Go With What You Know [Open!]

[/i][/color] call right in her ear, stretching for the sky. Having to twist and pause to catch the creature to try to hold on to it only made the blackrider’s progress towards the lake a difficult one. For the umpteenth time, she pulled up short, scrunching her face up in a disgusted wince as she reached up to untangle the green bug from her blonde hair. It let out a long whistle and a series of exuberant lklklklklk lklk lklklk clicking in the brief expanse of time that it was lifted into the air, wiggling its legs as if it were flying and tugging at strands of hair in the process. “Luk, stop it. Calm down.” She hissed, bringing the green back down to hold in front of her and it promptly began seeking to cling to her wrist, filling her head with images of the sky, the clouds and the black dragon that soared through them.

“He’s fine,” she muttered, unsure if the bug could even understand her. It still wiggled, pulling at her wrist to worm its way free from her grasp to shoot its way up her arm as soon as it managed to escape her fingers. Her face once more twisted with the sensation, though she tried to ignore it and continue walking. She just needed to make it to the lake.

As if on cue, either in accordance to Luk’s thinking of him or to oppose her hopes of finding solace in the lake, Takurrath filled her head. ‘UlmaMine it’s Unath and Hers heading for the lake the big man and Unath is intimidating but nice sort of and they’re going to the lake too what do we do?!’ Stopping in her tracks, frown creasing through her brow as she stared ahead, thinking over the rush of information as one hand absently moved to try to reach for the green that clung to her back, feelers teasing the ends of her hair.

Unath, which meant Q’sis. A great hulking man that she’d had the pleasure of not having to see much of, primarily from some active avoidance on her part and then from the amusement of graduating before him. Now she stood on a course to potentially run right into him. If she kept on going, which she didn’t necessarily have to. She could turn back, find something else to do until some point later in the day or maybe even tomorrow.

Takurrath really needed the bath though. And Luk could probably use a good swim. And why shouldn’t she go ahead? She wasn’t a coward, she had a spine. She had every right to the lake and it was certainly big enough for the both of them. She could ignore him or be courteous, and who was to say he’d even acknowledge her. She remembered the way he’d stomped right by her, refused to even call her by her name, refused to so much as look at her at first… It annoyed her still, but it was a long time ago. It was a sizeable chunk of time to hold a grudge against a man that she’d only had the displeasure of dealing with for a handful of times. Fueled by spite, simmering temper and just a bit of embarrassment for her own pettiness, she resumed her march to the lake.

‘Go ahead and land. Have a dip. We’ll be there in a bit.’ She nudged, picking up the pace with the vague determination of at least reaching the goal first. Like a good boy, Takurrath did as he was told, circling the lake and back-winging viciously to land softly on the shore before sliding into the cool waters, ducking his head to snort bubbles. And Luk continued to trill her chorus of lklklk lklk lk lklklklk into Ulma’s ear.[/ul][/size]

[/i] sound pleased to see him and that made the little black quite happy as well. Friends were happy to see friends! His eyes swirled with caution and hope as he watched the subqueen flying towards him, his own wings pressing tightly against his frame and his head ducking low to the water’s surface. And when she landed, he flinched, darting back from her massive form, rocking with the waves produced from her landing. From her spot approaching the lake, Ulma winced as well, though she assumed (or hoped, really) that the crack of hide against water only made it sound worse than it actually was.

No longer alone in the lake, Takurrath watched as Unath approached him, his claws digging into the mud to hold his ground, optimistic that the tan meant him no harm. He squirmed as she nosed at him, shifting as if to scooch from her reach, though he stretched his own neck out to nose back at her in what felt like quite a daring feat. His nostrils flared as he breathed her in, and it was a peculiar mix of sullied water and lots of blood. ‘A dirty woman what’s that mean? Oh! You’re here for a bath too because I’m here for a bath because I’m dirty too…’ Words tumbled over each other, his normally exuberant tone softened with his awe and uncertainty. It kept him from rambling on too much.

Ulma was torn between keeping an eye on her dragon as he interacted with someone so much larger than himself and stealing glances at the tan’s partner. Luk nuzzled her way to the blonde’s shoulder, hugging right up against the woman’s neck and her feelers teased at her hair as she trilled happily about the fact of two dragons! Two! How thrilling, and she let it be known that she was quite thrilled. It was obnoxious and Ulma reached up to pat the tips of her fingers briefly, firmly, against the creature’s head to quiet it.

As Q’sis passed her by, Ulma finally deigned it suitable to actually look at the man rather than try to subtly peek at him. The aesthetic temptation to look a shirtless man over, typical for her and dimmed only slightly by her general disdain for the particular man, was dashed entirely by the look that crossed his face. Immediately, her eyes narrowed and her frown deepened. It took her a second to realize that the apparent repulsion had been towards the bug latched on to her and not for her—but though she didn’t like the pillie much either, his grimace did not create any kind of sense of comraderie built on the idea Yeah, that’s what I said. Instead, her defenses were riled, suddenly protective of the green that so often filled her head with its dreams of flying and her heart with its overwhelming happiness. Luk was her disgusting creepy bug and her nails bit into her palm as she balled her up fist for a moment.

Biting down on her temper, she reached for the green pillie, awkwardly managing to pull the creature away to set it on the ground, encouraging it towards the lake where it swiftly sped off to duck into the water, moving with the speed and grace of its kind once it submerged. With pursed lips and a tense jaw, Ulma kept her eyes on the ground as she straightened her clothes, mindful of the wear and tear of fabric that she didn’t mind getting dirty and sopping wet. It was less than appealing, though she actively informed herself that she didn’t care. There was no one to impress. No one at all in the immediate vicinity that she required any sort of validation from. Certainly not some man with an ego problem that couldn’t even manage to graduate from weyrlinghood.

