Haven't seen you around (Jay/A'kai)

[Cait]

77.01.23

Sometimes Andi wondered how there were even enough vegetables and fruit left for the weyr when she had to prepare it for her. Oranlith grazed here and there but she still needed large meals at least once a week. There was a bulk supply of vegetables kept for easy access for any of the Wood dragons to access but things like fruits or fish had to be acquired elsewhere. In the beginning she'd just given the hatchling whatever she could find as it was but now she made sure to remove the pits from the redfruit before giving them to Oranlith. The more attached she had grown to the young dragon, the better care she'd taken of her. Patient being that she was, Oranlith had tolerated those first few months stoically.

How many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to do that?

And how many times do I have to tell you that I will do it anyway?

It's not as though I will choke on them, Andrilla.


I do not care!

Oranlith gave a mental snort and went back to napping. She'd already eaten most of her meal and really didn't think that the extra effort was necessary. She'd just go help drag in nets at Cliffside later and get a few dozen fish as a snack and call it a day. But when Andrilla was in the mood to fuss, there was no stopping her. It probably had something to do with the fact that she hadn't heard from Sunristh's rider in several days and was making a valiant effort not to immediately jump to the conclusion that the man was dead. Stretching on a particularly sunny ledge, she flicked her tail and yawned. Whatever kept her rider from stomping around the weyr and flinging sharp pointy things was good enough for her.

[Jay Kitten]

It certainly had been awhile, three months in fact, when A'kai was finally ready to return home. He had gotten in only a couple candlemarks before, and after the necessary paperwork had been turned in, it was time for a bite to eat. He had headed down to the kitchens after allowing Sunristh to feed in the herdbeast fields, though he hadn't been there very long before he'd been pulled aside by a friend he hadn't seen in awhile. Catching up with the man, D'kar, a bluerider, hadn't taken very long though, as he was lazy and didn't get up to much.

So he had continued to the dinning hall, but found it deserted. It wasn't an appropriate time of day, he had to remind himself, as he was still on the schedule for one of the Holds damaged by the far-reaching effects of the fire, and instead he found his need to go into the kitchens for his own food.

He didn't bother calling out as he went into the back, figuring everyone was either a drudge or gone, but he nearly stopped dead in his tracks as he passed by a particular doorway, his eyes immediately halting on a beautiful woman despite his body moving ahead without them. It was forced to turn back around and join his head in the doorway.

"Well well well... It seems I found a meal after all," he said with his best dragonrider's seduction-voice he could manage. The girl was bent over some baskets of fruit, pitting them, her flowing red hair rolling over the curves of her shoulders, nearly reaching down to that plump bottom of her's. He didn't remember a girl THIS curvy around the Weyr, else he surely would have noticed. Her hips popped out, her dress hanging over them, and he surely was enticed.

Sauntering up behind her, he gave her a little growl of approval, one hand clasping her buttocks without much permission. It filled his hand nicely, and he grinned.

"Say... Know where I can get a morsel for my own...?" he asked, continuing the stream of innuendos directed at her. It was pretty obvious what he meant, after all.

[Cait]

At the sound of a voice behind her, Andrilla growled under her breath and chose to ignore it. In the past few months she'd filled out even more as her body had fully adjusted to being given food on a regular basis. What had once only been the promise of curves had filled out into a body that got her more attention than she was used to. She might have grown used to always having food--though she still hid snacks away out of habit--but she had not grown used to her body or bothered with getting her wardrobe altered until she was certain it was finished plumping up. Assuming that the man had taken her lack of response as a dismissal, she was not prepared for the hand that found her backside and jolted upright, the fruit fell from her right hand as she grabbed the thick wooden rod that was used for rolling out dough from the counter and spun, aiming high.

Green eyes with alive with rage and Lady, who had been dozing on top of a bag of tubers came awake sudden with a screech as Andrilla spun on the man who had a handful of her assets, clearly intent on beating him senseless with a rolling pin. "Say one more thing and ye'll eat yer own teeth ya lecherous oaf!" Tiny though she might be, she was fierce. And the tall, tanned rider was going to get the beating of his life if he didn't run for it first. "I'm gettin' sick an tired of you lot. Touch me again an'--"

Andrilla.

