Azhdarchid
Jr. Weyrwoman 
azhct[M:-1490]
Totes.
Posts: 1,627
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Post by Azhdarchid on Apr 7, 2012 21:04:58 GMT -5
Short, warm nights heralded Summer, better known to him now as the season where his flight jacket was uncomfortable at anything less than fighting altitude. Thread came easily, any time of day. Tonight it was midnight and a 'mark when the old enemy splashed out to sea. Another candlemark saw the sinking of the moons to where the Bowl wall blocked their passing, and finally an end to all but the most severe of work schedules. Q'sis was twisting up those bandages that had not been used, but that had still been scattered by feckless Apprentices. He'd not been recruited to fly Thread at all, not tonight, not even for firestone ferrying. He had kept his wherhide work-trousers on and the rest of his gear stored on Unath's straps as the tan dozed near the healers' camp, but on himself he had a short-sleeved tunic, a cloth belt instead of leather, and sandals in place of boots.
He finished with the bandages and rose, searching for the next minor task that needed doing. There was no weariness in him; Thread charts gave all in the Weyr the time they needed to prepare. Wise Weyrlings and riders napped in either the afternoon or early evening, and used the following rest day to recuperate to their normal schedules. More than that, there was the fire of a dragonman's blood in response to the threat. Supposedly this would be initiated by said dragonman's dragon, and her instinctive reply to Thread.
But Unath had no qualms about sleeping the entire Fall, except when they had taken a turn assisting injured down from where they popped in Between smelling of char and blood. They had broken off for infirmary duties halfway through the Fall, so that other young riders could get a go. Unath did not lack for stamina.
Q'sis found where he was needed, and he found a friend there too.
"Oh good, you're not doing anything," he said as he joined the bluerider L'kie over a tray of medical tools, coating his hands before he joined in the dipping and rubbing of each in redwort and water. Finished tools were dried and arranged in a separate tray, and Q'sis was practiced enough not to jar anything out of alignment. He stepped back and shook out his hands once the tools were all lying dry. "You're coming to my ledge in a quarter-mark for drinks, Journeyman." The tanrider was fishing for a towel when he noticed another familiar face- well, the side of one -also tidying up nearby. "You too, Delilah. Quarter-mark, my ledge. I'll have something to eat if you require it."
And with that the man left them both, heading for the kitchens to procure their necessities.
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Chek
Weyrlingmaster 
chekct[M:-15]
I'm so magical I vomit rainbows
Posts: 1,091
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Post by Chek on Apr 10, 2012 14:51:45 GMT -5
L’kie sighed in the wake of Q’sis departure, rubbing one hand over his eyes with a wrist as Sigyn returned to his shoulder and chirped fervent apologies for leaving him – Q’sis’s lingering dislike from their first meeting left Sigyn a little wary of the tanrider, and she generally hid when he was nearby – either on L’kie’s person, or, sometimes, with Flute and Piper of Ni’on’s fair.
He bumped her with his chin and turned an expectant gaze on Delilah, “I would rather sleep –“ he began, knowing the pinkrider would sympathize; she knew full well that he was edging into the territory of a full two days of wakefulness, and was mostly sustained by stimulants at the moment. A series of minor emergencies, and his off-shift attendance in the Infirmary going overlooked until it was far too late into the Fall for it to matter -
Honestly, it was shocking that he’d been able to be fully alert and competent during the Fall, “ - But knowing that man, he’d come and drag me from my bed. Shall we?”
L’kie removed his redwort spattered apron; he still had on his under gear from the Fall, and stank of smoke and char – he ran a hand through his hair and it stuck in the position his hand had left it in. “Disgusting.” His arms and face were really the only clean parts of him at the moment, as regardless of anything else, any part of him cleaning medical supplies must be clean itself.
“Delilah. I will meet you there, I suppose. I’m going to change and scrub some of this grime off.”
When he arrived at Q’sis’s high weyrledge, Oferrath dropping him off and then claiming a spot on the Rim nearby to nap for the time being, L’kie was indeed clean – but the dark shadows under his eyes were, if anything, more apparent, he appeared to have developed a subtle facial tic sometime between leaving the Infirmary and arriving at Q’sis’s weyr, and the lingering scent of firestone still hung about him.
“Could you not have chosen a more convenient time for your tea party, Q’sis?”
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Cathaline
Lady Holder
cathct[M:50]
Posts: 3,279
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Post by Cathaline on Apr 24, 2012 21:27:15 GMT -5
Delilah wrinkled her nose at Q'sis, but didn't bother to respond directly to his orders. They'd known each other for two turns now, and she was well used to the fact that he expected to be obeyed. Fat lot of good it did him, held back to the next weyrling class because he couldn't take orders, and the needed lesson hadn't sunk in yet. Perhaps it never would. He was the perfect rider for Unath, but a dragon so passive would never be good for him.
She turned her blue eyes to L'kie; for a moment her irritation shone in them, but then they relaxed into amusement. "I would offer to distract him," she said. "Agnith's flight and my shameful conduct should provide fodder for a candlemark's worth of lectures, and he would forget all about you. But I'm afraid it won't do. I would throw him off the ledge." He knew as well as she did that murdering a dragonman was quite unconscionable, even if it was mostly teasing. Emotionally she could hold her own, but she would never be a physical match for the giants she surrounded herself with, and as angry as Agnith could become on her rider's behalf, she was no more capable of harming a human than any other dragon.
