Last Minute Decisions (Akki

[Marnark’tranarprol]

Sometimes, it took a quiet moment to think things through adequately. Sometimes, no amount of quiet moment was enough, things would always be confused and convoluted. Such as it was, the evening found R'anl and Geth down at the lake, trying to sort out recent events and what they were going to do about it.

Geth was sprawled out on the ground in a dissarray, much like a giant cat. Chin on the ground, all four legs splayed out in random directions and wings just dropped where they were, trail trailing off in a random snaking direction behind him. Between his earknobs sat R'anl, feet propped on eyeridges, elbow on knee and chin on fist, staring at the slowly lapping water that was the shoreline of the lake.

You think too much. The dragon decided, after listening to the rambling in R'anl's head for awhile.

The Weyrwoman was going to send dragons and weyrlings back in time, age them, train them, in an effort to get the Weyr ready. He had to admit, that despite it being a rather drastic move, it was well founded. How well researched and prepared for, he didn't know. Especially since it had only been brought up that day to the rest of the Weyr. Preparation of adequate measures was going to be hard, on such short notice.

R'anl was trying to decide whether or not he was going to participate in the event. It was logical to do so. Geth was big enough, strong enough, to move a lot of goods, a lot of weyrlings - even some of the older ones. He was a good bronze, if a little intimidating most of the time. The expedition needed all the hands it could get. After that, he mused, would he stay with it? After all that timing back and forth? Or come back and wait the week or two it would take for them to come back on their own?

The Weyrlings would need guarding, someone to make sure they were safe. They would need training, and the bronzepair could stand for some intensive training themselves. No one alive today had fought thread, after all. However, staying the whole expedition would add turns to the both of them. Only a few, but turns added up and could never be taken back. The pass would need them in their prime... even if they'd be ancient when the pass finished up. If they lived that long to begin with. Sobering thoughts the whole thing.

You need a distraction before you blow smoke out your ears. Geth prompted again, and apparently R'anl heard him this time. Straightening, he scrubbed at the dragon's ridges with the soles of his boot.

"Maybe so." R'anl conceded. He looked around at the area around them, then turned to look back at the Weyr. He really should be doing something useful... but what? Maybe he really did need a distraction. Something not related to the stresses of the moment.

[Akki]

Akki’s hand ran through her hair, pushing the blonde mess back as her brows furrowed slightly.

Timing it.

She wasn’t sure exactly what to think. It was necessary, she knew that much. But it held so many risks – they had already lost one pair to timing it, no one wanted to lose another. What choice did they have though? Thread was going to come, that much everyone knew. Saying their options were limited didn’t seem right for their options were practically non-existent. There weren’t enough full riders, the weyrlings wouldn’t be ready in time for Thread if Dark Moon simply waited.

Mark for your thoughts?

Akki looked up from her spot on her cot and stared at the blue. “Keep the mark. Maybe buy yourself some vocal chords, you mute.” She replied, a crooked grin playing on her lips. Ebbeth knew that Akki was worried about this and Akki knew her blue was also being consumed by almost the same thoughts. She tossed her legs over the side of the cot and stood up, stretching her hands over her head. “Let’s run away Ebs.”

The blue curled his tail around his rider and bent slightly, allowing the girl to climb onto his back before turning and launching himself out of their weyr. The flight didn’t last long, within minutes Ebbeth was spiraling towards the ground. He hit the ground with a ‘Thwump’ before shaking, knocking Akki off of his back and onto the ground.

She landed less gracefully, her butt hitting the ground. She glared at Ebbeth, her hair in her face from the fall, “Worst running away trip.” She roughly pushed back her hair and stood up, brushing dirt off from her clothes. Akki sighed and grinned at R’anl, who looked quite comfortable from his little perch on Geth, “We were running away.”

[Marnark’tranarprol]

R'anl blinked at the sudden insertion of a certain bluerider to his proximity. But he grinned at her, willing to admit he was happy to see her. "From what, if I might ask? Dustmice?" he teased. They certainly hadn't gone very far. He started to jump down and help her up, but she was too quick about getting up on her own. So, instead he offered her a hand up instead.

