[PRP] Remembering To Breathe (Nadry/Ichta+Dragons)

[demon_pachabel]

Oh yes, it seemed that his suggestion was at least being taken seriously. Aurinkoth seemed to hum as Menankith considered the endless possibilities that came with matching his rider - and of course, the mention of his two current ledgemates. The curiosity to end all curiosities, really. But he wouldn't pry into that arrangement - it wasn't any of his business, after all. Perhaps a few larger pieces with smaller attachments to customize to her look? His Ichta knew a bit more about the fashion design part of things - even if she would never wear any of it. It at least sounded like a good suggestion to him!

"Naughty Boy delivers letters by attacking the recepient and messing up their room. He ripped up one of the tunics I made for G'ran," she sighed, pausing in her sewing at mention of the brown. If she'd ever dreamed of another name for him, Naughty Boy had really just won out even in her memory. "So what you're saying is if I try to give you an egg, you don't want it?" not that it was a problem now but...

Ichta looked back down at her dress, crinkling her nose at the hem. It would do, she guessed, but it was still absolutely not where she wanted it to be. But...she could fight with it more later. "I honestly wish I had a little more time here and there. I started a tapestry before I was searched and even know I feel like I've made no progress on it," she lamented as she forced herself to put her needle and thread away. The dress would do as it was.

Nobody would be looking at her anyways.

"I fell asleep after our first threadfall without tending to mine, so it was sweaty, unwashed, and free to it's own devices," she held her hands palm out to the sides of her head, curling her fingers in a mimic of the various directions it had tried to go in. "G'ran saw it too. First thing in the morning." Though she'd leave out the part where she'd been accidentally dropped off on his ledge instead of her own and woken up in his bed.

Whoops.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

That could work! Menankith agreed eagerly, very pleased with Aurinkoth's idea. I will have to suggest it to mine, and then she will not have as many things to make. His brother was very clever! And did deserve a nice thing, which he would also mention to His, although very nice things were likely some time away. He knew well that she wouldn't want him or anyone else wearing anything that didn't look perfect by her estimation.

"That's one way to get someone's attention," Nadry said, wincing in sympathy. That made Sir's screaming tantrum phase and Sneaks' gross but well-intentioned presents look a little less terrible by comparison. "Faranth, please no!" She laughed and shook her head. "I mean, they're adorable and all, but I don't know how anyone handles a whole fair of the things, much less on top of having a dragon."

"Maybe we'll luck into more free time once we graduate," she mused, though by her tone, she was doubtful. "I suppose it depends on our wingleader, whoever that is. Who knows? Depending on who we get, we might miss V'mel." Nadry had her own preferences, but was well aware that they meant nothing.

"Oh no!" She looked horrified on her friend's behalf. "That's not a good look even before it gets slept on. He didn't say anything, did he?" Not that he was the type to, but...yikes.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Oh boy. Wing assignments would be soon too - a few more weeks while they waited for some late recovery, and then they'd all step over the threshold together to be full riders, and not just children with baby dragons. Watching Aurinkoth and Menankith on the ledge, it was impossible to think either of them were babies. They were so big! "Do you know much about any of the Wingleaders? I mean, I know which wing you'd like to be in," she winked teasingly.

But then there were a few wings she wondered just how the 'odd' woman like herself or Nadry would settle in with. Girls on dragons that weren't Green or Gold.

"He....kissed my forehead and said it was good to see me," Ichta answered, dropping her hands with an almost dreamy sigh. He was wonderful, and if Aurinkoth didn't remind her otherwise on a daily basis, she would simply think G'ran was too good for her. Certainly, there would be people who didn't think her tastes in companionship were that much of a catch, but for Ichta, there was nobody else.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"Not very much, no," Nadry answered with a shake of her head, although she grinned when teased, because of course she wanted to be in Illa's wing...which was exactly how she thought of it. Not G'er's, but Illa's; not that he probably wasn't a fine wingleader, if he had her approval. "The only one I've met properly is G'er, at that party, but the rest?" She shrugged. "I know some are more...traditional than others, so I hope we don't end up with one of those. I don't think Menankith would put up with it."

It was hard enough keeping him quiet in lessons sometimes! Faranth help them if they got a real traditionalist who might give them a hard time for being, well...them. "Wherever we end up, I hope we at least get someone - Illa, you, G'ran, Dr'stan..." She paused for a half a moment, blushed, and continued, "C'lusi, R'shahar. Just, you know. Someone." Someone familiar, someone close, would make the transition easier. She knew better than to hope to end up in the same wing as more than one of those she listed, but just one would be enough. There was at least a chance of that much, right?

Nadry smiled at what Ichta said, and at the look on her face.She was delighted for her friend - both of them. "Good. Smart man."

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

The idea of Menankith having a bronze ordering him around on the merit of solely being a bronze was....well, Ichta could see why that was a potential problem. "Unfortunately, yes. I'll hope it won't cause too much trouble that right now all of our options are...." fairly traditional. Ichta didn't say it, but the small frown on her face did. "Well, we all have to start from the bottom, no matter where we go."

Well, most of them did. Only one rider from their Weyrling class would be considered above them right out the gates at graduation, but Ichta didn't hold that against them. After all, very few could say they rode atop that particular glittering hide. She wouldn't besmirch any metallic rider, and even less a goldrider, for being chosen by who they were chosen. Alumet had been forced to put in extra work since the beginning, after all.

"If I'm honest, I don't know who I'd pick from our class to want to be in a wing with. Like, just picking one person over another....I'm glad someone impartial is doing it," if it was up to her, she'd just herd them all into the same Wing. But that's not how it worked.

