So Together We Watch the Sunrise (Kaya-Rilora)

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

3075.08.20 | not long before sunrise | Picnic blanket

Despite the fact that the water was still on the chill side, Ancalanath had decided that he was going to go for a swim, and was even now, having allowed T’kar to remove the basket and carry sacks, as well as all his flight leathers, sporting through the water, occasionally diving completely under it so that he could do underwater corkscrew backflips. Of course, there was a purpose to all this, and it wasn’t just because synchronizing his swimming with Archith’s was fun.

There!

T’kar, who’d just finished unloading the basket, which contained several cheeses and jam, along with some bread, while fending off flitts, grinned.

“Your food is coming, and this isn’t it,” he said, tapping both Wamarna and Star simultaneously on the noses to stop them from going for the bread.

Ancalanath twisted around, looping out from under Archith and curling up, snatching a fish with one of his forefeet. A quick push, and his head, neck, and shoulders broke the surface. He flung the fish up as well as he could, then dove under the water once more, batting the fish up with his tail.

The fish flew up into the air, and Boot took off, leading the other firelizards on an intercept course with the suddenly flying fish. Star quickly took the lead, hissing at Boot for trying to stop the natural order of things (by which, of course, Star led).

Another fish followed the first into the air, and Shadow and Wamarna swooped after it to carry it to the cliffs. T’kar tracked their flight, then scooped up one of the sacks and set it next to Rilora, using said action as an excuse to stretch out next to her on the blanket.

“You should open that,” he told her, grinning. It happened to be full of fruit, fresh fruit that he’d talked some of his friends in the Southern part of the North continent to provide, but he wanted it to be a surprise, so he wasn’t going to tell Rilora that.

[Kaya]

Rilora sat in blissful silence. They had a moment to themselves. They were alone. They were so incredibly alone that no one from the Weyr would be knocking on their door, barging into their office or interrupting their breakfast. Not this time. Her heart swelled as she watched the pre-dawn sky grow lighter. It was perfect, everything about it was lovely, and she glanced over to see T'kar working on setting up their breakfast and decided he fit into the perfect category too. She followed his amber eyes to see that they were looking at his firelizards, chittering over a fish. So high in the air. ...perhaps Ancalanath's doing. Surely no fish could jump that high of its own accord.

Her attention was recalled to the picnic blanket when T'kar moved and then gestured to a sack. He was also reclined and just setting himself up for her to get a rise out of him. Still, he seemed rather excited about whatever was in that package of his. So she lifted it to find it rather heavy, before pivoting and leaning back into him. "Hm," she sighed, "And what might I find in here?" she asked, looking at his face. She liked how jovial he looked when they were together. They got too serious at work, she was sure. Closing her eyes to focus on the gift at hand, she opened the sack and then opened her eyes. "...what?" she let out a little laugh of surprise. "T'kar! These are out of season," she commented, lifting one of the golden fruits for inspection. "In fact, it's not even a southern variety. ...where do you get these?" she asked playfully and turned to kiss him on the check. It felt right. But as excited as she was, she was hungry and there was some rather tempting fruit sitting in front of her, not to mention a multitude of other delicious foods that she doubted they could finish. T'kar had out done himself and she made a mental note to thank the kitchen staff and see if she couldn't do something for them. Then in a swift motion she pressed at the top of the fruit where the halves came together and split the halves. A peeling noise accompanied the separation, leaving a stone on one half of the fruit. She set that half down and then took a messy bite into the other half. She smiled with delight. It was good. Not to mention she hadn't let herself eat things that way since she was a child, no, not when there was a perfectly good knife lying around. "Mm," she intoned and made sure her smile was seen. "Thank you."

That was quite an impressive shot with the fish, by the way, Archith mentioned, surfacing on the far side of the cove. Her Gold hide reflected the early light, droplets of water sliding off, twinkling lightly. This was a good idea. she added, turning in a circle in the water. She stretched her wings up and out of the waves, flinging droplets wherever they may land. After she'd had one of many good morning stretches she sunk back into the water to escape the slight breeze. A bubble escaped her snout, and with Rilora in such a giddy mood she proceeded to blow more bubbles into the water. The Gold rumbled with amusement. Sometimes it was nice to be away, to do, well, what she supposed other dragons could do whenever they wanted. Look, Ancalanath, the sun rises.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

T’kar laughed. He had to admit, the happiness and surprise on Rilora’s face reduced to nothing the difficulty in finding time to get back up north for fruit retrieval.

