Thanks! I think... [A'liran]

Aparicus had asked the Weyrleader for the wood required to make a real, wooden fence around her garden after discussing it with the Greenrider A’liran.  It was a grand idea, but there was a short list of people waiting for wood for various projects around the Weyr and she wasn’t able to get it right away.  By the time the wood was delivered next to her garden, she’d become so busy with a side project that she hadn’t had the chance to seek the greenrider out for his promised help.

So when she rounded the corner yesterday to find a new fence completely surrounding her garden with two gates on either end, she’d dropped her basket and her hands had flown to her lips in surprise and absolute delight.  It was defiantly the best surprise she’d ever received and she had a feeling she knew exactly who it had been who’d finished her project while she was distracted.  Of course, chores couldn’t be ignored and by the time she finished up, it was too late to wander the Weyr looking for the rider’s hut.

She’d made the point of spending the morning in the kitchens with fresh ginger from her garden, making ginger cookies.  A fresh warm basket in hand as a thank you gift, she had to ask for directions twice before she recognized the beautiful green dragon asleep against the sunny side of a hut.  Deciding that must be it and feeling more confident that he’d be home with his dragon sleeping nearby, she did her best to quietly walk up to the door and knock softly.  She wanted him to hear the knock, but she didn’t want to wake the dragon.  She looked so peaceful and content...

A'liran: Lord of Pern! It had a nice ring to it!

While he was certainly no lord, A'liran sure felt like one as he stretched lazily across his bed, nude body spent after a particularly enjoyable flight. That stupid bluerider hadn't even known what hit him! It was laughable! Maybe A'liran: Lord of Fucking Blueriders Up! was more appropriate.


After destroying I'shan, A'liran had enjoyed a pleasant nap. He never bothered to get dressed or clean up his horrible, cluttered hut, which had only been more thoroughly destroyed when his unfortunate flightwinner came barging in. Clothes were strewn everywhere, including a pair of I'shan's pants which hadn't escaped alongside him. A'liran had also noticed his own missing pants, which I'shan had wiggled into hastily without realizing he'd taken the wrong ones. Oh well!

A'liran's bedside table had been knocked over and a mug shattered. Everything else seemed to have survived, except of course that dumbass bluerider's pride. Seriously, the nerve of that asshat; I'shan was a hypocrite, claiming to love northerners and yet searching, claiming to love greenriders and yet acting like a pig during flights...served him right to get served for dinner. Ah ha!

And so A'liran basked lazily in this moment of glory, half-asleep and more than content, until a soft knock came to his door.

Oh, goody! It was probably I'shan wanting his clothes back! A'liran smirked deviously and hopped to his feet, walking shamelessly and opening the door.

There he stood, completely naked and covered in bruises and bite marks from the flight. It was very, very obvious that he'd been engaged in sex with someone who was...not unwilling, but thoroughly displeased. I'shan had wanted the sex. He just wanted to be on top. Well too sharding bad!.

"Oh!" A'liran said, smirking fading and expression brightening when he recognized Aparicus. He didn't pause to consider his appearance. Instead, he reached cheerfully for a cookie. "Nice to see you again, sweetheart. What's up?"

Aparicus had been relieved when the door was answered, glad to see that it was A’liran’s hut after all.  What she hadn’t been expecting, was the attire he answered the door in… or rather… lack there of.  Finding a fully nude man standing before her, her eyes had just enough time to register the bite marks and bruises before her hands let go of the basket completely to fly up to her face with a loud squeek.  Spinning around fast enough to make her skirt flutter in a circle, she found herself shivering even as she continued to hide her face even though her back was turned.

She didn’t like her back turned… it meant she couldn’t see him or where he was or if he was reaching for her --- but it wasn’t PROPER to see the man naked!  Oh god, would he be upset?  He didn’t sound upset when he’d said hello and asked her what she was up to… He did REALIZE he was naked?  Dear Faranth, what would happen to her now that she’d seen a man naked?  Every other man she’d ever seen those parts of had been still partially clothed to some degree – because it was more convienent to leave some clothing on while forcing themselves on her at the small cothold than it was to completely undress.

Her face was bright red, she knew it and she tried to hide it in vain beneath her hands as she answered the man now behind her with a full studder clear in her voice.  “I-I… Good M-morning A’l-A’liran… I-I wanted-d to s-say T-thank you… For the F-fence…”

Aw, what a cute squeak! A'liran was immediately endeared, assuming that Aparicus' dramatic response to his nudity was playful. He raised a brow and let out a playful laugh before snatching another cookie. "You can come in if you want. Sorry about the mess, though. Ast had a flight today, and that sweet little lady knows how to party. Come on in!"

