Best Friends!
X'lar finds Fayre being silly on the beach and making sand castles...sort of. She's not very good at it. The two catch up and reminisce about the good ol' days.
Beaches and The Sandbar -- Ista Weyr
Seemingly endless coastline of black sand stretches along the shore, green jungles to one side and tropical waters to the other. A path leads up to the plateau and The Sandbar stands by the Weyr's docks.
Standing at the very edge of the water, the Sandbar offers a panoramic view of the beaches and sea. Booths and tables fill the space and there's a sturdy counter with stools. A chalkboard behind the bar lists the drink menu.
Obvious exits:
Grounds
X'lar has arrived.
Fayre has abandoned her usual sarong in favour of beige shorts and a short-sleeved, similarly dull coloured shirt. Footwear has been left behind completely. Why oh why would such a vibrant young woman trade in her bright, Ista-inspired colours for icky brown? Because she's getting covered in dirt and sand, that's why. Despite her weyrwoman knot, Fayre is busying herself making piles of sand just beyond the surf's reach, giggling like a little girl whenever the waves happen to touch her clumps of sand and turn them into a muddy mixture.
X'lar walks along the coastline, wearing a pair of shorts and a simple buttoned short-sleeved shirt. Malsaeth flies above him in a near parallel path. There's a glance upward from the teen to the bronze glint in the sky before a quick chortle is sounded. As Xie continues on his path, he spots Fayre and waves happily. "Fayre!" X'lar calls out. "Shells, I feel like I haven't seen you in /ages/. What the shells is Griere doing to you that I can't see one of my best friends for months at a time?!" He quickly jogs to close the distance between the two of them, grinning. "And /what/ are you doing with that sand?" he asks, looking at her clumps and then back to the goldrider.
"She's out to bury me in hidework, I swear. I mean, if I died in my weyr, it would probably take at least a fortnight to dig me out from underneath all my work stuff. Actually, maybe y'could just leave me there, and the hides can be my deathshelter." Fayre throws her hands skywards, clearly frustrated by all this non-Sandbar related work she has to do nowadays. Unfortunately, her hands also happen to be covered in muddy sandy goo stuff, so a few chunks go spraying about her. "I am havin' a play day, that's what I'm doin'. I feel like, 'cause I've been actin' so grown up and responsible and whatever lately, I deserve some time to just fool around." Lieryth was nowhere to be found before X'lar and Malsaeth arrived, but at the appearance of her brother she's quick to fly over from the plateau. She lands a fair distance from the sand piles, probably not wanting to disturb her rider's fun. Fayre suddenly grins up at the bronzerider. "Hey, I'm one of your best friends?!" Well that was a bit of a delayed reaction.
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << Brother! Oh, we have not talked in ages. I really should chat with you more. What have you been doing? What has your rider been doing? Good things, I hope? Should I feel offended that you seem to like other weyrs' golds more than myself? >>
A smirk quickly appears at the belated reaction to his comment of being a best friend. X'lar just shakes his head in amusement before saying, "Let's see, you and I spent most days together as candidates and then as weyrlings. That covers almost two and a half turns, right? Maybe a bit less? How could you /not/ be one of my best friends, Fayre?" The teen grins wide before going on, remarking to her: "Sorry to hear about the hidework and all. I'm glad you're taking part of the day off at least to do something fun for a change, Fayre." The bronze rider glances to Malsaeth as he lands, rolling his eyes at the dragon before glancing to Lieryth's arrival, smiling at the gold before glancing back to Fayre. "We can't help but act responsible and adult-like, I know how hard it is to actually act our age from time to time."
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth seems amused by the questions before answering them lightly, a tropical storm brewing in the distance, the only signal being a misty summer shower. << Who said? I happen to like all dragons. It is not my fault that they all like me so much. Or that I am restless. >> The dragon's memory flickers before Mal decides: << We should talk more then, if we do not talk enough. >>
Fayre counts up the number of Turns she and X'lar spent together in such close quarters on her fingers, which is a bit awkward considering the half Turn. She settles on two fingers up and a third finger bent at the knuckle to represent it. "Sounds 'bout right. Plus, when you clean up the Weyr's, ahem, excrement together, you're bound to share a bit of camaraderie. Dya remember doin' that? Man, I sure like feedin' them more than cleanin' up the end result of food." She gleefully pats her mud mixtures and piles of sands, using her free arm to wave the bronzerider over. "You've been acting really responsible too lately, so get down on your knees and play!" The goldrider screws up her mouth into a grimace, inspecting the mud as if for the first time. "Huh. Now that I've been talkin' 'bout the latrines so much, this gooey stuff just...doesn't quite look the same. But it's still real fun, honest."
X'lar snorts back at Fayre, telling her: "That's nothing. You only had to do it because it was a chore for candidacy! I had to do it to pay off some debts back in the days of weyrlinghood." There's a roll of his eyes and Xie tells her: "Don't even go overboard and buy a greenrider you don't even know a box of gifts. Ever. I swear." The bronzerider just rolls his eyes again and kicks the sand, thankfully he has enough awareness that he doesn't do it in front of the goldrider. "I don't know if I've been acting all /that/ responsible," Xie remarks. "Have you gone to Fort lately? Seen the new weyrlings?" He grins at her offer and moves to sit down at least. "Really, how're you doing?" X'lar asks. "Met anyone special? Eaten anything new?"
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth stubbornly pokes out a hot sun from between Malsaeth's rain clouds, though she doesn't sound the dark clouds and drizzle away. <> Her sun fogs up with misty steam as she stretches her mind, trying to remember if she's right about that or not. <>
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth basks in the sunny attention of the gold, seemingly happy with it all. But soon, the clouds tend to gather again, rolling across the landscape of his mind. << Not all. No. But some. Like Rielsath. You asked of my rider? He is rather happy these days. >>
Fayre smirks as she pats down some sand, creating a new pile to play with. "Ah, dear Xie. We all make mistakes when it comes to love, y'know? So don't you fret about it. You paid your silly lovey dovey dues cleaning up all that...that..." She grins childishly and really seems to be taking this play date thing to heart as she finishes, "Poo." After a gleeful giggle, the weyrwoman calms down some. "Oh, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell any leader types, from this Weyr or another, about my silly shenanigans today. I don't want to be scolded for makin' our Weyr look childish, y'hear?" She straightens up a bit and abandons her playing to chat. "I saw the hatchin', but I don't really know the weyrlings. Haven't gotten a chance to go meet 'em yet. I figure I should, though, 'cause it might do them good to be able to put a face to a name when they start learning about other Weyrs." The 'met anyone special' bit is conveniently forgotten about.
