The following is a log of roleplay on Star Stones MOO, logged by D'ney.
All references to the world and characters of Pern™ based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction
are copyright© 1967 by Anne McCaffrey, all rights reserved. The Dragonriders of Pern® is
registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, by Anne McCaffrey and used here with
permission.
Weyr Baths
Steam billows out of the bathing chambers whenever the flap of wherhide
closing it off from the rest of the Weyr is lifted, the loss in no way
appreciably diminishing the warmth and comforting humidity within the
chamber. Several baths line the walls, each with a shallow end about adult
waist-height and a deep end in which a tall man can comfortably completely
submerge; steps lead into and out of the shallow ends. Niches are carved in
the smooth stone lining the baths and are filled with different soaps,
sweet-sands, and various other implements that might aid in the cleansing of
the Weyr's population. Towel racks placed conveniently next to the bath
steps allow one to have as much modesty as they wish when transferring from
fogged air to warm water.
Halis, Mhare, L'itha, and Caitlin are here.
From here you can go:
Lower Caverns
The current weather report:
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IgenW: Center Bowl Area (#5491)
It is a clear, crisp evening It is a winter evening.
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L'itha slips into the baths. Her own bathing chamber is nicer yes...but she
needs more towels, and until she can get more towels, she'll just use the
weyr baths. Or something. Giving a polite wave to Halis the BlueRider strips
down to nothing. Nope, she could care less who sees her. Clothes set aside
nicely, Li settles into the bath. Ah yes, this is nice.
Caitlin slings jacket onto a hook and slowly wriggles out of the rest of her
clothing. All matter of fact, everyone here is here to bathe and well one
needs to be naked to bathe so nothing to be ashamed about. Clothing is hung
up on the hook, towel selected and placed where it won't get wet but is
easily accessible once she returns from her bath and then she walks down the
steps into the baths, the one with others in it already. Nothing like a
communal bathing session is there. She nods and says a soft gentle "hello"
but nothing else to disturb the soaking session.
D'ney ducks in, past the flap separating one chamber from another, and
immediately starts harassing the pair of weyrkids near the towel racks who
are flicking water at each other. "Can't have slippery stones about," she
complains, flapping a skinny hand towards them, before grabbing a towel for
herself. A moment later, she too is striding in the direction of the first
pool.
Halis opens one eye to peer at the latest arrivals, "Ello all." She grins
over at L'itha, "Not too sleepy from this morning's sweeps are ya?" She
winks before spotting D'ney, "D'neybabe!" Ah the bond between clutchmates
... or at least the riders of the clutchmates ... oh let's just move on.
L'itha nods to Caitlin with a lazy smile on her lips. Yes, this is the life.
Just soaking and relaxing after a long day of drills and such. She giggles a
bit at Halis, "Oh no...not me." She gives the fellow bluerider a wink.
Oh...and yet another person shows up. Must be a good idea to bathe today or
something. A smile is sent towards D'ney too as well as a nod. Then the
blueRider slips under the water to wet her hair, reappearing with the same
smile on her lips. Gotta love bathing.
Caitlin laughs softly "Indeed, who wants to bathe alone? What's the fun of
that, one needs someone to wash one's back and gossip with." She eyes the
dismissal of the weyrbrats and nods approvingly seeing they were getting to
close to her own clothes and no one likes wet leathers. She dips her head
back and her curly mane is tamed into wet locks that drape around her head
and she looks around for somethign with which to start scrubbing.
D'ney has on her robes this evening, though the eternal reek of firestone
still lingers about her person -- she pauses before the baths' ledge to
wriggle out of these, tossing the accompanying sandals into a suitable niche.
"Halis, is that you?" the small brownrider's voice hails, cordial enough for
the day and time. She's without her lifemate today, but it will do.
Mhare falls alseep. Uh.
Halis giggles at L'itha, "Well, I am. We all rode hard this morning."
Fingers waggle at Caitlin, "For saying that, I volunteer you to scrub mine
first." She winks teasingly before smiling at D'ney, "Of course it's me ya
git. I haven't changed that much. Why does no one recognise me lately?"
Yes, she's been getting 'Halis is that you?' an awful lot lately.
