Rina is sitting at a table talking with other riders. She is grinning and snacking on some meat rolls. They are all joking around about 'proddy greens' and she just shakes her head. "Yeah, just pick on all of us greens. Not all of us go crazy whenever our Dragon rises."

B'neron strolls in, hands in his pockets, from the bowl. The weyrlord looks pretty relaxed, even as a short, stocky brownrider rushes up to him. "Tell H'pop I'll see him after lunch, then, bro. Stop stressin' out!" The nameless brownrider shakes his head in frustration as Bennie continues on. Well, you can't keep a rider from his food, can you? He heads towards the food table, already licking his lips "Oh hey.." he greets somewhat distractedly as he passes a table full of riders, including Rina.

Rina looks up as she notices B'neron walk into the cavern. Every time she's in the caverns, she always faces towards the entrances so she can see who comes and goes. She is always looking for a certain face...and finally sees him. "Hiya.. um Weyrleader B'neron. After you get some food, come sit with us!" She looks around at her fellow riders and scoots over to make him some room (in case he deigns to grace them all with his presence).

"Oh, Rina, Hi!" B'neron pauses halfway to reaching for a plate, to turn and wave brightly to the greenrider who called out to him. "Uh, yeah I'll siddown, hang on..." And now he seems in rather a rush to fill a plate with bread and cheeses and a few meatrolls. "Excuse me, squeeze over, sorry 'bout the crumbs..." he notes as he lopes over to slide into the space made vacant for him, plate pushed onto the tabletop. "Well, how's everyone?" The weyrlord says to the group of riders now he's sitting, at large, before he leans over to say in a low voice to Rina "Does everyone -always- have to use that title?"

Rina grins at B'neron, with her face flushing as well, but doesn't seem to notice. "We're all fine, sir." Then she smiles at him, "Well, you /are/ the Weyrleader afterall... it's a sign of respect. You could tell us not to use it, but you do want us to keep respect for you..." She reaches blindly down to her plate to get a meatroll - reaching because she doesnt' want to tear her eyes away from the man now sitting beside her. She finds a piece of meatroll with her fingertips and brings it to her mouth, only to find that it was a few crumbs. "Of course, it's up to you to tell people whether or not to use it in public ... or private." She turns away quickly to take a sip of her ale and hide her face flush again.

B'neron shrugs, and starts to tear his breadroll in half. He doesn't point out he's noticed the greenrider's blush, but says "Yeah well it's ok when people who didn't go through weyrlinghood with me call me that. But it always seems weird with you and Ali sayin' it, speshilly..." Cheese is tucked into the open breadroll now, and he smushes it closed with one quick smack. "So if it's up to me, Rins, puhlease stick to just Ben, or whatever it is you normally call me?" The weyrlord glances up now, to wink at the greenrider, before taking a big bight from his sandwich.

Rina chuckles, "Alright Bennie. I can understand that. I guess that would be weird if the tables were turned. But you /are/ who you are. It is kind of disrespectful for us not to call you by your title... that was drilled in to us during 'linghood!" She shakes her head at him then her smile brightens as she sees him wink at her. She takes a deep breath and sighs happily, completely oblivious now to the other riders at the table that are rolling their eyes at her. They all know about her feelings for the Bronzer...

B'neron chews away, oblivious too of the other riders. "Aw, um, anyway, Rins.." he mentions, as he swallows his mouthful "Wanna go for a walk later?" Wow, that sounded awkward, but the weyrlord covers up any misinterpretation by now saying loud enough for the rest of the table to hear "Because I really think we need to talk about that -thing- with the dragons and the stuff, ok?" Oh, congrats, great coverup. Ben lets his eyes sweep round the other riders faces then, a stern line set on his mouth as if daring any of them to say anything. "Puhlease?" back to grin at his greenriding friend.

Melantath> >> Rajalath is a shudder of light against the faint darkness of his mindvoice <<Ugh..Melantath can you please tell your rider to forgive mine? B'neron's been such a ....what does he call it?>> Pause, thought <<a -doofus- of late. I don't want you think I have anything to do with it. He won't take lessons!>> <<

Rina is sipping her drink and almost spurts it out all over the table when Ben asks her to take a walk... She gulps down her mouthful and looks up at him, her eyes twinkling. "Sure. I'd be happy to... talk to you about that stuff. I've been wanting to talk to you about that stuff too. Sure. I'm off duty for the rest of the day... So whenever you have time, Bennie." She hears snickering and kicks the rider behind her. Ok... so she's obvious. That's ok. She turns to glare at him to give the kick added effect. By that time, though, the glare from the Weyrleader has sobered her companions. She turns to Bennie again. "I'd be ready to leave as soon as I'm finished eating... unless you'd like to go now?" She finishes off her klah and the other half of a meatroll on her plate, demonstrating she is ready to leave whenever he is.

