You amble towards to the steamy bathing cavern.
Osasune is tucked away in one of the pools, scrubbing sweetsand and singing quietly to herself. "Bovines in the morning, bovines in the noon, bovines in the evening, and by the light of the moon! Herding, herding bovines, that's all I ever do, and that's why I am singing, a bovine song for you!"
Ilesyn's footsteps echo lightly upon the stone floor of the cavern, coming to a halt as, curiously, she turns her head to glance at Osasune, her eyebrows raising. Without saying a word, she resumes her walk, shifting direction so that she steps towards the younger girl's pool.
"One little, two little, three little - OH! Ilesyn, hello!" Osasune flails for a moment, soapsand flying, then calms herself.
"No need to stop because of me," says Ilesyn, quickly - and with a smile, as she disrobes, stepping towards the pool. "Do you like to sing in the bath?"
"I, um, I like singing, really," Osasune says quietly. "When I'm alone, or I think I am, anyway. When I work. I like to sing. Do you sing at all, Ilesyn?"
Ilesyn shakes her head, as, disrobed, she slinks into the water rather gracelessly. "Oh. No, I don't sing. I'm afraid I scare people away when I sing. You just sing random songs? Whatever comes into your head?
Osasune shakes her head, giggling faintly. "Oh, no. I'm just learning that song on the gitar, and I practice it when I can, and it gets stuck in my head. My own songs are, um, a little... a little stupid."
"No great aspirations to be a Composer if you don't Impress, then?" Ilesyn reclines, draping her head over the edge of the pool, otherwise fully immersed in the water.
"That's why I left Boll," Osasune says, smiling a little and continuing to rub soapsand into her hair. "But I've been a little more... well... er... I don't think so highly of my own songs anymore. I'll have to study more before I think I'll try to write another. If I don't Impress, well - it's just back to learning from Sanriel and being a nanny, which make me happy."
Ilesyn tilts her head to the side, musing. "Mm, I see. Are you nervous, about the hatching? Or-- does it relieve you, that you'll not have to make any more decisions, about your life?"
"Relieve? Oh, no!" Osasune shakes her head. "What if I do Impress? I have to make it through Weyrlinghood. And then I have to fly Thread!" She swallows. "I'm very, very nervous. What if I'm mauled or something?"
Approval floods Ilesyn's face. "Good. I can't stand the thought of people looking /forward/ to the hatching, and what it entails, except with relief that candidacy will be over. I don't think you'll get mauled, though. People aren't often mauled."
"Aren't they?" Osasune squeaks. "There was one girl from Boll who got squished."
"Your terminology is quite descriptive," drawls Ilesyn, splashing her toes through the water. "Can you think of any other occasions? It /does/ happen, but not that often."
Osasune shakes her head. "Not that I know of. I've been afraid to ask. Perhaps I /should/ ask - or - well, do you know know of any? Oh, you said it didn't happen often. But how often is 'not often'? I mean, you didn't say it /never/ happened." Blah blah balh.
Sarine ambles in from the chill of the hallway.
Ilesyn's eyebrows raise slightly. "Calm, Osa," is all that she says at first, lazily stretching her legs out. "There was a girl whose leg got sat on, in an egg touching a few turns back," she muses. "But that's the only accident I know of in the past five or six turns, since I've been at the weyr."
"That was an egg touching?" Osasune gulps. "Have you been out to touch the eggs here yet? I've been twice. I'm convinced Ceristh is going to /eat/ someone."
Sarine walks in in the middle of what Ilesyn is saying and she turns to the other candidates. "Oh, you're talking about Dima, right? That was something to remember." She smiles at Osasune. "You have nothing to worry about."
"Except getting /sat/ on!" Osa protests.
"I haven't," says Ilesyn, quietly, her toes disappearing back beneath the water level. "I don't believe I'm all that interested - it doesn't matter that the dragons get used to me, or I to them." She glances up at Sarine, nodding. "That's right. I remember having her in the infirmary."
Sarine smiles. "Well, to be exactly correct, she got stepped on. But it was her own fault, she was taunting Leyrith of all golds. Leyrith is bad tempered even in the best of situations, and egg touchings aren't the best of situations for any gold. Ceristh may get a little testy, but she won't sit on any of the candidates, especially if we follow all the rules. And that's what the egg touchings are for, partially. To get the parents used to having us be there." She smiles at Ilesyn. "It's kind of important, though you seem to have a head on your shoulders so getting used to being on the sands is less important than you. You've probably seen enough injuries from candidates who freeze instead of getting out of the way of a dragonet to know better."
Osasune nods a few times, then dips her head underwater to scrub the soapsand out. When she resurfaces, she inquires, "She /taunted/ Leyrith? What did she do to taunt her?"
"There's no need to act as if you know far better than I, Sarine," says Ilesyn - frostily, even. "I've stood before, too. I know what I'm doing."
Sarine blinks at Ilesyn. "I didn't know I was acting like I know better than you, I wasn't "acting" like anything." She turns to Osasune at the question. "Confronted her, yelled at her, that sort of thing. Not the right gold to try it with." She walks over to a pile of newly laundered towels and starts putting them away on the shelves.
Osasune grimaces. "I'd pee myself first. Or just drop dead." She looks faintly started at Ilesyn at the mention of The Previous Candidacy. "I thought you didn't want to mention that?" she whispers, eyes going wide.
Ilesyn makes a face after Sarine's retreating back, explaining to Osa as she turns back, "I don't. But if people insist on talking down to me, it's somewhat helpful."
