Time for Admiraton! [Tags: ANYONE]

[boober]

He could hear the laughter and the rumbles, and just as Savitri predicted, the amusement only served to egg C’lryn on. Suppressing his grin, he continued to scrub merrily at his dragon’s hide. He looked almost oblivious to the giggles and rumbles he was receiving. When Savitri spoke, however, she received a blink before he reached up and wrapped his arms around Minoath’s neck, releasing with his legs so they dropped beneath him before letting go with his arms. He landed neatly on his feet in a crouch before springing lightly back up and casting a grin in the gold rider’s direction. “Do I really look that weak to you? Besides, Minoath is insisting that he’d never let me fall anyway.” Where some young men would have had their pride hurt, there was laughter in C’lryn’s voice, a teasing gleam in his eyes. He was having fun, just as everyone else was.

I do not believe so; I think she is merely a vicious little beast. She is certainly fiercer than any watch-wher I have seen. Although the words were not flattering, there was a hidden fondness implied in them. It was true that the bronze was openly fond of Darling, almost as much so as his rider. But it wasn’t common knowledge that either of them found Bite anything more than a nuisance and menace. Watch this, he said almost gleefully. A moment passed and nothing happened… then suddenly Bite loosed an ear-piercing whistle, her eyes flaring red.

DUNGHEAD! she screeched, spitting from atop her perch. BITE! Bite dunghead!

The green’s unexpected (at least by anyone by Minoath) outburst could be heard by all, and the humor fled from C’lryn’s face as he turned to watch, vaguely horrified. But it didn’t seem as if the green ‘mandyr was moving; simply screeching to herself as Minoath sat looking pleased and amused. Propping one hand on his hip, C’lryn glared weakly at his bronze. “Do you really have to encourage her? Who’d you give her an image of this time?” Minoath blinked his large eyes, feigning innocence.

I do not know what you mean. You know how she is. Sighing, C’lryn shook his head mournfully, effectively hiding the quirk of his mouth as it tried to smile. Traitor! But Now it was Meira’s turn to receive a look, the young man’s eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline.

“What? No! She came out of the egg like that, I’d swear on Minoath. I have the scars from that to prove it too.” He smiled weakly as he reached up to tug on his ear where Bite had latched on that first day. What a way to be chosen! But just as he turned back to the task of oiling the enormous beast that was his bronze, he happened to catch a glimpse of the look that said bronze was receiving from the younger boy that Darling was perched on. Squashing down a smile, the bronze rider gave his dragon a few hearty swipes with his rag before stepping back and making a show of wiping his forehead off. “Whew! What a job. It’d be nice if there were someone else who could help. You’re doing a great job, by the way” he remembered to praise Meira, not wanting her to think he wasn’t appreciative of her work.

As if just coming up with the idea, C’lryn glanced over at Virast and flashed him a grin. “Would you like to help? It’s okay if you’d rather stay by Hepaticath, there, but I’d sure like an extra set of hands.” Really, it was less about the work and more about giving the younger lad an excuse to touch his bronze. Golds were beautiful and awe-inspiring, but it was harder for males to relate to them. A bronze, now that was every lad’s wish! As if agreeing, Darling gave a small peep and rattled her pinions before warbling sweetly in Virast’s ear. He should go! Her bonded would like the extra help and Minoath would love the attention. That silly bronze could pretend all he wanted that he could take or leave the attention, but Darling knew that he enjoyed every bit of it, the silly wherry. She didn’t understand why he didn’t just admit it. But it wasn’t her place to judge; she merely offered encouragement to Virast to accept the extra oiling rag that her bonded was holding out towards him.

[Avu]

Meira was still scrubbing, a bit breathlessly, at Minoath, so luckily for Savi, her silence went unnoticed, otherwise Meira might’ve felt pushed to say something more, which would not have turned out particularly pretty. A small smile flickered over her lips at C’lryn’s words. “Weak” was definitely not a word she would use if she had to describe the Bronzerider. Although personally, she wouldn’t dangle from a dragon’s neck no matter how many wheedling words and promises the dragon offered, no doubt it was different with a mindmate. A wistful sigh almost pushed at her throat. She swallowed it back. Someday, she would have a mindmate, whether be it fire lizard, ’mandyr, wher, or dragon. She hoped.

