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Post by Xinnai on Sept 19, 2008 15:07:07 GMT -8
The confusions of the day had come to rest, for now at least. The little queenrider was certain they were to persist, annoying gnats that refused to be completely gone, but for now all was still.
She sat in the weyrling barracks on her cot. The irony of the position from the night before was not lost on her. Legs crossed "criss cross applesauce" as children were prone to say, she picked at her bedclothes, fingers pulling out loose threads and whatnot absentmindedly.
She was weary, exhausted down to her bones from the morning's confusion and the events transpiring after. Exhausted, but her mind too full of questions to quietly succumb to sleep.
Salina drew one hand through her hair, the mass of blond rearranging itself because of the movement. Within her face, eyes were shaded, the purple rings beneath them deep and evident because of her coloring. A small sigh was expelled, her body slumped. They all were at a loss of what to do.
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Post by neopanther on Sept 21, 2008 10:48:39 GMT -8
Ez’ki wandered back into the barracks, scruffing a hand through wet hair, thick cloth draped about his shoulders. Through the rough day – he’d just about managed to free himself enough time to finally clean himself. Xyruth was also clean; however the blue was contenting himself with food at that moment. The blue had managed to secure himself a carcass, hunted. Well hunted in a respect. The blue had managed to steal the carcass off a dead beast – freshly killed – from thee drudges who seemed to intend to use it for food stuffs. Xyruth was incredibly happy at his ‘kill’ Seen as the larger dragons could hunt, he wanted to prove he could – or at least look like he could.
Ez’ki opened the door to see none other than his little Salina there. He looked on her, silently, he smiled softly, and he was fond of her in a totally not predatory way. Confusion was slowly ebbing from him, he no longer really cared. All he knew is that their barracks held two more girls.
On silent paths, Ez’ki made his way to her bed, shifted into a cross legged position with his back flush to hers, “Evening Weyrwoman.” He said with a soft, melodic tone, “Taking some time to calm down and mull over the rough day eh? Don’t think about it. There’s nothing we can do Sassie.” He tried to add softly to her. Trying to comfort her.
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Post by blueaid on Sept 21, 2008 18:30:34 GMT -8
((By special permission from Salina and Ez'ki, I hearby dub myself the fifth-wheel in their scene, whee~!))
By contrast, a few steps behind Ez'ki, Z'dayi had not yet found time to clean himself. He wore the grime of a long day visibly, the smears of oil down the front of his shirt, the stringy curls that needed to be washed, the graze of a day's blond-beard he'd never gotten around to shaving, and none of it seemed to phase him in the slightest. Framed by the thin, shadowy darkness of Tremaith skulking along behind him, he passed right by the goldrider, the bluerider, and toward his own bed.
It was only the rider that back-tracked a moment later, taking stock of who was parked out there-- Ez'ki and Salina-- and the fact that there was no one he detested around to make him go scuttling inside post haste. Tremaith had wandered on, now pacing around his cot full of distaste for the little untidinesses that Z'dayi perpetually left around by way of unwashed socks and discarded underwear, only ever picked up at the last-possible-minute; but Z'dayi back-tracked to put himself on the fringe of the back-to-back duo.
"Y'all right then?" he asked the pair collectively, eyeing their collective posture with a smidge of concern.
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Post by Xinnai on Sept 21, 2008 18:46:54 GMT -8
Salina looked up and over as the bluerider entered, the fatigue making her appear more fragile and pale than ever before. When he sat, she leaned against him, letting her tense body slowly uncoil. Eyes closed and she sighed.
"Evening, bluerider," she replied in kind. Head tipped back, resting on his shoulder. "How can I not think about it? It's right there, in my face." Thankfully, the other two girls in the barracks were gone. But just looking at their/R'sen and H'fador's cots was enough.
From behind closed lids, she didn't see the person who entered the barracks, but heard them. Head rolled on her friend's shoulder wearily. She wasn't going to move from the position, no matter who or what told her to. When she head his voice though, eyes opened and Salina sighed.
Oh, the irony was definitely not lost on her.
"Not really," she mumbled, in no mood to put on the brave front and pretend that everything was sunshine and rainbows. It wasn't. Especially when she could remember how all the boys had panted over Genet and Anayeli. She was just tired enough that such a small thing was irritating her now. "How're you, Zee?"
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Post by neopanther on Sept 22, 2008 4:17:04 GMT -8
Ez’ki gave a solemn look to Sassie, over his shoulder, barely noticing the entry off Z’dayi. He gently stroked his hands through her hair, soft as silk as it was, his own wet – russet brown with such – was a start contrast to hers.
