Scandalising

Writers: Aaron, Corrin, Kane, Shawna, Sia, Steel
Date Posted: 30th May 2026

Characters: P'yanka, L'leb, Aydhara, T'thalin, M'kadja, Cirina
Description: P'yanka was trying to avoid the baths being a group activity
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 1, day 6 of Turn 13

P'yanka

Aydhara

M'kadja

Steam clung to the stone walls as P’yanka worked quickly beneath the shower’s spray. The hot water was a luxury he would love to fully indulge in but there wasn’t time. Lather, rinse, done. That was the plan. That had been the plan every time he washed since arriving. The less time spent standing naked in the open, the better. He’d managed so far by slipping in early or catching the chambers empty by sheer luck, small victories that did little to quiet the creeping anxiety. Luck, he knew, didn’t last forever.

He ducked his head under the water, scrubbing faster. Almost done. One quick rinse to get the suds out of his hair and off his body and he could be out of here before anyone wandered in. Pumoth was thankfully fast asleep. He glanced toward the bench where his clothes waited, already imagining the relief of being dressed again.
Voices echoed from the corridor.
P’yanka froze.
“Oh, hey!” L’leb was almost certain that he recognized that one. Of course, it was hard to tell without the clothes on and from behind-- at least, if you had not familiarized yourself with the naked behind.

“You done already?”

“... It’s, um, fine.” T’thalin interjected, a bit awkwardly, as he entered the room next. “Don’t just stare at him, L’leb.” He added. “We’re just going to get dirty again with taking care of our dragons, but… um. We might as well start clean.”

“He’s right. No gawking, you're in the way,” Cirina said, pushing past L’leb and heading to dump her bathing supplies near one of the showers. “There's dragon oil in my hair,” she complained, “and we have a lot to do today.” They didn’t, not really, but the dragon care was never ending.

L’leb’s face fell -- but not his eyes; he kept those aimed upward -- he was not sure what he kept doing to get piled on. He held in a sigh, decided nothing would come from arguing about anything, and made himself as small as possible.

Perhaps he could be of help to P’yanka to make up for… what, saying hello? Existing? He gathered up his things and took them along with his own onward to the baths.

P’yanka was doing his best to look… busy. Very busy. Washing. The sort of washing that suggested someone too busy to notice anyone else entering the bathing chamber. So when L’leb casually scooped up his things, P’yanka almost missed it.

He tried to say “wait” but the word came out wrong, his voice cracking into an embarrassing squeak. Why now of all times? Everything was going _wrong_. Heat rushed to his face as he turned, suddenly very aware of his nakedness again. In the moment he couldn’t even remember L’leb’s name, just the fact he _should_ know it by now.

Shards.

"How did you manage to get the oil in your hair?" Aydhara asked. She dumped her own things in the spot nearest Cirina and looked suspiciously between the bronze and brown riders. She hadn't thought much about them gawking until Cirina mentioned it, and she'd be ready if her friend felt uncomfortable. P'yanka slid into the 'safe' group by default of stereotypes and green dragons.

She pulled her own hair down from the bun piled on top of her head and ran her fingers through it. "I stole some of mom's hair oil, if you want to borrow it." She said to both P'yanka and Cirina, "Good for wavy hair, plus it smells really nice."

“I wanna try.”

M’kadja strolled up and began stripping out of the layered mess of clothes and trinkets he always wore. One by one they came off until--sunbronzed and muscular--he was as naked as the rest of them. Dropping his necklaces atop his clothes, he stepped over to the nearest showerhead and flicked it on. It was between P’yanka and Aydhara.

P’yanka heard M’kadja’s voice and told himself not to look, which meant, of course, he did. Over the sun-tanned shoulders and the easy confidence, down to his… Oh shards. He tore his gaze away, feverishly hoping it went unnoticed, and became acutely aware of his own body by comparison. Paler. Leaner. Thin rather than lithe.

“Maybe.. Next time,” he muttered to Cirina, as he tried to look busy once again scrubbing the last of the soapy water from his limp curls.

“It feels like we always have a lot to do.” T'thalin offered. “Um. This one soap from the stores I found is good at getting oil off.” He added. “I'm sure there might be more.”

Aydhara stared flatly up at M'kadja, uncaring of the nudity. Wordlessly, she opened the bottle and deposited some of the oil into his waiting hand.

She was, however, at a good angle to see P'yanka's quick look downward and increasingly reddening face. "Eyes up, P." She teased, "Gonna be a long weyrling training otherwise."

“No thanks,” Cirina said, smiling at T’thalin for the offer anyway, “O’rosin snuck me some from back home.” When the redhead dumped it in her hand, the room immediately smelled obnoxiously like coconuts. “But I will take some of the oil when I’m done, so don’t go dumping it all on him,” she nodded her head at M’kadja, “it’s wasted on hair that short.”

“Come on, Aydhara, there’s nothing wrong with just a little tasteful window shopping,” the redhead teased.

“Hey, she said it was for wavy hair. I’ve got wavy hair,” said M’kadja.

He was rinsing and washing with a speed that’d put even P’yanka to shame, but his driver wasn’t modesty-- it was an eagerness to get to the baths and soak, as he always did. He _wasn’t_ in at a great angle to have seen what originally set the greenrider off, but he turned to see what had the girls fussing and saw P’yanka’s flushed profile. “What’s the matter, never bathed in the open before? Were you some la-di-da holder?”

“That smells good.” T'thalin told Cirina. “The one I've got just smells a little bit like redfruit.” He ducked his head under the spray, scrubbed a bit more, before he resurfaced. “... Most of the class is from the Holds or the Weyr.” He added. “I'm sure he'll get used to it.”

“Wow, are they? Thanks Lord Obvious.” There was zero sincerity in M’kadja’s voice. “I wasn’t asking if he was from a hold in general. That’s pretty obvious. I was asking if he had fancy pants Blood.”

P’yanka’s head snapped up at the question, eyes widening before he quickly looked away again.

“Fancy blood? No. I mean- no, not really,” he stammered. “Just.. just holdborn. Near Amber Hills. My father…” he faltered, the words had come automatically but now they caught uncomfortably in his throat. “A healer. That’s all.”

It had come out too fast but P’yanka fervently hoped it was convincing enough for bathroom chatter. Heat crept up his neck again and he shifted his weight, painfully aware of everything. The steam. The eyes on him. The fact he was still standing there with absolutely nothing between him and the rest of the room. His gaze flickered towards the baths where L’leb had disappeared with his clothes. And his towel.

It was now or never. Better to follow one person than wait and endure the attention of everyone at once. P’yanka swallowed, gathered what little courage he could, and edged past without quite meeting anyone’s eyes.

“Ah…” he started, faltering as the name stubbornly refused to come. He gestured instead. “He… took my things. Excuse me.”

And with that, P’yanka made his escape.

Last updated on the June 1st 2026

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Scandalising