Sarine shrugs at Osasune. "I suppose she mentions it when she wants to be rude to someone, I guess it's alright in that case." She turns and looks at Ilesyn. "I wonder how paranoid someone has to get to think people are talking down at them. Might have to ask a mind healer. A *different* one that is."
Osasune sinks down lower in the water. "Oh, don't..." she murmurs. "This isn't worth being snitty over."
"Not paranoid at all. It's not exactly difficult to see for anyone with any intellect at all." Nose in the air, the Mindhealer adds to Osa, "I've stopped, now. Such petty nastiness from another should not have been responded to, I agree. I have my weaknesses."
Sarine raises an eyebrow at Ilesyn. "Considering that you were the first person to say anything nasty, I find that comment of yours very amusing." She walks out without another word.
Sarine walks off towards to the cooler climes of the eastern cavern..
Osasune sighs again, sinking lower into the water. "I hope the Hatching is soon."
Ilesyn's expression is placid as she glances after Sarine, head shaking, though she says nothing. "As do I, Osa, believe me. It will be good to be able to stop sharing living space, and doing all those chores."
"But you're not even in the barracks. And you'll be sharing space with C'daer, won't you? Sort of? Oh, wait - he'll be in Miake's Weyr?" Osasune's forehead scrunches up. "I can't keep it all straight."
"I'm supposed to be in the barracks. I am, sometimes. Sometimes is too often." Ilesyn shakes her head. "C'daer'll be with Miake, leaving the weyr off of the barracks empty, so I'll be in there."
Osasune's forehead wrinkles. "I've never had a room of my own."
Ilesyn's eyebrows raise - surprised. "You haven't? If you don't Impress, you should ask the Headwoman for one. It's an experience everyone should have."
Osasune flushes a little. "Why would I merit a room of my own? I mean, not everyone can have one."
Ilesyn shrugs her shoulders, calmly. "Not everyone asks for them. There are always extras, I think, and if you ask-- well, the worst they can do is say no."
Osasune reaches for one of her discarded hair combs, dragging it through her wet hair. "I suppose. I, um, well... I'm skeptical, but it can't hurt to try."
"I don't see why not," agrees Ilesyn, calmly. "But you may well Impress, in which case you'll eventually get a room of your own, anyway. A whole weyr."
"That is a point," Osasune says, blinking. "I hadn't even thought about that."
Ilesyn lifts her eyebrows, again. "You hadn't? I would've thought most people would've."
"Nooooo. I've been thinking mostly about how scared I am of flying Threadfall," Osasune murmurs. She blushes a little, and adds, "And what it would be like to have a dragon that loved me that I loved just as much."
"At least you've got your thoughts in the right places. More concerned about the reality, rather than the perks." Ilesyn cups her hands, filling them with water, which she brings up to release over her head. "Except for that last thought. What colour?"
"I, I don't know," Osasune says, blinking a few times. "I just... a green? Maybe a green? I don't know what it would be like to have a... a boy dragon. And there's no way - I mean, me on a gold? Ha!"
Ilesyn splashes, lazily. "Well, at least with a gold you'd probably get more confidence. A green, hm? Well. I suppose we shall see what happens, won't we."
"Well, it's just, you know... greens and... and... SEX," Osasune says, making sure to say the last word clearly and loudly, since she's talking to Ilesyn and all.
Momentarily surprised by Osa's emphasis on the word, Ilesyn hesitates. "I think you'd have to have less sex, on a male dragon. I mean, they don't catch as often."
Osasune settles a little, nodding. "Er, yes. Right. Because they won't always win flights, yes. But... a boy? In your head? Are boy dragons easier to understand than boy people?"
"I wouldn't know," admits Ilesyn, her lips pressed into a wry smile. "But you'd probably get to know them pretty intimately, so it might not matter so much. I don't know."
"Oh," Osasune says, considering that. "I suppose a boy wouldn't be so bad, if it was a boy you liked who liked you and that you knew everything about. I mean, if they were sullen or being stupid, you would know why."
Ilesyn nods again, stretching. "Exactly. Or so I believe. Personally, I think it would be-- uncomfortable. To have someone always there, knowing everything. I mean, fascinating from the other side, since you'd know everything they were thinking, too, and you could /really/ understand another person, but... Well."
"What do you think it would be like, from a, from a Mindhealer's standpoint?" Osa asks Ilesyn, sounding curious. "I mean, you, for example, you wouldn't have to really... analyze your dragon. If you Impressed. Which you never will, because, uh, because you say you won't."
Hesitating, Ilesyn finally nods. "I wouldn't," she agrees. "You'd know, and you'd be able to walk them through step by step. Which would-- well, make it easier, on that point. And the reason I won't Impress isn't just because I say I won't. It's because I'm not the right kind of person."
"What makes you say that?" Osasune asks Ilesyn, blinking. "I don't think you're the wrong kind of person at all. You take what you do seriously, and you're intelligent and honest. Why would those be bad things?"
"I don't care." That's Ilesyn's explanation. "I don't care about other people dying, if I don't help, and I don't care about doing my best. I'm too absorbed in the things I love, and they don't allow for anything different."
"Oh," Osasune says, quietly. "You don't... care... at all? If people die without your help? I mean, that's... those're people who you'll never get to talk to. Who you'll never get to figure out."
Ilesyn shrugs her shoulders. "Not particularly. I mean - I care that I'll never get to figure them out, but not enough to personally want to risk my life so that I might get a chance."
Osasune's forehead scrunches up. "Maybe it's - maybe it's good for there to be some people who aren't willing to take big risks. Who are a little... a little more... tough, about stuff like that. For riders."