Only when she opened her eyes, and Z’dayi spoke did Ez’ki pay any attentions to who had entered, the voice was instantly recognisable. He raised his gaze to the tall blond bronze rider, dirty and grotty as he was – he could see why he held charm for some. Ez’ki’s chest inflated with a deep huff, not defensive, but tired, almost showing he felt how Sassie looked. But the one thing that was perhaps a little shocking to him; was the concern that marred the tone of his friend a little. He’d not known that side of Z’dayi, and he had very little doubt that it was not for him. Word of rumours echoed in his mind as he looked at the bronzer, and felt the weight of the gold rider’s head that rested upon his shoulder.
He had given little thought to Salina in this, as far as he had thought was the possibility of him losing his dragon to this ridiculous turn of events. He hadn’t even given a passing moment to how this would impact upon the junior Weyrwoman. Admittedly he thought he idea stupid that she would relinquish the hold on her golden queen to any other, let alone a male – and then also Z’dayi, no bronze would likely forsake him, for a girl. Ez’ki’s lips tightened, he was the most at risk in that regard. A blue rider, he was a stark contrast to t he impress-ee’s of these kings and queens that stood about him. His silence weighed heavily on him. Thoughts making his mind a cacophony of thunder and lightning swirl within the confines of his skull.
Perhaps that was the reason Z’dayi had been so carefree about this thing. Because there was a very little doubt that he would lose Tremaith.
Finally, he gave a half hearted smile, his hands returned to stroking through her hair, meticulously combing out any small tangles brought by the day with a tenderness few received from him. He gave his response to her words, “you’re telling me.” Was the only thing he could respond with. He didn’t know the answers. Much as he despised that fact. He really, really detested it. And so he denied the confusion that knocked at the gates.
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Post by blueaid on Sept 22, 2008 9:37:38 GMT -8
Taking the liberty of a seat at the end of Salina's cot, straddling with one leg on either side, his palms on the sheets in front of him to face the despondent pair, Z'dayi made a pointed contrast to their deflated postures. "Don't get all worked up. Really, what good's it do is?" He glanced around, at the other weyrlings in their tired confusion, the lifted his eyes back to the pair on the same cot. Crowded little bed.
Maybe it was the surety that no girl would oust his bond with Tremaith, or maybe it was just the grim resolve not to get mired in this confusion and dismay, but he didn't seem to suffer as they did, certainly not the same doubts as Ez'ki. "We're still the same people with the same dragons, ain't we? So what's the worry." Shrug.
For a moment, his eyes caught on Salina's pale hair, on the hand that soothed it, and there was the flicker of a momentary smile. There, then, was the contrast. The goldrider might get swept up with him, they might even have developed a fondness for each other between fondlings, but he would never be her comfort. And it made him chuckle quietly at the difference in roles.
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Post by Xinnai on Sept 25, 2008 17:58:40 GMT -8
The feeling of the bluerider's fingers in her hair was one of the most soothing in the world for Salina. The stroking uncoiled knots and tension inside her body, melting away most of the stress she felt. Most of it. There was still that little kernel lodged inside the base of her spine, radiating through her petite frame.
Eyes closed again, feeling as if the weight of the world were crashing down on her. "No," she whispered. "There's still worry. This could change everything. Everything. I still remember things, things I shouldn't be remembering. Like remembering vaguely something you read. What does this mean? How could this happen?"
She threw the words out into the air, a rope she hoped someone else could grab on to, any of them who could make sense of this whole disaster. Thinking of it, thinking of the half-remembered memories had given her a headache all day. She just wanted to sleep and hope that when she woke up, everything would have changed again. Back to how it had been. Except that there was no going back...
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Post by neopanther on Oct 1, 2008 9:32:42 GMT -8
Ez'ki gave a soft sigh, turning his head, he let his nose nuzzle into her hair, something about her comforted him, he was secure and held no expectations when he was around her. And Z'dayi - though he had a feeling the bronze rider wouldn't appreciate his being tactile like Sassie did. The small amount of humour brought a smirk to his lips, a bemused 'heh' escaping him. He listened as she spoke, he agreed with her . These could be the start of many more, groundbreaking changes that start happening in Pern. And he for one did not like the sound of it. He looked up at Z'dayi - Ez'ki was tired. and for one rare time he let it show on him. His arrogance, and his show off self were a much less vital part of him at that time, and well, this was a pretty odd way for him to be, let alone be seen in. He held little mirth, joy, flirtatious desire, or in fact any of his regular characteristics.
