Belated word (F'lix

[dragon]

Frosstyth was sprawled out on the edge of the cliff, one foreleg and neck dangling off the edge in a most limp fashion as the brown watched the canyon beneath him with passive interest. His was around somewhere ... not with him, but in the Weyr. Not in the forge for once, Frosstyth was glad for that. His needed to spend less time in the hot place. But no, Frosstyth was on watch duty. There was someone he had to look for, and report about. Occasionally he had to stop and think about who it was he was watching for. Because something else would take his attention and he'd start watching that with rapt fascination. Only to realize he'd forgotten what he was supposed to be looking for.

But, thankfully, when it came time to see, he saw. It was hard to miss after all, when a dragon went cruising down the canyon. Tended to hide what was going on beneath them on the canyon floor. Frosstyth lifted his head as the blue went past, and landed on his own ledge. They are in, now. he reported, as instructed.

Alright, thank you. Feel free to go swim if you want.

Frosstyth perked up at the idea of a swim in the cold river, and even more at the idea of creating a mudhole. Maybe if he could get it deep enough this time he could vanish into it with only his eyes sticking out. Being a muddy thunderstorm of a brown, he fancied he could sit there invisible and just watch the river from there and see what people did. Spreading his wings, he slid off of the cliff and glided down toward the river below, eagerly anticipating the splash of cold water on his hide.

C'oar walked the passageways inside the cliff, until he came to the right door. There, he knocked on the door, and waited to see if F'lix would answer it.

[rii]

F'lix boots sounded hard off the stone as he dismounted with a touch less grace than he usually carried. It had been a day longer than most given the extra duties placed on his shoulders by the weyrleader. S'rei had been right about thinking the tasks would cut his free time short. F'lix found himself so occupied that he had forgotten to eat. F'ur was always good about shoving food at him, but F'lix hadn't seen his weyrmate since waking a little after dawn, leaving shortly there after to attend Wing Drills.

His stomach hadn't forgotten, grumbling lowly as the bluerider tiredly stripped from his riding jacket. So many things to do and the horizon was already darkening to signal the beginnings of evening fading into night. Needed to bathe, to change, to eat – Farnath he still needed to write up a report. The bed looked inviting. Erg, needed to find Ba'sun and Lilitu and.. and.. where.. was F'ur? F'lix looked back out toward the ledge, earning a snort from the pale, burned blue. As if he knew where the crazy man had wandered of to at this hour..

Would of been nice to see him before passing out to sleep. Tch.

Another gurgle from his protesting stomach steered F'lix toward the door into the hallway. His riding jacket left in the middle of the floor as he lifted a hand to the knob and.. froze – at the sound of knocking from the other side. The sound oddly surreal and F'lix had a moment of vertigo as he wondered if he had really just fallen asleep and this was the beginnings of a dream. He vigorously shook his head to get his mind back on track, then opened the door.

C'oar, being the rather tall and broad man that he was, was an unmistakable individual. Not a man he saw on a day to day basis, but known – for reasons that were not good. Why the stout lad stood just outside his and F'ur's weyr was beyond rational thought. Must be here to.. ask F'ur for lessons. Yes, that was the only thing that even vaguely made sense.

"F'ur's not here." F'lix said curtly, stepping around C'oar and pulling the door shut behind him. He turned and began to head down the hall, destined to go to the main hall to grab a hot bite to eat.

[dragon]

C'oar watched placidly as F'lix emerged from behind his door, made a comment about F'ur not being in, and promptly walked off down the hall. For a moment he wasn't quite sure what to do with that, but in the end he merely turned and followed the man. It was F'lix, after all, whom he was there to see, not F'ur.

So it was in silence that C'oar merely followed, thinking quietly as he walked. He had a pretty good idea where F'lix was headed, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to wait that far before actually saying anything. But what to say? He knew the bluerider couldn't possibly be very pleased at his appearance on his doorstep.

In the back of his mind he was aware of the cold shock as Frosstyth made a terrific splashdown in the river at the bottom of the canyon. The brown would be hard pressed to be happier, mucking around in the mud he'd created. Washing the beast was going to be a chore - after making the dragon wash himself for the most part. There were always bits that Frosstyth couldn't quite get clean on his own.

C'oar decided it was probably best if he said something, instead of earning himself another oddball label that was just as much not factual. "I didn't come all this way to see F'ur." He said, finally. "I came to speak to you, F'lix. If you have time."

[rii]

F'lix glanced side-long over his shoulder at C'oar.. not following him (that didn't make sense) but they were both walking in the same direction. The main hall was the center of activity at the proper hour, considering they dished out food to all the riders and weyrfolk. For all F'lix knew, maybe C'oar's weyr was in that direction. The entire matter dismissed. C'oar's very existence ignored until the point the brownrider decided to speak up..

