Afternoon Break
Who: B'kaiv, G'dri (( Chielyth, Khameth ))
When: It is a summer afternoon, day 2, month 7, turn 21 of Interval 10.
Where: Starstones, FTW
What: Kai's still fretting over Chielyth. G'dri offers to snoop on his behalf.
Starstones, Fort Weyr
The Star Stones are located on a kind of stone platform on the rim of the bowl, with the time-honoured Finger Rock, Star Stone, and Eye Rock in their respective places. It's also a perfect vantage point to observe the goings on of the bowl far below. A watchdragon is generally posted here in addition to a few other choice locations along the rim of the Weyr.
Lovely summer day, just the thing for flying about, right? Right! Which might be the reason that the star stones are populated only by B'kaiv, instead of the pair. That flash of green just above the mountains and barely visible - that might be Chielyth, but if so, Kai's not watching her. Then again, he's not watching the skies, either, but is tucked up against the wall and reading, knees bent up to provide at least a modicum of protection from the wind for the hide.
That brief shadow is not a fat fluffy cloud drifting between ground and sun, but a stocky and very much not fluffy old blue passing overhead. An easy bank brings Khameth around for a typical thump of a landing down the rim a little way. Unsurprising perhaps that this particular dragon would choose the Star Stones as a place to bask aging muscles and bones in the sunshine, what with the wonderful view down into the Bowl to observe the bustle and business of weyrfolk and dragons alike. That he's brought his rider with today, is slightly more unusual. But strap fastenings clink together as they're released, and G'dri's voice is audible even if actual words can't be made out as he slides down his lifemate's shoulder. It's Khameth's whirling eye for detail that spots Kai tucked up against the wall first, a rumbling chuff of sound expelled in the greenrider's direction before his rider ducks around his chest. "Kai?"
B'kaiv is a very bad watchrider today: he doesn't look up from his scowling version of reading at the thump, nor the jingle of straps, nor even the blue's quiet rumble. His name, though, that does break his concentration and yank him, blinking, back to the here and now. It's Khameth he focuses on first, and if that's Khameth, then somewhere around here must be... "'Dri!" He doesn't quite scramble to his feet, but makes quick work of rolling up the hide before pushing upright. "Hey." Louder, "She's off flying, Khameth, you wanna go find her."
"Are you actually on duty?" The question posed with a dubious lilt to it as G'dri takes a further moment to look around at the absence of anyone else. "Or just acting as a warm body?" Unsurprisingly, his smile is warm and wide, and he doesn't ask anything nosy even if he does glance towards the rolled hide in Kai's hand for a second. "He had some of the younglings out earlier," the bluerider explains as behind him, Khameth stretches his neck and wings out, gives himself a shake and whumphs down on his belly. Not. Moving. But muted jungle greens and golds unwind into mental feelers, pushed outward with gentle purpose in search of a particular spark of brightness. << Are you enjoying yourself out there? >>
"Uh," is Kai's non-answer, though his quick, guilty look around at the airspace might serve as a better one. "Sorta. Had sweeps earlier, an' Sp'ger asked me t' watch for a bit. I ain't on th' schedule or nothing." He catches and follows that look to the hide but Khameth's heavy lie down is what catches his attention first. "Got you all tired out, huh ol' man," says he, voice warm. "Maybe she'll be nice an' come back." Only then is it back to Khameth's rider with a wry grimace and display of his work. "Yeah. Healing again. Just 'cause I ain't gonna ask no healers about her 'til fall don't mean I ain't thinking about it." Jungle heaviness is met with bright summer sunshine and a stomach-clenching swoop. << Yup! You should come fly only Kai says you're tired? >>
G'dri just laughs and shakes his head, and finds a bit of stone to prop himself up with near to the greenrider. "How long until you're relieved? Full shift, or just a partial stint?" There's a pause while he tilts his head in an attitude of listening, ending with a fond look over at the blue who's now quite comfy with his head hanging over the lip of the wall. Obligingly, he relates, "They are delightfully energetic and eager to test themselves, always in search of extending their limits. They grow well and strong." Blue eyes roll with amusement, to take in the pretty sky before settling back on Kai's face, laugh lines deep at their corners. "Until fall." It takes him a moment for the gears to switch, but then he's fully on board. "Has your own research uncovered anything useful to you, then? Or at least, reassuring?" The bright wings of shy avians flicker through shafts of light, their alien calls threading around the mellow sound of Khameth's laughter. << He says correctly. I have been out with the fledglings, strengthening their wings further. >> Flickered images of a pair of greens and the proudly anxious faces of their chosen boys.
