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Post by lyonza on Jan 12, 2011 6:20:10 GMT -6
Z'mer was immensely grateful for his weyr with direct access to the lower caverns. It made getting to the bathing cavern so much easier and today he really needed it. Riding practice was gruelling as always and he was hot, tired, dirty and sweaty and just wanted to sink into a nice warm pool and soak until his skin was all wrinkly.
He had made a beeline for the baths the moment training was over and he was glad he did - there was no-one there for the moment. He stripped down, tossed his dirty clothing into a hamper to be cleaned and sank into the hot water with a sigh of bliss.
He had taken the time to detour past the kitchens to get some chilled wine and he gave a small sound of pleasure as he sipped the wine. "What could get better than this?" he asked the room in general, not expecting an answer - he was alone there after all.
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Post by missing on Jan 13, 2011 6:32:16 GMT -6
Midnael made his way down to the bathing caverns quickly and silently. He didn't look at anyone, didn't stop for anything, he just wanted to get clean after the chores of the day and hopefully avoid the other candidates by finishing his bath before they made their way down here. Finiky chirped and twisted her long neck through his hair and he reached up to stoke a finger along the side of her head.
He managed to make it down to the tunnels leading caverns without running into anyone and sighed with relief. With any luck...
"What could get better than this?"
Midnael stopped in his tracks, he hadn't quite been quick enough to make it down first it seemed. Well he should have expected as much he guessed. He was about to turn around to come back later when Finiky let out another chirp, she wanted to know why they had come all the way down there if they were just going to turn right back around.
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Post by lyonza on Jan 13, 2011 6:59:53 GMT -6
Z'mer nearly drowned as he slipped under the water - his sudden movement to check the door had caused him to slip off the edge of the bench that was below the water level. It was a firelizard, but that meant there was someone else. He spluttered as he emerged from the water, peered into the goblet to see if his wine was ok and stood up fully, wiping the water from his face. Whoever had designed the bathing caverns had a sense of modesty because the water came to just below his navel - must be to get the Holderbred that came here to relax.
His gaze fell on the young man standing in the doorway. He was pretty... really pretty. Z'mer would have mistaken him for a girl otherwise, but something about the way he stood made it clear that this was a boy.
"Welcome to the bathing caverns," he said with a genial smile. "Come, I won't bite and its nice to have company when one is relaxing." He settled on the bench again, submerged to the shoulders. "I'm Z'mer, bronze Amoneth's rider," he introduced himself as he frowned at the goblet again. "Hmm... refill time," he said as he poured some more wine.
He looked up again. "If you don't want to share, the other baths are just as fine - I really won't mind," he said.
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Post by missing on Jan 13, 2011 7:29:33 GMT -6
Midnael blinked at the man, an almost invisible smile on his lips. The man must not have expected anyone else here so soon or else he doubted that he would have managed to catch a dragonrider off guard. The appraisal of his appearance by the bronze rider was not lost on Midnael, but it wasn't unusual, and at least he hadn't started hitting on him... Men tended to be angry when they realized that they were in fact hitting on a boy.
Fin chirped at him again, bringing to his attention that he was still just standing there and had not in fact answered the man. He shook his head slightly, "No I'm fine bathing here I just wasn't expecting others down here so soon."
He set his bundle of clean clothes on a bench, removing the dirt and grime covered ones he was wearing and folding them before setting them down on the same bench. He picked up a bag of sweetsand and set it next to the lip of the pool before stepping in himself. Fin chirped happily and jumped from his shoulder into the water as he settled himself into the water.
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Post by lyonza on Jan 13, 2011 8:24:06 GMT -6
Z'mer noted that his appraisal got noticed, but nothing gave away what the boy was thinking. Z'mer felt ancient in that moment - he knew he had to be at least twice the youngling's age and right then he felt every Turn of it.
