"I am not dirty"

[ricci]

/I am not dirty,[/color]/ Finranth insisted as he dipped into the water, crooning with pleasure at the sensation. The water was cool, and it was a muggy, miserable day, too hot but too humid. The only way to escape the humidity was to get even wetter, it seemed. Maybe he'd stay here for the rest of the day. /But I will not argue. You may wash me.[/color]/

"With Pleasure, my Lord!" S'rus exclaimed with a chuckle. "Thank you for allowing my worthless hands upon your hide!"

/What are you talking about?/

S'rus chuckled again as he pulled off his shirt and stripped off his pants, walking around in shorts that he wore beneath his trousers. He scratched absently at his... furry chest and grabbed what he'd need to slough off the mess of Finny's hide, the mess Finny claimed never touched him. After all, Finranth was perfect, and mess doesn't mess with perfection.

S'rus still wondered if it was his cleanliness that drew Finny to him in the first place. S'rus chuckled slightly at the thought as he pulled out a bristled brush. It would hurt a human to be washed with this sucker, but already Finny was leaning slightly into S'rus, nearly knocking the man over. That wouldn't do at all. S'rus did have a certain amount of pride. Mostly though, it had to do with still being relatively new at Great Cliffs Weyr, a recent addition from Telgar.

He scrubbed more, closing his greeny-hazel eyes against the water that splashed into his face from the brush.

[Ampara]

Are you done yet?[/color] Dysmeth was practically bouncing on her weyr ledge in impatience.

Ampara put her name to one more piece of hide. Yes, thank Faranth. Record keeping was one chore she abhorred even though she knew it was extremely important, and she tried to be as detailed as she could, knowing that gaps could be a big deal if stuff happened. She felt sorry for people who had to read them in the future. Ampara bored herself by writing them. The pile was neatly on her desk to be dropped off to Klissi later for a check over. One of the perks of being a junior weyrwoman was to make sure the senior one didn't mistakes and therefore make herself look stupid for future generations.

Ampara was of course more interested in making sure the present generation and her peers liked her. It was hard being a younger weyrwoman. Everyone was just dying to give her advice. She politely listened and then did what she sharding well pleased except for certain individuals of course. There wasn't a complete monopoly on weyr power. She took the steps up to her weyr at a solid jog once she'd vacated her office. Youth had it's advantages, and she sprinted nearly all the way despite the pervasive heat. The cool interior of Dysmeth's weyr was nice for a moment as she gathered the bath stuff and changed. She wore a tank-top and some shorts they were pretty form fitting, but she felt she could get away with that since it wasn't very revealing.

Ampara bounded up and setted into Dysmeth's neck ridges, and it was but a moment before the were airborne. Dysmeth dove off the ledge, gracefully unfurling her wings and evening out.

Show off.
I can't help it if everyone looks. Look Finrath bathes.

The weyrwoman searched for a name for a moment. S'rus, originally from Telgar... stupid Telgar Weyr though at least she'd gotten two bronzes out of them since X'cer, well... R'dan's paperwork was still going through. He'd seemed respectful enough at least, but she didn't know S'rus all that well. She rather hoped he didn't try to talk about Dysmeth rising, otherwise she'd have to make it a short bath. Every rider thought he was going to be the next weyrleader even some of the brown riders were getting cocky, but she supposed they had reason. It had happened before.

Dysmeth touched down in the water, making some small waves and Ampara slid off into water that was about waist deep. It was cool and she felt goosebumps rise as just jumping in was hardly a slow acclimation. She took out the soap sand and a brush before she tossed the bag of stuff onto the shore, and she gave a friendly wave to S'rus, deciding to let him make the first conversational move if he so desired of course Dysmeth was far more the chatty sort.

Hello Finrath. How are you today? The water is nice isn't it?[/color] Dysmeth had a reputation for being very friendly, especially for a queen though she'd be rising sometime soon so she had been extra friendly to bronzes recently which was part of the reason they were giving her rider grief.

She was beginning to accept it as a side effect of X'cer leaving, everyone just wanted a piece of her.

[ricci]

/The water is nice, though it is better now that you bathe here also, Dysmeth,/ Finranth stated in a polite, subdued tone. Beneath that politeness, though, Dysmeth would be able to feel the slight arrogance of a Bronze convinced he would win her in Flight. It was part of being a Bronze. He eyed her as politely as was physically possible. She looked lovely. Was she nearing Flight.

S'rus waved back to Ampara, "Good day, Weyrwoman!" S'rus called over slightly, getting knocked over as Finranth abruptly decided to move, turning around and standing in the water closer to where Dysmeth was, before settling.

