Scrubbing your cares away [Open]

If there was one thing Peorray adored about Katila, it was the Bathing Houses. Back home, in her parents' house, bathing had been a complicated affair. With so many people to wash up and no fancy proper bath installed (her father had kept the family alive and well, but he'd never been what a real Holder would call rich), bathing had been a quick, efficient and sometimes infrequent event. They hadn't been dirty -and she'd sock anyone who said otherwise in the nose- but actual baths had definitely happened less often than a quick once-over with a washcloth at night.

Her husband's household had fared better, but lingering still hadn't been encouraged. Peorray was also too much her parents' daughter to lay about and waste the warm water provided.

But at Katila, hot water was plentiful. Peorray was a bit fuzzy on the actual details of the process, but as she understood it, it had something to do with the heat from the hatching sands. Honestly, they should have used that as a selling point with the Stolen- or at least the female ones. Who needed a dragon when there was hot, relaxing bliss to be had?

That last thought made her slide from whimsy to a bit of melancholy and she hastily turned the tap on to fill the pool while she disrobed. She did, that was who. Not that there was a great gaping hole in her life without one, but she'd stood for two clutches now and it did hurt a bit getting rejected. Hence why she was here the morning after the hatching, hoping to cheer herself up before going about the rest of her day.

A glance over revealed the tub almost filled, so Peorray walked over to crouch down and test the temperature -perfect!- and slide on in. She closed her eyes to better enjoy the experience, so caught up in the simple pleasure that she failed to notice one pertinent problem. In her haste , she'd forgotten to throw the bolt on the door.

Oops.

Though M'din thoroughly enjoyed the solitude and quiet of the early morning, he thoroughly enjoyed sleeping like a rock until high noon even more. Pale sunlight had reluctantly coerced him out of bed, yawning widely, until he lethargically ambled outside. Beside his hut Armath was sleeping soundly, brown chest rising and falling in the deep sleep M'din struggled to find the night prior.

It was the klah, he said, disgruntled. It's always the klah. M'din, ever open-minded, had agreed to try the hot, bitter drink again late last night, as if his taste would inexplicably change. As it turned out, he still hated klah and klah still hated him. He lay awake until the wee hours of the morning, drifting in and out of sleep, until he gave into productivity and finally rose for the day.

Standing blankly outside of his hut, unsure of how to spend his time without his constant companion, M'din resolved to take a relaxing bath and be back in time for breakfast. He grabbed a towel and change of clothes, not noticing the bright mismatch of reds, yellows, and purples, and headed to the Bathing Houses. He greatly admired the mechanical concept behind the Houses themselves, transporting warmth from the Hatching Sands into a fluid, a heat exchanger, and had longed to learn more about the design. M'din liked to watch things being created, and always felt a tiny shred of pride when he saw a theoretical idea succeed in application. In fact, he had a number of theoretical improvements for Katila, only some of which Armath immediately proclaimed idiotic, but never mentioned them to anyone.

As he entered the pool room in the Bathing House, he absently wondered if the same idea used to heat the pool, which was already full, could potentially be used to warm Katila's huts and halls in the winter. Stripped completely naked, he tested the water with a toe and found it delightfully warm. Its functionality was another indication of a genius design! M'din slid underwater, enjoying the luxury of the hot water soaking through the hair on his head, face, and chest, and gently rested his hands on his round stomach as he contemplated the Bathing Houses. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was not alone. 

"Oh. Hello." He smiled and waved, slightly splashing. "How are you?"

Peorray opened her eyes as she felt the water around her move, more in automatic reaction to the disturbance than in awareness that she had company. She figured out the latter fact soon enough, however, when it spoke to her and her eyes found the man who'd apparently decided to share her bath when she wasn't looking.

A different lady might have finessed the situation to act entirely unruffled, or screamed the house down at the presence of a male in her bath. Peorray, however...

"Disturbed. On several fronts." She blurted honestly. The woman watched (only the face, of course) her intruder with a wary but unalarmed air. She wasn't used to bathing in mixed company with a non-related male, but she had been married and was mother to an unclaimed son.