L'itha smiles and stretches a bit. Hm...yes, maybe she should start scrubbing
and get that part over with. After finding a suitable amount of soapsand
nearby she starts scrubbing what she can reach, the shoulders, neck, etc.
etc. For the moment she'll just be silent and listen and see if she can catch
any gossip. That is, if there is any to catch.
Caitlin grins at Halis and raises eyebrows "Indeed, you do so volunteer me and
what will my return favour be." She laughs and trails after L'itha for her
own handful of soapsand and begins soaping up her hair, piling it ontop of
her head. "I think I could be condusive to a fair arrangement Halis."
D'ney spoke without much circumspection, and Halis /was/ some distance away.
She remedies that now by scampering closer, leaving the untidy pile of things
in the corner. "Couldn't see you," she clips out, lowering her head to
better examine the faces. "But now I can. And you haven't changed at all."
For L'itha, there's a second glance, somewhat blank in nature.
D'ney
Desert-born and -burnt, dusk shades her in, settling over shoulders broad in
comparison to her slight build and tanning lanky arms a rusty brown.
Vigilant angles heighten the harsh peaks and abrupt gullies on her face,
accenting pinched features drawn by a miser's brush; the same quirk of
bloodline informs the boyish figure, paring skin close against bone. Below
forehead's darkness, a primal acidity informs hazel eyes, capped by stubborn
mahogany curls shorn ragged at ear-level, but flaring freely, fiercely, into
a rider's easy agility and a controlled drawl.
Feather-light, a swash of light brown robes her, tucked in at the appropriate
places and bearing the Duneraider wingpatch at the lee of one shoulder. The
design is simple, conspicuous almost for its lack of one, and the result
clings drearily to point of shoulder, curve of arm, trailing down to her
kneecaps, there to be matched by a pair of cut-off sandals.
She is awake and looks alert.
Cheery--for her.
Halis grins at D'ney, "Good, come join us." She then smiles impishly at
Caitlin, "Well, you'd get a return scrub at the very least."
L'itha giggles at both Caitlin and Halis before soaping up her own hair.
Hm...just one look at this little gathering and certain guys' thoughts would
go wild. She smiles to herself and goes back to listening for a bit.
Caitlin grins and nods "Sure, just let me rinse this muck out of my hair if
you really want." She grins "Because I cannot resist having my own back
scrubbed." She tosses a look at L'itha, wondering at the giggle and winks
and then ducks under the water, rinsing out the suds she had rubbed out, hair
floating in the water.
D'ney does enter the water, even as the action is being recommended. A simple
spring from dark limbs, and she submerges, leaving blossoming flowers of
spray to mark her passage. Emerging head-first, she fobs a snort at Halis --
oh-so-eloquent as usual -- then sets her whole unwomanly length to plowing
sweetsand-wards. (Gotta get those before someone else does!)
A'rian has arrived.
Halis giggles, "So you'll do mine first then dear?" Aww, it's the cutsie
look. Everyone run and hide. She smiles over at D'ney, "How've you been
then dear?"
A'rian is missing -- Ready the milk cartons!
L'itha does the same as Cait once again, rinsing out the soapsand from her
golden-blonde hair. Now...to get her back done. "Would someone mind scrubbing
my back when they can?" she asks politely and with a smile.
Caitlin grins and moves through the water towards Halis, her hair tamed for
once around her head "I don't know, seems to me you have the better end of
the deal, how do I know you won't run out on me when it's my turn." She
grins teasingly and gestures "Turn around then." She glances over at L'itha
"Got to get in quick nowadays." She glances up to see A'rian poke his head
in and then out "Well we almost got you a likely candidate but he seems to
have run out, what with all these girls in here."
Mhare wakes up with a start. Erk.
First babe, and then 'dear'? D'ney could choke under such terms of
endearment. She swallows, instead, and palms sweetsand off the ledge. "Save
your flirting for the bronzeriders, Halis." She's said it before, surely.
"It's wasted on me. Been doing the usual. Leathers, drills, sweeps," goes
the recitation, not without satisfaction. And she adds matter-of-factly to
ongoing matters, "S'pose you should return the backscrub."
Halis laughs at D'ney, "You know that I flirt with everyone, not just
bronzers." Though if she tried to add another to her weyr it'd get rather
crowded. She gives her back to Caitlin, "I promise I won't skip out on you
deary."
