[PRP] Frigid Conscription (Sylfie/Iathe)

[Meepfur]

Mine.

Mine.

Miiiine.

Miiiiiiine.

Sylfie was, in all the world, the only being that Hesperith would ever stoop to whining at, and the goldrider had never been less enamored with it than she was at this very moment. She'd been sleeping well for the first time in days as the flu finally loosened its grip on her. Her fever had broken, she'd gotten out of her weyr and had a good meal, and she'd been sleeping ever since...sometime yesterday. Probably yesterday? "Nnnngh." Still wrapped tightly in her blankets, she rolled over and buried her head in her pillow. "s't t'morrow?" she slurred, then wracked out an unpleasant cough before mumbling on, "Wuddayouwant?"

It is the day after you were awake last, yes, her dragon confirmed. And I want a bath. I am very itchy.

The young woman slouched into a semi-upright position to glower at the gold from under her nice, warm blanket. "Yesterday you didn't want me to get up, now you want me to go out in the cold and give you a bath?" she grumbled, scratching absently at an itch she didn't actually have. To be fair, Hesperith really did need a good scrubbing and oiling, since Sylfie had spent the last sevenday unable to do any such thing, but she could practically feel herself shivering with another fever at the very thought of the chilly task.

Not at all! Hesperith corrected, sounding mildly offended that Hers would make such an assumption. No, you must be fully recovered first! But...perhaps a candidate?

"Wait, you seriously want a candidate to wash you?" Hesperith had never suggested such a thing before, being quite particular about her baths, so if she was willing to present it as an option, she really had to be desperate. "Talk to...whoever, then, see if anybody's free," Sylfie consented with a wave as she slid reluctantly out of bed and went about rummaging through her available clean clothing. "But don't push it if they can't spare anybody." There was undoubtedly no shortage of dragons with riders incapable of seeing to them, and others who had been and still were sicker than her. She didn't want to take away from anyone else getting help they needed, or get in some sort of trouble for taking advantage of a candidate or anything like that. But High Reaches being what it was, there was bound to be someone somewhere who would be more than happy to tend to a Queen.

By the time she was dressed (bundled for warmth and comfort, with no regard to outward appearance), Hesperith had managed to arrange for someone to help them with their little problem, and Sylfie didn't care enough to ask who she'd gone through or what poor soul was about to be wet and cold. She just gathered up their things, pulled herself onto her dragon with more effort than she was comfortable admitting to, and hung on for the mercifully brief glide to the lake.

Tsunake

not best start, but a start!

 

[Tsunake]

Iathe worked hard at every task she was given, and her efforts had redoubled since the Hatching a few months ago. To say she was feeling confused was an understatement, and, rather than mope and sulk about, she had thrown. herself into chores and extra tasks to keep her mind busy. She knew she would need to sit and consider the possibilities of Impressing a green... To Impress a green here at High Reaches would rank her as the lowest of the low when it came to having a say in things. That, to Iathe, was simply unacceptable. All dragons had their roles in the Weyr, but if a green was destined to be her lifepartner, why should her opinion suddenly mean nothing? If some stupid idiot of a bronzerider could swagger about and thrown his weight around just because the color of his dragon's hide--

She immediately bit back on those treasonous thoughts, hurrying towards the lake as fast as she could. As a result of always working so hard, Iathe had been granted the privilege in assisting with Heperith's bath. Goldrider Sylfie had fallen ill with the flu, but from the sounds of it, she was much better than she'd been. That was a relief. Dragonriders were hearty folks--but the sickness spreading through the Weyr had made her a little nervous.

Muttering a curse to herself when she saw the queen already there, Iathe quickened her pace. "I'm sorry if you were waiting long," She apologized to both rider and dragon breathlessly, pausing to bow. Though getting wet would be less than pleasant, Iathe reasoned that she'd be working hard enough to get warm--and only a deadglow would turn away the chance to help a gold! Especially one with as beautiful a hide as Hesperith.

With a resolute air of no nonsense, she almost impatiently pulled her braid back and twisted it up and behind her head. She didn't dare keep the pair waiting any longer than they already had.

