Logs:A chance run in with Jo, during which K'zin blushes
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| RL Date: 5 November, 2013 |
| Who: Jo, K'zin |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Late night bathers catch up. |
| Where: Bathing Pools, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 9, Month 3, Turn 33 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Aishani/Mentions, I'zech/Mentions, Ienavi/Mentions, K'del/Mentions, N'rov/Mentions, Quinlys/Mentions, R'hin/Mentions, Rh'mis/Mentions, Rone/Mentions, Suireh/Mentions, T'volt/Mentions, Telavi/Mentions, Z'ian/Mentions |
| OOC Notes: Nudity and some crassness. Bathes and Jo disclaimers. Back-dated and played via gdocs. |
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| Bathing Pools, High Reaches Weyr Omnipresent clouds of steam slink across the tops of three naturally warm pools, set into the floor of this kidney-shaped cavern. Near the entrance the ceiling is high and polished, gleaming with little mineral specks as it sweeps downward into increasingly ragged, uneven steps. The foremost of the pools is squared off with wide steps leading down into the water and has faucets for bringing in cooler water from a rain-catching cistern. Primarily used for laundry, there's an almost constant film of suds along its surface until the circulating current clears it at the end of the day. Four sinks line the nearest wall and various tubs stored beneath allow for the washing of delicates. Laundry bags can be dropped off in the bins near the door and clean, folded laundry is stacked in rows of tall cubbies for easy pickup. The bend in the cavern leads to a rougher-hewn part of the chamber where the two circular bathing pools welcome those in need of a wash. Towels and washcloths are kept in neat stacks on shelves along the wall, along with sacks of sweetsand and a few bars of precious soap. Stone benches provide a place for sitting to remove shoes and clothing, while a row of gleaming brass hooks stand above, ready to hold clothes and robes.
Since the former Weyrleader's accident led him south, Jo really hasn't been seen all that much since. Perhaps some would note that the bluerider, if seen at all these days, is usually in the company of either the unsavory types she hangs with (clutchmates included) or Aishani - hanging with scandal, despite having been one herself. The fact that there hasn't been any persisting rumors save for the tried-and-true ones that will always follow in her wake (convicted and crazy), speaks volumes that she has, once again, gone to ground. So, maybe it's of note to find her walking into the bathing caverns during the late hour times that she used to when she was relevant. She still looks the same despite a darker quality to her gaze that could be borderline sinister. She doesn't even pause on the threshold upon seeing K'zin is here and that she won't be bathing alone; she chooses an edge paces away from him that could suggest the need for privacy or the need to not crowd his. Perhaps she's heard the rumors about the young bronzerider, but one really couldn't tell with her unless she says so. As she works on peeling the black leather from her wiry body with no shame or modesty, "That yer still alive and bathin' suggests no one has kicked yer ass in a fight club," she states in low greeting as she lays her leather jacket down over the bench. "Or, ya haven' been at all since the last time I've seen ya." Being weyrbred, for K'zin, means a couple of things. It means he doesn't stop his washing when Jo appears, or at least not for more than a beat as he registers just who it is. It means he doesn't blush when she strips out of her leathers, but it also means he's got manners enough not to really look, even if there are necessary glances in which he surely takes in more than just her face. "Well, no one's kicked it til it was dead." The bronzerider qualifies, "And not in sevens. I've been busy. Behaving, too, maybe." Maybe. He's apparently not sure. Then before anything else he's blushing, as words hurry out of him, "Listen, Jo. I'm sorry about-- well, the state I was in last time I came to see you and some of the things I vaguely think I remember having said. It was stupid." He suddenly has nothing more to add even though his expression tells all to well that there's more to be said about that night, but he's chewing his lower lip so it can't let the "more" slip free. Slipping into the water, "Busy," Jo echoes that one, passing K'zin a look as she lathers up her hands. She was going to add more to that until he launched into an apology towards her. She watches him