With that, he walked inside. He kicked some debris out of the way, lazily clearing a path for Aparicus to walk down. After all, it was rude to require a lady to step over your junk! A'liran didn't have much in the way of seating, though. His couch was covered in clothes and his table was overturned, so he opted to simply clear off a corner of his bed. Hhe seated himself, still nude, and patted the spot beside him. "Come on in," he said, perfectly friendly.

Astoreth roused from her sleep. A'liran could hear her laughter in the back of his mind. I doubt she is impressed the green said, flashing him a rather startling image of his own unclothed body, the attention focused on the more intimate part in particular. A'liran's eyes widened. That was a new thing, being assaulted by dragon-projected images of his own dick.

"Well shards, Ast," A'liran aid aloud. He got the picture, though. Aparicus did seem curiously shy, so he figured he'd do her a favor and put on some pants. He grabbed the closest pair, which evidently belonged to the bluerider he'd tangled with earlier, and slipped them on.

"The fence was no problem, by the way. Just a couple hours that I would have wasted otherwise," he assured her dismissively. "I'm glad you like it." Then, he flopped back onto the bed. "Say, sweetheart...are you okay?"

Sanderon was steaming mad but trying his hardest to keep a cool head. He had learned a lot about the dynamics of a flight and how it affected the dragons and riders alike. It did much to enlighten him to a rider's point of view, or lack thereof in a flight. He was still angry though for having heard of A'liran's cruel nature towards Ishan and his hatred of Blueriders in general.

Yes, Sanderon was only going to go collect the other half of the truth. That's all.

Slipping around the corner of the hut where A'liran lived on silent feet he immediately noticed Aparicus. He then noticed her dropped basket of cookies and her near-horrified look about her. Sanderon liked Aparicus, the Flower Lady, very much. More than he thought until he saw her like that.

His anger with A'liran grew very hot and without saying hello to Aparicus, Sanderon thought the worst and yelled strongly as he came.

"A'liran! I'm going to kill you!"

Nope he wasn't seriously going to murder the rider but he was intent on doing some serious damage. Nobody messed with his friends and got away with it.

Friends? Perhaps Aparicus was a friend too. He wasn't sure about her yet and now was not the time for him to think on it either.

Come on in, he said.  Apari had to take a deep breath to make sure she’d heard him properly as he stood behind her completely bare of any sort of clothing and she could hear him stoop to pick up another cookie, munching on it with a happy tune in his voice.  He was friendly… he wasn’t upset that she’d saw what she had…  And there he went again, repeating that she should ‘come on in’.  Turning around slowly, she fumbled to pick up the basket that had thankfully only lost one cookie to the ground before standing up again, wavering uncertainly at the door, not wanting to lift her eyes off the basket for fear of seeing what she wasn’t suppose to all over again.

Oh, but he didn’t sound angry…  In fact, he repeated a third time that she should come in and she heard things moving ahead of her.  Taking another deep breath, her face rosie red, she glanced up to see the man’s back side as he slid a pair of pants over his hips and fastened them as he turned back around to her.  Naturally, her blush deepened as she looked quickly everywhere else in the hut rather than at the green rider. 

She’d taken a single, shaky step inside, her courage growing now that the man had pants on and sat at the bed reassuring her that the fence wasn’t a problem at all.  He defiantly didn’t sound mad… then it was okay.  She wasn’t in trouble.  Her nerves calmed slightly more as she gave him a weak, awkward smile at his question of weither or not she was okay.  Opening her mouth to explain, she jumped nearly out of her skin, dropping her basket of cookies all over again as a voice rang out behind her --- CLEARLY angry. 

Jumping inside the hut and to the left of the door, she spun around to where she’d be able to see both the green rider and whoever came in through the door when she realized she recognized the voice… the angry voice… the voice threatening the green rider’s life.  It was Sanderon.

What blush there was on her cheeks was quickly pale'ing in her realization that, even if the dragonrider wasn't angry with her for seeing him naked, someone else was angry.  Very angry...

