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Xanadu Weyr - Residential Housing

This is a broad hall, lengthy and spacious. Many doors lead to the private quarters of various residents and each has a name plate, board or card set on them. Two big sets of double doors lead to the dormitories with cubicles for residents who do not need rooms and a door at the far end leads into a bright a spacious nursery where the Weyr's small children can be left safely while their parents go about their work. Set between doors is an assortment of chairs and benches, some comfortable and other not.
Lights are spaced between the large windows, for illumination no matter what the weather outdoors, each of the glass-paned structures having large, heavy drapes which can be pulled over to keep the warmth in during the winter.


It's a lovely morning, with all the normal morningness. The residents of Xanadu are going about their usual activities, and it's quiet for the most part. That is, until there is a loud "Ack!" from one of the cots in the dorms, and the sound of someone falling out of bed with a rather loud -smack-! A brief fight to get out of the blankets, and then half falling, half flailing, Cenlia appears from the bundle of sheets. Her face is scrunched up in the oddest expression as she… flings her arms about trying to tug at her nightshirt. She hops, she awks, she does a little dance - okay, she's probably not doing this for her own entertainment. Still squirming, she lets out an "AUUGHHH!" and continues pulling at her shirt, wrapping one arm around the back and jumping about on one foot.

Thea is passing by the dorm entrance when the yell startles her into dropping the clip board and pen she's carrying. Not that screams are all that uncommon around here, but she's got to see. She pokes her head into the room and just watches Cenlia's gyrations. She can't help but stand there and watch it. The Harpers haven't anyone who can move like -that-! She bites her lips, but it doesn't help. She's giggling like a child. This just makes her morning. She hasn't even started pondering what Cenlia's doing or why. It's just free entertainment.

Yay for morning! R'miel has always been a morning person, preferring to swim and do is exercise in the morning. Usually he spends this time talking with Arinith as well, but not this morning. It seems that the rackishly charming bronze has decided to sleep in today, which could only mean trouble. It just so happens that today the bronzer has hit his head during a rather epic wave, and now… doesn't remember anything. Who he is, where he's going… none of that. And without a knot on his shoulder he's likely to not be able to peice things back together without help. So now… he's wandering around the weyr in just his swim trunks, rubbing his head and looking completely confused. And into the resident dorms he goes. Does he live here? And who is that woman and why is she dancing? "Huh?"

Klah. Blessed klah… Ysa relied on large amounts of this stuff to get her out of bed, and it was one of those days that she had to be up earlier than normal (because she'll usually get to the office late). She was moving across the clearing outside when she noticed her nearly naked weyrmate wandering towards the dorms, which made her… not suspicious, but confused. "Ram?" she calls out, and then it's muffled by a yawn. "Ram. I had to take the kids to the nannies today cause you never came back— what the shells is going on here?" She wanders in, of course, only to suddenly stare at Thea laughing and then the flailing Cenlia. "Do we need a Healer?"

Cenlia continues to wriggle and squirm, wriggle and squirm… She's got one hand halfway up her shirt and the other around her back, with the strangest expression on her face. Kicking with one leg, like she's trying to shake something off her pyjama pants, she at first doesn't notice anyone else nearby. But as she's whirling around she catches sight of Thea, and blurts out a, "Gyah— he- el- lp!" or something reasonably close to that. If one were to look closely at her rumpled bedding, one might percieve a line of tiny crawly things making their way across the cot. Of course, with Cenlia's improvised shake 'n dance, it might be hard to get a good look.

Thea notes the semi-confused look on Ram's face, but there could be any number of reasons - aside from a wild dancing resident - for that, so in a way he looks normal to her. A brief glance is given to him, "Mornin' Ram." Her attention goes back to the room before Ysa's voice draws her attention. "A Healer? Whatever for? They'd ruin the fun." Her eyes travel back to the action, "Besides, she looks like she's healthy and hale, what with the energy she's puttin' into her, ah… exercises?" See, she's not exactly sure what Cenlia's doing, exactly. "Help?" Help what? Thea can't see anything else but the gardner gal leaping about. She side-glances at Ysa, "On second thought, maybe we do…" Her voice lowers to a whisper, "Could she have gotten some bad booze?"

R'miel doesn't know his name! And so he doesn't know Ysa is calling to him. In fact, he might be running away from her! It's hard to tell though. When Ysa wanders in he gives her a strange look. "Huh? Kids? Who are you?" He just… blinks at Cenlia. "Er… what's her problem?" And then at Thea. Again, someone calling him 'Ram'. "My name is Ram." Is that a question? Or an answer? "Bad… booze? Why would she be hopping around like that from booze?" He rubs his head a bit. "Ow… Er… what should we do with her? Hose her down or something?"

Ysa lifts her brows first at Ram for a moment before they go down sharply. "What'd ya do?" she asks him, pressing her lips tightly together. But she doesn't seem to focus on him for too long, as she leans towards the youngest junior weyrwoman instead. "She sounds like she needs help. Though it is rather amusing. Hey! You're going to hurt yourself there if ya keep going like that!" she warns Cenlia. "Shells, it could have been something she ate instead. I don't think we have bad booze in the Weyr." Or at least she hopes. She eyes Ram again suspiciously, shaking her head a bit. "Come help out here, Ram. Stop acting like an idiot, that doesn't work on me… Whatever ya did."