closely now from where she bathes, having working the soapsand into her hair as her eyes only narrow a bit towards the end of it. "Askin' for fight clubs isn' exactly stupid," she notes idly while doing so in her consideration. "Pushin' folks ya've known for a long time away is, though." Perhaps sensing that there's more to it as well, eyeing that blush, "Ain' really me that needs the apology," she adds now swiftly. "Yer ain' the first to come piss-drunk-callin' to my weyr, and ain' likely the last." She stops only then, waiting for more. Watching. "I wasn't apologizing for asking for fight clubs." K'zin's lips purse for a moment and then he distracts himself with splashing the suds off his chest. It would probably be more effective if he just dunked under the water, but it takes longer this way and makes noise, which helps him try to get the blush under control. "Just the being drunk when I did it part." As for the pushing folks away he's known for a long time, perhaps he purposefully misinterprets, "I wasn't trying to push you away." But maybe he really thinks (or hopes) there's a chance she means her, and not a certain greenrider they both know. "I know what yer apologizin' for," Jo notes as she scrubs, her back almost to him as she wades in the pool. "My statements all still stand. I didn' exactly mean me, either." Now she looks his way, perhaps to gauge his reaction - or to see if there is one. "I wasn' thinkin' 'bout ya pushin' me away. I don' think we have that sort of relationship where that sort of thing would have made a difference." Turning now to face him, "But ya seem to be back on some sort of path," she notes, nodding in his direction as she looks him over. "I'm sure yer Rasavyth should be thrilled. If ya two are still talkin' to each other." "You think it's possible to shut him out in any long-term way?" K'zin raises an eyebrow, and his baritone is purposefully dubious. "Not him. He just oozes through the cracks. The more cracked you are, the harder it is to keep him out." And K'zin? Well. Cracked is sometimes a very good word to describe him. That gives him time to think about how to answer the rest, but it doesn't keep the blush from returning to his cheeks. "That's-- still complicated." Apparently has been complicated for going on seven months. "But she's doing fine," He seems to feel the need to point out. "Taking on assisting Quin with the newest weyrlings and all." Which isn't to say anything about Telavi's personal life. But maybe the fact that she's not sobbing over his sorry ass is meant to be some sort of legitimate defense of them still not having sorted things beyond 'complicated.' "Why would'ja even want to on a short-term basis?" comes unbidden to Jo's lips, clearly still bemused by the relations between rider and dragon. "He chose ya for a reason." And then, complicated. She continues to bathe, seeming to be not sure how to respond to that until she does with, "Complicated." Beat. "Yeah, I heard. I'm sure I'zech appreciates it not all bein' on just him. Ya checked out the weyrlings?" "Because he's obnoxious and opinionated and bossy. That's why." K'zin answers without having to really think about it. "Occasionally infuriating." He adds to the list of reasons that he has and has wanted to block Rasavyth out in the short-term. "He's very invasive in my head. Always has been. Even now he's rolling his eyes and sighing at me." He's very involved, for a dragon. K'zin finishes his chest splashing and moves toward Jo, well, no, not really toward Jo as it first might seem but to the soapsand bucket on the edge of the pool somewhere in the general direction of behind her. "Rasavyth hasn't stopped checking out the weyrlings. I get daily progress updates since he's sure Vhaeryth's seed is defective." K'zin snorts a little, although there's no remorse in his face, so he can't feel too badly about that assessment. It might seem that he's going to skip the complicated bit entirely, but then he adds. "I sort of went to her weyr after I saw you that night. When I was drunk. I don't really remember it all, but I'm pretty sure I left and didn't sleep with her." "That's what they do," Jo remarks on dragons, scrubbing at her hair. "They're invasive'n obnoxious'n bossy. And occasionally infuriating. Tacuseth can be that way, too. They seem to, I dunno, crave gettin' into every aspect of our lives, whether we like it or not.Tac even seems to enjoy delvin' into the messier parts of me." She keeps him in her view for the most part, so when he moves, she turns at least a fraction less in order to keep him there. On the weyrlings, there's a snort on