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 Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:14 pm
"C'mon Ren the water's fine! Aren't you super hot anyways?" Nandeli tied the edge of her skirt up a little higher so it wouldn't drag in the water, and looked over her shoulder at the young gold. Reneneth gazed at her with a look of quiet contemplation, before doing as she was asked and sauntering in the cool waters of the ocean. Her rider had coaxed her to come down to the plateau where the water met the land, saying that she was big enough to travel that far now. It would be a bit of a trek home, but it would be well worth it. Just think of all the sun, Nandeli had said. The little gold was nothing if not trusting of her rider, and so she had willingly accompanied Nandeli to the beach.
It is 'fine', Reneneth admitted, tucking her wings closer to her body. It is warm too. I like it. She gave an experimental paddle with her front feet, drifting off a little deeper into the water.
The Nose trotted in after her, stopping when the waves reached just above her knees. She laughed at the sight of the young gold dog paddling her way out in the ocean, and called, "Don't go too far! I can't bathe you out there!"
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Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 8:18 pm
As he kicked off the sandy bottom beneath the sparkling water, Selachii found himself incredibly glad that the temperature and climate here wasn't that different from Southern Boll -- they were about the same latitude, he thought. The perfect latitude for sea swims in less clothing than was eminently respectable, he thought -- and he'd left his clothes hidden further up the beach. Well, most of them, anyway. Sleek as a dolphin, Sela surfaced, deep chocolate-colored hair plastered wetly to his head, blowing like a winded runnerbeast.
Perhaps it was silly, but then, Sela hadn't expected to see anyone in the water when he surfaced. Wasn't a bad thing, but he had the grace to blush beneath his freckles as he grinned at the girl and -- shock of shocks -- the luminous little golden dragon. "Hail," he said from a short distance away, floating on his back a bit and waving after them with an affable grin. Sure and he wasn't going to stand up just yet, though.
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Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 8:39 pm
Nandeli was as surprised as Sela when he surfaced not too far away from them. Her surprise, however, didn't seem to ruffle Reneneth, who simply tilted her head and stared at the boy. He was typical of human boys, she decided to herself, perhaps even what some of the girls might call "good looking." It was so hard to understand human standards when it came to finding a mate. Dragons were so much easier. You looked for the shine in the hide, the muscles in the wings, and the gleam in their eyes. That's how you knew they were healthy, and if they could catch you in a Flight then they were truly the best. Humans made everything so much more complicated than that.
The Nose was, thankfully, not entirely privy to the thoughts of her dragon. Instead, she raised a hand and waved merrily to the boy. "Hey there! I didn't see you swimming out there! Gave us a bit of a shock there!" She gave Reneneth a gentle pat on her side. "You can come closer if you like. We don't bite…. Hard."
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Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:01 pm
Offering a broad smile to both the girl and her dragon, Sela kicked his way over to the pair, knifing through the water quick as a fish, shaking his head to clear water from his ears as his warm brown eyes flicked up and down, appraising while he'd a second to think. Well, and she was pretty damned pleasing to look at, and he'd be more than happy to talk with her. "Sorry about the shock," he said impishly, "though I'll have to ask you not to make too many marks should you decide to test your teeth." Lifting a big hand, he swiped water out of his face, and beamed up at the girl earnestly, before offering a half-bow of respect to the young gold. "I'd imagine that'd make some people pretty upset."
Merrily, Sela laughed at his own joke, flashing a white grin. "Water's fair out here, isn't it? Perfect for a swim." Though the mischievous urge welled up in him, he refrained from splashing either female.
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 12:42 pm
He swims very well. The little gold was watching Sela quite closely, as though trying to figure out how he moved so well in the water. Perhaps it was because he was so small and thin, not to mention he had fewer limbs to coordinate in the water. If he swam off again she would watch him more closely. She blinked at him when he bowed to her, and dipped her head in greeting. He is polite too. And he swims well. Do you know him?
Nandeli gave a small shake of her head to her dragon, before turning her full attention to the rather cheeky youth. "Well, no harm done so I can't really complain too much can I?" She fixed him with her best mega-watt grin, amused by his wit. "And I guess I'll have to promise not to leave too many marks, though I make no promises for Ren. She's got quite the mouth on her!" As if the gold would ever bite a human, but there was no harm in teasing Sela a little. Keep up the image of dragons as dangerous beasts to the locals.
