Misery [N'gelt]

Erisi was understandably pissed. Usually he was just pissed, but right now he had as good a reason as any to be upset. He couldn't comprehend why the Weyrleader would make him associate further with I'shan, the sharding dragonrider he had punched in the face. Erisi knew what type of person I'shan was - vindictive from the top of his head to the very tips of his toes. Erisi was the same, actually, and perhaps that was one of the reason they clashed so often. Their personalities were similar in all the wrong ways, and Erisi had a good reason to hold a grudge with I'shan to begin with. They were two people who were destined to never get along, and so the Weyrleader came up with the sharding brilliant idea of having Erisi cater to I'shan's dragon, and in a way I'shan himself.

They were trying to break him. Unfortunately, by this point he was far too determined to remain pissed off at the entire Weyr. When pushed, he pushed back. I'shan should know that well enough by now, considering the angry punch he had thrown at the Searchrider's face. Luckily, Erisi could not punch well. He was a Harper, people naturally assumed they solved all of their issues through song. Let him sing a happy ballad to cheer himself up, or an aggressive one to vent his frustrations! ...Right, no. There were more effective ways for Erisi to deal with his frustration. Then again, his usual option was unavailable. He certainly wasn't going to attempt more with Talian, unless the boy showed some amazing inclination to the idea. There were a few other people... but Erisi hated the idea of seeking them out. He liked opportunity to knock on his door.

So, shardit, he'd vent through song if he had to.

Singing a ballad the he and Valerian came up with was a little... out of the question. Erisi had been sure to fit in ever derogatory word he could think of for their dragon riding friends. Valerian had the skill to make it flow and not seem like a hurling of insults. The words would certainly attract more trouble than Erisi needed to deal with, and seeing as he was walking a thin line with the Weyrleader, it was better to avoid singing one of his horrible ballads. So, he would hum the little ass of a song until his throat grew sore.

That was right, he'd take his shots where he could. The words in his head were enough to make him smile. He strummed a more chipper tune (if he was insulting them, it was going to be with the happiest tune anyone had ever sharding heard) on his guitar. The young man was seated on a wooden bench, one leg draped over the other, guitar propped lazily against his thighs. The song was only doing a little for his mood, but it was better than nothing.

Lunch today had been fruitful. Literally. N’gelt felt like he had eaten enough fruit to strip an orchard bare. Leaving the Dining Hall he was somewhat sour, who on Pern had taken it upon themselves to serve the Weyr fruit, and only fruit? He was a man, men needed meat. Bloodied, red, meat. Sniffing he strode with purpose towards the Gather Square, though really, his purpose was sheerly to escape the fruit-a-thon that was still going down. He kept some dried meats in his hut, though not as good as fresh, piping hot meat, it would do to satiate his hunger for it. Overhead Saquith wheeled in the sky, peering down at his rider with anxious yellow eyes. N’gelt paid no heed to his dragon, as usual, the Brown was being a worrisome little wherry like always.

Reaching the Gather Square, N’gelt huffed. There were no classes there today, though a few people were scattered throughout it, most notably, a harper. With no dragonrider knots perched on his shoulder, N’gelt knew this was one of those low-lives. A Candidate. Adjusting his own lovingly cared for knots so that they were just that bit more prominent, he altered his course, striding over to the Candidate. As he neared him, the Brownrider sneered. He was smiling. No stolen Northerner smiled here, they all sulked, moaned, whined and groaned. Pale eyes flashed up and down, taking in his appearance as a whole, before resting unblinkingly on his face.

“Shouldn’t you be frowning, bemoaning your poor predicament on this lonely swathe of tropical wasteland, or something?” He commented snidely, crossing his arms and putting his weight onto one leg. There was no need to stand at his full height, even with the Candidate sitting down, N’gelt could see he easily cleared him in stature. Now that he had the younger man’s attention, he let his eyes slide up and down him again, narrowed in critical evaluation. Satisfied, his lips curled up into a dark smile. He certainly had looks going for him, though N’gelt did wonder what was hiding behind that smile, which could have been a smirk, if you squinted.

Erisi had no clue what he had done to earn yet another dragonrider's attention. His lips pulled downward into a brief, puzzled frown. Perhaps he was actually singing the lyrics aloud - it wouldn't surprise him. Usually he was more self-aware, but in the mood he had spiraled down into lately, his tongue very easily could have slipped (and not in the way he usually liked it to slip, thank you). His blue eyes flickered up to the dragonrider who had invaded his space. At least it wasn't I'shan calling Erisi on the now owed favor. But, N'gelt, for all his pleasant features aside, was still a dragonrider. Erisi could consider himself on a personal crusade against them first.

It was a miracle that Erisi wasn't the one to strike first. Actually, it almost stunned him that N'gelt had gotten out the first words, and they had been barbed with ice and fire. An eyebrow rose elegantly high on his forehead, and the fingers strumming the guitar came to a stop mid-chord. At least it didn't end on a terrible high-pitched note, though Erisi was tempted. A stinging insult was forming at the tip of his tongue, which he thought was a reasonable call for this situation.

And then he remembered.

Well, sharding wherry ass dragonriding Weyrleader and his sharding warning. If Erisi hadn't just escaped being cruelly punished for punching his Searchrider, then he very well would have incited an argument with the domineering brownrider. At least, he thought the knots distinguished the man as a brownrider. Sigh, he really was going to have to put a reign on his temper, and the thought alone caused a crease between his brows. Yes, Erisi was far more suited to looking unhappy than he was any other expression.

"I was trying a change of pace, a once in a lifetime attempt at being happy in this Weyr. It wasn't working out. Here, I'll fix it for you." Well, shardit, okay, it was an improvement. He wasn't insulting N'gelt. Really, he was doing what the man wanted and was pouting. "Woe is me, my life sucks." The words were filled with such a spectacular display of enthusiasm.

Disregard that last statement. "I sound more like a Harper now, don't I?"

A change of pace? Well, at least this one had humour. N’gelt raised an eyebrow at the Candidate’s response, lifting his head slightly to stare down at him further. Yes, he has a superiority complex. No, he won’t ever admit that to you. His narrowed eyes widened slightly, this one had some fight in him. Fight and humour, well that was always a good combination wasn’t it? Hell, fight was a good combination. Fight meant N’gelt had a challenge, and that he could win.

“Harpers all sound the same, singing their boring teaching ballads day in, night out. You got spunk though... Harpers don’t have spunk. Are you sure you’re a harper? I think you’re an imposter.” N’gelt proclaimed. N’gelt... are you feeling alright? Saquith asked, worried about his rider’s strange turn of attitude. N’gelt waved his hand somewhat dismissively up at his circling dragon, ‘I’m fine Saquith, I’m going to talk to this imposter now, he appears to be entertaining.’ If you say so... Saquith crooned, unsure what to make of this peculiar mood. Perhaps N’gelt really did need meat, or he’d go loopy?

