[G] [P] 745.01.02 | I Like My Winters Served Warm

Snow. That was all that she saw lately, was snow. She hadn't even been able to escape it for the recent hatching, although for once she hadn't minded the heated sands one bit, even if she hadn't Impressed yet again. She sighed heavily, her breath instantly clouding out before her face like her own personal cloud. Her boots crunched in the snow as she walked across the bowl towards the kitchens from where she had delivered the last of the clean shirts she had washed and mended. Her chores done for the day she could tuck herself away in a corner somewhere, preferably near a fireplace, and read. There wasn't much else for her to do without a dragon or child to tend. Not that she particularly wanted the latter but at least a child would occupy some of her time. She supposed she could steal Vaelon from Vaeyla or her father, they always appreciated some alone time. It was a thought that she seriously considered as the watch dragon bugled a greeting behind her. She stopped mid step and looked up, a slight frown on her face. She recognized the brown making a slow descent but for the life of her couldn't remember the rider right away. She continued to watch the pair as they landed, the reddish brown coloring of the dragon sparking her memory a bit.

Hunath was the dragon, she still couldn't put the name to the rider who was now dismounting. Ah well, it would come to her, she was certain. She turned away and went back the way she had planned before stopping, the Great Hall and warmth. Perhaps someone had some fresh klah on, that would be wonderful to get rid of this frosted feeling she had. She was absolutely not made for the cold, though one did get used to it mostly after a while, she still preferred the warmth of the south to the blistering cold of High Reaches. K'ton had best be glad she loved having her father around. Okay fine, she loved her entire family, but the cold was still pushing it.

A short time later Kel found herself in the kitchens, blessedly content and warm, waiting on a fresh pot of klah that she was perfectly content to make herself. There had been some left, but it was old and just the dredges left so she had taken it upon herself to make more. It was the kind of considerate thing she did, think of others not just herself and she supposed that brownrider might just want some klah himself when and if he made his way to the kitchens looking for it. As she had waited she found herself humming to herself, one of the Teaching Ballads, and tidying things up. She had also found a couple aprons that needed mending that she set aside. She would fix them as she drank her klah then bring them back. She let one of the drudges know to tell the Headwomen so there wouldn't be any screaming about it should she find the garments randomly missing before she was done. That was the last thing she needed, to try and be helpful, only to cause trouble instead. It wasn't like she needed to do this, she just liked to.

Finally the klah was ready, which made Kelian very happy. Having poured herself a mug, snagged a few meat rolls and a spare bread roll that she wrapped in a cloth and tucked into a pocket, she had just picked up the aprons and draped them over her arm when she heard booted feet coming into the kitchen.

Every time they went out for a leisure flight in the winter V’kam became more convinced that Hunath chose him primarily for his cold tolerance. His dragon loved the cold and snow, and got a bit pouty when he had to go inside early due to human frailty. Which had to be why he’d chosen V’kam—he ran warm as a matter of course, spent some formative years in High Reaches, and always had warm clothing at hand from his knitting habits. Somehow, V’kam was sure, little egg damp Hunath had sensed all that and picked him for it. Also picked him for some other things, of course, but the cold tolerance was high on the list.

Yes, that’s definitely the main thing I was thinking about when I hatched on a tropical beach. V’kam could hear the eyeroll in the comment, and grinned, giving Hunath’s shoulder an affectionate thwack. Hunath rumbled lowly, a half-hearted dragon grumble, and continued his slow descent towards the Weyr. V’kam adjusted his cowl and relaxed into his seat on Hunath, feeling the air warm a little bit as they descended into the Bowl. A decent cold tolerance really made dragonriding easier—the sky was cold and between was colder.

Still, didn’t mean V’kam didn’t get cold. As soon as he’d properly cared for and stowed Hunath’s riding leathers he would be headed to the kitchens for something to warm him up more than even his best, most sensible winter outfit could. He idly wondered what would be in the kitchens at that hour, eyes catching on a figure crossing the Bowl who’d stopped when Hunath returned the watch dragon’s greeting. From this distance he had no idea who it was, but he supposed it didn’t matter—thought he was pretty sure they weren’t wearing anything to keep their head warm, which was a questionable choice in the current weather—and within no time at all Hunath had landed at their weyr, and V’kam had to make sure he was all settled in before going off to get his warm snack, discarding most of his extra layers over the back of his desk chair.

There wasn’t a klah carafe out in the main dining room as there often was, so V’kam headed to the kitchens to see if they had any klah there, and if not he figured he could make some himself. He walked in to discover there was indeed fresh klah, if the steaming mug held by a familiar face was anything to go by. It only took a moment to match name to face and he smiled at her in greeting.

“Hello, Kelian,” he said. “Do I have you to thank for the fresh klah, or did you just have incredibly good timing?”

Kelian hadn't given much more thought to the brownrider that had landed prior to her entering the wyer kitchens. She had become lost in her own thoughts and the warm smell of klah, thoughts of hiding herself away or stealing her little brother. She had completely forgotten the rider was even a possibilty, even as she had heard the sound of footsteps coming toward the quiet kitchens. Having planned on making her exit regardless of who was arriving, she had turned to leave, only to come face to face with a tower of a man who seemed to make her feel even shorter than most everyone else already did. His seemingly sudden appearance startled her into a quiet squeak, which she cut short as quickly as it had started. She stopped short and backed up a pace, then looked up at the man before her, then looked up some more and blinked. There weren't too many people in the weyr that didn't make her feel short, but this man, this rider, definetely was making her feel every bit of her lack of height. His friendly face jogged her memory, however, and she was then able to pluck his name from wherever it had been lost in her mind before. For as long as she had known him, there was no reason for her to have lost his name in the first place. She'd never tell though!

She let herself relax again from where she had tensed up then returned the smile he had offered. It wasn't often she had the chance to talk to any of the riders, they were usually far to busy to be bothered with the likes of her, unless they actually had reason to. "Hello, V'kam", she said politely, smile still on her face, then set the aprons and her mug down on the empty counter near her. "Yes, and yes.", she answered his questions with the faintest of a laugh to her words as she moved away to retrieve a clean mug from a shelf. "There were old, dredges of klah left and I wanted a fresh hot mug, so I made some more.", she further explained so that he wouldn't think she was being rude with her shorter answer. She returned to where she had stood before, set down said mug, then retrieved the pot from over the coals of the hearth, before filling the mug slowly. "Did you want any sweetening?", she asked before replacing the klah pot back over the hearth. She would wait for a response before offering him the full mug with another smile, glad to be helpful as usual.

"May I ask how your Hunath is?", she asked after a moment, when he didn't immediately turn and leave. It was her experience that dragons liked to be thought about, preferably by their riders, but she hoped V'kam didn't mind her asking about his brown. She really only knew three dragons personally, her fathers, her brothers, and her father's wyermate's. She tried not to make a nuisance of herself regarding other peoples dragons, a kind word here and there, an offer to assist bathing on occasion. Though she wasn't bathing anyone in this frigid weather, that was for certain!