“Well, there were a few modest trees up in Nerat…” T’kar grinned. It really hadn’t been that hard at all, once he’d found the time. Rilora turned to kiss him then, and he turned a little more, catching her lips with his, instead of letting them land on his cheek. He didn’t hold the kiss long, breaking it smoothly, though not without a certain amount of reluctance.

You should have waited, T’karMine.

T’kar masked a sigh. It’s not like there’s a limit on the number of kisses.

“You’re welcome, Lady Rilora,” he replied. “I am glad you like them.”

He snaked an arm over Rilora’s shoulders. “The sunrise begins,” he said, gesturing with his free hand.

Ancalanath rumbled with pleasure. Many thanks, Archith of the golden sun.

Ancalanath swam around Archith’s circle. He joined briefly in the bubble-blowing, then raised his head and neck out of the water to greet the sunrise. The breeze was a trifle cold, but…

Raising both his wings, Ancalanath stretched his neck out and bugled into the dawn.

Come Archith! Greet the day!

[Kaya]

Rilora finished off the half of the juicy fruit and set the skin left aside. She licked her fingers and tried to get the sticky feeling off them. It only kind of worked, and she might have tried more efficient methods if at that moment and arm had not cleverly found its way over her shoulders. She snuggled up against T'kar and looked out at the sky. Its colors changed subtly, greeting the new dawn. Ancalanath's wings caught the new light and the water flung into the air glistened. His call - and Archith's accompaniment - to the day set a whirl of birds into the air, their shapes fluttering against the new dawn sky. It was wonderful and yet she felt a little restless in the peacefulness. But it wasn't a particularly bad problem. She wanted the other half of that fruit, she wanted to watch the day arrive, and she wanted to finish that kiss. She brushed a red golden hair off her cheek, it was sticking to the fruit sugar. Once unstuck the breeze caught it and pulled the strand back against T'kar's arm with the others. "I know we came to greet the day," Rilora said mildly as she looked at the sky. She stopped. All the things she wanted tangled up inside her like a knot. She settled back up against him and wasn't sure whether to be delighted for frustrated at the lack of words. He was warm, the air was cool, the day was new. Maybe just a few more minutes watching the sky. But that nagging feeling wasn't getting any fainter. "Ok." she said at last. "Day's here. Now this." It was a satisfaction in its own, finally making up her mind. She turned into him from where they sat on the picnic blanket and put her arm on his chest. "You weren't finished." And she moved to kiss him.

Well aren't we Flighty today, the Gold remarked, still lounging in the water. She didn't want to get out of the warm tropical waves. She felt a mild oh whatever Archith feeling back through their bond. Just as well. She was left to her own devices this morning, not a part of the,...hm, conversation. As it was.

I want to see what else there is around this cove. Archith mentioned to Ancalanath, and looked out at the sea beyond. I'd rather not leave the water yet, though. Are you up for a further swim? she asked, moving towards the lip of the cove where she would eventually be able to see down the shoreline. She moved slowly, not in any great hurry, idly searching for something interesting to look at while she swam. Maybe something to talk about. Rilora wasn't in a talking mood, and that left more of the words for the Gold. (That logic made sense, of course). Maybe they could stir up some more birds. They were somewhat amusing to watch as they took flight.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

T’kar had watched the sunrise steadily further, watched it in a way that a hunting feline might well have recognized. Not that he wasn’t enjoying the sight, and enjoying the feeling of Rilora settled against him even more, but there was a thread weaving through it all, connected to an unfinished kiss. The picnic could always wait.

Apparently, Rilora was thinking along the same lines. For she chose that moment to point out that the kiss was unfinished and move to catch him in a kiss.

“I guess I wasn’t, at that,” T’kar answered, meeting Rilora halfway. Emotions could have sunrises too, and Rilora put the sunrises to shame anyway.

Ancalanath didn’t bother saying anything. At the current moment, T’kar was not likely to notice anything that wasn’t an emergency.

With you? I’m up for anything, Ancalanath responded. Ducking back under the water, he followed Archith. He came to a brief halt as they neared the edge of the cove, snagging a fish and sending it flying into the air to intercept the still-hungry Star. After all, T’karHis would not be pleased with an interruption at this point.

Look there, Ancalanath sent, pushing his nose in the direction of the colorful fish that swam near the reefs.

[Kaya]

"No, you weren't," she mumbled and her words lost form as her lips gently found his. Warm. And right. Rilora fit herself against him, sliding her arms around his neck. The cool air nipped at her back and T'kar's warmth radiated out and kept it at bay. The morning breeze rustled the fabric of her clothes, taking the heat and then allowing it to be replaced. Something like letting T'kar warm all of her, since the wind had stolen her own heat. And she trusted him to do it, too. "Did you know-?" she asked idly, letting her fingers play the same game with air and skin as her back. "How much," she let her eyes slide closed and then opened them faintly, "I love," pause, "peaches?" She giggled and slid the other half the fruit between them. And her laugh grew and she was left in that space of wanting to do too many things at the same time. So she put a piece of peach half in her mouth and grinned around it. "Try som'?" she asked.

