July 25, 2004
On R'hyn's return to Fort, he runs into Oki.

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You follow a long, curving tunnel toward the hot springs.

Oki is sitting on one of the benches with a rather mutinous expression on her face that discourages any folks around her to stay away. Rather than immediately leaping into the springs, she's taking advantage of the wet-sauna like atmosphere and trying to relax.

R'hyn allows a quiet 'ah' of surprise and delight, as he steps into the Hot Springs, and embraces the warmth. It's been nearly two days since The Flight, and this is the first time R'hyn's been seen back at the weyr - by his clothes, it looks as though he's just arrived. Most people ignore him - he's not wearing a knot, and that makes him not-so-immediately identifiable; thus, unhindered, he steps towards the main pool, reaching out to touch the water with a contented sigh.

Someone's sigh intrudes upon Oki's inner thoughts long enough to get an annoyed look from her. Spotting R'hyn, her eyebrows lift and she asks, rather bluntly, "Why are you here? Were you shoveled off here too?" Lingering bitterness and anger thread through her voice. "Although, I am beginning to appreciate this part of this forsaken place."

R'hyn turns, finally noticing Oki - and smiles. "In a kind of roundabout way," he agrees, solemnly. He looks tired, dark circles under his eyes. "I think I'm going to like this place, too. I'm told the snow melts eventually, but..." He shudders dramatically, head shaking. "Not my choice of climate, that's for sure. How long have you been here?"

Oki shrugs her shoulders, "A couple of days, I guess." She gives him a quick, sardonic smile, "Not my choice either." Memory finally serves her and she ahhs softly with, "That's right. You won the flight. I think I'd just arrived. The weyr's been abuzz about that. Some of these Fortians are not exactly the nicest."

R'hyn turns slightly pink, putting a finger to his lips-- with a shunted motion of his head. He stands again, coming over to sit a short distance from Oki, and nods. "So I keep hearing. Not exactly the... perfect outcome, as far as most of Fort is concerned. Are they being actively, openly, you know, nasty? I haven't really met any, yet - except in that flight." He keeps his voice very low, as if trying his hardest to make sure it doesn't travel.

Oki seems about to keep her voice at normal volume but instead does follow his lead with her next words, "Not really, I guess. It's just that sometimes I think they look down at us. But they're the ones with the problem, right? They're the ones that needed a goldrider." She purses her lips briefly before adding, "Then some of us Istans didn't want to leave Ista."

"Exactly," says R'hyn, sounding a lot more confident than his expression and body-language suggest. "We're all just here to help them out, until things change. We're doing them a huge favour - most of us really aren't here by /choice/." He pauses. "Did you really get sent against your will?"

"So why do they act so high-and-mighty?" Oki whispers while giving a passing Fortian a narrow-eyed, non-too-friendly look. "E'van decided to ship me off. Before I even found out my weyr was packed and I was 'ready to go.'" She gives R'hyn sidelong look. "So yes, I didn't have a say. I didn't even get to talk to Y'lan."

"Be-- darned if I know," replies R'hyn, head shaking -- he ignores the passing Fortian, staring, instead into the bubbling water. "Oh. That's awful. I mean... really awful. It's one thing to volunteer - though I still don't get why Dix did that - but to be sent just like that." He swallows, thickly. "It's my intention to send you all home, as soon as Fort has rebuilt a bit."

Oki stares down at her nails, "I don't think E'van would allow me to come back. I was summarily 'kicked out' for lack of a better term. I'm not even sure if I have a wing yet." Another look is given to the new Weyrleader, "Cardixa? She volunteered? I would have thought that she would have wanted to stay. She's your weyrmate, right? She was - is? - my wingleader."

R'hyn, voice laden with curiosity, wonders, "Why? I mean - did you do anything that bad?" He digs his hands out of his pockets - it's warm enough, in here, not to need to bury them - and adds, "You'll probably get your wing assignment soon. I don't know. I don't have the faintest idea, actually. Yeah, she did; said she felt it was her duty. I thought she would, too." There's a slight hurt in his expression, banished quickly. "She's-- well. We're together, yes."

Oki gives a short laugh, but still seems to hedge a little, "Other than impressing blue when I should have impressed gold? I don't think so." She shrugs, "I think to E'van I am a constant reminder of his embarrassment. Are you? That's nice. Y'lan had a woman for awhile. I think they're still together." The sudden switch in topic seems deliberate.

