Ruby
Shiny Hoarder
Jr.Weyrwoman Caden Bronzehandler Piden Bluerider M'kai Bluerider T'ri Greenrider Tenlie Greenhandler Serissa
Posts: 1,524
|
Post by Ruby on Nov 19, 2010 18:42:13 GMT -5
M'kai was looking a tiny bit better than the last time Isori had seen him. His eyes were still red-rimmed, his shoulders slumped, but at least he'd found a clean shirt somewhere, and his riding jacket had been cleaned recently (as well as he could clean at Burimyu, anyway). He had a small carrysac over one shoulder, and somewhere he'd managed to come up with a ragged bunch of half-dead birds of paradise and other jungle flowers. Now that it was late autumn, they weren't doing too well, but... he'd tried?
He knew where Isori's door was, having run into her at dinner the other night and walked her home. Settling in to Burimyu had been pretty busy for the first few days, but after that, M'kai found himself at loose ends. He checked in with his Weyrlings on a daily basis, but no one had told him exactly what he should be doing, and they really didn't have a place to train. A classroom, sure, but at this point the Weyrlings were far beyond lecture work. He had asked the Council if he should go beyond the Weyr's territory and look for an appropriate training field, but being a council, he was waiting on a decision. Everyone seemed to be waiting, these days.
Never one for sitting around doing nothing, M'kai had scavenged the forest for the flowers and packed a few meatrolls for lunch, then taken himself over to Isori's door. With a quick knock, he pushed his hair behind his ear, and waited for her to answer. Hopefully she was at home!
|
|
|
Post by dragon on Nov 22, 2010 17:55:34 GMT -5
This was so cool. If one forgot that this was a strange place half full of strangers and half empty. All her family so far away that it wasn't funny. But ... she had her own room! How cool was that? ... okay, so it was a little empty. That could be fixed. Eventually. Somehow. They hadn't exactly ... brought any ... er ... furniture along.
So now she had this awesome room, and nothing to put in it. Didn't that figure? She had ... um. One fur. That was it. And it didn't even fill a corner. Depressing. On top of that she didn't have anything to do.
So the day had found her sitting on one end of her solitary fur, the other end picked up and flipped over her lap. There, she was busily stitching on it, patching up the hole that was torn in one corner. It was not the best of patch jobs, but it would do. For thread all she had was hair. Which sounded really strange, but it did work. Every time she brushed her hair, she saved the few hairs that were shed. These she twisted together a few at a time to make a slightly thicker and stronger thread. She figured it wasn't that much different than using the hair of animals, now was it? And she didn't exactly have any animals to spin thread from. So this would have to do.
Most of the hole was stitched back together again when she heard the knock at the door. It startled her, and more than just because she'd been concentrating. Pulling the needle off of her hair-threads, she stuck it through the material of her dress just in front of her shoulder and tied a hasty knot. Flicking the fur off her lap she scrambled to her feet and danced over to the door, eager to see who had come to see her. Her dress was nothing more than the nightgown she had escaped in, but she had altered it to the point where it was now a nicely cut dress instead of being obviously a night gown. Even if it was still a strange off white color. Dye she could work on at a later date.
Flinging the door open, she was again surprised - and quite pleased - to find M'kai on the other side. "HI!" She greeted cheerfully, hopping forward to give him a quick hug before dancing back a step again. "How are you today?"
|
|
Ruby
Shiny Hoarder
Jr.Weyrwoman Caden Bronzehandler Piden Bluerider M'kai Bluerider T'ri Greenrider Tenlie Greenhandler Serissa
Posts: 1,524
|
Post by Ruby on Nov 26, 2010 14:39:08 GMT -5
Isori was at home, apparently, which made M'kai smile. He had been fairly certain - nothing for her to do outside her weyr, anyway - but still, it was nice to be right. He didn't like waiting, so much. Her hug surprised him a little, but he squeezed her back, careful not to crush the flowers. "Hey, Isori," he said, trying to make his voice a little more peppy than normal to match her brightness. It sort of worked, so he covered up his half enthusiasm by straightening a bunch of leaves. "I wanted to thank you for being so... awesome the other day. It really helped, to know I didn't leave everything behind - or even if I did, it's nice to know it was worth it." Offering her the ragged boquet, he grinned. "Not that you have anything to put them in, apparently, but these are for you. Thanks again."
