Blowing Bubbles and Conversation

Writers: Francesca, Iluva
Date Posted: 24th January 2025

Characters: A'radess, L'rin
Description: A'radess and L'rin talk while washing their dragons.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 1, day 2 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: K'lvin, A'lin, Casmari

A'radess

L'rin

Surprisingly, Yasanth let L'rin sleep in longer than usual, before waking him up for food. The brownrider quickly made sure he was fed; although, not too quickly. The dragonet had almost choked a few times in the first sevenday in his eagerness to eat. However, that luckily had improved. When they made it to the lake, some fellow weyrlings were already done oiling their dragons. L'rin avoided looking at his brother and former(?) friends, who were now blue or greenriders. Luckily, they had all been so busy, it had been fairly easy to keep conversations superficial with them while he avoided thinking about what kind of relationship he wanted with them going forward.

And there was a perfect distraction from his thoughts, in the form of A'radess and his bronze. If L'rin was not so sure about being friends with blue or greenriders, he certainly wanted to befriend a bronzerider. So, he got Yasanth to get in the water next to Tarvanneth. So far, at least, the brown seemed to be basically the same size as the bronze; maybe even a tiny bit bigger.

"Good morning," he said with a smile, taking off his shirt in preparation for getting in the water.

Sweetsand streaked across a cheek, A'radess didn't immediately look up at L'rin's greeting, needing Tarvanneth's nudge to clue him in. He was used to doing this in rigorous silence now - not out of any desire to isolate, or to be removed from the others, but because the physical demand of the task was increasing by the day. Viscerally it was a pleasing experience for them both, but he'd scrubbed enough bronze hide as a Candidate to know that this was still easy territory. Tarvanneth would never be this small again.

"Morning," A'radess smiled back, only a little out of breath. He was quite glad for a distraction himself and took a moment to straighten his spine out and stretch the tight muscles of his back, shoulders, biceps, lats. "Morning Yasanth," He added, looking over the handsome brown with interest. "Did you have to bring double the sweetsand like I did?"

Yasanth looked over when his name was called and met the weyrling bronzerider's eyes briefly in greeting, before turning his attention back to the water. }:Look! Bubbles!:{ he told both Tarvanneth and L'rin, then submerged his head and blowing bubbles. One of the other dragonets had discovered this trick and now many of them liked doing it whenever they got the chance.

"Yeah, I got some extra," L'rin said, smiling as he watched his brown. He had not brought double though. Maybe the bronze was bigger than he thought. Or maybe A'radess used too much sweetsand. "Is there a way to know already how big they're going to get? Or do they just stop at some point?"

Tarvanneth's eyes winked on the water's surface in a frantic dance of green and blue. Baths were taken with a near-rigid seriousness, but he rumbled enthusiastic approval at the discovery. }: Watch this, :{ he declared, giving his best bubbly exhale.

"Not as far as I know," A'radess confessed, "If you can wait til graduation we'll know how big head-to-tail. But until they've flown 'fall and drilled for a few months I would think they're gonna keep packing on the muscle." Barrier Lake had plenty of bronzes, but surprisingly few browns, otherwise he'd be tempted to try and point a few out to L'rin to compare. He looked at their dragons instead and bit his lip at the hilariously odd sight of Tarvanneth trying (and failing) to shoot a stream of bubbles at Yasanth through the air.

"Big greens and small blues look pretty close, small gold and big bronze, that sort of thing. How close are Oberlith and Yasanth?"

"Yasanth is a bit bigger. I hadn't thought about them needing to build muscle too," L'rin admitted. His brown seemed to be built more robustly than the other browns, but it sounded like that could still change with time.

Yasanth had moved on from bubbles and was now using his tail to send splashes of water towards the bronze. "I need to start scrubbing you in a minute," L'rin called to him. Then, to A'radess, "I think he'd spend all day in the water if he could."

"None of my siblings Impressed with us unfortunately, so I haven't got much to compare Tarv to. I'm a little jealous." A'radess said pleasantly, soaping up his brush again. He got the sense that his siblings might be a little jealous too, but they had more time left in Candidacy than he did, and Impressing Tarvanneth had been like a door opening to all of them at last. An enduring sense of possibility had been restored, now that there was actually a dragon in the other side for one of them.

