Bronze Stars All Around- (Tag: Kickflare)

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"Apparently, Lappy does." River looked to her green, who was currently pretending that the bouncy girl didn't exist for the moment. River looked to F'ang as she finished putting the last of the bits down before propping a hand on her hip. "Well I thought Laspherith didn't either... but a lot of the time, she does seem to get a lot of human concepts." River said, turning to Laspherith. With the quick chat Gaburuth and F'ang, River burst out laughing. 

"He could have F'ang's ass... just not in the way you're thinking Gaburuth." River giggled, her cheeks flushing. Now to wait to see if F'ang caught on and if he'd take it badly, hopefully he'd get it was a joke. 

"And you call me a pervert."[/font] Laspherith's voice was droll and flat as her head swung around to stare down at her rider. "You're acting like a child."[/font] The green's voice took on a more disapporving tone as her rider just laughed harder. The green huffed out loudly, shifting so her front foot moved to rest against her nose and partial cover an eye. It was probably the closest you'd ever come to seeing a dragon face palm. 

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        F'ang/Gaburuth

If one looked at F'ang's expression closely enough, one could almost see the tunnelcats turning the wheels inside his brain until he finally gets the picture and bursts out laughing himself. Gaburuth cocks his head back abruptly, reeling back. 'That seems like a very inefficient way to mate,' the Bronze states. 'Males of your species do not give birth, do they?' Faranth help him. Please, for I have not the means. F'ang can do nothing but laugh even harder, slapping the dragon's foreleg. "No! No they do not, 'Ruth." He laughs well until he's red in the face, but Gaburuth doesn't drop the subject. 'Males of your species do not give birth do they? Because if they do not, this seems to be a very inefficient way to reproduce.' And then something else occurs to the dragon. 'Unless your males possess an ovipositor and that is how you give birth.'

"STOP! For the love of the First Egg, STOP!" He sinks against his dragon, still laughing outrageously, sweating profusely, and struggling to breath. This is it. This is how I die. My dragon laughs me to death.

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River giggled, her laughter had begun to die until Gaburuth question set her back off again. 

"No Gaburuth, males don't produce young." River laughed, leaning against her unamused green for support. "But they can get some enjoyment from it, or so I've been told by some of the other green riders." River's eyes sparkled in amusement. "Mating for humans isn't always about making babies, Gaburuth. Sometimes, its just about pleasure."

"What's your excuse?"[/font] River turned to stare at her now VERY loudly spoken Green. "You don't do it for pleasure. You've only ever engaged in it during my mating flight where you have no choice in it."[/font] River's flushed so darkly, she appeared to resemble a tomato than a person.

"I've not found someone for that Laspherith... you know that." River muttered, staring down at the floor now, her face felt red hot. River just silently wished that a hole would just open beneath her and swallow her whole. 

"Bronze rider, you are experienced, aren't you?"[/font] River's eyes grew the size of saucer before she launched herself at the green, her arms moving around her muzzle. 

"NOT ANOTHER WORD LASPHERITH OR I SWEAR BY EVERYTHING YOU HOLD I WON'T MASSAGE YOUR WING MUSCLES EVER AGAIN!" River couldf not believe her dragon was NOW trying to play a damn matchmaker! She was going to die from embarassment!!

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        F'ang/Gaburuth

Suitably recovered from his absolute fit of laughter, he can't help but feel sympathetic embarrassment for River with Laspherith's additions to the conversation. Not like this, he thinks to himself. 'Not like what, Mine?' This. Laspherith's making her rider blush. She's embarrassed. 'As are you. Why?' Because I'm not experienced either, but Laspherith has it in her pretty head that I am. 'I have seen your mind. You are enthusiastic. We will be fine.' "You're not helping!" he blurts aloud and immediately regrets it.

"Why do you do this to me, 'Ruth" he whines with a shallow laugh. "No, Laspherith, I am not experienced. If you ask 'Ruth, he'll tell you my enthusiasm makes up for my lack of experience." He shoots a look at his grinning dragon. "I try to make it a point not to fantasize about women I don't know that well." 

'But there were three I saw that you didn't think I could with Riv-'
"NOT HELPING 'RUTH!"

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River's grip on her dragon's muzzle tightened. "Not another word." River lifted her head to stare at her green. She swore the lizard was smirking at her. Apparently this was payback. 

"You are aware that holding my muzzle makes no difference to whether I can speak."[/font] The green stated, if she could rise an eyebrow ridge she would be, that much was clear from her tone. River cringed and buried her face into the green's muzzle. 

