(PRP) Counting Stars (Ezyzu/Xanael)

[Prism Shine]

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.

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

Xanael was fairly convinced that he smelled of just about everything imaginable as he wandered down the halls of the Weyr after hours with the intention of getting to the kitchens for a few tubers or something that he could use as a treat for a runner that had just given birth. It had been a long birth as well, one that had required him to turn the young one around as it had tried to come out breach and no amount of cleaning had taken all of the smell of runner off of him. It was becoming more and more obvious to him as he wandered that it was his shirt that was causing the smell as it had gotten soaked in the process. Wrinkling his nose up and frowning, Xan pulled it over his head and folded it up neatly, tossing it over his shoulder as he continued on. Naturally he wouldn't take it into the kitchens with him and smell them up but he couldn't have it on him and walk in there either, that just seemed as if it would be terrible to stink up the place where everyone in the Weyr got their food.

But for the beast that he was retrieving the snacks for he was certain it would be happy with something and she'd had a hard evening.

Close to the door he tossed his shirt into a corner and crossed his fingers that there would be a sink in here that he could wash his arms once more in before grabbing some vegetables, turning the corner and stopping dead in his tracks in the process. It was late, not super late so much that he would be breaking the curfew and get himself in trouble but late enough that Xanael had been certain before that there wouldn't. Humming, a soft tune of gentle nature, had met his ears before he'd even seen the tall woman who had her back to him and the form of a large golden hide took up a vast portion of the kitchen's walkable area.

Tilting his head he cast a glance over at the tall woman, still unmoving as he listened to the tune she was humming and utterly unashamed of the fact that he was standing in the entrance to the kitchens utterly shirtless before her. It was that last thought that made him move, not to turn back for his shirt mind, but to knock firmly at the wooden door to announce to the woman that she was no longer alone in there, not wanting to startle or scare her in any way after all. "Hey there, I don't mean to intrude but I was looking for a sink and some vegetables for a runner and..."

Words failed him when he looked at the woman that turned around and just took his breath straight from his lungs with her eyes and the stars that made up her dark form. She was a night sky, she was the burning star at the heart of it and her eyes held kindness but were so bright, as if looking up into the sky during the deepest part of summer.

Speachless for a moment he coughed and blinked at last, casting a glance around the large kitchens once more and towards the glowing gold that appeared to be napping while waiting on this image of beauty that had to be her rider. "Wow, you and your dragon both glow."

Oh that was cheesy, she was going to just slap him for that, the woman didn't even know him! Think a bit better than that!

Brain not functioning. Critical fail.

Prism Shine

 

[Prism Shine]

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.”

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

It took a minute for him to blink his eyes clear enough to actually hear what it was that she'd said, he'd been following the dark color that had spread from her neck and ears, deepening the already rich color of her skin in a way that his own would have betrayed him instantly. And did! Instantly at her words a flush ran across his face and he laughed in embarrassment for it. "Aaaah, yes, well you'll have to forgive me a little, but you're the first goldrider and gold dragon that I've ever gotten to meet since coming to Western and the pair of you can take a man's breath away just from sight. Stunned is a good description for my brain." A roguish grin crossed his face and he winked one dark eye at her playfully. "I'm afraid that a little hand sink won't quite do for this, I'd be afraid to muck it up for the next person th' needs it."

But he didn't move to it right away, his eyes drawn to the motion of her hands as she moved to look for vegetables to help him out, though he hadn't even asked for it other than to know where they were. Even that had been stammered off as he'd taken her in, but now... Stars ran up her hands and arms, beautifully white stars that glowed from the deep darkness of her warm skin, it was enough to pull him a step closer even if he stopped himself and his mother's teachings of manners were forgotten once more even if just for a few moments and that smile. It took Xanael a moment to find his voice again and it came in a cough at first. "Forgive my staring, I've just never seen anyone touched by starlight before. Looks like 'glow' wasn't such a far off description." His voice was completely serious even if he was smiling as he said it, eyes crinkling at the edges from it even. Clearing his throat he headed towards the sinks slowly, worried that he'd be bringing the smell of birth into the kitchens where it was the scent of creating and warmth, spices, that people wanted to actually smell. Of that he couldn't begrudge them either. "Carrots and tubers tend to be this mare's favorite, if there are any here? She had a hard delivery of this little one and she deserves something now that she can relax and just nurse."

Filling the sink in the corner up with warm water, Xan took the sweet sand and started to scrub at his already dampened arms, having splashed some water on there first. Glancing back over his shoulder he softened even further than before. "It's an honor to meet you both, thank you for helping. My name's Xanael, I just came to the Weyr with my brothers a few short months ago and started learning with the other Candidates. Can't quite stay out of the stables in my free time though, especially not with so many babes being born." Ezyzu, she appeared to be baking as her dragon slept, a dragon so big he was surprised she still fit through the doorway but still looked smaller than most of the dragon's he'd met. Well, the few dragons that he'd met anyway. Maybe they were Weyrlings from the most recent clutch he'd been hearing about?

That would make sense for her to be so small still, since his lessons had explained the basics of dragons to him recently and golds were some of the biggest he'd been learning. Biggest and shiniest it looked like! "What's it like?" His voice was a bit quiet as he turned off the tap filling the sink and started to scrub at his arms. "I've talked to a couple of candidates, but... I still don't know all that much about dragons it seems." There was laughter in his voice as he admitted it, because he was a bit nervous, because he still wanted even now to consider dragonhealing in case he never impressed. But to be connected to a dragon, he had a twin and couldn't even conceive of it. "Most of the candidates just have ideas, but I always wondered if it's something like what my twin and I have, or deeper."

