Logs:Grounded
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| RL Date: 25 July, 2013 |
| Who: K'zin, Rasavyth, N'ky, Cailluneth |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: N'ky has news when he and K'zin have dinner. N'ky asks a question that the dragons have answered. |
| Where: Living Cavern, Feeding Grounds |
| When: Day 5, Month 5, Turn 32 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Kieri/Mentions, Telavi/Mentions |
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| Living Cavern, High Reaches Weyr Stalactites hang high above this enormous cavern like a jagged chandelier or an inversion of the Spires themselves, but shadows cling to them instead of light. Below lie great tables arranged in rows, each large enough to serve a fighting wing, while in the nooks and alcoves around the cavern's edge sit more sensibly-sized tables, from six- and eight-seaters down to intimate spots for just a couple of diners. The only really open space is around the kitchen entrance, smelling of food and rarely quiet, and by the nearby serving tables with their long buffet of the day's offerings. Tapestries on the smooth walls -- some faded and others newly woven -- only slightly mute the sea of sound when a meal is in full swing, but they add cheerfulness augmented by the glowlight from wall sconces and the centerpieces of each table. Still, shadows always creep along the ceiling and into the mouths of the exits -- the myriad small hallways at one end of the cavern and, at the other, the twisting tunnel to the bowl near an array of coathooks and and hatracks -- and late at night, when the glows are allowed to dim, the chamber can seem very dark indeed.
K'zin's claimed a table, gotten his rationed stew and bread and is purposefully taking his time with the meal. It wouldn't be good manners to be finished when the person you're supposed to be sharing a meal with arrives, but he's K'zin, which means he's hungry and he has trouble with self-control when it comes to food, even the stew - after days of stew and stew and more stew. When N'ky arrives, K'zin's taking in the greenrider's appearance with a curious cant to his head. "All good?" He asks, covering a lot of things with the one simple question. Rasavyth, as it happens, is in the feeding grounds. True, most dragons are heeding the advisory to hunt outside the Weyr, but not this slender bronze. It's easy to tell why, too, since he's having trouble cornering a snack. He's clumsy on his own, his bulk impeding his ability to catch and kill with enough swiftness that the beasts haven't slipped right past him. He's only just arrived, but is already proving why dragons tend to hunt from above; being on the ground isn't getting him anywhere good. Rasavyth's attempts don't settle well with Cailluneth; if anything, they fire up that temper she often keeps hidden. He'll get a touch of her displeasure through their mindlink, a bitter steel tempered with black and red, before she gets to her feet and stands there, tail swishing back and forth, eyes whirling faster. While she doesn't speak, she asks him to move with a swirl of her domineering shades, and an image of her coming down for a kill. N'ky, however, is much more placid that his lifemate, though the occasional twitch of his mouth into a displeased sort of position suggests he's keeping very much in touch with her, and that he knows what she's doing. "Yeah," he replies to K'zin at first, distractedly; then the question seems to sink in, and he frowns. "No. K-kinda. I..." He pauses, biting down on his lip and staring into his stew. "I'm sorry I'm late. I've been grounded." The displeasure and the domineering shades don't settle well with Rasavyth; if anything, they amuse him, dismissing them swiftly. She can do as she likes; the feeding grounds are certainly big enough for them both, but he'll not be indulging her temper. A wall goes up, interwoven links of oozy shimmer blocking out all sensation from his mind. Physically, he's still there, just as he was, working on his abominable hunting technique. K'zin, on the other hand, seems to care more for the happenings with the greenrider than his dragon for his chromatic-colored counterpart. "Grounded?" The rider questions, letting his stew spoon stay stilled in the bowl. He waves off the apology for the tardiness with fingers; he's never cared about timeliness before and doesn't start now. "Something happen with your new wing or something?" There's concern etching his furrowed brow as he leans forward a little in his seat, expression appropriately serious. Blocking her out doesn't do anything to calm the green's mind - if anything, it irks her more. Snaking her neck towards Rasavyth and arching her back with her wings half-flared, Cailluneth bellows at him, while bombarding that oozy, shimmering wall with inky black clouds. There's no hunger there, she doesn't want to hunt; just frustration with the bronze's floundering and his inability to bring down a kill. And, since he's blocking her out mentally, she makes herself