We're Not All That Bad (Tag Hiko)

[Taxx]

Routine had been easy to set up- every day, directly after her morning meal, Riyobith and Aleni headed for the bathing caverns, loaded with a towel, a pail of oil, rags and a brush. It was pampering the gold looked forward to, and she was happy to scamper ahead of her rider as they neared the pool of water, hardly hesitating at the edge before stepping into the water and flopping onto her side, legs and wings flailing to shower herself with water. She was thoroughly drenched before Aleni reached her, her hide dripping as she returned to the edge and waiting for the scrubbing that would follow.

Wetting a handful of soapsand, Aleni lathered the young dragon from nose to tailforks and then began to scrub with the brush, making sure not to do so too hard to prevent from hurting Riyo, who helpfully twisted and turned so that Aleni could get every inch of her- and then, when finished, she returned to the water to rinse off. Crouched, elbows on her knees and chin propped in her hands, Aleni openly smiled at her dragon as she splashed in the shallows, enjoying the gold's pleasure in the play, enjoying the solitude with nobody looking at her with suspicion or disgust in their gaze. A moment of peace, watching Riyo's antics and glad that the gold, at least, simply didn't care beyond that Aleni loved her.

Footsteps behind her pulled the young woman's attention to the corridor, tensing with misgiving, but relaxing at the sight of Mollin; the other, older weyrling and she had hardly interacted, but Aleni knew of her- most in Mavros did. Hardly the person to judge, Aleni rose and turned to Mollin, giving a smile and a wave before reaching for the towel. Hello Daltilith's! Riyobith greeted, her hind paws kicking water as she sprang out of the pool, rubbing her wet body against Aleni's skirt before the young woman could drape the towel over her. How are you doing today?
Hiko

[Hiko]

No one had ever told her how sharding hard it would be to get accustomed to constantly going in and out of between. Mollin ran a gloved hand through brittle hair, annoyed and amused in equal measures at the feel. It had been good timing, she thought as she removed the gloves and added them to her pack, that she’d cut her hair when she had. Short and at her face, it was much more manageable and far less at risk for splitting; not, she thought with a laugh to herself, that she was ever hoping to be presented like some fair lady.

D’rew’s private lessons had been extensive, and while they’d barely managed more than a single reference point, the drilling of it had been continuous. Above the redwoods, back to the cliffs. Above the redwoods, back to the cliffs. Of course, she was still studying the other points he’d been drilling her on, but had so far been loathe to have her attempt anything else at the moment. She supposed she understood; familiar spaces would be the easiest to envision and greatly lowered the risk for any mishap. Neither blue rider wanted to see her lost between, and as well neither wanted to risk K’ton’s wrath too early. Today ended once more at the cliffs, and when she and Daltilith parted from Sabanth’s hovering form, it was decided that both needed a reprieve. The shores, while not necessarily always private, did give both rider and dragon the opportunity to relax.

Mollin found that when she was working, actually trying to become the dragonrider she’d dreamt of being, the anxieties and concerns of her social situations faded away. When she was in the air with Daltilith, she wasn’t worrying over whether or not she might be missing some key point of growth in Zaelin’s life, she wasn’t terrified of what the new class of weyrlings she’d been thrown into were saying behind her back, and she wasn’t dreading what awful wrench she’d thrown into the few friendships she’d maintained in the Weyr. On the ground, though, it was apparent that there was still much within her that needed to heal.

She hadn’t expected the diminutive form of Riyobith at the shore when Daltilith landed. Nor had she expected Aleni’s smile and welcoming gesture after her dismount. Despite herself, she was reminded of T’vir’s frantic, senseless cries at the hatching, and Mollin felt her heart pull in sympathy. It wasn’t so different from M’kal’s accusations, she thought with a flare of disgust for the bronze weyrling. To condemn her, then demand she abandon Zaelin had been - she sighed, flopping onto the shoreside next to Aleni. This girl was not T’vir,and she was not M’kal. She was a weyrling beset by rumor and whispers, unable to change the perceptions people had already made regarding her.
It was all too familiar.
With a sideways grin, she said, “Soapsand becomes you.” To Riyobith, she offered a surprised chuckle; the little gold was precious, greeting her like that. “And hello to you, Riyobith. I hope you don’t mind our intruding?”

Taxx

[Taxx]

Unexpected as Mollin's arrival was, Aleni wasn't averse to the company; her smile widened at the comment, a half-laugh breaking from her as she patted the foam from her arms. "You could say that to every weyrling, I'm sure," she quipped back, gaze flicking to Riyobith as the little gold padded toward the bigger blue, her head craned back as she crooned a greeting. Her gaze never wavered from Daltilith as she answered Mollin, her words brimming with assurance. You're not intruding. Plenty of room for you and Daltilith, and the company is good for Mine. Hello, Daltilith, she added, breaking her gaze now and winding her body around one of his front legs, the towel sliding off to the ground as she did so; Aleni echoed the greeting quickly, offering another wave to the blue.

