Logs:Whatever Y'wanna Be
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| RL Date: 3 May, 2013 |
| Who: Alida, N'ky |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Alida comes to check on N'ky. |
| Where: Diving Cliff |
| When: Day 15, Month 8, Turn 31 (Interval 10) |
| Weather: The weather today is very pleasant. A few clouds chase each other across the mostly clear skies, and a soft breeze picks up in the afternoon to make for a fine day. |
| Mentions: K'zin/Mentions |
| OOC Notes: This scene was started on April 27, finished on May 3. If I've missed any mentions, please feel free to step in and edit! |
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| Diving Cliff, High Reaches Weyr Thrusting out from the shadow of the mountain, this long and narrow clifftop might once have been a ledge, but a pile of bramble-strewn, graffiti-chiseled boulders where a weyr's mouth would have been suggests a reason for its abandonment long ago. Though its views of the eastern bowl are grand, particularly the lake itself and the yawning air entrance to the hatching sands, its location makes the diving cliff unique: jutting some ten or twelve feet above the deepest part of the cool, clear lake. Especially in summertime, many climb up the narrow stairs to seek the thrill of a swift fall into the water, but those who just want to enjoy the view can take those same stairs back down: carved directly into the bowl wall, worn and crumbling and slick from use, but enough for the careful to get the job done. It's early evening in High Reaches, with Rukbat starting its slow descent towards the rim of the bowl. The full orb of Belior is already visible in the sky, heavy and pendulous against the cloud-skudded sky, and a point of interest, it would seem, for both N'ky and Cailluneth. Sitting together on the diving cliff, the green dragon and her rider look quite comfortable, serene even, with N'ky sitting between his lifemate's forelegs, both his and Cailluneth's gaze held skywards. A parched desert landscape infringes on the periphery of Cailluneth's moonlight, swirling sands in varied tones of gold swirling and skittering along the night time landscape. « Alida's lookin' for 'im. » It may be a touch brusque, but Ilicaeth's communication is touched with warmth, as well as sand and quartz. « Where is he ? » To Ilicaeth, Cailluneth's mind is still the cool moonlight that it has been of late, though Ilicaeth's touch brings forth a flurry of golden sparks that crackle and fizzle into her silvery thoughtscape. There's silence, but not of the blocking, ignoring kind; Ilicaeth's on hold as she speaks to her Heart. The image she shares invites company - a ledge above the lake, with the focus on the full globe that is Belior, hanging high in the sky. Then a follow-up thought, of the imagery that is Alida; steel and flowers, with the same blade used by her blue brother wound in white gossamer. « Be soft. » A faint snort is offered to those two words his sister gives him in answer, the feeling that Alida doesn't oft do soft well. Still... « She'll try, she promises. » Swirl. « Thanks, Cai. » And not too long after the communication quiets - though Ilicaeth faintly dusts himself at the outermost periphery of Cailluneth's mind, as if sitting a discreet distance away - said bearer of steel and wildflowers (to her lifemate, anyway) is climbing the last few steps up to the diving ledge, and peering silently at the pudgy green who props up N'ky at her chest. Slowly, booted steps maneuver the blonde around the pair, to place her at their forefront, and when the time feels right, Alida murmurs casually, "Not long ago *you* were holdin' *her* on yer lap." A faint curl of one side of the woman's mouth holds a little warmth for the memory. Cailluneth looks down at Alida, snorting a puff of warm breath over her. Then she looks back the way the bluerider came, as if searching. "She'd l-like to know where Ilicaeth is," N'ky says softly, looking up at his clutchmate. He doesn't move from where he's sat, but he does draw his legs up towards him, resting his wrists on his canted knees and looking... relaxed. Tired, but more at ease than he's been seen to be for a long while. "Mind if I have a seat?" is inquired of both Cailluneth and N'ky, the guard indicating a seat just across from the