Logs:Bubble Baths
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| RL Date: 29 July, 2008 |
| Who: Paige, Berit, D'kai, Nerine |
| Involves: Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: With the lake sufficiently melted, several weyrlings bring their dragons down to the lake to bathe. Tiasheth figures out how to blow bubbles and teaches Mikhuth; Paige learns of Imirath's subtle corruptions. |
| Where: Weyrbowl, Fort Weyr |
| When: Day 9, Month 4, Turn 17 (Interval 10) |
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| It's not the warmest spring day, perhaps, but warm enough that weyrlings - and the dragons of weyrlings - have discovered the pleasure of bathing in the now mostly-melted lake. For larger dragons - like Mikhuth, who could no longer fit through the corridors to get to the hot springs - it's not only an opportunity to be washed, but have a good swim, too, something not-so-possible in a bucket of water in the Barracks. And swimming he is, splashing and diving around the nearby Aquayeth, with D'kai standing on the shore, a bag of soapsand dangling from his wrist and a pot of oil at his feet, kicking at rocks and apparently waiting from his bronze to come to shore so he can get a good scrubbing. Scintillating sunlight chases away the cobwebs of the caverns and the chill of winter's breeze, inevitably a welcome reprieve from the months and days past. Many of the weyrlings share the same idea - that of an outside bath in the crystalline waters of the lake, something infinitely more desirable to tepid washings. Even the wayward pair of Berit and Zibeth, however prim and proper they may be, have meandered their way from the barracks to the calm lakeshore. While Berit has donned a clean, shortened underdress for this specific occasion, the little gold's ruddy hide is more than liberally dusted with a coating of the day's grime. They make no fuss about entering the water, the weyrling following the dragon until she is knee-deep, the very hem of her dress skimming the water. Sending a little splash at Zibeth to get her going further into the deep, Berit glances over her shoulder at D'kai. "Lovely day, is it not?" Tiasheth, who will never be terribly large for a dragon, is in that awkward stage where she can still sort of go through the caverns to the hot springs to be bathed, but the lake is probably a better choice at this point. Like D'kai, Paige has brought her own set of bathing supplies along to the lake shore, placing the oil a careful distance from the water before wading into the lake. Daintily, the small green follows, warbling a cheerful greeting to her siblings. "Warmer day, at least, " she allows, waving Tia a bit further in before taking a step back to let her submerge herself as she will. Spring has had its share of casualties, and that is as evident as ever as the sunlight plays over the tones of verdigris and chartreuse that drift over Zerith's solid frame. Her left wing is secured against her in a sling, and her rider besides her looking rather tired. Nerine has a sack strung over one shoulder and one hand on the neck of the rather large green at her side. Nerine flashes a smile at her fellow weyrlings and gives her dragon a stern look at something the dragon says. Zerith gives a cheerful warble, and the girl seems satisfied as the pair makes their way to the water. "Weather's actually rather nice, I am just happy to get outside though really." A-hah! Now here is an adversary more his size! Sinking into the water behind Aquayeth, so that he might not be seen by his target, Mikhuth slithers underwater towards the gleaming shape of Zibeth, eyes hooded under two sets of lids, a sinuous submerged snake heading surely for its mark. But what is this? Mikhuth pulls short as Tiasheth trundles into the water, and his head slinks back and forth, as though torn between the two. After a moment of contemplation, the bronze bursts! from the water with great splashing and warbling, somewhere between the two and in front of Zerith. He looks a bit disappointed at his lack of direction, and then sinks back into the lake with but his nostrils and lidded eyes showing. Gaze trained on the bronze, D'kai chuckles, but returns Berit's greeting with a nod, and then a wave for Paige and Nerine. "It is, isn't it, Berit - morning, ladies! Yeah, it's nice to be out of the snow for once. Soon it'll be warm enough for us to swim ourselves!" Deke clearly relishes this prospect, but doesn't seem terribly eager to be diving into the water as it is, all icy and chilled and brrr. "At least they can splash around." 