Almost affectionately, the girl raised her eyes to look at Bite. She flinched in surprise as the green fire lizard began to shriek. Shards, what was up with that? Words seemed to be shrieked in her own mind; she felt instinctively that it must be the green. No one else would use words like—what was she saying, anyhow? DUNGHEAD! BITE! Bite dunghead! Well, wasn’t that just lovely? Stifling a giggle, Meira bit her lip at the little green’s indignation.

Wait, wait. When C’lryn spoke again, she did a double take. The dragon had encouraged her? By giving her an image of someone? Did dragons do that? Generally speaking, it wasn’t considered dignified. Far from it…and yet C’lryn spoke as if it was something that one might hear of any day, any time. Well, wasn’t this Bronzepair just a bit odd? Her vague thoughts ended when the Bronzerider turned his gaze onto her again, and spoke. This time, a giggle burst from her involuntarily; she bit her lip in a belated effort to stop them as he tugged his ear. His ear…what did his ear have to do with Impressing Bite? Ah well, Faranth knew what had happened to this green in the egg that made her so…odd.

Smiling serenely at the compliment, Meira glanced over at Virast. Or rather, she glanced at Darling, the glance taking in Virast at the same time. Had she been Virast, she would have been perfectly contented with the beautiful gold fire lizard perched on his shoulder, but men would be men, she thought with a flicker of dry humor, oiling as she watched C’lryn offer the boy the rag. Bronze dragons almost always seemed to rule over fire lizards, whatever the color, to them…

[kysseh]

Savitri managed to get her amusement under control as C'lryn nimbly made his way down to the ground. No, he did not look weak or incompetent. "No... perhaps just a little overconfident," she replied, though her amiable tone and smile took any possible sting from the words. He was male and young. It was a fault of the species in general that they were overconfident. "I don't think Minoath would let you fall. Who else would be around to scrub and oil him if you were bandaged beyond recognition and lying in the Infirmary?" She finished the last flaky patch on Hepaticath's shoulder and then stepped back, looking over the gold for any more spots that needed attending. Finding none, she gestured the gold into the water, and Hepaticath charged in with a will, albeit quite clumsily.

The golden queen reappeared a moment later and padded up out of the water, pausing in the shallows to give herself a good shake. She soaked Savitri in the process, of course, but her only response to that was to croon and push her head lightly against the girl's good arm. How she loved Hers... even when teasing the girl. She jerked her head in surprise at Bite's sudden outburst, nosing protectively at Savitri when the young woman was startled as well. She seems very frightening. What did you do to her? she asked curiously, not missing the hidden fondness in his tone. The bronze obviously got some sort of delight and amusement from the little creature... though what it was, Cath could not understand. The White Thing was never so screechy like that. Really, the White Thing made no noise at all, save for the pictures he sent.

Absorbed in staring, Virast had barely noted the salamandyr's seemingly sudden upset. He had been too busy admiring the creature on his shoulder and the massive bronze before him. Well... massive to his eyes, anyway. Being barely a teenager and rather short, nearly everything looked large to him. He only realized something was different when he heard a gentle warbling echoing in his ear, to which he offered a gentle crooning sound of response. Lovely, lovely lizard... though her attention was focused on her person and the bronze now. He glanced over and registered the oiling rag in the man's extended hand, his eyes widening and lighting up as realization dawned. He took a half-step forward and then glanced at his sister for reassurance.

His elder sister just made a shooing motion with her hand, the motion punctuated by Cath's gentle nudge to the boy's back. "Go on. You won't be happy 'til you do. Cath is fine with me," Savitri said, barely containing a chuckle at the eagerness with which Virast moved forward to take the oiling rag. The boy's reverence in gently working at oiling what he could reach of the bronze--which was about his shoulder, if he stood on tiptoe--was quite entertaining, and the young weyrling shook her head. Honestly, men were such a difficult lot to deal with at times.

"Thank you for encouraging him," she said dryly to the bronzerider, though her statement lacked any real frustration. Virast rarely needed encouragement to smother love and attention upon dragons or dragon-like creatures. All he really needed was permission, and sometimes, he did not need even that. She knew in her heart that Virast would never Impress a bronze, if he ever did decide to Stand for a Hatching, but watching him stare with such utter respect and awe at the beast made her offer up another rare smile. It was good to see him happy, especially after the debacle at the hold. "Men are prideful creatures, aren't they?" she commented mildly to Meira, noting the girl's glance toward Virast and the gold flitter. Oh, yes, how pride-filled they were...