"If you were not enthusiastic, it would be a moot point. But from what I've gathered, as long as you are gentle and willing to learn the body, you should manage just fine."[/color] Green lbinked as River toppled off her nose, lifting her head up, she peered down at her rider. "Stop that. You're reacting like a child. You've already been through 2 mating flights with me. I have no intention of you hurting like those times."[/font] Laspherith used to her nose to push River to her side before shifting a foot to lift her up, despite River's best attempts at playing dead. 

THe green chuckled audible in their minds as she laid river across her forearm. "You just said you didn't fantasize about women you don't know. Gaburuth says different. I know who I believe. Humans lie for stupid reasons."[/font] Laspherith were blunt and to the point. THe green then returned her attention to her rider. "If you don't stop playing dead, I will free your 'rat nest' and slobber on you."[/color] 

River snapped up so sharply, her head connected with the bottom of Laspherith's jaw, earning hisses from River, who's hands flew up to her head. "Damnit Laspherith! That hurts!"

"You'll live. You've got a hard head."[/color]

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        F'ang/Gaburuth

"In my defense," he begins, licking his lips and suddenly wishing his throat weren't so dry. "This particular human lied because he couldn't help it." 'Truth. You were leaning into him.' "-And," he continues, trying to pretend Gaburuth hadn't just spoken again, "I'm young. I'm male. My mind has a mind of its' own sometimes. I tried to suppress it." He blushes in earnest now. Of course. NOW he was actively thinking about it because it was relevant to the conversation. The longer he spends mulling over his thoughts, the deeper he blushes. "Aaaaand, like you said. 'Ruth's young. Just because the prohibition is over doesn't mean I should be... Ahem. 'Seeking comfort.' Especially not when Laspherith's as close to rising as you think she is. Could set her off early and, if history is any indicator, that would be bad."

Just think through this logically. It'll be fine. Worst comes to worst, she pretends like today never happened, and we go back to not knowing who the other is.

'But she was thinking about it too.'

F'ang stares at his bronze, absolutely dumbstruck with his mouth gaping open. "N-HOW would you know that?"

'She blushes and plays dead. She would not be embarrassed unless she had the same thoughts.'

"Okay. No. There's no way you could know that."

'I don't know that. You do. I am saying it for you'

This is it. I die in my weyr without ever getting to fly Thread. If River doesn't kill me, she might convince her dragon to do it. "You are... Quite possibly the worst kind of conscience."

'I am not a conscience. I am a dragon. A conscience does not fight Thread.'

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River clutched her head, her eyes watering, her cheeks still bright red, her eyes now watering not only from the pain of headbutting her dragon's jaw but from the embarrassment of her dragon trying to play match maker. 

"You need not worry about that. I've risen before so such actions no effect upon my risings."[/font] Laspherith snorted, silly little bronze rider spent too much time with his nose in musty hides. "I maybe just a green, but I'm not new to this."[/color] Laspherith retorted, moving her head around to sniff at River's head. 

"Lappy... stop it... please" River's voice was small, strained and she sounded ready to cry. 

"You and your weird human concepts."[/font] The green snorted, causing river's hair to break free of its braid and end up in a frizzy mess. "Find someone or I will do it for you. I'm sick of you trying to disappear into imaginary holes after flights."[/font] The green grumbled, nudging River off her forearm. 

"Sorry about Laspherith..." River muttered to F'ang, her head pointed down, one hand still clasped over the top of her head. Shards, it was still smarting. Laspherith looked over at the bronze, he seemed a little juvenile for her tastes, but perhaps that just his age. That would be something to look over at another date, perhaps when he was older before she would issue him a challenge. For now, taunting her easily embarrassed rider was far more entertaining.

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        F'ang/Gaburuth

F;ang clears his throat, one hand covering his mouth as he does. "She's um... Certainly insistent," he says cautiously, rolling his tongue in his mouth to try to work up some moisture. "And we're sure she's not due to rise for another month or two?" His brow arches curiously between the green and her distraught rider. "You know, if they're gonna be mean to us, we can just tell them they can go wash themselves."

'You wouldn't.'

"... I might."

'You love me too much.'

F'ang can do no more than sigh, wiping his face with both hands, still feeling entirely too warm in the weyr with all the laughing and blushing going on. To say nothing of course of the Green trying to convince him to jump in his bedroll with River.

'If you need time with the rider I can find a nice sunny rock to lie on.'

The bronzerider goes suddenly silent, blushing furiously and sweat beading on his reddened scalp all over again. Why are you so adamant about this? 

'Laspherith's rider said humans mate for pleasure. Pleasure is fun, yes? I had fun. You should have fun too.'

