Being one with the water and air.
Who: Javeri and P'ax
Where: The beach
When: Just as the sun's going down on day 8, month 3, turn 19
What: Javeri's with Chadamalith contemplating life after doing some surfing. P'ax finds her there and apologizes. She tries to help him relax and fails with her first method. So, she uses an older technique.
And there's the sun going on down to sink into the water. The beach stretches out like always with people dotting the landscape here and there to enjoy the sunset or just someone's company. Javeri's here on the beach. Hardly surprising. Sticking up out of the sand by her is a surfboard that gleams a bit from a fresh coat of wax. With the surfboard is a blue who is ever so close to stopping his growth. Chadamalith stretches out with his muzzle towards the sunset watching it intently without moving at all. And his rider sits almost as still, not quite watching the sunset, but facing that direction anyway.
Yyth is more subtle than usual in her landing. Her mind stretches out to brush Chadamalith's, warning of her incoming. Her wings tuck back neatly as she touches down and she takes a moment to pose in the fading glow of sun like a beauty queen rather than a skeletal demon from beyond. P'ax seems unsurprised to find Javeri here. In fact, it seems like he was looking for her and knew just where she'd be. "Javeri?" he calls, approaching the place where she sits almost timidly.
The warning is met with nothing but blue as Chadamalith continues his staring at the sun. Oh, he gets it, there's no sense he's not /there/, but he sends nothing back. And Javeri doesn't move either although when her name is spoken she finally does bring herself back and her head tilts to look at the greenrider. "P'ax," she greets.
P'ax grimaces at the bluerider in a failed attempt to smile. "Er, hey. Am I interrupting?" His head turns to regard the sunset. "I can wait, if you want to finish watching.." His hands fold awkwardly behind his back, watching Yyth settle down finally. She makes no move to attempt contact with Chadamalith again. If he doesn't want her company, she certainly has no need of his.
"Huh? Oh, no," Javeri answers with a shake of her head sending her beads clattering. "Have a seat. We were just out here doing nothing. Can't interrupt nothing I think." Chadamalith just wants to be and so he watches nothing and everything at the same time. So, he's not inviting her along, but he's not snubbing her. Not in his mind anyway.
P'ax accepts her invitation, his legs folding and he sits down in a slump on the sand. "I, er, came to apologize, first of all," he begins uncertainly. "We weren't on great terms, and then Yyth going up... I know you must not be thinking fondly of me of late." He picks up a handful of sand, watching it trail through his fingers. "I thought it might have been enough time now that you wouldn't punch me."
There's silence from Javeri as he sits. Then silence as he speaks. She's gotten quite good at silence and must have learned a lot of it from Chadamalith. "Shells, P'ax, I'm not mad at you cause Yyth went up. She's green. She does that. Just my bad luck we were there is all. That's totally Paddy's fault." There's a teasing note in her voice as she speaks and when she looks his way she's smiling. "Stupid to get mad at you. He chased. It's what /he/ does. All the time. Finally won even." Shaking her head she mock frowns at her blue before clearing her throat. "You don't know me so, you know? But I would never hit someone. I was mad because you said stuff that could hurt a friend. That's all. And we all say stupid stuff sometimes."
P'ax laughs lamely. "Yeah, I'm really good at saying stupid things," he agrees and lets out a sigh, scrubbing at his face with the sleeve of his shirt before his hands fall into his lap again. "Glad you've forgiven me. Don't have so many friendly people in my life I can afford to go around alienating any of them."
"Shells, P'ax, you're a jerk, but I can deal with that." Javeri just says it like it's no big deal. Some people are jerks. Some people are grumpy. Everyone has a problem and it's not going to stop her from trying to get along with them all. She even stretches her arm out so her hand can slap lightly against his arm. "Nothing to forgive. Happy to talk to you if you want. You need to learn to relax I think."
P'ax flinches a little. "Yeah, I'm a jerk," he concedes with a sigh. "Of course I want to talk to you. Here, aren't I? Faranth knows I'd never see you if I waited for you to come see me." He smirks at her, just a little. "Relax? You're probably right. I'm told that a lot. Not sure how to, though."
"It's sharding cold at High Reaches you know?" Javeri points out with a grimace. "I don't like cold. Was cold enough at Fort for the hatching. You move somewhere warm I'll come visit. Otherwise you need to wait til summer." Because she's got thin Istan blood. "You don't know how to relax?" Now the still a weyrling looks at P'ax thoughtfully. "Really? Do you have a hobby?"
P'ax smiles a little. "It's not cold in my weyr when there's a fire going. It wouldn't be so bad. But sure, I'll wait for summer. But by then Yyth will probably have the ledge so full of skeletons Chadamalith will have nowhere to land." He draws his knees up to his chest and nods. "Sure I do. Build furniture out of bones, for one. And I like to knit." Neither activities are the sort to make an uptight adolescent learn how to deal with others though.
Chadamalith stirs just a bit and twitches his tail. "Warmer here," she points out with a laugh. "Which means the men wear less." Not that she's man watching right now, but most likely she was earlier. Why else be on the beach in a bikini? "Knitting is a good hobby. Anything to do with needles and thread or whatever I am horrid at. But I have my clay and surfing and sailors so I can stay pretty relaxed." Javeri tips her head and asks, "Do you have like, a best friend? Someone you can talk to? Surely I'm not the closest person to come have a chat with? Doesn't knitting relax you?"