"Gaa- getitoffgetoitoffgetoitoff!" the words are babbled half-coherently as Cenlia one-footedly dances some more, half-removing her shirt. Decency? Even if there's an audience, Cenlia can worry about such things later. The girl's four firelizards are sitting on a nearby windowsill, staring blankly. They certainly don't have a clue. Something small and colorful rolls out of one shirt sleeve, Cenlia's flailing arm flinging it off somewhere at high speed. "Gyaaah," she squeals and wriggles some more, pulling her shirt up her back in an attempt to… do something. Little does she notice that the little crawly things have gotten across the cot and are now making their way across the floor. She hops over closer to the doorway with a desperate, "Aughittickles" - or something like that.

Thea sorta blinks at R'miel there, stating the obvious. "Didn't I say Ram?" She might've called him Sam, who knows. After all, she was a bit distracted. Hmm. But he's asking Ysa 'what kids?' like he really means 'what kids'. And rubbing his head. "Ow? Whatsamatter with your head, Ram?" She hasn't time to sort that out, however. Ysa makes sense, though and she moves into the room as the girl begins ripping at her shirt. Uh, oh… Coaxingly she pleads, "C'mon Cenlia, you can dance outside to the rising sun." Out where you won't bean yourself on cots (hopefully) and end up like poor R'miel. She still isn't seeing crawling things, but her attention is rather taken with all the squealing and wriggling.

R'miel frowns and rubs his head. "I'm not sure, but my head hurts, and I'm getting a lump I think." Then he's being ordered to help by a pretty lady! Who seems to know him. At least enough to boss him around. "Alright… what am I supposed to do? What's on you?" He jumps back a bit from Cenlia to avoid getting an accidental kick or punch. Then he helps her gets her shirt off. If that's what she wants to do "Okay okay!" Then something smacks him in the face and falls to the floor. "Ugh… what was that? Argh, holy wherry eggs! They're /everywhere/!" Ram hasn't got any shoes on, so he grabs one of the closest he can find, then starts mashing the bugs. Ew!

Ysa snaps her attention away from Cenlia for a moment to look at her weyrmate instead, looking all worried of course. "Are ya hurt? We definitely need a Healer- Someone! Bring a sharding Healer-" At least she got that much out. She shrieks about the same time that Ram finds the bugs as well crawling around, and her mug of klah goes flying in the direction of the cot. With klah still in it. "/Ugh/," she says, waving a hand in front of her face and moving to help Thea with Cenlia. "Ram, you're stinking up the place killing those things. Someone needs to sweep in here and bring something to exterminate them." She wrinkles up her nose from the rising stench, hoping that maybe she can sweep bugs off of Cenlia instead.

"They're in my shiiirtt," Cenlia almost whines. There is a -squish- as Cenlia narrowly avoids flailing into Thea and R'miel and instead… steps on something. There is a /smell/ like… like… well it's pretty awful. Like someone just stepped on a trundlebug. In fact, that is what just happened. And Cenlia with bare feet no less. The girl manages to look even more disgusted. Indeed, the bugs are everywhere, and each one squished lets out a noxious smell that clings and… and then she is de-shirted? The girl seems too distracted to care properly at this point. She begins frantically brushing the things off her skin with her hands - and there are a lot of them. Grateful for any help she recieves, she finally manages to stop flailing so much. While she's at it, she might as well de-pants. Waking up to a bed full of trundlebugs is no fun. "Auugh," she groans, trying to avoid stepping on any more of the things.

Thea enters the mayhem, mostly to try to keep the seemingly-crazed gardener from injuring herself. Then there's the bronzer helping Cenlia remove clothing at the same time the overpowering stench of trundlebug exudate reaches her. "Shep, get 'em." The brown uncoils from her neck and begins flying about pouncing and snapping up the bugs with a gusto. He chirrups to the other lizards to join the feast. The shattering klah mug adds to the confusion. But hey, maybe the splashing remains will discourage the critters into finding a more tranquil living space. "The bathing Caverns, Ysa. A dunk would be quicker, doncha think? Ram? Can you oblige?" He's the stronger of the trio, likely.

R'miel wrinkles his nose at each bug he squishes. "Well what am I supposed to do!?" Finally after about 7 or 8 he gives up with the shoe, instead moving back to Cenlia to try to make something of the girl. He blinks as she gets completely nude. At least down to her skivvies. "Get me a broom or something to get them out!" He takes up Cenlia's shirt as a weapon of sorts and starts using it to brush them off her in some strange way. Which probably involves smacking her with it a bit. Then he looks to Thea. "Huh? Bathing Caverns? Where are those?" It seems he's forgotten about his lump for now. They can deal with that later.

"Ugh," Ysa repeats as she hears the squishing closer to herself, glancing down at the bugs that were wandering around. Easy targets to get squished under barefeet or boots. Her klah was all over the cot but completely forgotten by now as she reaches over to pluck a wandering trundlebug from Cenlia's hair with a shudder. "Once again, Thea, ya got the best decisions. Shard it, Ram, do ya even know who /I/ am?" she asks, irritated by his sudden memory loss. Irritated in a concerned way, of course, since she was looking around for that Healer. She grabs the shirt from Ram's arms and waves at Cenlia. "Pick her up. Lead the way, Thea. Let's get her into some water before they start crawling into places she will /really/ hate."

