Who

Xanthee, Malosim

What

Xanthee turns Malosim's day around, and the two get a firmer footing on what they are.

When

It is afternoon of the sixteenth day of the ninth month of the twelfth turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Central Bazaar, Igen Weyr

OOC Date 15 Dec 2017 07:00

 

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"You really get me tripping over myself, y'know that?"


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Central Bazaar

All roads in the weyr ultimately lead here, to this center of commerce. Canvas awnings jut out over time worn, sandy cobblestone, sheltering customers and wares alike from the majority of Igen's elements, and funnel scents both mouthwatering and vomit inducing through the thin streets. Almost all store fronts are open air, delineated by sandstone arches with intricately carved facades. The insides of these stone-shingled buildings act as an amplifier for the salesmens' bawled enticements, and are held up by the chipped swirls of marble pillars.


The afternoon sun blazes bright on a hot autumn day, and the bazaar is doing brisk business. Sitting off to one side perched on a little stool, scribbling occasionally into a leatherbound book in perched on her knee, is Xanthee. She is dressed rather modestly at the moment, a long dark red skirt, partly covered by an apron, a creamy linen tunic on top, cinched in at her waist with a leather corset. Her hair is pulled back in a runnertail, but still tendrils of ebony escape and float around her face. When not writing, she takes a bite out of a juicy redfruit, wiping her chin with the back of her hand as a small rivulet of juice escapes her lips. Tongue darts out daintily to lick the remaining juice from her lips.

From the grounds-end of the Bazaar, a young Miner journeyman seems to be in deep conversation with an associate - a knotless and somewhat rough-looking associate - as he makes his way back toward the Craft complex. Their voices are lowered, the other man's hands punctuating his speech every now and again, and while the words aren't clear, what is clear is the tone of the conversation. It isn't a happy one. The pair soon pauses, the other man taking a step closer to Malosim and delivering one sharp, quiet final word before striding away, leaving the Miner scowling faintly after him. Mal sighs after that, rolls his shoulders and gives a little shake of his head before turning to continue on. Upon spying Xanthee, stones of weigh seem to fall from his shoulders, the smile that comes to his lips and lights his eyes a warm one. "Of all the people to see who could've made my day brighter," he says as he draws near, slapping at some road dust clinging to his sleeve, "you were at the top of my list."

She knows that voice! Xanthee looks up, smile stretched from ear to ear as she slaps closed the book and, all in one motion, puts it down on the stool with the redfruit on top of it as she jumps to her feet. Quickly closing the distance between them, she throws her arms around the miner's neck and gives him a sound kiss, paying no mind at all of the road dust and what it might do to her cream colored top. As she pulls away, she looks up at him through dark lashes, head cocked to one side. "So why would your day need brightening? Do I have to go take care of someone?" She sounds without even a hint of joking in her voice as she searches his eyes for any clue.

Malosim is completely happy to be greeted so enthusiastically, sighing into the kiss Xanthee plies him with and wrapping his arms around her as he sinks into it. "Shells I needed that," he tells her, bringing a hand up to her cheek. "Thanks, Xan." Despite the no-jokes tone of her last, he smirks, shaking his head a little. "Nah, just…" He sighs again, a subtle crease forming between dark brows. "Learning a little of the not-so-great side of dealings here. I'd rather not talk about it while we're out here, but if you really want to know…walk with me a little?" He glances down between them and blinks, then looks a bit chagrined. "Sorry. I'm all dusty and I just…" Got it all over her in turn.

"Oh yeah, the bazaar is full of colorful characters. But you tell me if someone needs a little talking to. Me and my little friend will take care of it." Xanthee says with a smirk as she taps the hilt of her jeweled stiletto knife strapped to her belt. "And before you even dare to ask, of course I know how to use it." She says with a smirk of her own before planting another soft kiss on his lips. Pulling back with a sigh, she nods, "I would love to take a walk, I'm just off my shift so I'm all yours." In more ways than one. She reluctantly disentangles herself, looking down at the road dust now coating her own front and merely shrugs, "Don't worry about it, I know all the tricks to get out even the most stubborn of stains." She says as she links her arm into his, and presses her body up close to him. "So where to?"

Malosim's brows hitch upward a bit as he gets a good look at Xanthee's knife. "Hey, I wasn't gonna say anything!" he says, and his smirk is teasing before he sobers. "But I don't think anything like that will be necessary." At least he hopes it won't. Focusing on the next kiss he gets isn't a difficult thing in the least, and it helps him not to dwell on what-ifs. Giving his attention to the girl he's with is much more preferable. "Ummm…" he glances around, trying to decide on a destination, and his eyes rise up along the stairs and ramps that angle up the front of the Craft Complex. "Ever been up there? It's got a pretty nice view." Plus it's quiet.

