Time for Admiraton! [Tags: ANYONE]

[boober]

Several splashes were heard as first Bite, then Darling plunged headlong into the water. For once the two were getting along, or at least not fighting, something for which their bonded was immensely grateful for. He was clad in a pair of ragged trousers that looked as if they’d been shorn off just below the knee. Nothing else adorned C’lryn’s lean-muscled, well-tanned frame except a few droplets of water as he made his way around the bulk that had become his Minoath. Never was it more obvious to him how much his bronze had grown than at bath time. No longer was he the small, stumbling creature who had greeted him on the hot Hatching Sands.

C’lryn couldn’t help but smile, even as he scrubbed a particularly dry spot on his dragon’s hide. He leaned into it, putting more pressure on the spot until Minoath sighed and sprawled out in the water. That feels wonderful. Do not stop. The young man flashed a grin at his beast before scrubbing a few more times with the brush, then moving on. The bronze move obligingly, lifting one of his massive wings so that His could scrub beneath it. Already his hide gleamed in the bright sunlight, moving with the muscles that shifted beneath it. No, he definitely was not a hatchling anymore… something he’d proven beyond a shadow of a doubt recently in a particular green’s Flight.

But it wasn’t just the bronze who had grown and developed over the months since the Hatching. It was interesting watching the bronze pair together, for C’lryn’s tanned skin moved in much the same way as his dragon’s hide, soft and supple and seeming to flow over the working muscles beneath it. He looked less like a gangly lad and more like the young man he was. Training and riding were already taking their toll on his young body, and it showed. Of course, he had never been a slob appearance-wise, but the extra work of a dragonrider were definitely starting to show. And yet, he was all eyes for his bronze. C’lryn didn’t notice the changes in himself, only saw and took pride in the changes present in his bronze life mate. That was all that needed noticing, right?

[Avu]

It was a nice day for a walk, warm and sunny with just a bit of breeze. Would it not make sense that Meira was spending it that way—walking? The girl took her time as she dawdled along, going nowhere in particular, just wandering around. She had yet to see a watch-wher since her arrival, which she had been looking for, but that didn’t mean there were no watch-whers. There had to be at least one in a Weyr as big as this one, right? The girl pushed her dark hair from her large eyes, glancing around her. She’d made her path away from the Weyr, ending up walking along the river. The sparkling clear water appealed to her.

Meira took off one shoe, dipping it into the water and swirling it around. The cool liquid felt good on her foot. The healer bit her lip, glancing around nervously. Was anyone there? She wasn’t about to strip and jump in unless she was absolutely sure nobody was around. Just because the Weyr might not mind if someone was bathing outside didn’t mean that she was going to use that to her advantage. Well, not quite, anyway. Meira glanced around, chewing on her lip now. Nobody was there, but then she was at a curve in the river and couldn’t quite see what was going on around the curves.

A few splashes caught her attention. Sparkles of water were visible, barely. And what was that? Intrigued and yet nervous, touching the belt knife for reassurance, Meira moved quietly towards the splashes. The first thing that caught her eye was the dragon. A big dragon, a bronze. He appeared to be being bathed by a young man, who was…standing in the water. At least he wasn’t entirely nude. It was a start, wasn’t it?

Meira dawdled, uncertain whether or not to make her presence known. Bronzeriders could be the worst, as she’d learned while at Benden, but surely they weren’t all like that? The girl dropped her eyes, her lip starting to turn red under her attack. Well, what could it hurt? She had her belt knife, and the Weyr was still in running distance. She wasn’t exactly a terrible runner, after all. Besides, she was standing next to the river. Sooner or later he’d see her, and if she hadn’t announced herself, he would probably think she was an idiot, gawking at him or something stupid.

So, she cleared her throat, a small noise in the grand scheme of things but loud enough to be heard. And waited for acknowledgement.

[kysseh]

Most older siblings would have felt it a trial to have a younger one on their tail, shadowing their every movement. As the situation stood, though, Savitri was almost glad to have Virast trailing along after her, mostly because the younger teen was holding both brushes and the bucket of oil for the bathing of the perpetually-growing gold weyrling that moved alongside her. She swore Hepaticath was bigger already, and the gentle bump to the shoulder by the gold's nose confirmed that. Yes... definitely bigger already. She glanced back at her younger brother, surprised that he was not lagging far behind.

Virast was so eager to get a chance at bathing a real dragon that he was barely a couple steps behind his sister and her lifemate. In fact, the boy had to watch every time he put a foot down, mostly so he didn't step on the poor gold's tail in his eagerness to get to the water. At his own heels, Fish was meowing piteously for attention, evidently wanting to be in her person's arms in place of the offending brushes and bucket, but the boy could scarcely spare a moment or a bit of arm room for that. There would be plenty of time later, but he wanted to pet this real dragon right now.

Rolling her eyes a bit at her brother's enthusiasm, Savitri sighed with relief as they finally rounded the curve and approached the rivershore. Unfortunately, the sight of splashings in the water and a tense-looking girl farther down the shore let her know that this stretch of river was occupied. Even more unfortunately, Hepaticath did not seem to care.

The little gold trumpeted a hatchling's version of a greeting, which would have sounded far more regal if her vocal chords had been in their adult form. As it was, the trumpet was a sad parody of an adult's greeting, but the tone was dignified enough to signify who she was. With greeting done, she moved awkwardly forward to get into the river a short distance from the bronze and his rider. Greetings! I hope you do not mind sharing for I itch terribly, and Mine promised to bathe me. she said politely to the bronze. Being what she was, one might have expected her to sound rather snobby, but her tone was nothing short of genuinely honest. We can move further away if you wish. It is no trouble. she added before moving to submerge herself in the water. In her youthful awkwardness, she promptly tripped and toppled over into the deeper water, which made Savitri's heart nearly stop with fear. Within an instant, though, the shining head broke the surface, and Hepaticath gave a massive snort. My feet are too big.

