Inspections [Nyssa]

[Tarra]

The evening sun was pleasant, cool for this time of turn perhaps, but heating enough that Lenigrath had taken the chance to sprawl himself in a sizeable patch of it, wings spread to take in the waning light. The calderas were not generally lacking in lighting or in warmth; were, in fact, generously endowed of both, particularly in summer. The bronze, though, enjoyed sunning enough that he still took all the time he could find to bask - and what times better to do so than when your rider was on duty and you were accompanying him from duty more than need? He sighed, contented, extended his wings further, and arched his neck around to half-heartedly scan his surroundings.

R'thar, for his part, continued his examination of the palisade wall, quick fingers seeking gaps and rotten points in the wood as he shifted gradually along the row. It was a tedious but familiar task. As a trader he had found in himself a distinct love for woodcrafting; and though his father had never allowed him more than a cursory set of beginners' tools he had taught himself its basics, and was adept at identifying quality or weakness in the wooden furniture his family traded.

That knowledge served him well now as he proceeded along the fence, crouching or climbing alternately to ensure he saw all he could of it. He didn't come here often, however a recent storm had dumped a good amount of water on the mountain, creating ephemeral streams across most of its slopes. These were now all but gone, but there were concerns the minor floods might have done something to the palisade, particularly as it stood on an ancient route of floodwaters. And so here he was now, running inspections along its length with a series of woodworking tools for hand for minor repairs. There was no major damage at first glance, but if he managed to detect anything he would return to call for the Weyr's crafters to see to it.

Are you nearly done Mine? Lenigrath's voice rumbled into his mind. R'thar looked down the length of fence, shook his head, Nope, not half-done yet.

Good, the big bronze shifted on his belly, rolling to catch the sun on his other side as well.

[Missa]

It had taken only a few moments to find out where R'thar had gone. A few smiles there, and just the right kind of lean here to catch their attention and Nyssa was moving on steady feet to find said bronze rider. Not because she wanted his company - though she could tolerate him better than some of the idiots in her weyrling class - but because she needed it. Fostering an affection for her on his part wouldn't be easy work, he seemed to have his own ideas in mind, but Nyssa was determined - as she always was.

The idea of actually working? Checking the fence with him? It was the least appealing thing she'd considered doing today, and Belnioth had been whining about needing a bath. Unfortunately, bathing her dragon could have taken up the whole day, and then she had his twin brother to bathe. Two Browns may have looked glamorous to stand next to, both of them with their odd, striking appearance, but they were a hell of a lot of work. As it was she'd found herself dropping weight - and yet unable to get rid of that damn chest of hers - and replacing it with muscle as Weyrlinghood had progressed.

Good day, Lenigrath. That patch of sunlight looks mightly inviting. Would you mind very much, if we joined you?[/i]
Course he doesn't mind.[/i] And so saying, Belnioth made his way firmly over to stretch out near Lenigrath and pointedly ignoring the sharp look Nyssa sent him. Annoying the hell out of the bronze was not what she wanted from the pair of them. Even if they couldn't flirt like she could, they could at least be friendly. Paltalneith; however, didn't move any closer without the given permission. He merely tilted his head at his brother in amusement and mild reproach before fixating his whirling eyes back on the bronze.

"Bronze rider!" Nyssa, on the other hand, had no qualms about settling a delighted smile on her features as she carefully picked her way across to him. As much as the loathed the idea of working, she'd dressed for it at least. Pants and a tight shirt - not chosen stragetically at all - with her long, dark hair drawn back in a tight braid she pulled forward over her shoulder.
"Heard you got sent to check the walls, and since I had nothing to do.." She grinned again, stepping closer to the bronze rider, "I thought I'd offer you a hand."

Everything about her manner screamed friendliness, a desire to get closer to him for no other reason than she liked him. Perhaps she might have, if she'd ever given herself the chance to think of him as anything more than a tool to use. She needed influence for the game she was playing and R'thar provided that. She let her eyes drop, almost shyly looking back at him through her eyelashes.
"I don't see you enough, R'thar."

[Tarra]

We have company, Lenigrath's comment held a dry sarcasm that left R'thar in no doubt as to who the company was. Despite his usual aloofness, the bronze rarely noticed more than friendliness in others and was rather prone to trusting people too easily. But he was his rider's dragon too, and being as he often relied on R'thar for a second opinion about things, he could not fail now to see the motives of the young female rider of his twin brown clutchsiblings.