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth begins to play around with rays of light, bending them and fracturing the beams through the drops of rain falling in their minds. <>
"It wasn't love," Xie reminds Fayre. "Leova was a crush. Lust. Whatever. It certainly wasn't love." There's a brief pause before X'lar shrugs once, before saying, "Sometimes it's just one-sided like that. But then, you come across someone you've known long enough, got to talk to them about stuff, and... boom... instead of it being one-sided, it's actually /mutual/. And when that bloody well happens, you want to scream it on every fireheights of every Hold in Pern." There's a brief shy grin on the bronzerider's face before he goes on to listen to the rest of what Fayre says to him. "Oh please. You're way more responsible than Tiriana, Fayre. I mean, I'm hardly an expert on goldriders, but I happen to know a lot of them. Honshu's junior is flighty, Fort's loves food and is really sweet, Telgar's... Well, I only really know Tiriana, and trust me, you act a lot better than that moody woman." There's a brief grin and he offers: "And then there's Lu, who's... I won't say perfect, because perfection doesn't exist, but she's pretty much as perfect someone can get." And then on the topic of Fort again, he offers: "I met Berit, that girl who was at Telgar's Hatching too, and didn't Impress, but ended up with the gold at Fort. She's actually pretty nice, but man, talk about formal! And I also met one of the weyrlings who rides green, Nerine, she seems pretty interesting too. Similar hardships and all, so we bonded for a bit before Mal decided to talk about between to her Zerith." A roll of the eyes and Xie glances back to Mal sternly. "I was rather ticked off at him about that for a while." He notices the forgotten question and repeats it: "How about you? Met anyone special?"
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth considers the question before finally answering Lieryth quietly, his growl a hoarse whisper: << He was never truly lost. He is resillient. He would not be mine if he wasn't, Lieryth. But yes. Rielsath's warms his heart. >>
Fayre smiles and folds her arms in her lap as she listens--which would normally look quite polite and poised, but not when the weyrwoman wearing a gunk-covered, dull outfit. "Huh. You get 'round more than I do. Take me with you next time you visit somewhere! If ya don't mind, I mean. 'course, if you're going to High Reaches, don't worry about me. I'll leave you alone when y'want to have personal time." The goldrider winks not just once, but twice to get her point across. "I haven't gotten a chance to really meet Lujayn though, so I'd like to chat with her before you two skedaddle to her weyr." She begins to poke at one of her taller sand blobs, grinning as it topples over onto the beach. "Dya think it's possible to actually build stuff outta sand? That could be fun. Maybe make a dragon or somethin', though that'd be real hard."
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth brightens her sun beams to try and sooth Malsaeth. <> She conjures up images for examples, such as having drinks at the Sandbar and playing cardgames. The pictures are a bit fuzzy, suggesting the gold is drawing them from her rider's mind rather than her own.
"I will," X'lar remarks. "Take you with me." The bronzerider grins before saying, "It's kind of funny to see how different we are than before, even before candidacy, huh, Fayre?" The teen shakes his head in amazement before offering, "I mean... here we are, talking about going all over the world with our dragons. And me! I mean, there was a time when I was younger where I couldn't even imagine going to Ista Hold let alone all the places I've actually been to, already." There's a pause at the remark about High Reaches, giving her a smirk. "Hey, I can't help that I like High Reaches. And the fact that Lu's there? Kind of nice. She /loves/ High Reaches. I mean, that's one of the best things about her. The pride she has for her own Weyr. It's kind of sexy, actually." There's a pause before X'lar offers: "You should meet her though. Lu, I mean. She's really sweet. And grounded. Like really down to earth. Makes talking to her easier than talking to anyone else in the world. Except maybe you, Balinne and Andy." He begins packing sand, with the help of Malsaeth who does his part collecting the sand. But the way X'lar's working, it might look like he's building something else.
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth doesn't normally need that sun so bright, nor the soothing, so the clouds gather in force now, raining heavily. << Special human? Oh. I see what it is you're talking about. It is interesting to watch them. The humans. They do things differently than us. >>
"Speaking of bein' different from our younger selves...didn't you absolutely hate High Reaches, once upon a time? Right around when you got searched? I think it was Basq who started to win you over. He's from there, ain't he?" Fayre traces lines in the remnants of her collapsed sand pile as she muses on days gone by. There's another smirk when X'lar says the word 'sexy'. "Wow. I don't think I've /ever/ heard you use that phrase, Xie. Y'really must like her, if you're callin' her sexy." When the bronzerider starts to build, Fayre jumps right back in and starts patting together clumps of sand. She seems to just be testing out different shapes, now--currently, she's working on a square. "It's not fair, though! I want to find love. Find someone for me to love, Xie!"
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << And they're ever so tiny, aren't they? It is amazing that we have never crushed any. Of course, I am not surprised that you and I have not, but some of our kin can be the clumsy sort. I still don't think the frightened looks from holders are necessary when we go to visit, though. >>
"Yeah, I absolutely hated it," X'lar notes. "The snow, the cold, the freaking people." He glances to Malsaeth who adds more sand with his tail to X'lar side. "And now... No, like I said, it's not love. Not with Leova and not with Lujayn." There's a pause and X'lar shakes his head, clarifying his former comment: "No, that's not true. I mean, I thought I was in love with Leova at the time, and now, thinking back to it... I so was not in love with her." There's a light shrug and he continues onward: "With Lu... It's like... I don't want to rush things. I don't know her enough and haven't been with her enough to know whether or not I would love her. But I /want/ to get to know her, and I /want/ her to get to know me." There's a brief nod to this fact and X'lar continues on, talking up a characteristic storm: "I really like Lujayn. I just don't want to say something that I don't mean or say it like it doesn't have any meaning. I don't want to rush things with her." There's a pause as X'lar packs in more sand. It almost looks like fingers. "Hey, I already got Andy and Aidra together. I'm sure I could get you together with someone. Why not B'rin?"
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth seems amused at the thought of crushing a human. << I once raked mine. But that was when I was right out of the egg. Or so X'lar tells me. It is hard to remember such things. >> He seems even more amused at the latter statement. << Oh, the Holders are easy to scare. All you do is flash your teeth and them and whip your tail around. >>
"Aww! My dear best friend Xie has some sense in the ways of love, now. I totally know whatcha mean though, pal. When y'have stars in your eyes, y'feel like you truly love someone. Then a month later you feel like a shardin' fool for it." Fayre rubs her brow and breathes out a sigh of frustration. "It ain't always pretty. Glad you're havin' some luck with the relationship business now, though." She nods approvingly at the square she's made of sand and takes a break to lie back and cross her hands behind her head. "Hrm. I think Andy and Aidra are wonderful together, and not just because their names start with the same letter. But I can't see myself bein' with a clutchmate. Weyrlinghood makes y'all feel like comrades, not lovers. B'rin is real nice, though."
