Logs:Awkward
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| RL Date: 22 April, 2013 |
| Who: E'sren, Sabella |
| Type: [[Concept:{{{type}}}|{{{type}}}]] |
| What: They have a moment. Sort of. Kind of. It's largely awkward. |
| Where: Bathing Pools, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day {{{day}}}, Month {{{month}}}, Turn {{{turn}}} ({{{IP}}} {{{IP2}}}) |
| Weather: Breezy |
| Mentions: D'kan/Mentions |
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| 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. Afternoon drils have come and gone. Sabella escaped from the bowl as quickly as she could, stopping by the barracks to pick up her own little packets of soap and hair products. She'd been up before everyone else, leading the charge in waking up the barracks as part of her Wingsecond-of-the-month program. Her arrival to the bathing pools has her stripping down, folding up her clothes and slipping into the warm water for some blessed clean-up time. She's quick to begin washing her hair and scrubbing her skin clear of the days activities. No really, scrub, scrub, scrub. This girl enjoys being clean and smelling nice. It's weird, but Sabella is alone in the baths. You'd think there would be some more people, at least a couple weyrlings, but no, nope. She has the whole place to herself to scrub to her heart's content... for a few minutes. Footsteps precede the new arrival, then E'sren rounds a corner and comes into view, looking disheveled and dirty and exhausted. After the first few steps he realizes he isn't alone and in fact who else is in here, and there's a strange pause that halts him a ways back from the pool itself. "Hey," he says, because that's less weird than not saying anything, and forces himself to continue on. Damn it. This was a nice quiet moment alone in the baths. The sound of footsteps has her halting the scrubbing of her shoulders and she turns, head canted to the side as she waits to see who they belong to. It turns out to just be E'sren instead of some other maybe less desirable individual. She relaxes and begins to work the sponge over herself again. "Hey. You look like hell. I hope D'kan and I didn't wear you out too much today." She shoots over to him conversationally, flashing the bluerider a bright if tired smile. Whatever else she might be feeling about all this extra work lately, she has seemed to be enjoying it. This new thing hasn't changed much of her outlook, she's actually been pretty chipper recently. For which she deserves a sarcastic, "Thanks." He does though, he really does look like hell. It's probably for the best he wasn't chosen this round for one of those new fun positions, he already has a lot on his plate as it is. "You did, but it's okay. I need the exercise." For all his confidence and maturity, E'sren sure is trying to make his not looking at Sabella not a big deal. It's just that he's taking his shoes off and he needs to watch what he's doing. After kicking those out of the way he slowly undoes his belt and fly, then suddenly rethinks and moves his hands to the hem of his gross sweaty shirt. "I don't think I'm gonna be able to feel any of my anything tomorrow," he comments, somewhat muffled by the shirt over his face, then off it comes. A lot has changed in the past couple months, including him. The reply is sarcastic and she laughs a little, just a touch indulgently really. "You and Ahruth did great. The two of you always do, you have a lot of energy." She comments genuinely as she finishes scrubbing that soap and sweetsand into her skin vigourously. It's enough to keep her distracted and not quite watching him with anything other than the corner of her eye. She doesn't notice if there's anything different about his behavor. Sabs rubs some oil in her hair, careful attention paid to the tips. It was so short four months ago but now it's beginning to regain some length again. His last comment has her turning towards him again, teasingly replying with, "But what about your otherthings? You think you'll be able to feel those?" The words come out before she really settles her gaze onto him. She's a little caught off guard by the sight of him with his shirt off, perhaps not having expected anything different. Her eyebrow lifts and it could be for her joke or it could be for something else, hard to tell. E'sren drops the shirt, grinning as he leans down to pull his socks off, pretending to pay her question a lot of attention before he replies. "I might still be able to feel the otherthings. But probably not. It'll all go numb, just limp noodle arms." Since he's run out of clothes to stall with, he resumes his belt-loosening and pants-removing, but stops himself again with his lips pursed. He grins again suddenly and, still angled perfectly so as to not look so obvious in his not wanting to look at her, and also not looking at her, he tells her, "I'm gonna take my pants off now." The grin must be for how ridiculous this is, because it is, but there's also a weird hint of anxiousness around the edges. "So... that's happening." Because if something's awkward, you might as well go ahead and announce it. Sabs laughs and rolls her eyes at his response. "That's really depressing. Is the condition permanent? Would we need to send you to the healers to have your useless noodle arms amputated off?" She asks, arching both eyebrows at him with the question. Somehow she has even more things to work into her hair, the girl has a lot of products. Rubbing something into her scalp now she pauses to watch him, not bothering to be subtle about it like he is. "Would you like me to leave the bathing caverns?" The greenrider asks, the amusement pretty much rampant in her tone. This type of awkward, it's awesome. "Or was that a hint that I should go let all the girls in the kitchen know that you're naked so they could come take a