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 Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:09 pm
"Hi Raith." Veyes called out with a wave the moment she approached finding it very interesting to see her fly right in and settle down. Must make for the most entertaining living arrangements he thought to himself. A part of him could be happy with a little weyr half this size if it meant he had a place of his own. Heck, he never even thought of what it would be like to live on his own with no one but himself to be responsible for his daily actions. Even though, in a way taking that big step in coming here was sort of going on his own; he doubted it was like having your own private weyr.
"Well, that is a good thing. Sound like V'kain fits well as a roommate." he grinned as he thought that anything else would probably bump heads with L'thor way too much.
"Oh..well I can bring my own towel too if need be. They do supply those down there and most other things. That's probably the only thing good about the dorm. At least, there is always clean towels. I am just glad they haven't assigned me to washing them. I'd rather butcher than wash the same colored towel 500 times."
He laughed at Raith's comment, "Oh is that to get me to bath and oil her again? I'd need to get another brush." He mused at the thought of scrubbing her but then realized he might need to come up with better equipment. His mind whizzed around imaginatively through a few possibilities but wished he had better access to a work shed and tools. Maybe he'd have to scrounge around and see what he could come up with...even the Weyr probably had some thing he could work with.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:21 pm
L'thor smiled and shrugged, still stroking Raith absentmindedly. "Whatever you prefer, yes. Egh. I always hated washing duty; not being one of the big strong lads it was things like that I got; washing clothes, dishes, peeling vegetables. All very tiresome, but nothing to be done about that I suppose. I just got on with it and dreamed of dragons, I seem to recall." He still washed his own clothes, or took it in turns with V'kain to wash their collective clothes at any rate. He didn't trust his garments to the laundry in the least, especially knowing that there were bored young candidates working there, and perhaps not paying as much care and attention as they might be to the task at hand.
Raith rumbled as he finished talking, and added her own comments to him. causing L'thor to grin again. "She says just rubbing of eyeridges will be fine; she doesn't want oil to get all on the ledge and have somebody slide off it. Oh, and telling her she's pretty of course, but that's pretty much a given." Humm, what now? Veyes had seen the weyr, been offered use of its lovely facilities so L'thor felt he'd almost made his negligence up to the young man... "Here, you got anything to do anytime soon, or do you fancy a fly? Raith and I could show you the countryside around the Weyr; it's really quite marvelous around here." Yes. They could fly out over the coast and everything. Veyes would never have seen views like that in his life, save on the brief flight when they'd arrived.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:33 pm
"Oh...I think I can handle eyeridges." he chuckled as he moved a little closer to take a better look of her once again. He didn't relish the idea of possibly slipping of the ledge so maybe he'd not ever have to worry to much about having to "clean and oil" if he came up to bathe. "She is pretty...still my number one until I find my own hatchling." he grinned as he watched L'thor seem to become all cat-like and content. Raith and L'thor...vanity at its finest.
Veyes barely could contain himself when L'thor mentioned a little trip in the sky, "Flying! Oh...oh! I do have a little bit of time before lessons! I would love to go and see the countryside!" He figured that any opportunity to get over the giddy feeling and learn a bit more of how to handle himself in the air would be quite helpful but the idea of traveling around with his new friend excited him as well. He grabbed up his hair and started braiding it off quickly tying it tightly at the end with a bit of thread then pulled out his mother's pin to secure the long braid to his head.
"I'm ready when you are!" ....of course he wished as always that he had better flying clothes but he'd handle freezing in order to get in more flight time.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:46 pm
L'thor grinned and jogged back into the weyr. Raith's harness was swiftly grabbed from its peg, and then L'thor's riding jacket and goggles. After a moment of thought, he moved to the back of the cave and pulled open the wardrobe. From inside, he took a rather older, more battered looking jacket, again with goggles, before returning to Veyes. "Here," he said, tossing the older jacket to Veyes and then passing the goggles more carefully, "my spares. Jacket ought to just about fit you I think," he nodded as he donned his own jacket, "afraid I have no spare hide trousers though."
Picking up the harness again, he moved over to Raith and buckled it on swiftly before pulling his hair back into a braid. "Some time when you have a few more hours to yourself we'll have to take a trip down to the beach," L'thor said thoughtfully as he donned his goggles, placing them up on his head for the time being; he always thought it a bit rude to have his eyes behind the dark glass when he was speaking to someone face to face. "There's some nice spots to swim and then sit, eat and relax that Raith and I know well."
