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 Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 4:33 pm
"Xanthoth, this is ridiculous. If that gossip girl sees this..." B'lin couldn't bring himself to finish. The idea of what the yappy one could cook up should she spot this little number made his stomach do more flips than Bachi that one time he'd accidentally tripped him down the stairs. It really was just an accident, but it hadn't looked good for him. This didn't either. Who followed a woman around the Weyr like a fly on the wall? The mindhealer no less! This was irony at it's finest. Cruel, cruel irony. "If you'll stop, I'll just ask--"
No, B'linmine. Had Xanthoth sounded determined like this over something worth it, B'lin would have been proud. But no, life didn't act like it owed him any favors. The reason he was stalking--shards, following, following!--Roka down the hall? The reason he'd been following her this long? Three hours ago, she had been passing a few dragonriders, one of which was him. Whatever she was reading was of the utmost importance, because she didn't spare a glance while patting the dragonet on the head.
That was not the problem. The issue was that the hatchling she so affectionately pet? Not Xanthoth. Not Xanthoth! The bronze couldn't believe what he was seeing. She'd just... she'd just walked right by him! Sure, it wouldn't have been a big deal if she was honestly too swamped to offer praise to any of them. Hmph! She was going to pay attention to him if it was the last thing he did!
It may be, because B'lin's thin patience was being stretched, pulled and twisted in all kinds of ways. Roka rounded the corner, and they kept three or four steps behind her, then slooooowly peeked around.
"Oh, shards. We're stalking this woman. You're insane."
It's for Roka lovely's own good, B'lin. She's gone mad with her power.
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 4:42 pm
"Stalking what women?"
Miah had been heading to the kitchens to help with the dishes when she turned down one of the hallways to find B'lin and Xanthoth peering around a corner. Had the bronzerider not answered her question already she would have demanded to know what he was doing sneaking around (which looked pretty hard to do, judging by the size of the dragonet that was following him). Not that she wasn't going to demand why he was sneaking around after a woman, but it just changed the nature of the question. What it didn't change was her body language while asking the question. The young ex-Holder folded her arms over her chest and tapped her foot, waiting for her frienemy to respond. Honestly, B'lin was setting a bad example for Bachi! And he wondered why his brother was undisciplined.
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 4:59 pm
If there was ever a time to flail without shame, it was then. B'lin still wasn't going to. How sad he'd finally been given the perfect opportunity to try new things and just wasted it. Shards, shards, shards. Had she heard?! Frantically he snatched Miah and covered her mouth. Gently. Brazen, unappreciative little brat or not, a lady was a lady.
On a small scale, things were different when the little miss was Miah. She was the little sister he never had. The female sibling he'd never, ever wanted. Whatever dragon had searched her no doubt had a sane rider, but maybe the beast needed to get their head checked by a minheal--
Shards. Xanthoth!
The bronze had already scurried down the hall, and B'lin rushed to catch up, dragging Miah by the hand (gently!) behind him. Another corner, another peek. "He's upset that mindhealer didn't pay attention to him," he whispered to Miah. "It's ridiculous, but he's determined to get her to pay attention to him of her own choice, without--" Why was he telling her this? Next question! "What are you doing here? Go play with Bachi."
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 5:15 pm
The ex-Holder girl had expected many things. She had expected B'lin to deny what she had heard, to pretend he hadn't heard her, or even to try to make up some sort of frantic excuse as to why he was stalking an older woman. What she had not expected was to be grabbed (albeit gently) by him and, to add insult to injury, to have a hand put over her mouth. The sheer shock of it all had frozen her usually active brain, and all she could do was stand there and look like an idiot. Oh how her mother would shake her head.
She only recovered when she was whisked off down the hall after Xanthoth, eyes already narrowing as she prepared to tell B'lin exactly what she thought of being spirited around like some herdbeast. Miah didn't get much of a chance to say anything, however, as the bronzerider was already explaining himself. So Xanthoth was determined to get this older woman to pay attention to him. A likely story. Miah eyed B'lin critically as she weighed the truth of his story. Xanthoth did seem quite focused, but on the other hand, B'lin could be trying to live up to his bronzerider status. It was hard to say who was right.