'They' are indicated with a jerk of his chin: the dragons, of course! Creature of the deep, oh merciless monster of the waters.. Zibeth warbles happily, treading the water with little grace; but when is a dragon, airborne as they are made to be, not very awkward in water? She watches Mikhuth with all the curiosity of a young girl, and still, she makes a surprise sound when he bursts from the water, even having seen it coming. Many things have yet to be learned, amongst them poise and humility. « What a scary surprise! » Amusement lifting the corners of her mouth, Berit allows a glance for the gold, one for the weyrlings on shore, and finally her gaze drops to the cold waters swirling around her legs. "I had forgotten, you are from Boll, D'kai, and unused to the colder temperatures. Winter is my favorite, you see," she says with a wide, puckish grin. "There is nothing quite refreshing as the crisp cold and the icicles hanging from overhangs." Paige returns D'kai's wave with a, "Morning, D'kai!" between giggles at Mikhuth's mock-hunt. She doesn't seem too keen on the idea of going for a swim, herself, refusing to go much deeper into the lake than up to her knees - which, considering her height, isn't far from the shallows. Tiasheth's wings briefly fan open with a surprised movement backwards as the bronze bursts out of the water nearby, tail flicking amusedly as she submerges herself again, intent on attempting to blow bubbles. "Winter's jus' purty, " Paige agrees with Berit, smiling a little. "Nothin' like seein' the mountaintops covered in snow on an early mornin', 'specially if'n the sun hits 'em jus' so." Eager to Join in the play, and especially eager to teach Mikhuth how to improve his aim Zerith starts to charge into the water, however there is a visible flinch as she glances back to her rider, obviously needing no reminder of what rushing in unprepared does. Nerine undoes the sling carefully. "Careful with that wing." She warns and then the green is off this time with permission charging the water at a bungling trot and sending up a big icy splash as she impacts the brisk waves. Nerine drops the satchel and loses her usual wherhide course and boots before attacking the waves herself, scrub brush soap sand in hand. "Winter is nice with ice skating and all of that, but I prefer spring and fall, they are infinitely more colorful" Zerith dips down into the deeper parts of the lake sending flashes of little silver fish and other objects of interest. So reasurred that his mission was, in fact, successful, Mikhuth lifts his head from the water, facets twirling a rather pleased turquoise as he angles his pointed muzzle towards Zibeth. There's a haphazard flash of merry smiles sent her way, with the light patter of drum and harp faint in the background, but he's quickly enough distracted by Tiasheth's bubbles, and the bronze stalks (splashes) nearer to swipe experimentally at one. "Oh, yeah," D'kai moves forward a bit, pauses, and then bends to take off his boots so that he can take a few steps into that chilly water, "It's pretty enough, I'll give you that. But -" and he tugs his testing toe from the lapping wave, shivers, "It's just too cold - refreshing? Not what I'd call refreshing. Give me a cool drink on a hot beach - /that's/ refreshing!" Deke eyes Zerith's wing for a long moment, and then asks, "How's she doing, Ner?" From lake monster to bubbles, and everything in between, Zibeth's focus is a whimsy thing at best. She swings her head from Mikhuth to Tiasheth, her eyes whirling that happy blue, but her attention is then suddenly snagged by another source. What is that? Swimming just below the surface? *Oh, fish!* Far more fascinating than bubbles. Berit skims the top of the water with the tips of her fingers, glancing back at the others. "Quite right you are, Paige. I enjoy that and waking up to a cold floor in the morning. Then, I can run to the hearth and curl up with a cup of tea in a blanket. It is the happiest sensation, I swear." But her own words are followed with a little laugh, as if she thought her own recollections silly. "Fall and summer are pretty in their own ways, but I do not envy the heat. Sweating is so.." It is there, on the tip of her tongue, to say something absolutely frivolous, and surprisingly she elects silence; turning to the side, she watches the dragons at play. Paige finds the winter to be pleasant enough in its own way, too, but the only reply she gives D'kai is a brief grin, attention diverted by Nerine and Zerith. Biting her lip a little, she grimaces for the other green's wing, pale gaze settling on her friend in anticipation of her response; yes, how is that wing? Pop! There goes one of Tiasheth's bubbles, causing the little dragon to lift her head to tilt a look at Mikhuth. To Mikhuth, Tiasheth spirals leaves over toward him, carried by the whims of a swaying