Slapping a hand down on the ‘imposter’s’ shoulder he grinned widely, almost terrifyingly since he didn’t do so very often. “So what’s your name?” He asked, again another oddity. For a man of few words, N’gelt sure was being... friendly. Crossing his arms again, but this time with his arms on top of each other instead of twisted around one another, he glanced down at the guitar resting on Erisi’s thighs. “Can you play anything... well, interesting? None of that teachery crap. Something with some kick, a little crude. You know?” Apparently, N’gelt had a soft spot for vulgar music.

The other eyebrow suddenly arched to join its sibling. For a few moments, Erisi was genuinely surprised by the brownrider's attitude. He had been expecting a confrontation (but when didn't he when it came to dragonriders?). The man's words had certainly been intended to incite Erisi a little bit, so it didn't make sense for N'gelt to sidestep an argument altogether. Erisi was sure that this played into his favor, since he couldn't get in trouble for fighting again if N'gelt didn't press his buttons. So, he decided to take the brownrider in stride. Erisi could at least try to be friendly.

"I never insisted that I was a good Harper, by their definition at least. If I had stayed at the Hall any longer, they probably would have called me an imposter." Erisi answered in a light, crisp voice. There could be a bite to his words, but he left it out. His voice was the sort of voice that seemed to mock his companions with every intonation and change in pitch. The young Harper was taking a chance with N'gelt, because fighting with the man really was going to end him up on Candidates Isle. D'ren likely wouldn't tolerate further misbehavior from him. Maybe if got he all buddy-buddy with a dragonrider, D'ren would consider Erisi 'cured'.

He almost snorted at the idea.

"...Erisi," he replied, almost with an air of caution about him, like even he didn't trust N'gelt being so friendly. His blue eyes were fixed on the hand laying heavily on his shoulder, and he was beginning to think that this sort of friendliness couldn't really be normal for a dragonrider. They all insisted on telling him to adapt and that he should make do with the situation at hand. He was going to Impress! He would be an asset to the Weyr. When he thought about it, N'gelt was the first who didn't seem to bring it up into conversation. There was still time, though. For now, that meant that N'gelt got away with placing his hand on the Harper's slender shoulder. "And your name?"

A sly smile flashed briefly across his face. He had to admit, there were some good points to N'gelt. Erisi was more than happy to play anything that wasn't a ballad.  "Do you really have to ask? Of course I can. I'm a horrible Harper." Usually he'd ask for some coinage, but he'd take a concession with N'gelt. The man was rather big. Erisi would enjoy avoiding physical conflict with him.

Erisi lifted a hand to push some hair back out of his face, and re-situated himself so that both of the heels of his boots rested on the ground. It was a slightly more serious posture for music that would have probably made the MasterHarper twinge with disgust. He strummed a first few, experimentally hard notes, and then easily fell into a tune that didn't quite possess enough harmony, nor any 'soft' range that his teachers would have preferred. What Erisi had failed to pick up in actual knowledge, he had always excelled with music. The moment he had been promoted from Apprentice to Jr. Journeyman he had started playing in taverns. The environment suited him more than a classroom, but even then they usually preferred music that was upbeat and easy to dance to.

What he was playing now definitely wasn't that. At first it could have sounded like a bunch of notes thrust together, but there was an underlying melody that kept it from being terrible to listen to.

Erisi’s reaction to N’gelt’s, well, affable attitude made perfect sense, even with his lack of knowledge of the Brownrider. N’gelt brushed it off however; those sorts of reactions were common place to him. Despite the appearance that he had barrelled in for an argument and then sidestepped when the retort came his way, he simply saw it as a win. After all, Erisi had flipped and made a little harper-esque whinge just as N’gelt had accused him of not doing. His words made N’gelt laugh. True, he had never insisted on being a good harper, but nor had he actually confirmed he was a harper. Then again, who sat around humming and strumming that wasn’t a harper?

It appeared N’gelt had come to a crossroads of sort. Erisi the harper? Or Erisi the imposter?

He could see thoughts flickering behind his eyes, they were a cold, calculating blue. N’gelt paused to wonder, were his eyes cold or warm? Appearances were such peculiar things. You are thinking a lot, today. Saquith’s observation came as a shock to N’gelt, he had been so wrapped up in his own little world. Snorting he gave Saquith a mild glare before sitting down beside Erisi. He didn’t sit too close of course, there was still ample breathing room between them. ‘I am allowed to think, am I not? Why are you hovering up there?’ N’gelt answered back, his mental voice lacking its usual bite. I am watching. Erisi does not like us. I can leave easier from up here. Saquith supplied. N’gelt glanced down to Erisi, raising his eyebrow. Saquith’s answer came as Erisi introduced himself, asking for N’gelt’s own name in return.

“N’gelt. That’s Saquith... if you care.” He answered with his gravelly voice, wondering if he should ask why the Candidate didn’t like dragons. This curiosity fizzled out quite quickly though. N’gelt had little care for relationships and personal details, if the man didn’t like dragons, it was his loss. He could definitely ride a Brown, the way he acted. Strong, spunky... yes, definitely a Brown! Were Saquith bolder, he would have sent a derisive snort down to his rider, but as it were, he simply sent pride and love at his rider's thoughts. It was a strange love they shared, but Saquith appreciated it nontheless.

Erisi’s music quickly overrode his thought process, the harsh notes definitely resonating with N’gelt. In the North, he had often visited taverns where this type of music was rife; it definitely went well with a pint of ale. Though this seemed a bit darker, which was even better in his opinion. His foot tapping to the beat, or perhaps just in his own made up one, it was hard to tell, N’gelt smiled. It was a greedy, thirsty kind of smile, he desired more. “You play a good tune, how’s your singin’ though?” In his two brief years in the mines, he had heard many a crude song sung to melodies such as these, the land version of sea shanties. While now he had no hope of recalling the words, he did have fond memories of shouting the swears alongside the (actually decent) miners.

Erisi glanced over to the Brown dragon, whom he could only assume was Saquith. At least this one wasn't trying to invade his personal space. The one the Weyrleader rode seemed completely unaware of how large it was, and how small Erisi had been in comparison. Overall, he didn't mind the dragons so much as he did their riders. Dragons were perfectly fine at a distance, it was just when they decided that his space was their space that he ran into some issues. He also hated it when they interjected their words into his brain, which Saquith was also not doing. A lot of the dragons at Katila seemed... talkative to say the least. Saquith's silence was bliss, and meant that Erisi could instead focus on the odd behavior of his rider.

