Requiem
Weyrleader S'rei WM M?ta Rider A'nd Harper/Handler Dmitri Weyrbrat Miguel
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Requiem on Feb 26, 2011 17:26:04 GMT -5
I do not see how dressing in too-tight coverings makes you look more 'green.' It is not even green-colored. You also think I'm a woman. No, Eveyth corrected patiently. You are a green. You are a human female that gets Flown but does not clutch. X'rx merely regarded her from beneath one raised brow, not directing his thoughts at her. Not that it mattered. She understood them anyway. Of course there's a difference. The greenrider shrugged, adjusting his snug leathers. His hair had more than the usual amount of feathers and beadwork, cut shorter than it used to be and feathered in a distinctly feminine style. Recent work. A thin line of kohl accented his eyes.
Even when being snotty because he hadn't liked the way the holders eyed him when he'd shown up in his more usual attire, X'rx wasn't much for gaudy. E'rro, Cr'oph and Syrene could look like circus freaks. The greenrider would settle for just enough to be noticeable. Toying with the long strip of fabric he'd wound about his hips as a sort of sash - the only thing he wore that was green apart from his knots - the young man watched the crowd pass by with a certain detachment. He'd noted a few familiar faces. As well as a few familiar salamandyrs, which just made both him and Eveyth sigh. Salamandyrs were native Selenitas Weyr and nothing else. That was just dumb. But he didn't say anything or approach any of them.
There weren't too many who he knew that well, anyway. Cr'oph and Darya. R'ven. That was it, for the most part. Well, he was stuck here until Ximera grew bored. Might as well make use of it. Like getting the leather he needed for new straps. (After the fiasco the other day with Caden, he didn't really feel like flirting with random 'guys' just to make the holders squirm. In fact, he wasn't sure what he'd been so twitchy about. Of course holders stereotyped dragonriders. And male greenriders.)
A figure appeared and disappeared again suddenly within the crowd. X'rx blinked. Was that...? The young man adjusted the bow slung over his back, making sure it was secure before he slipped into the jostle of the crowd, then started trailing her. Keeping his distance. The greenrider didn't want to do or say anything until he was sure. It almost became a game of cat and mouse. X'rx was almost certain she'd noticed she had a tail, considering she kept disappearing into the crowd. Almost as if on purpose. Then he lost her entirely.
Looking for the figure still, he moved slowly past the weapons stall, eyes scanning. But he couldn't find her. Oh well. It probably wasn't Darya anyway.
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Kisha-Ra
Rider Mo?rya Rider Darya Rider K?fuzzi Rider J?on Handler Vivano Handler Yoalla
Happier'n a pig in mud ABOUT WHERBABIES!
Posts: 1,109
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Post by Kisha-Ra on Feb 26, 2011 18:25:09 GMT -5
What with one thing and another Darya hadn’t actually got much of the things she actually needed to at this gather, she was beginning to wonder if she ever would or if… Was that…? Oh never mind the distraction had vanished away into the crowd and it probably wasn’t anything more than a superficial resemblance anyway. Darya turned away and continued her careful wandering around the stalls, examining every price as she went. Darya was a dreadful haggler, so bad that merchants had actually been known to raise their prices for her. Needless to say she now just paid the marked price for everything, it was cheaper that way.
As she moved among the gather crowds Darya became aware that she had an extra shadow, it was a slightly irritating feeling, especially since her tail kept melting back into the crowd every time she had a chance to try and identify him. Consequently Darya began to take steps to blend in with the crowds herself, slipping in with groups of people rather than cutting right across them, stopping to browse at stalls, and occasionally doubling back, which made her trip around the stalls a great deal longer than it otherwise would have been, and she still hadn’t lost her tracker.
At last! A glimpse of her elusive follower through the crowd. Him? Yes, the same person who’d caught her eye earlier, the haircut was new, and the clothing wasn’t what he usually wore, but Darya was pretty much convinced she could recognise the way X’rx moved anywhere. Time to turn this game on its head. Darya slipped into a crowd of women about her age, all with children, and kept her head down, matching her body language to theirs as much as possible, then darted neatly behind a remarkably large man, following him for a while until she could work her way behind her target and stand there, leaning casually against the side of a stall, arms folded, but ready to wave the moment he turned around.