"Are you trying to say that you think I ought to Impress?
"Are you trying to say that you think I ought to Impress?" queries Ilesyn, frowning - her face scrunches, too. "That's just odd."
"I'm saying I don't think it would necessarily be... be bad," Osa says, glancing down. "I mean, if I Impressed - I'd - it's selfish, but - I'd want you to Impress, too."
Ilesyn hesitates, clearly not quite sure what to say to this. "You'd like me to Impress with you? Osa--" Another silence. "Oh. Well. I mean, I'll still be there, in weyrlinghood. Learning with you. And all."
Osasune's head bobs. "That's... that's true. It is. You'd be there. But you couldn't be in a... in a wing with me."
"No," agrees Ilesyn. "I couldn't. Won't. But-- You'd have your lifemate. And all your rider friends."
Osasune sighs a little. "I suppose. I mean, if I had rider friends. What happens if the other riders don't... ooh, I'm whining again."
This is a subject Ilesyn feels more comfortable with, and her tone relaxes. "You are. You shouldn't worry so much. You'll form a bond with the other weyrlings, and with your wingmates, and you'll have lots of friends."
"We'll bond over scooping dragon poop?" Osasune says, slowly.
Ilesyn's nose wrinkles. "Yes, and over aching muscles, and firestone dust."
"Yay," Osasune says, with a little sigh. "I probably won't Impress. I wouldn't survive."
"I don't think survival has anything to do with it," comments Ilesyn. "If you Impress, it's because your lifemate was there. You /would/ cope. You'd have to."
"You don't think it's survival at all? That they don't pick people who would make good riders?" Osa's eyes widen. "Then - then any old person could get a big flaming creature!"
Ilesyn hesitates, debating. "Well," she says, after a pause. "I think there are only lifemates out there for those who would make decent riders."
Osasune rubs her nose a little, nodding. She continues to comb out her hair. "I would hope so, anyway. I mean, that would be more... reassuring. Though there have been bad or stupid riders, hasn't there?"
"There have been," agrees Ilesyn, somewhat quietly. "I don't know. I guess I don't understand it any more than anyone else."
Osasune sighs a little, murmuring, "Maybe there's no real reason behind any of the process."
Ilesyn tilts her head to the side. "The process?" she queries. "What do you mean?"
K'dir ambles in from the chill of the hallway.
"Search, and, and, how the dragons choose," Osasune says to Ilesyn, eyes wide. "What if it's just... random?"
K'dir comes in with his clean clothes rolled into a neat bundle, and a loose robe to slip into. His hair is a mass of dark curls half matted and windblown. He heads over to the far end of the room to set down his gear.
"Oh. I don't know. It seems--" Ilesyn trails off, catching a glimpse of K'dir, and lifting her hand to greet him.
"Seems... oh. Hello, K'dir!" Osasune calls, waving at the greenrider.
K'dir looks up and smiles. "Hello!" he greets with a smile. "How's the water?"
"Warm," says Ilesyn, rapidly, lifting one foot out of the water to examine the prune-likeness of her toes - so far so good. "It seems like it means less, then. I mean, you were just randomly picked. There's got to be something more to it than that."
"Warm indeed," Osa agrees, nodding. She sighs at Ilesyn. "So it's like like... like a fire lizard hatching? Though I suppose those aren't random. Whoever has food. Well... whoever has food out of the many people who have food."
K'dir says "How long have you been in here?"
Ilesyn shrugs her shoulders, thoughtfully. "A while. Just soaking-- I'm in no rush to get back to work, that's for sure." She smiles at K'dir, before promptly adding to Osa, "I guess. That seems silly, though, honestly."
"Probably too long," Osasune says, a little ruefully. She smiles a little at Ilesyn. "I wonder what K'dir thinks."
K'dir strips and slips into the water, seriously heading for sweetsand. He dunks his head into the water, coming up scrubbing. He pulls out a lock of his hair. "I need to get this trimmed," he says half to himself. "Talking about the hatching?"
Ilesyn nods, slowly at Osa, turning her gaze towards K'dir. "I think your hair looks good as it is, though I'm probably not a particularly good opinion on it. We are, yeah. Do you think that Impression is random?"
"You could go bald!" Osa chirps.
K'dir says "Random? As in...you can't predict it? Sure. Yes. THe dragons choose. Either your lifemate is there, or not."
"But do they choose people who would be good riders?" Osasune asks.
Ilesyn leans forward, interested. "Or is it that anyone could be it, and it's just randomly that you get searched, or Impressed?"
K'dir says "Well, hopefully! Not always does the dragonpick someone who the WeyrLeaders or the riders consider to be good rider material. But if that is who the dragon wants, then who can deny them?" He shrugs. He brushes his hair back with his fingers, and gets some shampoo for it. "No, this is too long. It's starting to get into my eyes even when I have my helmet on."
"Oh. But what if a good rider isn't there? What if they have to settle?" Osasune inquires.
Ilesyn mms, quietly - thoughtfully. "Well," she begins. "And the dragons are always right? I suppose they must be, since they're the ones that do the picking, and they don't suddenly decide that it isn't right and disappear again."
K'dir shakes his head. "I've been doing a lot of reading on it. The dragons always choose someone. THe Search Dragons recognize certain qualities within people, and bring them back as offerings to the new Hatchlings. They are...working together somehow...as if there is some sort of race memory or something that they all recognize as important."
Osasune squirms a little. "Always? What if - what if the dragon's personality isn't formed until they, until they pick someone? So it could be anyone on the sands?"
