Post Patrol (Open)

[Kila]

Winter, 6th Turn, 11th Pass

Nadya wandered into the Dining Hall well past midnight. Her patrol past
the harbor had turned up nothing but chilling wind and her tour of the
outer parts of the Weyr little more. The cold did not bother her as it
did some, but she was chilled to the bone; fingers and toes frozen
despite her fur-lined boots and gloves. The Handler woman filled a mug
with klah and drew close to the fire, Nadysk a looming shadow in her
wake. It was considered bad form to bring your lifemate into the Hall
once he or she had grown past a certain size. The kitchens were and
especially busy place and it would have been irritating to the weyrfolk
to have to make detours around dragons and whers blocking their path.
There was practically no one there at the moment though, and Nadya did
not give a flying fuck about the rules.

Much better, Nadysk rumbled, settling onto the
floor and wrapping himself loosely around His. Much, Nadya agreed
with a small and rare but genuine smile. Her genuine feelings were
reserved only for Nadysk. She leaned back against his mountainous bulk
and sipped her klah as she stared absently into the flames. She had time
to burn- an odd concept after her past couple of turns. Though only six,
Aydan had become quite self-sufficient. She did not need to bring him
with her or go right back to him after patrol. Neither did she have to
worry about her irritating blue pillie following her around anymore. Bug
had adopted Aydan as his true human and was never far from the boy's
side. Which left her.... alone.

Nadya like being alone, preferred it even, or at least she had before
she'd gotten knocked up and stuck with little Aydan. I still like
it, she reaffirmed. It was just strange. Nadysk was all of the
company that she really needed, but she was beginning to again crave a
different sort of company. The kind that was good for late nights and
cold weather. Her lips curved into a grin in her cup, remembering such
nights that she had had. Her appetites had vanished after Aydan's birth,
but they had been slowly recovering over the past couple of turns.
Nadysk could sense it; had had started to chase more often and with more
conviction. His was changed, for sure, but he was happy that she was
acting like her wicked old self, as frustrating as that could be. Nadya
scratched his eye ridges and he let out a growlish sound of pleasure.
Much better.

[RhiaBlack]

Czervon wasn't at all opposed to night-time work. Whers were a lot less noisy than Dragons, it seemed, and their Handlers mirrored that more often than not; or so he had noticed. All the same, he found it much less annoying to talk to those whose ranks he'd hopefully soon be joining. He wasn't a man of many words in the first place, but his point tended to get across well enough when the need rose.

He had only seen one other Candidate during lessons who had to be older than him. Not by much, but compared to the rest he'd been lumped in and forced to deal with, he was an old man. Most of them barely looked to be even remotely close to twenty turns, and here he was almost at his thirty mark. There was a marginal grumble - some of them had shown on the roster as standing for both Dragons as well as Whers, so there were bound to be kids among the ranks.

It didn't help that this place was as sharding cold as the northern sea-ice, either. Fresh off another round of chores and wrapped in a marginally nice hide coat that reached almost to his mid-thigh, Czervon's gloved hands shoved into lined pockets as he hunched his back against the wind and lumbered inside. Almost ursine in his tendancies sometimes, the sea-savvy former shipmate stomped the snow from his boots just within the doorway, careful not to splash from pools where others had done the same before him, and pulled the knit cap off his head. Scarf left where it was against his neck, he carried himself to the kitchen in search of something warm.

At least there was Klah.

Stirring the pot a bit to make sure it was all warmed through, he poured himself one of the larger mugs so that the broader sides would warm most of his hands. Moving from the kitchens, it took him a moment to realize that his potential perch at the fire would be occupied with company. A very large bit of it, too. A slow and annoyed breath through both nostrils, before he loosened his scarf up a bit and picked his way with long strides between tables, benches, and chairs.

Pulling himself up beside the fire-warmed stone, he granted the Wher and its Handler a wide berth as he pulled the length of knit fleece out of his coat and let it hang against his chest. Nothing was said outside of the customary greeting - she had a Wher, so she outranked him. Though he could care two collective shards about whether it was rude or not, he did care that someone would say something to Audren, and he'd get in trouble. The last thing he wanted was to spend the rest of his life stuck in Tillek, working on Master knots with two dozen other people a turn and doing his time in his grandfather's shop. There was more to life than that, even if being away from the sea made him positively miserable.

