Playing Host(Tags: Dragonriders and Pretty Girls)

[kayla]

A quick glance at Lara and Kiaran knew that she could not risk getting drunk at all tonight - though she had not planned on getting drunk anyway. She just felt her own responsibility rise with Lara being present, more out of concern than any worry that Lara could not take care of herself. "Could I have a spritzer? Redberry with a bit of a Benden White."

She smiled to T'keal, "Thank you for inviting me, T'keal. I apologize that I have not been able to accept your invitation before now." Technically, she felt like apologizing to herself for coming, but a little socializing would not kill her. It wasn't that she wasn't social, it was just that she was concerned about what she'd heard the nature of the parties, though it was possible that had been overblown.

She smiled a bit to herself. She could remember a time when she was fun, and she wondered when that had changed. Kiaran took a deep breath and decided to try to relax and enjoy herself.

"Looks like a decent turn out." Of course, she didn't really know what he normally expected at T'keal's parties.

[thedreamerlady]

Grabbing a classy glass deftly, and pouring Kiaran's drink as easily as he'd poured Larissa's drink, T'keal chuckled.

"No worries." He told Kiaran lightly as he passed the glass over to her carefully. "I'm sure you had other things to do." He didn't ask what they were, and to be honest, didn't want to know. Imagining she hadn't come because she needed to care for the sick was much more appealing than hearing that she needed to check how much soap the Weyr had- or because she had decided that sleeping was more her style.

He chuckled when she commented on turnout. "This can turn into a real crush some weeks." A waver of concern ran through him- a good deal of these girls had never been at one of his parties before, and he wanted to make sure they knew how it worked.

"If it gets real crowded, and you want to go to something smaller, my Fadreith and I will escort you down to the Bowl, you just have to tell me." As Host, he was the only one who could be counted on not to do anything unwanted- after all, he had to moderate the party till everyone left. He hoped the girls could read what he meant without him coming out and saying it.

“How has work been treating both of you?”

[prissy]

"Well now this is a surprise lady's, welcome I hope you enjoy yourselves." K'nor smiled he was enjoying this party he was having fun he hoped these lady's would also have fun. He also liked to have women around they made times like this enjoyable, he also liked the fact that he could always have relations with them. He however sat down with his drink and watched as more guests arrived he hoped to see a lot of people hopefully the Weyrleaders. He had been wanting to talk to them about possibly getting one of the Bronze Weyrlings some extra training he was a good thought to be a Weyrleader some day.

[thedreamerlady]

"Hope!" T'keal exclaimed, waving an admonishing finger at K'nor. "In my weyr, we never hope that Ladies will enjoy themselves, instead we make sure of it!"

T'keal pondered his words a second, decided they were over the top, and reminded himself to tone it down a little bit. He didn't want to be seen as insincere. That wouldn't help him with his quest.

He chuckled, trying to make his former words look a jest with an easy that suggested he'd done it before.

"K'nor was just telling me the most delightful rumor. Did you know that Telgar has a pregnant weyrling?"

[kayla]

Kia rose an eyebrow at T'keal's exclamation. It was rather cheesy, but she felt that it was more sincere than K'nor's exclamation. He was the kind of Bronzer that she had learned, through some mistakes, to stay away from. She glanced over at Lara, and hoped that the young woman's natural fear would protect her from the Bronzer.

"Work has been quite busy, but I do enjoy what I do." And it was true. Kiaran did not just enjoy the power that her position gave her, or the rank that she would one day hold, but she actually enjoyed her work. She liked to organize people and to solve conflicts.

Unfortunately, the Assistant Headwoman did not get to go to many Gatherings. While she had been invited to one or two, her ambition had kept her at work rather than going to have fun, so she did not have first hand knowledge of other Weyrs. She knew what was said about Telgar, just as everyone at Igen did. However, she was frequently not convinced that all of it could possibly true. "Surely that has to be exaggerated. Even they could not actually allow a pregnant woman on the Sands. Is she the new Gold Rider?"

[thedreamerlady]

T'keal nodded, wondering what she really liked about her work. She didn't have the same domineering way of acting that some of the assistants did, so he decided against assuming that she liked the power. He supposed that the kind of woman who didn't like little parties with Rankers might not be out for the rank.

It was of no consequence.

