Difference between revisions of "Logs:Summer Days"

Lake Shore, High Reaches Weyr

The rest of the bowl may be barren, grass barely surviving at best, but here by the lake, it's brilliantly green in the warmer months: thickening and thriving in the silty, boulder-dotted soil just before it transitions to soft sand and thence to the cool, clear water itself.

A large freshwater lake fed by a low waterfall, it not only provides warm-weather bathing space for humans and dragons, but has one end fenced off as a watering hole for the livestock in the feeding grounds. The water there is often muddier than the rest of the clear lake, whose shallows drop off abruptly several yards out into deep water, and whose edge undulates against the coarse-hewn bowl wall: here close enough to just be bramble-covered rocks, there far enough away that a narrow land bridge divides the main lake from a smallish pond. Between are several rocky outcroppings that form excellent makeshift diving points, though only one -- across the bridge -- has a set of narrow, slippery, quite possibly tempting stairs.

It's a beautiful afternoon: a warm day at High Reaches? Accordingly, weyrfolk and dragonriders alike have flocked out to the shores of the beach, and it's looking more like Monaco than High Reaches with the array of colorful towels, blankets, and stretches of bare skin. Some of that skin is frighteningly pale, admittedly. N'hax isn't -- pale, that is. Dressed in dark grey swimming-trunks, the man stands calves-deep in the water with an eye on Jhorinth's antics a farther way off. The dragon is obviously in the middle of a bath, soapsand suds radiating outwards from his efforts to remove them all. N'hax isn't laughing at him (outwardly)-- though he looks like he's working on holding it in.

D'kan and Kazavoth are late to the party, it would seem, but the brown seems intent on catching up on lost time. He and D'kan part ways once they near the lake, with the dragon heading directly into the water, and D'kan making a more circumspect approach. It gives him a little more time to shed some of his dust-coated and less lake-friendly clothing, all of which is haphazardly piled up where the sand is still good and dry. Boots are added last, then the weyrling heads into the water, ending up near N'hax. Whether by design or accident, he gives the older, burlier weyrling a nod of greeting, then glances out toward the dragons. "Is Jhorinth a waterbaby, too?" D'kan asks with a slight grin before he kneels down to use some lake water to get dust off his arms.

A grin from N'hax to the darker-complected clutchmate; "Alas he is," the man remarks in return. "Something about well-moisturized hide. I'm not sure. He sounded inordinately confident when he delivered the comment." Though that doesn't really differ from any other time Jhorinth's talking... "Kazavoth is, too?" Jhorinth is currently indulging himself in more play than he's typically given to: while washing wings, it just so HAPPENS that he splashes a great deal of water over towards his clutchsibling. Oops.

"Very," D'kan replies before a smile splits his face. Kazavoth has taken to proving those words to be true as he catches Jhorinth's splash and immediately dives under the water. It takes him a long time to resurface, but his rider doesn't seem too worried about it. When the brown reemerges, it's on the other side of his bronze brother, where he delivers a narrowly aimed kick of water. D'kan finishes his initial ablutions and stands again. "So... heard you didn't get one of those fancy strings for your knot, either. You okay with that?"

Jhorinth is PREPARED. Well. Sort of. He's still splashed by the kick, but his response is a snort of amusement rather than a splutter. His nosing of water towards Kaz afterwards is less enthusiastic than before, amusement fueling the gesture moreso than any endeavor for a real water-fight. N'hax takes a step deeper, gesturing at his lifemate (who ignores all such prompts to hurry up). D'kan's query yields a crooked smile. "More than okay with it, really. I'll take the sleep and the spare time. It should allow me to focus more efforts back on my smithcrafting duties." There's an underlining of grim determination on that last sentence, but N'hax shakes it off and turns a glance to D'kan, thoughtful. "What about you? You okay with it?"

With a water fight off the table, Kazavoth is quite content to just bob along, buoyancy aided by his wings somewhat. D'kan is more than happy to escape some of the day's relative warmth and needs little prompting to head to slightly deeper water. "More than okay," he replies quietly, pausing to suck in some breath as the next step takes the water level above his waist. No matter how hot the Weyr gets, the lake is always pretty cool. "I say, let the keeners wear their fancies. Won't mean a sharding thing past weyrlinghood." There's more to it than that, but it's D'kan's current stock answer. He turns his back on the dragons to push himself backwards slightly, turning his attention on N'hax. "Have you had much time yet to get back to the forge and all that?"

