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 Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:07 pm
In the predawn sky above Ista Weyr, the Red Star winked eerily from the east. It was harder to see at this latitude, but was still an ever-present and forboding warning of the hell that was heading towards Pern with each passing day. At this hour Lucieth always stirred in his sleep, his tail lashing violently and rumbling faintly in his chest. Rarely did he wake, but the disturbance in his sleeping pattern was becoming stronger as the sevendays went on. Occassionally it was enough to wake up his rider, and this morning was the exception.
A'kor jolted into awareness, eyes snapping open and flinching, staring up at the ceiling of his forest weyr. Instinctively he looked out into Lucieth's cavern and watched the uneasily-slumbering brown for a long moment, touching his mind experimentally to ascertain that the beast was, indeed, still asleep. He sighed then, stretching wearily and sitting up, kicking off the sleeping furs.
At twenty-three Turns old, he was on the younger side for a dragonrider, and had only Impressed five Turns ago. He'd been sharding lucky to, at that. Ever since the day that he'd bonded to Lucieth he'd become a man apart, but in some ways he was the same creature he'd been before the Weyr took him. A'kor still wore his hair long. It was purely vanity, and he knew he'd have to cut it when Threadfall began-- it was already difficult to maintain what with all of the drilling they'd been doing, but it looked good on him and shards if it didn't pull the women into his bed.
Unfortunately for A'kor, his weyr was too new to have any of the amenities some of the quarters had. It was little more than a hole in the outer wall of the Weyr with a bed for himself and a stone couch for Lucieth. He'd have to wake up the brown if he wanted to get any sort of breakfast. As he went to the dragon's head, he saw that his eyes were already open, his waking thoughts intruding on A'kor's. The young man reached out to rub Lucieth's eyeridges, smiling fondly at him, his smile widening boyishly when the brown crooned and closed his inner lids in pleasure. The multi-faceted eye nearest to him was swirling with content blues and greens, flecked with the red of hunger.
Is it my turn today? Lucieth asked him plaintively. With the overcrowding of the Weyr, feeding had become a particularly difficult strain, and the small Weyr's herd had to be replenished often. Lucieth hadn't eaten in four days.
"Afraid not, Lucy. You'll be all right for another day or so," A'kor assured him, and Lucieth made a noise in his throat that made the brownrider grin. "I, however, will not. I'm starving. Take me down to the dining hall?" he asked, giving the eyeridge one final scratch and stepping back to let Lucieth roll off his couch.
I hardly see how this is fair, the brown dragon grumbled as A'kor mounted, leaping from the ledge and flying up over the rim of the Bowl to drop him off by the Lower Caverns.
Sorry Lucy, you know how it is. I'll take you by the Hold later for a bite, A'kor promised apologetically.
Right. You just want to go see that woman again. Or perhaps sneak off to 'swim' with Garenth's rider, Lucieth quipped. A'kor knew that Lucieth did not entirely approve of his little tryst with the other dragonrider, since Garenth was a blue.
I enjoy Garenth's company. And he makes you happy, so I suppose it's all right, Lucieth interjected generously, moving out of the way as soon as A'kor slid down from his neck. The brownrider glanced up at Lucieth as he disappeared back over the rim to go nap until sunrise when he could sun himself. Shaking his head, he headed into the dining hall to get a mug of klah and flirt with the girls a bit before he got ready for morning drills with his wing.
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:23 pm
As it stood, V'len was already technically awake by the time the brownrider had begun his decent to the Lower Caverns, a plate of food and a cup of klah already sitting, practically untouched, in front of him. The dining hall was already bustling with activity and chatter of the day ahead, the tables already relatively crowded despite the ungodly hour. The excited chatter of Candidates, already up from the Touching that had apparently taken place earlier, gave the large stone hall a hint of energy in the otherwise tired old room.
V'len, however, heard very little of it. Chin in hand, the bluerider was still half asleep, his eyes barely open as the he pushed the food around his plate, appetite curbed by the prospect of a longer rest period.
'I told you to go to bed earlier.' Garenth responded to his thoughts, the matter-of-fact tone making the blonde roll his eyes, although the blue couldn't see it.