L'itha also catches Adri sticking his head in and then out. Darn. Well, she'll
catch him later...most likely at her own weyr. Li grins to herself and goes
back to scrubbing what she can reach, "Of course I'll return the backscrub if
someone would scrub mine." Yes, of course. It's only polite.
Mhare prances in from the lower caverns, trailing a fruit scent and hauling
along a pair of equally smelly lizards. "Who'd have thought Aino'd get big
enough to tip a bottle that full, Usa?" The green creels adorably, the brown
snorts in agitation. "No worries, Mo. We'll all smell fine soon enough; see?
We're even going to take a bath." The arm the brown's perched on is waved
slightly so he can see. "A peaceful ba -- er." Wait. Was that a voice?
Brownlet peers around blearily. "I interrupting something?" Can't ever be too
cautious.
Caitlin grins "So don't feel too special D'ney, if she flirts with all..."
She winks and then begins to scrub away at Halis' back, gently at first
smoothing the sweetsand on and she grins at Halis "Glad to hear that, I
expect due recompense." She grins as she turns to see who has joined them
"Interrupt what? us bathing?" She laughs and shakes her head "Always room
for one or two more"
D'ney strokes out a little way, slightly nearer the trio. It's a good thing
the pool is shallow here, or she'd have to swim all the way. Once there, she
sprinkles a liberal dosage of sweetsand and sets to swaddling herself in the
scents, raising her voice to call out a rejoinder: "I'd rather not be."
Special, that is. She stares at the firelizards, including the shadowy Mhare
in the gaze for a moment. "What are /those/ doing here?"
Halis grins impishly, "D'neybabe will always be special." She winks and then
gives into the relaxation of the scrubbing, calling L'itha over, "Come on
over then. Let your wingsecond scrub your back."
L'itha grins at Mhare, "How could you interrupt a bath?" Silly brownrider. She
grins at Halis, "Alright. Thanks." And she makes her way to Halis, settling
in a spot so the wingsecond can scrub her back. At this moment Li is really
feeling like she's part of some big family. Awww.
Mhare balances carefully against the wall, depositing Usa and Mo on a tower of
towels and awkwardly trying to get her boots off. "Just thought I'd make
sure, y'now. It's too foggy in here for me to tell ..." She peers blearily in
D'ney's voice's direction. "They stink, too! They can air out in here -- and
Usa's too dumb to be let off alone." Off come the boots, and Mhare wiggles
out of her leathers, revealing a brilliantly yellow swimsuit as she steps
into the water. "She'd eat something."
Caitlin smiles and rubs the sweetsand in, a little of a massage been given to
shoulders for good measure and then she stopos "THere you go, rinsing time, I
don't do that job." She gently gives Halis a little push and ducks under the
water again.
D'ney should have gotten used to the nickname by now. She mock-scowls at
Halis, though, pulling back her lips almost ferociously. "Rather not be,"
she repeats like a petulant child -- one being scolded by its mother, if the
metaphor holds true. The wingsecond turns that expression to the unfortunate
Mhare, even if her suggestion is intended to be kind. "There /is/ a smell.
Thought it was someone else. Dunk them in here."
Halis awws as Caitlin announces she's done, "Already?" She sinks below to
rinse off before returning and commenting, "I'll scrub at you once I'm done
with L'itha here. Though I should get extra pampering for all this scrubbing
I'm doing."
Caitlin smiles and tilts her head "Well perhaps I could be persuaded to be
nicer and keep going but I was only asked for a back scrub not a massage. I
only do what I am asked to do." SHe grins impishly and settles back into a
niche, leaning against the wall, allowing legs to flow freely through the
water.
L'itha giggles at Halis, "You probably will." And she winks at the fellow
bluerider. No...she's not flirting or anything, just being friendly. Riiight.
Ahem.
"No, it's me." Mhare's willing to admit she's stinky, at least. That's always
a plus. "And that's what I was /gonna/ do. After they, y'know, aired out."
The towel-tower tumbles, and the pair of lizards barely manage to keep from
hitting the ground -- they promptly zip to Mhare, who grabs them awkwardly
and dunks them in the water for a moment. "Which would be now." Sputter, go
the resurfacing lizards. Ahem.
Since D'ney has been let off the hook for the moment, she turns to the newly
arrived Mhare and a generous helping of Tact. "They stink," she echoes from
the water, "But a good washing will help. Used to do it all the time." An
approving nod. "Yeah, that. They can swim alright, even with the wings."
