Let's Talk About the Boy (Olivia/maybe N'rik)

[Aftershock]

Venideth sat on one of the couches in Lilu's weyr, lifting a wing so that Lilu could run the oil-soaked cloth to a drier spot beneath it. Lilu noted the spot with a keen eye, circling the cloth carefully until the area gleamed the same as the rest of the skin she had already worked over with her oiling cloth. Turning to look sidelong at Olivia, who stood near the other couch giving Nevarath his own oiling, she said, "I'm glad to see no scoring on your flightleathers or on Nevarath's hide from the last Threadfall we flew... you took my lessons to heart, I see."

Moving the cloth forward, to begin the more concentrated work of rubbing the oil into the thick, armored skin on Venideth's chest and undercarriage, Lilu continued, "Is Navarath taking well to the exercises I suggested? Are you?" She stopped oiling for a moment, turning to give Olivia a more exacting once-over, her grey eyes narrowing as she looked the younger blonde girl head to toe, noting especially the muscle tone in whatever skin was exposed and any weight gain around the stomach, hips, or breasts.

[Zephyr]

You're really, really bad at that. Nevarath griped irritably into her mind, lounging out on the couch that wasn't his but he'd felt pretty at home on since His visited Venideth's so often. 'Syour fault. Liv grinned cheekily. You shouldn't be needing oiling so often. Nevarath just grumbled something unintelligible and flopped his head down, eyes fluttering shut as Olivia concentrated on oiling a spot under his wing. She glanced over as Lilu spoke and grinned at the other girl.

"Well yeah." She chuckled, turning away from Neva and ignoring his grumbled complaint. "You sound surprised. I want to be a good rider. Makes sense that I'd actually do the things you suggest." The blue behind her gave up on actually making his rider oil him and growled lowly, flopping back down on the couch. Liv rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Lilu again. "Yeah, Neva takes well to anything in the air. He has trouble with the ground exercises though, but I don't blame him. He isn't great at walking. He just prefers to fly." She shrugged before turning the conversation to herself. " I'm good too. I mainly just go along with him though." The girl grinned, finally turning back around to rub some more oil into Neva's hide.

If you weren't so fat, this wouldn't take so long. She teased, getting an indignant growl from the blue.

[Aftershock]

"Correction," stated Lilu matter-of-factly, raising a thin finger for emphasis, "You do not wish to be a good rider. You wish to be the best rider." Retracting the finger, she continued, "You must always strive to be the best at what you want to do the most, else you will never have the willpower to achieve even second best."

Her inspection of her unofficial student's body revealed, though the only flesh she could actually see was below the short sleeves of the blonde's shirt and from the neck up, that the girl seemed to be keeping in shape, though she could use some more toning. Putting her oiling cloth down, and wiping her hands clean with another cloth she kept nearby, she walked over towards Olivia, earning an incredulous look from Venideth behind her back, and squeezed Olivia's biceps and thighs. Her manner was clinical more than familiar, and she nodded as she did so and said, "Decent muscle tone, though you could work on it some more, of course. As for Nevarath, I understand some dragons are better at some exercises than others, but if he's having trouble with the ground exercises, concentrate on them more. If you push them enough, eventually they'll start to see the exercises as normal and possibly even start enjoying them," she concluded, turning to return to Venideth, who immediately changed his expression to a more neutral one when Lilu turned back to face him once more.

Reaching Venideth once more, and taking the oiling cloth back into her hand, she resumed oiling the blue's chest in silence for a moment, then began, "So, this... N'rik, was it?" Her unfamiliarity with the name was a bluff, of course... and with Lilu, as any bluff was, it was poorly acted. She had tried to get as much information on the boy as she could, but her lack of any kind of social circle outside of Olivia herself had meant she was met with little assistance in the matter. The most she had gotten was that his dragon was somewhat light-blind. All this, of course, was in her head, and she continued smoothly, "How is that coming along? He's not distracting you from your training, is he?" The question was presented as idle chatter, but the tone Lilu applied made it obvious she was highly concerned about the boy's influence on Olivia... it might have even been the entire reason she invited her to oil Nevarath in her weyr.

[Zephyr]

Olivia bit her lip at the correction. Yeah. The best rider. She should have known that. Leave it to her to make a stupid mistake like that. She continued oiling Nevarath silently, Lilu’s words ringing through her head. The dragon opened an eye, looking down at the girl. I hope she knows that by being the /best/ rider you’ll be outstripping her. He gave Lilu a gauging look, not bothering to hide his interest. He rarely did. The expressiveness of his face made hiding things like that difficult, not that he really tied to hide much of anything. He never understood Olivia’s friendship with Lilu. It seemed more like a dictatorship to him. Not that Liv asked for his opinion, but he wasn’t usually shy about giving it out of the blue. Darlin’? The dragon nudged the girl lightly. I’m oiled enough. Let’s go flying. I’ll do whatever /exercises/ you want me to do later. Olivia considered this but shook her head. I just can’t leave like that. Sure you can. The blue growled, but dropped the issue as Lilu was walking over.

