(Req:) May the good times never end...

[jing]

It had been wonderful, really, the entirety of today. The weather was warm, even steamy despite the fall season, the tropical Blossom Hold immersed in a humid, but comfortable atmosphere. The Lake was gorgeous, a warm, if chilly sixty-five degrees that morning, and had warmed considerably by the afternoon into nearly seventy-five. The dolphins soon grew excited after the sun reached its zenith, driven on by the increase in active fish in the reeds and seaweed submerged in the lake bottom's loose silt. A wonderful day of learning and swimming led into a Hall lunch break, during which a walking of the tables was completed, surrounded by applause and sly grins. And then it was back out into the lake, nude as always, for the new Journeyman, her thoughts expectantly settled on her friend's usual early evening visitation.

Minlara had been having a wonderful day - and the best way to make it better would be for her childhood friend, Dierdre, to come waltzing up the path from the vineyards, fair-skinned beneath a large straw hat, while golden-bodied and golden-haired Min watched and waved from the sanctity of the fantastic azure liquid reflected in her cerulean eyes. While Min paddled about the lake, diving and surfacing in mimicry of her work partners, her day over and her friend hopefully on the way, her mind was left to wander and wonder. A group of dragons passed overhead, blurs of blue and green, apparently heading for the main Hold itself, maybe on Search. It had been a while since Minlara had last thought about impression, about what it would be like to swim in the air instead of the water, but those old, lost dreams were in her head again as she floated there, face to the sky.

Maybe she would get lucky, and be searched one day... though she would prefer not to be searched in the buff. Sure, she cared not about who saw her nude when around the Hold - most of the Hall and Hold had grown used to seeing slick bare skin in the Lake - but that didn't mean she wanted to ride a dragon to a weyr in the nude. That would surely be uncomfortable - and between was supposed to be frigid, wasn't it? It wouldn't do to be naked and wet in between. She would get sick for sure. No, her imagination painted a picture of herself and Dierdre, wandering from the DolphinHall to the main Hold, when some glorious blue would land softly upon the road before them, his eyes slowly whirling in facets of green and blue. What an amazing thing that would be, to be searched right off the road with her dear friend.

Dierdre would have had to be searched as well for Minlara to leave her - the flamboyant girl couldn't help but worry for her timid friend, and to have left her so far away when she could have brought her with her? That would have been horrific. And with Dierdre's joining so close on the horizon... She shook her head, the daydream shattering into puffy shards and curved clouds as her blue gaze defogged. A dolphin bumped his nose against her hip, and she proceeded to tread water, her thoughts shifting to the dark-haired boy striding across the shore to the dock, where a master was waiting for him. Surely some extra training, but that didn't keep Minnie from enjoying the view. He wasn't a bad looking boy after all, olive-skinned and dark-haired, built like a lithe, long cat. She might have to bother him later, that handsome apprentice... maybe after Dierdre was here.

Then they could have some fun before the wedding.

[Requiem]

It had been a long day. What seemed nice to someone in the lake made a fieldhand's life difficult, sweating beneath all the clothes she wore to keep her skin from burning from within the first candlemark or two after dawn. And, well...she'd seen him today. She hadn't even known it was him at the time, and she was pretty sure he hadn't known she was there, either. It left her feeling...drained. Deirdre had nothing against the third or fourth (she couldn't remember which) son of one of the other vineyard owners, a man raised in relative wealth even if the vineyard itself would never be his, but somehow she'd imagined him...younger. Leaner. With...hair. She was sure he was nice, though? And was doing her best to ignore the looks she'd caught him giving some of the pretty young drudges who worked at the main villa where she'd taken her lunch today.

The afternoon was even more beastly than the morning, and she was taking more time than she'd intended after her shift ended just to clean up and get everything together. Minlara probably didn't mind Deirdre's appearance at all, but she would have been mortified to show up to this little celebration she'd planned for her best friend drenched in sweat and smelling like a man who'd...well, been in the fields all day. Finally, though, she was clean after sponging off in the washbasin and wearing a neat little cotton smock, a sash of pale blue silk her father had given her a turn ago wound snugly about her small waist. Her hair she left unbound and she took her straw hat with her, but as the suns dipped low in the sky she pushed it back where it caught by the twine beneath her chin and settled on her back. Deirdre cradled the basket she brought with her to her chest like it was a precious newborn.

Even though there was no real reason for it, her feet hurried along the path to the lake, eyes moving nervously about whenever something moved near her. She was always much more comfortable when Minlara was walking beside her, but that couldn't keep her from visiting her childhood friend. Certainly not on the day she'd walked the tables. Just the thought brought a smile to her lips. It faded after a moment...at one time she'd imagined them walking the tables the same day, just as they were born the same day, but...no. That was fine. She could be proud of her friend. Besides, it would distract her from her fiancee to share in Minnie's joy.