Was it Miss, Missus, or something else? He was still figuring out knots - ironic as it was - so he finally decided on the safest route. Gruffly, once he'd swallowed a mouthful of body-warming Klah, he uttered it; though his attention never wavered beyond the flames.

"Ma'am."

[Kila]

Nadysk heard Czervon before Nadya, as was usual. The mountainous
Brown lifted his head to stare at the entrance as soon as the man
appeared, his multi-facetous eyes glowing as he examined him. Not
sensing a threat, he turned away after a few short moments, back to the
warmth of the fire. Who is it love? Nadya asked absently, her own
eyes lost in the flames. Candidate. The fact
neither piqued her interest nor aroused her ire, wrapped as she was in
her own thougts. There was always the chance that the child, as she
assumed it was, would simply go away. She always hoped that they would
go away. Most of the time they would, cowed by her rank and cold
demeanor, but there were those who persisted despite that. Hopefully
it will not be one of those.

No such luck. Nadya closed her eyes in silent annoyance as she heard
footsteps approach, bidding her peaceful moment of medetation farewell.
"Ma'am," she heard, and turned her head slowly to see who it was. A
man, she knew from his voice even before she saw him. A wher
candidate. She recognized him easily. Though she did not pay any
mind to the children that were paraded about, this one stuck out like a
dizzy wherry. Czervon dwarfed the others in both age and size- a hard
combination to miss among a sea of teens. "Sir," she replied to
him without warmth, chilly despite the fire before her. After Q'sis she
had little love for his gender.

Czervon was not bad-looking though, that much she could not deny. She
did not try to disguise the look-over she gave him, her eyes appraising
him from head to toe despite herself. No bonded? she asked
Nadysk, just to hear the answer again. None. No
lifemate. Too bad. She looked back to the flames, her
interest in the man ebbing. Nadysk, however, was puzzled by him now that
he was close. Smell like salt, he said, his
nostrils flaring as he huffed in Czervon's direction. It was perplexing.
Though they had left the ocean behind after their patrol the scent of it
clung to the Candidate. Nadysk snuffed again, unable to ignore it.
"Your scent is throwing off my Wher," Nadya said to him though
she did not look back his way. She was more patrial to the salty sting
of her klah. His presence ittitated her, since she had been frustrated
for other reasons when he arrived, and her tone was biting. "He would
like to know if you were rolling in the ocean before you came in."

[RhiaBlack]

The response snapped his attention towards her, gray-green eyes narrowed habitually before he abruptly turned them back to the fireplace - once he realized she was looking at him. It would do him no good to make a horrible first impression; he couldn't tell by the dark and her fire-flickered features if there was any surprise or not.

Sir. That was cute. It surfaced the faintest flecks of a smirk, tugging so faintly there was a question as to if it had existed or not in the first place. He was content to let the response linger between them in silence, cupping the mug of Klah between his gloved hands; after a moment or two, his fingers finally warmed and he removed them. It revealed the various scars that covered his fingers and the backs of his hands, minuscule gouges from hooks and the like in his time on his ship.

The second statement from her drew his gaze back towards her, then to the Wher behind her. He couldn't easily tell the color off-hand. The fire's light looked to be dispersing it; could be a big Black, or a Brown, or something between. Maybe one of those Burgundies, but hadn't those been new? His eyes shifted back towards the flames, raising a brow slightly but not answering right off. Another sip of Klah, before some inward thought was shoved on a mental shelf and his nostrils flared.

"Taste like it, too. Wouldn't advise licking me, though. I get pretty sharding vicious when people touch me without asking, and I imagine I taste pretty terrible, besides."

Czervon turned to peer towards her, though by that point she wasn't looking at him. That big wher of hers was certainly perplexed, though. Nostrils flaring, lots of sniffing at him. Any sane person would probably have been scared of it. Czervon had faced down scarier things, and if it wanted to eat him, it probably would have done so by that point.

"Depends. If I tell you I snuck down to the beach to take a walk, is Ausk going to end up in my room looking for answers later on? Or worse yet, am I going to get dragged by the scruff of my coat to Audren's office?"