The warmth of the sun and cool relief of the water seems ideal for drifting off on the water, lulled along into something that isn't-quite-a-nap. Or maybe Jhorinth is just trying to lull Kazavoth into a false sense of security. The two dragons are lounging in the deeper water, while their lifemates hold a discussion in the shallows. The beach itself is crowded with people on towels and blankets, a sea of bright colors and pale skin. Back to the wading pair: N'hax's low chuckle is indicative of a similarity of spirit with D'kan's words. "That's the truth," heartily replied to not meaning-a-thing post-weyrlinghood. The man follows D'kan deeper into the water, meandering out. "Not yet," about the forge. But he's not deterred-- so much, not yet. "What do you think about those they picked?" For the silver-threads. "The commonalities are... interesting."

"Interesting is one way to put it," D'kan drawls, though his tone is kept somewhat airy, possibly breathless again as he kneels down until the water dips over his shoulders. "I just find it all kind of... presumptuous. The Weyr can't even figure out its own leadership, but they tell us they know the up-and-comings in our own group?" He takes a quick breath and dunks himself all the way under, coming up rather quickly, sputtering, "Shells, that's cold." There is a moment taken where he rubs water out of his face, special attention given the sinus region. Ow. "Anyway, doesn't make sense to me. Single people out for special education... stuff any one of us might need to know someday. And why them?"

Hana takes any excuse to wear different clothes, and the excuse of a High Reaches summer afternoon is just the thing. Boots and long dresses are left in the press, replaced with a short-sleeved dress, hem swirling just above the ankles and a pair of strappy sandels protecting the feet from any pebbles or rocks along the lake-shore. A thin, loosely woven thing barely deserving of the name 'scarf' is wrapped around her head to keep hair in one place, and a basket is over one arm. Like everyone else, it would seem, she's in for some time at the beach.

"Mmmmmph," is N'hax's noise of agreement to D'kan's statements. Before going further into the conversation, he's sure to agree with the last comment: "It is cold. I'm not going out that far." He's progressed to just above his hips, and that's more than enough. He doesn't seem to have noticed Hana's progress out on the drier-bits of beach and sand. Returning to the conversation at hand after a moment to reflect, "I would think it breeds... a sense of stratification, perhaps. The elite and non-elite. Unless in this case it's designed to minimize elitism by..." He trails off a moment. "By looking at those picked versus those who were not. Maybe Quinlys is trying to socialize up her political viewpoint." He squints out over the water, eyes laughing.

With his back toward the center of the lake, D'kan notices the dress-wearing, basket-toting Hana fairly quickly and raises an arm to wave to her a few times. Still enjoying the chill of the lake over the warmth of the summer day, though, he stays where he is for now, though he does take a couple steps closer to shore until he's back to hip-deep water. Which means he's a little closer to dry land than N'hax by the end. "Could be," he agrees, distracted for a moment as he checks on his lifemate, though Kazavoth is still just floating in the middle of the lake, practically napping at this point. "I guess time will tell, regardless, right?" He glances behind him toward Hana and beckons her into the water, though by his grin, he might just be teasing. "The water's warm!" Like hell.

"I wasn't born yesterday, Kaed," Hana calls out with a glance, though she does change direction to head towards the two wading, laughter running over the words even as she pauses to put her basket on the sand, and bending down to untie the sandals enough to kick them in a tidy little pile next to the basket.

Jhorinth is similarly almost-snoozing. "Hmm." N'hax turns about to squint after Hana, belatedly. A hand raises in silent greeting - he's seen her about but certainly not as close as Hana-and-D'kan seem to be. "Have you given thought to what you're going to do with yourself after graduation?" A little early, but N'hax is curious, slanting a gaze askance to his clutchmate and turning about to better keep an eye on the events closer to shore.

"I grew up with Hana," D'kan says in a quick aside to N'hax before giving the fellow (ex-) holder a grin. "I keep counting on it," he says more loudly, enough to carry to the young woman. "Have you met N'hax yet? Smith type, in case you couldn't tell but his shoulders." He gives his fellow weyrling a crooked smile, then shrugs. "Thought, yes. Decisions, no. Pretty much playing it by ear for now." In the middle of the lake, Kazavoth has given up napping, in favor of diving beneath the water again, each time coming up somewhere new, though sticking to the deeper waters.

Hana unwindes the filmy bit of scarveness, tucking it in the basket, before turning to the lake. Lifting up her hem just a bit, the young woman wades in just enough to cover her feet, and before giving D'kan the head-shake he may well be expecting, "Whatever for?" she asks, not getting near as deep, before offering N'hax a bit of a curtsey'd bob, "Hana, though I suspect Kaed's already shared that. Nice to meet you," she adds cheerfully enough before shivering. "How can you both be that far out? This isn't Ista." Not that that fact is driving herself out - the cold seems to be well welcomed by the (ex-) holder.