"Bachi is busy working. Candidates don't have time to play." She left the 'duh' hanging in the air as she turned her attention back to their current predicament. "What if the woman that he's chasing, not that I believe you yet, doesn't even notice him? Are you really going to chase her around all day?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 5:44 pm
No one made B'lin act this way quite like Miah. Not M'rik the has-been roommate. Not F'sey the Weyrlingmaster. Not even Bachi, the worst, most annoying, most ungrateful little brother anyone could ask for. Others could hold a runner-up award for getting under his skin, but Miah went to her room, grand prize in hand, every single time. She not only got weaseled her way beneath the skin, she crawled around like some sort of... pestering, crawly insect! The girl drove him absolutely insane and the out-of-character way he handled Bachi didn't compare to the one eighty he did when Miah was around. Shards, he'd hugged her publicly. On the sands!
A grimace was on his face at that reminder. A good first impression all around. He'd made himself look like both an irresponsible rider of a bronze and... He wouldn't say whipped. He would not say whipped. Well done, B'lin, well done. (Denial was a good thing, right?) There was nothing he could do about it, unfortunately. There was still time to salvage his reputation here.
The teenager did a double take. What. Whatwhatwhat?! "Are you--What?!" Didn't believe him?! Didn't believe him?! How could she not believe him?! Completely embarrassed, so it would seem, B'lin's face had a lovely red tint. No wonder dragons didn't come in that color. It was the shade of shame. "I know they don't have time to play." The 'calm, Mine' from Xanthoth he for once needed never came. Lousy playboy dragon! "Which is why you should get back to work. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do as a rider." Smooth. Real smooth. "I have a plan, so don't worry about it."
...Nevermind they were bad plans. Details, details.
Leaving Miah (or so he hoped), B'lin hurried to catch up with his partner. How many times would he have to do that today? Weren't these young ones supposed to be hesitant to get this far from who they'd Impressed?!
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 6:08 pm
It wasn't that Miah thought that B'lin was whipped. Far from it. She expected every male who was worthy enough to join her list of acquaintances to listen to her like this. The fact that B'lin was so easily steered onto the path of righteousness only improved her opinion of him. However, the fact that his brother was sadly lacking in many things and he had Impressed a bronze had cost him a few points. Naturally suspicious of all behaviour that could be borderline wrong, the rumours flying around about bronzerider traps did little to improve her opinion of B'lin. She was now watching him closer than ever to make sure he didn't make any poor decisions.
When he blushed her eyes narrowed, suddenly even more sure that it was B'lin who was interested in this woman and not Xanthoth. For shame! How could he blame his poor dragon, who couldn't even speak up for himself, of chasing older women? Was this an example of how he would handle problems in the future? Blame his dragon? Well, she just wasn't going to stand for this! "I'm certain that my help will not be missed for a little while. You should be more grateful that I'm going to help you with your little problem." Miah shot him a dark look when he mentioned that he had a plan. Oh really? Alright Mr. Smarty-Pants, why don't you- Hey wait a second! Since when did he think he could run off?!
Miah took off after B'lin, now far from forgiving as she pulled up by his side. "Let's hear it. Your plan." There was an unspoken 'but mine will be better'.
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 6:22 pm
"I don't have a problem," B'lin told her. Yeah, that's right, told her. If it was a little soft spoken, it was only because he didn't want Roka's attention drawn to them. Not for any other reason. Any other reason. "So hush." Miah, surprise surprise, didn't do anything he told her to. She didn't hush, she didn't stay. (He hadn't told her to 'stay', it was just supposed to be assumed when he, you know, ran away from her.) Blaming fate was an action of shame to B'lin--much like the color red--yet it was getting harder not to every time Miah was around. Why did life hate him this much? What had he done wrong? "You don't need to know!" he snapped.
Shards, shards! Too loud. Roka was turning around! Not panicked, just bordering it, B'lin hit a knee a split second before she looked up, his hand on Miah's shoulders as if they'd been there for a while now. Shards. Shards! Think, think! Say something, B'lin! Anything! "You don't need to know because... you're too young to see any boys that way, and you should focus on being a candidate."
Faaaantastic.
Xanthoth was immune to the woe of his rider. More concerned was the runt of a bronze with his earned attention. He was him, plenty enough a reason! To top it off he'd been so dedicated! There was no way she wouldn't notice him, sitting up beside her, so shiny, cute and--
"Ah, B'lin," Roka noted. "How is that little problem of yours going?"
B'lin could have died. He really could have just fell over dead. "There's no problem." Please, don't say anything to the contrary. Please. The mindhealer was not dense. That expression didn't get by her and she took pity on the youngster. Kids these days.
"Very good then." Face in a book, back straight, back around Roka turned. Thump thump thump went her shoes against the floor.
