Fun With Leather

Quiet Corners
Thick woolen tapestries dull the noise from the rest of the caverns, turning this well-lit little room into a welcome escape. The stairs up place it against the bowl wall somewhere above the living caverns, carpeted against the winters chill or left as cool stone floor in summer. Some high and narrow windows can be opened to the world outside, or secured with their heavy metal-sided shutters and blue-threaded curtains.
Glowlight gleams, brightening the well-cushioned stone couches and lighting the weyr residents half-finished projects: knitting undone, sewing only started, leathers being worked soft, and even a hide of sketches or half-finished Thread-chart spread out across one of the tables.
Curled up amongst the baskets of wool is Kalfu.

E'ren is curled up in a quiet corner of these Quiet Corners, his boots off and his legs tucked up under him, his lap filled with yarn and knitting needles. It's really a shame--spring already, and the greenrider still hasn't finished his kitting projects. This is one that's really taking some time, too, with an ornate cable stitch and yarn that has been spun and twined into colors that delicately shift between blue, white, and grey. The small dark-haired man hunches over the project, his brows furrowed, and he doesn't seem to notice the little orange tabbycat batting at a loose end of one of the balls of yarn.

E'ren
Quick in movement and startling in intensity of mood, this greenrider meets a gaze with a sudden smile and flash of Thread-gray eyes hooded under dark lashes. His inky-black hair, just beginning to glint with silver, has been grown out into a mop of unruly curls, a few artfully arranged to fall over his brow. Turns of dragonriding have honed his compact form, though, especially along muscled thighs and narrow hips. His complexion is dark, his features matching a native Southerner's. Squarish jaw matching the set of his shoulders, his wirey frame is spare, notable more for gesture than stature, though he occasionally creates the illusion that the opposite is so, due to his unapologetic flair for the dramatic.
The wear on his mahogany leathers is just beginning to affect the color in spots, but otherwise the leathers are still well-fitted and sharp. The cuffs and collar are a lighter, matching shade, and the trim edging waist and sleeves suggests milky klah. Beneath the leather of his jacket is a soft heaven-blue tunic, warm and wooly, seeming almost to beg to be touched. The tunic's laces are open a bit on the collar, and amid them a silver chain is half-hidden, the warm metal kept always against his skin. His sleek boots are well-broken-in but also well-maintained, polished to a near-mirror finish. Perched on E'ren's shoulder is Abacab.
His knot is a double twisted cord, one strand blue and one black, threaded with a dusty green ribbon matching Xeth's matte hide. The knot and his flit-gnawed badge mark him as a rider of Inferno wing.
E'ren is 32 Turns, 3 months, and 3 days old.

Reiko
Jet black hair falls shiny and straight just to her chin, a fringe of shorter hair in front just brushing delicate brows. Her skin is creamy-pale, with just a faint blush on high cheekbones and and full lips. Wide-set emerald eyes are tipped up slightly at the outside corners and framed with thick black lashes, giving her a vaguely feline appearance. Neither overly tall nor overly short, Reiko stands straight-shouldered with quiet confidence and moves with an easy, quiet grace.
A heavy woollen tunic dyed deepest indigo covers her narrow frame from neck to knees, concealing any shape the young woman might have, sleeves ending in brightly embroidered cuffs just at her wrists. Similar embroidery embellishes neckline and hemline. Beneath the tunic are warm black knit leggings, tucked into soft black wherhide boots, which appear to be relatively new.
A single cord, white as new-fallen snow, loops once at her shoulder.
Reiko is 19 Turns, 11 months, and 7 days old.

Reiko slips in from the caverns, moving slowly - a bit stiffly, if truth be told. An overlarge basket of mending is balanced in front of her, throwing her weight back a bit and adding to the unaccustomed awkwardness of her gait, and a faint scowl furrows her brow. Without bothering to look about the little room, she sinks into the nearest couch with a barely audible groan, setting the basket beside her and curling her legs under herself.

