Log: Oil and Fish
Who: Lujayn, P'draig, Jekzith, Rielsath
When: Late morning, 3/21/18
Where: Plateau/Beach, Ista Weyr
What: About an hour or so before the eggs hatch, Lujayn stops by and runs into Paddy. She helps finish up Jekzith's oiling so Rielsath and Jekzith can go hunt big game fish out in the deep. The eggs rocking makes for other plans.
Late morning light washes Ista's plateau as the sun hikes its way upward towards midday. P'draig is down on the plateau doing that frequent chore of the dragonrider: oiling. And Jekzith's hindquarters fairly gleam with the stuff as the brownrider works his way from back to front on his dragon. He whistles as he works, dressed down in patchy clothing well-suited for the task.
Rielsath isn't so intent on the plateau, but as her flight path becomes lower the woman on her neck manages to coax her away from the beach and towards the grassy plain, where the gold settles with a wistful look towards the ocean. Lujayn is the one to offer a greeting instead, smiling brightly. "Hey! Nice place for an oiling. Less chance they'll get sandy afterwards."
Jekzith's head lifts as Rielsath wings in and the dim memory of hunting things deep in the lake surfaces, cast upward, shared in greeting along with the bright pop, pop, pop, of rainbow-hued bubbles. Paddy looks up too, hand shaded against the sunlight and he just beams as he figures out who that is. "Lu!" A swipe of the rag to Jekzith's side and he steps away and over to welcome the goldpair from the Reaches, oily arms held out to offer the goldrider a hug. "Yeah, I try to keep him up here so he doesn't wind up with stripes of black all along him. And well, the view!"
Lujayn hesitates only momentarily at the offer of an oily embrace, but it's not like she's wearing her gather best. She huge him with a familiar thump on the shoulder, standing back to look at the non-sandy Jekzith. "Looks fine to me. Only thing that could get stuck to him here is grass, but the green wouldn't look too bad." She tilts her head. "Been busy? I hear Lieryth's eggs are pretty far along these days." Rielsath does tear herself away from the gargoyle-like stance she holds, a veil of icy sunlight freezing the bubbles into delicate floating spheres of ice.
"Yeah, and that you can pick off pretty easy." P'draig agrees, gives Lujayn's shoulder a fond squeeze. "Yeah, I'll be helping with the clutch this time. Assisting Balinne, she's the new Weyrlingmaster here. And you? Seems like ages since we last got a minute to catch up," he says regretfully, starts to move back towards Jekzith. "I've just got a little ways to go on him, then I'll bet he'd like to show Rielsath around if she'd like?" And Jekzith is tracing brightly-colored lines between frozen bubbles, watching how the spheres reflect color and light. << Hello Rielsath! How are you? It's good to see you again. Have you come to swim? There's places out deep where it's dark and interesting. >>
Lujayn seems more pleased than regretful, enjoying the morning air and relative warmth of Ista in spring. "I haven't been up to much. It seems like everyone has a big project, though. You'll have weyrlings, and Millie - you heard she was promoted, right?" No matter the gossip, Lu's happy for her friend. "Need help? Now that I'm oily and all, might as well go for it." She makes a face, though it's all in good fun. Rielsath shifts uneasily, clearly wary of being conned into getting an oiling when she wants to be out and exploring. << To swim and blow bubbles and have fun, >> She agrees readily with the brown, stacking some of the connected bubbles into crystalline structures. << But you can't, you're all pent up being cleaned, >>
"Yeah, it'll be good to get back in the saddle," P'draig says about helping out with weyrlings. A bob of his head follows. "Oh yeah, I'm happy for her, think she'll do a good job too," he notes then laughs, eyes her shirt. "Shoot, I'm sorry, Lu. Didn't think," he taps the side of his head, nods though for the bucket. "Sure, with two it'll go faster and then they can go off wherever and we can talk, catch up." Jekzith's head cants to the side and he warbles brightly over Rielsath's way. << Not for long! If yours is helping I will be done soon and then we can go, go, go! >> And he adds some new bubbles for her to play with, these ones infused with dusky purple and the dark green of below-the-waves.