He gave her a chance to coo and fuss and do whatever it was flowers made girls do, leaning against the door frame and answering her question. "I'm doing alright - still hurts, of course," he added, gesturing vaguely to his heart and his head, "But it gets better every day. At least they were kind of heroic, there at the end." He paused and shook his head, forcing the smile back into place. "But that's not why I'm here, to dump all my tragedy on you. I think we've done enough of that already. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling pretty dramatically cooped up, and Futh is too. You wanna get out for a few hours? Futh can take us between to somewhere he can sun, we can go for a walk in real daylight somewhere we won't get lost in half a minute."
Shifting the carrysac, he added, "I've got lunch, so if you don't have to be back for a while, we can stay out all day. I gave the Weyrlings the afternoon off, so..." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder, looking hopeful. He didn't have anything shady planned, really (except he knew where they'd go), but Isori was young, and pretty, and who cared if she was a Candidate? It didn't matter at Burimyu, with no Candidatemaster in sight. He could get to know her a little, then see what happened when the weather got colder. No harm in that.
|
|
|
Post by dragon on Nov 29, 2010 22:34:28 GMT -5
Isori smiled in return, glad to see that he was feeling better. At least, better enough to be able to fake a smile half way believably. This was progress, and a good sign! She was by no way naive enough to even begin to think that But but but ... to get handed a bouquet? Wow! That was the first time she'd ever been given one of those! It didn't matter one tiny bit to her that it was ragged, or rough-looking blooms due to the season. What mattered was it was a bouquet, and he was giving it to her. She lit up like it was the most glorious bouquet to ever be handed to a girl, and gratefully accepted it. "Oh, how lovely! Thank you, M'kai!" She held it up for a moment to inspect it from all sides, grinning from ear to ear. But at his mention of no where to put it, she gave him a wink. "There are always places to put flowers, I promise. And you're more than welcome!" She suddenly pressed the bouquet back into his hands to hold, and then both hands flew to the back of her own head. Quickly she took down the runnertail that had been holding back the milk chocolate curls. In just moments, she had worked most of it into braids that curled around her head, working the flowers into it as she went, all from his hands. The last bit of hair left over from that she braided straight out, curled up, and pinned to her head in a knot with the needlethorn that had been stuck through the material of her 'dress'.
Now the entire bouquet was entrenched in her hair ... it looked a little strange since the kinds of flower weren't measured or consistent, but she grinned at him. "See? I not only have a place to put it, but I can show it off too!" Twirling about in place, she showed it off for him, even though she knew it was probably more than a little crooked - what with not being able to see it herself, and working by feel.
At the word that he still hurt - which she well understood he might, even though she couldn't truly understand the exact nature of it - she leaned over and kissed the same places he pointed at. "Kiss make it better?" She asked, playing simple even though she was nothing of the sort. If nothing else, being cheerful for him might help him pull himself out of the slump? "They were heroic." Isori agreed, reminding herself to not say anything about being sorry for that. She still felt it was her fault they were dead ... if she hadn't asked for help, he wouldn't have sent his flitter in the first place. But this wasn't supposed to be a pity party either. "I'd love to go out!" Isori answered, with a wide grin. "On Futh? Really? I'd love to!" She'd only ridden on a dragon twice in her life. Once to go to the Weyr, once to leave it again. The last one was frightening and scary, but the first time she well remembered as exhilarating. That, was something she was willing to relive! "Where do you have in mind? Oh! It doesn't matter, let's go! Sounds lovely!"
She stepped out of the entrance to her room (her room!), and pulled the door shut. Creaky from disuse as it was, it was still her door. Even though there was nothing inside worth messing with (other than a fur, which there weren't terrible many of apparently), it still felt proper to shut it before she left. Then turning to smile at M'kai, she waited for him to lead the way. "A picnic." She stated, thoughtfully. "You really do know how to plan a day, don't you?"
|
|
Ruby
Shiny Hoarder
Jr.Weyrwoman Caden Bronzehandler Piden Bluerider M'kai Bluerider T'ri Greenrider Tenlie Greenhandler Serissa
Posts: 1,524
|
Post by Ruby on Dec 4, 2010 3:33:32 GMT -5
Isori's delight made the bouquet absolutely worth the time he'd spent collecting the flowers for it, wilted or not. Rubbing the back of his neck in slight (faked) embarrassment, he replied, "You're welcome. You deserve them for putting up with me." His astonishment when she took her hair down and started braiding the flowers in, however, was 100% genuine. "You're... really good at that," he commented like an idiot, watching in fascination as the flowers and her hair became one. It was kind of magical - he had no idea girls could do that. It seemed like one of those things that only they could do, after all.