K'dir says "That...I'm not too sure about. It seems that the dragons are born with who they are, and that helps them in Impressing the right person."
"But /what/ qualities? I mean, we're all so different." Ilesyn used 'we', and without meaning to. Her brow furrows, slightly, then she continues: "Do dragons have /one/ person that they are intended for, or is it more of a best fit kind of thing?"
K'dir considers that for a while before he answers. He scrubs his hair in a methodical manner, the scalp scrubbing possibly stimulating thought. At least it feels good. "Well, from what I've read...they seem to take the best of what is given to them. They always choose someone. Always."
"Except with Stands Impressions," Osasune says slowly. "Right?"
Ilesyn quirks her lips, somewhat ruefully. "So they'll take less than what they want, if it's all that is there. Interesting, I suppose."
K'dir has to rinse the soap out of his ears for a moment first. "What? Stands Impressions? I don't think those are all that common. It occasionally happens, though."
"I wonder why," Osasune murmurs, forehead crinkling up. "When the people on the sands just aren't... aren't it?"
"I guess stands Impressions are just what happens when there really isn't /anyone/ - or when the hatchling is picky." Ilesyn settles herself back, against the wall of the pool.
K'dir says "And I think that the rider and dragon grow together, too. I think that the dragons recognize something familiar in the person, and the Impression builds on that instantly, bonding the two. There are things I know and feel about myself that Sylviath has shown me, in her quiet, patient way. And the people are mostly in the Stands because they are older folks, too. Or already riders. Or aren't old enough yet. Or their time just hasn't come."
"What - something familiar?" Osasune murmurs. "How so?"
K'dir shakes his hair and rinses it. Darn! How can he answer her? "I don't know!" he says, beginning to get a headache. Cold wind in his face and ears all day didn't help. "It's just that the dragons always find what they want! That's...it! They always do. Always," he finishes, his voice a bit softer.
Osasune sighs, glancing at Ilesyn. "That's what they always say," she remarks.
K'dir says "Well? Then you think we are lying, Osa?"
Ilesyn frowns. "I know. It's frustrating, isn't it, Osa? I don't really like not being able to know for sure, but... I guess no one does." She shakes her head, sinking deeper into the water so that for a moment, only her face is visible. She draws herself back up again, pushing clumps of hair behind her ears.
Osasune blinks at K'dir. "No, I don't think you're /lying/."
K'dir says "But...you still don't believe me...right?"
"I think it's a matter of not being fully satisfied with the answer," comments Ilesyn.
K'dir sighs with exaperation. "So what is it you expect me to say??" He holds up his hands and lets them splash down into the steamy water and he stands there, a little above waist high in the pool. "Shards!"
Osasune's shoulder slump. "There's no reason to get angry, K'dir," she mumbles. "We just don't... understand."
Ilesyn nods again, rather rapidly. "It's frustration at not knowing, not at you, K'dir."
K'dir shakes his head. "I'm sorry., Osanune," he says in a penitent voice. "I didn't mean to be sharp with you. It's just that, even though I've gone through it, and have read about it all I can...I still can't put my finger on it. It's just...something you feel. SOmething that pulls at your heart, evchoes in your mind...pumps with the blood in your veins. It's just the rightness of when it happens, and you can't deny it. It's...love. Just pure love."
Osasune nods slowly, looking almost glum. "Sorry, K'dir. I didn't mean to be a bother."
Ilesyn goes silent. K'dir's words evidently make her uncomfortable; she turns her gaze away, busying herself rapidly with scrubbing herself, and lathering soapsand.
K'dir smiles. "No bother Osa. I just wish I had the right words to make you understand. So many people don't. And that's why they don't always accept or agree with the way we riders live. SOmetimes it is difficult."
Osasune squirms a little, nodding. "That's probably it. We just can't... understand."
K'dir says "I hope you get the opportunity to."
"And if you do, Osa," Ilesyn lifts her voice. "I want you to tell me all about it."
"Well, um... okay," Osasune says, blushing a little. She pauses, and glances toward the cavern exit. "It's getting closer, isn't it?"
K'dir snorts a chuckle. "Oh, Ilesyn! You and your book! I'm sure they will ALL be happy to talk ad nauseum about it!" From where he is standing in his pool, he splashes water your way. But at the distance, it is more symbolic than a real threat.
Ilesyn splashes back, amused at K'dir - a wink, just quietly, sent towards the Greenrider. "Wonderful. I'll make sure I get down every detail. It'll be nice for them to read over later, too, remembering what it was like at first." She worries at her lip, adding, "I think so, Osa."
Osasune perks a little. "That would be nice. If everyone could keep something like that. Do you suppose we should do it for the Hatching, too? Maybe I'll write something."
K'dir says "Oh!" with a sudden light flashing through him. "What a great thing for each Weyrling to do! I should make more notes of the things I felt with my Impression. THings like that should be recorded. And if I ever have children, I can share that with them. Maybe if more riders wrote down more things like that, more people would appreciate us, or maybe even respect us."
"Perhaps we should, Osa," agrees Ilesyn. "It might make a nice conclusion to my paper, if one thinks about it." She draws her arms around her, hands resting upon her shoulders thoughtfully. "You should, K'dir. I'd be interested in reading it."
Osasune glances between Ilesyn and K'dir, nodding slowly. Her forehead wrinkles up a bit. "Mmmnhmmmn."
K'dir smiles. "You'll be the first to read it, Ilesyn."