If G'dri's going to settle B'kaiv will as well, back against the wall again but with his arms resting on his knees this time. "Just a hour or so. I think. He had this thing he had t' do." He's got a snort for weyrlings, but anything he'd say about them is derailed by the question about Chielyth. After a glance at the hide and shake of his head Kai looks back at the bluerider, mouth twisted. "Nah. Nothin' I didn't know already. All the ones I can read all say th' same." After a beat he adds - admits, "Nearly took a swing at At're earlier." Chielyth dips and swoops like a leaf on the wind, sharing the feeling with poor tired Khameth. << Yay! We were flying earlier. Did you go with Khazioth? I like Khazioth. We snuggle. >> Bronze blob curled up with green blob. << He's nice! >>
Eyebrows twitch upwards, but whatever thing Sp'ger had to do that was more important than standing his normal duty, G'dri doesn't ask if Kai was nosy enough to find out what it was. "I can probably convince him to stir if you'd like us to shove off before then." Crossing one ankle over the other, he settles a little further into his lean and lets his head fall forward slightly. His chin bobs in a nod to acknowledge the unhelpfulness of the scrolls. Taking a breath, he casts a sidelong look at Kai. "Why?" Master of divided attention, even as Khameth watches the absolutely /fascinating/ process of a wagon being unloaded down below, he also follows the shared sensation of Chielyth's flight with evident enjoyment. He might be a lacking in the energy to participate fully, but what can be shared is appreciated. << No, I was not with Khazioth today. He is most intent and earnest. >> Which might translate as nice, possibly. There's something like agreement in his soft-spoken words, at least. << Where did you fly, earlier? >>
B'kaiv only snorts at G'dri's offer and levels a 'yeah, right' look at the older man. "Thought he said something 'bout Chielyth," is why. "'Bout her being proddy, or something. Which she ain't." Maybe? Eyes flick to Khameth and back, like the blue would let it slip. Or know. "Only... shells, I dunno. Nothin' happened. He was saying as how Khazioth wants him t' get laid, only he ain't gonna yet." A shrug of his shoulders, and it's all Greek to him. << Um um um. >> Where -did- they go? The little green lets the thread of communication drop entirely to avoid a sudden tree, picks it up again when branches are only a memory. << Peyton! >> Yay for Peyton! << I like it there. >>
Like the blue would even notice. Khameth has that bad tendency to miss the forest for the trees. G'dri lifts a hand to his face, rubbing at the side of his jaw as he squints down at the greenrider. "Kai," he starts slowly, quietly. "I'm glad nothing happened. Remember, mating flights and proddiness haven't been truly addressed at this point in their training, and with so many Holdbred in the latest clutch, much of what they think they know is ignorant hearsay and what they may have picked up from informal conversation with riders up to this point." So please continue to show restraint if anyone else runs their mouth, would be the underlying message. He hasn't much more than a couple of slow blinks for what pretty much amounts to, well, gossip. "That Khazioth is... remarkably straightforward without actually being precocious. They seem a solid match, with the strength of their individual personalities." Which happily manages to avoid all mention of undersexed weyrlings. << You are all right? >> is the first most important thing to be said after Chielyth re-establishes that mental link, dark green fronds waving with the slow rustle of Khameth's concern. << Peyton. Ah, yes. There is interesting terrain there, and a different routine to be found, watching those who reside there. >>
The greenrider grimaces again and looks away with a nod, stares at his knees for a few seconds. "Yeah, I. I didn't do nothing. An' he took it back." His look back up is hesitant - is he forgiven? "Gonna be big - Khazioth. He's same size as Chielyth already. Told At're we'd go flying sometime, once he got th' okay an' all. So he can see what a grown green can do, 'stead of th' weyrlings. Just don't want him messing up his wings or nothing." Off-handed, "He ain't too bad, for a bronzerider. This is th' first time I wanted t' hit him." Unlike -other-, unnamed bronzeriders. Chielyth chirps back, << Yup! There was a tree only I didn't hit it. We had lots of fun only we didn't see anything strange Kai says. He says Mecaith wants to know especially only there wasn't. >>
A moment passes, and then G'dri pushes out of his lean long enough to fold his legs and sit down next to Kai. Another lean then, this time sideways as he aims to bump his shoulder lightly against the younger man's. "Sorry. I can't seem to get fully out of instructor mode these days," he says with quiet wryness. "Heh, yeah he will be. Unless he slows down suddenly, he'll reach the larger end I expect. She's going to tie him knots." Amused and fond, ending with a chuckle. "I haven't gotten a sense that he's particularly competitive. For all his youth, he might be smart enough not to strain himself attempting to match her. Kai." Uh oh, there's that mildly reproachful tone again. "I could almost understand that if you said 'for a Holder's son' instead of 'for a bronzerider.' I'd've expected you to have more of a problem with him because of his family, considering your feelings about that." Khameth's mental touch develops a small tendril of silvery mist, for his own comfort it seems at the thought of the sprightly green crashing into branches. << Focus. >> He's as bad as his rider. << Mecaith does? What sort of strange? >>
B'kaiv watches G'dri come over, but it's not until the older man is settled and the bump returned that the corners of his mouth twitch up. "Yeah. S'a'right. First time I met you you was teaching. Ain't like I expect you t' stop now." Teasing back, though at the change of tone he stiffens and regards his knees again. "Yeah, well, he ain't no Holder's son no more, is he. Ain't like I go outta my way t' punch Holders, an' anyway, we ain't heard nothing outta Gar for a while. So maybe he's right, an' it ain't got nothing t' do with him." Chielyth catches up that silver thread and drags it behind her, tangling it in branches and over rocks, providing a trail to bring her back home. << Um... >> She narrows their contact down like a tunnel, with the sense of draping sheets over things left better hidden. << ...It's really fun to fly are you sure you don't want to come with me? Or! I could come back and we could cuddle and then Kai could get laid! >>
A rather odd expression crosses G'dri's face. It's entirely possible that for however long his name has been on That List, he never quite thought of it in exactly that way. Kai may actually have just succeeded in embarrassing the older man, just a little bit, the bluerider ducking his head down and pushing his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, well." Unconscious echoing of the greenrider's own speech patterns, his lips pulling into a smile as he peeks across at Kai, eyes sparkling. Eventually he leans back again, tilts his face towards the sun and aims another nudge over, this time with his elbow. "A good thing too, though some Holders could probably do with a good smack upside the head. What--" What, gets left unsaid, as he suddenly twitches a look over at Khameth, innocently swinging his tail back and forth, and then promptly bursts into full on belly laughter. Somebody shared. Somebody also has let those mists remain, as ever intrigued and amused by the way Chielyth does such things. << It was never that I didn't want to fly with you, dear Chielyth. Simply that I have flown too much today. >> And while he'd been keeping it from her, he does share now a little bit of the ache in wing and back muscles. He's gotten a good workout already! << And the stone here is warm with sunlight, but the winds provide a pleasant contrast against one's hide. >> That sensation is shared more fully, with a little edge of encouragement. As for what their riders might get up to... that he just leaves be.
When no further chiding arises B'kaiv slowly relaxes from his hunch and even manages a brief echo of G'dri's smile that blossoms further for the nudge. "Looking t' get your own self smacked," he claims, lying through his teeth, and is probably trying to figure out where he can put his hand on the bluerider without things turning awkward when G'dri bursts out laughing. "What?" Chielyth didn't share, or at least didn't share /that/; instead she tries to mask relief under another burst of sunshine and airspeed. << Oh! Well, I'll come back then and we can cuddle and maybe we'll see Khazioth! >> Obligingly she dips into a canyon before angling up, providing a scribbly movie documentary of her return journey. Here's trees, and rocks, and more rocks, and more trees, and a flock of bounding things...