"I'd hope you wouldn't just want to look at half-naked men if you were coming to see me," P'ax protests mildly. "It's nice. It's a good thing to know when you live somewhere cold. I make a lot of scarves and hats and gloves. And socks. I like to sew, too, but there's less time for that, and I was never good to begin with. Should have been a Weaver, if my parents had let me. Too late now." He glances now curiously at her. "What's surfing?" He avoids the question of friends with a fleeting spasm of pain across his face. "I guess it does, sure. It's something to do in your free time."
"Wait. You don't know surfing? That's crazy!" Although he's not from Ista that does not excuse him in Javeri's mind. "Hey, it's an interval, you know. You could be a weaver too. No reason not to right?" She frowns lightly and then shakes her head. "You should find something that relaxes you. If it doesn't then you need to look for something else. Something your mind can disconnect with. You should be able to just float in a hobby and feel all the anxiety roll away." Standing up she brushes herself off and unties her sarong. Poor boy just won't appreciate the view, but nothing to be done for it. "Come on. Up. We're going into the water." Pause. "You can /swim/ can't you?"
P'ax isn't sure where Javeri got this idea that he won't enjoy the view. He's looking, isn't he? "Yeah, guess you're right. People keep telling me it's an option. But I don't think Yyth would like it. She doesn't like things I do unless I do them for her. It's tricky." He takes a heavy breath, heaving himself to her feet. "Sure I know how to swim. You've /seen/ me swim," he reminds her, face screwing up. "Ugh. I didn't bring extra shorts." Betweening home with wet underwear, sounds like an exercise for the brave to me.
"So? Convince her it's for her," Javeri says with a wave of her hand. "You need to make extra marks to buy her something pretty." There's a pause as she considers who the dragon is being discussed. "Or something disgusting. Whatever." Waving her hand she grins and says, "So strip it all off. It's not like I haven't seen that sort of thing before. If you're shy I'm sure stores will have something you can borrow?" Laughing she tacks on, "I can strip too if you'll feel better." Holderbred she might be, but shy she certainly does not seem to be. As for knowing he can swim she shrugs and just says, "Can't remember everything."
P'ax looks only slightly scandalized by Javeri's suggestion that they both get naked and go galloping into the water. "I can manage," he mutters and begins taking off his shoes and socks. "Yeah, I've tryed that one," he admits. "She usually roots around trying to find out what I want to get her." Off comes the shirt. "You know, if I didn't know you better, I'd think you just wanted to see me naked." It's a poor attempt at teasing, but still, he tries.
The bluerider laughs and just says, "I wanted to see you naked I'd just be telling you that." Yep. Forward she can be. Especially on the beach. Her domain and she is ruler there. "So, have something in mind. New straps, matching riding leathers so you don't clash with her straps. A prize beast to slaughter as she chooses. Just have it in your mind." And as Javeri talks she does watch him strip down because she hasn't seen it before. May as well enjoy it.
P'ax is pretty nice to look at when he's not scowling. And he's not, he's laughing. "I see you're skilled in the art of subterfuge." His hands pause on his belt buckle and his mouth curves into even more of a smirk. "But you only want to see the sailors naked?" he prompts, white teeth flashing in a rare expression of cheerfulness. "Hm. Wouldn't actually /mind/ nice riding leathers. All I have are the plain standard issue ones we get when we graduate. And I keep growing. The shoulders on the jacket are already getting tight, and they made them big to begin with." Ah, the plight of a fledgling giant.
"That's me. Subtle and sly all around." Javeri cocks one hip out to rest her hand on it. She strikes a pose and even though she's not exactly exciting to look at she's at least not bad. "Now, I don't know why people think that," she chides playfully. "I prefer sailors to dally with, but I'll happily look at anyone naked or clothed. Then I can know what exceptions to make." When he speaks of his clothes she nods rapidly. "So, you see? New matching leathers and straps. Perfect. There's all sorts of things. Maybe a nice display case for your weyr to house her gross things?"
P'ax rolls his eyes and continues to chuckle, unfastening his belt and wiggling out of his pants. "You're positively incorrigible," he mutters and sighs, heading for the water. "I really do try not to let anything too gross into our weyr, Javeri. It's all /clean/. Bones just are what they are. And she hasn't hidden anything weird under my cot in awhile. I did find that heart once..."
Shuddering Javeri grabs her board. She's tall so it doesn't cause her any trouble getting it out to the water balanced on her hip partly. "Nah. Not me. I just-" Shaking her head she grins at the greenrider. "I just don't want to let life turn me into someone I wouldn't like. I've had a rough time with some things, but we're coming out of it and we'll graduate in a couple sevens and it's a whole new life. I'm excited. Also that's still gross. Bones. Chadamalith does not allow things in our weyr. I cannot even have furniture. Well, I have a bed. And my potter wheel. Ok. I don't have a spare board. So, you're going to have to work with me." But first they have to get waist deep or so in the water. The fact the sun's nearly down doesn't seem to be bothering her.
P'ax lifts an eyebrow but shrugs, putting one foot into the waves as if the water could ever be doubted to be less than comfortably warm. "You get used to it. It's not my favorite but... I love her. What can I do?" He shrugs, spreading his hands apart helplessly. "I think I remember you complaining about that, your empty weyr. No table, no chairs?" He regards the board with mistrust. "You sure this is a good idea?"
