Killing Time (Open)

[kysseh]

Aslath and her pursuers were not nearly far enough away for Savitri's liking, given the feelings coursing through the young woman's body, but at least Hepaticath had stopped fidgeting. The young queen was not old enough to be startled into Rising, but she was old enough that it made her restless, wondering why the unfamiliar, yet instinctual, feelings had her on edge. Now, with Aslath and her pursuers at a great enough distance, Hepaticath had settled and was merely sulking on the sand, her eyes whirling slowly as they focused on the crashing waves. Savitri knew why but refused to acknowledge it for the moment, instead content to just watch the waves and ignore the physiological effects of a gold's flightlust. Stupid, stupid-

Why is he Chasing /her/? She is not nice or respectful nor as big or as pretty. the young dragon complained suddenly, shifting her position so she was sprawled on her belly on the sand. Her normally shining honeycomb hide was lacking its usual luster, mostly due to her somewhat foul mood. Even Savitri standing and scratching her eyeridges did not lift the weyrling's spirits. She was in the mood to play, and somehow, there was no one to play with. Nursing a wounded ego, her feelings exacerbated by Savitri's unease, she was just sulking like a wronged adolescent, a fact which was not lost on her bonded.

Snorting softly, Savitri idly lifted a handful sand and scrubbed at one of the gold's neckridges, mostly to distract them both than from any real need to clean. "He's just being male and a bronze, love. It's not that he likes her more. She's just Rising and pretty, and he wants her," she was saying simply, her capable hands moving over the young queen's neckridges. "So stop being a little hatchling."

That startled Hepaticath into lifting her head and eyeing her bonded, watching the woman fuss. I am not being a hatchling. she said finally, giving her bonded a huffy snort. He should not Chase her. He should play with me instead. He ismy friend.[/color][/i] Even Hepaticath seemed to be aware that the thought was juvenile, given the nervous shuffling of her wings. To cover that moment of doubt, the young dragon was suddenly on her feet and hopping toward the water, purposely ignoring the dismayed protests of her sand-covered bonded. Playtime, Mine! You have to play with me now.

Grumbling at this new turn of events, Savitri moved over to a nearby rock and kicked off her shoes and dumped her pack. Today was so not her day.[/size]

[dragon]

The day was nice and warm. Just warm enough for a swim to be a good idea. And as such, Aonith had drug Dorava out to the beach for just that reason. Something deep enough to truely swim in! And she was thrilled at the idea, as well. Something to do ... even if she couldn't fly, she could still swim. At least... Kallierre hadn't said anything about not swimming.

Dorava, on the other hand, refused to go in the ocean. Swimming she didn't mind ... but the ocean? Dorava wouldn't care a whit if she never saw the ocean again. The trip over the ocean to get to Selenitas in the first place had been a stressful, worrisome, long-winded event that she did not care to remember. But yet her green dragon seemed to still be enthralled with the ocean. AH well. Perched up on top of a boulder and scratching at the rock with the point of her knife, Dorava made doodles that would last for about a week before being weathered away. She never noticed the gold and her rider that were farther up the beach and almost out of sight... she wasn't paying any attention at all to her surroundings, being busy with the drawing and listening to Aonith describe everything she saw on the ocean bottom.

Kicking and flicking her wings in little bursts, Aonith was travelling along under the water, almost as if she were flying. The only difference being that every great now and then a burst of bubbles would erupt from her nostrils to cascade to the surface ... only to pop unnoticed in the waves there.

Twirling through the water, Aonith was quite happy ... this was almost as good as flying. In fact, it was a darn nice simulation! And it didn't strain her wing at all. Aonith stopped moving and hung there in the water for a moment, when she spotted Hepaticath's body slam into the water and start swimming. Now ... this was interesting! Aonith wondered who that was, and started undulating and swimming back toward the surface to see.

Mine! I see a gold! A shiny, shiny gold! I am going to see who it is. Aonith announced to Dorava. Up on the boulder, Dorava's head snapped up and around, as she tried to spot said gold. She knew that Aslath was rising, and hoped to all the world that it was not Aslath that Aonith was going to go bother. That would be the stupidest thing in the world to do, short of flying deliberately into a large Thread cluster. At least the thread cluster method of death would be faster! "What? Who -?" Dorava spotted Hepaticath in the ocean, and quirked one eyebrow upwards. What was a young Queen doing out here? She looked back at the beach, and spotted Savitri where she was shucking her shoes. Well ... at least it wasn't Aslath! Dorava sheathed her knife in her boot-top (she really needed to get around to making a real sheath for the thing), and jumped down off the boulder to wander over that direction. She didn't hurry ... she didn't want to bother Savitri if she was interested in a swim.