At first, Lilu’s straightforward manner had surprised and concerned the girl. By now though, she barely flinched as the woman started to feel her arms and legs. “I know.” Olivia admitted, wiping the oil off of her own hands. “It’s just difficult to commit the time to exercising as much as you do. I’ve tried…it just doesn’t work.” At the mention of his name, the blue dragon twitched, peeling an eye open to watch Lilu carefully. “I don’t know.” She said in a low voice. “He just isn’t physically that good at walking. I don’t know why, but I try not to push him. He’s amazing in the air though. Isn’t that what a dragon’s supposed to be good at?”

Once Lilu turned away, Olivia decided that she didn’t want to continue oiling Neva anymore after all, and the dragon seemed fine with this. She leaned against the couch, still facing Lilu and felt the dragon’s tail coiling loosely around his ankle. It was a habit that carried over from weyrlinghood. He just liked to know that she was safe, and she didn’t mention it. He didn’t like any reminders that he had vulnerable mannerisms.

Her eyes widened when the woman mentioned N’rik, and a blush came over her face. She nodded to Lilu, not trusting herself to speak right yet. As the woman continued, she shook her head. “No, no. He isn’t distracting me. I promise.” Well, maybe a little. You couldn’t have a massive crush on your best friend without it distracting you some. “He’s just my friend…probably my best friend. Ever since I was living at burimyu. And I…well, I really like him.” They’d gotten closer over the seven years they’ve known each other, but she just couldn’t muster up the courage to tell him that she’d wanted to be more than friends. “I just…can’t tell him that. What if he doesn’t like me back like that?” Because yeah, she knew he liked her…well enough to be good friends with her, but good friends did not necessarily mean that they were meant to be together.

[Aftershock]

Lilu raised an eyebrow questioningly when Olivia mentioned her troubles finding the time to exercise as much as Lilu did, repeating, "Difficult to commit the time? What else is so important that you're finding the time to exercise properly difficult?" Shaking her head, she started her speech once again... a speech Olivia had likely heard before, and would likely hear again. "You're a dragonrider, Olivia. Unlike most people out there, you were born special... you might not have been made to be a dragonrider like I was, but you were born special nonetheless. As you can see from the number of riders in the Weyrs versus the number of drudges, wherhandlers, and Holdfolk out there in the Holds, we're a special breed of people. Not everyone was born with the mind to link to a dragon... we were," she began.

At this point, she got into her speech, and began to pace back and forth, gesturing with her oiling cloth as she continued, "You might not have done so immediately, but eventually, a dragon was born that was compatible with your mind... as I knew one would be. When you were Searched, it showed you were special... and your Impression to Nevarath simply proved it." She stopped then, and turned on her heel to catch Olivia's gaze with her own as she proceeded with, "With that proof, though, came a responsibility. As a dragonrider, you're one part of the team that fights Thread. Unfortunately, as you well know, some dragonriders see only how special they are, without caring about their responsibility. So, people like you and I must make sure we are prepared to excel where they slack off."

Lilu shook her head a bit at her last words, her mouth twisting a bit into a sour expression, and she then continued, "A rider and their dragon are two pieces of a single entity... both pieces must be at their peak, especially when they have to make up for riders who might take their responsibilities less seriously than they should. If a lack of exercise keeps you from getting over to catch even a single cluster of Thread you were responsible for, that Thread could reach the ground, and it could kill someone... and that is unacceptable."

Sighing deeply, Lilu put down her oiling cloth once more, and wiped her hands carefully as she walked back over to Olivia. Placing her hands on the blonde girl's shoulders and looking her in the eyes, she said, "I'm sorry, Olivia, I don't mean to sound critical of you. I know I've given you that speech before. It's just that you're the only other rider that I know understands that fact, and sometimes I worry that you'll end up talking to one of the lazier riders out there, and they'll put doubts in your mind about the truth of my words, and that I'll lose the one person on Pern who truly understands why I act the way I do." Giving both of Olivia's shoulders a familial squeeze, she said, "I've never had anyone in my life before you who truly understood me... and now that I have it, I don't want to lose it."

An expression that hovered dangerously close to an affectionate smile crossed over Lilu's features for a moment, then she released Olivia's shoulders and traveled back to Venideth's side of the room. Clearing her throat a bit, as if a hint of emotion had snuck in when she wasn't paying attention, she said, "Now, then, about Nevarath... yes, dragons are designed to be good fliers. However, if he excels at flying already, then concentrating on his ground exercises is the best way to make sure he's as well-rounded as possible... some muscles just do not get exercised properly in normal flight practice, and just like you, your dragon must be in peak physical condition in order to perform their duties at their best. Rider and dragon must act as one unit, and so both must be at their best, or else the weak link will pull down the capabilities of both."

Taking her oiling cloth back into her hand, she resumed her work on Venideth's hide as Olivia spoke of N'rik, and her feelings towards him. Lilu's expression tightened a bit as Olivia spoke of not knowing what to say to N'rik, and as Olivia finished speaking, Lilu said, "Well, it sounds like despite your efforts, this N'rik boy is affecting your ability to train and practice, through your self-doubting thoughts if nothing else. If it would not bother you, I would like to meet him myself... if he's going to have this much of an effect on my protege, I believe it's in both of our best interests if I were to learn more of him, direct from the runner's mouth, so to speak."