Places he had loved to go with D'los, sometimes D'los and V'kain together. He loved the secret places no less now than he ever had; they carried a wonderful sense of nostalgia, and he and V'kain always found themselves reminiscing over antics from days gone by. Mostly his own antics to be fair; V'kain had very few wild deeds to his name. Perhaps in turns to come he, Veyes, Nehren and V'kain would fly to those hidden spots together and talk and swim and eat. He hoped so; it sounded like a good future to him.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:03 pm
Veyes beemed as L'thor passed him the goggles and jacket. "Thank you! I am sure they will." He carefully pulled the jacket on finding it about right because it was meant to be a looser fit although he knew in time he'd probably be too big for it. He wondered where the riders got these as he gently placed the goggles on his head and secured them into place. It didn't really matter if his legs got cold or not! He was sooo close to what a rider might wear his imagination started filling in the gaps again causing him to grin until his teeth showed. "How do I look?"
"I'd love to go to the beach! I've never seen one before. Mmm...I should have a free day coming up from what the Candidate Master said. I guess I have been earning time since I've been good in the meat locker. The women said they put in a request to keep me there for awhile. I guess they think I do a good job." he said with a bit of pride at least he knew he wasn't one of the whelps that whine all the time like the boy that was breaking beans in the kitchen.
As he thought more about the beach, he discovered that being a dragon rider might really open up his world to so many new things that he hadn't thought about as deeply as he could have. The opportunities for travel had to be exciting and he had always wondered what some of the other Holds had to offer. But the idea of seeing places that normal folks rarely did made the idea more enticing. "You've been to so many places...I hope one day I can explore like that too."
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:14 pm
He looked Veyes up and down with a thoughtful smile. Too young to be in the outfit he had on, lacking shoulder knots to display his rank and the colour of his dragon but other than that... "You look like a wonderful rider!" L'thor said after a few moments of quietly looking the young man over. "The jacket suits you." Shame Veyes would outgrow it, otherwise he could make it a gift when the boy Impressed. Perhaps... perhaps if Nehren didn't get too big he could have the jacket, and Veyes could have the goggles. Both were still perfectly serviceable, but his new set had been a gift from V'kain at turn's end and as such it was the newer, smarter, darker leathers he wore now.
"All riders get a good chance to explore, so I'm sure you will within a few turns by yourself," L'thor went on as he mounted Raith, glad that this was easy again. "Until then, whenever you and I can snatch some free time, I can show you places. Candidates and weyrlings usually get time off for gathers, so you'll at least be able to go to some of those." Had Veyes been to a gather before, he wondered? Probably not for pleasure if he had; the young man had missed out on a lot thanks to his more than unpleasant father. "So," L'thor smiled and extended a hand down for Veyes to pull himself up by, "you want to ride in front or behind?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:35 pm
His cheek blushed just a hair as he was praised for his looks in the coat and goggles. The thought almost made him burst with joy; so very close to what the real thing might be like. It took a bit to stuff that feeling back down inside because he didn't want to be disappointed if he didn't impress on the first try. "Thanks!"
"I will definitely try to snatch more free time because I want to see the world." he said then paused, "Ah..no...I've never been to a gather. Really, I haven't been much outside of the farm for anything but studying basics at the Hold or maybe to the market at the Hold." he seemed rather depressed about that thought. His imagination created so many clever and beautiful worlds but none that he could take other to except through stories. It wasn't often that he had shared the stories with anyone else except his mom or the occasional - lie to get what he needed. Now he had to wonder what the real world could offer. But that had been his original plan all along...get out and find a new life! Well...here it was!
"Mmm...Ummm...behind this time? I was up front last time." He wondered what special techniques L'thor might use when he flew and it was hard to see from the front. So he grabbed L'thor's hand and this time it seemed, L'thor didn't struggle with helping him up. Sliding in neatly behind L'thor he buckled on the straps and looked them over once...then twice. I think I have them right. Could you look to make sure?" Eventually, he wanted to have this part down pat. The only thing next was to learn how to put the rest of the gear on the dragon right.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:47 pm
L'thor nodded and helped him up, shifting slightly as Veyes sat down behind him. "They look good to me," he said as he twisted his head around to inspect how Veyes had secure himself, "let me check." So saying, he gave the straps a couple of firm tugs; they held nicely. "Yes, you're good," he nodded, flashing Veyes a smile before turning forward again and pulling down his goggles.