"The water's perfect today! Couldn't have picked a better day to swim, could we? I'm Nandeli, by the way, and this is Reneneth. Now, I'd bet half a mark you're not Weyrborn since I've never seen you around here, so you're either a Craftsman or a Candidate. Am I right?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:12 pm
Despite himself, Sela was ridiculously pleased with the attention, and he grinned at both females before turning his eyes back to Nandeli -- she really did seem to be friendly. Not at all like the girls back there, who'd just as soon poke a pin into you as speak to you. "I'm sure there're tastier things that your Reneneth could sink her teeth into, Nandeli," he said with a merry smile.
"And you've got it right in one -- a Candidate, and previously a Weaver." His nose wrinkled a bit with distaste, and he whuffled a bit, mildly annoyed. "And hoping not to ever have to see a loom ever again, with luck!" It took him a moment, but Sela recomposed himself, and grinned. "Name's Selachii, though I'll thank you to call me Sela," he paused, grinning again, "if you're a friend, at least."
Something about his expression said he quite hoped she was, too.
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 8:58 pm
There are many tastier things to 'sink my teeth' into, Reneneth commented quietly, though she was unable to mask her distaste. Why ever would she consider eating or biting a human, especially one who was nice and friendly? It would even be a stretch to expect her to bite someone in self defence. It was just simply Not Done. Of course, humans liked to joke about things like this. Ren wasn't sure she'd ever understand it.
"Apprentice Weaver?" Nandeli repeated, sounding somewhat disbelieving. "No way!" She couldn't see such an obviously energetic boy in front of a loom. How did he not drive himself crazy sitting there all day? He seemed to feel that way about his Craft, however, which was somewhat pleasing. She always liked when her initial assessments about people were correct. "I have a hard time picturing you at a loom. You look more like a Herder or maybe even a Miner, though you'd probably want to be a bit tougher. Whatever made you get into weaving?"
At his choice of words regarding his nicknames her grin only widened. "Sela it is! And if we're shortening names, you can call me Nan if you like. Or the Nose. Take your pick."
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:40 am
"My parents," said Sela, making a face, "were both Weavers. And their parents, too. And I'm not sure about this, but I think their parents, too. So everybody assumed I'd be good at it, but I proved 'em wrong at that." He looked briefly abashed, faint color that had nothing to do with the sun in his cheeks. "Not that I'm wherry-headed or anything, just that I can't abide sitting so still and counting threads for ages." His arms flung wide and he stretched, giving a little groan. "I think I'd rather do chores here forever than go back if I don't have to," Sela finished with a sigh, before turning his attention back on the girl.
"If it's all the same to you, I think I'll call you Nan," he said, chuckling. "I've noticed nothing out of the ordinary about your nose, at least."
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:44 am
Aah, so he was from the traditional "your great great great grandfather was a Weaver and so on and so forth, so you should be one too" type of family. She had heard of those before. One of the benefits of growing up in the Weyr was that she had been fostered at an early age and then left to pursue whatever path in life they wanted. Nandeli had chosen the kitchen tuber peeler route and never looked back. There were certain benefits to being able to peel tubers without looking, you know. You just haven't thought of them yet.
"I don't blame you. I've never done real weaving, but I used to get tossed around a bit as a weyrbrat wherever they needed a hand. If you're not interested in listening to them talk, then it's not going to be fun for you at all." Nandeli only deigned chores involving non-gossipers to be "boring", which was why she spent the majority of her time with women, chatting it up about Weyr life. Talking made any job better. "And you may say that now about the chores, but I'll bet you haven't had to do anything particularly gross yet. Like some Candidates before the last Hatching got into trouble and were on latrine duty until this Hatching that just passed." She made a face. Scratch that bit about talking making any job better. Nothing made latrine duty better.
She laughed at the comment about her nose, her smile turning rather cheeky. "It has nothing to do with the size of my nose really. Care to take another guess?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 4:16 pm
"Don't mind talking, obviously," said Sela with a pleased grin, pushing his wet hair back and chuckling. "Though you're right about latrine duty. Nobody wants to have their mouth open 'round that business, what with the sheer volume of business that could wind up there, but otherwise, I'm thinking it'd be more fun with someone you care to converse with, right?" He'd spent all his time since being pushed into apprenticehood being told to be quiet and be still, so he could be a little bit... conversational, right?
Still, Sela's attention was returned to her, and he laughed a little bit. "Sniffing things out? Or possibly putting it in places other than at the end of your face?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 7:23 pm
Nandeli nodded eagerly. "Exactly! I work in the kitchens, see, or at least I used to before Ren hatched for me. Lots of people will tell you how boring kitchen work is and how much they hate tuber peeling because it's so monotonous but little do they know that the tuber peeling corner is one of the most exciting places in the whole Weyr! You should have a peek back there one day. They're really nice girls, the ones that do it all the time anyways, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind having you back there. Never known them to say no to a good looking boy." Aaah she missed peeling tubers, but she wouldn't trade Reneneth for the world. It was a sad trade off but a necessary one.