defective before she remarks, "They said the same things about the clutch Tac was in, and I think we all turned out just fine," in open defense of 'defectives'. "N'rov seems a decent sort, and I don' say that just cuz he's with Shani." She doesn't seem to carry the opinion where clutches fall defective when both dam and sire aren't of Reachian blood, but then it's hard to tell with her. "I don' know of them very well," she admits on the current weyrling class idly as she scrubs away on her body. "And, good - that ya didn' sleep with her drunk. Saves on the awkward, darlin'." "What do you do when Tac wants you to do something you don't want to?" K'zin asks as he moves past, giving courteous but not exaggerated distance between them. "Not just something simple, something hard. What do you do?" He reaches into the bucket of sand and snags a handful wetting it so it clumps up some before retracing his watery steps. "He seems like a git to me. And being with Aishani is the only reason I didn't make a point of letting him taste my fist before the eggs hatched." K'zin rolls his eyes and starts scrubbing the soap into his hair. "I don't know the weyrlings either. I'd imagine Tela could tell you everything you'd want to know. I wonder if she's been ferreting out their secrets from day one or behaving." There's a little eyeroll for this, but the slight curve of his lips makes that eyeroll more affectionate where the one for N'rov lacked love of any kind. "Sleeping with her would've made things complicated. Plus I might've puked on her if we'd tried." He shrugs. "Haven't had much time for things to be awkward between us. Been busy." There's that word again, busy. "How about you? How've you been?" "Usually it's the other way around between us," Jo answers on her and her blue, glancing at him over her shoulder. She snorts on N'rov and punching, seeming to find that amusing since she remarks back, "Plenty of gits here. Thought ya were done with the punchin' other bronzeriders." Beat. "Busy," is her answer when he asks after her - talk of Telavi getting just a mild look from her, the bluerider seeming willing to let K'zin skirt the more interesting 'complicated' issues between him and the greenrider. "Nothin' new, I guess. I keep to myself a bit more and it suits fine. Guess that makes the two of us busy, then." She's borrowing that word, yep! "Well, that's no help, then." K'zin purses his lips briefly, his hands stilling a moment in their scrubbing, and then back to it. "I could never completely abandon punching other bronzeriders. What kind of bronzerider would I be if I did that? I'm trying not to punch K'del. Not bronzeriders in general." This is probably especially wise given K'del's current job title. "Any bronzeriders I should be punching as far as you're concerned?" Nevermind that Jo can darn well take care of punching whomever she thinks needs it, but this is likely K'zin's round-about way of asking about things with the one who held the job before K'del. "You know, we still haven't gone drinking together properly so I can watch men hit on you and pretend to be your brother." Maybe it was never a plan they had together before this moment, but apparently K'zin's been doing some thinking. "Oh, and I have more naked art for your friend. More men. Like he asked." That tacked on as an afterthought of sorts, adding that topic to the smorgasbord of those Jo has to pick from. "None," Jo is almost dry in answering in regards to punching any other bronzeriders. Of course, she knows exactly what he's talking about though, and so she tacks on, "He's doin' well, ya know. Z'ian. Still gotta long way to go down there, but, there's progress. Other than him, I try to keep outta bronzeriders' way. Fancy good that's been doin', though." A brow lifts at the suggestion of going out drinking, giving K'zin a considering look as she wades to the edge of the pool and hoists herself out to start scrubbing her legs. "Ya want to watch men hit on me?" she chooses to ask then. "I didn' peg ya for a voyeur, K'zin. Is that somethin' else that's blossomed in yer calmin' down?" And then, that topic of drawings. Male drawings. That draws a low chuckle from the convict rider as she goes on, "Pass it on my way, then, and I'll get it where it needs to go. Still," and she sends K'zin a wry look, "is this dabble just ya samplin' what it's like, or....?" Yeah, she's flat out asking. "Well, I do hear we're irresistible." K'zin grins. He probably hears this from other bronzeriders. He even makes a playful point of flexing his pecs, first one and then the other in a comedic display of his muscular control. Maybe