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 Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 6:36 pm
"I've always thought ill-gotten gains had a better flavor than those gotten gainfully. And the adrain...adrena...rush from pilfered things is better. Breaking rules can be very satisfying. You should do more of it." He nodded sagely, agreeing with his own advice. "I think Astar would tell you that you can trust trust me illicitly. Explicitly. Implicitly? I'm trustworthy."
He stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth before he could say anything less intelligent. This was the part of being drunk that he didn't enjoy. When his hard-won vocabulary betrayed him and he spoke in malapropisms. That was something to focus on. If he concentrated hard enough on not sounding like an imbecile maybe he wouldn't think about the Hatching or how nice Kallista looked in that green dress. He might even manage not to sound like an imbecile, though he wasn't going to get his hopes up on that count. When he finished chewing and swallowing he resolved to mind his words.
"My thanks. You're the soul of generosity. And I'm not sure we're either of us in a state to appreciate the vintage I procured, but I think it's good, even if it's not Benden." He traded wineskins with her, watching his hands carefully as he performed the exchange to make sure they wouldn't betray him and decide to grab where there was nothing to grasp, or - possibly worse - find something to hold onto that they really shouldn't. Once he had a firm grasp on the right wineskin he raised it to his lips and drained it completely. His mouth felt very dry from the bread and the wine. He also felt warm, but that was a perpetual state of being at Ista, he had to concede.
"Would you like to dance?" he asked suddenly. He didn't hear any music, but he used to be a Harper. Making music was his forte. He could, at least, hum something danceable. Indeed, there was music in his head already, a lively tune that would lend itself well to a reel or a gavotte, or something less dignified, like a jig. Dignity was, after all, a burden of sobriety.
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 7:06 pm
Kallista giggled as E'rik attempted to make his way through a speech about ill gotten gains and having fun. She knew he was proud of his vocabulary but apparently, it was failing at the moment. Munching on the bread, it was much more appealing than the food that was growing cold on her plate. "I am sure that Dara will vouch for you and your trustworthiness. And knowing my dragon, she would encourage me to be a rule breaker. But I do not like the idea of privvy duty or any other duty that involves me cleaning other people's messes."
"I am sure you managed to get a good one. I am not sure I would have the head for Benden right now." She carefully traded skins with him. Watching the brown rider finish up the skin, she wondered would be rude for her to break into the new vintage. Kallista was slightly flushed from the heat of the night and the heat that the wine gave her. When E'rik stood up suddenly and asked her to dance, she looked around.
There was no music. There were no singers. No one else was dancing. But why not? This was a time to have fun and attempt to celebrate the newly bonded. With the wine fogging her mind and her decision making skills, she stood on two unsteady feet. "Why not? Lead the way!"
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:59 am
"Dara..." E'rik gave this some consideration.
"He wouldn't say anything negative about me, I think, but I don't know if he's a fair judge of my character. Despite all evidence to the contrary, he remains convinced that I am all that is clever and good in the world. It's sweet of him." He smiled benignly at the thought of Dara's bias. It was nice to have such a staunch supporter, and in truth the admiration was mutual. E'rik was convinced that Dara was every bit as good as he believed his rider to be, though he was maybe not as intelligent.
"That's the spirit," E'rik said, grinning. He was steadier on his feet than he head been, he felt, though a totally sober observer would probably have noticed that this was not the case. He was just more confident about his balance, having already navigated the way to purchase wine and acquire bread.
He did notice that Kallista looked a bit unsteady and decided to be helpful. He slid his arm around her waist and confided in her, "I'm not much of a dancer. You'll probably have to whisper the steps to me. Also, I may be a bit drunk, so if I lose my balance I'd appreciate it if you didn't let me fall. That's why I'm holding onto you right now. Not because I don't think you can manage, but because I'm doubtful about my own ability to do so. I don't have much tolerance for wine."
Loquacious. He was very loquacious when drunk, even though he had to pay close attention to what he was saying, which meant he had to tune out just about everything else to devote the entirely of his attention to this one task. Dancing might really prove to be too much for him to coordinate all at once. Particularly since he was also providing the music.
After they'd made their way to an open spot E'rik began to hum something jaunty and up-tempo. He was not one of those rare people who could make their hum heard over a crowd and he was not a dragon to make it felt under a crowd, so the music was just for him and Kallista. It wasn't quite the music he'd heard when he asked Kallista to dance, but it was similarly cheery and easily identifiable as a dancing tune. It wasn't quite an original composition, but he'd never heard it played anywhere else with this variation, so he wasn't sure he had to credit the original composer. Besides, Kallista wouldn't know the fellow.