Ilesyn positively beams. "Thanks, K'dir. I still can't-- well, can't imagine /wanting/ to be a Dragonrider, but it doesn't stop my being fascinated at it all."
"Really? Why fascinated?" Osasune asks, slowly.
K'dir goes about scrubbing the rest of his body, turning his back to the girls when it is prudent. He's worked up a sweat with the day's drills and work. He calls over his shouldre, "Anytime I can help you to understand more of it, Ilesyn, I will. I know that you'd at least appreciate it." THere are more reasons he wants Ilesyn to understand, but he's not ready to state them yet. Still, his voice hints of it.
"Because it's something that I don't - and can't - understand," answers Ilesyn, promptly. K'dir's words draw a nod-- something of a curious expression crossing her face, hints caught, though further meaning is not. "Er - thank you, K'dir. That's good to know."
K'dir splashes up some water just for the fun of it. "Any time, Ilesyn!:
Osasune hunches a little, and looks at her knees, and then says, "I think... Well. I'm all wrinkled up, l-like a prune. I'll just... umn. Get out of the water." She starts to clamber out, reaching quickly for a towel.
K'dir keeps his back turned again, being a bit shy himself, and respectful of the Candidates. He starts humming to himself, some rider song that's popular in the Living Cavern.
Ilesyn starts to splash in return, hands digging deep to get more power behind the scooping motion. "It's a funny thing, the whole wrinkling up like a prune. All right, Osa." She smiles at the girl, toothily. She's not worried about modesty, though she's careful not to watch Osa get out, nor pay K'dir too much attention. Good little candidate.
"Um... yes. Very funny, really," Osa says, moving a little ways away and quickly - and somewhat inadequately - drying off.
K'dir says "What? Skin wrinkling in water? I think that's because our bodies are made up of so much water, the skin is just expanding with it."
"Is that why, K'dir? I didn't know that." Ilesyn smiles, slightly. "We learn new things all the time. You're-- okay, Osa? That was rather sudden, and you've gone quiet."
"I'm fine!" Osasune squeaks. "I'll just - I'll get out of your hair. I just have to, um, get dressed." She fumbles about for her clothing, tugging her shirt over her head.
K'dir dunks his hair again, scrubbing to get out the last of the suds.
Ilesyn's face is drawn into a frown, but she does not query Osasune further; instead, she merely nods, shortly, turning her gaze back to the water, and her somewhat half-hearted attempts at making herself clean.
Osasune wraps her skirt around herself, folds the towel neatly, and then stoops to gather up her combs. "I'll - I'll see you later. Or something." She scrambles toward the exit, face red.
K'dir waves. "Later!"
Ilesyn lifts a hand after Osasune, also, though her expression is set somewhat confusedly.
Osasune scurries out, still blushing.
Osasune walks off towards to the cooler climes of the eastern cavern..
K'dir says quietly, concernedly, "I hope she doesn't think I'm mad at her. I just didn't know quite how to answer her."
Ilesyn shakes her head. "I don't think so. That was odd-- she was fine, and then suddenly she was all nervous and worried. I'm not quite sure what to make of it."
Tarrant ambles in from the chill of the hallway.
K'dir says "I hope it wasn't me," looking at the MindHealer. "Did she start to get nervous when I came in?"
Ilesyn frowns, her lips pulling together in a thoughtful twist. "No, I don't think so."
Tarrant enters, towel about his waist - quickly shed as he slips into the soothing waters. Upon hearing your familiar voices, her sloshes over in your direction throught the water and mists. "Hello, Kav, Ilesyn."
K'dir says "Was it something I said, or didn't say?" He nods to his friend, the older, taller hunter, in a casual, accepting manner. "Hello, Tarrant." Then he looks back at Ilesyn for an answer or comment, or some insight. "Does she not like me?"
K'dir is standing waist high in a different pool from where Ilesyn is lounging.
Ilesyn sinking lower still into the water, shakes her head. "I don't think either of us said anything that would be upsetting, just before she went-- odd. I didn't pick up on anything, anyway. I think she likes you - I don't see any reason why she wouldn't, and she's never shown any indication of it." She nods, shortly, towards Tarrant.
K'dir just stands there, and makes a little, "huh", sound, then shrugs and dismisses it. "Maybe she's still just not used to how open we are here about things here. TOok me a long time to get used to it, too."
Tarrant nods back to Ilesyn, peering over at K'dir, who is farther off. "Who wouldn't like you, Kav? That seems to be a near impossibility. Osasune?" He too is up for a long soak and finds one of the underwater stone benches upon which to seat himself.
K'dir raises a finger. "Give the man a mark!"
"The whole-- Oh. Well, that's certainly possible. At least she'll actually say the word 'sex', now." Ilesyn's expression turns neatly musing as she remarks, "Well picked, Tarrant."
K'dir starts chanting as he swings his hips frm one side to the other, "Sex! Sex! Sex! Sex!" Then he stands there, grinning like a kid who's just said something that he doesn't know anything about, except that he's not supposed to be talking about it. "I can say that. I'm a green rider."
Tarrant nods, sighing as he relaxes. "When you said something about 'upsetting things,' and such, I had a sudden intuition. I don't think I know any Candidate as uptight as she is." A small shrug.
...and a laugh given to the greenrider.
Ilesyn promptly sits up, laughing. "Well said, K'dir. It's good fun, to say it loud, and get people staring at you." Tarrant's comment draws another nod, "Astute of you. She's... very hold bred, and somewhat shy. I can't imagine that she will stay that way forever, should she Impress."