"At least it's a good excuse to get visitors to sit on my bed," Javeri says with an exaggerated leer. "Not that I bring them back to my weyr. It's our space. Beach always worked fine before and works fine now." It's perfectly fine to have no strings sex on the beach, but not in a bed! "No table, no chairs. Pillows. And I have my bed. And some shelves all the way in the back where he cannot go anyway. Although mostly he likes to be on the ledge." As for it being a good idea she laughs. "P'ax, come on. Loosen up. Have fun. We're going to do nothing dangerous. You're going to get on the board, ok? Just lean into the side and get on. Then float on your stomach on it. No standing tonight. Promise."
P'ax's eyebrows lift. "You have sex on the beach?" But he's beyond being shocked by anything she does or says anymore. When he's out to his waist he eyes the board and then squares his broad shoulders resolutely. "Loosen up, right, I can loosen up." The determination on his face is in comical juxtaposition to relaxing.
Javeri's laugh is sudden and impossible to contain. "Sex on the beach, P'ax, is an experience. First time I ever let a man in my skirt was on the beach. Not like I had a room and he just had his hammock on the ship. Plenty of places to be left alone if you know where to look. I can show you one or two after this if you want." Watching him now she shakes her head. "Ok, stop. You can't force yourself to loosen up. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths. Every time you let one out let something go. Some stress can go away with each time. Then when you're done slide onto the board."
P'ax gives Javeri a speculative look, and up and down once over. "That so?" he asks, chuckling to himself. "Alright, alright," he agrees and closes his eyes as prompted. He inhales slowly and lets out a breath. It takes a few rounds before his shoulders begin to unstiffen, his body relaxing as the tension oozes out. "Hmm," he sighs at last and opens his eyes.
There she stands while he looks her over for whatever reason. If there's one thing that doesn't bother Javeri it's being looked at. Would be silly for her to wander around like with as little clothes as she does most of the time if it bothered her. She watches him take his breaths and when he's done she nods once. "Now, onto the board," she encourages in a low voice as the water moves it back and forth in time with the waves hitting them. "Stretch out on your stomach. You just want to feel the board right now. To feel the connection with the waves. It's all about how they meet up. You're just a small part of it all, P'ax. The ocean moves no matter what. The board will float with or without you. But you can be a little part of it. A small part of the big whole and there's nothing to worry about in that. Nothing to make you stress out. You're just going to be."
P'ax gets on has he's listening to her little speech, wobbling uncertainly on the board. "I feel stupid," he complains. "Feel the ocean." He snorts in contempt, letting his hands dangle over the edge of the board to trail through the water. He rests his cheek against the bobbing board, staring at her with eyes that match the grey waves.
For his comment he gets a light slap to the back of his head. A playful sort of tap that doesn't connect hard enough to cause any pain. "No, you don't," Javeri tells him quietly. Her voice is just loud enough to be heard over the waves and the noises that carry from the beach. "Close your eyes," she instructs then. "You're feeling, not seeing. You've seen the ocean and you've seen me. Now you need to feel the ocean. The board's going to bob along with it. You'll feel the rise and fall of the waves. Match your breathing to it."
P'ax closes his eyes and can't stop the smile that curls his mouth up. "Well if I've seen you, and I've seen the ocean, and now I'm feeling the ocean, do I get to feel you next?" His hand reaches out to grope for her hip blindly. His turn to be incorrigible. "Alright, alright, feeling the ocean." Snigger. But he can at least try to take it a little seriously.
His hand gropes, but since her eyes are open she can dodge it. "Now's not the time," she informs him primly. "Later. If you're good." Javeri watches him and waits for it to be taken a little seriously. "There's nothing out here," she points out softly. "Just you and the ocean. Connecting you is the board. It's not holding you from it, it's holding you in it. There's nothing to think about out here. Nothing to worry you. Nothing to tense up your muscles. Just relax."
P'ax sighs. "But there are other things," he protests mildly, his voice drifting lightly towards heavy huskiness. His body hangs more loosely against the wooden board. If anything, this exercise is going to lull him into sleep.
Sleep is not so bad, is it? It's relaxing and she's there to keep him from drowning. "Shhh," Javeri says and it must be her days to lull greenriders. "There's nothing to focus on. Nothing but the air over you and the water under you. It's not about what might be there. Or what's waiting for you. It's just about the here and now. Just about finding yourself. You can do this anywhere. You can lie in your bed and close your eyes and remember the water and the air and feel them around you. Feel just that. Let all your worries go away. Relax."
P'ax suspects he's being tricked into relaxing. The anal retentive part of himself rebels. It's a small part buried under lassitude. Completely at her mercy and the laziness overcoming him. He yawns, pulling his wet arms up to pillow his head. He peeks one eye open just a little bit, just enough to cheat and watch her face.
"You keep looking at me," Javeri points out with a quiet laugh. "It's going to go to my head. You're supposed to be relaxing just thinking about me." But she doesn't push it. If he's not being jittery then that's fine in her book. Lifting a hand from the water she rests it on the small of his back. Just to see what he does.
P'ax grins like a chesire, slow and cheeky. "Thinking about you and relaxing don't coincide," he teases, and lets out a light sigh for the hand on her back. "You're...distracting. Not unpleasant though."
