dragon race watching & visiting [Lounessa/Taxx]

[tovaana]

Cionessan;

The large bronze always filled the teenager with pride and nostalgia. He reached out to pat the large face that curved toward him with whirling eyes – happy hues. “Jarath, my boy.” You just wish I were yours. Cionessan chuckled, “it’s why I didn’t become a candidate, I know I couldn’t get better than you Jar. And we both know I deserve the best.” Jarath made an amused chortling noise. You would make a good rider. “I would make a superb rider, but I’ll also make an influential and powerful harper.” The dragon huffed skeptically at this. How could a harper be more powerful than a dragon? The dragon asked and Cionessan just smiled, turning as his father approached to greet him.

He was short compared to his father – and he didn’t think he had much hope in reaching the intimidating height of Lo’qui, and he blamed his mother’s genes for that. Everything that didn’t go well for him was usually his mother’s fault. He tried to ignore it, for as powerful his father’s height was – it only inspired Cionessan to fill in those large shoes in other ways than physical.

After a greeting his father and the youngest half siblings, they were on Jarath and on their way back through the blackness and coldness of between to Mavros. For all of his father’s potential, he’d somehow ended up in the dank halls of a half Weyr. Even if they were getting an official Hold, they still had so far to go to be well established and recognized as an actual Weyr. It was too bad that his sister had decided to follow such a dismal future, still, he wouldn’t abandon her… perhaps his connections in the future could get both his father, sister, and youngest siblings out of such a hole.

The sun was high and he was excited for the races his father had told him about, even if Jarath wouldn’t be racing. He knew there was some trauma in the way his grandfather had died, but he never quite understood why his father hadn’t gotten over it. Jarath would be enjoyable to watch in a race. Mostly though, especially since he assumed this would be a smaller gather than most, he was excited to see his twin. It’d been some time and letters hardly sufficed.

When they landed he slid off, a thrill of almost falling tingling through his fingers as he went. Then turned, his dark gaze searching for his sister – they’d be watching the dragon races from the cliffs, not too far from the clearing where Jarath had found to land.

Taxx

[Taxx]

Lounessa

The Turnover celebration meant a restday for most of the Weyrhold: no lessons, and only minimal chores required. Lounessa had finished hers and then washed and changed into a forest-green dress she'd had for Turns. It still fit well, and if there were a few flyaway threads- well, nobody was likely to notice. There was a lot more to catch peoples' attention than one Candidate's well-used dress. So she hoped, anyway.

She was a bit early to the races, but she wanted to get a decent spot so she could actually watch. The cliffs were long enough that there would be little need for the watchers to push to the front of a crowd. Buttons, stuffed full to keep him from being a bother later on, lay draped over her shoulders, his claws dug into her dress just enough to keep his balance without pressing into her skin. It was a practiced position for them both, and Lounessa was as comfortable with the weight of the brown as he was with the movement of her body as she walked.

Coming to a halt close to the edge of the cliffs, and feeling a swoop in her belly as she looked down at the water far below, Lounessa glanced toward where the starting line was being marked out. Then, as Buttons twitched, his head lifting skyward, she turned away in time to see Jarath blink into view. Her father and his bronze had left to pick up Cion and the others, the younger half-siblings, to spend the day at Mavros. Anticipation at seeing her twin swept everything else aside and Nessa turned to head toward the bronze. Roused by her excitement, Buttons sprang from his perch and came to a hover above Cion, squeaking at the young man before zipping back toward Lounessa.

"I'm almost surprised Lo'qui was able to drag you away from your studies," was Nessa's greeting as she neared Cion, the dryness of the remark softened by the smile that appeared right after. "It really has been too long. I hope you're well?"
tovaana

[tovaana]

Cionessan;

Buttons was the reason Cionessan didn’t have a firelizard, or at least – one of the reasons. If he was going to have a firelizard, he wanted to make sure he was going to get a bigger egg, a bronze – or even a golden egg. If he was going to be an influential harper, he didn’t want a meaningless hoard of flits, but one that would be useful in all capacities; from errands, keeping a tune, and of course, prowess. While Cionessan knew he had talent and potential, he knew it to be raw and in the process of refinement – and he had little influence yet, so the need for such a flit wasn’t necessary yet. He couldn’t help but wince a little at the sound of the frantic brown above his head, relieved when the brown went back to its owner. He was spared.

