Wiggle Room {Open}

[Zirin]

Night was drawing ever closer and the fun of the gather was kicking into high gear. Everywhere one looked, men and women were popping up in their fancy gather clothes to head off for feasting and dancing. Nymari herself had had the intention of heading off to the feast herself, dressed in the glorified work clothes she had worn to graduation.

In a way, one could always count on the kindness of a stranger, though Nymari was not at all happy about it. On her way to the feast, a portly older woman had taken notice of her dress (or rather, lack thereof), and with a disapproving tisk had insisted on lending the weyrling something a little nicer to wear. Apparently 'nicer' in this case was a rather stunning green dress that had belonged to her daughter. Nymari had done everything in her power to refuse, but even so it wasn't long before she was standing in front of a looking glass, blushing as she noticed the way the dress hugged her curves and brought out the green in her eyes. She just couldn't be mean to such a nice woman! It would just be wrong.

"I really... I can't wear this Ma'am..." She groaned for what was probably the sixth or seventh time as the woman worked on her hair. This was just silly! She could barely move in the shoes, and wondered if she'd even stand a chance in a fight dressed like this. Not to mention, there was nowhere to keep her knives, save for the ones she wore strapped to her legs. Nymari had to admit that she did look awfully nice, even if she felt silly and uncomfortable in such revealing clothing. Not to mention, the woman had done such a marvelous job on her hair that it actually took a moment for Nym to recognize herself. Maybe everyone else would have a hard time too?

"Tut tut missy, Gathers're all about getting all fancy and flirting with them handsome young men. Why, back in my day i could turn heads -" Nymari listened blankly to the words, still fretting about being seen in public in such attire. It didn't matter that most other women would be dressed up; it was just something Nymari never did. Finally, the woman deemed her as ready, shoved her out towards the gather and gave a brief 'Have fun dearie and don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

The words earned another groan of embarrassment from the girl. Oh come now NymMine! She was so happy to see you all dressed up. It can't be that bad right? Nymari shook her head, mumbling aloud as she thought the answer back to him. "I feel like a doll..." She swore she would do everything in her power to avoid running into people she knew. She couldn't help but feel there were a couple men who would laugh at her; namely O'rik or K'dri. Well, at least she hadn't tripped yet. Of course, as if karma had decided to mess with her, her feet chose that very moment to make a mistake and, flailing, she grabbed onto the nearest person for support. Shard it all she hated it! "Oops... I'm sorry!" She mumbled, staring down at the dress in annoyance and praying she had just latched onto a complete stranger.

[Zero]

Can I try?
No, go away.
Just a little RikMine. I won't tell anyone.
Kinuth, no! Just...no. Dragons don't drink wine. I'm sorry.
Sighing deeply, O'rik dipped his head for a moment in an attempt to calm himself down. After all, this was no night for petty argument with his companion. He was a rider now! Soon to be a very drunk and happy rider.

Go and eat and take care not to loose my tunic. Of course once the actual graduation ceremony had ended, the greenrider had quickly done a change of clothes. No longer did he wear the fancy green tunic but a simple white shirt and his usual dark hide jacket. Oh he felt much more comfortable now and at least now he could have a good time with out worrying about ruining his good tunic.

He couldn't have been standing in near the dancing tent for more then half a minute before someone came crashing into his side. Eyes wide he clutched at his half full goblet, naturally trying to save the wine of course, before using his free hand to help the stranger to their feet. "Sorry miss, I didn't see....you..." There was a good chance his jaw dropped as he finally got a proper look at the girl-no, woman, who was clinging to his arm. Hold the hatching... "Nym?" Rik blinked as he looked over the amethyst rider. Well now who was underdressed? "Wow...you look....wow."

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[Zirin]

That voice, that all to familiar voice, made Nymari turn red long before his compliment. Of all the people she could have practically fallen into, it had to be the one man she had teased earlier that day. Blushing a deep red as she struggled to regain her balance, she brushed off the dress to avoid looking at him.

"I look silly don't I? I knew I shouldn't have let her talk me into it. I'm not meant to wear something like this!" She should have just stayed in her nice little tent, far from crazy old ladies with their mysteriously fitting dresses! Nym was normally not very self-conscious about herself, but she couldn't help but feel like a fool dressed up as she was. Perhaps it was because it showed off way more skin than she was used to showing. With her balance back under her control, Nym finally realized she was still clinging rather strongly to O'rik's arm, proof of how unsure she was feeling, and it took a moment for her to finally let go.