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << I do not think I hurt Fayre when I came out of my egg and found her. At least, she has never mentioned it. She has told me that Istan hatchings tend to be particularly bloody. That makes me a bit sad, for I do not want to have a clutch that kills humans. I know they do not do it on purpose, for we are all clumsy when we are young, but still. >>
"Sense?" X'lar remarks. "Shells no, Fayre, I still have a long way to go as far as /that/ kind of sensibility goes." There's a pause and Xie offers quietly, "It's not... I mean... I don't think it's even a relationship yet. All I know is that she likes me, I like her, and we're trying to talk to one another when we can." There's a wide grin at the latter statements the goldrider makes to him, nodding again to her. "Right. B'rin then. I'll have to see if Mal can talk to Xorvith. I think that's actually how the whole Aidra-Andy matchmaking business started anyways." There's another pause, and X'lar continues to work on the fingers of whatever formation he's making with the sand. It's starting to suspiciously familiar.
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth considers this before admitting: << I do not want a clutch. But if I were to have one, I would hope that all of them would pull pranks on their new lifemates. >> There's a boom of thunder, signalling his laughter and amusement at such an idea. As if the restless spirit of Malsaeth could ever even imagine a time when he was tied down.
Fayre groans loudly and rolls over in the sand, revealing a very sandy back. Those grains sure love to cling to damp fabric and skin. "But I just said no clutchmates, silly! I can't picture kissing B'rin. Can you? Well, I s'pose y'can't, 'cause you're not that way. But I gotta be able to imagine kissin' the person! Hey, y'know what'd be real funny? I should try to woo A'son. Then we'd both have High Reaches' folk. Think I could?" She perks her head up some and strains her neck to try and see what X'lar is making. From her angle, though, it's hard to tell. "What're ya workin' on there?"
X'lar eyes Fayre, telling her: "Uh. No. I can't picture kissing Basq, Fayre." There's a pause before X'lar blinks at Fayre's next suggestion, shaking his head at her as he replies back, "A'son's too involved with himself. And I think he's got issues. You don't want a guy with issues. You need someone like V'int, only less tempermental. And not a clutchmate either, I guess." X'lar continues working on his own sand sculpture. One of the spires is falling apart, and he quickly moves to fix it. He pauses for a moment at Fayre's question and scoots back. It's the Seven Spindles of High Reaches Weyr. It doesn't look particularly good, but the image is clear enough to know what it is. X'lar grins briefly at it, pleased at his work.
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << Oh dear. A clutch full of your children would keep the Weyrlingmasters ever so busy, wouldn't it? I would not be opposed to you catching me, though, when I begin to fly. Am I supposed to avoid you when I do, however? Since you do not want a clutch? I am not sure what I will be like when I have a flight, so I do not know how I will think or react. >>
Fayre hoists herself back up to a sitting position to get a better view of the mini-High Reaches. "Hey, neat! Now I can visit all the corners of Pern without even leavin' my home beach. You're right, though. 'bout what you were sayin' earlier. A few turns ago and we could never dream of seein' all the places we have. *Between* is annoyingly cold, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Well, 'cept Lieryth." The goldrider begins to make squat columns of her sand but only succeeds in making herself frown. "Hrm. I'm trying to make the Sandbar, but I'm not very good at this." As for the subject of men, Fayre just grins. "Ah, Xie. You still have much to learn of women. For some reason we like guys with issues. Don't ask me why, though. It gets tirin' after a while."
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth seems to like the idea of keeping the weyrlingmasters busy, even if he doesn't necessarily like the idea of having eggs to saddle him to the ground like some ovoid manacles. << I would chase you. I like the chase. >> Malsaeth replies back. << You're asking the wrong dragon, Lieryth. I'm only the guy who chases, you're the one who gets caught. >>
"Between isn't as amazing as Malsaeth would have you think. Shells, every time we are going to Telgar or High Reaches or some place, he /always/ likes to stretch it out. It is only when we're doing wing stuff like sweeps or watchriding that Malsaeth actually behaves well enough. But still. Every time we're on our own... I've have yet to find a dragon who is so drawn to it as the beast is to it." He glances over his shoulder at Malsaeth with a rather wry look. "It seems pretty silly to like guys with issues," X'lar offers oh so helpfully.
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << Well, if you chase, you willingly run the risk of catching. You will not blame me if you end up on the sands with me then, right? I suppose I should talk to some of my sisters, or Aerianth. They will give me good advice. I feel it is the sort of thing you cannot explain fully, though, and must experience. Like *between* and flying. >>
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth considers the ramifications, but only for so long. He instead gathers more clouds together, letting it thunder and lightning until finally he offers to the queen: << Sometimes you can only rely on your self too. There is only so much someone can tell you. Sometimes it is the experience that teaches you best. >>
"Well, I'll start thankin' Faranth, then. Lieryth can't stand such cold and makes it as quick as possible. I'd get pretty upset if she stretched it out. We're Istans, through and through." Fayre's face lights up with an intriguing thought and she grins at the bronzerider. "Hey! She and I love heat 'cause we're Istans. Maybe Mal' likes the cold 'cause you're secretly part High Reaches, and that's why you love it there so much now. Dya have any relatives there?" She switches her expression to dejected as she knocks over her failure columns. "Bah. Teach me the ways of mashing together sand, Xie! What should we make next?" As for that whole love thing, Fayre just shrugs. "It is silly, to be honest. So maybe I should try a guy without any."
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth keeps her sticky, summer heat present but separate from Malsaeth's own images. <
"Lieryth doesn't like the cold?" X'lar asks her. "Oh, wait, I think I knew that." There's a pause before X'lar grins, offering, "I think Malsaeth likes the ladies who have a little cold to their voices too. It's not just geography and climate he likes about the colder Weyrs either. From what he's shared with me of Iovniath's voice, she's got this incredibly pretty voice that's all furs and snow. Well, sort of." He nods again, before admitting, "My dad and grandfather are both from High Reaches. My grandfather, X'tar, still lives there, and my dad was Searched there for Ista." He grins back at Fayre, replying back to the goldrider: "So it's kind of neat that both Mal and I have dads who are from High Reaches." There's a pause and then he offers to his clutchmate: "Why not Ista? I'm sure Lieryth knows it so well she could make it herself if she wanted, right Lieryth?" He looks up at the gold before grinning at Fayre in amusement.