Halis sticks her tongue out at no one in particular before finishing up
L'itha, "There you go deary. Now then, Cait, c'mere."
Caitlin grins at Mhare "Got to train them to wash themselves or while washing
your dragon grab them and give them a good clean?" She smiles and piles her
hair ontop of her head and moves out of her niche towards Halis "Glad to hear
it is my turn now"
Caitlin
Caitlin's face is full of animation, her pert mouth usually upturned into a
smile and her cat slanted grey-blue eyes reflecting her emotions, sparkling
with mirth or dark as a rain cloud when angry. Creamy-gold skin is topped
with black curls which fall softly over forehead to tickle over shoulders.
Curls that are usually in disarray due to her habit of constantly running her
fingers through her hair. Caitlin moves with subtle sensuality, her body full
of soft curves and long limbs, not ashamed of showing off her lean body. Long
fingers and hands move to punctuate her words.
A tight bodice, boned to support and emphasise Caitlin's lean form drapes
golden like over upper arms, leaving shoulders bar and slinking down to end
just above Caitlin's mid-riff, revealing a belly button. Long black pants
look like Caitlin was poured into them and then sewed into them. They rise
only as high as Caitlin's hips, helping to reveal a soft expanse of skin
across Caitlin's middle. Long black boots encase feet, ankles and lower legs.
A twist of cord, doubled together with silver thread shot through denotes
Caitlin as a Wingleader. Twined through the single loop and twisting around
the long tail is a mint green ribbon. Affixed to her shoulder is a badge of
the DuneRaider wing.
She is awake and looks alert.
Carrying:
Skyskimmer Badge, Caitlin Cauldron Egg
Smiling much too brightly
L'itha smiles and says, "Thank you very much." And then she rinses off.
Okay...now she's all clean. So, maybe she should go find Adri. Yup. She dips
her head under one more time before heading for the stairs, "I have some
things to take care of...If you need anything later on Halis then just let me
know." Wouldn't want to feel guilty for not giving back for the lovely
backscrub Hal gave her now would she? The blueRider quickly grabs a towel,
dries off, puts most of her clothes on, and heads out with a wave.
Mhare shrugs at Caitlin, dunking them again. "Usa can't clean herself. She
tries to eat things too much -- 'm afraid she'd get sick." She doesn't have a
plausible excuse for dunking Mobius, except for the fact that he stinks, too.
"Yeah, they swim okay." D'ney gets a brief nod. "Hope this helps. I don't
wanna have to sit here and dunk them forever.
L'itha walks, with a sex-ay sway to her hips, toward Lower Caverns.
"They wouldn't let you clean them forever," D'ney says, without smiling.
"'Sides, you'd need food and stuff." She's been busy with the scrubbing, in
the meantime, and progresses to rubbing at tanned arms now, bending till her
nose touches the water.
Halis scrubs at Caitlin, humming a little tune, she's compleatly lost track of
the conversations going on around her. Off in her own little world for the
moment.
Caitlin preens under the attention, tilting her head, enjoying the back scrub
and she smiles "Oh dear, not the brightest spark in the clutch then?" she
grins and nods her head "D'ney's right, cannot wash them forever, sooner or
later they have to fly the nest." She winks and then closes her eyes "That's
nice Halis"
Mhare lets Mobius float off on his own, now, as his teeth get a little too
close to her hands for comfort. Usako, however, is dunked again, and then
perched precariously on top of Mhare's head. "Usa's an idiot. She tried to
eat my finger, when I Impressed her." Mhare, however, has never yeilded to
any questions involving why she tried to feed Usa said finger in the first
place. "But she's cute ... yeah, I'd have to stop sometime. They'd get all
wrinkly." Right.
D'ney makes her sounds of assent in response. She isn't too skilful at
conversations, in the general case, and a confined grunt doesn't go down too
well all the time. The louder sound of splashing resumes, however, from her
end.
Halis smiles at Cait, "I've had plenty of practice so it should be. My
weyrmates seem to like when I get this spot just here ... how's that?" No
naughty thoughts from anyone ya'hear?
Caitlin sighs softly as a tight muscle is rubbed at and relaxed "Mmm that's
nice Halis, no wonder weyrmate is plural, no one should hog you to
themselves." She grins, her voice reflecting her teasing. "I think I should
come in here more often to have my back rubbed"
Mhare is much too wholesome for naughty thoughts, or so she'll claim. Really.
