A Friendly Flirt

Writers: Devin, Rochelle
Date Posted: 10th June 2009

Characters: K'mai, Ariau
Description: K'mai introduces himself to Ariau in typical fashion.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 3, day 11 of Turn 5

K'mai

"She's grown up very nicely," K'mai commented.

Ariau looked up from the container of oil she was wrestling the lid
back onto as Alabieth preened. Freshly oiled, her golden hide looked
like living sunlight -or so her rider thought fondly. "Thanks, I
think." She said cautiously. Her eyes flicked to his knots. A
bluerider? She took a slightly longer look, trying to keep the lid
from flying out of her slippery hands. A moderately attractive one at
that, although Ariau knew better than to go by looks alone.

He gave her a lopsided grin. "And I could say much the same about her rider."

Ariau snorted. Okay, this one was definitely a flirt. And a daring
one. "Please. I'm no different than when I was a candidate, and before
you start, I am hardly anyone's idea of a beauty right now." She
nodded absently at her dirt and oil smudged clothing, the tangled mess
of her hair flopping forward in a fuzzy mat from humidity. She really
needed some time in a bathing pool. "Oh shardit!" She exclaimed in
exasperation as the slippery lid flew from her fingers to skid along
the ground.

He bent to pick up the lid. "There's different kinds of beauty.
There's polished for Gather beauty ... and there's messy from hard
work beauty," he said as handed the lid to her.

Okay, he was a relatively good flirt... "Thanks." She said, accepting
the lid and picking a few pebbles out that had stuck to the oil. "But
I guess this is as good as I get then. I don't polish well. Oh for the
love of little dragons..." She exploded as the lid once more escaped
her oil slicked fingers and began rolling away from her on it's rim at
a rapid pace.

K'mai went after it and snatched it up. "I should have let you pick it
up. I might have enjoyed the view." He winked and held the lid out to
her again.

"How do you know you would have gotten one?" Ariau asked, raising an
eyebrow with a slight smile on her lips. Rather than accepting the lid
this time, she simply handed the bluerider the oil and grabbed the rag
she'd brought, trying to find a clean corner to wipe her hands.

"I have a knack for finding the right angle. Should I put the lid on
for you?" Without waiting for an answer, he started to do just that.

"Thanks." Ariau said simply, ignoring the question since he'd
obviously gotten the hint when she handed him the oil. Finding a small
area of the rag not already smeared with the slick oil, she wiped her
hands as well as she could. "So, what's your name?" She asked
curiously. So far the only riders not in her clutch who'd attempted to
catch her attention had been bronze or brown. This bluerider was
certainly bold!

"K'mai, rider of blue Sebeth," he answered. "I suppose you're often at
a disadvantage, since everyone knows your name."

Ariau grimaced. "It's taken some getting used to." She admitted. "One
moment I was just another harper apprentice, the next..." She waved
her arm expansively, taking in her preening gold and the weyr and Pern
in general all in the same move.

"I get a glimpse of what that might be like when I visit smaller
holds," K'mai said. "Everyone watches everything you do, because
you're a dragonrider."

"I caught a glimpse when I traveled with my grandmother." She
admitted. "Everyone knew her name, and sort of mine, but..." She
trailed off with a little laugh. "It's silly." She admitted. "But it
bothers me
that since the moment I Impressed no one has mispronounced my name."

"I could mispronounce your name, if it would make you feel better,"
K'mai offered.

Ariau blinked at the unusual offer, then laughed. "No thanks. It's not
that big a deal. It's just something I got so used to correcting that
not doing it anymore seems... strange. But it's something that goes
with being a weyrwoman, so I guess I'd better get used to it." She
wrinkled her nose.

K'mai tilted his head. "You sound a little disenchanted."

"Disenchanted... Close, but it's not exactly the word I would use."
She admitted thoughtfully, bending over to gather the last few items
from cleaning and oiling Alabieth. "More like... I don't know. Lost, I
guess. Separated from everyone. I knew before I Impressed that being a
goldrider wasn't like in the romances. But I wasn't expecting... It's
like there's two people now. There's the weyrwoman who rides the gold, and
then there's me. And no one really cares about Ariau and Alabieth
-they just want the facade. They want the weyrwoman and her shiny
gold." She sighed.

The bluerider's eyebrow went up. "You must have friends, people who
care about you."

She straightened, shoving the last brush into the bag she'd used to
carry her supplies, and shrugged. "I came south on a feeling, that I
had to be here -and just happened to be right." She smiled fondly at
Alabieth, the gold shamelessly flirting with a pair of browns now.
"I've got a few girl friends here, but I wasn't here long enough
before I Impressed to get real close to anyone. And my family is all
in the north, except for my grandparents. They're with the Harper
Hall."

"That's tough." K'mai had always lived here, always had lots of
friends. "I admit that I said hello because you're a goldrider, and I
hadn't met you. But really, people are just people." He shrugged. "If
you wouldn't mind, I'd like to get to know Ariau."

She hesitated for a moment, eying the bluerider sharply and trying to
judge his sincerity -and then decided she didn't care. He was
obviously a flirt, but he was at least willing to back off and be
friendly about it. Being a weyrwoman was changing her, making her a
little paranoid about men's attention, and she now that she realized
what was happening she didn't like it. "I'd... like that."

"Wonderful!" K'mai grinned. "I love making new friends."

She grinned back, giving a little laugh. "So do I."

Last updated on the June 21st 2009

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A Friendly Flirt