"Ugh." Roza dropped her helmet and slid down the wall to sit on the floor of her weyr.
Double ugh. Miurath, a beautiful full-grown gold, flopped down on her dragon couch.
I can�t flame, why should we have to go up there? The dragon closed her eyes and wished the lake wasn�t so far away.
Roza snickered. "As a weyrling you couldn�t wait to get in the air."
I didn�t realize it was so...messy... The gold dragon took one look at her hide and decided she�d better make the effort to get to the lake. She moaned as she stood up, her muscles aching.
Roza sighed, realizing that this meant she was going to have to get up too. "Can�t we bathe tomorrow?"
I have a better sense of smell than you do, and I�m not staying in the same room as you. The dragon wrinkled her nose and spread her wings, gliding gracefully down into the weyrbowl. Her golden wings caught and reflected the light, like a very dusty sunbeam.
"Hey." Roza muttered, not bothering to get up yet. "There�s more of you to smell than me."
"Knock knock." Mala opened the door to Roza�s weyr, knowing full well that the rider was probably not going to get up unless Miurath absolutely insisted or unless the Weyr caught fire. A familiar green flit sat on her shoulder.
Lilium chirped once, happy to see her true owner but stayed on Mala�s shoulder. The Asst. Headwoman smiled. "Are you sure you impressed her? She seems awfully friendly with...well...everyone."
"C�mere you little twit." The green obediently returned to her bonded�s shoulder. Roza smirked. "See?" Lilium wrinkled her nose and flew back to Mala. Roza rolled her eyes. "Not you too."
The other girl laughed and shook her head as she dumped the flit on the bed and returned to her duties. She watched all the flits while the riders were fighting Thread, but only Lilium refused to return to her rider on her own. "I think you�re getting a few subtle hints."
"Thanks." Roza groaned as she pulled herself to her feet and pulled a hand through her short black hair. She felt all the knots, the sweat and the ash. She grimanced.
"Oh." Mala popped her head back in. "By the way, that gypsy guy....Nik....he�ll be here in a little under a candlemark." She left before she could add anything else.
"What?" Roza cringed as she grabbed her soaps and towels and began running towards the lake. She was amazed that she�d discovered the energy to run after everything, but when you�re options are being seen by your boyfriend looking like death or making it to the baths on time, girls tend to find an unknown pool of strength and determination. Lilium chirped and flew behind her bonded, obviously finding this a lot more fun than hanging around the weyr.
Roza could hear her lifemate rumbling her amuzement. I told you three seven-days ago that Nik was coming today.
Roza glared in the general direction of the lake. "And a little reminder would have killed you?"
The gold snorted. He�d better love you dirty or clean or I�ll flame him.
"Love, you can�t flame." Roza stripped in record time and only cringed slightly as she plunged into the frigid water of the baths.
If he hurts you, believe me, I�ll find a way. Miurath was enjoying just soaking in the warmish waters of the lake. It was outside, in the sunlight, while the public baths were inside the weyr and therefore not heated.
Roza sighed as she tried desperately to scrub the stubborn dirt from her skin. "Besides, he�d love me dirty, I just don�t want to give him the chance."
Miurath�s eyes were whirling a startling shade of blue. People passing the lake wondered what she was thinking. You�d better hurry. He�s already here and talking to Magika.
"Magika�ll detain him. She always wants to hear about what�s going on and I�m sure Nik�ll give her something to think about. He came by runner didn�t he?" Roza leapt from the water and towelled off in record time.
Of course. The man has no other means of transportation. Miurath had come to accept that Roza had an interest in men, she�d even come to accept that Roza had an interest in Nik. That didn�t mean that she couldn�t constantly remind Roza that she should be looking for a dragonrider as a weyrmate.
Turncoat. Roza pulled a brush through her hair, bringing her a few steps closer to baldness, before pulling on a dress and heading back up to her room at a full sprint.
He�s left Magika and is heading for your room. Miurath wasn�t going to interfere, this was too much fun to watch.
Lil!! The green flit, named for a long-dead friend, had no problems with interfering. She caught Nik as he headed for the stairs and playfully nipped at his ears until he stopped to devote some attention to her and her alone.
Roza flung open the door to her weyr, through her dirty leathers and wet towel in her trunk and found Miurath, clean and only slightly wet sitting on the dragon couch with a mouthful of flowers. Roza smirked as she accepted the bouquet and left them on the table, the fragrance of the blooms outweighing the smell of the leathers.
When Nik entered the weyr, a playful Lillium on his shoulder, he smiled as he found Roza relaxing on a cushion reading over some sheet music, her dragon dozing in the dying light of the sun coming in through the entrance to the dragonledge as it slowly sank below the horizon. Her dress flowed around her, covering half the cushions. Her hair was raven black and glistened as if it�d been coated in a sheen of silver. "Gods Roza. You�re a vision."
He mistook the blush in her cheeks for embarrassment at his comment, not lack of air. She smiled. "Don�t exaggerate."
"I�m not." He leaned forwards and kissed her carefully, the scent of the flowers filling his nostrils. "Everyone else in this place looks like hell after fighting Thread and you still manage to look like an angel. It just seems so easy to be beautiful for you."
Roza was glad Nik couldn�t hear Miurath snickering. She kissed him back. "What can I say? It just comes naturally."
* * *
Roza impressed Miurath from Dark Moon Weyr.
Roza impressed Lilium from Dark Moon Weyr.
Background from Myrror Images.