"I'm sorry about the clothes thing!" A'liran assured Aparicus, trying not to find amusement in her shyness. She really was a precious thing, though A'liran had not bothered to analyze her bashfulness enough to come close to understanding it. He didn't even have a theory. As far as he was concerned, she was just adorably shy. He smiled passively at her, hoping she would at least feel marginally welcome in his messy home, though he wasn't going to pester her. If she didn't want to come in, that was her business.

And then, of course, something had to sharding happen. A'liran felt a pulse of agitation from Astoreth as Sanderon stomped up, his anger falling off him in sheets. A'liran! the green spat with warning, her tail twitching like an angry feline. A'liran glared at the door, not even considering that Aparicus might think the gesture was aimed at her, where he quickly caught sight of the boy.

He didn't see him in time to do anything, though. Sanderon came in, calling out a death threat and scaring poor Aparicus so badly that she lept to one side of the door and seemed to be hiding. A'liran instantly shot to his feet.

"The FUCK is your problem, boy?!" A'liran snarled, quickly advancing across the room. The pant, which were too large for him, remained unbuttoned and far too open in the front. A'liran didn't care about his modesty, though! He just wanted to know what the shards this punk was doing in his home, yelling in front of his sweet guest!

The greenrider walked up, closing the gap between them to uncomfortable levels. A'liran was a small man, but he didn't care about getting up in people's faces. It got him out of an alarming amount of near-scraps. "I don't even sharding KNOW you, and look!" A'liran pointed at Aparicus. "You've fucking scared her, you asshole!"

Astoreth hissed irritably. She couldn't defend her rider from blueriders whose dragons outranked her, but she could do something about this. You leave him alone, hatchling! He gets hurt enough by cruel blueriders, he doesn't need to fight with YOU, too! the dragon screeched.

Sanderon saw Aparicus hurry inside the greenrider's hut. He had seen her trembling in fear on his doorstep as he came up. But now that she was hiding inside the hut of the one that had scared her? Sanderon was furious but very confused now too.

"Watch your mouth!" Sanderon growled. "First you beat the crap out of my friend. Yes! My FRIEND! You didn't even try to curb your blows. Then you dare to frighten Aparicus and blame it on me!? She was scared to death and trembling on YOUR doorstep so don't play dumb with me. I should beat you senseless!"

Sanderon's fury was shifting to a more dangerous calm. His voice began to lower and grow quieter. His dark eyes flashed with feral anger. "You don't care about anyone but yourself. Start growing a heart man or I'll tear yours out."

The screeching in his brain then from the man's green had Sanderon stepping back with a groan. Slapping his hands over his ears instinctively he bared his teeth as his anger began to grow hot again. "Control her temper or she'll be the death of us all!"

He meant to say in that moment that she would be the 'death of you', of A'liran but his threat fizzled as his heart spoke instead. He wanted unity. He wanted all the violence and hatred to end. Dragon and rider and non-rider alike had to come together or their efforts to save the dragons would all be in vain.

Oh, fuck this.

A'liran curled his fist and fired a punch at Sanderon. The blow connected, sending the young man rocking backwards towards the door.

"You little shit. Get the shards out of my house!" A'liran barked, taking a long step towards the young man before shoving him outside. The kid was stout, but A'liran was mean. A'liran pitched the young man outside before slamming his door, a scowl etched on his face.

"Fucking entitled little wherry! I sharding tell you what, that's a future bluerider for sure, barging into people's homes and friggin' threatening them with violence. Fuck that!" the greenrider spat as he began pacing. He sneered a bit, though his anger was dulled by Astoreth's insistent nudging.

Don't let him bother you she said with a dry streak of amusement. He's huffing off as we speak. He must not have wanted to spend another month on the island with Iveriath's rider! she joked. A'liran laughed out loud and shook his head.

You got that right, baby girl. I think I'd run away, too!

Oh, shards! Apari!

A'liran quickly spun around. "Shards, hun. I'm sorry, I forgot you were in here."

He took a couple steps towards her. "You okay? That fucker didn't scare you too much, did he?" he said, his expression softening exponentially.

Powerplayed with permission; Sanderon's RPer has left the site

Aparicus had lost what little bit of her color that had remained as the men growled back and forth at eachother.  Harsh words were shared and the young woman desperatly looked for a way out but beyond a window, there was no other door except the one the men fought at.  She'd done well, to be honest, of standing meekly and trembling in a corner until Sanderon finally pushed the greenrider into swinging the first and only blow.  It connected squarely, sending Sand stammering back even as Apari lost the last of her nerve and dove under the greenriders table.