E'ren continues on with his knitting for a bit, until the little tabbycat knocks his ball of yarn off his lap and goes chasing it across the floor. "Hey, stop that," the greenrider scolds half-heartedly, getting up to go retrieve his yarn, only then noticing Reiko's arrival. Still addressing the cat, he asks, "Why don't you go bother that girl over there? She's a candidate... isn't it your duty as a Weyrfeline to pester them as much as you can? Or perhaps you're young and no one has explained this to you properly." The tabbycat, for his part, just sniffs indignantly and pays little heed to either of the room's occupants.

Reiko looks up at the voice, emerald gaze flickering appraisingly over the rider and his... knitting... before narrowing slightly at his words. "That must be one of the rules I haven't heard yet," she remarks sardonically, her lips twisting in a wry grin that doesn't /quite/ reach her eyes. Really, she'd thought she heard them all. Slow stitches are jabbed rather viciously into an unoffending tunic that had the misfortune of being added to her mending pile, pulling the split seam together with uneven stitches. Good enough.

Miami blinks in from ::between::!
E'ren calls to Miami, who flies over and lands on his shoulder.

E'ren gives the candidate a slowly-warming smile, leaving his knitting on a chair as he moves over and takes a seat nearer by. "Of course, of course," he answers blithly. "It's right after 'Dragons must flame Thread' and right before 'Proddy riders get to drink as much wine as they want'. Speaking of which... would you like a drink? It might make your mending go a bit easier...." He holds up a skin marked with a Benden seal and wiggles it temptingly.

P'rru comes up the stairs.

Reiko is busy scowling about the wine part, so it takes a moment for the other part to sink in. The proddy part. But sink it does, and she eyes him for a long moment. Particularly that knot. The one with the green thread in it. And the twisted smirk spreads. "Has it been so long since you were a Candidate that you've forgotten?" she asks sweetly, but her gaze lingers on that skin for a /very/ long moment.

P'rru wanders in, absently chewing on a sweetstick that still peeps from the corner of his mouth, hands bundled in long leather straps. Bondage brownrider? No, of course not. Don't get too excited. Bumping shins against a low table, he grunts and falls backwards into a chair, still sucking on the sweetstick. "hm, oh E'ren, and Reiko..hello" and then he begins fussing with the leather. Don't mind him.

E'ren chuckles at that, opening the wineskin and taking a long pull from it, savoring the taste for a moment before looking back at Reiko. "Ah yes... I heard you were instructed you weren't to drink. We weren't under that particular rule when I was a Candidate. Of course, when I was a Candidate, we all had to have bare feet on the Sands, so that's the way things go sometimes." He shrugs goodnaturedly and offers the girl the wineskin again. "Go ahead, if you want. I won't tell." Awfully tempting, isn't it? At P'rru's voice, he turns and looks towards the door, his smile brightening considerably. "Hey, "P'rru! Nice to see you again." Very nice indeed. Don't mind his idle hobby of corrupting candidates.

"Morning, P'rru," Reiko says, a little absently, her eyes fixed on that skin. One thin brow disappears behind her thick fringe of bangs at E'ren's words. "How things have changed," she drawls, almost casually, deliberately /not/ reaching for the skin. Although it's taking a considerable amount of effort to concentrate on her mending.

[Something is missing, here… As I recall, Purr asked Reiko how she was enjoying candidacy (at which she showed him her battered hands), and E’ren gave up on corrupting Reiko (for the moment) and passed the wine to P’rru instead… Silly Reiko-player. Too tired to even log properly. ;)]

P'rru shakes his head "I'll pass, E'ren, I stayed up late last night talking with S'nor and I'm still suffering from the effects of the skin we managed to put away" he's a cadbury man. A glass and a half is almost too much. Of course he also is too involved with the tangled straps to notice the greenriders wandering eyes. Take a picture anyway, it lasts longer. Purr-porn. "Oh E'ren, be a dear and let Reiko have some before she keels over" he glances up now, laugh lines appearing at the corners of his eyes. "You, my girl, look like you deserve it from those blisters I dare say".