B'linmine! Did you see that? She walked right past again! She is playing hard to get! We must win, B'linmine! We are winners!
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 7:04 pm
He didn't have a problem? Who was he kidding? B'lin had more problems than he could count on both hands. That was why Miah was here. To make sure that his problems did not go unsolved. He would most certainly live a miserable life without her. Even her mother would agree on that one. She scowled at him when he refused to tell her his plan, already wondering if he even had a plan in the first place. He was probably bluffing just to get her off his back. Well, she had a plan, and she would be damned if she wasn't going to rub it into his face until he conceded defeat.
Her plan of action was thwarted when the older woman they were following turned around. Miah tilted her chin up and stood straighter, hoping that their conversation had not been overheard. Even if it had been, she had lots of potential excuses stored up in her head. As a fellow woman, surely Roka would understand that there was a moment in every girl's life where she allowed herself to be in the company of questionable boys. Miah was beginning to question her own motives when B'lin suddenly launched into some sort of PG version of The Talk the moment the woman turned around. Real smooth, B'lin, real smooth.
Luckily, the older women seemed to be so engrossed in her reading that she didn't even notice the presence of Xanthoth or Miah. She seemed to be focused entirely on B'lin. Good. The dimglow deserved it. The ex-Holder's eyebrows shot up with Roka mentioned a problem, and fixed B'lin with her best "you had better start talking" look. "So you know this woman then?" And he had been all offended that she hadn't believed him. "A likely story that your dragon is chasing a woman. A likely story. Honestly, Balin, could you be more unoriginal? Even the dimmest dimglow could have told you that to find out if a woman likes you you have to try and make her jealous!"
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 11:55 am
"A likely story?! He's chasing her! Are you blind?!" B'lin? Raising his voice? At a girl?! Worthy of headline news the next day! To a certain extent, downplayed by the evoking source of the outburst being the one and only (he hoped ) Miah. The rider hushed fast for an assortment of reasons. The first: Little monster of epic proportions or not, mother would Not Approve. The second: Roka could overhear them, and he knew he couldn't save himself this time (as if he had before). The third: Xanthoth was almost out of sight in his pursuit of the woman. Were all women blind?!
"B'lin," he corrected her, having no idea why Miah saying otherwise bothered him. (He'd think about later.) People had slipped up and used the extended version before. Sometimes, they did it knowingly and just because they didn't care. Neither did B'lin. Usually. When Miah did, it was different. Didn't she realize he was a rider now?! Hmph! He wasn't pouting. Don't judge him. "I do not "like" this woman. She's my--" Oh, don't go there B'lin. Do not go there. "--mindhealer for Xanthoth."
Considering Miah's reaction to the hatching during it all, bringing it up was treading in shallow, poison snake-filled waters he'd prefer to avoid at all costs. By time he started that little gem, he was already hurrying to catch up with Xanthoth (convinced Miah would be following him without double checking), and too focused on the dragonet to filter his words as cautiously as need be. The rider immediately regretted doing it; Xanthoth would be sent into another spiral of woe if he caught them talking about it, let alone what Miah might do. "Listen, he's annoyed that woman paid attention to another dragon and not him. You saw him at that hatching, lingering around the women. You should know how he is!"
Everyone should have known! There was no stopping this thing!
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 7:10 pm
"He's chasing her because you like her! You could clearly put him up to this and pretend like it wasn't your idea in the slightest!" Miah gave him a look that clearly said she knew all about the mystical mind powers that dragonriders possessed. There was some kind of deeper… something that linked rider to dragon in a way that made giant beasts bend the will of mere humans. It was frightening sometimes to think of the damage they could do. But she wouldn't allow herself to be afraid of B'lin and his little bronze dragon. It would be like training canines. You had to make them think you were the bigger dog even though you really weren't.
Recognizing the truncation of his name, the ex-Holder made a small face, but conceded. "B'lin then. It doesn't change what I said before." Her expression changed to a scowl, and then slowly shifted to somewhere near 'wary.' Xanthoth's mindhealer? He needed a mindhealer? It must have been because of that blue in the clutch. Her heart clenched at the thought of the poor creature, but more so at the way she had reacted to him. Honestly, feeling like she needed to hug B'lin. And then getting told off by a gay man for hugging him. Like he didn't do more than hug men. She would have loved to give him a piece of her mind.
As expected, Miah kept pace with B'lin as they chased after Xanthoth. "I already told you what to do! You just weren't listening. If you want to get her back for passing you by then you have to show her what she's missing. Make her jealous. Make her regret not petting you when she should have. Duh."
