Difference between revisions of "Logs:Shanlee and N'thei Talk About Being a Weyrling"

N'thei carries an armload of fresh rushes toward the barracks, a pile much larger than one dragon couch would require, presumably helping to restock the barracks. Two of the other weyrlings are just ahead of him, for they managed to do the chore without the encumbrance of a dragonet swaggering along in a "helpful" way. If N'thei looks busy, Wyaeth just looks silly with a little bundle of rushes balanced precariously across his shoulders, a trail of them marking his passage across the bowl as they constantly fall off.

With morning drills taken care of and her day's duties dependant on the whims of Lord Tillek, Shan's seems to be indulging her little green's desire to meet with the 'babies'. Leaned up against the warmth of the dragon's hide, it's the sudden shifting from paw to paw that draws her attention over in a particular direction. Lips twitch, then a chuckle spills out for the helpful little bronze "You got a winner there." the comment meant for the new bronze weyrling. Kaylith doesn't hesitate, chubby tail quivering with barely contained excitement as the little chap wanders closer, the slender neck reaches out to croon a gentle greeting.

• ....Shan seems to be.....

"I'd agree with you--" N'thei starts the sentence, then delays finishing it so he can duck into the barracks and divest himself and Wyaeth of their burdens, exits back out while dusting off his palms. "I'd agree with you if he was doing it to be helpful. But he's not." And the weyrling, a title which seems ill-suited to the big fellow now coming over toward Shanlee, shrugs helplessly. Rumbling along beside him, Wyaeth greets Kaylith with a gruff-sounding croon of his own, not very lyrical. "Good morning, ladies."

"Oh?" surprise tainting Shan's voice, but then N'thei and Wyaeth have ducked into the barracks and the wingsecond is left to contemplate his words. Casting an appraising eye over the little bronze once the pair re-emerges, green eyes flicker upward to his lifemate "So why does he do it then?" curiosity delaying the next for a breath "Congratulations to the two of you, by the way." Kaylith dips her head in acceptance of the croon and suddenly makes her 'rock' appear from where it had been safely tucked away between her forepaws. Nudging it closer to Wyaeth, she seems to be enticing him into a game.

N'thei answers with a long-suffering tone, "To prove he can take care of himself." Wyaeth puffs up his chest in answer to the words, tries to make himself look bigger and more capable. The rock holds little interest for him, sadly, though he does give Kaylith a curious look, a questioning one. "I've just about had my fill of congratulations, but thank you. When you really distill it down properly, if you hadn't come to Benden..." N'thei opens his palm toward Wyaeth, the end result.

Kaylith burbles a small sound of disappointment as Wyaeth doesn't seem to interested in a game. Dropping to a low-slung crouch, the little green rests her charming head on forepaws and studies the little bronze with an intent gaze. "Ah." realization dawns on Shan "Thinks he's a big boy already." lips twitch in amusement at the chest puffing. N'thei's latter words draw a distinct smirk "Well I'm not about to offer condolences or apologies, if that's what your looking for." Arms fold about herself and small chin tilts upward to meet his eyes "The fighting wings need all the bronze stability they can get." Mercenary much? Perhaps.

While Wyaeth settles down on his haunches, letting Kaylith look her fill while he pretends very hard not to be puffing up as big as he can, N'thei wears a much more subtle expression to Shanlee; "I think if you did offer condolences or apologies, I would have just cause to take offense. Although... You might have foregone mention of fighting wings just yet. We're still in the afternoon nap phase, remember?"

And look she does, even daring to reach out her muzzle to attempt to nudge at Wyaeth, gently mind. Wouldn't want to topple the little tyke over. To the latter, Shan does appear to attempt an apology, the first earning N'thei a dry flirtation of a smile. Fingers lift to rub at a temple "Guess I'm a little jaded. My job." the latter two words seeming to be explanation "You're right though. He needs to grow, you both do." Though how a man as tall as the bronze weyrling was meant to grow isn't rounded out by explanation. Another longer look over to the man's lifemate, still seeming to size him up "Does he get on with the others well enough." Suddenly a brilliant grin appears as the wingsecond's thought patterns do an abrupt about face "Guess that makes that barely touched 'skin of yours in my weyr..... is mine now."