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth tries to distinguish his rain from the sticky, summer heat, not especially liking the muggy nature of her voice. << It is halfway a place. Where life and death merge into one area. Between. It calls to me. >> Malsaeth tells the queen and his clutchmate.
"I think she just greatly prefers the heat, particularly our variety of it. Y'know how most people droop and get sluggish when it's sticky out? Lieryth /loves/ that weather. I kinda have to by association, since she's always making me do stuff like run around when it's like that out." Fayre explains casually, looking at Lieryth with pure love in her eyes--the kind that can only be shared between dragon and rider. "It gets me out and active, though, which I appreciate." She makes an approving noise, as if saying 'ah, that explains it!'. "So y'got 'Reaches in ya. You'd never transfer there though, right?! I can't lose a best friend, even if I can *between* and visit you." Lieryth perks up when X'lar looks her way; she'd been engrossed in her conversation with Malsaeth up until now. She lumbers a bit closer and tries moving the sand around with her long, darkgold tail, but she only manages to spread the muck about in a disorganized fashion. Tails aren't built for precision. "I think I have to get better at it before I try to make a whole Weyr, I'm afraid."
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << Like how water and sand mix to create mud? No, it seems a bit more complicated than that. The name *between* is very fitting for it, from your description. It is between places. It is between life and death. It calls to me too in its own way, but only in the manner of duty. I am a dragon, so I *between*. >>
"Kind of like how I learned to like the cold, the snow and all, because Malsaeth showed me these places that other dragons had shown him, that he wanted to see," Xie offers. "We do travel a lot though." There's a pause and then curiousity seems to kick in and X'lar's asking Fayre: "And how about your betting books? Are they getting dusty, or have you still been using them, Fayre?" He smiles once more before saying, "No, I can't imagine leaving Ista just yet. Maybe when I'm older, or when I know for certain there's a place there. But honestly, I don't see how N'thei would even allow me to stay a couple nights there let alone a lifetime. He's pretty cool though. N'thei, I mean." There's a pause before X'lar offers to her sand-castle making: "Then maybe try building the Sand Bar?"
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth seems to accept Lieryth's explanation. It's like every other dragon's explanation. There's a brief surge of love and affection for the void of between there, unlike anything experienced. But the image is warped by the constant barrage of droplets of rain. << Yes. >>
Back down in the sand Fayre goes. She kicks out her legs as she lies down, smooshing the last of her sand collections--though she's careful to leave X'lar's pretty spindles alone. "Alas! They're gettin' dusty /and/ buried by other bits of writing. I think I still know where it is, but it's buried under some other stuff. I took it outta my sarong one day and left it on my desk...and things got a bit chaotic from there." She lifts herself up just enough to prop her head on her hand with her elbow resting in the black sand. "I plan on bustin' it out once there's a clutch here, though. Ooooh, and when there's another race. I just need to get better at hidework so I have time for both, y'know?" After glancing towards the Sandbar, she shakes her head. "Eh, not today. I'll have to come back and practice sometime. Or, y'know. Just go to the actual bar and get a drink. Heh."
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth lowers and twists her head to peer behind her at her muddied tail. She snorts proudly at this bunch of dirt clinging to her hide and the sun of her mindvoice shines hotter than ever, <>
X'lar keeps an eye on the spindles, but soon Malsaeth rumbles at him, making him look one way. But soon Malsaeth's tail flickers out of his peripheral vision and down go the spires, crushed by the tail of the mischevious bronze. X'lar whips his head around and lets out a groan of dismay. "You bloody beast!" Xie exclaims. "I /knew/ you were going to do that." Well, obviously not, by the look on the bronzerider's face. The teenager lets out a word ending in -ing and decides to forgo the usual tirade and instead return his attention to Fayre: "That's one thing I'm pretty good at now. Hidework. After as much work as I tried to get done as a weyrling and working on Malsaeth and Rielsath's book in duplicate, I kinda got pretty nifty at it." He chuckles softly at her last response, nodding simply to her as he comments: "Yeah, that doesn't sound that bad either."
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth seems to agree with the last comments of the queen, telling her: << It's always better getting someone else dirty though, more than yourself. Perhaps before I could have got dirty myself, but the key to not getting caught is not looking like a suspect! >>
Fayre stretches dramatically and rises to her feet with some effort; there are a few audible cracks as her joints shift and adjust after being used to sitting and lying down for so long. She's risen just in time to get splashed by some sandy chunks of mud as Malsaeth destroys X'lar's creation. Luckily, Fayre's in a good mood and merely chuckles at the mess as she wipes some of the grime off her face. "Well, I was plannin' a trip to the baths anyway. I figure that'll be a good end to my day of fun; a nice, long, relaxing soak. I figure I'll get good at hidework real soon. I mean, it does come a bit naturally, 'cause keepin' up with my bettin' books was just as complicated and writing-intensive. But I ain't goin' to worry 'bout that now. A nice jar of soapsand and a scrubber is all I'm goin' to worry about." Her mouth widens into a grin, one big enough to make the sides of her eyes crinkle. "It was real nice seein' you, buddy. Keep in touch. For real, y'hear?"
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << Ah, but Fayre seems to want to get cleaned off. I think I'll take a swim in the ocean while she relaxes. First, though, I must point out what a silly, intriguing dragon you are. My point was that it is nice to show off your day's effort by wearing the dirt of it on your hide--not that it is fun to splash people and get away with it. I will talk to you again soon, brother. >>
"Soaking sounds good," X'lar offers. "But I still want to do some more walking first." He smiles as he gets up and dusts himself off. "Of course, Fayre," Xie replies of keeping in touch with her. "You too." He smiles briefly again at his clutchmate and nods once more. "Be seeing you then, Fayre," X'lar calls out before thumping Malsaeth, muttering angrily at him.
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth still seems amused by the entire commentary Lieryth gives him, seemingly proud of the stamp of approval she gives him in response to the mischief played. << We will talk again, Lieryth. >>
"You play nice with your rider now, Malsaeth. I like my best buddies to be in one piece." Fayre grins cheerfully up at the bronze, but decides to give the pair a hasty wave and hotfoot it out of there--just in case the dragon has any more tricks up his sleeve, or hide, as the case may be. Over her shoulder she calls, "See you 'round!"
