Late, for a Very Important Date (A'nd)

[Aftershock]

Cairenn took the corner sharply, and nearly bowled over a male drudge in her haste... or at least she might have, had she had near the weight to bowl over anyone. Apologizing as she continued in reverse, she turned back around nearly ran into a female rider, spinning out of the way at the last second with yet another muttered apology before finally reaching a straightaway. Her grey wherskin boots made soft slapping sounds with each step, and a knee-length powder blue skirt swished around her bare legs as Cairenn moved down the hallway towards A'nd's room, her hands nervously tugging her slightly off-the-shoulder baby blue blouse back up when it slipped a bit too far down... she had borrowed the top from her aunt Roselle, and the slightly better-endowed nature of her aunt was showing in the slightly looser fit of the blouse on Cairenn, resulting in her hurried pace causing the top to slip down every few steps.

Cairenn had spoken to A'nd, and finally gotten the guts up to invite him to dinner today... and then Wing training had run late, as well as a little harder than usual, leaving Cairenn an hour delayed start on even getting ready, which involved her having to completely bathe head to toe to deal with the sweating her flightleathers had caused and taking yet another hour. Her chocolate-brown hair was still damp, the wet locks less voluminous than they usually were, falling down her shoulders like liquid fudge and wrapping a bit around the golden locket that Roselle had made for Cairenn. Finally reaching A'nd's room, she took a moment to check over herself, tugging her top back into place and smoothing her skirt before carefully knocking on the door, calling out, "A'nd? It's Cairenn... are you there?" She hoped he had not given up on her arriving and gone to do something else...

[Requiem]

Weep not - "-I'm not weeping-" Oh warden of mine hearts. The woman who pays no homage knows no god- "-not a god either-" -and needs no tears to mourn her, teacher of humility. "For Faranth's sake, does it look like I'm crying?" A'nd muttered, exasperated. He'd already given up on the god thing in favor of defending his manhood to his mindmate. Xinatenth could be so dramatic. The bluerider might be a little disappointed at being stood up, but he wasn't upset, or even all that surprised. A man may cry without dampening cheeks, belovedMine, the blue corrected him with his customary loving patronization.

"When are we going to drop this topic?" the young man questioned rebelliously, even as he concentrated on the leather he was painstakingly stretching on its frame out on the ledge beside his blue. It was almost dry. Which was rather the point. If you allowed leather to dry without constantly working it, the hide wouldn't have that perfect suppleness that determined quality in such a piece. (Just because he hadn't taken up his uncle's craft didn't mean he hadn't learned a thing or two before the man's several sons deposed him as his uncle's 'heir'.) It was a suitable distraction from the fact that it was candlemarks after Cairenn was supposed to meet him for dinner. The dinner still sat on the table, cold. At first he'd thought she was late, and afterwards...well, it wouldn't hurt anything if he took care of it in the morning, right? A'nd had wanted to work this hide for a sevenday but had never found the time.

While Xinatenth no doubt was formulating the perfect response to his rider's protest, the knock on A'nd's door went unnoticed. Or mostly unnoticed. There was one creature in his retinue who didn't tend to miss a thing. Cootie flicked her striped tail, spines extending curiously. The ticklish one was here. In a flash she was off the table where she'd been playing with a cherry tomato (much as if she were a kitten and it a ball of yarn) and darting over the floor, under the door, and straight up Cairenn's leg. Tickle! she exclaimed. Quite the perfect word for the situation, really, given it was right on the money whether she was announcing who was at the door or announcing her intentions.

She was here. A'nd blinked, genuinely surprised at what his 'mandyr had just alerted him to. This being their first 'date' sort of thing (all their other meetings were by chance or strictly 'friend' activities, perhaps because of the odd way the meeting at the Gather had gone) he'd just figured she'd gotten cold feet. It was Cairenn's apparent nervousness with the whole dating thing that had kept him from pushing it at all in the first place. Forgetting that the hide would stiffen if he let it be, he stood and straightened the more comfortable clothing he'd changed into a candlemark ago when he'd decided she must not be coming and opened the door curiously. "Cairenn? Yeah, is something..." His voice trailed off at the sight of her.

