how did we get here? [r'wign//dining area]

[Avu]

How, exactly, had she ended up cradling a firelizard egg that wasn’t even Zesa’s…?

The egg was large, its shell hard to the touch – hard enough that, in her experience with her own queen’s clutches, it would be Hatching very, very soon. Meira sped up, arms wrapped securely around the egg as Zesa clung to her shoulder, peering down at the egg intently, interest sparkling in her gaze even as Meira glanced around on either side of her as she made her way through the crowds. The shell was a very pretty one, it was, a soft pink color swallowing the entire egg with bluish-green patterns swirling up the sides, dots of the same bluish-green speckling where the squiggling swirls did not cover the original pink. Very large, it was, and heavy, too. Were Zesa’s eggs usually this heavy…? Somehow, Meira didn’t think so. Perhaps it was just because she was trying to go as fast as possible to find a certain brownrider – because she certainly was not Impressing the firelizard contained in the egg, thank you very much – and it was Roxie’s fault she’d gotten it to begin with.

Strictly speaking, the green hadn’t meant to – or at least, the wherhandler didn’t think she had, but setting a collision course with the egg stall was probably not the best of ideas that the firelizard had ever had. The corresponding crash had nearly sent the young man running the stall at the time into hysterics, and after a frantic and brief examination of all of the eggs, it had been decided that the one Meira currently was clutching had been the only one to suffer any damage, a hairline crack marring the shell’s perfection in a long, barely visible mark that traced from the top of the egg to nearly the very bottom. It hadn’t gone entirely through, but, to appease the man, Meira had still hastily offered to pay all the marks she had on hand for the cracked egg – nine and three-eighths marks – and, since it was cracked, she’d been promptly given the egg, which was why she was trying to find R’wign: To give him the egg.

It was not going to be her problem for much longer.

Zesa flared out her wings, twittering slightly as Meira just barely managed not to catch the skirts of her Gather dress on one of the pegs holding one of the tents above the stall in place. It had been such a long time since she’d worn a dress – and, ironically enough, she didn’t even know who’d gotten it done for her. The bronzeriding Weaver had made and delivered it, but he hadn’t said who’d paid for it – though apparently it was paid for – and Meira was appropriately mystified by the sender. It was very pretty nonetheless, and having nothing else to wear, she’d worn it and gotten a ride from the very same brownrider she was currently trying to stalk down to Gather, since Meisk wouldn’t be able to do much in the sunlight. They’d flown straight, but Meira wasn’t complaining; between was miserably cold and she wasn’t dressed for it anyway.

It was Zesa who spotted R’wign first, uttering a quiet trill and nudging Meira’s cheek before she followed up with the appropriate image, Meira spinning on her heel and clutching the large egg. Pale eyes flickered through the crowd gathering around the Dining Area until she’d spotted the brownrider – just as the egg in her arms twitched, and Zesa made a noise that was almost a hum. Meira sped up, and interjected herself directly in front of R’wign. She did not want another firelizard at the moment – and while she could understand R’wign not wanting one even more, considering his fair – well, it was his more than it was hers to begin with, even if she had paid for it. For a moment, she didn’t even say anything, simply thrusting the egg at him as Zesa crooned pleasantly at the brownrider. Then she thought to offer an explanation, and Meira flushed as she said, quietly, the egg still extended, “Roxie…kind of cracked this…so it’s yours now, I guess…?”

[glamourie]

He really did love pie.

Of course, only a fool would doubt that fact. R’wign was sitting at one of the tables set up for eating, and in front of him he had a set of four hand pies. One of said hand pies was in his hand. The sight was probably comical to behold, all things considered. The table was designed to sit two people easily, but it was quite occupied. Directly across from R’wign, perched on the table, were Roxie (who, R’wign noted, was cradling one of her wings for some reason) and Ellie, both of whom had their heads cocked to the side. Roxie was pointedly eying the pie, as if she wanted to take a taste of it, while Ellie simply looked curious - it was her first real Gather, after all. On the side of the table to his right was Stumpy, who was trying his best to fly off every few seconds and examine the food stalls -- but R’wign was holding him firmly in place by his tail. The last thing he needed was to have to buy an entire pot of stew he didn’t even want because Stumpy had fallen into it (he’d fallen into numbweed once!). Hazard was sitting neatly next to Stumpy, seemingly oblivious to the blue’s antics. And on the end of the table, closest to the outside, was Collision, who was curled into a ball like a sleeping feline and snoring. Clearly even a Gather couldn’t keep him awake.

It was R’wign’s intention to eat enough pie to gorge himself at the Gather. If anyone happened upon him and asked why he was in taking such a disturbing amount of sweets, he had an answer all prepared too: depression. It was mostly a lie (he wasn’t exactly in the best of spirits but he would never call himself depressed!), but who needed to know that? Just because R’wign could eat seven or eight hand pies by himself meant nothing! Okay, so he was a pig where pie was concerned, but really, what else should he have spent his marks on? He had quite the supply saved up, and altogether, he thought wasting them on pie was much better than picking up things that would collect dust on the shelves of his weyr. Pie at least went to good use.

