Two is company--three's a crowd? (M'kai, A'emi)

[kat]

There were many things one could do in a bath. Read, chat amiably, wash up like you were supposed to be doing. For Rayne all those things were fairly nice and all that. But how could anyone even hope to compare those mundane things to what she had discovered such a love of? After all you could socialize with whomever came in just as well and didn't the water just feel so much nicer like this? Even the ripples on it as she lightly flicked the surface of the bathing pool caused her to sigh in contentment. Yes, this was the life for her!

She held a bottle of wine and lounged comfortably against the corner of the pool, inhaling the warm air and exhaling slowly. Why had she not done this sooner? She drank just about anywhere else. In her Weyr, out of doors, in the dining hall. When had she ever brought any into the bathing rooms? It just proved she hadn't thought of everything yet. But what she had thought to do was to bring lots more bottles. Because she was just nice and thoughtful like that, yes? A social drinker--even if she considered Kynoath and even Winter to be social!--she always made sure she had at least one extra flask or bottle for someone else. Or several someone's. In this case she had completely overdone it. There were four more bottles and the contents were all very good wine indeed. There was simply no way she would be drinking all of this on her own! While she was content to wait on someone else to show up she found herself more eager as time went on.

With drinking and waiting came the funnest thing of all: you never knew exactly who would show up! It could be a candidate, a Weyrling, a rider, anyone! Even a craftsperson or kitchen worker. You could drink with them and chat away so nicely! Drinking made most people open up and that was always nice. Some people were just no fun without a bit of inebriation! She was always fun, in her opinion. Still she liked to have more fun and drinking was just a great way to do it. Alcohol was so easily accessible she was frankly surprised more people didn't take full advantage of that. Silly people. They were missing out on all this! This, of course, being the current wonderful warm bath with its pretty water and the comfortable feeling that could not, in her mind, be matched.

It was with great pleasure she heard footsteps approaching. So, she would not be alone much longer! A slow grin spread across her face. One might have compared it to a devious smirk. The look of a predator waiting for its unsuspecting prey. She was so very excited to see who it was that would be joining her that it was hard to stay composed and not stand up and get a better peek. But no need to scare them away; no, would not want that at all! So she waited with that feline-like gaze fixated on the entrance to her particular pool. Hopefully the next few hours would be passed drinking with someone interesting. The greenrider couldn't have hoped for anything more--even though Kynoath sighed in resignation in the back of her mind. The green had not thought drinking in a communal bathing room was wise. Spoil sport. What could possibly be or go wrong with it? Nothing, that was what. Nothing at all.

[Avu]

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And –

‘And miles to go before you sleep,’ why would you bother /repeating/ that? Love, it’s so pointless. And it doesn’t even make sense. Don’t argue, you /know/ it doesn’t. They’re just pretty, useless words. I would’ve thought your poetry streak would’ve been over by now.

The green’s petulant complaint broke in on A’emi’s train of thought, utterly derailing it, and the greenrider paused with his hands undoing the fly of his pants, a disapproving frown twitching at the corners of his mouth. I wasn’t talking to you, he pointed out, still standing in the changing rooms of the bathing caverns, shirt on one bench, towel over his shoulder, barefoot, belt undone and still hanging loosely in the loops of his pants. I wasn’t even talking /at/ you.

It’s hard not to eavesdrop when you’re in my head, love, Kyrahth replied, a little cattily. Think something else. All of these poems make me want to retch, and that’s saying something; I haven’t even had firestone in half a sevenday. The dragon was supposed to be sleeping on the weyrledge, but A’emi had given up trying to figure out why Kyrahth would keep herself awake to be ‘tortured by his pretty words’ when she had the option of sleep. Clearly she was just in denial.

Kind of like M’kai.

A’emi finished undoing his pants, wrapping the towel loosely around his waist instead as he kicked his last pant leg out of the way, and shoved the bundle of clothing out of the way under one of the benches – anyone who tried to steal clothing was pathetic enough that A’emi didn’t really mind letting them have it; he’d left his blades back at his weyr. It wasn’t like he had anywhere to hide them when he was bathing, because, really, where was he going to put them? And it wasn’t like he’d mind walking back to his weyr nude. Modesty, thy name was not A’emi.

The first thing he noticed when he walked into the bathing rooms, one hand keeping the towel clasped loose on his hips, was that there was a woman already there. The second thing he noticed as nearly simultaneous with the first – that she was looking at him. Or, probably more precisely, at the door, but given that he was in the door, A’emi figured it counted.