"Chielyth," G'dri manages to gasp after several moments wherein any attempt at drawing a full breath only results in more laughter, "just made a suggestion." What suggestion doesn't actually get articulated, lost as he is in a broad and really rather mischievous grin directed at B'kaiv. "I'm curious if it came from your head, or if she's been getting ideas from certain young dragons." A clue, at least. He shifts a bit, a slightly stiff adjustment to try to find a softer patch of stone, or at least a more comfortable angle to sit at. If it ends up scooting him a teensy bit closer to Kai well, that's okay isn't it? << Perhaps, during the course of his duties this afternoon. >> Khameth does stir himself, repositioning so he's not quite so precariously close to the edge of the world, and settling slightly onto one side. Creating a curve against which Chielyth can lean as soon as she arrives, whilst mentally following the images she shares. << It's in the hollows, the shadowed places, where truly interesting oddities can be found, >> he offers, though there's definite distraction for that flock of bounding things. What kind of bounding things?
A suggestion? Up go Kai's eyebrows as he waits for elucidation; when none arrives he glances to where Chielyth isn't yet in view, then back to G'dri, now looking slightly wrong-footed. "Oh. Yeah, um. Think she's got it in her head from earlier - I told her what me an' At're'd been talking about. Ain't gonna say /no/," he's quick to add, and when he ducks his head this time it's from an emotion that isn't - quite - embarrassment. "S'just... it's nice t' talk t' somebody sometimes too without having t' worry about nothing." His green circles one of those shadowy places where a rill bounces merrily - does he want her to stay and investigate? But no, bounding things are more fun yay, and an extremely nervous flock of goats are overflown and scattered.
G'dri's amusement gets pretty firmly chased away, as he tilts a considering look at Kai from beneath brows knitted into a small frown. "Worry?" he asks in prompting fashion. Definitely an unexpected turn, but now that it's been brought up it gains the bluerider's full attention. Even Khameth is slightly distracted by the interplay between the two men, a tendril of his attention diverting to his rider at the sudden shift in mood. But mostly, he's paying attention to Chielyth, and flahses of bright red and green and a vibrant blue dart between dusty shafts of light. << Gamey, crunchy creatures. Interesting to watch though. >> Naturally its food first, behavior second, even for him.
"Just...," Kai starts and stops, frowning at his inability to find the right words, even with his hands trying to help. "Don't gotta watch myself with you," is what he finally comes up with. "You ain't... you don't. --Shells, G'dri! I don't gotta worry about saying nothing and you taking it wrong." Despite immediate evidence to the contrary. Explanation over, he sags back against the wall, exhausted from his struggle with coherence, and offers over both a small smile and an upturned palm a second later. "You got weyrlings later? After supper?"
G'dri doesn't try to guess at anything or offer words through the struggle, just listens patiently and once Kai's done, he looks decidedly relieved. "Mostly," is his quiet acknowledgement of the very recent misunderstanding on his part. The upturned palm is eyed for only the barest fraction of a second, his own hand promptly lifted and extended to meet it. "I didn't mean to--" He stops, frowns again. 'Upset' might not be the right word, and even his vocabulary seems to have its limits. Shoulders lifting in a shrug, he falls back on a warm smile and quirked brows. "No, I'm not on duty tonight. Would you like to come over? Or.. go somewhere?"
B'kaiv echoes, "Mostly," with a nod and closes his fingers around G'dri's own when finally the twain have met. "Thought maybe as we could go somewhere an' talk, but if you wanna stay in I don't mind that neither. You still playing cards with Jasper? I been reading so much lately feels like my head's full." The forgotten hide is lifted and wryly waggled: poor hide. Poor Kai's head. "Don't really care what we do. Could even bring all them rocks of Khameth's over," he adds, pitching his voice a bit louder for the blue's sake. A few seconds later Chielyth swoops up off the cliff - surprise! - and hangs there for a second before settling neatly in the curl Khameth's left just for her. << Hi! >> she offers and nuzzles his neck, tucks her legs beneath and turns a smug face on their riders.
Khameth obligingly lifts his head to send another rumbly chuff of vocalization at the greenrider, which makes G'dri laugh and answer that comment first: "I'm to tell you he has several lovely ones in mind he thinks Chielyth will enjoy, for their patterns." And pause and then, "And possibly for the stories that go with them, but I didn't really catch that thought from him. --I have been so involved with the weyrlings I don't think I've actually left the Weyr since they Impressed," he continues after a moment of thought. He really can't seem to remember the last time he saw the outside of Fort's Bowl -- or more recently, anything beyond the immediate environs around the Weyr. "So I certainly wouldn't mind going somewhere. What were you thinking? Someplace that's been settled, or somewhere out away from people entirely?" The vocals from the blocky blue as Chielyth pops into view is a less rumbly, cheerful-sounding warble of greeting. << A truly lovely entrance, as always, >> he compliments her landing, lifting his wing and extending it slightly over her back after she's settled. His neck curves to briefly touch noses with her, before he finds that nice rock he was using as a chin rest earlier.
"We got th' room - an' I'm sure Chielyth wants t' hear th' stories," Kai tells both of the others, and if his voice is fond, well, he's talking about Chielyth, isn't he? The greenrider stretches out each leg in turn, idly watching them before tipping a smile up and over at G'dri. "Ain't really thinking of nothing. I'm just tired of sitting alone an' reading. Whatever you wanna do's fine with me. --Could go t' Ruatha," he adds after his own moment of thought. "Or up t' th' Reaches. Catch a couple beers an' all." His smile warms when Chielyth arrives and is promptly claimed by the blue, though soon enough it fades, especially after another glance over at G'dri. No prompting required to make him spill, though: "Shells. Wish I could stop nagging on when she's gonna rise."
"I'm just reluctant to take over any of your space," G'dri admits, his fingers curling a little closer around Kai's hand. Brows lift and he nods. "Oh, I can definitely understand that. There's only so much of one's own company that can be taken." Even when one is technically two, or perhaps especially then, a larger circle for thoughts to spin in. "She's got those friends at the Reaches, yeah? Might keep her happy if she's particularly energetic and he's still playing at being decrepit. And if he's not, there's some canyons in the mountains a ways north of there he's been reminded of, and wants to share with her." He too, watches as green and blue curl together, and mixed in with his own fondness is a bit of bemusement too. He turns back to Kai, trying for reassuring in his expression and voice both. "I know. I wish I knew more, had bothered to really study and could actually tell you something useful. Something that doesn't just sound like a meaningless platitude."
