On Closer Inspection [P-Ambigious]

[Snow]

02.12.3189 (early morning)

"We're not late. When have we ever been late?" Monketh asked as he began to land gracefully on the ledge of Coreanth's weyr. The bronze was excited to finally be able to maybe talk with the queen one on one. He trilled a greeting to the gold as he landed. "Remember to be nice. They will be our leaders before too long."

Ol'ver smacked his bronze affectionately on the neck. I know we've never been late, but it's because I make sure we leave a little early. We didn't do that this time." He said as he dismounted his bronze. Ol'ver was a bit on the nervous side for this conversation with Erylaina. He knew it was coming for the goldrider announced that she wanted to have one on one conversations with all the wingleaders. Being a wingleader he couldn't, nor would he, skip it. He had nothing to be truly afraid of after all, right? "Stop, you know I'm always nice." Monketh simply laughed in his draconic way.

Ol'ver had been out on drills before his meeting and was still in his flying gear. He took off his helmet which revealed his dark hair being all kinds of a mess and a little sweaty from being under the helmet for so long. He ran his fingers through it trying to fix it a bit. Then, he undid his riding jacket but kept it on for the time being. Since it was still cold the extra layer was nice. Steadying himself for his meeting, he finally walked into the Weyrwoman's weyr.

Coreanth was sitting on her couch and Ol'ver made sure to give her a respectful bow. Monketh walked in a little further himself till he could see the lovely gold. "Good day to you, Coreanth. May this bronze be so bold as to say you are looking magnificent." Ol'ver stifled a laugh, not even five minutes and his bronze was already laying on the charm.

Ol'ver walked to Erylaina's side of the weyr. She was busy sitting at her desk so Ol'ver cleared his throat once before saying, "Weyrwoman Erylaina. I'm Wingleader Ol'ver, rider of bronze Monketh. I believe you wished to see me today." He bowed low and deeply to the woman, but his signature devlish half-grin was spread on his lips. He wouldn't take a seat until she told him he could.

[ambigious]

As the bronze began to descend towards her ledge, Coreanth allowed her gaze to flicker in their direction, the tip of her tail twitching visibly. Monketh and his rider are here, as you asked,[/i] the young queen announced, before promptly rising and pressing her talons more firmly into the stone. Sunset Weyr was still considered adolescent against the other weyrs, and thus she took it upon herself to mold the stone couch to her liking. As Corenath busied herself with this routine of scratching and shifting, resembling a feline more than an air-bound dragon, Eyrlaina rose from her seat behind her desk and called down to the kitchen shaft for a fresh mug of klah. Once that had been completed, Eyrlaina walked back to her desk, idly fingering the long blond ponytail that hung over her shoulder. She didn't have the motivation or desire to style her straight, boring hair any other way.

Thank you, love, the woman answered finally as she resumed her seat, the legs scraping hollowly against the stone. As she shuffled her papers into order and drew forth the sheet she was looking for -- the assignments of Ol'ver's wing -- her green eyes quickly skimmed the pages contents. Since he had begun residing over the wing, they had performed very well in wing training, and the previous Weyrleader had not found fault with his methods. That was promising. As she continued reading, and just as Coreanth sank in satisfaction to her freshly preened couch, first Ol'ver and then Monket strode in.

When the wingleader offered her a bow, Coreanth couldn't help but rumble with draconic satisfaction. Your respect is appreciated,[/i] Coreanth bespoke Ol'ver directly, which was uncharacteristic of her. A slight frown marred Eyrlaina's brow at the gold's behavior. She was in the process of rising to her feet when Ol'ver entered and removed his helmet. "Yes, I did, thank you for arriving on time," Eyrlaina responded cordially, a polite smile on her face. "I do appreciate a rider who knows how to be punctual." In fact, it meant that she was on schedule for the day, which heightened her mood. But then Ol'ver flashed that devilish grin, and Eyrlaina was surprised to feel her heart flutter slightly. "Would you like some klah?" She announced abruptly, her arm jutting out and nearly toppling the contents all over her table. "I mean," the Jr. Weyrwoman corrected herself as she caught the mug before it spilled, "please sit. I do apologize, but it's been...hectic, to say the least, since I've arrived." That was it, she was nervous. After all, meeting the wingleaders wasn't just to indulge her own fancies, but also to gain their trust and respect in order to solidify her position at Sunset Weyr, which she had come to enjoy. In all honesty, however, the Jr. Weyrwoman wasn't expecting him to be so...handsome. Eyrlaina immediately struck that thought from her mind. What in Faranth's name was wrong with her? She was a grown woman, and needed to act as such.