"We'll go to some gathers then," he went on as Raith collected herself for lauch. "Gathers, the beach, flights; with all that and your chores you'll never have a moment's rest save when you fall into bed! Still, that's always been the way I like it. Never could get the hang of being idle... Oh, hang on here we go!" Raith rumbled along with her rider's words before moving up to the edge of her ledge and stepping casually into empty air. For a few moments they fell, but then the green spread her wings and they were swooping, then rising, soaring. L'thor drew in a deep breath of the clear air and looked down at the world. The Weyr, the forests surrounding it and the long line of the coast with the gleaming blue ocean spread out below them like a map, though Raith remained low enough for breathing to be easy. Yes. It was wonderful to be a rider. Raith's rider.
"It's not half bad being your dragon either, Mine," Raith said with a deep rumbling chuckle.
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:24 am
Veyes perked up at the praise and was getting more confident in at least his ability to secure straps. But what he really wanted to know what what the rider actually did during flights since rider and dragon were a team in the sky. In a way he felt like an outsider on when in the air because he never actually was connect to the full experience; he was just more or less a passenger. However, these flights were still valuable to say the least because there were many techniques he still needed to learn.
"I'd love to go. Yeah....it sounds like I will get a real workout!" he responded just before Raith launched herself into the sky. He pressed up against L'thor and held on tight waiting in anticipation of the first feeling of drag while the idea of seeing new places filled his head. It really did thrill him that he'd get to see new place but he realized that there was a few things he would need to overcome; things that might be difficult for him to do - that uncomfortable feeling he had in crowds. Well, at least crowds of his peers. He didn't feel so much of that anxiety around adults but maybe most of the time he didn't think of himself as a kid; he'd been working on the farm since he was little and the idea of having free time with others his own age was pretty much never happened.
However, now he was in a whole dorm of people around his age. Some of them whiny, others gossips, and then there was Conomor, who didn't fit the mold of most that he had met. Or maybe it was he hadn't tried hard enough to find others like Con? Either way he knew he'd have to work on this problem sooner or later because he was going to be around these other kids for a fairly long time.
"So what are Gathers like??" he said after they had stabilized in the open skies. His arms had snaked around L'thor's waist as they flew. He actually didn't mind this proximity to L'thor. It was rather warm and actually very comfortable although his mind did start to drift into the realm of imagination once more and he firmly tried to shove that thought to the far back of his brain.
Why did certain men attract his attention lately!? Con....ok...he had a very nice butt...and in shape. That little kid...what was his name? Ah...Nehren...he had a cute face. Probably a sweet smile too...he looked like a boy that had a good smile. Then there was L'thor, attractive....yes...and he saved his family. Maybe it was just the changes in location; so many more people here to see and to have impressions about. Maybe that was all? Even though, a part of him wasn't quite sure about that. Fortunately, L'thor couldn't see the blush that had crested his cheeks as he thought about other possibilities.
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:22 am
Oh... well, this was a little unexpected. L'thor smiled faintly, making no move to shrug Veyes off; he always had been a fairly tactile person, hugs were good. "Gathers," he said thoughtfully as Raith beat her wings lazily, carrying them north along the line of the coast. "Crowded. Noisy. Exhausting... There's stalls everywhere, selling everything you can think of and then some. Have to watch the Traders though," he grinned, "sly bunch they are. There's food and drink to be had, ranging hugely in price and quality. There's music, there's dancing, laughing, chatting..." flirting, hooking up with Friendly folk...
"I love them," he went on after a moment with a chuckle. "It's a break away from normal life, you can just be silly and frivolous for a day. Buy things you didn't really need, but they were just so lovely, and such a good deal... Mind you," he laughed again, "helps if you know a genuine good deal when you spot one." Haha, like what's her name, that green rider who had bought a pot of smelly goo at the gather, having been told it was the best stain remover ever... It really was very useful to come from Trader stock sometimes.