When she twirled, he caught a stray hand, lifting it over her head as if they were dancing. "Very nice," he said, his tone appreciative. Then he dropped her hand, to gesture and explain, and before he knew it he found himself kissed, on his heart and his cheek. Isori was probably going for his forehead, but M'kai was a good deal taller than she was, and even the cheek would be a stretch. Still, it quirked one side of his mouth up in a smile - it had been a long, long time since anyone had done something so simple, so sweet, for him. Anyone but A'emi, anyway, and A'emi had been both complicated and scarce in the last few months. Rayne had been a brief diversion, but she was so long ago. And... well, that had been that. "Much," he replied, keeping it simple. No one really was, but at least they could pretend for a little while?
Letting the subject drop, M'kai nodded, attempting a smile again. "Certainly. Futh likes you already, and he's just as sun-starved as I am. There's a ledge this way, unless I'm turned around again..." He led her down the hall, chatting about picnics and other harmless topics, until they reached the ledge where Futh waited. "Ready?" he asked, tossing her a spare bronze-embroidered flight jacket he pulled out from behind Futh's straps (clearly borrowed from Cr'oph, and Cr'oph-sized at that). Obviously, he'd been counting on a positive response. "We're going - actually, I'm not going to tell you. Let it be a surprise, hmmm?" he asked, turning back to Futh to check his straps one more time. "Put that on, it's cold between. Have you been a-dragonback before?"
No matter her answer, he swung up onto the Blue, who regarded Isori with one gentle green eye before dropping his jaw in a dragon-smile. Did I like this one before, M'kaiMineLove? Futh asked, racking his terrible memory for hints of Isori. I think you did, M'kai replied. Futh nodded a little, agreeing, Well, I like her now. I will carry her gladly.[/i]
Good, cause you're taking us either way. Ready? Futh sent along an affirmative, and M'kai stretched a hand down for Isori. "Come on up."
((Feel free to take them on to their location - it's a big grassy plateau in the mountains, higher up on the river that runs through Burimyu, with a view back in the direction of Selenitas. Or I can, next post.))
|
|
|
Post by dragon on Dec 12, 2010 18:05:07 GMT -5
Isori beamed as he took part in her twirl. Such a simple, small action, but it still was such a sweet, charming thing. She was also quite pleased that he liked it, even though she knew that it must really look terrible. Isori did not say anything about it though, just grinning from ear to ear as she hurried after him toward the ledge he meant to find. She didn't blame him for not being sure where things were ... she herself was continually getting lost in the passages. It really was a strange thing; she hadn't even figured out Selenitas yet, before being thrust into this whole new place.
She caught the jacket that was flung at her, and quickly slipped her arms into the sleeves, practically bouncing on her toes with excitement. "I have! Twice, actually. I love surprises!" Isori agreed, not pressing to find out where they were headed. Chances were good she wouldn't know where it was anyway. Shrugging the jacket forward, she overlapped the front, trying to take up all the excess material that it presented her. For a moment she floundered, trying to figure out how to secure it in place. She hadn't a belt with her or anything. But it soon left her mind again as she came up with an answer. Bouncing forward a step she reached up to take M'kai's hand, clambering up the blue's side to slide into a seat behind him. Overlapping the coat again she promptly held it in place by wrapping her arms around M'kai in a snug hug. It wouldn't go anywhere now!
"He's such a gorgeous dragon!" Isori said, even as they were soon in the air and no longer on the ledge. She closed her mouth after that, though, having caught a whole mouthful of air. Talking would be useless anyway, the wind would rip her words away before even she could hear them. So instead she just held on tight to M'kai, trusting that he wouldn't let her fall off. Head turned to the side and resting against his shoulder, she watched the canopy far below for the moment that it was visible before between enveloped them.
Unable to help herself, she inhaled sharply at the sensation - or rather, lack of sensation of it. But just like always, it was very shortly over, revealing a whole other landscape to the eye. If it was even possible, an even bigger grin split her face. Oh, if only Orena could see! Not knowing where she was, she hardly knew what she was looking at other than a spectacular view. "Awesome!" She called, despite the rush of air blowing past her face.
|
|
Ruby
Shiny Hoarder
Jr.Weyrwoman Caden Bronzehandler Piden Bluerider M'kai Bluerider T'ri Greenrider Tenlie Greenhandler Serissa
Posts: 1,524
|
Post by Ruby on Dec 15, 2010 18:41:00 GMT -5
Futh obediently bent down, offering an arm for Isori to use as a mounting block if she needed it. M'kai, used to mounting the Blue at high speeds, was already aboard, smiling down at the girl below him. "Twice, eh? Not bad, for a Candidate," he offered, pulling her up behind him and waiting until she settled, pulling herself tight against his back. It was a good thing he was facing away from her, because the smile on his face was not an appropriate one, in the context of him as Weyrlingmaster, and her as Candidate. At least she wasn't a Weyrling; that was a good start, especially given Burimyu's current population. Who else was he supposed to charm, hmm? Iskierka? Darya? Really, his choices were laughable. Nephele might be the exception, but M'kai hadn't spent much time with her even in lessons. Perhaps it would be a good time to rekindle their relationship... but not now. Isori was more fun, anyway.
