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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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 Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:48 am
Ara stood and stretched, twisting her fingers together behind her back and pushing her ribcage forward until she felt her spine crack. Then she put her hands on her hips and jerked her torso sharply one direction and then the other, cracking the vertebrae in her lower back, too. Working in the fields, even after having done so all her live, could still make a girl's back ache if she'd spent the entire day hunched over, weeding. It needed doing, and she didn't mind doing it, but that didn't mean she welcomed the sore and stiff muscles it brought on.
Just a few feet away she saw one of her crew members glance up at her. It was B'shir, the bronzerider from High Reaches. She had been peripherally aware of him all afternoon, and was just a little pleased that she had done something to catch his attention. She hadn't wanted to address him directly to strike up a conversation, but she had wanted to talk to him. Maybe he would say something to her, now that he'd noticed her.
Ara wondered if the reason he hadn't spoken to her yet today, when he usually struck up conversations whenever they were assigned near each other, was because he was having a conversation with his dragon. She'd seen him speaking mentally with his dragon before and observed how he could almost manage not to look distant while he did it, unlike many dragonriders, and wondered how he could be so adept at it when he couldn't have Impressed more than two turns ago.
For that matter, where was his dragon? Usually Sakneth lurked at the edges of the field B'shir was working on like a very large and loyal canine. Assuming that the canine in question could speak and make his displeasure felt by just about everyone in the vicinity. Not that Sakneth had ever caused a problem, but it was no secret that the small bronze disliked having his human put to work in the fields and viewed the labor as beneath him. Ara sometimes wondered if B'shir felt the same way, but was too polite to say so. Certainly his expression would never give any sort of indication.
She rolled her shoulders for good measure before returning to sitting in the dirt and weeding. Her shoulders, arms, and hands ached, too.
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 7:12 am
One of the unusual things about farmcraft that B'shir had discovered was that its endlessly repetitive motions, requiring almost no mental exertion, left his mind strangely clear. Unlike drilling with a wing, when his mind must be constantly engaged, B'shir could let his mind wander while he worked in the fields, or even think of nothing at all.
He knew it distressed Sakneth when he did the latter, since the bronze claimed it was more difficult to reach him when his mind was completely blank like that, and so he tried not to allow himself to think of nothing at all, but sometimes, performing the same actions over and over again, he couldn't help it. Then he would unconsciously tune out his surroundings, even Sakneth, and let himself go between. Not that he was really going between, but he could think of no better comparison.
He hadn't quite achieved that state of not being there when a movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention and dragged him back to the present. It was only Ara, he observed, standing to work the kinks out of her back. His own body protested the work it was doing, too, but he would endure. At the end of the day he would drag himself to the river and force himself to go for a swim. It would help.
He noticed Ara notice him notice her and wished that he was the sort of person who might have offered her a quick smile or raised his eyebrows or something to make his attention seem normal. It was normal, but without all those small facial expressions everyone else made without even thinking about it, it was difficult to convey that sometimes. He shrugged, the closest he could come to that, but she was already sitting down again.
"I'm sorry. I know it's none of my business, but it looks like you're fairly uncomfortable," B'shir observed. "I've found that sometimes swimming or soaking in a hot bath can help with that."
She is not coming swimming with us, Sakneth hissed.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:48 am
Apparently wishes were granted sometimes, Ara thought as B'shir spoke. It wasn't something she'd ever mentioned to him, but she enjoyed listening to him speak. Like the rest of the people from High Reaches, B'shir had a hint of an accent that made him seem very foreign and exotic. And he stood out from among the other High Reaches folk because of his dark skin. Everything about him was different, and it fascinated Ara.
"You're very observant," Ara remarked, keeping her voice soft. There wasn't much danger of being overheard since they were the only two working in that immediate area, but it was instinctive.
It occurred to her that both swimming and soaking were activities most people performed naked, and no sooner had it occurred to her than she found herself imagining what B'shir might look like unclothed. In the hotter Ghenzan climate, performing the physically demanding tasks of farmcraft, he did sometimes shuck his tunic like the other male workers, and so she didn't have to try to hard to imagine his chest - she knew it was very nice - but the rest of him...She blushed. Her blush deepened when she thought that it was possible he might be imagining similar things about her.
