Scrubbing Bubbles
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Aaron, Halyonix
Date Posted: 28th July 2024
Characters: Daslim, Y'rim
Description: Daslim eagerly asks to help wash Quiroanth.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 13, day 4 of Turn 11
The sun had returned after a day of storms, and Daslim was happy to be outside again after being cooped up in the rain. His elder siblings had better things to do, he supposed, but he had always been just as perfectly content to play alone as with others. But today, he had the good fortune to spy a green dragon, he definitely remembered.
She would certainly have heard him from a mile away, as as soon as he recognized Quiroanth, he was calling her name and sprinting toward her, fully intent on hugging her faceā" assuming he could reach it. Sareya would have told him off for practically jumping down her throat, but Sareya was not there, so she could mind her own business.
}: Oh, little one, little one, little one! :{ Quiroanth squealed in delight the moment she saw Daslim coming her way. As carefully as a dragon could, she moved to meet him halfway, which surprised Y'rim because he was just about to get started on washing her and now she was walking away?
"Quir, dear, what on Pern has gotten into you?" Y'rim called, confused but amused.
}: It's one of Abaraoth's little ones! He's here! :{ Quiroanth said. But in her eagerness, she was blocking Daslim from Y'rim's view so it took a few more moments before Y'rim actually understood what was going on. By that point, Quiroanth had made it to Daslim and had lowered her head for the little one.
Daslim laughed gleefully as he gave her the best scritchies and scratchies and rubs and hugs.
"I'm so happy to see you!" he said, as though it had been ages. He would have been just as happy if he had seen her only yesterday. And then, seeing Y'rim, he ran toward him, too, but stopped himself just short and almost fell over.
"Oop!" he said. "Are hugs alright?" The older he got, the more he managed to remember that it was important to ask first.
Y'rim smiled softly with tears almost pricking his eyes. "Oh, of _course_ hugs are alright!" he said, opening his arms wide for Daslim. "But thank you for asking first. That is very polite of you." Of course, D'men would have taught his children about consent. Oh, of course! If he had been there right then, Y'rim would have kissed him for parenting done right.
}: You could kiss him anyway. He'd like that, :{ Quiroanth giggled.
Y'rim didn't answer her. Instead, after petting Daslim's hair as he released the boy, he asked, "Did you want to help me wash Quir? She's extra messy today and I could use the help!"
}: I am _not_ extra messy, :{ Quiroanth objected with a dainty snort.
"Oh, oh, I can help-- I'm good at washing!" Daslim bragged. He certainly had plenty of practice. "She'll be squeaky clean in no time!"
Quiroanth made a happy trilling sound even as Y'rim laughed. "Let's get started then! There's a lot of dragon to cover," he said, even as he let the joke bubble up in his mind so that Quiroanth could feel it. The trio walked back to the shore and Quiroanth sank to her haunches in the water. "How about you get her back and I'll start on her sides?" Y'rim suggested.
"You got it!" Daslim ran around back and tapped Quiroanth's tail. He asked before climbing up onto her, and once he had the all clear, he got to scrubbing. Quiroanth watched him with happily whirling eyes.
"Where's your sister and brother today?" Y'rim asked conversationally. "You're usually with them."
"Hm? Oh, they're off somewhere playing with their friends. They're much too cool to call it playing anymore, though. And certainly much too cool to hang out with their little brother," said Daslim. "Not like I would snitch on them..."
"Oh?" Y'rim prompted. He shot Daslim a humored, querying look that obviously encouraged him to spill the said tea.
"Of course not!" Daslim sounded scandalized. "Then they'd definitely never let me come."
"Are they getting into trouble?" Y'rim asked sweetly.
"I don't know!" the boy whined. "They wouldn't let me come!" How was he supposed to know what trouble they were getting up to if he was not allowed to see (and partake in) it himself?
**Quir?** Y'rim asked. He wasn't sure if his dragon was willing to check in on the kids -- they were all still figuring out what...oh, what all of it was, but Y'rim was starting to feel a sort of protectiveness and attachment to the children.
}: They're fiiiine, :{ Quiroanth replied jovially. }: The usual shenanigans that teenagers get into. :{ She swiveled her head to look at Daslim and then said directly, }: A little to the left, please? I can feel the dirt there. :{
Daslim beamed, successfully distracted from thoughts of being left behind by his siblings, and joyfully adjusted his scrubbing, turning his attention fully to finding the offending dirt.
"How's that, lovely?" he asked her.
}: Perrrrrrfect, :{ Quiroanth purred.
Y'rim was still minorly surprised that Quiroanth had been so direct. **Forming attachments, are we, Quir dear?**
}: No more than you are, :{ she said coquettishly. And she was, of course, right. But Y'rim didn't pursue it.
Instead, he changed the subject. "Das, tell me about your Dad. D'men. Tell me about him." He'd ask about S'ros later.
"Oh! Well. Uh. What do you want to know?" Daslim could never even hope to decide where to begin when it came to talking about his fathers.
Y'rim had heard the story from D'men of course but he wanted to hear it from another point of view. "How did he and your father S'ros get together?" The arrangement that the two blueriders had was intriguing, mostly because Y'rim wondered where he and Quiroanth would fit in it. He wasn't strictly monogamous -- no greenrider ever truly could be -- but he liked to maintain a certain degree of exclusivity because it just...made it easier to have a vibrant relationship. Not like T'shel had been that but Y'rim was hoping for better this time!
"Oh! They were weyrlings together," said Daslim. "And they've been together ever since." He had very little concept of any other way to have a relationship. He knew other people had strong opinions about having only one partner, but given his parents' example, it made less sense than being open to more. He wanted the biggest family when he grew up.
}: How romantic, :{ Quiroanth sighed to Daslim.
Daslim giggled like Quiroanth had said they were k - i - s - s - i - n - g. He pretended to tickle the green, though he was fairly cerain dragons were not ticklish. Abaroath always pretended anyway. She indulged him with a delicate little draconic squeal, fluttering her wings but not enough to dislodge him.
Y'rim smiled softly. This was all so new but...comfortable...in a lot of ways. Watching Quiroanth interact with Daslim, the idea of coming home to two partners and a small company of children. It wasn't the dream he had thought would happen but it was turning out to make him happy just the same. Still...there were some things to still be determined, some conversations to be had. And Y'rim wasn't going to rush any of it.
"How about," he said slowly, drawing out the suggestion, "after we get Quir clean, we take a little flight along the shoreline and see if we can find dolphins?" His dark eyes sparkled.
Daslim gasped, smiled, and wiggled with overflowing excitement.
"I'll go real fast!" He dove into scrubbing wholeheartedly. Y'rim chuckled at the young teenager's enthusiasm.
}: We could get used to this, :{ Quiroanth suggested slyly and playfully.
Y'rim quietly agreed.
Last updated on the August 18th 2024