And be amused by it. He had come, after some long and careful thought, to understand that there were friends and there were friends, and others' attempts to be friendly for the sole sake of influence were to him at best interesting and at worst terrifying. Interesting because each of them was a chance to learn and to get his stupid, slow thought processes working on becoming more steamlined at dealing with them; terrifying because, though Lenigrath would never admit it to anyone but His, he wasn't altogether sure he was capable of dealing with politics at any level deeper than its most superficial forms. In a gentler world, the gift for trusting easily would probably have been an invaluable asset; as things were however, it was more liability than anything else.

Fortunately however, His was more than adept at managing most of the politicking that went around, and Nyssa's attempts to gain their support were still on the easy side of things. They hadn't yet moved beyond an acquaintance-level relationship despite the brownrider's best efforts, and much of it had to do with R'thar's natural reticence in getting to know anyone better than was needed. Time was, half a turn ago, when he would have been coaxing and encouraging Nyssa's support for the planned escape with the weyrlings to the North. But all that had fallen through with Kaycy's betrayal, and with the advent of the North's attacks R'thar had withdrawn from all but the most necessary relationships in anger and brooding. The bluerider, if he was found, would have some answering to do if he ever got his hands on him; but for the moment he had spent his time protecting the coalition and assisting with the move to South Run. There was not much in all that which required him to think about soliciting support from Nyssa (beyond the usual coordination required, of course).

Now that it was mostly taken care of, however, he was once again open to actually doing some serious networking; particularly so with the three-way divide the Weyr was facing. It would be good to have closer links to the ground: not just the blue and green riders whose support every bronzerider needed to survive, but also the support staff of the Weyr at large. Some higher-ranking riders felt they had no need for the support of anyone but their mindmates; R'thar, having come from humble beginnings, knew better, and did what was needed (within reason) to keep that support.

"Bronze rider!"

The call raised his head as if he had just noticed their arrival for the first time. It was a tad preposterous given Lenigrath had just fixed Belnioth with a frigid stare for his intrusion of space (and what the dragon saw, didn't the rider see too?); but R'thar wanted Nyssa to think he was so absorbed with his work that he had missed them completely. He smiled to match her grin as she came up.

"Heard you got sent to check the walls, and since I had nothing to do..I thought I'd offer you a hand."

"Nyssa," he said in greeting, noting how she'd dressed for the occasion - with the additional liberty of a well-chosen shirt too, it seemed. The brownrider's top might not have been deliberately-chosen, but it was all too easy to assume it was; and R'thar was, frankly, enjoying the view even if he made no hint of it.

"Just R'thar will do, no need to call me bronzerider." That wasn't the case for everyone else, but he was comfortable with the young woman addressing him by name rather than rank; and it served nicely as a subtle hint of how he viewed her standing in relation to him. Though, frankly speaking, he hadn't so much been sent to manage the walls as volunteered to do so; but that little error could be overlooked. After all, they both knew why Nyssa was out here, catching the bronzerider alone.

"That's nice of you," R'thar replied as he looked back up and down the length of palisade still to go. He had a mischievous moment in which he contemplated what would happen if he truly took Nyssa at her word and set her to working only, without further ceremony. She'd probably be fuming, even if she didn't show it. Not that he really intended to of course. Her final comment, however, nearly forced a bark of laughter that he twisted into a cough just in time. That had been just a tad too obvious.

"No," he agreed, in spite of himself, "But then we've all been so busy since the North found us, it isn't any wonder is it?"

He glanced back at her as he spoke, then nodded towards the nearby box of tools. Time to get a bit more hands-on. He did have a job to finish after all, even if he would very much like to hear from Nyssa, "Tools are there; what I'm doing now is checking for water damage - excessive damp or obvious rot, or weakened stumps. We can patch the smaller bits but greater damage needs to be marked for the woodcrafters."

"And while we're at it," he continued, as he started tapping his part of the fencing again, "I do hope you'll not mind me asking how you've been? We haven't met in ages, like you'd said."

