Don't try to understand 'em [Ruby]

[rii]

just rope 'em, pull and brand em
Soon we'll be living high and wide
My heart's calculatin'
my true love will be waitin'
be waitin' at the end of my ride

You're a sstrange one.

"Yes kettle," Ba'sun playfully retorted to his dragon while adjusting the blue's wing to better siphon the water off the cliffs. Standing under the waterfall would have been to powerful, but after the water had cascaded down the jutting rocks and now Ekarth's extended wing, it made a decent shower - if cold. Ekarth's other wing was stretched low as a curtain to shield the poor weyr from Ba'sun's nudity. Not that any of them cared, but it was the thought that counted. The blue looked rather sullen, eyes half closed as the water poured along his body. What iss wrong with the puddless you normally bathe in?

"Ah, can't get as clean when soaking in the dirt you just washed off." What'ss the difference, you ssmell funny regardlesss. Ba'sun maturely stuck out his tongue at the blue before hopping over the wet stones to where a folded, damp cloth sat on a slight ledge. Pilfered sweet sand from the baths - all of it in fact. His dragon was not the only one fond of stirring up a bit of trouble for amusement. He took a good handful before stepping into the stream of water - adjusting Ekarth's wing when it began to sag.

The blue huffed, You can at leasst provide me with ssome intelligent converssation.

"No can do blue," He scrubbed the dirt from his chest while turning to look up at Ekarth. "I can sing if you like. I'm forever blowing bubbles~" Oh pleasse no. "Pretty bubbles in the air~" Thiss iss torture. "They fly so high, they reach the sky, and like my dreams they fade and die~" Pleassse. Have mercy upon me - and the poor wher handlerss that likely have to hear thiss. Think of the poor children Sson'o'sunss.

"Ah, I doubt anyone can hear me over the roar of the falls." Ba'sun flicked some of the sand at his dragon before launching into a new song. "Rain and wind and weather, hell-bent for leather ~ wishin' my gal was by my siiide." Every piteous whine from Ekarth only increasing the volume of Ba'sun's voice. "All the things I'm missin', good vittals, love n'kissin', are waiting at the end of my ride~"

Of a sudden Ekarth's wings dropped - and surely it had nothing to do with spying a person drawing near - oh no, his wings were just aching from holding them up so long. Oooh, the blue weakly fluttered his wings, so tired. Ba'sun gave his dragon a look, not even bothering to look behind him because he was pretty sure he knew Ekarth's motives. Perks of being bonded to the snake for twenty or so turns. "You make a terrible curtain."

As you do a ssinger.

Ba'sun snorted as he tried to wash the sweet sand from his arm, glancing over his shoulder with a grin for his unknown company. "You agree with him?"

[Ruby]

It was Daniel that discovered the strange scene first, striding regally up the beach with his oversized wings tucked carefully in next to his body. Serissa trailed half a length behind, stooping every once in a while to select an especially pretty stone, only to toss it away. Her shift in the Infirmary was done; three days a week she'd be at Triage training now, but this was one of her off days. Ildyth wanted to go swimming, so she'd had him drop her off downstream with the intent to walk back up to her weyr while he cavorted. She'd thought that maybe she could find a pretty rock or something to surprise him with, but so far everything was pretty in the water and grey once she took it out. For Ildyth, it would have to be the prettiest stone, so grey wouldn't do.

Daniel, of course had taken the idea of a 'walk' far to literally, and had started off up the river without so much as a backward glance. Were he human-sized, even a jogging Serissa would have been quickly left behind; as it was, she was still moving faster than she'd intended, and nothing she could say to the firelizard slowed him down at all. She was so focused on the pebbles at her feet and keeping her escaping firelizard in sight, and the roar of the falls was so loud, that she didn't even notice Ekarth until Daniel flashed her an embarrassingly detailed image of the pair, accompanied by a snippily annoyed thought. They were in his way. How was he supposed to complete his walk with them splashing water all over the path he intended to take?

Serissa's bark of a laugh, so at odds with her sunny appearance, coincided nicely with Ba'sun's own snort. Well well, she hadn't seen him in a while. Smiling, Serissa put one hand on a cocked hip, glancing momentarily at the progressively more sulky Daniel before turning her attention back to her companions. She had, indeed, heard Ekarth's broadcast - no doubt he'd looped her in on purpose, she doubted Ekarth was the kind of Blue to broadcast on accident, like Ildyth did - so she tilted her head, considering what she could of Ba'sun's backside.