Geth cracked one eye to look at Akki, and then at Ebbeth. The bronze grunted merely, before closing the eye again. He didn't mind having R'anl up on his head, and adding another person wasn't liable to change that much. It wasn't like there wasn't plenty of room, after all.

"Did you remember to pack your socks before you decided to up and run away?" R'anl teased, before another thought crossed his mind; if he decided to venture back with the expedition, and stay with them ... he was gonna miss talking to Akki. She was just something else.

[Akki]

Akki tossed a quick grin at R’anl, “Tunnelsnakes actually. Vicious critters, I think they’re trying to enter my weyr. Nasty things.” She wrapped her fingers around the man’s hand, lifting herself on top of the bronze. Immediately, she noticed that being on top of a bronze was much different then being on a blue. The size difference was hard to ignore.

Ebbeth shuffled around for a moment before laying on the ground, wings sticking out slightly as his hide began to warm from Rukbat’s rays. He had no problem with his rider being perched upon another dragon. Ha! Poor dragon, they clearly had no idea what Akki was like if they were letting her climb up on them. The bluerider was worse than Rhia’s little twins.

The girl shrugged casually. “I figured socks were something I could just pick up on the way, you know? Aren’t there, like, sock bushes or sock trees out there?” She stretched her arms above her head and stared out at the lake. Things within Dark Moon were constantly changing, but it seemed that the lake was capable of staying the same. She liked that. There was something nice about knowing you could come out to the lake and rely on it on being there - exactly the same as you last saw it. If anyone ever messed with her lake, she’d cut them. She glanced over at R’anl and eyed the man for a few seconds.

“Were you running away too? Is that why you’re out here?” Akki drummed her fingers against the bronze hide. If two people ran away on the same night, wouldn't that get rumors started? "I wonder if people would think we were lovers, running away."

[Marnark’tranarprol]

R'anl laughed as he pulled Akki up, and nodded. "You think they're trying to enter your space, so you up and randomly bail out like your dragon's tail is on fire? Okayyyyyyy." he grinned, clearly amused by the whole concept. But that was a big part of why he liked Akki ... there was no telling what was going to fall out of her mouth next! It was just hilarious, amusing, and never ever boring. Seeing her stand on top of Geth's head was also quite interesting to see. Not very many people had the gall to get anywhere near the bronze. Mostly because where he'd come from it was pretty well known that Geth was a tad on the aggressive side for a dragon. And ... well... he was bronze. Akki, however, true to form, had no scruples about doing some of the darndest things. And shells to what anyone else thought! He liked that. "Sit?" He offered, moving over to sit closer to one ear knob than the other, offering room for her to sit, too. The nice thing of a bronze's head? There was looooots of room.

Geth, for his part, just blinked as the woman was lifted past his eye, and then settled for closing both eyes again once she was up. He really didn't care that he had people on his head. Since it was already on the ground, he wasn't even really having to hold them up. The very nature of his skull being solid bone held them up, transferring the weight straight into the ground beneath his head. And hey ... having boots scrubbing around up there wasn't the best scratching in the world, but it was a far cry better than nothing!

"I can't say as I've seen any of those, but if you find one, you let me know okay?" R'anl answered. "Would make it so much easier to get mates for all the single socks I have laying around, you know." he mused, with a nod.

"Me? Running away? No, I don't think I was. Just thinking. But ... hey. I don't have a problem with that theory." He answered, quite sober-sounding. Though his face betrayed otherwise, grinning with a twinkle. And it was true ... he really wouldn't mind! Not so long as it was Akki, anyway. She was quite an interesting girl... and very pretty to boot!

[Akki]

There really hadn’t been a reason to run away but wasn’t it nice to get out of the Weyr for a bit? Sure, they had only made it to the lake but at least they were outside. Of course, she wouldn’t admit to the fact that they just wanted to run. Akki pursed her lips slightly, “Have you ever woken up and rummaged around for a shirt to wear and pop! Out comes a tunnelsnake that was using said shirt as a home.” Her fingers tugged at the hem of her shirt as she spoke, “It’s a very startling experience.”