Busy.

Andrilla!

WHAT?!

A'kai and Sunristh are back.

"Touch me again an' my friend'll end what's left of ye!"

[Jay Kitten]

He had expected maybe a smidgeon of protest from the mistress, but when that hand went to the rolling pin, the motion he'd seen plenty before, his mind made a quick connect with the color of the girl's hair and her voice, and he nearly ducked when she turned on him. But instead she shouted, and he blinked, and straightened back up and reached out, grasping the rolling pin and clearing his throat.

"O-oh, Andrilla, what a, erm, surprise!" he said, grinning to the girl as he quickly yanked the pin from her hand and tossed it aside. "You look... Um... Different!" he sputtered, his cheeks had already flushed red the second he'd realized it was his friend and not some pretty weyrgirl he hadn't met before.

"Wow, look at ya though, ya look so..." He trailed off, realizing that to call her pretty now would likely get him hit for sure, on account that she might believe he thought her ugly before she'd grown.

"Anyway, 'm back! It's good to see ya!" He pulled her in for a hug, trying to seem a little less awkward. Sunristh snorted in the back of his head and he was forced to roll his eyes behind Andrilla's back. Screwed that one up hadn't he. He let go of her and parted the hug, smiling down at her.

"Still short though aren'tcha? Been awhile..." He trailed off again, but this time, his eyes were running over her curves again, his face almost in disbelief that his little tiny friend had filled into a curvy, luscious woman. And only in three short months, too! Was that what regular diet did to a girl? He had half a mind to start feeding women himself...

[Cait]

Andrilla snarled as the rolling pin was snatched from her hand before she could properly hit the man. It took her a moment for his words to actually register and another to match his voice to his face. A'kai? But he was so tanned and his shoulders...had they always been that wide? Scowling up at him, she folded her arms beneath her chest, clearly not appeased and contemplating still hitting him. Different? Lady, who recognized A'kai trilled in greeting despite the tension and landed on the counter, her tail curling around her as she peered regally at the pair, for whatever reason expecting attention from the returned friend.

"What exactly do I look like then?" A golden brow lifted as his words trailed off. When he changed the subject abruptly and pulled her in for a hug, she hissed and remained tense for several long seconds before she slipped her arms around his waist. The chest she found herself pressed against wasn't nearly as bony as it had been. He'd been working hard for the past few months. She wondered if he'd had any chance to slip away and look for any clues about his parents. Though when he pulled back from the hug, she made sure to have her scowl in place and recrossed her arms.

"I can see that yer back. Must not have missed me if ya were lookin' fer a bit of fun before botherin' to let me know." Now she was just giving him a hard time. BUt when he mentioned her height--was he taller than before?--she hissed and turned away, picking up where she'd left off with her task of pitting the redfruit. "Go, have yer fun. I suppose I'll still be here whenever ya get around to havin' time."

[Jay Kitten]

Call him crazy, but his friend was actually attractive. Her mood seemed to only add to her appearance, her typical grumpy self, and he wondered why it was that he found he had missed it. Normally he'd simply dismiss her mood as always being like that and tell her to find a nice hole to crawl into until she could be civil, but for some reason this time, he felt differently. Especially when she told him to leave.

He moved back to her, and reached out over her shoulder, his hand slipping over her's in a rather gentle way.

"Put th' fruit down, Andrilla. I missed you, okay?" he stated, giving her his usual sharp-eyed look that he knew had a way of forcing her to take him seriously. It was only then that he noticed it; that feeling he had felt once or twice before. That awkward feeling of affection for the girl he was now pressing his chest up against in order to lean close enough to push her hand down. He waited for her to drop the fruit before he backed up a bit.

"How have ya been?" he asked, rubbing his arm a little awkwardly, "Last I heard ya were wantin' ta' get rid of Lady there on account she'd chomped your fingers real hard. No permanent damage right?" He was wearing a goofy grin, he certainly seemed genuinely interested.

He caught a glimpse of her face again, though, one that made him gulp. Wow, she really had changed...