Javeri's got a grin for the Reaches' rider as she says, "Thought you liked the men, P'ax." Because he sure acts that way and has never seemed overly impressed with the ladies. "You want to head in then I can show you all my special techniques for relaxing a man." What a floozy! Her fingers trace up and down on his back as she makes her offer.
P'ax gives her statement more weight than she probably meant it to. And finally concludes, "It depends on the person. I think I just never got close enough to most women to be attracted to them. You, I always have been. You just never seemed... receptive." He reaches out, offering his hand palm up. "I might not be much good," he warns, in the mood for full disclosure.
"Huh. Well, shells, P'ax. If you want to go get naked and sweaty you just had to say." Javeri's just not taking it seriously, but she doesn't sound unreceptive. Her fingers trail up to touch the back of his neck and then find his hair. Leaning down over him she whispers into his ear, "I'm plenty good enough to make up for it."
P'ax turns nice and pink at that. "You make it sound so unromantic," he teases and slides his legs off the side of the board, keeping one hand on it so it can't float away. The other reaches out for her once more, and hopefully this time she'll allow him to draw her close. She's tall, but he's taller, his broad hand wanting to splay across the small of her back. "That so?"
"Don't do romance," Javeri says plainly. "That what you want? I'm just looking to have a little fun, but I can point you towards a girl who might want that?" She offers as she moves closer and lets his hand touch her. "Sure. I've been letting sailors take me for walks since I was about sixteen turns old. Didn't always let em have their way, but I sure did learn a lot either way. Happy to teach you a thing or two."
P'ax steps into her even as he pulls her in, looking down into her face. "Nah. Not with you. No offense. This is just...fun." He agrees with her there, at least. "I'd like to think I can hold my own with men." His head dips towards her ear to murmur quietly, "Women are a bit different, so soft and round. And I'm not used to being... on top. That's all."
"Fun. Exactly," Javeri agrees and then she's pulling away from him. "Get the board back on the beach, boy," she teases with a loud laugh. "Don't damage it either." She heads back, hurrying as she goes, declaring it a race without saying it. And despite the way her voice might carry she still turns her head to holler back. "It's fine, P'ax, I don't mind being on top at all!"
P'ax picks up the board, holding the board under his arm. Long legs carry him quickly out of the water, hot on her trail. "Not what I meant!" he groans, turning all kinds of red once more. "Where do you want this?" he asks, motioning at the board with his arm.
Unable to stop herself Javeri lets out a laugh. "I've got no way to do what a man does," she points out before gesturing to where the board was before. "Right there's fine. No one'll take it and Chadamalith will keep an eye on our things anyway." Indeed the blue is, well, not watching anything but he is there. Same thing really. "You gotta stop apologizing," she tells him. "I told you it's fine. We're just gonna have a good time."
"Didn't apologize," P'ax points out, thrusting the board into the sand and trotting after the bluerider. Yyth's there too, and she's definitely keeping a better eye out. "Not what I wanted anyways," he reminds her. "Just, letting you know." He catches up and reaches for her hand with a shy grin.
"So, you been with a woman before?" Javeri asks as she waits for him. When he's caught up with her she lets him have her hand the better to lead him where she wants him. There's a spot not too far away where the jungle juts out a bit that creates a nice bit of privacy over the still warm beach sand. "I mean, you know what goes where, right?" her tone's all teasing when she asks and she steps closer to bump her hip against his.
P'ax laughs. "Of course. One or two," he says offhandedly. He studies where she's leading him and then bumps her hip back. "Was with a girl before I was ever with a guy, actually. I think I'll manage." He winks down at her.
Phah! He's not /that/ much taller than her. Just a wee little bit. Javeri laughs though and squeezes his hand. "Well, then, that's good." Stopping a few yards from the overhanging jungle she steps in front of him. "So," she says quietly as she steps even closer. "Gonna show me what you learned from that one or two then?"
P'ax hums thoughtfully when she stops and reaches out to take her face in his hand, his thumb curving under her chin. "If you'd like that," he agrees with a low chuckle, bringing his lips down to meet hers.
Javeri's ready for the kiss and however he starts it she escalates it pretty quickly. There's apparently no need to go anywhere else based on the way her arms snake around his waist to haul him up against her. When the kiss comes to an end she tells him, "Not bad for a first act."
P'ax wraps his arms around her in kind, one hand sliding up to cup the back of her neck and into her braids. He doesn't let her go far when she does pull away, his blue eyes intense on her face. "Plenty more and better where that came from," he promises.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Javeri taunts as she slides her arms around his neck and then hooks her foot behind his to try to trip him. The goal is to get him down on the sand where the real fun can begin. She's not much for slow beginnings in the least.
P'ax goes down like the gangly pup that he is, shock writen all over his face. At least he's got a good hold on her, he's not going down without her. "Just for you, darlin'," he counters, reaching eagerly to pull the strings on her bikini and see it undone.
There was never any intention for him to go down alone. Javeri's right there with him. Lucky for them both neither is wearing much in the way of clothes so that stage takes no time at all. And then he can show her what he knows and she can expand his education by quite a bit until neither of them is interested in it anymore.
It's a nice night all around, and P'ax's shorts are even dry when he finally collapses, his youthful stamina completely exhausted. There's likely to be some soreness tomorrow. He gives Javeri a last kiss before he leaves to find his clothing and Yyth and eventually his bed.