Melantath> Melantath's voice is amused <<Rajalath, my rider is a -doofus- as you say too. She never acts like this, unless your rider is near. I never thought it was you. I think they both need lessons... or something>> She whuffles in laughter, knowing they just need time alone to talk... or whatever.

Melantath> >> Rajalath lets the cigar smoke curl around his voice <<It's embarassing, my reputation will be ruined, my lovely green!>> <<

Melantath> Melantath returns her reply in a sultry voice >>Ah, dear Rajalath, your reputation can never be ruined in my eyes!<< Her eyes begin to swirl in amusement.

B'neron isn't halfway through his food but he nods nonetheless "Yeah, c'mon.." he agrees, grabbing his cheesey filled roll and swinging his legs out of the chair. "It's nice outside anyway, and Raj says he's found Mel out in the bowl." The weyrlord hangs back, waiting for the greenrider, taking quick bites of his lunch.

Rina sets her mug on top of her plate to signal the drudges that she's done... The turns she put in working in the kitchens as a cook still show up on occasion. She then turns in her seat and stands, following the weyrlord as nonchalantly as she can with as fast as her heart is pounding. She grins up at him, "I'm following you. Yes, I got the impression that Mel and Raj were talking." She again flushes, Mel is telling her how to catch Ben in draconic imagery.

B'neron nods "Okay then" he notes before scooting through the maze of long tables and chairs and heads out towards the bowl. In between bites and swallows of lunch, he keeps glancing back to see if Rina still follows "Raj's probably telling her all about his best method of killin' herdbeasts or somethin'." How very wrong a bronzerider can be.

Melantath> >> Rajalath lets the cigar smoke fade, and his mindvoice instead becomes thick, syrupy with honeyed shadow <<You are awfully sweet, Melantath...you should be careful, it could get you into trouble!>> Another pause, as he sniffs the air <<They are coming for a 'walk'.>> <<

Rina follows Ben's path nimbly. Every time she notices him look back, she smiles up at him. She realizes how much of a fool she is acting yet can't stop. "Yeah, and I'm sure Mel is telling stories of the kidlets we've found on our EMT runs. She's really proud of that." She wonders, though, if Mel's thoughts she's catching are flight-like, what must her thoughts towards Raj be? She shakes her head and smiles, noticing Ben looking back again. Absently, she smooths her hair as htey walk out into the Bowl.

Melantath turns her voice more flirtatious >> Ah, I'd let you catch me any day, Rajalath. I'd welcome your trouble!<< She turns her head towards the living caverns <<Yes, I see them. Shall we help them?>> There is a twinge of mischief in her voice.

"Yeah I heard all about that. They say you're one of the best, Rina.." B'neron admits, with almost a proud smile as he pauses just outside the entrance, eyes sweeping the area. "Is that them?" He points across the bowl towards the southern end, where he spies a bronze-stick dragon which others seem to be giving a rather wide berth. "Yeah it's Raj" The weyrlord glances down at the greenrider, as if asking whether they should walk that way. "Or yknow, we could head round the feeding grounds or something? I just wanted, fresh air, yeah.." He goes on, somewhat awkwardly. "And I kinda missed you, bein' so busy and all."

Melantath> >> Rajalath swells the shadows with thunder of pride <<I would outfly any other, Melantath. I have outflown every bronze that has tried to catch Eshaleth...>> Its not everyday you catch a queen you see. But his thunder dampens as thoughts turn to their riders <<I don't know if he can be helped..>> <<

Rina chuckles, "Aw, they say that? That was nice of 'em! I think they all just look out for Mel and me. Alot of the riders on the squad are older guys, and they treat me like their little sister or something..." She grins, feeling her face get warm again. How many times can a person blush in one night? "They're all nice guys." She says fondly of her squad. "They all think you are a great Weyrlord too!" She squints into the darkness of hte bowl. "Yeah, that's them. They always do seem to sidle up to one another... like they did as weyrlings." She looks around. "I know, how about the lake. It's always beautiful there? I've missed talking to you too, Ben." *flush*

Melantath dips her head towards Rajalath. <<You will have your chance to prove that, Rajalath.>> and she whuffles again, knowing that it won't be long... She, too, turns toward their riders and nods her head. <<Yes, she certainly needs help... maybe like this...>> and she manages to snake her tail around to try and trip Rina.