He grinned and moved over a bit since he had been sitting in the middle of the bench. "So, young one without a name, did you have the same thought I had to get to the baths before anybody else and have some peace and quiet?" He sipped his wine and leaned back against the wall of the bath, closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth seeping into his muscles. He kept his eyes closed - he was really relaxed and had a hard time to keep them open - as a polite fiction that he was giving the boy some privacy. "Judging from your general sweatiness, I'd say you've been at chores. You're a candidate here?"
He heard the water ripple as the youngling got in and was not expecting the little splash as the firelizard jumped in as well. He lazily opened an eye. "Ah, another to join the party," he said with a slow smile. "What is your firelizard's name?" he asked.
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Post by missing on Jan 13, 2011 9:45:00 GMT -6
Midnael nodded at Z'mer's inquiry about his plan to get down for a bath quickly.
"Her name is Finiky, or Fin, she will respond the same to either," Midnael watched as the green splashed her wings against the water and acted like a general moron, "As for me, mine is Midnael, and yes for now I'm a candidate."
He dunked his head under the water and reached for a small handful of sweetsand. He rubbed at the blond locks carefully, certainly with more care than most boys would have with their hair. Rather than rinsing the suds out he pulled a metal comb from the bag and began to run the teeth through.
Fin, seemingly used to this routine took the opportunity to observe the bronze rider instead. The small green swam over to him multi-faceted eyes whirling as she tilted her head up at him and chirped questioningly.
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Post by lyonza on Jan 14, 2011 3:29:23 GMT -6
"Finiky? That makes her sound like a picky eater or something," Z'mer grinned. "I've wanted a firelizard for a while but keep missing the clutches around Telgar, maybe here I'd be around when one of them hatches. And well met, Midneal. Where do you come from?" He'd been trying to place the boy's accent, but so far he's come up blank. He certainly wasn't from Telgar or even Benden and definitely no Bitran.
He put the goblet on the side of the bath and submerged for a moment before coming up again, wiping the water from his face. He reached for his own sweetsand and started washing his hair and rinsing it before noticing that Midneal was combing out his hair with the sweetsand still in it. "You sure do take a lot of care with your hair," he said with a smile. "I tried growing mine years ago, but it was just too much to handle after flight practice and I ended up cutting it. But it looks good on you."
He looked down as the firelizard came up to him and reached out with a finger to rub her eyeridges. "She's a friendly sort, looks like. I had a mate back at Telgar with a brown the color of klah with lots of cream in it. Was that a foul tempered firelizard. He actually bit me once when I tried scratching his eye ridges. And it would never take any food from anybody but L'mar."
He got up and started washing the rest of his body while chatting to Midneal. "So, what dragon are you hoping to Impress? Or aren't you really that concerned as long as you Impress?
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Post by missing on Jan 14, 2011 4:26:20 GMT -6
Midnael nodded, "She is, fortunately she also realizes that fish is usually the only option back hom and doesn't give me too much trouble. I didn't name her for a while... she was ment to be my father's," he dunked his head under the water to rinse the soap, "I'm from a minor seahold in High Reaches... fire lizard clutches can be found there from time to time. I seem to be particuarly good at finding them somehow," he nodded to Fin to indicate that was where she came from.
The boy shrugged at the hair comment, not really choosing to explain his actions, "Fin seems to only really dislike my father, or anyone who bothers me. Other than that..." he rolled his eyes at her as her eyes whirled with pleasure, "She'd do just fine without me really, but she seems to think she's my mother or something."
He was quiet for a while at the mention of impressing, "I don't really think that dragons impress to people like- Sorry... habit... one of the girls keeps saying I should stop that but it hasn't sunk in yet really. I'd love to impress but... I'd be happy enough being allowed to stay here out of my father's way and make myself useful."
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Post by lyonza on Jan 14, 2011 7:35:40 GMT -6
Z'mer nodded with a smile. "You are not the first person to get a firelizard that was intended for someone else, I can assure you that." He grinned at the lizard's antics. "They might be fussy, but by the same token they know where their food comes from so they won't be upset even if its a steady diet of fish." He made a small sound of acknowledgment. "Oh, ok. I don't know that part of Pern so well - it's very far North though, winters must be intense?"