Speaking of which...Deirdre caught sight of the familiar golden head bobbing in the lake water and lifted a hand, waving briefly and even skipping forward before she remembered herself and glanced quickly about to make sure no one was watching and judging her for her lapse. Mincing the last several feet forward, she flashed a muted but clearly delighted smile at her best friend, coming up to the edge of the lake where Minlara bobbed.

The young woman's nakedness no longer fazed Deirdre. She'd gotten used to looking just at Minnie's face (barring an accidental mischance) and it was now second nature to her. Of course, her friend's face was lovely, too, but it didn't have the potential of flustering Deirdre into speechlessness. "Are you going to swim the whole day long, Journeyman?" the girl inquired of her friend laughingly, lifting the edge of the cloth in her basket to showcase a bottle of the dolphineer's favorite wine as well as a small little dinner that Deirdre had actually helped prepare herself. (Not that she was likely to tell Minnie that, simply watch her eagerly for a reaction while trying to be subtle about it.)

[jing]

The journeyman was swimming circles with the dolphin she had been joined by earlier when she caught sight of Dierdre coming down the path to the Lake. Diving once more, the teen rose back to the surface in time to catch her little friend's flashing grin, bobbing about a bit beside the momentarily intrigued dolphin. She purposely bobbed up then, an exaggerated wave bursting out of the surf before she struck out for the shore, long hair trailing loose and wet behind her, body cutting through the nearly placid surface much like the dolphin that had garnered her attentions earlier. "Dee!" She called, bouncing in and out of the water when she reached the shallower train of water close to the sandy land itself. Min was more than pleased to see her friend scuttling down to the water's edge, eying the basket she so clung to with a calculating eye. A present? Deirdre was always so good for presents and tasties, Min knew, and so she practically bounded up to the shyer girl like some excited canine pup.

"I could well swim the whole day, if it was possible." Not that it wasn't possible, just that it tended to become unacceptable after a certain time of day - the dolphins needed their rest too, after all! The taller girl flopped onto the sand, tummy quickly covered in grit, and peered into the opened basket. Wine~ "Ah, Dee, you know me too well." She said, grinning slyly before she hauled herself out of the sand to wrap her buddy in some cross between a hug and a snuggle, likely dirtying the poor thing up with her wet and sandy self. No matter. She'd have Dierdre swimming later to clean all that off. "How was your day in the fields, darling?" Minlara asked in a sing song voice, draping herself over Dierdre's lap before attempting to snitch the wine out of the basket.

The food within also attracted her attention, but the wine was much more interesting. She hadn't had wine in sevendays, and she couldn't well go much longer. Habitually, she went to open the wine with the assistance of her shirt, before realizing she was still without one. Her clothes were around here somewhere... but that was another matter. Min would worry about that later. Another swim to get the sand off would be required before she went hunting for her clothing for the walk back to the Hold. She didn't live at the Hold, no, she stayed at the Hall- but she intended to return Dee to her home. The explicit notion of keeping the quiet girl out of trouble once the sun went down rolled about in the back of her mind every time Deirdre visited, after all. No one would hurt her little Dierdre if she had anything to say about it, shardit! "Deeeee... would you open the wine pleaaaaaase?" She pouted, staring at the wine as if she was debating on throwing the darn thing into the water.

Cerulean gaze rose then to meet sea-green eyes, the pouty expression on her face contrasting the glinting humor in those light blue pools. Privately, Minlara wondered how on all of Pern Dierdre had come to deal with her ridiculous tendencies, from being too lazy to go get her clothes after getting out of the water to her childlish manner of asking for help in opening a silly bottle of wine. She supposed that, after all these turns of friendship, she had either gotten used to it, or become endeared to it. Anything was possible, she supposed. Only Faranth knew for sure. On that thought, she held up the wine for Dierdre to accept and hopefully open, after which she'd happily retake it and have herself a swig. Then would come their tasty Dierdre-brought dinner!

[Requiem]

Were there such things as lake nymphs? If there weren't, Minlara might well be the very first, in Dierdre's not so unbiased opinion. The girl focused on finding an appropriate spot to sit and arranging the basket in front of her instead of the very engaging image of her friend playing along the surface of the lake so elegantly. She practically moved like one of the dolphins she trained with.

