Ista Weyr - Training Grounds
It's warm and humid, unpleasant even though it's still morning. Vaeonath is stretched out in the lush grass, digging her claws idly in the grass as she snoozes. Jaye is leaning against her side, trapped by Vaeonath's tail swung over her legs. Her hair's pulled into a tight bun to keep it out of the way, and she's paging through a slim volume. "This'll be the third time we've read it this week, Vae," she sighs, trying to stretch her legs out. "C'mon now. I know you've a short memory, but it was only a couple of days ago."
L'ton may actually be doing what he's suppose to as he's meandering down towards the training grounds, Dhonzayth in tow, for he's not looking like he's dodging any work. P'tah is stopped as the boy is rushing across the bowl, giving him a look and having a short conversation with him before waving him off, and headed for the young gold and her rider where they're settled. "Weyrling.." He says rather formally, folding his arms infront of him, before he's grinning, and shaking his head. "Gotta remember it for her, weyrling." He adds absently, though clearly amused.
Jaye makes a face at L'ton, running her fingers idly along Vaeonath's tail as she lets the hand clutching the book fall to her side. Vaeonath just makes a disapproving noise, peeking curiously at Dhonzayth before letting her eyebrows droop. It's hot, she's tired. "I do remember it, Weyrsecond," Jaye sighs, pouting a little. "Doesn't mean she doesn't want me reading it again. I just wish she'd pick something else, eh."
"Picky, ain't she?" L'ton teases a bit more, shaking his head, but moves to settle down opposite Jaye, leaning back on his hands. "Ya should just read something else, Ah bet she won't remember the difference." Shaking his head, he grins, before looking at the droopy gold and her rider. "Ya managing okay, thoug, lil'bit? Vaeonath does look like ya've been taking good care of her." Despite the melted dragon pose, which Dhonzayth is quick to mimic, moving to rest with his much larger nose near the little dusty gold one.
Vaeonath stretches her neck out, trying to touch the tip of her nose to Dhonzayth's with a little snort. The tip of her tail flicks idly and Jaye thumps it gently as it swished. "She's a silly thing," Jaye teases, affectionate. "She'd notice, I'm sure. But maybe if I read it with enough gusto she'd think it was new." She marks the page in the book and closes it, setting it aside as she goes to rub Vae's side. "Ah, 'm doing alright, I guess." She furrows her brows a bit. "She's a little difficult to manage sometimes, seems to get more feisty the bigger she gets. But we do okay."
"Aw, they all do. But when she gets a little bigger, maybe she'll get a little better ta. Ah mean, ya never know. They're like kids." He shrugs a bit, reaching to absently pat Vaeonath's twitching tail. "Ya guess, though? Is something bothering ya, lil'bit?" His brow wrinkles up in concern, watching her with a rather serious look on his face. "Or, is someone causing ya trouble?" Dhonzayth shifts enough to touch noses with Vaeonath, giving a soft snort in return, wings starting to sag the longer he sits there.
"Maybe so. I hope so." Jaye furrows her brows a bit, tipping her head back against Vaeonath's side. "Mm, not that she's not lovely at any rate. Just difficult sometimes." Vaeonath flicks her tail a bit more, shaking her head a little as Dhonzayth snorts. "Mmm, why d'you ask? I'm alright … things've been fine. Just tiring is all, you know? She's growing like a weed and it's hard to keep up. She's gotten so big!" Jaye beams, pleased, and gives Vaeonath another little pat as the gold snorts, pleased.
"Just want ta make sure no one's causing any trouble fer my favorite gold weyrling pair is all. Cause, that just ain't good." L'ton explains, again reaching to gently pat Vaeonath's tail. "If'n ya ever need a hand with her, oiling or anything, Ah'd be glad ta help. Or Zip might ta, once y'all are down at the lake. She's got lots of practice too." He does grin at Vaeonath though, nodding his head. "Ah can't believe how big she already is. Or that she'll be bigger than Dhonzayth is, when she's done." Dhonzayth seems amused by the gold's reaction, and actually preens a bit.