"Um," she said, wondering if he was likely to interpret her blushing as simply being flushed in the sun. "I usually bathe after work. I mean, who wouldn't with all this dirt?"
Dirt! She wished she wasn't covered in dirt. It was so difficult to make a good impression on anyone when she was dirty. Not that she really had to worry about making an impression on B'shir anymore. He'd been here long enough that he'd probably formed an opinion of her, even if he hadn't realized it. She hoped it was a good one. She hadn't seen any signs that he didn't like her, but she didn't like to think of anyone disliking her.
"I'm afraid I don't swim," she said. "I mean, I don't drown, but what I do could hardly be called swimming."
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:08 am
B'shir glanced down at the plants he was uprooting. He'd learned early on that pulling weeds, or doing most farming for that matter, was incredibly painful without gloves, and so he had subverted his riding gloves. The first day he had done that, Sakneth had actually growled, saying that he was giving in to Ghenzan ways, arguing that he should use the discomfort to remind him of how horrible it was here. B'shir had ignored his dragon. He still got blisters and such from the work, and his fur-lined gloves were ridiculously hot, but there was some small improvement.
"I'm meant to be observant," he replied. "My grandfather wanted to make me the best dragonrider possible - a wingleader or weyrleader - and part of that meant learning to be observant."
B'shir had never felt much of an urge to be wingleader or weyrleader, though he would be pleased to please A'ram with either appointment. It was his duty to bring honor to his family, after all. He had already Impressed a bronze to that end, though he wasn't sure his training had much to do with that. It would have much to do with whether he advanced in the Weyr, however, and he felt an obligation both to his family and to his ambitious dragon at least to try.
"Again, I apologize. I didn't mean to imply that you wouldn't bathe. Obviously you bathe, as you're always clean when you arrive in the morning." He didn't look up to make his apology. Apologies were more convincing when a person looked contrite, and B'shir couldn't do that.
She's not worth your time. Just finish pulling plants so we can leave. Sakneth's advice was, typically, not meant to help him befriend any of the Ghenzans. It was a little too late with Ara, however. B'shir liked the girl. She was nice, and kind of funny when she turned so painfully polite. It reminded him a little bit of himself when he was young.
"It's too bad about swimming. You should learn. It really does feel good. I'd offer to teach you, but I'd hate to fail and be responsible for drowning you or something." He shrugged and tuned out Sakneth's infuriated threats of violence toward his rider and hindering should B'shir invite Ara to come swimming with them.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:58 pm
Ara listened with interest as B'shir mentioned his grandfather. He didn't speak often of himself or of High Reaches Weyr unless she specifically asked him to, and she didn't like to ask, which brought them to an impasse. But since he'd broached the subject to begin with, she supposed it would be safe to question him a little on it.
"You've never mentioned your grandfather before, B'shir. What's he like? He seems to care very much about your future." She thought that if she could maybe learn about his past and his family, she might come to understand him more, and why he was the way he was. Perhaps it would explain why he never seemed to demonstrate any emotion or evince any expression. She'd wondered about that, as she wondered about so many things relating to B'shir.
His apology came as a surprise to her. It hadn't occurred to her to take offense. She had only been teasing him. She'd thought he would know that. She decided to be pleased that he noticed the state of her arrival on a daily basis. Pleased and flattered. She also wondered, being a girl of the age she was, whether it meant he took more notice of her than she'd thought. Perhaps he was even interested in her romantically. Oh, she had a boyfriend, of course, but it would be nice to think that a handsome bronzerider from a far-off Weyr had found something in her to love. It would be very romantic, like a harper's tale.
"You mustn't worry about it," she said airily, dismissing B'shir's apology. Then she very boldly went on to say, "But if you're really feeling contrite, you could teach me to swim sometime. Maybe after our shift ends today?"
Her boldness evaporated very quickly, however, and only seconds later she amended her words. "That is, if you didn't already have other plans. I didn't mean to impose myself on you."
