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Post by reqqy on Sept 8, 2008 11:05:44 GMT -5
"I imagine that would largely depend on his mood. Although he wasn't exactly a paragon of virtue at about your age, either. Sera booted him from Selenitas when he was sixteen for being a prankster," Laurie commented conspiriatorally. Not that such a fact was likely to win T'rid any sympathy from S'rei. Not a lot of good had come from his being foisted off on the north just before the wars started, after all. Of course, Laurie wouldn't protest to seeing some of the pranks S'rei had pulled on Sera being reciprocated upon Shmee. Lauranna currently had a very low opinion of the girl. Never mess with a mother's son.
Laurie shook her head at the boy. Silly thing. Reaching up, she poked him lightly on the nose. "Not going to work, hun. I've told you my terms, and I don't negotiate," she said with mock severity. "I'm sure you can figure out what it is I want." Good luck. The woman herself still hadn't figured it out because, on the whole, she was fairly happy. She had a gorgeous son, a wonderful weyrmate, and a new helper to tease constantly. Lauranna would love to see S'rei a bit happier, but that wasn't anything T'rid could do for her, so...she was at something of a loss. Flattery usually went a long way, though. Women loved to be admired and coddled. Not that she was about to tell her young little friend that.
"I have a hard time feeling sympathy for inanimate objects?" the woman replied, smirking slightly. "As far as I'm aware, chairs don't have much in the way of awareness or feelings. Otherwise, I'd always feel sorry for them. Do you see what sort of people end up rubbing their butts all over those chairs? Come to think of it, S'rei probably put the poor think out of its misery." Then she laughed. Her? Throw chairs? "I'm more likely to do something cruel and sneaky than start throwing things, although chamberpots can be fun to wing at people when they annoy me. I meant the temper seems to run in the family." She wrinkled her nose at T'rid. Oh, yes, Laurie had a nice temper that could flare at seemingly random times. S'rei's flares of temper were less frequent, but generally more volatile.
It briefly occurred to Lauranna that she might be destroying what little respect T'rid currently had for her brother, but she figured that if S'rei couldn't regain it through his own virtues, it was more or less a lost cause to begin with. This kid didn't seem to be the sort to take to authority very well. A shame that they had so few experienced bronzeriders to rely on at Selenitas. "I don't tend to ask that question of males or females. He's my brother, T'rid. Frankly, it's hard for me to stomach that he's having as many kids as he is. The mental picture is...horrific." Laurie smiled wryly.
"I don't know. Do you want it to be?" The greenrider leaned in close to his ear. "I still haven't tested to see how much you've learned since then, T'rid," she purred, sliding a finger down his bicep. She wanted to see just how much redder she could make him. "I'll bet you're still a little awkward, aren't you?" If he was allowed to make wisecracks about how experienced she was...Lauranna figured that fair was fair.
Or perhaps you could just avoid the action that makes him want to kill you. Silly males. Always making things far more complicated than they have to be. Not that she had anything to do with it at all. Oh no. Of course not. Reysalth was pleased that he seemed to be growing more physically affectionate, deciding then that some bronzes weren't too bad. Just some. She couldn't stand most of them, of course, but occasionally...Let's just keep me right on guessing than, shall we?
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Sept 8, 2008 12:18:00 GMT -5
T’rid had usually considered S’rei as a very serious, duty-obsessed man—definitely it had never crossed his mind that he could consider being a prankster. And even more definitely not to an extent of being kicked out of Selenitas. Well then—maybe he would have to be a little more careful in choosing his revenge ideas. Well, it was nice to have a warning. Instead of diminishing T’rid’s respect for S’rei, oddly, this rather boosted it. He would’ve liked to talk to S’rei about the pranks before he was kicked out and became solemn—it was always interesting to hear stories (usually stretched) of triumph, wasn’t it? If he couldn’t talk to S’rei, perhaps Laurie would oblige him. “What kind of pranks were these?” he asked, hazel eyes openly curious.
Her mock-severe tones made T’rid wrinkle his nose where she’d poked him, sighing and shaking his head. “Haggling’s the fun part that comes before the buy,” he protested. “Likewise, negotiating terms is fun.” Unless you weren’t good at it and happened to get a very low price bordering on being cheated, of course, but practice always took care of that. Corinth, help! How do you get along so well with greens? What do you do? If it took worshipping Laurie to be able to get a prank in, T’rid was willing. I’m not, protested Corinth sharply. You are not going to prank anyone, anywhere near Wing Drills. Fine. No prank. He could still mess around, couldn’t he? Um. Compliments work? Do they? You don’t sound very sure. All females are different, came the very unhelpful response. “Sure, um…” He tilted his head, considering. “If I just bow down and worship you, will that work?”
He considered. Felt bad for inanimate objects? He didn’t normally, although he would wince when a particularly nice piece of, say, wood was ruined. Someone could have sold it for so many more marks than it would be worth broken in two, after all. But for the object itself? Probably not. “When you think about it like that,” he replied, making a face. He would hate to be a chair, yes…Frankly, that has to be one of the oddest things you’ve ever thought, Corinth commented, bewildered. Nobody said you had to listen to what I was thinking, T’rid observed dryly. “Chamberpots and chairs…what a lovely mix,” he told Laurie solemnly, eyes widening innocently. “I mean, who wouldn’t want a chamberpot hurled at them after they accidentally irritate such a lovely Greenrider? By the way, do you have any other siblings? What do they throw? Tables?”