"No problem." Lu nods and reaches for a cloth, approaching the brown's midsection with a smile. "Hey you, brown guy." Rielsath cranes her neck to watch, sitting on her impatience like a child trying so hard to behave. << They talk so much, >> She sighs, fidgeting with the bubbles distractedly, a variety of flickering lights and snowy things playing at the edges of her consciousness in attempts to entertain herself. << What fun is it? >>
Lujayn's greeting is returned with a bright warble as she sets to helping. He remembers her perhaps. Paddy just grins and resumes working at a steady pace. Apparently this is meant to be a complete job, not a patch up and he's careful to layer the oil on just right, work it into Jekzith's motley hide. << It's fun for them. And sometimes the pictures they make in their heads can be fun to watch. Right now though, mostly P'draig is happy to see your rider so there's only memories there, >> he notes then casts his thoughts out further, brings to mind the shape of a large fish. << We could hunt /these/ if you like. Or you could go hide and I'll come find you. >> A little teasing there.
Lujayn chuckles fondly, taking more care when she notices P'draig's attentive work. She doesn't mind the silence, working more efficiently without pausing to chat, and perhaps some of that soaks up into Rielsath. The gold even relaxes her posture a bit, taking the opportunity to enjoy the sun and even (though she doesn't dare admit) conversation. << If Lujayn is happy, it's worth it, >> She decides, << I like memories.. >> But then there's the promise of large fish and deep sea adventure, anchoring her attentions. << Let's go soon, before they go to sleep for the afternoon. We always see the fishers going to work early in the morning. >>
Companionable silence and good work make for a quick enough finish on Jekzith. P'draig brings his cloth down the front of the brown's nose fondly. "There, let it settle in for a moment," he tells the brown. Meanwhile, Jekzith has been happily stealing memories and weaving them together into a little show for Rielsath: Lu getting her hair cut in the barracks, a ratty tail getting chopped and his own rider shaping it up into something reasonable. Skating and racing around Fort's lake. Long talks with stones skipped across the water. Jubilation when Lu Impressed and the sound of localized cheering in a section of Reaches' galleries. Getting to meet Rielsath and there his own memory of past fun resurfaces, her looking for him down in the deep. << So do I. Paddy has a lot of fun ones tucked away inside his head. I borrow when I can't remember myself, >> Jekzith admits cheerily. << I'm done! And some of them, they don't sleep the way others do. >> Maple wings start to spread, the sheen of oil catching the near-noon sunlight. Paddy laughs, ducking out of the way. "So. Want a drink, or should we go rinse off?" he proposes to Lu.
Rielsath's back to fidgeting when Jekzith declares himself all oiled, mimicking his actions and making Lujayn laugh. "I think I should go with her to the beach - maybe not /all/ the way in, but enough to get the oil off my hands. She's been so patient today," The latter sentence intoned as praise, grinning up at her lifemate. << Hurry up then, if you want to come with, >> Rielsath badgers her rider, but it's softened by lingering memories from Jekzith. << Or when you're ready, >> She amends with less sincerity, but it's some effort.
A moment or two more passes while the last of the oil sets, then Jekzith, just like that, bunches muscles and reaches for the sky, leaping high and then diving down. << Catch me! >> he dares Rielsath joyfully as he goes and Paddy just laughs outright. "Looks like we're going down the long way. But yeah, I'm a mess, I bet." He takes a moment to tidy up the gear, piling it neatly. "Have to bring that back up to my weyr later," he notes, then holds a hand out to Lujayn. "Beach then?"
If it was Rielsath's intention to wait for her rider to mount up before going to the beach, it's forgotten with Jekzith's playful challenge and a burst of excitement. Diving low after the brown, her only reply is a blaze of white-hot light flying behind a comet. "Sounds like a plan," She turns towards the downward path that leads to the beach, taking the offered hand for the not-so-familiar trek. "Aren't they funny," A fond comment for the dragons, exhilarated by Rielsath's joy.
