on a dragon not his, but he remembered more on the logic that flaming dragons were scary. Best not to offend. Chirruping at the bronze's approval, he fluttered his wings and then glided straight up to circle Corinth again and land daintily on his head. The little brown firelizard bounced twice, preened a touch, then sprawled out and rolled around so his ridges rubbed gently against the bronze's eye ridges; meant to scratch, just like a human's hands did. Pleased with himself, he twittered musically, then bounced up to sit directly at the top of Corinth's head, far above the ground. Look at how high up he was. He was on the highest perch where only he could be! King of the Weyr! He puffed out his chest and spread his wings an attempt to look regal, well-aware that there were no firelizards around to see him. It didn't matter. He knew how lucky he was.
Oblivious to her firelizard and dragon's antics, Juliya raised an eyebrow and bit her tongue. Again. As if that had really hurt him. She'd asked Corinth just to make sure but she found it very funny that the bronzerider seemed so intent on explaining that he was, indeed, harmed. If she'd known him better, she might have commented that he shouldn't brag about being beaten up by a woman, but she didn't, so she settled for thinking it. He could complain all he wanted, but the fact remained that she wasn't trying to really hurt him. If she was, she probably would have punched him on the nose. A man could function just fine with a badly bent nose, and most bronzeriders could do with the ego blow that came with it being crooked. They were all so conceited. His comments about the feline just made Juliya giggle to herself. She could picture him naming the poor thing something rotten. Merciful indeed.
Remind me to introduce him, some day, to Roxie, Rawign's green firelizard. He'll wish he'd given in to the feline idea, Juliya replied to Corinth as she stood up and circled around the table. She moved behind T'rid, and then gently put her hands on his shoulders, half-expecting him to jerk in surprise -- but instead of doing anything nasty, she actually smoothed her fingers into the tension spots. She had some experience with that, only because she was usually physically affectionate with people she liked. You should have convinced him to try for a salamandyr. That would have been highly entertaining. They are obnoxious little creatures. Hilarious, but obnoxious.
"Relax, bronzerider; I was kidding." Rub, rub. "Do you want to get started now, then, or continue to pamper that foot? It's entirely up to you."
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
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Post by Avu on Sept 9, 2008 12:21:43 GMT -5
His eyes still focused on the fire lizard, Corinth tilted his head to first one side, then the other, studying the creature intently. A brown fire lizard! So unafraid, too…someone vaguely, he blinked as Eriannath spoke, before focusing on her words again. Those talents come in handy, he agreed, although teaching a fire lizard to avoid the Hatching Sands elicited a rumble of amusement from the bronze. He is very polite, the bronze reiterated, humming happily. Fire lizards were fun. How on Pern could T’rid not like them? They were just miniature dragons, and T’rid liked dragons. He considered teaching a fire lizard to bring food to T’rid. That might help him with his lack of enthusiasm about Impressing one. Do you know if you can train a fire lizard to bring you something? the bronze asked Eriannath hopefully.
Actually, he wouldn’t mind getting the fire lizard to bring T’rid the oil and a rag when he wanted to be oiled, either. They could understand speech, yes? Simple speech, at the very least—he could simply, carefully, explain what he wanted and astound T’rid when the fire lizard accomplished everything asked of it! Ohh, he liked that idea very much. Especially since Shine seemed to be so polite—not like ‘mandyrs, thrashing all over the place screaming obscenities into everyone’s mind, but nice. Intelligent. Like a shrunken dragon. The idea made the bronze croon in amusement again, lifting his head carefully higher to support the fire lizard on top of him, eyes trying to see the brown where he settled.
A sudden, pleasant, familiar sensation touched his eye ridges, and he blinked in surprise before he remembered. Eriannath had taught Shine to scratch eye ridges, then! How nice. He sent a soft wave of approval to the fire lizard, and added, Thank you, little one. Corinth sent a mental image to T’rid. Look at me! What? Why? Have you found a green to flirt with or something? Ha, funny. No. Juliya’s fire lizard, look! T’rid glanced outside. You realize that when you send me an image, I can only see what you do, correct? I see the tip of a brown tail. Noting else. Could be a wher for all I know. Corinth scoffed. Well, you’ll see when you come out then. He knows how to scratch my eye ridge. It’s very nice. T’rid grunted feebly. He’d hoped that meeting obnoxious fire lizards would cure Corinth of his want for one. This was not helping at all.
Corinth considered Juliya solemnly for a moment. Is she particularly rude or something? he asked uneasily. The bronze had yet to meet a rude fire lizard personally. He really didn’t want T’rid to get saddled with a rude fire lizard. That wouldn’t be any fun—like living an eternal life with a T’rid that he wasn’t Impressed to. The bronze had wondered if, he hadn’t been Impressed to T’rid, if he could have put up with him, and he and T’rid had decided the proper answer to that was ‘no,’ although when Corinth told T’rid about his curiosity, the bronzerider had almost cried because he’d laughed so hard.