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"I'm sure... i've been track of it... i had planned to fly out away from the Weyr so Laspherith could rise but have no chasers..." River kept her eyes on the floor, her arms drawing around herself to give herself some comfort. The green huffed, seemingly annoyed at River's reactions. Laspherith rumbled, her tail tip flicking, no chasers indeed. She would at least have one admirer whilst shew flew. 

River's hands moved to cover her face, her already small form seemed to shrink to be even smaller. 

"River mine, despite my actions and words, I despise seeing you upset, especially over something I have no control. So, I have put the suggestion to him. He's not against it at least."[/font] Laspherith reasoned, her tail moving slowly and calmly depsite her rider being all flustered. Laspherith's head swung around to look at F'ang.

"You find her attractive, do you not?"[/font] The green's question were much like interigation to the bronze rider, although Laspherith had a feeling that his bronze would side with her on this. It was apparent to the green, that bronze rider needed something outside of his dragon to relax with and her rider needed someone too. Seemed to be a good fit in her eyes. 

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        F'ang/Gaburuth

"It's not a question of whether I find her attractive or not," F'ang snaps at Laspherith, his eyes immediately snapping to the green and, had they the power, would have nailed her to the wall with the intensity of his glare. "It's a matter of her dignity! You imply that she wants more out of a mate than something to simply slake her lusts when you fly where I would be bound by 'Ruth, for the sake of Weyr politics, to chase the Gold with him!" Now he was angry. 'Ruth at least was being innocent with his inquiries. Laspherith was disrespecting her rider. 

"What do you think it would do to her, hmm? To form an attachment to me when I wish to change the politics of Mavros Weyr by becoming the Weyrleader? To have her be attached to a man who'd be bound because his dragon flew a Queen?" Fury turns his eyes to ice, his volume rising higher the longer he speaks. "You disrespect your Rider, Green. That's enough." Truth be told, he had no idea whether or not he could even order her around. Maybe she'd listen out of courtesy. They were both Weyrlings, though she in a more advanced class. Once they were out of class however, he would outrank her as a matter of course merely by flying a Bronze.

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Laspherith rumbled at him, her tail still flicking slowly as he appeared to shout at her. "And you intend to the mate of the Weyrwoman outside of mating flights. If that was your intention, you should have said so from the start."[/color] The green's tail moved around her rider, her voice had icy towards the F'ang now. 

River moved away from Laspherith's tail and F'ang, heading over quietly to the leather rolls. She didn't want to get involved with this argument. Her dragon was trying, she knew that well enough, at the moment they had bounded, it was clear that they were chalk and cheese. 

"You think I'm disrespecting her, but instead its you who has disrespected the way this works."[/font] The green hissed back at him before her head was pushed away. Her eyes moved onto her rider. 

"Laspherith stop. He doesn't want me in that way. Why would he want me, a low ranked green rider for a weyrmate? He wants to mate a gold and partnered with her rider. And it's okay. I didn't come here to look for a mate and I shouldn't have considered it." River rested her head against the dragon's muzzle. "It was my stupidity on this. I'm sorry Lappy." Green let out a quiet creel, her whirling eyes watching her rider. Lofty thoughts and desires were a dangerous thing it seemed. 

It took River a few minutes of resting against the green's head before straightened up, and turned to face F'ang, a bright smile plastered back across her lips. Laspherith once River moved, retreated from the weyr and moved out onto the ledge, seemingly unwilling to be in bronze or his rider's company for a moment longer.

"Now that's done, lets get that harness sorted hmm?" Without waiting for him to speak, she moved back to the bedroll, moved to thread her needle and moved out some of the leather to start remaking the straps for the harness, with a light mental nudge of Laspherith reminding her of the plan that F'ang had drawn up not so long ago.

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        F'ang/Gaburuth

"I-" he begins, but quickly closes his mouth. What had Laspherith said? "What I want?" If his question sounds confused, that's because he is. Intensely. He'd thought that because of political reasons his hands were tied, and what he wanted ultimately didn't matter because everything was up to 'Ruth's abilities as a dragon and his own ability to earn rank. He looks to Gaburuth as though searching for answers in those swirling eyes of his before looking back to River. "Wait. YOU are interested in me?" He boggles, making yet another mental leap in reactions. "Is that what this is? Laspherith's been testing Gaburuth while you've been testing me?" He starts chuckling now, certain he's lost his mind. "You know. I honestly thought what I wanted didn't matter. I thought everything was up to 'Ruth's abilities and the many many obligations I have as a future Bronzerider. Not just to Pern, but to my Weyr as well." 

He shakes his head slowly as it drops, his chin hitting his chest and showing River nothing but his shiny scalp. He chuckles again before lifting his head, approaching River furtively with one hand extended toward her. "I apologize. I..." He sighs again. "To say I misunderstood how things worked is an understatement, and I've been here practically since the founding of the Weyr."

