Guess My Age

Participants:

Lenia.jpg P'sec.jpg

Date: 10 July 2011
Location: Feeding Pens, Eastern Weyr
Synopsis: Night in the pens. Lenia and P'sec discuss hunting grounds with Orralth makes a kill, then turn to the more dangerous subject of how old P'sec is.
Rating: PG
Logger: P'sec

The one area of the Bowl that is cultivated for the growth of grass, it is eerily empty now as the seed planted in the fertile ashy soil takes root. For now, the beasts must be grazed outside the weyr. When the growth takes root, it will be an impressive field able to sustain the Weyr's herd without trouble. To the north, the sounds of the weyrling barracks can be heard, but they're far enough away so as not to disturb the - currently absent - residents.


The sky is dark, so Lenia is out doing what she loves most: cataloguing the night sky. She lays back on Orralth's back in a very familiar pose. Or at least for a short period of time before Orralth dumps her on the ground. « Lee, I'm hungry. » Lenia sits up and rubs her back slowly, having landed on a rock. « Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you! Are you going to be okay? » This looks like a pretty common scene. "I'll be fine. Well, you can't eat the 'beasts here. This is for the 'lings and the queens." She frowns. "Or injured dragons. Is your claw still sore? We could make an excuse…" She considers whether it's enough of an injury to break the standing rule.

Abydoth is quiet and dark with little light to catch the metallic sheen on his hide. It's his action that gives him away, skimming over the pens for the sheer pleasure of exciting panic among the herds. It's this sudden thudding of hooves that announces him as he glides in and touches down on the other side of the fence near Orralth. For tonight, the beasts are safe - from him, at least. P'sec is amused by his bronze's wicked humour but keeps it between them, hailing Lenia as he leans against the neckridge in front of him. "Evening."

Even though something spooks the herd, Lenia doesn't stand up from her close inspection of her dragon's claw. She's still seated, just scooted over to look. So, when P'sec speaks, Lenia jumps, whacking her head on Orralth's 'chin'. "Ouch!" She looks up, and blinks at the bronze rider. "P'sec." She nods respectfully, winning the battle to avoid tacking the 'sir' at the end of it. "It's more like the middle of the night. Well, at least astronomically. When there's so little ambient light like this, it's perfect for looking … " Orralth lowers his head down onto hers softly, shutting her up. Right. "What are you and Abydoth up to tonight?"

"Alright?" The man queries after the ouch, still at his perch without clear indication that he'll descend to Lenia's level. 'Ambient?' P'sec mouths the unfamiliar word but refrains from repeating it. He shrugs, then realises that the gesture is likely lost in the dark. "We couldn't sleep." So, like a pair of boys just out of weyrlinghood, decided to buzz the feeding pens. "How's Orralth? His, uh. Foot, wasn't it?"

"Oh, I'm fine." She brushes off the injury to herself easily. Lenia moves from her place in front of the blue to the space between the two dragons. She leans back on her own lifemate, looking up to where the man is standing. "I don't know. He says he's fine, but … " She's not sure how it is between the other pair, so she doesn't elaborate beyond that. "I was just wondeirng if he could Between yet, and if he would rather do that than us breaking the rule about the pens. But if he's still injured, and can't Between, then he should eat a 'beast here. Right?" Did P'sec follow that convoluted logic? Lenia doesn't seem to notice that it's that convoluted. "Thanks for asking about us, by the way."

"I won't tell." P'sec's got Abydoth's neckridge in a loose hug, relaxed and easy. "Sounds like a decent excuse to me." He followed more or less; it's a good deal clearer than talk of the stars. "Oh - of course. You're welcome." P'sec sounds slightly baffled at the thank you. "Why wouldn't we?"