He laughed at the words, the arrangement C'oar made with them sounded so dramatic. The bluerider spun around, continuing his walk down the hall backwards. A sly smile to his features as he looked the large man over. "Seeking me out – were you just waiting for me to come back while F'ur was out? How scandalous."

A hand was flicked in C'oar's direction, the bluerider turning back around without missing a beat in his stride. "Sorry, handsome, I'm not interested." Yes, a touch too tired to be taking anything seriously. Or perhaps his weyrmate's sense of humor rubbed off on him (doubtful, their brand of humor ran along similar lines for the most part). "Try the weyr a few doors down, might get lucky."

[dragon]

C'oar watched F'lix's display, and listened to what he said, and patiently just kept following. This was apparently going to be harder than he'd thought. How ironic that it was statement from F'ur that had C'oar here in the first place. "That is not why I am here." C'oar answered, calmly. "I was merely waiting until you were in. It's rather hard to speak coherently to someone who is flying."

Since F'lix was apparently not going to stop even for a moment ... or even take him seriously, C'oar decided that maybe it was best if he just said what he'd come to say. Even if it had to be done on the fly traveling down hallways. "It was brought to my attention that reparations I had been making were not in effect enough to convey intended meaning." These things happened, when people came from different cultures, for sure. "To that end, I wish to not only apologize for the actions of my dragon toward yours, but also to apologize for the apparent if not factual lack of apology on my part."

It was a terrible thing that had happened, for sure. There was no two ways about that. And C'oar had, from the way he'd been raised, bent toward the task of making sure it never happened again. To anyone. For crying sorry over a burnt building did not solve the problem. Only rebuilding it did. To him, actions meant more than words, for that was how he'd been raised. Few words, many actions. As such it had never occurred to him to do anything like apply words to the actions. Partly because words were empty without actions, and applying words after actions was rather ... backward. Why say what was done? Granted, a burned dragon was not fixable. Not even the dragonhealers could fix that. But C'oar still did what he could. Making sure it never happened again at his dragon's fault was the only attainable reparation to such a tragedy.

But no, he was not here to seek forgiveness. Merely to try and appease those he had not been aware he'd ruffled. So, part said, C'oar slowed, and then stopped. He had no intention of chasing F'lix all over the Weyr, or even forcing his company on the other rider. He'd said what he'd come to say. If not at all under circumstances typically expected.

Talk ... was not one of C'oar's more favored passtimes. There had been many a day passed in his young life already, where he'd never said a single word.

[rii]

Apparently no one told mountain man that staring stoically at a person – while following them no less – was a bit, well, creepy. Nor did anyone teach C'oar how to take a joke. Of course the brownrider wasn't there because of some interest in the bluerider. An obvious fact, but since C'oar felt the need to point out the glaringly obvious, it only made it.. awkward. A touch sad even.

Fiine.

F'lix pivoted, planting one foot behind the heel of the other as he turned to face his tail. Fingers of both hands curled into the leather of his belts. The playful demeanor gone from his facial expression since C'oar had made sure this unexpected visit would be anything but pleasant. Business, perhaps, though what business C'oar had with him remained a curious question. When C'oar did speak again, F'lix's brow began to rise the more frivolous the words became..

.. and F'lix thought himself bad with words.

It took a good moment for the bluerider to divest through the muck to find a trace of what C'oar was trying to say. Buisness was all that it was to the brownrider. No hint of emotion or actual regret behind the words. And who had brought it 'to the attention' of C'oar anyway. Clearly it was never something the brownrider had spared thought to in the past. An empty apology, joy – F'lix ever so did hate being lied to in that fashion. If people weren't really sorry, then they could just swallow back down those social graces and choke on them.

Dark, golden eyes half-lidded in lazy narrow of a glare, "Why would I bother watching you, and your supposed actions, to make sure you didn't hurt someone else. It's your own responsibility to make sure you improve yourself, not mine. Saboth and I learned from our mistake. Next time a dragon moves to rip out your wingsails, you are on your own. We won't put our necks on the line for your sake. So what good do these actions of yours do for me? Saboth isn't going to put himself in a position to test if you have changed your ways."

F'lix shifted his weight, head tilting as his eyes slitted further in distaste for C'oar's presence. "Ever hear the phrase fine clothes may disguise, but silly words will disclose a fool. Next time you want to feign an apology to someone, say your sorry then shut your mouth. Revealing that you are only apologizing, after nearly a turn, because someone else said you should only shows how little, if at all, it mattered to you. So now you have me curious.."

A prowling step forward as the smile began to edge up the corners of his lips; an expression far from being anything kind. "Who suggested to you it would be wise to apologize, and what you hope to accomplish by saying these empty words. You're certainly not seeking my forgiveness, so why are you doing this now?"

