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 Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:30 pm
R'than awoke from his doze as he felt a tug on his mind. "Gar? 'tis it?" Yawing, he sat up rubbing his eyes to see the brown shuffling his wings down by his sides after landing on the ledge. Outside it was twilight, the very last of the day's light was fading out of the sky leaving the unsurpassed beauty of near night that he loved so much. Some would call it romantic, some would say it looked sad and lonely but frankly he just liked the washed out colours of the world and the first hint of stars.
"It is a lovely twilight," the brown responded, settling down so as not to block his rider's view as he echoed the human's views, "I wished to share it with you. Nobody else is flying now R'thanMine, it would be a good time to go out ourselves. Cool, private, and refreshing... I thought you might wish to take the woman... umm... Uuni somewhere. I like to go somewhere pleasant with a green after a flight if she is willing. The beach, perhaps, and you know she would benefit from more flying. I found her, and I wish her to be found again by Hers. If she has no fears to preoccupy her, her mind will be more open."
All excellent points well made. R'than looked down at the dark-haired woman and smiled a lopsided smile to himself; she was quite something, attractive and willing to listen to a silly old man talk. Not only was it his duty as the rider who had found her to do right by her, no, he liked her as well now. A most pleasant companion, a person he wanted to see go far in life.
"Uuni," he said after a moment or two, unsure if she was asleep or just resting, "do you fancy a trip to the beach? Impulsive I know, but Garith fancies a fly and it sounded like a good idea to me." He hoped she liked the idea; if she didn't he could hardly gallivant off and leave her, that would be extremely churlish.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:43 pm
Uuni could care less of the romance that such a twilight might hint at. As it were, she was merely basking in the afterglow of it all. She was not really asleep; she hadn't been since she'd heard the dragon land on the ledge.
The silence that stretched through the cavern there after was almost unnerving. It was enough to make an uncertain person nervous that they were saying horrible things about them. Uuni, luckily, was someone who remained very sure of herself.
She turned towards him and propped her head up with her elbow as he started to talk. "The beach," she repeated, shifting a little father into the bed. He hadn't been lying about it being comfortable.
"Mmm, alright." She had to admit, she was almost excited about the prospect of flying at night. Since she had only a small fear of heights, it would only be a matter of mounting Garith again. With R'than there to aid her and give comfort, she didn't think it would be as hard this time. "Let me get my clothes, then, hm?" she added and slowly slid from the bed to gather up her scattered clothes.
As awful as it sounded, she knew where most of them were. She had a habit of watching where they went. It helped, she supposed, to be able to wander ones eyes elsewhere even when ones body were doing something very different.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:06 pm
R'than was just about as swift to spot where his clothes were as she was. He had practice at this game too though not anything like her skill at observing where he dropped his garments; he just happened to know his weyr, and to be able to spot where something was out of place such as a shirt or pair of britches. Rising slowly to his feet - and discovering to his relief that no muscles or joints ached - he moved swiftly to gather and don his clothes. Once dressed, he took Garith's harness from its peg and walked out onto the ledge. It was nice and cool out here, and even prettier than it had looked from inside. After taking a moment to enjoy the scene, he moved over to his lifemate and buckled on the harness.
"You have any preference of coast?" he asked of Uuni as he mounted up and extended his hand to help her up. "The close bits, southwest or east, we can get to quite quickly without needing to hop between, but if you don't mind that we can go to any coast you like. Can go to the southern continent even if you want, there's a place Garith and I know in just about the same time as us." Some time in the future they would have to go and find spots ahead and behind them in time as well, you never knew when a lady might express a wish to see two sunsets in one day or somesuch; it would be nice to be able to fulfill a silly desire such as that.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:15 pm
Uuni took the moment to run her fingers through her hair and then she too stepped out into the slightly brighter glow of the nearly set sun. She shielded her eyes for a moment before letting Garith's body block out the final orange shine. The light sweat still on her skin chilled her further, but there was a smile on her lips as she carefully walked forwards.
Again, she watched those massive feet and could be seen to barely flinch at the shifting. It was clear, too, however, that there was a lot of trust in R'than's ability to keep her safe. She struggled with inexperience more than fear this time.
