Soapsands and Future Plans

Note: This log contains non-descriptive nudity and slight innuendo. You have been warned.


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Xanadu Weyr - Hot Springs

The warmth that flows from this cavern is almost overwhelming for some, the steam rising from the shimmering pools as thick as the morning fog that rolls in off the ocean. Numerous pools are scattered here and there with ribboned walls that are natural in their construction. The water has a somewhat green cast to it, but it is merely a reflection from the ethereal light which is the glow down here that was so noticeable from the Lower Cavern Tunnel. People can often be found down here washing themselves or just relaxing.

Situated along the walls are various racks covered in fresh towels ready for those who step out of the warm waters. A set of shelves have been installed towards the back wall, allowing people a place to put their belongings while they rest in the pools, and despite the white color that these have been painted, they are cast with that eerie green glow. Then, it's obvious. The ceiling of this cavern is covered in the fluorescent phosphorous matter that glows are made off. The mossy substance almost glitters and appears quite lovely.


It's early yet, so the hot springs aren't quite as crowded as they might be in the later part of the day. There is splashing from the far corner, as one of the nannies tries in vain to scrub mud off of three children who seem more interested in having fun than being bathed. Into the steam and sound of childish laughter, Rogawani walks with a towel draped his shoulders. Cold water drips in rivulets from his clothing. "Just keep telling yourself, at least it's not washing dragons in winter." He mumbles, and then steps towards the racks, hanging the towel on a hook and trying to pry his boots off of his sodden feet.

With it being early, Vivian has most likely not long finished her morning run and she's wandering into the springs with a bag slung over her shoulder having picked it up from the office. She pads barefoot across the cavern over towards the racks, hangs up her bag of clean clothes near where Rogawani stands already. "Hi there." She greets him softly with a smile.

The first of Rogawani's boots slides off with a squelching sound, dropped to the floor with a clunk that follows. The look on the boy's face is not pleased as the warmth hits the cold of his foot. "Uhgross." The words mush together as the sock joins the boot on the floor and he starts working to untie the other. Footsteps, however, cause him to look up, catching sight of Vivian as she steps over. "Oh, hey there Vivian." He greets, trying to smile up at her between the wet strands of his hair. "Seems like you're having a better morning than me." He lifts the hem of his trousers. "Dragon decided I needed a cold shower."

Vivian pauses to watch the squelching, "How attractive!" She drawls with a hint of amusement showing in her tone and on her face as she shakes her head slightly. "You need to be more careful about who you go near then." She informs him regally, "Though I can think of a few people who could do with a cold shower, or just a bath." Her nose wrinkles in disdain at the very thought. "Which one?" She checks for future reference as she takes a hold of the hem of her top and tugs it up and over her head before dropping it onto the floor under her bag.

"You know it. Nothing like drowned candidate to bring the girls to the weyr." Rogawani's own amused sarcasm answers back as he prys the other boot off. "But you're not the only one. I'm sure Weyrwoman Thea would have loved to give that Fortian bronzerider a cold shower a few days ago." He chuckles, shivering as he rises back to his feet and politely looking away from Vivian as she undresses. "It was Noel's green Jouluth. She was fine right up until the end, when she thought a bucket full of water would make a good party hat for me." He reaches back, pulling the soaked tunic from his shoulders, which slurps into the wet pile of clothes on the floor.

Vivian actually giggles at that, though whether it's his words or the thoughts that precede her reply who knows. "There's at least one I can think of who could do with a good drowning." She sounds like she's teasing, but sometimes with Viv's reputation you never quite know. She doesn't seem embarrassed by him being there while she undresses as she pushes her shorts down and shakes them off to join the rest of her clothes before she's reaching up to start undoing her braid while she talks to him. "I think I'll need to remember that name and never go anywhere near her when I'm not wearing the right clothes for getting soaked in." She is making quick work of the braid though and is soon shaking her hair out behind her.

The laughter seems enough to bring a more true smile to Rogawani's face, something that's been absent lately with his own preoccupied thoughts. "See, that's just that the weyr needs, a good bronzer-dousing and everyone would be in much better spirits." Keeping his eyes still trained away, Ro' begins to work at his belt, scowling at a few of the pouches which were not waterproof and now soaked through. "That's going to be a mess." He mutters in an undertone, and then slips the belt out from the loops of his trousers. "You're usually safe from the chores the rest of us have to do though, right? No dragon washing?" He asks, seeming curious rather than upset as some candidates might be. "Did Avaeth start showing a preference for an egg? I hadn't seen if there was a gold one out there. Didn't think you'd stand otherwise though."