As she moved around the table to T’rid, he stiffened, eyeing her warily, and managed—barely—not to jump as she began to rub his shoulders. That was…unexpected…? Corinth chortled at T’rid’s surprise, before answering Juliya, I tried to get him a ‘mandyr, but if I recall correctly he mentioned that he’d rather die than get stuck to one of those ‘shrill-voiced, impolite, lusty things.’ The latter was obviously a quote, as Corinth mimicked T’rid’s voice with a snort of amusement.
T’rid sighed, letting himself relax slowly under Juliya’s rubbing, although he was sorely tempted to turn around to make sure she wasn’t about to do something else strange that would coincidence with amusement for her and Corinth, and pain or embarrassment for him. “Might as well get it over with,” he responded. “So, where’s Eriannath?”
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Post by glamourie on Sept 11, 2008 10:19:30 GMT -5
She is not so much rude as loud and prone to tantrums, Juliya replied to Corinth as she ran her hands smoothly over T'rid's shoulders, the movement meant to soothe. From the initial tension the bronzerider offered, she was guessing she surprised him - but he relaxed soon enough. It was good that he couldn't see her face or T'rid may have noticed the near-laughter evident in her eyes. It wasn't him she found so amusing, though; she was trying not to laugh at Corinth's explanation of T'rid's feelings regarding salamandyrs. Given her few experiences with them (usually with bronze Showoff), that assessment was relatively true. High maintenance pet. If she knew Uu'n of Adith better she would have begged for one of Daeluunya's eggs, solely to leave it in T'rid's pack so that it hatched on him and he Impressed by default. Wouldn't that be funny? Alas, she didn't know the bluerider at all, and didn't want to make T'rid strangle the life out of her, no matter how funny the end result would have been. No deaths, please. I'd rather like a salamandyr, I think... but I'm not attending any more hatchings. I lost one firelizard when they all became sick... I'm not eager to risk that again.
To T'rid himself, she replied softly, "She's out by the river on the sunning sands. I can ask her to come closer if you're too lazy to row over there, bronzerider." The location of the dining hall made it inconvenient to travel place to place, except on dragonback. Not that Juliya minded boating. It kept her fit; rowing was very good exercise. Brushing that thought from her mind, she dropped her hands away from T'rid's shoulders and circled the table again, one hand moving to make a vague gesture toward herself. "Let's get going, then. Do you want to go get the oils or should I? -- I don't think Corinth would like the kind I have. It smells like blossoms, and is decidedly feminine. I doubt he'd like being made to smell like a girl. Then again, who knows? -- You're more likely to object than him. The smell tends to linger..."
Outside, Eriannath thoughtfully swayed her tail back and forth as she considered Corinth's question. Shine didn't bring things but -- I have seen firelizards who deliver things. The healer-child that Liyamine talks to a lot, his three bring him things in the infirmary. They can be taught to, I think. Shine doesn't, but I have never asked him to. That seemed like an appropriate answer. She'd seen a few that even sang and performed tricks. It depended on the firelizard, she supposed, just like different dragons did different things. Her tail swished back and forth, making strange shapes in the sand of her sunning spot as she considered it. I don't see why he couldn't, provided it isn't too big for him. He's very small. They are all very small. Minoath's has a gold firelizard. Maybe he would be able to tell you more. Ciceroth's has a green one, and Thoth's has a blue one. The healer-child has three; a bronze, a green and a blue. He used to have five and they could carry a lot. So, I think they can. Dragon logic at its finest, evidently.
Shine chirruped a response, clearly the firelizard equivalent of 'You're welcome!' before making himself comfortable on top of Corinth's head. Happily, the brown firelizard took to preening himself, taking extra care to avoid his talons and wings brushing the bronze wrong. It wasn't as though he could hurt him, but the last thing he wanted was to be an inconvenience. He'd been taught well to keep his wings and claws to himself, and Shine was a very mild-mannered flitter.
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
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Post by Avu on Sept 11, 2008 11:08:48 GMT -5
Rude and prone to tantrums. Corinth winced. Meeting such a creature would likely not boost T’rid’s respect for the creatures. The bronze flicked his tail in thought, his eyes whirling in anxious shades. He didn’t want T’rid to meet a rude fire lizard and then back out on this promise, no. Can you show him after he gets a fire lizard? he asked at last. His reaction would be nice to see, but I don’t want him to get irritated and not get a fire lizard at all. Which he would undoubtedly do without his conscience bugging him too much, especially after Corinth stopped sulking. In fact, in a Turn or so, it would be all but forgotten. Corinth wouldn’t have minded T’rid’s lack of responsibility so much if he at least had part of a conscience to bug him later on and tell him to try to make it right. Unfortunately, years of earlier pranks had all but dissolved what might have been a conscience. So now Corinth was T’rid’s conscience, but that didn’t work so well, because T’rid could always block Corinth out if he got too irritated. Oh, I’d love a ‘mandyr, Corinth said wistfully, Does Eriannath mind them? If you both like ‘mandyrs, I don’t see why you shouldn’t get one. The disease didn’t affect ‘mandyrs, did it? He hadn’t heard about any ‘mandyrs dying, and even so the disease was gone, wasn’t it?