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 7:57 pm
Trying to keep steady as E'rik practically hauled her up from the bench, Kallista tried to listen to the song he was humming. Nothing that she was familiar with-the only new music she heard was when it came time for Hatchings or Gathers. By now, the chatter that was the attempts of conversation by the brown rider were going in one ear and out the other. Her head was definitely feeling fuzzy and she was fighting the urge to constantly giggle.
While it was nice to just be the two of them dancing, it was a little awkward from some of the amused glances they were getting. 'Shards and to the wind with it', Kallista thought to herself. 'Have I ever really had any fun?' Trying to match steps with E'rik caused her to bump into a Holder behind her with unfamiliar colors. "Sorry there."
This was said with a friendly smile and as she tried to correct herself, Kallista bumped back into E'rik. "Oh! Watch out, I can barely keep myself standing straight..."
She hiccuped and clung to her companion for dear life. "Apparently, I have no head for wine. So, if we are going to do the last skin justice... Let's finish our dance first...."
And thus, the random ramblings began.
---------------
Jamusyn startled as a rather handsome looking girl bumped into him. He started to say something but noticed her shoulder cords and then notice the brown rider she clung back to... Ah, perhaps it was young love. Though, the smell of wine was strong.
He glanced and saw that his own glass still contained its contents. Good. Good. He had never had white Benden before and the money he spent on the glass was well worth it. He would have to talk to his father about setting up trade once his fostering was over. Merely nodding at the riders, he went back to his conversation.
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:22 am
E'rik laughed as Kallista proved as uncoordinated as he was. He was remarkably capable of ignoring the strange looks and laughter of those surrounding them, assisted by the amount of wine he'd already consumed that evening. Kallista was smiling, and that was a good thing, he thought. At least she wasn't about to cry. He knew it had been a near thing at some point in the not to distant past, though his memory was playing games with time at the moment, stretching it and condensing it without any sort of pattern. It made both planning and remembering difficult, and so E'rik resolved to do neither for the time being.
When he saw that their efforts at dancing would put them on a collision course with someone who seemed to be a holder E'rik meant to make a sincere effort to steer them some other direction, but he didn't manage it, and he wasn't sure he'd even tried. So he wasn't totally surprised when they bumped into the holder, but he was a bit surprised when Kallista almost ricocheted into him. He smiled at the holder in a non-offensive, apologetic way as he tried not to lose his balance.
"I'm not doing too well at it myself," E'rik admitted, still adjusting his stance to accommodate for Kallista holding on to him. A part of him was irked that this seemed to take so much concentration, since he was usually so coordinated and quick on his feet.
The effort of focusing on Kallista's conversation and trying to figure out whether he was expected to make any sort of reply proved a bit overwhelming for his inebriated brain and his balance failed him. He stumbled backward and then fell nearly straight down. Unconsciously he made sure that he would not land on top of Kallista when they hit the ground, but that was about the extent of his capabilities when it came to it. He hit the ground with a painful thud. This was one of the disadvantages to having a lean body type: impacts were inevitably more painful.
"Sorry," he said. He knew he would have to work on getting up soon, or else he would embarrass the Weyr. The term fall-down drunk should never be applied to a Dragonrider. He didn't want to move, though. Aside from being sore from the fall, he wasn't uncomfortable and he was definitely dizzy.
"You look pretty, by the way."
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 6:51 pm
Kallista landed with an groan and promptly settled against E'rik's body. Her skirt was tangled with her legs and she was pretty sure her arm was going to be sore in the morning. Giggling, she rolled and tried to sit up.
The holder was staring at them both, an amused look on his face. The green rider gave him a friendly grin and then turned to E'rik. "Are you okay? Maybe we should go back to sitting. On a bench and not the ground."
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Jamusyn wasn't sure how to react when the two riders tumbled to the ground. Both of them seemed to be in good spirits, though the brown rider seemed a little worse for wear. Excusing himself, he figured that he would apply manners and offered a hand to the green rider.
"Need a hand?"
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Kallista nodded and took his hand. Though she wasn't a big girl, quite the opposite, the wine made her feel like a dead weight. But she managed to stand and gain some semblance of balance. Nodding her thanks, she looked down at E'rik. "Um... Thanks. I feel a little pretty. Need help up?"