"You must be a quick learner," M'kai praised, shifting back and forth a little to 'test' how tight her hug was. "You seem to have a good grip," he added, with the very obvious vocal equivalent of a wink in his voice. "So we'll forgo straps, for now. I don't know about gorgeous, but Futh's just about the steadiest dragon you can ride!" he said, the end of his sentence nearly lost in the rush of Futh's take-off. Craning his neck around so he could look at Isori, Futh opened his mind to both humans, adding, I heard that, M'kaiMineLove. When a beautiful lady calls me gorgeous, I am inclined to believe her. Never let it be said that Futh was not a good wingman (har, har).
With big, steady sweeps, he climbed a few lengths toward the sky, barely clearing the dangerous Burimyu canyons before transferring between without so much as a warning. Three breaths later and a beautiful vista spread below them, unfolding as Futh spiraled towards the ground. A river, the one that fed the Burimyu falls, spread out slightly on the plateau below, forming a fairly still area between a rock wall and a grassy clearing. Light forest ringed the edges before the mountainside picked up again, climbing upwards to the already snow-covered heights. The air was crisp, but warm for autumn, and the sun would be on the west-facing plateau all afternoon.
They landed moments later, Futh gliding in for a smooth touchdown. Gently unclasping Isori's hands, M'kai slid down the Blue's side, reaching back up to catch the Candidate's waist as she dismounted. Since everything had gone so well so far, M'kai chanced a little half-turn when he caught her, spinning her away from Futh's side in a move straight out of a Harper's love story. The blue, rid of his passengers, immediately headed for a sun-warmed rock near the river, flopping over it with an audible sigh. M'kai laughed, gesturing to another rock near Futh's. "Care to join him? Our drinks are nice and cold, now, so we might as well have lunch, if you're hungry."
|
|
|
Post by dragon on Jan 8, 2011 22:59:06 GMT -5
Isori laughed at some of the things that M'kai had said, but she didn't answer to any of them with anything beyond the gleeful sound. More or less because there was not much she really could say to things like that, and the wind of flight would have ripped it from her throat before M'kai could have heard her. Even if she had been holding on to him oh so tight.
When it came time to get off the dragon, she was a tad reluctant to clamber down. She really had liked the flight, and getting to hang onto M'kai with no explanaitions needed, too. Maybe she could get him to take her for another flight somewhere ... oh, but there was always the flight back, wasn't there? Surely he wasn't planning on leaving her out here in the middle of Faranth knew where! Seeing what awaited her below, however, changed her reluctance quickly, and it was almost as if there hadn't even been any thought of not wanting to get down off that lovely blue neck. Isori flung herself from Futh's neck and into M'kai's arms, allowing him to catch her, wrapping her arms around his shoulders when she landed in his grasp. Getting whirled around before being set down was a nice touch, too, and she grinned all the broader for it.
Alighting lightly on her feet, she giggled and nodded. "I'm a very fast study." she informed him, in an almost conspiratorial whisper. At his suggestion of joining Futh, she looked over at where the blue was flopped down on the rock, and grinned again. "Why, of course! Why not join the beautiful blue?" she asked, flattering the dragon all over again for the express reason and none other than she'd already figured out that he liked it. And hey ... who said a body couldn't butter up a fellow by buttering up his dragon, hm?
"What did you bring?" She asked, grabbing a hold of M'kai's upper arm and leaning on his shoulder. "Drinks, really? What kind? Lunch sounds lovely!" She looked around a moment, over at Futh, and then back at M'kai again. "And where did you stash this lunch, hm? Or is that more Rider magic?" She asked, teasing him in good fun and pretending to be quite impressed with the whole idea that he could make stuff appear out of nowhere. Even if her logical mind knew that it had to be with Futh, since it wasn't on M'kai's person. It was still fun to be silly sometimes.