Prism Shine

 

[Prism Shine]

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?”

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

Never in his life had Xanael ever been accused of 'charming' anyone, maybe a beast in order to get them to eat or gain their trust, but certainly never a person. Just the thought alone brought a throaty chuckle from him as he kept scrubbing until his arms shifted from their tanned paleness to a brilliant red. Thanks to his shirt catching the vast majority of the rest of it he wasn't worried about his chest or shoulders for the time being, and it wouldn't exactly be polite to take a Farmer's Bath in the kitchens right in front of a woman made of stars. "Nah, wouldn't have an int'rest in charming anyone but you anyway." One sharp eyetooth flashed in the grin that slashed it's way over his features, not looking back up for fear that his face would turn even redder. "It's not every day you meet a woman made of starlight, but more's the fool of them that can't see it in you. Those little stars just look like the light from inside making itself known and that's nothin' to sneeze at, since it means you've got more than most of us, Ezyzu the Starlady."

Brown eyes flicked over towards her, almost anxiously as she started cleaning vegetables, not wanting to make her nervous or too flustered exactly. But it was the truth! He'd never met anyone quite like her before and likely wouldn't afterwards for certain, which made a wicked thought run through his mind. Surely a rider could handle such a thought though....

"Oh I don't know about 'richer', you can save that for my twin Mikhel. He's an healer, I'm just a beasthealer, but it's been interesting being surrounded by so many dragons suddenly. Like something out of an old Harper's tale." That sounded foolish. "Sorry, but in a Hold you just don't see as many all the time, just a watch dragon or two." A chuckle escaped him as he grabbed a towel and started to rub his arms dry, turning to face her before being startled by a voice in his head. He'd heard of course, that dragons were able to talk to humans, but the lessons that he'd learned since coming to the Weyr had mostly pointed to them speaking to their own riders and no one else generally, with a few exceptions. Looked as though Xan had suddenly met an exception! "Beautiful evening now." He winked at the faceted eyes of the dragon who's large golden head was now pointed towards him, "It only gets better in such good company as you and your rider, doesn't it?"

Something in the tone of the woman's soft voice drew Xanael's attention back towards Ezyzu, eyes losing some of the impishness that had lit them as they softened to her words. Gently he folded the towel as he listened to her description of being bonded to a dragon, the first one he'd heard that seemed to have conviction behind it, and laid the rough thing over the edge of the sink without taking his eyes off her. There was something there, in the way she spoke as she looked at her glowing gold dragon, the little sleepy one that was glancing his way currently, that spread a warmth through him.

Love indeed then.

"Well, I think you're the first at the Weyr to answer the most formidable question I could come up with. Most have just told me they can't put words to it, but this makes much more sense... and I don't understand it one bit." The smile spread back over his face again as he crossed his arms over his chest and took in the two of them. "But I don't have to in order to see what exists between you two, it's like a cloud of love all around you. The closest thing I can come to it would be to show you a special moment I witnessed earlier." Xan waved a hand a bit as if to dispel something, "Not that it was my moment, but I got to watch it. Would you two want to see?"

Prism Shine

He's shook. ;3

 

[Prism Shine]

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.”

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

Everything in him wanted to laugh good-naturedly at the flush that crossed her face and darkened that already dark skin and made it seem to glow. Ezyzu was quite the humble gold rider and having heard a few things about gold riders since coming, how they were the highest of the high ranking riders and all, it made her all the easier to talk to in a way. Of course he'd heard of hierarchy and how it affected Western Weyr a little less than others, but it was certainly something that he was going to keep in mind about this beauty. "Aaah, but none of them are you and you're the only one that matters here." Xanael offered her a wink as he reached to help her with the last of the vegetables.

Here he'd been so distracted and stunned that he'd gone and let her clean most of them.

Way to be, Xan's anxiety tingled just a little bit at the back of his mind, but there wasn't much that he could do about it. At least she was kind and her dragon was extremely relaxed, so that helped just a touch. "I actually respect that about this place. It reminds me a little of my Hold, but the fact that everyone has a place here and everyone's got a job that they fit into so well, while helping others at the same time..." It was nice, he'd fallen into that habit himself. Helping the Master beasthealers that came through as he could in his free time, the little of it that he had. Mikhel was probably far more skilled at helping with things, with anything, than he was, but it surely kept him busy and had somehow helped with the anxiety he always lived with.

It did draw a blink from him when the gold's great head came closer, but he wasn't disrespectful in any way that would have him reach out to touch her. The lessons said that a dragon was the other part of a rider, the piece that they were missing, like part of a soul in a way. If this was any indication of someone's soul, then Ezyzu must have been extremely warmhearted on the inside.

Gently he stuffed the washed and freshly dried vegetables into the pockets of his pants and, for no reason other than to have something to do with them, dusted his hands off and grinned broadly again. "You're excellent at explaining things, I'm not so good at it so in this case it's great that it's more of a show than tell." He laughed brightly and walked towards the door so he could guide them to the stables, if both of them were coming. He figured, even though he hadn't seen a lot of dragons in and around the stables, that the runners were more than comfortable with them given the Weyr environment. "I think this'll be kind of a treat too, usually not many see them when they're so new and awkwardly leggy."

Prism Shine