A’emi didn’t usually go for females as a rule, but he did on occasion (see: Elysia) and this one was certainly pretty enough to catch his eye. Plus she had alcohol, which would make it pretty easy, probably. Morals, who, A’emi? Of course not. The greenrider wandered over, sitting on the edge of the bathing pool next to Rayne, and tilted his head at her, bare feet splashing lightly in the warm water. “That’s a lot of wine for one woman,” he commented playfully, eyes sliding not-so-discreetly over her body. “Mind if I join you?”

[Ruby]

Meagan's death had finally faded... it wasn't gone, it would never be, but M'kai found himself more and more able to live life like a normal human being. He'd cleaned his Weyr, (Finally! Futh had sighed), taken out the trash, finally gotten rid of some old, stained clothes he'd been meaning to sort out since he Impressed. All in all, he was feeling about as good as could be expected for someone who, for all intents and purposes, had lost both their sister and their sweetheart in the same day. M'kai didn't blame himself for Megs' death (thank Faranth, or he'd never have recovered), but it had still taken a good amount of time for him to return to the real world.

And then the tub drain in his private bathing room plugged itself up. SERIOUSLY?

M'kai was furious, probably out of proportion to the problem. The Headwoman said she'd be sure to have someone come take a look at it tomorrow, but it was late evening already, and couldn't he wait? No, he could NOT wait, thank you very much! He hated the communal bathing rooms with a fiery burning passion, especially now that he didn't have to use them at all. But he'd gone running that morning and he and Futh had done extra work after dinner, leaving a distinctly grimy, greasy, and wind-whipped M'kai in their wake. He had to wash before bed or he'd have to wash his bed tomorrow. It was the bathing rooms that won out.

With towel, extra clout and clean clothes in tow, he stalked down to the humid, sticky baths, hoping it was late enough that no one else would be around. No such luck. He spied a brunette he didn't recognize surrounded by bottles of wine, and... A'emi. Hmm. The woman was pretty, and might be worth A'emi's company if M'kai played his cards right. The question was, did he want to bother? After his encounter a few months ago, she very well could be a man. M'kai didn't think he could handle any more men coming on to him.

Indecisive, he hovered near the doorway, trying to both keep out of sight and be invited in at the same time. If nothing else, it would be fun enough to cock block A'emi... M'kai just couldn't decide if he cared or not.

[kat]

Rayne was rather pleased to see a rather attractive young man enter the room. Well, here was a pleasant surprise! As he commented a slow smile spread on her lips. So, he was a forward person! How simply delightful. If she were a feline she might have purred her pleasure at being addressed by so forward an individual. Those who played games were fun; yet those who were blatant were even more so! She smile a cheshire cat kind of smile, lazy and mischievous. This company would be fun. If nothing else he would make an amusing drinking partner. If more, well, who knew? She was in a playful sort of mood. She had already had a drink before coming here to make sure of her amiableness towards whatever sort of company found her here. She was delighted that it was this charming young man.

"Who said it was all for me?" The question was rhetorical, of course. She slid a bottle over to him with the back of her hand, and then patted the water next to her. "I don't mind so long as you don't," she replied. The grin never left her face as she watched him. She was distracted by a sound from the changing room, however. That somebody was not making much noise. Perhaps she ought to invite them in? Perhaps whomever it was had seen that there were two persons here and thought they might be interrupting.

"There's room for another, if you'd like!" she called to said person. She was actually hoping whomever joined them would be a rider. She recognized the other as someone she'd seen with a blue. So it didn't merit asking and she would not--sadly--be breaking any rules to at least offer a drink. She tried to peek around the entrance to see who it was, and thought for a moment she caught a sight of red...hair? Her interest was piqued now. It looked longer. A woman, then? This could be fun...

She waited to see if whomever it was stepped out. Of course she was only looking for a couple of drinking partners. But if she went to the furs with one of them no harm done, either. It had been a while since Kynoath's last flight and her dragon cared not what she chose to do. Man or woman, in that respects, also did not matter. The blond young man already seemed interested. She was feeling warm and pleasant and with a bit more in her was sure she'd be amiable to someone's advances. Not, of course, that she would simply just give in so easily. No, they had to play a bit first!

[Avu]

“Who indeed,” A’emi murmured, a small smile quirking at the corner of his lips. It could be taken as the woman was waiting for someone specific, of course, but ever-optimist was a good plan. The bottle offered to him was taken between his hands, A’emi sliding into the water at the same time, leaving the towel behind on the edge of the pool, wine held carefully out of the warm water. Warm wine was nice and all, but only when it was supposed to be warm and…yeah, just no. He popped the top off the wineskin, lifted it to his lips, but took only a small sip.