E'ren glances over at the girl appraisingly. "Reiko, huh? You know, she didnt even introduce herself when we started talking." E'ren didn't either, actually, so it's probably just as much his fault. "Okay okay... here, have a drink. It won't kill you, honestly." He gives the candidate his very most charming smile, offering her the skin again. "P'rru and I will even make up excuses for you why you didn't get that mending done, if you want."

Ceridwin slips into the room, quietly and and finding a corner, settles in to do some embroidery work. Eyes the candidate the two riders and then proceeds to ignore the lot of them, focused on finishing her project.

Reiko looks quickly up from her mending at the sound of her name. More particularly, her name being spoken in connection with having some of that wine. She straightens a little as P'rru remarks on the state of her hands, but she doesn't refuse again. Actually it's amazing she held out as long as she did, for anyone that knows her. Mending is dropped to her lap again, and she takes the skin, returning E'ren's appraising glance with a twisted smirk of her own. "Thanks." She knows perfectly well how much wine it takes to kill her... or at least to incapacitate her... and this skin won't do it, even if she weren't sharing it.

P'rru chuckles to himself dropping straps to the floor, one booted foot kicking at them. "As a general rule, you shouldn't let 2 turn old children play with old riding straps.." he notes with a little grimace before he settles focus on E'ren. "Your at least looking well, or is it that skin of wine that's doing that?" idle conversation really, a smile flung Ceridwin wards.

Ceridwin catches the smile and nods in return.. Interesting, riders feeding a candidate wine....

E'ren actually doesn't intend to let any candidate drink so much that she passes out--they're much more fun when they're lively, you know! He smiles a bit smugly as Reiko takes a drink, then casts a wink in P'rru's direction. "12-Turn-olds can do as much damage when they're trying to be helpful," he says lightly, before he preens a bit at the brownrider's compliment. "Could be the wine... could be Xeth... could be the time of year. It's anyone's guess." Full of secrets today, isn't he?

P'rru blinks rapidly towards the greenrider. Could be Xeth? Ok, he has suspicions, but he's /not/ going to voice them. Instead he says "Sasha's proddy, by the way..poor S'nor tells me its exhausting.." S'nor also told him why but thats between the 2 brownriders and the skin of wine. "So I suggest you stay far away from her. Tis a pity, I'm always fond of the girl, except when Branwyth likes to flirt with Dsalth" yes, it puts Purr in an awkward position. Seeing as Sasha's almost like his adopted daughter of sorts.

Reiko's eyes close at the first swallow. Mmmmmm. She doesn't really want to pass out, either... just get enough alcohol in her to relax these aching muscles that just won't soak away. Another long pull, just for good measure, and she hands the skin back to E'ren, eyeing him again. She's seen proddy riders before, of course, living in the Weyr as long as she has. Granted, they were women, and so they largely left her alone. Except for Hyzen, of course. Cough. Glancing at P'rru in a /much/ better humor, she arches an eyebrow. "Kaorru is two already?" Someone's paying attention for a change. Now how's her memory?

E'ren ahs softly and shrugs. "Proddy riders don't bother me that much. Even Miri." With two greenriders in one weyr, it's inevitable that one runs into proddiness sooner or later. He takes the wineskin back from Reiko and smiles charmingly at the girl again. "You'd be awfully cute as a proddy rider. I can just imagine it now...." Apparently, E'ren's imagination's working overtime today.

Reiko smirks at E'ren. Cute is not a word that many have used to describe her. "You think?" So her tone is a bit sarcastic. "Maybe you'll get your wish." Sure. If a dragon chooses her at all, might as well be female. Not that she cares particularly. Nor does she seem to be aware of any double meaning her words might carry.

P'rru almost chokes. "Reiko? A greenrider? Shells and shards, E'ren, it's bad enough they all get asked to stand, let alone them impressing greens" Greens are the scourge of all evil didntcha know. But he manages to school his features again, chin dropped into an awaiting palm. "Don't you listen to a word that greenrider says Reiko" he adds qith a smirk.