young man, within the span of the green's forearms. After last night, she must be brave or foolish...perhaps both, to dare being so near the not-long-ago upset dragon. As for Ilicaeth... "He's tryin' ta' give you two yer space. It's his way uv' being polite." Pointing down towards the lake behind them, the blonde shows that her blue is stepping lightly into the waters, then splaying his mass out atop the surface...floating mellowly. A loud croon and a slow whirl of green eyes is sent up from him to Cailluneth, addended to with an unusually easy-voiced Alida's, "Looks like yer both doin' a bit better." N'ky invites his clutchmate to sit with a sweep of his hand to the space she indicated, and a nod of his head. Cailluneth's eyes whirl turquoise as she lowers her head again to Alida, bumping her muzzle gently into the woman's back to nudge her in closer to N'ky. "Cailluneth." The teen reprimands her gently, before blushing in embarrassment at Alida. "S-sorry. We're... I mean, um... I-I'm ok. D-did you c-come to s-say how w-worried you are, too?" That bump from Cailluneth's muzzle is a bit surprising, but not in an unpleasant way, Alida balancing herself upon the sometime slippery rock by laying one hand lightly along the green's cheek...while smirking softly at her. "Thanks for the invitation, toots..." is noted warmly to the green dragon, a rubbing scritch ghosted over the skin at the base of her headknobs before the guard settles into a loose sit just across from N'ky. "S'okay, Nicky. As long 's she doesn't send me divin' over the side, we're good." A small flash of a faint grin for the thought of such presages the blonde's dry, "No. I'm here all on my lonesome ta' *see* how yer' doin'." Her gaze is steady, focused upon N'ky's browns, the woman's features smooth and uncomplicated by anger, worry, or even her usual snark. A small pause for breath. "What happened?" With Ilicaeth being her new point of interest, Cailluneth stares out over the edge of the cliff to watch him rather than the full moon above them. She's quiet and calm, and it reflects in N'ky. "She'd n-never hurt anyone." It's as much a confirmation that his green's not going to be tossing anyone over the cliff, as it is an answer to the question posed. "She m-might act like it, b-but she'd never hurt anyone. N-not unless they were g-going to hurt me." N'ky sighs softly, leaning back against his dragon's chest, and fluffing his fingers through his curly fringe. A gentle pat upon the air between them by both hands tries to ease N'ky when he speaks of Cailluneth, Alida shaking her pale head quickly. "I know. Relax; I was kiddin'." See? Again one of the woman's hands reaches out towards whatever patch of green hide is closest to her, and starts stroking it gently, without hesitation. She takes internal note of how the greenie doesn't answer her pointed question, 'lida simply enjoying the feel of Cai's smooth, warm skin under her fingers as she continues to look in uncomplicated fashion at the gawking young man just across from her. N'ky closes his eyes and runs his hand over his features, ending with rubbing fingers into the dark circles he's picked up over the last month or so. Lack of sleep, barely eating, stressing out - they've all taken their toll and left him looking, let alone acting, less perky than before. Even without looking he can feel Alida's gaze on him, and perhaps that inspires him to speak. Perhaps he just needs to talk to someone, after avoiding contact as much as possible for so long. "She was t-trying to keep K-K'zin away from me. I... I a-asked her to. I didn't want to s-see him." A soft set of nods is given to N'ky at his words, Alida's features remaining quiet, just as she does. For whatever reason, the blonde is apparently foregoing her usual approach to many situations, also focusing on someone else first. As she listens, thinks, one of her hands settles atop a thigh, the other continuing to rub at Cailluneth's hide, though those incisive greens never waver from N'ky. "'Cause he...uh...said stupid shit, like he usually does." "Yes." N'ky's half-hearted smile isn't of the happy kind; it's strained and more of acknowledgement to the stupid things the bronzerider says. Cailluneth croons with gentle, raspy reassurance, bending her head down to snort soft breath through her