Where: The beach
When: Just as the sun's going down on day 8, month 3, turn 19
What: Javeri's with Chadamalith contemplating life after doing some surfing. P'ax finds her there and apologizes. She tries to help him relax and fails with her first method. So, she uses an older technique.
And there's the sun going on down to sink into the water. The beach stretches out like always with people dotting the landscape here and there to enjoy the sunset or just someone's company. Javeri's here on the beach. Hardly surprising. Sticking up out of the sand by her is a surfboard that gleams a bit from a fresh coat of wax. With the surfboard is a blue who is ever so close to stopping his growth. Chadamalith stretches out with his muzzle towards the sunset watching it intently without moving at all. And his rider sits almost as still, not quite watching the sunset, but facing that direction anyway.
Yyth is more subtle than usual in her landing. Her mind stretches out to brush Chadamalith's, warning of her incoming. Her wings tuck back neatly as she touches down and she takes a moment to pose in the fading glow of sun like a beauty queen rather than a skeletal demon from beyond. P'ax seems unsurprised to find Javeri here. In fact, it seems like he was looking for her and knew just where she'd be. "Javeri?" he calls, approaching the place where she sits almost timidly.
The warning is met with nothing but blue as Chadamalith continues his staring at the sun. Oh, he gets it, there's no sense he's not /there/, but he sends nothing back. And Javeri doesn't move either although when her name is spoken she finally does bring herself back and her head tilts to look at the greenrider. "P'ax," she greets.
P'ax grimaces at the bluerider in a failed attempt to smile. "Er, hey. Am I interrupting?" His head turns to regard the sunset. "I can wait, if you want to finish watching.." His hands fold awkwardly behind his back, watching Yyth settle down finally. She makes no move to attempt contact with Chadamalith again. If he doesn't want her company, she certainly has no need of his.
"Huh? Oh, no," Javeri answers with a shake of her head sending her beads clattering. "Have a seat. We were just out here doing nothing. Can't interrupt nothing I think." Chadamalith just wants to be and so he watches nothing and everything at the same time. So, he's not inviting her along, but he's not snubbing her. Not in his mind anyway.
P'ax accepts her invitation, his legs folding and he sits down in a slump on the sand. "I, er, came to apologize, first of all," he begins uncertainly. "We weren't on great terms, and then Yyth going up... I know you must not be thinking fondly of me of late." He picks up a handful of sand, watching it trail through his fingers. "I thought it might have been enough time now that you wouldn't punch me."
There's silence from Javeri as he sits. Then silence as he speaks. She's gotten quite good at silence and must have learned a lot of it from Chadamalith. "Shells, P'ax, I'm not mad at you cause Yyth went up. She's green. She does that. Just my bad luck we were there is all. That's totally Paddy's fault." There's a teasing note in her voice as she speaks and when she looks his way she's smiling. "Stupid to get mad at you. He chased. It's what /he/ does. All the time. Finally won even." Shaking her head she mock frowns at her blue before clearing her throat. "You don't know me so, you know? But I would never hit someone. I was mad because you said stuff that could hurt a friend. That's all. And we all say stupid stuff sometimes."
P'ax laughs lamely. "Yeah, I'm really good at saying stupid things," he agrees and lets out a sigh, scrubbing at his face with the sleeve of his shirt before his hands fall into his lap again. "Glad you've forgiven me. Don't have so many friendly people in my life I can afford to go around alienating any of them."
"Shells, P'ax, you're a jerk, but I can deal with that." Javeri just says it like it's no big deal. Some people are jerks. Some people are grumpy. Everyone has a problem and it's not going to stop her from trying to get along with them all. She even stretches her arm out so her hand can slap lightly against his arm. "Nothing to forgive. Happy to talk to you if you want. You need to learn to relax I think."
P'ax flinches a little. "Yeah, I'm a jerk," he concedes with a sigh. "Of course I want to talk to you. Here, aren't I? Faranth knows I'd never see you if I waited for you to come see me." He smirks at her, just a little. "Relax? You're probably right. I'm told that a lot. Not sure how to, though."
"It's sharding cold at High Reaches you know?" Javeri points out with a grimace. "I don't like cold. Was cold enough at Fort for the hatching. You move somewhere warm I'll come visit. Otherwise you need to wait til summer." Because she's got thin Istan blood. "You don't know how to relax?" Now the still a weyrling looks at P'ax thoughtfully. "Really? Do you have a hobby?"
P'ax smiles a little. "It's not cold in my weyr when there's a fire going. It wouldn't be so bad. But sure, I'll wait for summer. But by then Yyth will probably have the ledge so full of skeletons Chadamalith will have nowhere to land." He draws his knees up to his chest and nods. "Sure I do. Build furniture out of bones, for one. And I like to knit." Neither activities are the sort to make an uptight adolescent learn how to deal with others though.
Chadamalith stirs just a bit and twitches his tail. "Warmer here," she points out with a laugh. "Which means the men wear less." Not that she's man watching right now, but most likely she was earlier. Why else be on the beach in a bikini? "Knitting is a good hobby. Anything to do with needles and thread or whatever I am horrid at. But I have my clay and surfing and sailors so I can stay pretty relaxed." Javeri tips her head and asks, "Do you have like, a best friend? Someone you can talk to? Surely I'm not the closest person to come have a chat with? Doesn't knitting relax you?"