From her new hiding spot she could not see as A'li pushed Sanderon out the door, nor could she see if the young man ever swung back, but that was perfectly okay with her.  Curling her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and rocked herself back and forth lightly trying to keep calm and remind herself that she wasn't in the middle of the fight.... just off in a corner.  A quiet corner.  A safe corner. 

Hearing the door close and the greenrider curse a little more, she actually let out a surprised squeeek as he spoke her name, asking if Sanderon had frightened her.  She was honestly scared to answer, the truth being that both men hadn't scared her, but terrified her and her jaw shook with the foretelling of tears.

"I-I D-didn't m-mean t-t-to ang-ger anyone...  she whimpered from beneath the table - not at all ready to come out after seeing how swiftly the man had jumped from friendly and smiling to punching Sanderon so violently.

A'liran was aghast. Look how horribly that young man's rude entrance had upset poor, sweet, gentle Aparicus! The greenrider's initial instinct was to swoop under the table, wrap her in a big hug, and squeeze her 'til she felt safe again. Unfortunatly - or fortunately - he couldn't fit under the table with her.

He knelt an extended a hand. "Aparicus?" he asked sweetly, frowning with concern. "Are you okay? I'm sorry you had to see that, but there's no way  I'm gonna let a punk like that come in here and threaten me or anyone else, you know what I'm sayin'? C'mon, let's get you out of there. I can put on some of my own pants and we can go get lunch or something."

He wasn't sure why, but even as he spoke he didn't expect her to take him up on it. What was it about this sweet girl that made her so fragile? A'liran sighed, withdrawing his offered hand, and rose to his feet. "Just one minute. I'm going to change my clothes," he said. He was doing his best to pretend like what had just happened wasn't bothering him. It was bad enough for some jerkass kid to come raining on his parade, but he Aparicus' reaction legitimately shocked him. He knew she was timid, but this level of fear made him feel like a terrible person.

He was a greenrider. He knew something about being beaten and abused. He never, ever wanted to look like an aggressor, though. He was a protector of the weak, right? He'd protected her! Why, then, was she scared of him?

Taken by an unusual wave of modesty, he ducked into the next room to change his clothes. Around the same time, Astoreth's nose butted lightly against the window.

He would never hit a woman, if that's what you're worried about the green said, trying to smooth the defensiveness out of her voice. Other male human frequently harm him. He is just..quick to defend himself.

Apari’s brown waves were a mess around her face as she watched A’liran from beneath the table, her eyes glued to his hand until he withdrew it.  She could see that he was confused and even hear it in his voice, but she could still hear what she believed to be a twing of anger as well – perhaps it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but it certainly looked like there was still the fire of anger behind his eyes too.  No, she wasn’t going to take his hand – not that she would have in her more secure stage of mind.

She watched him leave again, this time to apparently don his own clothes, which made her wonder for a moment why the pants he was not wearing were not his own, but the brief curiosity ended quickly as a nose butted against the window pane.  Jumping at the unexpected, soft noise it caused, she spun around and peeked out from a different edge of the table to find the green nose of A’liran’s dragon pressed there – her warm breath fogging the glass.

Hearing the dragon’s voice, Apari winced.  Not out of discomfort at the dragon’s voice, but at the words the dragon spoke.  “But did he have to defend so violently?”  she whispered back at the dragon, glancing back to where the green rider was changing.  “He never hesitated to hit Sanderon… Yes Sanderon was scaring me too… but I knew Sanderon had a past of violence… I never knew your rider could be so vicious…”

And she hadn’t!  Everything she’d learned about A’liran so far was strange, to be sure, but never violent.  He’d been amused rather than angry.  He’d laughed instead of yelled.  Until today.  Why, he hadn’t even been angry when she’d seen him completely naked!  And yet as soon as Sand had come around the corner yelling, it was like the green rider had transformed into somebody completely different…  Was it still the same greenrider at all?

Astoreth puffed up, trying her best to maintain her manners in the face of Aparicus' question. There were a lot of things that the spitfire green could point out. Sanderon had entered the home without permission, screaming. He'd threatened A'liran's life. A'liran had plenty of reasons to defend himself violently, thankyouverymuch! Astoreth restrained her anger, choosing to  curl up outside and sulk rather than speak harsh words to the fragile human female, who A'liran was, for some reason, worried about. A'liran was an odd human that way, so vicious towards so many and yet so tender to those whom he decided needed help.

