Xanadu Weyr - Coastal Road
This coastal road runs parallel with the edge of beach that stretches endlessly beside the Caspian Lake. From coast to inland the dunes of the beach grow smaller and smaller until they eventually peter out into nothing but small moguls in the sand. The path is eventually seen to be blocked by a river that reaches the lake just south of the point where the road turns west and crosses a grassy meadow towards a sturdy wooden bridge that can be seen in the distance.
The early evening air is cool and still. Traces of the sun's light can still be seen on the horizon, but Rukbat itself has long hidden itself beyond it, giving way to a spring night. There's still light enough ti see, but with the growing darkness lights and glows have been lit to sporadically light pathways and the interior of weyrs. It's been a while since their last class. A little over a seven, and although amends have been made with Mur'dah, time hasn't been allotted to give much effort into anyone else. Graduation is looming, and the weyrlings need to be ready. Focus on the wing you wish to be tapped into. Know your flight formations. Keep a vigilant eye on your dragon. Evening is his only reprieve, and Ka'el uses this time to head down the coastal road. He's without a jacket and both hands are in the pockets of loose trousers. Kanekith follows, head held high as his rider meanders past weyrs, mind set on a specific one.
Or, in Soriana's case, the wing you will be tapped into. When others take their turns rotating through wings (and even, sometimes, practicing formations) she instead disappears into the admin hallway, learning paperwork and radio and taking minutes of meetings and… all that sort of thing. At least those shadowing Quasar see her sometimes, but other than that, the things that keep her busy keep her apart, and if she's been troubled… she hasn't shown it. Oh, she's been a little quieter than usual sometimes, but she's still had smiles to offer around. After dinner today she disappeared to her weyr, but now she's re-emerging into the night. Her clothes aren't the ones she wore to dinner, either. She's wearing a pair of black leggings, cut to fit closely, and a long-sleeved cream shirt with a dark green vest over it - and over her arm, her riding jacket. She's headed from cottage to barn - or at least, that seems to be her first stop.
Idrissa is off wandering it seems, or well at least that is what it seems she is doing. She is making her way up from the lake heading along the path that brings one over towards where the weyrs happen to be. Leading her runner along with her, RedFeather's looks to have a slight limp in his step which may be the reason why he isn't being ridden at the moment. Tahryth is there as well, the green up in the air sweeping high as her wings stretch out as she glides along an air current merely enjoying the air wave that she is riding. While there are others around Rissa's mind is elsewhere, Tahryth though catches sight of her bronze clutchmate and lets out a bugling greeting call to him.
Barn. That's where Ka'el's headed, or at least he's supposed to be. Getting in the way of himself is himself. Such resolve he had! Has. He still has it. But doubt is a hell of a thing, as are thoughts that have nothing at all to do with the person who he aims to see. This is what Kanekith is for: Focus. The bronze dragon stubbornly keeps Ka'el on track by nipping at those wayward thoughts that get in the way of the goal. There is a goal. Winners reach it. Kanekith is definitely partnered with a winner. Momentarily distracted by the sound above, he tips his head up, touching base with Tahryth silently before looking ahead again. Ka'el keeps walking towards that barn and cottage beyond, spotting movement both at it and somewhere else close by. Soriana and Idrissa, as seen by Kanekith. He slows, close to that barn now, though a grimace claims his expression momentarily before melting off of it. "Hey," said to .. both?
The sound of Tahryth's bugling makes a golden head peek out from between the doors of her barn. Luraoth's thoughts reach out to green and… bronze? Him too. The touch is a brief one, and Luraoth is in touch with her rider as well, for Soriana pauses on her way to the barn and turns to look out at the dark road. Not so dark that she can't make out Ka'el and Idrissa both, though. Her face is… still, for a moment. Expressionless. Like she's been caught before she found a face to put on, but then she finds one. A smile, one that's part genuine and part there as mask. It's complicated. "Hi, Ka'el." She glances past him, and tilts her head to bronze. "Kanekith." And on even further. "Idrissa." A little more of a curve to her lips, wry humor as she says, "What's the occasion?"
Idrissa glances upwards slightly to Tahryth before her gaze drifts around before she catches sight of a Ka'el, Soriana and a Kanekith. Oh, people, and well dragons at that. "Hey.." Is offered while she pauses, RedFeathers comes to a stop with a slight nicker escaping the runner. Tahryth shifts, wings pulling a bit close as she sweeps downwards heading downwards towards the barn where Luraoth is peeking out of. The green sends a greeting bugle to the gold as she settles upon the ground with a slight hop to her step.