The smile on Aleni's face, which had momentarily dropped, returned for a moment. "So maternal, even at a month old. Riyo, I still need to oil you, love." Settling back to the ground, she glanced at Mollin, taking in the full riding gear and feeling a slight twinge for the far-off time when she'd be able to ride Riyo for the very first. Soon enough, Mine, the gold answered the fleeting wish, returning now to bump her nose against Aleni's cheek, the towel gripped in her jaws to be dropped in a damp pile beside her rider. Soon, Aleni replied, and stroked the soft nose as she picked up a rag to dunk into the oil before beginning to work it into the rosy hide.

"What are you and Daltilith up to?" she asked aloud, her gaze turning to the bluerider, splitting her focus between the other woman and her gold. "Doing lots of flying, I can see."
Hiko

[Hiko]

Mollin chuckled, “So we’re cute and quick? Good to know.”
She stretched as she sat, touching her toes in doing so. Consistently dragon-back made for aching muscles; another attribute the harpers tended to shy away form in the ballads. Daltilith himself gave a heavy shake, as if he too were bone-weary from the efforts. The blue lowered his muzzle down, as if to inspect where the gold had run about his paws in amusement. Seemingly pleased with the affectionate greeting, the older dragon offered a soft warble before laying down to relax..
Hello, Riyobith. Did you enjoy your bath?

Mollin’s attention returned to the girl beside her. Again, she chuckled. “Stretching our wings, is all,” she replied. She could hardly let it out that they’d been working with D’rew on between training, nor could she outright lie about their activity; she’d always been a poor liar, and she somehow sensed that the gold weyrling might be quicker than some to catch a falsehood.
She shrugged, deflecting. “How are you settling into the barracks? The others in the class treating you well?” She couldn’t help but ask; her own experiences so far with the more junior weyrlings had been less than ideal.

Taxx

[Taxx]

Quick? Riyobith asked, momentarily confused until Aleni replied, She means clever.

Oh. That was nice of the blue's rider to say, and the gold thanked her with a sense of pleased gratitude for the compliment. But she held her place to keep from interrupting the oiling, only turning her head to meet Daltilith's eyes at his question. Oh, yes, it was lovely. The water is a bit chilly, but it's not too bad. Did you enjoy flying? she added, shifting her weight to hold up a leg as Aleni started on it; her rider carrying on her own conversation with the blue's rider as she massaged the oil into Riyobith's damp hide.

Aleni accepted the explanation easily enough; she'd seen the other class, the one her brother was in, have their dragons start to fly as much as possible to build up their muscles, and she supposed it made sense to have Mollin be just a bit ahead of them: Daltilith was fully grown, more than big enough to hold Mollin without strain. Her only limitation was what K'ton decided it was.

The question brought a brief pause, a half-smile on her face as she glanced back at Mollin. "More or less. Some are friendly, some aren't, and some don't seem to care one way or the other." She shrugged before resuming her task. "Nobody's done anything I can't handle. Mostly, they just question my right to have Riyobith- because of my birth. But everyone says not to mind words, and whatever else he is, K'ton wouldn't condone outright physical aggression." She hoped, anyway. But as far as she knew, the old bronzer hadn't believed what her brother had said, and as such he treated her as an ordinary gold weyrling, which she was more than happy to accept.

"What about you?" she asked. "I see you with your daughter now and then- how's she doing?"
Hiko

[Hiko]

I always enjoy flying, Daltilith replied. He let out a deep yawn and settled his muzzle on his forepaws. As he flicked his tail in drowsy contentedness, he continued, but the sights are getting boring.
Daltilith, Mollin chided in private, Careful with what you say.
The blue snorted hot air onto his rider, as if to agree to disagree. He had been over the moon with the new training, but wanted to share in their secret to anyone he could. An instance of where human discretion was a truly viable aspect of the bond, Mollin thought, shaking her head.

At Aleni’s reply, Mollin frowned. No one had a right to question the choices of a dragon, and she was instantly reminded of T’vir. She paused, considering her own family. Elisia had been stiff at first, after learning she’d Impressed a blue, but time had healed that. Mollin wondered if there was any such support within Aleni’s own family, and almost immediately doubted it, if T’vir’s response was any indication.
“Just look forward,” Mollin offered, “It’s probably the most important lesson you’ll learn, and it was the hardest one for me. You can’t look back on rumors and gossip. Your right to Riyobith was your Impression to her. If anyone disagrees or looks down on you for that, just remember that you’ll be their Weyrwoman one day.” She glanced to Aleni, giving the girl a wry smile. “Sorry. I doubt you want a lecture on how not to do things.” She looked back to her feet, then, and scuffed the toe of one boot with that of the other.
“Zaelin is far too good for me,” she answered with a quiet laugh. “I’m hoping she gets her sense from someone else, because she looks far too much like me for comfort.”

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