Aonith erupted from the ocean a short ways from the gold, creating a spray of seafoam that did not quite get all over Hepaticath. Hi! She announced, happily. Who are you? I am Aonith! Mine is ... over ... Aonith paused in her paddling for a moment, sinking back down in the water slightly as she scanned the boulders, looking for Dorava. Finally, she spotted her on the beach instead. Ah hah! Over there! She looked at Hepaticath again, paddling a little faster to keep her up in the water.

[kysseh]

Hepaticath was aware of the green that swam further down the coast but had decided not to bother the creature. After all, the queen acknowledged that she herself was in a rather bad mood and not the best of company for the moment. Rolling lazily in the shallows, she amused herself with itching her back on the bottom, her shining legs wriggling above the waves in her delight. She sensed the green approaching, though, and got to her feet, emerging from the water just in time to get splashed by the other dragon. She was irritated little, given that she was already soaking wet, and merely snorted the water out of her nose.

Hello, Aonith. I am Hepaticath. SavitriMine is coming to join us here. the gold said politely, gesturing with a shining wet nose at the young woman standing in the shallows. Her gaze drifted to focus on the greenrider near Hers on the beach, momentarily curious. The curiosity soon faded as the weyrling hopped into the shallower water to greet hers, extending her neck to nuzzle at Hers. You and Yours are escaping the weyr too? Mine did not want to be near people while Aslath Flies. the gold continued in an attempt at conversation, crooning quietly as Savitri bent to scoop up a handful of sand to begin work on cleaning her neckridges. Aonith and Hers, Mine. You should say hello.

Hepaticath's private words to Savitri did not go unheeded. The young woman arched an eyebrow and spared her attention-grabbing mindmate a rather weak glare. Could they not escape to anywhere without being harassed by people? In a normal mood, she would have been unbothered, but agitated by Flightlust and Cath's disgruntled attitude toward her favored playmate, Savitri was not entirely rational. Still, good manners dictated that she at least try to be polite, so she turned to offer Dorava a thin smile, ignoring the wavings crashing around her knees as she worked to relieve Cath's itching. Shards, but the creature needed to grow slower. She swore the baths were happening a half-dozen times a day.

"Savitri," she said simply in introduction. With her long hair tied in a neat bun at the nape of her neck, Savitri imagined she looked older than her paltry twenty Turns, which was just how she liked it. She doubted the older riders would take her seriously otherwise, a fact which irked her to no end. She wasn't a child, shardit. "Dorava, right?" Aliscia had pointed her out on one occasion. That... and the fact that Aonith had spent time in the infirmary made it easier to remember the greenpair. She had no idea what other conversation to offer forth, mostly because the other rider was not one familiar to her. "Escaping the weyr and the flightlust, hmm?" Pitiful, at best, but a conversationalist, Savitri was not.

[dragon]

Aonith waded to where it was shallower, and sat down on the bottom, allowing the waves to eddy and swirl around her on thier way to crash on the shores. She just watched Hepaticath for a moment speculatively. The gold was not very big yet ... Aonith had expected to be dwarfed by something golden. Thus she was a little bit surprised, before she realized that maybe Cath wasn't quite grown yet. At which point she understood. Escaping the weyr? No ... not really. I just wanted to swim. So I brought mine out here so that I could swim. It's almost as good as flying! Aonith replied, before tilting her head back to look up into the skies to see if she could see the flight. They were far enough away, though, that there wasn't much - if anything - to see. Even with superb dragon vision.

Dorava paused on the beach, not going in to the water. "Hello." She said simply, before Savitri started talking. It sounded rather like she was kind of annoied that anyone had turned up. "Yes, I'm Dorava." She replied. "No ... We're just out here so that Aonith can swim. She's been bugging me about wanting to come for a week, now. Be my choice, we wouldn't be out here. But ... oh well." She shrugged slightly. "Are you okay?" She asked, finally, wondering why Savitri was acting so oddly. Surely that was not how she normally operated?

Dorava looked over at Hepaticath, and smiled slightly. "She's pretty." She commented. "How old is she?"

