Slow dragon playing ((Orena))

[Kandarra]

After a day of cutting Tirzinth's food, bathing and oiling him, and lessons, J'dyn was pretty tired, but she wanted to try and spend some time alone with her dragon and best friend. She had invited Orena to come down to the lake when she was available, and there she and the stripey blue dragon waited. He was currently staring at the water. "Don't you want to get in?" Jeri asked, dipping a toe in herself to demonstrate.

Without bothering to reply, the blue waded in until the water was just below his shoulders. He sat in one place, staring out over the water. After a moment, he turned his head to his rider. Well? he asked. Jeri raised an eyebrow. He explained, Every time we get in the lake, it is for a bath.

Suddenly the bluerider understood, and she laughed. "Not this time. This time is for fun. You can do whatever you like." She rolled up her pant bottoms and waded a short way in. Tirzinth still did not move. She tilted her head. In answer to her unspoken question, the blue said, This is what I want to do.

J'dyn shook her head. Her dragon was stranger than she was, and that was saying something. She splashed about a bit as she waited for Orena, trailing her fingers along the top of her bonded's soft head and gazing into the clear sky.

[Marnark’tranarprol]

Her breath came fast and ragged, uneven at best. Her feet pounded along on the ground, hair flying in curly black curtains behind her. Jerodyn had invited her out to the lake for the afternoon, and Orena did not intend to pass that up! Not one instant! She'd hurried through her Candidate chores just as fast as she'd been able to manage... though at one point she'd been called back to redo something just as she was racing out. However ... not this time! She was gone in a flash! Even if she did completely fail to put things away. She was already late!!!

There! Finally! The lake!! Orena didn't slow down as she reached it. Instead she just ran straight into the water, kicking up a huge spray even as resistance forced her to a much slower pace. The first few strides looked kinda funny as she tried to leap over the water, but inevitably she was reduced to just wading. "Hi!!!" She greeted, breathlessly. Coming to a stop, she huffed, looking between Jerodyn and Tirzinth. At which point she promptly laughed. "Silly dragon!"

[Kandarra]

Orena's entrance was nothing new to Jeri, but it amused her, as it always did. Tirzinth was not so amused, especially at being called 'silly'. He puffed up indignantly, ready to give the candidate a lecture, and Jeri rested her hand on top of his head and silently told him to let it go.

But he wasn't about to. I am not silly. I am, quite logically, resting after a long day, and I do not take well to your comment.

Oh dear, thought Jeri, this isn't going as I'd hoped. To Tirzinth, she said, Be nice. She is my friend, and she is simply being playful, something you would do well to learn how to deal with. Out loud, she said, "Please don't mind him. You disrupted his quiet and he has not yet learned how to contain his irritation." She looked pointedly at her bonded.

With that over with, she beamed at her friend, and gave her a big hug. "I feel like I haven't seen you in sevendays!" she exclaimed, and she realized that she probably hadn't. Caring for a growing dragon was a wearying and time-consuming task that left little time for much except sleep. "How are you?"

[Marnark’tranarprol]

All the expression left Orena's face when the blue rebuked her so harshly, her face falling flatter than a chalking board. Finally, she blinked, not at all sure how to answer that. Never before had she ever encountered that kind of reaction to herself, shy of her own mother. Jeri said to not mind it, though, and she ended up blinking at her friend instead, still shocked. Getting hugged, however, snapped her out of it. Face splitting back into a big grin, she hugged the other girl right back.

"Me, too! But then, it might be because it has been several sevendays!! Gosh it's been forever! You are both looking good and looking like you aren't getting enough sleep!!" Orena praised and scolded, all in the same breath. Holding her friend out at arm's length, she studdied the other girl's face before reeling her in for a second hug. "Oh, I miss you. Those barracks are awfully empty now that you've moved out!"

[Kandarra]

Jeri grinned as she listened to Orena, who seemed unsure whether she approved or disapproved of their looks. But in the end, the bluerider received another hug. "I miss you too," said Jeri. "Though I wish you and I could trade places. The weyrling barracks are so crowded." She marveled at how many weyrlings they had. Her group was the youngest, and therefore had the last pick of bunks. She was right in the middle of a bunch of girls. She made a face.

Trailing a toe in the water and looking down to see the ripples, she said, "What have you been doing? What had you so out of breath on your arrival? I dare say that's the most winded I've ever seen you," she added with a grin.

[Marnark’tranarprol]

"Really? The Weyrling barracks are crowded? I had no idea! That's awful!! Is there any way you can maybe move? Tirzinth is still small, maybe they'll let you come back to the Candidate barracks, at least for a little while? No, that's not right. He'll get so big he won't get out again. Hmmm!" Orena stopped thinking out loud and started a more silent strain of thought. As fast as she talked, she probably thought faster. But it didn't help her come up with a solution - short of shanhaing someone out of a full weyr about a turn early. "That's awful." She eventually muttered, before looking at Jeri again.

Orena smiled a bit, watching as Jeri diddled her toes in the water. "What have I been doing? The same stuff you were doing before you impressed! Lessons, chores, more lessons, more chores, it's insane." Orena shrugged. "I was doing some chores, trying to finish up fast, and then hurry to get here ... it's a long run, you know! Sure gets the heart going, eh?" She laughed. "Why, do you like it? Should I do it more often?" Just to be silly, Orena started hyperventilating dramatically.