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Post by giftwrapped on May 14, 2011 23:39:06 GMT -5
It was still raining.
That was the first thing that went through La's head as she opened her eyes and rolled to face the window. She felt...fantastic. Everything in her thrummed cheerfully, and she stretched so her spine creaked, idly scratching the back of her head and sitting up. Whatever covers she had been snuggled under slipped off, and La blinked. She wasn't dressed...and this wasn't her bed. ...Ahh, right, there had been a Flight. She reached through her mental tie to Kith at the same time as she turned to her bedmate, curious to see who she had ended up with in the rather confused aftermath.
...Leshta.
Leshta.
OH SHARDING FARDLES.
"Shardit Kith, I'm a dragonhealer, not the Weyrleader!"
Mmmm...no. No, I think you're wrong. I think you're both now, Lanakirene. Stretching luxuriantly where he was cuddled against Semith, Kith trilled cheerfully and nudged the gold gently under the chin. Semith, my dear, thank you for that wonderful run. How are you feeling?
But where Kith was easygoing about the whole situation, Lanakirene was far from it. She all but fell out of bed in an attempt to distance herself from Leshta, landing in a heap on the floor conveniently beside a discarded tunic. And it was hers! All the better! She tugged it on quickly, standing up and reaching for the sash she had also tossed aside and wrapping it quickly around her waist. Shards shards shards shards shards!
Calm down, Lanakirene. You're all right.
No, Kith, I am not! Pausing a moment, La took a deep breath and forced herself calmer, visibly stilling her nervous energy and turning back to the bed. This wasn't the kind of Flight where she could sneak away in the aftermath, or where she was the loser and woke up next to another loser and it was just a good thing all around (or in the case of that attractive brownrider, time for round two). This was something different. But not bad - oh, Faranth, no, not bad! Leshta was nearly half her age, but she was a good person. Semith was the gold. And La...was the new Weyrleader.
"Faranth," she breathed, then sat back down on the bed and looked over to Leshta.
"...Weyrwoman."
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Post by lithle on May 15, 2011 22:10:19 GMT -5
Leshta's life at Warden's was such that she took little care to prepare the hut that served as her Weyr for guests. As such, it was a simple, almost stark room. It was decorated mostly with bits that Semith had found interesting. Gifts that the great gold had given her rider, things she treasured for that reason, as shiny bits of rock and shell had little real value.
It would look an odd place, to an outsider. She'd thought that when T'di had been there, a turn ago. She thought it now, as she watched La through eyes only half opened. The Dragonhealer's movements had woken her, but she allowed herself to remain floating in a drowsy half-sleep, where the concerns with had happened and what would happened, wouldn't touch her.
She found she was not upset, not really. She liked Lanakirene and Leshta was not given to changing her mind. Still, there was a twinge of something like guilt. Her solitary lifestyle was sign enough that her bed would have been empty had it not been for Semith. She did not like to think of a friend waking beside her and regretting it. La was sure to have more pleasing partners to choose from.
And, there it was. 'Weyrwoman'. Almost, Leshta winced, but a habit of bitter amusement was quick to surface.
"If ever there was a time where titles were uncalled for, it would be now." She sat up, pulling a blanket up with her, self-conscious. "And what would I call you anyway? Master Weyrleading Dragonhealer?"
She offered one of her little half-smiles. "I insist you call me Leshta, at least until I'm dressed. And if you'd hand me my tunic?"
Semith?
Mine! I had such fun! Did you?
My fun comes with awkward small talk.
But Kith's is nice! You like her! She was in too good a mood to even pretend to notice Leshta's tone. Hello, Kith's. Did you have fun? Kith is very quick at running. I do so like him.
Rider squared away, at least as far as Semith was concerned, the gold focused on her new mate. She was large enough to all but encircle him, but that seemed to please her. Thank you for coming to play! I had such fun, Kith, and you were so clever! Will you come to see the eggs, when they happen?
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Post by giftwrapped on May 17, 2011 13:15:22 GMT -5
...Oh. Right. Weyrleader. That was her - somehow. She...Faranth, how had she managed this? She felt like a total heel, like she had ousted T'di from his position, and...that sucked. She liked T'di. He was sweet, gentle...a good weyrleader. And he wasn't the Master Dragonhealer. He didn't have another job to do already. But...ffffffffffffff. And she had upset Leshta, shards. Coming to her senses suddenly, La gave Leshta a sudden sheepish-but-vibrant smile. "I'm sorry, Leshta," she said quietly, casting about the hut for the aforementioned tunic. She found it and reached out, picking it up and offering it to Leshta.