The four firelizards on the windowsill stretch their necks to peer at Shep, and soon join in the fun, pouncing on the bugs and playing catch with them. It's debatable whether the hatchlings are helping or causing more havoc. One thing is certain, the area around Cenlia's klah-covered cot is going to be quite pungent for a while. As for Cenlia? As she gets smacked- er, brushed off with her own shirt… It takes her a moment. Wait… no, there it is. A blush begins creeping across her face. Right, bathing caverns…

Thea gapes at R'miel's lapse in memory. "You must bathe there nearly every day," she retorts with some asperity. "This way," she says crisply. No time to mess with refresher courses on Weyr layout at the moment, she steps out expecting the bronzer to follow with the ill-fated gardner in his possession. "We can get them out of her hair better than swiping at her with a shirt." No telling what the folks bathing there at the moment will do. Likely there'll be a mass exodus from the bathing caverns as there was of the Resident Dorms…

R'miel peers at Ysa for a moment. "Uhh…." He scratches his head. "Er… I'm not even sure who /I/ am! You must be… my sister? No wait. My wife! No, you don't have a ring for that. Oooh, you're my fiance!" He points to Ysa's latest piece of bling. Either way, he's making a face before moving over to pick up the nakie Cenlia. Then he follows the one he assumes is Thea as she moves out of the dorms. "Aaaaa they're touching ME now! HURRY!" He follows close to Thea, carrying Cenlia along, assuming she doesn't mind.

Ysa just stares at Ram. Gapes, stares, and looks thoroughly shocked by this little dilemma. "/Not/ your sister," she makes sure to correct right away. She lifts a hand to show off the ring for a brief moment, but it's probably not long enough to drive the point home. Instead she sighs and moves after them, making sure to pick up discarded clothes as well and stomp on a few trundlebugs on the way out, waving them to hurry. "They aren't going to /hurt/ you- go on!" She'll follow right behind them.

From Cenlia's horrified expression, it might be safe to say that the bugs are /already/ crawling into places she really hates, and only the fact that the weyrsecond is currently hauling her off to get dunked seems to be keeping her from stripping completely. But oh does she squirm! On the other hand, the look on her face is …priceless.


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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.


Thea enters the Hot Springs, steps to one side so as to give R'miel clear access to pitch Cenlia into the pool if he so chooses. She calls out a warning to those who might be having a quiet, early morning soak, "Mess clean-up coming! Clear the area." She heads over to the selves and snags a large jar of sweetsand and several towels. The odor increases in the steamy room - they all reek fairly strongly by now. Looks of disgruntlement from those already in the room deepen as the rest enter the Cavern and the stench permeates the area.

R'miel follows along after Thea. He thankfully isn't mean enough to just toss Cenlia into the pool, even if he can't remember who she is. But now /he/ is itchy, so… he just jumps into a pool with her. It's not like they were dressed or anything anyways. There's a terrific SPLASH as the two go into the pool. Sorry Cenlia! Ram stays submerged for a while. As long as he can manage, really. Cenlia was on her own, though he'll make sure to get her upright at least. It takes the bronzer quite a while before he's up again. Probably a stressful moment, considering he's already got a bump on his head. But thankfully his shorts are tossed out of the pool, then he pops up gasping for air. "ARGH THESE CREEPY CRAWLIES!"

Ysa makes sure to kick off her boots first as she makes her way into the baths, pushing them off to one side before moving back behind Ram. She keeps an eye on him more than Cenlia, to see if there was any recognition (or smirk if this was a game for him). She stops at the edge of the pool, lifting the clothes in front of her as if to block the sudden splash of water. "Shells," she mutters at her suddenly soaked clothes. She drops Cenlia's on the side of the pool, let them be damp there… And hopefully if there were any bugs to let them pop out. "Calm down!" she snaps at Ram, hands on her hips for a moment before she turns to Thea with a shake of her head. "Ya sure do think faster than I can. After this, we're going to the Healers," she says this turning to her weyrmate again, shaking a stern finger. For now she'll also get undressed to join them, and help wash off.

SPLASH indeed. Cenlia gets dunked as R'miel jumps in the pool. The gardener girl blurbles, flails, churns water, and sputters in surprise. At least she's upright. Her underpants float to the surface some distance away. She hasn't noticed anyone's lack of shorts, but the gardener girl is too busy trying to get the bugs off her. Anyways, that's what the hotsprings are for. Washing! As she gets down to washing the trundlebugs off, it quickly becomes apparent that the critters cannot swim. "Ugghh," she makes a face as drowned bugs begin floating to the surface of the water all around her. "I'm gonna need a whole bottle of Sunny Orchard after this," she groans.

Thea needs a bath. Really she does, but since she doesn't feel anything crawling on her, she's hesitates to jump into the same pool as Cenlia and R'miel are. Some well-meaning, or not so well-meaning evacuee jostles her on the way by and the youngest goldie winds up in the pool, clothes and all. Ah, well. They need washing by now anyway. "The hot water ought to kill 'em, R'miel." And indeed, Cenlia's ugghing at dead critters already. Yay for hot water! She reaches for the jar, pours out a handful and passes it towards the others, but it slips from her wet fingers and sinks. Hmm, bubble-bath anyone? And she must ask, for she's been dying to know, "Shards, Cen, what on Pern did you do to attract all those trundlebugs?" Like bathe in old peach brandy, maybe?