You should make fishtoss a sport, Archith laughed as she watched the fish sail towards the sky. Dragon and Rider, more alike than they cared to admit. At Ancalanath's request she dove under the water to look, a variety of childish joy came to her as she saw the fish. They were not unlike her Weyr. Colorful, different sizes, and all here, living together. It was the way of things, everyone should be able to see that. They are very colorful. Like home, she said and stared to swim, by her standards, slowly through the fish. Some were more curious and let her approach, others darted away. All kinds of fish. For as wonderful as the underwater scene was, it felt strange to the dragon, in a foreign way. The water was not her domain. She was a guest here- Archith stopped at that thought. It wasn't like one of hers. Honored guest, perhaps, then. There are so many. she said, looking around. And look at how the light comes in. It's so different under here.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

T’kar laughed. Then he laughed some more. “You’re right, I didn’t,” he replied, tightening the arm around her shoulders into a true one-armed hug. The shared warmth felt good, though they had pulled back a little, so that there was room between them for half a peach.

“Sure,” he added with a grin, leaning over to catch the other half of Rilora’s peach piece in his mouth.

Grinning around it, he lipped his way forward, so that his lips were touching Rilora’s, even though they each had half a piece of peach in their mouths.

Maybe I should, at that.

Ancalanath extended his wings, catching the wavering, reflected light on their membranes. Indeed it is like home. It was a little strange. He’d come from a mountain Weyr, with no fish anywhere to be found unless someone dumped them in the lake. It had never gotten warm like here, and yet, for all that he had spent six Turns there and only two Turns here, here was where he was home. Here, in the humid heat and the tropical rain, where there was an ocean within a distance that his rider could walk to along the ground, and fishes of every color in a secluded cove, this was home.

Ancalanath rumbled quietly in pleasure, blowing small bubbles in the doing. It was a good thing, to have been able to show Archith something new, something bright and colorful and different, yet beautiful in its own way.

Folding his wings tight against his body, Ancalanath circled under and around Archith, curving so that he was spiraling around her.

Swim with me? Ancalanath asked. Attendant to the question was the knowledge that they could see about synchronizing a swim to match the movements of the fish. Certainly it would be a stunning sight, and even if no one ever saw it, they would know that they had done it, and that it had been amazing.

[Kaya]

It was delightful if not a little awkward this whole peachy, kissing thing. So Rilora decided to make off with her half of the peach and retreat, considering the fruit and the tingle on her lips, not to mention her face. She leaned into him further and waited for his verdict on the fruit. Beyond that, they were still in the middle of something, even if the fruit had warranted a break.

We swim already, Archith replied, amused. She understood the intention to swim more enthusiastically and perhaps with more unconventional actions than just floating in the water. But for you I suppose, she teased, trying to predict Ancalanath's spiral to make her own around his. Of course, predicting anything Ancalanath did with any precision was its own difficulty, and she misread one of his twists and ended up bumping into him in the water. It was startling at first, but then it quickly became funny. It wasn't becoming of dragons of their station to crash, however gently underwater. Thus that it had happened was funny.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

"I must admit, I can see how you like these things like these," T'kar said, tossing his head back and swallowing the half-piece of peach. Grinning, he leaned forward slightly, wrapping himself around Rilora. After all, they had been in the middle of something, and it really wasn't a good idea to stop in the middle of things.

Ancalanath enjoyed a single spiral, looping around as Archith spiraled around him. He tried a double-twist, and felt an impact. Startled, he leveled out, only to realize that Archith had, thinking he was still doing the single-twist spirals, turned in and bumped into him. She seemed to think it was funny too, and, upon brief reflection, he admitted she was right. Kings and Queens, after all, were not supposed to do such undignified things as crash.

Poking his head out of the water Ancalanath flattened all the way out, so that he was floating just under the surface. He glanced over at Archith, then swung downward and dove for the bottom of the ocean. It wasn't that deep here, just a few lengths.

Shipfish!

Spinning around, Ancalanath gave chase. The shipfish appeared to be hunting for fish, and Ancalanath loved helping them out.

Come Archith! Shipfish always know where the fish are. Glancing over his shoulder at Archith, he added: Besides, T'kar and Rilora occupy themselves.