Bemused by her rider's response to the man, Coreanth instead turned her attention towards Monketh. Coquettishly, the young queen allowed herself to watch the bronze for a moment before responding. Good day to you as well, Monketh. You are not the only bronze to say so, but it is still very much appreciated.[/i] Despite the polite tone, the young queen's posture was definitely open, which meant that she'd enjoyed the bronze's charming words. In fact, she enjoyed it much more than she was letting on, but that was part of the fun. If poor Eyrlaina had the slightest idea of what Coreanth was up to, she would've been positively mortified. It seemed the Jr. Weyrwoman wasn't the only one with an ulterior motive for these meetings.

[Snow]

Ol’ver was very shocked to hear Coreanth address him personally. He decided to take it as a good sign, though. After all how many people could say that a gold herself addressed them. ”See, told you I was going to be nice.” He said jokingly to Monketh, but his attention was fully on the weyrwoman. ”Yes, I was afraid I was going to be late, actually. The drill took a bit longer than I like, but I’m glad we made it.” His deep voice was sincere. Erylaina then almost knocked over the klah pot. He made a slight move to help catch it or clean up the mess whichever, but Erylaina was fast and not a drop spilled.

”Thank you, m’lady. It’s nice to sit down after a good morning of drill practice.” Once again he flashed that devilish grin. ”No need to apologize at all. I can’t say I understand how busy you’ve been, but I bet it’s been quite the head spin. On behalf of my wing, I want to say how much we all appreciate you coming to help us like this. I know Sunset will prosper under your leadership.” Ol’ver wasn’t sucking up, he was serious. He’d always had a knack for reading people and something told him that Erylaina would do way more good for the weyr than she would harm. ”Some klah would be absolutely wonderful, m’lady. Er…do you prefer Weyrwoman?” Ol’ver could have kicked himself for not using her proper title and now he was feeling a bit hot and nervous. He pretty much called all women ‘m’lady’ unconsciously, but it occurred to him that while that was still respectful, Erylaina might prefer to be called by her title.

As she got him his klah, Ol’ver stripped off his riding jacket. He hoped that he didn’t make any more mess ups and that she wouldn’t be upset about his wrong use of title. Once he had his cup in hand he took a sip. The liquid was warm and helped to ease his nervousness a bit. ”If there is anything at all I can do to help you, just let me know.” He said as he waited for her to sit down. He took a moment to look at her and realized that they were probably around the same age. He also had to admit that she wasn’t hard on the eyes either, but then again he sort of had soft spot for women with light hair.

If a dragon could look shocked, Monketh did. ”I would hope I am not the only bronze to say so. You’re beauty should be commented on by not only the bronzes, but the browns and blues as well. If not, I will personally see to it that they mention it every time they see you from now on.” Ol’ver almost spit out his klah at his bronze’s comment. ”Do you really have to lay it on that thick?” Monketh simply replied with a ‘yes’.

[ambigious]

As Eyrlaina listened politely to Ol'ver's words, part of her attention was focused on her desk. She had re-settled the pitcher on her desk to be a safe distance away from the edge, and had even begun to flip through the papers on the desk to make sure that they were in alphabetical order. These were all tactics to help her regain her composure that the bronzerider's presence had thrown her into it. And it had started out as such a good day. The fact that he had conscientiously tried to be on time appealed to Eyrlaina, which caused the smile to widen across her face, revealing homely laughter lines. "As am I, but I would have understood. Drills are important, especially with threadfall vast approaching." As the conversation turned back towards her responsibilities and duty, Eyrlaina felt herself visibly relaxed. Concerning matters of the Weyr, such as wing assignments and thread training, Eyrlaina was in control. Thus, seeing Ol'ver as merely a wingleader she had to speak to, Eyrlaina was in control of the situation. But the minute she thought of him as simply a man, with dark hair and that obnoxious grin...

Still responding to the situation, Eyrlaina nodded in response as she reached for the pitcher to pour him a drink. At that moment, however, she made the mistake of glancing up to see if he wanted sugar as she reached, and felt that devilish grin once again. Eyrlaina's arm faltered as her mind went blank and her heart did that odd pulsating again, but she caught the pitcher with her other hand and managed to safely pour him a cup as he hesitated over her honorary. "I appreciate your kind words," she responded quickly, still trying to gather her wits, "and I do hope that I can be what Sunset Weyr needs at this time." Once the cup was full, Eyrlaina set the pitcher down on the table, consciously averting her eyes. Well, that was easy. Since a majority of the reason Eyrlaina had called this meeting was to gauge the wingleader's attitude towards her and gain his acceptance, now that he'd blatantly stated it her plan was in a shambles. Thus, once she'd poured herself a cup of klah Eyrlaina merely sank into her seat, her fingers absently tapping at the rim of her cup.

