That's No Way to Greet a Lady

Writers: Heather, Leigh M-F.
Date Posted: 17th March 2015

Characters: Saibra, A'kua
Description: A chance meeting turns out surprisingly well, despite how it starts.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 21 of Turn 7
Notes: Yanley, J'ackt, Ninaine, Nokala, Ilyssia, Jessmyr

Saibra

It was not a nice day. Partly cloudy, chances of rain, and low
temperatures. Aluka was very thankful for warm clothing and his
mother's shawl. He had the faded blue accessory wrapped around his
ears again, and the rest of him was hunkered down in his coat, gloved
hands deep in his pockets as he walked toward the winter cavern, where
he was once again supposed to report for dragon-wash duty.

A few paces ahead was a stately-looking woman who was similarly
bundled up. The clothing did nothing to hide how lovely her rear view
was, though. Aluka's eyes strayed without his permission to her
backside and legs and the smooth motion of her hips, and the dark hair
that was just long enough to get his attention. **If I could see a
view this pleasin' every time I have to go wash a dragon, I might not
be so grumpy about it,** he found himself thinking, and was glad the
wind chill would be a good excuse for the red cheeks that followed the
thought.

**Blast this cold weather.** Saibra grumbled as she hurried at long at
a fast clip through the Weyrbowl. There was no snow, thankfully, but
the temperature still hovered just beneath the freezing mark. After
living at Dragonsfall for a few months now, the Weyrwoman's wardrobe
had changed drastically- gone were the silks and flimsy cotton dresses
she had worn before and in their place were thickly knit sweaters,
furlined coats, and fleece lined breeches.

Today the Weyrwoman's breecehs were tucked down into a pair of knee
high boots that were laced tight and the tail end of her azul sweater
peeked out from beneath her riding jacket, that she had clutched about
her with her arms crossed over her chest. With each sharp exhale puffs
of steam wafted into the moist, drizzly air. **A hot cup of klah will
be perfect.** She thought as she reached up and readjusted the scarf
around her neck.

**Maybe some klah and then -- **

Saibra's thoughts were abruptly cut off when her right foot hit a
slick patch of ice on the ground. She fought to regain balance by
digging her left boot heel in, but that too quickly shot out from
under her. Even though it felt like an eternity of struggling to
remain upright, in reality, one second the Weyrwoman was walking, and
the next second she was flailing about and heading toward the ground
at an alarming rate.

Suddenly the woman lost her balance, tried to correct herself, and
started toppling right toward him. Unprepared for this, Aluka only had
time to yelp a "Whoa!" and brace himself as she collided with his
chest. The impact made him stagger as his arms automatically went
around the woman, but thankfully he had no icy patches to deal with,
so he was able to keep himself and his unexpected guest off the
ground.

And then he realized where his hands had inadvertently landed. The
Candidate immediately turned redder than his hair and tried to adjust
his hold without dropping the poor lady. "I am SO sorry!"

It was fortunate for Saibra that she didn't possess a shy bone in her
body since one of the Candidate's hands ended up with a handful of
breast, while the other ended up near the rounded curve of her hip and
buttock. He was getting two handfuls of pure woman! Saibra was just
happy that she hadn't ended up on the hard ground.

"No, no, my apologies. I wasn't paying attention to my footing."
Saibra assured the redhead as she fully righted herself, now back on
ground that wasn't iced over. She recognized the boy and it took only
a moment for his name to come to her mind, "Thank you Aluka, you just
saved the Weyrwoman from face planting." A grin accompanied her words.

>From behind, she was lovely. Facing him, she was every bit as
beautiful as Lady Yanley, and they were both drop-dead gorgeous.
Aluka's jaw dropped, then snapped shut as her words registered. The
blood immediately drained from his face, leaving him pale as milk.
"Weyrwoman?" he asked faintly. He had just groped the Weyrwoman?!
Bugger. Damn! Fardles! He was either extremely lucky or about to get
slapped so hard it would fell him like a dead, rotting tree.