"I doubt it was the Gold- had it been, no one would have heard the end of it." That was true- Goldriders were rare enough that even Weyrs that hadn't a problem with Telgar would be gossiping if one was having a baby as a Weyrling. Shards, they usually knew when any Goldrider was having a baby, simply because trying to figure out who the father was proved to be very interesting.

"Probably one of the blue or greenriding freaks." There wasn't any malice in T'keal’s voice- he wasn't being insulting, merely saying what was believed to be the truth by nearly everyone on Pern. Girls who rode fighting dragons were freaks.

[kayla]

Oh, Kia cared very much about Rank and power. However, she was content with her current position, merely working to make sure that she would be the next headwoman, but not until it was time. However, she wanted her achievements to be just that, her achievements. She did not want power because she was weyrmated with a Ranker. She wanted power that was hers.

"Yes, I'm sure." She did not comment on the freak issue. After all, that was rather accurate. However, Kiaran knew how difficult it could be for a woman. She sometimes wondered if things weren't better for women at Telgar, since they had more chances and choices for - well, not being treated as inferior. However, she had long ago learned to keep that observation to herself. Besides, gaining power through a dragon was not what she wanted either.

She sipped on her wine, feeling slightly awkward. What did one do at these parties other than chat?

[thedreamerlady]

"I don't suppose either of you Ladies plays poker?" T'keal asked hopefully. He wasn't going to play for stakes- he was to good a player to do that, but at least he wouldn't have to deal with most people being quiet, and looking awkward.

And was the brownrider necking over there?

T'keal shifted slightly, trying not to feel put out. He'd never been so passionate about any woman that he couldn't wait until they were alone before indulging himself. Their was nothing wrong with engaging in sex, he just didn't like it when one couldn't be part of the party because of it.

It didn't matter though- the brownrider was hardly enough of a ranker to get T'keal to act miffed in front of people.

"We do have a good number for a game."

[prissy]

"Well now T'keal I would assume so with that statement." He smiled then listened what was being said, he would listen and learn about what was to happen here. He enjoyed this kind of gathers especially at the Weyrs. He also heard that it was indeed a greenriding freak as he had so lovingly put it, but he wouldn't say anything since they were moving on.

"A game of Poker sounds good T'keal, I hope you don't mind losing." He said with a grin, he was a little over confident but that came from being a Bronzerider.

[hrsegrl]

Though Larissa wasn't a very outspoken person on the subject of gossip she was a veritable expert. "Of course it is exaggerated. The young woman was just barely pregnant before standing, had no idea until after she impressed and of course the dragon was a green and they aren't known to be the most intelligent of dragons. She probably didn't realize either. I actually think that Telgar has done the right thing by taking care of one of their own. She may not be in the ideal condition for a Weyrling but that by no means makes her any less of a person. She doesn't want, nor deserve your haughty and pitying remarks."

With that Larissa moved away from the men. If it was one thing she couldn't stand it was being told that women were only there to make babies and serve men. It wasn't that she didn't want that life for herself, she did but for them to assume that a woman was less of a reasonable candidate for a dragon because she had a baby was beyond her. Obviously the child would be well cared for and the mother could go on being a rider. How was it any different from how men did things at the Weyr.

Lara hated these parties, they set her on edge. A lot of what she had said was due to her own irritating family life. Her mother had not wanted her and it clearly made her unhappy to hear talk of another child being unwanted by its mother. Yet she defended the mother... Oh she was so confused.

Poker wasn't something she was good at nor was she going to play now that she had embarrassed herself. Instead she walked to a corner and sat down, wine glass still full in her hand. If only there were children around, at least there were people she could relate to.

[prissy]

K'nor saw this and then moved to Larissa, he then decided to apologize for his statement. He had not meant to say it in such a way that it would offend someone, he hoped that she would accept his apology.

"I meant nothing against woman or child, just that it would be difficult on dragon, rider and the weyr itself. I apologize if my statement offended you, Larissa." He said as he stood in front of her he was not going to allow himself to offend a pretty woman not ever.

{Mine, be calm do not worry you are a good person and the Weyrlings do well with you teaching them.} Kintrath told His as the rider apologized to a Drudge and woman at that. The Bronze knew that women were something His was interested in just not why.

[kayla]

Kiaran hid her grin behind her glass. Good for Lara! The fact of the matter was that Kia agreed with everything that Lara had seen. However, she had made certain decisions based on her own career goals. She kept certain thoughts to herself.