T’rid, too lazy to row? Yes, well, that was true—but why row anywhere when one had a dragon who was willing to offer a ride? “I’m sure Corinth could take us both,” he suggested, rising and obediently starting for the doorway. Won’t you, Corinth? Won’t I what? Head over to our Weyr first to pick up some oil, and then go to the river where the sunning sands are to meet Eriannath. Of course. “Yeah, Corinth’s willing…and I think I’d rather my own oil.” He made a face, and then added, “Eriannath won’t mind not smelling pretty and feminine for once, will she? Smelling like I daubed myself with perfume was not something I’d been planning.” The bronze himself probably didn’t care, although it would turn many heads, and probably would raise the question as to whether it was possible for a bronze to be bisexual, but would Corinth care? Not a bit.
Corinth hummed approvingly—which Eriannath could probably not hear, but it was an automatic reflex, one that he didn’t think about. Perhaps I will ask Minoath, then. Surely the bronze wouldn’t mind, and of course he could remember? After all, it wasn’t like he would forget how to train a fire lizard—many dragons asked him that, right? Corinth thought they would, since most of the Weyr’s fire lizards came from Minoath’s Rider’s golden fire lizard. Things like a small fruit, perhaps, could be carried by two or three? he thought meditatively, half to himself. He liked a sounding board to bounce his ideas off of, but he’d found T’rid didn’t bounce very well when it came to fire lizards. One fire lizard could get a writing stick, yes? Or a scroll? Oh, that would be handy. Thank you, Eriannath, he added belatedly, remembering.
The bronze liked having Shine on his head. It felt good, like having a living crown or some type of symbol. And such a nice flit, too! Corinth thrummed appreciatively. Little one, may I ask a favor of you? When my Rider, T’rid, comes out, you see he doesn’t appreciate fire lizards. Can you show him how nice fire lizards are? So this might not work out exactly as he hoped, but T’rid couldn’t resist a sweet, mild little flitter, could he? He glanced at the door, which T’rid was now approaching. See, Ridmine! he called excitedly. T’rid’s eyes were frankly surprised. I…am…well then, T’rid answered. He half-turned to look back at Juliya. “Is that your fire lizard sitting on top of Corinth?” he asked, torn between amusement and surprise now.
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Post by glamourie on Sept 12, 2008 12:38:32 GMT -5
I am sure they could, Eriannath replied helpfully. I've seen firelizards carrying shells and sticks and other things. Surely a fruit is not out of their capability. She sounded positively pleased with herself, and for good reason. To call her intelligent would be a compliment not entirely deserved. No, Eriannath was far from stupid, but she was not the sharpest dragon, and tended to think in terms of what was easiest. Juliya was the more thoughtful one of the two of them. Light and airy in personality was the green and she rarely put much thought into things that did not directly effect her. What other firelizards could do hardly qualified as exceptionally important to the green. It wasn't as though she needed so many to get her eye ridges scratched, but since Corinth seemed curious, she was doing her absolute best to accommodate him by thinking it through thoroughly. She was trying. I am sure that one could carry a writing stick... and you are welcome! She wagged her tail behind her in a similar fashion to how a canine would; she was quite happy that she'd managed to at least partially answer the bronze's question. She liked helping others when she could.
Juliya raised an eyebrow at T'rid's suggestion, then smiled slightly. She would not have dared imply that his bronze should carry her anywhere. Such an implication could be taken as rude and while Corinth seemed to be a very pleasant dragon (if a bit on the mischievous side, from the obvious fondness he seemed to derive from T'rid's embarrassment), that did not mean his rider was on the generous side. She was pleasantly surprised by how... laid back T'rid seemed to be on that front, though she reminded herself that he was a Southerner. He probably never thought to consider it a privilege, but she did, and she was flattered, though she did not give voice to that thought.
"I'm sure Eriannath won't mind," the greenrider said with a light shrug. "There's very little that she does mind. She's quite easily mollified, and makes very few demands, really. I think you'll find she's very accommodating, too." In the sense that if T'rid needed to reach a particularly high spot on her body, Eriannath was very likely to move specifically for him to get at it; she went out of her way to be considerate of others. Juliya was constantly surprised at how kind her mindmate was. Many greens, particularly at Selenitas, seemed to possess devious streaks. Calistoth, Tanith, and Reysalth to name a few. There were very few who were as friendly and considerate as Eriannath. Kalierre's Phremath was, but that was about it. Juliya was secretly convinced the nice greens were a rarity. Not that she minded. No, her Eriannath was flawless just as she was.