She tilted her head thoughtfully at his words, considering them, before she gave up on being mysterious and nodded in agreement once again. "That's about as close as you're going to get! I know lots of stuff about the Weyrfolk, stuff that other people don't see or realize is going on right under their noses. It's pretty funny actually. You seem like the type who might get involved in some rumours," Nan added brightly, as though this was a Really Good Thing. "Try to do something exciting, okay?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 1:20 pm
"I don't know if it's a good idea if I work in the kitchen," said Sela with an unabashed grin, shrugging and putting one big hand over his stomach. "The workers'd probably kick me out for wanting to taste everything about fifteen times before it went out. Still, if I happen to get sent there for something, I'll go and pay my respects to them, maybe have a little conversation. Or a long one, depending on if they're as good at talking as you."
Crossing his arms over his chest, Sela chuckled. "I get in trouble sometimes, so you'll probably get to hear all kinds of nonsense about me. 'S just that I can't stand the way some people act." His nose scrunched. "Hopefully it doesn't get me tossed out on my ear." The thought in itself sent an unhappy shiver all the way down his spine and he cringed a little. "Anyway, I'll see if I can't do something interesting for you talk about!" He beamed as winningly as he could with a little laugh.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:45 am
The Nose flashed him a similar grin. "Ah, so that's how it is. The workers should keep you busy enough that you won't have time to play taste tester, though you could even get roped into it by one of the cooks there. She loves all the Candidate boys that come to work for her, so you never know. You could win her over." Her grin only widened as she winked. Sadly, being a girl, she didn't have any effect over that cook, but it didn't matter too much. Why would she be upset when the cook was creating more gossip right under her nose?
"Oh?" Nandeli's gossip senses were tingling, and she knew better than to ignore them. "What sorts of things do people do that you don't like?" There were many kinds of boys out there, and she was mentally trying to apply him to one of her many categories. Was he the type of guy who hated boys who slept around (the dashing hero type)? Or was he one of those guys who stood for everything righteous and just in the world (the Weyrleader of virtue type)? There was always the troublemaker type and the type of guy that just liked playing devil's advocate, but she decided she liked the first two options better. Unless, of course, he said something even more interesting than what she could come up on her own.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 10:49 am
"Then I'd get too fat to ever fly ever, if I even get that lucky," Sela snorted, amused and rubbing at one big brown eye with the heel of one hand and shrugging his thin shoulders. "Though I wouldn't mind. Hah, I guess years of sitting in front of a loom should've made my bottom fat if it was going to, huh? Instead, they all called me a skeleton." His grin was broad and amiable, bright with good-natured cheer. "I don't think I'm a skeleton..."
Though when the topic turned to his tendencies, Selachii's grin turned a little bit awkward, and he snorted. "Well, I... just don't like bullies at all. 'Specially when they're trying to bully me. Unless they're really somehow better than me or I know they can take me down, if they're lording it over me, I'll either say something or get into a fight." He scratched the side of his nose, sheepish. "I mean, I respect authority just fine!" Sela spluttered before he could regain his equilibrium, waving a hand.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:00 pm
"You look pretty healthy to me. No bones hanging out or anything as far as I can tell." Not that she was really looking, though. The water may have skewed her perception of him but she decided that it couldn't add too much weight onto him. He certainly didn't swim like he was fat enough to weigh down a dragon, so that was good enough for her. At the mention of his small problem with bullies – though not authority – Nandeli happily added him onto her list of the righteous Weyrleader types. He was almost like C'ym, now that she thought about it. Perhaps she should try and pinch his cheeks. It would be totally awesome if he blushed. "I don't think anybody likes bullies, but if you stand up to them then good on you. Nothing wrong with that."
Am I going to get a bath? The young gold interrupted, having had enough of wading around in the sea. Of course the water was pretty, but she wanted to be scrubbed. Her rider had been talking to this pretty boy long enough. I would like to be finished before it gets dark so we can make the journey back up to the bowl. It is a long walk and I want to use that time to dry off.
Remembering her dragon, Nandeli offered Reneneth an apologetic pat. "Sorry, I forgot it was bath time. Did you want to have a go at cleaning up a dragon? Not exciting work, but it'll give you something to talk about with the other Candidates. She won't mind too much so long as you don't go for the eyes or too close to her belly. Ren's a little sensitive there." The queenrider waded back to the shore where her little wooden bucket sat, bringing it with her and allowing it to float beside them.
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