Who

Q'y, Vosji

What

Yujnth is not stuck by the lake.

When

It is sunrise of the twenty-fifth day of the sixth month of the seventeenth turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Lake Shore, Igen Weyr

OOC Date 10 Jul 2019 04:00

 

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Someone's tired (and pretending not to be)!


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Lake Shore

Sprawled out beyond the Weyr proper's hustling activity and ambling roads, the cool, blue paradise of the Weyr lake promises escape from the oppressive hammer of Igen summer's cruel climes; the asymmetrical, sandy white shores hook delicately around the deceptively still waters running deep and sure, greedy peninsulas reaching white fingers stretching in crooked lines towards its center. A sturdy shack, weather-beaten and brown as cured leather, resides in isolated splendor upon one such finger, screened shelving offering a variety of brushes and fragrant oils housed in colorful tureens. Out beyond a small and dusty paddock ringed by a white fence, a long rocky pier stabs out into the lake, providing a panoramic view of the Weyr itself, while the southern shores provide varied shrubs and grassed for the massed herds in their pens.


Would it be a bad omen of the day to come if the weather is already nearing triple digits and the sun is ONLY just rising? Some might be cursing the usual summer climate of Igen's desert. Q'y is cursing for entirely other reasons (and all internally). They'd come out towards the lake shore before the crush and rush of the day, mostly at Yujnth's insistence. It is a trek they'd managed before but today? Something has changed. They weren't entirely alone, either. Some of the other early risers of the double clutch followed them out for all their own personal reasons. Now though, they're heading back… all but the bronze and his exasperated (but collected) rider. Two concerned weyrlings stop, but Q'y just waves them off with a dismissive gesture of his hand and a grimace. "We'll be fine. Don't concern yourselves." Meaning, he doesn't want them dragged into potential 'trouble', because Q'y isn't stupid. Yujnth continues to refuse to move from the spot he's settled in and there's only so much time they can linger here, awkwardly, before someone notices!

And their clutchmates didn't even get Q'y or Yujnth in trouble, either! No one told Iskanzivoth or Vosji, and should it come up, they'll be able to vouch for those who seem like they might have told them off. It's pure coincidence — Iskanzivoth insists on a morning dip a few days a week and Vosji is not one to complain or stay behind. She's augmented her summer working outfit with a sunhat, and has eschewed shoes, walking barefoot on hot, sunbaked sand like she doesn't have any sensory nerves in her feet. Iskanzivoth comes in from above, settling into the lake with a very gentle little splash of displaced water. "Morning, weyrling," Vosji tells Q'y, pretending she doesn't notice he looks a litte flustered. "Finding that he likes an early soak as well?"

Cursed fate and chance! Q'y straightens as Vosji approaches, offering a smart salute. There's been little in the way of trouble with him; he's one of the rare few who don't seem entirely troubled with accepting the routines and rules. What he doesn't account for is he has a bonded link with one who is both entirely him and… not. Case in point, Yujnth's head lifts to follow Iskanzivoth's arrival to the waters. The bronze huffs, but his head soon lowers back to his crossed forelimbs. Someone's tired (and pretending not to be)! "Good morning, ma'am." Q'y echoes back the greeting, with a small nod. "He prefers to do anything at the start of dawn. Today was as you said." Simple and to the point.

"A future dawn sweeper if I ever did see one," Vosji says with approval, giving Yujnth a satisfied single nod once she's offered a return salute to dismiss Q'y at ease. Since he doesn't tend to make waves, she's allowing that this might be an anomaly — and she isn't entirely certain she's reading the situation right, either (though she totally is). "You'll be a favorite of any future wing." She then turns to fully look at Yujnth, who is clearly looking comfortable right where he is, and walks a little bit around the bronze. "Find a good spot for a nap?" she asks, nonjudgmentally. Maybe Q'y just wants to be at the lake all day!

