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The quiet of the kitchens was a bit of a blessing, if Ezyzu could call it that. It was quiet, not bustling around like normal. A gentleness that had her a bit wistful as she walked around the empty kitchens. She’d spent so much time in this room as a candidate, between her own chores and lessons. Cooking, baking -- a willingness to help out feed the people of Western that her mother had instilled in her from a young age. Be good to others, for they were all parts of the same whole.

And that you have been, and will continue to do so. Khamaith’s voice is a soft, sleepy purr in her mind, curling warmth in the gentlest mental hug as the growing gold settles in a more-open space in the kitchens. She was growing so large, soon she would be too big to roam the Weyr with her.. We will do great things, you and I, my most wonderous girl. That only gets bigger as I continue to do so.

The weyrling laughed, crossing the span of distance to kiss her golden beauty between the eyes. “How could I ever doubt, my dearest. We have an evening free, and here I am fretting what is beyond my control..”

Because you are wonderful. It is why I picked you. The gold thrummed gently, shifting to lay more comfortably in the less-than-ideal room for the growing dragon. Her head on the warm stone floor had her eyes already starting to close.

But Ezyzu had not come down to the kitchens to (completely) reminisce, after all. For she would not give Khamaith up for any chance to go back to her old life. Amazing how five months could suddenly change her life. No, with the upcoming double clutch at High Reaches Weyr, Nonami had been completely busy with candidate lessons and their own worry at standing for the first time.They had barely visited the kitchens to eat or do their chores, let alone fuss with their passion in baking.

So it fell on Ezyzu to be a good big sister and make some cookies for her siblings.

Sure, Kindu and Kalari would be happy for the cookies, but a nice surprise to help Nonami to take a deep breath and calm down was in order, as well.

Making sure that the ovens were still heated properly, Ezyzu tied her long, russet hair up into a looping ponytail. A day off had let her forgive herself for not braiding it up into plaits like her sweet friend Soui had taught her, even if she debates once more on the possibility of cutting the locks that reached down to her waist. Hands washed, she rubs at a few new spots she hadn’t noticed by her wrist before drying her hands. No matter! It’s near muscle memory to gather the ingredients necessary for cookies and begin to measure out by heart -- all while humming a soft tune.

Lost in the nice little bubble, Ezyzu had set about to measure her dry ingredients to one bowl. In another, her wet ingredients. She hadn’t baked in so long that to return to the craft was soothing. Lessons, goldrider lessons, responsibility be gone. It was almost like turns ago when she had shown her younger sibling Nonami how to bake, and had lit a small fire of passion in them. Dry ingredients were slowly mixed in with the wet and with a gentle hum of satisfaction. The cinnamon spice and the sweetness of the batter brought back such nice memories.

Yet there’s a knock at the door before she can finish stirring the mixture completely. Ezyzu turned, not quite sure what she’d been expecting--for it was late enough that most were winding down for the evening but some time before curfew--but some rugged, shirtless man hadn’t quite been it. Her eyes skim over him, appraising but not critical. He was, without a doubt, handsome. The dark, curly hair around his face, the depth of his brown eyes. Scruffy in the bit of shadow on his face, in the sway of his hair. Yet it’s endearing in a way she can’t find find a reason for. Yet she tries to keep her gaze from blatantly drifting below the neck. It wouldn’t do to just stare at his shirtless form, no matter how attractive he was --

But, oh. That line… Ezyzu tried to not laugh, turning to stifle a giggle against the side of her hand. But it’s a distraction from the rising warmth in her neck and ears from her embarrassment. “Forgive me for laughing -- do you always start of conversations with goldriders like that?” But she’s smiling soft and kind, eyes bright as she regarded the man again. Yet, part of her couldn’t help but to be flattered by his words -- and a tiny bit self-conscious.

The least she could do would be to help him out in his requests, surely. Cookies abandoned for the moment, she turned to towel off her hands -- gesturing to the sinks in the back corner before folding it over the edge of the table before her. “Sinks are back there, but there’s a little hand sink next to the larger basins.” Vegetables for runners would be more interesting, if because Ezyzu wasn’t quite sure which ones runners would eat. “Any particular ones?” Turning away, the weyrling went through some of the large stock basins. “Carrots, tubers?” There’s a shy, bashful smile shot towards the stranger. “I’m afraid I don’t exactly know what runners eat..” So, he worked with runners? It kind of explained the lingering smell, but she found it wasn’t too bad. Unique in a way, like the spiciness of dragonhide.

Oh, but, where were her manners? With a flush and a minor start, Ezyzu pulled out the cookie sheet she would inevitably need and set it next to the bowl. “My name is Ezyzu, and this is Khamaith.”

For the briefest moments, Ezyzu wondered if she was covered in flour or some other cookie matter. She’d smiled a bit under his staring, yet hadn’t missed the warm color that spread over his face. The man was nothing quite short of adorable, the height difference between them notwithstanding. His laugh drew her smile in a bit with confidence--but his compliment, the honesty of his tone--thrown in with a roguish smile that had her face blooming brighter. It highlighted just how unused to such compliments she was--before Khamaith and after, stunning compliments were for more.. feminine riders. There were a whole host of lovely goldriders at Western -- Talela, Elysia, Vosin.. To only name a few. “Well, you certainly know how to charm one, I will give you that.”