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 9:15 pm
Women were impossible. It was never okay to do, but the more time he spent around Miah the more he understood the desire to just... shake them, sometimes. Shake the annoying behavior, bad attitude and complete lack of common sense right out of them. Those gifted with that last one wouldn't have needed him to repeat himself. They would have already know, "He is not following her because I like her because I do not like her. In that way." As a mindhealer, there were worse than Roka out there.
Xanthoth, come back. I have a plan.
"I have a plan," he barked at Miah again. "Just be quiet for once!"
One plan later...
B'lin was not going to explain his reasoning to Miah because he didn't have to. He just so happened to explain it to Xanthoth out loud where she could hear. Purely coincidence. "The girls already say you're one of the--" May lightning strike him in for the sake of shame for finishing that sentence. "--prettiest bronzes in the Weyr. You just need an eye catching color. Once you grab her attention, we can move on." Breathe in, breathe out. Check. Give Miah a 'shut up' look. Check. Ignore Miah if she doesn't shut up (and she probably wouldn't). Check.
Very good, B'lin! The level of weird that was a bronze sitting with a bright red ribbon tied around his neck was lost on Xanthoth. He was positively glowing knowing how adorable he must look! Surely Roka would pay attention to him now! Here she comes, B'linmine! Time to move! Move he did. Right in front of Roka's path. Sensing something in front of him, the woman looked up. This was it!
--Wait!
Did you see that, B'linmine? She looked right at me and kept going! She has the spirit of a warrior! We must not fail! Time for the next plan!
B'lin would not dare look at Miah. "Don't say anything."
Two plans later...
The ribbon stayed on, because Xanthoth decided he liked it right where it was. Many female patrons of the Weyr had cooed and complimented him with the attention he very much deserved. None were Roka, so the mission was still ongoing. They were getting closer! Xanthoth could feel it!
Around the corner, B'lin kept Miah beside him and watched. "Hush," was all he said. The dragon scampered in front of her again, fluttering his wings and doing as much of a handstand (or whatever the proper term was for his species) as he could. Many females (and some males) made appreciative noises at the display. She is not looking, B'linmine! As Roka passed him yet again, Xanthoth crashed to the ground.
B'lin did not dare look at Miah. "Don't. Say. Anything."
However many plans later...
Alright, alright. So they'd exhausted every resource, every possible solution and still that woman had not lso much as shook her hand in Xanthoth's direction. What could she be reading that took this long and required so much concentration?! With each passing minute this situation got more and more ridiculous. Woe was B'lin that with each passing second Xanthoth became more determined. This will work, B'linmine!
It had to work. B'lin didn't have any more plans and that was not something he wanted to admit to their little tag along. Now residents of the sands, the rider watched as the tide was pulled in, then back out. In. Out. In. Out. This was the worst plan so far. It was true what they said: Desperate times called for desperate measures! "Go, Xanthoth."
With that the dragon was off in a mad dash toward the water. Cold! But worth it. One stride, two strides, three strides. About five paces into it, Xanthoth stopped and began flailing around, making the loudest noises he could think of. Translated: 'Help! Help! I'm drowning! Pay attention to me!'
It didn't work.
B'lin groaned. "Don't--"
Um, B'linmine. There is a problem.
A rescue later, Xanthoth and B'lin were on the shore, soaking wet, panting and one of the pair was resisting the urge to slam his head into the rocky side of the volcano. Go on. Guess which one. Calm, Mine!
Waving off his bronze's favored motto, B'lin stared at Miah. Then, he sighed, admitting defeat without actually doing so. "Fine. Fine, I'm out of plans. What do you think we should do?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 5:37 pm
… He had a plan? Fine then. If he didn't want her help she would just hang around and watch him fail. Miserably, as she was sure he was going to. With a determined look on her face she made sure to stay close to his side, watching as the first plan unfolded. Was he going to… tie a ribbon around his neck? Clearly his genius was turned off this morning when he rolled out of bed because that was the dumbest idea she had ever seen. Of course Xanthoth did look adorable and she wanted to squish his little face, but she would not. She was above falling for sure meagre tricks as this for attention getting. Not everything with a red bow around its neck caught your attention!
Okay that was a lie. But she was convinced it was true, and when Roka passed right by Xanthoth she was gratified to know she was right. The first plan had failed. Wow was she ever surprised! Can't you see the surprised expression on her face? She made sure to say nothing to B'lin, only fixing him with the most facetious surprised expression she could muster.