The girl was rendered speechless (even though it should not have been a surprise and actually wasn't that Minlara launched herself at Deirdre wet and sandy and nude) as the taller girl's arms wrapped around her shoulders. Her hands went to Minnie's hips, though whether it was to push her away or pull her closer even the small girl didn't know. It felt nice, cool even where it wasn't hot (yes, that made a lot of sense), but Deirdre couldn't gather her scattered thoughts to save her life.

"Hot," the girl managed with a small smile as some sort of response to Minnie's question, just glad that the dolphineer released her to acquire that wine she liked so much. Although...having her friend's torso in her lap, parts of her breasts touching Deirdre's calves and lower thighs which weren't covered by her smock in this seated position, presented a whole new set of problems. The fieldhand rubbed at the back of her neck and looked down at her friend's lean shoulders, bemused.

Then she found her eyes trapped by her best friend's, and she blinked after a long moment, realizing that Minlara must have just said something. Fortunately, the wine bottle presented to her provided enough clues, and she took it without really thinking, opening it for Minnie. The smaller of the two handed it back to the naked girl in her lap - Faranth, this happened all too often for her poor nerves! - and smiled at her friend.

She couldn't really help it. Deirdre's fingers strayed almost as if they had a will of their own, arranging the spill of wet hair so that it didn't cling to Minlara's shoulders, pushing it behind her ears and combing her fingers delicately through the mass before beginning to braid it. Her eyes focused on what she was doing and she could almost forget the warm breasts pressed against her legs. "Just don't drink so much that I have to half-carry you back to your barracks," she chided, though it lacked any bite. If anything, there was a tremble of nervousness behind the words. She wasn't sure that she liked all those dolphineers and...she really didn't like walking home after dusk all alone.

"The food is still warm?" Deirdre added hopefully. She just wanted to see Minnie enjoy it. She liked cooking for her friend, even though she didn't have much time. The stray thought entered her head that soon she'd be cooking for that portly balding man who must be a good twenty turns her senior, but she pushed it aside. "How was it, walking the tables? Do you have any good stories?"

[jing]

Had Min heard Dierdre's thoughts about a Lake Nymph, she would have laughed. She was no nymph, silly thing, just a dolphineer that swam seven or more hours of her day away with shipfish at her flanks. You tended to pick up a move or two with that sort of activity.

Minlara did chuckle at her friend's all too short explanation of her day in the fields though, even if she was relatively used to Dee's quiet and simple answers. Sometimes she wondered if Dierdre really did have a more complete sentence in her, someplace, that involved all the woes and wonders of picking and eating fruit all day, climbing trees and chasing down vermin and small wherries that had stolen something. Or at least, this is what she imagined working in the vineyards and orchard all day would entail. For all she really knew, Dee could simply be watering the plants all day, which, of course, would be rather boring in the heat of the high noon suns.

Ah, but there! She had opened her bottle of wine for her. Hooray! Accepting back the glass, Min happily stuck the opened bottle into her mouth, gulping down a half glass and grinning. "Oh, shards. I love my wine, but I'm not going to send you home without an escort." She said, sticking her tongue out at her talking couch before having herself another sip. She really was quite comfortable, sprawled out tummy first in Dierdre's lap, not to mention the extra warmth was well enjoyed. Staying out of the water too long, even if it was nice out, could leave some people with a cold if they didn't have anything to dry them off. Min was relatively avoiding this issue by using her friend as a mobile heater. Ingenious!

She shivered for a second as Dee started to braid her hair, though. The wet strands shifting across her bare skin tickled her nerves and prickled her relatively dry form with a shift in the location of the cold mess. Min soon adjusted, however, and rather began to enjoy having her hair combed and plaited by Dierdre's gentle touch. Another sip of wine, and she was rummaging through the basket of remaining presents, intrigued. Food, food, glorious food~ And it was nice, warm, tasty food too. Hot roasted wherry-gravy sandwiches, steamy tubers and various green veggies, a pitcher of cool tea, and a hot sweetroll for dessert. Delicious!

"You spoil me, you know." Minlara stated, fishing out a wherry sandwich after her wine bottle was gingerly settled- standing- into the sand in front of her. A mouthful of the meat and melty cheeses had Minnie practically swooning, her adoration for food and the slight buzz in her mouth enhancing the taste. "Walking the tables was... interesting. It didn't really feel like much of a big deal, going from the kiddy table to the big kids table. I'm happy to finally be there though. There was this new apprentice I wanted to like, punch in the mouth. She drove me nuts." Damn girl, chattering as if her tongue couldn't be controlled by her brain. Boy was Min glad to be free of her. A thoughtful look crossed her face then. "Best story has to be when Rayutka tried to sneak some wine and fellis into the barracks to smoke and drink. Dimglow. He forgot to close his bag up when he went to dinner that evening, and Master Oliuh found it after he left." Her face lit up with a smile suddenly.

