Baby, you're a firework [Lan!]

[Cy]

[/i].

And now they were all living at a Weyr surrounded by water.

With a small glance upward to cloudless skies, he slipped his hands into his pockets, breaking the arch in his back to lean forwards a bit instead, turning his eyes down to the ground instead as he shifted his weight, studying the prints left in the spot he'd been standing on for who knows how long. It was lonely out here. It was boring out here. It was quiet broken only by the sounds of wind on the lake. It no longer felt appealing and he shifted on his heel to aim himself parallel to the shoreline. Footprints sat faint in the dirt, marking the path that he'd taken before to reach this spot. In the distance, the Weyr loomed and welcomed. There was no plan yet in his head, no certainty of what he wanted or what company that he craved in that particular moment or if he was even craving company in the first place, but he did at least know that he was tired of aimless wanderings on his own. How pathetic. He'd figure out the rest as he went, which was usually a good plan.[/ul][/size]

[Lan]

Fishing wasn't good at the Weyr Lake. It would probably never be good again. Did it keep Calin from trying? Some days, not so much. Today? His mood was temperamental, as likely to crack under pressure as soggy wood under a jack. But, so far, there was nothing worth cracking over. And this was good. Still, the ever-brooding teller of his future Spinner had come to play with him today as Klah had found some empty part of Elana's sleeping quarters to bum around in. Usually the presence of the green flit meant trouble in Calin's delicate mind, but right now she was behaving herself. In fact, she looked rather calm for her usual behavior. She flew in lazy patterns around the boy's head as he walked along the muddy banks of the river-like lake. There were no stone to kick or throw here. At least not in this particular stretch. Lakes had lost their boyish charm.

Calin could pretend, though. He kicked a clod of dirt and watched it tremble pitifully into the water, not skipping or making a splash but rather sinking as if it had been absorbed. Like weighted thread. The thought sent a shiver down his spine. But they were safe here, right? Of course... why wouldn't they be? But why would thread fall when it shouldn't in ways that it shouldn't? The young man pushed such thought to the back of his mind. No. He wouldn't think of that today. Spinner squawked her reaction.

Yet, it wasn't necessarily her reaction to her bonded's thoughts... there was somewhat else by the water's edge. Calin looked up and, noticing there was a person, put on his best smile that he had to peel from the bottom of his coat pocket. It didn't quite fit, but it could pass. Spinner settled herself on his shoulder, brooding like Sereldeth must be over her fine batch of forty eggs. Spinner had no eggs, but she could certainly brood with the best of them. Especially when she was close to flying. Still, she hadn't flown in a long time. Calin at times was almost worried about her.

Beneath the scarf and the jacket Calin recognized Kierbin. Calin liked Kierbin okay. They came from the same hold and survived in much the same way... only Kierbin arrived after Calin had. But it didn't matter. It was someone other than Elana to talk to. Not that he didn't like Elana but... well, she was female. It wasn't her fault. He couldn't really flirt with her, now could he? Spinner gave a hiss as she detected his intentions, and her claws dug into the shoulder of his coat. With one glare from her bonded she loosened her grip, but only a bit. She was not a very amiable little green firelizard.

"Hey there." Calin managed to sound somewhat cheery as he smiled over at Kierbin, who was around his height so their eyes could meet on an even playing field. "Not much of a lake, is it? Looks more like a river or a strait to me." He sighed, for one second letting his smile drop and then, looking over at Kierbin, picking it right up again. His steps fell easily in line with the older boy's, and they walked in silence for a moment or two... until Spinner made an attempt at a little hissy fit again. She gave a growl, eyes swirling red toward the other-man-that-was-not-her-bonded. Then, suddenly, she snorted and seemed disinterested entirely. Giving Calin a whack in the back of the head with her long and slender tail, she took off and disappeared in moments to find something less irritating to do. The fisherman's son sighed and gave a soft chuckle. She really was a queer little thing.