[boober]

Savitri’s words brought laughter from C’lryn. “So true!” He gave Minoath’s shoulder an affectionate slap, earning a rumble from the bronze. It was so nice to be with people who were happy. And here was someone else to help with his upkeep! The dragon swiveled his head ‘round to gaze upon Virast with eyes that whirled bright blues and greens of contentment and amusement. It was clear that Minoath was happy where he was, and it would take some persuading to make him want to leave. As if to reinforce this thought, he settled more firmly down, the wet river silt squishing up between his toes. They’d have to make him get up and come completely out of the water in order to complete his oiling, but for now, he was fine where he was. He blinked in response to Hepaticath’s question, and for a moment, it looked almost as if he were smiling.

I merely showed her an image of the little gold one. They do not get along; at the very best, like now, they merely ignore each other. At the very worst, they try to kill each other. But this rarely happens anymore. In fact the most recent occurrence of this sort was when Darling had laid her last clutch, which had been her first. She had been fiercely protective of the little eggs, and if Bite so much as rolled her eyes in the wrong direction, it elicited a battle that had often taken both C’lryn and Minoath to break up with minimal damage. Though she was naturally sweet and placid, Darling had some of the most ferocious mothering instincts.

Aforementioned flitter rode Virast’s shoulder all the way over to the bronze and party, chirping to Meira before resettling onto the lad’s shoulder. It didn’t seem that she’d be leaving anytime soon; he liked her to be there, and she liked being there. But she watched him, scrutinizing his work, and seemed to be offering advice. She was completely oblivious to the fact that that idiot salamandyr’s outburst had been triggered by her, in a way. Even if she’d known, it was likely that all the mild-mannered gold would have done would be to deprive Minoath of her sweet attentions for a few days until she forgot what she was mad at him for. C’lryn, hearing the gold’s ‘advice’ to the young lad as he oiled, chuckled before raising an eyebrow in Savitri’s direction.

“Oh, you’re welcome.” It was hard to tell if he seriously believed her words were a genuine compliment or if he were just playing along. Before anyone could ask, if they were so inclined, he was scurrying back up his dragon’s back to continue the oiling from the top. No one could reach Minoath’s back unless they climbed, so why not? Lower your wings. Silently compliant, the bronze opened his massive wings and lowered them down to his sides, unfolded. Even they needed to be oiled, after all. C’lryn got right to work oiling down the dragon’s back and what he could reach of the bronze’s wings. It was indeed a chore, one that would have taken twice as long had the bronze weyrling not had two extra sets of hands. Needless to say, he was very glad of the help!

[Avu]

None of them addressed Meira, and so the healer was quite content to go on quietly oiling the bronze hide until it shone nicely, tilting her head to admire the shine the oil brought out. The ankle-deep water was enticing, and she half-wished she could just plunge in and swim until she got fished out for dinner or something, but she repressed the urge. It wouldn’t do her any good whatsoever. The girl sighed, pushing her hair out of her eyes, wondering vaguely if she’d Impress—or rather, since she was standing for whers, Bond. The thought had pressed at her more and more often of late, as was probably understandable in Candidates.

She jumped slightly, taken by surprise as Minoath silently lowered his wings, as if he’d randomly had the urge to do so. Judging, though, by C’lryn’s immediate oiling of that area, he’d been bidden to do so by the Bronzerider, mentally. Ah, the joys and pains of a mental link. Meira smiled slightly at the thought as she scrutinized the bronze side, found another rough spot she’d missed, and rubbed the oil at that spot.

