Less Flighty?

Writers: Curious, Miriah
Date Posted: 29th December 2021

Characters: K'aur, Orifa
Description: K'aur and Orifa have a bit of an out in the inner lake
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 5 of Turn 10

K'aur blinked sleep out of his eyes as he led Remiath down to the
winter lake. Although, between his slow plod and his dragonet's eager
footsteps, it was more like Remiath was the one leading /him/.

"Think you could slow down a bit?" The bedraggled weyrling asked.

}:Think you could speed up?:{ Remiath countered.

K'aur groaned. "I don't think I'll ever get used to waking up this
early," he muttered.

}:Don't worry, I'll make sure you do.:{

"Not looking forward to that."

"Good morning!" Orifa's voice was chipper as she saw K'aur enter into
the cavern of the winter lake. "Wow, you look sleepy. I've got some
klah? Do you want any? I even have some cream. Hi, Remiath!"

Lalorth turned to peers at the other dragonet and bobbed her head in
greeting as she waded through the water. }: Nice and warm, nice and
warm... :{

Remiath gave Orifa a bugle of greeting as his padded toward the lake.
Meanwhile, K'aur leaned against the cavern wall and groaned. "Don't
like klah," he grumbled. "What'd help... Is some more tine to sleep."

}:Lazy,:{ Remiath chided.

Then, to Lalorth, he said, }:Sounds like someone isn't interested in
expanding her vocabulary today.:{ He dipped the toes of his
front-right paw into the water as he spoke. Despite his teasing, it
was, indeed, nice and warm.

"I'm used to getting up early, " Orifa countered with a continued
smile. "It's a waste of time to just lay in bed all day! Come on,
sleepy head, we gotta get them bathed and oiled. I'll help you if
you help me. "

}: Who cares about vocabulinaries?:{ Lalorth waded close and promptly
splashed the other dragonet. }: Play!:{

K'aur offered Orifa a bleary blink. "With two dragons, won't we be
doing the same amount of work?" he grumbled. Even so, he shuffled over
toward his classmate.

Meanwhile, Remiath pulled away from Lalorth's splash with a squawk.
}:I do, obviously,:{ he huffed. }:But I get the sense that you aren't
the best company for in-depth discussion.:{ He leaned forward to
splash out at the green as he spoke. There, he was playing.

Lalorth hopped around Remiath, splashing and creating a general
fountain of water around both dragonets. }:Big words! Those are silly!
:{

Orifa giggled at Lalorth as she splashed about, then bent to pick up a
bucket to hand it to K'aur. "Well, sure, but it goes faster if we both
help each other, doesn't it? Like sharing work and stuff. We have to
work together for the rest of our lives, don't we? Maybe this is just
a good start."

}:_You're_ silly,:{ Remiarh grumbled. He eyed Lalorth for a moment,
allowing himself to be splashed, before crouching down and wiggling
his haunches, slowly crawling a few inches closer to the green.

K'aur accepted the bucket with a sigh." You have a real easy time
saying something as big as 'the rest of our lives'," he pointed out.
"You don't even know me. How can you know that we'll both stay at
Dragonsfall?"

Never mind that Dragonsfall was where he planned on making his
fortune. The point was that _she_ didn't know that.

}: Yes, I am! :{ Lalorth chirped happily. }: Mine tells me that a lot.
But it's okay. I like being me! :{ Happily splashing about in the
water, the little green didn't catch how Remiath was crouched, far too
pleased with the warmth of the water and the prospect of a good
scrubbing.

Pausing as she picked up some scrubbing sand, Orifa blinked slowly at
K'aur's question not answering it right away as she puzzled out her
own response. "I guess you're right. I might go to Barrier Lake to
live near my sister. But we'll _always_ be riders. We have to get used
to that, like getting up all early, and washing our dragons, and being
responsible."

"I'm already responsible," K'aur grumbled. "Don't see why I can't be
responsible and sleep in." He sluggishly moved to take a handful of
scrubbing sand, only to jump backward volley of loud splashing erupted
from the pool.

Unnoticed and unhindered, Remiath proceeded to pounce on Lalorth. He
took care not to put all of his weight on the smaller green and tried
not to scratch her, but bowling her into the water was certainly on
the menu. }: Well, silly greens should try to be more aware! :{ he
declared.

"/Must you/!?" K'aur exclaimed, dropping the scrubbing sand and
throwing his hands in the air.

}: Yes, I must. :{

Squawking in surprise at the pounce Lalorth tumbled over in the water,
tail over head, then came up sputtering, water streaming from her
nostrils. }: Not fair! I wasn't watching! :{

"Hey!" Orifa put aside the bucket quickly and waded as fast as she
could through the water, checking on her little green who was still
snorting out water from her nose. "You could have hurt her! She's
smaller than you and much more delicate! She only splashed _you_! She
didn't jump on you!"

}: You never said we had to play fair, :{ Remiath said, half-joking.
However, that near-jovial manner fell away when Orifa made her way
over. The brown took a step back, tail twitching in agitation as his
eyes started to whirl yellow.

Meanwhile, K'aur froze, entirely unsure of what to do. Part of him
wanted to jump in to defend his dragon, but the other part of him had
to admit that Orifa... Kind of had a point.

** Remiath? ** he inquired.

}: I was only playing, :{ he grumbled.

** I get that. Do you want me to-**

}: No. I should not have let myself be pulled into her antics in the
first place. :{

Remiath stalked to the other side of the pool and sat down so that
only his head peeked out of the water.

Lalorth looked up at Orifa plaintively. }: You chased him away. We
were playing. I'm not hurt. :{

**OH...I thought...** Orifa turned to K'aur and looked guilty. "I'm
sorry. She's okay. I guess 'cause she's so small, and he's much
bigger....I thought he hurt her. He didn't." She looked at Remiath.
"I'm sorry, Remiath. She's okay."

Remiath let out a low, grumbling sound, and did not move from his spot
across the cavern.

Meanwhile, K'aur shrugged. "He can handle a little scolding. But I
think I'm just going to wash him off and be on our way, if that's okay
with you." He grabbed some soapsand and a brush and began making his
way toward his dragon, only to pause and shoot Orifa a wary look after
a few steps. "I know you're a greenrider, but you may want to try and
be less... Flighty."

There was another series of rapid blinks as Orifa watched K'aur step
away. "Flighty? Lalorth can't even fly yet. She's got months until
then." She then shrugged and then bent to pick up her own bucket. "I'm
sure we'll be fine flyers by the time we graduate though."

K'aur groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "It means airhead,
Orifa. Silly. You know." He dropped his hand to squint at her. "Dumb."

Orifa stared at K'aur for a long moment before what he was saying sank
in. Her lower lip began to quiver and her wide eyes began to moisten
and glisten with tears. Lalorth squawked in alarm and hurried out of
the water, scrambling for Orifa with her little wings spread. Orifa
turned and hurried away, hiding her eyes with Lalorth trailing after
her, chattering a mental stream of comfort and confusion.

K'aur watched Orifa for a moment before heaving a heavy sigh.
"Faranth," he muttered to himself, ignoring the uncomfortable twinge
in his chest. "_Everyone_ calls the greens flighty. If she can't
handle that, she's in for a rough time."

With that, he turned his attention back to Remiath. It looked like
he'd be washing him alone after all.

Last updated on the February 10th 2022

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Less Flighty?