Beaches and The Sandbar -- Ista Weyr
Seemingly endless coastline of black sand stretches along the shore, green jungles to one side and tropical waters to the other. A path leads up to the plateau and The Sandbar stands by the Weyr's docks.
Standing at the very edge of the water, the Sandbar offers a panoramic view of the beaches and sea. Booths and tables fill the space and there's a sturdy counter with stools. A chalkboard behind the bar lists the drink menu.
Obvious exits:
Grounds
X'lar has arrived.
Fayre has abandoned her usual sarong in favour of beige shorts and a short-sleeved, similarly dull coloured shirt. Footwear has been left behind completely. Why oh why would such a vibrant young woman trade in her bright, Ista-inspired colours for icky brown? Because she's getting covered in dirt and sand, that's why. Despite her weyrwoman knot, Fayre is busying herself making piles of sand just beyond the surf's reach, giggling like a little girl whenever the waves happen to touch her clumps of sand and turn them into a muddy mixture.
X'lar walks along the coastline, wearing a pair of shorts and a simple buttoned short-sleeved shirt. Malsaeth flies above him in a near parallel path. There's a glance upward from the teen to the bronze glint in the sky before a quick chortle is sounded. As Xie continues on his path, he spots Fayre and waves happily. "Fayre!" X'lar calls out. "Shells, I feel like I haven't seen you in /ages/. What the shells is Griere doing to you that I can't see one of my best friends for months at a time?!" He quickly jogs to close the distance between the two of them, grinning. "And /what/ are you doing with that sand?" he asks, looking at her clumps and then back to the goldrider.
"She's out to bury me in hidework, I swear. I mean, if I died in my weyr, it would probably take at least a fortnight to dig me out from underneath all my work stuff. Actually, maybe y'could just leave me there, and the hides can be my deathshelter." Fayre throws her hands skywards, clearly frustrated by all this non-Sandbar related work she has to do nowadays. Unfortunately, her hands also happen to be covered in muddy sandy goo stuff, so a few chunks go spraying about her. "I am havin' a play day, that's what I'm doin'. I feel like, 'cause I've been actin' so grown up and responsible and whatever lately, I deserve some time to just fool around." Lieryth was nowhere to be found before X'lar and Malsaeth arrived, but at the appearance of her brother she's quick to fly over from the plateau. She lands a fair distance from the sand piles, probably not wanting to disturb her rider's fun. Fayre suddenly grins up at the bronzerider. "Hey, I'm one of your best friends?!" Well that was a bit of a delayed reaction.
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << Brother! Oh, we have not talked in ages. I really should chat with you more. What have you been doing? What has your rider been doing? Good things, I hope? Should I feel offended that you seem to like other weyrs' golds more than myself? >>
A smirk quickly appears at the belated reaction to his comment of being a best friend. X'lar just shakes his head in amusement before saying, "Let's see, you and I spent most days together as candidates and then as weyrlings. That covers almost two and a half turns, right? Maybe a bit less? How could you /not/ be one of my best friends, Fayre?" The teen grins wide before going on, remarking to her: "Sorry to hear about the hidework and all. I'm glad you're taking part of the day off at least to do something fun for a change, Fayre." The bronze rider glances to Malsaeth as he lands, rolling his eyes at the dragon before glancing to Lieryth's arrival, smiling at the gold before glancing back to Fayre. "We can't help but act responsible and adult-like, I know how hard it is to actually act our age from time to time."
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth seems amused by the questions before answering them lightly, a tropical storm brewing in the distance, the only signal being a misty summer shower. << Who said? I happen to like all dragons. It is not my fault that they all like me so much. Or that I am restless. >> The dragon's memory flickers before Mal decides: << We should talk more then, if we do not talk enough. >>
Fayre counts up the number of Turns she and X'lar spent together in such close quarters on her fingers, which is a bit awkward considering the half Turn. She settles on two fingers up and a third finger bent at the knuckle to represent it. "Sounds 'bout right. Plus, when you clean up the Weyr's, ahem, excrement together, you're bound to share a bit of camaraderie. Dya remember doin' that? Man, I sure like feedin' them more than cleanin' up the end result of food." She gleefully pats her mud mixtures and piles of sands, using her free arm to wave the bronzerider over. "You've been acting really responsible too lately, so get down on your knees and play!" The goldrider screws up her mouth into a grimace, inspecting the mud as if for the first time. "Huh. Now that I've been talkin' 'bout the latrines so much, this gooey stuff just...doesn't quite look the same. But it's still real fun, honest."
X'lar snorts back at Fayre, telling her: "That's nothing. You only had to do it because it was a chore for candidacy! I had to do it to pay off some debts back in the days of weyrlinghood." There's a roll of his eyes and Xie tells her: "Don't even go overboard and buy a greenrider you don't even know a box of gifts. Ever. I swear." The bronzerider just rolls his eyes again and kicks the sand, thankfully he has enough awareness that he doesn't do it in front of the goldrider. "I don't know if I've been acting all /that/ responsible," Xie remarks. "Have you gone to Fort lately? Seen the new weyrlings?" He grins at her offer and moves to sit down at least. "Really, how're you doing?" X'lar asks. "Met anyone special? Eaten anything new?"
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth stubbornly pokes out a hot sun from between Malsaeth's rain clouds, though she doesn't sound the dark clouds and drizzle away. <> Her sun fogs up with misty steam as she stretches her mind, trying to remember if she's right about that or not. <>
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth basks in the sunny attention of the gold, seemingly happy with it all. But soon, the clouds tend to gather again, rolling across the landscape of his mind. << Not all. No. But some. Like Rielsath. You asked of my rider? He is rather happy these days. >>
Fayre smirks as she pats down some sand, creating a new pile to play with. "Ah, dear Xie. We all make mistakes when it comes to love, y'know? So don't you fret about it. You paid your silly lovey dovey dues cleaning up all that...that..." She grins childishly and really seems to be taking this play date thing to heart as she finishes, "Poo." After a gleeful giggle, the weyrwoman calms down some. "Oh, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell any leader types, from this Weyr or another, about my silly shenanigans today. I don't want to be scolded for makin' our Weyr look childish, y'hear?" She straightens up a bit and abandons her playing to chat. "I saw the hatchin', but I don't really know the weyrlings. Haven't gotten a chance to go meet 'em yet. I figure I should, though, 'cause it might do them good to be able to put a face to a name when they start learning about other Weyrs." The 'met anyone special' bit is conveniently forgotten about.