Precautionary measures, damage control – whatever you wanted to call it.

A’emi was far too small to be able to drink heavily, and he knew very well that the whole constantly cheerful thing vanished as soon as he got drunk. And he kind of wanted to be able to remember everything and not get a hangover, thanks very much. Still, the greenrider did like the taste of wine; he made a low appreciative noise in the back of his throat, holding the liquid in his mouth briefly as he turned to follow Rayne’s line of sight back towards the door.

Close as he was to Rayne, he was still positioned much more aptly, and he recognized the long red hair in question. He should, given how often he saw M’kai, anyway. A’emi grinned, swallowing the sip of wine and licking a stray drop off of his lower lip, remaining silent as Rayne called out. So very nice of her, doing all the work for him. Providing alcohol, sharing alcohol (surely that would extend to M’kai as well), and now trying to get M’kai to join him…

Alcohol? Kyrahth’s intrusion almost startled him; he’d forgotten she was awake and eavesdropping. The sharp wariness to the green’s tone wasn’t entirely unexpected, either. It wasn’t like she didn’t know that A’emi plus alcohol did not equal happy fun times.

Relax, darling, he replied, gaze still on the little glimpse of M’kai. His eyes slid half-closed, lightly appraising. Would it make M’kai more likely to come out if he looked annoyed? Probably, but A’emi didn’t really want to bother – not when he so obviously wasn’t annoyed. It wasn’t like he was averse to flirting with M’kai, anyway. The greenrider’s lips twitched into a faint smirk, and A’emi leaned forward conspiratorially towards Rayne, though his voice was pitched deliberately just loud enough for M’kai to hear, “Maybe he’s just shy…”

[Ruby]

Aha, room for another. Then she hadn't invited just A'emi, it wasn't a private tryst, he wasn't seeing someone else in his spare time. M'kai ignored the fact that he shouldn't care what A'emi was doing and who he was doing it with, rather lamenting the fact that he couldn't disappoint A'emi TOO much if he had run across the female by chance. Oh well, M'kai was pretty sure he'd get over it. Pulling his shirt off over his head, he took an appraising look at his torso - all of that boxing really had helped define the acceptable-but-not-great frame he'd always had, but he could do with a bit more of a tan - before going to lean up against the doorframe, eyes on Rayne but face aimed towards A'emi.

"You know very well it's not shyness, mate," he said, enjoying the complexities of the word 'mate' when applied to A'emi. Har har, M'kai was a linguistic genius. Oh wait, did I mention he'd grabbed a glass of wine already, speaking with the Headwoman in the kitchens? Oh yeah. He never went into communal bathing experiences unprepared.

"If there really is room for another, I think I'll take you up on that," he added, all his attention on Rayne this time. With a lingering glance, he retreated to the changing room, stripped down the rest of the way (with the exception of the swimming clout he was already wearing - not kidding about the preparedness), wrapped a towel around his waist, and returned, sliding into the water hopefully fast enough that no one would notice he wasn't fully nude. The water, clouded with sweetsand and bubbling in and out to keep it warm, obscured anything in it, but that wasn't going to stop M'kai from keeping his clout on, thank you very much.

"I'm M'kai," he added smoothly, resting his arms on the tub's edge behind him and getting comfortable. "Is that for sharing?"

[kat]

Rayne barely missed a thing out of those sharp eyes. Not a single subtlety was wasted on the greenrider and amusement was written all over her features. Who was the mystery person behind the other side of the room? She was surprised when A'emi identified whomever it was as a 'he'. So, the blond haired rider knew the other person, then? Interesting! Her mind practically purred at the hidden implications that she could read in the young man's tone. Baiting him, was he? She suppressed a chuckle. This certainly was going to be amusing...but only if the other person came to play!

Her hopes were rewarded when yet another handsome young man stepped out into the bathing room. Long red hair was startling to behold and she recognized him as a bluerider. The name eluded her if only momentarily before he refreshed her memory by giving it. M'kai, that was right. M'kai had very nice long locks. It was rare enough to see a male rider who did not keep his hair shorter that she admired it openly. Two handsome young men in the bath with her? She considered herself a very lucky woman!

"Rayne," she offered, looking at first at M'kai, and then to A'emi. Then she looked back at M'kai again, offering a cheshire grin. "Well, as our friend here was just mentioning, it's an awful lot of wine for just me," she amended, sliding a bottle over to the bluerider. She vaguely remembered her blond haired companion as a greenrider. Name? Eluded her yet again. Might as well find out what she'd be calling him!