B'neron chuckles at the compliment "Well, yknow people gave me a hard time being young and weyrlord but they treat me pretty good now too- and I'm glad they are takin' care of you Rina, yknow like I said to J'ror,if he didn't look out for you he'd be on the worst sweeps forever.." The bronzerider starts to walk slowly then, in the direction Rina suggested. Now he's finished his roll at least and can shove his hands back into his pockets "It's kinda funny huh? I see you about all the time but I'm real sorry I've always been rushin' off to do this or that. But we kinda needed to catch up on some stuff, and Ali will punch me if I don't talk to you about some of it, Rins.." All very cryptic but at least he makes sense to himself! Rajalath just stays where is he, watching, eyes dark, shoulder leant towards Melantath.

Rina looks up at B'neron, with starry eyes. "I'm sure it must be difficult being a Weyrlord, especially with such a young dragon. The guys in my squad still call me a kidlet... though I don't know whether they're saying that about me or Mel... You actually said that to J'ror? I was wondering why he's been so attentive lately!" She laughs and follows Ben, walking alongside of him keeping up with his pace. When she hears that Ali and he have been talking, she gets nervous. Knowing that she shares all her secrets with Ali and that the other greenrider is much more... straightforward with things than she is... she feels her stomach fill with butterflies (or whatever Pern has like that... :D ) "Ali will punch you? What have you been doing to her... what kind of sweeps have you been putting her on?" She tries to lighten the mood... and fails. Melantath is keeping an eye on the pair of riders, interested in the outcome. She leans comfortably towards Rajalath as well.

B'neron smiles to himself while the greenrider chatters away, but when she seems suprised he stops and turns to face her. "Ah well, see, I gave Ali these light sweeps but it's not just her Rins." The bronzerider worries a hand around the nape of his neck "See, gees, how do I bring this up easily?" He takes a deep breath then says very quietly and very quickly "Everyone keeps telling me how much you adore me, Rina and how you care about me and I gotta say -somethin- don't I? But I don't know what to say!" He puffs his cheeks in exasperation and reaches out to pluck up one of the greenriders hands in his own, peering at her gingerly.

Rina worries at what Ali told him... "Oh, well it's good that she has light sweeps." She watches him and notices how nervous he is getting. As she hears him talk, she can feel the flush creeping up again. "People are telling you that?" And she thought she could count on her friends to keep quiet... so much for that. "Um, you don't need to say anything if you don't want to, Ben." She says, looking down. She is startled as he takes her hand and she looks back up at him hopefully. Knowing that he is the Weyrlord and has fond feelings for all of hte riders in the Weyr, she still hopes for more, though realizes that he 'belongs' to the Weyrlady and her lifemate. She tries to calm down her heart, which is threatening to pound out of her throat, she tries to tell herself that he is going to let her down gently and prepares for that...

B'neron pats the greenriders fingers, mouth pursing. "See, the thing is, Rins, is that Rajalath's kinda stuck on flying Eshaleth, defending our position. And that means when she rises and we catch I end up in -things- with Selia. But me and Selia would never be together properly, just Weyrlord and Weyrlady. I guess I mean, gosh.." He sucks in a long breath and lets it out slowly. "I should start again, hey?" A grin reaches his eyes as he checks that the greenrider is still paying attention. "Rina, you know I really care about you. Coz you've always been there and you make me feel good and you listen and you smell so good when you've just had a bath..." Oh what the hey, the bronzerider figures he'll cut his losses and he steps in close to the greenrider and leans down to kiss her.

Rina nervously tries to listen to what he is saying, but the pounding of her heart is too loud. She tries to concentrate and hears 'flying Eshaleth' and 'with Selia' and her heart drops. When she hears the snippet of 'never be together', she feels tears welling up in her eyes and wills herself not to cry. She decides that she'll keep her feelings to herself. She stares at him, still seeing the gorgeous face before her, the one she has adored since first meeting him in the candadates dorms. Suddenly, as she hears that he cares about her, her heartbeat speeds up again and she focuses back on what he is saying. As she listens, a grins spreads wide across her face as she realizes that he is just as nervous as she is. When he leans in to kiss her, she closes her eyes and kisses him back, her free hand reaching around to hug him as they kiss.

When B'neron breaks the kiss and leans back, he's the one who's now blushing. "Err, well...ahhh..." He manages to stammer, very self-consciously. "I have no clue where we go to from here" He admits, shaking his head in amusement "But shells, Rins, I should have done that so much sooner than now, sorry" And the tall rider ducks his head in meek apology. Rajalath rumbles darkly, as if he doesn't like this one bit. Or maybe he does. It's just a dark rumble.

