[SRP] Room for improvement (Neuwith & Tijuth)

[Princess_Feylin]

Neuwith spiraled through the air, her hearts pounding in tandem as she raced along her self-assigned obstacle course. From the ground, Taibbi looked on, proud of her dragon's athleticism without harboring any desire to share it. She was a large young woman, heavy by dragonrider standards and not fond of exercise. Her dragon was her opposite in that.

Are you watching? Neuwith cried

You know I am, Taibbi answered her. Given that Neuwith had spoken so that anyone nearby could hear her, there was the possibility others were watching, too, but no one else replied to the green's question.

I want to see! Neuwith insisted.

Acquiescing to the green's request, Taibbi let Neuwith see through her eyes and thereby watch herself in third person as she performed her acrobatics. Taibbi was always impressed by Neuwith's ability to see from two perspectives at the same time while in motion and make sense of anything. Taibbi usually had to close her eyes when she "borrowed" Neuwith's vision, or else suffer mild vertigo and a headache.

I am glorious, Neuwith opined without a shred of modesty. When next I rise, I shall dazzle all and sundry with my abilities.

Taibbi didn't doubt it. Certainly she always found Neuwit's energetic efforts impressive. And yet she couldn't help teasing: I thought they were supposed to be trying to impress you.

Oh, yes, well, that, too, Neuwith agreed. But think how magnificent they will have to be to keep pace with me. She was, as usual, mindspeaking so that anyone who cared to hear her would be able to do so, human or dragon. Neuwith was not one for keeping her thoughts to herself.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Curled comfortably on the outer edge of the weyrbowl, Tijuth had no choice but to overhear the self-congratulatory crowing of another dragon as she swirled and swooped through the air. Curious, she glanced skyward to ascertain for herself whether the dragon's confidence was warranted and watched as a younger green moved with astonishing speed through a complicated series of maneuvers no dragon in their right mind would attempt with a rider on her back. She recognized the figure as belonging to Neuwith, a younger green, though not part of Tijuth's wing.

Tijuth turned her gaze downward and noticed a stocky young woman standing with one hand shading her eyes as she looked up at the showy green, doubtless her rider, Taibbi. From the conversation she'd overheard, Tijuth surmised that the green was using her Taibbi's perspective to admire herself, which struck Tijuth as a rather clever means of self-evaluation when used critically. She knew well that Neuwith was not of a self-critical demeanor, though, and was merely showing off to herself and her rider and anyone else who happened to be nearby. Tijuth shuddered at the thought. You'd never catch her calling attention to herself like that. Especially if her wingwork was as careless as this dragon's. She wondered whether she ought to point it out. Privately, of course.

The scarred green continued to watch as she debated with herself whether to say anything. On one hand, the younger green was having a good time, and had not actually asked for anyone's opinion, so offering one - especially a critical one - might not go over well. On the other hand, there was room for improvement in myriad small details which, if adjusted, actually could make the boastful green as good as she thought she was. Or at least get her noticeably closer to that goal. So. Was it worth it for Tijuth to call attention to herself, risking giving offense, in order to improve her fellow green's technique in maneuvers she'd never use fighting Thread anyway? She spent a long time debating the matter, even interrupting Csinda's conversation with her friend R'bin to get her opinion, which turned out to be unhelpful since her rider just said that she was confident whatever Tijuth did would be the right choice. Ha!

At long last, and after Neuwith had landed and was now moving recklessly quickly along the floor of weyrbowl to demonstrate that she was just as quick on the ground as she was in the sky, Tijuth concluded that she would not be wrong to say something. And if it happened to stop Tijuth from accidentally damaging someone darting about as she was, that would be a bonus.

You go too fast to really get the details correct, Tijuth said to Neuwith in her softest, least confrontational mental voice. Your form overall would be better if you took the time to do things at a reasonable speed, focusing on the small details, and then worked up to your current speed. As it is, the finer points are being blurred together and the effect is lost.  

[Princess_Feylin]

On the ground and showing off the speed with which she could change direction, Neuwith could hardly believe what she was hearing when a voice - not Taibbi’s! - interrupted her and pointed out that she had sloppy technique. The criticism brought her to an abrupt halt which might have broken another dragon off at the ankles, but which presented no challenge for the lithe green. Her eyes a mildly miffed shade of orange, she looked unsuccessfully for the dragon who had criticised her.

Taibbi? she asked after failing to spot any dragon that seemed to be looking at her. Did you hear that? Someone told me I have sloppy technique. Do you see anyone watching?

Taibbi, of course, had not heard Tijuth’s mental voice, as she had not been intended to, and so she was at even more of a loss than Neuwith. Not to mention, though they both stood on the ground, Taibbi was still a good deal lower than Neuwith, and so her odds of seeing more than her dragon were very slim, and she conveyed this to her dragon with an apologetic mental shrug and the assurance that, For what it’s worth, I have no idea what they’re talking about. You really looked good to me.

Neuwith’s naturally ebullient personality was buoyed by her rider’s compliment and she returned for another few seconds to her search before simply calling, Who said that?  

[Princess_Feylin]

Since everything Neuwith said was said for everyone to hear, Tijuth had no need to wonder how she was taking the criticism and was relieved that the younger green didn’t seem to be irate, just confused. In fact, if Tijuth had the facial structure for it, she would have been smirking at the younger dragon’s confusion. They’d conversed several times before, and Neuwith couldn’t recognize her mindvoice? Really?

Did she actually have a chance to hear your lovely voice? Csinda asked, butting in. You can be very quiet, and I get the impression she's very much not.

That was a possibility, Tijuth had to admit. At last she took pity on Neuwith and answered her, Up here, Neuwith.

She also craned her neck and extended one wing so that both stretched over the edge of the weyrbowl and would be visible to anyone who was looking. She didn’t hold the pose for long, though, as she had the sense she looked absurd and, besides, she knew the moment Neuwith noticed her because she leaped to the side of the weyrbowl and then pushed off to take to the air, only to land on the upper edge near Tijuth. It wasn’t an unimpressive maneuver, but it was clearly unsettling to the people below, who probably worried Neuwith wouldn’t make it into the air and would fall back to the ground and possibly squish them.