Xanadu Weyr - Shore of Lake Caspian
The cliffs that run along the shore come and go, various weyrs nestled along the tops of them or dug into the walls, but eventually they recede enough to expose a beach. The white sand echoes the rise and fall of the cliffs with a multitude of sandy dunes, endlessly creating tiny valleys that are constantly demolished and rebuilt by the frequent arrival or departure of dragons. The dunes smooth out as the gentle slope approaches the edge of the deep blue water. The sand darkens, and a shell here and there stands out for children to collect.
The beach narrows to the southwest, leaving a path barely wide enough for dragons in single file before cutting in to a smaller, more sheltered cove. The sands are the same white, the waters the same blue, but they're calmer and more tranquil, more protected from the winds that ruffle Lake Caspian and the currents that tug beneath the surface.
Rough, wide stairs lead up to the meadow above and the road that runs along the top of the cliffs, passing through the fields and heading for the river mouth that can be just barely seen from here. The largest of the staircases up the cliff is located near the docks that jut out onto the peaceful blue waters.
It may be the beginning of Spring, but it still feels like deep Winter. At least when you're bathing your dragon in a very frigid lake. At least it's wet sand rather than wet dirt. Wet grit will just help her scrub her dragonmate that much more quickly. Woven pants are rolled up to her knees and she stands in a few inches of water while dragging the long handled scrubber along the green's hide. Moncerath warbles happily, canting her body so that she's leaning into the attention. "Hey, no pushing Mon." Kera mutters and flicks her gaze around for her lizards, but the brats are probably curled up on their cushy little beds. Tis Kera own fault, she's the one that purchased the poofy lizards beds to begin with.
Having been convinced that he should come to the 'thawing' Xanadu by Kera, Giroux is walking around with a couple of extra layers on his body. "This is spring?" He calls out to no one in particular before he notices the dragon and Kera and a broad, almost predatory grin as he notices her. "Well hello." He says.
Kera reaches down into the water, grabbing a handful of wet sand and flinging it up onto Moncerath's hide, the brush resumes his passes back and forth. The dragon seems to be paying better attention to surroundings than Kera is and swings her head around to watch Giroux approach. The greeting soon has the rider peering around though, quickly spotting the bundled figure and brandishing her long handled brush in a wave "G'day Giroux." The dragon lowers her head as the visitor comes closer, her head turning to get a better look. A slight whirl to her faceted gaze as she snuffles a warm breath at the young man and slowly begins to display her teeth for inspection. "Warming up nicely isn't it." The grin she flashes says she doesn't expect to be agreed with "Well, compared to last sevenday it's warmer. And next sevenday will be warmer still."
"Hello Kera." The smile is reduced and he chuckles a bit impishly at her response. "If you consider this warm, then perhaps yes." He chuckles at Moncerath "Thanks for the warmth," He says fondly before he shrugs. "I'd guess it's getting warm."
Kera shrugs with a good natured grin "Tis warmer than between." There's no way to argue that point as she tugs her water scoop and starts rinsing her dragonmate's back. Moncerath begins to open her maul wider. Hard to miss all those sharp teeth at Giroux is getting a real close up view is when Mon eases forward a bit more. That causes Kera to frown at the green "Oh don't be so impatient Mon. I can only do one thing at a time." That begins a rather animated, if silent conversation between rider and dragon. The green's knobby head swinging this way and that as she determined refuses to budge in her stance, mentally that is. Moncerath's creeps a bit closer to Giroux, jaws opening and going wider for the young man. Kera sighs with a grown and scrub at her own face with a waterlogged hand "Fiiiinnnneee." Is said grudgingly as she looks almost apologetically to Giroux "She's being quite stubborn and I'm sorry for that. But she wants you to clean her teeth." The green hands over the little tools needed for the task "She fed a candlemark ago, so she'll probably still have bits between her teeth."
"Bits?" Giroux says, looking at the teeth and the dragon. "You have big sharp teeth you know." He states before he looks up towards Kera and gives an arched eyebrow. "Cleaning?" He sighs and looks towards the dragon and takes his gloves off and his outer coat which he sits off to the side. "A moment." He places his things down before he returns. "What should I clean them with?" He looks around the teeth. "Remember, fingers aren't food." He scritches the dragon's eyeridges for a moment.