[Aftershock]

Cairenn's heart dropped as the tiny mindvoice entered her mind, and she felt tiny feet travelling their way up her boot and bare leg. She remembered the massively awkward situation that Cootie's invasion of her personal space had caused last time, and the fear of such a session happening again, when she had tried so hard to look pretty and in control for A'nd's benefit, caused her mind to race and her muscles to automatically start twitching as Cootie's tiny claws tickled their way up her thigh towards more sensitive parts.

Luckily, her wet chocolate locks of hair parted to reveal her own constant companion in the form of Fun, who quickly dove off His' shoulder and spread his wings, gliding down to land on Cairenn's shin. "I offer myself to tickle-minded Cootie, take me instead," he sent to the smaller green, moving up His' leg in pursuit of the green salamandyr who was about to discover whether Cairenn had worn underthings or not. Moving faster than his depression-fueled body normally did, Fun quickly caught up to Cootie and wrapped his larger form around hers, arresting her further advancement up Cairenn's skirt... though preventing him from moving back out himself.

Face beet-red from embarrassment, but seeing no alternative, Cairenn bent down at the waist and dug gingerly under her skirt, wrapping her thin fingers around the twined 'mandyr pair and tugging them free from their perch on her upper thigh. Just as she was pulling them free so her skirt could fall back into place, A'nd opened the door, and Cairenn looked up, her loose blouse drooping open at the neckline and likely giving A'nd a clear view straight down to her belly, her chest still too small for a breastband to be necessary. Frozen for a moment in shock and embarrassment, Cairenn then shot upright, her blouse falling down to nearly reveal her breasts again for a moment before she tugged it quickly back into place, her other hand holding the pair of salamandyrs as she stuttered, "A-a-a-a-an'd, um, I... h-h-h-h-h-hello."

[Requiem]

It seemed as if he was always getting more of a view than expected. This time it was her entire front behind the gaping blouse as well as most of her thighs. Flushing slightly, he cleared his throat in that nervous way people had when they didn't have a clue as to what to say and were hoping someone or something else would rescue them. She wasn't a bombshell or anything and there may not have been a lot of breast to ogle, but she had a nice young girl's body beneath there and it was more than enough to derail the bluerider for at least a few seconds.

"Hello," he replied, face still contorted into an expression of awkwardness. Foiled, Cootie complained good-naturedly, as she did in fact subject Fun to tickles within the confines of Cairenn's hand for ruining her fun with the greenrider. In the vacuum of thought left by the awkward situation, the bluerider focused on the little mastermind behind all this mischief gratefully. "Cootie! Stop being a pest. They're our guests." The salamandyr apparently found A'nd's attempt at sternness with her amusing, because not only did she not stop her playfull war on Fun, she also sent a wave of draconic laughter to anyone in the vicinity who would listen.

The bluerider wrinkled his nose at her, then stepped back from the doorway to allow Cairenn inside, wondering if her clothing mishaps would continue and whether that was a good or bad thing right now. It was distracting, that was for sure. "Come in. The food's cold," he added, running a hand through his hair awkwardly. "I could have a drudge bring some warm food if you want? Unless you've already eaten..." His hands were fiddling with the loose cotton pants he'd put on a short while ago in the absence of pockets to hide them in. A'nd couldn't help the questioning look. Why...was she late? Three candlemarks late?

[Aftershock]

Fun writhed in Cairenn's grip as Cootie ran her claws over his hide, sacrificing his own comfort to distract the green from her attempts at tickling Cairenn. Even playful tickling couldn't break the grim mood that permanently afflicted the brown, however, and her draconic giggle was replied to by a draconic sigh of despair from Fun.