"I'd hope you wouldn't just want to look at half-naked men if you were coming to see me," P'ax protests mildly. "It's nice. It's a good thing to know when you live somewhere cold. I make a lot of scarves and hats and gloves. And socks. I like to sew, too, but there's less time for that, and I was never good to begin with. Should have been a Weaver, if my parents had let me. Too late now." He glances now curiously at her. "What's surfing?" He avoids the question of friends with a fleeting spasm of pain across his face. "I guess it does, sure. It's something to do in your free time."
"Wait. You don't know surfing? That's crazy!" Although he's not from Ista that does not excuse him in Javeri's mind. "Hey, it's an interval, you know. You could be a weaver too. No reason not to right?" She frowns lightly and then shakes her head. "You should find something that relaxes you. If it doesn't then you need to look for something else. Something your mind can disconnect with. You should be able to just float in a hobby and feel all the anxiety roll away." Standing up she brushes herself off and unties her sarong. Poor boy just won't appreciate the view, but nothing to be done for it. "Come on. Up. We're going into the water." Pause. "You can /swim/ can't you?"
P'ax isn't sure where Javeri got this idea that he won't enjoy the view. He's looking, isn't he? "Yeah, guess you're right. People keep telling me it's an option. But I don't think Yyth would like it. She doesn't like things I do unless I do them for her. It's tricky." He takes a heavy breath, heaving himself to her feet. "Sure I know how to swim. You've /seen/ me swim," he reminds her, face screwing up. "Ugh. I didn't bring extra shorts." Betweening home with wet underwear, sounds like an exercise for the brave to me.
"So? Convince her it's for her," Javeri says with a wave of her hand. "You need to make extra marks to buy her something pretty." There's a pause as she considers who the dragon is being discussed. "Or something disgusting. Whatever." Waving her hand she grins and says, "So strip it all off. It's not like I haven't seen that sort of thing before. If you're shy I'm sure stores will have something you can borrow?" Laughing she tacks on, "I can strip too if you'll feel better." Holderbred she might be, but shy she certainly does not seem to be. As for knowing he can swim she shrugs and just says, "Can't remember everything."
P'ax looks only slightly scandalized by Javeri's suggestion that they both get naked and go galloping into the water. "I can manage," he mutters and begins taking off his shoes and socks. "Yeah, I've tryed that one," he admits. "She usually roots around trying to find out what I want to get her." Off comes the shirt. "You know, if I didn't know you better, I'd think you just wanted to see me naked." It's a poor attempt at teasing, but still, he tries.
The bluerider laughs and just says, "I wanted to see you naked I'd just be telling you that." Yep. Forward she can be. Especially on the beach. Her domain and she is ruler there. "So, have something in mind. New straps, matching riding leathers so you don't clash with her straps. A prize beast to slaughter as she chooses. Just have it in your mind." And as Javeri talks she does watch him strip down because she hasn't seen it before. May as well enjoy it.
P'ax is pretty nice to look at when he's not scowling. And he's not, he's laughing. "I see you're skilled in the art of subterfuge." His hands pause on his belt buckle and his mouth curves into even more of a smirk. "But you only want to see the sailors naked?" he prompts, white teeth flashing in a rare expression of cheerfulness. "Hm. Wouldn't actually /mind/ nice riding leathers. All I have are the plain standard issue ones we get when we graduate. And I keep growing. The shoulders on the jacket are already getting tight, and they made them big to begin with." Ah, the plight of a fledgling giant.
"That's me. Subtle and sly all around." Javeri cocks one hip out to rest her hand on it. She strikes a pose and even though she's not exactly exciting to look at she's at least not bad. "Now, I don't know why people think that," she chides playfully. "I prefer sailors to dally with, but I'll happily look at anyone naked or clothed. Then I can know what exceptions to make." When he speaks of his clothes she nods rapidly. "So, you see? New matching leathers and straps. Perfect. There's all sorts of things. Maybe a nice display case for your weyr to house her gross things?"
P'ax rolls his eyes and continues to chuckle, unfastening his belt and wiggling out of his pants. "You're positively incorrigible," he mutters and sighs, heading for the water. "I really do try not to let anything too gross into our weyr, Javeri. It's all /clean/. Bones just are what they are. And she hasn't hidden anything weird under my cot in awhile. I did find that heart once..."
Shuddering Javeri grabs her board. She's tall so it doesn't cause her any trouble getting it out to the water balanced on her hip partly. "Nah. Not me. I just-" Shaking her head she grins at the greenrider. "I just don't want to let life turn me into someone I wouldn't like. I've had a rough time with some things, but we're coming out of it and we'll graduate in a couple sevens and it's a whole new life. I'm excited. Also that's still gross. Bones. Chadamalith does not allow things in our weyr. I cannot even have furniture. Well, I have a bed. And my potter wheel. Ok. I don't have a spare board. So, you're going to have to work with me." But first they have to get waist deep or so in the water. The fact the sun's nearly down doesn't seem to be bothering her.
P'ax lifts an eyebrow but shrugs, putting one foot into the waves as if the water could ever be doubted to be less than comfortably warm. "You get used to it. It's not my favorite but... I love her. What can I do?" He shrugs, spreading his hands apart helplessly. "I think I remember you complaining about that, your empty weyr. No table, no chairs?" He regards the board with mistrust. "You sure this is a good idea?"