Meepfur

It was lovely! <3

 

[Meepfur]

Once Hesperith had landed, Sylfie slid carefully down from her dragon, but still landed with an unsteady wobble and had to brace herself against the gold foreleg. At least she hadn't fallen flat on her face, that would have been a great first impression, even better than pale and bleary-eyed and wearing whatever she'd grabbed that was close at hand and looked warm. She blinked at the candidate who presented herself with an apology and a bow, a woman taller and, from the looks of it, not much younger than her. She looked a fair sight better, as well, probably one of the lucky ones who hadn't come down with the flu, or had gotten by with a mild case.

"Morning," she offered in a voice that cracked, causing her to flinch and clear her throat - a pause that gave her just enough time to realize that she...wasn't entirely sure what time of day it actually was. Shards. "Is it...if it is morning. I, um. Kind of outta sorts still."

Please forgive Mine, Hesperith interjected into the pause while Hers scrambled even more than usual for what words she wanted, lowering her head to regard their helper with pleasantly blue-green eyes. She is still recovering from her illness, and has not been awake long. She then rumbled encouragingly to her rider, a vocal nudge to speak again.

While she would have preferred, today especially, that her dragon continue to handle all the social requirements, it was clear that she wasn't going to get off quite that easily, flu or no. She extended a hand only to think better of it - because flu, you deadglow, no one wants to shake your hand - and ducked her head self-consciously. Oh, this was hopeless. Why couldn't Hesperith have just come down on her own and left her to sleep some more? "I'm Sylfie," she managed finally, "And this is Hesp'rith."

'Hesp'rith' sighed as the syllables of her name were murmurred into each other, but didn't bother to correct it as she usually did swallowed words and pieces thereof. Hers would get a little bit of a pass today, since she was still getting her voice back.

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

Iathe resisted the urge to purse her lips as the goldrider croaked a greeting, thinking that the woman could do with a hot cup of broth before she was swaddled into some furs. But, a dragon's needs came before anything, so she could hardly fault her for being out and about. "I can see that." She said curtly, but made to soften her words with a half smile. Her eyes widened with surprise as Hesperith chose to speak to her, and she felt a thrill rush through her as she stared into those big, beautiful eyes... "I'll try to make this quick." The candidate promised, for the dragon and her rider's sake.

A hand was extended and then dropped again, and Iathe chalked up the awkwardness to what Hesperith had said. "My name's Iathe. I'm glad to help you both." A break from the routine, and an honor besides. She rolled up her pants, gritting her teeth fiercely against the cold of the water even as she waded in. Shame be upon her if she let a little chill stop her from helping!

"D-Do you have a preference on how to start?" She was proud that her teeth only clacked together once, staring steadfastly at Sylfie. "Or... any part of you that you'd like me to start on?" That would be directed towards Hesperith herself.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"Thanks for helping us out, Iathe. Sorry it's gonna be cold," Sylfie managed to get out with slightly less of a rasp than her initial greeting. "I usually, uh, usually just start at her head and work back."

The gold thrummed agreement with her rider's gratitude, and dipped her head down to the candidate's level. As Mine says, she concurred. Between my wings will need extra time, I am very itchy there.

Sylfie had never been more glad her dragon wasn't a shy one; she had enough trouble speaking for herself most of the time, let alone when she was getting over being sick, and getting her voice and coherent thought back. With Hesperith able to voice her own needs and preferences, hopefully this would all go smoothly.

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

"It's fine." She dismissed the concern, though when Hesperith spoke to her again, she couldn't stifle the rush of pleasure that flooded through her. Iathe was careful to not let it show, bowing to both of them before she launched herself into her work. Hesperith wasn't the largest gold ever, but Iathe was certainly getting her workout for the morning. There was still a lot of hide to scrub, and she'd be damned if she was going to garner a reputation as a slacker in front of a queen and her rider!

Her teeth were chattering despite the exertion, and currently, the young woman was making sure to really work on those delicate wings to get any and all itchiness away!

"You just came to High Reaches recently?" Iathe forced herself to speak, hoping that conversation might help distract her from how sharding cold it was.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

Hesperith sighed appreciatively as Iathe set to work; she might not be as experienced a hand at this as rider, but as she was overdue for such attention, the gold was not nearly as picky as she might have been otherwise. Her eyes held a steady, happy blue - this was much better!