Wyaeth topples just a little, too narrow and small to have much stability yet for all his swaggering ways. But gunmetal talons scrabble the rock and give him some dignity, keep him from falling over anyway. N'thei reaches a hand to help refold a fluttered wing, but thinks the better of it and just puts the hand in his pocket. "As well as can be expected, I imagine. He's friendly with them but not open." He laughs quietly at his own summary, then lifts his brows. "I'd suggest you save it, but it's already been opened and won't keep till I'm a free man again. Just don't drink alone, right?"

"Kaylith!" Shan reprimands as Wyaeth topples a little. The little green in question swings deeply apologetic eyes onto both her lifemate and that of the little bronze's then slinks closer to offer support of the physical kind should he want it. "Not many that I care to share a 'skin with N'thei." Indicating that drinking alone was a past time she indulged in more often then was likely considered healthy.

N'thei waves away Kaylith hurriedly, sure that he's out of Wyaeth's periphery while he does so. The bronze bristles at the mere /notion/ of getting help to right himself, turns off with a swagger toward the barracks, barely managing to hide a yawn about ten meters away. "Self-sufficient." Nothing more than looking at his dragon and N'thei guards his expression well. A smile breaks shortly, though, and he turns back to Shanlee. "Not many? That's practically a crime, ma'am."

Watching with amusement as little green and even smaller bronze sort themselves out, Shan settles to leaning against a conveniently placed boulder. Lips curl into a smirk for N'thei's last "No my dear man. It's called taste." A glance going barrack-wards where Wyaeth has now sent himself off to and then those green eyes fix on the big man "You holding up okay with all this?"

"How do you acquire a taste if you don't sample the fare?" N'thei shakes his head chidingly at Shanlee, waves his unpocketed hand at the question to dismiss the quality of it. "I'm fine. Trying not to dwell on the darker aspects. Barracks. Chores. Not so much as a drink for however many months. /That/ is definitely a crime, ma'am."

A fine brow arcs upward at his first. "Did I say that?" Shan retorts with a look leveled at N'thei which holds a moment or two then drops off with deliberate nonchalance. Slight shoulders lift and fall followed by a faint tsking sound coming from the petite wingsecond "You poor, poor man. How a cruel a fate you must now endure." not a hint of sympathy showing at all "At least you still have those cards of yours." Yes, she hadn't forgotten his deftness with them either.

N'thei smiles at the mention of cards, but it's a subject changing smile, not one that invites further discussion. "How do you get on with washing a dragon in the middle of winter, I wonder? I've been contemplating this all morning. Does the lake ice over?" He turns just enough to bring the lake into view now, shades his eyes with one hand as he looks that way.

Green eyes rest back on N'thei at his smooth change of subject, but Shan allows him to wriggle free once again on the subject. To the topic now on offer "Every winter. Some of the dragons like to skate about on it." following his gaze to the lake, the wingsecond's eyes squint slightly against the sunlight "I used buckets of water. Further out there'll be areas that don't freeze over and are big enough for them to rinse off in, if they really want to." Swinging her gaze back to Kaylith who is now settled to watching out for any more 'babies' coming her way, the redhead concludes "Either way. It's a cold job but someone has to do it."

• ......again on it. To....

N'thei remarks with a rough laugh, "I've never been a big fan of ice, personally. Unless it's in a drink. But that brings us right back around to where this conversation started." Eyes still on the lake in the distance, unfocussed a moment, he eventually draws in a breath and puts his other hand in his pocket too, shrugging up his shoulders. "Ayson went to bronze too. Funny, that. The whole time, I was thinking it's easier on the little kids who don't know who they are yet."