She just didn't know how silly she looked, what with all the flowers he'd picked and she'd braided into her hair ... only to have all but a sparse few petals stripped off by the dragon-ride. What was left was just the pistles and pollen balls, barely holding onto the wind torn stems braided into her hair.
|
|
Ruby
Shiny Hoarder
Jr.Weyrwoman Caden Bronzehandler Piden Bluerider M'kai Bluerider T'ri Greenrider Tenlie Greenhandler Serissa
Posts: 1,524
|
Post by Ruby on Jan 11, 2011 17:41:15 GMT -5
Mmm,[/i] Futh rumbled, slitting an eye in M'kai and Isori's direction, I like this one very much. Bring her over here, M'kaiMineLove, perhaps she would like to scratch my eyeridges?[/i] M'kai barely managed to keep his snort mental, adding, Shameless, as he lead Isori in the Blue's direction. Futh shifted a little so there was enough room for all of them on the rock, and when Isori sat down, he gently laid is head half in her lap, tilting an eyeridge her direction for easy scratching. "He likes being scratched behind the eyeridges," M'kai mentioned 'off-hand' as he detached the carry sac of food he'd tied to Futh's straps.
Coming around the Blue's other side, M'kai flopped down on the sun-warmed stone with an appreciative "Ahhhh," hiding the bag behind his back (somewhat convincingly) and giving Isori a moment to finish up with Futh while he laid out a small, fairly beat-up looking napkin on the rock between them. "Oh, nothing fancy. Or didn't you know Blueriders have their own private windows to Between, and can store things there?" His eyes were wide and innocent as he reached his other hand behind his back, fumbling with the bag. "Mae's famous meatrolls," he started, pulling one of them from behind his back with a flourish, and handing it to her with a seated bow. Then he extracted one for himself, followed by a couple of redfruits and two more meatrolls, all of which he laid out between them with exaggerated gestures. "Ta daaaa!"
He gave up trying to hide the waterskins, though, just laying them out. "Can't store liquids there, though, they freeze," he added, opening one of the bags to sniff at it. "This one's water, the other's cold tea. Basically just whatever I could lift while the kitchen staff's - er, Mae's - back was turned. We're not really supposed to explore too much on our own, but y'know, Futh has to sun somewhere, right?"
He was just about to take a bite of his meatroll when one of Isori's flowers, terribly damaged after their trip between, nearly fell off in to her lunch. Laughing, M'kai leaned across, reaching up to un-tangle the ones nearest her face, and destroying most of her carefully braided coif in the process. "Oops," he said with a grimace as quite a bit of her hair tumbled off her head, dropping flowers and petals as it went. His own hair didn't look much better - he'd forgotten to braid it, and the wind of Flight tended to do that - but a quick finger-comb would set it right, whenever he remembered to do it. Even with her hair a mess of flowers and residual braid, Isori looked pretty, though, so M'kai said as much. "Y'know, those braid things really are incredible. Your hair looks pretty even after riding - mine's a mess."
|
|
|
Post by dragon on Jan 23, 2011 22:14:37 GMT -5
"Behind?" Isori asked, reaching her hands up to the big dragon head in her lap. What, exactly, was 'behind' when it came to an eye ride? Behind being on the bridge side of the ridge, or behind being the little section actually toward the rear end of the head, or ... oh, shardit. Did it really matter? She laid her fingertips to blue hide and scratched gently, a smile playing across her features. Tilting her head to one side she looked at Futh's nearest eye. "Like that, hun? Or different?" She ran her fingers over the little bumpy bits that ran along the peak of the ridge, fascinated. "Dragons are so neat." Placing a hand on the bridge of the snout, she ran a pet all the way down to the nostrils. "So many different textures."
In any event, it certainly distracted her from what M'kai was doing, and when her gaze lifted to him when he started talking, she couldn't help but burst out in laughter when he turned up with his first flourish of a meat roll. "Really!" She giggled, reaching a hand over to accept the roll as he bowed. "Fascinating! So only Blue riders can do that? Oh he he he he he it freezes does it?" She giggled, wiggling in her seat, half buried in dragon-head. She sniffed the roll. "Hm! And the meat doesn't freeze? I won't break my teeth on this will I?" It was soft to her fingers, so she already knew that she wouldn't but this was too much fun to play along with. He really was a clever fellow. Breaking the roll in half, she took a nibble of one broken end, grinning.
"I like tea. Where did someone find suitable plants for making tea?" She wasn't even going to question what kind of tea. Right now she really didn't give a wherry's tail what kind of tea it was. Anything besides water was going to be a treat! A real treat. "Oh, you know where the good stuff is kept, huh?" Isori grinned, breaking off a piece of roll and laying it in a palm that she held at the end of Futh's snout. "Want some?" She asked, even though the whole roll was really too small for the dragon, much less a piece of a roll. It was still polite to offer, right?