This would be why she hauls Usako off her head, and resumes with the dunking,
reigning Mobius in once more as he paddles close enough. "Stop snorting, Mo
-- no. You don't need bubbles." Dunk, dunk. "No bubbles for Mo." Dunk.
D'ney displays what is, for her, amusement at the sight of the foaming
'lizards. She waves hands over her head, presumably in encouragement.
"That's a very strong throw you have. Bet they'll smell good in no time."
It also looks like a good way to punish the creatures, if it ever comes to
that.
Halis giggles at Cait, "It's plural for other reasons, but we won't get into
that." She turns her head to peer at the dunking of the firelizards and
blinkies somewhat, "What /are/ you doing over there anyway?"
Caitlin ducks her head as a firelizard suddenly appears from between and
begins divebombing her head "What, get away from me." She pauses between
trying to bat the firelizard away and then recognises it for her own "You
telling me I cannot have a quiet bath without being summoned." She shakes
her head and breaks away from Halis, reluctantly and she turns and grins "No,
no need tog et into past history, I thank you for the back scrub but it looks
like it is I running off." She smiles and slinks out of the baths and begins
drying herself off prior to dressing and then leaving
Caitlin has disconnected.
Mhare huffs softly, rolling her eyes in slight exasperation in Halis's
direction. "They're /stinky./ I'm /cleaning/ them." They're dunked again; Usa
chitters with delight, while Mobius sulks ... sulkily. Mhare just smirks
happily at D'ney, pleased with the praise. "Thanks!"
D'ney will be the one getting wrinkly soon, if she doesn't climb up from this
pool. She shoves somewhat awkwardly against the assisting ledge, and
clambers up from thence, still admiring the pretty portrait. Practically an
art form, really. "Some more 'sand," she offers, "They like it on their
hides." So she thinks.
Mhare ponders this, then places Usako back on her head, reaching awkwardly for
a bag of soapsand and trying to keep Mobius from drowning with her free hand.
"Really? Alrighty ..." Half the bag is dumped on Mo, and he foams pleasantly
when she dunks him again. The brown just flails in response. "Aaaw, look,
he's making more bubbles." Reeally now.
D'ney ought to be clucking in sympathy in the brown about now, shouldn't she?
Instead, the short rider smirks affably at Mo as she wipes herself off with
quick, decisive movements. "Good bubbles." Look at those wings wave.
"Careful with the splashing, though." Wouldn't want the headwoman descending
on you, or something.
Halis has started to snooze in the warm water ... how exciting ...
Mhare is too amused by the foamygoodness. "Aw, he'll be fine."
Indeed, Mo resigns himself to the dunkings, and the foaming slows
considerably -- once it stops all together, she dunks him once more to rinse,
then lets him paddle off again, scooping Usa off her head and applying some
sand to her a little more carefully. "Your turn, Usako." Dunk, goes the
green, who's happy chirps continue. "She's not as fun as he is, I don't
think."
"Greens," D'ney derides, "never know what's right or wrong. What happens if
you let go?" With the towel slung over her shoulder, she leans over to check
on the firelizard's state. Modesty--was never an issue.
"I think she'd sink," Mhare states, keeping a wary eye on Mo as he wanders
closer to Halis. "Sink like a rock." She lets go experimentally, and Usa does
indeed drop below the surface; after a moment, however, she bobs back up, and
flounders awkwardly. "Fat lump." Mhare grabs the green, dunking her again
lovingly. "I can't even let her hunt by herself, too much."
Mhare
Mhare's frame is long and decidedly lanky; no hard-earned muscles to indicate
her position, no overly curvaceous figure to draw unwanted attention, though
she's finally sporting a lovely tan. Her five feet, ten inches are drawn up
to their fullest in a haughty display of height -- an appearance mimicked by
the pompous tilt of her head. Brownlet's facial features are hawkish: clearly
defined jawline and long, pointed noise do little to improve her looks.
However, they're offset -- and overshadowed -- by her wide, grey-blue eyes.
Mhare's pride has gotten the better of her once more, and her thick black
hair has grown long enough now to regain much of its' former curl; the fluffy
mass is settled just below her thin shoulders, and does much to help take the
focus off her sharp features.