"The Master confiscated it... so he could smoke and drink it himself." And it was a good bottle of wine too, the shaffing dimglow. "Or the time Dinoro went into the water too fast, fell over a submerged dolphin, and the poor beast slapped him in the face with its tail in shock. He had a huge red mark for a sevenday." She took another big bite of her sandwich, swallowed, and stuffed it back in her face so she could use both hands to fish out the other one and offer it to Dierdre. Her hair could wait. Food first, pretty later. "Mmmphmphmh." She mumbled through her tasty meal, far enough over Dierdre that any dripping gravy would instead hit the sand rather than the small girl's pretty dress. Sand was different from gravy, after all.

[Requiem]

Deirdre wrinkled her nose at Minlara's cheeky comment complete with tongue, but it did nothing to hide the relief that flickered behind her eyes. She couldn't help but be a little afraid of the Hold out on her own after dark. No one but Minnie could make her feel safe (which might have been a little silly, given the girl wasn't that much bigger than Dee herself, but it was what it was.)

"Yes, I know," Deirdre agreed, not bothering to pretend otherwise. Of course she spoiled Minlara. "But I think you're allowed to be spoiled a little the day that you walk the tables." Braiding the girl's hair was working very well for the fieldhand. She'd almost forgotten how bare the girl in her lap actually was. "And...I like to," she added, a little quieter. Most of the tiny blush was hidden by the angle of her head as she focused all of her attention on the braid.

Neither could Deirdre quite suppress the amused quirk to her mouth when Minlara started on about the new apprentice. Talkative Minnie finding a talkative apprentice annoying? Ironic. Dee loved listening to these stories of life in Dolphincraft Hall. She could almost imagine similar things happening to her during her weaving apprenticeship, and it was nice escaping into Minlara's life every once in awhile.

Blinking, Deirdre took the sandwich suddenly offered her, not knowing what to do with it. She'd be dripping gravy all over Minnie's back at this rate. Finally, she leaned forward and propped her elbows on her knees, practically drapping herself over her friend. This time her face was flaming, but Minlara was in no position to see it. At least she wasn't dripping hot gravy over her back?

"I can't understand a word you say like that, you know," the girl chided her best friend gently, the familiar remonstration helping to calm her furious blush. A couple bites helped that along further, and slowly she relaxed more into this strange position. The moment stretched. "I saw him today," the girl finally told Minlara quietly, a certain weariness entering into her voice. It was subtle, but Minnie would probably pick up on it. They'd only been together practically since birth.

[jing]

Min wasn't fazed by Dee's shift in position, though the initial move was a little bit of a surprise. At first, Minlara wasn't sure what Dierdre was doing, but after she settled into her comfy spot, the taller blonde was more than pleased. More warmth, yay! She shifted slightly and sighed, enjoying the heat, shaking her head at Dee's reasoning for spoiling her. The wavy-headed girl grinned around her mouthful of sandwich, thoroughly amused by the image of what they had to look like all flopped about like this. Well, liking to spoil and having fun being spoiled had to look silly sometimes, right? She frowned though, as Dierdre picked on the teen for speaking with her mouth stuffed like that.

A series of grumbles left the reclining girl before she bit off and swallowed the sandwich in her mouth. "I said, 'this is yours', silly girl." She grumped, before grabbing the wine and downing another gulp of the sweet alcoholic beverage. Before she could take another bite of her sandwich though, Dierdre changed the subject. She saw... him today? The guy she was supposed to marry, no doubt. And judging by her tone... Min glanced up at her friend as best she could manage, eyes alight with concern. Neither had really known the fellow she was supposed to join with, nor had they a clue his age, appearance, or personality. "You saw him, huh...?" She said softly, her gaze shifting to stare a bit forlornly at the wine sitting in the sand in front of her.

"Something tells me he's not what you imagined." Though she really didn't know what Dierdre had believed the man would be like, Minlara knew what she had expected him to be like. Maybe early twenties, handsome, dark hair and bright eyes, fun, helpful, and all sorts of protective of her dear timid little Dee. She needed a rock to lean on, and Min, perhaps naively, had imagined a man that would be truly devoted to being there for her, no matter what. The sort of person that Dierdre could grow from, could leave her shell with. She glanced up at her childhood friend again, devoured her sandwich in silence, and then offered up her wine to Dierdre.