I know being weyrbred certainly helps with my attitude in regards to sex," Tarrant muses. "If she Impresses a green..." and he lets that thought trail off. "I find sex to be perfectly acceptable - it feels great, it's fun, and healthy, as long as one doesn't get too carried away." A small gleam suddenly flickers in his deep blue eyes.
K'dir starts choking, half laughing, half taken by surprised. "Carried away!" he finally chokes out.
"Double entendre, there?" muses Ilesyn, lips twitching again. "I agree, of course. Sex is good fun. I'm looking forward to the end of candidacy. Osa-- well, she'll learn to cope, I'm sure, if she Impresses."
Tarrant nods, grinning at Kav. "Carried away as in having 4 partners a day..." And to Ilesyn: "Probably, but she's going to have some bad times ahead of her in that department, no matter what."
K'dir turns and says quite pointedly at Tarrant, "I wish!"
K'dir splashes at Tarrant for good measure.
Ilesyn's eyebrows raise. "Four partners a day? Is that a challenge?" A wry smile - amused. "Oh, she is. So are a great many of you, who Impress."
Tarrant smiles through the splashed water on his face. "At least /you/ have access to it, Kav. I don't think Ilesyn and I are weeping over it, but we aren't even allowed to kiss anyone!" A chuckle for Ilesyn. "Hmm... I'd be willing to take on that challenge, if you're not."
K'dir finishes washing and says, "Come on...You two haven't seen me arm and arm with /anybody/, have you?" He looks around to the imaginary partners all vying for his favors. No one there. "Well? Have you?"
"No, no. But I bet if you /wanted/ to..." Ilesyn trails off, lips twitching into a smile. "We'll see what happens, Tarrant."
"Even /beofre/ I was a candidate, did you see /me/ with affectionate hangers on fluttering all about me?" Tarrant parries to K'dir with a smirk. "Yes, we'll just have to wait and see - but i'm not holding my breath - too much."
K'dir looks at Ilesyn and says doubtingly, "Yeah...right!" He pulls himself out of the water and shakes the water from his limbs, and then wraps a towel around him, rubbing his skin to dry off. "Sounds like we're all talking about it, but aren't getting any of it. I know /you/ two aren't. More's the pity."
"I don't think I've had more than /one/ affectionate partner," puts in Ilesyn, without gazing at K'dir. "I still think you could, K'dir, though you're certainly right. Can't see any of us getting any. Soon," she looks relieved.
"Heh," Tarrant chortles. "That's one of the higher-up things on my list of what I need to do after i'm out of these sharded barracks."
K'dir says, "There is always Sylviath and her needs...but that's not necessarily /my/ needs." He rubs his hair to get it dry, and it curls up. He pulls a lock out again, his eyes nearly crossing as he tries to look up at it again. "Definately too long," he says softly.
"Far too long," agrees Ilesyn, stretching out her legs in front of her. "I imagine people don't really consider the fact that flights are not, necessarily, enough to relieve that--" she hesitates. "Itch." She smiles, almost rueful, at Tarrant. "Oh, indeed."
Tarrant grins back at Ilesyn. "/Indeed./ And i'd classify it one or two ranks up from a simple 'itch' at this point."
K'dir says "It's not just the physical release. It's the ...having someone to be with, to be close to, to fall alseep with while the rain is outside, making it's song."
Ilesyn's head is tilted to the side, so that she can consider K'dir, finally nodding. "That sounds nice," she admits. "I think." Tarrant, too, is given a short, rueful nod.
Tarrant's eyes narrow slightly, his gaze turned almost as misty as the humid air. "Aye, there's that, too."
K'dir Sits quietly for a while, relaxed now. And clean. And clean smelling.
Ilesyn draws herself up from the water, heedless of modesty. "I ought to go and do some work," she admits. "And I've gone wrinkly, too." A towel is draped about herself, then the robe she came in. "Good night, both of you."
Tarrant waves to the Mindhealer. "Night, Ilesyn."
Tarrant suddenly sits bolt upright from his lounging in the waters. "Shaffit! I forgot to straighten my cot after my nap!" And in a whirlwind, he's out of the pool - his towel clutched around his waist, feet slapping the rock as he runs towards the changing rooms. "Bye, Kav!" is heard as an echo bouncing around.
You amble towards to the cooler climes of the eastern cavern.
[In the candidate barracks]
Osasune is seated on her cot, Fickle in her lap; she's stroking the little creature's hide and looking vaguely glum.
Ilesyn's cot is rarely used, but the candidate goes there, now, sitting herself atop it as she completes her dressing, frizzy hair yanked out of the way. Osasune is noted; the Mindhealer considers the younger candidate, somewhat hesitant.
Osasune looks up as Ilesyn sits; she dredges up a smile. "Hey," she says. "You're in here."
"I am," agrees Ilesyn, after a pause. "Sometimes, it's a good place to be, I guess."
Osasune blinks a few times, hand still stroking the fire lizard. "Oh? What's that?"
K'dir pages: I love all the little comments that you make in RP that only the two of us really understand.
"Nice to be around people, so that you don't get lonely," begins Ilesyn, draping herself atop the neatly made cot, mussing up the sheets slightly. "Can't observe anyone in one's own room."
"....Lonely?" Osasune repeats, forehead crinkling up. "Weren't you speaking with K'dir?"
Ilesyn, again, is hesitant - and finally nods. "I was. But I'm not now, and-- Sometimes people get lonely, no matter what. Hard to be lonely in a room full of people, even if you're not talking to them."
"Oh," Osasune says, smiling a little at Ilesyn. It comes a little easier this time. She pauses, and then, "You really like him, don't you?"