"Oh, but you're not on your own. Not today, anyway. I'm here with you." She winked at him and grinned. "No aloneness here, nope." Even if she was about as good as worthless should anything happen. Getting found by bad people or even hungry animals ... she was hardly going to deter either. But still! He wasn't alone.
"Oh my!" She said, as her hair started unraveling itself at the tug he gave it. She hadn't fastened the ends, so it was too easy for it to start coming undone. Spying the bits and shreds of flowers tumbling down her front and across Futh's forehead, she could only giggle. "Oh my. There's not much left of those flowers, is there?" She asked, grinning a bit as she dusted the remains off of Futh's snout. "Don't sneeze. I don't have a change of clothes, okay?" Which was sad ... she wasn't used to not having a selection of clothing to choose from! "I love braids. Though I admit I haven't explored the benifits of various hair styles toward riding dragons." Isori giggled, and ran fingers through her own hair, knocking the rest of the braid out, especially the bit that ran across right above her forehead. Giving her head a shake, the milk chocolate curls tumbled down again in an unconstrained mess, over her shoulders. Grinning at him, she offered; "I can do your hair for you?" Though, if her estimation of men was anything, he would not at all want his hair done. That wasn't a 'manly' thing. Much less braids. "You do have some nice hair yourself, you know." A nice rich color, just enough of a curl to it to keep it from being arrow straight ... meaning there was all sorts of fun things a body could do with it, and it just might stay that way, too!
|
|
Ruby
Shiny Hoarder
Jr.Weyrwoman Caden Bronzehandler Piden Bluerider M'kai Bluerider T'ri Greenrider Tenlie Greenhandler Serissa
Posts: 1,524
|
Post by Ruby on Feb 4, 2011 15:00:36 GMT -5
A humming, rumbling Futh made it clear Isori had gotten it right. The pattern and cadence of his rumble changed as she moved her hands around, but it was all good. She might even have felt the gentlest brush on her mind as Futh 'petted' her back. He liiiiked her.
While the Blue hummed and flipped his tail, eventually pulling a huge yawn, M'kai picked up his own meatroll, biting into it hungrily. "Mmmm," he confirmed, then swallowed so he could speak. "It has to do with the mental capacity of the Blue dragon, which is of course about a million times higher than that of any other color. Bronzes in particular," he added, shooting Futh an image of Mavenath. Futh just snorted, going back to enjoying his scratches. "Something about the physical properties of solid food keep it from freezing; if only we could figure out how to do that for liquids, too, we'd be set for life. Such a shame," he added, uncorking the water and taking a swig.
M'kai tossed the skin of tea at Isori, smiling. "It's all yours. I imagine Mae figured it out, that woman is seriously a miracle worker. Poor people left behind; their food must have gone seriously downhill since she left. We really are better off." Futh contemplated the offered bit of roll, but didn't make a move towards it - yet. He sniffed at it, reaching an enormous, green tongue out just to touch it, considering. "I suppose I'm not alone, am I?" he answered, leaning over so he could nudge her with a shoulder. "I've got the great and fierce Isori here to protect me, forget Futh. He's pretty much useless-"
But M'kai cut himself off laughing. Futh had tilted his head to sniff at the piece of meatroll again, then used an enormous, wet tongue to lick it off her palm. He'd tried to be dainty, but his tongue was so big, there was only so much he could do. Isori's whole forearm was probably covered in dragon slobber, now. The flowers, now scattered everywhere, blew away as Futh scrambled up, trying not to step on anyone. He was so sorry! He hadn't meant to get her all dirty. Luckily he hadn't sneezed, and he hadn't gotten anything on her clothes, just her arm. "Big oaf," M'kai teased, aiming a gentle slap at his dragon's muzzle. "Get outta here," he added, and Futh pulled his head back, looking apologetic.
Straightening, M'kai offered Isori a hand up, gesturing towards the river. "Luckily, we have our own personal sink. Maybe I'll let you braid my hair once your hands are dragon-free," he added with a wink. Maybe.
|
|
|
Post by dragon on Feb 5, 2011 0:27:23 GMT -5
If it wasn't so obviously and plainly a good thing, and Futh so obviously a nice dragon, having a dragon's head rumbling in your lap could be scary. Quite scary indeed. But Isori knew there was no danger (or at least very little) to it. She munched on her roll contentedly, her grin dampened down to just a smile as she did try to be somewhat civilized in her eating. No chewing with her mouth open if she could help it. Or talking with her mouth full. But because she wasn't doing much, wasn't thinking much, and certainly wasn't talking, she certainly did notice the 'petting'. All chewing came to a halt as her eyes flew wide. Now that was an interesting sensation! Her hands were full of roll, of course, so that kind of made it hard to do anything. So she leaned over and rested her cheek on the Blue's head instead, in a token hug, a smile playing upon her features.