"Actually I have not. I could do with a nice view." Xanthee says with a warm smile in his direction. "Although I don't know how it could improve on the current one." Awwww, Xan is officially a smitten kitten, her eyes nearly sparkle in an animated way when she looks at Mal. She starts strolling in that direction, no hurry, just enjoying the feeling of their bodies pressed side by side, the hard muscles of his upper arm under her fingers, his warmth and smell. Unbidden, a contented sigh escapes her lips.

"Hmm. I was thinkin' the same thing myself," Malosim counters with a wink, though nearly doesn't start moving as he ends up caught by the way Xanthee is looking at him. It's the little tug that comes from her forward motion that gets him moving, too. He leads her upward along stairs and inclines, through broader stretches where awnings are stretched over small gathering points in front of classrooms and quarters and workshops, also very much liking the feel of her beside him. Her little sigh draws his gaze down to her, and he grins, dipping his head to steal one more light kiss before concentrating on continuing forward again. Eventually they come to a landing in front of a stretch of thick doors that look very much like close-set apartments. It's cobbled, a few benches set along a low wall beyond which the roofs of the Bazaar stretch out toward the Bowl wall and the caravan grounds. "Here we are," he announces, and leads her to the edge to lean against the wall. "Not too bad. I'm thinkin' when it's colder I'll get to see plumes of chimney smoke drifting up from out there. Ought to be something."

Xanthee is being led and doesn't mind it one bit. After Mal leans in for that light kiss, she leans her head against his shoulder and just enjoys the walk. She is almost sad when they arrive so soon, the walking was that good, but when they reach their destination and she leans on the wall to see the bazaar as she's never seen it, she gasps lightly as her breath is taken away. "Wow. I never knew this was up here. Never really was one to hang around Crafters." Her emerald gaze takes in the view in one long moment. "We don't get too many really cold days in the winter, but you're right, that would be a sight." She cuddles in close to his side, sliding her arm around the back of his waist, "So Malosim. What was bothering you?" She asks as she looks up to catch his eye.

Mal watches Xanthee take it all in, his smile small and tilted to one side as he does so. It's an easy sight to take for granted until someone else comes along and ends up impressed, and it's something he likes to observe. "Well, when the cold days do come along," he notes, slipping his arm around her back in turn as he looks down at her, "we'll have a nice way to keep warm." Then comes The Question, and he sighs again, the tiny furrow between his brows returning. "Well…I've been taking day trips out to the caves off the Hunter's Pass," he begins. "There are some really incredible gem sources down there I've been scouting. Nothing sanctioned by the Craft, but as far as I've been able to find, no one has any official claim on the caves so it's free range. Everything's been going fine…but coming back today, I got stopped by a couple guys on my way out of the Pass. Wouldn't say where they're from, just said they'd been watching me the past few times and to stay away from now on. That's the guy I was talkin' with a bit ago." He shakes his head unhappily. "Don't think they're raiders; they're a little too clean for that. Smugglers, maybe…"

"They threatened you?" An inner fire blazes deep in Xanthee's emerald eyes as she looks up at Malosim with worry on her face. "Please don't do anything silly, I couldn't bear the thought of you getting hurt." Not to mention what silly things it might spur Xan into doing herself, "Are you going to report this to a Master Miner? They should know if something shady is going on there." her tone is adamant, but still tinged with worry and she looks back over the view, but it's lost it's charm for the moment.

"Not…exactly," Malosim says of being threatened, "just that I needed to stay away. But I can guess what they might try if they see me back there." Her worry over him is touching, giving a little tug at his heart that has him turning to lay his free hand against her cheek, turning her eyes back to his. "I won't do anything dumb, Xan, I promise. I'm gonna talk to my Master and then see if we can warn the Weyrleader or someone that they've got shady sorts with eyes on the caves. And if there's reason to go back out there, we'll go as a group. I…shouldn't've been makin' trips by myself anyway. Those guys don't really count, I guess," he notes wryly, jerking his head over toward one of the lintels above a door where his three firelizards are perched. Where he lives, perhaps?

"That sounds like a threat to me." Xanthee scoffs as she relents to his hand on her cheek at looks back at him. She wraps her other arm around the front of his waist, giving him a tight squeeze from the side. "I'm glad that you are going to handle it sensibly. And how were you supposed to know something like this was going to happen?" She looks to where he jerks his head and seeing the firelizards perched there looks at him with a mischievous smirk on her lips, "Is that your place? Was this all a ploy to get me back to your room? Malosim, I'm shocked." she says, teasing him as she lays her head back down on his shoulder.