known physically by rushing the fence when the herd comes towards her, driving them back at the bronze while snapping at their haunches. She then rears up on her hindlegs, wings beating as she lets out another raspy bellow at her brother and the beasts he's failing to capture. Her activities seem to give N'ky a little trouble, as he drops his chin to rub at his forehead, pinching the bridge of his nose as if battling a headache. "I wish," he replies to the question of his grounding, raising his gaze to meet K'zin's. "It's Cailluneth." He looks over his shoulder towards the exit to the bowl, as if he might be able to see her. "Kieri thinks any day now. I'm weyrbound until... until after." And, by the sounds of it, he's still a little in denial, even with the facts blatant in front of him. "She's... being difficult. With Rasavyth, I mean. I'm s-sorry. I'm trying to k-keep her down..." His brown eyes turn slightly pleading then, and he settles both hands palm-down on the table, ignoring his food. "Do you think... w-would he let her take one down for him? It might make it, um... it might make it easier." For N'ky, if no-one else. There's a flash of annoyance that penetrates the wall when she turns the herd back toward him. The bronze was mid-attempt, so he completes the motion. Rather than make any further attempt, Rasavyth takes to wing, turning his back on the green and moving to another section of the feeding grounds. "Cailluneth?" K'zin asks, stupidly, brow folds increasing. "After? After wh-Oh." Slow, but he got there! A blush hits his cheeks. "Oh." He blinks down at his stew. Then there's an easier topic to grasp at. "Ah, sorry. No. He's been cut off. From getting help, I mean. Hunger is a powerful motivation to become a better hunter. He didn't even stay up for half Solith's flight." Shameful, his tone indicates. "Oh." N'ky repeats K'zin, giving the tiniest nod of his head and dropping his gaze to where he's playing about with his stew. He might seem to be peering into it, but a closer look will show his gaze is glazed over as he concentrates on his lifemate. When the greenrider looks up again, it's with another 'Oh', one that's much quieter this time, in response to the explanation about Rasavyth. "Oh Faranth. I, um..." The spoon's tapped against the side of the stew bowl, and he pushes the plate away, appetite gone without him having touched it, other than to fiddle idly. "I... I w-want to ask what it was like, when he, um... during Solith's flight, but... w-would it even be the same, from ---" He breaks off, shaking his head, not sure about continuing. Cailluneth, meanwhile is no less angered as she takes to stalking along the side of the pens, snapping at any herdbeast that strays near and feinting towards them, just to drive them into a further frenzy. Of course, there's more of her husky bellowing, neck stretched to the fullest towards Rasavyth in between prowling and menacing the poor creatures. N'ky nudges his dinner towards K'zin, silently asking if he wants the extra portion, before running his hands through his hair, dropping elbows to the table to rest his forehead in his palms. "Telavi looked like she was having it so much easier. C-can you see Cailluneth, through Rasavyth?" "Yeah, I can see her." K'zin's words are clipped in a way that implies that there might be more to it than just seeing her. Doubtless, Rasavyth has an opinion, since he has an opinion on just about everything. The rider shakes his head to the extra portion, picking his own spoon back up. "What do you want to know, exactly? About the flight? I gather its different for everyone, but I ended up feeling more him than me." If that helps. The tone of K'zin's voice implies that he's not unwilling to try to explain, despite his darkened blush, but that he needs more direction. He doesn't comment on whether or not Telavi had an easier time with her proddy green; self-preservation in action. Rasavyth, helpfully, continues to ignore Cailluneth, now making dives down at wing-clipped wherries, though his attempts are still clumsy and it causes them to scatter and squawk. "More him than you?" That makes N'ky's mouth twist uncomfortably, and he groans quietly. "If I'm more Cailluneth when she's like this..." He runs his hands through his hair, huffing out a heavy breath to calm himself. "I'm scared I'll lose her. I'm scared she'll hurt someone - I'm struggling to hold her back now and she's... she wants to clobber Rasavyth for shutting her out. And not very gently, either." His frown suggests he doesn't condone what his dragon's thinking, while the tight line of his lips and the tenseness of his jaw show that he's concentrating on her as much as, if not more than on his conversation. And to prove she's unhappy with Rasavyth heading off to a different section of the pens - or perhaps to just be spiteful - Cailluneth leaps over the fence in one fluid movement, felling a would-be escapee beast by clipping it with her paw so it goes tumbling to the ground in a bleating mess. She's on it in