}: Compare me to what? There's only one me. :{

**Get over here, brat.** He grinned, the bronze doing no such thing as he started to slap his paws through the water in retaliation.

"I know the feeling." A'radess laughed at their dragons. "At least it's a plus for building muscle. Once they can fly we probably won't get them out of the air, either." A'radess looked thoughtfully at L'rin, curious. "Any places you wanna go when we finally get up?"

"I'm not sure," L'rin said with a shrug. It was not something he had thought about yet. "I guess somewhere very different from here? How about you?"

"Much the same." A'radess admitted. Not that there was anything wrong about Barrier Lake. "At least a visit or two back to Vista Point. Most of my family's still there and I'd really like to show Tarvanneth where I come from." His face went hot at that, feeling exposed by his own doing. He cleared his throat and shrugged as well. "And maybe one day... go North."

"Really?" That caught L'rin's attention. "What's up North that's not here?"

"That's what I want to find out." A'radess flashed a playful smile. "I know it's our duty to protect the planet, but I'd like to enjoy it too. And pretty soon we'll be able to go _anywhere_, L'rin." He touched the other Weyrling's shoulder for emphasis. "I want to see what it is we're protecting." Nevermind that the pressure of always knowing you might die in the next 'Fall made him want to live every moment now, and now he could, finally.

Resoaping his brush, he mentally beckoned Tarvanneth to come back. It didn't go well, or quickly, but eventually the bronze's goofy splashes faded. "The people up North might be interesting, too." He didn't know much about L'rin other than coming from a hold, so A'radess just asked casually, "You know they never barred women from pursuing their crafts and claiming ranks?"

"Yeah, it's pretty weird." L'rin replied. He remembered a conversation with one of them who had transferred to the Weyrhold before he Impressed. **Let's get you clean,** he told Yasanth, who was luckily copying Tarvanneth and staying still.

In a rare reflective moment, he added, "Maybe some things are more like the Weyr? I mean, since some of the female weyrlings are also crafters." Compared with same-sex relationships, female crafters were, surprisingly, not a major concern for him.

"That wouldn't be the worst thing." A'radess admitted, his eyes squinting out across the water. It would certainly be better, easier, safer for his sisters if they ever wanted to visit, but outside a Weyr he didn't know anywhere truly safe for women. And oddly enough their best chances of Impression did seem to be here.

His dragon made a harsh impatient sound, interrupting his thoughts. }: I thought we were bathing? Shall I go back to playing with Yasanth? :{ It never once occured to Tarvanneth to temper his smug enjoyment of A'radess dutifully resuming his scrubbing, only that he be considerate and adjust himself so that his rider could better exfoliate his neck.

"It is kind of strange, though," A'radess added over his shoulder to L'rin, "that there are more women Impressing blues here, but not anywhere up North."

L'rin scrubbed one of Yasanth's wings. "Yeah, no one seems to know why." He remembered thinking Casmari was pretty when they were both Candidates. Now that she had Impressed a blue, his interest in her had disappeared. "I wonder if Casmari was surprised when she Impressed a blue?"

"Faranth, I wonder." A'radess echoed thoughtfully. Of the things they had discussed within lessons, and without, Casmari's feelings on Sebiath's color hadn't been one - but, she had the same seraphic look in her eyes as any other rider he knew, as he did now, feeling Tarvanneth groan happily the moment his hand reached a particularly aggrievous spot.

"Well, Casmari is weyrbred. Her mother rides gold, and I'm fairly certain her father's a bluerider. I dunno. Maybe she was more open to it?" Although it did happen, it was hard imagine a dragonet choosing someone who wouldn't want them, anymore than someone not wanting a dragonet in the first place. Regardless, perhaps he'd ask her thoughts on it at some point.

"That makes sense. I can't imagine a holdbred girl Impressing a blue." L'rin shook his head at the thought. Weyrbred girls were strange. Yasanth shifted impatiently and he turned his attention back to washing the brown.

"Yeah, I know." A'radess doubted many holdbred girls imagined that particular fate either, even if they could learn to excel on a blue. "Now, my sister on the other hand..."

Last updated on the January 30th 2025

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Blowing Bubbles and Conversation