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Requiem
Weyrleader S'rei WM M?ta Rider A'nd Harper/Handler Dmitri Weyrbrat Miguel
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Requiem on Feb 27, 2011 20:42:49 GMT -5
Having lost his quarry - sadly - X'rx turned to look at the weapons' stall he'd just passed. It was rather a useless thing to do, of course. The greenrider carried the obligatory belt knife. A tool that was more utilitarian than something he intended to use as a weapon, though it was sharp enough to serve that purpose, too. Between that and the bow he couldn't imagine using any of these other things. Making your own arrows was far cheaper than buying these, though arrowheads...yes, he could possibly use that.
As he scanned the wares, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. X'rx turned to face the woman. Tall. Lean. Greying a bit. He blinked once, then his smile spread across his face the moment he saw her wave. X'rx was not typically a demonstrative sort. Friendly, yes, but Ximera had gotten most of the exuberance in the family. Nevertheless, he advanced on her quickly, throwing his arms around Darya and snugging her close.
The greenrider stepped back, his hands on her shoulders. The young man looked her up and down before meeting her eyes again. His smile was definitely genuine. "Darya. I should kick you for leaving. You look wonderful." Perhaps even leaner than she had before. Not that X'rx was complaining. He'd never had an reason to complain about Darya, and the greenrider was just happy to see her again.
"Not getting into the spirit of the Gather, I see. Not that I blame you. That whole destined lovers thing is so limiting." His hands fell from her shoulders and he moved to lean on the stall beside her. "So I'm not going to ask questions. Other than one. Are you free to spend your time with me today? I've missed you terribly." X'rx had never really had any qualms about admitting stuff like that.
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Kisha-Ra
Rider Mo?rya Rider Darya Rider K?fuzzi Rider J?on Handler Vivano Handler Yoalla
Happier'n a pig in mud ABOUT WHERBABIES!
Posts: 1,109
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Post by Kisha-Ra on Mar 2, 2011 10:19:49 GMT -5
Darya watched with vague amusment as her tail looked around, realised she wasn’t in view anymore, and turned away to look over the goods for sale at the weapon stall (a stall which Darya had already been snubbed at for being too female), she wondered idly whether anything caught his eye or not while she waited patiently for his attention to shift towards her new leaning post, which happened to be at the end of the weapon stall partly in defiance of the stallholder. When the greenrider eventually looked her way Darya grinned and, predictably, waved.
To her mild surprise as soon as he recognised her X’rx was hurrying over (which she expected) and throwing his arms around her (which she didn’t), although he was an open and affectionate person this wasn’t his normal level of enthusiasm. Even as she thought that Darya leaned into the greenrider and snaked her arms around him in a brief hug.
After a moment the pair of them drew apart and X’rx’s comment drew a wry smile from Darya. ‘Go ahead then, but bear in mind that a collection of bruises will probably detract from my “wonderful” looks.’ Darya made put a heavy irony on X’rx’s description of her and made air quotations around the word, not because she felt she was particularly hideous, but because she knew damn well that she wasn’t looking her best, her choice of clothing was frankly defiant to the theme of the event, and it was really a bit baggier than it was supposed to be, although apparently not enough to let anyone think she was male.
‘Limiting indeed.’ Darya gave a cheerful grin. ‘Although it occurs to me that more than half the gather crowd has those red threads tied around them. Does that mean there’s a great deal of fun I didn’t know about going on? So no, I’m not in the spirit of things, but what about you? New hairstyle, new clothes,’ a hand came up to give a gentle tug on the greenrider’s hair as Darya gave his new, rather tight, outfit a look over that suggested she liked it, ‘just how many “destined lovers” are you looking for?’ Although the bluerider was once again heavy on the irony the question had nothing more than mild curiosity and a touch of humour in it.
Darya’s eyes narrowed slightly as if in thought and she examined X’rx carefully with her head tipped to one side. ‘Well, I suppose I could spare you a few minutes… No, I’m joking. I’ve always got time to spend with you X’rx.’ Darya’s arm wrapped companionably around the greenrider and pulled him close to her left side. ‘Believe it or not I missed you too, although I will have to drag you around to do some boring things too. Like get some new clothes, would you believe that I’m not only feeling defiant I also have nothing worthwhile to put on my back?’ The bluerider gave a small chuckle and looked back at X’rx. ‘Maybe I should get you to find me something,’ She mused. ‘You’ve got a good eye for clothing, I can’t believe that none of that is clashing hideously.’