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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:00 am
B'shir hadn't expected Ara to be interested in, or even notice, the fact that he'd mentioned his grandfather. It wasn't as though she'd ever meet the man, after all. Or his dragon. But now he realized that she would probably be wondering - had to be, since she'd asked, unless she was only being polite. He supposed he could tell her a little about him, though mostly he tried not to think too much about A'ram or Tanda or any of the rest of his family because it made him miss home too much.
You should think about them more often, then, Sakneth advised. Because it's unnatural that you're so content in this forsaken place.
"My grandfather is a dragonrider, too. He Impressed brown Rath after leaving Igen - that's why my skin's so dark, because of his Igen blood - and he's been at High Reaches ever since. He places a great deal of importance on family duty and honor, and spent my youth training me to be a dragonrider." He shrugged, a little uncomfortable talking about A'ram. He loved his grandfather and was proud of all he'd achieved, but he didn't really want to talk about him.
No! Sakneth hissed. No. No. No! That woman may not come swimming with us.
Why not? B'shir asked, mystified. She's nice, and I don't see why I shouldn't be nice in return.
Don't you see? She's trying to steal you away from me. She's using her feminine wiles. Please, I know you're stupid and clueless, so I'm trying to look out for you.
Sakneth, you're being ridiculous. She's a child.
And that was final, as far as B'shir was concerned. In fact, his stubborn streak sort of forced him to agree to Ara's suggestion. "I was actually planning on going swimming with Sakneth after the shift ended, so if you chose to come with us, it would hardly be an imposition."
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 7:26 pm
Ara wanted to know what had prompted B'shir's grandfather to leave Igen. She knew next to nothing about what went on in the rest of Pern, but she, herself, couldn't imagine traveling from her home to a strange place like that. B'shir's grandfather must be a very brave man. And yet there was something about the way B'shir spoke about the man which didn't imply that he loved the man the way Ara loved her parents. She wondered if maybe the brownrider had been a harsh taskmaster in teaching his grandson about duty and honor and the life of a dragonrider.
"I'd tell you about my family, but I think you'd be bored. We're pretty average."
Ara looked up at B'shir quickly and immediately wished she hadn't. She was certain that there was too much hope showing in her expression. She didn't know why it was she wanted so much to be included on this outing, but the fact was that Ara desperately wanted to go swimming with B'shir and his dragon, even though his dragon would probably not be enthusiastic and Ara couldn't really gauge B'shir's enthusiasm after having issued the invitation. A distinct disadvantage to his lack of facial expression. She could only go by the inflection in his tone, which seemed to indicate he genuinely wanted her there.
"I'd love to come with you. Thank you," she said, her voice growing soft as she began to retreat into good manners. With an effort she stopped herself, knowing that if she allowed herself to do that, she'd manage to very politely uninvite herself. She made herself smile and say, "But you must promise not to let me drown."
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Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 7:44 pm
B'shir cocked his head to one side and almost looked at Ara, but then decided against it, shaking his head. He had no idea what an average family was like, he was beginning to discover. His own upbringing had not been normal. He had always known that much. However, living in Ghenza had shown him that families could be very different, even from what was considered standard for High Reaches Weyr.
If he asked her about it, he wouldn't be able to stop himself asking questions, and he thought it would be best to save his questions for later. Perhaps if conversation grew awkward later. He could envision a lot of ways in which conversation could grow awkward, and Sakneth wasn't being helpful at all. He was keeping up a running commentary of how many ways things could not only become difficult, but could actually go wrong.
She could drown. Are you a strong enough swimmer to keep the current from pulling her under?
I think I am, yes, B'shir replied shortly. We do go swimming almost every day, if you recall, and I've gotten quite good at it.
What if she tries to seduce you? You humans seem awfully strongly affected by nudity. Here Sakneth flashed an imagining of his own into B'shir's mind in which Ara was depicted not actually nude, but in wet clothing which clung to her body in such a way that she might as well have been nude. For a creature without a human sense of aesthetics, Sakneth did a very good job of conjuring a picture of Ara which made it momentarily very difficult for B'shir to remember her age relative to his.