Cookies forgotten for the moment in venture to help the man, she pulls out a few decently sized tubers and carrots--or what she believes might be. Occasionally peeking up at the other, if a bit shy from his gaze. Her small gathering was placed into a colander to head to the sink when surprise took over. Blue eyes flitted up, eyebrows drawing in her questioning look as she tried to find any hint of dishonesty--or worse, mockery--in his face, and after a moment began to relax as she found none. In fact, she even met his smile, yet the unbridled happiness is hard to contain behind it. “Yes, well.. You’ll have to forgive me for not quite knowing how to respond. I don’t usually hear compliments about them.” Apart from her mother, that is. “But.. thank you.” It’s an earnest smile Ezyzu nearly beams at the man all while soaking in this new information about runners. “She certainly deserves it after giving birth, the dear.”

Carrying the colander to the handsink, she takes her scrubber and begins to clean each vegetable in turn. Any bit of dirt or dark spot cleaned away before set back into the container, and with that done--she grabs a towel to begin trying and setting each now clean and dry tuber and carrot on the counter. Yet she peeks over her shoulder as she’s addressed, smiling softly at him--Xanael. A very nice name. “An honor to meet you as well, Xanael. Western is all the better richer for having you and your brothers here, especially with someone so compassionate to work with the runners and continue with candidacy.” Rambling gently, yet the honesty is there. Ezyzu is quite certain she’d gotten a good read on him, if enough to see he was a kind person.

Between her rider’s whirling emotions, the gently glowing swirling eyes of the weyrling gold opened slowly. Khamaith raised her head, yawning so gently as she observed the exchange between her rider and this new person. She swung her head, curiously looking at the man who’d breathed such a warmth into her beloved. A curious human, to say the least. She cannot recall him, in either hers or Ezyzu’s memories -- a stranger, but better yet, a friend that hadn’t been made yet. Good evening. She greets the man gently, with a soft mental warmth, as calm as she was. She’d shifted slightly, sniffing delicately at the vegetables in her rider’s hands before finding them less interesting than the stranger, Xanael. Is that what a runner smells like? It’s a curious question, one that earns a gentle giggle from her rider.

Yet as she goes to explain that that smell was likely due to all the births that had just been mentioned, Ezyzu had almost missed his question. Almost.

The mirth in her gently peeled back, leaving a quiet, unflinching warmth as she gazed at her little queen still sleepily peeking at the man. Yet she can see the whirls of purple that stream in as she recalls that day on the beach. “I don’t have a true twin--that is, to say, I have a sibling who was born straight after me. But the bond is.. almost indescribable.” Her tone was soft, warm in a way that butter would have melted. “You suddenly aren’t alone--even growing up in a large family, and I have six siblings.. I’m never alone anymore. The world is brand new all over again, things you’ve known your whole life are new experiences to discover together.” Khamaith turned her head, thrumming as a wave of utter love and warmth washed over their bond. “Your dragon knows you, for all your faults, bumps, and shining moments. It is love, and I so dearly hope you’ll know your own some day.” Her tone is quiet but passionate, turning back to Xanael before looking a tad sheepish. Pouring herself out to someone she’d barely just met, after all. But it doesn’t stop it from being true. “Is.. Is there a question of yours I can try to answer?”

It seemed her newly acquainted friend was full of surprises -- and charm. Her face flushed, yet she can’t help but shake her head slightly while his back was turned. Her mother certainly didn’t raise a fool, but she can’t quite help the blush to her face, or the flutter of her heart. “Oh, I don’t know. Quite a few pretty goldriders live in Western, not just little ol’ me.” But… made of starlight? Her..? She looks over her hands, at the little white speckles that trail up from her fingertips. Yet he waxed poetic so easily at her, as if she’d known him for so long.

No one had ever complimented her so, and it takes all her will to not laugh, or squeal.

Perhaps she had judged Xanael the Rogue a bit too quickly.

Yet while she meticulously cleaned the vegetables so that they’d be nice and fresh, she listened intently. So, he was a twin, a sibling he was quite fond of, if his phrasing was anything to go by. “Everyone’s important to Western, though. From riders down to healers and even ‘just beasthealers’.” A smile can’t help but to form, on her face and in her words. “No doubt, a watch dragon or two, or even an unaffiliated dragon I can imagine.”

Eyes whirling a touch more excited, Khamaith turned to snake her head closer to inspect who her rider was talking to. Oh, I quite like him. She murmured to Ezyzu, nodding as she rests her head on the floor. Anyone who sees how great you are is wonderful in my eyes.

With her explanation done, Ezyzu smiled, still feeling a touch sheepish. “Even then, it’s truly hard to put into words. But I’m glad to try and have explained it to you. It’s wonderful and amazing and hard to put down as a cohesive thought.” Yet the goldrider can’t help but laugh, drying off the vegetables and crossing the room to hand them over. But she can’t help but be a touch curious. A moment earlier? Glancing back at Khamaith, Ezyzu nods -- her baking promptly forgotten in curiosity. “We’d love to.”