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth begins to play around with rays of light, bending them and fracturing the beams through the drops of rain falling in their minds. <>
"It wasn't love," Xie reminds Fayre. "Leova was a crush. Lust. Whatever. It certainly wasn't love." There's a brief pause before X'lar shrugs once, before saying, "Sometimes it's just one-sided like that. But then, you come across someone you've known long enough, got to talk to them about stuff, and... boom... instead of it being one-sided, it's actually /mutual/. And when that bloody well happens, you want to scream it on every fireheights of every Hold in Pern." There's a brief shy grin on the bronzerider's face before he goes on to listen to the rest of what Fayre says to him. "Oh please. You're way more responsible than Tiriana, Fayre. I mean, I'm hardly an expert on goldriders, but I happen to know a lot of them. Honshu's junior is flighty, Fort's loves food and is really sweet, Telgar's... Well, I only really know Tiriana, and trust me, you act a lot better than that moody woman." There's a brief grin and he offers: "And then there's Lu, who's... I won't say perfect, because perfection doesn't exist, but she's pretty much as perfect someone can get." And then on the topic of Fort again, he offers: "I met Berit, that girl who was at Telgar's Hatching too, and didn't Impress, but ended up with the gold at Fort. She's actually pretty nice, but man, talk about formal! And I also met one of the weyrlings who rides green, Nerine, she seems pretty interesting too. Similar hardships and all, so we bonded for a bit before Mal decided to talk about between to her Zerith." A roll of the eyes and Xie glances back to Mal sternly. "I was rather ticked off at him about that for a while." He notices the forgotten question and repeats it: "How about you? Met anyone special?"
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth considers the question before finally answering Lieryth quietly, his growl a hoarse whisper: << He was never truly lost. He is resillient. He would not be mine if he wasn't, Lieryth. But yes. Rielsath's warms his heart. >>
Fayre smiles and folds her arms in her lap as she listens--which would normally look quite polite and poised, but not when the weyrwoman wearing a gunk-covered, dull outfit. "Huh. You get 'round more than I do. Take me with you next time you visit somewhere! If ya don't mind, I mean. 'course, if you're going to High Reaches, don't worry about me. I'll leave you alone when y'want to have personal time." The goldrider winks not just once, but twice to get her point across. "I haven't gotten a chance to really meet Lujayn though, so I'd like to chat with her before you two skedaddle to her weyr." She begins to poke at one of her taller sand blobs, grinning as it topples over onto the beach. "Dya think it's possible to actually build stuff outta sand? That could be fun. Maybe make a dragon or somethin', though that'd be real hard."
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth brightens her sun beams to try and sooth Malsaeth. <> She conjures up images for examples, such as having drinks at the Sandbar and playing cardgames. The pictures are a bit fuzzy, suggesting the gold is drawing them from her rider's mind rather than her own.
"I will," X'lar remarks. "Take you with me." The bronzerider grins before saying, "It's kind of funny to see how different we are than before, even before candidacy, huh, Fayre?" The teen shakes his head in amazement before offering, "I mean... here we are, talking about going all over the world with our dragons. And me! I mean, there was a time when I was younger where I couldn't even imagine going to Ista Hold let alone all the places I've actually been to, already." There's a pause at the remark about High Reaches, giving her a smirk. "Hey, I can't help that I like High Reaches. And the fact that Lu's there? Kind of nice. She /loves/ High Reaches. I mean, that's one of the best things about her. The pride she has for her own Weyr. It's kind of sexy, actually." There's a pause before X'lar offers: "You should meet her though. Lu, I mean. She's really sweet. And grounded. Like really down to earth. Makes talking to her easier than talking to anyone else in the world. Except maybe you, Balinne and Andy." He begins packing sand, with the help of Malsaeth who does his part collecting the sand. But the way X'lar's working, it might look like he's building something else.
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth doesn't normally need that sun so bright, nor the soothing, so the clouds gather in force now, raining heavily. << Special human? Oh. I see what it is you're talking about. It is interesting to watch them. The humans. They do things differently than us. >>
"Speaking of bein' different from our younger selves...didn't you absolutely hate High Reaches, once upon a time? Right around when you got searched? I think it was Basq who started to win you over. He's from there, ain't he?" Fayre traces lines in the remnants of her collapsed sand pile as she muses on days gone by. There's another smirk when X'lar says the word 'sexy'. "Wow. I don't think I've /ever/ heard you use that phrase, Xie. Y'really must like her, if you're callin' her sexy." When the bronzerider starts to build, Fayre jumps right back in and starts patting together clumps of sand. She seems to just be testing out different shapes, now--currently, she's working on a square. "It's not fair, though! I want to find love. Find someone for me to love, Xie!"
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << And they're ever so tiny, aren't they? It is amazing that we have never crushed any. Of course, I am not surprised that you and I have not, but some of our kin can be the clumsy sort. I still don't think the frightened looks from holders are necessary when we go to visit, though. >>
"Yeah, I absolutely hated it," X'lar notes. "The snow, the cold, the freaking people." He glances to Malsaeth who adds more sand with his tail to X'lar side. "And now... No, like I said, it's not love. Not with Leova and not with Lujayn." There's a pause and X'lar shakes his head, clarifying his former comment: "No, that's not true. I mean, I thought I was in love with Leova at the time, and now, thinking back to it... I so was not in love with her." There's a light shrug and he continues onward: "With Lu... It's like... I don't want to rush things. I don't know her enough and haven't been with her enough to know whether or not I would love her. But I /want/ to get to know her, and I /want/ her to get to know me." There's a brief nod to this fact and X'lar continues on, talking up a characteristic storm: "I really like Lujayn. I just don't want to say something that I don't mean or say it like it doesn't have any meaning. I don't want to rush things with her." There's a pause as X'lar packs in more sand. It almost looks like fingers. "Hey, I already got Andy and Aidra together. I'm sure I could get you together with someone. Why not B'rin?"
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth seems amused at the thought of crushing a human. << I once raked mine. But that was when I was right out of the egg. Or so X'lar tells me. It is hard to remember such things. >> He seems even more amused at the latter statement. << Oh, the Holders are easy to scare. All you do is flash your teeth and them and whip your tail around. >>
"Aww! My dear best friend Xie has some sense in the ways of love, now. I totally know whatcha mean though, pal. When y'have stars in your eyes, y'feel like you truly love someone. Then a month later you feel like a shardin' fool for it." Fayre rubs her brow and breathes out a sigh of frustration. "It ain't always pretty. Glad you're havin' some luck with the relationship business now, though." She nods approvingly at the square she's made of sand and takes a break to lie back and cross her hands behind her head. "Hrm. I think Andy and Aidra are wonderful together, and not just because their names start with the same letter. But I can't see myself bein' with a clutchmate. Weyrlinghood makes y'all feel like comrades, not lovers. B'rin is real nice, though."