The Harper scooted over just a little bit to give N'gelt his space, though he could have just as easily done it to reinstate that he wasn't quite sure what to make of N'gelt yet. The man had come off as the sort of person to be a total ass, but had quickly backtracked to a more pleasant personality. This N'gelt was someone that Erisi could handle with ease. He really didn't mind playing for him, though he'd mind less with a few marks in his pocket to show for it. Did N'gelt look like the sort of man to have any marks? Eh, that was debatable. He probably wasted it on ale over finer entertainment that Harpers could provide. "Admittedly, you're one of the more tolerable people I've met today," Erisi commented, though decided not to elaborate on who had been bothering him. First, he doubted that N'gelt wanted to hear him whining. Secondly, he doubted that N'gelt would sit by and let him rant about his Weyrleader.

There were times where Erisi could use his brain - it just so happened that those times were only when he wasn't mad.

"My singing is better, but it's a little too... smooth for this type of music. They don't quite line up nicely. Your voice has a deeper tone, with a little grit to it. It'd work much better, but," and there was a playful tilt to his voice, "You don't look like you've had musical training, so I don't want to risk it." His ears, but he figured that with someone new, he didn't want to make any direct (even though playful) insults. N'gelt still looked like someone that could hit Erisi on the side of the head and make him go deaf for a few sevendays. Since that was an outcome he wanted to avoid, he was playing it safe until he figured out the man's personality.

The young man tested the gritty tune out on the guitar again, humming along for a few chords to find a tone he liked. It was evident already that Erisi hadn't been lying. There was a far more pure, flighty tone to his voice that didn't match the music he was playing. Neither did such a voice match his sometimes rotten personality. There was a reason people preferred to listen to him sing rather than talk. After he had settled on a tone he had enjoyed, he began to sing, his voice easily gliding over the harsh chords on the guitar. The song was one that was requested often enough at the taverns he played in, lyrics that encouraged people to rise up out of their chair and dance. The more they danced, the more music that needed to be played, and consequently the more marks Erisi earned.

While he had a barbed tongue, that had never translated well into tune for him.

"And that was what I was telling you about. Doesn't quite mix right. You win some and you lose some."

Saquith certainly was one of the quieter dragons of the Weyr, holding his tongue unless his rider's integrity was brought into question. Still wheeling in a large circle above them he gave a small mental sigh, of the pair he was more friendly, but Erisi wasn't exactly radiating a welcoming aura. Somehow, Saquith had a grasp on people's physical boundaries.

Erisi's little shuffle went relatively unnoticed by N'gelt, many people tended to make that kind of move around him. Except for G'rem… but then again the man was of a similar height and build, so that was to be expected. Perhaps N'gelt should have offered Erisi something for playing his request, though, N'gelt didn't exactly have marks lying about that he could toss to a wayward Candidate. Though, he did have some ale lying around his hut, not all of it rough and bitter Katilian brews either. This train of thought was interrupted by Erisi's comment about him being tolerable, to which both his eyebrows shot almost into his hairline.

"Tolerable… hm." N'gelt repeated. It was not a word he had ever heard mentioned in reference to himself. Tolerable… he liked the way it sounded. It was fortunate though that that was where Erisi stopped, while N'gelt didn't particularly like D'ren as a man, he definitely liked his actions undertaken as Weyrleader. Especially this latest decree… women being pregnant before standing. It was perfect! Kept the ones who disliked children off the sands, and the others in their rightful place; as mothers!

"Heh, you're right there kid. You won't get no sober singing out of me." N'gelt confirmed, while he did have a great voice for the gritty music, he had not a lick of musical training, and no interest in singing without a barrel of ale in his belly. Erisi's voice was sweet, something N'gelt would expect to hear at a wedding or some other fancy kind of ceremony. It was nice, but he didn't have much of a liking for it. As Erisi stopped singing, but continued to play, N'gelt smiled slightly.

"I don't have any marks." He commented, sorely becoming aware of the social construct of paying for a song. "I need some ale. Do you want some?" The offer came slowly and painfully, as if the words were completely foreign to him. Which in all honestly, was completely true. What the hell was in that fruit?!

Erisi was sure that N'gelt singing while drunk would sound worse than two felines going at it. He made a mental note to never get N'gelt drunk and encourage the man to sing. Actually, he just wasn't going to encourage N'gelt to get drunk. He looked like the type of man who was an angry drunk, and contrary to popular belief, Erisi was an unusually happy drunk. It was why he didn't push his limits with alcohol. While it was nice to loosen up every once in a while, it was not quite so pleasant to be drunk enough to make friends with the drudges. Shells, he'd be susceptible to mending his relationship with I'shan if he were drowning himself in booze.

After he had finished the tune, he glanced over to N'gelt's face, taking careful estimation of the man's response. Okay, so everyone he met was some sort of a critic. He could tell that N'gelt didn't exactly favor his voice, but at least he wasn't flat out saying Erisi was bad. The Harper had run into plenty of people who were inclined to tell him how much he sucked (not that kind of sucking, shardit). Usually, Erisi was not so tipsy as to take the insult lying down. If he was lucky, someone would champion for him so he wouldn't get himself killed. If he was unlucky, he'd perhaps wake up after being knocked flat on his ass. N'gelt liked his music, and well, that was half of what Erisi did, so he considered it better than nothing. Erisi certainly wasn't going to cater to everyone's tastes.

"Mmm, that was free anyways, for being the first person I haven't immediately hated." Well, that wasn't true. But he felt like specifying 'dragonrider' would be some sort of great stabbing insult. He was learning to generalize his insults around N'gelt, mostly out of concern for upsetting the brownrider. Overall, he thought that he was doing a fairly good job of playing 'nice'. Erisi could have easily been fighting with N'gelt by now, but had somehow avoided that outcome in favor of something more pleasant. It surprised him that he was lasting this long in a conversation with a dragonrider. Usually it would have fallen to pieces by now, and someone would be wanting to punch someone else in the face.

Erisi lifted his chin, staring with muted surprise up at N'gelt's face. He could hear the little strain in the words, and so was surprised himself to hear N'gelt offering to share a drink with him. What in Faranth's name was going on?

"Ah... sure." There was a small hesitation in Erisi's voice, as if he couldn't believe N'gelt was offering it either. "That'd be nice."

For being the first person I haven’t immediately hated.