[kysseh]

Hepaticath rumbled in mild amusement as the older dragon seated herself in the shallows. It was rather hard to stay afloat in rough water, as the young queen had learned the hard way. Being gawky and partially-grown made it worse. She envied the older dragon that small blessing of being fully grown. From Hers' reckoning, she was getting very close, but... still, it was hard to coordinate all of her long limbs as of now, tail included. The green was watching her, Hepaticath belatedly realized, and she tilted her gold head to one side in an almost canine gesture of curiosity. What was on the other dragon's min-

Yes, swimming is almost as good as flying, except when the waves are strong. Hepaticath replied agreeably, lowering her nose to stick it into the water with the intention of blowing bubbles out of her snout. It was an immature hobby, to be sure, but she got some odd delight from it. Unfortunately, she miscalculated the timing of the waves and thus failed to blow bubbles, instead mistakenly inhaling a good two nostrils worth of seawater. Immediately, her honeycomb-hued head reared back, and she furiously snorted out the offending water. Or when I forget how to time the waves. Do not inhale the water. It burns. she kindly advised the older dragon, flaring her nostrils and tossing her head in a feeble attempt to get rid of the burning sensation.

"Brilliant, darling," Savitri told her mindmate, unable to resist a chuckle at Hepaticath's expense. When the dragon snorted a few droplets of water at her, the young woman merely offered her a light slap to the neck. "Behave." Dorava seemed hesitant to get her feet wet, Savitri noticed once she was finished silently teasing her mindmate. Not that the goldweyrling minded much either way, truth be told. She just found it interesting. At the greenrider's question, though, Savitri made a slight face. She was being rather rude. "I apologize for being rude. Goldflights put me on edge. I dislike Flightlust," she said simply, bending to scoop up another handful of sand out of the knee-deep water.

Her efforts to clean the young gold were delayed, however, by Hepaticath puffing herself up just... very slightly. The gold recognized an admirer in the greenrider, and while she was not an incredibly vain creature by nature, she was a gold. The attention was most appreciated, and she arched her neck out of pride, earning an eyeroll from her bonded. "Thank you. She knows it too," Savitri remarked dryly, flicking Hepaticath on the nose when the gold turned to give her a baleful look. "She's about eleven months old. Only a few months from full growth. And... hello, Aonith," she greeted the green, swatting Hepaticath's head out of her way to give the green a brief smile. "Your wing is doing better?"

[dragon]

Aonith watched Hepaticath for a few moments, and then rumbled slightly, making the water immediately around her quiver and jump where it wasn't obscured by an incoming wave. It was a sort of laughter. Waves make no matter at all when you're swimming beneath the surface. They're gentler than aircurrents. she said, surprised that the gold weyrling had never tried swimming in the depths. Aonith rather liked it ... it was a nice hobby!

She refrained from giggling when Cath breathed the ocean, recognizing the attempt at bubbles. It was nice to know that a gold could be that down to earth and relaxed! It would have been very difficult for the green to not have recognized another one of her own favorite hobbies ... older dragon or no! I imagine it does! More so than sweetwater would. She dipped her own snout into the ocean, and exhaled all in a rush. Large bubbles erupted around her eyes in a raging torrent, almost making the water seem as if it were boiling. She lifted her head very clear of the water before inhaling, though. Inserting her snout back into the water, she let the air out slower to make bloop-sounding bubbles arise.

Dorava nodded slightly. "You can hear them?" She asked, taking a swag at why it bothered her. It looked like her gold was too young to have been disturbed by a queenflight. So it had to be the rider. Any flightlust that was not one's own could be a rather awkward thing to deal with, Dorava could well imagine. Even though she had never experienced that particular affliction.

"She's eleven months? I thought she was older than that." Dorava asked, amazed. Though she couldn't say why she had thought that. She just ... had. "I mean ... not horribly older than that. But ... ah, never mind." Dorava shrugged, and changed which leg she was standing on, a little on the uncomfortable side. She'd gone and opened her mouth again! And crammed her foot wayyyy down.

Aonith inhaled abruptly when she was spoken to, and then jerked her head out of the waves, coughing up seawater. She snorted, getting the water out of her nasal cavities, as well, shaking her head with her eyes squinted shut. OUCH. Inhaling a lungfull of clear air, Aonith cleared her throat and looked at Savitri. If her eyes could have teared, she looked like they would have been running. Hello. Erm ... it is doing better, yes. I am impatient for the skins to come off and be allowed to fly. The green confessed.