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << I do not think I hurt Fayre when I came out of my egg and found her. At least, she has never mentioned it. She has told me that Istan hatchings tend to be particularly bloody. That makes me a bit sad, for I do not want to have a clutch that kills humans. I know they do not do it on purpose, for we are all clumsy when we are young, but still. >>
"Sense?" X'lar remarks. "Shells no, Fayre, I still have a long way to go as far as /that/ kind of sensibility goes." There's a pause and Xie offers quietly, "It's not... I mean... I don't think it's even a relationship yet. All I know is that she likes me, I like her, and we're trying to talk to one another when we can." There's a wide grin at the latter statements the goldrider makes to him, nodding again to her. "Right. B'rin then. I'll have to see if Mal can talk to Xorvith. I think that's actually how the whole Aidra-Andy matchmaking business started anyways." There's another pause, and X'lar continues to work on the fingers of whatever formation he's making with the sand. It's starting to suspiciously familiar.
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth considers this before admitting: << I do not want a clutch. But if I were to have one, I would hope that all of them would pull pranks on their new lifemates. >> There's a boom of thunder, signalling his laughter and amusement at such an idea. As if the restless spirit of Malsaeth could ever even imagine a time when he was tied down.
Fayre groans loudly and rolls over in the sand, revealing a very sandy back. Those grains sure love to cling to damp fabric and skin. "But I just said no clutchmates, silly! I can't picture kissing B'rin. Can you? Well, I s'pose y'can't, 'cause you're not that way. But I gotta be able to imagine kissin' the person! Hey, y'know what'd be real funny? I should try to woo A'son. Then we'd both have High Reaches' folk. Think I could?" She perks her head up some and strains her neck to try and see what X'lar is making. From her angle, though, it's hard to tell. "What're ya workin' on there?"
X'lar eyes Fayre, telling her: "Uh. No. I can't picture kissing Basq, Fayre." There's a pause before X'lar blinks at Fayre's next suggestion, shaking his head at her as he replies back, "A'son's too involved with himself. And I think he's got issues. You don't want a guy with issues. You need someone like V'int, only less tempermental. And not a clutchmate either, I guess." X'lar continues working on his own sand sculpture. One of the spires is falling apart, and he quickly moves to fix it. He pauses for a moment at Fayre's question and scoots back. It's the Seven Spindles of High Reaches Weyr. It doesn't look particularly good, but the image is clear enough to know what it is. X'lar grins briefly at it, pleased at his work.
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << Oh dear. A clutch full of your children would keep the Weyrlingmasters ever so busy, wouldn't it? I would not be opposed to you catching me, though, when I begin to fly. Am I supposed to avoid you when I do, however? Since you do not want a clutch? I am not sure what I will be like when I have a flight, so I do not know how I will think or react. >>
Fayre hoists herself back up to a sitting position to get a better view of the mini-High Reaches. "Hey, neat! Now I can visit all the corners of Pern without even leavin' my home beach. You're right, though. 'bout what you were sayin' earlier. A few turns ago and we could never dream of seein' all the places we have. *Between* is annoyingly cold, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Well, 'cept Lieryth." The goldrider begins to make squat columns of her sand but only succeeds in making herself frown. "Hrm. I'm trying to make the Sandbar, but I'm not very good at this." As for the subject of men, Fayre just grins. "Ah, Xie. You still have much to learn of women. For some reason we like guys with issues. Don't ask me why, though. It gets tirin' after a while."
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth seems to like the idea of keeping the weyrlingmasters busy, even if he doesn't necessarily like the idea of having eggs to saddle him to the ground like some ovoid manacles. << I would chase you. I like the chase. >> Malsaeth replies back. << You're asking the wrong dragon, Lieryth. I'm only the guy who chases, you're the one who gets caught. >>
"Between isn't as amazing as Malsaeth would have you think. Shells, every time we are going to Telgar or High Reaches or some place, he /always/ likes to stretch it out. It is only when we're doing wing stuff like sweeps or watchriding that Malsaeth actually behaves well enough. But still. Every time we're on our own... I've have yet to find a dragon who is so drawn to it as the beast is to it." He glances over his shoulder at Malsaeth with a rather wry look. "It seems pretty silly to like guys with issues," X'lar offers oh so helpfully.
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << Well, if you chase, you willingly run the risk of catching. You will not blame me if you end up on the sands with me then, right? I suppose I should talk to some of my sisters, or Aerianth. They will give me good advice. I feel it is the sort of thing you cannot explain fully, though, and must experience. Like *between* and flying. >>
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth considers the ramifications, but only for so long. He instead gathers more clouds together, letting it thunder and lightning until finally he offers to the queen: << Sometimes you can only rely on your self too. There is only so much someone can tell you. Sometimes it is the experience that teaches you best. >>
"Well, I'll start thankin' Faranth, then. Lieryth can't stand such cold and makes it as quick as possible. I'd get pretty upset if she stretched it out. We're Istans, through and through." Fayre's face lights up with an intriguing thought and she grins at the bronzerider. "Hey! She and I love heat 'cause we're Istans. Maybe Mal' likes the cold 'cause you're secretly part High Reaches, and that's why you love it there so much now. Dya have any relatives there?" She switches her expression to dejected as she knocks over her failure columns. "Bah. Teach me the ways of mashing together sand, Xie! What should we make next?" As for that whole love thing, Fayre just shrugs. "It is silly, to be honest. So maybe I should try a guy without any."
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth keeps her sticky, summer heat present but separate from Malsaeth's own images. <
"Lieryth doesn't like the cold?" X'lar asks her. "Oh, wait, I think I knew that." There's a pause before X'lar grins, offering, "I think Malsaeth likes the ladies who have a little cold to their voices too. It's not just geography and climate he likes about the colder Weyrs either. From what he's shared with me of Iovniath's voice, she's got this incredibly pretty voice that's all furs and snow. Well, sort of." He nods again, before admitting, "My dad and grandfather are both from High Reaches. My grandfather, X'tar, still lives there, and my dad was Searched there for Ista." He grins back at Fayre, replying back to the goldrider: "So it's kind of neat that both Mal and I have dads who are from High Reaches." There's a pause and then he offers to his clutchmate: "Why not Ista? I'm sure Lieryth knows it so well she could make it herself if she wanted, right Lieryth?" He looks up at the gold before grinning at Fayre in amusement.