Finished with the disentangling of her hair Vivian pauses a moment to answer. "I'm sure it could be arranged for some fun. Line them up and let the residents of the weyr let fly." She seems agreeable to that notion but she doesn't wait around too much longer before she pads softly to the edge of one of the hot pools she bends over to check the water before she sits down on the edge and sticks her feet in, letting the movement of the water, wash away any remnants of sand from her feet. "I've kept my job as the Weyrleaders secretary through candidacy, I checked in with mom on that one, I'm needed there more than an extra pair of hands doing chores." She explains, and with Hisolda still not back it's painfully obvious why. "I've not really been looking, though we do have the two clutches out there, Kiluaeths and Avaeths I'm sure my pretty lady will be in one of them, it just remains to be seen which." So confident.

With Vivian having already headed towards the water, Rogawani has little shame in dropping his trousers and tossing them on to the pile of clothing on the floor. A new tunic and a pair of thin pants are placed on one of the racks, pulled out from his messenger bag. "Didn't they have a dunking machine out on the beaches a while back?" He asks, peeking over his shoulder just once. "Just make all the bronzers be victims for that." A wry chuckle follows, and Ro' turns to the springs without so much as a moment's shyness. Unlike Vivian, he just slides in, relishing the warmth compared to the cold of damp clothing. "Probably better to stay out of the chores if you can. I swear, Thea is getting revenge for her weyrmate getting searched. She's intent on torturing us to death." He's teasing, the smile on his face showing that much as he sinks down, nearly to his chin in the water.

Vivian seems content to just sit on the edge for a while, letting the hot waters wash over her feet and lower leg. Shifting her hands back behind her she stretches herself out with a quiet sigh as she watches Rogawani slip into the water. She's probably well aware of how much she's showing herself off but she is a bit of a tease with the way she acts normally, yet flips out of anyone touches her. "It may be an idea." She replies. "I'll check in with Mom if you want and see if we can get something set up for the upcoming turnday celebrations." She waits a few more moments till he's looking her way before sliding languidly into the water. "I can only imagine." She murmurs about Thea, "You rode with her when we went hunting for Keziah didn't you?" She double checks.

Well, Rogawani wouldn't be a boy if he didn't sneak a peek at least once, as polite as he's trying to be. However, the boy just bites his lip and sinks down further into the water, letting a few bubbles pop up from his lips before he goes under completely to get his hair wet. When he re-surfaces, the brown strands look nearly black as he slicks them back along his skull. "That's alright. I'll just be glad if we get a day off for it." He leans back a bit on the edge of the pool, nodding his head once. "Mmm. Seryth's one of the few dragons that doesn't try to play 'scare the non-rider' when I'm flying with them. Been up on Kinseth and Siebith, too." He pauses, as if considering his words, and then asks, "You usually ride with Inimeth, right?"

When she slides into the pool she goes all the way and under the water, under the surface completely for a few long moments before she floats back up, bobbing onto the surface, her hands running back through her hair fanning it out across the surface of the water. "Could you pass me a bowl of that soapsand." She asks as she finally tucks her legs back down and sits up. "I'll ask." She tells him with a smile, "Recently I've been riding with Inimeth, he's a sweety, mostly trying to get D'son better acquainted." There's no hint of anything in her voice at the mention of D'son, it's altogether too devoid of anything though Inimeth at least earns an affectionate smile. "But I'm used to them anyway, been flying since I was a little girl, either with Kiluaeth or Alhenaeth."

Moving through the water with a distinct lack of grace, Rogawani pulls himself up onto one of the pool's edges with his arms, reaching out to grab at a bowl of soapsand, pulling a second one closer to the edge for himself. He offers out the one in his hand towards Vivian before talking again. "I'm getting more used to them, but really my first time up on a dragon was when all that messy Hannistan stuff started." He admits, sinking back a little bit and blowing a wet strand of hair from his eyes. "At least you've got the family ties to dragonriding. My mother is a nanny, Donaka. Father is a herder." He leaves off the name, looking away to grab a handful of soapsand for himself.

Vivian accepts the small bowl and pushes herself over to the edge to sit it down before taking up a handful to start rubbing it through her hair. "It does help, I know how to shift around on dragon back with relative ease, though it'd been a while before we went to get Keziah." She explains, meticulously working away at her hair. "It's fun, I can't wait to get up there on my own though." She's still oh so delusionally confident about impressing. "Flying through the skies with golden lifemate." There's even the dramatic and happy sigh at the thought. "What about yourself, ever thought about what your going to do after the hatching if you don't impress?"