breeze. « Oh, hello, Mikhuth! Have you blown bubbles yet? It's great fun. » And she demonstrates by leaning down to try to blow a few more. « I'm not very good at it yet, » she admits, « but I'm getting better. » Nerine too throws a cursory glance after her dragon at Deke's question. "It hasn't slowed her down too much," there is a sigh. "She seems as eager as ever to go charging into dangerous situations, but she listens more now and that at least is something." Nerine shakes her head and gives a smile, her gaze following her dragon. Berit gets her attention as she speaks and Nerine gives a soft laugh "Unladylike?" she offers Berit's unfinished sentence a proper ending. "I never quite made it out to Boll, I was at Ista once or twice exchanging records." Zerith emerges and decides to inspect the bubbling froth over by the smaller green. Pop! Mikhuth recoils quite suddenly, claws clutching at nothing but water, and rumbles surprise. The darting silver flash of fish deeper below is ignored in favour of this bubble-witchcraft, and he tentatively lowers his own nose to the water and snorts - whoa! The bronze prances backward as well as he's able, still being in the water and all, and sends Tiasheth a rather suspicious look. D'kai, too, has a supicious look of his own, for Berit: cold floor? enjoy? No way, lady. But his lips twitch amusement, and shakes his head. "Well, that's a good thing, Nerine." He watches Zerith for a long moment, and then shuffles a bit deeper into the water with goosebumps lifting the hair on his arms - brrrr! "Manly?" He, too, attempt to complete Berit's sentence, and grunts and sticks out his tongue and poses in the most manly way he can think of: flexing his arms at the girl and waggling his eyebrows. To Tiasheth, Mikhuth drifts back a few tendrils of smoke, coiling into Tiasheth's mind, floating lightly amidst those leaves. There's a flicker of hesitation, in a questioning shrug of a dark-haired man, a lift of an eyebrow, but the bronze imitates the motion, and surprise echoes in a sudden red lick of flame. « Hadn't, not yet, but - » and then there's a rumble of draconic laughter as a few bubbles pop around his muzzle, « 's fun, innit? » A cursory, curious inspection is given the green, and a shorter one for her to-be-rider. What goings on have been happening outside of Zibeth and Berit, Zibeth and Berit are not very alert to; for the simple reason that they seem to have a lot of issues within their own connection, supported by the extra exercises they are required to do daily. "Not quite unladylike, I do not think. There are many ladylike riders who have a tendency to sweat under harsh conditions," she says absently, tearing her gaze away from the green's wing. One dark eyebrows lifts as Berit angles her body towards D'kai, comical disbelief written across her face. "Manly.. do you.." The words are stolen right from her mouth as he starts posing, and a laugh bursts from her lips, causing her to cover it with a hand. But the laughter persists, muffled as it is behind her palm. Unaware of the humor and doubly unaware of the pain of another, Zibeth continues to follow the darting of the fish, turning this way and that, though in the end she gets frustrated. They are too fast for her! "How'd - she jus' tha' headstrong?" Paige has to ask at last, turning a little to watch Zerith move over toward Tiasheth. She has yet to hear of - or witness - the Imirath corruptions. Listening more is good, right? "Only been t'Boll twice, " she offers, "but liked it there lots. Somethin' nice and diff'rent 'bout the warmth and all tha' green." Tiasheth gives Mikhuth an amused rumble in reply, dipping her muzzle in again to blow more bubbles in his direction. D'kai's manly pose elicits a series of giggles. That's manly? Nerine nods watching the dragons play with a smile. "I am glad of it anyway. I . . . I want her to stay little for as long as possible." Zerith gives a rumbling laugh at Mikhuth's 'bewitchment' but it is D'kai's posing that sends Nerine into a sprawling fit of laughter. "Watch . . . out. . . Berit, looks like you've . . . got a 'manly' . . . bronzer making . . . poses . . . at you." Nerine gasps between giggle fits. She manages to regain some composure as Paige asks a question. "Once that Dragon gets something in her head it's like trying to turn a stampede of herd beasts to stop her, Didn't help that Imirath likes corrupting weyrlings." Nerine shakes her head "there are a few parts of Weyrling hood I am not looking forward to with her that is for sure, though I wouldn't trade her for anything. I am just glad she did it infront of P'draig so Jekzeth could get her down safely." To Mikhuth, Tiasheth is delighted with his attempts to join in the bubble making, leaning