"I can't give you the answer to that Sassie, but, I want the answers too, and I have no intention of sitting down waiting for them to arrive." He said - oddly proactive about this. Either Xyruth was having a much larger effect upon him than he thought, or he was just far to caught up in his own not-understanding.
"But, Z'dayi - I probably have more reason for concern than both of you, I can't see either of your bondeds being switched. I mean, firstly, no male would ever ride gold, nor a female bronze. But, if greens are the starting block, then why wouldn't a blue be next?" Ez said softly. He feared that - he honestly did. Perhaps that was the reason he was so caught up in wanting to find out the reason behind this mystery. Because he knew he could be one of the next affected. "Anything brown or lower could be affected, we're not the vital ones, you're colours are. Greens cannot reproduce, Blues and Browns cannot chase for a queen, we are only of use for fighting thread, even that is not falling in this interval. So we're just here to keep the peace - or so it seems." He said, confessing the fact - in a round a bout way that he was scared. "but it is out of my control, as you say Zee - so" He shrugged with one shoulder so as to not disturb the relaxing junior weyrwoman.
"Also - it seems as though the Pern we know has a different history to the one we know." He murmured. He'd been talking to a few people, and one of them had off handedly mentioned a 'M'tani' Ez'ki didn't have a clue who that was, and the drudge to whom he was talking, started leading off about how a weyrling should know of the grandest of the Weyrleaders to hold the title within his own weyr. Ez'ki had been pretty shocked at this. and it was just adding to a pile of confusion that was littering his mind.
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Post by blueaid on Oct 5, 2008 10:18:55 GMT -8
"Maybe you do," Z'dayi began after Ez'ki's have-more-reason comment, his shoulders shrugged, his expression as carefully unconcerned as ever. Surely, he felt for his friend, felt for the worry the bluerider must have, but he kept up the unfettered appearance with considerable aplomb. "Anything, darlin', could change everything." That remark must be for Salina-- else he's taken to darling-ing Ez'ki as well.
"Look," he continued, his fingers picking at the sheets between himself and the bluerider-goldrider conglomeration across the bed. "Things changed, yeah, things change every day. But we're still the same. And you two can sit here'n worry about it happening to you, or you can just keep on with life same as ever. One of those alternatives is gonna make you nervous and miserable, the other one's gonna make it a lot more tolerable." Another shrug, another forced carelessness. "For my part? I ain't about to let something that didn't happen to me shape who I am."
And who he was, Z'dayi in particular, was content to reach across the rest of the distance and hook a hand around Salina's foot, to draw on it as if he would unravel her leg and bring her toes on over to him. He watched the pair of worried weyrlings, his eyebrows lifted questioningly at the two, twitched a little extra at the goldrider-- comfy cot, remember?
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Post by Xinnai on Oct 5, 2008 15:55:12 GMT -8
Salina sighed, relaxing into the feeling of Ez'ki, into the feeling of the gathering of her and her friends. How strange, for her best friends to be an arrogant, sometimes obnoxious bluerider and cocky, handsome bronzerider. The feeling of contentment, of security, was evident no matter what they were.
They both made sense, in their way. Ez'ki's worries were very well-founded, but the queenrider just couldn't see women riding blues. She hadn't been able to see them riding greens either, for that matter, but it made more sense now the phenomenon had happened. Greens were known to be tempermental, finicky creatures just as women were. But the solid, stoic, mellow blues? No. It just couldn't happen.
As for Z'dayi..."Not caring seems harder than not worrying," Salina murmured. "You both have a point though. We are the same, but is being the same all that matters? Things have changed. I'm sure Genet was the same. And now she's somehow impressed a green."
A troubled sigh slipped through her lips as she leaned against her bluerider, watching Z'dayi take her foot. An eyebrow arched in a fashion similar to his. She felt like they were sharing in a secret, trying to hide what had happened on her cot from Ez'ki. But it wasn't working.
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Post by neopanther on Oct 7, 2008 6:16:35 GMT -8
He nodded slowly at the idea that Z'dayi conveyed, "It would be starkly easier to forget about it, to just ignore it, but I can't. Worrying - albeit it is not something I prefer to spend my time doing, is something you cannot avoid. As to not letting it shape who I am? The consequences of this will change us all Z'dayi, surely even you see that. There are girls in the barracks - other than our Salina, Genet is bonded to a green, I doubt your mornings will be left to wake as and when you want with her around. Nor in-fact with H'gar around, he seems to have assumed al of this authority in I'dalyn's stead." Ez'ki shrugged. Everything was totally topsy turvy.
He looked solemnly over to the pair on the other side of the bed, Z'dayi seemed to be trying to convey something to Sassie. Ez knew that look. If there was any look he would remember it was that one.