He mentally kicked himself over talking about hair, but he wasn't sure WHAT to talk about and it was the first thing that came to mind. "Listen, Midneal. Fin might do well without you, but she's stayed with you for a reason. Not pity or loyalty, but because she likes you enough to remain."
He catches the words that get censored. "Impress to people like?" He could guess where it was going. "Midneal, if I could impress at fourteen and have a bronze dragon choose me, then anybody can stand to be Impressed. It doesn't matter who you like, what you think you are or are not - whatever it is. The dragons know and they never make the wrong choice." He smiled a little. "And no-one who comes to the Weyrs are ever sent back unless they want to go. We can always use someone around. But I'm quite sure you'll Impress and be a great rider."
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Post by missing on Jan 14, 2011 11:14:06 GMT -6
"Well he didn't really want her but I thought he might change his mind since firelizards are useful on a ship, but of course he didn't," he shrugged and held a hand out to Fin who swam over to him hopping out of the water and onto his shoulder again, "She doesn't like him very much anyway so I guess it worked out in it's own way. I know she likes me, I just think she's very independent, and bossy. She's the only reason I was ever searched after all."
He frowned at Z'mer's words concerning impressing, "I just... don't want to get my hopes up. It's easier to be pleasantly suprised than to get let down and I'm well aware that not everyone impresses. I'm not going to sit here with my head in the clouds like some starry-eyed kid and not make plans for if the best doesn't happen."
The thought that Midnael was really still just a kid by most standards briefly entered his mind, but he didn't really care. He'd practically raised himself anyway, he'd had to grow up fast.
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Post by lyonza on Jan 14, 2011 17:48:56 GMT -6
"Well, I've never heard of a firelizard leaving one person to look to another person after they have chosen. If Fin did leave, it wouldn't have been to go to your father," he said with some authority on the topic. "As for independent and bossy... that sounds like most women I know, so she's in good company." He smiled and then lifted his eyebrow in inquiry. "How so?" he asked, wanting to know more about the way the boy was Searched.
Z'mer nodded. "Very practical thinking, Midneal, but don't get so wrapped up in not being disappointed that you end up being disappointed by it." He frowned. "Did that make sense to you, because I have no idea what I just said." He glanced at the goblet of wine still sitting on the side of the bath. "I haven't had that much, surely," he mused to himself.
"Starry-eyed kid or not, you're more than old enough to be chosen and be considered an adult with responsibilities and duties. If you weren't Searched, you would still be an apprentice for at least another two turns before being considered ready to be journeyman - being a rider is a craft like any other. Think on that." He finished soaping himself and ducked under the water again before leaning back against the rim of the bathing pool, reaching for the cup of wine that was not that chilled anymore.
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Post by missing on Jan 16, 2011 4:25:18 GMT -6
"Oh I know they don't swtich partners, he smiled and scratched at Fin's eye ridges, "But the trick with green nests is to find them right after clutching so she was with us as an egg for a good amount of time before she even hatched. " He remembered the one and only time his father had even come home during that time period, one step through the door and the sight of his son crouched over the pot containing the egg had sent him to his quarters without a second glance. Midnael had tried to get him to come out and accept the gift to no avail, and the next morning when he awoke, his father was gone on yet another journey.
Back in the bathing caverns he gave no indication that his mind was somewhere else, seemingly content with doting on the small green, "She flew of the moment our caravan pulled into High Reaches Weyr wanting me to follow. Apparently she knew the searchrider was there and lead me right to her, no idea why she did it but here I am. My ship had delivered our tithe to the Hold and they requested some more men to travel on to the Weyr with the caravan. I was... volunteered." Honestly the boy had no idea what he would have done had things not happened the way they had. It was common knowledge that Neal could not bear to look at the boys face, in fact Midiri had been well-loved by most in the hold and it was not only his father that the boy's appearance brought pain to. With Midnael around, it was as if Midiri haunted their halls and ships, his only saving grace was the fact that he was already much taller than his mother.
