Logs:An Interlude In The Hot Springs
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| RL Date: 5 July, 2008 |
| Who: Paige, K'len, Nerine |
| Involves: Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Running into K'len while bathing is awkward. Trying not to stare at each other, more awkward. Being told that Kalorith thinks Paige is one of the many girls who would be perfect for his rider - terribly awkward. And there's a Nerine, too, with whom Paige decides that more girly pursuits are in order. |
| Where: Hot Springs, Fort Weyr |
| When: Day 11, Month 2, Turn 17 (Interval 10) |
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| Having finished an early dinner, Paige carefully makes her way down to the hot springs, a fluffy towel and a clean change of clothes neatly bundled beneath an arm. Despite having started to come to the conclusion that Weyr life isn't quite what her childhood tales made it out to be, she still undresses relatively quickly, mincing into the gently sloping pool until the water's up to about mid-chest. Satisfied, if still crimson-cheeked, she releases a sigh, turning to grab her soapsand - and completely unaware that it fell happily into the water on her way in, so great was her hurry. Whoops. This time of the day is the one time that K'len can sometimes be caught bathing in the hot springs. Of course - he tends to do so pretty far out in the water, but even he has to come back to shore at some point. He wades his way over, his dragon clearly missing as the large bronze likely went off to go flirt with some wayward green in the bowl, and notices Paige on the way in. "Oh... Hey." He says, with a faint hint of his own shyness still in tone - truly there are some that can't be totally corrupted by weyrlife it would seem. Ducking briefly under in an attempt to find her soapsand and resurfacing with a splutter, it takes Paige a moment to register K'len's presence; when she does, it's with a small start as she turns toward him, eyes wide. "Hey, " she replies breathily, still flushed a healthy rose. "I um, meant t'thank ya for a'helpin' me get those furs and stuff outta the caverns tha' night, " is the first thing she apparently thinks of. "'Twas kinda ya." Awkwardly, her hands fumble a little with the now-damp soapsand pouch, lashes briefly downcast in a poor attempt to hide her embarrassment. K'len can't help himself when she turns towards him, his eyes dip lower and then he looks away from her afterwards with a faint rise of red to his own cheeks. "You're welcome. And.. I wasn't expecting many people to be here. I don't mind when it's people who don't /care/ what they see but.." He says, and thumbs off to his clothing on the shore. "Most of the time during dinner it's pretty safe to take a bath here." He insists, and then shrugs his shoulders. "Anyhow... I hope you're doing well." "Neither was I, " admits she, still heartily mortified. But, to her credit, Paige does try to press past that initial awkwardness, however timidly. "I figured 'twas safer t'come here durin' dinner, " which is why she's here, after all. "I'm doin' alrigh'. Still tryin' t'get over the whole - cand'date thin'." She shifts a little, still toying with the soapsand. "And ya? Yer doin' well, too, I hope?" "Candidate thing?" K'len asks, arching a brow at her and taking another look at her. Perhaps he forgot she's not really clothed in the way he expected, for his looks away just as quickly again. But, none the less - his clothing is important and someone has to make the move - so he slips out of the water to go grab them. Careful to show only the bare minimal, oddly enough for a rider. "I'm.. ah, fine. Yes, it's been pretty quiet lately. Well, other than the new candidates." "Bein' one, " Paige adds more quietly as he heads for his clothing. And she's carefully staring at a /very/ interesting patch of ripples while finally retrieving some soapsand to start scrubbing with. Lather, lather. "Quiet's good?" she ventures after a moment, still keeping her gaze averted for the time being. "D'you get any downtime?" Nerine has arrived. "Congratulations, then." K'len says as he tugs on his clothing starting with the bottom and working upwards. He doesn't look back to see if she's watching, instead is spending all of his time working on getting his clothes back on in a quick manner. "Right now is a bit of time off. Kalorith's off flirting with some fancy green in the bowl, and I figured it'd be a good time to get a quick bath." Paige is working on one of those herself, carefully submerged up to her chest in the shallow end of the pool and