"Like him?" queries Ilesyn, sitting up against the somewhat flat, lumpy pillow on the cot. "Well, he's a good friend. I don't have many of those, so it's pretty special." She smiles in return, stretching her lips into place.
"No, I mean... more than that," Osasune says quietly, blinking a few times. Fickle curls up into a ball on her lap. "I just... sorry. Nosy."
Ilesyn pauses, going silent. "I--" She hesitates, and shrugs. "He treats me differently. It's nice."
"Oh," Osasune says, nodding a little. "He treats me like that, too. I thought - it was just me. Might be. I don't know what I thought. But I... don't want to... well. I mean, if you two could... I don't want to be in the way. Or something." She blinks rapidly.
Ilesyn's eyebrows raise at Osa's words. "Hush. I'm not interested in anything more than-- You're not in the way. There isn't really anything going on. We're just good friends, who probably might sleep with each other on occasion, if it wasn't for this candidacy."
Osasune pauses, blinking again, quickly. "Oh. Well... what does he want?"
"I don't know," admits Ilesyn.
Osasune sighs a little, murmuring, "I'm glad I'm not in the way for you. Maybe... I should see if I'm in the way for him."
Ilesyn tilts her head to the side. "Do you honestly think you are? I don't."
Osasune nods a little. "Oh. I just... sort of felt like it, I suppose."
"In the baths?" queries Ilesyn, drawing her arms about her, crossing over her middle.
"Oh. Yes," Osasune says, waving her hand a little. "Sorry. Didn't think to specify."
Ilesyn shakes her head, noting honestly, "There was nothing going on there that wasn't just us chatting, as friends. We were both a little confused, that you ran off like that. It-- Don't feel like you're in the way. It makes me feel guilty." And that's not a feeling Ilesyn is used to.
Osasune flushes a little. "Sorry. I just - I don't think I like K'dir... that way... but... it was still... it felt funny, to see him being all... treating-someone-else special. You know? It made me feel... less special."
"I can understand that," agrees Ilesyn, gravely. "Even if you don't particularly want him, you still want to be special, of your own accord. You're not less special, though. It's all in your mind. /You/ are going to Impress a beautiful green dragon, when those eggs hatch, and I am going to go back to being a Crafter, as I always have been."
"It's all in my mind," Osasune murmurs. "Isn't everything? I... don't know that I'll Impress. I probably won't - most of us won't. So you can't... can't really say that. I appreciate the thought, though, Ilesyn. It's very nice of you." She smiles more, still a small smile, but with warmth.
"You've a fifty-percent chance," comments Ilesyn, leaning back upon her pillow lazily, gaze turned to the ceiling, rather than pressed upon Osasune. "I think you might well. I'd rather you than a lot of people. It's-- well, I'm trying to do it as part of my observations. Picking out what I think might be qualities that dragons are attracted to."
"Fifty percent isn't so bad," Osasune murmurs. "What do you base that percentage on? Numbers? Does it take into account the possibility for Stands Impression?"
Ilesyn nods, quickly. "There's about double as many candidates as eggs, perhaps even slightly fewer. It isn't exact, of course - I'm not one for the mathematics, really. Stands Impression is rare; I don't really bother to include it, because it is unlikely."
Osasune nods a little, stretching out on her own cot, settling fickle on the round hill of her stomach. Her fingers still absently work over his spine; he's uncurled again. "I'd like to see your report, when you're finished. If I could, I mean."
Ilesyn's head is turned sideways, though her body remains mostly flat upon the surface of the cot. Fickle is given a hesitant, somewhat expressionless glance; then, Ilesyn pulls her lips into another smile. "I wouldn't mind. That's what it's intended for - reading."
"Will people at Healer Hall read it?" Osasune murmurs. "Will they read about me and Gretta, and Cyndalia and Tarrant?"
"Yes. Although I don't use your names - people become uncomfortable, if their names are used in such observations." Ilesyn maintains a quietly warm expression, pointing her bare toes.
"You don't? Oh! What do you call us by, then? Code names? Numbers?" Osasune inquires, curiousity genuine.
Ilesyn lifts her hands, counting on her fingers, "Generally, I change names - although in some cases I simply use 'Candidate A', and so on."
"Oh. So some have changed names, and some of them are Candidate whatever?" Osasune's forehead crinkles. "That might be confusing. Sort of like redfruit and pears rolling around together in a crate. Easier to have all redfruit or all pears."
"You're right," agrees Ilesyn. "It is rather confusing. But, see, I use the changed names throughout, mostly, and it's just for isolated examples that don't link into the rest, that I use the 'Candidate Whatever'." She rolls over, onto her side, frizzy, wet hair having made her pillow downright damp.
Osasune considers this, and then says, "Oh. I'll have to see how confused I am when I read it. It sounds confusing, but it might not be once I'm actually... reading through it. Lots of things are. Less confusing, I mean, when you're doing them. I sort of hope that things like flying Thread are like that."
Ilesyn points out, as she attempts to turn her pillow over, while still lying on it, "You're trained to stop being confused by thread, I think. This is a bit different. Perhaps I'll get you to give it a test read, and if it is too confusing, I'll change it. I don't want to confuse people unnecessarily."
"Really? What I think of something could... change it, maybe?" Osasune blinks. "Wow."
Ilesyn gives up, drawing herself into a seated position to shift her pillow with more ease, giving her a less wet section of cotton to lie upon. Resettling herself, she nods. "Your opinion is just as valuable as anyone else's, Osa. And in this instance - it's more valuable."