Shanlee shoots N'thei a sidelong glance for the latter but replies to the former with a soft snort "Ice dilutes." pause "Bad enough we get frozen over in winter, certainly don't need to freeze my insides too." Shifting her stance against the rock, boots cross over at the ankle "Yeah, I saw that." to words of the other bronze weyrling. Eyes flick back to the lake, her tone coming in musing form "Brothers in arms." Mention of the younger weyrlings of the group brings the greenrider's lower lip to be trapped between even teeth "I still don't know what Jaireth was thinking. She's still so young." One in particular seeming to bother the young woman. This comment draws a low rumble from the little green, which elicits a roll of eyes and a muttered "Whatever." in return.

"Madison?" N'thei contemplates, his lips pulled askew and his eyes dragged toward the weyrling barracks, no sign of the little greenrider as yet. "She'll be all right. She's young enough that it's all one adventure. Dragons are just so pretty, and everything is so great, and there's no sense of /consequence/." And he sounds tolerant of it, amused almost. "How old were you?"

Not mollified by N'thei's words at all, Shan returns "And therein lies the rub." as he delivers his idea of the young green weyrling's mindset. Canting her head to one side at the question, she takes her time to reply as the ground at her feet is studied quietly for a while. "Sixteen turns, but on the road for a while before then." green eyes carrying a hard edge to them "Life's school of knocks." ended in a flat tone.

N'thei can do no more than shrug at the rub, helpless to effect change, but not very worried about it either based on the look on his face. "And how old are you now, miss hard knocks?" In a very little way, he's making fun of Shanlee, placid eyes turned mirthful.

The complete disinterest or concern N'thei seems to display over his green clutchmate hits narrowed eyes onto him. Shan leans away from the boulder taking a step to widen any distance there may have been between them. "Did your father never teach you not to ask a lady her age?" her tone turning pointed as another step moves her closer to the little green that's come awake at a silent signal. "Figure it out for yourself." a pause forms "And if you're correct? Well...." smirk "....I'll ask I'daur to give you a gold star if you like?" this last delivered 'Oh so sweetly'.

With his eyes narrowed in thought, his fingers wiggling as he counts the months on his fingers, N'thei finally guesses, "Forty-five?" No, he shakes his head hurriedly and summarizes Shanlee with a glance. "Eighteen? Nineteen? Still too young to look down your nose at Maddie for her lack of long teeth. But if you would replace 'gold star' with 'hip flask,' I'd be much obliged."

A very 'unladylike' snort is uttered at the first guess from N'thei, his subsequent ones earn not so much as a flicker of either agreement or disagreement. Instead "Why do you feel the urge to know, hmmm? So you can try and play 'old' weyrling with me?" the deliberate opposites used "Age is no indicator of ability or experience." Shan's jaw clenches at the latter "Madison has what it takes. Madison, -will- get through this and arrive at the other end triumphant." just the words 'if I have anything to do with it.' left off. Talk of hip flasks, has the wingsecond slide a sly curl of lips onto her face as a slim hand reaches into the carrysack at her green's side and draws out the named 'prize' "You mean like this one?" waggled back and forth then slipped back into place in the 'sack.

With large, sad eyes, N'thei looks upon the forbidden flask and exhales a sigh that all but echoes. "You're a cruel cruel woman. I've changed my mind; I don't need to know any more about you but that you're evil to the core." He lists toward the weyrling barracks with those words, all ready to mope off to his alcohol free life.

Shanlee's mouth curls into feline pleasure at the display from N'thei "You're only just finding that out now?" that tsking sounds appears again "Finally you compliment, but then leave on the heels of it." This last spoken to his broad back as he retreats back to the relative safety of the barracks. Grabbing hold of a strap, the wingsecond swings herself easily up between emerald neck ridges, calling down as an afterthought "I bet if you speak to A'son the two of you could console each other." Whether or not this last taunt is heard by the man seems to be of little consequence to the woman for the satisfied set to the fine features. Only her eyes tell a different story.

N'thei only waves away the advice with an impatient looking gesture just before he slips into the barracks.