
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.
Midday at Xanadu and the springs are still sparsely occupied. The main pool is being used for laundry, the aunties working around it is well practiced motions. One of the smaller pools is being used by a rahter colorful spector. A dripping Kera with a towel wrapped around her and another loosely wrapped around her head. The water in the pool she stands next to is a murky shade of purple, the paint staining a inner ring around the tub. The apprentice's skin is purple ranging in various hues of purple, depending on how much scrubbing she's done. Dripping clumps of hair peeking out from under the headtowel are purple as well. Overall, the apprentice healer is not having a very good day.
Liva comes in a little behind Kera. There's the glazed eyed and dazed look of someone who is half out of it stuck to her; but she's with it enough to not walk into things at least. She navigates to actually stand beside Kera herself without seeing her and begins to undress without a word. She's actually down to underwear and a camisole; rid of socks, pants, her outer shirt and everything else when she realizes that someone is there. Then a startled yelping sound is heard and she slips on the damp rocks and falls back-first into the water with a tremendous splash. She comes up spluttering, hair askew.
Kera is so distracted, and dare one say, distraught, over her current predicament that it takes her a moment to realize someone is standing right beside her. Her emotions take an even further nose dive when the woman's less that cordial greeting scares her into jumping back herself. And while she stumbles back into the bench, the woman she frigthened goes flying back into the pool she just vacated. "Oh no. Oh nononono." Kera jumps up, heedless of the loosened towel slipping from her head, revealing her now healer purple locks when a hint of the natural dark brown, and extends an arm out to try helping the woman up. "I'm sorry. I'm sooo sooo sorry. I was gonna clean this up.."
If Liva was confused before? She's even more confused now. It takes her ten seconds of blinking and spluttering to get her bearings. Then she's squinting at Kera. Long and hard. "Oh. It's you." She ignores the apprentice to divest herself of the rest of her clothing and throw the soaked garments on the side with her pants. The water keeps her modest. Mostly. She does reach out and take Kera's hand though. That's confusing? Is she going to get out naked? Until she tries to seize the other person's wrist in a powerful grip and pull her straight back into the water. If she's successful she'll wait until she surfaces again. "I'm really sorry!" She says. Even sounds like she means it. "But I think that was kind of warranted. Or was it? I'm confused. But no matter! Hi. What happened to you?"
Kera frowns worriedly as she looks the woman over, what she can see above the purple water. Eyes focus mainly on the woman's head for obvious injury. "You may wanna choose another poo.." Her extended hand, meant to offer assistance out, is tugged so that her balance is lost. Her words end in a startled squeak, which frustratingly is happening more and more lately. Almost face first into the pool she goes, towerl and all. Flailing a moment til she gets her feet under her and shoots up from the surface, choking and sputtering, with her hair plastered to her face, again. Coughing a bit more and clearing her lungs, she huffs and scrapes the colorful veil from her face, not quite glaring out between clumped strands. "What was.." cough "Whayadothafor!" Leaning away from Liva, in case she wants to attack her again, Kera sputters a little more, and reaches for another towel. The question of what happen to her causes her to rember what she now must look like and the towel is pulled over her head, trying to hide it and her face too. /What happen to her?/ "Some woman I thought may be hurt just tried to drown me, that's what."
Liva wouldn't have let Kera drown. Much anyway. The faraway look is ever-present in her eyes as she waits for the other to get a grip back on herself and finish flailing. "Oh, have a sense of humor. You wern't going to come to any harm. Take a deep breath. Melodrama doesn't suit a healer." So, Liva does recognize her! Does she recognize Liva? "Now, I'm not going to sit here and say I'm the sharpest tool in the closet right now. Not by a half. I'm always like this for a day or two after Vsylith's had her fun. But. There some reason you're trying to hide from me? And don't you dare say I tried to drown you. Because you know I didn't."
