How to Bathe Your Dragon [Arddra]

A soft grunt of affirmation came from V'riy as Arddra commented on his dislike of their current Weyrleader. He looking down at Arddra's hand as she placed it on his arm and smiled softly at the girl, appreciating the gesture. It had been a long time since he had been able to share his thoughts with anyone other than Morith and Ce'lie, who was really the only person at Katila that he dared to share his deeper, more personal thoughts with. Arddra was fast proving she could be trusted.

He nodded grimly at the girl sitting across from him as he rolled a meat roll over on his plate, contemplating her words. "S'kef's fire lizard attacked you? That's odd. They don't attack unless they feel their partner is threatened… and you should have posed no thread to him," the bronzerider said thoughtfully, his eyes scanning her face and bare skin for any scratches or bite marks. He hoped that she hadn't been hurt by the little green thing.

"Thank you for not saying anything to him. The last thing I need is for that man to know more about me," the bronzerider murmured quietly. He picked up the meat roll he had been playing with and popped it into his mouth while he turned over this new piece of information in his mind.

S'kef must have been suspicious of Arddra's motives, V'riy concluded. Whatever reason she had run into him, he was sure to have been sizing her up and figuring out how to use her best to his advantage. His fire lizard must have gotten out of hand, acting off of S'kef's thoughts, whatever nasty turn they had taken.

V'riy opened his mouth to ask Arddra when she had spoken with him but quickly shut it when he realized that Arddra had nodded off. A tender smile formed on his lips before he could stop himself. She looked peaceful, almost childlike as she quietly dozed in the early afternoon sun.

The bronzerider tilted his head from side to side and rolled his shoulders as he wondered what to do. It was her rest day and she had already spent a good part of it with him. He reached out with one hand and shook her gently to wake her but she would not be roused. The man let out a small sigh and began packing up the remains of their meal and the brushes and sweetsand they had used to scrub Morith, bundling it up neatly. Walking quietly over to his bronze, who regarded him with a large whirling blue eye, he attached the bundle securely to the dragon's riding straps for transport. If she was this tired, he would take her home.

He made his way back to Arddra's sleeping form and bent down, gently slipping his arms under her knees and around her shoulders, and oh-so-carefully lifted her up. As he walked over to his bronze dragon with his human burden, he frowned.

This was going to take some doing.

Morith half rolled onto his side helpfully so that V'riy could grab on to the bronze and secure himself. Luckily, Arddra was light, but he wasn't really able to put her in a comfortable position. The bronzerider wasn't quite sure how but somehow they managed to get into the air without waking the girl. They would fly straight, since the cold of between was sure to wake her. He forced himself not to think about the feel of her against him as he held her tightly, but gently, to make sure she wouldn't fall off. He was amazed that she hadn't woken up by now and briefly wondered if there had been something in the juice he had given her that induced sleep. Morith, for his part, was flying as carefully as if he were carrying a baby on his back, or one of his children.

Finally, they arrived at their destination. Morith glided to the open area in front of the Candidate barracks and landed as softly as possible for his large bulk. V'riy winced at the impact of the landing, hoping that it wouldn't wake his passenger. Luckily, the girl only shifted a bit and gave a soft sigh. With a careful grip on his riding straps, V'riy slid down the bronze's side with one arm around Arddra, keeping her pressed against his chest.

Once he was on his feet, V'riy made his way inside, carrying Arddra in his arms. As it was just after lunch, not many residents were about. He softly asked one of them where the girl was staying and fortunately the young man knew Arddra and was kind enough to lead him to her quarters. The bronzerider gently placed her on her bed, arranging her carefully in a comfortable position. He mouthed "thank you" to the boy who had guided him and indicated that his escort could leave. He made a mental note of the boy's face and name for later.

For a moment, the bronzerider hesitated as he considered whether or not to undress the girl. He decided that she would probably take offense to it and only removed her shoes, placing them beside the bed before pulling a blanket over her. V'riy's hand brushed an errant strand of hair away from her face. Finally he turned and left as quietly as he could manage.

The bronzerider ran a hand through his hair and glanced uneasily around him as he made his way back to his dragon. He wondered how wise it had been to bring her back to the Barracks versus his private hut, but he still had to finish scrubbing Morith, and there were other matters that needed his attention.

Thank Faranth there weren't too many people around. Even so... there was sure to be talk.