Lenia flushes a little and shrugs. "I dunno." She moves along Orralth's side and swats him on the rump. "Go ahead and get one, Orrie. I don't feel right with you Betweening yet." She grins, glad to have an excuse to let him eat well tonight. "Just one, though. We'll go out and get one tomorrow or the next day if you're still hungry." There. Compromise between his hunger and her worry. It works. Orralth whuffs his agreement and takes off, circling for a while first.

Abydoth turns his head to watch his dragon counterpart head for the kill, interest quickening in his eyes. "Do you have to have it re-checked before you between again?" With Orralth gone, P'sec thinks it more polite to dismount and slides down to Lenia's level. "What's the best place to take them to hunt?" P'sec's full of questions tonight.

"Probably, normally, but he gets cuts and scrapes so often on his claws that Randi's basically given me the criteria." Lenia sounds sheepish at that. It's not a thing to be proud of for your dragon to get hurt so often that you're on good terms with the dragonhealer. She doesn't mind the questions, and moves back toward the fence a little, mostly to stay out of the way in case the hungry blue rushes all the animals her way. She's already gonna have a couple new bruises from his exuberance. "That varies, really. It depends on who you talk to. There's a plain right outside the Weyr that's pretty good, and then there's a spot near the foot of that mountain — on the outside — that's nice, according to some…" She frowns, running her hand through her hair. "That one's our favorite, I think." She tries to remember a couple others. "I know there's a lot more, but I can't think of them right away. Try those two, and if they don't work, we can find the others."

"Alright, thanks." P'sec looks towards his dragon's head as he falls into silent communication with the small, compact bronze. "We tried the plains," he says after a pause, looking back towards Lenia, "but he wants to go farther. Tomorrow or the next day, maybe. Depending on when the next Fall is - he doesn't want to be full for it."

Lenia understands that completely. "Yeah. It's kind of a weird balance, isn't it?" She doesn't elaborate more, just because she thinks he can understand what she's saying. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she asks, "did he not like the plains, or just wanted more space?"

P'sec nods agreement before voicing it, terse without being unfriendly. "Yeah." He uses Abydoth as a backrest, and the bronze obliges him by not shifting away. Amusing as it might be to see P'sec fall on his bum. "He likes to fly - we both do. I think it felt too easy. Over too soon. You know?"

Lenia snickers at P'sec's words. "Yeah. I do." She reaches up to fiddle with her knot, twisting the strands in her hands. "If you're looking for a challenge, there's a spot over …" She tries to remember exactly where it is. "Hang on…" She frowns. "I can't remember exactly where. Orrie will, though. He's good at remembering places." She's better at remembering the stars in those places. She winces as Orralth swoops and snags a beast. "Ugh. I hate that part. Have since we Impressed." She grins. "But it gets him food."

"We'll wait," P'sec says, or rather Abydoth makes it clear to both him and Orralth that he won't be budging until he knows the precise location of the spot Lenia's mentioned, impressing the intent upon both human and dragon heavy-handedly. The rider's used to it and, knowing when to pick his battles, looks out at the pens. "Still?" he wonders before casting a look at Lenia to try and judge her age. "How long's it been since you Impressed?"

Lenia has to count on her fingers. "Um, about five Turns. So, not that long. But it's cuz he's very intent on his food." She grins. "I'm not grossed out by his eating, but by his comments about it. He does it just to rile me up, I think." So, it's not basic Weyrling stuff. More the blue dragon yanking her chain. As if to prove her point, Orralth drags the carcass closer and starts eating messily. "I think he's forgotten how much it affected me. And it doesn't affect me as much as it used to." She thinks for another long minute and then grins widely. "You know how if he's flying straight and then drops really quickly, your stomach'll fall? You know he's not gonna drop you or anything, but it still feels weird. It's kind of like that." Maybe. She shakes her head at her messy blue, and chuckles fondly.

A tug-of-war between dragon and bond - that P'sec can understand, and it earns his quick grin. "I like the falls," he has to admit. "Keeps it new. Fresh." Which is treat after the unidentified number of Turns that he's been with Abydoth; he's not offering a number.