Cionessan’s lips pulled into a smile at the sight of his sister, pulling wider at her mention of his studies and how serious he took them. At least she knew how important they were to him. “Well, now, sis – nothing is more important than you.” He said in buttery tones, his arms opening for a hug that Lounessa wasn’t going to initiate? “What, no hug for your better half?” He teased, his eyes narrowing playfully. While Cionessan could animate himself for crowds, he was not usually so playful for others – some things just came easier with his sister. He left his arms open with a playfully smug expression, though any degree of smugness did come quite naturally to the young man.

“I’ll be well once I get a hug.” He said, opening his arms a little wider. “I hope you’ve saved a good seat for the races?” He glanced over at his father. “And you and Jarath…”

“No, we’re not racing.” Lo’qui said with a plainness that disturbed Cionessan. The bronze rumbled disagreeably in his chest, vibrating the ground around them with his frustration.

“Too bad,” he said, leaving at that as he turned his attention back on his twin.

[Taxx]

Lounessa - Candidate

It wasn't until she was face to face with Cion that she realized how much she'd actually missed him. He'd left her first, to follow his own path, and she couldn't fault him for that, but it hadn't been easy, adjusting to life without her twin brother constantly at her side. He was taller, but so was she. He looked well, though. Happy. That made her glad, knowing he was right where he wanted to be, doing what he wanted to be doing. A shame their paths had parted, but she could live for these visits, knowing that he was content. Still, she intended to make the most of today.

An eyebrow raised, a tip of her head at his tease. "My better half?" she asked, dryly. "He hasn't hatched yet. I'll let you know when I meet him." Another grin and she stepped closer to accept his hug, winding her arms around him and squeezing lightly. "You'll do in the meantime, I suppose." She lingered for a moment, then stepped back again and waved a hand toward the cliffs. Buttons was quick to settle back on her shoulders, rubbing his cheek against Nessa's before returning to his previous draped position. "We might have lost it by now, but it's still early and we can find a good spot before it gets too crowded."

Lo'qui not racing wasn't news to her- she'd asked already and gotten his answer. She would have placed marks on him if he had been, but she supposed there would be enough racers to bet on in his stead. "And I hope you brought your appetite, we'll eat after the races are over. Mavros doesn't have the most varied supply, but they do their best on Gather days. Come on."

She took just a moment to wave at her younger half-siblings, more to be polite than anything, before reaching for Cion's hand and turning back to the cliffs. "Catch up with you later?" she asked Lo-qui and Jarath, tipping her head back to meet the bronze's eyes.

tovaana

[tovaana]

Cionessan;

He scoffed at her surmising that she had yet to meet her better half and worse yet, it would be a dragon. Even as she went into embrace him he scrunched his nose briefly in disgust at the thought that a dragon would be held in higher esteem than him. Dragons were beasts, more intelligent than most, but definitely not something more than, well, him.

“Hmmm, we’ll see about that. Especially if you impress a dragon like…” He motioned to Buttons who was settling on her shoulder with a nod of his head. “…that creature.”

He rubbed his stomach thoughtfully, “oh yes, there might be room for a bubbly pie or two.” Cionessan did enjoy good food, but would only eat whatever looked and smelled the best. If he didn’t like it, then he wouldn’t finish it, because what was the point?

The young man followed his twin, raising his hand that Nessa hadn’t grabbed in a brief goodbye. Rhoqui was watching them with large eyes and saying something to Lo’qui – who waved farewell, “don’t get into too much trouble you two.” Was Lo’qui’s only response coupled with a smile, but somewhat distracted by Rhoqui to whom he shook his head. Her head rocked back in disappointment, but her brother poked her shoulder and pointed vigorously at the races that were starting. Still glancing longingly at her older half siblings, she allowed herself to get distracted as they clambered back on Jarath’s mammoth body to get a better view.

Jarath on the other hand hummed, glancing from Cionessan to Lounessa. Have fun. If you two get into trouble, I want to know all about it. The dragon lowered his head a bit as he watched them wander off, then glanced at his back where Rhoqui was stubbornly trying to not use the rope ladder to get up. Lo'qui breifly scowled at his dragon, but was paying more attention to his youngest children, standing somewhere he could catch them if they fell, but with enough distance to let them have their independence. 

Cionessan always felt awe toward Jarath, and he smirked a little at the dragon’s parting words. The dragon was always wanting to be in the ‘know’ and he could respect that as a harper.

