Charming Riders

Writers: Miriah, Estelle, Devin
Date Posted: 10th January 2021

Characters: Rorela, L'keri, K'mai, Taki
Description: K'mai and L'keri act on their bet
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 8, day 3 of Turn 10

L'keri

K'mai

As soon as drills were over, K'mai glanced around to see if L'keri was
making his move yet. A new greenrider had joined them and K'mai was
eager to see how their little wager would play out. He slipped off his
helmet and headed straight for her. "Welcome to Cyan. I'm K'mai, of
blue Sebeth."

"And I'm L'keri, of Rhalith." The brownrider hurried over to join them,
slightly out of breath from having sprinted over from his dragon as soon
as his claws touched the ground. Ill luck had placed him on the opposite
side of the formation from Sebeth and the new green, but he made up for
it with his widest smile. "That was some good flying. How about we all
go indoors and warm ourselves up with...a hot mug of klah?"

The young greenrider looked up with surprise as the two men rushed
over to her. "Hello. Greetings K'mai and L'keri. I'm Taki, and this is
Ziloth." She brushed her dark hair back from her face with the backs
of her fingers, a small little smile of amusement curling her lips.
"Do you welcome all of your new wingmates like this?"

"Yes, They do." Rorela approached from her own wing, a playful smirk
on her face as she slipped up to stand by Taki. She leaned over and
with a mock whisper, spoke in her ear. "Careful, these two are
absolutely incorrigible. They'll fill your head with all sorts of
sweet words just to get an edge on each other during a mating flight."
She winked at the two men, then waggled her brows.

L'keri placed a hand over his heart in mock affront. "Wingthird, you cut
me to the quick. Here we are, offering a greeting to our charming new
wingmate, and you imply we're doing it for reasons of sordid personal
gain. That may be how it is in the Weyrleader's Wing, but Cyan is an
altogether friendlier bunch."

"I'm eager to greet _every_ new wingmate," K'mai said. "Just ask
anyone here." He waved in the general direction of the other Cyan
riders.

"Of course," Taki said, a glint of humor in her eyes at the two men.
"Well, it's certainly nice of you both to take your time to welcome
me. At Vista Point, my wingmates were so serious."

"Why don't you both help her bathe Ziloth?" Rorela suggested from
behind Taki, a gleam of mischief bright in her eyes as she flashed her
teeth in a wide smile. "It would show a wonderful welcome to your new
wingmate."

K'mai glanced over at L'keri with a slightly raised eyebrow before
turning back to Taki. "Well I wouldn't mind helping if you and Ziloth
are agreeable." What was Rorela playing at?

"That sounds like a marvelous idea," L'keri agreed readily, thinking of
the opportunity to strip off the layers of riding gear and display some
dragonrider muscles. True, K'mai would get to do the same, but what was
a wager without competition? "We'll have your lovely green looking her
shining best in no time."

"Don't forget a good oiling too." Rorela looked at Taki, blinking her
eyes and attempting an innocent smile.

Taki's lips trembled in an effort not to laugh as she turned back to
the two men. "Would you?" She tilted her head. "I'm so _grateful_ for
the offer of help."

"Maybe some naked wrestling too." Rorela piped up, unable to help
herself. "Dragonmen covered in oil, grappling?" She fanned herself and
waggled her brows. "I'll stay and watch _that_ any time."

K'mai bit his lip, but then he couldn't help it. "I think the only one
here who might not enjoy that is my dear brownrider friend. Although
the oil does make grappling _really_ hard, which makes the idea much
more fun in theory than practice."

L'keri raised an eyebrow. "While I'm willing to do many things to win a
- ah, the favor of this delightful lady, it sounds like that might be a
bit too much for our Wingthird here. She might fall into a rapturous
swoon, and then where would we be?"

"You guys are just no fun." Rorela winked amiably and then moved to
step between the two men as Taki moved to pick up her straps. She
spoke quickly in a low voice. "You know, you might want to have a chat
with your dragons about blabbing about bets to pretty, flirty green
dragons." She winked, then sauntered away towards Taki. "You know,
K'mai is awfully fun, Taki." She looked over her shoulder and stuck
her tongue out at L'keri.

"Well, maybe I need to have a drink with both of them to decide." Taki
grinned. "After my dragon's bathed of course."

Uh oh. K'mai looked over at L'keri again, but he didn't want to risk
saying anything where Taki might hear. "We can chat while we bathe
Ziloth too," K'mai said to Taki. "Get to know each other better." Was
this all going to backfire badly?

"Yes, and you can make up your own mind about which one of us is the
most fun," L'keri said cheerfully, inwardly considering how he could get
Rorela back for that. He shouldered his own riding straps. "Have you
seen the winter lake yet? It'll thaw you out beautifully after a
morning's drilling."