"I've never gone Between before," she mentioned and busied herself with running her fingers through his hair. It was as much for her own security as it was for his enjoyment.
The southern continent, however. . . sounded absolutely fascinating. The grin spread farther and the excitement was obvious in how she shifted. "Let's try this southern continent thing. You're not living unless you try it all once, right?" There were times when she very much hated that phrase.
And as if to prove this point, Uuni moved her arms around R'than's waist to hang on just in case the dragon took off before she had mind to think he would.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:23 pm
R'than smiled; he was facing forward so it was not visible but that didn't matter because it was a smile of genuine pleasure, not some faked friendly expression he wanted to show off. "Southern it is then," he said with a nod, "Garith's going to step off now..." Indeed, the brown rose back into a standing position and walked to the edge of the ledge. Spreading his wings, he gave a quiet rumble and then stepped into the void below. After only a moment or two however, his mighty wings had them moving forward rather than down.
Feeling sure that Uuni's brain wouldn't be flailing about the moment of heading downward anymore, R'than turned his head slightly so that he could address her properly. "You've probably been told this in your candidate lessons, but I'll say it anyway. Between is the coldest place you will ever have been. There isn't any air, and you'll hardly be able to feel me or Garith. The trip only takes about four heartbeats though, so just hold tight and it'll soon be over, alright?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:33 pm
The drop. As ready for it as Uuni said she was, she couldn't help the tightening of her grip around him and the subtle scream she muffled against R'than's back.
Her heart must have exploded in that brief moment, but she could feel the upsweep as the brown's wings caught air. It took all sense of sanity from her brain for just a second. It left her with only those heartbeats and the feeling that she had lost her stomach to the air around them.
The shock over, she took in a deep breath and eased her grip a little. She concentrated on R'than's features as she worked on slowing her heartrate.
She nodded as he began to explain to her about Between. She had in fact heard it before several times. It was very stressed, but like any experience, it would be wholly unique to itself. No matter what they told her, it wouldn't prepare her completely for it.
"Alright," she answered a little more loudly since the moving air between them made it a little harder to speak and be heard.
She took in a deep breath, heading the warning that there would be no way to breathe. It wasn't anymore than a second or two later that she felt the freeze. It was like jumping into a freezing lake in that it completely knocked the wind out of her. Taking a breath had been as much as worthless.
She wanted to speak, and say that it was really ******** cold, but she figured it would be worthless. It was just about the wait until they came out somewhere breathable. She hated to admit it, but she suddenly missed the scorching heat of Ista's day. And, she realized in a sudden moment of slight despair, that she'd have to do this again on the way back.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:43 pm
As they appeared in what R'than considered the real world once more, he shivered. "Blasted cold," he said with a grimace, "you get used to the experience, but you never get to like it. Doesn't bother dragons of course, though they wouldn't want to stay there for long, heat lovers that they are." At least dragons could hold their breath for a good while, he'd had to make a jump from Ista to as far north as people had ever settled once and had been thoroughly panicked by the time they made it there. People could tell you it took longer over longer distances, but that didn't make you feel any better when you wanted to breathe and couldn't.
"Still," R'than smiled and gestured around them with one arm, "this is the southern continent. Rather lovely I feel; beaches for leagues and leagues, and then plenty of jungle packed with fruit trees and other such nice things." Felines too, but they stayed fairly deep in by and large and he wasn't daft enough to do into the trees without weapons and a large group of experienced folk in any case. The jungle wasn't an issue for tonight, either, tonight they were here for the beach, and Garith was already spiraling gently down towards the sand. Maybe, R'than pondered vaguely, they would find a nest of flitt eggs; he would like that. He wasn't desperate to have one of his own, but the little eggs sold like nothing else, and he could always do with more marks to spare. If things got much worse than they were now, he was going to start flying off to holds and buying Garith decent beasts to eat. He could hardly stand to see his lifemate forced to feed on the pathetic specimens they'd been getting of late.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:52 pm
It was the first time that night that Uuni looked at him and saw someone inconceivably older than her. She had never bothered to ask; he had silvering hair and lines on his face. It was obvious that they were no where near the same number of Turns. But after going through Between, it seemed to take just a little bit more out of him.