Looking skyward as if for patience, Savitri moved closer to the river's edge, offering up a polite nod for the girl and the unfamiliar bronzepair. "Sorry about her. She gets a bit too excited about her baths." I itch... "Weyrling Savitri. This is my brother, Virast," she added by way of polite greeting. The bronze and his rider were of one of the more senior weyrling classes, she thought, though she could not be sure. The girl, however, was unfamiliar, and Savitri was made cautious by the uncertainty of her body language. The healer-turned-weyrling was wearing a sleeveless tunic that revealed the bandages still present on her upper arm, and her tunic and pants covered most of the slight bulk around her abdomen that was caused by the bandages around her torso. Were it not for those inconvenient details, she would have gotten straight into the water with her dragon, but she would rather not have pulled her stitches.

Virast, however, blithely ignored both of the other humans and went straight to the gold weyrling as Hepaticath moved her wet body out of the water for a scrubbing. Despite the fact that the gold weyrling gave him a wary look, he set to gently scrubbing with a will, delighted beyond all measure that his sister had permitted him to touch her lifemate. The firelizards were cute and all, as were the rather awkward whers, but dragons.... oh, dragons were so lovely to see and touch. He almost envied his older sibling, though it was hard to envy someone who had saved your own neck on more than one occasion. At the mention of his name, his eyes darted upward and flicked between the bronzepair and the solitary girl, unsure if his sister actually expected him to make conversation. He would rather not, really, especially not with such a lovely creature beneath his hands.

[boober]

After a few moments, a glittering gold form rose from the water and flapped wetly over to perch on Minoath’s neck ridge. Darling shook herself like a canine before twittering sweetly to her bonded. She then glided over to perch on a sundrenched rock, sprawling out to dry. C’lryn watched her fondly, one hand resting against his dragon’s hide where he’d left off from scrubbing. It was no secret that the little golden beauty had her bonded completely wrapped around her little claw. Fortunately, she was good as… well, gold, quiet and well-mannered and never obnoxious like some gold flits could be. Rather than settling down for a nap, however, Darling was watching something intently with her whirling gaze. But C’lryn had already turned back to the task at hand, scrubbing at his dragon’s hide.

But Minoath was paying more attention, having turned his head back to look over at Meira with large, whirling eyes. Mine, we have company. The bronze flicked his tail almost lazily as C’lryn blinked and straightened, looking toward the girl. He hadn’t even heard her approach, nor the sound of her clearing her throat to gain their attention. Darling uttered a high-pitched but sweet little trill by way of greeting, though it didn’t seem as if the little gold was inclined to get up from her rock. Lifting one bare arm, the bronze rider brushed his forehead across his arm to wipe away the droplets of water that clung to his face. Once he raised his head, he cast a friendly smile in the girl’s direction.

“Hey. Did you need something?” He turned from his dragon to give Meira his full attention, along with a disarming smile. “If you’re just going through, don’t mind us.” Just then, an idea came to him and he glanced over at Minoath. “Although… heh… I wouldn’t mind some help getting this great bronze lump behind me cleaned. If you’d be willing, of course.” Never one to force anyone into doing anything, C’lryn made sure that it was known the girl’s options were open. He’d understand if she declined; she looked like she’d been Searched recently. At least, he couldn’t remember having seen her around the Weyr before. So it was understandable if she didn’t want to approach a complete stranger or come near a strange dragon. Logically, C’lryn supposed that his Minoath could be somewhat intimidating on size alone. He was no hatchling anymore, that was for sure.

Before he could say anything else, however, a small entourage came through, and his attention shifted. It was the new gold and her life mate. C’lryn couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her, and Minoath returned her greeting with one of his own. Greetings to you, young Hepaticath. I and Mine do not mind sharing with you and Yours; the river still holds plenty of water for us all. The bronze proved to be as laid-back and welcoming as His, though he couldn’t help but rumble his amusement at the young gold’s clumsiness. She would grow into her feet, and everything else, in time. She was a lovely little thing, and even now, Minoath couldn’t help but admire her. She would be stunning when she reached maturity.

But the bronze wasn’t the only one admiring the young queen. Another gold was watching her with wide, avid eyes, and when Hepaticath resurfaced, Darling launched herself into the air, chittering excitedly before making two circles around the much larger gold. Aslath and Millieth were much larger than she, but this one, this was closer to her size! Only just then did it occur to C’lryn as he watched his little queen’s antics that she hadn’t ever seen a gold as young as Hepaticath before. He couldn’t help but grin when she perched on the young lad’s shoulder without even seeming to realize he was there. Darling leaned forward, prrumming at Hepaticath as she all but dangled from Virast’s shoulder. Just managing to wipe the grin off his face, C’lryn cleared his throat. “Darling… don’t make a pest of yourself.” His voice wasn’t harsh or even scolding, just the lightest of warning tones.

As if just realizing where she was, Darling looked at the lad and peeped apologetically before fluttering up to perch on Hepaticath instead. She was so pretty! She was so big, yet so much smaller than the others. How could she not be entranced? C’lryn chuckled before nodding to Savitri and her brother both. “Well met, Savitri, Virast. C’lryn of Bronze Minoath, and the little one hanging all over your beautiful gold is Darling.” At this, he paused, casting about as though looking for something. Where was Bite? He didn’t like it that he couldn’t see her, not in the least. As if she’d read his thoughts, though, the green came scurrying up Minoath’s tail out of the water, her frill flared as she rushed up and hissed at C’lryn. Minoath didn’t so much as twitch, and His simply raised his eyebrows. “Well done, Bite, you had me scared that time!” He cast a glance at the small gathering behind him and shrugged somewhat helplessly. But the green ‘mandyr smoothed down her frill and chirped, obviously pleased. She’d scared her bonded!