A perfect match to the shade of her eyes -- periwinkle material has been
stitched and gathered into a simple, but very lovely, gather gown, the shade
and style quite flattering to Mhare's appearance. Sleeveless, it's held up by
a pair of darker, cyan-colored ribbons; a broader band of the same shade is
pulled around the empire waistline, tied in a neat bow in the back. It's
slinky, in a way -- form-hugging, but not too tight, with a modestly low
neckline. The skirt flares lightly, below the hip, accentuating the not-quite
exsistant curve; the periwinkle material has a high slit up the side,
revealing the darker underskirt beneath. A pair of cyan dress slippers adorn
her feet, and her thick curls are held up in a simple style with a few
ribbons and silver barettes.
Twin cords of Igen's shades twine tight, looped once 'round brownlet's
shoulders -- the lengthy tail indicates her position as a simple wingrider,
an ash-flecked thread of chestnut braided through for Vishkheth. There is no
wingbadge, as of yet.
She is awake, but has been staring off into space for 2 minutes.
Eighteen -- wingless -- will the upheavals never end?
Mhare just looked at you.
"But firelizards, they should take care of themselves," D'ney states,
argumentative in terminology if not tone. She watches the proceedings
closely, though, beady eyes bright. "She takes the leavings of the dragons,
doesn't she? -- You a weyrling?" So, manners do catch up with even her.
Mhare dunks Usako once more; frowning slightly and gnawing on her lip. "Usa
can hunt for herself," she says, after a moment. "But I've got to send one of
the others with her -- she always tries to eat odd things. I'm afraid she'd
make herself sick." Another dunk, and then Usa's released, and Mhare sinks a
little farther into the water, relaxing. "She eats the others' leftovers.
Caught herself a fish once, too, but I'm not sure if that was an accident or
what." Then there's a headshake. "Nah, not a weyrling. Graduated a couple of
sevendays ago, now."
"She's one of /those/, then," D'ney declares, waggling a disapproving finger
at Usako. "Dimglow 'lizards who eat anything they find. One of mine used to
bite my leathers, until I stopped him. And another claws hair." She rolls
her eyes scornfully to underscore the force of opinion, swaying the towel's
edge towards an elbow. "Couldn't live by herself if you left her alone."
And that's a bad thing. And she nods in understanding, if not recognition.
"Seen you around, I think."
Mhare nods sagely. "Yep, just like that. Usa'll eat just about anything -- if
it weren't for her appetite, she might be alright, sometimes. The others are
weird, too, just not about food." The green gets a light prod; she sways, but
tangles her claws carefully in Mhare's hair so she doesn't fall. "You may've.
I think you took me to Telgar, that one time, when I was still a Candidate --
used to be Mharikka, everyone calls me Mhare now."
Has Mobius sailed away in sheer relief? D'ney glances around to check on him,
gaze briefly catching on the kids who were harassing the towel racks earlier.
"They don't eat so badly if you watch their appetites," she says vaguely,
crinkling a smile at Mhare. "I don't watch mine so much. Mharikka? Mhare,
of course. They handed around the graduation list." Which she barely
glanced at, like any other report. "Yeah, I'm D'ney."
Mobius is trying to avoid Mhare. He's had enough dunking for the day. Mhare
seems unperturbed, and offers another beam. "Nice to meet you." Usa's prodded
once more, just to check that she's still there. "I let Mo and Ruka -- he's a
bronze -- do whatever they want, for the most part -- they're smart. Aino's
kinda small, though, even for a blue, so we've gotta be careful with him,
too. He's pretty spastic."
D'ney's lips twitch. "Well met. Did you Impress them," what's the word, "on
purpose? I used to have six of 'em, but they're all over now. We don't feed
them any more." Children's pets, she means in so many words.
"Usa and Mobius, yep." Mhare grabs Mobius, as he passes, and plants him on dry
land to better keep track of him. "Ruka was a gift from my brother and ...
Aino's egg just kind of showed up in the candidates' barracks, one day." She
blinks, expression puzzled. "I still can't figure out how that happened."
