Hot and Cold

Writers: Chelle, Mirren
Date Posted: 27th March 2012

Characters: D'ruan, Rhosyn
Description: Rhosyn meets a new arrival to the Weyr.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 7, day 2 of Turn 6

One of the problems about a new place was in finding your way around. Not that D'ruan
minded being lost, it gave him a good excuse to explore. Although at 6', one seldom got
lost without someone noticing. Still, it didn't seem like anyone was paying him any mind
so he went on wandering. Maybe because he didn't look too lost or concerned, maybe because
he had plain trousers and shirt and no rank knots and maybe because they were used to
strange...well unfamiliar, people wandering about the Weyr.

A shout came from a feminine form across the Bowl. Rhosyn had been running and somehow,
despite wearing shoes, she had managed to trip over an uneven part in the sand, thus leading
her to fall, though she managed to catch herself with her hands. A very undignified Weyrwoman
was in the dirt, cursing.

A more familiar person might have laughed but it seemed impolite for someone who had arrived
a mere day ago. Instead he jogged over. "Are you all right?" he asked, offering her a hand up.

She looked up and saw a face she didn't know. Shaking her head, she took the hand and straightened,
dusting herself off. "No, but I will be." She opened her mouth to spit out the sand that had somehow
gotten inside. "Sharding sand!"

He opened his mouth to make a dumb joke about sandwiches but thought better of it. "It's not the
easiest thing to run on," he agreed, his accent distinctly northern. "It's good for fitness but bad for
balance."

"So who are you? Don't think I've seen you before.." she asked after she got her mouth mostly clean.
Pulling her waterskin up, she gargled and spat till she was satisfied.

"D'ruan," he said, although it could just as easily have been Druan. "I've only been here since yesterday."
He decided he might have a unique opportunity to meet someone as himself, not based on the color of
dragon he rode. Unless she asked, he'd keep that to himself for now. "And you are...?"

"I'm Rhosyn." Of course even if he didn't know her by sight, he would know her by name. She was on
dragonpoker decks and the harpers had added her name to the Teaching Songs. That, and the fact that
any rider transferring to River Bluff would know it before coming unless they were stupid. Now that she
had time, she looked him over. He wasn't bad looking and had the stance and physique of a rider.

"I thought you looked familiar. The last time I saw your face I lost a few marks and a nice belt knife," then
he looked sheepish. "That's probably not the best thing to tell a lady." At least he hadn't mentioned how
drunk he'd been at the time or where he'd ended up at the end of that night.

"Well I'm no lady so you're just fine. Sorry to hear about your loss though. You play often?" Now that her run
had been cut short, she decided to have a walk instead. Starting out, she gestured for him to follow her if he
wanted to continue the conversation.

Which he did. "Rarely and badly I'm afraid," he admitted, falling into step beside her. "How about you?" If she
was no lady then shards only knew what she was into.

"Mmm used to. These days I don't much. Every so often though. I like swimming. Around here, it's the usual
activity. Plus there's dancing." She loved dancing and was often found in the Dining Cavern when they had
cleared some of the tables and started up with some music.

He nodded. "So you like being active?" he surmised. "So do I but my dancing skills are a bit rusty." An odd look
entered his hazel eyes but was gone again just as quickly. "I have to say I prefer riding runners, but I do like to swim."

"Mmm I used to ride a lot when I was younger. Since coming to the Weyr...well I don't much anymore really."
She frowned, realizing she did miss it. Perhaps she should try it again soon.

"That's a shame. I'd welcome the company if you ever felt like going again. My family has a runner stable back
up north..." ...Which would be hard to get to without a dragon. But then she had one so maybe she wouldn't catch
his gaffe.

"The Weyr has a few runners for riding. They're not great stock, but decent enough." Her own family had some
at the cothold still, but she hadn't been back there since the day she left. "Maybe the day after tomorrow if the
weather holds..." she mused.

"A ride on a nag is better than no ride at all," he commented and then wondered if that sounded sleazy. It certainly
wasn't meant that way. "Runner nag," he added ruefully.

"I understood what you meant." That was said with a grin, though. **Poor guy** "So what's your dragon's name?"
she asked before he had a chance to think about it.

She was astute, he'd give her that. "What makes you think I have a have a dragon?" he asked with a smile.