She shifted carefully, bending her knees slowly as she sat down on top of the bronze. Oh yes, much different than a blue. “Sorry Geth. If, you know, my weight accidentally crushes your skull or anything.” She grimaced, tossing a wink to R’anl. Akki glanced at Ebbeth and had to wonder if the blue would allow people to climb up on him. He probably would, but he’d also probably slip into the lake with them on his back.

“What if the socks ran away because their significant other was a jerk? You can’t go around setting people up with jerks, R’anl. Hasn’t anyone taught you how to be a proper matchmaker?” Like she could talk. She was trying to play matchmaker with her brother and Hasima but it was very difficult. V’ian was too dimwitted for any girl and Hasima was too quiet. It was all very confusing. But she certainly couldn’t leave them to make their own decisions. How silly!

“Yeah, you don’t?” She eyed the man before sticking out her pinky, “Promise to run away with me one day then. We’ll see what rumors we can kick up.”

[Marnark’tranarprol]

"Have I?" R'anl asked, thoughtfully. After a moment, he had to shake his head a bit. "No, I can't say as I have. But then ... I've found them in other, equally unpleasant places." He admitted. R'anl really had no problems understanding why someone would detest tunnelsnakes. They were the bane of any living space. It had been the concept of running from a theory of a concept of them maybe being there ... it was so convoluted it was amusing to say the least. Of course, watching her tug on her shirt was almost as entertaining.

Geth made a sound of an exhalation that sounded a lot like a dismissal of a "mmmurph" sound. In dragon-scale. A little bit of dust was kicked up, but that was all. The beast didn't move otherwise, eyes still closed tight shut. Yours is a very strange creature. he mentioned, though, to Ebbeth. But of course, the blue was more than likely to already know these things.

Akki's theory on socks had R'anl pausing in thought again. She really was so very good at coming up with such bizarre ideas that really honestly never occurred to him. "You know ... I never thought of it that way. So what should I do then? Host a sock ball?" He asked, grinning just a bit as he looked over at her. "I am afraid it might be a rather dull event." After all, he'd never seen a sock get up and ask another sock to dance! "I ... also never tried to be a matchmaker. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. That I was aware of." He confessed. "At any rate, no one ever tried to teach me such things, no. Are you going to?" R'anl asked.

"I don't." He reinforced, before blinking at the pinkie pointed in his direction. At first he was not at all sure what it was for. But then he grinned and reached over to take her pinky. "Alright. I promise!" This was either entirely too easy, or he had no idea what he was getting himself in for!! He also wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know. "Where are we running to, then?" He asked.

[Akki]

“Equally unpleasant places?” Akki repeated, biting down on her lips before a loud snort slipped out of her mouth. “That sounds really kinky and disturbing.” She laughed, not even trying to cover it this time. At this point of her life, the bluerider had not found a tunnelsnake lurking about in her weyr. But she knew that Dark Moon was starting to get some sort of mini infestation of them so it was probably only a matter of time. She would have to start checking her clothing closely before putting it on from now on.

Really? The blue asked, sounding genuinely surprised. I thought she was normal and Yours was the strange one. Are you sure you don’t have it mixed up? He sniffed, acting as if Geth was clearly mistaken. Ebbeth had learned almost immediately that his rider was not going to be the relaxed, sit down and read type. Which actually worked out pretty well – Ebbeth wasn’t the kind to lay around all day. He needed some sort of adventure in his life and Akki was always there to provide it.

Akki snapped her fingers, “You need to start off slow. Introduce the socks, let them bond over some klah or something. No one likes to be rushed, you know. Come on R’anl, this is common sense.” Then again, a sock ball did sound rather interesting. Agh, no. She took that back. The images of socks coming to life and waltzing around was actually rather frightening. She was going to keep her socks away from each other to prevent any sock canoodling from happening.

“What if we do matchmaking together? Two heads are better than one, or something.”

She nodded along as she bobbed their hands up and down for a moment before unhooking her pinky from his. “Do we need to have a plan? I don’t think runaways have a plan. I thought they winged it.”

[Marnark’tranarprol]

"Kinky and disturbing?" R'anl asked, not entirely sure that he liked that pairing. Did that mean Akki found things that were disturbing kinky? If that was the case, they wouldn't be disturbing to her. Or ... something like that. Meaning they weren't kinky anymore? After a moment of that, he shook his head and could only shrug. Trying to think through that one was giving him a headache. And another headache was just what he didn't need right now.