Halis blinks as she slips too far down in the water. A gurglie sound, as well
as some bubbles, errupt as she sits up, "Ack!" She peers about and shakes
her head, "One thing about falling asleep in your own baths is they aren't as
deep. I think I should head on back up to m'weyr. D'ney dear, you must
visit soon, won't take no for an answer. Mhare, it was lovely to see you as
well, if you want, you can visit, I won't stop you. And don't drown the
firelizards too long." She winks and hops out of the water, wrapping herself
up in a towel after bending to pick up her swimsuit. Yes, she's flying back
to her weyr in just a towel.
"A candidate might have thought it a good place, to keep eggs warm," D'ney
reasons. "Not many spots in the Weyr for eggs not to get trodden on. And
candidates like dragons, so maybe they like eggs too." A complicated piece of
logic from this quarter, now. Let it never be said that D'ney is dumb.
"--Later, Halis! We'll visit next sevenday."
Mhare wiggles her fingers after Halis, nodding slightly. "Bye, Halis! Sure,
I'll see if I can drop by sometime." Mhare's always up for visiting. D'ney's
commentary gets a faint hm in response. "Yeah, I guess so. Don't suppose you
could just dump it on the beach, or anything ... they like eggs? Maybe. We
had a buncha Candidates with proddy lizards, I think. Not sure what they did
with 'em all. Hoarded 'em, cooked 'em -- I'd see them one day, they'd be gone
the next. Odd." Dundunduun.
Halis walks with a returned spring to her steps, toward Lower Caverns.
"Tunnelsnakes," says D'ney, the voice of truth whether the fact be correct or
not. "Are 'lizard eggs good for eating? Never tried them. It isn't
/right/, though, eating firelizards. Wherries are different."
Mhare shudders. "Forgot about them. Don't we have tunnelsnake hunters,
though?" The thought of a critter burrowing around under her bed never struck
Mhare during Candidacy, it seems. "But ... eh. S'pose it would be
tunnelsnakes, if they didn't hatch." Shudder-twitch. "/Eating/? Dunno. I've
never had a 'lizard egg, myself -- s'just kinda creepy, really -- but I don't
suppose they'd be too different. Probably still edible, if you cooked them up
right." Mm-mm-good.
D'ney is also totally inane. It must be the time. She strides away for a
moment or two, returning with the heap of clothing held firmly in her arms.
"They don't get them all," she pronounces with relish, folding into a similar
heap -- of somewhat bony limbs -- beside Mhare's portion of the pool. "They
aren't scary. Just eggs, probably the same as other eggs. You could make
omelettes." Eggs aren't the point, you see. "It's what they grow into that
we don't eat. They look like dragons, and you don't eat dragons."
Mhare frowns, contemplating this. "I hadn't thought about that. I guess that's
why no one wants to eat them -- it would be a little odd, trying to explain
to your dragon why you just ate their ... their whatsit-lookalike."
D'ney could maybe be creepy herself, especially when she shows her teeth and
turns the nascent smile into a grin. (The horror!) "And Nhaeth likes the
little things a lot," she puts in, "Has them all over him when he gets his
bath, when he eats-- He'd hate it if I made one up for eating." Seeming to
realize her momentary chattiness, the wingrider pauses; wraps her robe around
her preparatory to shrugging into it.
Mhare takes a moment to examine her very wrinkly fingers. Arr. Time to get
out. "Vishkheth ... I think he tried to eat Aino, once. I'm still not sure
how he feels about the rest of him. He doesn't pay much attention." Usako is
set next to Mobius, and Mhare pulls herself out, grabbing for a towel. "But I
suppose he'd be a little irked if I ate one in front of him -- he and Mo seem
to get along."
The sandals can remain where they are, slung over the previously snowy-white
towel. D'ney leans into the short-legged crouch she's in, shifting her
weight to allow Mhare room to exit the pool. "Vishkheth," she echoes,
"surely wouldn't. Dragons can be stubborn at times."
Mhare wiggles back, drying off her calves and stubbornly trying to wiggle her
feet back into her boots. "I hope not. If he did, it was a while back -- Aino
kept trying to bite his headknobs." Squish, go the boots, and she sets to
folding her trousers and shirt up, setting her jacket aside. "But eating or
no, they're all stubborn, yep. Bah."
And now D'ney's been talking to a /girl/ in the baths for some time. But
things have changed, they have, and really, weyrlings don't count. The
Duneraider rises at last, striding wide a few steps forward before turning
back. "Yeah, they are. And there's no rider who won't say otherwise," she
declares, in the same thread, "Nhaeth's finished." Although she doesn't say
what.