R'miel gives no sort of indication to Ysa. Clearly it's not a game, as the bronzer is usually terrible at not laughing during games like these. Nope, he's totally clueless, though he knows he knows Ysa from /somewhere/… the other two he's a bit more hazy about. He's thrashing around a bit in the water though. "I can't calm down! I got bugs in my butt!" Not /in/ in, but you know. Around. He flails a bit more, making sure all the little critters are in fact gone before relaxing. He breathes quite heavily afterwards from the mini-freak out. "No… more bugs…"

Ysa glances towards Thea at the next splash, grinning widely at the young woman now. "Ya alright?" she finishes kicking her clothes aside before hopping in, the only one to make a normal entrance among the group apparently, and moving straight towards R'miel. Cenlia does get a look over there, and she chuckles. "Drinking in the morning? This definitely calls for it. I'm with ya on that." She makes sure to pat her weyrmate's butt before running a hand through his hair. "You're fine! Nothing anymore… Faranth, are ya really sick? Did ya really forget?" She tugs on his ear to get his attention for a moment before turning towards the other girls. "Are ya bug-free and okay?" You know, checking on them.

The heat from the hotsprings adds a wonderful touch to the whole mess. Cenlia doesn't mind the bubbles - she quickly gathers some suds and tries to get the things out of her hair. Clingy little buggers that they are, the trundlebugs hang on for dear life, and stink up the air around her. Gagging and looking sick, Cenlia dunks her soapy self, and swims underwater to the far, thankfully bug-free, edge of the pool. To Thea, she answers defensively, "Nothing! I didn't do nothing!" Riight. Hauling herself out, Cenlia gives the pool a wary look and goes to grab a towel, mumbling, "Uggg, 'm fine, had things crawling in places nuthin should go." And she makes a face as she shakes out her clothing. Bug-free, now. And unstinky - yay! The same can't be said for the rest of the hotsprings. So… steamed trundlebugs, anyone?

Thea nods to Ysa, "Pretty much." She does a quick wash of her hair with the soggy handful of soap she has. Her clothes are getting a soak in the sudsy water. "Didn't he mention a sore noggin? I thought he was hungover or something." An unhappy Hisolda can be heard down the tunnel, complaining about the state of the dorms. Thea pulls her sopping self out of the pool. "Uh, I'd better go help her restore order in the havoc." And head her off before she sees all the dead critters floating in the pool. She just slides a disbelieving look at the gardener. Suuuure she didn't. She slops off, leaving puddles of water in her wake. "I'll send a Healer to the Springs, Ysa." Before R'miel and Cenlia can escape, she means.

R'miel jumps and tenses up when Ysa pats his bare bum. Abuse! Well, maybe. He wasn't sure! He just sort of… coughs a bit and tries not to look too embarrassed. "I uh… ahem. I'm fine. The bugs are… gone. I'm just… having a little problem remembering exactly who you are. Sorry." The bronzer makes a face as the pool of bugs around them, then grabs his trunks to put them back on. "I guess… I should go to the infirmary to get my head looked at…" He looks around. "Can one of you ladies lead me there? No no, I'll go myself. If someone can take me."

Ysa glances up at the sound of the Headwoman, bobbing her head after Thea as she heads out. Thankfully she didn't have to do that herself! "I ain't cleaning this up," she grumbles about the dead trundlebugs floating around the pool, making sure that she pushes the aside before turning back towards Cenlia. "Faranth, that's awful. At least there're all dead and they don't hurt or anything." But her primary concern is now her weyrmate, who had forgotten her! She furrows her brows at him and then leans over to plant a big smooch on his lips. Maybe remind him or something there. "Come on," she says, grabbing his arm and helping to haul him out. "Take care," she calls over to Cenlia. "We're going to catch the Healers." And she makes sure to grab a towel and her clothes on the way, dragging Ram behind her.

Cenlia is standing naked and dripping by the suds-filled pool, her towel hanging from one hand while she shakes out her nightclothes with another. She gives R'miel a concerned look and asks finally, "Uh, you okay?" She looks at Ysa and nods, "Hope he's alright." The girl eyes the trundlebugs in the pool, "Uuugh, I'm gonna get in trouble fer this, I know it. Somehow."

Ah…it's a lovely morning for a bath, isn't it? Zeituth had already gotten his bath, now A'dar was going to take his. Two mischievous firelizards follow him as he walks through the weyr, a green sitting on his shoulder and a blue looping about in the air. He's mostly clothed in his normal attire, but he's barefoot. Though he pauses, blinking in confusion as Ysa exits, walking past him, dragging a confused-looking R'miel. A'dar makes to speak, but before he can get anything out, Ysa is gone. He blinks a few times, and then shrugs. But then, as he enters the springs, what greets him? The sight of Cenlia standing there, holding her towel in one hand and shaking out her nightgown with the other. Naked. Almost immediately, A'dar blushes. Darkly. And covers his eyes. "Er…Cenlia?" he inquires. "Is there some reason that you're standing there…ahem…naked for all of Pern to see…?" He sounds a little…uncomfortable….

