Like the Sun [Rhaedalyn]

Kahleena smiled gently as Okalinath pranced around excitedly, her wings half extended and head held high, large eyes displaying a rainbow of joy. The young woman had been holed up in her hut for the past few days, coming out only to bathe, she had wheedled R’nya into bringing her food to her so she would not need to hobble around the Weyr. Her dragon’s flight, after so many years without sex, had been an uncomfortable reminder of just how many muscles made up her body. The entire event hadn’t been as traumatic as Kahleena had worked herself up to believing it would be – for starters, Faranth hadn’t appeared out of between to smite her for being unfaithful to her husband and while Kahleena had no desire to tumble around under anyone’s sheets (ever again! Her poor body!) The soul crushing illusions she had been living under had developed the first cracks of doubt, and self-confidence.

Bath! Bath! Bath! Bath! Bath! The gold cheered, infantile in her delight as she danced around Kahleena’s slowly paced walk, the air from her movements ruffling the young woman’s skirts and her hair. And oiling! The pretty oil? With the flowers? Okalinath was near begging, forgetting to modulate her tone, and Kahleena giggled lowly when she noticed an amused shake of a neighbours head; usually Okalinath was dignified in her speech, and much more mature sounding, even if many of the other dragons had learned to recognise and anticipate a pouncing game of play. “If you wish, dear.” Kahleena had every plan and desire to spoil her lovely golden bonded, the dragon even carrying the needed soapsands and oils in the large sack hanging from her jaw. The girl giggled again.

Yay! Oh! Oh! Oh! She stopped suddenly, spinning to shove her nose in Kahleena’s face and eye her with an expression the girl decided her dragon had definitely learned from R’nya. Can Aradissicath and Rhaedalyn come?! Her voice was so insistent, and Kahleena looked up at the dragon in surprise, the expression swiftly changing to one of deep amusement. “You invited them last night, you silly wherry!”

I did? I did! Look! Look! It’s Dissi! The other dragon’s name was called out in greeting as Okalinath forgot about interrogating her far too slowly moving rider and bolted as fast as a dragon could on all fours to prance eagerly around Rhaedalyn and Aradissicath, chirping with muffled delight through her mouthful of sack. Kally is coming! Let’s go find a good spot! While the day – by Katilan standards  - was notably chilly, the dragon was unaffected as she barely waited for Aradissicath to even acknowledge her before she was bounding off towards the edge of the River, dropping the sack, bouncing over it, and throwing herself into the water with exuberant glee.

Kahleena was still giggling when she made it to Rhaedalyn, “You’d think she’d never had a bath before,” she teased, shaking her head slightly as she stepped close for a moment to give her friend a reassuring hug and smiling brightly. She was okay! She’d had a lot of time to think over the past four days, and while she wasn’t entirely pleased with her end of the bargain, or the situation over the entire scope, it was terribly difficult to be upset when Okalinath exploded with delight every time she remembered that she was going to be a mummy. If she was still that excited in another twenty turns, Kahleena would be very impressed.

Hurry up!

Rhaedalyn had, naturally, been fretting over her friend for days. She knew how much Kahleena had feared flights and for it to finally happen had been traumatizing for them both. It not only left her feeling for her friend but made it painfully obvious that in the near future Aradissicath would fly and Rhaedalyn would be chased by a lusty group of men and used to fulfil the desires brought around from their dragons. It of course made for one shy weyrling and Rhaedalyn had purposely avoided going to see Kahleena for two days before finally tagging along with R’nya the day before to check on the woman with a slice of pie in hand.

That one quick visit was all it took to remind Rhaedalyn that nothing had really changed and everything was still the same with the world so the invite to go to the river was gladly received and both rider and dragon were looking forward to it. She has so much energy. Aradissicath pointed out as she came to a stop to let the older gold prance around them without any chance of collision. “I know! It’s so wonderful to see.” It reaffirmed once more that Okalinath and Kahleena were fine after their maiden flight and Rhaedalyn smiled brightly at the gold and then waved to Kahleena.

With a giggle, Rhaedalyn urged Aradissicath to join Okalinath and the dragonet pranced, stumbling only once, to the water where she jumped in with an inelegant splash following her. The hug was gladly returned and Rhaedalyn fixed a strand of Kahleena’s hair as they pulled apart. It was a small gesture but she wanted to reassure her friend in some way that she was always there to help her out. It was a delicate topic, just like the Impression of Okalinath had been since they were standing near each other as the dragonet came towards them but they got through that. In a way, Rhaedalyn suspected she was the weaker out of the two of them when it came to emotions and having her feelings hurt or being afraid of dealing with some things so she wanted Kahleena to know this wasn’t going to shatter her like a piece of fragile glass either.