For a moment, Rogawani sits there, moving the soapsand through his fingers, letting a bit trickle out into the water. Then, he starts to soap up his arms, "I'm sure she'll find you sooner or later." He doesn't seem to prone to burst anyone's bubble about impressing, except for maybe his half-brother. "As for me, I'm just surprised to be searched." He admits, running his soapy hands through his hair just once, "Not as bad as some, though. Keziah still thinks she was searched by mistake, because R'sul was acting all strangely when he told her she was a candidate." He rubs at his hair, leaning back against the wall a little. "I figure I'll just go back to what I've always done. Sign back up for messenger duty." He pauses, and then shrugs, using the soap to make his hair stand in small spikes. "Xanadu's home."

Vivian takes her time with her hair before she picks up another handful of sand to start washing down the rest of her. "It's amazing what the dragons will bring in, there are times when I think they're just being mean and building some of their hopes up." She confides in a quiet tone. "Take that scruffy Miner for example. He'd be better paired with a wher." She continues soaping herself thoroughly. "R'sul is just weird anyway, he's always been pretty hidebound, but since he lost his job to D'son, I've not really seen him. He's probably hiding away with that little Harper of his."

Slicking his soapy hair back again, Rogawani seems thoughtful of what Vivian says, eyebrows pulling inward a little. "Do you think they'd really do that, though?" He has to ask, knowing that she's more knowledgable about dragons than he is. "Everyone keeps insisting that a dragon won't search someone at all if they don't have 'something' that might match them to a hatchling. I wonder if anyone really knows." His eyebrows furrow, but it's tough to tell if it's due to the comment about the miner candidate, or if it's due to his own thoughts on dragons and search. "Well, I just think Keziah's being silly. She's stood some six times before now, yet she's so stubborn she insists that there's not even a chance."

Moving on from her arms to wash her chest and stomach she continues her work with such a meticulous care it's a wonder at times how Vivian is the way she is. "Perfect case in point there isn't it." She suggests about Keziah, "If she's been searched six times and still hasn't impressed, what does that tell you?" She asks him before giving some options. "Either six dragons have been wrong, or at least some of them are having a laugh at her expense. Odds are if she was meant to have impressed she would have after six attempts." She doesn't slow her washing the entire time, it's almost ritualistic the way she washes herself.

Now, this certainly gives Rogawani something to think about, and rather than answer right away, he holds his nose and goes under the water, letting it wash the soap from his hair. When he emerges again, the boy rubs his eyes clear, trying to sort through the thoughts that play in emotions across his brow. "Hrm. Maybe." He admits, "But they always search more people than there are eggs, so someone's bound to get left behind, even if they are a good match for a dragon." He shifts a bit, propping himself up to wash at feet and legs still mostly covered in water. "That's the question, though, isn't it? If you keep failing to impress, does it mean you're less likely, or more?" He shrugs. "I'm clueless. Dragon or no dragon, it's not the end of the world for me. I'd be happy either way."

"That's why I'm saying after that many times, odds are if she's suitable, it would have happened by now, even with the spares." Replies Vivian confidently she finishes off certain areas and stands, moving to sit on the side again so she can wash her legs, it's probably quite the show. "I don't know, I stood once before for a double clutch to get some experience of how it all works." She tells him, "It was interesting to be out on the sands, it's kinda warm. I'd get used to walking around in your barefeet on the sands though. Otherwise it's going to be real uncomfortable after a while."

"You might be right." Rogawani admits, although he doesn't sound completely sure of himself as she might be. "I've only ever watched from the wings, though." His mind and voice trails off, distracted by the show going on infront of him. It takes one of the laughs from the children playing nearby to snap him back to reality. "I did hear some people saying that there's folks who have stood all through their younger years never to impress." He floats in the water a bit, moving his arms as the last of the soap sand dissolves. "Guess I'll stand a few times, and if I don't impress by twenty I might have to re-think things. Don't want to waist my youth holding out for something that isn't going to happen, you know?"

Vivian rolls her shoulders in a delicate shrug at his admission, a deliberate action to tease given the knock on effect of things moving around that it causes while he's watching her. "As you say, until a dragon confesses to it then we're kinda in the dark on that one." She finishes off her feet and slides back into the water while he finishes off. "So long as you've got your plans for after the hatching you'll be fine." She tells him before she stands and collects her bowl of soapsand, "Be a darling and scrub my back for me." She asks even while she's walking across the pool towards him, certainly not one who is used to be denied she's already holding the bowl out to him while she turns and kneels in front of him, her free hand tugging round her neck to pul her hair away form her back.