Shine chirruped and leaned his head down, barely managing to keep himself level as he attempted to look at Corinth's eyes as the bronze spoke to him. He bounced twice, once to the right, and then back to the left, as he regarded the dragon's request. Then, quite proudly, he puffed his chest out again and gave a pleasant flute, which could be nothing but consent. Of course he would show the two-legged how wonderful he was! He preened, quite flattered by his so-important task, and took a few moments to make sure that he had not accidentally gotten mud caked onto his hide in any place. No? No. He was flawless. Flawless and perfect. The brown gave another twittering flute, his tail curling behind him in delight as his eyes turned a bright shade of blue-green. He would convince anyone of how spectacular his kind were!
Raising an eyebrow, Juliya regarded Shine on top of Corinth's head before turning to answer T'rid, "He's called Shine. I used to have two," she answered softly. "Shine and Rain. Rain was a blue. He was ... sick. Shine's fine, though. He's from the clutch that hatched C'lryn's little gold, Darling. Tirea's brood." She quirked an eyebrow, then smiled, privately answering Corinth's earlier question, There's very little that Eriannath doesn't like. She's very easy to please.[/i] "Eriannath asked him to come over here to sit with Cori--"
Her words cut off as Shine leapt from the bronze's head and glided in easy loop-de-loops, clearly showing off his aerial prowess. He twittered musically, then swept between Juliya and T'rid before landing, not on his humanpet's shoulder, but on the bronzerider's, his wings clamping close to his body to avoid hitting the young man in the head with them. Thoroughly pleased with himself, he chirped once, then cocked his head to the side, clearly awaiting praise. Wasn't he delightful?
"--nth. Little showoff." Though she knew Corinth had asked him to do it, it still amused Juliya how happily Shine obeyed. He liked it very much when the 'big firelizards' answered him.
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Avu
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Post by Avu on Sept 12, 2008 14:14:24 GMT -5
Corinth was already imagining all the wonderful things a fire lizard could be trained to do. Really, if a fire lizard did nothing, that was fine by him, but if it was useful, then obviously T’rid would be much more accommodating, yes? And if, by chance, T’rid fell in love with one fire lizard, how easy it would be, to get a second one! And even a ‘mandyr might not be too far out of range, then! Although Corinth would much rather one fire lizard than a ‘mandyr, part of the lure for the little, frilled creatures lay in the fact that his Rider didn’t like them—they were forbidden. Forbidden made him want it more. He also had a plan. The tough part would be remembering it after T’rid got a fire lizard, to when there was a ‘mandyr Hatching. No doubt it was a plan already used and reused—to get a fire lizard to steal something small of T’rid’s and then run into the Hatching. He couldn’t leave after he went, could he? It was rude, and the clutchmother would not be particularly pleased now, would she? Yes. That was a good idea. Keeping it from T’rid and keeping it at all would be difficult—but Corinth was sure it could be managed. Somehow.
Juliya’s silence was, naturally, interpreted rather wrongly by T’rid. He glanced sideways at Juliya, one eyebrow raised in a question, as he asked, “Unless there’s something wrong with that?” Oh, she was smiling. “Ah, never mind.” Apparently, now that he remembered it, it was an honor to ride adragonback on someone else’s dragon…bronzes particularly…but naturally, seeing as he rode bronze every day, one got used to it, and forgot it was an honor or some such. I think you should consider it an honor and bow down and thank me every time, Corinth told him solemnly. Without me, you’d be either walking or rowing, and you can’t tell me that you enjoy either of those two activities when I’m around. T’rid grimaced. I don’t enjoy it when you’re not around, either. So, uh, thanks, but no to the worshipping idea.
He nodded. “I’m glad, because if she was picky then she’d have to throw a fair few tantrums.” One thing he would not do was smother himself in perfume-smelling stuff. Accommodating? Easily mollified? Makes few demands? That was very odd. Considering that it seemed most greens were quite the opposite. Poor old Corinth had been on the brunt end of many a green’s temper. Aonith had been quite nice, and apparently Eriannath was as well; Reysalth had Corinth’s approval, too, after she’d calmed down from her original ire. Calistoth seemed to want to eat Minoath, though, and frankly T’rid thought that if Corinth hadn’t been so open in his praises, Reysalth might have wanted to eat him. “Are you describing a green dragon or a dead feline?” he asked wryly, his voice amused.