Besides, this didn't seem to be an overly large or aggressive man. She could probably take him if he tried anything, at least long enough to get away. And R'nya could take care of him after that.

"Hello to you too, though. I'm sorry, but I thought I locked the door." She explained, a bit sheepishly. "Still brooding a bit over yesterday, didn't think I'd make very good company for anybody."

Bracing himself for a slap that never came, M'din found himself nodding at the no-nonsense woman sharing the pool. He approved of her sturdy frame and forwardness, and, much to her credit, she was taking the whole situation in stride. Momentarily he considered being embarrassed, but brushed it away without a second though. She seemed very nice, but then, everyone seemed very nice to M'din.

He recognized her as one of the gold candidates, Peony or Perry or something similar was her name. One day she would ride a lovely gold that Armath could pine after from afar. Slowly connecting the dots, he realized she must have stood to Impress yesterday. It was hard to describe such tangible disappointment to a person who had never stood for a dragon and failed. To have one job, one responsibility, one purpose, that he couldn't seem to take the first step to achieving made M'din the most disheartened he had ever been. After standing for the fifth time as a young man and repeating the same results, he had been convinced he would never accomplish what his brothers had as bronze riders. 

"I'm sorry for disturbing you. Sometimes I'm rather absentminded," he explained. "I'm M'din." He leaned forward, extending his hand, oblivious to the fact that approaching a nude lady-stranger in a shared bathing pool displayed a certain lack of decorum.

Returning to his side of the pool, he said, "Before I Impressed it was very painful to be rejected by so many clutches. I must have stood a dozen times before Armath picked me." He found himself lost in thought again, fondly remembering the little chocolate-colored dragonet squawking and nipping until food was shoved into his mouth. "It helped me to talk about it with my sister and mother, and do you know what? My sister Impressed a blue at 26!" M'din began scrubbing himself with sweet sand, no longer concerned with propriety in front of the recently befriended woman.

He flashed a bearded grin at his poolmate, now rinsing off with comparable enthusiasm. "It's so worth it when it actually happens. Everything terrible about the past is just erased, and you have a brand new part of you to explore. You're going to love it. It's like a storybook coming to life." M'din soaked in the warm water, lounging and enjoying the company of the gold candidate. 

I'm definitely picturing a brown-eyed Lucy Lawless as Peorray, lol. I know it's not quite right, but that's my current headcanon.

"Peorray." Peorray returned the handshake with some awkwardness, concerned with keeping everything below her chest submerged in what concealment the water could offer. She smiled bemusedly, then with increasing honest amusement and fondness as M'din shared his thoughts on Impression. He seemed a bit of an odd one, but not everyone would take the time to console yet another failed candidate.

She didn't think his advice would work for her, though. Talk was cheap and it would feel too much like whining when she wasn't the only disappointed gold hopeful around here. Besides, her mother and sisters were a continent away. And her she'd always been the confidant for her baby sisters, not the other way around. It was sweet to hear him to proud of his own sister. Peorray wasn't sure that Impressing a blue was anything to brag about, though- sure they had a dragon, but they didn't seem to be well-treated by a lot of the population. Or even their fellow riders.

She averted her eyes when M'din began scrubbing himself. Mature and sensible she may be, but she didn't need to see that much of a man she'd just met. She did smile wistfully as he enthused about what Impression was like. "It's nice to see someone so positive about it." She remarked as the thought occurred to her. "Even the non-Stolen riders seem dour about the whole process sometimes."

"So if your talking with your sister got her an Impression at 26, does that mean you're a good-luck charm?" She grinned at the rider. "I wouldn't mind having one of those."

Peorray, he mentally scolded himself. Her name is Peorray, and she is very nice.

She spoke with a practical air, something M'din guessed would continue regardless of her audience. He appreciated her directness when so many others at Katila talked in sugar-coated circles. He agreed that certain riders were not so upbeat about their positions and duties in life, but he chalked that up to having a streak of general discontent in their personalities. There was always bound to be negativity, but M'din would never invite it in.

M'din wondered how anyone could be foolish enough to view bonding with a dragon as anything short of a miracle. Impressing Armath had been as important as the births of his own children. "I think what we share with our dragons is something beautiful," M'din said, idly stirring tiny circles in the pool. "Riders should always show respect for the process, even if they can't fully appreciate the possibilities before them."