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth tries to distinguish his rain from the sticky, summer heat, not especially liking the muggy nature of her voice. << It is halfway a place. Where life and death merge into one area. Between. It calls to me. >> Malsaeth tells the queen and his clutchmate.
"I think she just greatly prefers the heat, particularly our variety of it. Y'know how most people droop and get sluggish when it's sticky out? Lieryth /loves/ that weather. I kinda have to by association, since she's always making me do stuff like run around when it's like that out." Fayre explains casually, looking at Lieryth with pure love in her eyes--the kind that can only be shared between dragon and rider. "It gets me out and active, though, which I appreciate." She makes an approving noise, as if saying 'ah, that explains it!'. "So y'got 'Reaches in ya. You'd never transfer there though, right?! I can't lose a best friend, even if I can *between* and visit you." Lieryth perks up when X'lar looks her way; she'd been engrossed in her conversation with Malsaeth up until now. She lumbers a bit closer and tries moving the sand around with her long, darkgold tail, but she only manages to spread the muck about in a disorganized fashion. Tails aren't built for precision. "I think I have to get better at it before I try to make a whole Weyr, I'm afraid."
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << Like how water and sand mix to create mud? No, it seems a bit more complicated than that. The name *between* is very fitting for it, from your description. It is between places. It is between life and death. It calls to me too in its own way, but only in the manner of duty. I am a dragon, so I *between*. >>
"Kind of like how I learned to like the cold, the snow and all, because Malsaeth showed me these places that other dragons had shown him, that he wanted to see," Xie offers. "We do travel a lot though." There's a pause and then curiousity seems to kick in and X'lar's asking Fayre: "And how about your betting books? Are they getting dusty, or have you still been using them, Fayre?" He smiles once more before saying, "No, I can't imagine leaving Ista just yet. Maybe when I'm older, or when I know for certain there's a place there. But honestly, I don't see how N'thei would even allow me to stay a couple nights there let alone a lifetime. He's pretty cool though. N'thei, I mean." There's a pause before X'lar offers to her sand-castle making: "Then maybe try building the Sand Bar?"
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth seems to accept Lieryth's explanation. It's like every other dragon's explanation. There's a brief surge of love and affection for the void of between there, unlike anything experienced. But the image is warped by the constant barrage of droplets of rain. << Yes. >>
Back down in the sand Fayre goes. She kicks out her legs as she lies down, smooshing the last of her sand collections--though she's careful to leave X'lar's pretty spindles alone. "Alas! They're gettin' dusty /and/ buried by other bits of writing. I think I still know where it is, but it's buried under some other stuff. I took it outta my sarong one day and left it on my desk...and things got a bit chaotic from there." She lifts herself up just enough to prop her head on her hand with her elbow resting in the black sand. "I plan on bustin' it out once there's a clutch here, though. Ooooh, and when there's another race. I just need to get better at hidework so I have time for both, y'know?" After glancing towards the Sandbar, she shakes her head. "Eh, not today. I'll have to come back and practice sometime. Or, y'know. Just go to the actual bar and get a drink. Heh."
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth lowers and twists her head to peer behind her at her muddied tail. She snorts proudly at this bunch of dirt clinging to her hide and the sun of her mindvoice shines hotter than ever, <>
X'lar keeps an eye on the spindles, but soon Malsaeth rumbles at him, making him look one way. But soon Malsaeth's tail flickers out of his peripheral vision and down go the spires, crushed by the tail of the mischevious bronze. X'lar whips his head around and lets out a groan of dismay. "You bloody beast!" Xie exclaims. "I /knew/ you were going to do that." Well, obviously not, by the look on the bronzerider's face. The teenager lets out a word ending in -ing and decides to forgo the usual tirade and instead return his attention to Fayre: "That's one thing I'm pretty good at now. Hidework. After as much work as I tried to get done as a weyrling and working on Malsaeth and Rielsath's book in duplicate, I kinda got pretty nifty at it." He chuckles softly at her last response, nodding simply to her as he comments: "Yeah, that doesn't sound that bad either."
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth seems to agree with the last comments of the queen, telling her: << It's always better getting someone else dirty though, more than yourself. Perhaps before I could have got dirty myself, but the key to not getting caught is not looking like a suspect! >>
Fayre stretches dramatically and rises to her feet with some effort; there are a few audible cracks as her joints shift and adjust after being used to sitting and lying down for so long. She's risen just in time to get splashed by some sandy chunks of mud as Malsaeth destroys X'lar's creation. Luckily, Fayre's in a good mood and merely chuckles at the mess as she wipes some of the grime off her face. "Well, I was plannin' a trip to the baths anyway. I figure that'll be a good end to my day of fun; a nice, long, relaxing soak. I figure I'll get good at hidework real soon. I mean, it does come a bit naturally, 'cause keepin' up with my bettin' books was just as complicated and writing-intensive. But I ain't goin' to worry 'bout that now. A nice jar of soapsand and a scrubber is all I'm goin' to worry about." Her mouth widens into a grin, one big enough to make the sides of her eyes crinkle. "It was real nice seein' you, buddy. Keep in touch. For real, y'hear?"
Dragon> To Malsaeth, Lieryth projects, << Ah, but Fayre seems to want to get cleaned off. I think I'll take a swim in the ocean while she relaxes. First, though, I must point out what a silly, intriguing dragon you are. My point was that it is nice to show off your day's effort by wearing the dirt of it on your hide--not that it is fun to splash people and get away with it. I will talk to you again soon, brother. >>
"Soaking sounds good," X'lar offers. "But I still want to do some more walking first." He smiles as he gets up and dusts himself off. "Of course, Fayre," Xie replies of keeping in touch with her. "You too." He smiles briefly again at his clutchmate and nods once more. "Be seeing you then, Fayre," X'lar calls out before thumping Malsaeth, muttering angrily at him.
Dragon> To Lieryth, Malsaeth still seems amused by the entire commentary Lieryth gives him, seemingly proud of the stamp of approval she gives him in response to the mischief played. << We will talk again, Lieryth. >>
"You play nice with your rider now, Malsaeth. I like my best buddies to be in one piece." Fayre grins cheerfully up at the bronze, but decides to give the pair a hasty wave and hotfoot it out of there--just in case the dragon has any more tricks up his sleeve, or hide, as the case may be. Over her shoulder she calls, "See you 'round!"