peek? Don't worry, I'll make sure to talk up all of your best assets." That could have gone worse. Luckily Sabella is awesome and about as subtle as he is just now. "Yes. No," is his answer. He doesn't want her to leave. But he follows it after a beat with, "...maybe." As for the girls in the kitchen? E'sren's grin remains. "Don't you tell them about my best assets." They're his! But he's teasing, and now looking down at his hands around the waistband. "I was just warning you I guess," he musters up, with a little laugh, and without any further warning he pushes down and steps out, and using both hands on the edge of the pool nimbly manuevers himself in, sighing with relief. "I'm going to tell them all about your best assets." Sabella continues to tease as she wades a little closer, leaning her back against the smooth stone of the pool near to where he is. Along the way she snags a little stone from along the top of the short wall and a bit more soap. "Oh, E'sren, he has such big strong arms now and his stomach and abs are chiseled like a marble statue. Women like men made out of marble." Do they? She smiles dangerously at him as she begins to rub the stone against the heel of her palm, then the other. Working at the little calluses that like to develop in those spots. "I wouldn't really. Thank you for the warning, too. I think." With a tiny frown and furrow of her eyebrows she pays special attention to one area before sighing and moving on to the soap again. A good sport, E'sren is still grinning through all of her teasing, nodding yeah, yeah to it all. "I'm really glad you're enjoying yourself," he says, turning that grin and squinted eyes on her. Now that he's actually in the water he seems a little more at ease, maybe because there's less of him to see? He reaches for a jar not far from the edge there and replies simply, "You're welcome, I think," before ducking his head under. When he comes back up his eyes are closed, and he starts to attack his hair with the sand from the jar. Her hair has grown out, his has too, but a lot faster. Or maybe it's just that short hair is more noticeably longer when it does grow out. It's long enough to be scrubbed, maybe a couple of inches. It's a good thing he's such a good sport about it all. She's smiling indulgently again, broad and toothy until she bites down on her lower lip. Sabs is pretty damn proud of herself for the teasing, yes. "I can't help it. You put up with it so well." She shrugs her slim shoulders again before fishing around on the side for a clip she brought with her. Her hair gets pulled up and out of the way. The stone is done away with during this time too and she reaches for that sand again, entering her next phase of getting clean. Hitting spots that she hadn't quite gotten to before she slips into silence as she quietly observes E'sren without looking as if she's observing him. There's a moment of hesitation between her reaching for the tiny bottle of oil she brought with her and the point where she decides to do it. This goes down while he's all eyes closed still. Hopefully. She taps a little amount into her hand and sneaks over, putting her fingers into his hair. "It's good for your scalp." She was a hairdresser, she's allowed these types of peculiarities. Right? She'll have her sneak, E'sren's still not looking when she reaches for the bottle, there might be a little soap in his eye judging by his wince. He's ducked back under again for a rinse, tossed his head to quickly rearrange his hair atop his head and out of his eyes, where it sticks out in a few different directions. It's there in that moment, while he's still not able to see her because he's wiping his eyes, that her fingers wind up in his hair and he stops, everything, suddenly. Once she explains he unpauses, opens his eyes to look over at her but obediently stays still. "What is it?" he asks, demonstrating a completely male lack of hair care knowledge. That sudden stopping of everything has her pausing, waiting to see if there's an objection. It might be hard for him to tell when he looks at her over his shoulder, but her own posture relaxes as he begins to speak. She begins to work her fingers through his hair, pressing firmly against his scalp. "It's oil. Takes care of dandruff, not that you have a lot. Keeps everything sort of together and nice. It's good for you, trust me." That's the best explanation she's going to give right now. She's not pulling on him at all, just gently massaging it in. "You don't have to wash it out after this. I didn't put enough in for it to be greasy later." It might help if he lowers himself a little bit, so he does, just enough that she doesn't have to reach up so far for his head. On 'it's oil' his brow furrows, is that good? and then he shoots her another look over his shoulder, her mention of dandruff resulting in a squint. "Hey, I don't have dandruff. You have dandruff." A most mature retort, and made without even a semblance of sincerity. After that E'sren just kind of melts because she's massaging his head and he had a long day. His eyes drift closed. "Okay," is his easy reply, he won't wash it out. And another moment passes. "We're getting close." Yes that does help, because reaching up to where he is probably does tire her arms some. It's not as if he's the only that's been a part of this long day either. Even if she did seem to enjoy it more. Sabs laughs and gives his hair a really gentle tug for that one. "At least I'm admitting that I have a problem." She teases back as she resumes the movement of her hands. The silence is easy and she doesn't try to fill it up with anything. When she speaks it almost takes her by surprise, pausing her practiced fingers in their work. Only for a second, just enough for her to gamely put back, "To what?" She can't see his little smile, satisfied and happy. Probably for the