He nodded at Z'mer when he asked if his words made sense, letting another smile escape as the man mused over if he had had too much wine. He didn't really say anything else though, not even to correct the rider when the word "apprentice" was mentioned, although that route had certainly been explored as an option to get Midnael out of the hold, but he hadn't shown enough skill in any one Craft other than that of a Harper, and as that had been Midiri's trade, Neal had refused.
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Post by lyonza on Jan 17, 2011 4:03:50 GMT -6
Z'mer nodded. "My experience with clutches is missing them," he said with a half-smile. "But she's been a good companion to you has she?"
He listened to the story, quite amused that the little lizard would lead Midneal to the searchrider. He heard the undertones of being 'volunteered' for the job, but something made Z'mer think that the boy was volunteered for a lot of things that he'd rather not have to do. "I bet you were surprised when the rider told you that you've been Searched?" He remembered when he was Searched. Living in the Weyr during an Interval did increase one's chances of being Searched, but it seems more and more were being Searched outside the weyrs.
Z'mer grinned. "Sometimes my mind is faster than my mouth and what I say doesn't come out right." He wondered why he felt he had to convince Midneal that he was more than worthy of being a rider. Some of the kids were so confident that they were almost bursting at the seams with eagerness, others were so unsure and insecure that it seemed they didn't think they were worthy enough. The dragons wouldn't search them if they weren't worthy of the honor and challenge.
He sipped his wine, making a face at the warm liquid. "I wish someone would come up with a goblet that was permanently chilled."
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Post by jassen on Jan 17, 2011 11:07:14 GMT -6
"If you want a cold drink, you shouldn't keep it by a hot bath," joked a soft voice from the entrance to the cave, where a tall, muscular man stood, looking rather ragged and carrying a bundle of clothes carefully by a scrap of wrapping, to keep the soot on his arms off of them.
He gave the two a twitchy sort of smile, before shuffling into the room, eyeing the bath... he was covered in a thin dusting of soot, dressed in heavy clothes of the sort the blacksmiths favored to keep unburned by sparks and mistakes, and between soot and sweat he was in terrible need of a bath, but the two other men made him hesitant to stay. Why did he tell that joke? Would the man think he was making fun of him? Stupid way to say hello...
"Hello," he said, somewhat abruptly, as if thinking it caused him to remember he should. "My name's Jassen. Uh, would you mind...? Or I could go find another bath, if that's better." He started to move off towards another bath, presuming that they were having a private conversation - and then stopped, entranced, by the little fire-lizard swimming about with them.
Oh, he'd seen them before, on occasion, but never really up close, and he always liked them, although he was sure they wouldn't share the sentiment. "What a pretty little one," he murmured. "Is he yours? Or yours, miss?" directing the first question at Z'mer, the second at Midnael.
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Post by missing on Jan 17, 2011 11:47:52 GMT -6
"She has," Midnael stopped scratching her eye ridge as she lept into the water and swam away again. He nodded when asked about being surprised. Honestly he had been surprised when the Green hadn't gotten angry at him for almost running into her and interrupting her Search. It had certainly looked like some of the hopefuls were angry.
He knew the rider thought he might have taken that wrong when his next words came out, but honestly Midnael was still thinking he would wake up on the ship, about to pull into the harbor at home. He didn't feel like he belonged here... yet... But he could see that changing with any luck. He just hoped he didn't mess this up.
He watched him drink his wine, head snapping to the entryway when Finiky chirped.
"If you want a cold drink, you shouldn't keep it by a hot bath," he recognized the man as one of the other candidates. Like himself, he hadn't really reached out to anyone and seemed to prefer his solitude. Maybe he too was trying to break old habits? He certainly seemed nervous enough in their presence, no amount of soot could hide the thoughts that waged war in his head.
Midnael shook his head at the boy's first question but looked to Z'mer immediately after to see what he thought. He didn't see the man stop to stare at Fin, his hair blocking his view.
"Or yours, miss?"
He shut his eyes, his shoulders sinking ever so minutely, but his expression hidden by his hair from Jassen, "My name is Midnael, and yes, she is mine." His voice was soft, a fact he was acutely aware of at the current moment.
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