"Oh, and I prefer Weyrwoman, if you don't mind," she responded a touch absently, and reached over for the pair of spectacles that currently sat, un-used, on her desk. "But once we get to know each other better, Eyrlaina is fine," Eyrlaina added warmly. It was habit to be forward and motherly with everyone she met, but as soon as the words left Eyrlaina's lips she realized how they could be misconstrued. Thus, the woman quickly snatched up the paper she'd set down and skimmed the contents once more. "I actually do have some questions for you," she said briskly, attempting to center herself by diving into her duties once more. "I am trying to learn as much as I can about the Weyr in a short amount of time, given the circumstances. Therefore, I wanted to hear the report, directly from you, about your wing, rather than simply read it from a sheet." For emphasis, Eyrlaina lifted the sheet and waved it in the air, the flimsy material sailing back and forth between them. "Also, I'd noticed that there's about a Turn of information missing from the records, and I wonder if you had any idea about that..." Once again soothed by her duties, Eyrlaina was able to pin Ol'ver with the full weight of her alluring green eyes through her black-rimmed spectacles.

The response from Monketh delighted Coreanth, which partially revealed itself as the slender gold shifted on the couch to fully face the bronze. It was clear he now had her attention. Oh really? And what would you have them say, eager Monketh?[/i] Cori, Eyrlaina thought privately to her queen, the smile hiding her discomfort. What are you doing? Enjoying myself.[/i] All too aware of what that meant, Eyrlaina muffled a groan by taking a quick sip of klah to fortify her.

[Snow]

Ol’ver watched Eyrlaina as she flipped through papers and adjusted things on her desk. She probably was horribly busy, he thought to himself, not thinking at all that perhaps it was him that was making her fidget so. He was glad to hear that she thought drills were important. He’d known of a few weyrwomen that thought the weyr’s only job was to pamper them and that didn’t go over well with him. ”Yes, drills are important, but so is keeping meetings. I could only excuse lateness of myself if it was because of emergency. Otherwise you’re more important.” Ol’ver was completely oblivious to what he had just said. He meant that a meeting with the Weyrwoman was more important than scheduled drills, but it certainly didn’t come out that way.

”Of course m’l…er…Weyrwoman. Your wish is my command.” He replied, grinning again in relief that he hadn’t offended her. A part of him was a bit worried that perhaps she was under too much stress since she had almost dropped the klah pot twice now. Granted she had caught it both times as well, but still, he didn’t think she was so…clumsy. Her comment about getting to know each other better made Ol’ver shift a little anxiously in his seat. He realized that she didn’t mean anything by it, but it still made him the slightest bit anxious. Thankfully, she said she had some questions to ask him and once his mind was back to weyr business he was fine.

Ol’ver leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs as he thought how best to answer her. ”My wing is in pretty good shape, if I can brag a little about them. For the most part all of them follow my orders without hesitation, but they also correct me if I need correcting. I think that’s very important. A wing works much better together if everyone in it communicate and aren’t afraid to give suggestions. Just because I’m the wingleader doesn’t mean I’m infallible. I make mistakes and a make sure my wingseconds and wingriders know that they should tell me if I’ve made a mistake. There is a bluerider in my wing, though, J’ain. She’s an assistant candidatmaster. Occasionally I have to call her to order for something, but to say she is a trouble maker or breaks rules constantly would be unfair.” He might have been blabbering some, but she did ask for a report.

Her next question caused him to sit forward again. Unfortunately though, his strikingly green eyes met her strikingly green eyes. Ol’ver’s tongue went numb for just a moment, but then he regained it. ”That’s a very good question, my Weyrwoman.” Without realizing it he managed to mix her title with m’lady. ”I honestly can’t say I have any idea. I remember after we realized what had happened us healers did as much examining of people and animals as we could to make sure nothing drastic had happened to us. As far as we can tell everyone just went to sleep. Oddest thing really…I’d love to know what really happened.” Ol’ver replied.

Monketh bravely took a step closer to the queen and gave her a deep bow. ”I would have them say that your hide shines brighter than the sun itself. That your grace and agility could not possibly ever be outmatched by any other and that the way you lead a weyr is flawless. But those are humble words compared to what I really feel.” The bronze was full of smarm at the moment for he knew that Coreanth was enjoying his attention. Ol’ver on the other hand almost laid his head in his hands at his bronze’s antics. ”Would you stop it.” He asked, though somewhere deep down he found it amusing. ”She likes it, so no.” Monketh replied quickly.

[ambigious]

As Ol'ver responded to her comment about drills, Eyrlaina breezily waved off his comment with a flick of her hand. The poor wingleader didn't need to defend himself to her; he'd been on time, after all. Now if he'd been late...the tall blonde opened her mouth to tell him just that, when abruptly the last few words of his statement registered in her mind. She choked on the words she'd form, which translated itself into a guttural noise that died in her throat. She was more important? Although Eyrlaina refused to blush, she instead placed the piece of paper in her hand back down on the table with a little bit more force than necessary, subconsciously trying to distract herself. "Yes, well, you're here, and that's all that matters," she responded a bit too quickly, still averting her eyes.