“I’m glad they both love the water or else bath times would be horrible to deal with!” She replied cheerfully, already pushing all the dreadful thoughts away again. This was a day of fun with friends! “Although I’m not looking forward to tending to Aradissicath when she’s fully grown! I’ll be all day in the water. Think about how prune-y I’ll be!” Rhaedalyn giggled over the idea, one hand covering her mouth as the other set down the little bag of supplies she had been given the day after the hatching from a helpful dragonrider. So many riders wanted to say hi and help her now, it was a bit odd but so nice!

Kahleena smiled warmly at her friend, and reached up to grab the hand that fell away from brushing her hair back, holding it gently as they made their way after the young dragons and closer to the edge of the water. When they reached where Okalinath had dumped the things she’d been carrying, Kahleena released Rhaedalyn’s hand and began poking through the sack. The young woman looked up at the cheerful announcement, grinning brightly over at her friend. “Definitely!” She didn’t understand the dragons that didn’t like baths! Okalinath seemed to adore them too much, and often wanted a full body scrub and oil even when she wasn’t due for one for weeks. The spoiled thing!

And now I am spoiled and productive. Okalinath chimed in, her voice reaching out to include Aradissicath and Rhaedalyn as she splashed around in the water like an over grown toddler. There were waves flying in every direction as she reared back and then thrust back down into the water, wings spread and tail twisting back and forth under the surface. “You aren’t yet!” Khaleena called out in amusement, shaking her head as she flopped down on the grass. There was a heavy brush in her hands, but she wasn’t going near the dragons while Okalinath was acting more like a drowning wher!

Okalinath picked up on the lingering fears and memories that her comment had brought forth in her bonded, of miscarriages and unexpected deaths, and brushed them away, chirping cheerfully at Aradissicath as if nothing were amiss, even as she reassured her rider with gentle affection. Worry less, Kally. All will work out well. Okalinath’s words were gentle and Kahleena shook off the mood, hopefully before Rhaedalyn picked up on it, before laughing outright at Okalinath’s arrogant claim that followed it, shared with all the group; I will be a much better gold than even Krypth!

“As long as you don’t fly as often as she does!” Kahleena laughed, shaking her head. “It’s a wonder Jada hasn’t been pregnant at least as often as her dragon!” That hit a little close to home, too, and Kahleena frowned slightly as she picked at the brush in her lap. What would she do if she ended up pregnant, too? The same as I. her dragon inserted, not bothering to exclude either of their companions for Kahleena was ridiculously easy to read, and Rhaedalyn was far from stupid. Be the best mother than you can be, and be proud! Her tone turned sly. N’kal is not a bad man; I see those naughty thoughts you think! The dragon gave voice to a chittering array of sounds, clearly laughter, as Kahleena flushed crimson and buried her face in her hands.

Rhaedalyn started to look everywhere but at Kahleena as Okalinath’s voice danced around merrily in her head. Apparently she had been wasting time worrying about Kahleena’s first flight and how her friend would react to sleeping with a man that wasn’t her husband if she was already having naughty thoughts about the new person. How did she comment on such things? Should she pretend she didn’t hear the gold’s teasing? Rhaedalyn wasn’t even sure she knew how to respond to the idea that Kahleena might be pregnant. Of course it was something that was bound to happen during a flight but it really hadn’t been something she thought about given all the other drama around the maiden flight.

“Get yourself nice and wet, Aradissicath, and I’ll lather you up.” Rhaedalyn opted for pretending the entire conversation hadn’t happened and focused on the goal of the trip; bathing her dragonet. She smiled as she watched the little gold prance around in the shallow water before moving in to the slightly deeper middle. Aradissicath splashed around and seemed to be having fun but Rhaedalyn could feel the concern coming from her and knew the dragonet was doing her best to refrain from commenting on why Rhaedalyn wasn’t commenting on anything. It wasn’t their place to know such things! Rhaedalyn thought that as hard as she could and tried to aim it just at Aradissicath but she likely broadcasted it to the entire dragon population with her luck.

Aradissicath trotted back up to the water’s edge and gave Rhaedalyn a long look before sitting down to wait for the scrubbing to begin. Who do you think will enter our flights? Rhaedalyn squeaked in surprise at the question but knew she should have expected it. Her dragon wasn’t thinking about the sexual portion of the experience given her young age but more on a curious level about if they would have friends chasing. Rhaedalyn wasn’t sure if she wanted friends or an unknown like N’kal essentially was. “Bronzes and some browns, I should think. But it’s nothing we should dwell on right now. We have plenty of time to figure out if we’ll have suitors.” She doubted they would, unless there were a lot of people that wanted the bragging rights of winning a gold. Oh well. It was far away in the future and making sure her dragonet’s hide wasn’t cracking and itchy was the most important thing and Rhaedalyn started scrubbing.