The bronze dragon crooned encouragingly as the fire lizard took time preening; he could feel the movement on top of his head, bouncing, shifting. The flute, he was sure, meant that he would do it! Corinth crooned in soft pleasure, his eyes whirling shades of green and blue. T’rid would be so surprised, and hopefully pleased! If not pleased, at least…at least surprised. Right? Good. He sighed contentedly, glancing at his the main hall calculatingly. Perhaps when he came out, he would be so surprised that he did something embarrassing. Well, at least it would be amusing, yes? To see a fire lizard on top of one’s dragon’s head was not an everyday, ordinary occurrence. And if T’rid did like Shine, perhaps he would be even happier to satisfy Corinth’s “fire lizard fever.” You do like fire lizards some, yes? he added. Um. Better than I’d like a ‘mandyr or a feline? You don’t sound too sure, Corinth said disapprovingly. I’m…so terribly sorry? Well, Corinth vowed, he would be sure after he met Shine. It didn’t matter if the bronze had to force him to like the brown fire lizard. He would.
T’rid was the prey of conflicting emotions as he stared at Corinth. Several tempting ideas ran through his mind, all of which he disposed as unsuitable. Hmm. Two fire lizards? Oh, he felt bad for her. Except one had died, so…he made a sympathetic noise in his throat, but any real consolations would come from Corinth, as from T’rid they would be completely false. Not that he didn’t feel bad for the flitter plague wiping out so much of the Weyr’s fire lizards. They could come in handy and all…but he felt sad on a more impersonal level. He was hardly interested in which clutch a fire lizard had come in, but he managed a polite enough nod. You’re lucky, was Corinth’s reply to Juliya, a laugh hidden beneath the words.
The bronzerider had started for Corinth when Shine decided to take action. His eyes automatically followed the brown until he came for him and—and then he was sitting on his shoulder. Looking incredibly pleased with himself. Did you tell him to do that? T’rid asked Corinth glumly. I asked him. He’s very polite, Corinth responded innocently. Praise him. “Ah…” T’rid turned his head at a rather awkward angle, trying to look at Shine more directly. “Um, I…that was beautiful?” For a good actor, you sure aren’t very convincing, Corinth said dryly. “Shine, isn’t it?” T’rid asked, ignoring the stinging comment. “You were amazing—Corinth did put you up to that, didn’t he?” I hate you, he added to Corinth. I love you too. The bronze tilted his head, eyes whirling. You did well, little one, he added to Shine. You can come off, now. Ridmine and Yours are going to ride me, and T’rid doesn’t want to jolt you when he gets on, yes?
T’rid, who cared about no such thing, was already at Corinth’s side, one hand resting on the bronze’s shoulder as he gestured for Juliya to get on first. “He’s not normally like this, is he?” he queried, only the slightest tone of unhappiness in his voice.
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Post by glamourie on Sept 17, 2008 22:09:50 GMT -5
Why was he so defensive? Juliya cast a sideways glance at T'rid, then decided not to question it. Men were strange creatures and she was quite convinced that T'rid was among the most strange of the lot. He seemed ... well, she had the impression he wanted to be treated and regarded like an adult, while acting like a child, which was a perfectly male attitude in her experience and she rather wanted to box his ears for it. The bronzerider made her feel several turns older than she was. As far as age went, Juliya was not exactly 'old' or 'young' although Selenitas was infested with a multitude of young riders that certainly made her feel as though she was on the upper end of things. T'rid's behavior just added to that impression, and the one-sided conversation she heard made her both sympathetic and amused for Corinth; at least he was likely to rarely be bored, with a mindmate so obviously fussy. There were some things to be thankful for, she supposed.
"A dragon," explained the greenrider with a slight shrug as she held out one hand for Shine. "Eriannath is very even-tempered and easy to get along with, much of the time. She makes few demands. The only things that matter are my happiness, her happiness, and the general content state of those around her. There is little she would like beyond that. You'll see."
Shine twittered pleasantly and nudged T'rid's jaw with his head, a gentle touch that was nothing short of affectionate. Then the little brown took to wing and glided back over to his pet's arm and curled his tail possessively around her wrist his eyes whirling lightly. If he was put off by T'rid's lack of sincerity - at least verbally - the firelizard did not show it. No, in fact he was completely pleased at the praise and fluted to the bronzerider in gratitude, his wing furthest from Juliya's body stretching out to flap delicately before he leaned his head down in what could only be described as the firelizard equivalent of a bow. Showmanship was clearly not lost on the little creature, who had no problem accepting compliments. From the bright blues in his eyes, it was clear he was more than a little content. He'd been complimented, he'd been impressive, and he got to perch on the big one. What more could he have wanted?
As Corinth spoke to him, Shine turned to look back up at the bronze, head cocking to the side and back slightly to grant him a better view. His eyes whirled a hint of yellow in confusion, before turning blue again and he chirruped to Corinth, T'rid and Juliya individually. Then he took to wing, careful not to slap Juliya in the face with one of them, and disappeared between within a blink.
