The Lucky Side of Fate
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 3rd November 2017
Characters: Kapera, R'nar
Description: A chance meeting with Kapera in the bathing pools goes well for R'nar.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 1, day 17 of Turn 9
Kapera stripped off her dirty clothes, stuffed them into a bag meant for that purpose, and put her clean ones on a dry shelf. Then she walked towards the nearer pool and slid into it, sighing as the hot water warmed her muscles. Today's drills had been quite a workout and she needed to relax.
R'nar was in a similar condition to Kapera, grimy and gross from some manual labor that had been his duties for the day. He didn't mind manual labor, he actually found it a nice change from drills.
}:I was bored.:{ Iorath complained, watching his rider work was no fun.
The bathing pools were littered with people, and the one with the most space had a female that he recognized, Kapera. They'd bathed together, well, in the same pool, before. As dirty as he was, he wished that there was a spot open elsewhere, but fate was not on his side. Tossing his dry clothes up on the rack, R'nar stripped out of his rank ones, stuffed them in his laundry bag, and then stepped down into the pool.
"Lady Kapera," he said as he sank down into the pool.
"R'nar. How's Iorath?" the goldrider asked.
Why did she have to look all beautiful and perfect while he was streaked with dirt?
"He's well, put out that he didn't get to do something more strenuous today." R'nar lathered up some sweetsand and began scrubbing at his skin. "And Riyanth?"
"Riyanth is brooding on the Rim, trying to get bronzes to pay attention to her. She's rather put out by a gold egg on the Sands," she confessed conspiratorily.
"What did you do today?" she asked, wondering what they'd been up to.
"I helped with repairs to the roof of the Weyrling building." He rinsed off his skin, and then lathered up some more sweetsand to use on his hair. "Is she put out because it's not her gold egg, or just that another gold will be in the Weyr?"
"Sounds difficult, but muscle-building," the goldrider joked.
"Both. She's never thrown a gold egg of her own yet, despite having Risen for eight Turns now. And she doesn't like being around a lot of other golds. That's why we asked for a transfer out of Windswept Islands - there were four golds including her, plus a new weyrling. It was just too crowded for a smaller Weyr. Of course, it's Panitath who will make the decisions about how many golds to allow," she mused.
R'nar hadn't been aware of that. He ducked beneath the water and to rinse out his obsidian curls. "Well," he said as he surfaced and ran his hands over his head, "I hope Riyanth will want to stay, even if there's another gold. Iorath would like an opportunity to catch."
"I don't know where else we'd go. Most of the Southern Weyrs seem to have a good number of golds." Dragonsfall and Dream's End were both at two, all the others at three or more. But she wouldn't think about Dragonsfall, shardit.
"Besides, I like it at Dolphin Cove. All the lovely bronzes," she said, making her tone cheery. "Has Iorath won a green yet? I remember us talking about that."
R'nar fought off a rueful smile as he shook his head, "Nothing yet, and not because he isn't eager enough to fly every female in the Weyr."
"So he's at least going after them now? I hope he's won at least once before Riyanth goes up, he'll need the practice," she teased.
"Oh, he's getting lots of practice." Sometimes it paid off for R'nar, because he would hit up a fly moth afterwards, but other times he just dunked himself off and continued work. R'nar's eyes couldn't help drift from Kapera's face to the swell of breast that disappeared beneath the surface of the water.
The goldrider was applying sweetsand to her shoulders and arms to scrub them clean as she spoked. "Sounds like he's a healthy young bronze then. I hope his first catch is a green with a woman rider."
R'nar visibly winced. "One of the first greens he chased belongs to one of my good friends, A'vel. Now winning that one would have been awkward." He knew it was inevitable he'd win a male greenrider's flight at some point, he'd grown up weyrbred so it wasn't freaked out by it, but when it was your good friend....
"It must be worse for it to be someone you know well, rather than a stranger. For both of you, I'd imagine. I know there have been some people I never want winning Riyanth's flights," Kapera said. Scrubbing done, she dunked herself completely under the water so the sand could rinse off her skin.
Thinking of the bronzeriders he knew, R'nar would understand why a goldrider might not want some of them to win their flights. He hoped he wasn't that person for any green or goldrider. **Except for mom, gross. Not the time to be thinking about your mom, pull yourself together.** The water on Kapera's skin made it look even silkier than before. He wondered if she was as soft as she looked. "Yeah, a stranger is definitely better in that situation," he finally said.
"At least all the men I'm avoiding aren't at this Weyr," she quipped. "So are there any female greenriders you'd also want to avoid?"
"Well, you know Paena, she's in your Wing. She's usually quite gossipy about the men who win her flights, and not usually in the most flattering way. I'd probably like to steer clear of her." R'nar said honestly.
"She likes to tell everyone who'll listen about the 'attributes' of her men, yes," Kapera agreed. "I like to think I'm a bit more discreet, though I'll sing the praises of someone who deserves it well enough if asked."
R'nar said nothing, the gossip about her and J'nus, and then her and D'hol and Jeyme, was pretty common knowledge around the Weyr. He wondered what it took to make someone like Kapera sing your praises? "Want me to get your back?" He offered, soap in hand.
"Sure," she said, turning to show him her back and pulling her hair over her shoulders so it was out of his way.
"So what are you doing this evening?" she asked, timing the question to when she felt him touch her back.
His fingers skimmed across her skin, answering his question from earlier. She was as soft as she looked. "No plans at the moment."
"Would you like to drop by my weyr this evening?" she asked.
The invitation sent a jolt of desire through him, "I'd like that."
The goldrider's back muscles relaxed under his touch and she let out a contented sigh. "I'd enjoy it very much if you dropped by our ledge after dinner, then. Iorath is welcome to try to spend the night on it if he can convince Riyanth, though I make no promises."
"I'll be there," he promised, there was no way he would pass up this offer.
"Good," she said, throwing a smile over her shoulder.
Last updated on the November 7th 2017