Sketching and Seething in the Sun (open)

[anhydrous]

“So quick to judge!” Althesia reprimanded, voice taut and level. “I was simply making sure that was your intention. It would hardly do for me to assume I was welcome when you meant something else entirely.” Her speech was marked with honesty, no trace of a mocking quip. Unlike the usual conversational tone, her words were businesslike, the harper training ringing true in each syllable. The only thing that might be cause for a second-guess was the mischievous glint in her eye, something that no amount of training could rid her of.

Really though, she wanted this man’s trust. For some odd reason that she couldn’t explain, Althesia wanted him to like her. So many did without question, it seemed more tangible coming from a person who was so against the idea. With a sigh she bent to gather up the hems of her skirts, wringing the water from them as she questioned the irritable bronzrider. “What do you want from me?” It was an odd query, a wary one. If he really desired it, she would walk away right now. Back to her book of sketches, back to her quarters in the lower caverns, and eventually back into another anonymous man’s bed. It would sure beat fighting some nameless bronzerider for any scrap of decency he might be persuaded to throw her way.

[dragon]

"Yes, I am", the man replied bluntly. That was J'rad, never hiding behind words. "Well then, yes, it was my attention. If you want me to speak of personal matters, then my weyr would be the most secure place for me to speak so freely of such things", his answer was completely honest and held no hint of any other intention.

However, surprise came not from the harper's question but J'rad's answer. "What do I want from you? The depth and honesty I caught a glimpse of. Perhaps that's why yours is the only company I've managed to stomach so far", J'rad's answer was straightforward, attesting to the bronzerider's personality. His words weren't sneering, irritable, or really all that angry. Infact they held honesty and perhaps a glimpse of something else. But in J'rad's own way, it was a compliment. He was letting this woman know he saw something beneath those layers that everyone else saw, even if it were but a glimpse. If he were wrong, then that'd be his own fault. But J'rad was as stubborn, proud, and confident of himself as ever to speak so boldly to this woman in such a way.

[anhydrous]

Althesia’s eyebrows rose in surprise both because he had answered her question with something other than ‘go away’ and because he seemed to have uttered what might be considered a compliment. Perhaps she had read too far into his exact phrasing, but Althesia was more than thrilled with his response.

Scratching fondly at Arcaith’s massive side that was currently supporting her weight, the harper blinked a few times before saying anything in response. “Now or later?” She asked tersely, assuming he would know what she meant. As long as her bronzer had decided that Arcaith was clean enough, she saw no reason to delay the trip skyward.

Inwardly she gloated at getting something worthwhile out of the rider, something she could actually use. He wanted honesty, which was a quality that Althesia had in spades. Usually she reserved such words and thoughts for those she had deemed close companions, but so far she’d only found bedmates at the weyr. Perhaps this bronzerider would prove to be something more.

[dragon]

J'rad looked Arcaith over, seeming to take his time doing so. "Arcaith. Are you satisfied with your bath?", the bronzerider asked his beast. The bronze snorted and spoke up. Yes, I am satisfied. "Good", J'rad said simply. The man then turned to Althesia. "Now, if you wanted. But can you find my weyr on your own or would it be better if I guided you there?", he questioned her. His words didn't hold any sort of quickness about them, as if he were desperate to get her there. In reality, he wished to have time to change his clothes and freshen up, as he always did after bathing his great beast. Perhaps he'd have time to arrange some form of dinner for the both of them as well. J'rad was certainly hungry and if she wanted to be so gracious as to "cure" him, then satisfying her hunger as well would be enough to repay her. If she wished to be guided, then she'd have to excuse him while he prepared himself and the dinner. Either way produced the same results, really, though J'rad would prefer privacy while freshening up.

[anhydrous]

“I’m sure I could find my way there eventually,” Althesia replied primly, any sort of innuendo that she might have normally attached to such words mysteriously absent. With the hem of her skirt bundled in one hand, the artist lazily waded toward the shore. She wasn't actually sure she would actually be able to find her way to J'rad's weyr. Honesty, the inner corridors of Telgar were a mystery to her. If left to her own devices, it would take turns for her to get anywhere.

“But perhaps Arcaith might give me directions after I change out of these clothes?” She suggested over one shoulder, nearing the boulders that concealed her invaluable sketchbook. Althesia would find no greater pleasure than for her bronzer’s dragon to address her directly again. Each word the great beast slipped her way was both coveted and cherished by the young harper, her mind enrapt with his liquid tones. It was such a pleasant sensation.

[dragon]

J'rad pondered for a moment. He had already made up his mind to have this woman over but he remembered the first time he met her. She couldn't find some place as simple as the Lower Caverns. "Arcaith is lazy after a bath, I doubt he'll have the want to do anything other than lounge around. I'll send for you. I'll need the time to clean up after Arcaith's bath anyway", J'rad spoke to her. He figured this way was easiest. He'd have someone come in to prepare anyway. He knew the woman's name to boot, surely it wouldn't be hard to find a woman with that name under such description.

Arcaith stretched out his wings, giving his rider the signal he was ready to leave. The bronzerider simply nodded and Arcaith was off to settle on his ledge in due time. J'rad waded out of the shallow waters of the lake, finding dry land once again. "I assume you'll be hungry", J'rad's words were obvious. He intended on preparing a meal for the two of them. Before she could answer or come off with some assumption, he quickly responded. "Consider it my payment for trying to "cure" whatever it is you think ails me", the words were sharp as a blade, as if demanding her not to think into it or that any conversation they held made him have a change of heart. No, J'rad wouldn't fall so easily. Without a reply he stuffed the piece of cloth he had dangling loosely from his pocket further in so that it would not fall out as he walked off, to his weyr. The wordless action was obvious, this particular conversation was over, he was going to prepare for their next encounter.

[anhydrous]

Althesia let no disappointment show on her face, although, he probably wouldn’t have caught it anyway. She was already leaning against a boulder, watching her bronzer make his exit. Any amusement she felt at the terse mention of dinner was also hidden, buried under the layers of careful emotion that she had wound into a ball in the pit of her stomach.

So he would send for her. She would be expected to be ready. Sorting at the thought of actually making an effort to look nice for such a hardened man, Althesia bent to retrieve her sketchbook and picked her way past the rocks with a sigh on her lips. This man was quite a mystery. The emotions she tied to the thought of him, even more perplexing.

All the way to her quarters in the lower caverns Althesia’s drenched skirts dripped, her winding trail marked with puddles of lake water and silent worries. What could the two of them possibly have in common? What made her so excited to set foot in his weyr? It certainly couldn’t be the conversation.. she mused awkwardly. The thought of his terse words and disapproving glances didn't stop the pleasant buzzing in her head, a sensation that was growing almost painful.

Whatever it was, she thought worriedly, hopefully it would make itself known over dinner. At picturing such an innocent scene the artists frowned to herself, none too pleased with the pointed unease that was lingering just outside the realm of her conscious thought. Never before had Althesia been so uncomfortable in her own head.