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[G] [C] 741.01.13 | Secret Adventures - Printable Version

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741.01.13 | Secret Adventures - M'quel - 26.Jan.20

Madiquel had refused to socialise ever since A’tay had told her how Quinvalis had been injured. She’d been sending Clover to her home Weyr daily, seeking updates and sending her own to her friend with tidbits about what she’d been up to in class, and how desperately she wished she was there and able to help. Madiquel loved Zezeth more than she could ever put into words, but she felt so trapped on the Istan Island, with her dragon who was growing, but was still too small for riding. They’d finally passed their fifth-month-birthday, and Zezeth was seriously outgrowing her brothers, which was… confusing. Madiquel was somewhat worried, and she knew she wasn’t alone. All of Zezeth’s effort appeared to going into growing bigger, the dragon was still little more than skin and bones and a glossy green hide that Madiquel kept drenched in oil. Her dragon had recovered well from the dislocation of her left hip, but it had done the damage to the way everyone treated her. Zezeth hated the way her siblings and the humans who spent time around her were cautious, like they were constantly waiting for her to pop another joint.

A flicker of a smile danced over Madiquel’s face when she felt Zezeth touch on her mind, letting her know that the boys – dragons and riders – had gone to bed, and the coast was clear. Madiquel hadn’t meant to isolate herself so thoroughly, and was kind of embarrassed about the scene she’d managed to make. She was angry with herself, for not being able to be there to help Quinvalis or simply to support him. She had been upset when A’tay had brought her the news, and while she’d burst into tears and fled from him after he’d finished speaking, refusing to talk to him or any of her friends, she hadn’t been angry at him in any way. It wasn’t A’tay’s fault he was the bearer of bad news! But after the first two days, Madiquel still hadn’t been ready to see her friends, and had taken to sneaking around. Today, she was sneaking because she was embarrassed to face them. She’d been awfully dramatic and childish and she was quite ashamed of herself and not sure how to go back to normal. She was afraid of questions.

Slipping into the weyr where the dragonets slept, Madiquel joined Zezeth. She glanced at the two blues, but they were either genuinely asleep, or were humouring herself and Zezeth and pretending to be asleep. Madiquel smiled fondly at them, and then scrambled onto Zezeth’s back, settling herself at the base of the dragonet’s neck and wriggling to make herself comfortable. Zezeth was very skinny, and quite uncomfortable, but they both enjoyed the contact and the way the pony ride felt so natural as the young dragon slipped out into the night air, spreading her wings and flapping them slowly; she wasn’t trying to take off, but exercising the joints and muscles, and getting them both used to the way the motion felt.

Technically, while fifth-month lessons included the grounded rides, the Weyrlingmaster had insisted that none of the dragonets were ready. Dyoricath and Erebuth were both still very small, though Madiquel had overheard some of the others talking about how they weren’t that much smaller than the Old dragons, the ones before the Plague, and Madiquel had ended up seeking out Casa to query about it. Everyone knew that Thallyath was tiny compared to the other Katilan gold dragons, but discussion with her rider had brought Madiquel up to date on a lot of information and from there, it really hadn’t taken much effort on Zezeth’s part to get Madiquel atop her.

The after-dark though, that was because Madiquel wasn’t interested in causing a scene. She didn’t want to upset the boys, she didn’t want to get scolded by her Papa or her Weyrlingmaster or anyone else. Neither she nor Zezeth did. But Madiquel was careful! She had checked Zezeth over so thoroughly before their first riding session that the green had become exasperated with her. But Madiquel had made her do all kinds of things, until she was confident that the dragonet wouldn’t collapse under her into a pile of green bones.

None of that was in Madiquel’s mind, though, as she sat atop Zezeth with her head thrown back, staring up at the ceiling of stars in the darkness of the sky. Madiquel hated the dark, and with the stars as the only light, it was very dark around her. But she felt safe and secure with Zezeth, so long as she didn’t think too deeply about how alone they were, how far they were from everyone and everything, and how dark it was… Company, Zezeth said softly, and Madiquel startled, blinking and lowering her face so she could stare with huge eyes into the darkness in the direction she knew her dragonet was looking. Zezeth didn’t sound stressed, but Madiquel still shifted anxiously and chewed on her bottom lip.

