Time, time, now that I have time (Naylin)

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

3075.05.21 | Early Evening

The primary advantage and the primary disadvantage to being a full-fledged rider were one and the same. Time. Namely there was now enough time for K’tar to have fun, but there was also more time for him to need to fill with things to do. Viarth had chosen to spend the last of the time before sunset recovering from having, at his own insistence, flown straight for more than five hours, over the jungle towards the mountains. The Purple’s chosen recovery method was to bask in the sun, but that left K’tar, who was nowhere near as tired, at loose ends.

K’tar looked around the dining hall. There were still a decent number of people present, which boded well for there still being some food on hand. That settled, the young man slung his flight jacket over his shoulder and headed for the kitchen.

A few moments later, he emerged, klah in hand and meatroll already devoured, to plop down at the closest unoccupied spot, which happened to be near several other people. “Anyone up for cards or dice?” he asked, mostly because he was starting to get tempted to stick his hands in other people’s pockets.

Of course, Altahyr picked that moment to come bounding up to K’tar, and, in the process, nearly knock one of the closest people right out of the chair.

“Altahyr!” K’tar exclaimed, grabbing the canine and pulling him away from other chairs before the overly enthusiastic animal could cause another accident. “Ok, cards or dice now?” he asked, still keeping one hand on his canine.

[mirror]

Ugh. Sitting around, waiting for the hatching to finally start, and avoiding candidate lessons could be boring. And by boring she didn't mean just a little, 'oh, this isn't very fun' boring. No, she meant full-fledged brain-melting boredom. Naylin was a smart girl, or at least she liked to think so. And if you asked her she would say that one of the side effects of her intelligence was that it was harder to keep her entertained. Oh, and she demands entertainment. If you were doing nothing you might as well be dead if you asked her.

One of the things that not only kept her entertained but she greatly enjoyed was games. Not just any games though, games with a stake. Gambling. But for her to have a real game she needed a partner, and by now plenty of lower caverns folk knew that she wasn't exactly a perfect gaming partner. However, 'plenty' was not the same as everyone. A man wearing riders knots entered the dining hall, asking if anyone was up for a game. A grin spread across her face at this. Poor little sap, she had no doubt that she could beat him in a heartbeat. However, before she could accept the offer a overly active canine came rushing in.

The redhead watched the resulting scene with a raised eyebrow and a look of amusement on her face. Canines, she thought to herself, always excited about something. When the man finally had his animal under control Naylin stood up and approached him, a hand held out in a offer to shake. There was an amusement similar to that which was on her face in her voice as she said, "the name's Naylin and I'd be more than willing to accept your offer. Oh, and dice."

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar grinned as he reached out and shook Naylin’s hand. He wasn’t particularly good at dice, but that was rather beside the point, he simply enjoyed the game and he had enough money that he could wager some, if she wanted to.

“K’tar, of Purple Viarth,” he replied, matching the informality of her greeting. After all, it wasn’t like this was a formal meeting.

“Do you have a preference for the game?” he asked, pulling out the small black bag that he kept nestled under the breast of his tunic, and in which he kept, among other things, a couple of sets of dice. “I have the dice enough for Muphar’s Tally, River Dodge, or Bitra’s Folly, althou if you have some we could expand the list.”

((Ooc: Muphar’s Tally = Red Dog, River Dodge = Bidou, and Bitra’s Folly = 21 (Blackjack for dice)))

[mirror]

His introduction got a raised eyebrow from her followed by a quick glance to his shoulder where his knots rested. Oh, so he was a rider. She actually hadn't thought to check and see what his rank was or what color of dragon he rode. After all, rank didn't exactly mean much to Naylin. No, scratch that, it meant jack diddly squat to her. You could be the sharding Weyrleader for all she cared, as long as she got a good game out of you. A game that preferably ended in her winning. Which, with her skills in gambling, was the usual outcome.

There was absolutely no hesitation to her voice as she answered, "Muphar's Tally. I believe I do have some more dice in one of my pockets but I just love that game." That response left a question hanging in the air, just how many pockets did she have? The answer to that was quite a bit. Two on her shirt, six on the inside of the jacket she wore, and five on her pants, all added from bribing some weavers. She loved pockets, never could get enough pockets. Useful things.

With that she sat back down at the table, gesturing for the rider to join her. Not long after she sat down she added, "oh, and a pot would be wonderful. I have about ten marks I could throw in, how about you?"

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar grinned. He loved Muphar’s Tally. He wasn’t really good at gaming, but he loved the games themselves. “Good choice, it’s one of my favorites too,” he commented, pulling the appropriate dice out.

“I’ve got a few marks,” K’tar answered with a shrug. He wasn’t about to admit how many marks, that was just a deadglow thing to do. Not that he thought that Naylin was any such thing. No, his private bet was on her having far more than just the ten marks that she’d mentioned. “Should be enough, at least. You want to start with a small amount? That way we can play the game for longer without having to resort to games without pots.”

He twirled his dice cup as he spoke. He loved the dice cups; they had runners and canines carved into their sides, and for all that they were simple wood cups really, he still loved them.