"I don't believe I had the honor of catching a name, greenrider," she commented as she took a sip of her own wineskin, savoring the taste and swallowing slowly. Nothing went down so smooth as good liquor! She was curious as to just how these two knew one another. The way M'kai had said 'mate' to the other piqued her sense of curiosity. Had M'kai perhaps won one of the greenrider's flights? From the way they had both presented themselves so far they were certainly not only into men, if the bluerider favored men at all. That was a plus! Much more fun when you could flirt with someone who returned your attentions. Two to flirt with was all the better. So long as this remained the case who cared whom had bedded who? It was flights and anything could happen.

She felt Kynoath stir in the back of her mind, lazily turning over on her couch. Well, probably better the green slept than got involved in her little meandering! She didn't need to be teased for being a flirtatious thing. Certainly not when under the influence, especially! It was far funner to flirt inebriated, after all.

[Avu]

“Is that what we are?” A’emi replied innocently to M’kai, blue eyes wide, lips turned down somberly at the corners. Inwardly, he was positively delighted – so it was mate, was it? Surely the bluerider would’ve known that he would latch onto the many connotations of that. And he still had used it. Well, then, who was getting comfortable around him, hmm, hmm? Were they alone, he would’ve pounced instantly (figuratively, not literally, although a literal kiss would not have been entirely unimaginable). As it was…they did have company. He would play nice, even if the company in question wasn’t someone he was familiar with – or really very interested in becoming familiar with.

One-night stands typically were called that because they only lasted that night, after all.

Even the ones with the pretty names, he thought indulgently, a faint smile quirking on the corners of his lips at Rayne’s introduction. And speaking of the wine…A’emi lifted the bottle to his lips again, feigning another sip. No alcohol for him. Well…not very much, anyhow. Certainly not enough to even get a little tipsy, not in public like this. “A’emi,” he replied lightly to the question as to his name, and offered a brilliant smile, finishing, “of green Kyrahth, at your service~”

The lightest of emphasis placed on ‘service’, just enough to turn it into something decidedly suggestive, but on the second syllable of the word, his gaze cut towards M’kai, lingering only briefly before he blinked back at Rayne, his smile innocent – no, he wasn’t flirting with M’kai, why would he be? A’emi stretched, arms stretching above his head, fingers linking together, sinking a little deeper in the water. He had come for an actual bath, after all. But just scrubbing away when he was in such lovely company (and so very rare, too)…was entirely unappealing.

He smiled, eyes crinkling slightly at the corners, and added, keeping his tone cheerful, edging on flirtatious, “I’d bow, but you know – figure I’d drown myself trying, so I won’t.” It was tempting to add on that he could, actually, hold his breath for nearly three minutes (he’d practiced during Weyrlinghood, trying to hold his breath longer than Kyrahth, who didn’t deem it necessary to tell him that all dragons could hold their breath for ten minutes, the evil, evil beast) – and make it clear that he was willing to…ahem, demonstrate.

A’emi resisted. He was fairly certain neither Rayne nor M’kai was drunk enough for obnoxious propositioning. Yet.

[Ruby]

"You know what I meant," M'kai replied to A'emi, neither suggestion nor petulance in his voice. Instead, it was simply matter of fact, with a smile - mates as in friends, yes. But it was still fun to leave a hint of question hanging over A'emi's head.

As the introductions were taken care of, M'kai retrieved his bottle of wine, taking a sip. His automatic reaction was dissapointment - not a Benden - but on second examination, he perked up a little. This bottle, at least, was a nice floral white from Blossom, quite plesantly dry. Benden had always been better at Reds, after all. Contemplating, he took another sip before returning the bottle to the edge of the bath where it would stay cooler. No sense in letting a good White get too warm.

Now that he was done critiquing the wine, it was time to start observing the woman. Lighter hair was more his style, but then again hers would be a fairly light brown when it wasn't wet. Really, he had no complaints - the right age, unlike Elysia; interested, unlike every other woman in this weyr; not to mention that she had the most important thing going for her: she was, in fact, a woman, and quite a specemin at that. She'd do.

With a skeptical glance at A'emi, M'kai responeded, "How gentlemanly of you, not to bow to a lady beacuse you are concerned for your own wellbeing. I, however," he added, his tone arch, "Shall give her the respect she deserves." With a ridiculously flourishy gestue, M'kai took a deep breath and faceplanted into the water, 'bowing' deeply from his seat. When he straightened up, though, he had a ridiculous grin on his face - obviously a joke. Pushing his now-soaked hair back over his shoulder, the bluerider shot a wink at Rayne before turning to A'emi. "And that is how you greet a lady."