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 Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 9:54 am
It was not too cold out in the weyrbowl that morning, for which A'nos was extremely grateful. He was currently, and had been for the last candlemark or two, working on Acriculeth's hide. This afternoon, they would be going between together. This afternoon, they would be in Malvren Weyr. His clothes and other necessaries were packed, and all that remained was to get his lifemate in tip-top condition. This was both for practical reasons (protecting delicate young hide from the cold of between), and because he wasn't about to show Benden up by arriving with a dull-hided dragon by his side.
He was onto the oiling stage now, buffing Acriculeth's hide to a warm sheen with a soft brush. As he worked the former Harper hummed a soft tune to himself, and the red flitt who sat on his shoulder trilled along tunefully. She wasn't really sure what was happening, but her master and the big young bronze seemed to be very excited, and anything that pleased them pleased her a great deal! So far as she was aware, this exciting thing involved going somewhere new to all of them, but all that she really cared about was the fact that she was allowed to come along!
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 5:19 pm
Sand! Sand, Mine. Can we go to the sand now? Halifanth led the way out of the barracks, as usual, at a rapid pace that meant her still-sleepy rider had to trot along behind, just to keep up. I would like to feel the sand before we do anything else to-- Oh! Look, Mine, it is Acriculeth and His. Hello, Acriculeth!
Eliaza was thankful for the distraction of bronze and her fellow weyrling, even if she hadn't expected other human company this early. She jogged to a halt by Halifanth's side, slapping her hide fondly. "You have to give me a chance to catch up sometimes, you." She leaned to look past her dragon to flash a quick smile at A'nos. "Good morning, to both of you."
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2010 4:39 am
As the exuberant mental voice reached him, Acriculeth gave a slight sigh and turned his head to regard the green coolly. "Halifanth," he greeted the smaller dragonet offhandedly, "I see you're as full of... bounce as ever. It's a wonder to me that you haven't yet exploded from sheer exuberance."
Silently agreeing, A'nos gave his dragon a light swat on the shoulder; "Be nice, will you, you brute. Honestly," he grinned up at Eliaza, "I don't know what to do with him sometimes, he can be so scathing; I hope he hasn't upset Halifanth." Given the green had the attention span of a wherry, even if she had been upset by something she'd probably forget it in a second if she spotted some sand she could dig in or a pretty bug she could chase after.
"Anyway," A'nos shook his head slightly, apparently despairing of but resigned to his lifemate's sharpness, "how are you both today? You're up pretty early today, any special reason?" From his shoulder, the red flitt trilled a greeting of her own; she hadn't wanted to interrupt earlier, but she did want to say hello to the big green and her person, whom she vaguely recognized.
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2010 11:44 am
If Halifanth's eyes could have gotten any rounder, they certainly would have. I could explode? I am just happy to see you and Yours, Acriculeth. I do not want to explode because I am happy. I will try not to be so happy if I can not explode. The little green put her head down a bit and held herself very still.
Eliaza had started to shake her head when Halifanth did all that. She frowned a bit instead. "It's all right," she said, patting the green more gently this time. "I'll explain. She'll understand." Smile apologetic, she said, "I know she can be a little exhausting." Not that she wanted her dragon's bright moods and personality dampened, really. This was just the dragon Halifanth was.
Shaking off a bit of her lifemate's mood, her smile widened a bit. "No special reason, no. Just the stirrings of an eager mind." And the inability to sleep through Halifanth's get up and go. "What's got the two of you up? Did he demand a proper polish first thing?" she teased.
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 3:08 am
...Well, at least the quality of her brain was never going to matter too much so long as her rider could teach her to listen to orders; her skull might as well be filled with the sand she so loved to dig in. "It was a figure of speech," Acriculeth clarified with a roll of his eyes, "it isn't physically possible to explode from happiness... so far as I know, anyway." If anyone could, it would be his clutch sister Halifanth; she was just so exuberant, it really did defy belief.
"Ah... I think Acriculeth has explained in his own... charming way," A'nos gave his dragon a Look, and the young bronze snorted derisively. "Your Halifanth may be exhausting," he went on, turning back to Eliaza, "but at least she's nice; I can see my life becoming a daily battle to placate all the people Acriculeth is unkind to... Oh, yes, but as to why we're here early, surprisingly it isn't because his highness has demanded pampering," the bronze rider chuckled softly and gave his lifemate a scritch on the eyeridges. "No, the reason I'm being so meticulous is the trip between we'll be making; Canoake and I have been selected to attend the council at Malvren Weyr, we're piggybacking over there with the other attendees later on today." This was one thing he hadn't won by guile; it was sheer dumb luck, and luck he was very glad indeed of; such an opportunity!
