Not Seeing Eye To Eye

Writers: Eimi, Len
Date Posted: 1st October 2010

Characters: Birigundi, G'wen
Description: Birigundi and Galwen wash a dragon and don't warm to one another
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 16 of Turn 5

Birigundi

"All right, now, time strip." Birigundi set down the bucket with
brushes, sweetsand and oil down onto the warm Weyr lake sands. He
pulled his shirt off over his head as he began kicking off his boots.
"Come on, Galwen, clothes off. You can't scrub a dragon in that."

"Bet you didn't know this was speed washing, did you?" Galwen said to
the bemused dragon standing beside the boys. He tossed his tunic by
Biri's shirt.

"Now you, Alverith. Into the water you go," Birigundi said giving the
blue a pat. He washed too many dragons to feel any kind of awe by the
prospect. Where as once when his head was full of dreams of dragons
and washing them was a joy, now it was a chore, like wiping down tables
or scrubbing a floor.

Galwen watched the older candidate as the small dragon wattled into the
water with a happy whisle. Two fire lizards circled overhead, all too
eager to help scrub the blue hide.

"If it's not being rude, I'd have to say you look bored."

"Oh, well, you know, there are other things I'd rather be doing with my
day. Who likes doing chores, right?" Birigundi tried to make light
of it, though he didn't quite feel it. This was about the time his
daughter would have been dropped off at her foster mothers. If he
didn't have to wash this stupid dragon, maybe he would have had a chance
to see her before K'lar picked her up after drills. It didn't seem
he'd get that chance today.

Galwen mused, "I didn't know it was a chore."

After all, he had spent almost half his life helping his father clean
his graceful blue, a much taller fellow than Alverith who was still
paddling about in the water. One of the fire lizards had dived into
the water, but the small green was still circled overhead, chittering at
the pair.

"Well, when you've been washing other people's dragons for as long as I
have, the excitement will wear off." This one obviously was new.

"Ah, so you've been washing dragons for over 10 turns?"

"No, five turns," Birigundi said, eyeing the younger candidate. He
sure hoped he wasn't going to think he was one of those who knew it all
just because he'd been raised in a Weyr.

"Oh." He shyly dropped his eyes from the other boy, catching the edge
in his voice. Privately he wished not to have to go through that many
turns standing unwanted on the Sands.

"Pick your brush then, Galwen," the older candidate said with a point to
the ones he had brought, relaxing after he didn't try to press the
point.

Galwen sighed, not sure if he liked this Holder-bred person who was
bored with caring for the dragon of an injured rider and seemed to enjoy
bossing him about. Rather than obey Birigundi, he tucked a stray curl
behind his ear and watched Alverith paddle about.

"Are you wet enough?" he asked the dragon.

"Alverith, you're killing me!" Birigundi called with a helpless wave of
his arms. The candle was burning away while the blue played and every
moment meant the likelihood of him getting to see Lyndi that day slipped
further and further away. "Do you mind coming in a bit closer so we can
scrub you, please?"

With a sigh, the blue waddled to the shore where the boys stood.
Screeching as if she alone had brought the blue in, the green fire
lizard settled onto one of the dragon's neck ridges and began scrubbing.

"Trust Pandy to think she's running the show," Galwen said, glancing at
his father's fire lizard in annoyance. That one had tattled on him
more than once in his life.

He picked up a blush and some sweet sand and began strubbing the blue
hide. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Birigundi. He knew
most of the gossip that surrounded the older candidate.

Birigundi was putting some muscle into lathering down the blue's flank.
He could feel Galwen's eyes on him as he worked. "What?" he asked when
he caught the younger man looking at him.

Galwen blinked. "What? Nothing, just moaning about being bossed
about by even my da's Flit. And slow down, we're suppost to be
cleaning Alverith, not taking his hide off."

"If you think a little scrubbing can hurt a hide thick enough to keep
them warm in winter and the coldness of /between/ you obviously haven't
been paying much attention in Candidate classes. You just mind your
own work." Birigundi was not in the mood to be lectured by the new
boy.

"Oh, go /between/ you, and stay there." Galwen was up to his eye teeth
in Holder boys and their bossy ways. He irritatibly shooed away one of
the flits from the dragon's shoulder so he could scrub there.

Now Birigundi faced the boy squarely. "Where you talking to me or the
flit?"

"I was talking to you." Galwen ducked under the dragon's shoulder to
look directly at the much taller boy. He knew the actions where
probably going to get him beaten to an inch of his life, but at the
moment he didn't care. "Why the bloody shards are you being so bossy
and nasty towards me?"

Birigundi snorted. "I'm being bossy because I'm responsible for you,
and you better get used to obeying those put in charge over you without
complaining like a litte weyrbrat still in Harper classes. I'm sure a
Weyrlingmaster would be even less amused than I am."

Galwen snorted as well, but in disgust. "I've live in this bloody
place my whole life, I really doubt that I need 'watching over' to wash
a dragon. Just because I'm new at being a Candidate doesn't mean I'm
new to what it means to take care of a dragon. I don't 'need' to be
told to do things that I already know how to do, and I'll gladly do them
without complaint. I'd think that'd be more important to the
Weyrlingmaster than a Candidate who acts like the simplest act is a
complete bore and beneigh him."

"I know for a fact the Weyrlingmaster had more on his mind than my level
of entertainment." Typical of a stupid weyrbrat to think they knew
everything there was to know about _everything_! "And once we're done
here, I've a good mind to turn this brush on you. Haven't you ever
heard of a bathing chamber?"

"At least I know to keep it in my pants."

"Well, maybe that's you're problem," Biri snorted, not feeling in the
least insulted. It was a Weyr, after all.

Galwen rolled his eyes at the older boy. Really, the best he could do
was wash Alverith and get away from this Holder lout as soon as
possible. He tuned his back on Birigundi and patted the blue dragon on the shoulder.

Last updated on the October 1st 2010

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Not Seeing Eye To Eye