Satisfied for now, Bite turned and leaped off Minoath’s back, hitting the water again with a ‘plop!’ and disappearing. She was probably the most fearsome thing in the river at the moment. Shaking his head, C’lryn couldn’t help but grin as he took up his scrubber again. Silly green.

[Avu]

Meira bit her lip as the bronzerider turned his attention towards her. “Um, I…I—err…” Why did she want their attention? Well, to be honest to herself, she’d wanted to watch the dragon and the fire lizards, without seeming rude. It seemed stupid to say, “Can I watch you?” Especially to a bronzerider. She shrugged, her cheeks reddening slightly at his smile. Wait. Did he just offer to let her help wash his dragon? Her? He didn’t even know her. Did he? Meira was suddenly conscious of a pain in her lip; her hand flew to it and she realized she’d bitten too hard. Scorch it. “I’d love to help,” she agreed, and then hesitated. She didn’t exactly want to get her clothes wet; she had yet to get a lot and this was one of her only tunics. And yet how could she strip in front of him? Besides, stripping meant taking off her belt knife, which meant she was defenseless.

Before she could make up her mind, a gold and her rider approached. Meira took a step back involuntarily, unsure of herself. Well, at least it was a girl, and not another male, even if yet another male accompanied the girl. And such a pretty dragon, too! She smiled slightly as the fire lizard looped the dragon, a miniature of the bigger one. She nodded her head at the girl. “Nice to meet you, Savitri. And your dragon,” she added. “And…” She hesitated as she turned her gaze to the boy. “It’s nice to meet you as well,” she said, although she spoke uncertainly. Meira eyed the bandages that Savitri bore with some confusion, and then recognition. But of course—she must have been mauled or something during the Hatching. It must have happened during the Hatching; she’d heard there had been one only recently and besides, if she had been torn up before the Hatching surely they wouldn’t allow her to stand?

“My name’s Meira, by the way,” she added, smiling brightly, the smile directed mostly for Savitri. She made sure she included the young men, too, of course, although her hand twitched in the direction of her belt knife. Leave it alone, she told herself sternly. They weren’t going to attack her. Selenitas was different from Benden. Hopefully. She squirmed uncomfortably. She did want to help the bronze pair, but her clothes were important to her, too. Meira had never been comfortable with borrowing clothes; it felt embarrassing. If only she had more clothes, then she would be more comfortable jumping in the water. She dawdled by the river’s edges, glancing curiously at Savitri. How was she going to bathe her dragon if she had so many bandages covering her? Meira, a healer, knew that the water might make the wounds raw again. And it would hurt.

She dipped her foot into the water again and regarded the bronzerider uncertainly. “How do I…er, sorry, I didn’t catch your name…how do I…” She tugged at her tunic, her dark eyes embarrassed. Faranth, but she was going to make a Sharding fool of herself…

[kysseh]

By now, Savitri was accustomed to the greetings they usually got, and she spared a polite smile for the bronzerider, as well as a more genuine one for his dragon. The bronzes did tend to be a little less fawning than Theirs, and he was a handsome dragon, to be sure. Her smile only broadened as Hepaticath relayed the contents of Minoath's greeting, and she was silently thankful that the male was not about to be aggressive about defending his stretch of river. Bending carefully, she scooped up the other brush and set with a will at scrubbing her perpetually-itchy lifemate, snorting softly as the gold flit made a show of examining her Hepaticath. Silly little things, flits, but entertaining, at least.

"Good to meet you, C'lryn... Minoath," she said politely, though she kept a cautious eye on the girl and the fact that her hand twitched toward her waistline. She strongly suspected the girl had been abused or at the very least threatened; she was accustomed to seeing the aftermath of abusive situations. "And you too, Meira. We're not armed, so feel free to be at ease. We don't make a habit out of hurting people, and Virast wouldn't hurt a tunnelsnake," she said dryly, giving her younger brother a look of patient tolerance which he promptly ignored in favor of watching the two golds.

The sudden arrival of the gold flit and his abrupt transformation into a perch made Virast break into a wide smile, and while he did not slow his scrubbings, he was careful to not move his shoulder too much, unwilling to dislodge the little pretty. At the warning for the flit in C'lryn's tone, he gave the bronzerider a faint smile. "She isn't being a pest," he affirmed quietly, glancing down at Fish as the feline meowed and twined around his ankles. "She's very lovely." He made a low, soothing noise and reached up his free hand for the flit to sniff out. Such a lovely little... Darling, the man had said. He wondered if he could pet her...

Seeing that Virast was off in his own little world of bliss, Savitri merely ignored the boy. He preferred to be ignored anyway, so she just let him be. He could not get into any mischief, anyway. She was surprised by the sudden appearance of what looked like a green salamandyr, a beast that looked slightly familiar. She had hatched when Shadow had... hadn't she? Meira's hesitation was unsurprising. It appeared that she was not the only holdborn girl in the weyr, after all. "Her name is Hepaticath, by the way," she said, gesturing with her chin at the happily crooning gold weyrling that she was scrubbing.