He felt her move against his back, relaxing into him, but at the same time she was not relaxed. Ez'ki looked over his shoulder at her, curious now. He shot a confused come skeptical look over towards Z'dayi, one that was piecing things together. Shards, those rumours could not be true now could they? He felt a souring on his tongue, a growing dislike for the bronzer opposite him. Though he did not let this show, controlled as always. Ez simply continued to stroke the pale blond hair that lapsed over his own vivd red.
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Post by blueaid on Oct 7, 2008 12:10:10 GMT -8
"Does it change you though? Sure don't change me. H'gar can be as mean as he wants. Genet can be as green as she wants. I'm still me." And determined to stay that way. Z'dayi might have been oblivious to the realization that Ez'ki was coming to; or, as likely, he didn't care what conclusions the bluerider drew. As this event wasn't going to ruin him, change him, so judgment wasn't going to derail him.
And he wanted to distract Salina from the troubles at hand, to give them both something to worry about beyond the monumental. The girl greenriders were too big an issue for three weyrlings to resolve, but the ramifications of rumor? The proof in the pudding? That was something they could deal with.
So he drew Salina's foot to him, propped her heel on his knee, and peeled away her sock in the most lascivious undressing a foot ever suffered. Keep trying to hide it, sure; his fingers on toes and the arch of her foot, the quality of his smirk was plain enough.
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Post by Xinnai on Oct 7, 2008 14:16:43 GMT -8
Salina was unaware of either of the men's thoughts and was happy to be so. She was slowly letting the troubles and frustrations from the day leak out as the happy concept that they could nothing was slowly being revealed. The only thing they really could do was go on as normally as possible.
And apparently, for her, normal was leaning against her best friend, soothed by his presence and touch, and riled up by the bronzerider who was at the top of her queue for when they were finally released from the one restriction they all fidgeted at.
A content sigh rose from her, whether from Ez'ki's stroking of her hair or the tickle of Z'dayi's fingers, she wasn't sure. They melded as one as her eyes closed and she gave a little yawn. They were going to put the baby to bed now.
"Mmm. Well, I guess we can try not to worry about it...It makes sense at least. Carry on as normally as possible and hope that that is all that changes." It stumbled up lame, but was the most that Salina could come up with especially in the face of the overwhelming urge to laugh that tried to overtake her. Z'dayi had never touched her feet before, but they were extremely sensitive as most were. Sensitive and ticklish.
Oh, Farath. Ez'ki had to be wondering what was going on now, as the light giggle rose. If he wasn't wondering, he was just being plain wherry-headed and that wasn't normally the case for her bluerider.
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Post by neopanther on Oct 9, 2008 11:23:48 GMT -8
"mmmm." He said suspicion heavy in his tone, as though he didn't quite believe that acting as though normal would help. But there was a double edge to his suspicions. He looked over the two of them. Z'dayi had not been that close to her... not before... not before the rumours.
Ez'ki cleared his throat, "Yeah, maybe we should just carry on as normal. So, with normal - gossip! I've heard the most bizarre thing." He shook his head, lifted his weight from Salina's back a little, indicating that he wanted to sit up, and turn to talk to them, include them both in the conversation. He really wanted to gauge their reactions. He wanted to see if there was a satisfied smirk on Z'dayi's usually cool features. Or a nervous glint to Salina's eyes as he spoke. She would likely be the tell tale one between them, not only because he knew Sassie better than Z'dayi, or that Sassie was incredibly close to him and would likely not be able to lie to him. But because she was pretty much an open book before him.
He tried to look calm, placid, as though it was regular gossip, that was just strange and totally out of place. Which it was. Or at least, it was before he could see this now.
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Post by blueaid on Oct 9, 2008 19:18:47 GMT -8
"Did you now?" Z'dayi could guess. It didn't exactly take a genius-- which he most definitely was not-- to take a guess at where this conversation was likely to go. He might have a better shot of keeping his part in the heavy-petting to himself if he wanted to. But did he want to? He wouldn't be playing with Salina's feet if he didn't want anyone to know, wouldn't be darling-ing her and passing along knowing smirks right there where everyone was apt to catch them.
His fingers stilled momentarily on the ticklish toes, his hand curled around them, gave a momentary squeeze before he resumed tracing the little lines on the bottom of her feet with his index finger, tracing the creases, outlining her toes, being generally silly but at least it wasn't trying to cope with... the ramifications of a problem that their braintrust wasn't going to resolve. Too big. Too much.
Gossip they could deal with, and he was happy to take this particular bullet if it would change the subject.
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