seconds, jaws latched around its neck, before shaking it like a canine with a toy. There's an audible pop as its spinal cord is severed... and the crack of several other bones as she tosses the now limp carcass to the opposite side of the pens, leaping after it to make a mess of the poor creature. "Shit. Waki -- c-can we go to the pens? I need to be there with Cailluneth..." There's a tightness to K'zin's jaw that suggests he's restraining comments that are simply better off unsaid; probably the information about how Rasavyth feels about Cailluneth's attitude and behavior. He does open his mouth to speak, but then N'ky's asking to go to the pens so he simply shuts his mouth, nods mutely and picks up his bowl to bring it with. Rasavyth, predictably, shows no sign of having noticed Cailluneth, her kill, or her mess. Dive left! N'ky's dinner is abandoned - his appetite's well and truly gone by now as he gets to his feet, only just waiting for K'zin. "S-sorry," he murmurs on their way out, shorting his rushing stride so as to match his friend's. "I was looking forward to, um... d-dinner. Just dinner. I'm sorry." Fingers run through his hair again, leaving his curls haphazard atop his head. The breeze outside in the bowl doesn't help much either, and N'ky hurries up a little to lead the way to the pens. Cailluneth's lowered her muzzle to her kill and is eating it now, though her lashing tail shows she's perhaps not entirely happy about it; she shifts her body around to have her back to Rasavyth and her front to N'ky, once they're near. "She's not even hungry. We only hunted yesterday," the greenrider murmurs quietly. "I'm sorry, I d-didn't know she'd... she's just..." Just not her usual self to look at, with her red-whirled eyes and her snarling as she eats. Certainly not the pudgy little baby he was carrying about a turn ago. K'zin's smart when it comes to food. It must come naturally to him, because he doesn't seem to need to think about it as he hesitates after standing tilting the bowl to drain the broth and leave mostly just the vegetables and meat. Easier to carry and not waste as one hurries out toward the pens. His stride is suitably swift in fitting with the greenrider's sense of urgency, but he's not jogging. "S'alright, things happen. Can't control dragon hormones. My second day drilling with Taiga Ras decided it'd be a good idea to interrupt drill to go chase a green. Thankfully, he wasn't alone, but it was still embarrassing. Greenriders rolling their eyes at us as we helplessly headed for the guest weyr." He relates the anecdote with a tone that's meant to help set N'ky at his ease. "And you're not going to lose her. If there's one thing I know about Cailluneth, it's that you're the center of her world, and she'd never leave you, even when she wants the freedom of the skies and the tail-twining passion only another dragon can give her." One of K'zin's hands is raised when they near the pens waving off N'ky's apologies. "Hey. I'm not one to judge. It's like when girls get their periods," Clearly, this is going somewhere not-gross, right? "Who am I to judge what they need or how they're acting or feeling? It's not like I bleed from between my legs for part of every month." It's only a beat before a lopsided grin and K'zin adds, "Thank Faranth." K'zin's eyes stop on Cailluneth then further afield to where Rasavyth is diving, then he's focusing on the bowl. Because apparently he can eat after all that, anyway. Closer to Cailluneth, N'ky seems to relax a little, as does the green - she settles down to merely growling a she eats, while the greenrider breathes out in relief, even if his shoulders remain stiff. "At least I'll only get this, um... however often she rises." There's an unspoken 'ohFaranthshe'lldoitagainsoonerorlater' there. "She hates it when she loses control, K'zin. I hate it when I lose control of her. She's so, so sorry, until she forgets, and she's going to hate it if she remembers how she's acting now when she's... calmed down." By his sides, his fingers anxiously clench and unclench into fists. "And that's gross, Waki. I don't wanna talk about that." Girl stuff, of course. Bleurgh, says his expression, before it sinks into a little more seriousness. "I, um... actually wanted to ask you something, but I d-don't really know how to say it other than to say it - should I say it? C-can I ask you?" "Well, guess you'll just have to hope she doesn't remember." K'zin answers the first, eyes roving toward his dragon again as he piles food into his mouth, chewing and swallowing. There's a shrug of his shoulders for talking about the girl stuff. He finishes with a mouthful before there's another lift and fall of his shoulders. "You can always ask." Which isn't to say that he'll have an answer, or an answer N'ky wants to hear, or an answer he does, but the greenrider can always ask. Finished with her meal, Cailluneth hops over the fence and heads towards N'ky, snorting hot breath from her messy muzzle before she starts rubbing it along the ground, trying to clean it