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Post by nightingale on Dec 3, 2008 19:06:19 GMT -5
Four thirty AM came early at the Selenitas Weyr. Even the tenacious summer sun knew that such an early hour was best left to the wherhandlers, and so had yet to appear on the grey horizon. Unless they were a kitchen drudge, surely all sensible people who hoped to stay awake until dinnertime was still in bed...
"Oh, shards! Where did you go you silly soap?"
But then, Saeo had never really been classified as sensible.
The candidate was up and about in a rare gesture of practicality on her part. Her unfortunate allergy to sweetsand ment that bathing with the other girls after breakfast or before bed simply wasn't a possibility. As a result, her daily bath always took place as soon as she could force her eyes open in the morning to guarantee that she would have clean water and the opportunity to take as long as she wanted.
And of course when one was out and about so early, they were often the only person in an otherwise empty bathhouse. And so why then, would one not opt to use the much larger and inexplicably warmer bathing pool on the men's side? Saeo couldn't fathom...
She found her soap -a rather expensive lanolin bar that she'd brought with her from home- slowly disolving in the water by her left foot. She scowled down at it in mild irritation, then quickly snatched it up. The girl's hair was a tangled mess despite having just been washed twice, and was destined to remain that way until she got around to brushing it flat. Humming a light, airy melody to herself, The girl went about casually washing as much up her back as she could realistically reach. She worked slowly, savouring the feel of warm water against her skin. She was in no rush -after all, it wasn't as if there was anyone else up this early...
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Post by rollo on Dec 3, 2008 19:42:52 GMT -5
There was something distinctly unnerving about his new surroundings, Kiaz decided as he started down from the second floor of the barracks. The Weyr was not what he had expected at all. Harper’s tales had lead the young man to believe that Weyrs were much more grand and less exotic than this. Not that this was a disappointment. No, not at all. His first sightings of Pern’s great defenders had been more than enough to suck away any protest he had at the Weyr not meeting his expectations.
Who cared if he wasn’t surrounded by towering cliffs and rocky landscapes. The jungle setting and the constant, soothing ambiance of the river was enough for him. His room was much more satisfying than the hay pile he was used to and there would be no complaint from him. Not when he stood a good chance of fulfilling his dream in the near future.
A good chance? Please. How many candidates are there here? Most of those beds were taken, if you remember, a little voice inside his head reminded him. He ignored it. There would be plenty of time for self doubt later. But for now, he was one step closer to becoming a dragonrider. And that was all that mattered.
That and a good bath. His flight through the filth of the herdbeast pens at home had left him reeking and gross. And he knew from the wrinkled nose of the man that had shown him around that he sorely needed to be cleansed. Staring off across the river though, he wondered how he’d get to the bathing area the man had recommended.
Am… I supposed to swim?
No….he blinked as he spotted small boats and started to approach them before stopping. Did they just expect him to magically know how to use that thing? “It can’t be that hard,” he muttered to himself, poking the nearest boat with a toe. “And I’m stranded unless I at least try…”
It proved to be much harder than he expected. Though the current wasn’t fierce, he had great difficulty controlling the blasted thing and he was sure there were people on shore laughing at him. He could just feel it. It took the candidate much longer than it should have to get to shore and he was never so happy to touch solid ground.
Stepping from the boat, he turned and gave it an irritated kick, cursing under his breath. Without a dragon, or fins, he was stuck using the damn things. And he now had weeks, maybe years of frustration to look forward to. Sharddit. He kicked the boat again for good measure and then strode off towards the bathing area, his steps long and angry. The distant sounds of dragons, rising over the trickling of water did nothing to soothe his annoyance.
If I can’t paddle a boat, how do they expect me to impress a dragon?
Entering the building, he began to strip, casting his eyes about to make sure no one was watching and then setting his clothes on a bench and moving towards the nearest pool.