E'ren often calls dangerous, unpredictable things 'cute', so his judgment isn't exactly one of those things you can rely on in cases of proddy riders. He chuckles at P'rru's words, turning his attentions back to Reiko to look her up and down. "Okay okay, how about if she Impresses blue, then? Or brown? She seems to have the strength of temperment for it. Besides, the fewer pretty young people there are Impressing greens, the easier it will be to get your attention." He beams and winks at P'rru, before taking another drink from his wineskin. Almost as an afterthought, he offers the skin again to the candidate, though for now he's content to talk /about/ her rather than /to/ her.

Reiko turns the smirk to P'rru as he so eloquently expresses his opinion of her riding green, but doesn't speak. She'll make her own decisions about what -and who- to listen to. And right now, another pull from that wineskin seems like an excellent idea. But even as she takes it, she regards E'ren with an appraising stare of her own. "You needn't discuss me as if I'm not here," she remarks coolly, although the smirk remains at the notion of E'ren seducing P'rru. It could happen. Cough. Mending quite forgotten by now, she helps herself to a long sip of wine.

P'rru laughs a hand clapping on his knee. "E'ren, you don't know how many people I have to pay attention to at once" he notes, shifting about in his chair. "Blue or brown hmm? I'm always wrong, always loose marks on clutching and hatching days..I might gives Reiko bad luck if I made any predictions right now" and with a charming grin for the candidate he finishes his spiel..and digs another sweetstick from his pocket. And by the way, no one seduces Purr. No-one.

E'ren prefers chatting with candidates rather than watching them work--with a few exceptions that shouldn't be mentioned in polite company. "But we're the ones with Turns and Turns of riding experience under our belts. Would you prefer it if we talked about you behind your back?" One eye flickers in a wink at her, though... he's just playing to see how much will get under her skin. P'rru's given another thoughtful look, but he doesn't say a thing about attention or seduction, instead simply commenting, "You can do better if you bet with someone who has worse luck than you do. That's why I always make wagers with D'kell." That bluerider's always losing marks to someone or other.

Reiko arches a brow, the twisted smirk spreading a bit as she hands the skin back to E'ren. "You expect me to believe you don't?" Not that she cares what people say. She's long since gotten past /that/. She curls into her end of the couch, now simply ignoring the basket. It will be there later, after all.

P'rru on the other hand, loves making Candidates do chores and sing at the same time. It's really fun. For him. "Aye, never thought about that E'ren..making wagers with the less fortunate" something Purr would probably enjoy. His hazel eyes return to the pile of straps again and he groans. "Here Reiko, dearest, you take one end and I'll take the other, we'll see if we can sort this mess out" he tosses one end of straps towards the candie. Too bad if she doesn't feel like it.

E'ren takes back the wineskin, taking another long pull. His skin is naturally dark enough to hide any flush of intoxication that might be visible in someone paler. "Don't overestimate how interesting you are," he teases the girl. "Besides, it's more fun to see that spark of annoyance in your eyes when you think we're wrong." P'rru's task of untangling the straps gets a certain amount of attention... he always enjoys handsome guys tangled up in leather.

Reiko catches the tangled jumble of straps automatically. How could she refuse when he's asked so nicely? Just don't expect her to sing. Long fingers dig into the jumbled mess, tugging at the straps to loosen them. Carefully schooling her expression, lifts her head to smile sweetly at E'ren. Nevermind the ice behind her eyes. "Don't /under/estimate how annoying you are," she replies lightly. Pale as she is, she hasn't yet had enough wine to intoxicate.

P'rru tosses a buckle from the tangle to the ground, blinking between candie and greenrider. "If you'd both like to know my opinion.." he begins, not giving them a chance to protest "..your both as annoying and interesting as each other..in a lovely way of course" beamkle. "E'ren give us a hand here.." he adds, they might aswell all have fun with leather. An end of a strap whips out, and the brownrider ducks and grimaces.

E'ren beams at both his companions, getting up to lend a hand, though not necessarily help. He doesn't put the wineskin down, though, so that makes things a bit more difficult. "Geez... P'rru. I think it'd be easier just to make new riding straps than untangle these." Slipping up beside the brownrider, he picks up a loop or two, and puts them over one shoulder, trying to sort out a handful of knotted ends with his free hand. Pretty soon he's tangled up /with/ P'rru... wow, this is almost romantic, isn't it? "Want a drink?" he asks, offering him the wineskin again, beaming.