Pretty sure. I already knew mine was strange. Yours is weird in a different way. Geth answered. But even still the big dragon didn't move, blinking lazily at the lake that glinted at him in little spots of light from the ripples. For the moment, there was time to be still. Later, it would be a time of action. Either in following the Weyrling mission, or in preparing for imminent threadfall. One or the other. So he was going to take the moment for all it was worth.

"Start off slow. Gotcha." R'anl said in all seriousness, nodding slowly as if he were actually noting all this fascinating information down. "Common sense isn't all that common you know. And if I was good at this sort of thing I mind have a piece of arm candy yet myself. But I don't, now do I?" He pointed out. "Wait, what? Matchmaking together? Uhhhhhh .... I'm not so sure that's a good idea, actually. I ... am not terribly good at these things. As noted by my socks, remember?" He pointed out. Hopefully, by the First egg, she wasn't actually serious about trying to hook people up! That looked like a disaster waiting to happen!

"Runaways? Only foolish runaways don't have a plan. I think ... anyway, it's smart to have a plan. Know where you're running to, where you're running from, have a loaf of bread in the back pocket ... maybe. You know? Things like that. A few other things tacked on for good measure..." R'anl shrugged, propping elbows on knees and letting his hands dangle in between limply as he grinned at her. "But winging it can be fun I suppose."

[Akki]

“No way it could go wrong!” Akki loudly protested, fingers drumming on her knees as she stared at R’anl with wide eyes. “Combine my ability to talk people into things they don’t want to do and your good looks, we will convince everyone to match up with a person of our choosing! People would thank us; shower us with gifts and such.” She rambled, nodding slightly as she imagined it.

Or, at least, tried too. She’d never been showered with gifts before.

Who would be matched up with who? The Weyr was filled with tension and stress at the moment, people needed to take a break. Maybe setting people up with one and another was the sort of stress reliever everyone needed. Hmm, you couldn’t really play matchmaker with weyrlings or candidates but there were riders and weyrfolk wandering around. Give her a little time and she would have it all figured out. Or she would pretend to have it figured out – whichever one was easiest.

She cocked an eyebrow and stared at R’anl for a few moments, “You sure know a lot about running away, boy. Are you trying to hint at your past or something?” Ooh, she could see it now. A young R’anl, battling a harsh rainstorm as he ran away from some strict hold – desperate to escape from their clutches. Or maybe the man was smart enough to realize that running away with no sort of plan was just a terrible idea all together.

She stretched her arms out in front of her, her shoulder cracking slightly at the action. “Sometimes, things are just more fun when you wing it. I think this is one of them.” Akki turned and punched the bronzerider lightly on his arm, “Take a chance!”

Ebbeth watched the two riders and listened to their conversation before letting his eyes shut. You’re right. She is weird.

[Marnark’tranarprol]

R'anl laughed. "My good looks, huh?" he asked, thinking that really meant something - what with coming out of someone as stunning as Akki was. "I can't really ask you if you got that backward, since I'm not any good at talking people into stuff... I am usually pretty good at talking them out of stuff though." He shrugged, and grinned at her again. "I can think of all sorts of ways it could go wrong, but if it does I'll blame it on you!" He teased.

"What sorts of gifts would be you wanting anyway?" R'anl asked, quite amused. It was sort of hard to imagine what Akki could possibly be lacking ... other than matching pairs of socks.

But the jab about running away made him grimace a bit. Straightening in his seat, he sortof scratched one ear thoughtfully. "Well ... I sorta ran here, now didn't I?" He mused. And for good reasons, too ... ones he wasn't particularly enthused about getting into. Even if they were nothing horribly dire or secret. He just ... hadn't been happy there. Getting punched in the shoulder though got his attention. Blinking, he looked at her again somewhat confused before understanding what it was for.

"Take a chance, huh? Alright. I can do that." R'anl grinned and shrugged. "Always game for trying something new." Just so long as it wasn't something that grated against the morals, that is. But he was pretty sure Akki wasn't the type to intentionally do any harm, whether she managed it by accident or not.

Told you so. Geth answered, smugly.