The words swirled around N’gelt’s head, the Brownrider completely unsure of how to take it. Was that a hidden insult or was this Candidate just highly unlikable? He thought on it for a few moments. A free song was a good song, but what was so special that he wasn’t being hated. He does not get along with many. Saquith supplied, sinking a little lower in the sky as he picked up on N’gelt’s intention to return to his hut. ‘And how do you know that?’ N’gelt asked skeptically, his expression becoming hazy. I asked Ilveriath. N’gelt frowned. ‘Who the hell is... you know what, nevermind.’ He cut off his question, no doubt Ilveriath was someone Saquith was friends with, or something.

N’gelt’s lip twitched slightly. He hadn’t been sure if Erisi would take him up on his out of character offer or not. Turns out he did, which N’gelt appreciated in a way. Drinking alone was boring, and this music deserved drinking. Hopefully Erisi played well with alcohol in his system, though N’gelt had no plans to go anywhere beyond tipsy. Just a buzz, that was enough. Calling Saquith down he watched as the Brown spiralled down, landing near them. He crouched as he waited for his rider to mount, curious eyes watching Erisi. With N’gelt settled, he jumped up, rising just high enough to wink between.

Saquith reappeared a minute or so later, landing softly in the same place. Dropping his shoulder and extending his leg he let N’gelt slide to the ground with ease. The Brownrider was clutching two large bottles, inside some ale that he had pilfered from the North. “Here,” he said, holding one out to Erisi. There was no lid on the drink and it was cold from flicking between. “I hope you can still play with that in you. No singing of course.” It was clear from his words that he meant both Erisi and himself. The gritty tunes were pleasant enough without a sweet in-tune or gruff off-tune voice accompanying them. Taking a deep swig from the bottle N’gelt sat down again, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, the bottle hanging between his legs.

Off to the side Saquith backed up slightly, mindful of the space between himself and Erisi. He curled up, the inner two eyelids sliding shut. Beneath them the greeny-blue glow of his eyes whirled slowly, he was curious about this one. Most Candidates, while in various stages of hate for being stolen, showed interest in the dragons, or at least neutrality. Erisi’s desire to stay away from dragons perplexed him, how was he to cope when he Impressed his lifemate then? Saquith made no move to talk to Erisi though, the times he had spoken to a human that was not his rider could be counted on one hand.

The Brown landed, and Erisi eyed Saquith with something akin to distrust. The dragon was a little distance away, not quite close enough to press Erisi's fragile boundaries. But, if Saquith was anything like Ronarth, Erisi could expect to have his limitations pressed. Thankfully, someone in this sharding Weyr managed to have a well-behaved dragon. He could consider it a sharding miracle. N'gelt walked over to the Brown, and if there were any doubts about whom the dragon was bonded to, those were cleared away pretty quickly. For a moment, he wondered if N'gelt was just going to take off. It wouldn't surprise him if the man changed his mind, since there had been a certain amount of hesitance in his voice when he offered Erisi some ale.

The pair blinked between, which gave Erisi the shivers even thinking about it. Thankfully, he didn't recall his first trip between very well - he could contribute that to I'shan spiking his drink far more than was necessary. Erisi had been drunk to begin with - it wasn't like he was going to put up that much of a fight. He sat alone for a minute, almost relishing the brief period of quiet. N'gelt hadn't been that loud, but Erisi still felt a certain amount of strain when conversing with a dragonrider. N'gelt was surprisingly easier to get along with than most, but that hardly changed the fact that he was a dragonrider.

Ale would help ease Erisi's concerns.

N'gelt and his Brown were back before Erisi could seriously consider the possibility that he had been ditched. N'gelt obviously wasn't a man of many words, so informing Erisi of what he was doing had been out of the question. A brief smile of thanks flashed across the Harper's face as N'gelt handed him an opened bottle of ale. The fact that it was open had Erisi's suspicions peaked, after being kidnapped he should have learned not to trust drinks that were just handed off to him. Honestly, what was the worst that could happen? It was daylight, and if he got kidnapped again, by this point he would just stop giving a wherry's ass. "Thank you," he finally said after a few tense moments where his suspicion had kicked in. Perhaps he should explain to N'gelt why he was worried. Then again, he was drinking it anyways so what was there to explain?

He brought the bottle to his lips and took a quick drink. Shells, it was stronger than the stuff he normally got into. While Erisi did drink, he never drank quite so much as to get himself drunk. He had never liked the feeling of losing control. So, while he appreciated alcohol, he rarely got carried away with it. When he did, though, it was a good time to be around the usually irritable Harper. "I usually played in taverns - playing while being tipsy or drunk is an acquired skill. I acquired it a while ago." An impish smile crossed his face, and he took N'gelt's comment as his cue to start playing again.

The dragon was still a comfortable distance away, and Erisi was under the impression that Saquith was actively minding his boundaries. Really, the sharding nicest dragon he had ever met. "Saquith, is it?" his voice rode over the sounds of the harsh melody, though he had lessened the volume to be heard better. "He's being... very polite. I have the tendency to run into dragons that don't seem aware that I like my space to be my space." He hoped he got the dragon's name right. He'd almost feel bad at this point for messing it up.

Saquith gave a small rumble as he watched Erisi and his rider. He is very nervous. Do you like him? He asked N'gelt. 'I like his attitude. He's pretty too.' N'gelt replied, looking over at Erisi. With his finer features he fell into N'gelt's 'type' quite easily, after all, we can't have somebody threatening his masculinity now can we? Taking another swig of the ale he resumed tapping his foot in time with the tune when Erisi continued to play.

His confirmation of being able to play with alcohol in him pleased N'gelt, though he chose not to show or acknowledge it. It appeared that the peculiar effects of that damn fruit was wearing off, or perhaps drinking the ale was creating a placebo-tipsy effect. Who knows. At least he seemed to be slowly returning to his usual gruff self. The quieting of the melody caught N'gelt's attention, mostly due to the fact that he was about to clip Erisi over the back of the head for doing such a useless thing. When he spoke he held back however, instead turning to look at Saquith.

"Saquith knows his place. Unlike those wretched Greens crawling all over the place." For the first time since approaching Erisi, N'gelt's voice was dark and scathing. There was no humour like his initial biting comment this time, instead pure loathing was in its place. His eyes narrowed as he thought of those nuisances, female dragons were so idiotic. Why did fighting females even exist? They brought nothing of use to the Weyr, other than proddy riders, female riders and flights every damn week. "You better not get one of them foul beasts. Not that you'd ever sink that low, right?" His voice still held a dark growl to it, almost threatening as he posed his question to Erisi.