Reiko chuckles, low in her throat, emerald gaze flickering over both riders with lightly veiled amusement. "How sweet," she murmurs, her fingers slowing on her end of the straps. Another tug loosens a particularly gruesome knot, and the leathers slip to the floor in a snaky pile as she gets to her feet. "That end's actually fine. Would you like some help?" Or should she just slip out and leave them to their own devices? Cough.

P'rru has his hands firmly tied. Literally. He can't help but grin, and raises his index finger..for thats the only part of his hand he can move freely. "Sure, E'ren. If you can't beat them..join them.." only he doesnt have any hands free so just leans over and opens his mouth. For wine. /Wine/. "Aye Reiko..could do with some!" help., Yep.

E'ren's breath nearly catches in his throat as P'rru leans in. It's not his fault if the brownrider is just being so darned /suggestive/, is it?? He hesitates, then lifts the wineskin to P'rru's mouth, letting him take a drink. "Take your time, Reiko," he calls, tugging this or that strap, which only seems to tighten the knots and pull them closer together. Oh dear... what if they have to stay like this all night?

Reiko saunters over to the pair, smirking her amusement. "Mind you don't spill that," she says lightly to E'ren, a wicked sparkle lighting emerald eyes. "It would be an awful pity to waste such a lovely wine." Safely outside the tangle, she reaches to offer her assistance. Oddly enough, the tightest knots seem to be where the greenrider's hands are. So there her hands go as well.

The greenrider wouldn't like that. Purr snores in his sleep. And drools. You wanna be tied to -that-? P'rru swallows the mouthful of wine, lips smacking together. He doesn't know he's being suggestive at all. Clueless! "That's better...ouch!" he winces "Stop wriggling, man" he tells E'ren as the skin over his knuckles goes redder with strain from the knots. He glances at Reiko gratefully.

E'ren laughs lightly to Reiko, apparently unbothered by her amused smirk. "Are you insinuating I can't hold my liquor?" he jokes, taking mock-offense. "There are three things I try to hold onto: wine, handsome older men, and pretty young girls." And as he's explaining this, he seems to be fiddling even more with the leather traps... a loop here, a loop there, and Reiko joins them in the tangle. Watch out for the greenrider's friendly, 'helpful' hands. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with wriggling. You just have to learn how to wriggle back," he scolds P'rru, nudging him with an elbow.

Whoops, how did that happen? Reiko blinks to unexpectedly find that she's one of the things E'ren tries to hold on to. Rather successfully, to judge from the tangle of leathers that now seems to be trapping her as well. Still outwardly unruffled, she arches an eyebrow to gaze evenly at him. "Is that so?" she murmurs, the smirk returning. "In that order?" She'll just be loosening these leathers and going now. Nobody likes to be last choice, willing or no.

P'rru pouts at the greenrider "What, all at the same time?" he quips back, he's close to screaming for help at the top of his lungs. Help! I'm trapped by a greenrider! However, all he does is look mock-horrified at E'ren "I don't want to wriggle on you" and then cue the blushing cheeks. That came out all wrong. "Reiko, dear, you'll untie these knots for me won't you?" he's uncomfortable now, that's for sure, between the blushing and wiggling and trying not to brush up against E'ren any more than is necessary.

E'ren slips an arm around Reiko, just to make things a little more comfortable for her (and it does loosen up a strap or two). "No particular relevance to the order. Unless... did you want to be the first thing I'd want to hang onto?" Strangely, he finds the girl more and more charming the more they talk. P'rru's protests are treated with a little impatience and more scolding: "Well that's because you're wriggling all wrong! You're going to have to learn to do it right or you'll never enjoy being tied up!" Wow, P'rru can blush?? He's even cuter now! Someone besides E'ren better work on untying the knots or they'll be stuck here until the next Pass.