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Requiem
Weyrleader S'rei WM M?ta Rider A'nd Harper/Handler Dmitri Weyrbrat Miguel
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Requiem on Mar 12, 2011 15:21:42 GMT -5
It was entirely unnecessary for him to comment further on her looks. X'rx admittedly had a wide and varied collection of very friendly friends ensuring that his furs were rarely cool. (All the better that they went home in the morning. The greenrider wasn't much for live-ins.) But Darya was definitely one of his favorites. He found it altogether too amusing, watching her attempt to get across that tough, hard attitude. Or was it just that people didn't get her particular brand of humor as often as not?
The young man grinned cheekily at the bluerider. "Naughty. Though, considering some of the people walking around...that's probably a party you don't want to be in on," he added, nodding toward a couple that definitely had much too soft a life here in this Hold. They looked like they should be pulling a cart with the herdbeasts riding along. Couldn't be more than thirty either. X'rx couldn't understand how that sort of thing happened. Holders.
A slight flush gathered in his cheeks. Even he couldn't say for sure why. Embarrassment at his little tantrum yesterday, her playing with his hair or the look she'd just given him...well, it could be any or all of them at once. Either way, he'd hesitated to respond long enough that she moved on, changing the topic, and he pressed into her side companionably, threading an arm about her waist. "I suppose no one had much time to get any of their things together, did they?" he questioned, mostly to himself. The thought had just occurred to him. Darya certainly wasn't the type to wake up in an emergency and think Oh, Faranth, I must get my clothes! (For that matter, neither was X'rx, which only made the mental image more amusing.)
The greenrider snorted softly. "Clashing is obnoxious. I wouldn't want to give the poor, unsuspecting bystanders a stroke just by glancing at me." Not today, anyway. He was feeling much less murderous today. "They give me the evil eye anyway because I have green in my knots. It pissed me off yesterday and I temporarily lost my mind. Fortunately, I stopped acting like a five-turn-old when the 'man' I randomly kissed to shock the prejudiced bastards turned out to be our very masculine new goldweyrling." He snorted at himself, then tugged lightly at her shirt.
"I'm sure we can find you something more flattering and still sensible. Though not too flattering. I don't want you getting so much attention that you forget me completely while we're apart." X'rx flashed a smile at his former weyrlingmaster. That he'd kind of gotten fired. Yeaaaah.
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Kisha-Ra
Rider Mo?rya Rider Darya Rider K?fuzzi Rider J?on Handler Vivano Handler Yoalla
Happier'n a pig in mud ABOUT WHERBABIES!
Posts: 1,109
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Post by Kisha-Ra on Mar 13, 2011 15:55:57 GMT -5
Darya followed the greenrider’s gaze and gave the corpulent couple a raised eyebrow. ‘You may be right, I don’t think life as a pancake would agree with me. They’d be different people after a few five mile runs though, dead ones probably but there’s no helping some people.’ The bluerider gave a shrug dismissing the holders, she was used to weyrfolk, who hardly ever seemed to be overweight.
It seemed Darya was more tactile than she used to be, case in point, she wasn’t feeling really awkward at the moment or wondering what everyone around her was thinking. Not that she gave much of a damn what a bunch of holders thought of her anyway. She didn’t press for details on X’rx’s collection of bedwarmers either, it was really none of business, and everyone was happier this way. ‘To be honest I don’t think anyone was actually expecting to be gone so long, I know I wasn’t, so I pretty much had whatever was with my riding gear, which is a pretty motley assortment of things to be leaving for so long with. I left the stupid chicken behind too.’ Darya didn’t really know why she was mentioning Irony, he’d long since have been eaten, if only because he was such an annoying creature, she supposed it was just thinking about things she’d left behind.
Darya raised an eyebrow and chuckled. ‘Very masculine goldweyrling hmmm? I’ll take it that my little nephew didn’t achieve his lifelong dream of Impressing a gold dragon then, or you’d be telling me you kissed a very feminine boy.’ Darya reached up to run a hand through her hair and pulled a face, Mort might be a royal pain but she had been kind of responsible for him. ‘I don’t suppose you know what did happen to him? You’d know if you’d seen Mort around, long blonde hair and bird of paradise coloured clothing, probably with ribbons.’
‘I don’t think I could possibly forget you X’rx.’ Darya laughed at the comment. ‘And I mean that in a good way.’ She added, realising that didn’t sound much like a compliment. Forget the greenrider who called her out on looking him over, and in her own weyr no lees? Not very likely! ‘Although I expect you’ll still get the evil eye off all these hidebound types, if you’re still feeling sulky about that we could see if we can pick up a third person around here somewhere. That should be shocking enough for them.’ Darya returned to a previous topic with a touch of wry amusement. If X’rx wanted a game of shock the holders she was happy to play.