B'kaiv points out, "Ain't like I'm doing nothing with it." He doesn't even store his socks on those handy shelves. "Th' place is too big for me. S'better with." But again he stops, smile gone thin, and turns gladly to the Reaches as a distraction. "Yeah. Wyaeth an' Corvinth. Plus whoever else she meets." Because Chielyth is a social butterfly, even if her rider is a social boulder. As for the apology, he attempts to shrug it off with one lifted shoulder that rises, falls. "Yeah. Told Hattie as I wouldn't ask th' healers t' look at her until fall. Only now if I ain't wondering if she's proddy, I'm wishing it wouldn't be summer no more and shells, after /last/ winter, that ain't nothing I want t' do!"
Kai isn't the only one looking discomfitted, and G'dri doesn't attempt to prompt him to finish that aborted sentence. No, the bluerider is preoccupied with an itchy jaw, the heel of his free hand rubbing over his skin. Clearing his throat, he nods a little. "Right. It'd have to be a truly bad tempered dragon I think, not to take a shine to her." Something he's said before, but apparently it really needs to be repeated. "You know Kai, if it's that much on your mind, there's no reason you /have/ to wait until the autumn. Speak to them now, give them time to consult whatever books or scrolls they have that aren't given over to just anyone for reading if they need to. anything to stop you from wishing an early winter on us all." Eyes crinkle with a smile, that last an attempt at making a joke.
B'kaiv sighs heavily and lets his eyes drift to the sky and a passing cloud, ignoring both itchy skin and Chielyth's curious eyes. "Yeah. Or one with a sharding prick for a rider. I just - shells, 'Dri. I told Hattie I'd wait. Asked her, as a dragonhealer, an' she said as I should wait. I don't want t' go back on my word even if... well, even if I wanna." He drops the hide into his lap but doesn't watch it partially unfurl; instead he's still watching the sky while his now-free hand runs back over hair until it finds the wall. "I know I'm being a wherry about it an' people is right t' laugh at me. I just wish there was a way of knowing she's all right. I ask her an' she says as she ain't ready t' fly like that yet, when she says anything at all."
G'dri, wisely, doesn't follow up on that first sentence. "Ahh, now I see. I can't even pretend to imagine how frustrating this must be for you. There's always some anxiety around the first flight, the first chase, but this--" Well, by averages she's overdue, though averages and statistics don't really mean too much in the grand scheme of specific situations. Firmly, "No, Kai, no is 'right' to laugh at you. Your concern is genuine, you love her and you worry that she's healthy. There is nothing humourous in that, and certainly nothing that should be mocked." Scowling, he directs his own gaze out towards the airspace above the Bowl, wathcing the flickering dots of nearby firelizards and the larger forms of the occasional dragon rising towards or gliding down from a weyr. "Trust her. I don't know how they do, but dragons know. If she says she isn't ready yet... well then. It's pretty straightforward, eh?"
A gentle thump of head to wall is followed by another but no more. Instead Kai turns to watch the bluerider speak; winces at his vehement negation but doesn't try to deny anything. Perhaps it's the absentminded scowling that leaves Kai brave enough to keep watching G'dri, but whatever the reason, he doesn't look away again. "Maybe." He doesn't sound convinced. "How's she know, though? Ain't like she's never done it before." Still he shrugs, fumbles for the hide and offers it over. "You wanna take a look, see if you see anything I ain't? Don't got t' do it now or nothing. Just when you got time."
"Wish I could tell you," G'dri says, sending the words out on a breath that wants to be a sigh. He turns his head a little further, sending a glance over at the scarred haunch of his perfectly content blue, who twitches his tail slightly but to all appearances is just dozing in that happy cuddle. "He's no help. He can't even remember the last green he chased, nevermind caught. My own memory of his first one is hazy at best. But I don't think it's anything they can explain to us. For all their very real intelligence, there is still that about them which is animal, and instinct. They trust that." The scowl has faded by the time he looks back at B'kaiv, his shoulders lifting upward in a helpless shrug in echo of the greenrider's own. "I will, of course," he says with a nod, reaching out to take the hide and automatically neaten it into a compact and tidy roll. "Do you want me to not mention this, even without bringing your names up? I can easily use the excuse of needing to brush up on the technicalities to talk things over with some friends of mine."
B'kaiv snorts a laugh, since nobody knows, breathes a sigh of his own. "Didn't think he chased no more. Hope he ain't... hope he don't get hurt." Assuming Khameth's going to chase - safe, or folly? But the hide's gone and that does bring another smile, as well as a, "Thanks." When G'dri makes the offer he winces and looks over to his green, for all intents and purposes perfectly happy to cuddle instead of flying all over creation. Does he want him to ask? "--Yeah," he decides, and only then looks back, retrieving his hand to stand and offer the same hand back down. "Yeah. So long as Hattie don't find out. Don't see why she would, though." And in a complete break of both topic and mood, "Meet you after supper? We can decide if we're going up t' th' Reaches then or not."
G'dri can't help the chuckle that escapes. "He never chased often, and he chases far less now than he used to. But there are some still, that engage his interest enough to make him try. He's not /that/ old and decrepit." Folly probably, if only because he doesn't stand much chance at all against the younger, spritelier males since he's not one for devious tricks. Unnecessarily, "I will be discreet, at all times. And if /I/ and the one asking, -you- are not breaking your word." Khameth's rider however, might be a little dodgy. Accepting that hand up with a smile of thanks, the elder man stretches his spine once his feet are under him again, though he aims to keep hold of Kai's hand if he can. "After supper, yes. And Kai--" Very daring, the step close and the brief kiss offered. "it /will/ be alright in the end."
Reluctant to let go, perhaps B'kaiv was half-expecting the kiss - he doesn't back up, and even steps in for a quick hug and a thump to the older man's back. "Thanks. I know you are. Discreet, an' all." Otherwise would his name have been on the list in the first place? Hand goes over his hair again as he steps back, turns his eyes where approaching wings cast a shadow. "Hey, he's back. Thanks for coming up, 'Dri, an'... an' for everything." Anything more is postponed by the Sp'ger's arrival and the needful debriefing (nothing happened) and afterward, Chielyth's agitating for more flying, sending the younger pair off for more acrobatics with repeated assurances of 'after supper'.