She swallowed her food just in time to manage to not choke on it with laughter at some of the absurd things coming out of M'kai. It was just too hilarious. "I guess you can't have it all, then, huh? They get to be all the leaderly types, but can't do all the specialized stuff that's so neat." She paused a moment, and then giggled all over again at just the notion. Oh, this was proving to be quite the outing. Certainly entertaining!
Stuffing the last of the half of the roll she'd been eating into her teeth, she freed that hand just in time to catch the tea he tossed to her. Grinning a bit, set set it down beside her thigh, and took the roll back out of her mouth. "I'm glad she came with us! I have been wanting something besides water for ... oh, gosh. I don't even know how long." She grinned at him and leaned sideways to meet his shoulder-bump with one of her own. The great and fierce Isori? Now that was just laughable! "Aww, don't sell him that short!" she giggled. Setting the roll on her thigh, she picked up the tea fully intending to get a nice big drink of it.
That thought was completley derailed by getting her hand and arm licked by the dragon. "Oh!" She started, yanking her hand away in reflex reaction. "Oh my." She stared at her hand, honestly surprised she still had her flesh on her bones, much less her skin being intact. Wow. Dragon-licks put the scratchiness of feline-licks to shame! Isori looked up at the fluttering dragon just in time to see M'kai swat him across the nostrils. "No no no I'm quite alright. I just ... he surprised me. I guess I asked for that, didn't I?" She asked, moving to wipe her hand off on her skirt but stopping just before she did.
This was her only change of clothes.
Her chocolate gaze turned upward as M'kai offered her a hand up. Their own personal sink? Oh! The river! She grinned, picked up the last bite of the roll from her thigh and stuffed it into her mouth before using that clean hand to take M'kai's and get to her feet. The tea was still untouched and corked unfortunately, but oh well. It would keep. Making quick work of what was left of the roll, she swallowed it as she returned that wink. She didn't seriously think he would let her even mess with his hair, but it didn't matter. What mattered was they were having a pretty good time poking fun at everything.
"You'll have to show me this personal sink of yours. I can only imagine the special stuff you can do with a personal sink." She intoned dramatically, before grinning and following him toward the flowing water. "Does that have fish in it?" Isori asked suddenly, in a more serious tone of curiosity. Almost as soon as she had asked it, her step faltered and then she came to a stop. "What was that?" She asked, pointing across the river and downstream a short distance. "I thought I saw the bushes move."
|
|
Ruby
Shiny Hoarder
Jr.Weyrwoman Caden Bronzehandler Piden Bluerider M'kai Bluerider T'ri Greenrider Tenlie Greenhandler Serissa
Posts: 1,524
|
Post by Ruby on Feb 15, 2011 15:10:32 GMT -5
Well, she liked his sense of humor, that was encouraging. Not everyone did, he was often too dry (or too bizarre) for the more sane/idiotic members of the Weyr. Either that or she was trying to flatter him, but he'd take that, too. He never objected to being flattered by someone as pretty as Isori. Futh, though... couldn't have his dragon getting her hopes up. "Well, he is kind of short, as far as dragons are concerned. You should see him measured up against Mavenath, my brother's dragon, you wouldn't call him long ever again - " Lick.
Once he got Isori upright, M'kai kept a hand under her elbow, guiding her towards the running water as a man might direct a woman out onto a dance floor, in better times. The river, though, got a sideways smile. "I wish it was more exciting, but unfortunately the hot water tap is broken today. It's probably hideously cold, and I'd imagine it has fish..." M'kai's attention was snagged by the same movement Isori saw, and he immediately shifted his stance, one foot ahead, one foot behind. The knife at his belt stayed in it's sheath, but the Bluerider hissed a near-silent "Shhhh" into Isori's ear. Well, shit. If that was a Selenitas sweeprider, they were as good as dead. What a Selenitas sweeprider might be doing this far up in the mountains M'kai wasn't worried about; just whether or not there was one here.
Futh? he asked, and without the Rider needing to clarify, the Blue got to his feet, padding towards M'kai near silently. I feel neither human nor dragon, M'kaiMineLove,[/i] he offered, but added, Although it is possible that they are blocking. What should we do?