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Requiem
Weyrleader S'rei WM M?ta Rider A'nd Harper/Handler Dmitri Weyrbrat Miguel
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Requiem on Mar 13, 2011 17:15:17 GMT -5
The greenrider was conspicuously silent at mention of Darya's things...and her chicken. By the time it had occurred to him to go by any of the abandoned weyrs, they were already occupied by strangers. Some of the Selenitas riders might be able to forget after awhile that they were invaders, but not a greenrider who'd spent his entire life at Selenitas Weyr. Those faces simply didn't belong. Irony was long gone by now. Even if Darya didn't wish to admit it, she was probably at least somewhat attached to that crazy chicken.
"Nope, afraid not. Got a manly girl instead of a girly boy. He's Mor'ya now, of bronze Epifayrmuth." X'rx glanced sidelong at his former weyrlingmaster to see what her reaction was to her colorful nephew Impressing a bronze. If he'd learned anything from being weyrbred, it was that no matter what patterns you thought you'd found, dragons liked to do their own thing.
The young man wrinkled his nose at his companion. "I would hope so. We weren't that much of a pain. Eveyth's still a great paper shredder." X'rx didn't need Darya to reassure him. Having her arm around him did more than enough of that. It wasn't like she went around hugging all these random people she wasn't terribly fond of just for the heck of it. Kind of cute that she felt the need to make that clear, though.
The greenrider blinked once or twice at Darya. Was she actually suggesting what he thought she was? It didn't sound like she was joking, either. After the initial surprise of the words themselves, a slow smile blossomed across X'rx's face. Now wasn't that an idea? "A third person. Did you have someone specific in mind, or can we pick one of these holders?"
His eyes scanned the crowd with renewed eagerness. Okay, so it was juvenile. But X'rx still felt that if their eyes were going to accuse him before they knew him at all, he might as well be guilty of the accusation. "I never thought to ask if you liked women, too. Maybe one of the older hold boys..." One that wasn't too thrown off by a feminine-looking male greenrider, anyway.
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Kisha-Ra
Rider Mo?rya Rider Darya Rider K?fuzzi Rider J?on Handler Vivano Handler Yoalla
Happier'n a pig in mud ABOUT WHERBABIES!
Posts: 1,109
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Post by Kisha-Ra on Mar 18, 2011 6:55:16 GMT -5
Darya could really only shake her head disbelievingly at that particular news, Mortanyal Impressing a bronze was something she never would have expected. ‘Dragons really defy belief sometimes, I never thought there was bronzerider material in that one, green surely, blue possibly, but not bronze. All I can say is that Epifayrmuth must be a fairly unique creature.’ Well it was a load off her mind to know that Mort, or Mo’rya as he was now, was still alive, and probably still at large despite being bonded to a bronze dragon, and the weyrlingmaster’s problem, whosoever that might now be, not some invader she hoped.
‘Ah but she’s a bit harder to fit into an office these days, not that I have an office anymore, or any paperwork I need destroyed.’ Darya flashed a cheerful smile; if there was one thing she definitely didn’t miss about her old job it was all the paperwork that seemed to go with it, it seemed to have been fairly endless and far more onerous than the actual teaching.
The bluerider returned the slightly dazed looking blinking with an unconcerned expression, whether X’rx chose to take that comment seriously or not didn’t bother her much, although it would be far more entertaining if he did, Darya often took a fairly childish delight in shocking people. As a smile spread over X’rx’s face Darya’s eyes took on a wicked glint, apparently the pair of them were on the same wavelength. ‘I didn’t have anyone specific lined up, go ahead and pick whoever you want.’ She replied with an evil grain and glance around the place. ‘Within reason.’ She added with a distasteful expression as that amazingly large couple caught her eye again, not that she thought X’rx was any more into being crushed than she was.
Darya shrugged dismissively. ‘I prefer men generally but there’s nothing like being weyrbred to make you… adaptable.’ Her eyes performed the same scan of the crowds that X’rx was currently making. ‘You do realise we’re making everyone’s worst fears about the terribly immoral and lewd dragonriders come true don’t you?’ She added, although Darya didn’t sound in the least upset by this, in fact she sounded rather pleased with herself and the cheerfully predatory look which she surveyed the crowds with just confirmed this.
‘What do you think of him?’ The bluerider indicated her target with a slight gesture, a plainly dressed lad perhaps a little older than X’rx who looked fairly innocent, if they couldn’t score together, that young man at least looked fairly entertainingly shockable.