A'liran wasn't stupid, though. He could hear parts of Aparicus' whispered comments, and Astoreth filled in the gaps. The greenrider sighed. He hadn't meant to come across as...needlessly violent. He felt completely justified in his actions, but it stung to think that even for a moment, he'd resembled the assholes who tormented him on such a regular basis. He didn't know enough about  Apari to factor her own experiences in, but he'd long been aware of how women were treated throughout much of Pern. She hadn't even known was flirting was!

Unsure of what else to do, A'liran moved across the room and pushed the door open. Then, he carefully picked his way over to his bed and seated himself, well out of the way of the door. He couldn't obstruct her escape if she chose to run. He frowned, caught between remorse and extreme indignation, and tried to think of what to say.

"...I don't hit girls," he bristled at length, unsure of what else to say and almost incapable of being soft. He felt bad, but shards! What did she expect him to do, make tea for Sanderon?!

Aparicus watched as the dragon disappeared from the window and found herself with the distinct feeling that she had said something wrong.  After all, the dragon had never replied to her.  Shards and shells, but she liked talking to dragons.  At the sound of A’liran moving about, she turned away from the window to watch him open the door with her blue eyes, glad that she didn’t need to move to keep the table between them as he once more left the door to sit upon the bed; where he had been before the incident.

She watched him for several long moments, including seeing him bristle and comment that he didn’t hit girls.  Was it true?  That someone who could so quickly snap to anger at a man could keep himself in check around a woman?  Thinking back to her past with the man thus far and how every time she was sure he’d grow mad or upset he’d laughed…  she was almost inclined to believe him.

Almost.

But almost was enough to keep her from bolting to the door.  Instead, she pulled a chair out with shaky hands and sat down at the table, well away from him and keeping that slab of wood between them.  “I-I’m sorry A’liran… I j-just…  w-wasn’t expecting it.”  She said, stammering a little even as she winced.  He’d bristled.  Was he upset with her now that she’d been so terrified?  He’d laughed the last times she’d been fearful, though this was the first time she’d lost control of that fear around him and actually darted for cover.

Again she looked to the door and forced herself to breath.  See, right there was her escape.  If he grew angry she could flee to the safety of her spice garden.  Her spice garden that now had a beautiful wooden fence wrapped snuggly around it.  A wooden fence he’d put up for her.  She needed to remember that.  He’d been kind to her.  Violent with Sanderon, but kind with her.  It took visible effort for her to push back the mental question wondering how long such kindness could last.  True kindness lasted forever – didn’t it?

Realizing that in the commotion her basket of cookies had ended up not only on his front step, but half trampled as well, she winced.  “I’ll be sure to bring you m-more cookies.  I’ve completely ruined yours.”  She said, her voice steadying though now a different sort of stress could be heard in it.  Did she really have to drop the basket?  Then again, she’d dropped the basket when the man had answered the door in the nude – before Sanderon had even showed up.  Of course, that reminder made her cheeks flush; her face always a clear window to her various emotions as they danced across her face.

A'liran frowned skeptically when his words didn't seem to sink in, or at least not how he wanted them to. Shard it, woman, I'm trying to reassure you here! the greenrider barked in his mind, but managed to keep it inside aside from a small pout. "I wouldn't ever hit a girl," he repeated grumpily, looking indignantly towards the wall and trying to think of something - anything - else to say on the matter.

"It's fine. I wasn't expecting that punk to run in here and start barking threats, either...but I'll be fucked if I'm gonna let that happen in my home, with a guest over," he muttered stubbornly. He turned his gaze towards the cookies, which were indeed half-tramples and dispersed across his floor. "....It's not your fault. You don't have to worry about it," he said. "It was nice of you to bring them, though."

His tone softened somewhat, but it was the softness that came with defeat. He had literally no idea what he could do to make the girl feel better, or even why his own actions had been so poorly received. It made no sense! He was ready to sulk and give up, but the top thought on his mind at the time was to avoid upsetting her any more.

He bit his lip and pulled his feet into bed with him. "....I probably need to go have some lunch," he said, though his reluctance was clear. He stood up and pulled a shirt on, but he didn't actually move a across the room because he was afraid of hurting her.

He bit his lip again. "....You're welcome for the fence." He'd already said it once, but shards....what else could he do? Poor fragile thing...