best. "To flying. With them. Being able to fly. Being able to leave when we want. Having our own places. Our own stuff. Being able to go anywhere we want with a thought." You know, just the usual stuff. She's received this before, when the hour is late and he's hanging out with her at her cot or she at his if Ghislaith is not feeling super welcome-y, and they're both talking until the talking turns to mumbles, at least as far as he's concerned. His yearning and excitement. Their plans. Also, not the kind of close that might have been suggested, physically, with them. Another moment passes, then he starts singing a sailing song under his breath. The usual stuff. Sabella is the master of the carefully neutral face in all situations, it would be hard for him to tell what her reaction is to his gushing over the future. It mostly would look as if she's suddenly quite focused on a particular spot, her eyes going to that point on the top of his head. "D'kan and I are supposed to learn how to fly the seven before everyone else. I'm a little nervous." The greenrider admits on that topic. "I can't wait until we're out of the barracks. The first thing that I want for my weyr is one of those little trees. You know, the ones that never get big." There's only so much massaging she can do to his scalp before it becomes overdone. Her hands slip down along his neck, squeezing the middle spot on his shoulders before she releases him and drifts away in the water. "I'm starting to get pruny." She starts, sounding like she's apologizing. It's the word 'nervous' that stops him, the tune dying on his lips and his eyes opening. But she moves on too quickly for him to have a say, so E'sren just listens. She wants a little tree and that's endearing, he smiles for that. "We'll find you one," he promises. He feels all too well the departure of her attentions, bows his head a little as if mourning their passing, but the sound in her voice has him turning to see her, "Hey," and then promptly remembering why he was avoiding seeing her. They're naked. He averts his gaze out of instinct, then realizes and sighs into the look he gives her, as if easing himself into it. "You don't have anything to be nervous about. We're all gonna be there for you." All of them. Sabella smiles for the promise even as she backs up to the edge of the pool. The gaze that results in avoidance and then gets re-directed back at her again garners him a sympathetic expression. "It's alright." If he's uncomfortable evidently. "Yes. All of you, watching." She wiggles her fingers in a joking fashion before she takes a breath and laughs. "Thanks. I'll be okay with it, somehow. It's just the pit in my stomach until we get on with the whole thing." The smile on her face is natural enough as she pulls herself out of the pool. She's not E'sren, so there's no friendly warning that she's going to be doing something potentially awkward. The towels are nearby, so it's not as if she's flaunting her nudity for too long in his presence. Almost enough to distract him from it all, her joke, talking to her. "Just think, it'll be my turn soon enough and you can laugh at me when I fall off my dragon." Which is just absurd, and that's why he said it. Distractions are only good while they're happening, since there's that lull before she pulls herself free of the water he doesn't have anything to focus on; at least this time when E'sren looks away he makes it look more like he's trying to be respectful, give her space, whether or not she wants or needs it. A glance from the corner of his eye tells him she found the towels, and once she's covered he wades to the edge of the pool and folds his arms atop it. "I'll see you around, later." It doesn't sound like an obvious question, but it still is one. "I think that would be less funny and more horrifying." Sabella decides with a crooked smile. She's not watching him this time, not watching to see him not look at her. As respectful as he manages to make it appear. She wraps the towel around herself and pads by the edge of the pool, picking up her things and collecting them in her arms. Glancing across at him, she lifts her eyebrows very briefly. "Of course. You're coming to dinner." As if this doesn't even need to be said, it's a fact. A thing that's going to happen. That always does happen. With her items in tow, she returns to the nooks in the wall and pulls out her clothes. Looking over her shoulder she smiles quickly at him. "Later." And as disconnected as they are with him not looking at her and her not looking at him not looking at her, they're moreso when he throws out that question and she replies. She replies. But it doesn't settle him like it would have, normally. He's looking at her now, watching her now, but too late, she's leaving and he barely has time to react to her smile by giving her one of his own before she's gone. And when she's gone, and he's alone, he lets his gaze drop to his arms, thinks about it all for a second, and then groans. Slowly he sinks, capsized by his own lacking, and only a few air bubbles remain on the surface.
CommentsAzaylia (Dragonshy (talk)) left a comment on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 07:08:32 GMT. <
The title and "What" of this log did not lie. xD Aw haw. E'sren has all of my sympathies at the end there... capsized by his own lacking. Nice. I like how shameless Sabella is, at times.
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Comments
Azaylia (Dragonshy (talk)) left a comment on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 07:08:32 GMT.
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The title and "What" of this log did not lie. xD Aw haw. E'sren has all of my sympathies at the end there... capsized by his own lacking. Nice. I like how shameless Sabella is, at times.
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