weyrling's curls. He, in turn, reaches up to clasp her muzzle between both hands, drawing her downwards for a kiss before he lets her go. "D-do you know wh-what he said?" At least it's an answer, for which Alida's grateful, in her own fashion. She quits patting Cailluneth when the green moves to whuffle at her human, the blonde looking away quickly when the two share their tender moment, though her eyes snap right back to N'ky when he again speaks. "Not really. I gathered that he was tryin' ta' help you before by bein' tough...'n that it went wrong." And *how*. "And then he came back, tryin' ta' apologize...and pissed off Cai." N'ky huffs out a heavy breath through pursed lips, before leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, letting his hands hang freely. "D-do you remember, um, b-back... back in our f-first month, or something? A l-long time back, when they," Cailluneth, Ilicaeth, the rest of the dragons, "were just t-tiny? Cailluneth told me th-that... th-that Rasavyth said s-something to Ilicaeth, something like... l-like he was just a blue. It's b-been s-stuck in my head ever since." N'ky rubs his hands over his face again, sighing. "I w-wanted to get a s-silver thread so I c-could prove we're n-not j-just... j-just another g-green and her rider, and wh-when I didn't, I... I f-fi-figured m-maybe we are just... j-just.... wh-whatever Rasavyth m-meant, when he said that. And th-then K'zin came and s-said I w-was a q-quitter, and he s-said stuff that made me th-think I wasn't w-worthy of b-being his f-friend be-because we're n-not special. I'm n-not smart and I'm not g-good enough to be th-thought to be a leader... I'm j-just me. And... it hurt." At first, Alida nods in agreement to memories of their dragons' infancies, her gaze unconsciously watching N'ky's features and actions for clues to what's going on with him. And then the greenie speaks of how Rasavyth views - or perhaps viewED - Ilicaeth...and the blonde's eyes narrow slightly, her manner bristling for a few moments until she controls herself. Apparently, she did *not* know. And neither did the blue, whos head jerks up from its float upon still waters, his eyes wheeling a blue muddied by many flecks of orange that refuse to leave, for the moment. A tucking in of the woman's chin towards her chest and a heavy lidding of eyes are followed by moments of long silence, Alida then lifting her chin and her full regard back to N'ky once again. There's something...distantly unpleasant in the back of her gaze, but soon enough it disappears as she tackles the rest of what the greenrider had to say. "*We* are who 'n what we are. Color uv' dragon doesn't enter inta' it. Y'v seen that Ilicaeth's savvy, has a strong will. *He* doesn't give a flyin' shit that he's a blue... 'cause he is *Ilicaeth*. Himself." A thin little smirk curls mostly one corner of the blonde's mouth, her eyes glittering for a moment. "That's likely not fully K'zin talkin', Nicky. That's *Rasavyth*." A faint purse of lips trails into her measured, "Y'know how we've both likely been feelin' how Waki's...changed since impressin'? That's Ras 'n him tryin' ta' achieve..." Both her hands lift, come together upon the air before them a bit forcefully with fingers interlacing. "Union. Think uv' it... how Waki was before, 'n how he is now. They've both had ta' adjust t'each other...and likely K'zin's had the toughest time uv' us all, since Ras is..." Her hands drop lightly back to lap, here. "Well, he's really conscious uv' position, rank." Smirk. "And so, K'zin's kinda 'forced' ta' be, too, in ways." A slight lean forward towards the tall youth makes wisps of hair escaping her severe bun float at the sides of the blonde's cheeks. "You're *N'ky and Cailluneth.* Yer exactly what ya' both are. And y'll keep finding out more 'n more over time about yerselves, each other...y'll both grow inta' whatever y'wanna be...as long as ya' don't let others limit ya." N'ky listens. His nose wrinkles at the parts he doesn't so much like, but he stays quiet, allowing Alida to finish. When she leans towards him, he pauses a moment before gently leaning in to her, too. "H-he told me about Rasavyth, once. I t-told him I'd be th-there to... to h-help him, if I c-could, if he needed me. B-but... 