Volley

Writers: Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 25th July 2006

Characters: U'kaiah, Harki
Description: U'kaiah recruits a new player and tries his hand at hair dying...
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 1 of Turn 3

"Harki, are you naked?" U'kaiah called from the ledge of the greenrider's weyr.

There was a crash, an oath, and then she sang out sweetly, "Who is there?"

"Just me," he called back.

"That depends, then - do you _want_ me to be naked?"

The bronzerider thought about it a moment. "That depends, do you want _me_ to be naked?"

"U'kaiah, darling..." Harki strolled out onto her ledge wearing a towel around her middle and carrying a large cooking pot, "as far as I'm concerned, you should be banned from clothing all together. Hello Kalamath."

The bronzerider was more surprised by the object in her hands than her state of dress. "Harki, you... cook?"

The greenrider gave him a blank look, then understanding dawned as she hefted the pot. "Shards, no! What do you take me for!?"

"Then what's all this?" he asked with a wave at the pot.

"Ah.. well, I thought I might... dye my hair?"

"Really?" he asked, eyebrows raised. "What color?"

"Red. I won some dye in a poker game last night and I thought I'd give it a try." She shrugged, heading back into her weyr and expecting U'kaiah to follow. "The woman I won it off of says it's easy."

"She did, did she," U'kaiah smiled, taking the hint and accompanying her in. "Need some help?"

"Sure." She tossed him a small packet of herbs that smelled strongly of spice and heat. "Go mix that up into a paste, will you?"

"With just water?" he asked, rather clueless when it came to the art of hair dying.

"Yes, with water! Shards, what else would you use? Beer? Pee?" She frowned. It was best not to give him ideas. "Forget I asked - water's fine. What brought you here, anyway?"

"Water, actually," he said as he searched for a pitcher of water. "Waterball, to be even more precise. Do you want to be on the Dragonsfall Team I'm putting together?"

"Dragonsfall team? Playing against who?" She settled onto the floor and pointed at the jug U'kaiah was searching for, then ran her hands through her short, honey-brown hair. "Think I'll look good as a red head?"

"You'd look gorgeous bald if you were naked," the bronzerider grinned as he picked up the jug from the floor. "We're having a casual tournament, mostly as an excuse to meet new people and get really drunk afterwards. But it should be a lot of fun. Our first game is against Dolphin Cove."

"Dolphin Cove, hmm?" The greenrider frowned as she watched U'kaiah pour a little water into the pot and tear open the packet of herbs.
"They'll be all tanned and impossibly athletic, I'm sure. I'm in."

"I thought you might like the idea," U'kaiah grinned. "And I'm sure they'll all by scrambling all over each other to get a chance with the nice, fit redhead after the game."

"I'm counting on it! And I, of course, will be gracious. Their poor little egos will be stinging because of their crushing losses, I'm sure," Harki said grandly. "Hey, we could dye your hair too!"

"I think my hair is a little too dark for that," he said with an incredulous laugh.

The greenrider shrugged. "We could try it anyways. Carline went on and on and on about how great this stuff is, and if its really that great it'll dye your hair too."

"Oh no. The ladies like my fine black curls." He wasn't about to take the chance they would end up some hideous color. The bronzerider had heard horror stories before... "Coward. You know as well as I that the ladies like your fine long tunnelsnake more than they like something as idiotic as your _hair_."

"They need _something_ to run their fingers through while I'm at work. Don't tell me you don't like it," he grinned. Harki would know better than many. They had known each other a long time.

"And yet, I still sleep with the occasional bald man." She peered over his shoulder at the thin green paste he'd mixed up in the pot.
"All right... guess this is it. Work your magic, U'kaiah."

"Don't you want to dye your hair first?" he asked with an innocent smile.

The greenrider punched his shoulder. "Ha ha. You know very well what I'm talking about."

"All right, all right," the bronzerider laughed. "Get your head over the bucket then."

She hesitated, then did as she was told, but not before warning U'kaiah not to get any of the dye on her towel. The dye smelled spicy and made her light-headed, so she closed her eyes as the bronzerider began to work it through her hair. "So who is organizing this inter-Weyr tournament? Do the Weyrleaders know?"

"D'wrayt knows. Really it was just a couple of us waterball team leaders that just decided it would be a good way to end the Turn. And who cares if we win or loose, really, we still get a party on the beach afterwards, which promises for lots of mixing and meeting new folks, if you know what I mean." And U'kaiah was determined to do just that. Something had to pull him out of the slump he was in, and having something to look forward to sounded like a good start. "Am I rubbing too hard?"

"No. I'm not going to break." She thought for a moment. "Played there or here? Because we would have a serious cold water advantage over those tropical babies."

"Played in a nice, warm, tropical cove. I wouldn't want to risk any of us getting sick standing around on one of _our_ beaches soaking wet for candlemarks afterwards."

Harki smiled into the pot of dye. "That's what weyrs are for, dimglow. Anyway, tell me more about Dolphin Cove's team. I'm sure you have all the inside information..." In actuality, she didn't particularly care, but it got U'kaiah talking and allowed her to close her eyes and let herself be soothed by the scent of the herbs and the feel of his hands in her hair. A waterball tournament... now that wasn't a bad idea!

Last updated on the July 26th 2006

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