Following T'rid, Juliya nodded politely to Corinth in gratitude, then climbed onto him. She waited until T'rid mounted as well before answering his question with a slight smirk, "Shouldn't he be? Rain was just as pleasant, though keeping him out of mud was a chore. He wanted to be a brown like Shine, I believe." She settled for arranging some of the straps to avoid falling, then regarded the bronzerider with a quizzical look. "I took a great deal of time to train Shine, and Eriannath helped me a lot as well. She was most pleased to spend time with one of 'the little cousins' as she put it. He's a quick learner, much quicker than his blue brother was. He's always so polite, but he wouldn't have landed on you if Corinth hadn't given him permission." As soon as the words were out, she regretted it and hoped T'rid would not call her on the fact that she knew what Corinth was saying. Maybe she could blame it on Eriannath, if he did. "He doesn't land on other people; he sees it as rude. So do I."
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Avu
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Post by Avu on Sept 18, 2008 13:23:31 GMT -5
I wish you were like Eriannath, T’rid thought absently at Corinth, grinning slightly at the description. Instead of being snarky and sarcastic and completely evil like you are. Corinth huffed lightly. Snarky, sarcastic, completely evil. I believe, Ridmine, that is an accurate description of you, not of me. Perhaps, therefore, it’s you who should take lessons from Eriannath. T’rid eyed the bronze suspiciously, lip twitching in a faint smile. “Hmm. It might do Corinth some good to meet her,” he commented dryly. Apparently most greens and other dragons thought Corinth was very polite, nice, etc., and never seemed to listen to his insisting that Corinth could be the vilest, most irritating dragon in the existence of Pern. As if he wasn’t in a very good position to know, since he was Corinth’s Bonded.
His jaw clenched slightly as Shine nudged him, although he managed not to turn away, and T’rid was pleased to have managed a reasonable smile in response to the flute Shine offered as he glided away, and…bowed. Well. The Bronzerider blinked, eloquently displaying his surprise. You’re quite horrible at this, you realize? Corinth commented dryly. At…what? he asked, still confused. Since when did fire lizards bow? He coughed. Being amazingly unsurpriseable, Corinth said. I never…? The bronze snorted in amusement as T’rid blinked dumbly again. “Um. He bows, too?” That was exceptionally intelligent, Corinth said, snickering slightly. T’rid told him sternly he needed to stop talking.
Corinth watched with a soft croon as Shine obediently leapt between, and then glanced at T’rid. If you had a fire lizard like Shine… he began slyly. Stop talking. Just. Stop. Corinth fell silent with a snicker. No doubt Juliya would be much more amused if she could hear T’rid as well. But one-sided conversations left room for improvisation, by use of imagination—that was much more exciting than the truth normally, no?
The bronze crooned softly at Juliya as she mounted, shifting experimentally. She wasn’t so very heavy and neither was T’rid. This would be quite easy, surely? T’rid vaulted up next, swinging to settle himself in front of Juliya. He wasn’t about to sit behind anyone and hang onto them when he was riding Corinth. If it was someone else’s dragon perhaps he would descend to do so, but this was Corinth. “Hmm. I thought fire lizards were supposed to be crazy and uncontrollable,” he muttered. Perhaps getting a fire lizard wasn’t so bad? But then again…he grimaced as he thought of oiling, feeding, training…yes, a fire lizard was bad. He was a bit too busy pondering fire lizards to quite realize what Juliya had implied, but it rather suddenly registered. “How do you know what Corinth said?” he asked, rather vaguely. Corinth shifted uneasily and hurriedly pushed off the ground, launching himself into the air.
“Thanks for the warning, Corinth,” T’rid muttered between his teeth as he automatically grabbed the nearest neck ridge to keep from unbalancing. The bronze huffed, clearly unapologetic. Eriannath, could you send me an image of where you are? he asked the green. I’m coming from between. He knew roughly, of course, but it was much simpler just to get the direct coordinates, no? You’re lazy, T’rid said. You should be flying as much as possible, for— Corinth cut him off. Yes, yes. Of course Corinth could tell him off.
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Post by glamourie on Sept 22, 2008 1:22:18 GMT -5
Actually, Juliya thought without giving voice to it for anyone to hear, she was quite sure that T'rid was the one with the problem. Corinth seemed evenly mannered, but she strongly suspected his rider could do with being taken down a peg. So conceited, so cocky, so male; she'd thought beating him at armwrestling would do it, but apparently not. Half of her was tempted to break his nose just because she knew she could. He wasn't offending her. She just had a problem with anyone who was so blatantly stuck on himself. He was very obviously still a child, as evidenced by his level of conceit. No grown woman would be attracted to a man so convinced of his own superiority. It was one of the most unattractive traits a male could possess. Did he not realize that? In deliberately fixating on himself, he not only repelled others who wanted to be his friends. He also repelled people from finding him remotely appealing. Although, she supposed if his goal was to find it impossible to bed a woman outside of flightlust, he was succeeding smashingly. She resisted the urge to smirk to herself.
