Difference between revisions of "Logs:Questionable Integrity"

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.

Szadath> Zaxameth lands and lets his rider go before flaunting his fresh new coat of oil..all Musk-Of-Betweeen-aftershave scented. He gives his clutchsibbling a look before scooting over to one of the greens lounging nearby. Hey baby.

Afternoon sees Taikrin fresh off of duty, and what's her first stop? Well, her weyr, to retrieve the silver flask she's got propped on the side of the bathing pool. But her /second/ stop was definitely the bathing caverns, where she's sprawled herself into the far pool and seems to be just, well, relaxing.

Szadath> Szadath is likewise sprawled in the muck of the bowl, as content to doze as his lifemate is to soak in the heat. He lifts his head briefly to rumble a greeting to Zaxameth, leaving it up long enough to watch him cozy up to his green before he snorts with amusement and lays it back down.

Afternoon sees Cori stumbling into the bathing caverns in her robe, dangling a flask from her fingers. She giggles on her way to the pool, robe falling off one oily shoulder. "Damn...dragons." The rest of the robe is shrugged out of and the blue rider leaves it strewn across the floor. Naked and oily, she gives Taikrin a wave with the flask, "Mine if I join you?" Even as she's splashing her way into the pool.

Szadath> Zaxameth has luck with the ladies, tonight at least. The green is only a couple turns old and still charmed by such lines as: 'Do you have a map? I just keep on getting lost in your eyes.' Soon he's cuddled up warm and cozy. Big brother might get the gold but, look who's toasty yo.

Taikrin cracks an eye open, then curls her lips upwards as she spots Warucori making her oily way into the caverns. She salutes with her own flask, then takes a pull from it before gesturing the bluerider on in. "Sure, sure, c'mon in. Plenty of room, water's good and warm. Been havin' a good time, huh? Oil from Zax, or some kinda awesome oil party?"

Warucori takes a long pull off the skin and dangles it towards Taikrin. Not a good idea to mix poisons, but when has that stopped anyone from having a good time? "Oh, started out innocent enough...got out of hand. Don't think I'd call it a 'party' though." Her eyes sparkle with cheerfulness. "We could do that though. Dragon oiling and mixed company is much more fun." A quick look around, expecting to see someone with the brownrider. "How are you doing?"

"Not a party, huh." Taikrin takes the skin happily, offering her own flask of whiskey in its place. "Sounds like it could be fun," she adds, though it's with a laid-back enthusiasm. "'M doin' alright. Just got off sweeps - had the Tillek run, today. Not a bad day for it. You? Aside from your, uh, oiling adventure."

Warucori accepts the whiskey with a bob of her head at the trade off and has a small swig. "We had drills from the Red Star this morning. Someone did something, or said something...stupid wing politics." A passing scowl at the memory of it. "But, day has rounded the corner I think. Evening ALL to myself." She sneaks another sip of the flask and offers it back. "Did you celibrate end of your dry spell?"

After a long pull from the skin, Taikrin is happy to exchange it for her own flash. "Drills, huh. Woulda rather done those, I think. /Awful/ tired of doin' sweeps, me." She quirks a crooked grin at that, shifting forward to better facilitate conversation. "Y'might say that. She was still ready to go, even after that whole cluster. Makin' the most of it, y'know? Thinkin' it'll be a good time to take her out to the gather. Maybe we can sneak off and defile a Holder's bed, yeah?"

"Good! Oh I'm so happy to hear that Taikrin! At least someone's getting something out of this whole exile mess." Warucori gives a wink, "And you are so -bad-. You should, Lord Holder's bed. And you know," Here there's just enough pause for the girl to glance around to make sure now busybodies are listening, "Bet no one is going to be watching them that close." The exiles. "Too bad none of them have fallen into my lap. So to speak."

"Yeah, well, we'll see how it goes. Sure has caused me a flaming lot of grief, so far." Taikrin makes a face, then tips her head back to drink more -- because that way she doesn't have to think about it so much! Then, "Reckon you could if you looked at one the right way. Coupl'a the younger boys look like easy pickins, the way I seen 'em takin' up drinking and stuff. Get one young, you can train him up however you like?" There's a gleam in Taikrin's eye, and her eyebrows waggle teasingly. "Doubt they've even run into someone like you before. Bet you could have 'em eating out of your hand in no time."

Warucori looks encouraged by her clutchmate's suggestion, "Yeah?" There's a bit of hesitation before she says, "I tried to put the moves on that Tomaerna guy. Is that his name? Anyway, I think maybe he likes boys. Didn't get -anywhere-. Still, maybe shouldn't give up so quickly, I do like the idea of training. I have a nice new weyr, lots of room. Bet the weyrleaders wouldn't care if I had a kept boy right?" Half in joke, right? "Oh and poor Zev...that girl he's chasing."