When: It is a summer afternoon, day 2, month 7, turn 21 of Interval 10.
Where: Starstones, FTW
What: Kai's still fretting over Chielyth. G'dri offers to snoop on his behalf.
Starstones, Fort Weyr
The Star Stones are located on a kind of stone platform on the rim of the bowl, with the time-honoured Finger Rock, Star Stone, and Eye Rock in their respective places. It's also a perfect vantage point to observe the goings on of the bowl far below. A watchdragon is generally posted here in addition to a few other choice locations along the rim of the Weyr.
Lovely summer day, just the thing for flying about, right? Right! Which might be the reason that the star stones are populated only by B'kaiv, instead of the pair. That flash of green just above the mountains and barely visible - that might be Chielyth, but if so, Kai's not watching her. Then again, he's not watching the skies, either, but is tucked up against the wall and reading, knees bent up to provide at least a modicum of protection from the wind for the hide.
That brief shadow is not a fat fluffy cloud drifting between ground and sun, but a stocky and very much not fluffy old blue passing overhead. An easy bank brings Khameth around for a typical thump of a landing down the rim a little way. Unsurprising perhaps that this particular dragon would choose the Star Stones as a place to bask aging muscles and bones in the sunshine, what with the wonderful view down into the Bowl to observe the bustle and business of weyrfolk and dragons alike. That he's brought his rider with today, is slightly more unusual. But strap fastenings clink together as they're released, and G'dri's voice is audible even if actual words can't be made out as he slides down his lifemate's shoulder. It's Khameth's whirling eye for detail that spots Kai tucked up against the wall first, a rumbling chuff of sound expelled in the greenrider's direction before his rider ducks around his chest. "Kai?"
B'kaiv is a very bad watchrider today: he doesn't look up from his scowling version of reading at the thump, nor the jingle of straps, nor even the blue's quiet rumble. His name, though, that does break his concentration and yank him, blinking, back to the here and now. It's Khameth he focuses on first, and if that's Khameth, then somewhere around here must be... "'Dri!" He doesn't quite scramble to his feet, but makes quick work of rolling up the hide before pushing upright. "Hey." Louder, "She's off flying, Khameth, you wanna go find her."
"Are you actually on duty?" The question posed with a dubious lilt to it as G'dri takes a further moment to look around at the absence of anyone else. "Or just acting as a warm body?" Unsurprisingly, his smile is warm and wide, and he doesn't ask anything nosy even if he does glance towards the rolled hide in Kai's hand for a second. "He had some of the younglings out earlier," the bluerider explains as behind him, Khameth stretches his neck and wings out, gives himself a shake and whumphs down on his belly. Not. Moving. But muted jungle greens and golds unwind into mental feelers, pushed outward with gentle purpose in search of a particular spark of brightness. << Are you enjoying yourself out there? >>
"Uh," is Kai's non-answer, though his quick, guilty look around at the airspace might serve as a better one. "Sorta. Had sweeps earlier, an' Sp'ger asked me t' watch for a bit. I ain't on th' schedule or nothing." He catches and follows that look to the hide but Khameth's heavy lie down is what catches his attention first. "Got you all tired out, huh ol' man," says he, voice warm. "Maybe she'll be nice an' come back." Only then is it back to Khameth's rider with a wry grimace and display of his work. "Yeah. Healing again. Just 'cause I ain't gonna ask no healers about her 'til fall don't mean I ain't thinking about it." Jungle heaviness is met with bright summer sunshine and a stomach-clenching swoop. << Yup! You should come fly only Kai says you're tired? >>
G'dri just laughs and shakes his head, and finds a bit of stone to prop himself up with near to the greenrider. "How long until you're relieved? Full shift, or just a partial stint?" There's a pause while he tilts his head in an attitude of listening, ending with a fond look over at the blue who's now quite comfy with his head hanging over the lip of the wall. Obligingly, he relates, "They are delightfully energetic and eager to test themselves, always in search of extending their limits. They grow well and strong." Blue eyes roll with amusement, to take in the pretty sky before settling back on Kai's face, laugh lines deep at their corners. "Until fall." It takes him a moment for the gears to switch, but then he's fully on board. "Has your own research uncovered anything useful to you, then? Or at least, reassuring?" The bright wings of shy avians flicker through shafts of light, their alien calls threading around the mellow sound of Khameth's laughter. << He says correctly. I have been out with the fledglings, strengthening their wings further. >> Flickered images of a pair of greens and the proudly anxious faces of their chosen boys.