Rina feels B'neron breaking off the kiss, and smiles. Her eyes are still closed but she is grinning widely. She opens her eyes slowly and pushes back a few strands of stray hair out of her face. Chuckling, she looks up at him "Me neither. I'm glad you did. I was so nervous about how you felt about me that I couldn't possibly tell you myself. I was too afraid that you'd not return the feelings..." She looks sheepish now. "It's ok, Ben. At least we both know now!" She reaches for his hand and entwines her fingers amidst his. Melantath can be heard in the background whuffling. She chuckles as she hears Mel telling her >It's about time!<

B'neron smiles too, with a rather pink tinge to his cheeks "I wish you had told me, Rina, coz I never knew until people really pointed it out to me.." The bronzer admits, squeezing her hand in his gently "I guess I didn't even know that I really cared about you till then either but it's kinda nice, innit?" He's giddy, and he chuckles and drapes an arm around her shoulder and pulls her in close. "I'll try really hard not to make you change your mind too, Rins."

Rina starts to laugh, "I guess I really should have said something... I was just too afraid... I've liked you since I met you in the candie dorms. Relationships wer n't allowed, but that's overwith now!" She snuggles up closer to him as he puts his arm around her. Looking back up at him, she smiles, "Yes, it is nice. I'm so happy, Bennie. I won't change my mind now." and puts her head on his shoulder.

B'neron plants a kiss on top of the greenrider's head since it's tucked in so neatly. "We don't have to go round telling everyone straight away tho, right Rina?" he asks "I don't thin k I'll like everyone askin' me questions when I'm just getting used to all this..." there's a real break in his sentence now. "Hang on, you liked me from candidacy?" The bronzer sounds suprised, at least, but he's grinning. "That's turns ago, shells!"

Rina smiles as she feels him kissing the top of her head. "No, we dont. Though I think that anyone that is a lifemate to any of these dragons here probably knows by now. I'm sure it's hard to have all the responsibilities.. Shards! What will Selia think... I mean, will she be mad at me?" She turns and grins up at him. "Yeah... I thought you were cute even then. I guess that's why I joked around with you so much! I knew that Kij... didn't like women as much, so he was safe to joke with. But I also used that time to try to get to know you better. Ask any of our weyrling mates... they all knew. Like we all knew about Kij liking Ma'rx." She chuckles at that thought. "He makes a perfect greenrider, you know."

You paged Alisha with: yeah, I know. I know quite a few people who have had it done and they all said they wish they had done it years ago! It also gets rid of the reflux problem that I have...l and that is difficult to live with! I didn't have a voice for about a year before I was diagnosed - at night my body was refluxing stomach acid and it was burnign my vocal chords! I love to sing, and it was ruining that. The doctor that is doing my surgery is one of hte best known guys around here ... that's all he does and he does it well.

"Selia won't care, Rina, as long as I keep doing my duties. She's got her own guy on her arm anyway.." Ben reassures her. "I still can't believe everyone knew but me, I must be a real rock-head" The bronzerider rolls his eyes at his own obliviousness "I didn't think much more than 'Oh there's Rina lookin good again', but that means..." He taps a finger on the end of her nose "That the guy you were tellin' me about liking was me! Duh!" No-one said he needed to be intelligent, yknow. "I wonder if Selia's still got her chest of wine, and she's not in her weyr, maybe I could sneak in.."

Rina grins up at Ben, "You sure she wont get mad at me? I don't want to be doing deep sweeps for weeks... Yeah, I guess I just didn't know how to tell you and was hoping someone would. Leave it to Alisha to threaten to pound it into you!" chuckling, she nods, "Yeah, I was hoping you would catch on when I said that. I thought maybe that you didn't like me after such an obvious lead in..." She shakes her head at herself. "Oh... wine? I've still got a skin of Benden in my room. I bought it at Fort, when I went in the EMT squad for hte spring games."

"In your weyr?" Suddenly B'neron feels kind of awkward about visiting the greenrider's weyr. "Yeah ok then, it's probably better than stealing the Weyrlady's own stash...and don't worry about her, I'll sort it out. Seli's really not all that bad, she's just got a lot of bark is all..." He likes everyone, doesn't he? The bronzerider unwinds his arm from around Rina now and slides back slightly "It's probably best to kinda go somewhere less...in public. They'll start talking!"

Rina flushes as she realizes what she said. "Um, I could go get it and bring it somewhere if you'd rather... maybe to the lake?" She doesn't want to sound like she's inviting him back to her room... "I'd never think of stealing hte Weyrlady's wine! Of course, when drinking it with they Weyrlord... that still sounds foreign. You the weyrlord. I mean, you do a great job and all, but we were candidates together!" She nods as he removes his arm from her shoulder. "So I can go get the wine, where should I meet you?" She asks, wondering where he'll suggest.

B'neron has disconnected.