"Hey, it ain't like you wouldn't let him leave if he /really/ begged nice, right? Y'don't even got to lock him up, because where's he gonna go from your weyr?" Oh Taikrin. She's probably just kidding, though sometimes it's hard to tell with her. "Don't know most of the names of their guys, honestly. Which one was Zev after, again? Wasn't it that crazy one who keeps tryin' to fight people?"

Warucori nods her head, sips wine, nods again, "Right. I'd just be doing my part getting them transitioned to the weyrlifestyle. Right? That's what they want us to do?" Giggling at the idea of trapping one of them. Understanding follows the comment about not following the guys, "I'm no better, I hardly catch their names. Oh, Zev has the hots for Rhaelyn. You won't think it's awful that I'm trying to help him catch her will you? Maybe it'd mellow her out. Don't know about the fighting but my candidate doesn't have good things to say about her."

"I don't like her. You should pick a different one." From teasing to curt in 0.2 seconds flat. But Taikrin /is/ serious, on that last one. "Don't like her type. Szad thought she might be good for the eggs, but I don't think so. I mean, she nearly /busted one open/, didn't she? There's plenty of cute ones to pick from. You should steer him towards, like, that little redheaded one? Or there were a couple of the blonds that were cute, and seemed, y'know, pliant."

"Taikrin." Warucori sounds shocked, blinking at the brownrider, "You can't just...pick and choose like that." Candidate-picking. "Zax would have my dangling by a leg if I didn't accept his picks. Even if I don't like some of them." Of course the bluerider's dislike isn't really on the same level. "But...did she? SHE was the one? I thought there were three of them." Rumors right? Cori frowns and shrugs, "Zev likes the challenge. Don't think it's my place to talk him out of who he wants to fuck. So long as I don't have to be in the mix. Like my lovers warm, snuggly and squirmy personally." She pokes Taikrin with her foot under the water with a smile.

"Well, why not? Someone's got to protect the eggs, otherwise they're just gonna end up pickin' whoever gets in their way. So long as there's plenty of others, they'll be fine." There's not even a whisker of doubt in Taikrin about this; it's almost as if she's speaking from experience. "Riorde says it was her fault, an' I believe her. Girl straight-out attacked me last month. She's crazy." But she shrugs too, and quirks a half-smile in response to Cori's nudge. "Don't know about the squirmy part, but-- warm sure as shells helps."

"Would you rather the little one bang him or herself up and maybe damage themselves getting to the person they want? Like when we were on the sands. Remember?" Warucori frowns, worried. "Oh Taikrin, of course you believe your -lover-." She has another drink of the wine and wipes her lips with the back of her hand afterwards. "I don't like it Taikrin. What if...a dragon changed her, for the better?" It certainly changed Cori. "Remember when we broke into ... what's her name....her footpress?"

"I /so/ doubt it'd come to that. I mean, shells, Rhabarith-- well, I guess there's no accounting for taste. I guess that ended out okay, but... gotta give 'em all the help we can, I reckon." Taikrin shrugs, clearly unconcerned. "An' what if a dragon made her worse? Ain't worth takin' the chance, I think." She is the queen of cognitive dissonance, apparently. "An' it was /you/ lot causin' trouble. I only wanted to stop Saliqa from--" And just like that, her jaw snaps shut, downs the remainder of the booze in her flask, and abruptly changes the topic. "Anyways, it was a long time ago. Don't think much about those days, me."

Warucori shakes her head, "It's not really -your- choice Taikrin. Just because your dragon sired one clutch and your going to be the one to pick and choose who -you- think should stand?" Good ol girl-scout Cori and now her poor little brain is troubled by this guilt-thing. "I can't believe your dragon didn't put up more of a fuss." It's not as easy for her to not think about it though. Still, she splashes at the brownrider, "My lot? Oh, I had the hots for the criminal boy. Oh, badboys...why must they be so hot?"

"Yeah. It is. Szadath trusts me. It ain't got nothin' to do with Iskiveth and her clutch and everything to do with how I /know what I'm doin'/. Faranth, you're soundin' like the Weyrleader. Guy riders have been bringing in chicks to search because they wanted to screw them since /forever/, and you're giving /me/ a hard time for not wanting to put a tunnelsnake of a girl on the sands?" Taikrin has progressed from unconcern to irritation; she tosses the empty flask towards her pile of discarded clothes, and pushes to her feet. "My drink's empty. Reckon I need to go fill it up."

Warucori's voice is firm, "It's not -right-." And, "It doesn't make this right you know, justifying what others do so you can feel better about breaking rules. It's a power trip same as theirs. Shards and shells, have your plaything on the sands, get her a green or shards, that gold out there. But no one should bend the rules just because they got their tail in a twist about some girl. This is wrong. And it's worse becuase you know it's wrong." She offers out her flask of wine though, "I hope it eats at you. If there is a dragon left on the sands that doesn't find his match. I hope it keeps you up at night."