“Who?” She whispered softly, as Zezeth meandered confidently towards the other dragon. It took them almost until they were atop one another for Madiquel to realise that the shadowy shape was Xyxyth, with A’tay. “Um, hi,” Madiquel said weakly, wondering if A’tay and Xyxyth would scold her and Zezeth for their late night wandering. She could feel Zezeth’s amusement as she folded her wings away and stood placidly, peering up at the other dragon with a soft croon.


RE: 741.01.13 | Secret Adventures - A'tay - 28.Jan.20

Normally, A'tay would have already been fast asleep given the hour but something kept niggling him in the back of the mind to the point that he got up and dressed. He was superstitious enough to believe that there had to be a reason for him not being able to sleep and he was worried it was something bad. Maybe it would have to do with the weaker weyrlings despite them looking stronger and healthier with each passing month.

Since Madiquel was a part of that group, A'tay found himself in the Lower Bowl with Xyxyth, quietly walking side by side in the direction of the weyrlings' barrack. He just wanted to double check there wasn't any major commotion to help sooth his fears before going back to bed. We don't have to go much further. Madiquel and Zezeth approach.

A'tay frowned at the approaching figure he could only barely make out the shape of. That's not Madiquel. They aren't allowed to ride their dragons yet. And Madiquel certainly wasn't the sort to break such a rule when it came to the health and safety of her dragon. But when the figure came closer and a familiar voice greeted him, A'tay found himself wrong and gawked. Told you.

"Madiquel!" A'tay gasped and struggled to find words, any words really. She was clearly out after curfew and was riding her dragon when she wasn't supposed to. This wasn't the friend he knew! Sure, they had gotten into mischief when they were younger and that meant breaking or bending some rules but this just felt different.

And then he remembered the feeling he had and suddenly A'tay found some words again. "Is everything okay?"


RE: 741.01.13 | Secret Adventures - M'quel - 11.May.20

Madiquel flushed at the strangled way A’tay spoke her name, feeling a coil of uncommon emotion in her belly and ripple up her spine. It took her a moment to place it: shame. The realisation caused confusion, though, because she didn’t know why she felt that way. It wasn’t in her nature to become angry or defensive, and so she simply slid down from Zezeth’s back and stood beside her dragon, not looking in A’tay’s direction for a while as she collected herself. His question surprised her, and she looked up, tilting her head slightly at him and blinking in the darkness. There really wasn’t very much light, and she could mostly only make out the shadowy contours of A’tay’s face, and the dark blob that she knew was his body.

“Yes.” A pause. “No,” she said softly, shoulders slumping. “TayTay, I’m sorry.” The moment after those words had spilled free, Madiquel threw herself from beside Zezeth, who was chatting with (or at, Madiquel wasn’t sure) Xyxyth. The girl wrapped her arms around A’tay’s neck – once more surprised by how tall he had gotten – and clung to him fiercely for several moments. Loosening her grip just enough to stare up at A’tay intently, Madiquel puffed out a breath gently, aiming it up past her own face, causing the hair around her face to fluff up briefly. “I’m not mad at you, I swear!” Eyes wide, face worried. “I was angry at me, for not being there for Quin.” Madiquel sighed, and dropped her head, chin to her chest and leaned forward, pressing her forehead against A’tay’s chest.

“I’ve been a terrible friend!” she said, horrified at herself and how much the vocalisation of that fact caused more guilt to bubble up, filling her with dread. She really had been awful! She’d been so selfish, because she hadn’t been able to be there. Which meant she wasn’t there at all for A’tay or any of her other friends over the past several days, and wasn’t that worse? Madiquel pouted, but she was disgusted with herself. She’d never thought of herself as a selfish person, but now she wasn’t sure! Maybe she’d always been a terrible friend? Oh, that was such a disgusting thought!

Leaning back again, Madiquel frowned intently up at A’tay, eyebrows furrowed. “Have you been okay?” she asked gently, knowing A’tay was at the Hatching that day and she hadn’t spoken to him since he told her about Quinvalis and she took off. She really was a terrible friend. She knew how that upset him since his own mishap on the Sands before Impressing. Madiquel leaned back just slightly, shifting so her hands were resting lightly on A’tay’s shoulders as she thought to grab his hand to examine, as if the past hatching might somehow have re-opened the old wound, but realised in the process that his hands were on her hips. She was surprised for a moment, before beaming up at him, eyes bright in the darkness, remembering their dance at the Gather before she Impressed.