"Have a swig. You sound like you need to relax." Relax, unwind, and leave it to Min to figure out something, anything, to fix this sharding ridiculous bastard she was promised to. Maybe she could scare the man away? But how would she do that...? Perhaps she could get Dierdre together with a different guy, and the fellow she was promised to wouldn't want her after that? Nah, that would be far too trying on pure little Dee. What about just telling him off? Or telling her parents to go jump in the lake? No, no... Try as she might, no immediate and easy solution could come to her mind. It would take a miracle to get Dierdre out of this obviously displeasing situation... and Minlara couldn't be that miracle.

[Requiem]

Deirdre made a small, rather unfathomable sound in her throat that sounded like a cross between a sad little whimper and a noncommital grunt, chewing on another bite of her sandwich. This was actually why she'd been reluctant to bring it up in the first place; she didn't want to spoil Minlara's evening on such an important day for her. Nothing Minnie could do about it, anyway. By the same token, though, the girl had never kept anything from her friend and the dolphineer would have noticed eventually that Deirdre was more subdued than normal anyway. Probably before the night was over. Came with the territory of nearly being attached at the hip the first twelve turns of their lives and still pretty close afterwards.

Eyeing the bottle for a moment, she accepted it finally and took a swig as directed. It wasn't that she'd never had any wine. Quite the contrary. She lived on a vineyard, after all. Dee just knew herself to be a lightweight and an uneasiness that she might say something she regretted later pricked at her. Really, though...a drink sounded all too wonderful right now. In about a tenday she'd be bound to that man and leave even the fieldwork she'd done, confined to domestic duties and marriage. When had her life gotten so outside her control? Silly question. Deirdre took another sip. It had never been under her control. Maybe that's why she loved Minnie so much, because she could almost live the life she'd wanted for herself through her friend.

"Thanks," she stated quietly, returning the bottle to Minlara and finishing the last several bites of her sandwich before she leaned back on her palms, eyes going to the skies above them. No dragons this evening. Dee always loved watching the dragons. They seemed so...free, up there. "He didn't know I was there to watch him. Mom pointed him out..." For a long moment, the girl didn't say anything more.

When she began again, though, her voice was infused with an attempted cheerfulness. "His clothes were nice? Daddy was right in that he has money. And I'm sure he's nice enough. Guys normally flirt with pretty drudges, even the engaged ones. I don't really like younger men that much, anyway. They're so noisy and hyperactive, always getting into tussles over this or that and trying to prove their manliness to one another. It will be nice not to have to worry about him getting his face rearranged over some silly pride thing."

Yes, even Deirdre recognized that she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself that it wouldn't be so bad more than actually being okay with the situation. But what else could she do? A joining was a joining. Her father had already arranged it, and he was just trying to find her a man who could and would take good care of her, so she didn't have to work in the fields anymore. What did fathers know of girls' dreams of romance and passion? Moreover, what did they care? A pretty face and body wouldn't keep her clothed and fed. It might...keep her happy, though, she thought to herself before shaking the rebellious little thing off. Nothing at all she could do about it but accept the inevitable. And dream of dragons.

Yes, she could always do that.

[jing]

Minnie's evening wasn't spoiled, per se, but it wasn't quite as giddy as it had been. Plus, her plans to gush to her almost sister about the sexy brunette that had just arrived at the Dolphin Hall today sort of... drowned in the lake. Talking about boys when your favorite chatter partner was grappling with the news of her joining partner being anything but the fantastic, handsome, wonderful young man you both had been imagining... it just lost a lot of it's appeal. Thoughtfully, Minlara waited while Dee at last took the wine bottle she was offered, her sprawling form going slack as she debated inwardly. Not much could be done, really, to help her dear friend, that didn't involve Deirdre herself saying something. Anything. The girl had basically taken up the occupation of 'marry-able son' since she became old enough to do a craft...

Sometimes Min wondered why Dierdre's brother had to die so early. In some ways, if he hadn't, Min might never be where she was. In other ways, neither would Dee. Both good and bad came of his demise, and yet Minlara would happily give up her happiness for Dee to have it instead. At least she didn't have to be joined off to someone until she was done with her crafting endeavors. The quiet offer of thanks and return of the bottle was met with 'you're welcome' and the acceptance of the wine, which quickly found itself in the nude young lady's mouth, the contents running down her throat and burning away the lump that had settled there. Then came the explanation... and a long, deafening moment of silence.

She was trying to find the bright side. Dee was practically famous for that, finding the bright side in everything and anything that was thrown at her. The good in everything and everyone, no matter how bleak, how terrible, how hidden the positive might be in the negative baggage surrounding it. Minlara simply shook her head as Dee finally spoke again, dancing over the subjects that were sure to elevate his status as a dependable provider and husband in the eyes of a money-blinded drudge, or a rank-oriented parent.