"Shards, Cori, I thought you got over bein' a nice Holder girl," It's a low blow, and Taikrin knows it; her lips compress as she swishes out of the water and reaches for a towel and starts drying herself with more than necessary vigor. "It's the /right/ thing to do. It ain't about her, it's about her not bein' /good enough/. It ain't like I'm gonna make her stop if someone /else/ decides she's gotta be there, or, shells, if she /asks/. But /I/ won't be involved in puttin' a sneaky tunnelsnake on a dragon again." Again?

Warucori blows out a breath, "That's right, I am a -Dragonrider- Taikrin. Did you conviniently forget that you were too?" She watches the brownrder get up, frowning, "If it's not about her, what is it about then? It's about you. You want the power to decide? You are -that- power hungry? How does it feel huh? I thought I -knew- you." Disapointment hangs heavily and sadly in those words.

"Everything I do, I do it for the hatchlings. I don't care about some silly chit from the islands, and I don't care about what you think is /fair/ or whatever; you ain't even /listening/ anymore. You're just like them." Somewhat dry now, Taikrin struggles into her pants before spitting out, "Thought she was just some piece of ass your weyrmate was chasin' after? Why the shells do you care?"

Warucori's looks at a loss, head shaking back and forth, "I care because I have spend weeks and weeks on end flying on Zaxameth as he goes to one hold to another on some whim that someone might be worth standing for our clutch. He picks out these holders and I have to put up with their parents all but spitting on me as they mouth the words of 'duty' and 'honor' and I take their child away. All on the hope that they might be riders. And you--you sit here and tell me that you know better than the dragons. Why in the fuck are we even asking the dragons who to pick?" Her head shakes sadly, "I didn't say 'fair'. I said 'Right' and 'Wrong'. She is just some piece of ass Zev wants to play with, but if Zaxameth saw she was fit for the sands I wouldn't say otherwise. To anyone. I trust him." Her eyes narrow, something that was missed before in her shock, something tugging at her, "You...do this all the time when you search? Handpick who you want?" Such a girlscout.

Szadath> Zaxameth lifts his head from nuzzling the green and makes a low grumbling sound.

The first part of Taikrin's retort is muffled as she pulls her shirt layers over her head. "Well maybe you're doin' it wrong," is her somewhat sharp retort. "Ought to look closer to home, pick out more of the kids floating around the Weyr instead of digging through all the holds. Or are you just bored with the ones we got here?" Finally dressed, she dumps her flask in a pocket and puts her hands on her hips as she stares down at Warucori, her gaze cold. "Szadath knows if someone's got potential. Loads of people got potential. Don't mean they're a /good choice/. We don't let poeple who're knocked up or married stand. I'm just doin' the same thing. Only, this time I'm protectin' the /hatchlings/. Faranth, it's like /none/ of you people even think about them."

Szadath> Szadath twitches a wing but doesn't actually bother opening his eyes. Let the riders go at it, it's no concern of his.

"So, everyone does this? All these turns and I should have just said 'no' to some I didn't like the...what? The look of? How do you pick Taikrin? What makes someone stand out to you? Big tits? Long legs? Someone you might be an easy fuck? Or just those who'll kiss your ass?" Now she is doing some low blows, perhaps because she's being called out for not doing it right. "Seems you picked out some -real- treasures last hatching too didn't you? I have to wonder if you'd know what a tunnlesnake looked like if it came out and bit you on the ass." She doesn't bother getting up out of the bath, she's not pitching for a fight and infact she just looks sick.

"If someone's in it for /themselves/. Who ain't gonna do right by the dragon. You wanna hear me say it? Shells /yes/, I brought in some real tunnelsnakes last clutch." Taikrin practically shouts that last bit, a flush of ugly color rising in her cheeks that has nothing to do with the steam. From the other pool, people are turning to look to see what all the commotion is about. "You want to hear me say it? Searching them was a /mistake/. And I /ain't/ gonna repeat it, so I am sharding well gonna use my head and /think/ about who I'm gonna put on a dragon instead of buryin' my head in the sand and pretendin' like everyone turns sweet and nice and good the second a dragon likes 'em, so's they can live happily ever after."

Warucori gasps, putting a hand to her throat, "Taikrin!" Like the worse unsaid rule were busted open right there. "How -could- you?" Still staring at her clutchmate in a choked horror. "But...if your dragon says...Did he say?" He must have picked them, right? The hand stays up by her throat, face drained of color.

"They ended up on dragons, didn't they?" It's not an answer, precisely, but it's as close to one as Taikrin is going to growl out. "So fuck you for judging me, like I don't know what I'm doing. I /know/." And then she /will/ storm out, water dripping off her head and all, to stormily push through the whisperers gathered just on the other side of the bend.

It's answer enough to understand what the brownrider did. She shouts after the brownrider, "You should trust your Dragon!" Because obviously this must be the flaw in not doing as the dragon suggests, right? "Stupid fool." She splashes her fists into the water to let out some of her frustration, the rest come out in furious tears.