Jekzith just speeds onward recklessly, dropping, dropping down and then skimming out over the waves beyond the beach, not even bothering to touch down on sand first. Whoosh, he lets a paw drop briefly to catch at sea-spray and then he's going onward out and out /far/ where the ocean gets deep far beyond the roots of the old volcano that makes up the island. "Yeah, he's pretty happy. Likes Rielsath a bunch. They had fun that one time at Fort," Paddy says laughingly and gives her hand a friendly squeeze as he leads the way around to the path and stairs downward. "It's been interesting settling in here. Still not used to the weather. I miss the snow sometimes in winter. Head back to Fort or up to the Reaches to skate a little, show Palia how to build snowfolk and throw snowballs."
Rielsath dips down, about to land with a big splash when Jekzith continues. Not about to lose the challenge, she pulls back up and swerves left, right with the winds and onwards. Lujayn has to tear her eyes away for the stairs, but doesn't lose her smile. "Big changes can be good, and it sounds like you're happy here." Step-step-step. "How long has it been, now? And Palia, I haven't seen her in forever. I bet she's like her own little person by now."
Jekzith's call winds backward towards Rielsath, canny. << Too shallow there for the fish, >> he notes and speeds onward. << Come on, I know you can go faster than that! >> A dim memory of another kind of blazing heat slips into his thoughts, vague, but still there. The high sun casts his shadow down onto the water and finally he seems to be aiming for that splashdown out in the deep. Down the stairs goes Paddy at an even pace. "Yeah, they can and I am pretty happy here," he answers with a smile. "It'll be a turn this summer. About nine months now." Mention of Palia widens his smile. "Yeah, she just turned four and she's just ... she's amazing. Maybe we can catch up with her for lunch? If you're staying that is."
"That would be great," Lujayn agrees, rounding the last of the stairs and raising her free hand to shield her eyes from the sun glinting off sand and waves. "I only remember her as a toddler, sticky hands and all. Kids grow up fast." Squinting from under her hand, she scans the skies for the two dragons - << But I don't need to, >> Rielsath taunts back at Jekzith, well on his tail but not quite overtaking him, looking down through the waters every now and then just in case there are vicious fish to swipe at. << If you're going to be so slow! >>
"She's quiet, not that she can't be loud, but she's kind of ... she's a thinker," Paddy describes Palia with a proud paternal smile. "She likes to listen to made up stories and pretend to be a dragon," he continues with a chuckle and ambles down to the water's edge. He releases Lu's hand there to take off his shirt, apparently intending to just go ahead and swim. Jekzith only sends a bright stream of bubbles her way and goes /faster/ with a look over his shoulder, merry to find her so close. << Ready? Dive! >>
Reverberating from each and every cavern, off the rocks and along the tunnels, is a deep echoing thrum. It is the dragons, their rich voices uniting to urge their newest from the shells. Hatching time.
"She sounds like a fun girl," Lujayn kicks off her boots with little regard to stretching the laces, wading into the water to scoop some up for her hands and forearms. Not /quite/ as oil-spotted as the brownrider after all. "I know they're a lot of work, but I think kids would be fun. Having my own, I mean." A little abashed, she shrugs at her own statement and splashes her face. Farther off, Rielsath also splashes into the ocean at long last, following the bubbles down, down, down with happy noises. << Hee hee hee. >>
"Oh she is, she's just great, and so is her younger brother. I like being a dad," P'draig says with a bright laugh. He wades in and is scooping water up his chest, scrubs at his arms a little, looks over at Lujayn, grins. "Yeah, they are hard work but worth it and if you want that some day, I hope it works out," Paddy says sincerely. He's scrubbing again when his head suddenly comes up, then the rest of him and he straightens looks back towards the Weyr. "Shells! They're hatching!" he says surprised and laughs. "Sorry Lu, I'm going to have to dash. I've Weyrlings to go catch!" He looks out towards the water and concentrates for a minute, then shakes his head, turns and pelts back towards the Weyr, oily shirt in hand, sandals in the other.