Lenigrath for his part had turned from staring at Belnioth to regard Paltalneith. The many-hued brown had, at least, the courtesy to ask rather than demand. Pointedly ignoring Belnioth as if he were nothing but another rock in the sun, the bronze made his reply with cool tones of courtesy. And allowed it to chance into Belnioth's mind as well of course. He was the bronze here, and could decide with royal affront who he would favour or not.

My greetings, Paltalneith. Yes your company would be much appreciated, please do so. I trust you have fed well recently?

Such genteel overtures, and obviously aimed at the better-mannered of the twins only.

[Missa]

Lenigrath may have had his doubts about politics, but Nyssa loved them. There was something about a nest of tunnelsnakes that made her brighten as nothing else had yet managed to do. If there was one thing her mind thrived on, it was the possibility of one wrong word and all the hard work of years could be destroyed. Damage control, smooth-talking; that was what Nyssa loved more than anything. So while her best efforts to wind R'thar around her smallest finger were proving to be insufficient, there was absolutely nothing the bronze-rider could have done to ensure he had her attention. Perhaps not whole-heartedly, Nyssa was never the type to attempt to keep her networking small, but certainly intruiged. After all, what man didn't like a woman like her? It was baffling, it was frustrating.

It was fun.

As it was the smile Nyssa flashed at him was more genuine than could have been expected from most others - not that it was easy to see such a thing at first. It was such a shame that as far as the bronze-rider saw, she wasn't as useful. R'thar had sough her company once, and if she ever found out why he'd withdrawn... If it was a person, she was going to give them a good swift kick... Well, she wouldn't be. Belnioth; however, he could probably swallow anyone she didn't have time for.
That is disgusting, Nyssa. Said brown didn't even look up from where he lay, now obviously sulking. Eat human flesh indeed.

There was a barely perceptible brightening in her eyes as he used her name in return to her address, a smug straightening of her shoulders and tilt of her chin. He knew her name, and that was a good start. She wasn't just one of many brown-riders (of course not, she had two of them), but she was an individual. Then an invitation to call him by his own name; if Nyssa's blue eyes could have brightened, they would have in response to the offer. In every likelyhood she was sure it was simply that they'd gone through Weyrlinghood together, in a small class where relying on each other was important. The thought almost made her roll her eyes at herself.
Ridiculously sentimental brat you're becoming. Never rely on anyone else.

Mental scolding through with, she let her head drop in the slightest nod towards him,
"R'thar, then. Thanks." She grinned, and the smile widened at his use of the word 'nice'. She didn't really think that either of them really believed that of her, R'thar seemed smarter than that. After all, bronzes didn't pick the stupid boys in the group. They went to the greens. Whatever enjoyment she found in his wording; however, she refused to show as he continued. It was hard, to keep her eyes on his features when they wanted to look for Lenigrath and check her two creatures were behaving. Paltanieth she knew, would never destroy her hard work, but Belnioth cared little enough for her ambitions. As long as his belly was full at the end of the day.
"No... To think that things were almost peaceful before that. Strange, isn't it?"

As he pointed, Nyssa moved automatically to gather up what she needed in her hands. Had R'thar gone through with his thought to send her on her own to work, she would have. He was correct in thinking she would have fumed the entire time, but she would have done it. The things she did for power, honestly.
"Someone has to do it, don't they?" She grinned as she followed his example in running her hands over the wood, refusing to look up as he spoke again. If she looked up, he might see the delight at how well the conversation was going, and she couldn't let him know that his influence in the weyr was the most important thing to her.
"I've been well, thank you R'thar. I have to say Belnioth and Paltanieth keep me busy.. It takes nearly a whole day to scrub them both properly." She paused to glance at him, the distaste for the hours lost not at all faked as she continued,
"But yourself? Lenigrath has become a stunning bronze."

Being ignored was not something Belnioth took well, but just as he stirred himself from the warmth of the sun to snap that Lenigrath should pay more attention to his betters, he received nothing less than a solid mental thump. His whirling eyes found his rider, who continued to chat with R'thar, not even looking at him. The warning was there; however, and Belnioth settled back against the ground, grumbling. Loudly. Paltanieth barely nodded his serpentine head at Lenigrath, settling himself down near the bronze, but not so close as to be uncomfortable.
My thanks, apologies for Belnioth.. He has not yet learned courtesy. I doubt he ever will.[/i] Amusement danced in his tone, before continuing on a more polite note, I have, when Belnioth does not steal my dinner. And yourself? All is well?