it's meant to be sexy. Although, with the goofiness of the grin... probably not. "Good to hear he's doing well." He adds more seriously once the titty dance is done. "Why not? It's not like it would bother me to have other men hit on you. I just think it'd be hilarious to watch you play the blushing maid with a brother out to knock some man's teeth in for getting too forward with you. But no, I'm not watching other people get laid. I'm still doing that first-hand, thanks very much." Titty dance or no, he is a pretty man and probably has no trouble finding willing partners even if the sheer volume of his liaisons has been cut drastically down. The drawings, but more specifically the question that follows has K'zin turning scarlet, and choking on air. As soon as he can draw breath, he dunks himself under the water. Soap and bubbles rise, but no K'zin. At least not for a moment. Collecting himself, no doubt. When he comes back up, there's no more soap in his hair and he draws breath slow and measured. Then, with great care for each word, he does answer, quietly. "No." No, not a dabble. The answer is the 'or.' "Yeah, I hear that too," Jo remarks in deadpan-like fashion as she works on her legs. She's even snorting and rolling her eyes at his manly display. "I find it hilarious that ya think I would blush at all, much less as a maid," she notes, continuing on. Nope, it's K'zin that's doing the blushing right now, and Jo doesn't even mock. She'll tease though, watching him go under the water at her probing questions on his sexuality. When he does surface, there's a bluerider, head tilted slightly to one side with waiting for some kind of denial or brush-off or some gestures a bronzerider would do when his manhood is being poked. When he finally answers the way he does, there's the long silence from her. Deliberate silence. Hands prop to the edge of the pool as she leans forward, not caring about something like modesty in the face of research. Looking him over, "Come to terms, have we?" she decides to ask, studying him. "Mmm. Now that is far more interestin' than ya tryin' to deny that dragon of yers. Should I ask? Should I make ya as red as the redfruit we eat?" This is crass Jo, but at least she's giving someone the option of it for once! Either way, something about making a bronzerider blush must be entertaining to her. "It's a testament to how much talent I think you have, Jo." K'zin protests of the blushing maid situation. It's an easier distraction that the other topic at hand. His hands slide across the water at his waist, as though smoothing it down as he grows quiet again, cheeks looking only a few shades off from that redfruit she's mentioning. "Mostly." For once, Jo's crass is met mark for mark with, "Look." And he looks at her, square in the face, even meeting her dark gaze with his own, "If you can like pussy, there's nothing wrong with me liking cock." Crass, but to the point. And there's the redfruit color. "Not that I've really looked to sample the local offerings." He adds, embarrassed and needing to apparently clear his throat (perhaps he was going to choke on some of those words and thought better of it). "I'm the one usually makin' them blush, darlin'," Jo states with a short chuckle. Naturally, that short chuckle turns into a full-blown laugh when K'zin gets crass with her, her head thrown back. Both soapy hands lifting in a teasing show of surrender, "Ya'll get no judgement from me, darlin'," she drawls out, a sort of swagger to the movement of her head. "I can' deny what I like. Local offerings? Ya mean ya have yer fun beyond the Reaches, then?" She goes back to bathing, now a little smile remaining on her lips as she does so. "I have no doubt. You do well enough with me." And the blushing. K'zin rolls his eyes, though his look is still embarrassed, he's trying for some measure of composure. "Yeah. I figured if I didn't do that here-- well, at least not look for it here, I'd get less flack from people." People who aren't apparently Jo, which makes it a little easier to talk about. "And so far, it's really only been the one." Then sheepishly, with a shrug, "Bronzeriders are irresistible." "Ya make it so easy, ya know," Jo notes on the blushing, not apologizing. "Anyway, who cares what folks think? I get shit said about me all the time and that hasn' changed me much!" She dips back into the water to wash off, dunking her head in the pause before she surfaces and adds, "They are," she agrees on bronzeriders dryly, "though, they're a cocky lot. Always boastin' about this'n that. Just the one? Hmmm, that is interestin'. Does she know?" Does she need to