He will Impress Brown, like you! Saquith chirped, to which N'gelt gave a slight nod. 'Only the best get Brown.' He replied. Saquith crooned lovingly, stretching his wings out upwards as his eyes whirled even darker. While the comment wasn't actually a compliment to him, Saquith interpreted it as such. After all, if he didn't he'd get no compliments from his rider ever.

It was easy to forget the alcohol he had set down next to him while playing. His hands were too busy teasing the strings of the guitar to pick up the bottle of ale to drink. However, he did remember long enough to take a break from playing to steal another drink of the provided alcohol. Erisi wouldn't dare be so rude as to turn down free alcohol. Actually, he didn't care if he was rude in the process, he just cared about missing out on free alcohol. Erisi wasn't quite a drinker, and the ale was strong by his consideration, but he liked the buzz. Usually alcohol would work its magic just enough to make Erisi likable to the general population. Perhaps that was why he hadn't gotten tipsy in front of a lot of people yet - he didn't want to be liked by a group of dragonrider-loving wherries.

After a moment of debate, he took another quick drink before returning to playing. Alcohol did not seem to be slowing him down just yet, but then again he hadn't nearly drank enough to be dragged down by its effects. Erisi was used to drinking, he considered it a requirement for his craft. For gossipers it was necessary, for those who played in taverns it was impolite to turn down free alcohol, so one better be good at playing while drunk. From the look on N'gelt's face, it was a good thing he kept on playing. Erisi expected his music to be liked, but not so much that N'gelt looked displeased whenever he paused.

He had to arch an eyebrow again at N'gelt's obvious distaste for green dragons. He was a dragonrider, he was supposed to like them all... or something like that. Man, his eyebrow muscles were really being put to the test today. How he magnificently arched his eyebrow each time something piqued his interest was a miracle. "They have their use," Erisi answered in a reasonable tone, though it didn't seem like he favored Greens. He really didn't favor any dragon. "I mean, they're girls, all these male dragons need to work out some testosterone somehow. They certainly don't seem inclined to go after the same gender like we do." He meant 'we' as in humans, though it could certainly mean himself as well. Erisi was far more inclined towards men right now, and N'gelt probably would have been right up his alley if the man didn't keep confusing him and catching him off guard.

Erisi didn't feel... settled around him, and couldn't tell whether this was a good thing or a bad one. "Uhhh... no?" Erisi answered, assuming that was what N'gelt wanted to hear. The man's voice was entirely off-putting, a different tone entirely from what he had heard before. Erisi assumed it was better to play on the safe side of things. He doubted it would go over well with the man to admit he didn't intend to Impress at all. If the choice was entirely his, he wouldn't. "If I do Impress, I wouldn't be entirely happy being at the bottom of the pecking order, or my dragon being a sex outlet for other dragons." Not that he minded himself being a sex outlet... but some things he didn't feel like saying aloud. N'gelt at least hadn't caught wind of his reputation, and until he knew what to make of the man, he preferred it that way.

It didn't go unnoticed that Erisi rarely stopped to drink and when he did that he took smaller mouthfuls of the ale. Initially this sparked irritation in N'gelt, but when he realized that with every mouthful Erisi had to stop playing the irritation melted away. It was replaced with a mild sense of pleasure, mostly inspired by the music.

N'gelt didn't notice however, Erisi's eyebrows having a little dance or work out or something at his disgust for Greens and their riders. His comment about dragon mating earned him a grunt from the Brownrider. "S'all they're good for, scratching the itch. Don't see why dragons aren't gay, seems pretty wherrybrained if you ask me." He grumbled. It was true, N'gelt thought that male dragons should be homosexual, with the exception of chasing Golds, of course. Maybe if they were it would breed out the female Greens, or at the very least, keep them mingling within their own, filthy kind.

Taking another long swig from the bottle N'gelt raised it to eye-level, peering through the brown glass to see the amount of ale left within. It was still fairly high, but he was certainly putting it away quicker than Erisi. Erisi's unsettled feeling was clear in his posture, well, to anyone but N'gelt that is. Saquith opened his inner eyelids to stare at Erisi, having found that his rider was slipping back into his usual, somewhat boring emotions. Erisi however, had some lovely confusion flowing around, and while he couldn't feel them like his rider's or like a Search sensitive dragon could, he found Erisi's emotions highly entertaining. A simple dragon, he enjoyed the little things. He made no move to approach him, only folding his wings back down while he felt Erisi's strongest emotions.

"Greenriders are just proddy nuisances. Always on the bottom. Find a Blue or a Brown." The thought never crossed N'gelt's mind that Erisi would have no interest in Impressing a dragon. After all, who wouldn't? They were amazing beasts, and he had been Searched to Impress one after all.

Erisi was sure that it was simply natural instinct to try and reproduce that kept male dragons chasing after greens. But, he wasn't sure that a logical viewpoint would do much for N'gelt. The man seemed heavily biased against the female dragons. It was something Erisi suspected that went beyond dragons, and to humans as well. That was something that should bother him, since he liked women well enough. The main reason he was abstaining from sleeping around with them was because of that sharding decree the Weyrleader had made. Erisi hated children, enough to refuse to risk making one by sleeping with the opposite gender. It hardly wasn't like he could find satisfaction elsewhere, though he continued to limit himself. Sleeping around with the 'enemy' was hardly the ideal environment for someone like Erisi.

"It'd probably be counterproductive to the species if all the male dragons were gay. Even if Greens don't reproduce, losing the drive to try and procreate in one color could mean losing it in all." In the end, he did attempt to bring some logic into the conversation. He was careful not to invest himself too heavily in his own words, because this was a sort of discussion that Erisi realized N'gelt would win. It wasn't because the man was smarter (Erisi definitely didn't think so), but because N'gelt was so emotionally invested. There probably was no way to bring proper reason to a man who so openly disliked female dragons.

He wasn't sure how much he enjoyed N'gelt's advice. Normally, he would have argued that he could sleep with whomever he sharding well wanted to. Then, word would get back to the Weyrleader that Erisi was starting fights again and he'd be back on Candidate Isle. He almost sighed with frustration at having to curb his own words. Another longer drink of his ale at least helped him to stop feeling so upset over it. N'gelt wasn't too bad, even if Erisi could see some glaringly obvious faults in the man. At the very least, N'gelt was handsome, and shallowly Erisi liked to hang around people who were at least good looking.

"Rider or dragon?" Erisi answered coyly, because if there was a chance to slip in a sly comment, he couldn't pass it up.

Erisi had the right thinking in that logic didn't really go down too well with N'gelt. Not when it came to greens, bronzes and their riders. Oh yes, N'gelt has issues with authority, who could have guessed! Whiie yes, N'gelt's dislike of female dragons did extend to women, it was more towards the women who refused to breed and instead did stupid things like Impress dragons. His relationships from turns ago when he had been young in the North didn't help to lighten his dislike of women and greens in the slightest.