He chuckled as she asked about his luckiness, "Oh, no, I'm not so sure I'm an Impression charm or anything! I get injured too often to be called lucky." M'din earnestly looked across the water at Peorray, "I can promise you one thing though: Armath and I will always be willing to help, no matter what happens at your next standing."

Dropping his gaze, he began twiddling this thumbs, hoping he hadn't perturbed her with his sudden friendliness. "So, uh, what do you think she'll be like? Your gold, I mean?"

Do you think Xena and Mac (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia) would get along in this situation? I think not, lol.

Peorray took a while to answer, still a little surprised by M'din's offer of help to someone he didn't know very well at all. But it fit in with her earlier impression (hah!) of sweetness and she found herself quite touched by it.

It didn't stop the practical side of nature from filing the information away for later need. She'd been taught that one should never turn away a potential resource without good reason- and one like a genuinely good (if odd) man was often hard to find. She supposed he could be acting out of self-interest, setting up something for the future, but from what she'd seen so far he'd have just as much success at something like that as she would.


"My gold?" She asked reflexively, mouth echoing M'din's words as her mind finally got around to answering his question. That didn't mean she knew what to say, though, it left her at a loss as she cast about ineffectually for words.

Assuming she even did Impress -as much as she was counting on it now that coming to Katila had ruined her chances for the security of another marriage- she had no idea what her dragon would be like. No more than she had Soren, before he was born, and he was still surprising her as his personality developed day by day.

Besides-

"I don't really like the idea of talking about what my gold will be like, as if it's a given. It feels like bad luck." Peorray told him honestly. She gave him a slightly sheepish glance, half expecting to get teased for acting like a child, or a superstitious farmgirl. She wouldn't be ashamed of it, but it'd be a shame to have a pleasant chat ruined. "But I also have no idea what she'd be like. I figure it's like having a child- you never know what they're going to be like until they get here, and then they keep surprising you every day with how they develop."

She didn't know if the rider had children, to really understand the comparison, or knew them if he did. Riders could be weird about that. "What about Armath? Is he anything like you thought he would be?"

The fact that Peorray seemed rather uncertain about whether she would Impress at all, much less a gold, saddened M'din. He remembered how discouraging it was come away from the Sands empty-handed, downcast eyes of friends and family not knowing what to say or simply not bothering to reassure him, as if it was his fault that a dragon didn't choose him. A needle of sympathy stung his heart for the Stolen woman.

"That's true," M'din said. "I liked to daydream about it, but that never made it more likely to happen." When she mentioned children, his ears perked up. Peorray was fairly young still, obviously younger than M'din- although his true age was difficult to determine as a rider- and he wondered if she had as many children as he did. It was hard to be a woman at Katila, a truth M'din found inherently deplorable, especially a Candidate now required to give birth before Impressing. He suppressed the urge to give his condolences on her gender, and opted to follow a happier discussion avenue.

"I have five children, three boys and two girls, and I can honestly say that bringing Armath into my life was more jarring than all of their births combined," M'din smiled widely, teeth peeking between his scruffy beard. "Granted, I didn't actually birth any of them."

He tried to find the words to describe the drastic change in his daily existence post-Impression, "With children, there's a clear line between your life as an individual and theirs. They reflect certain aspects of you, but are wholly independent beings, which is completely amazing when you think about it. Watching them grow is one of the most interesting experiences I've ever had." M'din mentally pushed himself back on track, rearranging himself in the bath water, fearing he might accidentally drown Peorray in off-topic conversations. "But with Armath, it was more like a missing piece of myself had suddenly appeared: my mind, my emotions, opened up. He was nothing like I had imagined, mind you, but I don't think I could dream up a dragon as clever as him. His memory may not be great, but he's far smarter than I am."

Glancing down at his wrinkled fingertips, M'din asked, "So, Peorray, what about you? Do you have children or are you just very insightful?" He didn't think he was overstepping any boundaries with the questions, certainly no more than jumping naked into a bath already occupied by a stranger, but he clasped his pruning hands nervously above his stomach as he awaited her response.