name names? "Well, not all of us can be as unflappable as the great Jo," K'zin calls, perhaps soon enough for her to hear before she dunks, or maybe just loud enough that she can hear through the water. "It's more to keep from letting things get messy. The men I've met around here who are interested in that kind of thing are..." He trails off, not finding the right word. "Just don't strike the right chord with me. No reason to make things more of a mess by making it too publicly know." He shrugs again. "They are cocky," K'zin agrees about bronzeriders, "But they're great in bed." He points out with a playful grin, nearly daring her to contradict. "Yeah. He's the one Ras arranged to have her walk in on me with after Iesaryth's flight. And we'd talked about him before and stuff." Stuff probably means more intimate details that he's not going to throw willingly at Jo, or at least not in a public bath. Laughing at the first, Jo comments on the second. "If ya say so," is all she gives on his reasons for dallying beyond the Weyr. "I see why yer in a rut with yer dragon, though. Did he give a reason for doin' what he did?" she wonders aloud as she washes off, her hair sticking to her neck and face. "Did she have a problem with it?" With her back to him now, the bluerider takes a glance at K'zin then over her shoulder. "I wasn't hurting and he was." K'zin shrugs. "He'd thought I was getting too attached to her for a while, but hadn't done anything about it. It was an unfortunate set of timing. Tela-" He sucks a breath after saying her name, instead of just 'she', and there's a hint of blush as he hurries through, "-sometimes 'helped me out' after flights. From what I've gathered, Solith bespoke, asking, Ras told her where I was, but not that I was already getting help." K'zin frowns, "I'm sure it wasn't pleasant for her." He hesitates, thinking of another time, another memory, but this one doesn't come out, instead, "Ras was just going to drive us apart anyway. So that's when I told her. And why." Then he looks to Jo, "How often can Tacuseth keep you from something you really want to do?" Since she'd said it's usually the other way around for them. "Never," Jo is quick and succinct in answering on how often Tacuseth would keep her from something. She is adamant, even. "We've got an understandin', he'n I, and that might be somethin' ya and that dragon of yers needs to get to. He'll keep cockblockin' ya otherwise, and I don't just mean the obvious meanin', darlin'." Real talk from the convict rider, the woman leaning back against the edge now and lounging with her elbows propped back. "He may not like some of the things I do," she admits on her blue, going on to add, "but I make it up to him. We compromise. He gets where I'm comin' from, and ya both need to get there, too. Ras'n ya. Ya haven' talked to Tela about this, or ya just assumin' Ras would have driven ya two apart?" "Oh, we have an understanding." K'zin answers with a sigh. "Made a deal just after he was hatched. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take some things into account." K'zin sinks down in the water, probably crouching beneath it so only his head is above it. "I didn't think I'd have to. He's not..." K'zin glances for the first time around the bathes, but not much can be seen through the mist. "Let's talk about him another time. Somewhere more private." Without ears to start rumors. "But I'm not guessing. About what Ras would have done. I told Tela plain that we can't be trusted." He looks tired. "Not with her." Beat. "Though he seems to be less concerned lately. So maybe Tela's found someone else." His tone is a mixture of hope and displeasure. It's hard wanting and not wanting things. Jo shows more interest when K'zin tries to explain the relationship between him and his bronze, but when he speaks of privacy, she makes a show of looking around them to indicate that they were alone. She doesn't push though, going on to simply say to the last, "Maybe she has. A girl can only wait around for someone for so long." She reaches for a towel before she leaves the pool, moving towards the bench where her clothes are before she starts drying herself off. K'zin's brows raise at her show of looking around, one arm extending up so he can whirl some of the steam that partially obscures bits of the bathing pools around his hand, making a counterpoint. He then follows to the edge of the pool and pulls himself out, long-since clean and probably pruney around his toes and fingertips. He snags up his towel and follows along behind Jo as if this were no big deal. "I didn't want her waiting around for me