The twenty two year old merely grunted at his dragon's words, sitting up a bit and running a hand through his blonde hair, letting the sleep-mussed locks fall back over his eyes. Of course his dragon was right. His dragon was always right, although shards if he'd let him know it. Fact of the matter was he had gotten into his weyr late. He had been assigned to the late Watch for that night a few days previous, and as it had happened Wing training had run later than had been expected that day, leaving the blonde ready for bed even before had had started his watch. Most of the glowbaskets had been covered by the time V'len had returned to his weyr, collapsing onto his furs only to lay there awake for longer, musing over things that perhaps could have waited. Or could have been forgotten all together.
Specifically, a certain brownrider.
Womanizer. Garenth amended for him, the firm touch of his mind invading V'len's thoughts once more. His rider made a face, and his cheeks may or may not have colored slightly.
"Oh shut up."
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:49 pm
Mmm, candidates. Fresh meat. A'kor hadn't bothered to acquaint himself with any of them yet, although there were attractive prospects among them. The kids got so starry-eyed if a dragonrider so much as smiled at them; if a man let a candidate wash his beast they were practically in his pocket, which made other things so much easier... although some of those repressed Holdbrats were just impossible to coax. It was so hard for them to let go of Holder ways, but Faranth was it fun if a green got randy with a bunch of little non-Weyrbred folks around.
A'kormine, Lucieth chided softly, sleepily.
A'kor smirked but relented with that train of thought. He'd spotted his current favorite falling asleep over his breakfast, anyway, and V'len was considerably more fun than some fumbling, nervous candidate. He set down his own mug of klah down on the table beside V'len's, sliding onto the bench beside him.
"Good morning, sunshine," he all but purred, with no qualms about getting into V'len's personal space even considering the hour. Noticing V'len's state, he wondered just what had kept V'len up so late that he'd look so sleepy now. A'kor quirked an eyebrow. There were many possibilities, not all of them reassuring. "Sleep well?" the brownrider asked innocently.
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 9:14 pm
That first purr in his ear was enough to make V'len nearly jump out of his skin, the illogical thought that that same brownrider had been reading his mind, and knew of the events that had occurred the night before (as well as the fact that he hadn't even noticed anyone sit down beside him) causing the blonde to flinch back. Snapping his head up to stare at A'kor, the bluerider reached up to touch the ear the redhead had all but purred against, a shiver visibly coursing through his body.
Regaining his composure, V'len gave A'kor his best unamused expression, returning his eyes to his plate dismissively. "Aren't you cheerful this morning," he responded in a low voice, picking up his cup of klah and raising it to his lips, "And no, not particularly. I... couldn't sleep."
The pause sounded suspicious even to his own ears, and the blonde made a face, draining the sweet, semi-strong liquid quickly, pushing it to the back of his mind. He knew what A'kor wanted from him. It wasn't any surprise or anything -- while he hadn't really had much interaction with the brownrider for the five years they had been at the Weyr, he had certainly seen the effects of his... relationships. V'len didn't really care, to be honest. It was none of his business.
And... if he was honest with himself, he himself wasn't immune to the redhead's charms. He was just smart enough to keep himself from being caught in A'kor's talons. ...mostly.
Returning his attention to the other rider, V'len quirked an eyebrow at him, giving him a quick glance-over before folding his arms across his chest defensively. "I'm not sure I should even bother asking how you slept... I'm not sure I want to know."
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:35 am
Amused by V'len's reaction, A'kor grinned and quashed the urge to play with him some more. My, my, if he could get such a reaction out of him just by breathing against his ear...
The cold-shoulder only amused A'kor all the more. V'len could try all he wanted; everything he did only encouraged the incorrigible brownrider's behavior. To some degree A'kor knew that V'len liked it. Why else would he come back every time? They'd known each other since they were candidates and although V'len had never really warmed up to him, he certainly had no qualms about sleeping with him time and time again. A'kor's attention might have wavered every so often, but at least lately it'd been a pretty steady thing.