Perhaps it was just her shock, and it wasn't as though she minded his age in any case. There was a perfect mind there; one that wouldn't ask any more than she wanted to give, would not expect anything relationship-wise, and someone who probably didn't find it fun to brag about who he'd shagged. Or maybe he did do that last one. She didn't mind that part too much, either.
The descents, she decided as Garith slowly spiraled downwards, were her favourite part. It was beautiful to see the ground slowly climb up towards them and know that in just a short span of time, your feet would once more be on the solid, beautiful ground.
"It's amazing candidates don't beg to be taken here on their days off," she said good-naturedly and gave him an affectionate kiss on the neck. "I might have to start such a thing." It was a tease, sort of. She would enjoy the beach while she had it, but she was not proud enough, or stupid enough, to ask for it in repetition.
"Do you come here often?" she asked as she raised her head to get a better view over the jungle-tops before they finally landed. She wouldn't deny it; she was slightly curious. He must have been a monumental number of places in his lifetime.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 5:28 pm
Garith touched down with only a slight thud in the soft sand above the high tide mark, and R'than chuckled softly. "Quite often," he responded as he unbuckled himself and Uuni from the riding straps before dismounting and offering his hand up to her. "We come here to get away from the crowds the Weyr seems to be full of these days, always being surrounded by people can be trying... Company however is always welcome, so if you fancy coming here with me one or two evenings a sevenday, or just whenever the other candidates get too much, I'd be happy to being you along."
Yes, company. Crowds were stressful day in day out, but two or three people - provided you got on with them - never did. He was a people person really, hated being alone but that hadn't been an issue for... for... Was it about thirty two turns now? Garith gave him a mental shrug, and R'than decided that he was probably more or less right. Thirty two turns. Amazing. Garith turned his head so that their eyes met, and both of them smiled. It had been an amazing ride so far, and would continue to be so for many more yet if they had anything to say about it.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:12 pm
He wasn't kidding. The Weyr was full of crowds. The fact that a brownriding wingsecond shared a place with a young greenrider in a tiny weyr was proof enough. It was a nice weyr, however. She supposed that he was lucky enough to be stuck with a fellow male companion, and one who wasn't too awful at that.
Coming here once a sevenday, however? Uuni couldn't help but let her eyes widen a little as she took his hand and dismounted carefully. Something like that was. . . it was a hospitality that she had neither expected, found warranted, or had experienced before. "I. . . " She grinned and shook her head. "I don't know what to say to that."
Instead she reached out a hand and gave a small, unsure pat to Garith's neck. "Thanks for the ride." Man, he was such a huge creature.
She hated to admit it, but she was glad when she'd taken a few steps away from him into safer territory. It was then that she caught the looks between them. It was so honest, that she couldn't help to let a similar happiness show on her own features.
Letting them alone for a little while, she ventured out towards the beach. It was dark, and the stars were absolutely brilliant. There was no sort of light at all for miles except from them and the moon, and each breath felt fresh and new.
Settling down in the sand, she tiptoed her toes carefully to the lapping water. The rising and falling waves rung in her ears as well as the gentle silence. Damn she missed silence like this. Even in the most quiet nights of the Weyr, it never was quite this gentle or relaxing.
Looking back in R'than's direction for a moment, she wondered how many women he'd done this with, and how many had fallen for him because of it. Perhaps that was why his hair was so silver in color. Her lips curled in amusement before she let her gaze venture back out over the placid waters glinting black and white under the moonshine.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 10:54 am
"I think you surprised her a little, Mine," Garith said, winning first prize in the Pern-wide stating the obvious contest. R'than grinned at his dragon and shrugged; he liked company, he liked attractive company, and he liked Uuni so it all seemed to work out well to him. It had been a while now since he'd had a particular friend; the last one had gone and got herself a weyrmate almost two turns ago now. Monogamy was an idea he'd never been able to get his head around - not since Impressing at any rate - but having a particular companion did make sense so far as he was concerned.
After a few moments of watching her, R'than moved to join the young woman on the sand. "I hope you'll say yes, as I say I prefer to come here in company. It's still quite nice with just me and Garith, but not quite the same." He needed time with just himself and his lifemate, but he also needed time with other humans.