“We just need some music!” She said softly, and giggled when Zezeth started humming quietly in response.


RE: 741.01.13 | Secret Adventures - A'tay - 12.May.20

When Madiquel threw herself at him and clung onto him in a tight, A'tay didn't know what to do. Instinct had him wrapping his arms around her to complete the hug but his thoughts and emotions were in turmoil. He never thought she was mad at him--not really. Her reaction to the news of her friend stung but he knew she wouldn't blame him for it. But it did suck that she shut him out along with everyone else. Still, he didn't hold that against her. He'd probably do something similar as well in her position.

So relief that she was fine, even if still a bit upset over the event, wanted to settle in but he couldn't quite grasp it and A'tay couldn't figure out why. He tried to focus on his thoughts and not the way Madiquel clung to him--and wasn't that just the issue right there? Every time he thought he could move on, get over his crush he harboured on his best friend for years now, something happened that hooked him in again.

But there was also how deep that concern went for Quinvalis and a hint of jealousy crept up on him. His rational portion of his brain knew Madiquel cared deeply for everyone she called a friend but she was also close to Quinvalis and spoke of him regularly when she still lived at Fort Weyr.

He also hated how she thought if she had been there she could have done something. He could have believed that maybe she was Quinvalis' good luck charm but she had been at T'ryn and Syrendryth's first Hatching where Quinvalis and others were mauled. He didn't dare point that out or how perhaps her friend just had bad luck, though.

He did, however, point something out. "You're not a terrible friend, DiDi. I'd be more worried if you hadn't reacted like you did. It shows you care about him and it's only been a few days so the rest of us understand and aren't angry." Her question about his well-being had made him clue in to how deeply Madiquel saw her as a terrible friend. She was worried that everyone was mad or felt neglected and while he really couldn't speak for everyone, A'tay didn't think the others minded either. She was given bad news and she had a young dragon to look after on top of that.

As she shifted, his arms lowered a bit and left his hands on her hips, which of course Madiquel noticed, A'tay flushed and was thankful for the night covering it for him. He felt a bit of guilt and knew he should move away but he stayed still. He liked Kestra and sometimes they held hands but they weren't actually together so it wasn't like he was cheating and it wasn't like Madiquel was interested.

She remembered the Gather but only brought up the dancing and there was such innocence in her eyes that A'tay knew that would be all she would bring up and his heart broke a bit more. Madiquel was so pure and being with him would ruin that so this was for the best. So he smiled and guided them into rocking from foot to foot in a slow dance to match the humming that was provided as music.


RE: 741.01.13 | Secret Adventures - M'quel - 14.May.20

The relief Madiquel felt when A’tay said he wasn’t mad at her, washed over her like a sudden ray of sunlight, warming her up and Madiquel felt a quiver dip down her spine in response even as she beamed up at A’tay in the darkness with such relief she couldn’t have found words to articulate it if she’d tried. Instead, she smiled at him warmly, expression full of relief and affection for her friend; her eyes crinkled and her smile widened when A’tay responded to her dancing comment by moving into motion, and she laughed softly, the sound delicate in the darkness.

Shifting her hands from A’tay’s chest to loop her arms loosely around his neck, her wrists crossed, Madiquel joyfully swaying to the music of dragon humming. It wasn’t the same type of hum as that which announced a Hatching, and it took Madiquel a moment to realise it was a popular Harper tune, and she sent Zezeth a wave of love and affection, which the young green dragon echoed back at her. Madiquel wasn’t sure how long they danced for, or when Zezeth stopped, but it was noticed eventually and the swaying faltered before ending. She wasn’t even sure which of them ended the dance, or if they both stopped at the same time.

Still smiling, Madiquel left her arms linked around A’tay’s neck as she stood on her toes, to place a light kiss on his cheek, a quiet thanks for the dance, and his friendship, and not hating her for being selfish and hiding away since the Hatching. No related words followed the kiss like normally followed Madiquel’s cheerful pecks; instead, she was distracted by the evening stubble on A’tay’s face. Apparently, her friend was clean shaven whenever he visited her, because Madiquel was taken completely by surprise by the prickly cheek, blinking as she pulled back, though not far, and she shifted to brush her finger along his cheekbone, as if to make sure her lips weren’t lying.

They weren’t.