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Requiem
Weyrleader S'rei WM M?ta Rider A'nd Harper/Handler Dmitri Weyrbrat Miguel
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Requiem on Mar 27, 2011 11:07:42 GMT -5
X'rx shrugged a shoulder, though he couldn't help but agree with Darya; Mor'ya was one of the last people he would have thought might Impress a bronze dragon. He didn't know Epifayrmuth. Neither did Eveyth. The greenpair was a bit busy to bother with new weyrlings, really, and that would be true of most of the dragonriders who didn't have weyrlings as part of their job descriptions. Wasteland may not have done much of anything since they took over, but training was an all-day affair.
"Men are fine with me," the greenrider replied, a touch distractedly as he scanned the crowds as well. (Something of a needless comment from a greenrider most would say.) Her next comment earned more of his attention, though, lips twisting into a somewhat ironic smile. "I thought that was rather the point." Damned if you do, damned if you don't, might as well enjoy the doing of it then.
X'rx cocked his head slightly to one side at the one she indicated. A bit...older. Not old, mind you, but he was about X'rx's own age...though the greenrider supposed that going much younger than twenty-one would be treading on that sketchy subject of whether he was a child or not. Something that didn't matter so much at the weyr where twelve-turn-olds Impressed dragons, but this was a Hold. Parents would be an unwanted hindrance.
"He's cute enough." Bigger than X'rx. Perhaps a mineworker? But there was a certain way to how he moved, an almost-shyness that suggested no violence in him. A good choice. Flashing a smile at Darya, the greenrider released her arm with a wink and straightened his clothing, making sure everything was as it should be before he approached the man.
X'rx brushed his arm slightly as he walked up to the stall the man was at, no more than a casual touch you'd expect to receive in a crowd like this. The greenrider leaned over the counter, tight pants pulling even tighter as he rested his elbows on the table. Jewelry, huh? "For having mines just outside the Hold, they're certainly charging enough, aren't they?" X'rx tilted his head to one side to regard the young man, a friendly smile touching his eyes.
"Was thinking about finding something for my sister, but...I think I could get far cheaper out of our own mines. Got a woman you're shopping for?" Nothing more than friendly courtesy, surely, if you found his positioning coincidental. X'rx half-turned toward the man and brushed the longer bangs back from the side of his face, doing nothing to create more distance between them. "A lucky girl." His eyes lingered a bit on the boy, moving up him with a slowness that suggested X'rx was enjoying the view.
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Kisha-Ra
Rider Mo?rya Rider Darya Rider K?fuzzi Rider J?on Handler Vivano Handler Yoalla
Happier'n a pig in mud ABOUT WHERBABIES!
Posts: 1,109
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Post by Kisha-Ra on Apr 19, 2011 16:46:26 GMT -5
There was a softly amused chuckle as a reply to the greenrider’s comment. ‘You did seem rather vexed that people would just assume things about you because you’re a greenrider.’ Darya commented with amusement. ‘But now I’m starting to think you were just upset that none of them wanted to play with you, you terribly immoral, lewd creature.’ There were times when Darya just couldn’t resist teasing, and this was certainly one of them, though she briefly pulled X’rx a little closer to take the sting out of her words. ‘But of course it’s the point, what’s the point of acting up if there’s no one around to be shocked by it? I do love to see their little faces when someone breaks away from what they consider “moral” behaviour.’ If Darya’s voice took on an odd mixture of wicked amusement and smugness that somehow perfectly expressed her emotions regarding that situation, and many others that involved a shock to the hidebound.
Darya watched her greenrider go with more than a slight touch of admiration, that was really a quite stunning outfit on him and she had no doubt he’d be able to use it to good effect on their new found friend. For the moment she was content to watch the play and make no moves of her own, her move would come later.
Quite unaware of the pair observing him, Illiyan looked over what was on offer at the jewellery stall, and winced at the prices, alright there were a great deal of people here from all over the place, and some of them were just asking to be cheated but there was a pretty huge mark up on this stuff. Maybe he should just pocket the gems he dug out of the seam and sell them himself if people were seriously buying this stuff. No, really he was just too honest to do that, too damned honest for his own good sometimes. In fact if was probably time to back off a bit before someone came to question him as to what he wanted and he was forced to temporise until such time as he could flee.