Saibra watched as shock and awe registered on the young man's face. It
still humbled the brunette at times when she met someone that was so
moved over meeting "the Weyrwoman." A very sneaky thought slipped
through Saibra's mind-- **This isn't the first time a Candidate's had
his hands on the goods.** -- which immediately made her think of
J'ackt.

"Yes, I'm Saibra, it's a pleasure to meet you. I was just heading to
my office. Why don't you come along with me? You deserve a good cup of
klah if nothing else."

Oh. Okay. So slapping probably wasn't going to happen. Good. Aluka's
dark eyes flicked to the winter lake, then back to Saibra. He should
report for duty, but an invitation from the Weyr's highest authority
had just come down. He didn't want to risk offense, so he bowed. "Of
course, Weyrwoman," he managed to say, and followed her.

Saibra led the way to her office, with no more incidents thankfully,
and as soon as she entered she poured Aluka a cup of klah from the
pitcher that had been dropped off by a drudge. "Have you had breakfast
yet?" She asked, indicating to the tray with a finger where biscuits
stuffed with ham sat on the platter.

Aluka accepted the mug and warmed his hands on it. "Yes, Weyrwoman,"
he said with a nod. "It's always best to eat before chores." It kept a
body going through the work without flagging. "But thank ya," he
hastily added, only then noticing the biscuits.

"What chores do you have today?" She asked as she leaned lightly
against her desk, her expressive blue eyes studying the Candidate as
she lifted a cup of steaming klah to her lips.

"Some days it's better to ask what chores I don' have," Aluka muttered
into his drink, and had a slug. He didn't mind it was still steaming;
the warmth settled pleasantly in his guts. "This mornin' it starts
with dragon-bathin'."

**Dragon-bathing, hm?** Saibra considered that for a moment, "It just
so happens that my Chioneth needs a good scrub. I know it's a big
job," she imagined that Candidates probably preferred to help with
green and blue dagons since they were much smaller, "but after she's
finished you could have the rest of the day off."

Aluka's head snapped up so fast he nearly bit his tongue, and he gave
Saibra a wide-eyed look of outright astonishment. Could she really
offer that? (Of course she could, she was the Weyrwoman.) Why had she
offered that? (Probably a subtle punishment for groping her. But she
couldn't be mad; she'd thanked him and given him klah, and if it was a
punishment, it came with one heck of a payoff- Frustrated with
himself, the redhead metaphorically grabbed the voice in his head made
of doubt and distrust, broke its nose, and threw it in a closet.)

"I dunno what I'd do with all that free time," he mused. He had a hard
enough time keeping himself busy on restdays. But then, he reasoned,
he could probably visit Ninaine and bring her more ginger tea, get
some extra time in with Nokala, maybe see if, by chance, he could eat
with Lys or Jess at lunch. He quaffed the rest of the klah in two
swigs, set the mug down, and looked Saibra in the eyes. "When do I
start?"

"We can go now if you're ready." Saibra said, checking with Chioneth,
who was already enjoying a warm soak in the Winter Lake.

"Aye, Weyrwoman," Aluka said, but waited for her to move toward the
door first. It was possible she wanted to finish her klah and a
biscuit before heading out. He could be patient.

**Hmm, I like this Candidate... He's so polite and.. obedient.**
Saibra inevitably thought back to J'ackt who had been neither polite
nor obedient. **Shells, I miss that kid.**

}:Hurry up in there. I am ready to be bathed.:{ Chioneth huffed.

**Yes, love.**

"Let's go then." Saibra said pushing away from her desk. Maybe once
Chioneth was all cleaned up they would have time for a quick trip to
Dolphin Cove, just to see how everyone was doing.

Aluka followed the Weyrwoman out, then made sure to walk beside her.
It was a bizarre thing to look forward to a chore, but even if he
received no assistance in bathing the senior gold, having an extra day
off was worth it. He actually started smiling at the thought. So much
to do, so much that could be done. Excellent.

Last updated on the March 30th 2015

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That's No Way to Greet a Lady