M'kai considered for a second, using that time to slide carefully in front of Isori. Go around back, flush them towards the river. We'll see if it's a Rider. If it is a dragon, don't risk yourself, just come back to me. Got it? Futh sent an affirmative, taking to the air to circle back, careful to stay low and keep his shadow away from the movement. When he disappeared into the trees, M'kai straightened a little, looking back to make sure Isori wasn't terrified, poor girl. "Futh's going to check it out," he murmured, keeping his voice low and his eyes on the bushes. He could feel Futh getting closer and closer - any minute now, whatever was back there would have to move, or be discovered by an enormous blue dragon.
|
|
|
Post by dragon on Feb 15, 2011 20:50:26 GMT -5
Isori wasn't scared enough to freak out or start screaming ... though there were a few times in her life when she had done just that. But today was not one of them. She was startled for sure ... and alarmed at the reaction that both the rider had automatically had for whatever it was that had moved those bushes. Their reaction was more frightening than anything bushes might hide. Or at least so she thought.
Obediently, she held her silence and held perfectly still, allowing M'kai to move ahead. His manner had changed completely and it was almost more interesting to note than anything across the river. All the joker and making fun in him had vanished like cold water spritzed on a hot pan. "Okay." She said quietly in answer to his statement. Futh was a good dragon, she was confident he could do whatever he needed to do. All jokes about being special aside.
Since she couldn't see anything across the river bushes or no bushes because M'kai was in front of her, and she certainly didn't have the benifit of a mindmate to show her things she could not see, she spent her time instead watching M'kai. Being ... well ... she wasn't sure what to call it. Heroic? Manly? Dashing? Protective was probably a good word. He was doing a good job, she thought. She was sharp enough to know that it wasn't an act either. M'kai had seen action.
The bushes on the far side of the river exploded into action as the Blue zeroed in on them. It was no person, that was for sure. It was too big. But neither was it a dragon, for it was far too small. The bushes were thrashed half to death as the creature in them kicked and lunged and thrashed trying to escape the bushes that concealed it as the big predator neared. Bucking and lunging, the wild runner that was stuck there tore the bushes apart but failed to get free of the thing that had trapped it in the first place. A vine was twisted about its head and neck, holding it fast and secure to a tree branch high over head, even though it had been snapped off at the ground. Swinging around the base of the tree and hauling on the vine with all its might, the runner heaved and gasped, strangling itself while its eyes rolled white in terror. Hocks sliding down the bank of the river, the hind feet splashed into water. Its sides heaved with the effort of both hauling on the vine and the effort to breathe. It seemed almost as if it was willing to try and pop its own head off of its neck rather than let Futh swoop in and eat it alive.
|
|
Ruby
Shiny Hoarder
Jr.Weyrwoman Caden Bronzehandler Piden Bluerider M'kai Bluerider T'ri Greenrider Tenlie Greenhandler Serissa
Posts: 1,524
|
Post by Ruby on Feb 28, 2011 17:57:28 GMT -5
She'd behaved admirably, M'kai thought as the bushes shook more and more violently. Kept her head, didn't scream or faint like some silly holder girl. Brave, especially in the face of the unknown, even more especially because wasn't she a weaver, or something? She'd make a good rider someday, he thought absently, watching the spot the sounds were coming from. As Futh moved in, though, M'kai furrowed his brow. That was no Searchpair...
"Futh!" he called, forgetting in his relief to speak mentally, at first. He actually chuckled aloud as he corrected himself, reaching out to the Blue to say, Futh, it's alright, back off. It's a runner, if you startle it more it'll break it's neck, he added, breaking out into a relieved smile. "That's no searchrider," he said, for Isori's benefit. As if she couldn't see the runner now, sliding down into the river. Now, though, M'kai was stuck. He was brave enough when it came to things he understood - people, dragons, searchriders out on sweep wondering why a man and a woman were hanging out so far away from Selenitas. Runners were beyond his scope, especially the wild kind, and while he didn't want the creature to strangle itself he also didn't want a hoof to the face.
So he stayed where he was, eying the creature warily. "Do you know anything about runners? I've never even ridden one," he admitted, which should explain his wariness. "I don't want to scare it more, but it's gonna break it's neck if we don't get it out of that vine, or whatever it's tangled in. Futh's going to hang back, so maybe it'll calm down, but..." He trailed off, hoping that Isori would come to the rescue, here. He hated being incompetent, but he knew enough not to screw around with wild things, especially wild things that were probably twice his size at least. Didn't girls have a thing with runners? Megs and Diamonique had both gone through a phase, that was certain. Maybe Isori had, too.
|
|