'Lida, he keeps hurting me, a-and we seem to f-fight more than we're friends, and I d-don't know what to do with that." He shakes his head, lips pursed into a pout. "You... y-you confused me a bit, too. I th-thought after we'd... a-after wh-what we did by the waterfall, that m-maybe, um, we c-could... y'know. I-if we... needed s-something like... like that... b-but then you w-wouldn't when I n-needed it, and so I d-don't know where I... we... wh-where I s-stand with you." Only at significant pauses of N'ky's does Alida chime in, both her and Ilicaeth slowly calming down, as perhaps evinced by the blue's return to floating, and his eyes edging much more towards full blue, again. "He's still himself, Nicky...though Rasavyth complicates things. Still...they're each others', an' we can't take 'em any other way...just like others can't take either uv' us without Cai 'n 'caeth. Package deal." A rough little smirk rises upon the guard's features, then falls to the wayside as those words of hurting emerge. "Waki's not...suave, sophisticated, like Rasavyth. And now, his life's even more complicated, I figure." Green eyes look deeply into browns, as if seeking to will understanding into the youth. "He's gonna' be puttin' his big foot inta' his mouth enough until he figures out how *not* ta'. That's Waki. "Now add pressures from havin' a complex dragon, his own age, 'n lots uv' other crap...and ya' got'a whacked-out Waki." To her credit, the blonde doesn't grin or laugh, merely snorting low at her awful pun. "I really do think he's earnest in how he wants ta' remain yer friend, Nicky. You two just gotta'... meet up somewhere in the middle, work shit out. Equally." A small pause and sudden thought urge another comment: "Anything worth havin's worth fightin' for." Oh boy; and then the greenie's speaking of the whole waterfall thing, and Alida starts unconsciously leaning away from her fellow weyrling... then stopping suddenly. Funny how emotional closeness can send the brave woman into retreat. Still, she's apparently fighting her basic 'programming.' Her first words are instantly shut off as 'not worthy' of uttering, the blonde searching for others in a quick mental jumble of grey matter, the necessity of doing no harm to her vulnerable classmate nearly making the usually blunt ex-holder sweat a little. Pressure. Finally... "Listen; I grew up...tough, Nick. My ma' died when I was five, an' my da' died when I was 11." Unconsciously, she toughens up her outer demeanor. "I grew up fast, too, in a place...a kinda-craft... where practically no crap was tolerated...especially from a female." There, *that* should explain it all. Alida speaking of her childhood is of far more interest to N'ky; her story is met with a sympathetic look, and he starts shuffling towards her - only to stop, when he realises that might be too much for the ex-guard. "I n-never knew... I'm s-sorry, 'Lida." There's genuine concern and sadness in his expression as he holds his hand out towards her, seeking permission to settle it upon her own. If she'll allow it, his touch is soft with a gentle squeeze. If not, he'll withdraw it, no questions asked. "I d-didn't get much... m-much affection, really, from my p-parents, but everyone was always s-so busy that it didn't m-matter. And then at the Halls, it was the s-same... until I came h-here." He scoots a little closer, gets comfortable, and leans towards the bluerider. "S-sometimes, there's n-nothing better than a cuddle, or just... j-just being close to someone. I th-think it lets you know that there's someone who, um, cares. I care, 'Lida. I'd like it if... i-if you could t-trust me. Enough f-for - for that." The change in conversation topic brings out a bit more of the typical N'ky, not the morose weyrling he's been of late. The look of small aggravation and dismissal on her features is quickly short-circuited so as not to upset N'ky, but Alida still waves off his words of being sorry. "S'not important...not the point." Argh; more explaining to do. "Yeah, like y'said, not much affection." But apparently N'ky went one way, and she another in their reactions to such. How can she tell him about her finding such emotional displays a little intimidating and rather uncomfortable, though? The point is, she *can't*, and so the guard instead drops her green gaze to one of the greenie's cheekbones, unable