"Aren't we the only gold weyrling pair?" Jaye replies coyly, raising an eyebrow. "I think that's cheating." She stretches a little and tries to wriggle her legs out from under Vaeonath - Vaeonath doesn't budge, though. She tips her head to peek at L'ton, snorting a little in irritation. "Vae's inclined to disagree," Jaye replies teasingly. "Reckons she'll be at least as big as he is." She stretches a little, stifling a small yawn. "I'll need the help with her soon enough though. She's getting to big for me to do all by myself. She loves how long the attention lasts, but I could use a spare set of hands sometimes."
"Ah dunno, there are some gold weyrlings at other Weyrs… Ah didn't specify Ista." Which he didn't. "So, ya can't say Ah was lying." As Jaye wiggles a bit, L'ton just grins. "Ah dun think yer going anywhere, lil'one." Dhonzayth seems amused as the interchange is passed on, snorting at her. "He says she may be bigger than, but he's bigger now, so she shouldn't try nothing." L'ton's grinning, shaking his head. "Ah'll make sure Zip comes ta play with ya'll, when she can. She loves the water, so, Ah dun think she'd mind." And young teens are actually fairly good at taking instruction.
Jaye pouts a little, stretching her legs out beneath Vaeonath's tail again with a sigh. "I suppose that could be true enough. As long as we're your favorites." Vaeonath makes another dour noise, stretching to bump noses with Dhonzayth again. "Vaeonath is much to polite a lady to go trying anything," Jaye teases. "Til she's any bigger, at least." She reaches to scratch an itch on the gold's belly. "I'd love the help, if she wanted to. I'm hardly one to turn down free labor. Candidacy taught me well." She winks.
"Of course yer our favorites. We did Search ya afterall. Ah was rooting fer ya the whole time." L'ton shakes his head, as if shocked that she could even think they weren't his favorites, leaning back on his hands once more, grinning as he does so. "Just as long as ya promise ta keep an eye on her, and let Vaeonath chase away any of 'em older boys that have been following her around. Ah dun want her messing with 'em." There's a bit of father speaking. Dhonzayth is bigger, and thus he'll try something, shifting to rest his head on top of that of the much smaller gold's.
"Such a flatterer," Jaye teases. She toys with a stray curl a bit, tweaking it idly as she relaxes against Vaeonath's side. "Not that we mind." Vaeonath squirms a little, warbling sourly as she tries to wriggle her head from beneath Dhonzayth's. « I'm no pillow!, » the gold sulks. « What's that for? » Jaye just bites back a giggle, grinning and scratching Vae's side a little more enthusiastically. "Well, I don't know if I'm in any position to be lecturing, but I'll try to keep an eye on her for you."
"Ah'm glad ya haven't cut yer hair, Jaye." L'ton absently supplies as she tucks hair behind her hair, and he shakes his head with a grin. "Ah didn't think ya would, though." A bit of a shrug, he grins. "Ya dun have ta lecture, just like Vaeonath chase 'em off if'n they try anything." He knows what guys are like, after all! As Vaeonath starts to squirm, Dhonzayth slowly picks up his head, snorting. « But you are little. You must be a pillow. You are my pillow. » But, instead of dropping his head back on top of her, he's attempting to stick it under hers, to avoid any more protests.
« You are too big, » comes Vaeonath's indignant pout. « And I am not squishy like the pillows are. I am not full of feathers. You must be silly, to think I am. » But she acquieces when he moves, lifting her head to rest it on the end of his snout. "Silly girl," Jaye teases. "No one thinks you're full of feathers." She moves a little, trying to turn to reach a more difficult itch higher on the dragonet's side. "Mmm, C'nor's threatening to make me wear a helmet around for a while so I can understand why I ought to. I'd prefer to avoid it as long as I can though." She bites back another chuckle. "No worries. Vaeonath and I'll keep her honor in tact."