And here he thought he'd never ever want a piece of a girl who was more likely to step on his toes than blow a kiss, never the less actually kiss somebody.

"Everything peachy here? Don't need me ta' crack a head or two, do ya?" In a more daring maneuver, he cocked one arm and flexed, showing her the increase of size of his own body. His muscle curled and rippled, bulging a bit more than the lanky lad he had left as. Pitching in had it's perks.

[Cait]

A'kai came up behind her again, reaching over her shoulder and pressing close. When his hand slid over hers, Andrilla's fingers twitched but otherwise she held perfectly still. His hand was gentle even as he told her to put the fruit down. Her fingers clenched it more tightly and juice seeped onto the counter as one of her fingers pierced the flesh of the redfruit. Turning her head, she scowled at him, fully intent on laying into him again when she saw that he was giving her that look. Her nose scrunched up in annoyance and her grip tightened on the fruit a bit more in an attempt to deny him. The poor sweet thing was nearly crushed when she finally let it fall from her now sticky fingers.

When he backed up, Andrilla had a brief and unexpected jolt of disappointment that startled her. Brushing it aside, she turned and leaned against the counter, unceremoniously licking her fingers clean of the fruit juice and giving him a one shoulder shrug. "Kept busy for the most part. Just getting a snack for Oranlith. She eats more than ever." She glanced at Lady who had shuffled away from the fruit mess and was sitting there with her little chin in the air. "Though 'bout it. Obnoxious wretch is this close to havin' to get her own damn food." She held up her thumb and index finger to express just how close the Azure-Gold was to having to fend for herself. The firelizard huffed.

Rolling her eyes, her expression softening slightly as most of her ire began to melt away, Andrilla looked back at Al and lifted a brow at his display. It wasn't that it wasn't impressive; he'd certainly bulked up a bit since last she'd seen him, she just didn't feel particularly like stroking his ego at the moment. Not after he'd grabbed her like that. He hadn't even recognized her!

And you didn't recognize him, love. You have not seen him in months; don't be so harsh.

I thought you were going to take a nap.

"It's been alright here. As far as heads, I can crack em on my own, thanks." She smirked briefly and reached out to jab the posturing blackrider in the stomach.

[Jay Kitten]

He smirked at her response, she was always so cocky and ready to throw it right back at him. But a bit more uncharacteristic, she poked him in the stomach, a bit hard, and he grimaced and batted her hand away. Maybe it wasn't so abnormal, she loved to see him squirm usually, and he certainly did that whenever somebody decided to dig deep into his abdomen. Rubbing the spot, he arched a brow at her.

"So... Are YOU hungry too? I could go fer a bite... Care ta join me? In fact..." He moved a hand up now to rub the back of his head, looking over his shoulder at the door he'd just come through.

"I picked up this nice bottle o' Benden wine..." He let himself trail off just once more and gave her a smirk, looking sideways back at her. He let that sink in, wondering if thick-headed Andrilla would take the hint. Andi was always a bit... Well, she believed what she wanted to, really. But...

Sunristh piped in again, commenting on the fact that he was SERIOUSLY considering wooing his best friend. Something, he continued, A'kai had thoroughly sworn he would never do.

But that was before...

Before what?

Well, before this! He showed the Black a nice mental image of the girl, and he got only a snort in response, and a feeling of understanding, she certainly seemed completely different. And the Black knew the kind of body his Rider went for quite well, he'd had to deal with him chasing women for nearly a Turn now.

"Care ta join me, n' catch up a little? We haven't talked in awhile."

[Cait]

A devious little smirk curled on her lips as he winced. Served him right for grabbing her like that! When he arched a brow at her, she stuck her tongue out and turned back to the counter and her task, though she found she was more than a little distracted. She hadn't seen him in what felt like forever. She'd been eager to get him back and now that he was here she didn't know what to think; especially after that greeting. The change in her body had been gradual to her so she knew she looked different but she hadn't realized that she looked so different that her friend didn't even recognize her. But he'd hit on her...like the other men in the weyr...like he hit on other women? She reached for the knife but didn't pick it up, instead she rand her fingertips lightly over the handle, stroking it as she tried to pinpoint what exactly she was feeling and failing miserably.