Cenlia is indeed standing butt-naked next to a suds-filled pool. The smell coming from the vicinity is like mashed trundlebug soup - actually, from all the dead bugs in the water, that might really be what it IS. The heat of the hotsprings only adds to the wonderful situation. And the pool is filled with a LOT of drowned trundlebugs, all floating at the surface amongst the bubbles. Did someone just take a trundlebug-bubblebath? Cenlia makes a sound halfway between a growl and a groan as she discovers that while her nightshirt might be bug-free, the pants aren't - and so she sets about shaking those with both hands, her towel totally forgotten. She blinks when A'dar speaks, looking momentarily startled. She rolls her eyes and mutters, "Yeah, there /is/," too exasperated by everything that just happened to be properly embarassed. And then she eeks and dances backwards, dropping her clothing altogether as a trundlebug caught in the folds of a pantleg gets shaken free, and immediately tries to crawl over her toes.

A'dar hears the 'eek' and looks again. *Blush!* He looks to the blue firelizard, and tilts his head in Cenlia's direction. The blue seems to blinkif a firelizard could blinkand A'dar frowns at him. Once more, he tilts his head at Cenlia. A pause, and the blue seems to understand. It gives a shrill in the air and DIVE-BOMBS the trundlebug crawling on the girl. ATTACK! It pounces on the trundlebug, picks it up, and then….

*POP*

The blue disappears briefly. When he reappears, he no longer has the trundlebug. "Good boy," A'dar comments, giving a smile. As the blue lands on his arm, he offers a scritchie. Then he addresses Cenlia—though he's not looking at her, "Um…what's going on? Why are there trundlebugs everywhere?"

Cenlia looks incredibly grateful for the save, and grins at A'dar, "Do you really want to know?" And then she seems to realize she's naked, and has at least the decency to look somewhat embarassed. She grabs a towel from a nearby rack and wraps it around her torso, tucking the ends so it stays put and she can move her arms. With a cough, she adds, "I, um, er," there seems to be some failure of communication ability for a moment. And then the headwoman's shrill voice can be heard from somewhere outside the caverns. Cenlia's eyes go wide with panic, "Oh shards!" her eyes dart to the bug-filled pool, then back to A'dar. In a pleading voice, she says, "You gotta help me! Thea'll make me get another checkup if I get Hisolda mad again!" It seems a bit late for that, as there seems to be a lot of shouting in the direction of the resident dorms. Luckily, none of it seems to be heading towards the hotsprings. Yet.

A'dar blinks a couple of times. "Er…okay," he agrees, hardly knowing what he was agreeing to. "You mean help you get the trundlebugs out?" He nods. "I'll see what I can do to help." He looks to the green firelizard. Pause. The green yawns, and doesn't seem in any hurry to move. A'dar's frown darkens, and the green 'lizard churrs, her eyes whirling in an annoyed way. And then she disappears between. Looking back at Cenlia, he notes, "I sent her after some small fishing nets that I have. When she comes back, we'll start scooping them out, and the 'lizards can take them between. How does that sound?" Get rid of the evidence, too! Except the stench. But that can be explained away.

"Oh shardit, buggerit, sha-" Cenlia runs a hand through her sopping hair, and then acks as a dead trundlebug gets shaken loose and rolls down her shoulder to the floor. With a groan, the gardener girl moves away from the pool, nodding at A'dar's idea. And then she furrows her brow, looking concerned, "How long will that take?" And she glances out the tunnel to the caverns, biting her lip, "No way anyone coulda missed weyrsecond R'miel carrying me across the weyr in nothin' but underpants." And now she finally blushes. "Dunno what /he/ was doin' in his shorts," she she grumbles, "At least /I/ had a reason to get outta my pants." Her explanations might need some work there. She avoids going near the pool, or the pile of clothing next to it, which still have bugs visible crawling around by them.

Seeing that the clothing still has bugs crawling around around them, A'dar again looks to Aloysius, the blue firelizard, and points at the clothing. It takes a little bit less time for Aloysius to get the picture this time, it seems. And then the blue dives into the pile of clothing, chasing the trundlebugs out. Then he crawls out, picks up as many as his little paws can carry, and pops between. When he comes back, he repeats the procedure. A'dar then looks to Cenlia. "It shouldn't take long, just be ready."

*POP!*

A squawk from the suddenly appearing green firelizard. In her paws are a pair of scoop nets. They're not very big, but they should do for the purpose that's intended of them. A'dar quickly takes the nets, and hands one to Cenlia. "Here! Hurry!" Once she's taken hers, he will kneel beside the pool of water and start scooping out dead trundlebugs, dumping them next to him on the ground.

Cenlia makes a face as she takes the net, and begins frantically scooping trundlebugs into a pile. Her own flits are nowehere to be seen - which is unusual in itself - they're still hatchlings after all. In fact, one could amost hear Rogue and the others shrieking for food now… And then Cenlia pauses in her bug-scooping with a horrified, "Oh shards, the dorms." She groans and brings a hand to cover her face, muttering a muffled, "This is not happening."

A'dar, however, doesn't pause. Matter of fact, he starts double-timing it! Hopefully Thea will keep the headwoman busy long enough for them to get everything cleaned up. Oihana takes longer to convince than Aloysius, but eventually A'dar's two firelizards are pressed into service taking the bugs between. And in between that, Aloysius actually takes diving grabs into the water to pull some of the bugs out himself and between them. A'dar is concentrating so much on the bugs that he doesn't watch his footing. Or rather, kneeling. Until….