After another moment, however, Eyrlaina paused and considered the situation. She was the Jr. Weyrwoman of Sunset, and he was a wingleader. She should not be meekly bowing her head to him. It did not seem professional. Thus, squarely setting her jaw, Eyrlaina lifted her head once more...only to be pelted with the full force of his crooked grin. "Thank you," she managed to breathe, part of her mind scattering into the void as she attempted to listen to his report. The first part was standard -- although she did appreciate his ability to take criticism; that was certainly never her strong point -- but when he mentioned the candidatemaster's assistant that caught her attention. A mild frown creased her brow, the leak of information restoring her wits once more. "As the candidatemaster's assistant," Eyrlaina responded pensively, "shouldn't she be setting an example for the candidates to follow? Perhaps I should look into that further..." When Ol'ver rushed to defend his wingrirder, a knowing, kind smile crossed her lips. "Don't worry, Wingleader, I don't plan on punishing anyone on my first day. I need more information before I do anything." But she certainly planned on gathering more intel.

It seemed this was a rather bumpy encounter for Eyrlaina. With each passing moment, she was either flustered or managed to gather what was left of her dignity behind a shield of duty. And this moment was no exception. The breath caught awkwardly in her throat as he said her title possessively, catching Eyrlaina off guard. It did spark a bit of indignance within her, which caused her frown to deepen. "Well with any luck," she replied, deciding to let the comment slide, "I'd like to figure out just that. Do the dragons know of anything? Coreanth has tried asking, but they seem hesitant to speak about it."

When Monketh boldly crept towards her, Coreanth cocked her shapely maw to the side and gazed up at him thoughtfully. He was courageous, that was certain, for stepping within swiping range of her talons. Of course, she would never do such a thing, but the obvious display of strength was still noted. Beautiful words, Monketh,[/i] the young queen responded, then couldn't help but rumble in amusement. Did you practice them at your reflection in the Weyrlake?[/i] Coreanth teased as she rose from her couch, invigorated by his flirtations. You say there's more that you feel. How else would you express yourself?[/i] The young queen looked quite coy as she walked past Monketh to the edge of her cave, being careful to brush ever so slightly against his side as she did.

[Snow]

Ol’ver always felt bad for having to call out people’s faults. He shifted a bit uncomfortably in his seat not sure how to say exactly what he meant without making things seem worse than they really were. ”Yes, she is. From what I gathered she was asked to step up to watch the candidates since our Candidatemaster has been missing recently. I’m sure Weyrwoman Kadia filled you in on that.” He spoke quickly since he figured that she would have been filled in on the most important information. ”She’s a good rider, don’t get me wrong, she just has a tendency to rather break the rules than follow them if she thinks it would be better to break them.” He knew he was defending J’ain but he did feel some loyalty to the blue rider. ”No worries, Weyrwoman, I don’t blame you for looking into it further.” He said amiably.

Ol’ver took another sip of his klah. Eyrlaina was not what he had expected, though to be honest he really hadn’t expected anything. He was happy with what he’d found out about her so far. She was very duty minded which was not a bad thing for a Weyrwoman to be, but part of him was curious if she ever just hung back and relaxed from time to time. He thought himself a pretty duty minded rider, but even he enjoyed relaxing and having fun every now and then.

”I would be surprised if they weren’t hesitant, Weyrwoman. You see, after it happened the Weyrleaders decided it best if we just tried to forget about it. Pretty hard to forget that you lost an entire turn without knowing the reason, but since they ordered it we obeyed. The questions and the little bit of investigations us healers did was a bit…against the rules, but Ponoa allowed us to do it just to make sure there would be no lasting effects. I honestly don’t think the dragons know more than we do.” Ol’ver explained a concerned look on his face. He finished the rest of his klah and put his mug down. Once again he grinned at her, his green eyes twinkling with mischievousness almost. ”May I ask how you are enjoying our quaint little weyr so far?”

Monketh couldn’t remember the last time he had enjoyed talking to a female so much. Yes, this gold was something else. ”Until this point, I have, but I think I’d rather practice all my compliments on you from now on, dear gold.” He replied with a draconic laugh. Coreanth got up from her couch and moved by him. Monketh didn’t move, but his hide tingled with excitement as the gold lightly brushed against him. ”Words alone are not strong enough and if there are words strong enough they have not yet been invented. I speak better when I am in the air.” The bronze said turning to face her. It was an innocent enough statement, but Monketh hoped she would realize what he was really referring to.