"There's leftovers an' you can get 'em yerself." She said, more distracted than snippy. What was he talking about now? Wine? Wine didn't sound half bad, actually. But Oranlith...

Don't you use me as an excuse to avoid your friend. It wasn't so very long ago that you thought you were going to lose him.[/b]

Heaving a sigh, Andrilla's fingers curled around the knife and in one fluid move she'd lifted in and then slammed it back down, tip digging into the wooden countertop where it stayed vertical as she turned back towards A'kai. Oranlith was right; she was just being ridiculous. Al was still Al even if he looked a bit different. She was still Andi even if she'd filled out a bit. It didn't change what they had; a friendship formed on mutual survival and trust. "Benden did ya say? I guess I could use a drink."

Aaaand[/b]

Would you shut it!

Say it!

"And I missed you." Andrilla muttered as she turned away to go dish up some of the leftovers from the last meal. Nothing fancy really, some stew, bread and a few pieces of redfruit that she had already pitted. She'd be back for it later or one of the cooks would steal it and make pies. Either way it would get used. Turning back, she couldn't help but tilt her head slightly as she looked at A'kai. Had they really been so scrawny and miserly when that rider had found them?

[Jay Kitten]

At first she seemed distracted, and he wondered if she was ignoring him in preference of feeding her dragon, but it wasn't long before she spoke, although that was about just as dismissive as before. Perhaps it was something he'd said? He'd known her to get distant when she was upset, but she didn't seem depressed. Arching an eyebrow, he shifted only slightly closer before she suddenly clunked that knife down and turned toward him.

He smirked at her words.

"I did say Benden," he stated, and grinned, watching as she accepted his offer and moved toward the leftovers to grab them both a bite to eat. That was one thing he always had liked about her, she was willing to get things for them both if they both needed them. Food, water, other people's money... That last one was mostly when they'd been younger, but still.

It was a little hard to believe that this curvy young thing was the same skinny girl he'd watched seduce a few people into losing their wallets. But it was what she said last that made him smile. Genuinely smile.

"I'm glad. I'd thought maybe ya had fergotten 'bout me. Been awhile... Hasn't it? And I don't even mean since I left... More since we was kids. Before them dragons..." Then came the pearly white signature dumb grin of his, and he held her eyes for a solid moment, letting his affection briefly play out in his gaze. Why was he only just now feeling how much he had missed her? Why, the whole time he'd been gone, had he been unconcerned?

Part of him wanted to blame being shallow and the fact her body had changed, but it was definitely more than that... Something about how she was acting...

He turned then, to the door, and stepped out, stopping to wait for her, all once she had finished grabbing the food of course.

"After you... Ya remember where my weyr is, right?"

[Cait]

Before the dragons. It wasn't all that long ago but it seemed like forever. Still, there were nights when she still woke up in a panic, thinking that they'd been caught or times when she would feel even just a little hungry and the memory of countless hungry days and nights would rush forth from the back of her mind. It had been hard to adjust to life at the weyr during that first year. Sometimes she still expected for everything to fall apart and to have to go back to living like they had before; stealing to live and eating whatever they could get. Al had always kept them safe then. They'd both had a vital role in each other's lives. Now she wondered where they stood.

She'd missed him while he'd been gone but the world hadn't fallen apart without him. She hadn't starved or been killed in her sleep or anything like that. Crazy stuff seemed to happen at the weyr but for the most part that chapter of their lives seemed to have closed. "I couldn't forget ya if I tried...idiot. Yer like a fungus that can't be scraped away."

When he paused to let her exit first, she raised a brow and started past him, stopping long enough to give him a stern look. "Try it again an ya know what'll happen." And with a lift of her chin, she strolled past and turned towards the tunnels that would lead to the weyrs. She knew exactly where his weyr was. She'd even visited it a time or two while he was gone, just to make sure that his belongings were still there; that he hadn't disappeared completely. Oranlith called her silly when she got paranoid but it couldn't be helped.