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"No, but the thought did cross my mind." River answered as she carefully moved to measure up the roll of leather, choosing to keep her back to him, her little fragile body still tense from the earlier proverbial slap to the face that not only had she received but he had given her dragon. 

"I'll explain it, F'ang." River said, as she marked out along the leather for the straps, if she kept herself busy then she wouldn't be open to the very uncomfortable line of questioning that was sure to follow. "Sure in a good number of cases, Weyrwoman and Weyrleader become weyremates, but isn't a guaranteed thing. Ultimately that's up to the riders themselves. Sure, the bronze may fly the queen each time she rises but that doesn't count as cheating in the Weyr. Laspherith's first flight, she was caught by a blue rider that already had a weyrmate. It's not seen as being unfaithful. Flights happen and no-one is bound by actions taken in rising flights. Sure, children maybe born but just because its from a pairing that the parents didn't choose, the children aren't responsible for that. It's also why Weyrbrats are generally raised by the Headwoman and her staff. There's even records on it happening." River said, keeping her voice calm, and ignoring the dry sensation building. 

"If you didn't know, you didn't know." River attempted to shrug it off. She finished marking out the straps and moved to cut them out. Laspherith was still growling in the back of her head, the green hadn't taken kindly to being called disrespectful even though it was his lack of understanding on the matter that started this whole thing. 'Stop that Laspherith, you can't know what you don't know.' The green huffed loudly in response, her claws tapping against the stony ledge outside. 'Go get something to eat, and once you're done, I'll take you to the lakes and get you a good scrubbing, oiling and massage, how does that?' River thought to her sullen green. There was no answer but the whoosh of wings was enough to tell River that her offer was welcomed even if the green was going to continue sulking about it. 

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        F'ang/Gaburuth

He nods along with River's explanation, reflecting back on his lessons to see if maybe he'd been told before and just plain forgot, or if it had ever come up. Maybe it was just something you learned if you grew up in a Weyr instead of a Hold? He'd been Holdless himself before coming to Mavros, so he figured all things were equal in the... personal relationships department. He sets his hand on River's shoulder cautiously and gives her a gentle squeeze. "Let Laspherith know she has my apologies," he says, carefully giving her shoulder another squeeze before removing his hand before she has a chance to shrug it off. "And you have mine as well. I... It was not my intention to... Dismiss you like that. At all, really."

He moves to her side and cops a squat with a grunt, unrolling one of the rolls of light leather to begin tracing the outlines of the harness materials they'd need before any cutting gets done. Some of the parts he traces are recognizable from the drawing on the weyr floor from earlier. Others are obviously pieces that had to be cut away from 'Ruth's ruined harness so it could be refitted.

And speaking of the ruined harness, F'ang unrolls the leather wrap containing his leatherworking tools and pulls the old harness to him so he can begin popping out leather brads and rivets where the new parts would be attached. Yeah. He'd definitely overestimated the time this would take. He'd forgotten he had the better part of a third of a complete harness. 'Ruth actually hadn't damaged anything overlarge or critically important. It was mostly his fitting straps. You planned this, didn't you, you little tunnelcat. Aside from the sound of 'Ruth's claws scrabbling on the stone floor of the cavern as he parks himself in the remaining sunlight peeking into the weyr, the Bronze says nothing else but watch the pair of riders work with his swirling multifaceted eyes.

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"It'll do you no good coming from me. You have to make that apology to her, but I'd suggest leaving it until she's finished sulking." River said evenly, keeping her eyes firmly locked onto the straps she was cutting for him. Her body however still remained tense under his hand. 

"You're bronze rider, I'm just a lowly green rider. Its your ranking right to dismiss me as you please." Her voice was calm and unassuming in its tone. Carefully picking up the awl once she had finished cutting it out, she then carefully and evenly made the pilot holes up along the leather straps so her needle could get through the leather easier. "I'll make sure that in the future, Laspherith won't bother you about the silly notion from before, ever again and I won't bring it up either." River added, as she wiggled her needle into the leather to begin form neat double stitches along the straps. There... that was that idea turned to ash. 

Privately, the realisation from F'ang's earlier words were a bit of a slap to the face. They had just met and so far he had been nothing but a gentleman. She knew Gaburuth would fly a gold.. but she hadn't realised that his thoughts had more along the traditional lines... Weyrleaders becomes weyrmates to the Weyrwoman. Even though an explanation as to that not being the case, had earned an apology, it didn't change anything. He didn't want green, he wanted gold. No-one could blame him for it, although the thought of not being good enough was a bitter pill to swallow. 

Just having a friend was good enough. Wasn't it?