The brownrider's eyebrow nearly touched his hairline at the pause. Was that a lie? Perhaps it was just a half-truth. A'kor didn't like it when people kept things from him, because on most things he was pretty open. Then again, V'len was from a different walk of life, and had always been quieter than himself. Maybe he just had different morals. And it really wasn't in good taste to tell the guy you kind of had a thing with that you were sleeping with someone else... and V'len doing much of that beyond when Garenth chased after some green seemed mighty unlikely to A'kor.
He decided to let it pass.
"Couldn't sleep, huh? You should have called me, I would have kept you company," A'kor winked, a winning smile on his face. It widened when he caught that glance.
"Oh don't joke V'len, of course you do! Nothing terribly exciting last night, though. Slept like a baby," he stretched, wincing a little, then spoke between bites as he started on his breakfast.
"Shells if I'm ready for drills today though. Can't imagine you are, either. Wanna say we're sick?" He leaned a little closer, brushing legs, a suggestive lilt to his tone.
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:06 am
V'len paused again at the other rider's first comment, his expression as stoic as he could possibly manage. If only A'kor knew how close his statement had been to the truth, V'len was sure he would have exploited it more. Throughout the years he had known him, A'kor had always used his charm to get what he wanted from people, be it an extra bubbly pie at a gather or a lingering kiss in an unoccupied room. Teasing, flirting, manipulating, the blonde could only imagine what the silver-tongued redhead would do with that kind of ammo on him. Not to mention how smug he would be. As if A'kor needed any more of a reason to be smug.
Fingering a meatroll idly, the bluerider let his eyes fall back to his breakfast and back to the bored, half-mast stance they had been at before the redhead had sat down.
"I had late watch last night, and rider training ran later than usual." V'len replied, tactfully ignoring the suggestion that he could have kept the bluerider company. A'kor would have enjoyed it too, he was sure. Cutting off a piece of redfruit and skewering it with his knife, the blonde bit off a piece thoughtfully, glancing in A'kor's direction as he listened to him chatter amiably. That was, until he heard the purr of that last comment, felt the gentle caress of the brownrider's leg against his own.
Silver-tongued indeed.
'He's manipulating you again.'
V'len ignored his dragon. "Perhaps... but you know we'll have to run laps." he responded slowly, seemingly very interested in the redfruit still on his knife.
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:26 am
Sweet Faranth, but V'len was sometimes so transparent, even when he tried so hard to throw him off the scent. A'kor loved trying to get a rise out of the introverted bluerider, in more ways than one. It had taken him some time to figure out which buttons to push, but it never ceased to amuse him when he did manage to get V'len to do or say something outside of his routine. But as well as he thought he knew V'len, he was sure that there were things that the other rider hadn't told him. So he kept probing...
He bought V'len's explanation, but that didn't explain why he hadn't slept well. Insomnia? From the way V'len hadn't explained it A'kor suspected it was something he didn't want him to know, and insomnia didn't seem likely. And the way he'd hesitated after his little quip made it a little more obvious. It would probably only take a little more to get it out of him, but A'kor was a bit more interested in getting something else at this point.
The brownrider deliberately leaned over to bite off a piece of V'len's redfruit, although there was a half-eaten one on his plate. "Hmm...how indiscreet of us. It'll be just like the good old days when we were candidates," A'kor grinned. "We were pros at limping laps, eh?"
You had best remember your promise, A'kormine, Lucieth informed him without rancor.
"We can go down to the Hold," the redhead said coaxingly to appease Lucieth. "Take a day off, have a swim..."
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:17 am
"I can't believe you still remember that. Or want to still remember that," V'len replied, his eyes following the redhead as he leaned in to steal a piece of his redfruit, giving him an unamused look. Cheeky. To be honest, he actually kind of liked that about A'kor. How he could just do something that completely invaded your personal space and give you such a look that you almost wanted him to do it again. So suave, so debonair, so... unlike V'len himself. If he had been any less practiced with hiding how he really felt about something, the bluerider was sure he would blush, and become one of the countless victims to A'kor's neverending charm.
The threat of not being able to keep up with A'kor was... a little thrilling.
Shaking off the urge to give in to the redhead's demands, V'len rested his chin on one palm, eying his conversationalist, looking unconvinced."I don't know... we really shouldn't miss practice." He replied, giving A'kor a slight smirk, as if wanting him to know he was trying to be difficult.