When: Late morning, 3/21/18
Where: Plateau/Beach, Ista Weyr
What: About an hour or so before the eggs hatch, Lujayn stops by and runs into Paddy. She helps finish up Jekzith's oiling so Rielsath and Jekzith can go hunt big game fish out in the deep. The eggs rocking makes for other plans.
Late morning light washes Ista's plateau as the sun hikes its way upward towards midday. P'draig is down on the plateau doing that frequent chore of the dragonrider: oiling. And Jekzith's hindquarters fairly gleam with the stuff as the brownrider works his way from back to front on his dragon. He whistles as he works, dressed down in patchy clothing well-suited for the task.
Rielsath isn't so intent on the plateau, but as her flight path becomes lower the woman on her neck manages to coax her away from the beach and towards the grassy plain, where the gold settles with a wistful look towards the ocean. Lujayn is the one to offer a greeting instead, smiling brightly. "Hey! Nice place for an oiling. Less chance they'll get sandy afterwards."
Jekzith's head lifts as Rielsath wings in and the dim memory of hunting things deep in the lake surfaces, cast upward, shared in greeting along with the bright pop, pop, pop, of rainbow-hued bubbles. Paddy looks up too, hand shaded against the sunlight and he just beams as he figures out who that is. "Lu!" A swipe of the rag to Jekzith's side and he steps away and over to welcome the goldpair from the Reaches, oily arms held out to offer the goldrider a hug. "Yeah, I try to keep him up here so he doesn't wind up with stripes of black all along him. And well, the view!"
Lujayn hesitates only momentarily at the offer of an oily embrace, but it's not like she's wearing her gather best. She huge him with a familiar thump on the shoulder, standing back to look at the non-sandy Jekzith. "Looks fine to me. Only thing that could get stuck to him here is grass, but the green wouldn't look too bad." She tilts her head. "Been busy? I hear Lieryth's eggs are pretty far along these days." Rielsath does tear herself away from the gargoyle-like stance she holds, a veil of icy sunlight freezing the bubbles into delicate floating spheres of ice.
"Yeah, and that you can pick off pretty easy." P'draig agrees, gives Lujayn's shoulder a fond squeeze. "Yeah, I'll be helping with the clutch this time. Assisting Balinne, she's the new Weyrlingmaster here. And you? Seems like ages since we last got a minute to catch up," he says regretfully, starts to move back towards Jekzith. "I've just got a little ways to go on him, then I'll bet he'd like to show Rielsath around if she'd like?" And Jekzith is tracing brightly-colored lines between frozen bubbles, watching how the spheres reflect color and light. << Hello Rielsath! How are you? It's good to see you again. Have you come to swim? There's places out deep where it's dark and interesting. >>
Lujayn seems more pleased than regretful, enjoying the morning air and relative warmth of Ista in spring. "I haven't been up to much. It seems like everyone has a big project, though. You'll have weyrlings, and Millie - you heard she was promoted, right?" No matter the gossip, Lu's happy for her friend. "Need help? Now that I'm oily and all, might as well go for it." She makes a face, though it's all in good fun. Rielsath shifts uneasily, clearly wary of being conned into getting an oiling when she wants to be out and exploring. << To swim and blow bubbles and have fun, >> She agrees readily with the brown, stacking some of the connected bubbles into crystalline structures. << But you can't, you're all pent up being cleaned, >>
"Yeah, it'll be good to get back in the saddle," P'draig says about helping out with weyrlings. A bob of his head follows. "Oh yeah, I'm happy for her, think she'll do a good job too," he notes then laughs, eyes her shirt. "Shoot, I'm sorry, Lu. Didn't think," he taps the side of his head, nods though for the bucket. "Sure, with two it'll go faster and then they can go off wherever and we can talk, catch up." Jekzith's head cants to the side and he warbles brightly over Rielsath's way. << Not for long! If yours is helping I will be done soon and then we can go, go, go! >> And he adds some new bubbles for her to play with, these ones infused with dusky purple and the dark green of below-the-waves.