Her face burning in shame, Cairenn gave an awkward smile to A'nd, noting his plain clothing, and wondering if he simply didn't think of the date as a reason to dress up, or whether he had given up because of her lateness and she was seeing him after having changed into his current casual clothing. She entered the room as A'nd invited her, still holding the wriggling pair of salamandyrs in her hand due to her distrust of what Cootie might do if she was released, and her face grew yet more flushed as she saw the cold dinner sitting on the table. "I'm so sorry, A'nd... Wing practice ran late, and then I had to take a bath because I was so sweaty from my flightleathers, and... I didn't mean to be late, I swear!"

Setting Fun and Cootie down on a nearby table, hoping the larger brown would be able to keep the green occupied, or at least hold her physically in place if she tried to escape to invade Cairenn's personal space again, she noted the leather stretched on the frame, and realized that A'nd had thought she was simply not going to come. Balling her fists in frustration at her bad luck's attempt to ruin this night, she suddenly decided to make a rash decision and threw her arms around A'nd's shoulders, pressing her body against him and attempting to capture his lips in a kiss. If the kiss succeeded, she would hold it for a few moments, then break it, still holding A'nd close, and say, "D-d-d-does that help apologize for me being late?" No matter what happened, she would loosen her hold on A'nd and back up as she stated, "I didn't get to eat at all, and I'm starving. Some food would be wonderful."

[Requiem]

Seemed that she could read his mind. That or he was just glaringly transparent. Not that the latter would have surprised him any, given he hadn't been trying to hide anything anyway. Of course, he hadn't really wanted to upset her, either. A'nd wasn't upset. Hadn't been earlier...okay, much. It was easier not to be upset when you just assumed it was nerves or something.

Seemed it was girlish primping instead. He didn't really quite understand the whole thing, given dragons could talk to one another, but he let it pass. Mostly because he wasn't really in the habit of latching on to things to be upset about. Especially not just for the sake of being upset. That seemed ridiculous. "It's not that big a deal, you know," he commented awkwardly, his smile just as awkward. They were friends. Not like he'd read a lot into her tardiness.

All of a sudden, arms were around him and the girl was pressed to him. To say that A'nd returned the kiss would have been generous, but he certainly was too surprised to do a thing to stop it. If he'd even cared to. Clearing his throat, he could do little but nod, the hands that had hovered near her waist falling back to his sides as the moment passed and she put distance between them.

"Food. Right." He blinked, obviously taking a moment to focus on something as mundane as food before he made his way to the table and started clearing away the plates of uneaten food so there'd be room to eat. Seemed a bit wasteful but...oh well. "Food shouldn't be long. It's nice to know that you didn't mean to be late," he added, throwing a genuine smile her way. Trying to reassure her. Not that he'd mind another kiss, but he didn't want her getting all upset over it again.

[Aftershock]

Flushing visibly from a combination of embarrassment due to her boldness and the effect of the kiss on her body, Cairenn returned A'nd's smile with an awkward one of her own, somewhat privately proud of the effect her kiss had on him. He might not be floored, but he certainly seemed distracted, and with Cairenn's lack of experience in the kissing department, she took that as a victory of sorts in regards to her abilities... and A'nd's attraction to her. It seems going to Roselle for advice on how to dress for this night had paid off.

Stopping herself from helping clear the dishes off the table, remembering Roselle's words regarding men and the fact that when it came to women, the good ones liked to do the work without help from the women they're trying to woo, Cairenn simply folded her thin hands before her and watched A'nd work, replying to his statement with, "Yes, I was so angry when I realized what time it was, but J'lorin thought some of the Wing had gotten sloppy, so he kept everyone behind to practice more. Poor Nildath was exhausted, or else she might have come to visit Xinatenth." Turning slightly, her cheeks coloring slightly once more, she shyly asked in a quiet voice, "So... a-are you glad I came?"

[Requiem]

Ah, the joy of overbearing bronzers. The food made it to the compost chute (really could have done that earlier but he had a hide to cure) and the dishes to a soak in the dish basin, a wry smile touching one side of his mouth. "It's probably good he did that if you really were slipping," the teen commented quietly. Even if she wasn't it couldn't hurt. The bluerider wasn't likely to say it aloud but...well, Cairenn could have easily gotten Nildath to let Xina know she'd be late, and all of the admittedly minimal bother would have been avoided. So it was kind of silly to be mad at her wingleader over doing his job.