N'hax nods to D'kan; information acknowledged. He has the faintest roll of grey eyes for the comment about his shoulders, and another wave for Hana. "Well-met, Hana." It /is/ a nice day, replete with bright sun; the bronzeling has a bit of a laugh. "It isn't that cold," is his mild comment for both of the others. Jhorinth has finally had enough of his final rinse, coming up behind his lifemate to unconsciously loom. N'hax doesn't seem to really notice. "Telgar's waters were colder, in summer. Given they are north, I suppose it makes sense." A touch of nostalgia hints at his voice.

"After sweating all morning, the cold is refreshing!" D'kan answers, grinning across the water at Hana. He glances at N'hax to add, "Never been to Telgar, but I'll keep your word for it." Then his attention is grabbed by Kazavoth, who has indeed noticed the looming Jhorinth. If anything, though, it's making his antics worse. "He's such an attention whore," D'kan shares for the other two humans, receiving a watery snort from the young brown in response, who has stopped diving and is instead paddling at a most leisurely pace back toward the weyrlings.

"Colder?" Hana gives a mock shiver at that, then laughs at D'kan, "You don't seem to mind it, Kaed, so any protestations are going to be ignored. I take it you grew up there," she then adds, bouncing back and forth between the two, as she squishes toes into the watery sand, "Is it very different from here, besides being colder?"

"This morning was pretty rough," N'hax backs up D'kan's statement, wagging his head. Jhorinth comes about the outer side of N'hax, dropping his head to let his rider check the grooves and cricks and crannies of his angled, chiseled face: soapsand left in such niches make life horrible...y itchy. "Kazavoth?" is questioned to D'kan, a glance over a shoulder catching the antics of the brown. "Oh." Ha. With a creased grin, he turns back to Hana. "Telgar? Well, the altitude is lower, and it's more northerly than the latitude here.. and certainly more inland. Windier, maybe."

Kazavoth has no soapsand to wash away, so he comes right up the trio of humans, water cascading down his dark brown hide. He gives a great flap of wings to send a shower of water in all directions, then loosely folds them to his back. "Thanks, Kaz," D'kan states with dry humor while wiping a hand down his face. "I heard it's pretty humid out there right about now," he tacks onto N'hax and Hana's conversation about Hana, "and that during winter, all the folk sleep together at night to stay warm, and they build cotholds out of ice." It's hard to tell just how much of that is serious, as D'kan is distracted by his lifemate.

Hana wrinkles her nose at the idea of /more/ wind. "I'll have to visit one day," she decides to limit herself to - or would, if not for a certain brown being... enthusastic with sharing his water. Because Hana? Had drifted to about shin level, and if not close enough for a full drenching, well - she's certainly damper than she was, "Ack! KaZAVoth!" comes the laughing protest, her shivering earlier slightly more put upon then she was feeling... then. Now, well.

Ha, "Thanks, Kazavoth," N'hax echoes, swiping at the side of his face that received the worst from the brown's water-shower. "It is humid, in the summertime. But I'm not sure where you heard that last bit from. I'd think someone is pulling your leg." The smith-turned-weyrling has a grin for D'kan's last, and he shakes his head. "If you two will be so kind as to excuse me," he sketches out something of a bow, whimsical as it is. "Jhorinth'll be needing his oil, now." There's a wryness to his tone, and he follows his lifemate out of the water with a wave to the pair.

"See ya, 'Hax," D'kan states with a crooked smile as he gives the bronze weyrling a casual sort of salute. Kazavoth gives Jhorinth a watery farewell, then strides farther up the beach, where he starts to find an empty spot where he can lie down in the sand. D'kan moves into shallower water, but he doesn't quite seem ready to leave it altogether. "So many places to see. Looking forward to that," he shares with Hana.

Hana nods to N'hax, "I'd hope so... and have a pleasant, ah, oiling this afternoon?" she offers to the pairing as she moves slightly to one side. Waiting for the two to at least make it to the sand, she then turns to D'kan and grins. "You will have to bring me gifts," she teases the brown weyrling, even as she wipes some of the drops from her face, and flicking them off her fingertips.

"Ah yes, genuine coal dust from Crom," D'kan says as he slicks some of the water off his arms. "Melted snow from Telgar, a wine cork from Benden. Grand treasures, all of them!" Finally, he heads toward dry ground, eventually flopping down a short distance from where Kazavoth has stretched out to dry. "How are things going with the new duties, and all that?"