Aside from her Papa, who had at one point after losing Denath looked like a crazed hairy monster, Madiquel’s friends were, apparently, majority cleanshaven, not shaving, or not close enough for her to notice the scruff. Frowning slightly, Madiquel stood on tiptoe again, this time using one hand to gently tip A’tay’s head by the chin to catch the moonlight, while she leaned close – almost cross eyed – to peer at his stubble. It was barely visible, obviously the same soft shade of blonde as his hair, and hiding from the little light there was. She doubted it would be any more visible in the daylight. She gave a soft ‘hm!’ noise, and released A’tay’s chin gently, her fingers brushing quickly across his top lip (yup, still prickly) and then wrapped her arms once more around his neck, tightly this time, and pressed her cheek to A’tay’s, his stubble scratching her cheek as she spoke.

“I never realised,” she said quietly, her voice implying her own denseness for not taking note of the fact her friend was growing up just as much as she was, even if she was behind most of the other girls that had been lucky enough to make it into her healer class. She had noticed she had hips now, and a modest chest was hard to miss at bath time, but she hadn’t yet met the major milestone of her menses and honestly, considering both stories and studies, she wasn’t looking forward to that – although the fact that she was a half-fledged greenrider promised she wouldn’t be as miserable as her past-future-self without a dragon was going to be!


RE: 741.01.13 | Secret Adventures - A'tay - 15.May.20

A’tay smiled and even laughed—as quietly as he could—while they danced, finding he was having a lot more fun than he thought he would. He had only swayed them a little as an extension of what he had taken as Madiquel teasing about their seemingly endless dancing at the Gather but both girl and dragon seemed to think it a marvellous idea to dance in the Lower Bowl after what had to be her curfew.

It was nice to forget all the worries surrounding them the last few months and just have a bit of fun with a friend. A friend that was kissing his cheek. A’tay blinked, unsure of when they decided the dance was over and why he earned the kiss. He knew it was just Madiquel’s usual friendly kiss and nothing more but in his mind… he was so pathetic! He wished she remembered the thimble he gave her and the meaning of it and wished he had the courage to give her a proper kiss on the lips. It was the right moment, he could feel that it was, especially when a finger was lightly caressing his cheek.

A’tay stopped breathing and he wasn’t sure if his heart was still pounding—It is. There would be a lot more screeching if it wasn’t—All he had to do was dip his head down and brush his lips against Madiquel’s. He knew what to do, mostly, and knew his siblings—except Wynera, she was young and as pure as Madiquel—and all of his friends would have taken the opportunity and not been as scared as he was.

But he was scared. He just couldn’t risk her hating him for being so bold. Besides, she was clearly far more interested in the fact that he needed to shave and suddenly A’tay was embarrassed to have her see him so scruffy as she tilted his head this way and that, examining the light growth of the day. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone until breakfast and I normally shave in the morning,” A’tay quickly apologised, mostly because his brain couldn’t process the encounter any longer. He had Madiquel back in his arms and she had her cheek against his and he really didn’t know if that meant she was silently saying she was okay with it and liked it or if she was still trying to convince herself that it wasn’t horrible—even though it admittedly was. It was only a day’s growth and probably a tad on the patchy side.


RE: 741.01.13 | Secret Adventures - M'quel - 17.May.20

“Don’t be!” Madiquel said softly, enjoying the way A’tay’s scruffy cheek brushed against her own as she almost whispered the words. Smiling, Madiquel pulled back a little, expression soft and pure in the moonlight as she continued. “I like it.” And she did, though she didn’t know why. The contrast was the best bit, she decided, brushing her fingers down one side of A’tay’s jawline again. It wasn’t thick, or particularly coarse, but it was a nice kind of prickly, which was probably strange. She’d never been fond of Papa’s face being prickly, but Papa’s prickly face had always come with a bad spell. Madiquel didn’t think A’tay would know how to have a spell of sour attitude even half the magnitude of her Papa. He was much too sweet and generally happy. She’d seen him down, of course, they were best friends for turns now. But nothing like that (and she hoped she never would! No one deserved that kind of pain.)