Wasn't like A'nd was going anywhere.

"What? Of course." He spared a glance back over his shoulder before returning to scrubbing the dishes. "You may owe me a new hide though." The young man didn't bring up his general uncertainty about dating her since a small part of him still wondered if she was going to all this effort specifically because she thought Nildath and Xinatenth would continue to be Flight partners, but...he did enjoy seeing her. Frequent wardrobe malfunctions and all.

Dishes washed, he turned to his cupboards. "Want something to drink? I've got water and can make some klah. A bit of juice, too." If perhaps A'nd was using these things as an excuse to focus on something other than the awkward in the room, could he really be blamed for it?

[Aftershock]

"It wasn't me," Cairenn responded a bit defensively, moving her arms up to cross them in front of her chest, "It was the whole Wing. I told him I had other plans, but he wouldn't listen. The jerk." The young woman huffed a bit as she looked downward, showing that despite her attempts at maturity, she was still just a teenaged girl.

She smiled as he verified that he was glad she came, but then her smile vanished and her brow furrowed as he said she might owe him a new hide. "A hide? What's wrong with this one? You can just start again whenever I leave, can't you?" She moved over to poke gently at the stretched hide on the rack, clearly having no idea about tanning or leatherworking in the slightest.

Turning her head slightly from her inspection of the hide, she replied, "Oh, juice would be nice, thank you."

[Requiem]

This whole blank stare punctuated by the occasional blink thing was becoming commonplace when it came to dealing with his young greenriding friend. He hadn't really meant her specifically, though he didn't really bother to correct that misconception because he was too busy trying not to laugh at the fact that she seemed to expect her wingleader to care if she'd made plans or not when he was intent on training his wing. The small display of childish ire was somewhat endearing, though it did make him feel old. Even though he wasn't!

A'nd went about pouring the juice while he tried to decide if he wanted to drop the hide subject or not. If she'd known about working leather the joke would have been fine, but trying to explain it might actually make her feel guilty, which wasn't his intent. In the end, though, he figured honesty probably was best. She'd asked. Handing her the juice, he smiled with a touch of embarrassment. "Actually, hide stiffens once it dries if you don't stretch it continuously. But I really was just joking about replacing it."

Saved by the knock! A'nd quickly went to answer the door and take the food from the drudge who'd been kind enough to bring it here, unloading the tray before glancing back at Cairenn again. "I feel underdressed. You look great, Cai." He hoped for one of her beaming smiles and to smooth over any awkward feelings that might still lay between them.

[Aftershock]

Accepting the juice with a smile, she took a sip and murmured that it tasted good before her smile drooped into a slight pout when he mentioned that the hide was, effectively, ruined. "Oh... I'm sorry," she apologized, despite his assurances that he wasn't upset.

Just then, the door knocked, and soon A'nd was retrieving the food he had ordered from a drudge. Then, they were alone once again, and A'nd took the opportunity to compliment Cairenn on her appearance, causing her to smile and flush slightly as she snuck closer to deliver another kiss, this one a simple peck on the lips, and reply, "T-thank you. You look fine, though... but you can change if you feel uncomfortable. Maybe I can even watch, since you always end up seeing me underdressed." Her tone was clearly teasing, though her darkening blush made it clear she was embarrassing herself slightly even as she said it.

[Requiem]

A'nd had time enough to straighten and half-turn to face her before she'd kissed him again, slightly more receptive this time though again there wasn't much time to respond. He blinked at her, nonplussed as she flushed furiously and suggested he undress in front of her in the same breath. "You want me to-?" Was this a booty call? He'd thought she wanted to try dating (something he was open to though still a little hesitant about just because he'd never really dated a girl before and Cai always seemed so innocent).