"No problem." Lu nods and reaches for a cloth, approaching the brown's midsection with a smile. "Hey you, brown guy." Rielsath cranes her neck to watch, sitting on her impatience like a child trying so hard to behave. << They talk so much, >> She sighs, fidgeting with the bubbles distractedly, a variety of flickering lights and snowy things playing at the edges of her consciousness in attempts to entertain herself. << What fun is it? >>
Lujayn's greeting is returned with a bright warble as she sets to helping. He remembers her perhaps. Paddy just grins and resumes working at a steady pace. Apparently this is meant to be a complete job, not a patch up and he's careful to layer the oil on just right, work it into Jekzith's motley hide. << It's fun for them. And sometimes the pictures they make in their heads can be fun to watch. Right now though, mostly P'draig is happy to see your rider so there's only memories there, >> he notes then casts his thoughts out further, brings to mind the shape of a large fish. << We could hunt /these/ if you like. Or you could go hide and I'll come find you. >> A little teasing there.
Lujayn chuckles fondly, taking more care when she notices P'draig's attentive work. She doesn't mind the silence, working more efficiently without pausing to chat, and perhaps some of that soaks up into Rielsath. The gold even relaxes her posture a bit, taking the opportunity to enjoy the sun and even (though she doesn't dare admit) conversation. << If Lujayn is happy, it's worth it, >> She decides, << I like memories.. >> But then there's the promise of large fish and deep sea adventure, anchoring her attentions. << Let's go soon, before they go to sleep for the afternoon. We always see the fishers going to work early in the morning. >>
Companionable silence and good work make for a quick enough finish on Jekzith. P'draig brings his cloth down the front of the brown's nose fondly. "There, let it settle in for a moment," he tells the brown. Meanwhile, Jekzith has been happily stealing memories and weaving them together into a little show for Rielsath: Lu getting her hair cut in the barracks, a ratty tail getting chopped and his own rider shaping it up into something reasonable. Skating and racing around Fort's lake. Long talks with stones skipped across the water. Jubilation when Lu Impressed and the sound of localized cheering in a section of Reaches' galleries. Getting to meet Rielsath and there his own memory of past fun resurfaces, her looking for him down in the deep. << So do I. Paddy has a lot of fun ones tucked away inside his head. I borrow when I can't remember myself, >> Jekzith admits cheerily. << I'm done! And some of them, they don't sleep the way others do. >> Maple wings start to spread, the sheen of oil catching the near-noon sunlight. Paddy laughs, ducking out of the way. "So. Want a drink, or should we go rinse off?" he proposes to Lu.
Rielsath's back to fidgeting when Jekzith declares himself all oiled, mimicking his actions and making Lujayn laugh. "I think I should go with her to the beach - maybe not /all/ the way in, but enough to get the oil off my hands. She's been so patient today," The latter sentence intoned as praise, grinning up at her lifemate. << Hurry up then, if you want to come with, >> Rielsath badgers her rider, but it's softened by lingering memories from Jekzith. << Or when you're ready, >> She amends with less sincerity, but it's some effort.
A moment or two more passes while the last of the oil sets, then Jekzith, just like that, bunches muscles and reaches for the sky, leaping high and then diving down. << Catch me! >> he dares Rielsath joyfully as he goes and Paddy just laughs outright. "Looks like we're going down the long way. But yeah, I'm a mess, I bet." He takes a moment to tidy up the gear, piling it neatly. "Have to bring that back up to my weyr later," he notes, then holds a hand out to Lujayn. "Beach then?"
If it was Rielsath's intention to wait for her rider to mount up before going to the beach, it's forgotten with Jekzith's playful challenge and a burst of excitement. Diving low after the brown, her only reply is a blaze of white-hot light flying behind a comet. "Sounds like a plan," She turns towards the downward path that leads to the beach, taking the offered hand for the not-so-familiar trek. "Aren't they funny," A fond comment for the dragons, exhilarated by Rielsath's joy.