The logic was lost on N'gelt. He sensed that it was clever and probably made a lot of sense, but he simply wasn't going to let up on his stand on dragon colours and sexuality. They were simply so inflexible. He didn't persist with the argument though, if this kid was going to bring silly shit like logic into it, he wasn't going to have a bar of it.

Another inspection of his ale revealed it was slowly beginning to dip below the middle of the bottle. Pleased with this he took a mouthful. Just as he swallowed Erisi spoke again, causing him to cough and splutter slightly at his words. Thumping a fist to his chest twice he took a deep breath and cleared his throat.

"You're a quick one. Clever." He commented, chuckling to himself. Erisi's sharp wit pleased N'gelt. There were no insults or defensive remarks being thrown about, but cheeky comments went down well with N'gelt. So long as it wasn't a jibe at himself or Saquith, of course.

"Both." He eventually answered after several more mouthfuls of ale.

Erisi laughed lightly as N'gelt suddenly experienced difficulty with swallowing his ale. The Harper could take pride in startling the brownrider, since N'gelt gave off such a stern impression. He wondered if the man was usually this... friendly, because he was sure that he had made an odd good impression on the brownrider. Erisi could also pride himself in that - making someone who generally disliked a lot of people like him. Then again, Erisi didn't see why most people disliked him. Well, he knew his faults, and knew that his anger and whining could become grating. But, overall he was a great person, a good lay, had some entertaining talents.

Okay, the problem was with him then. He didn't like enough people to allow them the chance to get to know him and thus, learn to like him. His judgment weeded out the people that would eventually know him, and thus the processes of his friendships were far easier. Erisi didn't have a lot of friends, but the ones he did have tended to stick around. N'gelt was someone that he could... well, come to like. There was something completely off-putting about the man's behavior and his evident prejudice, but that same part was entertaining and thrilling. It caught his interest just enough to keep Erisi invested in a possible, and likely awkward, friendship.

"I haven't found any brownrider or bluerider that has captured my interest well enough." It was Erisi's subtle way of saying that he didn't feel compelled to sleep with a dragonrider. He still had a certain prejudice held against them. "I think if anything, I'd prefer a brownrider." Again, he couldn't quite elaborate on that, because he wasn't sure how N'gelt would take it if he said that he hated blueriders because their dragons could be Search dragons. Erisi disliked dragonriders in general, and hated Searchriders in particular. Erisi also decided not to comment about Impressing, since he was sure that he would not be doing that.

He was sharding confident of that, actually.

He was finding it hard to continue playing while trying to drink and socialize. Admittedly, he was letting his playing slip in favor for a sip of his ale and a few smart comments at N'gelt. "I'm a Harper, we're supposed to be clever." He took another sip out of the bottle, though he had not nearly consumed as much as N'gelt. He was well on his way, though.

Erisi’s wonders were well placed, for N’gelt rarely was so friendly. When he had alcohol in him, certainly he did start to speak more, but whether or not that could be considered friendly was a whole ‘nother kettle of fish. It appeared however, that the collision of the two strong and easily dislikeable personalities resulted in quite the opposite, they were getting along just fine. Though N’gelt didn’t really register that they were getting along, to him he was listening to some good music, finally, with a spunk-filled imposter. If you asked N’gelt why people didn’t like him, or what his faults were, you probably wouldn’t get an answer. After all, “everybody loves N’gelt” and he “has no faults”. Of course.

N’gelt grunted at Erisi’s rider comment. His words sparked high interest within him, it appeared that N’gelt was setting his sights on the young harper. While this wasn’t a bad thing in N’gelt’s book, and could potentially be a good think in Erisi’s, it seemed to have completely slipped his mind that he had embarked on the beginnings of a relationship with I’shan. Or perhaps it hadn’t, and he simply didn’t care. Whichever it was, he did know that roping Erisi in would take a certain amount of time, and it wasn’t short. His words were a challenge, that he hadn’t yet found a rider that captured his interest well enough. His desire to chase and capture Erisi doubled when he added that he’d prefer a Brownrider.

N’gelt, don’t forget about I’shan. Saquith reminded him softly. N’gelt rolled his eyes, ignoring the dragon. Didn’t he know? I’shan was his toy. An extended conquest. It was another challenge for N’gelt, to see how long he could string the Bluerider along before he demanded a relationship. Little did he know that what they were doing was a relationship.

Erisi’s slipping of his playing was starting to go unnoticed by N’gelt. Whether on purpose or not, it seemed to be happening rhythmically, or at least that’s how N’gelt heard it. His swigs were falling in time with Erisi’s, though it wasn’t on purpose. As if N’gelt could purposefully do something in time or rhythmically. The only reason the infrequent threadfall drills were fine was because they were drilled into him and he had Saquith to remind him what to do when. “Harper smarper,” N’gelt responded, waving his bottle slightly. “Yer an imposter, so you should be called... oh I don’t know. A Spy. There we go, you can be a Spy! Of Spycraft!” How... ingenious.

Erisi was the type of young man who enjoyed being pursued. He liked a long chase with a large reward, almost as much as he liked baiting someone to come after him. Surprisingly, these thoughts were not on the forefront of his mind. N'gelt was handsome, yes, and they were getting along fine... but the man made no obvious sign of interest. Erisi was known to make the first strike himself, either when he deemed his partner too timid or the offer too tempting to pass up. Overall, he believed the actual power rested in the hands of the person being sought after. In the end, it was their decision alone that dictated how the evening went, or whatever time of the day it was when the mood struck.

N'gelt was an option, but Erisi wouldn't pursue him. He'd likely sit back, wait, and see what happened. There was little to motivate him to do the work when N'gelt would likely take all the action that was needed himself. N'gelt certainly seemed like the type to enjoy chasing. It was a perfect match! Well, no. N'gelt was a hypocrite and a sexist, and Erisi was a self-entitled son of a wherry. Besides, Erisi was far too young to be interested in a lasting relationship. He refused to take that obvious step with Talian, so why would he feel anything but lust for a dragonrider?

He made the decision that his music playing was going to be seriously hindered if he kept trying to sneak drinks. It would be doubly rude not to finish off the bottle of ale that N'gelt had offered him. Gingerly he set his guitar down beside him, favoring a longer sip from the bottle. "A spy?" Erisi scoffed, blue eyes lightening with amusement. He couldn't tell if N'gelt was drunk, or just acting like an idiot. He'd give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he was drunk. "That's not exactly as elegant of a title as Harper. What would I be spying on, anyways? How they make the best music, what evil new ideas they intend to plant in children's heads?"