Kera passes over the small scrubber and blunted pick she uses for her dragonmate's teeth. "Use these. Careful around her gums, Hide's nearly as tough as stone it seems at times, but she won't thank you one bit for poking her sensitive gums too much." Moncerath rumbles and gently cants her head a little more and more as Giroux scratches her ridges. Kera observes her dragonmate and finishes rinsing the green's hide. Stepping back from the water, she is quick to dry her feet off and stomp back into her warm boots.
"I promise to be nice." Giroux tells her as he looks at the teeth, moving back and forth as he looks there. "Hmm." He takes the scrubber and pick. He finds one of those 'bits' and uses the pick to flick it up and out of the green's teeth. "Yeech." he says, scrubbing away at her tooth with his right hand. He's gentle and considerate, even if he looks a little green.
Kera steps back and finishes redressing as Moncerath's maul opens even wider, as it does when Kera is doing the task. Wouldn't want the teeth in the back to be missed. Giving another shiver as she her jackets settles around her and begins the act of warming her back up, hand cold hands shoved in her warm pockets help. The disgusted noise draws an amused chuckle. "Just be glad it's reasonably fresh, otherwise the smell would knock you from your feet." Head cants to her dragonmate "Not your breath sweetie, the rotting meat that gets stuck between your teeth." Kera does find herself creeping closer, hovering near Giroux as if unsure he can do the task properly. But she remains good, letting the man do the job Moncerath has asked him to do. "You're doing really well so far."
"Thank you for that." Giroux manages to squeak out between trying his best to keep his dinner down as he works. "I try to do the best at each task assigned. Father taught me that." He finds a couple more pieces of meat and flicks them out again, scrubbing her teeth, cleaning. "Do this after every meal?"
Kera steps back, not wanting to crowd Giroux, but obviously protective when it comes to Moncerath. Still craning to peer over the young man's shoulder she nods at the job he's doing. His coloring doesn't go unnoticed, and she can't help but chuckle "Hmm, I think Moncerath's shade of green looks better than yours Giroux." She gives the young man an approving nod as he finishes up the last few teeth. "I try to, sometimes I don't do as through a job as I should, but I do give her teeth at least a once over each day." She's quiet for a few moments, gaze seeking out Moncerath as she nods at something unheard. Lookin back to Giroux, she shrugs at another comment that only she can hear and grins with a slow nod "Alright alright, point made Mon." Kera seems to be stifling her humor as best she can as she relays Moncerath's message "She says you just need a bit more practice to be able to get the right shade of green." The rider is chuckling before she can even finish the sentence.
"I'm sure I could probably manage it on a ship." Giroux says, turning and handing the tools back over to Kera with a bit of a wan smile before he nods as he chuckles softly. "But I wouldn't be nearly as lovely Moncerath." He tells her, taking a small step backwards as he slowly begins to regain his color. "You're welcome, Moncerath."
Kera takes the tools back, moving to rinse them off before dropping them in her 'scrubber' satchel. Smiling to her dragonmate, she can only nod to at Giroux's words. "Yea, I think she's the prettiest dragon there is, but I've been told I'm biased." Attention once more goes to Giroux. "But Moncerath wants to you reconsider your ships attempts. She thinks you'll get more than enough practice scrubbing her teeth if ya were a candidate for Zeruth and Kairo's clutch." Kera pauses to let that sink in and lifts her hand to show the white fringed candidate knot. "So, what do ya say Giroux? Wanna be Moncerath's candidate?"
"Me a candidate?" Giroux asks that before he reaches out and takes the knot. "That's… well unexpected." He admits, looking from Kera to Moncerath. "Do I /have/ to scrub her teeth?" He says this in a teasing manner, his hand rubbing over Moncerath's eyeridges as he speaks. "I guess that would be a yes?" He says, "I don't know much about candidacy, but sure." He says.
Kera grins with a nod and hands over the knot as Giroux agrees to Xanadu candidacy. "Maybe not after //eeeeveryy/ meal." Stepping back "Well, there's rules to candidacy, and chores. New tasks you'll learn to do that you may not already know. But Moncerath thinks you're up to the job, and if you get injured, then I happen to know the Infirmary staff at Xanadu is top notch." Well, she is on that staff so she is biased about more than her dragonmate. "Welcome to Xanadu Candidacy Giroux." Gesturing along the beach, "We should get you settled in the barracks, You'll be able to pick your cot I think, it's still early so plenty or elbow room still" That will change quickly once the barracks begins to fill.
Giroux takes the knot and tilts his head at that before he nods. "More cots… had a cot last time I was here." He snerks at that before he nods and follows along with Kera. "I'm following."