It didn’t help his mood to discover that the bathing areas were rather...open. The brown-haired boy balked, paling. Anyone could see him! He’d heard that weyrfolk were less modest but….public bathing? There was already a girl in the bath and he averted his eyes, burning. Maybe I should just go back…I don’t smell….that bad. Anything is better than this. Even if I have to sleep in my own funk.
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Post by nightingale on Dec 3, 2008 20:15:37 GMT -5
Saeo paused breifly from her scrubbing, listening as a strange, muffled sound mingled in with the splash of bathwater. She glanced over her shoudler curiously, wondering if perhaps one of the other girls' flitters had followed her...and only just managed to stiffle a scream as she realized that her visitor was not nearly as flitter shaped as she had expected.
"What do you sharding well thing you're doing?!"
She shrieked, arms flashing upward to cover as much of her exposed flesh as possible. Thankfully the bathing pool did half the work for her, leaving her one arm free to grasp her bar of soap and fling it at Kiaz with all her might.
"Get out! Get out of I'll kick your sharding head off!"
Saeo had taken on a bright pink glow that had very little to do with the temperature of the water. Who was this guy? Some kind of rapist? Was he going to murder her first and rape her afterward? Oh no! Not if she had anything to say about it! She found her hairbrush laying on the edge of the pool nearby and threw that as well, aiming as well as she could in the dim pre-dawn lighting, all the while screaming bloody murder.
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Post by rollo on Dec 4, 2008 19:00:04 GMT -5
Kiaz stumbled, eyes wide and fire bubbling just under his skin in a fierce blush. He flung an arm over his face and staggered backwards. “I’m sorry! I didn’t think anyone would be in here! Ahh!” The floor was slightly slippery and he had to catch himself, lest he crack his skull open on it. Vaguely, he wondered why he bothered. He probably deserved to spill his brains out on the floor for scaring this poor girl.
Instead, he continued to stumble blindly. Something solid struck the side of his head and he cried out. “I said I was sorry! Jays! Who takes a bath at this hour anyways?!” Flaming, exposed, and under attack, Kiaz moved toward the water and dove in, biting his lip to keep from crying out at the sudden scalding temperature.
At least he wasn’t flashing her now. He practically hid underwater, only exposed from the mouth up as he kept his gaze firmly trained on the wall and not her. “I’msorryI’msorry,” he mumbled. “I’m a fecking dimglow….”
Now she thinks you’re a rapist. A dragonrider’s gonna hear and you’re gonna get sent home. Or dropped between. Her shrieks grated his ears and he winced, dunking himself. That second one sounds nice right about now…
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Post by nightingale on Dec 4, 2008 20:16:54 GMT -5
A frantic squeal of alarm leapt from the girl's throat as Kiaz splashed his way into the pool. She ducked her head defensively as the warm droplets stung her eyes, only just resisting the urge to raise her arms as a makeshift sheild.
Boy. Naked boy. Naked boy uninvitedly close and sharing her bathwater. Oh Shards...oh Shells...oh -well don't just stand there you twit, GET OUT!
Saeo was out of the bathing pool within seconds, quickly snatching up her drying towl (Now rather damp from all the splashing it had recieved) and clutching it to herself in a desperate, last-ditch effort to preserve her modesty.
"You're so dim you couldn't light up a cupboard!"
She screamed in fury, reatreating several, clumsy steps backward toward the far wall of the bath house. She found herself out of breath and trembling in the sudden temperature contrast of the dawn air, her throat painful from the shouting.
"By dragon shells, just who do you think you are?! And more importantly, who are you to be questioning my bathing preferances when you don't even bother to check if your bath partners are the appropriate sex?! "
Another throaty growl of fury tore from her lips she picked up her now sand-coated bar of soap and flung it at him again. Luckily for her unwitting intruder, Saeo was not renouned for her throwing accuracy, at the bar fell gracelessly into the water at his left with a disapointing 'plunk'.