decidedly not looking toward the dressing bronzerider. Scrub, scrub, rinse. Repeat. "Thanks, " is muttered softly, followed by a splash as she dunks her head briefly under again. "I meant - meant in general, " she clarifies once she re-emerges. "Since thin's are quiet." "Doesn't mean that we don't do drills, formations, sweeps. There's still always work to be done. Besides, who knows if thread is /really/ gone this time." K'len says, glancing back to see if she's tried to catch a peek at him. It's hard to tell if he's relieved to find her scrubbing, or disappointed - but neither is actually spoken of. "But, there's some time left after scrubbing Kalorith down, and making sure he's oiled and cared for properly. I can't say my days even when they're 'off' aren't busy in some way." Paige finally casts a brief glance in his direction, seemingly more keen to keep eye contact with the person she's conversing with than to sneak a peek over at him. Maybe their looks meet halfway? "I see, " she settles for saying at last, tone thoughtful. "I mean, I dun know all that much 'bout bein' a dragonrider, but m'aunt always seems t'be busy; figured it had to be tha' way fer most other riders. Dragons seem t'take - a lotta care. Loads of it. Guess ya kinda hafta grab yer relaxin' moments as they come?" K'len tugs on his shirt next, then sits on the sandy lining of the shore with his arms laxly wrapped around his legs. Comfortable in that position, he seems quiet content to just watch out over the water - clearly forgetting that perhaps Paige would prefer if he didn't actually watch in her direction. "Tons of care, and even more when they're just growing. Especially the larger dragons, every day there seemed like there was another whole dragon length to wash and oil. I was so glad when he finally stopped getting bigger, and most of the time I wished he was as small as a green." "And yer pretty tall, " Paige muses, her back to K'len once more. "A lil person like me would've a harder time with a bigger dragon. Or a longer time, I guess." Finishing up her scrubbing, she lets the lapping water do a final rinse, exhaling pleasedly while turning back around for her clothes and - oh, he's looking out over the water. There's not much she can do about hiding, save for hunkering down and darting forward for her towel, holding it before her as she gets out and dries off. "How long does it take 'em to finish growin'?" she wonders while carefully turning around to dress, facing the water. After a long day cleaning the stables what is better than a hot relaxing bath to get rid of the dirt? At least that's what any candidate mucking the stables might agree to, and exactly what Nerine had in mind as she entered the bathing caverns, unceremoniously stripped and entered the water. It wasn't until well after she reached a nice comfortable spot that she notes K'len and Paige. "Paige!" there is more excitement in her voice than one might have thought possible for someone mucking out stalls all day. "Congratulations! It will be nice to have another girl round." Looking up she notes K'len and gives a happy smile. "Greetings K'len." "About a turn, sometimes a turn and a half." K'len answers Paige, while averting his eyes from her as she dashes to get herself a towel. He knows how uncomfortable he was when he first came to the weyr, so he's attempting to keep from looking at her. Nerine, however, gets a longer look as she undresses and slips into the water - but by then he's again looking at Paige. "Should I leave and let you two get some girl time in?" He asks with a snicker and a wink, but doesn't get up from where he's sitting. "Nerine!" Cue the girly squealing. Or Paige's equivalent of it, which is turning the other girl's name into an excited greeting, complete with a beaming smile as she shrugs into her dry shirt. "Thanks. It's - rather unexpected. Dunno yet how m'folks'll react, but. M'brother rides, so they can't be all /that/ upset. I hope." Calming down enough to move her belongings farther from the shore, she hesitantly settles a short distance from K'len, reaching up to quickly plait her wet hair into a thick braid. "Girl time? I, uh -- " And she pauses, uncertain. "Y'don't hafta leave. I mean, s'what late night chats on the girls' side of the barracks are fer, right?" Right? Shift, fidget. Nerine is probably too tired to notice or care about the slightly longer than usually gaze that is shot her way from K'len, but Paige's girly squeal gets her attention right proper. Though she dunks herself quickly and begins scrubbing at the muck which has collected she