"I would throw something at you, but all I have is food, and that would be a waste," Hana tells her agemate, hands on the hips, before making her own way to the sand and her basket. After taking a seat, a towel is pulled off the basket and spread out so she can put a couple of small items on the corners. Some fruit, a wrapped up packet of rolls, even a bit of bread and cheese. "Was this morning's training difficult then?" she asks.

D'kan stretches out his legs, crossing them at the ankles. Kazavoth has nestled himself into a nice warm hollow of sand and stretches out his neck before resting his head on the ground, eyes slowly lidding layer by layer. "Not... difficult, exactly," the weyrling answers, glancing first at Hana, then out at the water. "The training cavern was getting really stuffy toward the end, though. It's better when there's wind." He leans back on his hands and gives Hana a closer look. "You didn't answer my question, you know," he adds, grinning slightly. "Things okay?"

Hana wrinkles her nose at the idea of a air-trapped stinky cavern, nodding a bit. There's a questioning hmm? before she recalls, "Oh! That - it is actually going well. Lady Azaylia is.. not accustomed to having assistance, so there is very little difficulty of service." Just /accepting/ the services. A bit of a grin appears, and a shake of the head. "It is enough to keep me busy, however, so that is well done."

"Busy is good," D'kan agrees while turning to regard Kazavoth. Very slowly, the third and final layer of eyelids closes, his breathing so slow as to be almost imperceptible. "She appreciates the assistance, though?" he asks a moment later, turning back to Hana. "I'd think it might feel weird after working on her own for so long. Learning lots?"

Hana follows the regard to study Kazavoth a moment, then hms, "Most assuredly - and keeps on checking to make sure I'm not doing too much," she confides with a bit of a fond smile, and shake of the head. "The fact she's finally getting regular meals is hopefully offsetting the weird; I swear, I'm not certain she ate regularly before I started looking after her - and that is no way to get things done." There's a hmph at the end of that, before she finally gets around to applying herself to a roll - and waving a hand at the little set-out to D'kan. "A fair amount. It is definately different from what I am used to."

D'kan sits up and crosses his legs beneath him before dusting sand from his hands, careful not to get it on the blanket. Or worse, the food. "That's good to hear, then," he agrees, regarding the regular meals. "Can't take care of a Weyr if she can't take care of herself," is neutral enough in tone to be taken in all sorts of ways. "She seems okay, though? What with being the junior to Aishani's senior, and all that? They keep us weyrlings pretty sheltered from all the political stuff right now, for the most part."

Hana lifts up a hand, and wobbles it. "I... Well, on that part, I'm still confused. A mating flight still seems an odd way to go about things, now that I'm actually semi-affected by it," she admits. Before hand, it was just another weird way the Weyrs did things. "And the way the end of the Hatching Party ended, well... surely there had to be a better way to go about it. Maybe in private before public?" Shoulders are lifted, then left to fall.

D'kan makes a quiet "hmm" sort of reply at first, then fall silent as he looks toward the water, where a small gaggle of giggling children have started making their way into the lake's shallows. "There are pros and cons to either method," he finally answers, shoulders shrugging slightly. "In any case, what's done is done, right? And Aishani said she's senior, and no one seems to have asked for a duel or something, so... that should be it." But isn't, his tone implies.

Hana blinks, looking up. "Dragonriders duel? I thought... well, but maybe... Of course, they couldn't duel, but I suppose they could choose... champions, or standins? But still. That seems like it would be even more disruptive and dangerous." There is a tug on a bit of hair that's been teased loose by the wind, then she sighs. "Thankfully, I have nothing to do with it, at the end of the day."

With a laugh, D'kan rolls his head toward the young woman. "Figure of speech, Hana, sorry. I just meant it hadn't been challenged. Except behind both their backs, of course." He gathers a handful of sand and starts idly picking out the stones, just fidgeting. "Heard from any folk from back at the Hold?"

Hana shakes her head, "No, unsurprisingly on one hand - and thankfully on the other. I am considering sending a missive soon, though; shall I add anything for you?" she offers with a shake of her head to dismiss those disturbing thoughts. "Or perhaps also in private. I do not, after all, stay during meetings." At least, not that she'll admit to.

"No, that's okay," D'kan is quick to answer, voice quiet. He watches as one tiny shit-disturber in the making is hauled out of the water after making another kid cry. "I should write, myself. Haven't since..." He trails off and glances at Kazavoth, then shrugs before turning back to Hana. "It's too bad we're all still confined to the Weyr. Would have been nice to get out to see the wedding at Tillek. I didn't even know that was going on, been so immersed in stuff with Kaz."