If G'dri's going to settle B'kaiv will as well, back against the wall again but with his arms resting on his knees this time. "Just a hour or so. I think. He had this thing he had t' do." He's got a snort for weyrlings, but anything he'd say about them is derailed by the question about Chielyth. After a glance at the hide and shake of his head Kai looks back at the bluerider, mouth twisted. "Nah. Nothin' I didn't know already. All the ones I can read all say th' same." After a beat he adds - admits, "Nearly took a swing at At're earlier." Chielyth dips and swoops like a leaf on the wind, sharing the feeling with poor tired Khameth. << Yay! We were flying earlier. Did you go with Khazioth? I like Khazioth. We snuggle. >> Bronze blob curled up with green blob. << He's nice! >>
Eyebrows twitch upwards, but whatever thing Sp'ger had to do that was more important than standing his normal duty, G'dri doesn't ask if Kai was nosy enough to find out what it was. "I can probably convince him to stir if you'd like us to shove off before then." Crossing one ankle over the other, he settles a little further into his lean and lets his head fall forward slightly. His chin bobs in a nod to acknowledge the unhelpfulness of the scrolls. Taking a breath, he casts a sidelong look at Kai. "Why?" Master of divided attention, even as Khameth watches the absolutely /fascinating/ process of a wagon being unloaded down below, he also follows the shared sensation of Chielyth's flight with evident enjoyment. He might be a lacking in the energy to participate fully, but what can be shared is appreciated. << No, I was not with Khazioth today. He is most intent and earnest. >> Which might translate as nice, possibly. There's something like agreement in his soft-spoken words, at least. << Where did you fly, earlier? >>
B'kaiv only snorts at G'dri's offer and levels a 'yeah, right' look at the older man. "Thought he said something 'bout Chielyth," is why. "'Bout her being proddy, or something. Which she ain't." Maybe? Eyes flick to Khameth and back, like the blue would let it slip. Or know. "Only... shells, I dunno. Nothin' happened. He was saying as how Khazioth wants him t' get laid, only he ain't gonna yet." A shrug of his shoulders, and it's all Greek to him. << Um um um. >> Where -did- they go? The little green lets the thread of communication drop entirely to avoid a sudden tree, picks it up again when branches are only a memory. << Peyton! >> Yay for Peyton! << I like it there. >>
Like the blue would even notice. Khameth has that bad tendency to miss the forest for the trees. G'dri lifts a hand to his face, rubbing at the side of his jaw as he squints down at the greenrider. "Kai," he starts slowly, quietly. "I'm glad nothing happened. Remember, mating flights and proddiness haven't been truly addressed at this point in their training, and with so many Holdbred in the latest clutch, much of what they think they know is ignorant hearsay and what they may have picked up from informal conversation with riders up to this point." So please continue to show restraint if anyone else runs their mouth, would be the underlying message. He hasn't much more than a couple of slow blinks for what pretty much amounts to, well, gossip. "That Khazioth is... remarkably straightforward without actually being precocious. They seem a solid match, with the strength of their individual personalities." Which happily manages to avoid all mention of undersexed weyrlings. << You are all right? >> is the first most important thing to be said after Chielyth re-establishes that mental link, dark green fronds waving with the slow rustle of Khameth's concern. << Peyton. Ah, yes. There is interesting terrain there, and a different routine to be found, watching those who reside there. >>
The greenrider grimaces again and looks away with a nod, stares at his knees for a few seconds. "Yeah, I. I didn't do nothing. An' he took it back." His look back up is hesitant - is he forgiven? "Gonna be big - Khazioth. He's same size as Chielyth already. Told At're we'd go flying sometime, once he got th' okay an' all. So he can see what a grown green can do, 'stead of th' weyrlings. Just don't want him messing up his wings or nothing." Off-handed, "He ain't too bad, for a bronzerider. This is th' first time I wanted t' hit him." Unlike -other-, unnamed bronzeriders. Chielyth chirps back, << Yup! There was a tree only I didn't hit it. We had lots of fun only we didn't see anything strange Kai says. He says Mecaith wants to know especially only there wasn't. >>
A moment passes, and then G'dri pushes out of his lean long enough to fold his legs and sit down next to Kai. Another lean then, this time sideways as he aims to bump his shoulder lightly against the younger man's. "Sorry. I can't seem to get fully out of instructor mode these days," he says with quiet wryness. "Heh, yeah he will be. Unless he slows down suddenly, he'll reach the larger end I expect. She's going to tie him knots." Amused and fond, ending with a chuckle. "I haven't gotten a sense that he's particularly competitive. For all his youth, he might be smart enough not to strain himself attempting to match her. Kai." Uh oh, there's that mildly reproachful tone again. "I could almost understand that if you said 'for a Holder's son' instead of 'for a bronzerider.' I'd've expected you to have more of a problem with him because of his family, considering your feelings about that." Khameth's mental touch develops a small tendril of silvery mist, for his own comfort it seems at the thought of the sprightly green crashing into branches. << Focus. >> He's as bad as his rider. << Mecaith does? What sort of strange? >>
B'kaiv watches G'dri come over, but it's not until the older man is settled and the bump returned that the corners of his mouth twitch up. "Yeah. S'a'right. First time I met you you was teaching. Ain't like I expect you t' stop now." Teasing back, though at the change of tone he stiffens and regards his knees again. "Yeah, well, he ain't no Holder's son no more, is he. Ain't like I go outta my way t' punch Holders, an' anyway, we ain't heard nothing outta Gar for a while. So maybe he's right, an' it ain't got nothing t' do with him." Chielyth catches up that silver thread and drags it behind her, tangling it in branches and over rocks, providing a trail to bring her back home. << Um... >> She narrows their contact down like a tunnel, with the sense of draping sheets over things left better hidden. << ...It's really fun to fly are you sure you don't want to come with me? Or! I could come back and we could cuddle and then Kai could get laid! >>
A rather odd expression crosses G'dri's face. It's entirely possible that for however long his name has been on That List, he never quite thought of it in exactly that way. Kai may actually have just succeeded in embarrassing the older man, just a little bit, the bluerider ducking his head down and pushing his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, well." Unconscious echoing of the greenrider's own speech patterns, his lips pulling into a smile as he peeks across at Kai, eyes sparkling. Eventually he leans back again, tilts his face towards the sun and aims another nudge over, this time with his elbow. "A good thing too, though some Holders could probably do with a good smack upside the head. What--" What, gets left unsaid, as he suddenly twitches a look over at Khameth, innocently swinging his tail back and forth, and then promptly bursts into full on belly laughter. Somebody shared. Somebody also has let those mists remain, as ever intrigued and amused by the way Chielyth does such things. << It was never that I didn't want to fly with you, dear Chielyth. Simply that I have flown too much today. >> And while he'd been keeping it from her, he does share now a little bit of the ache in wing and back muscles. He's gotten a good workout already! << And the stone here is warm with sunlight, but the winds provide a pleasant contrast against one's hide. >> That sensation is shared more fully, with a little edge of encouragement. As for what their riders might get up to... that he just leaves be.
When no further chiding arises B'kaiv slowly relaxes from his hunch and even manages a brief echo of G'dri's smile that blossoms further for the nudge. "Looking t' get your own self smacked," he claims, lying through his teeth, and is probably trying to figure out where he can put his hand on the bluerider without things turning awkward when G'dri bursts out laughing. "What?" Chielyth didn't share, or at least didn't share /that/; instead she tries to mask relief under another burst of sunshine and airspeed. << Oh! Well, I'll come back then and we can cuddle and maybe we'll see Khazioth! >> Obligingly she dips into a canyon before angling up, providing a scribbly movie documentary of her return journey. Here's trees, and rocks, and more rocks, and more trees, and a flock of bounding things...