"WAH!"

*SPLASH!*

A'dar goes headfirst in the water, and comes up sputtering. Luckily he managed not to swallow a trundlebug on the way. "Ugh…oh well…now I don't have to strain to reach the ones in the middle…" he mutters. and he just continues scooping the bugs into the nets and dumping them at the sides of the pool.

Cenlia goes back to scooping bugs, muttering about, "Shardin' crazy weyr," and "Shardin' trundlebugs," when A'dar suddenly goes for a swim. "Ack!" she backs away from the splash. But, seeing A'dar's fine, she snerks, and then she giggles. And she's still chuckling as she goes back to scooping, "'Least they're clean?" she grins at him, indicating the sudsy water the bugs're floating in. Of course, her humor doesn't last as four shrieking baby firelizards appear from between, all stinking of mashed trundlebugs. And all of them immediately clamber onto her shoulders. "Augh, geroff!" she shoos them over to the edge of the pool, pointing at the remaining trundlebugs, with a stern, "Stay!" Naturally, they ignore her completely, the two blues - Mizzle and Rogue - hopping right into the water alongside A'dar. The bronze and brown hatchlings go investigate Cenlia's clothing. Well, at least the 'lizards are having fun. Cenlia, for her part, scoops bugs faster.

A'dar looks up and grins as Cenlia makes her comment. "There's that, too," he notes. "But there are still trundlebug guts floating around in the water." He makes a disgusted face. And then the other four firelizards come in. A'dar pauses, getting an idea. "Hmm…" he muses. Then he looks to Aloysius. After a moment, his gaze turns to the two blue firelizards in the water, and then back to Aloysius. The blue belonging to A'dar pauses, headtilting at A'dar. And there's a moment of pause. Then…Aloysius squawks, and moves over to the other blues, squawking loudly. Come! Help! He seems to be squawking. And he picks up a few bugs and goes between, returning within a moment. Demonstrating what he wants them to do. Come! Help!

A new game! The four hatchlings had already played 'hunt-the-bugs' with Shep, and now someone new wants to play! The two blues are quick to follow Aloysius' lead, and even the little bronze gets into the game, betweening bugs and, sometimes, offering them up to Cenlia with a cheeky croon. Cenlia rolls her eyes at the offered bugs, but does giggle when she sees her blues actually behaving. "Y'know, I gotta learn to get them to listen to me like that," she says with a lopsided grin. The brown firelizard, however, just grumphs and buries his nose in Cenlia's clothing. He's checking his lady's garments, of course!

"They communicate like dragons," A'dar offers as he continues to scoop bugs. "Kind of. They communicate in pictures. When you feed them at birth, and they make eye contact with you, it's…Impression-lite, I believe. They associate you with food, and thus with their mothers. I think that's how it works. So there's a bond there. And through that bond, you can send mental 'images'. You can see how it doesn't always take the first time—you've seen the pauses Aloysius has, and the reluctance Oihana has to work?" As he speaks, Oihana is landing next to the pool again, yawning, and making to lay down and sleep. "Oh, no you don't," A'dar murmurs, and pokes the little green with the end of his net. The green actually clamps her little jaws down on the handle of the net, and refuses to let go. A'dar blinks, and pulls the net back, firelizard dangling off it, and shakes his head. He heaves a sigh and then gently disengages Oihana from the net. "That's unbecoming of a lady," comments. "Now c'mon, help me. Or no treats for you." The green croons sadly, but takes off from A'dar hands and commences betweening bugs again.

Cenlia can't help but laugh at A'dar's net-dangling green. The little bronze croons, but Cenlia tosses a nearby crawling bug at him, and he… eats it. Making a face, Cenlia says, "Eech," and then nods to A'dar, "I get pictures from them… but I don't think I'm really mother-like enough," and she snickers a bit. Then she mutters irritably at the 'lizards, "Nobody listens to /me/," and scoops more bugs, though she doesn't sound half as amused anymore.

"Well, I'm certainly not mother-like enough," A'dar replies with a grin. "But then…a rider has to send pictures of places to our dragons to go Between. And while we're in weyrling training, we have these little exercises where we'd look at a picture of something for a little while, then the weyrlingmaster would put the picture away, and then make us sit and visualize what we saw in the picture. Then we'd have to verbally describe every detail of the picture. And unless we got everything completely and totally right, leaving absolutely nothing out, we'd fail." He nods. "Might seem harsh…but missing a detail can be the difference between getting where we need to go and being lost forever." Finally all the bugs are scooped out of the pool, and A'dar gets out of the pool. "Whew…." His now completely soaked clothes are clinging to him. "Well…there's the bugs anyway." The piles of dead bugs are dwindling as the firelizards continue to take them between. Aloysius pauses to rest, but it's a short pause and he's off again.

Cenlia scrunches her face as she surveys the piles of dead trundlebugs, but then shakes her head, "Glad am not a dragonrider. I'd be awful at it. Me, only thing that hangs around me are tru-" and her face looks properly horrified, as she realizes that those oft-quoted words have finally come back to haunt her, "Um. tr- undlebugs," she finishes lamely, and for lack of anything better, glares at the dead bugs. Her firelizards, perhaps catching her mood, hiss and double-time the betweening - all except the brown, who instead crawls into her lap and nips at her fingers. "Yow!" she glares at him, too, and stands up, holding the hatchling at arm's length, "Stinky bugger," she grumbles as she takes him over to a clear pool and rinses him off. The little thing just croons happily. Who has who trained, now?