Ah, right. She had ‘homework’ from the Candidatemaster. She’d planned to ask a Wherhandler about the moment of Bonding, since she found it more relevant, but Meira hadn’t met any and she figured, well, a dragonrider ought to work just as well. Savitri she could relate to a bit more, so she turned hesitantly towards her, and said, “If you don’t mind me asking…” She paused a minute, trying to gather her thoughts. “You see, the Candidatemaster asked the class, as homework of sorts, to ask a Rider about the moment of Impression…and I was wondering if you could tell me what that’s like? If it’s private, I’ll understand,” she added hastily. If she Impressed, she’d personally want to keep it to herself, a special secret…

[kysseh]

Virast was in absolute awe as the great bronze turned his head to watch him. If he could have reached, he would have scratched the eyeridges, but as it was, he was far too short. Instead, he just busied himself with oiling the beautiful bronze hide, loving the metallic glisten it had. Hepaticath shared that, though hers was a more feminine, golden glimmer. Minoath was all male, and that appealed to the young boy. True, he could never have Impressed such a beast, but he could admire nonetheless. The little gold flitter's advice was appreciated, and he used her noises as encouragement or discouragement of a particular spot. Too well oiled... too dry.... not-yet-gotten-to... she was so helpful. He smiled and turned his head to look at her glimmering golden beauty. Really, he did want one of these creatures. Fish would not mind, surely, and there could be few beasts as terrible as his sister's spying white thing.

It seems you have stolen one of my bathers. the little queen was saying to Minoath, highly amused. She minded little. Hers was oiling her dutifully, and that satisfied Hepaticath just fine for the moment. Perhaps I should not encourage Mine to get another little pet-thing, then. She is very busy as it is. For all that she was young, it could not be said that Hepaticath was selfish or stupid. No, she had some sense. Granted, she was a bit self-centered and would have appreciated a firelizard to help scrub her ridges properly, but Hers just could not deal with it. You may keep him. He gets very easily distracted anyway. she added conspiratorially to Minoath, gesturing with one honey-gold wing at the awestruck boy that also functioned as a flitter perch.

Savitri was highly amused by the entire show before her, though it only showed in the half-smile present on her face. No, she was too busy oiling all of Hepaticath's itchier spots first, making sure that the oil was applied and gently worked into the skin to prevent any cracks. No, there would be no imperfections on this weyrling's hide, even if she did grow at such an alarming rate and to such an impressive size. She turned her eyes skyward at C'lryn's obvious lack of fear, but it was more a token show of annoyance than anything. Being bonded to Cath had started to lessen her more snappish tendencies a bit, and she was starting to enjoy a few more acquaintances around the weyr. Friends were a little harder to come by. She was still bossy and had a tendency to snark when people were being idiotic, not to mention she was too busy for anything more than casual chats. Ah well. It would all slow down as Cath grew.

The healer's question startled her, and it took Savitri a minute to realize that she was being spoken to. She straightened and looked over at the other young woman, her brow furrowing lightly. The moment of- oh! She rested one hand on Hepaticath's neck, looking thoughtful for a moment whilst she attempted to formulate a coherent and proper answer. It was sort of private, but she could give the more basic points. What Cath had said to her, however, was for her mind alone to know. "It was... a sudden overwhelming feeling of not being alone, for lack of a better word. I just felt as though I'd never, ever again lack a friend or patient ear. Like my heart was whole even though it wasn't broken to begin with..." she mused softly, her eyes softening as she again looked into the whirling compound eye that faced toward her. Their gazes locked and for a brief moment, dragon and rider fondly remembered that moment on the sands. Then, the moment passed, and Savitri was briskly working on oiling her dragon again. "Is that what you were looking for?" she asked curiously, not sure if that had sufficiently answered the question or not.

[boober]

Minoath rumbled quietly at Hepaticath’s words. He found himself growing rather fond of the little gold; she was not the silly-headed little things that many weyrlings were, and being that he hadn’t been one of these creatures either (at least in his opinion), it was something he admired. And a bronze always needed a good queen to admire, didn’t he? Jeminorth was a fine green, and Minoath was fond of her as well. But… she was a green. And the both of them knew that even though Theirs might prefer to stay with each other, the dragons would remain flexible: If another male happened to Fly Jeminorth, oh well. And vice versa. No jealous dragons here.

The bronze looked thoroughly content, crouched in the water with his wings relaxed at his sides and three different people scrubbing at his hide. It is good for you to consider such things; but ultimately, it is a choice that Yours should make. Humans are rather stubborn creatures. This last remark was accompanied by a fond glance toward His, who was perched at the base of the dragon’s tail, face pinched in concentration as he scrubbed oil furiously over the bronze hide. Blinking, Minoath redirected his gaze back toward Hepaticath, eyes whirling with amusement. I will send Mine to help Yours when he is finished. If you do not mind, of course. As if he’d had the feeling that his dragon was talking about him, C’lryn leaned forward.