finds a breath to answer. "Your folks can't blame you for wanting to try, and I will wager any guff you get from 'em is jealousy pure and simple" she shrugs as she sets a mass of soap sand to work in that thick copper mass of hair. "Ah K'len Paige is right, we don't talk about males or anything interesting till we are safe in the bunk house." She gives a laugh and a wink. A quick dunk, and then she repeats the process. Well, at least there wasn't flailing arms and half naked hugs, then K'len never'd get out of the hot springs. Or at least, he probably would be much less hasty about it. But, he glances towards Paige who's set herself not so far away, then at Nerine who's happily chatting away while Paige braids. "Just don't go talking about me, you'll make me blush all the way up in my weyr." He says, pointing upwards at the high cliffs that can barely be seen from the opening where the dragons can manage to fly in. About then, Kalorith appears and lands (but not without a large splash in Nerine's direction) with his tail slopping in the water - though he's managed to make it so his wings don't quite blow people away in his landing. "Seems Kalorith wants to steal me off to get him some oil to impress some green he thinks he's wooing." Paige grins back at Nerine, tying off the wet braid and ducking instinctively as Kalorith comes soaring in. Her eyes round. "Well, hullo there, Kalorith. Yer a sight bigger'n Jekzith. By a lot." If the slim girl's disappointed that he's probably leaving, she disguises it well in a quick smile and a fairly cheery, "Wouldn' want ter hold ya up from a'helpin' him with his, er, conquests. 'Sides, bet the oil'd be nice even if'n he didn't get no green." Because then he'd be shiny, and that's always a good thing. "Won't be jealousy, " she adds rather belatedly toward the other candidate. "Jus' - they do need me at home. Hafta get someone else t'help watch m'sister, now tha' I'm here." Nerine is knocked clean off her feet with the splash and comes up sputtering and flailing a bit. As she rights herself she laughs brightly. "Well hello to you too!" she calls up. "Trouble with that is K'len, I can't figure out who I fancy more, you or Kalorith" She tosses a wink to the dragon. "Think Kalorith would be more fun to paint though." Giving up on her scrubbing and satisfied that the stink of the stables is gone she wades in. Taking up a towel she gives a canine like shake of her hair whipping the moisture loose and wrapping the towel about in the process. "He'll need more than oiling though, takes more to win a female than a shiny hide and pretty face, though he does seem to have the corner on charm." She grins at K'len but turns her gaze to Paige as she speaks. "That may be true enough, but forgive me if I don't feel sorry in the least to have you around." She turns to K'len "She's right Kalorith needs to play Don Juan for the evening. Your Hair dresser for the night it looks like." There is a mischievous play of her lips as they work into a smile, and she settles near Paige. Kalorith takes a better look at Paige, since she's the one sitting closest to his rider - though K'len is quick to scramble to his feet and stand in between the bronze's jaw and where Paige's sitting. With an exhasperated sigh, he mutters to Kalorith, "I appreciate your /concern/, but no, she's a candidate and she barely knows me." He then gives the bronze's side a shove, giving a sheepish expression to the girls. "He has no trouble charming females, and he seems to enjoy catching the ones that'll make me the most red in the face in the morning." The bronze gives a warble to Nerine, almost coming across apologetically. "He says he's sorry for splashing you. He's just too fat and can't help himself." He says with a wry grin, paraphrasing, obviously. Paige gets to her feet rather rapidly out of instinct as K'len hastily gets between her and his dragon. If she catches his mutter, she doesn't mention anything about it, settling for a noncommital, "Oh, " at the bronzerider's description. And then her eyes widen at the paraphrase, a giggle escaping her. "Aw, tha' can't be what he /really/ said, " she says, shaking her head. "If'n he likes t'charm females, he can't be tha' hard on himself." Still, she grins more widely at Nerine as the other settles nearby, amused. Nerine admires the wet plait of her fellow candidate as the conversation continues, apparently too absorbed in that to note the mutter. She too giggles at the apology and nods agreeing rather exuberantly with Paige. "Accepted, well all but the part about fat . . . any ways." She wraps