Once she settled herself on Corinth's back, she glanced over her shoulder at T'rid. "He is very polite, my firelizard. You could take a lesson, bronzerider."
Without waiting for an answer, the greenrider wound her arms around T'rid's shoulders, her fingers clasping together experimentally in front of his chest. It occurred to her absently that she could probably throttle him from that angle. Funny. He may well have deserved it, too, considering what a wherryhead he was being. She had no idea what he was saying to Corinth but from the bronze's responses, it couldn't have been nice. Why didn't he appreciate his bronze more? Silly man.
"Firelizards are known to be eccentric, but they are rarely 'crazy' or 'uncontrollable.' They are very much like little dragons. Not as intelligent, no, but in personality. So you get the ones that are friendly and polite, and the ones that think they own the place. They come in many varieties. One global label is unfair to them. It's far easier to label men than it is to label firelizards. Your lot are at least consistent in behavior." She leaned forward to whisper against his ear, with nothing shy of a playful tone, "You're all very hard-headed." She hoped her words would distract the bronzerider from his question, which she chose not to answer. Although, at that exact moment, they were propelled into the air and she flattened herself against the bronzerider, unable to stop herself.
We'll have to get the oil first, Juliya explained, before Eriannath could answer. You might need to go to your weyr to get it, unless T'rid usually carries his around. I don't carry Eriannath's oil because I end up buying fresh supplies often.
Silly Juliyamine; he still needs to know where I am. The green rumbled slightly, before sending Corinth the most accurate image she could of the sandy beach she laid. White sands, a few rocks down the side, the water rushing nearby, the jungle far behind her and the sky above. She had quite a bit of practice with that, mainly because she was on the older side of things. Will that work, Corinth? I could move if you and Yours prefer. I know that sand can be hard to scrub off of hide. Juliyamine often gets upset about it, and I would hate to inconvenience Yours any more than I already am. I could move to a stone nearby, and sprawl out so it is easier to rich me. Is he tall? I don't remember what Yours looks like. He seems tall from what Mine says, but I don't judge because she is not very big...
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Avu
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Post by Avu on Sept 22, 2008 11:01:02 GMT -5
Take lessons from a fire lizard? T’rid was briefly unsure if Juliya meant that as an insult to his intelligence, a compliment to Shine’s, or just an outright taunt. “I’ve already got Corinth on my case about that,” he said, for once frank, “And believe me, if you ever heard him demanding I was polite, I’m sure you’d agree I didn’t need another teacher.” He was very, very forceful about it. As in, Do what I say or I will hurt you. And, needless to say, T’rid obediently did so, most of the time, although he usually did manage to inflict a more sarcastic angle on what was originally meant to be a compliment. It’s not like you listen to me if I’m not rude about it, Corinth commented dryly—and truthfully, he realized, grimacing to himself. Oh, well. When he got a fire lizard or two, then Corinth could fixate himself on teaching them tricks and things, and he would be off the hook for a very nice change.
Her comment about fire lizard personalities vs. the personalities of men—that was…T’rid found himself somewhat at a loss for words, something that seemed to be happening more and more often. He was not pleased with himself at that. “Hmm. Knowing my luck, I’ll probably get one who thinks I’m a slave,” he sighed, rather absently. If he did manage to get one that would leave him alone on command or something, that would be incredibly wonderful. T’rid could just get the thing to let him alone all the time and stay with Corinth, and nobody could say he didn’t have a fire lizard! He might have responded in kind to her “men are very hard-headed” comment, but he doubted he could find one word that could fit in all women. The one that came to mind was “unpredictable,” but then again, Juliya could purportedly take that as a compliment, which was not his intention.
T’rid’s previous question slipped from his mind entirely—although he was probably going to remember it later at the most random of times—as Corinth launched, most likely because he hadn’t strapped himself in and therefore slid several inches forward before he could latch onto a neck ridge and keep himself, and Juliya, who had apparently not been prepared either, upright. Next time, saying, ‘Ready set go’ would be appropriate, he told Corinth. Sorry. That was the safest thing to say, rather than try to lie in explanation—apparently Juliya hadn’t wanted T’rid knowing about her talent, after all, and Corinth was a rather pitiful liar, when all was said and done, especially to His. Then again, it was rather difficult for anyone to lie to T’rid, as he lied himself so often that he was used to being around it.
I just want the image so we can transfer directly from our weyr to Eriannath, Corinth said quietly. When you see the state of his weyr, you’ll see why. It’s a death trap in there. So saying, he warned T’rid to think and then flicked between. They reappeared a dragonlength or so above their Weyr Ledge, and Corinth landed as quickly as possible. You might not wish to go inside, he added to Juliya as T’rid slid down and said exactly the same thing in a more…condescending…tone. “Stay out here with Corinth, wouldn’t want you tripping over a knife or anything.”