Kera 's sense of humor is as good as anyone else's, unless her hair is involved. And while her head and face may be mostly hidden for the moment, vivid purple hands appear as she start roughly toweldrying her hair, again. "Yea well, it's been a trying sevenday, even for a healer, Journeyman Liva." With a huff, she pulls the towel back a bit, letting her face be seen. She can't help but roll her eyes roll upwards "And before you ask, someone put paint in my sweetsand jar." Peering to the water briefly she gestures tinted fingers towards it. "I was trying to tell you, before…/I slipped/ back into the pool." Slipped, yea, with help. She finally does find /some/ amusement in her day "That you may wanna bathe in a differant pool, but it probably won't matter now." Getting /back/ out of the pool she mutters as she gets dry towel around her, eyeing the pile of drenched, soaked and purple mound of towels growing next to the equally colored waterpool. "There's no way the Headwoman won't hear about this." Looking around, she surveys the mess, and the aunties gossipping and shaking their heads whenever they look over. No matter what the aunties will make sure Darsce knows /they/ didn't make this mess. Shaking her head with a sigh, her attention goes back to Liva. "What made you fall into the pool to begin with? I'm not /that/ bad looking."
"Meh." It's a strange reply at first from Liva. But, boy it's a solid meh. "I could do with some color in my life right about now." Ignoring the color — she'll either be colors or be scrubbing later — she sinks down as far as her chin. "Who cares?" She asks. It seems a little blunt. Almost stupid. But the woman's eyes are serious. "Instead of trying to scrub it off, should have colored something even more obnoxious over top of it. Pink or something. Easiest way to get people to bugger off with the pranks is to wear them as a badge of pride." She blinks, trying to be fully lucid again. "You want me to die your hair for you? No, probably not." Back and forth she shakes her head to clear it; taking some effort as she rewinds what the other person has said in her head. "I'm not really myself right now. Kind of focused inwards. I really didn't notice you standing there until the last second. Then it was just natural surprise."
Kera shakes her head at the offer to dye her hair "Oh no, it's colorful enough right now thanks." A little chuckle slips out as the girl works to bind her bright hair up in a towel turbanstyle, tight this time so it doesn't loosen easily. Then clean clothes are slipped on before she flops down bench, out of reach of the pool so she's staying dry this time for sure. "I suppose my current appearance is surprising. I'm sorry you'll be doing a bit of scrubbing too til it wears off now." An appologetic shrug offered. Reaching up occassionally to sorta squeeze her hair through the towel, Kera considers the other healer thoughtfully. "Is it something that's happened that has you out of sorts? Or is it something related to your dragonmate?"
Liva frowns. At first it might seem to be her added color but she really honestly doesn't care about that. It shows when she flicks at the water in an entirely absent-minded way. "It is a little. It's mostly just my own muddle headedness that's the problem." Then, all at once she colors slightly as the questions go further. She's naturally pale, and the warm water is enough to produce a bit of pink color but this is a little far and above what could be expected. "It's Vsylith." She says, hesitantly. "Has nobody explained . . You've had that discussion, right? About dragon mating and the effects on their partners? She ~really~ enjoys her flights and I sort of get dragged along like a kite in a hurricane and I'm muddle headed for a few days after."
Kera keeps her attention mainly on the visiting rider in the pool, not not certain if Liva didn't take a head injury when she fell in. She ahhs softly at the muddledness "As long as you are sure you didn't hit your head, or hurt yourself a moment ago, then I won't insist that we go to the infirmary." A little smirks is given, as if she could drag the woman anywhere she didn't want to go. Nodding a few times, it's a good thing her face is already colorful. "I've learned and been told the base aspects of the dragon flights. And some personal reading on dragon healing since I've been posted to Xanadu." Kera falters a moment, unsure how to proceed but manages "But obviously there are aspects that I'm not familar with that no amount of reading or lectures can explain."