"We came o-over the summer," Sylfie answered after a pause and a mental nudge from her dragon. She'd hoped Hes might just field some more of the talking but as this didn't directly concern her care (or a topic of particular interest), she expected her rider to hold a proper conversation. "From Nerat. This is...our first winter."

Which may have had something to do with how susceptible she'd been to the flu, if she had to hazard a guess. As if winter wasn't miserable enough in and of itself.

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

Iathe was forced to appreciate just how big Hesperith was... and just how much work it would be to care for a dragon of this size every day. She was keeping an ear out, glancing over as Sylfie on occasion so the Queenrider knew she was still listening. There was just no sense in slacking off when she could do two things at once!

"Oh." That... suddenly made so much more sense, and Iathe frowned to herself as she continued to scrub at that golden hide. "So you aren't used to this cold. I know you've only been up recently, but see about getting yourself some broth of some sort. And make sure you stay plenty warm."

It was probably presumptuous of her to fuss over a goldrider... but something about Sylfie just. Well. It had to be because she was sick, of course. Being sick would make anyone a bit more mild-mannered.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"N-not at all," Sylfie confirmed. Faranth, they'd never even seen snow before all this! She'd known, objectively, that winter in High Reaches would be cold, but knowing and experiencing it were two very different things. "After this, I'll go and get something. It...actually sounds good, so that's an- an improvement."

Being fussed at didn't phase her much at all, as the difference in their rank wasn't one that Sylfie was overly conscious of; she was just a person, and so was Iathe. "Are you from High Reaches?"

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

"Good." Her stern features temporarily softened as she offered a smile, pleased. She was offering good, common sense after all, so why shouldn't Sylfie take it? Of course, she was a goldrider, and the thought was enough to jolt the smile back off of her face. She needed to mind her tongue unless it was asked for.

"Born and raised." Iathe's chin lifted with no small amount of pride. "It's the only home I've ever known. Do you have enough furs in your weyr?" She wasn't worried about Hesperith--she knew this mountain air was nothing like the chill of Between.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

Broth did indeed sound wonderful, now that she was thinking about it. The idea of anything warm sounded wonderful at this point, anything that might chase the chill away. It was kept at bay well enough in her weyr, but being outside again was a bit of a shock to her system, no matter how bundled up she was. At the mention of furs, though, she rather wished she'd thought to bring one to wrap around herself for that much extra warmth.

"So you're used to all this, then. Is it..is this sort of sickness common, or did I just- just pick a bad year to transfer?" Pulling her coat tight around herself, she nodded in answer to Iathe's question. "I do. Hes had some more brought." Against Sylfie's protests, because what if someone else needed them more? But they had been awfully nice to have, she had to admit.

Hesperith was content enough in the chilly water, glad to finally be tended to properly. Iathe was doing a better job of it than she had expected of a candidate, and Hers was getting some much-needed interaction, so the cold didn't seem too bad.

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

"It isn't common," She grunted, pausing as she climbed onto Hesperith to better reach her broad back. "But it isn't uncommon. Just a nasty bought. Took out half the candidates, but I got lucky." And had tried to avoid those people when she could help it, but with communal living, that was easier said than done.

At the mention that the queen dragon had been the one to request the furs, Iathe paused to frown down at the goldrider, wiping her brow with the back of an arm. "You don't have to be shy about that sort of stuff. Everyone will be happy to help. Especially," She said a touch wryly, "The younger bronze and brownriders." But that was just how life went at the Weyr. There would always be someone looking to take advantage of the potential of power, even if Sylfie was unlikely to become the senior Weyrwoman.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

So she just had bad timing, then. Of course. Hopefully next winter wouldn't be so bad, or else she was a little hardier by then. She didn't have much faith in the latter, if she was being honest. "Sounds like it got a- a lot of the Weyr." Candidates, weyrlings, even high-ranking riders had fallen victim. And Sylfie, because of course. "I hope everyone's mostly on the mend, now."

She wasn't exactly up to date on the latest, since this was only her second time out and about in any capacity. What little she was aware of came via Hesperith. "Oh, I- I don't..." Sylfie blushed to receive Iathe's advice, "I think they've figured out by now I'm not...someone they need to bother with."

She was very definitely not the goldrider to chase for anyone looking to gain anything.

Tsunake