Slow Going [Ageno]

[nineofswords]

It was amazing to Heiro how much dragon there was. Every time she had to get close to one, she was always struck by that, and living at a Weyr now, she came across it a lot. Especially since candidates were often volunteered to help with cleaning the incredible creatures.

She felt a little bad for this brown pair, to be honest, being stuck with her. She was trying to be thorough, but she didn't have a ton of experience with scrubbing things, so she was still fairly slow about it. "Sorry," she said. "I know I'm taking a while. I'm trying to go as fast as I can, but I'd rather not miss any spots." She didn't really expect the dragon to respond, since many didn't. The rider would probably be nice about it, since most of them tended to just be glad that they didn't have to wash their whole dragon themselves, but sometimes they'd get snappy if she took too long. This rider didn't seem like the latter, but one never could tell.

[Agenothree]

A'yri was happy to scrub at his Deararth's hide and not speak if Heiro saw fit, though he hummed quietly as he worked, waist deep in Fort's lake. Deararth groaned to express how content he was in both humans' efforts, sighing as stretched to his full length and put his most itchy spots in easy reach. Though bathing was often a good way to strengthen a dragonrider's bond to his dragon, Candidates were in need of teaching, not to mention how an extra set of willing hands made washing such a large brown easier, as well as most welcome company.

As Heiro spoke up to apologize for taking so long, A'yri smiled at her. "No need to apologize!" he replied easily. Heiro seemed a little unsure, so he decided to try to help her a little, as best he could. "Bathing a dragon isn't a quick or easy undertaking, but that doesn't mean it's not a task worth doing. Well, assisting in, in your case. Being thorough to not miss something is excellent, no matter how long it takes. If a dragon's hide has a flaw that needs addressing before you between again, a good bath is how you find it. Plus, riding straps can rub in ways to make itchy or chafed spots; a good scrub usually sets them right."

Deararth lifted his head to whistle his appreciation, whirling a considering eye at Heiro. Between them, A'yri encouraged him to speak up, which he did at length. It is appreciated, your focus to detail, he rumbled, before going quiet and ducking his head down again. A'yri smiled softly for his brown, before adding to Heiro, "We both appreciate your help. So if there's something we can do to help you too, you let us know. Questions that need answering, lessons that need explaining, everything under Rukbat that we can help with."

[nineofswords]

Heiro smiled appreciatively at A'yri when he told her there was no need to apologize. "I'm glad that's your feelings on it," she admitted. "And I do feel like I'm learning a lot from this. Getting comfortable with dragon physiology before I have to care for a partner of my own is certainly not a bad thing." She nodded, paying attention when he explained the value in bathing and scrubbing one's dragon regularly.

She gave Deararth a smile when he gave a whistle, understanding that it was a positive sound - the colors in his eyes helped, she wouldn't have been sure otherwise to tell the truth - but she wasn't expecting more praise from him than that. So she jumped a little, startled, when he spoke to her. "Oh," she said, eyes wide and a little slack-jawed in shocked, but she recovered quickly. Since she was standing in water, she bowed rather than dip into a curtsey and risk getting more of her soaked than already was. "I'm glad it's appreciated," she said. "It's an honor to assist in this matter."

She turned her smile back to A'yri when he offered to help her in return. She carefully considered a good question to ask, knowing that he would genuinely appreciate being able to feel helpful in return. "I feel I have a solid grasp on my lessons, truth to tell," she said. "But there are some...practical aspects of the bond that I feel I don't fully understand. Weyrfolk seem to take a lot of it for granted, but as a holdborn girl, there's still a lot of basic pieces that simply don't click yet. For instance, I know that you can often share feelings and intense sensations like pain and hunger, but can you feel exactly where your Dearath's itches are? Does it ever get confusing trying to figure out where your sensations end and his begin?"

[Agenothree]

A'yri nodded and grinned wide, clearly as pleased as he was to help Heiro as he was tickled that Dearath saw fit to address her. It was a rare thing for his brown to speak to others, keeping his own counsel unless he saw it absolutely necessary to speak up. Either he felt Heiro really needed to hear him or he liked her, perhaps both. Regardless, he rumbled in wordless response to her stating that assisting in his bath was an honor, though his eyes were whirling gentle blues and greens in happiness, visible before he lifted a paw to carefully scratch behind his headknobs.

As Heiro went on to ask about more practical aspects between dragons and those that rode them, A'yri listened quietly, contemplating his answer as he continued scrubbing. "It can be quite confusing, yes," he admitted as he nodded somberly. "Especially so during weyrlinghood, given that our bond was still so new, so fresh. It took time and training, but I learned to block most of those little things that can get overwhelming. But it's as you say, we still share those stronger emotions and sensations, which I'm glad for every day."

A'yri smiled as he patted Dearath's shoulder, which earned him a soft sigh and a wave of love in his mind. "But to answer your question more specifically, I can't feel precisely where Deararth's itches are," he went on, grinning his amusement. "It's more of a...if he itches, I itch situation. Sure, he can communicate to me he itches under his arm here," he said as he dutifully moved to itch where he was directed, at which Dearath whistled happily. "But I don't feel an itch under my arm," he concluded. "I...itch! It's hard to explain, but I hope I'm not butchering it too much." Laughing a moment, he sighed before he added one more thing.

"It's during weyrlinghood that these things are most intense and confusing, but it's also where you learn about your dragon most," A'yri commented, smiling as he remembered his own weyrlinghood. "Hope that scratched your itch! But feel free to ask more."

[nineofswords]

Heiro had been at the Weyr long enough that she no longer had to work to recall what the colors of a dragon's eyes meant they were feeling. She smiled, delighted that the dragon seemed pleased and hadn't simply been thanking her to be kind. She felt less demoralized about how much slower than her peers she was at scrubbing dragons.

As a proper hold girl, one who'd been educated in the hopes of being married off, it had been ingrained into Heiro's mind that she was supposed to look people in the eye when they spoke to her. But she was trying to pay attention to her task, and that was more easily done if she was looking at what she was doing. She kept splitting her attention between A'yri and her task, so she started slowing down again.

Still, she was following fairly well, and nodded along with A'yri's explanations. "I think I follow, yes," she said. "It sounds a bit like...well, you know when someone yawns and you find the urge to do so as well? Or you don't notice you're hungry until someone else says that they are? That's a bit what it sounds like. Not nearly no intimate, of course, as the bond between dragon and rider, but the closest the rest of us would be able to get to what it is that you're describing." She shook her head with a smile when he said he hoped he wasn't butchering the explanation. "Not at all! I think I understand your meaning, as well as I can. It's always difficult to fully grasp an experience you've never had before from descriptions alone, after all, no matter how clear a person is. And you're quite clear, I feel I grasp how things are shared a good deal better now."

She nodded. "Yes, I imagine weyrlinghood is when a great deal of issues must be figured out. Adjusting to a dragon cannot be an easy matter." She gave a warm smile when A'yri asked if that scratched her itch, acknowledging the joke. "Indeed that has, thank you," she said. She considered her next question carefully. "I know what I'm getting myself into," she said, picking her words carefully, speaking slowly as she thought. "I want to make Pern a safer place for others. But..." She peeked at A'yri a little anxiously through her bangs before focusing intently on the patch she was scrubbing. "It is...daunting, to think of facing thread in the skies. We all know the damage it can do. Do you find it at all frightening? Or are you one of those lucky sorts who knows no fear? Perhaps you know of ways to deal with that fear, even if you don't feel it yourself?"