Mhare stands, herself, donning her jacket before gathering up her things.
"We're just as stubborn as them, that's why." Then she frowns, briefly
disappointed -- Mhare was having fun, talking. "Gotta go? Guess I should,
too. Vishkheth's probably half asleep." Or scaring the fish. Whatever's
easier.
D'ney was avoiding that admission. "Have sweeps in the morning, Nhaeth and
I," she elaborates for Mhare's benefit -- and she'd take the 'fun' with
equanimity, were she to know -- "Have you joined a wing yet?" For drills and
the weary, weary things they do to riders.
Mhare shakes her head. "Nah. L'itha was the first of us tapped, I think, and
that was yesterday." She sulks, briefly. "Lucky." Then she shrugs again,
peering at D'ney. "You're a DuneRaider, right? I think I heard R'yh say
something about it." One of the few times she ever paid attention to him,
certainly.
D'ney, somewhere, somehow, missed the news that Mhare is related to R'yh. So
she nods with perfect ignorance. "Say something about what? Joining us,
then? We could use new riders. Fill up the wing properly."
Mhare would probably prefer D'ney not know, anyway. Aheh. At that question,
she stares, for a moment, contemplating this -- no dorky dance of victory,
this time. She must be sleepy. She does grin, though, and toothily, at that.
"Sure! That'd be great!" Mhare gets to work again. The joy, the glee, the
rapture of it all.
But why? Such gossip it would cause otherwise -- not from D'ney's lips,
though. Favouritism, perhaps? The brown-skinned one regards Mhare briefly.
"You like work? Don't see that often, in these new weyrlings. Your attitude
is great. But," and she looks a trifle displeased with this administration
necessity, "I have to check with my wingleader first. Got hidework we
haven't cleared up." She's been hiding from the paperwork again, y'see.
Nah. Nothing as interesting as nepotism. Mhare just thinks he's crazy. "Drills
and things, yep." She nods sharply, shoving her glasses back up her nose.
"Check the pa ... /oh./" Mhare remembers, now. Z'i and his pseudo-paperwork.
D'ney, as wingsecond, would have real paperwork. "That's alright. It okay if
I just ... watch drills, and stuff, when you have them? So I have something
... to do, or something."
D'ney nods again, quite firmly this time. More hands to do the work-- "It's
funny the weyrlingmaster hasn't given you more to do. Keep your dragon on
the firestone practice, remember. Can't have him forgetting how to chew
'stone. And keep flying, though you should keep the diet down. They're
getting old enough and fit enough to do the normal share of work around
here." She could go on forever at this rate.
"And you can watch. Bag firestone for Igen while you're at it."
"We do drills," Mhare says, slightly defensive. "Well -- we used to.
People've
gotten a little lazy, lately." And she hasn't been able to wheedle a few more
days of wingleader-ness out of Z'i. "Bag firestone?" A brief pause.
"Alrighty, then. S'good excersize. I'll get Mina and Margot to help." Mhare's
always happy to recruit a temporary workforce.
D'ney is the suspicious kind. "Who are Mina and Margot?"
Mhare attempts to defog her glasses. "Friends of mine. Mina's brown Stephyth's
rider, Margot's green Kaswyth's. They both graduated with me."
D'ney, the soul of practicality, actually holds out her hand at this point.
"I've got a towel, if you want to wipe that off." And look, it's even got a
clean area on the other edge from the one her sandals are hanging on. "Get
everyone to help. And sew up sacks too, so we aren't behind."
Mhare slides her glasses off, peering around blearily. "Nah -- thanks,
though." If the hand was a signal for a handshake, Mhare missed it -- if only
because she can't quite see where the hand is, at the moment. "They're
notoriously ... unfogproof." Another pause, and her expression becomes a bit
more glazed over. "Vishkheth's awake, anyhow, and demanding we go home
/right/ now." She rolls her eyes, gathering up her things and moving towards
the door. "He's been in such a huff lately, but ... I'll see you later? Soon,
I hope." Drills and sweeps and tables at lunch: what fun! "Bye, D'ney!" A
bright beam, and then she hustles off, but not after nearly running into the
wall on the way. Ahem. "No one saw that."
D'ney stares, then departs, shuffling her sandals on along the way. All clean
now.