Hepaticath was fully contented to have two people scrubbing her. Ahhh, how the itches were being relieved! How do you get rid of all the itches? she suddenly asked Minoath, curious as to how the bronze could be so regularly bathed when he was so.... big! Do Yours' pets help to oil you? Yours must work hard to make you look as such. she said with genuine curiosity, and while it could have been taken as flattery, the little gold was simply being honest. He was a very nice-looking bronze, but then again, so were most of them. One of her very favorite dragons was a blue, though, but she did not tell the bronze that. They tended to get upset, silly vain things that they were.

[boober]

Once Darling had gotten over her fascination at seeing her first young dragon queen, the gold turned her attention back to the lad who had accompanied Hepaticath and her rider. Fluting sweetly to him, she fluttered back down to perch upon his shoulder once more. Now it seemed as if he was the one who fascinated her, for he held all of the little gold’s attention. She chirruped quietly, not at all demanding or loud like some gold flits were known to be. She was trying to tell him that it was all right if he wanted to pet her; she certainly didn’t mind attention! C’lryn watched the scene from his place next to Minoath, chuckling quietly. Darling had been terribly shy as a hatchling, and while she still preferred to keep to herself more than most golds, she was a little more outgoing than she had been. Apparently, she’d realized that most people were quite charmed by the firelizards, especially the golds. And especially one as dainty and sweet-natured as Darling was.

Though he was watching his little golden companion, C’lryn was actually all ears for Meira. But after a few minutes, he turned his head and actually watched as she balked by the edge of the water, her hand dancing near her waist… where most people carried a belt knife. The mirth disappeared from the young bronze rider’s face as he looked closer at the girl (though he tried to be discreet about it) and he let Savitri try to calm her. Where had she come from? Was this girl from the north? C’lryn barely resisted shaking his head, not wanting the action to be misinterpreted. Rather than say anything to her right away, however, he simply offered her a reassuring smile before giving his bronze a friendly slap on his wet hide and beckoning him forward, stepping toward the gently sloping bank and out of the water.

Seeing what His had in mind, Minoath followed, his movements slow and steady and one might have realized that he was doing his best not to displace the water too much and disturb those around him. The bronze lowered his head when he drew close, peering down at Meira with gently whirling eyes as he crooned a greeting to the girl. See? Big bronze did not equal scary bronze. Offering Meira another disarming smile, C’lryn pulled up his already-wet pant legs and motioned down to the water, which was only just above his ankles now. “Better? And it’s C’lryn.” Although he’d already said his name aloud for Savitri and her brother, the bronze weyrling had no problems saying it again, simply assuming that she hadn’t heard. Taking up a long scrubber and a shorter brush, he made his way over to Meira, moving in slow, smooth movements that were meant to not be alarming to the girl, but instead came out in a way that was somehow graceful.

“Here you go.” This was said as he offered the girl the shorter brush with a smile. Raising his free hand, he ran his fingers through his hair without even realizing it, standing it all up in damp, golden-brown spikes. “Now all you do is just scrub with this. Don’t be afraid to put some muscle into it; dragons have thick hide and they enjoy the brushing, especially on itchy spots like this.” And here he motioned at a dry-looking patch on Minoath’s leg just over the joint. “Once we get him brushed and cleaned, then we’ll start oiling him, okay?” C’lryn flashed her a bright grin. “Thanks for helping me with this, I really appreciate it!” With that, he bounded off with his long scrubber and, without missing a beat, bounded from the ground, to his dragon’s foreleg, then vaulted easily onto the bronze’s back, just like he might have done if they were going on a flight. But instead of seating himself on Minoath’s muscular shoulders, C’lryn half-climbed the dragon’s neck to scrub vigorously between the bronze’s ridges.

Sighing, Minoath closed his eyes and rumbled low in his chest. It felt good to get scrubbed and bathed and oiled. While he wasn’t growing as rapidly as he had been a few months ago, he was not finished yet. Some people might be astonished that the bronze hadn’t yet reached his full size, but he was far from physical maturity. He would keep growing and filling out for at least another couple of Turns, perhaps more. Most of his ‘itchy’ phase was behind him now, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t still get dry, itchy patches on his hide every now and then.

As soon as Hepaticath spoke to him again, however, Minoath’s eyes opened and their glowing gaze was focused once more on the little gold as he swiveled his head to look at her as he spoke. I doubt mine itches as yours does, little one. I am past that phase in my growth. He paused as C’lryn scrubbed a particularly dry patch between his first and second neck ridges. The bronze sighed before continuing. Mine is very diligent in caring for my hide; when I say ‘I itch’, he is prompt in relieving it. The little cousins help sometimes, but mostly they just fight. Amusement colored his voice at the last comment. But as Minoath had gotten larger, he and C’lryn had worked out a system for grooming him; C’lryn went wherever he was needed… over, under, around, and Minoath accommodated him any way he could. Cooperation got the job done a lot faster, and besides, why would he mind if His has to climb him to reach a dry patch?

One might notice that Minoath seemed every bit as comfortable as His; neither of them seemed in any hurry to get away from the sudden crowd at ‘their’ place in the river. And senior weyrlings could be snooty to those in the lower classes, but there was no such thing going on here. The bronze seemed genuinely happy to speak with the much younger gold, and it didn’t have that false sense to it as if he were only speaking to her because she was a queen and would someday be larger. No, Minoath was truly enjoying himself here, as was his rider.

[Avu]

Meira bit back a small smile when the bronze neared her. She’d never been afraid of dragons before, just the ones who rode those dragons. As he crooned, she murmured softly, “You’re handsome, aren’t you?” The words were in a low whisper, for the dragon’s ears alone. As the Bronzerider spoke, she glanced up, and nodded shyly at his smile. “Yes…thanks,” she said. C’lryn. A nice name. She bit her lip nervously as he moved towards her, but his movements were slow. Soothing, in a way. She accepted the shorter brush slowly. “Thanks,” she said hesitantly, wrapping her fingers around it. It was thick-handled, suited to her long, slender fingers. It felt comfortable in her grasp. With a bit more courage now, Meira kicked off her shoes and slipped into the water.