to look him in the eye as he continues to speak of closeness. There's a small twitch from her hand as N'ky's own touches hers, and she draws back just a hint again...and again freezes in place for just a moment. She's jumbled up enough inside that it takes some moments for her brain to realize that her clutchmate did indeed say something more positive...and quickly, the blonde seizes on it, nods repeatedly, her hand lurching forward to grab up his in a firm grip that holds steady...as if in encouragement. It's not something emotional - in the way N'ky would prefer - but it's contact, and it's heartfelt. Squeeze. And it's exactly what N'ky was looking for. His gaze drops to their squeezy handhold, and he smiles. It's twitchy and crooked, but it's most definitely a smile, and it makes him squeeze tighter. It does encourage him, but perhaps not as Alida intended; he's more encouraged because he thinks he's encouraging her. But it works! "'Lida." He leans towards her, until his shoulder presses to hers and they're side by side, upper arm to upper arm. "C-can I h-hold you? Just w-with my arm around your, um, sh-shoulders, if th-that's ok? Or... or wh-whatever you want. I-I'll do wh-whatever you want." Well now, a smiling N'ky's easier on the eyes than an upset one...and for once, the often aggravated, touchy guard is willing to forego her own ease to keep that piece of happiness in place for a few moments longer. So with his press of shoulder to hers - only a little twitch of one of Alida's cheek muscles dredged up in response - comes her faint, stiff nod, and a slow, almost cautious lift and creep of her near arm up and over the greenrider's shoulders, her hand then latching on rather hard to the joint. Yeah, she's still stiff. Not quite what N'ky had in mind, and he blushes as he turns his head to smile coyly at Alida. "W-wait a second..." Gently, in the hopes of not causing offence, he wriggles out of her arm-hold and swaps over, with his arm over the back of her shoulders. "I w-want to h-hold you," he explains softly, giving a squeeze to draw the blonde in a little closer to him. The greenrider sighs contentedly, tilting his head down to press his cheek to the top of Alida's pale hair, snuggling in against her with Cailluneth behind them to lean against. "I w-wouldn't hurt you, 'Lida." Just in case she needed a little extra reassurance. Drat. She thought she could simply offer him the contact he wanted before, but it appears as if N'ky feels like giving, too. Stifling all of the responses that almost make it to her lips, Alida sighs darkly, and allows that shrugging off of her arm so that N'ky's longer one can wrap her own - yes, still stiff - shoulders. The muscles within them likely can be felt through their light summer clothing. A faint wince comes at that resting of his cheek upon her head, the woman remaining a hint grumbly and guarded, though this time, when the greenling says *that*, the guard can't help but responding in more typical fashion, "Ya' *couldn't*." Instantly tough and totally self-confident. "I w-wouldn't," N'ky repeats, giving a gentle squeeze. He can feel how tense she is, but he also knows that this is Alida. It's to be expected. "I, um... p-punched Waki. M-more than once, a-actually... i-in the stomach." Now it's his turn to wince regretfully, though Alida, of course, won't be able to see it. "I...I wish you t-trusted me enough to relax, 'Lida. D-don't you ever... I mean... h-have you ever wished you were... d-different? In any way? N-not that you n-need to be. S-sometimes I wish I was... d-different." She remains stiff under N'ky's gentle squeeze, but see; she's *not* attacking or jerking away. That must be progress... right? Sure. The greenie's words slowly have Alida focusing on something besides her own discomfort, a faint and hard little smirk ghosting over her lips for a moment when her fellow weyrling admits to socking K'zin a few times. And then he's again speaking of her, and her expression returns to something guardedly neutral, though after some moments, the bluie responds with a gruff, "Funny; Waki asked me the same thing before we Impressed. He was drunk." Snert. "Yeah." "D-did he?" That surprises the greenrider, and he pulls back a little to look at the snerting Alida. N'ky gives her a soft smile, his brown-eyed