Malosim blinks at the tease, glancing back toward the door. "Uh…yeah, that's my place. But I wasn't meaning… I mean, you're welcome to come in and come by and all," since she knows where it is now, "but this wasn't…" Even knowing Xanthee is teasing can't stop him from trying to assure her of his intentions! Yet he clears his throat, grinning sheepishly as he lifts a hand to sift at her hair. He might even be blushing a little. "You really getting me tripping over myself, y'know that?"

"I know. I think it's adorable." Xanthee says as she raises onto the tip of her toes to plant a little kiss on the tip of his nose. "I think I'll wait until after our second date at least. Y'know, don't want people talking and all that." she says with a soft giggle to her voice. She disentangles herself from him gently and goes to sit down on a nearby bench. She pats the empty spot next to her invitingly.

Malosim laughs softly, his nose scrunching a little bit when Xanthee kisses it. "Whatever will make you most comfortable, Xan," he says, settling beside her on the bench and slipping his arm around her again. "I'm right there with you." His fingers brush the hilt of the knife on her belt, and he glances toward it. "Can I see that?" he asks. He's a Miner drawn to shiny things; he can't help but ask now that it's come to his attention twice.

Xanthee lets herself lean onto his frame as his arm encircles her. But then he gets distracted by her stiletto dagger and she smiles warmly at him, "I was wondering if you would ask, you being a professional and all that." She says as she leans a little bit to slip the long slender blade from it's sheath. The handle is silver with black diamonds and emeralds embedded in it. The blade is clean and obviously well taken care of. She hands it to him, hilt first. "I'd love to hear what you think."

Mal shrugs slightly, smirking. "I'd like to think I have a pretty good eye, but…I had a Master tell me once that you don't get to call yourself a professional until you've been at it twenty Turns or so." So he'll get there! No burnout in sight for this Miner. At first, he accepts the blade with his free hand, then uncurls his arm from around Xanthee as he takes a better grip on it for inspection. "Shells, this…this is beautiful work, Xan. Master-grade; this must've cost some serious marks." He will not, however, ask where those marks came from, not wanting to sound presumptuous. He brings the hilt closer to his nose, tilting the knife to examine the facets of the gems in the hilt. "Takes a lot of patient work to get diamonds cut like this."

Xanthee leans in real close and puts her chin on Mal's shoulder to watch him examine her blade. "Well I have a little confession to make." She pauses for the full dramatic effect. "I like to gamble. Not a whole lot, just a little flutter on Hatchings usually. Well, I placed two marks on my friend to impress gold at the last Southern Hatching, gave me 10 to 1 odds. And she did, so I was able to afford this little beauty." Spying his neck, so close and accessible, she kisses it gently, a light little trail of kisses as he examines the gem work. "You don't know how relived I am to hear I got my marks worth then. It's probably the nicest thing I own, emeralds and black diamonds are my favourite." Y'know, in case Mal needs to know that information.

Curiosity piqued by Xanthee's first, Malosim slides his gaze sideways for a moment to give her a querying look, a dark brow lifting in punctuation before he goes back to studying the knife. Her confession garners a grinning chuckle. "Well, we make a pair then. I like to toss a mark or two at things every now and then. Dragon poker, Pit fights…" Then her lips touch his neck and he draws in a soft, short breath, the contact bringing up a subtle prickling of goosebumps starting at his nape and spreading over his shoulders. "I bet it is," he murmurs distractedly, unable to focus on the knife anymore as that little line of kisses pulls his full attention to what she's doing instead. "Just…promise me you'll be careful, Xan." His eyelids flutter lower as his pulse picks up a touch, and he lifts his near hand to touch her cheek. "I don't want something to happen to you because someone sees it and decides they want it for themselves, y'know?"

"I already told you I know how to use it right?" Xan replies with mock exasperation as she pulls away slightly to look him in the eye, her hand goes to the knife to replace it in it's sheath. "I don't usually wear it on my belt anyway, I have a thigh sheath I use when I'm wearing something shorter with it." Looking in his eyes, a warm smile touches her lips. "You are really sweet to be worried about me, but I've had to learn to take care of myself, and I do a pretty good job of it." putting her hand on his jaw, she sighs lightly. "I'm not looking for a protector, I'm looking for a partner." she says with some seriousness creeping into her voice, her steady emerald gaze searching his face to see if that was the wrong thing to say.

Mal nods as he relinquishes the knife, visibly relieved to hear she normally has it somewhere invisible. He shifts on his seat to turn toward her a little more, unable to help his own smile from surfacing as she turns hers upon him. "I'm glad, because that's what I'm lookin' for too," he murmurs, his hand coming up to cover hers. "But isn't part of being partners watching each other's backs? I didn't mean to come off as too much, Xan, and I know you don't need me for anything; it's just that…I care about you, so it's kind of a reflex. I'll try to keep it in check." His smile grows into a roguishly tilted little grin as he slips his other arm back around her. "I didn't see 'fragile' when I first saw you. I saw fiery."