It was every bit as cool and wonderful-feeling as she’d hoped it would be. A smile flickered across her mouth almost involuntarily as she glanced at C’lryn. He was nice. Nicer than she’d expected him to be, truth be told. She listened to his advice quietly, nodding at his ‘okay?’ It was actually pretty nice to be around someone who wasn’t rough or scared to death of everything that moved. She smiled as she picked her way carefully to the bronze’s side, murmuring, “It’s all right…I like dragons, so it’s not like, a terrible punishment or anything.”

She watched, startled, as C’lryn mounted his dragon, with obviously practiced ease, and began scrubbing away. Was he not afraid that he might fall or something? After all, the ground wasn’t exactly the softest she’d ever seen. Meira blinked, disoriented with a healer’s worry, and then shook herself from it. Never mind. She wasn’t going to undermine him. He didn’t seem the type to do stupid things to show off. If C’lryn thought he could do something, he probably could. Tentatively, Meira moved until she could reach the bronze.

The brush quivered slightly as she raised it to his damp hide and began scrubbing. At first it was little more than a regular scratch and then, slowly, she grew more confident, scrubbing harder. “You’d tell me, wouldn’t you, if I hurt you?” she asked softly, and shifted slightly in the water, wondering if she should make conversation. She decided against it, though. Meira was comfortable with silence, as long as it was a nice silence. She bit her lip, surprised at herself. Normally there was no way on Pern that she would even make her presence known to anybody, much less a dragonrider. But here she was, scrubbing a dragon’s hide of her own voluntary actions.

Perhaps Selenitas was a different type of Weyr than Benden. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than a shudder ran through Meira’s body. She couldn’t suppress it. Turns of terror living there left their mark, after all. She bit her lip harder, prayed to Faranth nobody had seen the tiny shiver, and turned towards Sevitri. “Your queen’s beautiful,” she said admiringly. “I bet you get that a lot, but…” She gave a small laugh as she remembered the girl’s previous words: We don’t make a habit of hurting people. “Have you been at the Weyr long?”

[kysseh]

Virast was made complete ecstatic when the little flit finished her perusal of Hepaticath and hopped back down onto his shoulder. She was a darling little creature, and he made a soothing noise in his throat as he gently stroked her. So very darling and lovely, and even Fish's purring from near his ankles signalled the feline's agreement that this was a pretty creature. He returned to scrubbing the hide of the gold weyrling before him with as much energy and attention as he could spare, one hand still trying to stroke Darling in an interesting feat of multi-tasking. The young teen could not decide which he liked more, the shining little flit or the still-clumsy, still-growing weyrling in front of him. It was a toss-up, for sure. "Darling... beautiful name for you," he told her quietly, his eyes alight with excitement.

Hepaticath gave a croon of quiet amusement at both flit and the younger of her bathers. They were such silly little things but so wonderful at the same time. Hers only had the little white thing with the big ego, but this firelizard did not seem so bad. She needed to talk to Hers about getting one of these pet-things, apparently. You are lucky, then, to not itch so must and to have Yours so devoted. Mine never neglects me, but she had to get sewn together, so she is slower. the little queen told Minoath, the sad whirling of her eyes testament to how her bonded's injuries had distressed her. She had been so afraid that the little bronze had killed the one she wanted, but Savitri had been alive, if weak. The girl was getting stronger now, and Hepaticath was pleased to see that some of her bossiness was starting to return. Oh, yes, she liked Hers to be getting well again.

I wish Mine had little pet-things. We only have the little white thing that likes to spy on people and embarrass Mine when he shows her how they Fly each other. He also tends to get stuck in the bucket of oil. Hepaticath tossed her head rather like a canine, giving a soft snort of amusement at the memory of Shadow's desperate flailings as he got his skinny little body stuck in a full bucket of sweet oil for Hepaticath's hide. The little creature had learned to not jump in the bucket now, but he was still no less in the way. The gold was quickly realizing that she liked very much the presence of this other man and his dragon, so long as the man did not get close and start saying too-sweet things to Hers. Yes, she liked them rather a lot. She arched her back and let out a delighted croon as Savitri hit a particularly itchy spot on her right shoulder, flapping her still-large wings once in an unconscious gesture of delight. Bathings were oh-so wonderful, were they not?

Savitri, focused though she was on Hepaticath's hide, caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye as the bronze stepped out of the water, watching as C'lryn and Meira took to washing down the large beast. And shards, was he big! Well, then again, compared to poor Hepaticath, nearly every fully grown dragon was large at the moment, though at the rate the little gold was eating, that would not last long. She swore that there was more of the gold to scrub, oil, and feed every day.

Meira's comment caught her off guard, and she looked over at the girl, silent for a brief second before deciding that it had been a genuine enough compliment. "Thank you. Most beautiful dragon in the world, in my book," she said, her normally dry tone a bit softened with affection for her mindmate, eliciting a nudge from the gold weyrling. "I'm still scrubbing," she told the dragon before resuming her scrubbing. "Ohh, not that often. More often than not it's something about how honored and privileged I must feel, and how great I must be," she said with a hefty snort of disdain. "People enjoy fawning, as they think it'll get them somewhere. Not with me." It was unbelievably annoying when people did that to her, even for this short time she had had to deal with it already. It could not be helped, though; she just had to deal with it.