A hello. That's more than what he was expecting to get from her. Granted, she hasn't been acting particularly angry. Or upset. Or anything on the negative end of the emotional spectrum, for that matter. And that's … good? If so, then Ka'el's not sure why the feeling that rises now isn't exactly one of relief. Ka'el's walk pauses on Soriana's territory, glancing to Idrissa and her runner and her landing green. Kanekith touches base with Luraoth too, his just as fleeting before withdrawing back into himself, focus on his rider. The occasion? "I didn't come with her," he informs, eyes flitting over her attire now that he is closer, pausing on her jacket. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Oh," Soriana says. The smile remains in place. "Well. Hi, Ka'el and Kanekith. Hi, Idrissa and Tahryth." Pause. "And RedFeathers." She's keeping her tone light. Social and friendly and… distant, but her gaze returns to Ka'el and lingers there. "I was." One shoulder lifts and lowers. "There's a concert at Ierne tonight. I asked V'dim." For permission to between. They've all been practicing it by themselves, after all - at least, if doing it with a weyrlingmaster dragon in contact every moment from launching into the air to landing on the ground counts as 'by themselves'. A step along the road to independence and graduation.
Idrissa casts a slight glance over to Ka'el at the bit on not coming with her. She isn't fully sure on how to take that, especially after the other night. "I'm just passing through.." Is offered after a moment. She's not really here, nope. A glance is offered to Soriana, a smile seen and she nods. "Sounds like fun.." She can tell that things are a bit tense, and there is some 'distance' it seems so she isn't fully sure what to say for a few moments. Her gaze lowers a touch and she looks off pondering a moment, though she doesn't come up with anything to add in just yet.
Oh a concert! Ka'el nods once, failing to return her smile, which to him is looking alien on her face. But not blatantly. Blatantly, it's perfect. Not too big or small. Not overly exuberant or snidely vague. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the look on her face, and that's the unsettling part of it to him. He knows her smiles. He yearns for her grins. He makes a fool of himself to get one. This is not it. "Cool." A word he hardly ever uses. "Are you goin' by … " Eh, that's none of his business, is it? Nor is it important (or so he'll tell himself). Still pocketed hands curl and uncurl, and mentally Kanekith gives a nudge. Winners don't quit. "When you get back, you .. will you find me? I want a word with you. Privately." That sounded .. super official. Perhaps moreso than he intended, but spoken words can't be unsaid, a fact he proves over and over again. Eyes slide to Idrissa. "What happened to your runner?"
Cool might be a good word for that smile of Soriana's. Her head tilts at the aborted question, and then there's the question that does get asked, and that one makes the smile soften, one corner tugging away toward a rueful expression. "You didn't seem in the mood for a concert." A lift of one shoulder, a shrug that settles it back down again. "But yes. We should talk. Privately." A glance to Idrissa and her runner. Just passing through, was it? Soriana gives greenling a smile, then looks back to Ka'el. "I don't have to go."
Idrissa gets it, private talk.. Ooo.. An at the moment she is the third wheel. "Stepped on a rock down by the lake." The reins are given a slight tug as she moves forward with RedFeathers following her. "I'll just go onwards, see you two later." Tahryth warbles out slightly looking a bit confused but she doesn't linger long near the gold and bronze, wings tucking close while she starts to follow along after her rider.
She would've asked him to go? And his answer? Well .. she does have it right. Partying and enjoying himself (for once) hasn't been on his mind for quiet a few days. Would he have gone with her anyway? Doesn't matter now, does it? He nods a little in resposne to her shrug, wordless. .. Wordless! He had so many words before. Earlier today. Two days ago. Three. So many fantastic words that were so commanding and self-assured and dominant! He had them! But where have they gone? The imagined conversation went so much better than this. He likes that Ka'el far better. He perks ever so slightly as she speaks of possibly not going, but his eyes shift to Idrissa soon after, and his lips press. Hesitance. Then, "Wait. You don't have to go. I … We all haven't been together in a while, huh? So, we should hang out. Or you two should sometime, if you don't. You're practically neighbors." Grasping straws. But see? He cares for the feelings of others and shows respect and all that jazz. Putting others before himself. Doesn't that count?