Horrific? S’rei’s kids? He had never thought to put the two labels together, and it seemed odd that Laurie should. At least she’d called him T’rid instead of ‘sport’. “If it was my sibling, personally I’d be curious,” he offered. Especially a younger sibling, but T’rid wasn’t about to make his remarks that pointed. Then he grinned. “Does he ask you to baby-sit or something?” It was normal for a family to have lots of children—Holders especially. Riders not so much, since their between exercises left precious little time to live out the pregnancy. But still, he couldn’t see why the idea of a large family startled Laurie.
He shifted rather uncomfortably, although characteristic traits deigned that he make a wise remark to pop the tension. “You’ve had the entire night to find out and only now you decide to ask?” She could flirt if she wanted to, but when it came down to it, T’rid was fine if they parted ways right there and then. Corinth probably wouldn’t be too happy, of course, but the bronze would cease moping eventually. There was nothing saying he couldn’t talk to Reysalth even while T’rid avoided Laurie, no?
Corinth sighed happily, his eyes idle shades of green, blue, and purple. You made it too hard to resist, though, he protested. And Ridmine can yell all he wants, but that won’t make me any less happy that I did Chase. Flattering? Yes, but almost unintentionally so. Right now, all he was doing was bluntly stating the truth, although T’rid might not like it very much or take kindly to it. In fact, it was almost a guarantee that the Bronzerider would yell at him, but so what? He could always tune him out. He crooned softly. Keep guessing…yes. Reysalth made a lovely pillow. You don’t have Wing Drills anytime soon, do you? he added, suddenly a bit distressed as the thought registered. Wing Drills meant she had to leave. He didn’t want her to leave.
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Post by reqqy on Sept 9, 2008 11:57:04 GMT -5
Lauranna smiled a little. “Oh, all kinds of things, really. It’s easy to get away with things when you’re one of the Wingleaders’ sons. Our father was sometimes Weyrleader, too, so I’m afraid we were spoiled just a little.” She scrunched up her face for a moment. “Well, his favorite thing to do was mess with the newly arrived candidates. He’d get them all mixed up as to where everything was. Once, he told a new group of boys that the candidate barracks was two miles northeast of the Main Hall. They were lost in the woods for over a day before anyone found them. He also used to wear his hair long, and when he was still too young to Stand, he could pass for a girl well enough. You always knew when the newest batch of candidates became aware of him; the girls would be shrieking and throwing things at him until he could jump in the river and get away. Although he was sent to Benden before the wars because he snuck into Sera’s weyr, stole her panties, and tacked them up above the doors to the dining hall. You should have seen how mad she was. It was delightful.”
Oh, there were plenty, plenty more stories, but Laurie figured that if T’rid just asked around he could hear quite a bit about his Wingleader’s rather…flamboyant childhood. Laurie just stared at the young bronzerider for a long moment. Not very imaginative, was he? Something told her S’rei was probably going to have a bit of trouble with this one, and not necessarily the funny kind. Shame. She would have enjoyed a little push and pull, certainly, and anything that might annoy her brother was vehemently supported by her – it was why she’d even bothered to try to Impress firelizards in the first place, after all, since S’rei hated them with a passion – but something that would genuinely give Rei trouble? Not so much. She hoped it was just because the kid was half-awake. It was hard enough to lead a wing without any help to speak of. Harder still when the one who was supposed to be helping was likely to be more of a hindrance than ought else.
“Bow down and worship me? That’s just silly. I’m not a…a…an I don’t know what. A goldrider? The ruler of Pern? Whatever. If you bow down, I’ll just have to kick you.” Yes, she was teasing, but there was definitely a touch of the serious behind her eyes and in her tone. The greenrider was quickly growing tired of her company. That truth was only furthered by the fact that he’d asked about her brothers. Laurie stared at him for the longest time. She could just be kind about it, but frankly, he didn’t seem that conscientious about anything, anyway. “Two,” the woman replied shortly. “One stabbed Rei some…ten turns ago. And the other tried to defend S’rei. So no. They don’t throw things. They killed each other.”
The spoiled mood was definitely leeching over into other things, and Lauranna began to drop some of her bubbly nature like it was the mask that it truly was. Her green eyes flashed with ire. “What does it matter to you if he asks me to babysit? And no, it’s the shard-blasted Weyrwoman who runs off to get herself violated and throws Shei at me. I have no problems with my brother. He’s a jerk at times, and a raging idiot at others, but in general he’s far better company than half the people in this Weyr. Certainly than many of you bronzeriders. He’s not a self-possessed, immature little idiot, for one thing.” Mine! What-? I’m just tired of kids spouting off their mouths when they have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. Now I remember why bronzeriders are so annoying, particularly young bronzeriders. Reysalth shifted uncomfortably.