Peorray returned M'din's smile when the rider spoke of his children, giving an indelicate snort of amusement at his crack about their birth. From her own perspective, birth and child rearing were just as jarring as the idea of bringing a dragon into one's life. She was pleased that her new (friend?) wasn't one of those men who couldn't be bothered to claim their offspring. Good grief, it wasn't like those men were even required to raise them. But that was a pet peeve for another day and something that would likely never change.

Then M'din went on to try and explain what Impression was like, beyond the initial moment of connection that a lot of people seemed to like to dwell on, and Peorray promptly forgot what she'd been upset about. The gold candidate gave the man the focus of all her attention, listening with a perhaps unnerving intensity. It made something of a contrast to her earlier modest behavior, but had someone called her on it, she would've waved it away impatiently. This was important, any information she could get about what life was really like beyond the moment of Impression, much more important that any body-shyness that was rapidly fading as they talked.

When M'din asked her about about children, she was so wrapped up in her thoughts that it took her a minute to shift mental tracks. But Peorray was always willing to talk about Soren. "My son, Soren. He's a little over one- at that stage where he's starting to get into everything." Born in response to D'ren's decree, in fact, but Peorray didn't like to connect the two, as if she hadn't made her own choice. It was just that the Weyrleader's speech had reminded her that she had wanted children someday, and she wasn't getting any younger, and who knew if there'd be another gold to stand for anytime soon? It had taken long enough for Nirinath to rise in the first place (and who could've predicted Krypth's overactive schedule?).

"So there isn't anything foreign-feeling about Impression? Having a strange presence in your mind?" Peorray knew she was jumping tracks again, but that had been an off-and-on concern of hers for a while even though she pursued it anyway. It wasn't as though she could walk up to a random rider and say 'hey, you know that wonderful bond you have, did it ever feel creepy to you?'. Even the ones she knew would probably give her funny looks.

She'd been prepared, in theory, to deal with another mind in hers. In was just a matter of acceptance and adaptation. But the way M'din talked, a dragon was as much Self as Other/Outsider/Intruder and that was something to think about. It could be a pleasant surprise.

As he spoke, M'din noticed how intently Peorray listened. It innately pleased him to feel helpful in any situation, so offering up a discussion about Armath and his children that could potentially assist her in the future delighted the bearded man extensively. He was just thrilled that she seemed to genuinely care about his opinion and experiences, light brown eyes locked steadily on his own.

He dragged his fingers through wet hair, brushing back his troublesome bangs as she described her young son, Soren. He fondly remembered the infant-days, or the "no-sleep-stinky-creature-I-hate-your-reproductive-system days" according to Armath, of his own children. Granted, his dragon was not overly fond of small babies, preferring human children far more when they were capable of basic thoughts and potty training. M'din recognized that the brown's aversion was a product of carrying Mariltin, his first child, during the Exile. Those were difficult times in their lives, tragedy appearing at every turn, but the rider pushed the depressing memories from his mind, focusing again on his new friend.

Peorray was probably a wonderful, firm mother, he decided. He hoped her young boy would grow up with a father, or at least a father-figure, knowing that many riders had no interest in their progeny. Those sorts of men were missing out on an incredible experience, in M'din's humble opinion. "One day I'll have to meet Soren," he told her. "Little ones are great fun when they aren't crying."

When Peorray questioned him about Impression, he took a moment to gather his thoughts, tapping his large hands on the water's surface. "I wouldn't call it foreign," he began. "Just different. It's like you have this really nice hut, and suddenly someone opens a door you've never noticed before. There's a room on the other side that doesn't belong to you, someone else decorated it, but it's such a pretty room and you love everything inside. It really ties the whole hut together now that you know it's open," he said, imagining how a room decorated by Armath would look.

With others, especially riders, M'din would have been exceedingly self-conscious about his Impression speech. He was aware of how childlike his explanation sounded, but he had always been of the school of thought that if an idea could be easily conveyed to another, both parties would fully understand it. Fancy, vague descriptions wouldn't make Impression any easier to comprehend for a non-rider, but a simple metaphor about a hut would.