Really, she sounded less like she was trying to convince Minlara of his... worth... than she was trying to convince herself. The journeyman sighed, listening quietly, holding her input for when Dee finally finished her feeble attempts at playing up her future... husband. "... I would rather have a dimglow, prideful brat than someone who could be passed off as my father." She said softly, glaring halfheartedly at the wine bottle in her hand. "One can grow and change, learn and flow. The other is already set in his ways... and intent on teaching, not learning." She shook her head and glanced up at Dee as best she could from her vantage point, before she finally sat up.

The chivalry in her tone bled into her actions as she wrapped Dee into a big ol' hug, her wine bottle dismissed in the sands. "Flirting with young drudges isn't something you do when you're about to be joined, either." She grumped, hugging her poor sandy friend close. "I'd kick his tail if I caught him doing that." Not that Minlara was a jealous person... she just didn't trust this older man at face value. Rich menfolk tended to be lecherous old bastards, she had come to realize - and that was not what her dear little Dee needed, sharditall. "A man that wouldn't fight for you isn't worth his salt." She said next, grumping more. Damn parents more interested in making sure their daughters were well-fed, well-clothed, and well-cared for. What about love?! LOVE?! Where was the love in an arranged joining? Shaffit, love was what Dee needed, not some fancy petticoat and enough marks to throw at people for fun.

That wouldn't get her out of her shell, help her grow as a person. Just make her worse. Minnie grumped some more, and finally released Dee, her intent to relocate her clothes before some joker brat stole them again. Not that she cared much... she just happened to be running out of clothes. "Sorry love. I'm not helping much, am I?" She said, grinning sheepishly now that her tirade was completed. She looked off to one side, grumping, and then had a quick look around. There her clothes were! Over there, on that branch. She shook her head standing, and excused herself. "One second. Going to grab my clothes before I forget or run my mouth off again." She chuckled, and then went dashing haphazardly across the sand. Snatching her clothes off the fallen tree they sat on, she headed back to their little picnic spot, plopping back down into the sand. In a flash the bottle was in her hand again, the liquid vanishing at an alarming rate, until it was completely gone. Muuuuuch better~

[Requiem]

No, Minlara's response wasn't very helpful at all. At least not her verbal response. Deirdre normally might have taken to staring at her hands which were often placed conveniently in her lap for such situations, but Minnie was now occupying that space. She instead continued staring into the sky without really seeing it, trying to let the words roll off her and not really succeeding. In all actuality...her friend was just saying the things she'd tried not to think about. Not in the same words, of course, but she'd been working hard not to allow her mind to go down those paths. Not that she blamed her friend at all. It was actually reassuring to know that Minlara understood without Deirdre having to say a thing. And of course she understood. They weren't the same person by a long shot, but they knew each other, and one woman's secret thoughts were not really that different from another's. Well, apart from Deirdre's one guilty secret, anyway.

That she was pretty certain Minlara didn't have the faintest clue about.

At least, if she did realize just how difficult it was for Deirdre to constantly be around her friend when the sight of her nude body made her mind go all sorts of scandalous directions, then she was a very cruel friend indeed. All such thoughts scattered to the wind at yet another action that could be nothing short of cruel if Minnie knew, the girl pressing up against Deirdre as she hugged the fieldhand tightly. The smaller of the two swallowed on a suddenly dry throat, turning wide eyes on Minnie, then tentatively enfolding her in a return hug. She could barely resist carressing the smooth skin beneath her fingers, Deirdre finally resting her chin on Minlara's shoulder in the hopes that maybe if her face wasn't within her friend's sight it might not be so obvious. The fear that her thoughts would make things strange with her best friend in the world, especially now when she most needed her, was nearly crippling.

"Well, I don't think that it would be very good for a man to fight a girl, anyway," Deirdre commented quietly to her friend, trying to hide her dismay at the thought of her friend starting a fight with any of the men at the hold, much less her fiancee. What if he didn't like it and then wouldn't let Deirdre see Minlara anymore? That would be...terrible. Meeting Minnie's eyes, Dee smiled a little awkwardly. "No, you are." She squeezed her friend slightly. "Just having you here is a great help." Deirdre tried to ignore the casual endearment, just as she tried to ignore the girl bouncing away from her, the fieldhand smoothing out the skirt of her dress and rubbing lightly at her wrist while she followed Minlara's progress out of the corner of her eye.