"Well." Liva says. "I've been supposed to be teaching you things." There's an amused expression on her face; still that not quite there but her eyes are more lucid now. A little more focused. "Maybe I can feel a little less guilty." She gestures towards herself. "You have here, one specimin of green rider. Consider it an open class. Ask what you'd like to know and I'll answer honestly and bluntly without hesitation. It can't be any worse than your first cadaver at anatomy class, can it?"
Kera settles more comfortably on the bench and frowns at her nails, then her toenails. Okay, maybe something good came from being painted purple. She's got pretty fingers nad toes. This silly thought brings a giggle bubbling out of the Hall 'mascot'. Shaking her head from the random thoughts, Kera ponders the other healer "Does it always affect people the same? Did you realize what was going on when you dragon was moving into her cycle?" The apprentice leans forward, propping elbows in her knees, hands clasped loosely as she looks curiously to Liva.
Liva narrows her eyes for a split second at the giggle. Maybe she's assuming that Kera is giggling at her. But she forgets about it as quickly as she started. "Hmm?" Then a grin as she leans back in the water, peering at her toes as they float. She's still modest though, fear not. "Everyone's a little different. Or sometimes a lot different. And . . yes and no? I realized it when people told me I was acting strange. Looked at myself and said hey, yes I am. This must be . . and then she flew. Not a whole heck of a lot of warning."
Kera ponders that while absentmindedly reaching up to let her hair down from the towel. Only so much water can be worked out of her hair by bundling it up, the rest has to be done the hard way. "So for someone who hadn't gone through it before, they may not realize their behavior isn't in their norm." A little nod given "I mention it because a friend came to visit me recently and she was not acting herself." The girl start rubbing wet clumps of purple hair roughly with the towel. "Then when I went to visit her a sevenday laterr, turns out her dragon rose."
Liva grins. Though it's a little bit of a sorrowful one. "I usually catch it. Usually. This last one was a bad one and didn't see it coming. Usually she lets me know by getting bright, but . . " She shrugs. The talk seems to be making her a little more lucid. "Hey, look over there. Do you know him?" When and if Kera's head turns, she scampers out of the pool and into the next one over, a little duplicity to preserve her modesty. "I don't mean to say either it's a horrible experience. I usually enjoy them. This one was just . . it's like having a glass of something and expecting beer and getting something five times as strong."
Kera grasp a clump of hair and scrutinizes it with a frown. Liva's question makes her quickly cover most of her head with the towel before peeking out and over to where the rider points. Scanning a moment. "Who?" All she sees right now are some aunties and some mothers bathing children. Looking back to the pool, her brows lift when there is nothing but ripples fanning aross the surface and splashing from the next pool over. With a little smirk "I'm just an apprentice, but I think I may be able to dedeuce where you went Journeyman."
"You're sure you don't want me to dye your hair for you." Liva asks. "I'm totally sane enough to do it, it'd be fun, and you could ask all the questions you wanted. Something crazy. If not pink? Orange. Let them think you like it. Last offer!" She's half kidding. And the voice is coming from the next pool over. "I'm over here, if you want to grab your stuff and come. It's not that I'm bothered or anything! You are a healer, but you have to remember, just woke up from a flight. I've got bruises and hickeys in some pretty unusual places. It's normal enough, but didn't want you to see it."
Kera glances towards Liva's voice and cringes her nose at the idea of walking around with some hideous orange shade of hair. "Oh no, I think I'll stick with the purple, for now." At least til she can scrub all her skin clean of it. But her poor hair. It did not deserve this painted fate. She uses the actions of trying to sop up some of the sloshed water with some of the towels to hide her blushing from Liva's candid remarks. It's a good thing her cheeks already have purplish tints. Giving up the drenched towel to the growing pile, she shakes her head at the mess and gives up for the moment. Stepping over to the other bench, the apprentice settles. "Well, at least your bruises will be camaflauged now, somewhat." She shrugs good naturedly before sighing "But it might not be a bad idea to stop by the infirmary to get a small jar of numbweed." Suddenly finding her newly hued fingers very interesting.