The bluerider shot a not so amused glance at Xinatenth's very amused rumble from the ledge. "Uh..." Rubbing at the back of his neck, he glanced again at the food. Guess she wasn't so hungry then. A'nd didn't really know where this was going to go. (Despite the apparent direction, she seemed so embarrassed even saying it he rather doubted they'd get all that far.) Nevertheless, he demonstrated his willingness to let her...experiment?...by unbuttoning his shirt and slipping out of it.

"To be fair, though, I don't think you were deliberately showing me skin, so I'm not sure this would really make us even," he added teasingly, in an effort to lighten the mood some. Even if his own blush was probably becoming nearly as furious as hers.

[Aftershock]

Once again, the young greenrider's "fake it until you make it" attitude was turning around to bite her directly in the butt, and she internally started running around and screaming inside her own mind as the bluerider called her bluff and actually took his shirt off, apparently thinking she was interested in seeing him naked. Not that he was an unattractive young man, but this was definitely not why she had come to his room.

"Mm-mm-m, y-y-you look r-r-really nice," she stuttered, her smile frozen to her face and her eyes sharing the panicked appearance of a herdbeast watching a dragon dive towards it. Her blush had gotten so severe that her entire face and the visible parts of her chest were a deep crimson, and she reached a shaky hand out to run her delicate fingers over his chest and stomach as she squeaked out, "T-t-t-t-t-there, now w-w-w-we're even from the S-s-s-s-snow M-m-maze." Then, it seemed she reached some kind of hard limit, and her hand snapped back like she had been bitten, and she turned away slightly as she said, "B-b-b-but we don't w-w-want the food to g-get cold again, s-s-so let's eat!"

Moving to the table, she sat down quickly... so suddenly, in fact, that the chair nearly tipped sideways, and she had to put her hands on the table to steady herself. There she sat, waiting for A'nd's next move, her eyes averted from the bluerider's direction and her blush so massive that the waves of heat could probably be felt even from where he was standing.

[Requiem]

So as it turned out, the mood-lightening comment was a complete failure. Cairenn was tomato-red. He really hadn't known anyone could flush quite that vibrant a color. A'nd really had to give her props for actually forcing herself to touch him when it looked like her head might very well explode. He had to admit that the very light brush of fingers definitely had an effect on his nerve endings as they travelled downward, which probably didn't help the state of clear panic she seemed to be in given he couldn't quite keep the reaction from his eyes. Nevertheless he didn't touch her in return or try to stop her when she spun away so swiftly.

No, A'nd didn't move at all until he saw her chair about to fall, taking a quick step forward and catching the side even as she gripped the table. He only waited long enough to be sure she wasn't in danger of cracking her skull before moving away to give her some space, turning his whip-scarred back to her to go through his wardrobe for a nicer shirt. It was more the pants that didn't suit the occasion than the shirt but he'd never actually had any intention of removing those in her presence.

The bluerider stepped around the table and took his seat across from her, adjusting his collar. "Better?" As if it had always been about simply changing a shirt. He was nice enough not to mention anything about the vibrant blush that still dominated her features. And yes...his masculine pride was preening just a bit.

[Aftershock]

Cairenn stiffened further as A'nd moved behind her to steady her chair, and her complete devotion to not look at his shirtless form kept her from noticing the whip scars upon his back. Finally, he sat before her with a new shirt, and she finally seemed able to unglue her eyes from her plate before her to look back up at him shyly, her shoulders slowly lowering from the defensive posture she'd taken after seating herself as she said, "I-I-I'm sorry, for acting like that... you d-d-do look really nice, y-you know. I-I-I was just n-not expecting you to actually t-take your shirt off, and I d-didn't know what to do..." The admission seemed to help some of the redness of her blush flow away from her, and by the time she was done, she was merely a dark pink rather than the blazing red color she had worn while A'nd's shirt was removed.

Reaching out to fetch her fork, she smiled a bit and said, "It looks good... thank you for getting it." She seemed to be waiting for him before she started eating, however.