gaze flickering over her face. "I th-think everyone would. Change s-something, I mean." He sighs softly, leaning in gently against the bluerider. If he's worried she'll freak out, he's got a funny way of showing it - or perhaps he feels he can warm her up and ease his own woes by cuddling them away? "I'd l-like to be... m-more confident. I'd like your c-confidence." "Like I said..." Alida mumbles when N'ky questions her, a faint shrug offered by strong shoulders under his arm. The greenie's smile makes her a little twitchy, but she hides such decently, simply listening to her fellow weyrling talk...and apparently putting up with his cuddling. "No ya' wouldn't..." is instantly, if quietly riposted back, a faint shake of her head offered. "My brand uv' confidence is..." Find the words, Alida. "Bought with steel. Too much." Wrinkling his nose, N'ky doesn't buy that he wouldn't want what Alida's got; but he doesn't bring it up. "I'd like to be, um... s-stronger. Not physically," having been brought up on hard work, he's not exactly a weakling, "but... in e-every other sense. A-and I'd like t-to... to l-look better." It's his turn to twitch now. "A-Alida? Wh-whatever we s-say or do r-right now is between us, i-isn't it?" "I getcha'..." the blonde murmurs, giving a little internal sigh at this cuddling and talking thing as it goes against her credo on a few levels. Nothing like going from guard to weyrling in one second flat to change your life, your style of 'being.' "Look better?" is inquired in vague fashion. "Y'look fine." It's not like she's necessarily a great judge of physical appearance, though. "It'd better be..." the woman snerts out, "...'r I'll be comin' ta' visit you in yer couch with yer' name written on my knuckles." N'ky shakes his head, pulling his arm back to himself after giving Alida another soft little squeeze. "I'm t-too tall, and l-lanky, and... a-and my t-teeth are too big and there's a g-gap, too, and I'm n-not... n-not good looking like K-K'zin or D'kan are." He draws his knees up to his chest, curling an arm around them. "The o-only person who's... wh-who's ever sh-shown any interest in me like th-that is Bones... b-but I don't think I'm... I d-don't know if I'm... i-if I c-could... y'know." He bumps his fists together. "Y'are who y'are..." Alida notes in firm tones, then shrugging. "I think yer' cuter 'n both uv' 'em." This might be the first time anyone's ever heard her speak about physical looks, especially since the guard appears to utterly dismiss such things...or at least never acknowledge them, including her own appearance. Word of Bones, though, draws a soft snork and a half smirk of dark humor from the woman, the bluie then noting N'ky's bumping of fists allusion. "What, bumpin' heads?" she inquires facetiously, trying not to grin in wicked fashion. "Y-you do?" N'ky doesn't seem to know whether she's saying it just to say it, or whether she actually means it, and he squints at her to try and figure that out. At least, he squints at her until... "'Lida!" Groaning, flushing red, he drops his forehead into his hand and shakes his head. "D-do you think it m-might mean I'm... g-gay, if he's the only one? And... um... the l-last person I k-kissed was... w-was a guy, b-but I like g-girls. They j-just... they d-don't like me, so much." "Yeah. Wouldn't say it if I didn' mean it..." Alida notes briskly and with a hint of irritation, as if her 'forward' stance on things wasn't already obvious to enough others. And then N'ky's turning red, and she's delighting in in the greenie's reaction, offering him a rotten little grin before making a 'pbbt' sound. "How would *I* know? What gets yer manbits goin' when you think uv' 'em 'r look at 'em: guys, gals, 'r both?" Hrm... wait a second. "I suppose y'could like girls mostly, 'n maybe a guy 'r two...'r the opposite." A sudden roll of green eyes and a fatalistic lift of hands - which then slap down on her strong thighs again - perhaps transmits the blonde's ignorance of deeper knowledge on that topic. "Likely y'ain't found the right one...s yet." N'ky snorting softly, still blushing deeply, N'ky bumps his shoulder off Alida's. "Is it f-fair to like both? I... I want t-to, um... I mean, with B-Bones, once we c-can, I want to... m-maybe do more than, um, k-kiss him. But I, um... w-would you like