She tried to shrug the thought off as she stood, holding the dress up to herself to see if there was anything else she wanted to nitpick at before changing into it. It was...passable. Nobody would be looking at her in it, anyways. Not a plain old bluerider.

"I told him I loved him," Ichta said suddenly. "It just...came out."

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"At least we are finally getting started. Not that I'm not worried, but it feels like we're sort of stuck in-between right now, doesn't it?" They'd been fighting Thread for awhile now, their dragons were full-grown, and they were very nearly 'real' riders. Menankith had been getting more and more restless lately, eager to start. There were so many things he wanted to do, wanted to change, but it all had to wait.

"How impartial are they really, I wonder?" Such ready doubt of authority was a direct side effect of being bonded to her dragon; she couldn't imagine saying such things a turn ago. "I mean, I know the wingleaders have to at least have preferences. Do you think any of them want...want us?" Versus how many must want C'ryn and Aresoth, Le'x and Kratoth, G'ran and Elzebuth, over the greens and blues and peculiar brown.

Ichta's revelation cut off that train of thoguht quite handily, though, and Nadry blinked. "Oh. Oh. And?"

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

"And....." Ichta gestured vaguely off into the distance with a hand. "And I don't know. I don't think anything changed. I don't think it's a bad thing that it didn't." Though to many who had watched the pair from the outside, the fact nothing had changed likely meant nothing - some saw Ichta's feelings as obvious and the way G'ran had treated her in return as just as obvious.

It had only meant words.

She shrugged, standing up so suddenly that Aurinkoth perked up to look in at the two young women with a kreel of inquiry. It's fine! she soothed quickly, and he settled again with a slight snort of amusement. So many feelings going around. he mused to Menankith, though any thoughts he had on the matter for himself would remain firmly unsaid.

"Menankith isn't a small brown, and you're a perfectly capable rider. You and him will stand out, no matter which wing you're put into," she finally offered to Nadry's worries. "We.....are just another pair of blues. As long as Aurinkoth and I can pull our weight, it doesn't matter if where we end up is with someone who wanted us..."

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"Well, that's alright, then. I think." If Ichta thought it wasn't a bad thing that nothing had changed, then that was fine. Probably? Nadry could barely make heads or tails of her own current situation, and though inexperienced, could surmise that everyone's was different, and as long as that worked for them, it was...fine. "I mean, I don't exactly have a wealth of experience to speak from." She laughed and shook her head. "But if it's not a bad thing, then it's...probably a good thing?" How very eloquent and reassuring she was.

Menankith perked up when Aurinkoth did, gaze following his brother's, only to rumble comfortably when he settled right down again. Yes, he agreed with a mix of ruefulness and dry humor. There have been quite a lot.

"I just hope if we do stand out, it's for the right reasons." As it was, they stood out to some because they were considered strange, or worse, rather than for the capability. Then again, some amount of that was just internalized worry; there were certainly those who disapproved, even vocally, but there were plenty of others who didn't. She shooed those thoughts to the back of her mind to summon a reassuring smile for her friend. "Neither one of you is just another anything, and whatever wing you end up in will be lucky to have you."

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

"I mean...I guess it must be?" Ichta was clearly just as experienced with the whole thing, and while their situations were very different, there was an amusing parallel that at least made it easy to confide in one another. Having had Nadry to confide in for the last turn had made everything a little easier, if she was honest.

Nadry's hesitation made her frown, however. Certainly, she'd never been an outlier in that way - a woman on a blue was a much more common sight, if still a little unusual, than a woman on a brown and there was no doubt that Nadry in some ways may have seen herself as trying to pave an easier path for those who could potentially follow in the future. "I don't see how you could stand out for a wrong reason," she offered, hoping it was at least somewhat assuring.

She'd at least take Nadry's confidence to heart, however. "I can only hope they will see it that way. He is quite good to have around when times get rough," her attention drifted over to Aurinkoth who cheeped affectionately on the ledge, like an eager pup waiting to be given permission to run over and absolutely bulldoze someone with love.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

They were quite a pair, weren't they? A little lost sometimes, perhaps a little confused, but at least they were together. Leaning on each other and pooling inexperience.

"I could think of one or two," she said with a self-deprecating smile and a little laugh. She wasn't wallowing, not really, although a certain incident concerning straps did come to mind. Of course, someone else had had a similar problem, so there was that. "But I think we all can, about ourselves." Flaws and mistakes had a way of seeming much more glaring when they were your own.

"He is," Nadry affirmed with a nod, "And so are you." Ichta might not be as enthusiastically, relentlessly cheerful as her sunny blue, but Nadry could certify that she was an excellent shoulder to cry on, and had been a much-needed constant and source of stability over the course of the last turn. Regardless of whether or not they ended up in the same wing, she doubted that would ever change.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Ichta shot Nadry a look absolutely laced with doubt. "Well you and Menankith will be a boon to your wing and Aurinkoth and I will personally sort out anybody who things otherwise," she insisted - and a strong assertion indeed. One would have never labelled either the girl or her lifemate as confrontational people, but this was one instance she absolutely would be if it was needed. But she also hoped it wouldn't come to such things - because she'd really have to talk herself up.

"I'm going to trust your good taste then, since you're absolutely right!" Ichta could have downplayed her and Aurinkoth's worth compared to some of the bigger dragons getting placed until the sun went down (except he was on a ledge and still so very sunny), so if Nadry was going to be her hype-man, well...she'd just have to do the same!

"All of our wings will be happy to have us," she decided firmly. The only hitch would be if Nadry could keep Menankith from talking back to their Wingleader - though she imagined they would make due.

Meepfur