over to blow more at him. « Yes, it is! » she all but chirps, pleased. « Almost as fun as getting bathed. » Her breeze shifts, carrying with it the scent of cool, freshly damp earth, perhaps to offset his sudden lick of flame. « You'll probably be able to make bigger bubbles than I can; you are much larger than me. » "Hoooh-raagghh," D'kai grunts, curling his arms upward and flushing slightly from the sheer bicep-flexing effort. He holds this for a long moment before sagging and letting his hands fall to his sides with a doleful sigh and an apologetic widening of his eyes. "If only there were some raw eggs or something I could drink. Or a branch I could light on fire swing around." This is apparently Deke's definition of 'manly'. Well, okay. Even Mikhuth's got a dismissive snort for his lifemate's efforts, and swings his head around to nose a splash of water at the lad, who's too slow in fending it off and now, with his shirt plastered to his chest and his shortened hair flat, looks not entirely unlike a skinny, wet feline. Mickey paws at the water with gurgling glee, but is soon drawn back to the lure of bubbles. Casting about for a change of topic, D'kai grins, a bit sheepishly, and says, "Yeah, Boll's nice. It's - uh, warm." To Tiasheth, Mikhuth extends his angular muzzle to poke at the glimmering orbs, and when they pop! and vanish in response he grumbles a low grumble of challenge. But, what ho! Here are more to replace them, washing against him, and the bronze shakes his head and sends Tiasheth a wash of mirth, of children's bright laughter and fluttering images of pudgy, reaching hands and beaming, redfruit-stained smiles. He obligingly dampens that smoke, dismissing it and then reforming it to pale, white fog. « Yeh, y'think? Lemme giv'r a try, then! » And quite enthusiastically Mickey dunks his head into the water and expels a cloud of little round bubbles. « Look'it 'em go! » More laughter follows the continued efforts and words, so much so that Berit has to gasp for breath as she clutches her stomach. "D'kai.. really.." She bursts into another round of giggles, dropping her head to try and hide the obvious signs of humor. "..that ..cannot.. be your idea of.." A tear is wiped away as she lifts her head, "..manly?" Releasing a relieved sigh as her giggles subside, Berit sloshes deeper into the water, meeting Zibeth halfway. "I think you might want to rethink that concept, you know? I am not an expert, but I cannot help to think that I have never seen P'draig swinging around a stick of fire." She places an incredulous look on him, then bends down to fill her cupped hands with water. "Boys, hm." And the girl fades into silence, helping to give her dragon a good cleaning to wash away the grit and grime, and leaving the conversation to the other weyrlings. Berit has disconnected. Paige's giggles continue as Nerine joins in, but as the other weyrling regains some composure, so does she. "Imirath?" she repeats, glancing over at Zerith again, brow furrowing. "V'delin's bronze? What'd he - what'd he do?" If there's a funny sort of sadness that enters her expression, it's masked quickly as she angles away from them momentarily on the pretense of getting a better grip on her bristled brush before calling Tiasheth over. With a final burst of bubbly delight, the little green traipses over to her weyrling, obligingly opening her wings at a mental nudge so that they, too, can be carefully cleaned. "Taught her wing strengthening exercises, and played up the fact that she wanted to be the first in the air." Nerine shrugs as Zerith too makes her way over and very gingerly stretches her left wing. Nerine begins to scrub away gently the old numb weed. "Ah Deke you do better at being 'manly' being yourself." She sighs and begins the scrubing in earnest taking extra care not to injure the dragonette. To Mikhuth, Tiasheth delights in the wash of mirth, earnest adoration glimmering like fireflies for the adorable images of children. « So many! » she praises, enthused, sending a swirl of sunny warmth through that fog as she heads over to Paige to get scrubbed clean. Deke grins broadly at the resulting laughter, straightening and shaking most of the water out of his hair. "Awh, if Paddy hasn't swung any sticks lit on fire around, I don't know just how manly he can be." Still a bit dripping from his bronze's splattering, it's just logical to follow that with wading into the shallows, and with a grimace for the chill, he does so, lifting his wrist to shake the little bag tied to it towards Mikhuth. The bronze snuffles at the water for a few more minutes, but with his bubble-buddy busy getting washed, he agreeably slogs back towards D'kai and extends his neck - head first, start