Salacious is Good

Writers: Heather, Sia
Date Posted: 1st June 2024

Characters: Aydhan, Rasme
Description: The two goldriders meet and commence with their favorite thing - gossiping.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 9, day 26 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: K'ran, Ashela

Aydhan

Rasme

Rasme waited a few days after the new goldrider arrived at Barrier
Lake before requesting the pleasure of meeting the new Weyrwoman's
Second. At fifty-six Turns of age, and having lived at a handful of
Weyrs in her time, Rasme had seen nearly every personality type of
goldrider that existed on Pern. She wondered which category this one
would fall into, or if she would be a surprising new category.

Rasme hoped for the latter, she enjoyed surprises.

"Hello the weyr," Rasme called, knocking lightly on Aydhan's office
door at her appointed time.

"Hello!" Aydhan called from within before throwing open the door,
smiling widely. "It's good to finally meet you, Rasme. Come on in. I
have some klah ready, if you'd like to indulge?" Her own mug was
recently poured, a kitschsy thing with the High Reaches crest and a
bad slogan.

"Nice mug," Rasme said automatically. "I'll indulge if I can drink it
out of something equally as entertaining."

"Oh, do I ever." Aydhan said. "My weyrmate collects them. I filched a
couple for the office; we'll see how long it takes for him to notice."
She pulled out an equally silly mug with the Telgari logo and the
phrase 'Telgar Rocks'.

Rasme held the mug at a certain angle where she could properly focus
on it with her one remaining eye. "Telgar Rocks," she read with a
chuckle and a shake of her head. "If only that were true. They're
so... what's the word... oh yes, _uptight_." The retired goldrider
took a sip of the klah, her eyebrows lifted in surprised appreciation.
"Oh, this is tastier than usual. Put a little something extra in it,
did you?"

"It's dinnertime somewhere." Aydhan said with a grin. "So, how long
have you been here at Barrier Lake? Since the beginning?"

“Yes, near the beginning. It was nice being here to help get the
dragon infirmary set up. Being retired from thread, and without the
interruption of flights and clutches to my schedule, I’ve been able to
devote a lot of time to my craft.” Rasme sipped from her cup.

"Kapera said that she's been leaning on you quite a bit since the Weyr
opened, especially with the Infirmary. How are you finding the
workload? It'd not often a Weyr gets two healers among their
goldriders and I'd like to help, but I don't want to encroach on your
territory, either."

"It's alright, you're a healer and I'm a dragonhealer, we won't cross
paths very often on that front. Even if we did, Thread ensures there's
an abundance of patients and very often not enough healers of either
kind."

"Isn't that the truth." Aydhan said with a sigh. "Injured dragonriders
usually mean injured dragons, so I'm sure we'll be working together
more often than either of us wants."

"Kapera," Rasme said, turning the conversation back to the Weyrwoman,
"has been most accommodating with Piketh and myself. As a retired
pair, there's no challenge and no worries about authority. This makes
Piketh wonderful as a buffer and mediator when it comes time for other
golds to rise or clutch. We'll help serve in whatever capacity you and
Tymborikath need."

"That's really gracious of you." Aydhan answered. "Tym and I aren't
worried about authority, and luckily she's always been calm for a
gold. A little too calm, sometimes, so I hope Piketh will be able to
help. I hear Riyanth likes her personal space when she's on the
hatching grounds."

"Too calm? I didn't realize there was a such thing for a gold," Rasme grinned.

"And doesn't always understand that other dragons are not nearly so
relaxed with their personal space." Aydhan said with a fond roll of
her eyes. "She lets just about anyone into the hatching grounds around
her eggs, which is good for the candidates. Bad for any other gold
that's trying to guard her own eggs."

"I bet that has led to many awkward encounters," Rasme surmised.

"Yeah, one of the golds at High Reaches got in a couple good swings
before she learned her lesson." Aydhan said. "But she has to be
reminded every once in a while. Luckily she's been too fascinated with
everything else at Barrier Lake to be much of a problem...for now."

"She sounds much better behaved than Ashela's Aglayath at Dragonsfall.
Her gold nearly killed K'ran's bronze when Riyanth rose. It was all
very sticky and complicated, and now she's at Dragonsfall under
Weyrwoman Saibra's thumb." Rasme enjoyed sharing a good bit of gossip,
and _that_ was a good bit of gossip.

Aydhan raised her eyebrows and leaned so her elbows rested on the
table. She peered intently at Rasme over her mug. She too loved
getting the dirt...especially when one's gold was worse behaved than
Tymborikath. "Oh? I did hear about that a little, I think. Back when
we were waiting a Barrier Lake Weyrwoman, wasn't it? What happened
there?"

"Riyanth and Aglayath were both at the point of rising. It really
could have been either one. So Riyanth goes into full heat, she's
blooding her kills, and like a good girl Teseada takes her Onnyth out
of the Weyrhold, only, Ashela doesn't do the same thing with Aglayath.
Aglayath enters the air as well, furious that all of the bronzes are
chasing Riyanth. In an attempt to avoid two fighting queens, K'ran
sent his Rogueth into the air to distract Aglayath. She nearly gutted
him for it, but he managed to wrap her up and take her /between/ near
Dragonsfall." Rasme loved having real gossip to share. "After that,
Ashela was moved to Dragonsfall."

"Ballsy. And K'ran's Roqueth is all right? That's some skilled
flying." She'd heard her share of Weyrwoman flights gone wrong but
hardly ever got to hear a first-hand account. Still, she couldn't
fault Ashela's hustle. It's too bad her plan didn't work. "What was
Ashela's reputation before that? Was she well-liked around here?"

"Skilled flying? He was nearly killed. He had to remain grounded at
Dragonsfall and recover there before he could return. As for Ashela's
reputation," Rasme shrugged, "your guess is as good as mine. I'd never
heard of her beyond her name before that. In the time since she's been
at Dragonsfall, she's certainly been... quiet. Aglayath and Chioneth
even managed to share the Hatching Sands when they clutched near the
same time. I suppose that shows some growth of character in Ashela."

"A lesser dragonpair would have been killed." Aydhan said. "I love
some character growth. Bonus if she's learned her lesson. We've had
some close calls like that up in 'Reaches. Usually young goldriders
with less sense than a tunnelsnake."

}:You are needed in the dragon infirmary,:{ Piketh butted in.

"Ah," Rasme set her klah cup down. "It seems I am being summoned. It
was nice getting to gossip a little. We shall have to do it again
after something salacious has taken place."

"I won't keep you." Aydhan said as she rose to show Rasme out. "But
absolutely, yes. I expect it'll be soon. The Weyrs are hardly ever
short on scandal."

Last updated on the June 1st 2024

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Salacious is Good