"You'll get whine on these," Deirdre murmured, taking the clothes from Minlara as the dolphineer started gulping down more of the wine. So what if it was just an excuse. Minnie wouldn't know the difference. Holding the clothing to her chest, she breathed it in while watching her friend. "I-isn't that a little much? I only had a couple sips..." she murmured, glancing toward the road she'd have to take back to the vineyard a little nervously. If her friend was too drunk she'd have to take it alone...

Reaching out tentatively, she set her hand on Minlara's bare shoulder. Even then not sure what she would say or do. Really...she just wanted the contact. There was a slight tremble in her fingers. "Are you going to stay here? At the Hall for awhile? Even though you're a journeyman?" She knew some of them left after they walked the tables. The thought had been plaguing her for a sevenday now.

[jing]

Minlara was certainly not a cruel friend so much as a relatively dense one when it came to Deirdre's extraordinary feelings for her. Sure, she had noticed Dee's affection, and occasional over-interest in certain things, but most of it could be easily written off as the timid girl's shyness or embarrassment over what they had been talking about. Minlara never had been the quickest at picking up hints of flirting or interest, and with Deirdre's constant attempts to hide any chance that could give the taller blonde any inkling of her adoration? Well, Min hadn't seen anything that would really make her wonder. As it were, Minlara herself was unequivocally straight, as many holdbred girls were, and so she didn't tend to give the idea of entertaining a female instead of a male much thought anyway. Instead, she viewed her little Dee as her dearest friend, her sweet confidante, her... well. Her child.

Timid little Deirdre could easily be teased, be picked on, be ignored or missed. Minlara couldn't. She was loud, forward, chivalrous, and more than happy to play the knight in shining armor against anyone that would dare to pick on Dee. Like a bear over her cub, Minlara tended to be, when men were on the prowl after a night of drinking, or teens in the Hold were intent on making fun of 'strange' peers. "It might not be very good, but it will happen if he treats you poorly." She said, grumping a bit that her friend wouldn't back her up in the event of such a thing happening. The dolphineer was silent, however, as Dee proceeded to point out that, even though Min wasn't being very... comforting, she was still glad to have the taller girl there, just to be there.

The bottle finished, Minlara cast it to the sand at her feet, ignoring the sudden flush of warm fuzzies that engulfed her body in a light blush. It would subside soon enough, she knew, being an experienced drinker as she was, and having eaten during and now before partaking in the alcohol. She shook her head at Deirdre's question, smiling a little. "I'd need another bottle for it to be too much." She said, chuckling, as she glanced over at her friend. Dee now had her clothing against her chest, as if intent on protecting the folded fabric from what wine had been left to drink. She smiled wanly at the girl, amused. Dee always had been a bit of a neat freak, she supposed, and that would give her plenty of reason to try and keep Min's clothing clean. She didn't even lay the outfit in her lap, where Minlara had left all that sand from laying on her. Thoughtful girl.

It was Min's turn to be thoughtful, then, at Deirdre's next question. Was she going to stay there? Blossom had been her home for nearly eighteen turns now... it was old news. She knew the lake round and round and upside down. She knew the people, the Hold, the Masters and the apprentices, and they knew her. She wanted something different, something new... and yet she doubted there were many other places that knew or could easily learn who she was and what she tended to do, let alone be unaffected by certain... things she often did. Like swim and practice her craft in the nude. Holdfolk tended to be much more... conservative than that. Weyrfolk weren't, but what Weyr had a body of water that could be easily accessed and support a fresh water dolphin? Perhaps Selenitas, with it's river running through the heart of the place itself, but...

Could Minnie leave without Dee?

Of course not. She couldn't let her little girl suffer alone, live unhappily with a husband so obviously without favor. Though she didn't really want to stay at Blossom for all of her turns... Deirdre did. And that would keep Minlara there until the day she died. "... I don't plan on travelling." She said simply, her tone relatively flat as she stared at the lake. "I don't think there are many other places that could often deal with me without losing their heads." She chuckled then, a smile crossing her lips. Yes, she was sure there probably wouldn't be many that could deal with her like Blossom Holdfolk did, like the other Dolphineers did, like Deirdre did. "Maybe in a few turns I'll go back and forth from here to another place. But I don't have any immediate plans." She could always stay at Blossom and teach Dolphineering, too. Mastership for a constantly stripping female dolphineer. What a shock that would be for new Apprentices.

[Requiem]

Deirdre couldn't help but wring the clothes in her hands a little, as her imagination went off on all the terrible things that could arise of her Minlara confronting that man. She had no doubt that Minlara would win said confrontation, but that would almost be worse, as a man's pride did not stand so well for that. A life forbidden from seeing Minnie because her future husband hated the girl seemed...terrible. It really did. But she tried to rein in her fears, telling herself that her friend certainly didn't have any plans to do this now, and in her ever optimistic way she figured that her fiancee would not give the dolphineer reason to in the future. Probably.