So when someone brushed against him just as he was thinking of escape Illiyan visibly jumped away from the touch and turned to look at whoever it was. It turned out to be not, as he half expected, one of the half dozen or so burly young men who patrolled the stall, but a rather colourfully attired young man of a similar age to Illiyan himself. This had to be one of the many visitors to the hold, not only did Illiyan not even vaguely recognise him but no one in Hypen hold would dress like that! Well, no man anyway, Illiyan mentally corrected himself, quite a few of the younger woman might have tried it just to get people to look at them.
Whoever he was he at least seemed friendly, if a little… forward. He did raise some good points though, and Illiyan found himself nodding in agreement even as he blushed furiously at the mention of a woman in his life. ‘Um… No I was, just looking. I’m kind of glad I don’t have a sweetheart to buy for to be totally honest. There’s no way I can afford these things, and besides I don’t think they’re totally worth the price being asked.’ Illiyan lowered his voice furtively and bent his head forward, letting his hair fall over his face, as if that would disguise his identity from anyone who happened to overhear. ‘So what’s happening to you sister that you want buy her jewellery for?’ Illiyan sometimes suffered from overwhelming curiosity, and besides that he was sure this dragonrider (yes he’d finally spotted the knots) was checking him out. ‘Is she getting joined to her sweetheart perhaps?’ Surely this young man’s sister must be ravishing if her brother looked like this…
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Requiem
Weyrleader S'rei WM M?ta Rider A'nd Harper/Handler Dmitri Weyrbrat Miguel
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Requiem on Apr 23, 2011 15:52:51 GMT -5
Standing beside this Holder as the young man was getting over the shock of a random stranger appearing at his elbow and speaking with him so casually, X'rx's mind drifted back over Darya's words. Of course he wouldn't have taken offense at them, even had she not followed it up with the friendly squeeze. The greenrider knew she meant no harm or malice in what she said. He'd dismissed the words, but now he had to wonder if she wasn't a little right, joke though it had been. X'rx was a flirt and definitely a bit loose with his favors. And he didn't think there was anything wrong with that. It was a bit offensive to him that people wouldn't want to 'play' with him, as Darya suggested. Would judge him as something dirty because of his lifestyle. Oh well. Darya had picked well.
After the initial awkwardness, the young man at the stall seemed to grow comfortable again pretty quickly. The blush was adorable. No woman, then, which gave new meaning to the blush. X'rx smiled encouragingly at the man, eyes meeting the holder's directly. Yes. Yes I am hitting on you, the look seemed to say. The smile took on the taint of calculation, amusement behind his eyes at the gender-neutral designation of sweetheart.
X'rx took some pity on the poor, stifled holder, however, and turned his gaze back to the jewelry. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other slowly. Only partially intentionally. "Suspected as much. You're one of the miners here, then?" The greenrider was naturally a quiet person. His voice was kept purposefully conversational despite the crowd, however, forcing the other to remain close if he wanted to hear what was being said.
The greenrider chuckled. The use of 'sweetheart' again did not escape his notice. Was it mere coincidence that the holder was using it to refer to a man this time? X'rx didn't tend to believe in coincidences...and this miner had blushed very nicely. It suggested he wasn't entirely obtuse to the greenrider's purpose. Or opposed to it. "Afraid not. We weyrfolk don't typically join, though I've seen it a couple of times. One of her fellow wherhandlers is engaged." His eyes flicked to the holder. "Two brownriders got joined at Southern a couple turns ago." X'rx watched for a reaction to that. "Her sixteenth's coming up, though. Thought it merited something special."
He let his gaze move over the gems for sale again, arching his neck artfully away from the man and running a hand through his hair slowly. "Mmmm," he hummed in his throat. "Despite rumors to the contrary, this is above my pay grade, too." He pushed himself up from the counter, arching his back and flashing a smile at the other man. "Why don't you let me buy you a drink? I've always been curious about the lives of holders...my family has lived at the Weyr for generations. I'm X'rx." A smile added flavor to the introduction, his hand coming out to touch the man's forearm briefly in friendly fashion as he straightened.
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Kisha-Ra
Rider Mo?rya Rider Darya Rider K?fuzzi Rider J?on Handler Vivano Handler Yoalla
Happier'n a pig in mud ABOUT WHERBABIES!