"That." R'hyn sounds fairly disgusted at the concept. "E'van-- well. I don't think I even need to say it." He drops his hands to his knees, and nods. "It's good. No men in your life, then?"

"No you don't. I liked him okay until now." Oki gives him a crooked smile, but this time its her turn to blush a little and look away. "Ah. No. I'm not exactly a looker and I tend to stay away from pompous asses."

"You're not the only one he didn't like, if it's any consolation. I'm not really sure why I didn't get forcibly transferred, except that, perhaps, Ainsley quite liked me." He laughs, lowly, head nodding. "Took me long enough to find someone. But as long as you're happy as you are. Aside from being here."

Oki nibbles her lower lip, "Can't say as I can complain really. Present circumstances excluded. I'm still young and not too long out of weyrlinghood. If some, ah, man decides to come along, I guess--" She's unable to keep the slight sneer from her voice, "But to be really honest, I've not really had the interest in things like, ah, that." Rubbing her face with both hands, she adds, "I'm not too far out of the 'icky' phase. Probably why Rhavinath hasn't won any flights."

R'hyn grins, suddenly. "Arisvath didn't catch a green until we transferred to Ista - we'd been paired for turns. I think that may have had something to do with me, too; I was terrified at the whole idea." Stretching out his legs in front him, the rider adds, "I figure friends are more important, anyway. They often last longer."

Oki suddenly seems quite interested in what R'hyn is saying. "Really? Yeah, I'm terrified of what comes next. I've heard good and bad stories. I remember a few of the gold flights right when I first arrived at the weyr. I guess, really, I can't undo some of my hold-bred qualities. And I agree. Friends do last longer. Who's always around when the lover disappoints?" She grins widely, nodding her head for emphasis.

"Flights are... kind of awkward, really. I am weyrbred, so they shouldn't bother me, and they don't-- except for that awkwardness. Waking up beside a stranger, or even a friend, is strange." R'hyn shakes his head, as if bringing back memories, and adds, "You get used to things - or learn to tolerate them, if nothing else. Absolutely - friends /don't/ 'break up' with you. Not usually, anyway."

Oki says, "Interesting. Part of me is curious, but part of me only wants to watch." Oki shoots him an assessing look. "You know, I snuck in on one of the flights Y'lan participated in. Maybe that might be part of the problem. It did seem, ah, akward.""

R'hyn half-turns, curious. "You did? I hadn't heard that. Yes - that might change things. I can't imagine how strange that must be; to watch, without actually being involved in it."

Oki ducks her head, "A good spy doesn't reveal oneself, right? Y'lan never knew. I was much younger then. It was probably close to when I first came to Ista."

"No, absolutely not," agrees R'hyn, with a grin. "It's not a thing I would ever have thought to do - but then, I'd never really been curious, until Arisvath started chasing."

"I was only curious because I was told I wasn't supposed to know." Oki turns to give him a crafty look, "Only Y'lan didn't win, but I stayed -- I couldn't reveal myself by leaving -- and I remember thinking to myself that the pair were hurting themselves. She kept squealing like one of Mama's pigs."

R'hyn positively laughs now, cheeks turning brilliantly pink. "Oh. /Oh/. I'm sorry, but that's classic. Kind of creepy, though, if you think about it. I'd be mortified, if I discovered someone had been watching /me/. Oh well, they never knew, and you... have a hilarious story to keep from most people."

Oki giggles, "I did keep my head averted, really. But sound carries. And I kept telling myself that that would never be me. /Never/ would I sound like something in pain." After giving him a slightly worried look, she asks, "You're not going to tell are you? And yeah, I have a funny story. I have many funny stories."

R'hyn attempts to restrain his quiet laughter, though it keeps bubbling up again. "No, of course not. Your secret is safe with me. I don't think I do have many funny stories. I mean, I threw up before I went onto the hatching sands, but I think that's more gross than funny."

"I even followed you before. It was right after-- you did? That is pretty gross," Oki agrees. "I wasn't really nervous. I was pretty confidant that I would impress. Though to gold, but that's because E'van said I would."