Inquiring minds want to know, though. "How long have you two been a pair, anway?" Lenia asks, feeling like the question is a fair one since she answered his. As to keeping it fresh, she grins widely. "I know! You never know what he's gonna do. It's like…" She can't think of an accurate comparison, but just shrugs. "It's a lot of fun, most of the time." Except when it's sheer terror.

"Yeah," the bronzerider agrees, but there's something complicated behind what should be straightforward consensus. He puts it away from him, taking Lenia's previous question as willing distraction. "Awhile," says P'sec, deliberately vague. He hides his amusement behind an unsmiling expression. "How long do you think we've been together?" Careful - there's a right answer and a wrong one.

A-aand Lenia's screwed. She's brutally honest, and oblivious to social niceties. And Orralth — her guide in such things — is busy eating, slurping up entrails with a happy warble. "About twenty turns, give or take." She responds before really couching the words, or considering their impact. "How far off am I?" She looks up, curious with the scientist's insatiable need to know.

P'sec gives little away at first, drawing out the suspense or just doing his best to capitalise on what could easily be an awkward situation. Inside, he's sharing a laugh with Abydoth, but the only indication of that is the bronze's low rumble, the purr of far-off thunder, and that could mean anything really. "Close —ish." She's off by ten Turns, but he certainly doesn't tell her that. "I Impressed young." He gives her that much.

"Aw, c'mon." Lenia nearly whines. "So, I was on the young side?" She gazes at Abydoth. "It's hard to tell how old a full-grown dragon is. It's easier to figure out their age through their riders, usually, since there's a common range of when people Impress. So, if you Impressed young…" She looks at him intently, gaze lingering for a while on his silver hair, sharp features and then seeming to inspect his overall health. She's horrible at this part, too, but she's enjoying the banter. "Was I off by five Turns? Ten?" She won't voice more than that, finally realizing that it might be offensive to be called older than he really is. Orralth has finished his entrails and is working on stripping the meat from the bones, and he's whuffing his laughter, amused at the trap his mate has caught herself in.

P'sec's enjoying it too, but he certainly isn't about to admit that. He represses his smile for Lenia's whine and makes himself stern - or he would, were it not for the droll tone slipping through. "You really think I'll tell? That's cheating." He folds his arms over his chest as if to make a point.

Lenia finally finds her wisdom, somewhere. "Five Turns." She grins, the full smile that reaches all the way up to her eyes. "So..o, twenty-five Turns." It's twenty more than her. But she Impressed much later. "I didn't Impress young, by the way." As if it matters. Orralth is nearly done with the herdbeast, and is crunching on bones now. He's still extremely amused, letting out the occasional whuff.

"Twenty-five," P'sec confirms, the liar. His hands drop as he no longer affects a forbidding pose, thumbs hooking into his belt instead. He gives Lenia an assessing look for her later comment and doesn't manage to bite back his immediate, wry response. "Careful, go round telling older riders that and they'll think it's a come-on." For this particular rider's part, though, he sounds like he's just teasing, without insinuation behind it.

Flustered Lenia is Flustered. "Oh. Ahh, um…" Her face reddens, and she lowers her gaze, the grin not fading too much. She crosses her arms across her body in a protective-type gesture. "Um…" She repeats, causing Orralth to 'laugh' even more loudly. This just makes things a little more crazy, of course. "Stop." It's directed over to her blue, since she's really not sure about what to say to the rider.

P'sec can't keep it up forever, and a quick joke is different than prolonged embarrassment. "Relax," he drawls to Lenia. "Just kidding." He spares her before he flusters her further, putting his hand to Abydoth's bent leg; the bronzerider hasn't bothered with straps for such a short night flight. "Enjoy your evening."

Lenia is still trying to gather her wits about her, and when the bronze rider starts to take off, she waves to him, silently holding up her hand, then offering a feeble, "Night." She moves toward Orralth, her cheeks still burning with embarrassment.



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