'Swim~' Garenth piped up almost immediately, seemingly quite pleased with that idea, and V'len's chin nearly slipped from his palm in surprise. The bluerider could hear his dragon crooning to himself in his head, already imagining the cool water. V'len scowled a little at the blue. He should have known. Garenth was a sucker for the water. Sometimes, though, the blonde had the sneaking suspicion that it was only because he tended to blend in very well with the deep water. 'I would not mind a nice swim~'
'I thought you were against this,' V'len responded, trying not to be amused by his dragon's sudden change of heart.
'We have not been swimming in a long time, V'lenMine~' Garenth tried to explain sheepishly.
Glancing back at A'kor, he gave the redhead an accusing look despite the fact that the brownrider could never know why; an almost relenting look that clearly stated 'this is all your fault.'
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:27 am
"You need to relax. Those were good days, even if you were far too difficult for your own good," A'kor sat back, amused. Hardly put off by V'len's skepticism, knowing that V'len was in the mood to be convinced, he rested a hand on his thigh.
"We've been training for Turns now and know all that shite forward and backward, missing a drill here or there can't hurt. Besides, the old bronzer hasn't done real discipline since back in his fifth decade, when Thread was still falling," the redhead rolled his eyes. "We'll be fine."
He paused when he saw V'len's eyes take on the distant look that meant he was speaking with his dragon, and by the displeased look on his face A'kor knew that he was quite close to winning.
"See? Garenth thinks it's a good idea, doesn't the good old boy? He knows what's best for you, you ought to listen to him," A'kor squeezed V'len's thigh to add a little impetus to his words. He had one more ace up his sleeve if V'len needed a bit more convincing, and he was quite tempted to use it.
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:53 am
"You liked it," V'len replied with a smirk, eying the hand on his thigh for a moment, but not pulling it away. He knew A'kor was right. Or at least, convincing enough that he didn't feel so bad if they skipped class today. Persuasive, manipulative b*****d.
'So are we going swimming?' Garenth asked hopefully, already getting ready to come get his rider if the answer was yes, and perhaps leave him there for a little while if it wasn't.
"Yeah yeah we're going swimming, stop making it sound like you're a beaten flit," V'len grumbled, relaxing exponentially and reluctantly shaking A'kor's hand off his thigh as he got up to dispatch of his dirty plate and cup. Glancing over his shoulder, he slowed on his way to the ledge, waiting for the brownrider to take the hint that he had won.
"It's your lead, brownrider," V'len murmured softly against A'kor's ear, if only to assure him that he, too, could play this game.
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 2:12 pm
"Mm, I won't deny that," A'kor winked. It has been so much fun breaking V'len out of his shell. Not to mention satisfying. "Although I admit it's nice I don't have to get you angry to get you out of your pants anymore."
The brownrider perked up when V'len grumbled his response to his dragon aloud, getting up as well and putting away his dish. He grabbed onto him, curling an arm around his waist and grinning when he murmured against his ear.
"Then let's get out of here," the redhead gave him a squeeze. Lucieth was already winging his way down to land in the bowl by the entrance to the lower caverns, arching his neck in excitement at the prospect of getting something to eat Holdside. A'kor let go of V'len and climbed up his beast's lowered shoulder.
"Meet me by the star stones when you're ready," he waved.
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:21 pm
V'len gave the redhead a roll of his eyes at the mention of 'getting him out of his pants', nudging A'kor a little roughly with his shoulder. To be fair, that, too, was actually true. In the earlier days, V'len hadn't been so keen to let the seductive redhead anywhere near him, much less into his bed. In the end, A'kor had found a way to do it... at a price. The price being bruises, cuts, occasionally a split lip. As it was, V'len found out the hard way that seduction was not the brownrider's only talent -- he had a certain knack for pissing people off. It just so happened that after you got V'len angry enough, it was a little easier to get him to be passionate. Even if it was a little violent. Apparently A'kor had not minded too much. Much to the blonde's irritation, the fight seemed worth it to the redhead, with the knowledge that at the end of it there would be a prize for him. Or he just knew that eventually he'd break V'len down a bit.