There was something of a half-wry grin, that vanished just as quickly as he could manifest it, into the edge of his mug. By Faranth this stuff was good. Dalibor had amazing Klah. That alone was pretty much enough to win him over.

"I'm a Journeyman Fisher. Was on a boat, before I came to this Weyr. Been around the ocean since the night I was born, not that it matters much. Spent most of my life on a boat up until recently. Takes a few months for the salt-air to wash out, I suspect."

[Kila]

The man's answer surprised Nadya pleasantly and her lips curved into a wicked smile. For his clever response she would aknowledge him. There were so many dull people in the Weyr; who knew, maybe this one with his fast wits and toungue would amuse her. "But I do so enjoy licking things," she said with mock sorrow, turning to Czervon with mischief in her eyes. "And Nadysk and I like the taste of salt." She leaned back against her bonded and chuckled into her klah as she took a sip. "Are you vicious when you've given your permission to be touched as well? Force can be attractive in a man."

The mention of Audren only amused her further. Every last creature that crawled through the lower caverns adored their Wher Queen. Audren was not a soft woman, but she inspired a fierce loyalty in people- a skill the new Weyrleaders would do well to learn and fast. "Being in Audren's office is much better than having Ausk in your chambers, believe me that. I patrol the harbor front and the outer part of the Weyr by the sea so no, I wouldn't believe your flat story, and no, I will not drag you off to her majesty." If anything she would go down there herself and climb into the RedHandler's bed. If Audren was in the mood. Another woman and her bed were what Nadya really wanted, but clever conversation would have to do for now.

His answer was less interesting than their coy reparté but it did raise interesting questions about their mysterious Candidate. "A fisherman," she repeated, weighing the word and the truth of it on her tongue. "Or an ex-Fisher, as of recently. Strange that you would voluntarily abandon your craft so late in lfe. The saltiness suits you, or so Nadysk thinks. Even still it is a much more plausable story, if that is indeed the one you are sticking to." The Brown gave another mighty sniff and crept closer, forcing Nadya to stand straight. "Uh oh, I think he might want to lick you. Should I ask permission?" she teased.

[RhiaBlack]

Czervon's lips pulled upwards in an obvious sense of amusement. He raised a brow, though maintained his focus on the fireplace all the same. Another sip of Klah, and he shifted his weight to plant his backside down on the warmed stone. Hooking his boots across themselves, heel to ankle, he began to dry them from the heat as well as further warm himself.

"I didn't take you for a licker, truthfully. You seem more a biter, to me. Then again, I've underestimated people before."

There was a quieted chuckle from the Fisher-Candidate, before he set the bottom of his mug against his thigh and leaned back on one hand. Nadysk was given a once-over curiously; it was plain to see that while Czervon hadn't been there long, he did have a manner of fascination for Whers.

"It depends largely on the person. I'm not overly fond of personal involvement, so when certain needs come up, it's a matter of finding someone I won't have to worry about being a creep. Women - no offense - tend to get overly attached. I'm not into that. They show up, they serve their purpose, and they get out." He sipped his Klah again, eyes still settled on the big Brown - though he still wasn't really able to tell what color Nadysk was, given the lighting and subsequent darkness further out. He shrugged rather nonchalantly. "If they like it that way. I'm not picky. Some say I'm heavy-handed, some don't like it, but at the end of the day as long as they get the job done, I don't really care either way. I'm not in the market for a spouse or any of that garbage."

Czervon smirked faintly, turning to look towards the flames once more. There wasn't so much a cold calculation to his features as a small unwillingness to get 'comfortable' with anyone. Though, Nadya's somewhat open, somewhat sly, and very nonchalant manner of addressing him - let alone the fact she seemed to be pretty blunt and equally truthful - set him marginally at ease. He could appreciate a woman who didn't beat around the bush. It was a nice change. Audren clearly surrounded herself with a myriad of personalities, but Nadya seemed to have something in common with Der. Both of them were no-nonsense. It made Czervon wonder if he wasn't going to end up making more friends than he suspected here. Maybe this whole thing wasn't so bad.