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Post by rollo on Dec 4, 2008 21:26:15 GMT -5
Kiaz, ducked under the water again, trying not to hiss at the scalding temperature. Perhaps her should just let himself drown here. He certainly deserved it. “What part of I’m sorry do you not understand? I didn’t think to check, it was a bloody accident!” He glared at her, flinching away when she threw another bar of soap.
If this is what all the women of the Weyr are like, I might be better off going home.
He turned his head again, realizing that she was, in fact, still undressed. His blood boiled in mortification and annoyance as he turned his back to her. “Bloody good welcome to the Weyr, that was,” he muttered to himself.
At least the water felt nice now that he was becoming slightly acclimated to it. The dirt and grime from his flight through the herdbeast pen was floating off of him and he wondered at the simple luxury of hot water any time he so chose. If only the Weyr wasn’t so…
The girl growled behind him and he sighed, resting his head against the edge of the pool.
Embarassing.
“Throwing stuff at me isn’t going to make the situation any better. If you can’t accept an apology from a lost newcomer, then that’s your problem. But don’t sharding try to injure me for a simple mistake.”
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Post by nightingale on Dec 4, 2008 22:13:15 GMT -5
"I'll injure you as much as I sharding well want!"
Saeo cried indignantly, giving her foot a good stomp to make up for the fact that she had nothing left to throw. There wasn't much else she could do really, standing there dripping wet wearing a towel that was only just passing as a garment. Strangling a growl of frustration in her throat, she offered the top of Kiaz's head one final glare of disapproval before storming off toward the neat pile of fresh clothes she had set aside in the changing area. Miraculously, they were compltely undampened in the fray.
"Honestly..."
She huffed, her voice echoing against the walls of the bathing chamber as she set about gathering her uniform under one arm.
"It's ridiculous that I'm the one who has to get dressed! Preposterous really....now whomever you are,"
She glanced over her shoulder at the bathing pool so that it was clear she was not talking to herself.
"You'd just better keep your eyes overted and your bits an pieces covered while I make myself decent, or I'll see to it that a whole lot more injury comes flying your way in short order!"
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Post by rollo on Dec 5, 2008 0:13:43 GMT -5
Kiaz continued to face away from the girl, irritation quickly overtaking his embarrassment. Wasn’t she overreacting just a tad? He’d heard that weyrfolk were much more open than this. Annoyed, he grabbed a bar of soap and began to scrub himself, working at the grime clinging to his skin.
“I’ve already apologized more than enough. If you’re not able to forgive an honest mistake than that’s your problem.”
He dunked his head under the water and ran his fingers through greasy hair before resurfacing with a sigh. The water really did feel heavenly. Maybe if he continued to bathe and ignored the indignant girl, she’d go away.
"You'd just better keep your eyes overted and your bits an pieces covered while I make myself decent, or I'll see to it that a whole lot more injury comes flying your way in short order!"
Kiaz rolled his eyes. “I’m facing away from you if you hadn’t noticed.” He rubbed at his forehead, feeling the beginnings of a headache. “Jays. It’s just skin.”
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Post by nightingale on Dec 5, 2008 13:19:23 GMT -5
Saeo sighed lightly, taking one more breif look over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being leered at before she dared to drop her towel and start wriggling into her undergarments. It wasn't an easy task, as the moisture on her skin made the cotton reluctant to move anywhere in a hurry, but she grimly put up with the discomfort, knowing that the sooner she had something on, the more -proverbialy- comfortable she'd be.
"I never said I hadn't forgiven you."
She said offhandedly, giving her hair a little fluff with her towel to be sure it wouldn't soak the back of her tunic when she put it on. Oddly enough, she didn't sound angry in the slightest.
"I recognize a show of poor judgement when I see it -but how else is a respectable young woman supposed to respond when someone walks in on her bathing? Surely if I simply smiled and invited you to join me you would have labled me a common Weyr harlot! Just because I intend to be a greenrider dosen't mean I'm getting a head start on promiscuity now...oh, could you rescue my soap please? I don't want it to melt."
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