"She's a right wherry when she wants to be." He commented, shrugging it off as if nothing had happened. "Either she's going to rise soon or she's mad at me. I haven't discerned the difference." After that he gave Kierbin a playful hip-bump as if that simple action could make either of them smile and forget the irritable little green's display.

[Cy]

[/i]

Opportunity came knocking with a voice brightened slightly with out-of-place cheer. His blue-green eyes snapped up to fall on the approaching figure, a tall and lanky boy that he recognized from Ista and around here. Calin. Calin was alright. His features pulled up slightly, a brief and stiff smile of greeting as the space closed between them, pulling to a stop in front of each other. An eyebrow lofted up at the statement as he glanced over to the lake, which really was more like just the fattest part of a slow-moving river, his body angling slightly to peek back to the horizon where it opened out to the sea. “Looks like a giant bowl of scum to me.” He returned with a lazy smirk, turning his head back around to look back to the boy, tilting his head slightly before scoffing at the smile that graced the boy's mouth and starting to walk on again. He stepped around the younger lad and Calin fell in beside him smoothly. It was a fluid and in sync transition. He liked it. Calin really was rather alright.

The silence that settled between felt fine. It felt comfortable, which was a most peculiar thing and his brow knit together in brief perplexity as he mentally poked at it. His idle scrutiny was interrupted by the hiss of the green perched upon Calin's shoulder, prompting Kierbin to snap his attentions over to the little female, narrowing his eyes on her. If he recalled correctly, which he was pretty sure he did, he didn't like... Spinner? Or was she Klah? He couldn't keep them straight, not that it mattered and not that he tried. She, at least, didn't like him either. Of course, he got the impression that she didn't really like anyone. He eyed her warily, a tiny flare of relief blooming in his chest as she dismissed him and flew off, disappearing finally. With his head up, chin tilted in subtle perpetual defiance, he stared off at the spot where she'd vanished before glancing over to the boy as he spoke.

The bump against his hip caused him to steal a step sideways in response before straightening back up, a smile easily darting over his features at the whimsy of the action. Another scoff shot off the back of his throat. “Is there a difference?” He questioned rhetorically before looking over to the boy, inclining his head forward and raising his eyebrows. “Besides, she's always mad. She is a girl, after all.” A smirk twisted his lips as he teased, a chuckle beneath his words before he was delivering another hip-bump against the boy, putting just a small bit more force behind the action to insure that the other adolescent was knocked off his balance.[/ul][/size]

[Lan]

Calin gave a soft chuckle, a smirk appearing on his face to match Kierbin's. While Calin definitely danced to a tune all his own, he couldn't help but mirror the sentiments and reactions given by those he surrounded himself with. Maybe that's why he was always a lot more mellow around Elana. She was an optimist, or at the very least a realist, that tended to never really be angry. Being around her really chilled him out. But when he was around Kierbin... well, that was quite a different matter. Kierbin was a wild card, and Calin rather liked that.

"True that!" Calin replied, cackling at the idea of Spinner always being angry because she was a girl. Girls were still somewhat mysterious creatures to Calin. Elana was the first he had really gotten along with. Sure, Calin enjoyed female company as much as the next person, but so far he had made no real progress in understanding them. He was sure he understood Elana, but that hardly counted. In Calin's book she was not really the stereotypical girl. Plus, in their first meeting they had kissed and nothing came about from it... so that made them exempt from trying to understand each other... maybe... right? Faranth, Calin didn't know. He tried not to think about it. Either way, women didn't really hold much of an interesting light in his book. At least not right now...

"Whoa-!" Calin exclaimed, making more of a show of being knocked off-balance than was really necessary or warranted. He let himself almost fall to the side, flailing his arms like a maniac, before pretending like he'd overcompensated and pummeling right back into Kierbin, all awkward limbs and high center of gravity. They collided, that was for sure, but what happened next seemed like a blur. The boy used a bit more strength than he had necessarily meant to, and he literally lost his balance just as he made contact with Kierbin. A small whimper escaped his lips right before he hit the shallow water. He had no idea if Kierbin had also followed him into the water or not.