Attempting a smile for Minnie, she wasn't sure if it was the nagging worry (even though she knew that Minlara was telling the truth) that this time the wine would prove too much, or the distraction of her still naked body that had Deirdre's stomach all aflutter, but either way she didn't say anything to the claim. And yes, her cheeks did color slightly at the girl's almost fond smile when she looked to Dee cuddling her clothes. The guilt welled up again. If only she knew, would she be upset? Leave forever? It really wasn't Deirdre's fault. She didn't try to find Minlara interesting in that way, after all, and the more logical part of her figured it had something to do with how safe she felt around Minnie. Probably more that than any strange perverted attraction to her own sex in general. She certainly hadn't noticed any other women...Forcing the thoughts from her mind, she focused all her attention on the dolphineer's response to her question. It wasn't that hard to do; the answer meant a great deal to the fieldhand.

The response was so long in coming. Eventually, Deirdre had to just turn her gaze away from Minlara, trying not to tear up. That was answer enough. Regardless of what Minnie said, simply the fact that it took so much time for her to come up with a response spoke volumes. The dolphineer wanted to leave. She really couldn't blame her best friend. Of the two of them, Minlara had always been the more adventurous, and even Deirdre would have loved to get out and see new places, especially the Weyr with the dragons, just to see if the legendary creatures (not so legendary, really, but they were certainly beyond her reach) were anything like she imagined and the stories suggested. How much more could Minnie's wanderlust be, then? It was selfish to want her to stay here. Just because Deirdre was trapped...didn't mean that Minlara had to be.

"You're lying," Deirdre stated, with unusual directness. The girl was her dearest friend, though, after all, and she felt comfortable enough to contradict her. At least on this. "We both know the Weyr wouldn't care." The fieldhand had yet to look at the dolphineer, instead focusing on the clothing she still clutched to her breast, almost like it was something precious. "You should go." Finally having managed to arrange her expression into something appropriate, she lifted her head and smiled at Minnie. "I'd like you to. You should be happy. I want you to be happy," she added, a touch more forcefully. Then her eyes went toward the sky, which was ever darkening toward dusk. Her brief strength fizzled, then, and she worried at her lip, glancing back toward the road. "We should get going soon, shouldn't we?" She wasn't afraid of the dark. Really. Just what certain people tended to do in the dark when they thought no one was watching.

[jing]

Minlara really didn't care all that much about what would happen to her should she pick a fight with an old rich fellow or if she stayed in the Hold all her turns. As long as Deirdre was timidly accepting her life as it came to her, Minlara would be there to help her through the rough patches. As far as Minnie knew, Dee didn't have many friends that weren't related to her, or at the very least didn't have some hand in her workplace. The other fieldhands always seemed more like acquaintances than friends whenever Min met them, and the obvious fact that most of them were male didn't change that initial observation. Men weren't always the best sort of... friend material for girls like Dee. At least, in Min's opinion they weren't.

The blonde blinked in open surprise, however, as Deirdre openly chastised her answer. Lying? She wasn't... she wasn't lying. She hadn't any immediate plans to leave. Sure, she wanted to leave, but that wasn't the same as actually planning to leave. But, oh, that wasn't what Dee had been referring to- the Weyr likely wouldn't have much issue with her... tendencies. Sure they both knew that... but it wasn't the same as being known by everyone. Being accepted was something rather different from being known. 'Oh, that's just Minlara. She always does that,' was certainly different from, 'Oh, that's just how things are here.' She smiled wanly at her dear friend, shaking her head before she decided on an answer. "I am happy, Dee." The dolphineer said. "I am just as content staying here as going somewhere else."

She stood then, brushing the sand off herself, unbothered by a strange look she garnered from a fellow down the beach. "Besides, I couldn't leave you here alone." She extended a hand to the fieldhand, grinning a touch devilishly. "Who would walk you home every night?" Once Deirdre was helped up, Minlara would accept her clothing from the smaller girl and start dressing. It wouldn't do to get into a fight in the nude! Sure, she might have the advantage of a lack of things to grab onto, but that didn't mean she was terribly interested in leaving what else they could grab as an option.

After a moment of situating her breastband, the dolphineer pulled her dark green shirt on over her head, and continued her conversation. "You are right though, we should probably get a move on." In a moment her undergarments were securely on, and her pants slipped on next, followed by a loose wherry-hide belt she would probably have to replace soon. Now that she was dressed, the journeyman swept her blonde hair back into a runnertail, and offered Dee her arm. "Well then milady, shall we be off?"