"As I need time with other dragons," Garith agreed as he settled down at the top of the beach. "Speaking with people other than one another enriches our lives, and gives us more to talk about between ourselves as well. Not in a gossiping way of course, I mean that... other people give us new ideas. I like having new things to think about."
Yes, R'than sent a feeling of agreement, that was definitely so. Their lives would be a lot more boring without other people in them.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 2:43 pm
It sounded more like a marriage proposal than anything else. In that sense, it bothered her.
She looked over at him and chuckled. "It sounds a bit dangerous." A young candidate hanging out with the Wingsecond, straight man all the time? If tonight hadn't gotten people talking, that certainly would.
"Don't you have anyone else to bring out with you? What about Z'ven?"
That being said, she leaned back to rest her back against the sand. She moved one hand above her head to slowly count the stars. Of course, there was no way she could count them all, but it was to take a small section and wonder sometimes.
"Seems like you should have a lot of people to bring out here, actually." She cast him a lazy grin as if she'd found out something important. She may just have had.
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 5:55 am
R'than lent back in the sand and chuckled softly. "I like Z'ven, but I couldn't imagine coming out here with him. His dragon usually only gets jealous when he hangs around with women, but I can see her getting snippy about this. That would get either him, me, or both of us shoved in the sea in short order... Besides," he shrugged, "I see him every evening. I do like a bit of variety in my company."
He supposed there probably were a lot of people he could have made the offer to... Well, not a lot but a decent few at least, especially since his appointment to wingsecond. R'than frowned thoughtfully as he tried to figure out the workings of his own mind, studying the stars as he did so.
"You're right," he said eventually with a chuckle as he figure it out. "There are quite a few women I could ask here, but I asked you because you're not too impressed by me. Since I was made a wingsecond I seem to have a lot more interested women. Maybe you're mostly interested in me because of it too, I don't know your mind, but you don't suck up to me. Women who do nothing but compliment you and then ask you if there's any way you could get them some better food or wine get very tiresome very quickly. I cannot respect such falseness, and I don't like to keep company with people I can't respect." That made sense to him; though Uuni didn't behave as most candidates did that wasn't a bad thing. She was teasing, and cheeky, but so far he didn't actually find her rude or anything unpleasant like that.
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 10:08 am
Uuni couldn't help herself. She laughed lightly at his musings.
"So, you like me because I steal wine from you and use you, but I'm honest about it?" That's what it sounded like to her. Actually, that probably wasn't too far from the truth. How much s**t was this going to get him in if someone found out? Would it demote him? And then how would he feel about her 'honesty'? It was ironic, really, if what he said was true.
Finished with her counting of the stars, she put her hands behind her head and took in a deep breath. "You know I'm going to say no."
"Besides, my roommates and my chores would miss me if I was gone all the time."
She shrugged and slowly got up from the sand and brushed herself off before looking back down with a grin. "You should try out some of those women, R'than. Maybe they're not half as bad as you think."
At that, she started down the beach. One of her roommates liked to collect odds and ends, and she might like a shell or two to add to her collection of things. She was here, so why not?
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 11:57 am
R'than scratched his chin, still looking up at the stars. "Something like that I suppose. Nothing more dishonorable than pretending to like someone to get what you want, and you know I'm into all of that silly honor stuff... Still," he shrugged, "I suppose they would miss you, though I wouldn't let you come along when you had work to do." It was a shame really, but he suspected even if she didn't fancy coming here often she might like to come on occasion.
"It isn't that I don't try them out," he added, "I just don't care to see them more than a couple of times." It was odd, with a Weyr so full it ought to be easier than ever to find company, but it seemed to just get harder and harder as time went on. The more people came into the Weyr the more isolated from other humans he seemed to feel; there were just too many to know, and so he knew almost none of the new folk at all.
"You know," R'than turned his head to regard Uuni, a slight smile on his lips, "this is the first time in quite a while I've been turned down. About time it happened again I suppose, or I might begin to get cocky." That was jest really; he didn't think he would get cocky anymore than he had actually minded her response. There would be other people to bring here, and probably he would see Uuni every so often too. If not, well, that would be a shame but not really the end of the world.
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