It's warm autumn day at Aneris. There is a nice breeze blowing across the lake. The current is active and washes some plants up on the bank. A man and his red dragon are relaxing in the sun.
T'maran is sitting on the bank. His once long black hair now sits just below his ears. The breeze is moving pieces of curly hair into his bright green eyes. His fire-lizard Bronze Zander his perched on his shoulder. He is wearing a gray tunic and black trous.
"Well, Raindith," he calls to his dragon,"we've been here long enough. Let's give you a bath and call it a day."
There is a sleepy grumble from Raindith. He's nestled in a sandy wallow slightly southeast of his rider. The huge red raises himself up out of his warm spot and waddles ungracefully into the water.
T'maran laughs at his dragon. Zander chirrups and begins to go play with Raindith. The tall man takes off his shirt to reveal the rest of his tan skin and well-developed muscles. Being a rider had kept him fit and beefed him up. He could almost pass for a smith now. He decided to leave on his trous in case the water was too cold. He quickly waded in and began the chore of washing his rather large red. Even with Zander's help this was going to take a few hours. T'maran wishes that there was someone here to help him with the bronze-sized red.
Suddenly as if in answer to his silent prayer, a blue dragon appears over head. T'maran is very grateful to see the graceful blue spiral down. Evidently these two were looking for a warm place to rest. Then disappointment sets in as he watches the pair land in the weyrbowl. So much for wishful thinking. T'maran begins to set to scrubbing the red hide. Then a blue form imerges. T'maran gains hope, but the dragon settles down in the sand. His rider doesn't come. T'maran sighs and goes back to his task.
After a few minutes, he can hear a voice calling for someone. "Musoke! Musoke!" T'maran looks up to see a rainbow fire-lizard sitting on a rock staring at him. It would have startled him if he hadn't seen Arca the Weyrwoman's rainbow flit.
Suddenly a beautiful young woman comes down the beach to where the rainbow flit is sitting on the rock. She is short and has long, blonde hair. She is dressed in riding gear. She glares at the flit. The little rainbow glances up at her owner.
"Don't give me that innocent look!" she says, crossing her arms over her chest. "What in the name of Faranth are you doing?!"
T'maran watches silently as flit and owner exchange comments and apologies. Then Musoke hops up on to the woman's shoulder. Just then the blonde rider notices him. T'maran tries hard to stare at her, but she is quite beautiful. Musoke on her shoulder is a nice compliment to her complexion and her blue eyes. She had a nice shape to her too. T'maran finally turned away and began to scrub Raindith again.
Between strokes, he would glance back to the bank. The beautiful woman was still standing there. Why was she just staring at him. T'maran tried to think of something to say.
"I don't care what you say, but say something. I am not getting cleaned any faster with you just staring at her,"came Raindith's gruff reply.
"Are you just going to stand there and watch or are you going to help me,"he finally says with a sarcastic air and smiles at the blonde. Her rainbow fire-lizard takes the initiative and flies over to help Zander on Raindith's back. T'maran glances back at the blonde then watches with interest as she removes her riding jacket and boots. Then she takes off her riding pants to reveal slender yet muscular legs. All that remains is her tunic.
His mouth drops open as she saunters into the water. The now wet tunic clings to her form further revealing her well-shaped body. She walks up to T'maran and Raindith. T'maran wonders if he should speak first, but she beats him to it.
"Hi.." she stammers, "I'm Kalika."
"Hi, I am T'maran rider of Red Raindith, and that is my flit Zander," he says and raises his arm out of the blue water to grasp her forearm in dragonrider fashion. Kalika stares at T'maran for a few seconds then adds, "I ride Blue Cantoth. He's sleeping."
T'maran grins at her nervousness then turns back to Raindith to hide a nervous laugh of his own. The two begin to scrub Raindith trying to avoid further awkwardness. The fire-lizards really enjoy the task and begin to splash and play as they clean. In a few moments both riders, fire-lizards, and Raindith are soaked due to the flits antics.
Musoke decides to be cute and splashes T'maran right in the face. The red rider sputters and chokes on the water. Kalika laughs at the faces he is making. Determined to have justice, T'maran reaches over and dunks the pretty blonde. Kalika comes up gasping for air and begins to splash T'maran. An all out war begins.
Pretty soon, the soaked riders are exhausted. They had been playing for quite some while. The sun was now descending behind the weyrbowl. The light dances across the water and Kalika's wet hair. T'maran is drawn into her deep blue eyes. He reaches a wet hand up and strokes her cheek. He reaches his other arm around her waist and draws her closer. Then he tilts his head just so, leans down, and kisses Kalika gently on the lips. His heart pounds in his chest. She glances up at him a little shy and says,"Your lips are blue."
They stare at each other for a while longer neither knowing what to say. Suddenly T'maran's stomach growls sending them both into laughter. He goes red with embarrasment. "I guess that decides it. Next stop is the Lower Caverns. I do hope your hungry. Headwoman Natarana is an excellent cook," he says with a smile. Then he takes her hand and they wade out of the lake. Raindith flies up to his ledge the two flits going with him.
Kalika and T'maran walk in to the kitchens. The warmth from the different fires is a pleasant change from the cold of the lake. Kalika walks to one of the fires to warm up. T'maran gets a mischievious idea and ventures into one of the storage caverns. It is dimly lit, but he still manages to find two warm blankets. He carries them out to Kalika with a wicked grin on his face. Then he turns around and goes back in. He scrounges around until he finds a large wicker picnic basket. He fills it with some food stuffs, plates and utensils. He comes back out and saunters over to Kalika. He takes her small hand in his. "Where are we going?" she asks, laughing at his attempt to be suave. "You'll see," he says with a sparkle in his eye. Then he leads her out of the cavern and into the moonlit bowl.
"Stand right there," he says and then reaches in to his pocket and takes out a piece of dark cloth. He walks up behind Kalika and lifts her damp hair off her neck. He puts the cloth over her eyes and ties it under her hair effectively blindfolding her.
Dejeunaux Casa
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