Jekzith just speeds onward recklessly, dropping, dropping down and then skimming out over the waves beyond the beach, not even bothering to touch down on sand first. Whoosh, he lets a paw drop briefly to catch at sea-spray and then he's going onward out and out /far/ where the ocean gets deep far beyond the roots of the old volcano that makes up the island. "Yeah, he's pretty happy. Likes Rielsath a bunch. They had fun that one time at Fort," Paddy says laughingly and gives her hand a friendly squeeze as he leads the way around to the path and stairs downward. "It's been interesting settling in here. Still not used to the weather. I miss the snow sometimes in winter. Head back to Fort or up to the Reaches to skate a little, show Palia how to build snowfolk and throw snowballs."
Rielsath dips down, about to land with a big splash when Jekzith continues. Not about to lose the challenge, she pulls back up and swerves left, right with the winds and onwards. Lujayn has to tear her eyes away for the stairs, but doesn't lose her smile. "Big changes can be good, and it sounds like you're happy here." Step-step-step. "How long has it been, now? And Palia, I haven't seen her in forever. I bet she's like her own little person by now."
Jekzith's call winds backward towards Rielsath, canny. << Too shallow there for the fish, >> he notes and speeds onward. << Come on, I know you can go faster than that! >> A dim memory of another kind of blazing heat slips into his thoughts, vague, but still there. The high sun casts his shadow down onto the water and finally he seems to be aiming for that splashdown out in the deep. Down the stairs goes Paddy at an even pace. "Yeah, they can and I am pretty happy here," he answers with a smile. "It'll be a turn this summer. About nine months now." Mention of Palia widens his smile. "Yeah, she just turned four and she's just ... she's amazing. Maybe we can catch up with her for lunch? If you're staying that is."
"That would be great," Lujayn agrees, rounding the last of the stairs and raising her free hand to shield her eyes from the sun glinting off sand and waves. "I only remember her as a toddler, sticky hands and all. Kids grow up fast." Squinting from under her hand, she scans the skies for the two dragons - << But I don't need to, >> Rielsath taunts back at Jekzith, well on his tail but not quite overtaking him, looking down through the waters every now and then just in case there are vicious fish to swipe at. << If you're going to be so slow! >>
"She's quiet, not that she can't be loud, but she's kind of ... she's a thinker," Paddy describes Palia with a proud paternal smile. "She likes to listen to made up stories and pretend to be a dragon," he continues with a chuckle and ambles down to the water's edge. He releases Lu's hand there to take off his shirt, apparently intending to just go ahead and swim. Jekzith only sends a bright stream of bubbles her way and goes /faster/ with a look over his shoulder, merry to find her so close. << Ready? Dive! >>
Reverberating from each and every cavern, off the rocks and along the tunnels, is a deep echoing thrum. It is the dragons, their rich voices uniting to urge their newest from the shells. Hatching time.
"She sounds like a fun girl," Lujayn kicks off her boots with little regard to stretching the laces, wading into the water to scoop some up for her hands and forearms. Not /quite/ as oil-spotted as the brownrider after all. "I know they're a lot of work, but I think kids would be fun. Having my own, I mean." A little abashed, she shrugs at her own statement and splashes her face. Farther off, Rielsath also splashes into the ocean at long last, following the bubbles down, down, down with happy noises. << Hee hee hee. >>
"Oh she is, she's just great, and so is her younger brother. I like being a dad," P'draig says with a bright laugh. He wades in and is scooping water up his chest, scrubs at his arms a little, looks over at Lujayn, grins. "Yeah, they are hard work but worth it and if you want that some day, I hope it works out," Paddy says sincerely. He's scrubbing again when his head suddenly comes up, then the rest of him and he straightens looks back towards the Weyr. "Shells! They're hatching!" he says surprised and laughs. "Sorry Lu, I'm going to have to dash. I've Weyrlings to go catch!" He looks out towards the water and concentrates for a minute, then shakes his head, turns and pelts back towards the Weyr, oily shirt in hand, sandals in the other.