Posts: 1,109
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Post by Kisha-Ra on May 16, 2011 16:20:26 GMT -5
Illiyan found he couldn’t quite hear the greenrider unless he paid attention to every word, he seemed to be a rather soft spoken fellow, not like many of the hold lads his age, sometimes it seemed the only people his age who could manage anything quieter than a loud brag were beastcrafters and his fellow miners. The low volume of the conversation made Illiyan lean toward the other young man attentively. ‘Dead in the black.’ Illiyan mimed shooting a bow cheerfully, it probably wasn’t hard to peg him for a miner really, he did have that distinctive skin tone that came from spending your life at the bottom of a hole in the ground.
Well at least his curiosity hadn’t offended the dragonrider, not that Illiyan had been that worried, people didn’t normally come up and start asking questions without expecting a few in return. ‘That seems kind of odd, sometimes I think all the girls around here really want is to be somebody’s bride. Not that I think that’s a bad thing, but if one more sets her cap at me I might go mad. I don’t think I want to get joined to anyone yet.’ Illiyan considered what the greenrider was saying with the thought that maybe he should see if he could transfer to the Weyr, he’d just heard there were mines there hadn’t he? ‘Well I’d have to agree; I hope you can find something nice that’s a little less expensive though. Maybe you could buy a setting here to add whatever gems you mine at Selenitas to?’ The prices for jewellery without gems seemed to be far more reasonable. Illiyan forbore to comment on the idea of joined brownriders, mostly because he didn’t want to show the depth of his ignorance with an assumption, it seemed very important to him not to offend this man. He couldn’t help wondering what kind of celebrations the weyrfolk held for joinings though; Illiyan’s curiosity really was endless.
‘Nice to meet you X’rx. I’m Illiyan.’ A smile flashed across the miner’s face at the introduction. ‘I’m afraid hold life is a very boring topic really but if you really want to hear about it I guess I could go on until you’re bored. Then you can shatter my dreams by telling that life in the Weyr isn’t as exciting as it seems. I have to admit though since you mentioned mines I’m most interested in what you mine there, although I guess that’s where the wherhandlers you mentioned come in.’ In the presence of the friendly greenrider Illiyan had become positively chatty, of course the fact that X’rx was attractive and looking at him in a way Illiyan couldn’t quite read might have had something to do with that.
Well it looked like X’rx was having quite a bit of success in luring that lad away from the jewellery, which presumably meant there was no woman in his life, well probably not if the way he was responding to the greenrider’s subtle flirting was any indicator. Darya trailed a way behind the pair of young men as X’rx led their quarry off. She just hoped X’rx wasn’t going to want to keep this one to himself.
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Requiem
Weyrleader S'rei WM M?ta Rider A'nd Harper/Handler Dmitri Weyrbrat Miguel
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Requiem on May 18, 2011 0:12:45 GMT -5
"A setting." He repeated the suggestion as if it were a delicacy he had yet to try, seeming to roll the word over in his mouth just to see how it tasted. Apparently he found the idea palateable, even if he didn't set to implementing it right away. Instead, his eyes lit when Illiyan gave his name with an accompanying smile. This was certainly going well, now wasn't it?
"Mm. If you don't mind hanging around with me for awhile, my sister could tell you all about them. She works the mines with her Ximesk. We're to meet by one of the stalls near dusk." Which still left a good deal of time. (Of course, X'rx could have had his lovely Eve contact Ximera at any time if he wanted, which was to say his purpose behind the suggestion was only minimally about Ximera.)
X'rx moved toward the food stall, ordering a full bottle and some food so that it didn't hit the stomach quite so hard. The young greenrider led the young miner to one of the tables a bit out of the way of the main stream of people. While pouring a couple of glasses, he glanced up at Illiyan, brushing stray hair from in front of his eyes. "So, is there any particular reason you find these women so irksome? You seem to be about the appropriate age, from what I know of holders?"
Probing, definitely. And still being sure to subtly show himself off in an appealing light. Even the most obtuse of observers would probably have noticed they were being hit on by now, and X'rx didn't care to be too forward with what was probably a skittish holder. They had such firm ideas of propriety in holds. "Would you mind if a friend joined us? She's also a dragonrider...I met her here earlier, but she had some business to see to."
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Kisha-Ra
Rider Mo?rya Rider Darya Rider K?fuzzi Rider J?on Handler Vivano Handler Yoalla
Happier'n a pig in mud ABOUT WHERBABIES!