Soriana waves to Idrissa. She smiles. It's a real one. She likes the third wheel! Just, well. It's a bumpy road sometimes. "Good luck with RedFeathers!" Full of rocks. "I'll see you later!" Soriana calls to them, and then… they're gone, so she turns her gaze back to Ka'el. The smile's gone now. Poof. …but she's not frowning, either. She's just… looking at him. For a moment, it's the looking in silence. The lack of words. But! Soriana finds some words, and says them, now that they're alone. Private words. "I'm sorry I yelled at you in front of everyone."
Idrissa is used to being the third wheel, she's sort of always been one after all. Hearing Ka'el there is a slight pause and she glancs to him a moment, wondering what to say. "It's fine.. You two need to talk.." Beacuse for some reason if she isn't in the picture talking actually happens. "Yeah.. Later." This said while the three are still moving along, though a bit slow with RedFeather's limping along. Tarhyth has offered to carry the runner back, though for some reason Rissa sees this as a veryvery bad idea, so that does /not/ happen.
Well. He tried. Ka'el watches Idrissa go a little ways, giving his eyes something to do other than to stupidly stare at Soriana with a lack of words. The sound of the surf. The rush of a breeze. Kanekith is quiet, showing a surprising amount of patience as his rider fumbles through the forgotten words in his mind. Silly humans. Why is it so difficult for them to speak? He never has any problem expressing himself! Wings are given a languid stretch then fold again as Ka'el's eyes leave Idrissa's retreated form and settle on Soriana. That smile of hers is gone. It's almost a relief, and he welcomes that nondescript look that it is replaced with. silence stretches. Say something. And he does, at the same time as she. "Don't break up with me." He blinks at her, belatedly catching her words that have entwined with his. "I'm sorry for .. making you want to yell at me."
Wait. What? Soriana blinks. "I'm not going to break up with you." Now there's a whole tangle of thoughts to work through. He thought - that she - and now that question he didn't quite ask becomes a very different one, doesn't it? Only, if he thought she wasn't even going to break up with him first (not that she was), but… she makes a face. Oh, look. It's one of those unpleasant expressions that she hasn't been making for the past seven. Ugh. Breakups. Or, well. "I'm not. I'm not happy about what you said to Darsce," understatement time is now time, "but that doesn't mean I'm leaving you." She pauses, and arches a brow. "Unless you don't want to date a weyrwoman."
She's not? Well … that's good news! Not that Ka'el was going to go down without a fight. He came armed! Granted, his artillery was momentarily out of comission, but still, he was (mostly) ready to fight for his right to … uh. Not be broken up with. Which, apparently, wasn't going to happen in the first place. And why was that the conclusion he came up with? Because of Darsce? He makes a slight face, shaking his head. "Not because've her. Because of what I said. To you." He frowns lightly, but before he can elaborate, he answers her question. "I don't want to date a weyrwoman. Thea's too old me for me. And if we got together, that'd mean Mur'dah would be my son and .. I don't think I could handle that." Is now an appropriate time for a joke? This is Ka'el. Every time is joke time! But it's not a lasting thing, and his expression shifts. "I don't mind dating a weyrwoman if you don't mind dating an idiot."
Yeah. About what he said. Soriana's expression shifts, with a tug of her lips to the side and a frown. She nods, slightly… and then her eyes roll in that way that seems to pull her lips up with them. A trace of a smile. One that's hardly there at all. "There's other Weyrs." The answer's flip. A joke in return, but then she sobers again. "The thing is…" Soriana looks away, frowning for a moment at words of unpleasant memory. "You were right." Her gaze returns to Ka'el. "And I'm not going to do it half-assed. I don't mind dating an idiot," a half-smile, "but I can't let stuff go just because I'm dating you." Smile's gone again. "So. That's why you don't want to date a weyrwoman."
"So, no bein' on my side," says Ka'el. Does he expect her to be? .. of course he does. That's one of those girlfriend perks, isn't it? She'll have his back and he'll have hers, and together they'll know that they'll always have someone in their corner when it seems as if the world has turned its back on them. .. Only, it isn't and cannot be. That'd be biased, and a weyrwoman can't show such bias, right? He's quiet for a time, brows faintly lowered, though his expression is more one of thought than anger. ".. I don't know what's wrong with me," he says at last, answering a question she didn't ask, "but I know what's right with me, and that's you. You're right for me. I don't have to have you sticking up for me, or protect me or whatever. I wouldn't want you to half ass your job because've me." He moves nearer to her a few steps, getting close enough so that he can touch fingertips to her chin, gently trying to tilt her head up. "I want to date a weyrwoman."