"I was on a ship, up to a few months back. It went down on a reef off some of the Ring Islands. I was the only survivor of 9 men, and it made me marked, so to speak. Unlucky, some would call it, but I suppose they can't really say that, given that's the second time the sea's tried to take me and failed. Regardless, it's a bad omen to the Craft, so no others would take me on. Said it was bad luck. I'd consigned myself to obtaining my Master knots and spending the rest of my life in port shipping out supplies and such, but then word reached me of the program here. Something about a Plague, and how other applicants were always needed, so I figured that I might as well try it. The worst that happens is I never Impress, and oh no, I help do something meaningful that isn't 'go thread these lures and tie down these crab cages'."

Czervon took another pull from his Klah, and pressed his lips against the back of his hand as he swallowed. Habitual, it was, to keep his lips from freezing from the wetness in frigid climates. It was something he tended to do without thinking, sometimes, and it showed when he suddenly realized that there was no reason nor place for it here, and removed it; mocking a wipe of his mouth instead.

"It strikes me to reason that Ausk would be a far more threatening punishment than just being in Audren's office..." He snickered slightly, holding his ground as Nadysk approached him a bit more. "I dunno, I might lick him back, he doesn't get offended by that, does he?"

Czervon couldn't help but be amused. Whers were intriguing, their different personalities even more so.

"What's his name, and his color? I can't tell with the light being so off in here. Czervon, by the way. Seems the well-mannered thing to do to give you mine, if I'm asking about Yours."

[Kila]

"How very astute," she said, a smily playing at  her
lips. "I've been known to bite as well. I'll keep Nadysk from it
though- it's far less enjoyable at the jaws of a Wher." She turned
and settled against the wall next to the fireplace since her bonded was
slowly but surely creeping away from her. The stones were pleasantly
warm against her back but nothing compared to the heat of another living
thing.

Nadya flirted with a frown when Czervon began to speak seriously. What,
she wondered, made him think she was interested in his personal opinions
and preferences? You ask, Nadysk reminded her.
Oh. Right... When she pried people had an annoying habit of
answering her unfiltered questions. Still, she did not dislike the tune
of his song. "Women are clingy," she could at least
commiserate. "I know the feel. Children are even worse." She
hated that. With only a few rare exceptions Nadya wanted her
relationships to be strictly in the bedroom. Business and then bounce.
She liked women though, a hell of a lot more than she liked men. One of
the only things she hated more than clingy, pathetic, unwanted attention
was an arrogent man with a cocksure attitude. Perhaps she had too much
in common with them. Though they make such good playthings.

The reasons behind Czervon's candidacy came tumbling out next. Nadya had
a way of getting people to spill their secrets, intentionally or no. His
tale was intruiging- much more so than most of the histories she had
heard. "Oh my, so you're bad luck? How interesting," she purred.
"A half drowned fisherman. Ex-fisherman. Given up his knots to seek
knots of another sort." She flicked the rope that was pinned below
her collar bone. "You may be able to make use of them even here
though; there's all sorts of people at Dalibor." She grinned, her
pearly whites flashing in the firelight. People who would love to be
tied up.

Nadysk drew in close as Czervon asked about him. "Nadysk, my one and
only. He's Brown," she answered fleetingly. "I'm not sure that
anyone has ever licked him before. You might have to try to find
out." The thought was amusing. Her lifemate looked large and
threatening (and could be) but he was a big softie at heart. Not
everyone else knew that though. The Brown stopped when he was face to
face with the strange man. He pushed his snout forward and sniffed,
nostrils flaring as he sucked the scent off of Czervon.
Salt, he rumbled, though the cause was already
clear. He parted his jaws almost delicately and licked the human jaw to
ear, his tongue wet and rough. Nadya pressed her lips against her mug to
suppress a laugh. Salty. Fish, ocean, sweat, was
Nadysk's verdict. He gave Czervon one last look and then thudded back
over to the fire, appeased.

"You'll have to forgive him," Nadya said, the mirth evident in
her voice, "We patrol the docks but there are never any fisherfolk
out at midnight. What an irony." She was visibly on the verge of
disolving into laughter- an unusal state for her. Nadysk was pleased
that his antics had amused her. "Czervon, if Whers are licking you
you'll go far here."

