09.Nov.12, 12:24 PM
The water was cold (as expected) and rather deep. Luckily, Ellaira was rather buoyant from the little bit of extra weight she carried as remnants of her two pregnancies, and turns of running gave her quite a bit of endurance at treading water. She swam over to a submerged stone, diving down and grabbing some of the clean sand from the lake's bottom before resting on the stone, balancing on the tips of her toes. Ellaira started scrubbing her arms with sand, grinning in sheer tactile pleasure, when she heard a voice.
Her head snapped up with uncharacteristic sharpness - she'd thought nobody was around - and she pinpointed the source of the voice almost immediately. The girl was readily identifiable to anyone who paid the least attention to Weyr politics: Jada, the young goldrider. The woman on whose gold Ellaira's last hopes of Impression likely hung, for Tsuen's beast seemed disinclined to take to the sky here in the south. She certainly didn't need an introduction to recognize one of the three goldriders left on Pern, though it was (perhaps) a socially pleasant greeting. They had never been formally introduced, after all.
"Please, call me Elly," Ellaira said cheerfully, shaking the sand off of her hand under the water before brushing the hair out of her eyes. "My da was the only one to ever call me Elle, and it's far too formal a nickname for me." She flashed a smile at Jada, trying to be friendly. Apparently Ellaira being naked in the water hadn't phased the young goldrider - but then again, baths in the Weyr were somewhat communal, and no doubt Jada had seen naked flesh before. Ellaira wasn't particularly shy with hers. A body was a body.
"Would you like to join me? The water's cold, but the sand's clean and it gets the camping grime off your skin." Ellaira dove underwater again, coming up closer to the shore and holding up a handful of the fine white sand. She stood on the ground, digging her toes into the sand. Further out the lake weeds started, but here the sand was clear. "It's rather protected in this cove. I'm surprised you caught sight of me, really, with all the trees and outcroppings."
Her head snapped up with uncharacteristic sharpness - she'd thought nobody was around - and she pinpointed the source of the voice almost immediately. The girl was readily identifiable to anyone who paid the least attention to Weyr politics: Jada, the young goldrider. The woman on whose gold Ellaira's last hopes of Impression likely hung, for Tsuen's beast seemed disinclined to take to the sky here in the south. She certainly didn't need an introduction to recognize one of the three goldriders left on Pern, though it was (perhaps) a socially pleasant greeting. They had never been formally introduced, after all.
"Please, call me Elly," Ellaira said cheerfully, shaking the sand off of her hand under the water before brushing the hair out of her eyes. "My da was the only one to ever call me Elle, and it's far too formal a nickname for me." She flashed a smile at Jada, trying to be friendly. Apparently Ellaira being naked in the water hadn't phased the young goldrider - but then again, baths in the Weyr were somewhat communal, and no doubt Jada had seen naked flesh before. Ellaira wasn't particularly shy with hers. A body was a body.
"Would you like to join me? The water's cold, but the sand's clean and it gets the camping grime off your skin." Ellaira dove underwater again, coming up closer to the shore and holding up a handful of the fine white sand. She stood on the ground, digging her toes into the sand. Further out the lake weeds started, but here the sand was clear. "It's rather protected in this cove. I'm surprised you caught sight of me, really, with all the trees and outcroppings."