"You got rid of your tunic? Maybe I should change as well..." She mentioned lamely, actually somewhat sad that she didn't even get to share her pain with someone. Still avoiding looking him in the eye, she settled her gaze on his drink instead. Wine... now that was a good idea. Faranth knew she needed a glass or ten tonight if she hoped to survive. You look fiiiiiine silly. It's just a dress, what's the big deal! The amethyst was hanging somewhere off to the side, out of the way of the dancers, the fruti basket balanced on one of his headknobs. The silly dragon refused to take it off, claiming it was high time he set a fashion statement for dragon kind. Frowning, Nym decided that she most certainly needed a drink, and since O'rik's glass was the closest, she reached out to take it, wondering how much of a fight he would put up.

[Zero]

It took O'rik a great deal longer then he would readily admit to gather his tongue and stuff it back in his mouth after Nymari stood straighter and finally relinquished her hold on his arm. "No, ah...no, silly isn't exactly the word I would use." Shaking his head he quickly took a swig from his glass. "I didn't even know you owned a dressed like that and now I feel horribly out of place but I was hot and that tunic was itchy and... Wait, who talked you into it? Were you kidnapped and they forced you wear that dress and now you've broken out?" Now that he had overcome the initial shock of seeing her the usual playful teasing had come back out.

"Easy there," he started, trying to hold the cup out of her reach but she soon quickly managed to pry it from his fingers. "C'mon, dance first then we get more wine." Sliding beside her, Rik slipped one arm casually around her waist and plucked the cup from her hand with the other, determined to at least get her out in the throng of dancing pairs for at least one song.

"You look fantastic, by the way. Though I'm almost afraid to ask where you're keeping your daggers." He winked her way and put on one of his usual smirks. "Now can the poor farmboy have his chance for a dance before you're swept away by the many heads you've already turned?"

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[Zirin]

"Kidnapped? As if anyone could even dream of kidnapping me,” She scoffed. The very idea was almost offensive! She would never be taken without a good fight. "Although, I can't deny I wish this was a case of life or death.. damn old woman was just too excited, I couldn't bring myself to say no.” She grumbled, displeased with herself for such a weakness. She could maim, murder, slaughter anyone who got in her way... but an old woman had gotten the better of her.

She took a sip of the wine once she had pried it from him, rather pleased that he put up such a weak resistance. Her confidence didn't last long, however, as the arm around her waist made Nym stop in surprise. How much wine had he had already, to be so smooth? So surprised was she, that Nym didn't even try to fight as he took the goblet back from her, and she almost missed what he was saying, though the mention of her daggers had her shaking her head and grinning.

"Who says I have any daggers on me? Little ol' me could never be so dangerous.” She gave a mock look of offense, overplaying the look that Hold Ladies often had when someone made a joke at their expense. Of course she had daggers, and it would be easy to find them, since there were very few places she could keep them. Looking up at him, she couldn't help but grin at the smirk he gave. Well well, it seemed someone was awfully confident, even if his way of asking for a dance was a tad odd and made her blush.

"A farmboy huh? Well, you'll have to point one out to me, I'm afraid the only person I see here is a rather dashing rider.” She gave a little wink of her own. Would he allow her to simply be swept away by random dancers? Little did he know, but she would much rather spend the night dancing with him than a bunch of strangers, especially since she was feeling less powerful than normal in her dress. She placed a hand on his arm, fidgeting slightly. She supposed she should give him a real answer, shouldn't she? Giving a rather pathetic attempt at a curtsy, she finally spoke up again. "I would love to… though you'll have to bear with this silly holdgirl. It's been quite a few Turns since I've danced.” Not to mention she was still a tad wobbly in her dressy shoes. Either way, she glanced out to the dance floor as the current song seemed to be reaching its end, curious as to what sort of music would be next on the list.

[Elessar]

He had seen her the moment she stepped onto the Gather floor, and watched as she was swept away by that damnable greenrider, O'rik. K'dri had always known that the two Weyrlings had some sort of... feelings... going on, but he never expected Nymari to acknowledge them once she had confessed to him that she was carrying his child after their wild night of flightlust.

The man tensed in anger as O'rik dared put his hands around Nymari's waist, but remained seated due to Myth's voice in his head reminding him that he couldn't just draw his knives and slay a Weyrling at a Gather... let alone the Gather where said Weyrling was set to graduate. K'dri would have had no problem drawing one of his daggers across O'rik's throat and spilling his blood all across the dance floor... but there were a few other that may not be so happy about it.