Rogawani shifts a little, as if trying to hide something particularly uncomfortable. He moves his eyes away from the roll of Vivian's shoulders. There is a small sound in the back of his throat, which luckily doesn't carry very far. "Yeah, I've got my plans." He manages to croak out, and then his jaw nearly drops. "Uh." He hesitates, and then seems to steel his own determination. "Sure." There's some internal part of him cheering, and another wishing it was any girl but this one. Hadn't Niva threatened to kill him of he touched one of her daughters? This can't count towards that, right? Swimming through those thoughts, Rogawani tries to put on his best smile, accepting the bowl of soapsand. "So what about you?" He asks, trying to make conversation even as he lathers up his hands. "I mean, if your gold is out there this time. Going to stay here in Xanadu as a junior under your mother?"

Vivian bows her head forwards and leans forward a touch to give him better access to the smooth tanned expanse of her back, no tan lines on this girl. "I'll stay here, I get on okay with Mom and it'll give me a couple of turns to let my lady mature and settle into the weyr before mom retires and I take over as senior." See she has it alllll planned out. Back in reality though she kneels patiently, waiting for him to begin his assigned task.

Ever so slowly, Rogawani looks at Vivian's back, mouthing a curse silently as if he were waring between this being some kind of gift, or a death sentence. However, he steadies himself and reaches forward, placing his warm hands to her skin. "Had to ask. Goldriders seem to move around a lot." He explains, moving his hands in gentle circles, obviously not an expert at the task he's been assigned. "Seems like you've got it all planned out though." He muses, and then shakes his head from side to side. "I'm just trying to get as far as tomorrow without my plans getting muddled."

"No I'll be taking over Xanadu." States Vivian confidently. "So I'll be staying here, if anyone is needed at another weyr due to retirees or whatever it'll be Zevida or Thea that'll be moved, not me. This is my home." She finishes that off with. Her confidence in the matter is really delusional but no one ever seems to call her on it. When his hands touch her back she doesn't tense or anything, it's hard to get the help if you freeze and send them into a panic that they've done something wrong after all may as well use and abuse him while she has him available.

"Well, I'd be sad to see Thea go." Rogawani admits, and then adds on as if it were part of the same thought. "Or you. I don't know Mianyi, or Tylia, or even Zevida all that well." Then again, how often does a messenger get to spend a lot of time with the leaders of the weyr? Not often at all. As he finishes, having done his job of washing her back dutifully and without any excesses, the boy leans back a little, rinsing his hands in the water. "I should probably get back. I'm sure they've got more torture lined up." He mutters, and reaches for the side of the pool, pulling himself up and grabbing for a towel so fast there is only the barest flash of rear end.

"Tylia's too old to be moved again I reckon." Replies Vivian though she makes no comment on the others, instead there's the barest of sighs when he stops washing her back. "Oh well, I guess, they'll have such fun things planned for you, I just hope they don't take you all away to get mauled by felines this group." No hint of her being included in that group the way she says it. Once he's up and away, she ducks down briefly to make sure all the soap is off her back before she stands and walks over to the edge, climbing out and padding over the cavern to the racks to collect a towel to start drying herself off. "Enjoy the experience while it lasts or something." She tells him with a smile flashed his direction, fully aware of the probably reason for his quick exit while her back was turned.

"Not from the sound of it." Rogawani replies, walking quickly to the racks to pull out the spare set of pants from where he'd left them. He does a little 'getting dressed' dance, throwing one leg through and then the other before cinching the drawstrings tight. "I got the feeling that they're too worried about the renegades to let us out unsupervised, but who knows." He shrugs, and grabs for the oversized gray shirt, ironic in the fact that it was pilfered from those renegades. As he pulls it down over his chest, Ro' shakes out his hair and offers a wry sort of smirk. "I'll try to enjoy it, if that's humanly possible." He pauses, and then runs a hand through his hair before bending down to wrap his wet clothes in a towel. The other towel, ends up wrapped around his waist, quite conspicuously. "Take care, Vivian." He says, offering her a parting smile before heading off.

Vivian shakes her head a little as she watches him while she towels herself dry. "I hope not, unless we can get a say in who gets mauled?" She says with a wicked looking grin appearing on her face, though amusement is still the overriding expression. "I'll see you later." She replies, waiting till he's on his way before she calls out loudly enough to be heard by more than just Rogawani. "Be careful not to drop that towel." It's with a smirk that she goes back to drying herself, tying her hair up in a bun with the use of a couple of sharp hairpins, getting dressed in some looser clothes before finally packing up and heading to the office to start her work day.

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