off. It's not graceful, but she's at least calmer, on the outside if nothing else. N'ky watches her, fingers clenched nervously tight as he nods in reply to K'zin, taking a moment of silent to work out what to say. He clears his throat before eventually speaking. "I, um, d-don't know if you or Rasavyth h-had thought of, um, chasing her when she... wh-when she goes up, but, um... we've just sorta... you and me," he waggles a finger between them, just in case it wasn't clear who he means, "and, um, I was wondering i-if it wouldn't be too offensive for me to, um, a-ask you to maybe not let Rasavyth chase? This time, a-at least? I... I don't want to risk it being... awkward between us if we... you know. N-not now, when we've just... I d-don't want to risk breaking things. I-is that ok to ask? I'm s-sorry if it's... if it's not ok." In the moment of silence N'ky takes, K'zin's putting another spoonful of stew chunks into his mouth. He's chewing when the greenrider poses the question, so the first response is a shrug and shake of K'zin's head. Once he's swallowed, his answer is simple, "You've got nothing to worry about. He won't chase." And apparently no offense is taken, judging from the tone. Then there's more stew bits to be eaten; Cailluneth may be done with her meal, but the bronze pair are still working on their own. Rasavyth gets a lucky catch of a wherry then, a feint on the bronze's part reaping reward. His bugle is triumphant, and make K'zin grin (food-in-mouth and everything, at least it's not open-mouthed!). "Ok." Beat. "Ok, good." N'ky nods, a ghost of a crooked smile curling up the corner of his mouth for just a few seconds. Then, with his head canted to one side and a much more relaxed angle to his shoulders, he adds: "I... I guess they don't really like each other enough for her to appeal to him, really. Maybe some other time, though." He shrugs then, nonchalant. Rasavyth finally getting a catch gives both greenrider and green dragon a chance to cheer; N'ky applauds briefly, while Cailluneth growls an approval across the pens. "Nice catch. Did you say you're t-trying to make his blooding better? Or hunting overall?" A wuffle of hot breath comes from his green where she's snaked her head over towards him, eyes whirling more slowly in a near-picture of peace in comparison to the bellowing beast she was earlier. Calm dragon, calm rider; N'ky's certainly soaking up this quieter demeanour by reaching out to rest a hand on her muzzle, the daintiest part of her. "Maybe," K'zin allows with a shrug after he's swallowed the last bite of stew. "Ras has a pretty long memory." His eyes are on the beast in question, watching him rend the flesh. "He seems to have better luck when he outsmarts them. I guess that's not too much of a surprise though, given how he is. Not being good at a lot of dragon-y things. And being too good at some human things. Like chess. He beat me so badly on his turnday." There's a groan for that. "Hunting and blooding are kind of one in the same, really. If you can't hunt, you can't blood, apparently. I'd just like to not keep getting left frustrated. He doesn't care, of course. Except for the embarrassment part. So that's enough to shame him into learning to hunt the 'dirty things' properly." N'ky wrinkles his nose in surprise. "Chess? You play chess with him?" He looks from Rasavyth to Cailluneth, who's now stretched out puppyishly with her head resting by his feet. "We don't do anything like that." The green raises her head, butting meaningfully at N'ky's leathers, crooning softly. "Go on then, silly. You don't need me to... Oh, fine." Unable to resist, he reaches out to stroke her headknobs, smiling happily down at her. "She needs me to help her clean up," he explains to his clutchmate, turning the soppy smile he has for Cailluneth to the bronzerider briefly. "Maybe we can try a proper dinner later? After she's-" he points up to the sky with his index finger. "Tri-leveled, usually. He's trying to get me up to five levels because that's where it starts to not bore him, but I'm just-- three gives me a headache to start with." K'zin answers ruefully. There's a shrug that Cailluneth and N'ky don't do similar; every dragon is different, so to each their own. "Yeah, sure. I'll let you know when I'm free. I'd better get this bowl back to the living cavern before someone claims I stole it and they dock my pay or something." He waves the bowl in question, thumb holding the spoon in place. "See you 'round." He starts to walk, "Oh, and Nick, it's going to be alright. Just remember to breathe and stay with her. You'll both be fine." He offers an encouraging smile before he's heading for the living cavern. "Breathe. Stay with her. Right." So much easier than it sounds. N'ky sighs softly, the sound covered as Cailluneth gets to her feet, ready to head off to the lake. "Have a good night, K'zin. Rasavyth." Bronzerider and bronze are nodded to in farewell, then N'ky follows his lifemate off to bathe her. |
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