Charming? Most likely that's the wine. Reiko's smirk spreads to a twisted smile as E'ren slips his arm around her, but she does take pity on poor Purr. "I think that might suit P'rru better," she says, deftly untangling the worst of the jumbled mess that holds the poor beleaguered brownrider. Now where's that wineskin?

P'rru pulls himself free and stumbles backwards. "E'ren, you can keep the straps" he says with a wink, wringing some feeling back into his hands. "Thank you so much, Reiko, your such a dear" and he reaches out to pat her shoulder. "I'd best be off though.." and he turns to march out the door, flustered. But he does turn aorund and blow the greenrider a kiss. Goodbye!

P'rru goes home.

E'ren barely has the time to make a noise of protest as his brownrider prize escapes; the blown kiss soothes his feelings a little bit, so he manages to take it all in stride. "Shells... well that's one gone. At least I've still got you, though?" he says to Reiko, though his voice begins to take on an almost shy tremor, as he offers her the wineskin. Perhaps he's not as fearless as he seemed to be?

Reiko arches an eyebrow at the change in tone but makes no comment, taking the 'skin with a twisted halfsmile. Mmm, but she's missed wine. "I /could/ keep trying," she teases, a wicked glimmer in her eyes. "Most of the worst tangles are gone." Lying in a twisted heap at their feet. Or she could have some more wine. Hm. What's behind door number three?

E'ren chuckles, releasing a couple loops he had been holding covertly, which makes most of the rest of the tangles fall apart, joining the rest of the straps at their feet. "I imagine there are more interesting things to do than untangle riding straps," he says quietly, brushing his fingers across Reiko's cheek, nudging back a few strands of her dark hair. "I feel bad... we've hardly managed to have a conversation, have we?"

Reiko doesn't have to think too hard to imagine something more interesting than untangling riding straps. Really. She arches an eyebrow, eyeing him calmly even at his touch, the corners of her mouth curling in that same twisted smirk. "Not really, unless you count talking /about/ me."

E'ren purses his lips slightly, taking the girl's hand and leading her out of the tangle of leather on the floor, over to the sofa. "I guess it's hard for me to relate to candidates at first... and then it seemed like you were good friends with P'rru and all." Could it be the greenrider was a little intimidated? Oh, let's not go there. "I think I'd like to start over with you. I'm E'ren, Xeth's rider." He begins with an introductdion, of course.

Reiko follows without a word, the wineskin held loosely in her free hand, sitting down next to him with an oddly bemused expression. "Reiko," she says at length, the twisted halfsmile returning. "Searched out of Reaches' own infirmary. I've known P'rru for quite a while now." She might even consider him a friend, if she thought in those terms.

E'ren ahs, nodding. "Well, I've always thought it was a good idea for Weyr residents to Stand for clutches. Since you're here anyway, and we can afford to give the dragonets that much more choice," he muses. That was why he asked Khory to Stand... at least, one of the reasons why. "You never know, though. Sometimes it's just a matter of when you're dragon is shelled." He's probably doing nothing to make her less nervous about Standing, though. "Are you enjoying Candidacy? Other than all the mending, I mean?" he asks, waving a hand at the now-ignored basket.

Reiko smirks, rolling her eyes a bit. Let's see. Endless work, restrictive rules, complete lack of privacy.. how should she answer this question? "Enjoying? That's not quite the word I'd choose," she says mildly. She hasn't thought ahead yet to the actual 'Standing' part of this adventure. She seems to remember she's holding the wineskin still, long fingers absently fiddling with the neck.

E'ren remembers Reiko's still holding the wineskin as well, reaching out and running his fingers lightly over hers, perhaps more intent on that than reclaiming his wineskin. "You should enjoy Candidacy, though. Get to know a lot of dragons and riders. Experience new things. Meet new and interesting people." He doesn't even bring up pranks or the funfunfun chores they get to do.

Emerald gaze flickers over his hand on hers, then Reiko turns a twisted halfsmile to E'ren. "I thought I knew a lot of dragons and riders," she says wryly, not adding the obvious - that she didn't know him. But she's considering his words. She's been thinking of Candidacy more as something to be endured, rather than enjoyed. Not that it's been easy.

Fade to black…