Warmth, Glorious Warmth [Open]

[Fel]

It was spring. Allegedly. Pia rather doubted that it actually was, regardless of what the Starcrafters said about equinoxes and whatever else it was that was supposed to determine seasons. It was still far too cold outside, and she could swear it was snowing harder than it had been at any point during the actual winter. Theoretical winter.

Not that she should have been complaining about the snow. She hadn't been out in it. She'd been in an infirmary that was only slightly chilly, alternately studying and dealing with children's scraped hands and knees from what they swore up and down had not been snowball fights.

She sank into the water with a groan, warmth wrapping around her in the most glorious ways. The knots her bad leg usually managed to tie itself into slowly began to unknit and she flexed her knee gingerly. It always did worse in the cold.

An inquisitive thought came from Ryodath, the words as incomprehensible as ever but the image clear: the little white also in a bath, taking up most of the pool despite her diminutive size.

Not today, Ryo. I didn't go to the Weyrwoman's bath, this one wouldn't fit you.

She hadn't been going as often as she once had. With another goldrider and the associated Weyrleaders, it wasn't empty as often as it had been. But she apparently thought about it often enough for her dragon to remember it was an option. Technically.

Tomorrow?

Iah! Iageno! she chirped, then curled back up in their weyr, content with the implied promise.

Pia leaned back, looking up at the cavern's ceiling. It was... quiet. She hadn't really expected that this early in the evening. Normally the baths were bustling with activity. Maybe it was the snow slowing everyone down—everyone but rambunctious weyrbrats, at least.

[Dragon]

This dragon is comfortable, Geth assured in response to Issalle's gentle query. This one's rider should enjoy her bath.

With a fond smile on her lips, Issalle brushed a long fair lock back out of her face, more than ready to do just that. The cavern was quieter than usual and would allow for a quiet bath, which was nice; all too often, it seemed like she managed to come at just the wrong time when all that could be managed was a quick scrub. She was looking forward to a nice soak.

"Evening," she said, acknowledging the other woman in the room as she lowered herself into the warmth of the bath. She knew Pia vaguely; she'd been present when the other woman Impressed. She supposed they'd been weyrbrats together, too. "I'm surprised it's so dead in here this time of day."

She didn't press further than that; not everyone liked conversation while they were bathing. What she'd said was nicely on the edge between acknowledging that she'd be willing to talk but not forcing the other woman into conversation. Issalle let her eyes slip closed for the moment, just enjoying the heat of the water.

[Fel]

"As am I," Pia replied, still staring up at the cavern's ceiling as the steam curled in the air above her. She let her arms float slightly in the heated pool, and sighed.

"I think it's the snow making everything happen a little later than usual. You'd think people would want to come in wherever it's warmest, but apparently not just yet." Pia didn't get the attraction snow had for some people. If she had been just a Healer, if she hadn't also been a rider, she suspected she would have requested placement somewhere warmer.

Of course, she was only a Healer because she was a rider, and there was nothing stopping her from requesting transfer now. Nothing but the familiarity of home. Home and at least some of the people in it.

After several moments, she finally looked over at the other woman, whose eyes were closed. "Just how cold is it out there, anyway? Do you know?"

Weather? She was asking about... weather? Really? But it was the first question that had sprung to mind.

[Dragon]

"Colder than usual this time of year, not so cold as it was a month ago," Issalle answered vaguely. It could have been worse; they could have been farther north, in High Reaches or Telgar. "I don't mind the cold clinging on too much, really. Warmth is always just around the corner." She smiled at the other woman, opening her eyes lazily. "I suppose if I hated the cold too much, I'd be in Ista." Geth was more than old enough to transfer, after all.

She wasn't bothered by the other woman asking about the weather, for all that it was a rather blase topic of conversation. She wasn't actually looking for anything deep at the moment. Maybe in a little bit, after she'd let the heat seep into her a bit ... "Have you not needed to go out in it today?"

[Fel]

"No, thank Faranth. I've been indoors on infirmary duty. Less snow, more weyrbrats who don't listen when someone tells them not to run on ice. Sometimes, Ista really does sound tempting... Though I guess kids would find a way to get into trouble with or without ice."

Pia knew they did. In the summer it was climbing on rocks, or trying to cannonball into puddles, or trying to prove they could fly by flinging themselves off of boulders with leaves stuck to their arms with sap.

"Kids and sometimes the occasional rider. And I don't just mean in Threadfall. People have some questionable thoughts in their heads sometimes."

[Dragon]

Questionable thoughts. Issalle smiled at that; she'd certainly had more than one questionable thought in her time.

"If no one ever made a bad decision, life would be much less interesting." Salle grinned, wondering what sort of boring existence Pia must lead if she didn't ever give in to bad ideas. "And yeah, kids get into trouble. It's kind of what they do. And riders ... well, we do tend to be a more active sort."

[Fel]

"Though in some ways, less interesting might be... better." Pia could deal with things being on the boring side. She'd found over the past several Turns that she liked boring. Boring meant there were no catastrophes.

She leaned back in the water, then after a few moments reached for a handful of soap to start washing. "Riders really do seem to be more active than others. Even as Candidates, it's the sort of people who are on the exuberant side. I guess the kids jumping off boulders are probably destined to Impress dragons."

It was only a question of whether they'd cause her more trouble before or after Impression.

[Dragon]

Issalle shrugged. She liked her life, and she couldn't even begin to claim it was boring. Oh, she also loved having downtime where she could revel in the joy of dance, but things were rarely quiet for long and she was fine with that.

Wetting her hair so she could wash it, Issalle grinned at the comment about jumping off boulders. "I mean, if they're jumping off boulders maybe they're looking to fly already."

Sure, it had been a long time since Issalle had been considered a child, but she still loved life, and while she didn't usually do things like jump off boulders anymore she had been known to find a good place to jump from up high into sufficiently deep water in the summer. It could be exhilarating.

[Fel]

"Oh Faranth, are they ever. The last one to come in with a broken arm also had wherry feathers stuck all over her. With sap. Apparently someone convinced her that feathers are why birds can fly. Never mind that dragons and fire lizards don't have them, so that can't be what makes things fly."

Not that Pia blamed people for not thinking about those. Even after all this time, they still gave her the heebie-jeebies. Other than Ryodath of course, but she was a special case. She was... another half of herself, in a way. She couldn't be afraid of herself.

"Actually... I wonder what does make them fly. Some birds and bugs have wings but can't, so it's not just about having wings..."