to c-come to my weyr, when I've g-got one?" It's the most awkward and rushed attempt at hitting on someone, coming from a teenager who's clearly not used to such things. "C-can I ask you if y-you've... h-have you e-ever...?" There's that bumping together of fists again! "Seems like the best uv' both worlds..." Alida notes casually, then peering at N'ky when he bumps shoulders with her. Word of the teen hoping to get some action out of the crazy-looking gardener doesn't really surprise the blonde - who only nods in response - but when N'ky hits on her, inquires about her sex life... The stiffening of the guard's spine and muscles is quite noticable, as is her slow, methodical removal of herself from his most immediate presence, until she's squatting about three feet from him, and looking him squarely in the eye. She looks...a little disturbed, and more irked. "No." Period. "That's none uv' yer fuckin' business." The sudden shifting of Alida causes N'ky's shoulders to sink as quickly as his expression does; his knees are hugged to his chest and he looks down in embarrassment. "S-sorry." Then his long legs unfurl, and he makes to get to his feet. "I d-didn't mean to s-say the w-wrong thing... I'm sorry." Standing up, he dusts his hands anxiously over his rear, unable to look up at the blonde. "I'll... I-I'll go?" Weight balanced on his toes, ready to shift and be gone if that's what she wants, he waits for her answer. She's at the balance point of leaving, too, green eyes looking mistrustfully, darkly into N'ky's browns. But with his apology and his willingness to leave for her sake comes a hint of her perhaps increasing forebearance, Alida lipping off a low, "Nah," even as she forces herself to sit back down upon the stone, makes herself try to relax again. If N'ky hadn't figured it out before, he likely should *now*: don't inquire about highly personal matters as far as the guard's concerned. N'ky doesn't sit again, hovering uncertainly, awkwardly on his feet. He's upset that he upset her, and he doesn't quite know what to do with himself now. Hands slip deep into his pockets, shoulders hunched, gaze fixed firmly on his toes. Cailluneth, where she might have appeared to have been sleeping in her position as a backrest, raises her head and watches quietly, eyes whirling to match his thoughts - confused and concerned. After a few moments spent sitting while he's standing around uncertainly, Alida clips off in vague irritation to N'ky, "Just siddow', fer Faranth's sake." Yeesh. Green eyes flick from the young man to Cailluneth and her worried whirl of eyes, the bluie finally giving a gusty sigh and muttering off, "Relax, Cai. I ain't gonna' eat him." "Sh-she knows." N'ky holds out his hand and Cailluneth presses her muzzle into his palm, the pair sharing a warm moment when he leans against her head and kisses her reassuringly. When they break apart, the greenrider concedes to Alida's request, keeping a respectful distance between the pair of them. "I d-didn't mean to u-upset you," he offers weakly, with a dim sort of smile. Watching him sit back down, Alida again speaks, this time in a neutral voice, "I know...s'why I'm still here." Still, she's not good at small talk, and the ensuing silence shows such, the blonde more at home with quiet than artful words, her gaze flicking back and forth between N'ky and Cailluneth. Cailluneth settles back down again, though Ilicaeth will receive a colour-swirled invitation for him to join them on the ledge. N'ky, too, stays silent; he's not uncomfortable with not talking, though he's not exactly relaxed yet either, keeping himself tucked into the smallest ball possible with his legs hugged to his chest, feet crossed at the ankles and gaze looking unfadingly out over the lake. If he notices Alida looking at him, he doesn't let on. The green's communication is received, responded to wordlessly by her blue brother, dusty quartz and mica within golden sands lightly rasping, swirling through her colored invitation... and forming into a granite representation of the diving cliff. Nicky, Cai, and Alida are upon it, but when the blue's burgeoning form is factored in... SPLASH! All of them fall off down into the lake below. Not enough room. Sigh. "If I c'n unwind, so can *you*..." Alida mutters to N'ky when he remains in that