[kysseh]

Hepaticath quirked her head to one side and crooned in quiet concern at Aonith's coughing, hoping the older dragon was not too terribly damaged by inhaling the stinging seawater. Savitri received a rather reproachful look for her part in making the green accidentally inhale the offending liquid, though Hepaticath did Hers the courtesy of relaying Aonith's response to the query. She could not resist tacking her own opinion onto the end, though. You should not have startled her like that, Mine. Shame on you. The scolding would have been much more effective had the young creature's eyes not been whirling in quiet amusement at Hers' stubborn refusal to get into a bickering fight. Silly Hers.

Sighing quietly at the gold beast's persistence, Savitri simply flicked Hepaticath on the nose and then returned her attention to Aonith. "I'm glad to hear it's better. Swimming is good exercise for it. And-" Savitri gave her dragon a dark look now, as Hepaticath had not ceased to pester her about good manners. "-I am sorry for startling you, Aonith. I'd have waited if I realized your face was going into the wa-"

Anything else that she had intended to say was cut off by a gurgle as Hepaticath gave her a none-too-gentle nudge that had the vertically-challenged healer toppling into the waves. Savitri popped up within a second, soaking wet and storming through the shallows to shove at her dragon's oversized head. "That was entirely uncalled-for," she groused, further incensed by the amused rumble echoing from the dragon's chest. "Yes, less than a Turn. Her childishness is evidence of that," the young woman responded dryly, giving Dorava a look of long-suffering patience. "At least she didn't toss me into the deep water, the brat."

You love me anyways, so stop fussing. Being wet is good for you. was the private comment from her smug mindmate, the unintended double-entendre deepening the scowl Savitri aimed at her mindmate. Mine is far too much fun to tease. Do you play games with Yours? the gold inquired of Aonith, not bothering to hide her amusement at Hers' expense.

Wringing out the hem of her shirt, Savitri moved away from Hepaticath and toward Dorava, not wanting to risk another dunking. She opted to not share Hepaticath's more private comments, mostly because they were highly personal and embarrassing in nature. "People wonder why I dislike golds," she grumbled quietly before straightening and jerking her chin in the direction that Aslath and her pursuers had long-since disappeared in. "I can't... hear them, but I can feel what they're putting off. I'm holdborn. It affects me more, though not so much out here, away from the weyr. It'll be worse when we get back." The young woman looked dismayed at that thought but said nothing further, simply wringing out the now-dark material of her shirt. Shardit, but she was going to get that beast back for the dunking. "You're weyrborn? Or been in the weyr for awhile?" She was not curious so much as just trying to make polite conversation. It seemed a better option than throwing things at her still-smug mindmate behind her.

[dragon]

Aonith cleared her throat again, and ambled a little closer to shore, shaking her green head. Her nasal cavities and the upper portions of her lungs stung like all dragonfires … but she could be sure she wasn't going to have any infections in there! Gowleee that hurt. Plopping down in shallower water, Aonith flipped her tail around herself and looked over at the young gold. I used to play games with mine, when we were younger. Nowadays I spend most of my time trying to keep mine out of trouble. She's so terribly good at accidentally doing some rather … unwise … things. Aonith replied. Play is nice, though. I have found that several of the younglings about the weyr like to play! She looked around and over at Savitri again, and had been about to reply to her, too, but had to quickly suppress a heavy whuffling of dragon-laughter at her dunking. And then she continued anyway: It is alright. It won't kill me. She said, in simple forgiveness.

Dorava just watched all that was going on in astounded silence. A lot of what was going on went right over her head, as she was not privy to all that was being said. But what she could see indicated that there was a lot of talking going on. She was slightly concerned for Aonith's lungs, but the green seemed to be breathing alright, now, so she didn't question the green. She was pretty sure Aonith would tell her if she needed help … not that there was much Dorava could do for a dragon that had inhaled seawater. Dorava stepped back away from the water as Savitri came slogging out, her forehead wrinkling up in concern for a moment.

"Are you alright?" Dorava asked, just to be sure. She knew that the gold would not harm her own rider deliberately… but growing dragons often did not know their own strength, when playing.

"I have been riding for a long time, now … it seems like an eternity, almost." Dorava replied, to Savitri's queries. "But no, I was not weyrborn. I was holdbred…" She shrugged slightly. "If going back to the weyr is so unpleasant, right now, is there any reason why you can't camp out, out here? I can run back in and get you some clothes, if you'd like." she offered. Staying any time at all in soppy wet clothing wasn't going to be fun at all, of that Dorava knew well.

Would you like to try deepwater swimming? I could teach you how it's done. Aonith offered, speaking to Hepaticath again, after glancing over at her own rider.