[RhiaBlack]

"Children are the worst," he agreed, sighing with something of a frown. "Some of the ones here can't seem to mind their own business if it were the end of them. They seem smart enough to figure out when I'm not interested in hearing them chatter, so I suppose that's a good thing. Not really interested in having any of my own, so I suspect I'd best be careful. It's harder with Whers than Dragons, isn't it?"

Czervon peered into his mug. Good. Still quite a bit of Klah left. He wouldn't have to bother with getting up and finding more, let alone waiting on it to stir up enough to evenly heat. No doubt the daytime drudges were probably on their way in to see to that, anyway. He took another long sip, lips hinting at a smirk with the admittance she was a biter. She didn't seem overly interested in him, either way. That was fine. He understood the no-personal-involvements-between-Candidates-and-others rule, after all. Stupid children getting themselves into situations that would get their dragonets and wherets killed was no good, and the fact there had to be a rule on something that should have been common sense set his teeth on edge.

All the same, he wasn't particularly prone to coming across as arrogant. Just...loud, most of the time. Even someone with his rather forceful personality tended to have quiet time every once in a while. He was sure of himself, but not others; which normally lead to his less-than-stellar reputation.

"Bad luck, unwanted, however you want to term it. Honestly I could care less. They made their point, now it's my turn to make mine by showing them where they screwed up. Not that it really matters. I'm sure the last thing you care to hear is some liberal sob story about how I overcame so much hardship to get here, how my life was horrible. It wasn't. Lots of people have it much worse, and I don't regret anything. I've got my scars, not my excuses, for what it's worth. Seems like there's a lot of people I've run into here who could stand to realize the same." He offered something of a grin, making no effort to actually pet Nadysk as the Wher drew closer. "Not so much ex-Fisher. I imagine I'll eventually go walk the tables for Master knots, even though I'll never have my own ship again. Seems more useful and of more purpose to be here."

Czervon sipped his Klah, and turned his gaze towards her at the mention of people who liked being tied up.

"Could find you one night, when I've graduated. Show you how to tie some. Might be useful somehow, be it for...general purpose, or other things." He shrugged, the offer almost passive. She wouldn't have moved if she was interested. Or maybe she had because she was. Probably not. Some people seemed to care only about their bondeds, and she stuck out at him as one of them. Especially with the 'one and only' comment. "Don't take it the wrong way, I'd think a woman of rank like you would find her jollies and rough tides handled a lot more proficiently by someone you don't have to worry about a rule with."

All the same, she wasn't anywhere near ugly. He wouldn't mind a roll in the furs with her a time or two, but who knew. Something to consider in the future, when he wasn't under such strict regulations as far as conduct. Something it was hard for him to get used to - being able to sleep with who he wanted, and then come here to be told he was supposed to be celibate, for the real meaning behind it, until after he'd graduated. For a man used to getting his personal time whenever he absolutely needed it, two turns or more of nothing was going to make him terribly frustrated when the time came for his first chase. Or run, if he ended up with a female. The idea amused him. It would solve the issue of facing some crazy woman looking to be espoused. He stifled the urge to snicker.

The lick, however, served to see the otherwise stern and no-nonsense mountain of a man break into laughter. The bark was sharp, rich, and full-chested with genuine humor, before he wiped at the side of his face. The smile didn't fade straight off, though his eyes glinted as he watched Nadysk lumber off.

"I can't say I've ever been licked by a Wher before..." He wriggled his finger in his ear, "...Or gotten ear-licked by one, either. New things to see and experience every night, I suppose."

Shifting, he leaned back on his hand again, and peered up towards her.

"Ma'am, I'd hope that a Wher licking me just means I'm not tasty enough to eat. That alone looks like it means that I'll go far by proximity, in that maybe I taste awful enough he'll tell his friends, and they won't want to eat me, either."

Czervon's gaze turned back to the fire as his grin faded, though that tweak of upturned lips and the small hint of laugh-lines against his cheeks didn't really do the same.

"All the same as it may be, I'd rather not go too far. Just far enough. Then it's fun for everyone."

Another pull off his Klah, to mask the smile that threatened to join his muffled snicker.