The Night Life (Piden)

[kat]

There were nights like tonight that she missed the warmth of the afternoon sun on her skin. Lying out on the grass and letting the sun soak into her, feeling the rays slowly bathe her in heat. She wondered if her canine missed it too. There were of course no complaints and yet it had taken a while to adjust the animal to not sleeping at night and sleeping during daytime hours. It was good that the Wherhandler apartments were nice and dark so that at least Rukia got the feeling it was 'night' in there. Well, no matter. Things were what they were.

Her pale skin had gotten paler, a creamy white complexion that she thought could use some more color. Patrolling and being so active had toned her up a lot. She used to be much softer. Nothing more than weight height proportionate at best. Now there was muscle there. Riding and working with Ariysk had definitely done its work. Ariysk had been big the day of his hatching. Even for a bronze he had been large. Now he was at the height of his glory. A large bronze with defined muscles. Was there any fat to him? Probably not, or maybe just enough to keep him warm. Whers didn't really get cold like humans. They were like dragons that way.

She was broken from her musing by the bronze stirring. It was time to get up and eat, for him. She had already been awake. She liked to be able to have dinner and breakfast in the dining hall. It was probably more social than anything else she did. Ariysk had been sulking on and off since Eikask's run. They had not been present and another had won his prize. He had been this way for a long while, yet it was worse before his had assured him that he would be there for the next run.

Ari wasn't sorry. She was rather glad they'd been absent. She had just grown to accept the fact completely that she was a bronzehandler. That this was her life. She had settled into it and she found she rather liked it. It allowed her to be alone but not if she wanted to. She didn't have to bother with people she didn't want to. The added complication of winning the gold's run she could do without. But she would keep her promise to Ariysk. He would run next time. He intended to win, if he could. Ari didn't know whether to hope he would or wouldn't. There were just so many complications to that. Ariysk was bronze, though. Bronzes were meant to chase golds, and Ariysk felt this more than many.

She sighed and stretched, getting up as her wher did, and turning the glow up. Her canine stretched and got up, tail wagging expectantly. Yes, it was time for them to eat. She had already eaten supper and would be ready. She felt a little spaced out with all that thinking, and hardly realized that someone was ahead of her in the low light of the glows, kept so for the whers. She lightly bumped into them, and then took a step back, apologizing quickly.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention...Piden?" She had far better vision in the dark now than before. She recognized the other handler and though they'd rarely spoken, he seemed nice enough. Ariysk snorted irritably. He wanted to eat and his was standing there, in his way.

[Ruby]

Piden had been up early, recently. Tekivisk and Dementia's runs back to back had shocked the Handler into sociability; there was a very pretty Bluerider he'd been flirting with lately, a blonde-haired vision with the most beautiful smile. She'd seemed like an easy lay, at first, but she'd been stringing him along the past few nights, eating late with him and staying in the dining hall until the drudges pretty much kicked them out. Then, invariably, she'd make some excuse about being up early, or having an infirmary shift until late into the night. That would be great for the relationship, of course, if Piden didn't hate the infirmary with a firey, burning passion. Basically, Serissa seemed like a lost cause - or far more prudish than a Female Bluerider had any right to be.

This meant that Piden was headed back home just about when Pidesk was getting up, dressed to the nines with his usual almost-too-casual flair. He felt Pidesk stirring as he entered the apartments, the Bronze coming fully awake and shooting out a tendril of hunger. Tonight was a hunting night. Piden sighed, calling to his Wher and leaning against a wall in the thin corridor, grinning wolfishly when he realized he'd leaned up right next to Eikane's door. Well, at least that had been fun. Someone was coming up the corridor, someone with a large Wher behind them... could it be the Goldhandler? That would be quite entertaining...

But no. Pidesk had nosed his way out of the apartment, planning to meet his Handler halfway. He'd know Eikask's scent, her heat signature anywhere, and tht distinctly wasn't her. Bigger, more muscular, less ghostlike in the darkness, he informed Piden as the other pair drew closer, unaware of Pidesk's silent sstep behind them. Roi and Roisk, Piden asked? No, too big even for Roisk, and the Handler was very much the wrong shape...

Piden slid out into the hallway just in time for Ariya to brush against him, his night vision identifying her just in time. Feigning deep thought, he jerked his head up, offering her a smile that was one part sexy, one part surprised, and two parts 'sincere'. If nothing else, Piden was a good actor. "Oh, it's no problem," he said, shrugging and lifting his hands to prove it. "I'm pretty sure it was me that wasn't looking, not you. And yes, Piden - and you're Ariya, unless I'm quite mistaken."

From behind Ariysk, Pidesk gave a gentle mental push to the Bronze ahead of him and both handlers. He was hungry, and he wanted to hunt. Aryisk's heat signature seemed thinner than normal - was he hungry too? Pidesk would enjoy having a hunting partner, he'd had such fun hunting with Konstask a few months ago. Eikask came sometimes, but... well, Pidesk was male and as much as he loved greens and his gold, sometimes it was fun just to hang out with the guys. As strange as the males sometimes were around these parts.