Erisi wouldn't go near children to actually figure out if they were doing that. No, thank you.

"If I was a spy, I wouldn't be this good." He added smugly, and briefly gestured to the entirety of himself. A little self-important? Why, yes he was!

N’gelt, in contrast to Erisi, much preferred to do the chasing. Being pursued by someone was seen as weak and highly un-masculine, which of course, was bad on all fronts for N’gelt. With his obsession of being seen as the most manly and tough person in the Weyr, he performed all the chasing of his conquests. Once or twice someone had attempted to pursue him, but with a little luck and charm, he had managed to flip the tables and pursued them instead. Yes, N’gelt does have the capacity to be charming, he just prefers to appear like the strong, silent type instead.

Erisi's lack of motivation and N'gelt's apparent lack of desire seemed to result in a peculiar stalemate. With neither about to pursue the other, it left them in a state of friendship, or so it seemed anyway. No doubt Erisi's perspective of N'gelt would sway when he met the man with his personality sorted out and back how it usually is.

As he set the guitar down N'gelt frowned, the lack of music was quite displeasing to him. A quick glance confirmed that at least he was stopping for a good enough reason, to consume more of the ale he had brought. It would do no good to have it sit there undrunken. N'gelt gave a grunting laugh at Erisi's scoff and sarcastic questions. "No, more like you know…" N'gelt trailed off, though he wasn't quite drunk the alcohol was strong and he was well headed on his way there. Hold relations? Saquith offered, finding the thought in his rider's mind and pushing to the fore front. "Ah, hold relations! Those." N'gelt repeated, stopping rather abruptly. It was clear he had originally had a longer train of thought, but had since abandoned it.

"Sure you would. Maybe." N'gelt responded, unsure as to why he was complimenting Erisi. Well he was pretty. Maybe he would be worth pursuing. But first, the ale! It was almost empty, which N'gelt eyed with happiness.

Erisi cautioned a glance over to N'gelt again, trying to gauge how the man exactly felt about Erisi putting his guitar down. From the looks of N'gelt, he was the sort of man that was easy to upset and was vocal about his opinions. Erisi was the same, but the difference was that N'gelt would make everything intimidating and well, aggressive. Erisi voiced his thoughts, but often as a snide remark or a sly comment. The Harper hardly had enough physical strength to back up challenging words, so it was better for him not to speak them. Sometimes, his mouth got the better of him (and not in the way he'd prefer), and that was perhaps why he was sitting here right now. If he had kept his mouth shut, his argument with I'shan wouldn't have grown into a fight. He wouldn't have had to sit down and chat with the Weyrleader. So, he wouldn't be here, he'd likely be back in the barracks chatting half the day away with Valerian or Talian.

The Harper scoffed at the idea that he should be spying on Holds. "Hold politics are more than a parchment of blank paper. If I were a... Spycrafter," his nose wrinkled just a little bit at the use of the word, "I'd be doing far more interesting things then figuring out how many bastards Fort's Lord Holder has made." Of course, he doubted that there would be any use for spying outside of Hold politics. The task itself probably wasn't nearly as interesting as it sounded, and Erisi decided that he enjoyed playing his music far more than he ever would tailing some Lord Holder around all day.
"Weyr relations would probably be more dramatic, if there were, y'know, more of them.

"If you think so," Erisi responded amiably enough. He turned back to his bottle of ale, which while it wasn't empty, was getting close to that point. He couldn't recall really drinking it, but his attempt to be polite by taking a few sips here and there had definitely turned into more. His head was a little clouded, but nothing that Erisi couldn't overcome. The young man had done worse to himself on plenty of occasions, a bit of strong ale wasn't going to do him in.

Erisi's assumptions were close to the mark. Despite how sheerly amazing N'gelt thought of himself, he was easy to read and predict. While it wasn't often he let his violent tendencies get the better of him occasionally he could be pushed into punching someone. Although it wasn't in his best interests, being a dragonrider had the exact same consequences as a candidate if you assaulted another member of the Weyr. Well, you got punished for it anyway.

Emptying the rest of the bottle into his mouth he sat up somewhat, glancing at Erisi's bottle. It was near finished, but not quite. Setting his down he listened to Erisi's words, giving them a soft chuckle. "They were pretty dramatic back then," he commented, thinking about the gossip and rumours that had been flung back and forth between all the Weyrs. The gossip they experienced at Katila was nothing compared to before the plague. Then again, that might have something to do with being able to disprove them at Katila much more easily than you could if it was another Weyr.

N'gelt's eyes slid over to Erisi's bottle again, deciding he would wait no longer. "Do you want another?" While he could be considered an angry drunk, it was one of the few times his generosity peeked. He had a sneaking suspicion that Erisi wouldn't want another ale, but of course, it would be rude to not offer. Not that he wanted to not be rude, if anything he was using it as his way of excusing himself to grab another bottle for himself. Standing he strode over to Saquith, giving the beast a great slap before heaving himself astride. "To home!" He shouted, pointing forward. Whether or not his hut was in that direction was another matter all together. Saquith leapt aloft, his great wings sweeping powerfully to gain height before they winked between.

A very faint pop occurred a few minutes later as they reappeared, N'gelt already holding an open bottle. Saquith swirled down, landing softly so not to disturb his rider. "Mmm, good boy." N'gelt growled, sliding down from his shoulders with a slight thump. Striding over to Erisi he sat down again, placing the bottles between them. The one he had already opened had a good third missing from it already, clearly he had started as soon as he had picked it up at his hut. With a soft grunt he nudged one of the bottles closer to Erisi.

"I already consider the people here to be fairly dramatic, so I can only imagine what it was like when there were more than a few hundred dragons and riders." Of course, Erisi did not include himself in that dramatic category. He knew that he could be, but his drama was different than a dragonrider's. There was a fine line that separated himself from them, a line that he made sure existed in his head. He needed that clear division for his own sanity. The moment he started to think of himself as one of these people was the moment he lost the battle for his independence and the freedom to do with his life as he pleased.

The offer for more ale was made, and while Erisi knew it was better to turn it down... he didn't. His answer for N'gelt was to down the rest of his bottle in a few quick gulps, tilting his head and the bottle back to drain the last few drops. It would be rude of him, after all, to deny more alcohol when it was offered to him. "Sure," he answered, wiping his lips clean with the sleeve of his shirt. Right, he was going to regret drinking so much, but he had such a delightful buzz right now that he didn't want to lose it.