Pushing such terrible thoughts aside, Madiquel looped her arms back around A’tay’s neck, noticing as she did so that his hair wasn’t tied back as normal. She blinked; had it been tied back before, or been loose the whole time? She had no idea, a tie could have fallen out while they were dancing if it had already been coming loose. But since she noticed now, Madiquel smiled, combing both hands through A’tay’s hair from each temple, going carefully so any tangles didn’t tug too badly, and fanned his growing hair out around his face. Her hands lowered to his chest, with a kind of subconscious movement as she stared at him, eyes wide, like she hadn’t see him before that moment. Not properly. “Oh.” The single word was whispered, and she caught A’tay’s gaze accidentally, biting her bottom lip and flushing a sudden crimson in the darkness. Zezeth gave a confused chirp at the odd emotions dancing through her bonded, eyes whirling in sudden distress..

“I-um-“ Madiquel stuttered, jerking back out of A’tay’s arms and crashing into the side of her dragon’s head, as Zezeth moved closer to snuffle at Madiquel, as confused as her human was. Madiquel wrapped her arms around herself, face still red in the darkness, and green eyes bewildered. “I should go,” she said meekly, trying to calm the ridiculous sensation of a party happening in her tummy and she pressed the backs of her knuckles to her face, trying to cool her cheeks. “It’s late.” She swayed forward, to give A’tay her usual hug before departing, but squeaked before the motion was finished as her whole body seemed to go hot and cold on her, and instead she turned and bolted into the darkness, leaving a confused Zezeth behind.

The young green dragon peered from A’tay to Xyxyth to the direction Madiquel had run, and tilted her head to one side. She nuzzled Xyxyth’s cheek, and pressed her nose gently against A’tay’s chest, breathing softly on him for a moment before turning to trot after Madiquel.


RE: 741.01.13 | Secret Adventures - A'tay - 18.May.20

A'tay smiled when Madiquel admitted to liking the scruff trying to grow on his face. Would she still like it if it was fuller? It wouldn't hurt to let it grow for the next week or so and see what became of it. If it was patchy, he'd shave it immediately and never try again, but if it didn't look too bad, he'd consider leaving it. T'ryn kept himself clean-shaven and their dad could go either way depending on what style he was into at the moment. But facial hair and letting his hair grow out would definitely help in making him his own person and not a clone of, if nothing else, T'ryn. It was a bit tiring getting confused for his brother now that they were in the same Weyr.

Speaking of his hair, it seemed Madiquel's attention had turned to it and A'tay found himself unable to breathe again as she ran her fingers delicately through the strands. He'd been letting it grow for several months and it was down to his ear lobes now, which meant for the most part he could tie it back. Some strands still liked to fall free but he didn't mind it too much and honestly only did it when he was trying to look respectable or visiting Madiquel and Kestra since he didn't know if either of them would like the longer length. His plan was to let it reach his shoulders so he could easily pull it back cleanly when needed or wear it loose when it suited him--assuming the style itself suited him. It hadn't even occurred to him that it had been left down this whole time since he had only rolled out of bed to work off the unease that had been plaguing him.

It seemed his friend liked it though. Maybe. He knew he liked her toying with his hair and when their gaze met, A'tay lost his breath yet again. Just kiss her! He kept yelling at himself, oddly very aware that this was the perfect moment to do so. Some of the more outspoken in their circle of friends had once said you could tell when the moment was right and A'tay had doubted it. He didn't doubt it now. He could feel something between them but he also knew better than to try.

Seconds later when Madiquel was pulling away and he saw the whirling distress in Zezeth's eyes, he knew he was right; she was confused over something or maybe realised it looked like she was leading him on when she didn't mean to. Whatever the reason, the moment had passed and A'tay mourned it but also let it go without a fight. Just like he let Madiquel go when she announced it was late and ran off.

He gave Zezeth a gentle pat to her nuzzling nose and watched the dragon trot off after her mate. He debated going after them to make sure Madiquel was okay because something had definitely just happened and he didn't have a proper answer for it.

Leave her be. I recall through that memory of the day you keep bringing up that you did much the same thing after giving her the thimble... Xyxyth didn't say what the connection was, leaving A'tay to figure it out himself and go wide-eyed.

A'tay almost started laughing as he climbed his way atop his dragon. That would be too good to be true if that were the case. He was leaning towards the idea that she felt bad and embarrassed for making it seem like she was flirting with him when she didn't have that level of interest in him.

Still, as he crawled back into bed, Shadow moving to curl up beside him, A'tay knew he'd think on it way too much anyway and still not have any true answer because he'd be too afraid to bring it up with Madiquel. When he eventually started to fall back into sleep, his last thought was how he really needed to get over the crush on his best friend.