"If'n ya keep it up, the other girls in my class didn't seem ta think it was ta bad. Just gotta get a bigger helmet, so it ain't digging into yer head." A complaint heard time and time again? Probably. "Well, Ah can understand if'n ya cut it, but it is pretty." He grins as she agrees. "Thanks, Ah can't imagine what Ah'll do if'n she's Searched." Scary, that. "Or if'n she was ta Impress." Cause then he can't keep his little girl safe any longer. « I am not too big. You are too little. » Dhonzayth counters, with his nose buried beneath her head. « You are full of wherry. Wherry has feathers. You could be full of feathers. »
"That's what I think," Jaye replies, nodding as she toys with her hair a bit more. "But D'son went off and cut his hair, and it almost makes me feel bad." She grins. "But I'd rather keep it all." She pulls a face as Vaeonath turns a little, and tries to reach for yet another itch. "Just oiled you, girl …" And she quirks an eyebrow at L'ton, her tone wry as she continues. "But you're alright with carting off other girls, eh? I'm sure she'd be alright. Anyrate, it at least guarantees she'll stay out of trouble til the eggs hatch." Vaeonath hums and shifts as she gets herself comfortable, her head comfortably resting on his nose. « You are too big. I can't help if I am still little … I won't be, soon. » She snorts. « I am /not/ full of wherry feathers. »
"She's only 13… Ah dun care once she's a lil'older, but they're eightteen er nineteen, and mah Zip is barely a teenager." L'ton shakes his head hurriedly, wrinkling up his nose, and from the look on his face, it seems that Jaye's not the first one to comment on the double standard. "Like Ah said, Ah dunno if mah opinion means anything, but Ah think ya should leave it. Ah mean, when Ah could, t'was nice ta twirl and tug on." He winks at her, before he turns to stare at the gold and the bronze, amused as the bronze settles very still beneath the gold's head, resigning himself to his fate. « It is because you can't hunt yet. You will eat feathers when you are big enough to hunt. » Which of course negates his earlier arguement, but.
« I could if I wanted to, » Vaeonath replies, a little drowsy as she settles in. « I just don't yet. » Jaye snorts a bit and gives Vaeonath's side one last rub before leaning against her again. "Well, that's understandable enough," she muses. "But being Searched is probably safer than dealing with the boys, eh." She preens a little and tugs her hair out of the bun, shaking it out a bit. "Well, if you like it," she replies teasingly. "That's a good enough reason not to cut it."
« You are too little too. You wouldn't know what to do with a whole one. I would bring you a whole one, if you did. » Aw, look how caring Dhonzayth is… Not. Yet, while Dhonzayth isn't moving, L'ton certainly is, shifting over to sit next to Jaye, though not daring to presume and lean against her side as well. "That is true. Ah just gotta meke it through the next turn, and then she'll be old 'nuff ta stand." As the hair comes down, his gaze narrows slightly, and his fingers are twitching in his lap as she shakes it free. "Now that just ain't fair, weyrling."
Jaye twirls a curl around her finger, pouting as L'ton settles down near her. "What'd I do, Weyrsecond? I get tired of leaving it up all the time." She lets her hands fall in her lap, relaxing against Vaeonath again. "Mm, not long to wait then. A year goes by fast." She grins. Vaeonath just huffs and exhales noisily. « If I had a whole one I would eat it, » she says sensibly. « That is what you do with them, right? »
« What else would you do with a whole one? » Dhonzayth seems amused. « I will bring you a whole one, before your next bath. Then yours will not have twice the work. » Of course, it might mean punishment from C'nor, but, it happens. As Jaye pouts at him, he makes a face. "Ah'm sure ya do. And, in a turn, y'all'll be almost ready ta move into yer own weyrs." As she continues to sit there, he looks left and right before twisting a lock quickly, hands dropping back down.
« What else is there to do but eat it? » Vaeonath muses, making a curious nose as she eyes Dhonzayth as best she can with her head on his nose. « She would like that, I'm sure. She does not seem to like it as much as I do. » Jaye just flashes a coy grin as he tweaks a curl. "I'll be pleased when we move. All of those dragons, it's getting a bit cramped. And to think, they'll be so much bigger by the time we get to pick a weyr. I don't know how anyone could manage when the clutches were so much bigger."
« When you are much older, you will blood it. For now, you will eat it. I will bring you a wherry, then you will be a pillow. » Dhonzayth shifts his head a bit beneath hers, while L'ton reaches to give another tug a longer twist and a soft sigh. "Ah will be ta, Ah think. Though, Ah can't really imagine it either." Gaze settles on her for a second, another sigh, and then he's shaking his head and standing up, excusing himself. "Ah.. Ah should go check on the other weyrlings. Dhon can stay but.." He shakes his head again, before smiling. "Ah'll see ya soon, though, lil'bit." And then he's ducking off towards the barracks.