gawky-limbed, small ball, the woman then gesturing in smooth, quick fashion at him in his tucked up pose. Alida's got a point. N'ky forces himself to unfurl a little, settling one hand down on the ground between himself and the blonde. "I'd ch-change this about myself," he admits, going back to their earlier conversation. He exhales heavily, leaning back against Cailluneth and sighing. "I h-hate feeling things so... s-so strongly." "So would I..." Alida scrapes off, her gaze dropping to her thighs for a moment. And then comes the realization that she might be misinterpreted, and the blonde continues, "You aren't the only one." What? She apparently never gets like N'ky does. It does catch N'ky off-guard, and he looks curiously over at Alida. Learning from his mistakes, though, he doesn't pry; he just watches for a second, while her gaze is still cast down, then he quickly looks away again. "Cailluneth m-makes it more... intense. D-does... um, Ilicaeth do the same for you?" "No... Yes," comes the blonde's uncertain answer, her features scrunching up for a moment, then returning to quiet. "He can...sometimes. Other times..." Hesitation overcomes her, renders Alida silent for some moment, before she finally mumbles, "...he quiets it down." "Oh." Not quite the same, then. Again, N'ky doesn't want to push the matter in case he oversteps the line again. So he tries a different tack: "Um... d-do you want to t-talk about it?" He shifts his weight more onto his hip, so he's half facing Alida with only one knee hugged to his chest now. "I d-don't want to, um, t-try and make you if you d-don't want to." She remains silent throughout N'ky's schpiel, greens moving out towards the lake, looking down on the now-floating Ilicaeth, whose inner-lidded gaze whirls a comfortable blue more intense than his own, slatey hide's color. "You couldn't..." Alida responds softly, though firmly, over her shoulder, then returning her gaze back to the scene below her. "N-no." He couldn't, that's right. N'ky sits firmly back on his haunches again, curling his knees up to his chest once more. He chews on his lip as he looks out over the ledge to the lake, letting silence fall heavily between them for several long moments. When he breaks it, he speaks softly - almost as if afraid to unsettle the quiet. "Um... i-is there anything you do w-want to talk about?" Again, she only listens, lets the comfortable (at least to *her*) silence envelop the cliff like a blanket. But when N'ky inquires something in earnest, Alida takes a moment to note quietly, "I came up here ta' see how y'were." And, since she apparently knows how the greenie is doing, now, the hesitating guard slips herself from Park into Drive...smoothly getting to her feet, then stretching. Why she dawdled here - once things were discovered to be mostly okay with the greenrider - the blueie doesn't know. A tall and humongous stretch are given, 'lida yawning deeply with the intensity of it, then pivoting about to announce to her fellow weyrling, "You gonna' be okay? If so, time fer me ta' go." N'ky watches Alida get to her feet, making no moves to do the same himself. Her question makes him frown, and he shrugs his shoulders. "Um... I g-guess?" Cailluneth lifts her head, craning towards the bluerider to snort a soft, warm breath across her blonde hair. "Th-thank you, 'Lida." It comes from both weyrling and dragon, with a crooked, but warm smile from the former. "Better ta' *know*...but there's not much in this life that's truly knowable," Alida comments about the last dregs of her yawn. Beat. "'cept fer their devotion." And with that comes a lean of her head towards the now-whuffling Cailluneth, who gets a faint grin and a stroking of muzzle as the woman passes her, if allowed. "Welcome..." is murmured, the bluerider's light bootsteps soon heard taking the stairs back down in careful fashion, retreating into the distance. Slippery stairs. |
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Azaylia (Dragonshy (talk)) left a comment on Sat, 04 May 2013 00:43:10 GMT.
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Aw, Alida does care. It's certainly a change from the purely anti-social guard. Hopefully she'll be able to help N'ky out. That's what fellow weyrlings are for~
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