That was that. Laurie was officially fed up. Smarting off to her again. In truth, she knew it had more to do with the topic of her brothers being brought up than anything else, for disrespect was something she usually found amusing, but put her in a bad mood and Lauranna quickly grew livid. “I’d rather not hang around an inexperienced adolescent who insists on continuing to insult my intelligence. If you’ll excuse me.” She extracted herself from him in a violent movement, settling the discarded shift over herself with a quick pull. Color was high in her cheeks, and she tossed her head like a wild runner, sniffing meaningfully. “I have a real man waiting for me back at my weyr. Have a good day, pup.”
Pretty words, Corinth. Her tone made it clear that she appreciated them, too. Even if she didn’t necessarily believe that she was so irresistible as he intimated. Not today, no. But she was a little distracted by the anger of Hers. Although you may wish I did, after that display, Reysalth commented, only half joking. I’m afraid I’m going to have to apologize for Mine. She frequently swings from one mood to another, and I’m sorry that Yours has to deal with the equal to a clutching Queen. A touch of derision was directed toward Hers, but mostly just regret. Now Corinth would want to leave because Hers had insulted His, and she was rather enjoying his warmth.
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Sept 9, 2008 13:18:04 GMT -5
T’rid listened silently, trying to pair up some of the crimes to S’rei, but honestly he couldn’t imagine the man—even as a boy—doing such things. A shame he’d grown so serious as he apparently was. He sounded like fun company when he was younger…although admittedly T’rid probably hadn’t been older than a few Turns at that time. Stealing the ‘panties’ of someone with the power to kick you out perhaps wasn’t so clever, especially if one could be caught. But, that was beside the point—he would have given many marks to see that occur. Before the war—at least it hadn’t been during the war though, right? Benden probably still wasn’t a great place, but at least it wasn’t as bad as it was today.
The Bronzerider stared, honestly surprised, at her assumption that one had to be a goldrider to be worshipped. Ruler of Pern—goldrider—well, someone’s ego could use a little inflating. “So…if I make you an idol…you’ll…kick me?” he wondered out loud. Even he couldn’t see the logic in that and actually, he could find some logic in some of the things even Benden Weyr did. Her silence after his inquiry to siblings made him pause, confused. Did she like, not remember her siblings or something? He’d only been joking…He paused, almost stricken, by the confession. Well, did Bloodkin not count for anything anymore? “Oh,” he said, awkwardly. “Well…I’m sorry about that, then.”
He could never figure out why, when someone said someone they knew had died, one always said ‘sorry.’ As if they were the cause of that person’s death. And if they were, they’d hardly be apologizing for it. But…It shows sympathy, Corinth explained, sounding exasperated. Sympathy for someone you’ve never met is somewhat hard to show, T’rid said dryly. Yes, Corinth concurred, But it still shows that you feel sorry because they lost their friend, family—whatever. You know. It’s just nice is all.
T’rid was startled—and, he had to admit, slightly amused—by Laurie’s outburst. Her rant stung slightly at the end, since he realized it was designed to hurt. That was enough to have him grin any other day, quite up for a banter, but at present time he was rather busy processing what she’d said. Shmee had been violated and Laurie was…angry at her? Well, that was a bit unusual now, wasn’t it? He opened his mouth to point out that Laurie should probably be feeling sorry for Shmee, as no doubt being violated was no fun, but closed it again without speaking. He couldn’t speak without showing the amusement in his voice and that wouldn’t be good.
Why are you always made happy by other people getting irritated at you? Corinth asked, sounding resigned. Hmm. I don’t know. It just—well, it’s nice to know you got through to them, that’s all. Although to be honest I can’t see why she’s irritated right now, T’rid responded, releasing Laurie as she jerked away and continued her rant. Insult her intelligence—he hadn’t done that, had he? Perhaps she thought he’d implied it or something, but honestly he hadn’t meant to. Well, if she was intent on picking that out, it was hardly his fault or problem. “Yeah, sure. Have fun.” It was all he was given time to say. All he really wanted to say, too, seeing as Laurie seemed to be in a sudden temper.
So the temper does run in the family, he thought in a flash of deeper amusement. He could imagine her tossing chamberpots in this mood easily.
Corinth had been listening in on the conversation despite himself and blinked curiously. That was…very… the bronze said, and paused, unable to find a word for it. Yeah, I know, Cor. Wild. Ready to go? Not really. Hmm. Well, you should come anyway, I’ll need to take a look at those scrapes on you.
The bronze sighed reluctantly and turned to Reysalth. It’s not your fault, he assured her. Why did she feel the need to apologize? Ridmine had actually thought it was amusing how quickly Laurie’s mood could swing from bubbly to dour, although he was hardly going to mention that. He’s all right…but I’m afraid Ridmine wishes me to go. He has to look at my scrapes and whatnot…but I’ll see you around, perhaps. He crooned again, sad now, and nuzzled her neck before gently disentangling himself from Reysalth, and launching himself into flight from the Weyr ledge, before heading back towards T’rid’s Weyr as his Rider gathered his clothing and followed him through the corridors.
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