In no way would he let any woman just grab his hand and lead him where they wanted, but there was a fondness that he felt for his sister that calmed his pride. He tried to imagine the prettiest woman in the world, and he still couldn’t imagine liking her dragging him around. His stride caught up with hers and he bumped her shoulder to shoulder. “Been too long sis. I’ll have to come visit you more often.”

“So, is Mavros as much of a dump as I hear it is? How do your lessons differ here? You've mentioned some in your letters, but I want to hear it from your lips, that you actually want to stay here.” He only wanted the best for his family, so it was hard to hide the constant disdain he felt about most of the family he loved ending up in such a dank corner of Pern like Mavros.

[Taxx]

Lounessa - Candidate

As much as Nessa loved Buttons- his quirks were endearing and he was at least friendly, not snappy like some firelizards could be- she too scrunched her nose at the thought of Impressing a dragon like him. "I don't think that's possible. Some dragons might not be the brightest, but they're..." she paused, glanced at the brown, and then shook her head in mute denial. She doubted Buttons would understand, but saying aloud that he was not particularly intelligent felt wrong; he was helpful in his own way, and he couldn't help his born personality anyway.

A last wave at Lo'qui and the younger two, a grin and thumbs up at Jarath as a promise, and Lounessa turned away toward the cliffs. "You should. You can get away easier than I can, I think." Apprentices weren't entirely free to do their own thing, but especially now, Nessa didn't like the thought of taking off for a visit and potentially missing a sudden hatching. That would never do; what if her dragon was in this clutch? Missing his Impression, knowing he'd go between and she'd lose her chance possibly forever. No. A hundred times over, no.

Her twin's concern was nothing new either, and Nessa offered him a smile that she hoped would settle it somewhat. "I want to stay, Cion. I have to. I wasn't having any luck at Ierne, and there's less Candidates here; more chances I'll Impress. Maybe I'll even make this place more infamous, you know? Me, Impressing a bronze at this middle-of-nowhere Weyr. That should shake things up. And it's not so bad here. Smaller than Ierne, but not really so different. In most ways, anyway."

She came to a stop a few feet from the edge of the cliffs, in good view of the starting line, and then glanced up at Cion. "What about you? How's your lessons going? I want to hear everything you've been up to too."
tovaana

[tovaana]

Cionessan;

An eyebrow rose as her words faded about dragons- and he could assume she was going to say that dragons were superior to flits, though perhaps not so sharply. The open-ended comment left lots of room for him to poke fun, but he bit his tongue as he usually did with his sister. He had a fondness for her, and while he didn’t care much what others thought about him, he cared what she thought, though he’d probably never say or admit it. Instead he simply ‘hmphed’ skeptically.

He glanced at his sister as she waved to their family as they moved toward the cliffside. Cionessan’s arms hung loosely at his side, frowning thoughtfully at her conjuncture of his freedom. “Possibly. I’d like to hit journeyman sooner than later, if I leave every seven-day, I don’t think they’d think I was taking my craft very seriously.” His frown turned thoughtful as he looked around and down at the first race that was lining up – and then they were off. He watched them as he listened to his sister. It was intriguing, that dragonriders did things like racing for fun, when they weren’t doing their primary job. It was all well and familiar to him, things he'd grown up with - though his father never participated in them for his own reasons. 

His sister’s comment about impressing a bronze made him smile a little. Any other girl and he would have laughed and mocked, but his sister was one of the only women he believed in. If anyone was going to do it, she was. Most women were weak and superficial, but not Lounessa, his Nessa. “If you impress a bronze I’ll write you a song that will vibrate through all of Pern. But, I’ll still write you a song when you impress, whatever color it is. Mavros does need strong leaders, strong influencers… who knows, perhaps when I hit journeyman I could request to come here.” It really wasn’t his top pick, he’d rather be somewhere that meant something, but what if he could make Mavros mean something? He knew the power of his craft, especially how underrated it was, half of Mavros’ battle to make it back on the map would be getting the word out… a few catchy tunes of their going-ons, and voila! The great Mavros Weyr! Maybe…

“Lessons are going great, it’s all I do really. Writing music, singing music, playing music.” People heard music and lyrics, but in his mind he heard ‘history’ and ‘politics’ and even ‘power’. “I eat, drink, and sleep in my studies, there’s nothing much to note. It’s probably more interesting here… well, despite its size…” He started confident, but ended with soft skepticism and question in his tone. “I’d love to make some connections while I’m here, possibly meet the harper – do they have a master here?”

Taxx