here, thank you. As the tall lad sets to the task, he adds, "Imirath got to Mickey, too, the other day. Well, at least he taught him a lesson, and Mik didn't try anything stupid - too stupid." The bronze indignantly flutters his wings at this, sending wavelets lapping at D'kai, who chuckles and splashes right back. "What? He did." "Wing strengthenin' exercises? Gettin' t'weyrlin's?" Paige seems genuinely confused while she works at cleaning Tiasheth, pale eyes a bit troubled. "Oh dear." And still more quietly, "Maybe tha's what he meant." Ducking hastily under the green's wing, she reemerges a few minutes later, expression still a bit off. Influencing impressionable young minds - clearly, the idea doesn't sit too well with her. To Tiasheth, Mikhuth rings those sparkling fireflies with twisting white smoke - but instead of the harsh snapping scent of a blaze, he wafts companionable affection, the low murmurings of those sitting in good humour around an evening campfire. He can't help but to respond to that praise, and there's a bit of delighted pride running quietly through those voices. « Awh, » a surprising hint of humility whispers past, « yer's're still bett'r. 'n I can't very well chase 'm'own bubbles? No sport'n that, what? » "Of course not mines the only dragon that is obnoxiously willful" Nerine grumbles and Zerith eyes her disapprovingly. "Fine I am just too much of a hermit for my own good" She responds to the green. "But I didn't get wing strain showing off for a bunch of boys." Zerith rumbles at this and it causes Nerine to laugh heartily. "I guess I don't feel as bad now though knowing Imirath impacted others, but I swear once I get my hands on that dragon or V'delin both of them will make pretty hides in the records room." Zerith tenderly dips the injured wing rinsing it and tucking it away while Nerine moves to the healthy wing and cleans the wing sail with care. "It's just frustrating that she is in such a hurry to grow up though." Nerine's gaze shifts to her friend and her dainty green perhaps in the understanding that Paige too was fearing a particular part of dragon development as well. "What who meant?" D'kai directs to Paige distractedly, pushing himself on tip-toe to reach over Mikhuth's neck as the bronze unhelpfully lifts his head higher. The boy grasps at a neckridge and is lifted nearly clear from the water, and slaps at Mikhuth until he's replaced. "I wouldn't think that, Nerine. I mean - Valioth's still calling A'riste 'Boss', no matter what Aer says. And Mickey's pretty obnoxious someti- hey!" Splash, splash. "Zerith just willful in ways that've unfortunately got her hurt. I just get wet. Aer gets annoyed." But for all his words, D'kai got a wide grin - he's perhaps not quite as perturbed as Paige, or even Nerine. "Aw, Nerine, yer not really gonna hurt 'em, are ya?" Paige has to ask, even as she scoots around to work on scrubbing Tiasheth's other side. It's warm for the recent weather that Fort's been having, and several other weyrlings are taking advantage of the relative warmth to indulge in a lakeside bath - and in the dragons' cases, cavorting and blowing bubbles. Ducking down to concentrate on a forelimb, Paige shakes her head hurriedly at D'kai. "Oh, no one, " she answers quickly. Maybe a bit /too/ quickly. There's a grimace for Nerine, though; growing up isn't exactly something she wants to face, either, but there it is. "That will depend firstly on if I catch him, and secondly if P'draig or any of his assistants are around when I do." Nerine gives an almost growl, confirming that she wasn't one to forgive anyone who put her life mate in unnecessary peril. At the moment Imirath fit that category. "I didn't know you and Aer were having trouble as well though, Seems like everything was going a bit smoother for you all." Nerine laughs as Zerith cranes her neck to be scrubbed. She gives a glance to Paige, and a nod Weyr raised or not the two had more in common than most would think. She catches the too quick answer and tosses a disbelieving look at the girl. Paige is rather focused on getting Tiasheth's other wing clean, so she rather misses the glance and nod. But as she straightens and sends the green further in to rinse, she does catch the incredulous look, but shakes her head slightly. It's not her place to tell. "'Tisn' right, " she says softly, but it's hard to tell what she's referring to, really. Tiasheth submerges herself briefly and rinses off with minimal movement, picking her way back to shore with a croon. "Oh, uh, yes. Oil. I'm a'comin'." And with a quick smile for the other two, she wades out of the water, moving a short distance away to focus on oiling the young dragon. |
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