While she might not be one to speak out for the rights of women, at least not the way that Lara just did, she did use her position to make sure that the women under her were not treated badly. In fact, the thought of her earlier confrontation with an uppity Candidate made her smile even more.

"I do believe that I will opt out of the game of poker as well." She was not going to leave the party yet, but poker was a game that was all about bluffing, something that she occassionally found to be useful in her day to day life, but not something that she found to be particularly enjoyable.

She nodded to T'keal and moved to sit beside Larissa, proud of her but also concerned about the usually quiet woman even more so when she saw that K'nor had moved over to her and gently gave her a sideways hug. "Good for you, Lara. Are you ok?" She did feel bad that she hadn't known that the Candidate was barely pregnant, but the fact was that she tended to focus on the rumors related to the running of the lower caverns.

[hrsegrl]

Larissa heard the Bronzerider walk over before she looked up. Did she know that all of them meant it only as entertainment? Yes. Had she taken it too seriously? Probably. Still she never had felt comfortable in these situations. Maybe she shouldn't have come at all. She was making it hard for Kiaran to have a good time and had already been rude to the host.

"Apology accepted." Larissa said quietly to K'nor though she spoke narry a word after that. Not until Kiaran came over and sat down next to her. Now she really felt like a kiljoy. Was she okay? Yes. Larissa knew that she could get her emotions under control better and not be so silly later on in the evening. All she needed was another glass or two of wine...

Bad idea. She didn't know most of the men here. Nor did she want Kia to end up being her chaperone. Her sister would be better in this situation, with rankers and dragon poker. She also held her liquor better. Larissa responded to Kiaran at a long last. "Oh, yes, I'm fine." She drank the rest of her glass of wine, which was nearly the entire glass.

[kayla]

Kia spoke very softly to her. "I'm proud of you. Even if you over-reacted, you stood up for something you believe in. You did well." She gently squeezed her shoulder and smiled warmly to her and then stood up.

She did not consider Lara to be a killjoy - heck her sister had had to work quite hard to convince her to even come. However, she did not want the other woman to feel that she was overly worried about her or smothering her. Nor did she want Lara to think that she thought of her as a child who needed chaperoning.

Unfortunately, her brother was chatting up a woman she recognized to be a drudge who spent more time trying to schmooze Riders than doing any real work. Which meant he was busy, and she didn't want Lara to think she was hovering, leaving her at a bit of a loss of what to do. She could watch the poker game, but that was not the most exciting thing that she could think of. At least there hadn't been anything disastrous.

[brimstone81]

Well, there wasn't a party that Kitya wasn't invited to. She arrived fashionably late to T'keal's little party on the arm of a bluerider, who gave her a ride. She already had a goblet in her hand, and one might not be able to tell if it was her bubbly as always, or a touch tipsy, but she greeted the party goers pleasantly, "Greetings, greetings! Oh-Kiaran!" She removed her hand from the bluerider's arm and waved to her sister. Quietly she said to the dashing young rider, "You will excuse me, I must go chum with my sister."

He had no choice but to let her wander to her sister's side. She saw one bronzerider with Kiaran and Larissa, the Headwoman's daughter. She knew distinctly that Larissa didn't care for dragonmen. Or so the rumors flew. She was a really sweet girl, though she did nothing with the interest she gained, and that was a pity in Kitya's mind. Not that she was terribly ambitious, but some of those men who inquired after her were incredibly handsome, and some could offer a girl quite a bit. Janirsa was quite willing to make a good match, and Kitya felt the girl would be more than a little jealous to see her sister once again getting the attentions of a bronzerider. It made her grin with glee.

She linked arms around Kiaran's free elbow and greeted her with a smile, "Why hello, Sister, fancy seeing you here. I'm glad to see you are getting out a little." And she saw Larissa down her glass of wine. Perhaps the girl wasn't such a prude after all! "Why hello Larissa, how do you fare?"

Before she could answer the bluerider she came with bent a little to whisper in her ear. He eyes lit up and she took her arm from Kiaran again and clasped her hands together. "Ooh, Z'nuvan tells me they are going to play poker! What fun! Excuse us, oh, would you care to join? Kiaran I know how you dislike gambling, but perhaps you might watch?"

She stood and walked more towards the center of the room in T'keal's direction, "Now where should this game of poker be taking place, for of course I would like to partake in it." Looking at T'keal, "As host you must be starting as dealer, correct?"