After watching Rorela leave, Taki turned back to the two men, sizing
each one up individually. "I do like making my own mind up about men,"
she agreed easily. "Why don't you both show me to this winter lake?"
She pushed her hair away from her face, her smile merry as she walked
between the men, following her green. She took a moment to slide her
fingers over K'mai's shoulder. "Though I have to admit, blueriders can
be so...inventive."

K'mai grinned at her. "That we can. And I've had a variety of
experiences with people of many different tastes that have expanded my
already wide horizons." K'mai had agreed to the bet in order to give
L'keri a distraction, but his consideration didn't extend to letting
the brownrider win.

"He does," L'keri agreed cheerfully, joining them on her other side.
"Whereas I prefer to specialize. I've become quite skilled in my
particular area of expertise."

With the two men on either side of her, Taki's grin was wide as she
enjoyed the attention. "What a decision to make..." She slipped her
hands into each of their arms. "I think..." Her voice trailed off as
they reached the inner lake and watched as Ziloth slid into the water
with a sigh of pleasure. "I think...Hmm..." She looked between the two
men. "I think that I'll leave my evening's company upto whoever Ziloth
chooses."

"It's not often I need to woo a green dragon," K'mai said with a soft
chuckle. "That's Sebeth's specialty. But I'll give it my best shot."

}:Perhaps you will help my chances when she rises,:{ Sebeth's
mindvoice was amused.

"Then let's get started." L'keri swept up a scrubbing brush and a bag of
sweetsand with a flourish. "Oh, beauteous Ziloth! Will you permit this
humble brownrider the incomparable honor of cleaning your lovely hide? I
will make you shine like a jewel at a fair lady's throat."

K'mai let out a full, loud laugh. "You're really laying it on there."

Ziloth looked down at L'keri and crooned her appreciation, hunkering
down into the water to look at him with eyes whirling with pleasure.
Taki began to snicker and looked over at K'mai. "Sorry, but he's just
earned a few points with her. She likes it."

L'keri kicked off his boots, rolled up his trouser legs and gave his
friend a triumphant look before splashing his way into the water. He
began to massage the sweetsand into the green's front forelimb, creating
a lather. "Come on in, K'mai. You're getting left behind!"

K'mai started stripping off his clothes, still chuckling. As he picked
up a scrub brush he said, "Dearest Ziloth, I will find all your
itchiest spots and sooth them until nothing remains but bliss. You
will have nothing left to discomfort you as you sun your beautiful
form upon Dragonsfall's Heights for all to admire."

}:Not bad,:{ Sebeth commented.

Taki's brows raised as Ziloth turned to K'mai and crooned softly in
appreciattion, her fickle nature obvious. Rolling her eyes, she
slipped into the water as well, picking up a scrub brush. **Which one
do you like?** She looked up at her green as she began to scrub, and
felt the green's rumble of pleasure at three sets of brushes now
scrubbed her hide.

}: This one. I like blues too. :{ Ziloth lowered her head to gently
nudge K'mai, then lifted her wing to allow the bluerider access to the
sensitive area around the joint.

L'keri watched in dismay, recognizing the signs of draconic favor. He
was losing! **Rhalith, help me out here.** But the brown gave no answer,
and L'keri sensed he was out on the cliffs flirting with another green.
Time for desperate measures. If he couldn't win over the dragon, there
was still a chance to attract her rider.

He began to scrub vigorously at the green's side, then paused to stretch
his arms, flexing the muscles as if easing an ache. "Hot in here, isn't
it? With your permission, ladies and gentleman..." Then, casually, he
tugged his shirt up over his head, balled it up and tossed it to the
pile of clothing at the edge of the lake.

K'mai glanced over and bit back a laugh. Turns of dragonriding had
taught him the exact amount of pressure to use when scrubbing around
the wing joints -- hard enough to be satisfying, but gentler than most
other areas. "I'm honored by your trust, Ziloth. And I must say, your
hide is even more beautiful up close."

Taki looked at L'keri with evident interest, but was also amused by
the blatant display. It was a bit too blatant for her tastes. It
wasn't as though L'keri was unattractive, but K'mai was a bit more
smooth and more to her liking. Ziloth privately agreed with her
assessment, showing more favor to K'mai as she settled closer. Taki
looked over at L'keri and sighed. "Sorry, brownrider. She's made her
choice."

L'keri had just finished scrubbing the ridges behind the green's neck,
and he returned Taki's gaze with a look of almost comical dejection. And
that was before he remembered that he'd lost the wager. "Aww, Ziloth!"
He put the hand holding the scrubbing brush to his heart. "I'm desolated."

Still, he thought, a dragonrider's honor called for good sportsmanship
and grace in defeat. And there were always other greenriders. He
wondered what Rorela was doing with her evening.

K'mai kept up his scrubbing and grinned at Ziloth. "Beautiful _and_
with good taste." He was definitely going to make sure L'keri followed
through on his wager and wondered if there was a way he could manage
to watch the brownrider lecture the weyrlings. It was going to be
_priceless_.

Last updated on the February 24th 2021

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Charming Riders