Q'y does NOT want to be at the lake all day and that has been a large chunk of his argument with the bronze. Yujnth seems to find that today is the day to exercise his more philosophical side and has done his absolute best to twist any reason to his favour. Hence their current situation! Never have they faced off like this and Q'y's pride is rapidly becoming bruised for his ineffectiveness. Vosji's comments earn a proper response, though his expression tightens with a hint of embarrassment. "We'd not complain for any duties handed to us. If that makes us suitable for the Wings… then I leave it to the Wingleaders." Bluntly put? He has no aspirations. No goals, aside from the obvious of completing weyrlinghood (and not dying). "Ah… no? He claims needing to rest but I don't sense that he's tired - at least, not so much that he cannot make the trek back."

Oh, but why not? It's only going to be hot enough to make an omelette. A perfect occasion to sit out in the sun on baking sand with your still-growing lifemate! Vosji's amusement at the situation is at least tempered by Q'y's amazingly satisfying seriousness. So many of the weyrlings have either vague aspirations, aspirations that make no sense, fear of doing anything, specific wing goals … this one has his head on straight enough, and she'll be watching that now. "So he is concerned about becoming tired, and wants to rest before returning; that is what they do when they're still growing, which is why we caution riders of young ones about where they go and for how long." It's still a statement delivered just as that: a statement with no weight to it. No disapproval. No teasing. No punishment. Just: this is what baby dragons do, and this one is way too big to move forcibly. Iskanzivoth wafts a mental wave in Yujnth's direction. « Is it too far to return? »

Sure, he comes across as having his head on straight but Q'y has his doubts! Doubts that he buries because he doesn't think it productive to have them; it's how he's been raised, after all. Thou shalt not stray from the path given to you. If he's to be a rider, then he will be the rider OTHERS expect him to be! Q'y regards Vosji thoughtfully for a moment, some of that tension leaving the grim set of his jaw and shoulders. "It's not the first time we've come out this far and I was very cautious on the first trips. He's managed each time, except for this one." he explains, not to argue her points but elaborate his own. "It's not a concern, then?" Yujnth barely moves and doesn't make an audible sound, but smugness radiates from him, despite it being not entirely in line with his developing character. « No. » his answer to Iskanzivoth is as short and direct as his rider has been, but lacks any disrespect or edge. « It is enjoyable to be here. »

« Yes, » Iskanzivoth agrees, letting a couple of cogs of clockwork clunk against each other in agreement. « It is very nice here. We are big fans. You will have lessons later, though, so we cannot be here all day. » The tinge of regret is for them both: Iskanzivoth has to be at those lessons too. Vosji's certainly getting the reports from her dragon but not making it entirely clear that she is, though Q'y likely knows they're talking. Weyrlings at this age don't filter too well. "He seems to be fond of the lake area like Iskanzivoth," she says, "and like I expect Chayallanth will be, if she isn't yet. Maybe he just doesn't want to leave, and is learning the dubiously important skill of trying to get his way with his rider." « Very important skill, » Iskanzivoth editorializes. « I bargain with her. »

« Bargain? » Yujnth's focus is largely a matter of interest and Iskanzivoth has him hooked on that word alone! He still doesn't move, but his mind is certainly more actively 'brighter' than before. Do tell? Q'y is marginally aware of a shift, but he can't quite master delving into it AND keeping up a conversation. So with no immediate 'red flags' going off, he'll focus on Vosji. "Chayallanth? That's the green, with the girl who has the unfortunate task of caring for fish?" Unfortunate, he says! Ooh, she's not in hearing distance, is she? Quieter, "Yujnth tries to eat them." The fish. Sorry, Ember! He grimaces again, "I think it's very much that — a fit of stubbornness. Like a child." Did he just imply the bronze is acting like a brat? Yeah, he did.