Disoriented, he blinked up at the sky and then gave a hearty laugh. Well, he couldn't say it was completely unintentional. Something about the idea of falling over Kierbin seemed appealing to Calin... even if the older boy was somewhat sullen company at times. Not that Calin thought of him as older. Really, he didn't know what to think about Kierbin in relation to himself--other than that, of course, he was somewhat fond of his company most of the time. Kierbin was all right.

[Cy]

[/i]. A little bitty thing. Maybe enough to send him side-stepping again. He didn't expect the shove. He didn't expect so much strength and force from his companion. Such lack of preparation on his part made him an easy victim to the impact. Mirroring the other boy's exclamation, he was tossed sideways, stepping and ultimately stumbling over his own feet. His hands retreated from his pocket in order to flail, searching for balance that was long gone. Predictably, he failed.

The water was a cold shock as he tumbled in alongside Calin. Some snuck up his nose, smelling foul and stinging. He was promptly digging his fingers into mud to push himself back up, shaking his head to get the intruding liquid out of his head and spitting to get the taste of his tongue. Wet strands clung to his forehead. His heart fluttered a bit in a brief flash of panic, the sound of lapping water vivid in his ears as he sat there, bringing his other hand up to rub at his eyes as he peeked over to Calin. The other boy was casual about it, calm and laughing. Narrowing his blue-green eyes, he abruptly dropped a hand to scoop his fingers through the ripples around them to splash water at the younger lad. “Shards are you laughin' at?” He swore, shaking his head again and brushing a hand heavily through his hair, resulting in a comical display of damp locks standing on end.

Abruptly, he retreated from Calin's response in order to stand, his clothes effectively soaked and dripping. Goosebumps littered pale flesh as the cold seeped into bones, but he didn't take the time to think about it. He trudged through the shallows as if to leave the lake before he was turning, bending to plunge his hands into water to search and find a grip on his friend's ankle, snatching tight to it and giving a tug, leaning back to drag the the boy right out of the lake, a smirk sitting on his full lips. There was no clear reason for it. It was immature and kind of random. He didn't waste the time to think on any of those particular traits. It occurred to him to do, so he did it without question. He pulled Calin by the leg right on out of the water to the shore. His shoes squelched with each step. [/ul][/size]

[Lan]

"Shards are you laughin' at?" Calin's laughter ceased somewhat abruptly as he glanced over at his friend, thrown off his good mood for a moment. However, as water hit him in the face he blinked and then smiled again. As Kierbin shook his head to remove the muddy water from his hair Calin followed suit, so they looked like two shaggy dogs drying themselves off the only way shaggy dogs knew how. It must have looked rather comical, had anyone been looking. But, as it was, it was only the two of them... and the young fisherman rather liked that too.

However, he was not at all expecting Kierbin to send him flying back into the water, heels over head. He had merely been watching the older lad, admiring him shamelessly, when suddenly his head was under the water again as the other candidate had a firm grasp of his ankle and was dragging both of their sopping and soaking selves (Calin a bit more so at the moment) out of the so-called lake. When he finally got air again, Calin exclaimed rather plaintively, making generally unamused noises until, once back on the shore, he had managed to wriggle free of his assailant's grasp.

"Hey! What'd you do that for?" He growled, standing and trying to all but smack the water out of his clothes as if he were removing dust from them. Then he glared over at Kierbin, face dead serious for a second before suddenly breaking into a smile. While he loved to pretend to be angry, he could never so so for long. Throwing an arm around Kierbin's torso, he butted his head against the other male's shoulder before releasing him and continuing to walk a little ways further down the overglorified river.

"And I wasn't laughing at you, by the way..." He told his friend, an impish smirk playing across his bright countenance, "I was laughing because of you." For a moment he paused, letting the comment sink in before taking off at a run along the side of the lake.

[Cy]

[/i] – Hey! Come back here!”[/b] He exclaimed as Calin took off in a run, promptly moving to pick up the pace to pursue and leaving his usual laziness behind in favour of mere playing.[/ul][/size]