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Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:09 pm
Halifanth relaxed and her head lifted as she returned to her usual demeanor, no matter how that might have irritated her clutchsib. She actually heaved a sigh of relief and let a little chrr of happiness escape her throat. Oh. Oh, good. I do not want to find out if it is not just a figure of speech. I will be careful, Acriculeth. I promise.
"Between? Really? Already?" Eliaza's eyes had gone a little wide and she looked, honestly, concerned, gaze shifting from A'nos to Acriculeth and back. "Not by yourself. I mean." She made a face. "I know by yourself, but someone's going to go with you and help Acriculeth visualize where he's going and ... everything. Right?"
And now that Hers was worried, so was Halifanth, of course. She streeeetched her neck out to very carefully put her nose against Acriculeth's shoulder. You must be very, very, very very careful, Acriculeth. Both for yourself and for Yours.
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Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 7:53 am
"Of course," A'nos smiled warmly at Eliaza, "thank you for worrying, but you needn't. I'm going to be riding on a dragon named Brumath; he'll give Acriculeth a lift and as we go between he'll hold his hand as it were. The weyrlingmaster seems happy that its safe for us, but insisted that Acriculeth's hide was absolutely perfect or he wouldn't approve the jump." And there was no way he was going to miss this chance because he'd missed a dry spot on his lifemate's hide. Honestly even if this trip didn't really get him ahead at all he would still want to go; seeing new places was always exciting, and could give one interesting new ideas... Besides, this would make him stand out at little, a little more than he and Acriculeth already did that was.
Acriculeth gave the smaller dragon a look of mild disdain and moved away from her nuzzling. "I shall follow instructions to the letter," he informed her, "I am not a fool." Idiot. Did she have anything between her headknobs at all, he wondered?
"Be. Nice." A'nos swatted the young bronze lightly over the headknobs with the oiling brush before sighing slightly and turning a wry smile on Eliaza. "I suppose there's no changing him," he shrugged, "I shouldn't think any human ever really changed a dragon... Still, better get this done." So saying, he went back to careful scrubbing, but glanced up at the other weyrling every so often so that she knew he was still paying attention to her. "While I'm at the council," he went on, "is there anything you'd like me to say on your behalf? I'll try to find the others to ask them before I head off too, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have by the time I'm finished here." He certainly was happy to pass on anything his fellows had to say; it was easy for him to do, but some of them at least might really value the service, and thus feel indebted to him.
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Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:59 am
Oh, being taken there on another dragon's back? that seemed less of a risk, and she relaxed, smiling again. "He'll want to make sure that Benden's representatives look their best, of course," she agreed, nodding. "You'll have to tell us all what it was like when you're back."
Halifanth was less wounded by Acriculeth pulling away and more puzzled. She didn't follow after him, though she did tilt her head a bit. Why is he upset with me? I am only wishing him to be careful.
Eliaza put a reassuring hand on her dragon again. It's just that he doesn't like the same things you do, Hali. You haven't done anything wrong. It was good of you to look out for him. "No," she said aloud with a wry smile of her own. "I don't think anyone's ever changed any dragon, nor are they likely to, probably." Including her. Halifanth would always be the way she was.
Which was not idiotic. Nor was her rider. "I'm sure you've already decided what you're going to say, A'nos. I mean, you don't just pop off something careless on a whim in front of the Council, do you? And really, what could I say that a dozen others won't? Making sure we have dragons hatching is the most important thing. If it takes a snip of an old foundation vine to make the new growth hardy enough to survive, then we snip and graft and make the best of both." She smiled politely.
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 7:14 am
For a few moments A'nos regarded Eliaza steadily, his dark eyes unreadable. Then, however, his face lit up with a grin, and he chuckled deep in his chest. "Ah, well, you're right. I'm not about to speak anyone's mind but my own to the council, but that doesn't stop me passing messages along in a less formal setting; I imagine we'll have some opportunity to mingle... Of course," his grin broadened a little, "I'll be much more willing to present views that line up with mine, and I'll no doubt present them much better. Call it selfish, but there it is; I think we need to use the old technology despite the risks, and I'll do whatever I can to make a convincing argument for that."
Eliaza wasn't dumb, which he liked. It didn't mean he liked her, or had any intention of doing her any favours, but it did give him rather more respect for her than he would have for somebody who happily skipped off to write him a list of things to say to the leaders of Pern. It also made her somebody to be more careful of than such a naive little optimist; she wouldn't be easy to fool with any act much bigger than his day-to-day pretenses. Still, she was just a green rider, so long as he didn't let her get any dirt on him and kept her sweet enough that she'd obey him if he ever led a wing she was part of he could more or less forget her; he didn't need her eating out of his hand, just for her to not want to bite his hand off.
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