"At least it's a good excuse to get visitors to sit on my bed," Javeri says with an exaggerated leer. "Not that I bring them back to my weyr. It's our space. Beach always worked fine before and works fine now." It's perfectly fine to have no strings sex on the beach, but not in a bed! "No table, no chairs. Pillows. And I have my bed. And some shelves all the way in the back where he cannot go anyway. Although mostly he likes to be on the ledge." As for it being a good idea she laughs. "P'ax, come on. Loosen up. Have fun. We're going to do nothing dangerous. You're going to get on the board, ok? Just lean into the side and get on. Then float on your stomach on it. No standing tonight. Promise."
P'ax's eyebrows lift. "You have sex on the beach?" But he's beyond being shocked by anything she does or says anymore. When he's out to his waist he eyes the board and then squares his broad shoulders resolutely. "Loosen up, right, I can loosen up." The determination on his face is in comical juxtaposition to relaxing.
Javeri's laugh is sudden and impossible to contain. "Sex on the beach, P'ax, is an experience. First time I ever let a man in my skirt was on the beach. Not like I had a room and he just had his hammock on the ship. Plenty of places to be left alone if you know where to look. I can show you one or two after this if you want." Watching him now she shakes her head. "Ok, stop. You can't force yourself to loosen up. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths. Every time you let one out let something go. Some stress can go away with each time. Then when you're done slide onto the board."
P'ax gives Javeri a speculative look, and up and down once over. "That so?" he asks, chuckling to himself. "Alright, alright," he agrees and closes his eyes as prompted. He inhales slowly and lets out a breath. It takes a few rounds before his shoulders begin to unstiffen, his body relaxing as the tension oozes out. "Hmm," he sighs at last and opens his eyes.
There she stands while he looks her over for whatever reason. If there's one thing that doesn't bother Javeri it's being looked at. Would be silly for her to wander around like with as little clothes as she does most of the time if it bothered her. She watches him take his breaths and when he's done she nods once. "Now, onto the board," she encourages in a low voice as the water moves it back and forth in time with the waves hitting them. "Stretch out on your stomach. You just want to feel the board right now. To feel the connection with the waves. It's all about how they meet up. You're just a small part of it all, P'ax. The ocean moves no matter what. The board will float with or without you. But you can be a little part of it. A small part of the big whole and there's nothing to worry about in that. Nothing to make you stress out. You're just going to be."
P'ax gets on has he's listening to her little speech, wobbling uncertainly on the board. "I feel stupid," he complains. "Feel the ocean." He snorts in contempt, letting his hands dangle over the edge of the board to trail through the water. He rests his cheek against the bobbing board, staring at her with eyes that match the grey waves.
For his comment he gets a light slap to the back of his head. A playful sort of tap that doesn't connect hard enough to cause any pain. "No, you don't," Javeri tells him quietly. Her voice is just loud enough to be heard over the waves and the noises that carry from the beach. "Close your eyes," she instructs then. "You're feeling, not seeing. You've seen the ocean and you've seen me. Now you need to feel the ocean. The board's going to bob along with it. You'll feel the rise and fall of the waves. Match your breathing to it."
P'ax closes his eyes and can't stop the smile that curls his mouth up. "Well if I've seen you, and I've seen the ocean, and now I'm feeling the ocean, do I get to feel you next?" His hand reaches out to grope for her hip blindly. His turn to be incorrigible. "Alright, alright, feeling the ocean." Snigger. But he can at least try to take it a little seriously.
His hand gropes, but since her eyes are open she can dodge it. "Now's not the time," she informs him primly. "Later. If you're good." Javeri watches him and waits for it to be taken a little seriously. "There's nothing out here," she points out softly. "Just you and the ocean. Connecting you is the board. It's not holding you from it, it's holding you in it. There's nothing to think about out here. Nothing to worry you. Nothing to tense up your muscles. Just relax."
P'ax sighs. "But there are other things," he protests mildly, his voice drifting lightly towards heavy huskiness. His body hangs more loosely against the wooden board. If anything, this exercise is going to lull him into sleep.
Sleep is not so bad, is it? It's relaxing and she's there to keep him from drowning. "Shhh," Javeri says and it must be her days to lull greenriders. "There's nothing to focus on. Nothing but the air over you and the water under you. It's not about what might be there. Or what's waiting for you. It's just about the here and now. Just about finding yourself. You can do this anywhere. You can lie in your bed and close your eyes and remember the water and the air and feel them around you. Feel just that. Let all your worries go away. Relax."
P'ax suspects he's being tricked into relaxing. The anal retentive part of himself rebels. It's a small part buried under lassitude. Completely at her mercy and the laziness overcoming him. He yawns, pulling his wet arms up to pillow his head. He peeks one eye open just a little bit, just enough to cheat and watch her face.
"You keep looking at me," Javeri points out with a quiet laugh. "It's going to go to my head. You're supposed to be relaxing just thinking about me." But she doesn't push it. If he's not being jittery then that's fine in her book. Lifting a hand from the water she rests it on the small of his back. Just to see what he does.
P'ax grins like a chesire, slow and cheeky. "Thinking about you and relaxing don't coincide," he teases, and lets out a light sigh for the hand on her back. "You're...distracting. Not unpleasant though."