Kadan snorts loudly as he enters the barracks, scrawny frame revealed -- he's clad only in a towel wound firmly around his waist. "You, confuse people unnecessarily, healer? I wouldn't think it of you for a moment." There's sarcasm there, and very thinly veiled. "You only use your jargon for the purpose of being specific, right?" Making his way to his cot, he pauses very briefly to reach underneath, pulling out something small enough to be concealed in the palm of his hand. Whatever it is is deposited under his neighbor's pillow, and then he sets about ferreting for clothes amid the pile of possessions he calls his own.
"Tch. Ilesyn only tries to confuse people she doesn't like," Osasune says, smiling a little. She's lying on her back on a cot, Fickle resting on the great curve of her belly as she pets him. "And I... I know that, Ilesyn, but I've just never had it happen before. Maybe it will happen more in the future."
"That," agrees Ilesyn loudly, in response to Osasune's comment, "And also people who don't have the mental ability to understand the simplest of ideas." She's got nothing less than a snide smile upon her face for the male candidate, words drawled lazily. She, too, is wet, from the bathing rooms, though she's drying - and making a rather wet mess upon her cot in the process. "I think it will, Osa. I do."
Kadan pauses, grin crossing previously irritated features as he turns to regard Ilesyn for a moment. "What did I just hear? That doesn't sound like professional detachment to me, Ilesyn. Are you sure this study of yours is going to be suitably impartial?" Offering her an impertinent wink, he returns to his clothes hunting, lifting a shirt up and sniffing it, before evidently deciding it'll bear wearing once more. "Have you given any thought to that performance, Osa? Avila was asking."
Osasune grimaces. "Hello, Kadan. And I /said/, I'm not singing. I wouldn't be comfortable singing, I don't want to sing, and giving in to people who want me to do things I don't want to do is unhealthy, anyway. I'm allowed not to sing lewd songs!" Her vehemence seems to rouse Fickle, who raises his head and spreads his wings.
Ilesyn's gaze remains level, though there's a hint of mirth within her gaze, barely visible beneath the cloak of professionalism that she bears as speaking to Kadan. "I'm under no illusions of what Osa's faults and failings are; I'm unlikely to be biased towards her, to be sure." Curiously, she shifts her gaze between the two candidates, querying, "Have they been asking you to sing lewd songs, Osa? What for?"
Kadan's grin is about as unwholesome as a fourteen turn old can manage, and another wink goes to Osa. "T'wasn't lewd at all, it was a traditional song from Boll about the homecoming of their sailors. Ask Avila. I only know the chorus, anyway, she knows all the verses. Osa just thinks the worst of us, is all." I mean, what could a Bitran and the son of a Bitran have to plot about? His shirt is straightened, and he begins the hunt for trous.
"It is too lewd, you conniving little tunnelsnake," Osasune mutters, scowling intently at the ceiling. "I didn't think the worst of you until you started trying to pressure me into doing something I don't want to do. That's your own fault."
Ilesyn glances between candidates, her eyebrows raising. "From the outline you give there, Kadan, I can't help but imagine that lewd would be a very apt description. Sailors, not being downright lewd themseves, when coming back to sea? Hardly likely." She, too, seems inclined to think the worst of the other candidate. "You ought to know better, than to try and pressure another into doing something that they do not wish to do."
Kadan wrinkles his nose for an expressive response, discovering a pair of trous and donning them quickly. "You try and make me reform, and I don't want to do that?" That's the only response he has, before making ready to depart. "I'm off to see t'other healer. Hope he's less picky than you." And with a cheeky salute, he's trotting out.
Kadan walks off southwards to the eastern caverns.
Osasune sniffs. "I don't try to make him reform. I just don't want to let him... step on me," she protests indignantly.
"I'd like to reform him," says Ilesyn, disagreeing. "He's far too childish and immature. I know what you mean, though. He's cruel. I'd say, don't pay any attention to him, but I know that that can be difficult."
"He's just... young," Osasune says, frowning a little at the rock up above. "He'll grow up. Right?"
Ilesyn considers, drawing herself up again - finding, apparently, a seated position more comfortable. "Perhaps. But what he grows into is entirely dependent upon how he acts, and what he learns."
"So he might be a wherryhead forever?" Osasune sounds fearful. "I should have known that. I've met plenty of grown-up people who were wherryheads."
Ilesyn, somewhat ruefully, nods. "He could. I'm hoping not. Impression may do that for him - if he does Impress. I almost rather he wouldn't, though, just in case."
"I suppose Impressing would change someone," Osasune says, quietly.
"I believe so. That's what I'll be analyzing, after the hatching." Ilesyn wraps her arms about her knees, leaning forward quietly. "But what if Kadan Impressed a prankster dragon? Changes don't necessarily have to be for the better."
Osasune's eyes widen, and she stops stroking Fickle. "Oh, fardles," she breathes, horrified at the idea.
Ilesyn worries upon her lip, shaking her head. "I /hope/ that that doesn't happen, but it's possible. It isn't really something I want to think about, really. There couldn't be anything worse, I don't think."
"If I have nightmares about that... I'm blaming you," Osasune says.
Ilesyn pauses - and then laughs. "And I'll accept that blame. Although, on that note, I'm going to go get some sleep." She draws herself up from her cot, standing, stretching, and then stepping towards the door.
"Sounds like a good idea. Good night, Ilesyn," Osasune says, warmly.
Ilesyn turns, and smiles - an honest, cheerful smile. "Good night, Osa. Sleep well."
Posted by Louise at January 29, 2003 04:53 PM