"Chielyth," G'dri manages to gasp after several moments wherein any attempt at drawing a full breath only results in more laughter, "just made a suggestion." What suggestion doesn't actually get articulated, lost as he is in a broad and really rather mischievous grin directed at B'kaiv. "I'm curious if it came from your head, or if she's been getting ideas from certain young dragons." A clue, at least. He shifts a bit, a slightly stiff adjustment to try to find a softer patch of stone, or at least a more comfortable angle to sit at. If it ends up scooting him a teensy bit closer to Kai well, that's okay isn't it? << Perhaps, during the course of his duties this afternoon. >> Khameth does stir himself, repositioning so he's not quite so precariously close to the edge of the world, and settling slightly onto one side. Creating a curve against which Chielyth can lean as soon as she arrives, whilst mentally following the images she shares. << It's in the hollows, the shadowed places, where truly interesting oddities can be found, >> he offers, though there's definite distraction for that flock of bounding things. What kind of bounding things?
A suggestion? Up go Kai's eyebrows as he waits for elucidation; when none arrives he glances to where Chielyth isn't yet in view, then back to G'dri, now looking slightly wrong-footed. "Oh. Yeah, um. Think she's got it in her head from earlier - I told her what me an' At're'd been talking about. Ain't gonna say /no/," he's quick to add, and when he ducks his head this time it's from an emotion that isn't - quite - embarrassment. "S'just... it's nice t' talk t' somebody sometimes too without having t' worry about nothing." His green circles one of those shadowy places where a rill bounces merrily - does he want her to stay and investigate? But no, bounding things are more fun yay, and an extremely nervous flock of goats are overflown and scattered.
G'dri's amusement gets pretty firmly chased away, as he tilts a considering look at Kai from beneath brows knitted into a small frown. "Worry?" he asks in prompting fashion. Definitely an unexpected turn, but now that it's been brought up it gains the bluerider's full attention. Even Khameth is slightly distracted by the interplay between the two men, a tendril of his attention diverting to his rider at the sudden shift in mood. But mostly, he's paying attention to Chielyth, and flahses of bright red and green and a vibrant blue dart between dusty shafts of light. << Gamey, crunchy creatures. Interesting to watch though. >> Naturally its food first, behavior second, even for him.
"Just...," Kai starts and stops, frowning at his inability to find the right words, even with his hands trying to help. "Don't gotta watch myself with you," is what he finally comes up with. "You ain't... you don't. --Shells, G'dri! I don't gotta worry about saying nothing and you taking it wrong." Despite immediate evidence to the contrary. Explanation over, he sags back against the wall, exhausted from his struggle with coherence, and offers over both a small smile and an upturned palm a second later. "You got weyrlings later? After supper?"
G'dri doesn't try to guess at anything or offer words through the struggle, just listens patiently and once Kai's done, he looks decidedly relieved. "Mostly," is his quiet acknowledgement of the very recent misunderstanding on his part. The upturned palm is eyed for only the barest fraction of a second, his own hand promptly lifted and extended to meet it. "I didn't mean to--" He stops, frowns again. 'Upset' might not be the right word, and even his vocabulary seems to have its limits. Shoulders lifting in a shrug, he falls back on a warm smile and quirked brows. "No, I'm not on duty tonight. Would you like to come over? Or.. go somewhere?"
B'kaiv echoes, "Mostly," with a nod and closes his fingers around G'dri's own when finally the twain have met. "Thought maybe as we could go somewhere an' talk, but if you wanna stay in I don't mind that neither. You still playing cards with Jasper? I been reading so much lately feels like my head's full." The forgotten hide is lifted and wryly waggled: poor hide. Poor Kai's head. "Don't really care what we do. Could even bring all them rocks of Khameth's over," he adds, pitching his voice a bit louder for the blue's sake. A few seconds later Chielyth swoops up off the cliff - surprise! - and hangs there for a second before settling neatly in the curl Khameth's left just for her. << Hi! >> she offers and nuzzles his neck, tucks her legs beneath and turns a smug face on their riders.
Khameth obligingly lifts his head to send another rumbly chuff of vocalization at the greenrider, which makes G'dri laugh and answer that comment first: "I'm to tell you he has several lovely ones in mind he thinks Chielyth will enjoy, for their patterns." And pause and then, "And possibly for the stories that go with them, but I didn't really catch that thought from him. --I have been so involved with the weyrlings I don't think I've actually left the Weyr since they Impressed," he continues after a moment of thought. He really can't seem to remember the last time he saw the outside of Fort's Bowl -- or more recently, anything beyond the immediate environs around the Weyr. "So I certainly wouldn't mind going somewhere. What were you thinking? Someplace that's been settled, or somewhere out away from people entirely?" The vocals from the blocky blue as Chielyth pops into view is a less rumbly, cheerful-sounding warble of greeting. << A truly lovely entrance, as always, >> he compliments her landing, lifting his wing and extending it slightly over her back after she's settled. His neck curves to briefly touch noses with her, before he finds that nice rock he was using as a chin rest earlier.
"We got th' room - an' I'm sure Chielyth wants t' hear th' stories," Kai tells both of the others, and if his voice is fond, well, he's talking about Chielyth, isn't he? The greenrider stretches out each leg in turn, idly watching them before tipping a smile up and over at G'dri. "Ain't really thinking of nothing. I'm just tired of sitting alone an' reading. Whatever you wanna do's fine with me. --Could go t' Ruatha," he adds after his own moment of thought. "Or up t' th' Reaches. Catch a couple beers an' all." His smile warms when Chielyth arrives and is promptly claimed by the blue, though soon enough it fades, especially after another glance over at G'dri. No prompting required to make him spill, though: "Shells. Wish I could stop nagging on when she's gonna rise."
"I'm just reluctant to take over any of your space," G'dri admits, his fingers curling a little closer around Kai's hand. Brows lift and he nods. "Oh, I can definitely understand that. There's only so much of one's own company that can be taken." Even when one is technically two, or perhaps especially then, a larger circle for thoughts to spin in. "She's got those friends at the Reaches, yeah? Might keep her happy if she's particularly energetic and he's still playing at being decrepit. And if he's not, there's some canyons in the mountains a ways north of there he's been reminded of, and wants to share with her." He too, watches as green and blue curl together, and mixed in with his own fondness is a bit of bemusement too. He turns back to Kai, trying for reassuring in his expression and voice both. "I know. I wish I knew more, had bothered to really study and could actually tell you something useful. Something that doesn't just sound like a meaningless platitude."