"I've been here for a few months... four, at least. I came as an apprentice healer, close to getting my journeyman knots." She still hoped she could get them; the infirmary needed every available hand it could have. Well, Virast would help with that. He may have been quiet, but he was a quick study nonetheless. "Virast has been here about... two days. I sent home to-"

"-rescue me," the boy finished quietly, nodding his light-haired head carefully so as not to disturb his little visitor. He paused in his scrubbing to admire the bronze weyrling, wishing he could get away with petting the beast when he was done helping his older sibling with her shining mindmate. He would ask later. Hepaticath first, bronze later... since she was the queen and his sister's, after all.

[boober]

Minoath turned and offered Meira a light nudge, almost a nuzzle, with his snout. No doubt it was encouragement and confirmation that if she hurt him, he would indeed let her know. But such a small person could not possibly hurt a creature of Minoath’s size. Besides, the movement had his rider clinging to his neck like a ladder. C’lryn sent a mock glare down at his bronze. “Hey, stop moving around, or do you want me to fall?” Despite the words, his voice was soft, his tone lightly teasing the bronze, who snorted quietly at His.

That is silly; I would never let you fall came the quietly confident answer. Minoath would be there to catch C’lryn no matter what. But the bronze settled himself nonetheless, making it easier for His to reach those pesky dry patches on his hide. In doing so, he returned his attention to Hepaticath as she spoke again to him. By the time you reach your most itchy growth stage, Yours will be healed enough to not be so slow. The words were spoken soothingly, but Hepaticath’s next words made the bronze’s eyes whirl green with amusement. He couldn’t help but relay the words to His, who actually threw back his head and gave a shout of laughter. Mine found that rather amusing. Way to state the obvious.

It didn’t seem to occur to C’lryn that some of those present would wonder what there was to laugh at. He was already back to scrubbing his bronze busily, though he was still grinning humorously. He dangled from Minoath’s neck to reach the underside, having grasped one of the neck ridges firmly with his other hand and hanging on with one leg draped across the dragon’s neck. It made for an odd sight indeed, but Minoath didn’t seem to mind in the least. He was busy now watching Darling as she thrummed happily on the young lad’s shoulder. She was pleased at receiving the attention, even though he was a stranger. She brushed her knobby little head against his jaw lightly, draping her long golden tail across his neck. But she tilted her head and peered up at Hepaticath one last time before rattling her pinions. She had clearly made the decision to stay where she was.

Bite, upon realizing no one was coming into the water after her, reemerged to squawk indignantly. C’lryn glanced at her as the green swam toward the shore, shaking herself once she exited the water. The salamandyr skittered over towards Meira and C’lryn tensed to yell at her, only to be rendered speechless as Bite simple sniffed the girl’s legs before looking up at her, frill in place and no sign of her usual aggression. The green ‘mandyr did leap onto Meira’s pants and scurry up her like green lightning, leaving a wet trail across her clothes all the way up to the girl’s shoulder. Instead of stopping there, however, she proceeded to scuttle down the girl’s arm and leap onto the bronze she was brushing. From there, she raced up Minoath’s back and up and over C’lryn before finally perching on the bronze’s head. Here, she could keep an eye on everyone. No one would be able to escape without Bite noticing!

Shaking his head at her antics, C’lryn glanced over at Meira and gave her a grin. “Sorry about that. She’s weird.” This earned an indignant squawk from Bite, which the bronze rider ignored. “You doing all right down there?”

[Avu]

Meira blinked as Savi took a minute before replying, although she explained the pause a few seconds later anyway. “I don’t think I’d do that,” she murmured as she scrubbed, smiling as the large bronze turned his head to nudge her lightly. He was so gentle for such a large creature; who would have guessed? She smiled, delight flicking across her face, before she realized what the motion had done to C’lryn. Looking up at him, she bit back a giggle at the awkwardness of his position. Although Meira had realized Minoath was not likely to speak to her, she hadn’t meant for him to nearly displace his rider, either. She scrubbed quietly at his hide with one hand; the other hand was feeling over the bronze hide for dry spots.

She jumped, startled, at C’lryn’s outburst of laughter, her eyes flying instinctively to him, widening in surprise. Well, perhaps Minoath had said something amusing to him? It was the only explanation, to her, as to why a perfectly sane-looking person would ever burst randomly into laughter. A slight smile touched Meira’s lips as he draped himself over Minoath’s neck. He looked, to her, as if someone had thrown him at random and he’d landed on Minoath. Only the brush in his hand betrayed that.

“A healer?” Meira returned her attention to Savi. “Really? I was technically a healer, too…” She hesitated, lips quivering on the verge of speech, and she admitted, “Well, I’m not anymore, but I was…until they sent me to Benden, anyway.” Seconds after she spoke, she felt a sharp anxiety. Why had she mentioned Benden? Doubtless they didn’t need anybody to mention the warring Weyr. Seeing as she had helped with the wounds of the riders there, she knew about some of the attacks that had made their way to Selenitas. “I just came,” she murmured. “A few days ago, too.” Her eyes were faintly puzzled as they rested on Virast. “Rescue from what?”

Another startled shudder went through her as something small clung unexpectedly to one leg. She looked down in time to recognize a Salamandyr, one of the creatures she’d never seen before her arrival at Selenitas. A green one, looking very huggable, in fact. Or it would have, had it not been attached to her pant leg. Meira blinked, surprised and frozen by shock, at it, and then it was climbing with extreme quickness up her body to her shoulder and then with a leap, onto Minoath. Her eyes, frankly amused, followed the ’mandyr as it climbed onto Minoath’s head and stayed there, like a green leafy crown.