Stop being ridiculous! He hoped his cheeks weren't flush with embarrassment at his reaction to his dragon's subterfuge as he spoke to Ara, reassuring her that she was welcome once more and promising that he would not let her drown.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2010 6:28 am
When he didn't ask her anything more about her family Ara wasn't offended. She really did believe that her family and her life couldn't be that interesting to someone who had lived as much of an adventure as B'shir had. Most of the harper tales in Ghenza told of the dangers of travel and had characters who went exploring in new places and then came to bad ends. As cautionary and preventative measures they were very effective, and Ara herself had only ever fantasized about maybe meeting someone new and handsome, never about actually leaving her home and having such adventures for herself.
What mystified her, though, as B'shir's gaze remained steadfastly directed away from her for a time, was what had caused color to rise in his cheeks. It was true that this evidence of some sort of deeper emotional process didn't stop him from offering her assurances that her company would be welcome, but Ara would have given anything to know what had caused his face to darken. Was it something she'd said, or something he'd thought, or maybe something Sakneth had said? And, for that matter, was it really embarrassment as she'd initially suspected or was it anger or something else?
"Well, thank you," she said, resolutely ignoring her insecurities. "I think I'll enjoy that. Should I meet you somewhere after our work shift ends?"
She thought she knew where they would go, simply because that was where most Ghenzans went to swim, but given Sakneth's attitude toward Ghenza and its inhabitants (according to B'shir) that could be a reason for them to seek out alternative places to swim. It was definitely better that she asked, just in case. She hoped it wouldn't be someplace with an overly strong current, for she hadn't been joking about her weakness in the water.
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Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2010 12:33 pm
"You're welcome," B'shir replied automatically.
She is not, Sakneth hissed venomously. And I will be happy if she drowns, I think.
Don't say anything else, B'shir replied, making it a sharp enough reprimand that the bronze dragon retreated into his own thoughts to sulk.
Perhaps the harshness may have seemed excessive to anyone listening in on the pair's conversation, but good manners were ingrained in B'shir, even toward females, who he had been raised to view as weaker and less intelligent, and Sakneth's words didn't fit with that world view. He didn't hold with that belief to the extent that his father and grandfather did, but no one could honestly say he didn't treat females differently than he did males. Usually he was more careful with them, and less inclined to befriend them, which made this budding friendship with Ara quite the aberration.
"It's up to you, really. Usually Sakneth and I just go after the shift ends. If we're moved apart before then, you can just meet me by that sulking bronze off to the side of the field." B'shir jerked his head toward Sakneth, who made an affronted noise at his behavior being described as sulking.
Well, what would you call it? B'shir asked.
I'm not saying anything. Like you told me. The only reason I'm talking now is because you asked me a question. The bronze's tail was clearly in a kink because of this whole thing, and B'shir couldn't help wondering if it was worth it for all the grief Sakneth would put him through later, but he had already made the offer and couldn't take it back at this point. Besides, it would be nice to have someone to talk to who wasn't a dragonrider.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2010 12:42 pm
Ara followed B'shir's gesture and looked over at Sakneth. It seemed to her that the bronze, so small by Ghenzan standards, still managed to loom with menace. Maybe there was something about her that draconian creatures disliked. Her mother's wher hated her, too. Ara really didn't understand how that could be. It wasn't as though she had ever done anything to make them dislike her. Maybe it was because she was so much of a pushover, they viewed her as prey, and so could not possibly feel anything other than contempt for her. She knew contempt could quickly grow into hatred and aversion. So it was all her fault.
"I'll meet you there, then," she agreed, steeling her nerves. Sakneth was a dragon, and no matter how he sulked and how disapproving he looked, he couldn't actually hurt her. There was nothing for her to worry about with him, really. Especially not with B'shir there to keep him in check.
They'd spoken before, in very brief conversations which made Ara wonder if B'shir was trying to have them without his dragon knowing, about how unhappy Sakneth was living in Ghenza. Ara didn't have any way of knowing the depth of the dragon's unhappiness, but B'shir didn't seem to be unhappy, and so she did wonder fairly frequently what would happen when the summons came for the dragons from High Reaches to return to their Weyr. No doubt B'shir and Sakneth would go then, and things would return to the way they were, except for the High Reaches folk who had Impressed at the last hatching.
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