“Minoath, move up onto the bank, will you? Look out everyone! It would really hurt if this lump stepped on you.” A grin accompanied the young man’s teasing words even as his bronze snorted.

As if I would step on anyone. But the bronze complied, folding his wings before scooting up onto the dry bank and sweeping his tail around Meira to scoot her along without risking knocking her over… or stepping on her. C’lryn rode on his perch at the dragon’s rump, observing before sliding right down the bronze’s haunch once the dragon stopped moving. He resumed oiling Minoath’s tail, sweeping the oil down with the rag. Once he’d completed the tail, he made a circuit around the bronze, giving a swipe here and there at a missed spot.

“You guys did a great job. Thanks for your help.” He reached up and scrubbed a hand through his hair, standing the sandy brown locks on end again. Minoath lowered his head to nudge Virast lightly, almost curiously, earning a squawk from Bite.

Mine, you should go help Hepaticath’s now, since you usurped her extra bather and she is injured. C’lryn opened his mouth to reply, only to turn and blink at Savitri. Ah. Right. Grinning sheepishly at the gold rider, he made his way over toward her, leaving the other two to finish up if they wanted. Minoath had a point.

“Hey, sorry about that. Want some help?” Of course C’lryn wasn’t going to just walk up and start scrubbing at someone else’s dragon! He was going to wait for her approval before he so much as touched her grooming supplies.

[Avu]

As Virast joined Meira at Minoath’s side, the girl shifted over politely to give him a little more space, although, seeing as Minoath was far from small, it was an unnecessary gesture. It still felt instinctively right to be polite, though, and she thought that simply ignoring him would be worse. Although, if he took it as if she wanted to get away from him, that wouldn’t be good either. She stepped back a few minutes later from Minoath’s side, studying his bronze hide, and decided that it looked good. Pleased with her work, Meira found a smile on her mouth, something that had been happening less and less as she struggled to (and failed to) adjust to Weyr life.

As Savitri seemed, in Meira’s eyes, to compose herself to answer the Healer’s question, she waited patiently. She’d seen just the same look of startled surprise on the faces of young healers told to do something by themselves for the first time. Her answer was savored slowly by Meira; she tilted her face upwards, thoughtfully, and nodded. The thought of a life-partner who knew created a slightly aching longing, the same longing that had stayed with her since she’d first seen Wherhandler and wher; dragonrider and dragon, together. She started at Savitri’s question and gave an apologetic laugh as she realized the dreamy look on her face must have been all-too revealing. “Well, I’m not exactly sure,” she admitted. “I guess that’ll do, yes. Thanks…I know—I mean,” Meira corrected herself, “I guess—it’s kind of private. Thanks!” she added again.

She was about to sift through her mind and find more words, but it was slightly awkward and she was both startled and glad when a tail circled her and shifted her out of the way. Meira gave a slight gasp, and then realized why Minoath had done what he’d done. Boldly, she rubbed the soft hide before he withdrew it and stopped his movements. Meira smiled slightly at his thanks—how many dragonriders would so much as let a Candidate touch their bronze dragon, never mind thank them for it? “Anytime, bronzerider,” she replied, softly, but with a slight teasing note. Surely he knew what an honor it was to be trusted to oil and wash a bronze dragon?

Meira watched quietly as C’lryn offered assistance to Savitri, and realized with a flash of guilt that she should probably have done so quite a while ago. After all, the girl was a Queenrider, and she was injured—and the Weyr’s top priority after Pern’s safety was to keep all of their dragons, queens especially, healthy, was it not? But she figured if Savitri was willing to let Virast go to Minoath, she wouldn’t mind. Meira leaned down absently, rubbing the last of the oil and soap from her fingers, wondering if her assistance would be welcomed. The dragon was small, after all, and it wasn’t as if a whole Weyr was needed to bathe her…Meira paused. “If you want,” she offered, “I could help, but seeing as you’ve C’lryn, too…” He voice drifted off, and she grinned.