"Hm, am I making it too easy for you?" the bluerider teased in a low voice, once more not pulling away at the obvious display of affection that was A'kor's way of saying he was going to get some tonight, "Perhaps I should play a little harder to get, you might be getting soft."
As soon as the brownrider's touch had left his waist, V'len headed towards Garenth, watching for a moment as A'kor mounted before doing so himself, throwing a leg over the blue's neck. Giving a brief, dismissive nod to A'kor to show he heard where they would meet, Garenth took off towards the weyr.
~~~~~
It didn't take long for V'len to get ready for their escapade, having only to grab a few things and put on his riding gear before gently navigating Garenth towards the star stones.
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:36 pm
A'kor was already waiting for him at the designated spot as Garenth winged his way up to them. Lucieth hovered midsky, the redhead astride his neck, and turned to face the familiar shape of the Star Stones, the image burned into A'kor's memory from countless betweening drills during weyrlinghood.
A'kormine means to tell Yours to meet him on the beach at Ista Hold, the brown dragon informed Garenth, and the brownrider raised his arm in the traditional signal before he and Lucieth winked between. They reappeared moments later high over Ista Hold, the sun still relatively close to the horizon, the air a bit chill over the rainforest but getting heavier with humidity and the growing heat of the day. Lucieth circled lazily, spiralling downwards towards the beach, his eyes flashing red as he spotted the herds in clearings dotted here and there among the broadleafed trees.
You can get a bite once we're finished on the beach, A'kor told him when he sensed the brown's attention wavering, and Lucieth obediently backwinged to land on the broad expanse of sand leading down to the water several dragonlengths south of Ista Seahold, a few coves away from the nearest place where they moored the ships.
A'kor dismounted, landing with a thump on the sand, and removed the riding gear from his beast before he sent him off into the surf, stripping out of his heavy wherhide as well. He did not even feel slightly remorseful for missing drills. They'd only be a candlemark late...
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:48 am
Garenth relayed the simple message, and V'len looked up just as the brownrider gave the signal, winking between in the time it took to blink. The blonde paused for a few moments, giving A'kor and Lucieth time to get well clear of the airspace of Ista Hold before giving Garenth the go, a few moments later the blue disappearing over the Star Stones.
The cold of between was never a surprise, but always chilling.
It took only moments before the pair appeared in the airspace above one of the holds their Weyr protected. Almost immediately V'len could pick out the redhead on the beach, removing his dragon's riding gear before Lucieth could go sun himself or take a swim. 'Swim~' Garenth crooned happily, his multi-faceted eyes whirling. "I know you want to swim. Bring us down, and I'll get this gear off you, and you can go swim with Lucieth," V'len replied, patting his dragon's blue hide with a sigh. The blue gave him an appreciative look and descended quickly towards the sand, kicking up a little as he landed lightly.
V'len could hardly have the blue stand still as he removed his gear, watching with a shake of his head as the dragon plunged into the water, as if he were still a little dragonet. When he was sure that Garenth was content (he could tell by the way the blue left his eyes above the water, looking around as if he were completely invisible), the bluerider began stripping off his own gear, paying close attention NOT to look A'kor in the eye. When it came to taking things off, it was usually best that way, unless you wanted everything to come off, because if you looked up, you found those warm brown eyes on you, and after that it was extremely hard to deny him.
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:12 am
A'kor turned to watch Garenth land on the beach, grinning. The blue was so graceful, prim as his rider sometimes. The redhead happened to like that he brought out V'len's undisciplined side, the part of him that enjoyed skipping a lesson for a roll in the hay. The image of discipline was shattered, however, when Garenth ran down the beach to play in the water, and the brownrider laughed. Lucieth was rolling in the surf, one wing tucked under him, and flicked water at the blue beyond him with his tail.
Turning his attention from their beasts back to V'len, he tried to catch the blond's eye, smirking. Alas, V'len knew him too well. A'kor went over to 'help' him take off his gear, trying a different tack.
"Hey V'len, don't be so tense. It's not like I haven't seen everything before," he teased.
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