to begin with." He points out the entire point of contention that's been dragging on for months. He swallows, and it might sound a little sour coming out of his mouth, but he says it resolutely, "It'd be good for her. If she'd found someone. She deserves someone good." There are probably better adjectives for what he really thinks Tela deserves in a partner, but that's the one he's able to get out as he dries himself off. "How self-sacrificin'," Jo answers his words with the usual deadpan tone as she settles on the bench and finishes drying off. "Good luck with that, though, I doubt ya'd need it." She wasn't going to give further opinion on the matter, choosing instead to add on, "Drop those sketches off to my weyr when ya get the chance. I'll pass them on within the seven. It'll be his usual fees, so." So. A shrug is given before she moves on from that and says, "I saw ya at the Hatching, ya know, gettin' involved with those holders." To the first, K'zin only rolls his eyes. He's dry, more or less (less), in short order and plucking up clothes from one of the cubbies at eye-height, shaking out trousers and tunic pulling on one and then the other. "I'll do that." The sketches. "Yep. Recognized the kid." Rhey, the brown Impression. "And I wasn't about to let Rone's guards come between a dragon and his lifemate." That said with hard resolve. It's no secret that K'zin was also one of the riders who transported Ienavi and her entourage, but he doesn't bring that up as he pulls balled up fresh socks from the cubby. "Did I see you talking with Suireh's dad at the hatching feast?" The tone is one of mild curiosity. "It was gettin' pretty hairy up there," Jo agrees with the holders on Hatching day, nodding as she starts to drag her clothes on. "I was wonderin' whether they were goin' to start sluggin' out right there. Dragons sure know how to stir up trouble." It's the hatchling's fault, right? K'zin's question does manage to catch her off-guard just a bit: a little twitch of brows his way and her pausing through her dressing, the answer then coming a few breaths later. "Oh yah," she gives, her tone nonchalant. "Nice guy. We have some similarities, even. I like folks that don' give a fuck." She gets up and the pants get dragged on, her black hair sticking up at odd ends on top of her head. "Ya still fightin'?" she chooses to ask then. "It's hairier in Nabol." K'zin answers with a frown. "I could take you places that might tickle at your heartstrings." He snags up his boots and moves to sit on the bench Jo's using to pull his socks on. "I bet. He always scared me. But then I had a crush on his daughter. So. And we never really met anyway. He was just an idea." And everyone knows ideas can be scarier than the people behind them. "I'm fighting sometimes. Less. Trying to be a more upstanding citizen of the Weyr. Plus there's a lot going on that I can't be bruised up for." He shoves one foot into a boot and then the other, probably only bothering to do up the laces because the weather is still unfavorable enough to threaten to take them off his feet if he steps in the wrong muddy section of bowl. "No need," Jo answers on heartstrings being tickled, glancing over at him. "Seen enough of that myself to last lifetimes, darlin'." On R'hin, there's a crooked grin as she says, "Scary ain' bad, neither. That wouldn've stopped me. Never met his daughters, though, so I wouldn' know there. Yer into harpers, huh? They'd have a field day, tryin' to pick yer brain," she openly teases with a look. As she shrugs into her jacket, his answer on his fighting gets a quick "Good. Ya didn' belong there, anyway, darlin'. Those pits make a different person outta ya with each blow." She would know, it seems. "Mm. I do like harpers. Though I'm not sure Suireh doesn't qualify a little in the scary column now. But maybe for my manhood's sake, I'll say 'intimidating.' She's the kind of girl you build up in your brain for turns, and who knows if you could ever measure up?" Not she, but he, "After she went back to the Hall, I figured I'd not really see her again, and then now she's been back to the Weyr, and--" K'zin shrugs, as if not entirely certain of what to make of that. He leaves it go, though as he finishes tying his boot and rises, "Some days it's better to be a different person than the person you are." Whatever that means. "I'll see you around, Jo." Maybe before so many months have passed the next time. He doesn't wait for answer, instead heading for the caverns with a brief raise of his hand that probably counts as wave over his shoulder. |
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