B'kaiv points out, "Ain't like I'm doing nothing with it." He doesn't even store his socks on those handy shelves. "Th' place is too big for me. S'better with." But again he stops, smile gone thin, and turns gladly to the Reaches as a distraction. "Yeah. Wyaeth an' Corvinth. Plus whoever else she meets." Because Chielyth is a social butterfly, even if her rider is a social boulder. As for the apology, he attempts to shrug it off with one lifted shoulder that rises, falls. "Yeah. Told Hattie as I wouldn't ask th' healers t' look at her until fall. Only now if I ain't wondering if she's proddy, I'm wishing it wouldn't be summer no more and shells, after /last/ winter, that ain't nothing I want t' do!"
Kai isn't the only one looking discomfitted, and G'dri doesn't attempt to prompt him to finish that aborted sentence. No, the bluerider is preoccupied with an itchy jaw, the heel of his free hand rubbing over his skin. Clearing his throat, he nods a little. "Right. It'd have to be a truly bad tempered dragon I think, not to take a shine to her." Something he's said before, but apparently it really needs to be repeated. "You know Kai, if it's that much on your mind, there's no reason you /have/ to wait until the autumn. Speak to them now, give them time to consult whatever books or scrolls they have that aren't given over to just anyone for reading if they need to. anything to stop you from wishing an early winter on us all." Eyes crinkle with a smile, that last an attempt at making a joke.
B'kaiv sighs heavily and lets his eyes drift to the sky and a passing cloud, ignoring both itchy skin and Chielyth's curious eyes. "Yeah. Or one with a sharding prick for a rider. I just - shells, 'Dri. I told Hattie I'd wait. Asked her, as a dragonhealer, an' she said as I should wait. I don't want t' go back on my word even if... well, even if I wanna." He drops the hide into his lap but doesn't watch it partially unfurl; instead he's still watching the sky while his now-free hand runs back over hair until it finds the wall. "I know I'm being a wherry about it an' people is right t' laugh at me. I just wish there was a way of knowing she's all right. I ask her an' she says as she ain't ready t' fly like that yet, when she says anything at all."
G'dri, wisely, doesn't follow up on that first sentence. "Ahh, now I see. I can't even pretend to imagine how frustrating this must be for you. There's always some anxiety around the first flight, the first chase, but this--" Well, by averages she's overdue, though averages and statistics don't really mean too much in the grand scheme of specific situations. Firmly, "No, Kai, no is 'right' to laugh at you. Your concern is genuine, you love her and you worry that she's healthy. There is nothing humourous in that, and certainly nothing that should be mocked." Scowling, he directs his own gaze out towards the airspace above the Bowl, wathcing the flickering dots of nearby firelizards and the larger forms of the occasional dragon rising towards or gliding down from a weyr. "Trust her. I don't know how they do, but dragons know. If she says she isn't ready yet... well then. It's pretty straightforward, eh?"
A gentle thump of head to wall is followed by another but no more. Instead Kai turns to watch the bluerider speak; winces at his vehement negation but doesn't try to deny anything. Perhaps it's the absentminded scowling that leaves Kai brave enough to keep watching G'dri, but whatever the reason, he doesn't look away again. "Maybe." He doesn't sound convinced. "How's she know, though? Ain't like she's never done it before." Still he shrugs, fumbles for the hide and offers it over. "You wanna take a look, see if you see anything I ain't? Don't got t' do it now or nothing. Just when you got time."
"Wish I could tell you," G'dri says, sending the words out on a breath that wants to be a sigh. He turns his head a little further, sending a glance over at the scarred haunch of his perfectly content blue, who twitches his tail slightly but to all appearances is just dozing in that happy cuddle. "He's no help. He can't even remember the last green he chased, nevermind caught. My own memory of his first one is hazy at best. But I don't think it's anything they can explain to us. For all their very real intelligence, there is still that about them which is animal, and instinct. They trust that." The scowl has faded by the time he looks back at B'kaiv, his shoulders lifting upward in a helpless shrug in echo of the greenrider's own. "I will, of course," he says with a nod, reaching out to take the hide and automatically neaten it into a compact and tidy roll. "Do you want me to not mention this, even without bringing your names up? I can easily use the excuse of needing to brush up on the technicalities to talk things over with some friends of mine."
B'kaiv snorts a laugh, since nobody knows, breathes a sigh of his own. "Didn't think he chased no more. Hope he ain't... hope he don't get hurt." Assuming Khameth's going to chase - safe, or folly? But the hide's gone and that does bring another smile, as well as a, "Thanks." When G'dri makes the offer he winces and looks over to his green, for all intents and purposes perfectly happy to cuddle instead of flying all over creation. Does he want him to ask? "--Yeah," he decides, and only then looks back, retrieving his hand to stand and offer the same hand back down. "Yeah. So long as Hattie don't find out. Don't see why she would, though." And in a complete break of both topic and mood, "Meet you after supper? We can decide if we're going up t' th' Reaches then or not."
G'dri can't help the chuckle that escapes. "He never chased often, and he chases far less now than he used to. But there are some still, that engage his interest enough to make him try. He's not /that/ old and decrepit." Folly probably, if only because he doesn't stand much chance at all against the younger, spritelier males since he's not one for devious tricks. Unnecessarily, "I will be discreet, at all times. And if /I/ and the one asking, -you- are not breaking your word." Khameth's rider however, might be a little dodgy. Accepting that hand up with a smile of thanks, the elder man stretches his spine once his feet are under him again, though he aims to keep hold of Kai's hand if he can. "After supper, yes. And Kai--" Very daring, the step close and the brief kiss offered. "it /will/ be alright in the end."
Reluctant to let go, perhaps B'kaiv was half-expecting the kiss - he doesn't back up, and even steps in for a quick hug and a thump to the older man's back. "Thanks. I know you are. Discreet, an' all." Otherwise would his name have been on the list in the first place? Hand goes over his hair again as he steps back, turns his eyes where approaching wings cast a shadow. "Hey, he's back. Thanks for coming up, 'Dri, an'... an' for everything." Anything more is postponed by the Sp'ger's arrival and the needful debriefing (nothing happened) and afterward, Chielyth's agitating for more flying, sending the younger pair off for more acrobatics with repeated assurances of 'after supper'.