Javeri's got a grin for the Reaches' rider as she says, "Thought you liked the men, P'ax." Because he sure acts that way and has never seemed overly impressed with the ladies. "You want to head in then I can show you all my special techniques for relaxing a man." What a floozy! Her fingers trace up and down on his back as she makes her offer.
P'ax gives her statement more weight than she probably meant it to. And finally concludes, "It depends on the person. I think I just never got close enough to most women to be attracted to them. You, I always have been. You just never seemed... receptive." He reaches out, offering his hand palm up. "I might not be much good," he warns, in the mood for full disclosure.
"Huh. Well, shells, P'ax. If you want to go get naked and sweaty you just had to say." Javeri's just not taking it seriously, but she doesn't sound unreceptive. Her fingers trail up to touch the back of his neck and then find his hair. Leaning down over him she whispers into his ear, "I'm plenty good enough to make up for it."
P'ax turns nice and pink at that. "You make it sound so unromantic," he teases and slides his legs off the side of the board, keeping one hand on it so it can't float away. The other reaches out for her once more, and hopefully this time she'll allow him to draw her close. She's tall, but he's taller, his broad hand wanting to splay across the small of her back. "That so?"
"Don't do romance," Javeri says plainly. "That what you want? I'm just looking to have a little fun, but I can point you towards a girl who might want that?" She offers as she moves closer and lets his hand touch her. "Sure. I've been letting sailors take me for walks since I was about sixteen turns old. Didn't always let em have their way, but I sure did learn a lot either way. Happy to teach you a thing or two."
P'ax steps into her even as he pulls her in, looking down into her face. "Nah. Not with you. No offense. This is just...fun." He agrees with her there, at least. "I'd like to think I can hold my own with men." His head dips towards her ear to murmur quietly, "Women are a bit different, so soft and round. And I'm not used to being... on top. That's all."
"Fun. Exactly," Javeri agrees and then she's pulling away from him. "Get the board back on the beach, boy," she teases with a loud laugh. "Don't damage it either." She heads back, hurrying as she goes, declaring it a race without saying it. And despite the way her voice might carry she still turns her head to holler back. "It's fine, P'ax, I don't mind being on top at all!"
P'ax picks up the board, holding the board under his arm. Long legs carry him quickly out of the water, hot on her trail. "Not what I meant!" he groans, turning all kinds of red once more. "Where do you want this?" he asks, motioning at the board with his arm.
Unable to stop herself Javeri lets out a laugh. "I've got no way to do what a man does," she points out before gesturing to where the board was before. "Right there's fine. No one'll take it and Chadamalith will keep an eye on our things anyway." Indeed the blue is, well, not watching anything but he is there. Same thing really. "You gotta stop apologizing," she tells him. "I told you it's fine. We're just gonna have a good time."
"Didn't apologize," P'ax points out, thrusting the board into the sand and trotting after the bluerider. Yyth's there too, and she's definitely keeping a better eye out. "Not what I wanted anyways," he reminds her. "Just, letting you know." He catches up and reaches for her hand with a shy grin.
"So, you been with a woman before?" Javeri asks as she waits for him. When he's caught up with her she lets him have her hand the better to lead him where she wants him. There's a spot not too far away where the jungle juts out a bit that creates a nice bit of privacy over the still warm beach sand. "I mean, you know what goes where, right?" her tone's all teasing when she asks and she steps closer to bump her hip against his.
P'ax laughs. "Of course. One or two," he says offhandedly. He studies where she's leading him and then bumps her hip back. "Was with a girl before I was ever with a guy, actually. I think I'll manage." He winks down at her.
Phah! He's not /that/ much taller than her. Just a wee little bit. Javeri laughs though and squeezes his hand. "Well, then, that's good." Stopping a few yards from the overhanging jungle she steps in front of him. "So," she says quietly as she steps even closer. "Gonna show me what you learned from that one or two then?"
P'ax hums thoughtfully when she stops and reaches out to take her face in his hand, his thumb curving under her chin. "If you'd like that," he agrees with a low chuckle, bringing his lips down to meet hers.
Javeri's ready for the kiss and however he starts it she escalates it pretty quickly. There's apparently no need to go anywhere else based on the way her arms snake around his waist to haul him up against her. When the kiss comes to an end she tells him, "Not bad for a first act."
P'ax wraps his arms around her in kind, one hand sliding up to cup the back of her neck and into her braids. He doesn't let her go far when she does pull away, his blue eyes intense on her face. "Plenty more and better where that came from," he promises.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Javeri taunts as she slides her arms around his neck and then hooks her foot behind his to try to trip him. The goal is to get him down on the sand where the real fun can begin. She's not much for slow beginnings in the least.
P'ax goes down like the gangly pup that he is, shock writen all over his face. At least he's got a good hold on her, he's not going down without her. "Just for you, darlin'," he counters, reaching eagerly to pull the strings on her bikini and see it undone.
There was never any intention for him to go down alone. Javeri's right there with him. Lucky for them both neither is wearing much in the way of clothes so that stage takes no time at all. And then he can show her what he knows and she can expand his education by quite a bit until neither of them is interested in it anymore.
It's a nice night all around, and P'ax's shorts are even dry when he finally collapses, his youthful stamina completely exhausted. There's likely to be some soreness tomorrow. He gives Javeri a last kiss before he leaves to find his clothing and Yyth and eventually his bed.