Vosji, meanwhile, is trying to temper Iskanzivoth on this particular lesson — and mostly failing. Ah, well, better he learn it from a dragon who knows how to not stir up too much trouble … "He is," the Weyrlingmaster says. "A child, I mean. So he will act like one for a little while longer. They grow much faster than humans, but they are still children, and most of senior weyrlinghood is obnoxious adolescence. But they mature." At least, the majority of dragons do. "And you must mean the young woman who has the brilliant idea for working on her arm strength by pulling her dragon's favorite thing in the world around in a wagon, right?" A smile, a wink. Ember gets credit for that extra PT. "I would advise that you do not let him eat them, but it will be your conflict to resolve if he does." Iskanzivoth remains his usually helpful self, simultaneously: bargains are easy to explain. « Bargain, yes. Say I want to stay in the lake, but she wants to go do something else; I suggest something else I could do for or with her that she would like even more, if I can stay in the lake instead. Only there is no way to bargain out of lessons — we all have to go. »

"It's difficult to remember that they are, in essence, children." Q'y admits with a vague half-smile, not ashamed at least to disclose that mistake in his views on the young bronze. "I was never good with children." His shoulders shrug, as if this wasn't a concern of his and still isn't. Somehow, he'll make it work and if Vosji isn't concerned, then he won't keep pushing at Yujnth to get up. He blinks, puzzled. Are… they talking about the same person? Apparently, but he bites his tongue on his opinion. "… it's not added trouble?" Whoosh. Concept goes right over this guy's head! As for the potential conflict, that earns a sheepish grimace and exhale. "I'm not the only one." he admits and MAYBE, someday, Yujnth will protect those fish of Chayallanth's rather than see a free meal. Yujnth absorbs everything Iskazivoth shares. « I like this concept of bargaining. » Will he apply it? MAYBE.

"It could be added trouble," Vosji says, continuing her giving-nothing-away mannerisms as long as she can get away with them. (For some people, it's forever.) "It could be a way of turning what might be trouble into a good thing, and applying creative solutions, which is an important skill in dragonriding." At least it is for those graduating her weyrling program. She may be tough, but she's happy to accept any innovative concepts that might get to the same end result. "And I would recommend not asking anyone how I am with human children." It's not that she's ashamed, it's just that she — isn't, and her own children are never sure what to make of her. Iskanzivoth pours a little bit of pride over Yujnth. « It is indeed useful. You'll find times to use it. » Now may or may not be one of those times.

Q'y keeps his gaze on Vosji even while he mulls over her words thoughtfully, until at last he looks away. "I'll try to keep that in mind, for the future." he admits after a lapse of silence. He does, at least, smile a bit for her comment on children. "You won't have to worry about me prying." Since to him, that's rude and more-so with someone who outranks him! Look at him, being such a good boy. Yujnth isn't one to waste an opportunity. « Then I'll try it now. » Which leads to an extended silence from the bronze and Q'y, as both have to focus primarily on the exchange. Iskanzivoth will likely pick up some bleed of emotions; frustration and elation, mainly. Q'y just looks like he bit into something sour and is doing his best to scowl about it. "Fine." he blurts out, only to clear his throat when he realizes Vosji is right there and it wasn't directed to her. "We'll be returning." Oh, but at what cost! "Clear skies, Weyrlingmaster." And because he's not one to push it, once Yujnth is on his feet, he'll be following alongside the bronze… all the way back to the barracks.

There's curiosity from both parties as this unfolds; Vosji is looking curiously at Q'y, as Iskanzivoth offers a supportive presence at the young bronze's metaphorical back. « Good job, » he says encouragingly, even though he knows not the trade that was made. Vosji gives a nod of her own approval, saying only, "We will see you at morning lessons. It was a nice talk," before the young bronzepair part and she is busy demanding of Iskanzivoth exactly what he just did — and pleased to find it wasn't too bad, though the blue is given the assignment of finding out what the trade Yujnth made for going back to the barracks as requested was. Later, of course. For now: he swims, until he has to teach. That's a bargain of their own made long ago.

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