"Bloody wherryheaded tunnelsnake of a dragon is what you are!" S'rus sputtered as he stood up again, soaked through top to bottom. He looked a little like a wet cat as he scratched the back of his neck. His cheeks were pink above his thick beard, as was the back of his neck. Shoving him down in front of the Weyrwoman of all people! S'rus glanced over at Ampara, and then looked back at his dragon.. who had moved.

S'rus was forced to move closer to Ampara.

In his youth, S'rus was plagued with shyness and a low sense of self-confidence. Occasionally, that shyness and low self-esteem came back to haunt him, leading to an eternally awkward "shell" of sorts. The Telgar-native gave a sort of awkward shrug as he shifted closer to Gold and Rider himself. He knew better than to try and argue with Finranth. It would only result in more embarrassment. The bronzerider gave a heavy sigh.

"Pardon my language," he managed a little quietly. For such a bear-like man, his clear shyness was rather amusing.

Unlike most Bronzeriders, S'rus did not immediately think of "having a piece of Ampara." It wasn't particularly in the man's nature. He was more cordial than that, polite and unassuming. He was friendly, and sure, he could be flirtatious, but it was never the first thought that occurred to him. He gave Ampara a scruffy smile.

"Uh, well. Miserable weather then, hmmn?" Why he was trying to start a conversation, only Faranth knew. S'rus just... kind of talked to people.

[Ampara]

So say many bronzes, but I can only improve the water so much.[/color] Ampara marveled that the statement was both humble and yet challenging him to come up with a better compliment at the same time.

You are unbelievable.

I'm sitting right here, what is not to be believed?[/color] Dysmeth asked, puzzled by the saying.

Oh nevermind. I'm just trying to say that you are just a big flirt, maybe a bigger one than I'd like.

Well why didn't you say that then, and bronzes are nice.

Dysmeth splashed her rider to add to the defensive tone in her voice. Ampara pushed wet hair out of her eyes as she shouted, "Hello," back to S'rus, and she tried very hard not to giggle at he and his dragon even though they were kind of funny. She didn't want to make him more embarrassed even though she and Dysmeth were sometimes the oldest weyrlings she knew.

"Don't worry about it," Ampara told him as she began to scrub Dysmeth, "dragons are ornery creatures," she added, earning her another splash and she grinned, trying to make him feel a little better.

"Yeah, I thought it was time to get out of the office for a little while for sure." It had been rather stuffy inside, and the heat never really worked in anyone's favor except for dragons maybe.

"Hopefully it will cool off soon. The headwoman was complaining about fainting going on in the kitchens earlier."

Don't you ever talk about anything more exciting than weyr business.
That's the only thing I do all day, take care of weyr business.

It was kind of like being a parent, parents only talk about their children.

[ricci]

/Ah, but I am not many bronzes.[/color]/ He should come up with a better compliment, but he was stalling. /I am Finranth. You are Dysmeth.[/color]/ What that had to do with anything was anyone's guess. S'rus gave a glance to his dragon as he worked at a particularly dirt-caked spot beneath one of the dragon's wings. A dirt-caked spot that Finranth didn't believe to exist.

S'rus gave Ampara a sort of shy grin at the ornery dragon comment. It was true. Dragons were ornery, among other things. They were also simultaneously fascinatingly intuitive and intelligent... and complete idiots. It was the logic-thing. Their logic was so simplistic, so basic, and yet he had learned more from Finranth than he had ever learned from any human.

"Mm, yes, the office. I suppose I ought to be filing for the Wingleader. The man hasn't been doing much lately, I've had to do most of his work..." S'rus clapped a hand to his mouth. He oughtn't be speaking like that. "Forgive me. The weather has me rather... well, ornery," the man said with a mild laugh. His expression was soft as he considered the state of Great Cliffs Weyr. He already felt at home here, but he was disappointed with some of the leadership, and many of his Wingriders.

"Has the Headwoman considered fruit juice? I understand that sweets and fluids are supposed to keep you going on miserable days like this, and juice is both."

/What do you find so fascinating about filing and juice?[/color]/ The bronze snorted softly.

It's simply what's going on right now.

/You're washing me now. That's what's going on right now.[/color]/

Yes, but the Weyr does go on even if you aren't paying it mind, Arroganth.

/Arroganth? Who is Arroganth?[/color]/ The bronze seemed alarmed.

Nevermind. It was only a joke.

The bronze snorted again and turned towards Dysmeth, intent on ignoring his rider.