an arm around Paige's shoulder giving the girl a tight squeeze. " No but I do mean it Paige, I was kind of hoping you would be searched." She grins, "especially since you've figured out that it's usually only the boys who are crass." She smiles at K'len as he mentions his dragon's courting habits, A brow curving perhaps at the unspoken question of why he would blush, but shrugs. "So was today your first day of duties Paige?" "No, that's not what he said. But, basically the same thing just different and more flowery wording." K'len agrees, and reaches out to rub at the bronze's hide and see if it actually does need some oiling like he's claiming it does. "He tends to say a lot of what's on his mind - like how you look like the perfect girl for me." He says, glancing at Paige and then shrugging his shoulders. "But, don't worry - it's not the first time he's claimed that and won't be the last. Anyhow, I better go tend to this oil he wants before he starts trying to play matchmaker for me any further. Have a good night, ladies." "Were you?" beams Paige, returning the hug warmly. "Tha's sweet, Nerine. More or less, if'n y'don't count yesterday. Got t'help make numbweed, " a grimace, "and grind up some klah bark." At K'len's words, the slim girl just reddens, a slow flush that creeps up her neck. "Tha's - awfully forward of him, " she manages to stammer out, "but a nice compliment nonetheless, I s'pose." She does relax, however slightly; if she isn't the first or last to be called such, surely it's of little consequence. Or should be. "Yeah, o'course. Y'have a good one, too, K'len." Nerine just nods, though a brow quirks and there is something of a question in her eye, Good by K'len have a lovely evening. She turns her attention to Paige with a laugh. "Well of course!" She starts to ask another question but thinks better of it. Instead she gives a contented sigh. "It is nice having another girl around and there is guaranteed to be someone to talk to during chores." She gives a small smile. "And your good at a lot of girly things that are beyond me." She indicates the plait with a smile. "Yes, yes. You'll see if you Impress - almost all dragons are outrightly forward and often crude. They don't think there's anything wrong with it, though." K'len muses, reaching to try and grab at the bronze's straps to heft himself up. Another shake of his head at whatever the bronze is silently bespeaking him with is given, and he quirks a grin at the girls. "Might want to cover your eyes, he tends to make quite the spray of sand taking off from here." He suggests, and after warning them, Kalorith takes to the sky to make it to their weyr. Kalorith has left. K'len has left. Paige murmurs something that rather resembles an, "Oh, dear, " as K'len mounts up, throwing her hands up in front of her face reflexively as the bronze takes off. True to form, they do get a nice sand shower, so the candidate spends the next few moments dusting off her tunic and hair as best she can. "Oh, yeah, s'nice t'have someone t'talk to while a'doin' work, " she rejoins after a bit, looking faintly surprised at the mention of 'girly things.' "Y'mean, y'dunno how t'braid hair?" Flabbergasted, the holder lass offers, "Well, if'n you want, I can do it fer ya, while yer hair's still wet. Makes it all wavy and kinda curly-like in the mornin'." Nerine throws up a free arm and closes her eyes as the sand and spray hit, A good shake loses the grit, and she nods sheepishly at Paige. "Tis true" Eyes widen brightly at the offer. "Oh really? That would be wonderful! You'll have to teach me how eventually, Suppose it's kind of like dresses, I learned to avoid *them * easy enough by wrestling round in mud and muck." She offers a laugh, "Don't think I've worn a proper dress since I was seven turns old." She also gives a softer nod. "Most of my foster siblings were of the male persuasion I suppose It rubbed off a bit." "S'not hard at all, " Paige says, more enthusiastically. "Helps t'have flexible arms and shoulders, or t'have someone do it fer ya. Whatever works out best." Scooping up her towel and discarded clothing, she reaches out to loop her arm about her friend's and give it a tiny tug. "C'mon, we can braid and have our girly session in the barracks while folks are still finishin' dinner." She does grin considerably at Nerine's dress avoidance strategy, pale eyes lit with delight. "Then first chance we get t'go ter a nice event 'round here, y'gotta put one on, " she decides, cheerfully. "And ya'll be real, real purty, I'm sure." |
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