Armath's quick wit could clarify any subject better than M'din's stumbling analogies, prompting him to ask her, "Would you like to meet Armath sometime? He's probably still asleep at the moment, but maybe you and Soren could sneak away later this sevenday." He chortled, scratching his soaked beard, "Maybe at a setting more appropriate than the Bathing Houses." 

Surprised pleasure flashed over Peorray's face when M'din mentioned meeting her son. It could just be a polite throwaway comment, something he had no real intention on following through on, but that he'd even think to make it upped her estimation of him. Even Soren's real father hadn't bothered to show even that much interest in his offspring- which she'd known at the time and actually thought a positive, that her child would be hers alone. Now, though, she generally took every opportunity offered to share this special little person in her life with the world.

As she would with her dragon, whenever she was shelled.

At first, Peorray didn't really grasp M'din's Impression metaphor, her expression clouding dubiously as she tried to imagine the nonexistent hut. But then the idea snapped into the place for her and she found herself nodding along in unselfconscious agreement with what he was saying. It wasn't that great a metaphor, except for where it was, and it gave Peorray a better sense of the underlying truth that M'din was trying to convey than she could take away from a dozen elaborate classroom lectures about the subject.  She wondered if he had ever considered taking up teaching a weyrling class; if he could get her to understand something like this, he could certainly do it for anybody.

"It would be a pleasure." She responded to his offer, adding a chuckle of her own. "But definitely not the Bathing Houses- any bath time Soren's involved in tends to get... chaotic. Just let me know when and where is good for you and Armath." Though she hadn't had reason to talk to the brownrider before, Katila wasn't so big a place that they wouldn't run into each other sometime in the next sevenday.

"And- thank you. For your thoughts on Impression and for cheering me up today. I appreciate them both." It may not be the most eloquent speeches of gratitude and it did bring a self-conscious flush to her face, but she had to say it regardless. Peorray believed in giving credit where it was due.

"Excellent!" said M'din with a crack of his knuckles. He was immensely pleased that she would willingly spend time with him again, next time not trapped in a Bathing House prison with some random naked man invading her pool. It had been a strange morning for both of them.

"Not tomorrow, but the next day I was planning on oiling Armath. We could go to the River's Edge by the flat rocks. I'll meet you at noon, and we can show Soren how to oil a dragon," he suggested. For a moment he considered offering to take Peorray and her son between to save them the time and trouble of walking, but he had no desire to frighten the child with such an unfamiliar experience. To the unaccustomed lacking the steady reassurance of a bonded dragon, between could be a nightmare realm, particularly for a child too young to understand what was happening. He saved that proposition for another time.

When Peorray thanked him for his time and company, he smiled broadly through his beard. "Of course! I love to talk about Armath, and never want someone brave enough to stand to be upset with the outcome. It takes a lot of courage." He sincerely spoke the words he wished he'd heard after standing empty-handed ten times in a row.

With pursed lips, M'din glanced around the room in search of his towel and clothing. "Well, Peorray, I'm very glad to have met you, but it's time for me to leave you to your bath." Suddenly remembering his nakedness, he said, "If you could, um, close your eyes, I'm going to get out now." He emerged from the pool, hurriedly drying and dressing himself. He said, "All done! By the way, thank you for not slapping me when I came in." M'din waved a meaty hand. "Have a good day, and I'll see you later!" The door shut behind him with a clunk as he meandered to his hut, eager to tell Armath about his new friend.

M'din fades out like a desperado on the dusty plains.

Peorray nodded agreement with M'din's proposed plans. When the rider went to get out, she closed her eyes as she should...except for the brief glance stolen from under only mostly-closed eyelids. For curiosity's sake. She didn't get any especially good views, of course, but she wasn't really trying to.

But she didn't exactly get a bad one, either.

Peorray had her eyes firmly shut again by the time M'din called the all-clear and opened them to wave a farewell. He'd been pleasant company and she was already looking forward to meeting Armath with Soren. But in the here and now, she still had duties to attend to, and began to empty the bath with only a bit of a disappointed sigh. Now to find a towel...

[Spoiler=OOC] And done. I have no idea where most of this came from, but Peorray insisted on being allowed a peek. Characters, sometimes...