/It seems that our humans are determined to speak of matters that don't mean very much. Not when they must bathe us, anyways. I do say that we ought to be their highest priorities. Do you agree, Dysmeth?/

[Ampara]

That is true, and now we both are of Great Cliffs.[/color] The gold was proud of her weyr.

Ampara was careful not to actually shake her head, but gave Dysmeth the mental equivalent of doing so. Dragons and their logic and word play, sometimes she thought to ask Miranda what they talked about when the humans weren't listening but she never got around to it. She also didn't want to single out the shy girl. It was tough to be one of a kind, not that weyrwomen were one of a kind necessarily, but they were a rare bunch.

Ampara canted her head curiously as he began to speak slightly ill of his wingleader, and she smirked.

"It happens, though I think wing inspections are due to occur soon." She said with a shrug of her shoulders, maybe she'd have K'ivan quietly look into the matter, anything Feyotlian could find fault in had to remedied before he added more fuel to the fire at least.

"Yes, it's just that they're always so busy she has a time making sure people take enough breaks to drink it. Some of our kitchen workers are merciless perfectionists." Ampara really did shake her head that time, maybe it was because Dysmeth would flip out if she didn't take care of herself, but she didn't understand pushing yourself beyond limits (well pushing yourself unreasonably beyond your limits that is).

They are quite boring. All work when we should be their highest priorities, yes. She said, going along with Finrath though she didn't know what to propose to do about. As coquettish as she had liked to act recently she knew what it meant for hers to be senior weyrwoman, and she did not disrespect her own power; however, she did not agree with her rider moping about Telgar's recent acquisition when there were plenty of bronzes at Great Cliffs. It was acceptable to her at least that Ampara was fraternizing with S'rus, and it was no doubt acceptable to the weyr and Ampara's image that she was fraternizing openly at the weyrlake so of course nothing exciting was going on. Both parties could be happy with lack of favoritism amongst bronzes, but yet interaction with bronzes.

Weyr politics was a tiring thing, and Ampara would be quite happy to have the rising business out of the way. Of course she could only twiddle her thumbs until Dysmeth rose, but she was cataloging the experience in case the next weyrleader wasn't a permanent fixture either. ... What a mess.

[ricci]

Finranth would have smiled if he could have. He did like Great Cliffs quite a bit, as was evident with his draconic version of a nod. /Yes. Great Cliffs is lucky to have us, and we, it.[/color]/ The Bronze said almost defiantly, but not quite. It was, perhaps, more passion than anything else.

S'rus glanced back to his dragon for a moment, then went back to sloughing off the mess that was thinly covering Finranth. Dust, dirt, flecks of blood from his latest meals, the occasional smoke residue from his flame, the eternal scent of fire-stone. It was a bitter, sour scent that only a dragonrider could truly appreciate. He rather liked the scent of Finranth. In fact, Finranth's scent was his favorite scent. Unsurprising, really. But it was very sour, very bitter, and really did burn the senses.

Finny ignored S'rus' thoughts on the smell of his hide, instead keeping his eye on Dysmeth.

"Wing Inspections. I probably ought to hold an informal practice before that," S'rus said a little absently. "They could use the practice, and the chance to let off some steam, I expect." He did not know his wingmates well yet, but he was trusted for his past leadership in other situations. He did not know much of Feyotlian, and the local Hold's Lord did not come to mind then. After a few more months at Great Cliffs, it was likely that S'rus would have as much to be wary of as any other 'Rider at the Western Continent Weyr.

"Ah, yes. Kitchen workers seem to be a rather dutiful lot. Telgar had its fair share," S'rus admitted, greeny-hazel eyes crinkling with an almost apologetic smile curving his cheeks. "I'm sure we've all run ourselves into the ground at least once in our lives. It happens. Especially, I think, during a Pass," the Wingsecond commented. He scratched at his shoulder as he considered this. He would have to be cautious here at Great Cliffs. Somehow, S'rus felt particularly responsible for the way things ran here. It might, he realized, have something to do with the way Finranth was very cautiously and very surreptitiously eyeing Dysmeth on a regular basis. A dragon's feelings, after all, did more than just effect his Rider's. They often became his Rider's.

/The way things work in the Weyr is important, I think. We are more important. Still. It is a pleasant bath with pleasant company, I will complain no longer,[/color]/ the bronze said, eyes whirling a pleasant bluegreen as he snaked his neck gracefully to "sit straighter," if you will. He did look rather regal there, truth-be-told, a handsome dragon in his own right, his large features seeming somehow distinctly powerful as opposed to clumsy.