Hana shakes her head, "Actually, I believe that was a surprise to most everyone. I did, however, hear that little Vinein may be expecting a sibling soon, amidst all the murmuring about the wedding." Marked is the lack of similiar news about the other pair roosting in High Reaches Hold. "It would have been a lovely event to see, however," she agrees belatedly.

While Hana might not have mentioned it, D'kan has no such qualms. "And yet Braeden still can't get his own Lady pregnant," the weyrling drawls as he tosses the stones to the side, only to scoop up another handful of sand. "Only so many possible reasons for that, aren't there." At least he stops short of listing them out loud. "The longer I've been at the Weyr, the hard it is to care what all goes on back at the Hold," he admits more quietly, dropping the sand before he can pick out the stones.

Hana winces a touch, and most certainly doesn't comment on /that/. Just... no. "Spare me the blushes," she instead asks, a touch dryly, before chuckling. "I... can understand that. You have other concerns now, things that affect you directly." A glance is given to the slumbering one, before she looks back. "Still - there is an effect from one to the other. I am hoping that things do not remain... distant, for too much longer."

"Distant?" D'kan asks with another quick look toward Hana. "Between... Hold and Weyr? Tillek? Braeden and Devaki?" The weyrling knows his local stuff, at least. It's the world-wide stuff where he fails, though less now than before. "It all just feels so tedious half the time. If it were up to me, it would be simple. Who has the Weyr or Hold's best interests in mind? Great, they're leaders. Boom," he finishes, waving a hand as if casting a spell.

Hana laughs at that, and shakes her head, "But then we come across the difficulty of which interests are best. But yes; that would be a nice way to go about it. Everyone would agree, and fighting would be non-existant. And right now, between Hold and Weyr."

D'kan quickly shrugs. "Doesn't matter. As long as it's the area's interest over their own personal ones." He picks up one of the small stones drawn out of the sand earlier and rolls it around in his palm. "You're right, though. It wouldn't be quite as simple as that." The stone is dropped without a sound. "Think the Hold and Weyr will figure stuff out?"

Hana puts down her roll, only partially nibbled at, and rests her chin in laced fingers, elbows on her knees. "Eventually? Yes. I am just doing my best to keep my thoughts towards it going sooner rather than later. And, of course, that it it will happen before things get worse." There is a pause, then she asks, "How is the young Tillekian doing, anyway?"

"N'gan," D'kan says quietly, going back to sand filtering while Kazavoth continues to sleep. "Seems fine. Must be. The weyrlingmasters gave him one of those little silver threads to add to his knot." The weyrling picks out a glittery sort of stone, probably just quartz, and studies it for a moment. "They made him wingleader for the month, too. Though we just get our dragons to move around the bowl like waddling little trundlebugs." The quartz is set aside. "To be honest, I haven't spoken to him much since the first few days. Not much a would-be heir and a dockhand have in common."

"Maybe not then, but now?" Hana leaves the question hanging for a moment, then tilts her head, "Little silver threads? And surely it's better than trundlebugs," she protests, laughter peeking out from attempted solemnity.

"Better? Sure. But so slow," D'kan protests, scattering sand and stones again. "I know, I know. Baby steps. Itty bitty dragon baby steps. But shells." He leans back on his hands and grins at Hana. "Weyrling stuff is boring. Have you been making lots of friends and stuff, now you're not trailing after Issedi?"

"Better baby dragon steps than real baby steps. And.. not really. At least, not yet. Once things are on an even keel, and it is a matter of maintaining, I'm certain I will end up with plenty, however. I did meet a gentleman named Bones, however. And there is Mave, of course," Hana admits.

"Ah, Mave I've met," D'kan is able to report. "The other, I've really only seen now and then. Heard about. Conflicting reports." He acts as if he'll scoop up more sand, but he ends up just resting his fingers on the surface. "I should probably get going. I'll need to oil Kaz before the afternoon lessons. They're flying now, which is fun. Requires stretching and stuff, though."

Hana tilts her head. "Understandable," she admits, before shaking her head and smiling. "That will certainly be enough to keep you busy until then. If you'd like, you can take a 'roll or two with you. I plan on soaking up the sun for a time, so I am not overly hungry."

"Don't mind if I do," D'kan says, grinning as he picks up one of the offerings before getting to his feet. Evey so slowly, Kazavoth awakens, then starts pushing himself up, also. There is a moment of deep leg stretches, then the brown starts to wander toward the weyrling area of the bowl. "Enjoy the sun," D'kan tells Hana, nodding to her with a warm smile before he follows after Kaz.