"The way you look, for starters. And because not many northerners come down here unless they're riders though there's
the occasional dolphineer from time to time." It went without saying that those dolphineers went to Dolphin Cove, not
River Bluff.

He looked down at himself. "I could be importing runners from the north?" he suggested. "Surely I'm too scruffy to be a
dragonrider?" His eyes showed that he knew she wasn't fooled but he was enjoying the game.

"If you're scruffy, I'm dirt," she replied quickly, though she stopped walking long enough to really look at him. Hazel eyes
similar to his own darkened slightly under the sun as her body leaned to the side on her right foot.

He stopped too and raised his arms out to either side in a gesture of surrender. "All right, I give in. His name is Jyranth.
And you're as intimidating as I've been told." Not meant as an insult, just a fact. He shrugged, hoping he hadn't totally
messed this first meeting up. That wouldn't bode well for his time here!

**So they talk about me even up north hm?** That gave her a perverse sense of satisfaction somehow. She was very quiet,
simply watching him for a bit to see what he'd do. When several minutes had passed, she blithely said, "You're afraid of little me? Well you should be. I'm vicious." And then she laughed, ruining the whole thing.

"I don't think I'd use the word 'afraid'," he said with a grin. "I've already seen that you're not easily fooled."

"Mmmm no, not really," she admitted, enjoying his flattery. If he kept it up, he might be able to join her at midday meal. "Comes with turns of watching others try."

"I'm sure it does," he agreed. "You must get tired of putting up with people like me," he feigned looking sad.

"It keeps things interesting at least. You hungry?" she asked as she changed direction and headed toward the Dining Cavern.

"As a matter of fact, I am. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to eat lunch, breakfast or a midnight snack though. It'll take a while to get used to the time difference. Right now I feel like I should be in bed. Sleeping." Shards, when would he stop doing that? "But I'm making sure I stay awake until nightfall."

"Yeah it messes me up whenever I go to Dolphin Cove. You'll get used to it though." Rhosyn personally hated that. They were fortunate to be on the same time as Dragonsfall, but not where she went to often. They reached the entrance and started into the tunnels. The lighting kept everything visible.

"Right, they're a few hours ahead of you? Us. That is going to take some getting used to as well."

"Do you like the south? I mean, have you even been here before? Why'd you come?" That was a curious question. Rhosyn had been north a handful of times and she knew that not a lot of them came here unless they needed the heat to heal.

"Too many memories at home," he said simply. "I wanted to be as far away as I could be. Technically that was Dolphin Cove I think, but..." he shrugged. "here seemed a good option. Plus they agreed to take me."

"Oh? Do you have problems then?" Rhosyn had problems but she chose to forget them as if they never happened most of the time.

"Well no one's perfect!" he retorted. "No, it's nothing like that. A few turns ago my weyrmate died giving birth to our son. He died a candlemark later. The memories were just everywhere. And the looks." He took a deep breath. "I can only take so much sympathy." And he didn't want it now, he wanted to get on with life.

"Hmmm sorry to hear that. Me...I've never had children." The closest thing she had ever come to a weyrmate had been R'ehn but she couldn't quite call it that, not really. He was still her friend, though. N'vanik was half a continent away most of the time and he had Talryne anyway. Rhosyn didn't really think she was the weyrmate sort. At the very least she kept picking men that wouldn't be right for such a thing. Reaching the Dining Cavern, she took her usual seat and waited for her food to be brought. She gestured to the seat beside her.

He sat and shifted a time or two to get comfortable. "I couldn't imagine putting a woman through that again," he admitted. It was strange because he didn't talk about this stuff and he hardly knew her. "So what's the best thing to eat around here at this time of day?"

"Depends on what you like. Me...I like a little bit of everything." When her plate was brought, it was easy to see. There were small pieces of almost everything the kitchens were serving. Rhosyn liked a full plate, but she hated to choose. Grabbing her roll and the butter, she began to ready her food. It also made it easy-she didn't have to order.

"I'm game..." he looked at the plate that was put in front of him with skepticism. There were things on there he'd never seen before. He picked up something that looked like a shell-fish. They certainly didn't have much seafood where he came from! "Interesting." He put it back down and started on his greens. At least they didn't have tentacles.