She raised her head to acknowledge C’lryn’s words. She smiled back as she replied, “It’s all right, I think she’s beautiful…she’s sweet, isn’t she?” Meira raised a hand and pushed her hair out of her eyes, making a slight face as the wet cloth rubbed against her skin, setting goosebumps into existence. “I’m fine. Do you have to bath Minoath often?”

[kysseh]

The bronzerider's sudden outburst of laughter startled Hepaticath and the two people scrubbing at her, enough that the gold weyrling offered up a not-so-delicate snort of amusement of her own. She had not thought it quite so amusing, but apparently, Minoath's thought very differently. I see that. Mine is not very amused by the white thing's spying, though she laughed when he got stuck in the bucket. Hepaticath agreed, sending along the mental image of the finger-length white salamandyr flailing around in a bucket of oil that he was not intended to swim in, along with a second image of the reproachful look he gave the bucket once he was finally fre. Mine does not laugh very much, but she laughed very hard at him. The little weyrling always was delighted to hear Hers laugh. Savitri was far too practical at times, and while the gold found Hers' sensibility and stability to be most useful, the young woman's happiness was first on the dragon's mind.

Savitri was momentarily distracted by the joyful expression on Virast's face, smiling faintly at her younger brother's obvious delight at having such a creature within reach. He had never, ever been much interested in people, but creatures were an entirely different matter. In fact, the boy left off scrubbing at Hepaticath in favor of paying more attention to the flit, stroking her very gently and humming softly beneath his breath. His attention was appropriately still divided between the purring feline at his feet and the shining creature on his shoulder, a rare smile breaking across his face as he felt her head rub against his face, a tail draping across his neck. He envied the young bronzerider for having such a devoted pet. Oh, Fish was the best feline a boy could ever want, but this little gold thing was something else entirely.

Luckily for Virast's sake, Hepaticath was unbothered by his lack of attention for Savitri had not wavered in her attentions, even when the other young woman present offered up an explanation. She raised an eyebrow, surprised that the other tentative female was a healer. "Welcome, then. If you feel inclined to take up your craft again, the Infirmary is always in need of good help. We are not Benden," she told her, her final sentence a bit firmer than the rest. She was unfazed by the mention of Benden, largely because she had no fear of that whatever-his-name-was and his idiot bronze. She had far more faith in her Hepaticath and the tiny scarred green dragon and her rider, the latter two being formerly of Benden themselves.

Her query directed toward Virast fell on deaf ears, and Savitri paused a brief second to think of an appropriate and socially acceptable explanation. "He wasn't welcome with my parents, and he needed some company that would force him to get out of the healer's cothold." If her tone was a bit exasperated, it was understandable. The boy had no idea how much trouble he had been in. Or if he did, he showed no inclination that he understood. Savitri was not sure which option was more annoying.

The young weyrling paused at the sight of C'lryn hanging so... amusingly... from his dragon's neck, and she could not help the fact that her lips twitched a bit in a faint smile at his ridiculousness. Did he realize how hilarious he looked? Perhaps not, but Hepaticath had to point it out for Minoath's sake. Mine is very amused by Yours right now too. Is he always so silly? she asked, her eyes whirling with her own and Savitri's entertainment.

[boober]

If Minoath minded the presence of the ‘mandyr on his head, he gave no indication whatsoever. If anything, he ignored her. The bronze was well used to the little green’s antics, and she’d been climbing all over him since she’d hatched. He wasn’t fond of her, not like he was of Darling, but he tolerated her well enough. Minoath and Bite had come to an understanding after she’d bitten him and he’d retaliated by snapping her up as if to eat her. Mean she may be, but stupid Bite most certainly was not; she’d never even considered biting the bronze again… or any other dragon, for that matter, though she still liked to display at them. Just to show them how scared she wasn’t!

C’lryn couldn’t help but snicker at Meira’s comment as he scrubbed the last dry patch on Minoath’s neck. He then released the bronze’s ridge and slid right down his shoulder to splash into the water. It looked like great fun, but instead of lingering, he waded around to the other side, looking at the wher candidate with humor shining in his eyes. “Sweet? That green thing up there?” He pointed the brush at Bite. “Darling is sweet. There are times when I think Bite plots to murder me in my sleep.” He shook his head, trudging toward the shore where his own supplies were. “I have scars from her.” The bronze weyrling wasn’t kidding this time; if he showed Meira his hands, she’d see wounds ranging from almost healed, pink scars to freshly scabbed wounds. All courtesy of that tiny, bright green creature perched regally on Minoath’s head.

“Whatever you do, don’t argue with her.” The teasing tone was back in his voice as C’lryn approached with the oil for Minoath’s hide. “Once you finish scrubbing, take one of these” here, he handed her a well-used rag “and some of this” and indicated the oil “and just put a little on it, then rub him down with it.” C’lryn demonstrated by oiling his rag, then scrubbing it across his bronze’s hide, creating a gleaming, shining streak that brought out a myriad of colors. “That’s all there is to it really.” He flashed her another easy grin before answering her question. “More often than I wish was necessary.” With that, he clambered back up onto the dragon; he liked to start from the top and work his way down. Even as his rider proceeded to climb all over him again, Minoath responded to Hepaticath calmly.