"Well, you certainly have a better ass than you do a voice, but that's not necessarily to your voice's detriment," she said, a wicked twinkle in her eye. "Although I do have to disagree with your comment about the curtain. I think he makes an excellent curtain." Let them take that as they would; Serissa crossed the yard or two between herself and Daniel, scooping the Brown up and holding him still when he struggled. He curled around her shoulders with a huff when she didn't let him go, turning a baleful eye on Ekarth. How dare he make jokes when the world was so clearly unfair.

[rii]

Serissa.

Ba'sun chuckled while side-stepping toward the rock wall to step under the frigid water to wash off the remains of sweet sand. He quickly stepped out, shaking his head and shoulders while simultaneously slicking his hair back. Cold, cold and cold. Ekarth folding his wings back along his sides, and crept forward while still mostly 'sitting' on the damp rocks. His tail coiled through the pool of water next to them, his attention all for the sun-haired rider. I do sso agree with you. He makess a better asss than a ssinger. Ekarth's tail came back up, slithering out of the water to coil in an open loop around Serissa's legs. Not touching her, yet, but dripping the cold water around her to show he was tempted to do such a thing. Of coursse, the bray of an ass alwayss ssounds like mussic to their earss.

His dragon always made for a wonderful distraction, Ba'sun quietly skirted off to the side to pass Serissa and check that she hadn't stolen his dry clothes. He expected it, because if the positions had been reversed, Ba'sun would have definitely taken her clothes. Some men just never grew up. A towel now wound around his waist, Ba'sun returned to the scene. Fingers rubbing against the heavy scarring making his abdomen a touch malformed.

"To what do I owe the honor of your presence, Serissa." Ba'sun tilted his head, letting his gaze sweep down then back up her body. His arms crossed loosely over his chest. "You are a bit over-dressed to join me in a shower." He tsked at her. "Did my voice really lure you here?"

Oh sshe is not a fellow asss for you to attract. "Not at all, but there are those unlikely pairings of an equine beauty and an ass. The offspring speaks for itself." Ekarth huffed at his rider, coiling more closely to Serissa and the glowering flitter. He thinkss himsself a clever ass. He'ss ssaying you are Fort, and he Benden, and Sselenitass the progeny. Tell the asss he revealss himsself a fool when he openss hiss mouth.

[Ruby]

"Very true," Serissa agreed with the dragon, glancing down at Ekarth's tail as he looped it around her ankles. He wasn't touching her, but she could feel the coolness coming off of it - that water must be cold. By then Ba'sun was back, towel in place. Her eyes skimmed the line between skin and cloth, drawn more by the scars than anything. Unconsciously, she tucked an arm behind her own back, feeling the ridges and valleys of her own damaged flesh through her shirt. Theoretically, they could have done this to each other (although of course Serissa's wound had come from a Hatching and she'd rarely been on a fighting wing, and who knew where Ba'sun's came from). What a strange world this one was.

Pushing that sort of disturbing thought to the back of her mind - she'd deal with it later, always later - she let her never-failing smile widen, reaching up to stroke the still VERY sulky Daniel. "You owe this one," she said, and the black-brown flit picked his head up, momentarily interested in this idea of favors owed. "I had intended to have a nice, relaxing walk; no doubt I'd still be halfway out to the ocean if he hadn't felt quite such a need to hurry. Perhaps it was him your singing attracted, and he simply couldn't stay away?" Daniel let out a squawk of indignation at that, actually turning around on Serissa's shoulder so the two humans could only see his tail end. The Bluerider couldn't help but laugh, which of course only made Daniel angrier.

"A clever ass indeed, but an ass none the less," Serissa went on, blue eyes on Ekarth now. "Your fool's missed a key point: I'm no runner. I'm Selenitas, not Fort, and mules are generally infertile. If it's progeny he wants, he'd best look elsewhere." Yes, her accent had a touch of the north in it, and yes, Ildyth had been born at Fort, but she'd been here close to four turns now; Selenitas was her story and she was sticking to it. She liked her head where it was, thanks.