"You're not too much. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page is all." Xanthee replies as she cuddles in close and twines her fingers with his as she giggles a little at his last comment. "Fiery? I like that and I really care about you as well, when I'm with you my heart lifts and I feel like I could fly without a dragon even." With that, a little shadow crosses her features and she clears her throat. "So there's something else I wanted to talk to you about." Uh oh, serious Xan is back. "In the future, if asked, I'd like to stand again as a Candidate. Actually the Weyrlingmaster said I could probably stand for the clutch currently hardening, but I'm not ready again just yet. If I do, we can't have any kind of physical relationship during that time, and if I Impress it will be even longer. I know I can't ask you to wait for me, and I won't. But you have a right to know that this may happen. And I'd rather tell you sooner than later because then you can chose to pursue this or not with all the facts." Pausing for his reaction, she rubs her thumb gently on the outside of his hand.

Well, that is certainly a boost to Mal's ego! "Same here," he says, holding her as close as he can without losing sight of her eyes. "Though I'd probably word it a little differently…" He sobers along with Xanthee as she moves into serious territory again. Mention of her going back to Candidacy actually brings about a subtle arch of his brows and a nod of encouragement, though the prospect of potentially having to wait for long stretches of time brings a thoughtful cast to his features as he looks down to watch her thumb moving across the back of his hand. "If Candidacy is what you really what, Xan, then go for it with all you've got," he says, his smile faint but definite as his eyes meet hers again. "I'll be cheering you on the whole way. I mean, we'll cross that bridge when it comes, but we could write, get a minute to chat here and there, maybe…and see where things stand on the other side of it all. But the two main points are that I want you to go for it…and I do still want this, even looking ahead to when we'll have to wait." He lifts their twined fingers between them, touching a kiss to her knuckles. "Do you?" he asks, unable to keep the hopeful glint from warm brown eyes.

A warmth spreads over Xanthee as she hears what he has to say to her proclamation. "I do. I really do." She leans in to plant a deep kiss onto his lips when they lift from her knuckles. "I don't know know what I did to deserve you, but as long as we can be, I'm yours." Her declaration is made with a fierceness that flashes in her emerald eyes as she clasps his hand tighter to show her resolve. "It might not be for awhile anyway, so we have time to enjoy ourselves." Her eyes twinkle with mischief as she lets his imagination come up with what kind of enjoyment that might be.

Malosim has never had quite so black and white a day as this, but he'll definitely take it. The kiss Xanthee plies him with this time is five times more potent than what she'd been teasing his neck with earlier, compelling him to pull her tighter against him as he matches her depth in kind. It warms him through and leaves him quietly catching his breath when their lips part, his heart racing like a runner freed as he finds her eyes again. Her last earns a low, soft laugh, his head tilting subtly as he takes that mischievous twinkle in her eyes and runs with it. Very little prompting needed there! "I'm really looking forward to that next date now," he informs her. Not that he wasn't already, but with things more solidified, his anticipation is just that much greater. "I think I've got just the right spot for stargazing picked out."

"You do? I can't wait to see it." Xanthee replies with a happy sigh as she leans her head again against his shoulder. "So I have bared myself to you on my hopes and dreams. What about you? Anything I should know about?" She asks as she raises her free hand to the nape of his neck and gently plays with his hair there as she waits for him to answer.

Mal utters a soft hum of thought in the wake of Xanthee's question. "Well…I've got designs on getting to Master someday," he tells her. "Gotta get through a couple of journeyman ranks before that happens, of course. Long term goal. Short term…it's mostly keep exploring, keep seeing if there are new ways to do things. Though the longer I'm here, I'm thinking it might be interesting to Stand myself someday. Dragons are pretty incredible, and fighting Thread's a worthy thing, even if it's sharding dangerous." Broad shoulders shift in a subtle shrug. "Can't predict life, but I mean to make the most of it…" He sighs, then blinks as he realizes his eyelids are steadily coming together under that gentle bit of playing she's doing. "You might make me start purring if you're not careful."

"I think you'd make an amazing Master, or a Rider for that matter." Xanthee says with a smile as she is causing his eyes to close, so she continues and moves her fingers further into his hair, using them to pull him closer for a kiss so deep that she finds herself breathless when they pull apart. "But then I think you're amazing just as you are," she says with an affectionate look in his direction before pulling him close again and takes her time showing him just how amazing she thinks he is.

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