A'dar chuckles, and sits down beside the pool, not seeming to mind the wet, clingy clothes. At least he has a nice figure for them to display. "The firelizards hang around you," he notes. "And it looks like you acquired a few more." He grins. "Where'd you get them?" Again he chuckles at the nipping of Cenlia's fingers. "Oh boy…that one reminds me of one that Thea has…. Mean, nasty little bugger. I'm not usually a proponent of euthanising living creatures, but…." He shakes his head. "That bronze of hers makes me wonder if there aren't some cases where it would be better…."

Cenlia isn't really someone who'd notice A'dar's figure, unless maybe he was butt naked. And after this morning's half-naked bug-scramble, it's debatable whether she'd even notice THAT. The gardener girl finishes rinsing off the brown and grabs another towel to dry him off. Sitting down as well, she says, "Yeah… the firelizards," and she makes a sour face, "Dunno about them either. Somehow, I accidentally ended up with all these-" At that moment, Rogue appears to spot something in the pool, and takes a dive. Whatever Cenlia was going to say, well, she seems to have forgotten. For the midnight-hued 'lizard seems to have found Cenlia's underpants, and happily swims back with them. The look on her face as Rogue drags his prize over to her is pretty priceless. She just gapes, the blush returning beneath her tan. "Um." And she grabs the garments, Rogue thankfully not trying to tug-of-war with them. "Um," she repeats, stowing it in the clothing pile, "Er, he would," she immediately turns and glares the brown, "This one and the bronze over there were from eggs of his." And then she looks momentarily worried, "They better not turn out like that, I got enough problems already."

"Oh dear. I hope not," A'dar notes. "Though I've found that a lot of people just don't really discipline them properly, because they don't want to get bitten. Problem is…unless you make them stop biting you with discipline, they're going to keep biting." A pause, and then he smirks as Rogue goes after Cenlia's underpants! "At least he didn't take off with them," A'dar notes. He's actually blushing a little, but it's not so bad now. Eventually the firelizards get all the bugs betweened. Aloysius and Oihana alight upon A'dar, the green on his shoulder and the blue in his lap. Both proceed to curl up and go to lay down. A'dar chuckles, and pets them. "Poor things. You did good. You get treats when we get home." Aloysius raises his head and croons softly.

The other firelizards may be done, but Cenlia's bronze still wants to play! He goes on a hunt for more trundlebugs, and the two blue hatchlings follow merrily along, snuffling at shelves and poking through Cenlia's clothes pile. Cenlia eyes her little brown and frowns, "How do I train him not to bite?" She does give A'dar an irritated look when she sees his smirk, muttering, "They've taken off with worse things." And the little bronze, as if having gotten just that idea, pulls Cenlia's underpants out of the clothing pile. "Oy!" Cenlia half-rises, but the brown hooks into the towel wrapped around her and flutters, causing it to come loose. Trying to grab both the towel and her stolen underwear, she instead trips and ends up with neither. The bronze continues to croon, but seeing Cenlia taking a dive rather than giving him attention, the little bronze instead disappears between, pulling the underpants with him.

"Well, when they eventually learn that you're the boss, then tend to listen," A'dar replies. "Make them understand that if they don't listen to and obey their foodthing, their foodthing will not provide food. It's actually more difficult than that…but essentially, that's what it boils down to. Most people just see them as so cute that—" He pauses as Cenlia's underwear is kidnapped, and then she falls. He shifts the firelizards off of him quickly but gently, and stands to assist Cenlia, trying to catch her before she falls completely flat on her face.

The bronze re-appears seven heartbeats later, chirping smugly, the underpants nowhere to be seen. And Cenlia, well, toweless and underpants-less, falls headfirst into A'dar. Terrific, as if she didn't already have enough to be embarassed about today. She flails momentarily, "Augh!" The brown and blue hatchlings, meanwhile, curl up on the clothespile and towel. They're done playing, it seems. The stuff their human is doing is far more interesting anyways.

A'dar is suddenly very glad that he chose to keep his clothes on after he got out of the water. Because the sudden addition of Cenlia's weight that he was unprepared for drives him backwards. Aloysius and Oihana shrill and scramble out of the way of their falling human, and A'dar gives an "Oof!" as he falls. Thankfully he avoids hitting his head. And he should cushion Cenlia's fall, too. So that's one good thing. As soon as he realizes where she is, though, he blushes. "Uh…um…." Eloquent all of a sudden, isn't he…?

The gardener girl oophs as well, although landing on A'dar is certainly better than landing on the floor - or back in the pool. She seems pretty surprised, regardless, and immediately tries to scramble to her feet with all the ums. Yeah. Um.

Despite his embarrassment, A'dar helps Cenlia in standing up. "Ah…are you all right?" he inquires. He looks around…and grabs the towel, firelizards upon it notwithstanding, and hands it to Cenlia, still blushing and looking away. How embarrassing. Matter of fact, it's his looking away that makes him realize something. The bronze is back. But Cenlia's underwear is nowhere to be found. "Er…your bronze does not have your…ah, undergarments anymore…" he points out.