It wasn't the thought of her dancing with another man that made him so full of anger and lust: it was the fact that she was openly flirting with another man, despite the fact that she was carrying his child. It was a Gather. She would probably dance with more men than he cared to imagine, as pretty as she was. That was not the problem. The problem was O'rik.

Standing, his cool blue eyes snapping with anger, he approached the two Weyrlings warily. He couldn't let his temper escape him or he probably would slide a dagger across O'rik's throat, or stab one into his belly, spilling hot red blood and guts all across the dancing floor. Narrowing his eyes, K'dri sighed. Considering that he did at least want to dance with the woman bearing his child once tonight... killing her friend would not be a good idea.

He had dressed tonight in a rather splendid blue tunic that matched his dragon, and one of his better pairs of breeches and boots. Daggers bristled at his belt, though that was no doubt the only place he kept them. After all, a Gather could be... dangerous. Slipping quietly up to the pair of Weyrlings, he gently kissed Nymari's cheek, smiling. "O'rik! How pleasant. I congratulate you on your graduation. Surely you won't begrudge me one dance with Nymari? After all, she is carrying my child." The smile he offered the other man had no trace of warmth to it, and his eyes were as cold as ice.

[Zero]

O'rik found himself chuckling as she told the brief version of how she came to be wearing the dress. It was left to him to connect the dots that the same woman must have done up her hair as well. "Are you telling me I know your weakness now? Excited old women and fancy dresses?" He smirked. "I knew you holdfolk were an odd breed." Finishing the last drops of wine from his cup he slipped it onto a passing servers tray before turning back to her. At her confession of not having danced in a while he smiled-not smirked or grinned-softly, but kept his own little secret to himself. Ah confidence, beautiful, delicious, liquid, confidence. He was practically full of it by now.

"No one's looking, we can be non-experts together." Though just as the next song was beginning, a happy an upbeat tempo, someone tried cutting in. O'rik felt his jaw tighten and his eyes narrow as they came to rest on that damned bluerider, K'dri. O'rik might have grown up a farmboy but he was no fool, he saw right through that phony smile the older man threw his way. Though seeing how his arm was still wrapped comfortably around Nymari's waist and she hadn't moved to shrug him off, the greenrider stood a little straighter and returned the other mans cold stare. "Well, K'dri, seeing how Nym and I have yet to dance, how 'bout you just go and warm a chair for a while. We're busy."

The comment about the child though, that...that caught him off guard. He felt the beginnings of a scowl twist and cloud his features. Though it could have simply been a lie, something said just to rile him up seeing as though he had just kissed the woman he was dancing with, Rik wouldn't put it past the old man to try something of the sort. Either way, it wasn't his business...not yet anyways.

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[Zirin]

"You wish, Rik. You'll have to try a bit harder to find my weakness.” She replied, a challenging look in her eyes. As if she would let some old lady get the better of her twice! She had had the element of surprise on her side, and a sob story about a deceased daughter… it was only expected that Nym had to cave over something like that! She looked down briefly, trying not to show her rather dorky smile as she noticed his confidence and his own smile. What could she say, she liked confidence! Her bout of girly happiness was short-lived however, as K'dri came over.

She stiffened as he kissed her cheek, worried that O'rik would get the wrong idea. She whipped her head around to give him a narrow eyed stare, ready to give him a piece of her mind about trying to steal kisses, but O'rik beat her too it, and said what was, more or less, on her own mind. She wouldn't mind a dance with K'dri, truth be told, she certainly thought it would be fun to see if he was as skilled on the dancefloor as he was on the battlefield. Oh but leave it to K'dri to try to be in complete control. Her hand clenched on O'rik's arm and her free hand shot to her belly, in a show of silent confirmation. There could be little doubt, after her actions, that what K'dri had said was true. She couldn't let it bother her, not today, not when she had been having such fun.

"What is in my belly has no sway on who I dance with, old man.” Nym shot a glare at him, annoyed that he would even try to use the child, the product of flightlust, as an argument. Was she nothing more than an object? How was it that he could be so sweet and caring one minute, and so utterly detestable the next?! She wanted to reach out and slap him, and at the same time remind him that she truly did care fo him, perhaps not the way he desired, but it was something. This was a gather though, it wouldn't do to start trouble. Maybe there was a way around it?

"I… I wouldn't mind a dance though,” She added, her voice carrying her honesty. "But as ‘Rik said, we haven't danced yet, and I won't rest until I beat my favourite farmboy on the dancefloor.” She gave a challenging grin to O'rik, hoping to distract him from the issue at hand. "Better warm up, old man, I expect you to put up a bit of a challenge out there.” Make everything a game,,, what could possibly go wrong?