"Followed me?" R'hyn backtracks, curiously. "When?" He grins, though - "Yeah. It was pretty gross for me, too. I had to go on the sands feeling all yuck. Did you Impress before or after Kiora? I've forgotten."

"With Kiora. E'van wasn't too thrilled with the gold's choice." Oki gives him a sidelong glance before answering, "Ah. It was during weyrlinghood and you were having issues with Serriena."

"Ah. That's right - I remember, now." R'hyn laughs, adding, "I think most of the weyr was pretty... surprised at that one. But she does okay." He thinks, then, after a pause, asks, "The day she-- ah. We were by the pool, and you were there. And afterwards, you followed us? Huh. I never knew."

Oki chuckles, "Strategic placement of carts, really. And yeah, I was curious. But such is my nature. Which makes me wonder how I'm going to fit in here." She turns, openly curious, "Although I never really understood what it was that you were fighting over, except that she seemed to want you and you were not so inclined."

R'hyn's expression is amused. "If you overhear anything here, I'd love to hear about it. Curiosity is a good thing, within limits - how else do we find out about things?" He laughs, easily, head shaking quietly. "It was something like that. She was, or though she was, in love with me. And I'd only ever seen her as a friend." More soberly, he adds, "I really hurt her. Which is all the more reason why people should stay friends, and never try and make it 'friends with benefits', even with a specific purpose in mind."

Oki quirks an eyebrow, "Friends with benefits? Wouldn't that by definition mean lovers?" She shrugs, "I have talent in the gathering of information. I would surely pass it along. We're friends now, eh? It's you and what little of Ista has come over against /them/." She gestures to the Fortian folk.

"Well," says R'hyn. "Not quite. I was sleeping with her so she could get pregnant - we wanted a child. It was /supposed/ to be nothing more than that. We even stopped after she got pregnant. But..." R'hyn's shrug more or less suggests that he really doesn't understand women, and Serriena in particular. "Perfect. Thank you. We're all in this together - we'll make it work."

"No offense, but that wasn't very bright. Intimacy, I think, would form bonds anyway." Oki grins, "Not that I really know, but it just seems to be something that you couldn't do lightly. I'm sure Cardixa could give you a child. And you'd probably enjoy that situation much better..."

"Tell me about it," says R'hyn, grinning. "But we got Rhyena - and she's worth it. Dix doesn't want children, though, and I think I'm good with one; I hardly have time enough for her. I've learnt my lesson, too. Things don't last, and it was tough, when Serri was mad at me, and Rhyena was caught between it."

Oki tilts her head, thoughtful, "Yeah. You're right. Things never seem to last. Maybe that's another reason to avoid any romance. You don't get hurt that way. Someday, I /think/, I might want one kid. They seem to be so much trouble, though."

R'hyn rubs at his fingers with his right hand, nodding. "But there are benefits, to romance. I think, sometimes, they make up for it. Kids are-- they're great. Worth it. Fostering makes it easier; you just get to play with them, and give them back. I don't think I'd be a very good Dad, if I had to look after Rhyena all the time, but I like having time with her. I spent yesterday with her. It was nice."

Oki nods her head, "Yeah. Although, I did like growing up with my mom, but I don't think I could take care of a kid. I guess romance happens when it happens. So far I've been lucky and excluded."

"I bet it will happen, eventually," declare R'hyn, smiling. "And I'm not just being nice. My Mum was pretty good, too - but she was a rider, so we were fostered. She was still /there/, though, and it made a big difference."

"Perhaps. But he'd have to not want a buxom beauty," Oki says with a grin. She stands, patting damp strands of hair out of her eyes, "It was good to see you again. I'm glad to be re-acquainted with you now that I'm old enough to appreciate real friendship. I've gotta go, though. Rhavinath is being fussy."

"There's plenty of men who don't," R'hyn assures Oki, with a smile. "You, too. And thanks-- I feel a little less... intimidated, about this whole arrival thing, now. We'll figure out that wing assignment, too."

"Thanks. We'll conquer this place yet!" Oki whispers and then heads out of the springs, intent upon her latest errand. She pauses at the threshold, her expression switching back to the initial bad-temper and suspicion before she heads out of the caves.

R'hyn watches after Oki, amused - then, finally, gets to his own feet. Time to face the crowd.

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