Two plans later and she was getting tired of pretending to be surprised. More and more she was becoming decidedly smug. B'lin really sucked at making plans that would attract a woman's attention. Bright bows may make them look once but they wouldn't hang around. You had to hold their attention and keep it. No wonder B'lin hadn't gotten himself a girlfriend yet. Miah rolled her eyes when the bronzerider told her to hush – she hadn't said anything since plan number one! – but kept her eyes on the prize so to speak. That was a pretty decent handstand, she had to admit, but it seemed Roka didn't appreciate it as much as she did. How surprising. Wait, had she used that one already?
However many plans later…
She was sure it was nearly dinner time by now. Not only had she missed out on her kitchen duty but Xanthoth still hadn't got what he wanted. And now he was going to drown himself in the ocean. Well done. Miah was honestly considering giving up on this pair of hopeless cases when B'lin actually asked her if she had an idea. "It's about time, B'lin," she replied, scowling already. You'd have thought he would have given up when balancing a set of plates on Xanthoth's nose had only reminded Roka it was time for dinner. "I say we go with the direct approach. Tell this woman that Xanthoth would benefit from some physical contact from a woman, since he's feeding off your woe about the dead hatchling. You can tell her that someone else will take it the wrong way and so it needs to be her."
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 6:10 pm
"That's lying, Miah." Of all things B'lin was, he not a liar! Plus, the less he brought up that matter the better. The very mention of it made Xanthoth's heart ache a little still. He knew because he felt it from him. That aside, there may have been something to it. He'd wanted to from the beginning, being direct that is, but Xanthoth had refused. Getting that dragon to give up was like fighting against a tsunami. You just weren't going to win. You could only try.
"Xan..." The winded teenager remained quiet the next four or five seconds. "We're just going to ask her. So you can eat. Or F'sey will..." Yell. Scold him. Kick him in the face. Who knew really? Maybe he'd go for a combo. "Alright?"
We can still--B'linmine!
Forget permission. B'lin was hungry, he was tired! He was annoyed to the extent exclamation points were necessary to express his level of frustration! And if he had to stay near Miah much longer he'd drown himself the ocean! Xanthoth could say what he wanted, but he was going to talk to Roka. Back straight, head high, he went to the mindhealer with dragonet a footstep behind.
"Roka-"
"Oh, B'lin. Hello." The book fell from her face. Truly a miracle, she ran her eyes over the bronze. "Xanthoth. Did some girl put this on you? It looks silly." After a chuckle and a shift of her thumb to mark her place in the book, Roka managed to untie the ribbon and offered it to B'lin, advising in an amused voice, "You shouldn't let girls dress him up like that." A pat on the head, a scratch under his chin and Xanthoth was in heaven. Finally! "Since you're here, can I ask you something?"
B'lin would later wish he hadn't said yes. Roka showed him the object that had held her attention so intensely for so long, asked her question and that was that. The rider couldn't take it anymore and stormed off the beach, going to stew and rage and lift heavy things over and over.
Roka was left somewhat confused at first, but would quickly shrug the encounter off and return the book to her face. The page before her had a number of shapes all crammed together. Not a single word in sight.
"I guess he couldn't find the dragon in it either."
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 7:13 pm
Miah fixed B'lin with her best Stare. Lying? Lying?! He was honestly going to accuse her of lying? After he was trying to convince her that Xanthoth was chasing a girl? Please. If he was going to lie to her he would have to be more creative. At least her little fairy tale made sense with what had happened recently. Xanthoth may enjoy girls, but he could get any girl he wanted to. All he had to do was stand there and girls would coo over him. B'lin on the other hand…. No wonder he was pining over his mindhealer. She was probably the only girl who actually honestly listened to him.
Despite B'lin's protests, it seemed that he had realized that her idea was the best, and rightly so. Even if Xanthoth was now hungry and tired, and thus had no other alternative but to take the direct route. If he had gone with her idea in the first place he wouldn't be tired or hungry, so it was his own fault really. One day B'lin would see that Miah was always right and he would be a lot happier for it. Didn't he understand that he was only unhappy because he hadn't accepted her way of life?
"It'll work. You'll see. Now I'm going back to work, if you don't mind. I can't spend all my time waiting for you to accept my help." With a final sniff, she turned on her heel and headed back down the tunnel from which they had come. It was time to help in the kitchens, if she could make it back there before dinner. Sharding bronze dragons and their riders.
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