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:51 am
"The sound like they might be fun. Just so many people though. I...I guess I will just have to work on that some. But if you take me there, I am sure that I can avoid getting hoodwinked by the Traders right?" he grinned a little knowing that L'thor had been a trader prior to becoming a rider.
Veyes relaxed a bit more with the conversation; thinking less on the problems of companions and his own new feelings to the idea of seeing the wild world of a Gather. He could imagine the bright colors, the crowds and being a much more personable sort than he was actually in real life around others. "I can imagine you would find something like that a lot of fun. So did you go to them often as a kid?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:08 am
L'thor nodded, smiling as Raith banked gently to the left and down so that they were flying low over the currently beautifully calm and blue ocean. "I'll be sure to look out for you," he chuckled, watching the pristine water through Raith's sharp eyes. "Even I feel like I've been taken in after a buy sometimes, but I'm far better equipped to spot a dud and or to not get caught up in a patter than most. I did got to a lot of gathers when I was a boy; helped with hawking our wares half the day and was given the rest off to spend my cut. Of course," he laughed and shook his head, "wasn't much; enough for a bubbly pie and a trinket of some sort but it made me happy, feeling I'd earned it."
It had been a good life, he considered with a gentle sigh as Raith reached one forepaw out to skim it along the surface of the water, throwing up spray onto her belly. Nothing like this though. Good, but not this good, especially given that he never could find any interest in women; someone would have found out in the end. Where the appeal in breasts were he had no idea at all; who seriously liked big bags of fat? Egh. Well, nevermind.
"You get a small stipend as a resident of the Weyr," L'thor went on, "so you'll have something to spend on yourself. Of course, you can make more doing odd jobs or favors about the place. Or on wagers of course, but that's not quite so sure-fire."
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 10:07 am
Glancing around Veyes was thrilled to see the ocean below. He had never see the world quite like this before and the idea of this much water was surely amazing. "Good! Because I don't have many marks to my name. Mother gave me a small purse but it will only keep me in necessities. I won't squander it. But maybe I can afford to buy...one bubbly pie." He grinned thoughtfully of having one pie to himself rather than splitting a cold one with Hally when his parents returned from gathers. Usually, those days had been actually peaceful around the house when Havel was away selling meat from the farm.
He felt the splash of water flicking against his legs as Raith skimmed over the water. The view sped by but was quite breath taking causing Veyes to gasp wide-eyed as they flew so close. He could see big fish off in the distance rising just above the surface then ducking back down under the water. He pointed towards them in the distance as the wind whipped across his face. "Look! Those are huge!"
He paused realizing that L'thor was talking about a stipend, "You mean if I impress, I will get a stipend?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 10:29 am
L'thor grinned, watching the graceful swimmers. "Dolphins!" he informed Veyes. "They're as intelligent as you or me, apparently, I don't know very much more about them than that though. Yes though; you get a stipend. Bigger one if you Impress, but even as a candidate you get a small one. Payment for all your hard work, eh?" Sounded like Veyes more than earned the few marks those of his rank could expect. What could he do to get himself a bit of extra?... L'thor pondered back to his days of candidacy. Ha. Of course, he'd bought things and sold them on, hadn't he? Yes, and D'los had made little wooden figurines.
"As I say," he went on, reaching down to stroke Raith's neck fondly as she rose a little higher again, "you can earn extra for yourself. If you can make anything or do anything that goes beyond chores, chances are someone will happily pay for it."
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:15 am
"So that's what dolphins look like!???" exclaimed Veyes as they continued to fly further on. "I've never seen a dolphin before! This is my first time! Really? Just as smart as us? That is amazing!" Just seeing this new site brought a great sense of joy to the boy. Just being a rider opened up 100s of doors that he had only seen in dreams. The dolphins had originally been just a few words from a harpers mouth turned into great fish in his imagination that really looked nothing like the ones he saw today....now they were real in his mind and so his imaginary fish would have to take on a new name.
"Oh...that will be good to finally have some sort of an income I can call my own!" Now he realized that maybe being a candidate was like being on your own. He was actually earning a...living;j even if it was a small one. "Mmm..maybe I will try to make a few things to sell at the gather if I have time after chores and lessons. They really don't give much free time to speak of."
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