She turned to the holder and gave him her thanks before returning back to E'rik. It was strange to be fussing over him. Maybe some wine would help remedy everything.
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 6:38 pm
E'rik was fairly oblivious to his audience, a combination of the spirits' effects and the improvement he had made since Impressing Dara. He might have noticed the holder's amused look, but he chose to interpret the grin as a friendly smile. A slither-outer at the best of times, E'rik when inebriated was decidedly non-confrontational. He supposed he couldn't stay on the ground forever, and so he nodded in agreement to Kallista's suggestion.
"Benches are nice. I do some of my best sitting on benches."
After Kallista had been removed from him by the helpful holder, E'rik sat up. He took a moment to rest his chin on his knees, pondering what came next. The difficulty really wasn't in getting himself back onto the bench. He had the feeling, at least briefly, that he would have no difficulty moving about for the next several minutes at least. He had been at this stage of inebriation before, and in his experience there usually came a period of lucidity and ease of movement, which if he was wise he would use to get himself to bed. He wondered if he wanted to be wise.
"I'll manage on my own, I think."
Following another moment's contemplation, E'rik rocked forward onto his knees and unfolded himself from the ground. He was probably covered in dust. Once he was standing and more or less steady on his feet he gave the holder a sincere smile that was also a dismissal and began to brush the dust from his tunic and leggings. His efforts didn't seem particularly effective, but he kept at it a bit longer than he might have if he had been sober.
"A little help with this might be welcome," he mused. "But unnecessary," he decided. "I'll live. There's still some wine, yes?"
He was going to have the mother of all hangovers.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:28 pm
For some reason, Kallista's muddled brain heard beaches, not benches and she paled slightly. Over the many past months, it was almost a turn now, she had worked hard to overcome her fear of water. But being inebriated and obviously incapable of handling herself, the thought of being near the shore was simply...
Not nice.
Trying to recover, she smiled shakily. "I think I would rather stay at the dance and finish our 'skin, if someone hasn't made off with it. Perhaps, the beach another time?"
Still leaning over E'rik's body, she scrambled when he moved, at least in her mind, suddenly. Watching the brown rider clean himself off, Kallista looked herself over and realized that she was dusty as well. Not wanting to seem a copy flit, she tried to act nature. However, this only made her all the more stand out.
Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkling. For once, Kallista looked and felt down right pretty. Moving back towards their seats, she cracked the seal on the wineskin that E'rik had bought and offered it up to him. His wine, he gets the first sip. "So... It was a nice dance while it lasted?"
This was posed more as a question about her behavior rather than the actual dance itself.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 8:06 pm
It took E'rik a moment to realize that Kallista had misheard him. Or maybe he'd misspoken? Either one was entirely possible considering their present condition. The beach, he thought, would be a very nice place to be drunk. Or maybe not. Sand was impossible. He had no tolerance for the stuff. It got everywhere. And it got very cold when it was wet. He didn't know how Firyal could take such unholy joy in the beach, which he had just decided he didn't like. He didn't know Kallista's reasoning. He'd never heard about her near-drowning experiences or her fear of large bodies of water. But he liked that they were in agreement. It was nice to be in agreement.
"Here isn't bad," E'rik said. Still thinking of the beach, and not realizing that he wasn't speaking his entire thought, he added, "It's too cold to be pleasant, after all."
He frowned and cocked his head to one side. Her dress was very pretty, but there was dust on it. He reached out with one hand to brush it out but remembered at the last minute that she might get the wrong idea about what he was doing. Not that he wasn't thinking about it, but he liked to think of himself as a gentleman, even when intoxicated. He certainly wasn't going to go groping a woman in public. That would be, if not the height of rudeness, very close to it. Thinking as quickly as his somewhat incapacitated brain could manage, he turned his gesture into something less offensive, a light touch on her shoulder, as though to steady himself, though he didn't need it for the time being.
When Kallista offered E'rik his wine - he was amazed it was still there - he took a sip, but not too much. His mouth felt very dry already from the wine he'd already consumed, and it was beginning to feel a bit cottony. He didn't like that feeling, because it made him feel fumble-tongued, and he was too clever for that most of the time. He handed the wine back to her and answered her question.
"It was a very nice dance. One of the best I can remember. We should dance more often, maybe. Though when there are fewer people to run into." That didn't make much sense, he thought. It had sounded much more sensible in his head. Oh well. "You enjoyed it?"
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