"I didn't say that." Only Soriana did, didn't she? She did, and so she frowns, mentally stepping back to the furthest point she can stand. "I'll be on your side whenever I can. It's just…" Girlfriend-Soriana. Weyrwoman-Soriana. They're bound to come into conflict. There will be times when it'll be a choice. One she doesn't want to make, but… she's just said what her choice will be. Must be. (But there's always a choice, isn't there?) She's quiet as well, her gaze uncertain. She's not breaking up with him, but she's just given him a good reason to break up with her. Ka'el … doesn't like to share. She knows that. She's just told him he has to share with an entire Weyr. Worse; she's told him he comes in second, even if she wants to put him first before all of them. So could she really blame him? There doesn't have to be something wrong with him for him to not want… that. So she shakes her head slightly as he begins that way, then pauses the gesture as he continues. Her gaze lift to his as he comes closer, brown eyes actually meeting his without hesitance now as her chin follows. She reaches up with her fingers for his cheek. "I'm glad." She leans in, seeking a soft kiss.
Lips meet, soft and lingering upon hers, and gradually, the tension in his chest that he's unaware he's been holding begins to unravel. It's been an entire sevenday or more since he's felt her touch, lips or otherwise, and Ka'el hadn't realized how much he's hungered for it until now. And so he seeks more, bringing himself closer, the touch of his mouth pressing a little firmer. An arm wrapping … then stopping as his brows furrow and he pulls back with an exhale. Weyrwoman-Soriana. She wasn't before, at his party. Now it's notably different. Graduation looms. She's committed to do this, and like on Fort…appearances are everything even here now. "Sorry," he says, moving to step back, hand lifting to rub at the back of his neck as he watches her. "..Sort've like weyrlinghood starting all over again, huh?" A smirk, then, quickly, "I can do this. I won't mess it up for you."
A kiss. It says… well, the same things as words did, really. It just says them differently. Soriana breathes out with something between pleasure and sigh as Ka'el's lips move away from hers, and as he steps back, she frowns briefly… then steps after him, reaching her hand to take his. She smiles. "Weyrwomen are allowed to have boyfriends." The expression turns teasing. "They're even allowed to do things with them. Mur'dah had to come from somewhere." A smirk, and then her expression turns more serious. "We're not a secret. Just…" she trails off, and then her lips curve in a crooked smile. "Try not to make me have to yell at you, okay? At least not in front of other people. When it's just the two of us…" she'll yell at him all she likes? "There's no rules against us doing anything." She squeezes at his hand. "Okay?"
Weyrwomen can have boyfriends! Ka'el does a silent celebration of a fistpump. "Thought maybe there was a probationary period or something." A pre first-flight dry spell or something or another. He won't pretend to know how things work when it comes to goldriders and their elite club of womanhood and whatever rituals that may or may not entail. His reclaimed hand happily holds hers, fingers curling as he snakes his free arm around her middle, looping comfortably there. Her smile encourages one of his own, and at her terms of yelling at him .. "Promise I'll try," he says, nodding. He'll try! He'll try very hard at that, for with all their ups and downs, he kinda really likes his relationship with her. "So…, since you're not goin' to your concert," he's made that executive decision just now. She's probably already late and is missing the opening act! "I think you and I should go inside and do anything we want together." Another kiss is pressed to her lips. "I've got ideas."
Secret rituals… probably. But they shall not be revealed! As for that probationary period… "It's called weyrlinghood." And it's almost over. Besides, Soriana and Ka'el are senior weyrlings now, and they've been permitted - nay, encouraged! - to end all dry spells. Y'know, before those first flights. She presses in against his side, enjoying the warmth of body and the closeness of touch. Mm. This… is nice. This is… a start? Soriana looks up at Ka'el, and hehs. Opening acts are, after all, the best part! They're never just the apprentices practicing to warm up the crowd. Now that she's gone and missed that part of things, there's really no point in going at all. …besides. There will be other concerts, and tonight, she has a Ka'el. A Ka'el with ideas! "Well now." Another kiss, because really, all of these have been far too brief. "Let's go find some anything." Into her cottage they go! And Luraoth tells Isobeth that, actually, she and hers won't be going to Ierne tonight after all. Soriana got a better offer.