Takurrath inched backwards as Q’sis joined them in the water, keeping an eye on the man. It seemed confusing when he was acknowledged. Not because the man was greeting him at all—which was quite nice and thoughtful—but because Ulma didn’t like him. She grew very angry with thoughts of Q’sis, he could feel it boiling beneath her skin. So how was he meant to behave? Ulma had offered no instruction and still did not. Instead, Takurrath remained quiet, though he nodded his head to acknowledge the greeting and ducked his head down to the water once more, aware of the feel of his pillie-friend soaring around his legs.

With her arms up in the process of tying her hair back, Ulma glanced up to the man as he spoke to her. Again, her brow creased with a frown, now one borne of confusion as she glanced to Takurrath. She reached for him with her mind, conducting an inventory of his feelings. He was uncertain, confused, wary, excited, hopeful—a lot of things, but not hurt. “No,” she stressed, dropping her hands as she approached the water’s edge, still looking over the black as he submerged his head briefly. Then she looked to Q’sis, lifting her lip in a vague sneer. “Why?” She didn’t like the thought that he might have noticed something about her own dragon that she was not aware of, and she refused to accept that such a thought might be a possibility. Because it wasn’t.[/ul][/size]

[/b] She spat out the accusation quickly and without much thought at all of what he’d said. She didn’t even want to consider that he might possibly be right—though she supposed that if there was even the most miniscule chance that Takurrath was hurt, it was something she rightly should consider… she didn’t have to like it though. And she really wouldn’t, not one bit. “Apparently ‘seeing things’ will have to go on your long list of faults too.”

Despite her clearly voiced denial of his claim that Takurrath was carting along an injury in some shape or form, Ulma was already treading her way into the lake, sloshing less than gracefully through the shallows. By the time her thighs were submerged, she lowered herself down to kick off, swimming for a beat in one swift motion before touching the bottom again to stand, the water line now crossing her chest. She thought about ducking beneath the water entirely, but just as soon as the thought came into her mind then so did the image of popping up again with one big leaf plastered over her face. How appealing. She kept her head above the water as she kept her eyes pointedly focused on the black, urging him over with a mental call and a small backward nod of her head.

It wasn’t that Takurrath didn’t want to listen to his other half—because that’s all he ever really wanted to do, listen and make her happy—but it was just that a big stream of water was suddenly shooting right at him and it really was quite distracting! It startled him, making him flinch backward and jerk his head back. Not only was that distracting, but so was Unath’s reaction to her own disruption as she suddenly stumbled over herself and fell. Ulma couldn’t even be mad at Takurrath for ignoring her command because she was also quite distracted with the antics of the tan as said antics produced quite an extraordinary set of waves. They knocked her off balance easily and so much for intentions to stay above water. She popped back up with a sputter, fortunately free of any embarrassing lake debris sitting perched on her face, though her hair was certainly clinging in the way and she was quick to push it all away, hopefully before it was noticed. Eugh.

Momentarily fascinated with the bubble that the sub-queen talked about, little Takurrath focused on it well until it popped before he was looking back up to the large queen with quite a sense of awe. She was peculiar. Not at all like other tans. Not that he really had the social expertise to determine what composed majority of other tans and what separated Unath from them, nor could he really determine that they were the majority and Unath was the minority—but Unath still seemed odd to him. Captivatingly so, really. He managed to mimick her grin, chuckling to himself. ‘That was quite well really quite well I saw the bubble though are you okay? Because you were knocked over and you’d tripped and it’d be sad if you got hurt though I’m sure you’re not hurt I hope you’re not hurt… that was a nice bubble.’

“Takurrath, come here.” Ulma stated firmly, water beading at the end of her nose and catching her dragon’s attention easily. Producing ripples that were exponentially smaller than Unath’s own, he tread his way over to the blonde and she was looking him over as he did. Pft, there wasn’t any burn.[/ul][/size]

[/i]. Nor am I insecure.”[/b] She bit out fiercely, Takurrath’s foot slipping from her hands to press down into the mud once more. Her eyes continued to glare daggers at Q’sis, even while the black was paying mind instead to his large tan companion as she invited him to swim with her. Unath was very nice. She didn’t seem to mind that he was so far beneath her class, just a tiny little black. She wanted to swim with him anyways! He turned his focus back to Ulma and she looked back to him, sorting through the tumble of words and images that he poured into her head without filter before she finally offered a small nod. He could go swimming too. Swiftly, he twisted about to wiggle happily through the water, claws squelching through muddy bottom until he could duck his head under the water to submerge after his friend. Pillies welcomed their intrusion with individual clicks and squeals and chirps, and one dreamy green swooped around to latch to his head knobs with familiarity. ‘Lklklklklklklklklklklklk!’

“If I’m lucky, you’ll drown.” She snapped back to the man. It wasn’t the smartest retort that she could have come up with. She was too annoyed to care. Reaching up, she jerked at her pony-tail to tug the tie back into place before wading further into the water. It was true, she was not dressing for swimming. She hadn’t exactly planned to go swimming. She wanted to bathe Takurrath and let Luk out of her hair for a bit, and that was it. In all honesty, that’s mostly what she wanted now. Except now there was the spite and refusal to do anything that Q’sis told her to do, so she’d swim in clothes that weren’t meant for swimming. And probably look like an idiot while doing it, but oh well.

Crouching down into the water, she pushed off the floor to swim further into the depths of the lake. “Now, how exactly do you justify being as stupidly rude as you are?” She called after him, pushing lazily through the water, eyes down to watch the scoop of her arms beneath the surface as she swam.[/ul][/size]