N'gelt made another trip between, and those minutes that he were gone were still not a long enough time for Erisi to sober up. "Thank you," Erisi answered as N'gelt shoved another bottle in his direction. One look at N'gelt's confirmed that the man had drunk quite a bit more before popping back over to the Gather Square. Again, he tried to caution himself to pace his sips, but again he ignored that and took a satisfying drink from the strong ale.

"D'you know anyone that... is like you, y'know, good?" The words were a little less elegant than Erisi's norm, but he still spoke with clear intentions. Why he was asking around for people he'd be interested in sleeping with was beyond his own comprehension right now. Perhaps he had been feeling too lonely lately, even though he had Talian for company on occasion. It didn't occur to him that it could be rude to ask about other people when N'gelt was someone he could probably feel interest in for one evening. Erisi usually had far more tact when it came to this sort of thing. The alcohol had made him abandon it.

Erisi's thanks barely registered in N'gelt's mind, in fact very little was registering properly now with the great amounts of the strong alcohol that he had consumed. Contrary to what one might think, N'gelt didn't exactly hold his alcohol well, as he didn't drink it very often. Then again, the potency of the Northern ale was highly questionable, so it was probably a combination of both that was sending him beyond the line of tipsy and into being drunk.

At his question N'gelt frowned, slowly trying to process the words and the meaning behind it. After a few weighted moments the meaning became clear to the Brownrider, his eyebrow shooting up as he stared at Erisi. Why was this Candidate asking about who was good to sleep with? A faint memory stirred in his mind, of being involved in the Renewed Hope Candidate class, where they had been encouraged to sleep around with other members of the Weyr. Maybe that's why Erisi was asking such a peculiar question.

Having twigged to the nature of the question, N'gelt gave Erisi a sly look as he spoke. "Myself." Really, what else did he expect from an ego-obsessed man like himself? A moment's thought caused a smile to creep onto his face, one filled with desire. "I found a Bluerider recently. Quite the tiger. Like I said, Blues and Browns are where it's at." N'gelt's mind left the conversation with that statement, drifting over to lustful memories of I'shan. Staring at his bottle his face set into a determined frown. I'shan's hut was a fair walk from where he was now, if he left once the bottles of ale were finished, he could most likely find the Bluerider in his hut. This seemed like a grand idea, finish his drinking with Erisi then return to I'shan's hut for some tail. N'gelt nodded to himself, taking a long drink.

He assumed scoffing at N'gelt for answering his inquiry with his own name would be an unappreciated gesture. The answer however did cause Erisi to give N'gelt a closer, more evaluating look. The brownrider certainly wasn't bad, and likely would give him one sharding wild night. But, with that one look he wasn't sure if N'gelt was a little too much for him to swallow - not literally, mind you. For a one night stand, he'd be perfect, but considering their sort of budding friendship, Erisi wasn't sure it'd just stay with one night. The idea of wild sex was nice, but not every other day, or even twice a sevenday. But shells, N'gelt was handsome. Maybe it was worth the risk. His ass would likely tell him the next day...

Hmmm?

"If you met this perfect Bluerider, then why offer yourself at me?" It was his sly way of replying to N'gelt's 'Me'. There was a coy smile on his face, blue eyes intent on the Brownrider, waiting to see his response. Really, he was curious as to why N'gelt would answer that way if he was already getting tail elsewhere. Maybe he wasn't the type to settle down with anyone, but then he wouldn't have spoken the way he did about this Bluerider companion. It was curious, and well, Erisi was naturally a curious person. "Well, you have to imagine that Bronzeriders are out of the question, and greenriders are... okay." He only said 'okay' because he knew that green dragons could Search, and that possibility alone was bad enough. Erisi's vendetta against Searchriders was known well enough. He resented being Searched, and resented anyone who held the position.

Erisi sipped from his bottle again, distantly wondering if he even wanted to walk back to the barracks now that he'd gotten a fair bit of alcohol in him. It wasn't... terribly cold outside, though a nap in the Weyrbowl would probably be unseemly. Sigh. He supposed he would have to trek back to his room. That meant he needed to stop drinking... and so he had no idea why he kept on doing it.

If Erisi had scoffed at him, N’gelt probably wouldn’t have noticed all that much. If anything he’d assume he was clearing his throat in awe of his masculinity. Yeah, that’s how it would go. Swigging from the bottle he raised his eyebrow, Erisi’s words were definitely clever, though they half blew straight through his head. He sat back, wondering how to answer the sly question. Well, it wasn’t really that hard to think of, but his addled brain was certainly straining to pull the pieces together.

“Variety.” He grunted. “He’s all of this,” N’gelt made crude gestures in front of him to denote a slim man, “’N I’m all of this.” He jerked a thumb at his chest. It was a fair point, I’shan was slim and athletic, while N’gelt had the heavily built body one would expect from a miner. Nevermind that he was absolute bullocks at mining, but he had entered the craft once upon a time, so that made him a miner, right?

Erisi’s classification of Greenriders being “okay” was pretty much the only thing he heard as the man continued to speak, though the reasoning behind it was unknown to N’gelt, he automatically assumed that his good judgements were rubbing off on him. Perfect! N’gelt would mould this man into the perfect Brownrider. Like a Master taking a promising Apprentice under his wing. How exactly N’gelt planned to do this was unknown, as his thoughts deviated awfully quickly away from the subject.

Saquith crooned at the side, picking up on his rider’s increasingly sexual thoughts. Both rider and dragon were staring at Erisi, though for entirely different reasons. N’gelt? Saquith asked, rousing him from his scrutiny of Erisi’s body. ‘What?’ N’gelt turned slightly, glancing at his dragon. Why don’t we visit I’shan? Little did Erisi know, but Saquith was actually trying to protect him from N’gelt’s looming sexual advances. With the amount of alcohol in his system, it would be of little surprise if the Brownrider grabbed Erisi and had his way with him without moving somewhere more private and Saquith knew N’gelt would suffer bad repercussions from that. ‘I’shan...’ N’gelt purred mentally. Saquith supplied an image of the Bluerider, shirtless as he had greeted them the other day. At that N’gelt jumped upright, clapping a hand to Erisi’s shoulder with a little bit too much force.

“It was... good, to meet you.” N’gelt said awkwardly before striding over to Saquith. “We should do this again. Maybe.” Well, there’s your typical awkward N’gelt goodbye. In fact, it was much nicer that his usual; that is, to turn and stride off without a word. Clambouring up onto Saquith’s neck he held onto the dragon’s spines tightly. Even if the Brown had been wearing his riding gear, N’gelt probably wouldn’t have used it anyway. Saquith gave Erisi a gentle croon of farewell before he jumped up, large wings sending him high into the sky before he flew forward, deciding that another trip between wouldn’t be wise for his rider