On such thoughts she finished her work and headed out to her sharp-eyed pink, who nuzzled her tenderly before giving her a lift to their own weyr. There Delilah scrubbed the visible parts of her body clean - a full bath would have to wait, because she had as strong a suspicion as L'kie that if she was grievously tardy, Q'sis would haul her naked body out of the water, irate about being ignored. He was such a ridiculous person, and she found it almost impossible to respect him, but there was something likable about him even when she found herself wishing she could throw him from ledges. Maybe that was where Unath came in.
Agnith waffled, but chose to curl up beside Unath's bulk on the ledge rather than joining Oferrath. Maybe later she would go snuggle her blue buddy. Delilah gave her a pat and entered the weyr. "Of course he couldn't," she answered L'kie. "I'm convinced he has no concept of other people's autonomy. Do you, Q'sis?"
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Azhdarchid
Jr. Weyrwoman
azhct[M:-1490]
Totes.
Posts: 1,627
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Post by Azhdarchid on Apr 28, 2012 9:34:02 GMT -5
"A stonebred irony if I ever heard one. What good would autonomy be? It makes people less efficient. We are none of us free in the Pass. We will all be dead before we are free." Q'sis waved a laden hand at L'kie. "Especially him. He never had a chance, thanks to his sharding sister and his unwavering grasp of duty." Like the other two riders, he had squeezed in a moment of cleaning before presenting himself. His hair was still wet, and unlike them his lingering stench was antiseptic instead of char. "Besides, it is not as if I led you here on chains like a couple hold whers. I told you to come and you did. That was your decision entirely." The giant grinned, then stepped around them and strode toward Unath and Agnith's cuddle pile. "Now get back out on the ledge," he commanded. "It's a nice night."
Unath got in a few last ardent groomings of Agnith's headknobs before Q'sis quelled her impulse, the sound of a draconic tongue at work not the best accompaniment to his social. She draped her neck over the pink's with a resigned snort. The creamy underside of her wing extended out over her rider as he walked onto the ledge, to which Q'sis replied, "It's not daylight." Unath warbled as she processed this, looking carefully at the stars before she retracted her wing. Her immense body twitched about for a few seconds, and then she put her other wing out, over Agnith. Her warbling dwindled to a satisfied infrasonic rumble. She peeped over at Agnith, then curled her wing and tried to hide as much of the pink beneath it as she could.
Q'sis sat down at the opposite precipice of the ledge from the dragons. Even if Unath called Oferrath down- which she might if her hiding game remained interesting -there would be room for the him and his two patrons, just barely. Dragons were quite compact when their wings were closed, more gigantic and less titanic. "Why did you guess tea?" the Weyrling asked as he sat down, letting his lower legs hang from the point of the ledge. "This time of night it would have been easy to filch something stronger." He opened his bags from the kitchens and began laying out the amenities: tea, and meat pies. All of them had a tea pouch worth two fills of their stone mugs, a water skin, and two palm-sized meat pies. Even Delilah enjoyed the full offering, whereas Q'sis normally accounted himself the lion's share of any supplied food.
He did not feel too much like eating, but he had promised vitals if the others needed them. He had wrapped the pies tightly, so none of their scent could broach on the more reassuring odors of dragonriders fresh from fighting. Q'sis glanced at Agnith, or rather the bits of Agnith that escaped Unath's umbrella. "You dimglows forget the night with all your healering anyway." The tanrider had not brought out a glow, and the twilight was as he claimed it: hot, breezy, and clear. Only stars were available, but once his eyes adjusted, stars were enough.
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Chek
Weyrlingmaster
chekct[M:-15]
I'm so magical I vomit rainbows
Posts: 1,091
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Post by Chek on Jun 13, 2012 18:29:29 GMT -5
Yawning, L’kie scowled at Q’sis, ignoring the part about the lack of autonomy and his own inevitable doom (Q’sis did have a point on that matter – L’kie hardly doubted Damali would drive him to his death long before Thread or overwork could do the job), instead commenting, “Not physical chains, but would you have let us be had we simply fallen to bed after our shift? Consider it accepting the lesser of two evils. I’d rather come under my own power than be stolen from my bed in the night to attend a tea party.”
He didn’t doubt Q’sis capable of packing him off, should the urge take his comrade – though L’kie edged the tanrider out in height, Q’sis massively outbulked L’kie.
Regardless, he obediently followed the commands to return to the ledge, looking upwards to notice that, yes, it was indeed a nice night – he’d not noticed in the previous bustle. His attention drifted to his dragon, peering over the rim from the spot normally claimed by the tan that was concealing Agnith, watching the other two dragons in mild fasincation.
L’kie snorted and silently commanded the blue to get a better grip on the wall before he fell off and crushed them all, before turning to regard Q’sis at the question presented to him, “It’s rather obvious – you should know by now that I tend not to indulge myself with alcohol; not mentioning that I assume you wish me awake rather than dozing like a fellis-drunk idiot – and I’d hope you’d have pity enough not to provide klah, when it is obvious that a stimulant is that last thing either myself or Delilah need. And, of course, you know that I…enjoy tea. Temptation, or bait, perhaps.”
The bluerider shrugged, and took his place in the dim light, accepting a meat pie, “Or maybe I just can smell the tea leaves.”
He munched blankly on the pie for a few moments, critically interested to find that he must not have been eating – upon introduction of food to his innards, he found himself ravenous. Still, he paced himself rather than snarfling the provided meal down.
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