[dragon]

C'oar's features shifted slightly, though to what expression they were was indiscernible. "I don't know where you get your notions from but my words are not made empty by being late. I was obviously raised with a different method of handling things than you were. I am no less sincere for trying to bridge the gap of culture. I am not feigning anything, you should well know. If anything I am admitting to you that I made a judgmental error in how I dealt with the situation. I am trying to rectify that situation. This does not lessen the sincerity of the gesture."

Obviously, the bluerider's blood still ran hot, despite it being, as stated, quite a time in the past. C'oar could understand that. The damage done was permanent, and could never be undone no matter the wishes applied to it. However, apologizing to a body did not have to include subjecting one's self to being belittled. Whether anger was righteous or not. He'd said his piece.

"I do not expect you would be willing to forgive, and that is something you can only give and cannot be garnered by any other means. I am aware this is not likely to pass. Pining after it is foolish. I do however, have sincerest apology for the happening. Whether you believe that ... this is up to you. Whether that means anything to you, this is also up to you. There was no time delay on my end. The delay was only in realizing that my efforts were not satisfying to your end. You can be sure I was sorry the instant it happened." C'oar told him.

"As for who told me of my failing ... if such knowledge was desired to be known by you, they will tell you. It should not matter. I am merely grateful that my error was pointed out to me so that I might make an effort to fix it. I came now because it was the soonest opportunity to which I had half a chance of catching you to speak to you."

F'lix surely wasn't the first body to assume C'oar a fool, and definitely wouldn't be the last. C'oar was used to the assumption by now. Being a stable sort, he didn't let things of the nature upset him. His words were all said calmly, but with sincere weight behind them. He was not here to look for a fight with F'lix. He was here to apologize and remedy the situation as far as he could. Trying to bridge this gap between the two ways of thinking ... it did not appear to be working and C'oar had to wonder what the point was. Making a verbal apology to the man did not seem to be making any difference at all beyond enraging him. So ... what was the point? It would have been better suited to leaving the sleeping canine lay. As he had expressed to others before ... nothing he could do or say would undo what had been done. Or even fix it. The very best he could manage, was to ensure it did not happen again. Nothing else was humanly possible.

What F'lix was getting so bent out of shape over, C'oar wasn't entirely sure either. For he had made a full apology and left it at that. What else had he said? Nothing. Clearly, F'lix had been watching, if he knew what C'oar had been up to, even if his statement suggested he wasn't. For C'oar had certainly not told him about it. It mollified him slightly, to know that F'lix had seen, even if he had not comprehended, what C'oar was doing. Effort did not go unnoticed, even if forgiveness was not on the horizon. Realistically, that was not something C'oar ever expected to be. The wounds were too permanent, and too grievous. He would not blame the man if he continued to hate him and his till the end of time for the mistake.

"I merely wished to do right by you, after the accident." He finished, quietly, before inclining his head in a silent not. "This is all. I will not take any more of your valuable time. Good day." With that, C'oar turned and headed the other way down the hall, back the way he'd come. He had come, he had apologized to F'lix's custom. He had done what he could, though it appeared to him to be self defeating. There was little else he could do, and he did not wish to make matters worse for F'lix by lingering.

He did not wish to argue, on any point. He had merely wished to do right, from the beginning. He also was not going to stand there and let the other man tear him down and belittle him over what had in all truth been an accident. If F'lix wanted to get an ulcer over it, that was F'lix's business. That was not why C'oar had come all this way and sought the bluerider out.

[rii]

Almost.

F'lix kept his head tilted, rapt interest on C'oar's expression and the manner of his words. Watching for emotion, because if C'oar wanted to preach then he should preach with conviction. Words only meant something when there was feeling behind them. The rather toneless approach C'oar took rang hollow. There almost had been a visible reaction on the brownrider's features. Ruffled feathers, likely. Even anger at having the apology shoved back in his face would have been a better reaction than brushing it all aside.

F'lix prodded at people with a reason in mind.

How hard was it, F'lix wondered, to stay behind after wing drills. C'oar was on the same wing, after all, one that F'lix seconded and taught lessons to the other squads at least once during the week. Yes, he knew of C'oar's progress, but it didn't change his voiced opinion very much. The fact of what Frosstyth had done had been in the brown pair's face for a long time. Why now. C'oar had slept pleasantly with a clear conscious for months. Who had said what to stir the brownrider into apologizing now.

Although F'lix had yet to hear the simple words of I'm sorry uttered by the man. The length C'oar used were explanations, and if something could be explained, it could be explained away. Whittled apart and made meaningless. As C'oar walked off, F'lix had half a mind to pull rank and ask pointedly who had sent him over to apologize. He refrained, however, deciding this was not a matter to use that particular card.

Mentally shrugging, F'lix turned back his own way, deciding to ponder over the oddities of the situation over a late .. breakfast-lunch-dinner.