Neither of the little ones looking to Mine are so amusing as that. Bite’s antics grow tiresome after a while, though it can be funny when she attacks someone who deserves it. There were few that C’lryn and Minoath disliked, but if they ever crossed paths with anyone who fit into the ‘disliked’ box, the bronze rider tried a little less hard to rein the vicious green ‘mandyr in. Bite had quite a reputation by now. After a moment, Minoath turned his head for a better look at Hepaticath, blinking slowly. If dragons could smile, he would have, and he relayed her words once again to His, bringing a grin to C’lryn’s face. Mine enjoys amusing others was all the bronze offered the small gold before his rider suddenly slipped around the dragon’s neck, hanging there like an absurd necklace. Minoath rumbled quietly, eyes showing his amusement.

C’lryn acted as if it were perfectly normal to dangle from his dragon’s neck as if it were a tree branch. He pretended to pay no attention to the others as he released Minoath’s neck with his arms and held on with just his legs… which meant he was dangling upside down from the bronze’s neck. The oiling rag was still in his hand, and he took the opportunity to swipe Minoath’s chest with it. The two of them acted as if this was perfectly normal behavior, and even Bite did nothing more than peer at C’lryn oddly for a minute or two before resuming her watch from atop the bronze’s head. If Darling noticed what they were up to, she was ignoring them in favor of staying with Virast. She knew that her bonded and his bronze had a tendency to be silly at times, and was not concerned.

[Avu]

((I dun like this post...))

Meira smiled at Savi. “I know that, now,” she replied. “But I don’t think I want to go to healing again. I’ll find something else useful to do.” If wherhandling classified as useful, she was unsure, but it was better than doing absolutely nothing, wasn’t it? She glanced up, saw Virast, and a small grin flickered across her face. The boy looked so delighted with the company of the fire lizard queen…she shifted, her wet clothes rubbing against her skin again. The girl bit her lip, torn between annoyance and amusement at the green ’mandyr’s actions. She looked so regal, perched upon the bronze dragon’s head, that Meira wanted to giggle. Repressing the urge, she glanced up, startled, at C’lryn’s laughter.

Except, he wasn’t there. A minute later, he came splashing around to her side, and Meira realized, a few seconds too late, that he must have gotten down from Minoath. She smiled, thinking at first that he was joking about Bite’s…alarming habits, especially since she could see the laughter in his eyes. So she was suitably alarmed at the sight of the scars on his hands. “Faranth, your ’mandyr did that?” Her eyes flew open, startled. It was difficult to pair the scars on C’lryn’s hand with the imperious-looking, small green creature that was currently perched on a dragon’s head. “I—I can’t believe it; she seems so small and…” With something approaching respect, Meira glanced up at Bite, grinning slightly. “Did you taunt her?”

Not being wanted by a family. Meira blinked uneasily at Savi, uncertain of what to make out of it. She really hadn’t known Virast enough to make a judgment about the young man, so she shrugged, working steadily at Minoath until she judged that she’d bathed him enough. Claiming one of the rags, along with a small capsule of oil, she began to rub it gently into the bronze hide, tilting her head to admire the effect.

She was working quite happily until Minoath rumbled. The vibration made her glance, startled, upwards; a sparkle of humor entered her face as she noticed C’lryn’s precarious positioning…again. He looked as if someone had carefully positioned him there, an ornament used to decorate his bronze. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll fall?”

[kysseh]

Savitri flicked a smile toward Meira, wondering how anyone could give up healing. It was a calling, not a job, and Savitri would never abandon that calling, regardless of what other responsibilities she took up. She let the girl's comment be as it was, for she would be unable to respond without her response being misinterpreted. Something about the girl's hesitance rankled at her, for Savitri was a creature of action, not of cautious hesitation. Then again, if she was from Benden, she likely had been abused, like Aliscia had, though the greenrider seemed to not be lacking in any sort of drive.

Then again, Aliscia did have a cantankerous mindmate to contend with, so that could have been the greenrider's driving force to stay busy and focused.

It would be very funny. She seems quite amusing. Does she think she is a queen? Hepaticath inquired curiously, watching the 'mandyr perch upon the bronze's head. It was a funny little creature, even if it was rather vicious, apparently. She let out a sudden snort as Minoath's abruptly dropped to dangle from his bronze's neck, her eyes whirling quickly and then slowing as she realized that the man was in no danger. His pose was rather entertaining, and the gold flared out her wings and rumbled loudly, watching him dangle. How funny were humans! They acted so serious and covered themselves with things and were shy about Flying, but they did such ridiculously silly and potentially embarrassing things! She could scarcely contain her amusement at their antics.

Savitri had to put one hand over her mouth to smother a laugh, turning the sound into a strangled-sounding cough. No, she was not incredibly amused by this; of course not! They were just..... well, they were being silly males. And at Hepaticath's nudge, she sighed and let her hand fall away, not bothering to hide the smile on her face. All right, so she was rather entertained by C'lryn's acrobatics, though laughing was certainly doing nothing but encouraging him to maintain such precarious positions. She attempted a stern look at the other weyrlingrider, which was ruined due to the smile at the corners of her mouth. "You know, if you fall, I will be merciless when setting all your broken bones," she said, though Hepaticath gave a delicate snort at that thought. She would be most kind to Yours. She is just too stubborn to admit that she is amused. the gold privately informed Minoath. Really, Hers could be something else at times...

Virast was startled by Minoath's rumble and looked over at the bronze in surprise, bewildered by the man's efforts to hang from his dragon's neck. The dragon allowed this and was not upset? He paused momentarily in his attentions to the gold flit and then resumed them almost immediately, offering a gentle hum of apology for stopping. She was quite a lovely creature, and he wished he could have one like her. Firelizards were much better company than humans, though he could not help but give the bronze dragon an envious look, wondering if the great beast would permit him close enough for a scratch to the eyeridges or something of that nature. Hepaticath was a lovely creature, but she was not a big, strong, strapping, fully-grown male like this bronze.