"I just forgot myself for a moment. Not sure what I was thinking. It's...a bit of a surprise. But not a bad one," she added quietly, and the vibrant smile faltered for a moment, turning nearly shy as she looked at Leshta. Instinctively, entirely without thinking about it, she moved in closer to the Weyrwoman and brushed a strand of hair back from Leshta's face. "Kith's happy, and my guess is that Semith is. And I don't think you're supposed to complain about becoming the Weyrleader. But..." she shrugged, laughing in a quiet, self-effacing way. "I'm talking too much."
"Is Semith all right?"
She's fine, Lanakirene, Kith answered, briefly tapping into his rider's consciousness before turning back to his new mate. Thank you, Semith! It was lovely and I had plenty of fun. He trilled again, then. snuggling closer to the gold. Of course I'll come see the eggs. I'll be there every day. I'll even help you watch them! His excitement thrummed through his tie to Lanakirene and got the dragonhealer grinning in spite of herself.
"Kith's delighted. He'll make a good father, I hope. Probably a better father than I'll make a Weyrleader."
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Post by lithle on May 18, 2011 14:58:32 GMT -5
She was being prickly again, wasn't she? T'di was always teasing her about being prickly. But it'd become such a habit, over the last couple years as a habit of irritation blossomed into a habit of anger. As feeling disregarded turned to bitterness. And here she was, in a room with Lanakirene who had treated her with nothing but friendship.
Well, except for what had so recently passed between them, but nevermind the minor details.
Here she was, being prickly.
She made a sound, a sigh of sorts, but the sort of sigh that indicates someone letting tension go, trying to relax. She didn't pull away or flinch when the Dragonhealer touched her. She even managed, after a moment, to find a smile.
"'kirene," she played with the nickname as she spoke it, decided she liked it. She'd been told most called Lanakirene La. Well, she wouldn't. "I'm sorry. I can be prickly, sometimes."
She pulled her tunic on then, quickly, shyly. She remained seated in the bed, however.
"You needn't worry much about the Weyrleader thing. For T'di, it mostly just meant he got his own Wing, but you don't fly patrols. So probably, it will just be people not sure what title to call you by."
She tangled her fingers together in her lap, studying them silently as she tried to find more to say. She knew well enough that Semith was fine, but she liked that Lanakirene wanted to know. Well, of course she did. That was the sort of thing Dragonhealers asked about.
"If you could look at her, later? I think she got a few good scratches. The jungle really wasn't the best place for her to be Running."
And, well. Huh. She'd run out of things to say again. She tried another smile. She had an almost overwhelming urge to apologize for the inconvenience. But she knew just how silly that would sound. What else was there? 'I had fun'? Oh, Faranth, no.
She went for humor again. "This is only Semith's second Run. I need a Teaching Ballad or something. 'Things to Say after a Mating Flight'."
Tell her she is clever and fun Semith suggested, all enthusiasm for the whole situation. Do you like presents, Kith? Last time, all the candidates brought me things! I could have them bring you things, this time.
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Post by giftwrapped on May 27, 2011 9:03:06 GMT -5
"Not prickly," La answered with a smile. "Never prickly." The nickname made her quirk a smile. Her father, she had heard once, was named K'ren. The similarity struck her with something that resembled nostalgia.
She liked the Weyrwoman, regardless of what Leshta said and did to others. She had received nothing but kindness from her and T'di, and sharditall, she was finding herself feeling at home in the strange little reject Weyr, in a way she hadn't felt in years. And this...only solidified those feelings. "The Watch probably isn't going to be pleased with me, though," she remarked with a cheerful laugh. "All these atypical colours they've sent me to monitor, and here I am letting Kith sire more of them." At least, she assumed it would be the case. Perhaps gold and blue did not always make opal and grey and pink. But then again, perhaps it did.
We will see! Kith said cheerfully. Until then, though, I am very hungry...and I suspect you are too, Lanakirene.
You've had your herdbeast this week, silly thing.
But his suggestion was truth, La noted with mild surprise, attention drawn to the nagging sensation in her stomach only by the dragon (she had thought it was some sort of embarrassment; there was that, as well, but it was an entirely different sensation). "Kith wants food, and I'm hungry, myself," she remarked, standing up and drawing on her trousers as she glanced over to Leshta. "Would you like to come get food with me, Leshta?" she asked cheerfully. "A klah, if nothing else?"
See? No harm done! Not awkward at all!
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