His room certainly did have the potential for someone to do just that, as things were scattered most haphazardly across the floor at random. Spilled glow here, sheathed blade dropped here, a tunic, another tunic, trousers, a record (why he had a record in his room baffled T’rid himself)—and then his shelf, containing the things that Corinth insisted not be carelessly tossed about: Oil, riding straps, and his riding gear. Dubiously checking the amount of oil left, T’rid found it quite full and doubled back, picking his way across his weyr as he slipped it into his pocket. Did you bore Juliya to death yet? he asked Corinth. The bronze didn’t reply, busy as he was focusing in the image. Finally, he just sent it to T’rid. That is where Eriannath is. Remember it.
To the green, he answered, That will work very nicely. T’rid can manage. He is…he probably should learn to work hard anyway. You don’t need to move. Ridmine…is quite tall, yes. I think he can probably reach and if he can’t, he’ll ask you to move. If he doesn’t ask politely, you may whack him with a wing or something. T’rid was already back on Corinth. Are you ready, humans? Corinth asked in amusement, this time asking the both of them. Thank you very much, T’rid hissed at the bronze, who didn’t wait for a “yes” before launching himself into the air again. Are you thinking? T’rid obediently focused on the mental image and they went between again. This time, they reappeared much higher, spiraling down to land.
T’rid sighed slightly, now resigned. He got to oil a green dragon. Oh, what fun. At least she wasn’t as big as Corinth, though…“All right, then,” he said to nobody in particular, as he dropped from Corinth’s side and then glanced at Juliya, motioning for her to come down. “You don’t need help, do you?” he added, raising his eyebrow in amusement at the thought. Not everybody was used to jumping down from bronze dragons, but T’rid was hardly going to think about that.
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Post by glamourie on Sept 23, 2008 7:55:59 GMT -5
Actually, she could hear Corinth just fine; so tempting was it to correct T'rid's inaccurate assumption, but Juliya decided to be the adult and let it go. There was no point arguing with someone who was -- you guessed it! -- hard-headed. Besides, she was determined to keep her secret for as long as she could. That meant not telling anyone, even if she did lose on the opportunity to drive home a few points by doing so. She'd spent her entire life not letting anyone but the dragons know what she could do, and she wasn't about to ruin all of it for the sake of popping some bronzerider's ego. She was just... grateful that Corinth hadn't told on her yet. She had a lot of luck where that was concerned. None of the dragons had decided to tell their riders so far...
"Fine," Juliya countered as they arrived at T'rid's weyr, thoroughly unimpressed. Did they think she'd never seen knives before? That she was some fragile, pretty woman who had never seen conflict? Harumph. She'd probably seen things that would make that bronzerider want to tear out his eyes. The greenrider folded her arms against her chest, cradling her breasts, and forced back the scowl on her face. Like she wanted to go into his weyr anyway. Odds are there was nothing interesting in there, other than a mess. She had the distinct impression that T'rid was an overgrown child, and he was doing nothing to dissuade her. Never mind that her indignant response did not exactly allude to the most maturity on her part, but in her defense, she was justified in being annoyed that he thought she'd trip over a knife. She was a lot more graceful than that. Besides, she probably knew more about blades than him. It was standard training in the north.
Most of her irritation faded at Corinth's answer to Eriannath, though, and she uncurled, just in time for T'rid to return. She resisted the urge to smirk as she wound one arm around the bronzerider's shoulder, although her green's confusion kept her from being too amused.
I would never! Eriannath protested, sounding mildly distressed. I would not dare hurt Yours, Corinth. After a second of being soothed by Juliya, who was very insistant she needn't worry, the green added shyly, I will just let Mine kick him in the shin. That wasn't quite as offensive, was it? A kick? She hoped not, because the idea of hitting someone with one of her wings was startling. She didn't like even considering hurting people. She probably would not have noticed it if she was treated rudely anyway. Eriannath generally assumed the best about everyone and every thing she came in contact with. That behavior often led to people considering her naive, but... eh, like she cared.
As they spiraled down to land, Juliya unhooked Corinth's straps expertly and leaped from his back to land with a slight squish in the sands. She kicked her feet just above the ground absently before turning to look back at Corinth. "Thank you," she said politely, before turning back to T'rid. "No, I don't suppose I do."
Sprawled out in the sand as she was, Eriannath couldn't help but be amused. She did not rise to her feet, nor curl up any; she was stretched to her full length, with her wings neatly folded at her back. The green crooned a greeting to Corinth and then snaked her head over to nudge T'rid with her nose, almost the way one would poke a particularly nice roast to see how tender it was. Her eyes whirled affectionately and she asked - for Corinth and Juliya both - Is he always so stuffy? I think he should go for a swim. It might loosen him up.
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