Cenlia quickly re-wraps the towl, with the little brown still hanging onto it. "Should call you Trouble," she mutters at the brown, and then to A'dar, "Yeah, 'm fine. Er, you okay?" She isn't that heavy, but she's not exactly light either. And then she sputters, looking thoroughly unamused. "You little..!" she just glares at the bronze hatchling, "Y- it- but- !" Giving up, she lets out what might be a growl and goes to retrieve the rest of her clothing. The little blues wisely scurry out of her way, though the brown continues to hang onto the front of the towel.

A'dar nods. "I'm fine," he notes. The blush abates somewhat as Cenlia wraps herself up in the towel. "Oh dear…" he comments. Though as she makes to gather her clothing, A'dar follows, reaching down to try to disengage the dangling brown from the bottom of her towel. "Pardon me…."

The little brown does NOT want to let go. At all. In fact, he'd rather take the towel with him, and that's just what he does! "Hey! What are you /doing/?" and Cenlia acks, possibly wondering what on Pern A'dar's attempting. And then the towel comes loose again, and suddenly the brown doesn't care for it anymore, and is fluttering to the ground with a smug warble. And Cenlia might as well give up on being covered, because neither she nor the brown end up with the towel.

A'dar blushes again, standing up with the brown in his hands. Or trying to. The towel ends up over his head. "Oops…I'm sorry. I was trying to remove him from your towel, so he wouldn't pull it off again. Guess that didn't go so well, hm?" He pulls the towel off his head, still blushing, and hands the towel back to Cenlia. "Sorry about that…I didn't think he'd hang on so tightly…."

Cenlia just sort of stares at A'dar. She hasn't even got the decendy to blush anymore. Finally, she says to him, "You might as well keep it, not like you haven't seen most of my bare bum and then some already," and she turns back to her clothing, still naked, and shakes them out again, making sure there are no trundlebugs left hiding in the fabric.

A'dar is left holding the towel in one hand. And the brown firelizard in the other. He blinks a few times, looking like a confused, lost parakeet, and looks between the brown and the towel. So he can't see Cenlia, naked, as she bends over and picks up her clothing. "Ah…what happened? Where did all the trundlebugs come from?" he asks, to distract himself.

"Shards if I know!" Cenlia almost growls, giving the clothing a final firm shake. Considering everything that's happened, there aren't even any smooshed bugs in the clothes. And, underpants or not, she finally gets dressed, making a face as one last trundlebug scurries across the floor. She leaves it be, though, and instead mutters, "Woke up with a bed full of them!" And she shudders involuntarily, "Uggh, and they got all over the floor." And then she makes a sour face, "And Thea was laughing the whole time!"

A'dar makes a face too. "Ugh. Are there any still in your bed?" he inquires. "Might have to take a broom and sweep some out. Then again…." He looks at the brown which he finally releases to allow it to fly away. "These guys might have taken care of all that…."

The brown immediately goes over to cling to Cenlia's nightclothes. Cenlia groans, "The whole place is full of 'em." And she adds, "I ain't going back there anytime soon, to find out." After a moment she says, "It weren't so bad, I don't mind trundlebugs too much, unless they're in my pants… just not so many." And she makes a face, "But then weyrsecond R'miel shows up in nothing but shorts, acting like he dun't even know his own name," Cenlia pauses, frowning a bit with what might perhaps be concern. But she continues, "And then… I guess that was weyrwoman Ysa? She went and tossed klah all over my cot, and they squished a bunch and R'miel took my shirt off-" perhaps realizing how this is sounding, she coughs.

A'dar frowns again. "This sounds like it's going to be a mess," he notes. "Between klah and squished trundlebugs…yes, that's definitely going to be a mess." He wrinkles his nose. Though he does snicker as Cenlia notes the removing of her shirt by R'miel. "Hmm…didn't know he liked you that way," he teases, still snickering a little. "A wonder Ysa didn't yell at him." A grin.

Rolling her eyes, Cenlia tries to glare a A'dar, "Think she was more worried about him thinking she was his sister." And at this she does snicker, "Yea, a mess that I ain't cleanin' up." And then she says, "Anyways, was Thea's idea for him to grab me after I'd took my pants off, and we all ran over here and jump in the pool." She eyes the bug-guts water and makes another face. Eew.

A'dar wrinkles his nose. "This is going to be a problem…" he notes. Then he muses, "Wonder what can be done about it…?" He seems to be one of those people who wants to fix everything, but he can't come up with any way to fix this. It's a dilemma, to be sure….

Well, Cenlia has a solution, "I need somewhere to hide," and she looks back at the entrance to the hotsprings, "Surprised the headwoman or a healer hasn't shown up yet…" She gathers her flits, giving the bronze a glare, mumbling, "Maybe I can lay low in the garden till they get the dorms cleaned out."

Giving a smirk, A'dar notes, "If anyone asks, I haven't seen you." He chuckles then. "I should probably bathe…trundlebug soup probably isn't healthy to leave on you…though I wonder if it would have any positive effects on the complexion…?" he jokes.

Cenlia grins at A'dar, "Thanks. And, er, thanks for the help cleanin' up. I owe ya one." And she runs off sneaky-like, although how sneaky she can be in pyjamas with four firelizards is debtable. What a morning! Well, the rest of the day can only get better… right?

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