She almost laughed at his reaction. Rhosyn sometimes forgot that people who weren't raised on the coast didn't eat as much fish. The look on his face was certainly funny. "There's sauce for flavoring in those containers there." A nod in the direction of the bottles in the middle of the table, and then she began to eat.

"Thanks but I'm worried I'd put the wrong thing on the wrong end. I'm more a steak and greens man myself. But there's no point moving to the other side of the world and keeping old habits." He picked the funny fishy thing back up. "So, what's the best way to eat this then?" He hoped she wasn't about to tell him that it was just a garnish!

"Cut it in half. Then into smaller bits. Then you get some of that red sauce there and dip the bits into it before eating. Some people like the yellow sauce but I don't." She shrugged. He wasn't limited to her likes though. If he wanted to try it, he could.

He did as she suggested, then stabbed a piece with his fork. "Right, here goes..." He popped it into his mouth and chewed. The texture was odd but soft and the taste was different but not unpleasant. "Not bad. It tastes...fresh. I'm used to fish tasting fishy. Sea food anyway. The river fish are different again. So what else do I need to know to get by here?"

"UUmm...try to exercise in the morning or evening when it isn't so hot. It's almost always hot. We have hurricanes sometimes. Other than that..." She couldn't really think of anything else. Putting a piece of tuber into her mouth, she chewed and swallowed. Then she went for the green vegetables. She loved those with cheese sauce. **Cook is a genius**

"Hurricanes? That must keep life interesting?" he finished the fish and started on the bread. "Better than snow I bet."

"I haven't been in snow much so I can't tell you, but one of them severely damaged Topaz Seahold so they're not that great really." She frowned, thinking about it. The Weyr had been a mess to cleanup after the last round of them for certain.

He was getting far too good at putting his foot in his mouth. On the other hand, "I remember one winter a blizzard made a Cothold roof fall in. It was thinner rock than they thought. Everyone froze to death. They didn't find them until spring. So both have their hazards. You can't throw hurricane balls though."

"No you can't, but you can be without electric when they damage the hydroplant." That would take a few sevendays to fix and Rhosyn had gotten used to her creature comforts. Of course the technicians were dependable and so far they hadn't had any real problems.

"Better to go without lights here than heat there," he pointed out. "Although an open fire and a good warm dragon can help with that. Not so much with lighting."

"Nope. The headwoman keeps glows in one of the storerooms in case but you get used to having the lights and everything. Glow light and electric light are very different." She had used glows at the family cothold and remembered those days.

"A lot more work too," D'ruan added. "but handy when you have to go out at night and tend runners."

"Aye, that's true. We've also got candles around to mark the time and use for lanterns, though there aren't as many so we hoard them." She had seen the women making the things and knew it was a craft of patience. Dipping, dipping, dipping...it would drive Rhosyn nuts.

"If we didn't have candles we wouldn't know when the candlemarks passed," he pointed out. It was inevitable that he'd get a dumb joke out sooner or later. "Sorry, That was... Bad," he said sheepishly.

"Yep. Better stick to your lunch there buddy." She did smile though as she finished off most of her plate and started to think about dessert. There were a few choices and she was considering ice cream. It was a treat that they didn't often get, but Rhosyn loved it.

He pretended to look offended. "Don't worry, I have plenty more where that came from, mostly better than that though!" Maybe.

"I should hope so," she teased. Ordering a bit of ice cream, her eyes lit up when the bowl was brought. "Mmmmm have you ever had such a thing? Best invention ever."

He stared. "You're eating...snow?"

"Not quite, though sometimes it can be. It's milk that's churned up and frozen. Sometimes we put fruit or other flavoring in it. Try it!" She offered him a spoon.

He accepted, although it seemed like an odd thing to eat to him. He put a spoonful in his mouth and frowned while he tasted the concoction. He had to admit that he didn't much care for it. "It's a bit cold and sweet for my taste," he said, returning the spoon. "I suppose it would be nice on a hot day though."

Immediately distrustful of someone who didn't like such a good dessert, Rhosyn decided she needed to get going. "Welcome to the Weyr. I'm afraid I've got to get back to duties. It was nice meeting you, though. Good luck." She grabbed her bowl and and headed off in the direction of her office, not planning on sharing any more of it.

He raised an eyebrow at her retreating back, her sudden departure taking him by surprise. Hot and cold, that was a good description of this place and most of all of her!

Last updated on the March 27th 2012

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Hot and Cold