Liva scoffs slightly. "I'll put my own numbweed on, or find someone I know to. I might have few provisions about my body — greenrider and healer — but I'll be damned if I'm going to take some of these for public examination. Have a few good ones that are above the knee, below the waist if you know what I mean." She can't actually see Kera so she has no idea what kind of blushing that she's actually doing until she comes over. "Anyway." She's busy washing, all below the surface of the water. Fortunatly, she is not going to be dyed quite as bad as most of it was already scrubbed off residue. "Oh. Uh. You said get a jar of numbweed, not . . " She shakes her head, bonks her forehead. "Like I said. Mind's all gone. Did you happen to have any other questions?"
Kera 's eyes widen a bit and she's shaking her head. "No that's not wha…" Liva's clarification is met with relief, until the inquiry for more questions could send water droplets flying by how her shaking head denies having any more questions. "No! I mean yes. I always have questions, but they can wait. You've already given me more than enough to think about." After a few long seconds, she gets up, only to crouch over the pile of wet, tinted towels. Picking them up, she sighs, knowing she's gonna get in trouble later for the painted mess today. "Be right back, gonna go add these to the laundry pile." Then with a wary eye to the aunties, Kera heads over to the large pool for a few seconds.
Liva almost seems to be dissapointed as Kera runs off. "But I like answering questions!" Sure she does. And she likes traumatizing people. But that's what she does. She takes her time while the other is gone, washing carefully. When Kera returns, she's busy with her hair. Which is a long process in and of itself, but she appears relaxed as she does it; looking calmer now than in the entire conversation that Kera has had with her. "Waiting stinks." She adds.
Kera returns in time to hear Liva's comment and smirks. "I was only gone a few seconds. Cut me a little slack." Settling back on the bench again, Kera stretches her legs out in front of her. "As long as you don't mind. I mean ya pretty much just woke a little bit ago, don't wanna bombard your brain too early." A little laugh given before she grows a bit serious. "You say that is normal? The bruises I mean. Not that.." She gets flustered momentarily. "I've seen some bruises, really bad ones, resulting from…flights. Bruises that will hurt for a sevenday at least, even with numbweed slathered." This seems to worry the young girl a bit. "I've come to have a few friends that are riders since being posted. I don't like the thought that they are being…injured."
Liva doesn't reply at first. It's half because she's busy with her hair and half because she's thinking of a way to not scandalize her too much. "I really don't. If it makes sense? Making me think helps me ground myself. It's kind of like . . you ever swim in one of those rehabilitation pools at the healer hall? You know how there's a shallow end and a deep end? In the shallow end, you can do whatever you want. But when you want to you can always put your foot out and touch bottom. Being a dragonrider is like that sometimes. You can lose yourself in each other's thoughts and feelings but you can always touch bottom. During a flight? You can't touch bottom anymore and get swept away." A little laugh, as she turns her face towards Kera. "Kind of an answer in metaphor and not what you asked. But? It's normal enough I suppose. It . .as a rule is a little more aggressively passionate than you usually prefer. Your mind forgets you are a human. Little more bestial instincts, I guess. You ever seen felines mating? At the end of the siring act, the male bites the lioness on the forehead. Sort of the same idea I guess. Civilized behavior goes out the window."
Kera nods along with Liva's observations. She's familar with the rehabilation pool, having assisted several aged or injured patients in her time at the Hall. The progressing direction of the talk has her fidgetting nervously. Her experiances in those matters being non existant. She begins running fingers through her wet hair, starting at the bottom, to work the knots out. "I um, my father is a beastcrafter, so it's not like I don't know the mating process." She shrugs a little uncertainly. "But, I just don't understand.." she groans and scrub a hand over her face "The idea of being injured isn't something I think I would enjoy. Much less understand how someone else might."
TBC?