Posts: 1,109
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Post by Kisha-Ra on May 18, 2011 16:07:28 GMT -5
Well the idea about just buying a setting here seemed to have gone down well, even if X’rx wasn’t interested in buying one right away. The silver and gold workers wouldn’t mark up their things too high, probably. ‘I’ll have to take you up on that,’ Illiyan gave another smile as the greenrider blithely mentioned his sister working the mines with her wher. ‘You seem to be good company so far, so hanging around with you for a while isn’t going to be a chore.’ Far from it the young man thought with a covert glance sideways. ‘I really do want to hear some about the Weyr, my family have been mining here since just about the beginning of time, or at least it seems like it, but I think I’d like to travel sometime, before I’m old and know nothing but this.’
Illiyan trailed along more or less in silence, the gather crowds weren’t entirely conductive to conversation with someone as soft spoken as X’rx seemed to be, and since the lack of conversation didn’t seem awkward Illiyan didn’t find it necessary to break it until after he and the greenrider were seated. Before Illiyan could resume his previous line of conversation however, he found that X’rx had a question or two of his own. ‘I suppose I shouldn’t I know my friends don’t find them as annoying as I do but… they’re so…irritating about it.’ Illiyan waved his hands around in a series of vague gestures that were supposed to describe how he felt about being chased but more accurately described two sacks of tubers. ‘Like, if a fellow were to indicate that he’s not interested in more than friendship, they don’t give up, always flirting, touching, giggling. I mean I’d like a family one day but I’m really not interested in starting one just yet. I don’t think I’m nearly mature enough, and besides there’s plenty I want to do first.’ Abruptly the young man seemed to realise he was babbling on, on a topic that might never end no less, and blushed furiously, dropping eye contact with the greenrider to examine the wood of the table. ‘Sorry, you probably shouldn’t get me started on that topic, there’s actually quite a few like that, you’ll know them when you mention them because you won’t be able to shut me up.’ Illiyan apologised, with more embarrassed good humour than actual shame.
Looking up caused a second outbreak of blushing, an unfortunate reaction of Illiyan’s to even slight embarrassment, as he noticed what he’d been trying not to think about to hard, this greenrider was flirting with him, subtly, carefully, might even give up if Illiyan objected to it, but he didn’t really want to, it was oddly flattering really, and it wouldn’t do any harm.
Though he was blissfully unaware of it Illiyan looked somewhat disappointed when X’rx mentioned a friend, a female one, joining them, but it would be rude to complain about the greenrider’s friend after X’rx had paid out for Illiyan’s food and wine, and a dragonrider would hardly be the kind of girl he was used to, would she? ‘I guess not, she can’t be worse than any girl I already know after all.’ A slight smile showed that Illiyan was at least willing to meet X’rx’s friend, which was just as well, since unbeknownst to the miner Darya was wandering in their direction already, in possession of her own drink and food.
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Requiem
Weyrleader S'rei WM M?ta Rider A'nd Harper/Handler Dmitri Weyrbrat Miguel
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Requiem on May 24, 2011 22:56:56 GMT -5
X'rx watched Illiyan's animation with interest, eyes half-lidded in what was decidedly a pleased expression as the miner expounded upon all these irksome women who simply wouldn't leave him alone. His smile was reassuring in response to Illiyan's sudden flush and quick - if not entirely heartfelt - apology. "Ah, yes. Joinings and families come with the women here, don't they?" X'rx tsked softly. "Such a price for a little bit of fun. How's a man supposed to enjoy himself with the cage looming behind him?"
Oh, was that yet another blush? X'rx cocked his head slightly to one side, hair brushing along the length of his jaw, then he straightened and pushed the glass across the table toward Illiyan. "Good," he responded with a smile. "Because she's already here." The greenrider slid around the table and paused just long enough to straighten the miner's collar, knuckles brushing the young man's neck, before continuing on to steal the food Darya was carrying so as to free up one of her hands.
His arm slid possessively around her waist in what could only be termed an intimate fashion. "This is my old weyrlingmaster, Darya," X'rx commented easily. "Darya, Illiyan. A miner curious about the Weyr...but he's not much into girls who want to lock him into a joining," the man concluded, a teasing note behind the words. The look he gave Illiyan wasn't quite so joking.
Darya was hardly a girl. Standing next to each other, it probably created a sense of oddness, particularly to a holder. The bluerider was about as masculine in appearance as X'rx was feminine. The younger of the dragonriders relinquished his hold on her and lowered himself gracefully into the chair, stealing a bit of meat and popping it into his mouth before sucking the juice off his fingers. Not lewdly, of course, nor did he look at Illiyan when he did it.
A sip of the wine and he returned his gaze to the miner, a soft smile on his lips. "I'd hardly know where to start when it comes to describing the Weyr. Is there anything in particular you'd like to know about?"
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