So far, he’d spent just over ten marks, and the majority of it was on something not pie, though. One of the other weyrlings had claimed to be saving up for something to buy at Gather, and was selling dresses to his cause. Truthfully, R’wign had no idea what sort of thing the boy would be buying that could cost very much (what did weyrlings have to spend their marks on, really?) but - it wasn’t like he’d use his on anything useful. So he resolved to buy one of the gowns… but even R’wign wasn’t prone to wearing dresses of his own choosing. He’d blurted out the first name that came to mind when he purchased: Meira. Comically, he’d then had to give her sizes and --- he was embarrassed to admit that he knew all of them. It didn’t take much for R’wign to memorize things, and physically touching had -- well, he knew the girl’s sizes well enough. He’d picked out a lovely set of blue fabrics, and given no other specifications because he knew absolutely nothing about dresses. His only request was that Meira not know it came from him. He was glad to find that his size guessing was correct -- as the blue wherhandler had asked him to bring her to the Gather, and she was wearing the gown. In his opinion, it was well worth the ten marks… he just hoped the bronze weyrlingrider got whatever it was he was saving to buy.

Aside from the gown, he’d… bought pie. Only pie. However, as he took a bite of his delicious mixed berry (and practically swooned on the spot), R’wign considered what else he could purchase. It was tempting to buy a set of wind chimes, the glass variety, but -- he had enough noise makers. He was also considering buying tea, but, arrogant as he could be, R’wign thought his own brands of tea were more effective; he was particularly gifted with herbs (it was his specialty) and plants, which meant that he made some of the most delicious concoctions. Not worth paying for something he could probably duplicate with little effort. It was hard - he was quite the finicky shopper, hence having so many marks saved up. He didn’t really need anything. Even Check’s straps and riding gear were of the best quality. It was nerve-wracking, it was!

Munch. Munch. Licking his lips, R’wign popped the last of the hand pie into his mouth. Then, after chewing and swallowing, he took to licking his fingers right as Meira of all people came to stand right in front of him - and directly behind Roxie and Ellie. Now that was unusual. He’d expected her to lurk somewhere like the woodcrafter stall, or maybe the music stall - somewhere far from him, she’d been so shy since… that occurrence that he was convinced Meira hated him. Yet there she stood, directly in front of him. Hmm. His eyebrows raised curiously and - what was she holding?

All of his fire lizards broke into a chorus of humming and R’wign’s eye went wide before he jolted upward and actually stumbled away from the table. Eggs. Eggs were bad. Eggs were always bad. Even if they were coming from Meira they were bad. Didn’t she know he was cursed? If he came near a hatching egg, the thing within latched onto him, at least if it was a fire lizard -- Wait, Roxie cracked it? Shooting the green a glare that bordered on murderous (she looked positively thrilled with herself and preened prettily at the mention of her name), R’wign glanced from his fair to Meira and back again. The egg in her hand made him want to run for the horizon.

“Uhhh, no - no - that’s -- quite all right. I mean, surely Zesa wants a little playmate…?”

[Avu]

A heartbeat later, she glanced around, actually taking note of exactly where she was. Zesa had dropped from her shoulder to land neatly on the table to her blue son, the gold’s soft humming broken off for a moment so that she could twitter with something approaching curiosity at Collision. He was…he was asleep; why was he asleep at Gather…? Seating herself and curling her tail around her haunches, the firelizard’s gaze returned as if pulled by a magnet to the egg that Hers was holding, and the low hum began again, low in her throat and gradually building in pitch as the other firelizards joined in; Zesa was very clearly delighted by the prospect of an egg Hatching another of her kind. And it was such a pretty egg, too, it was. The gold’s hum was punctuated by a slightly reproving peep at R’wign as the brownrider jumped up out of his seat, looking very much as if he was about to run. Didn’t he want to see what the egg held…?

The chorus of humming, however, combined with R’wign’s positively leaping to his feet, made Meira’s eyes widen, too, the wherhandler taking an instinctive step backwards before she placed the egg on the table between them, scooting it away from her – and towards R’wign, though she honestly hadn’t considered it as thus. If he ran, Meira certainly wasn’t staying around to let the firelizard Impress to her; she’d just – she’d leave, too, and let some – someone else, anyone else – Impress it. She was quite sure most people would have been delighted at the prospect of Impressing to a firelizard, especially Holders, since most Weyrfolk seemed to have too many little pets. Meira blinked, staring at the egg as Zesa’s humming rose in pitch. Whatever was in the egg was most definitely Hatching – very, very soon; Roxie’s crashing into it had probably done absolutely nothing to harm the flit within.

His implication that she should let the firelizard Bond to her had Meira taking another backwards step, shaking her head in a vigorous negative, leaving the egg rocking forlornly on the table. It was…kind of sad, that neither of them wanted it. She thought firelizards were cute enough, but Zesa was quite enough for her and she didn’t want to risk Impressing some ridiculously arrogant or spiteful little thing; her sweet little queen was just fine. “She’s not lonely,” Meira answered, still staring at the egg instead of R’wign; she dropped both hands at her side, uncertain of what would be better to do with a firelizard about to Hatch. Hiding them behind her back might very well make the thing curious – hopefully, it’d just Hatch with the firelizard already facing R’wign, so there’d be not even the slightest chance of her Impressing.

“I don’t have any money to buy food for it, either…” she added, shrugging as she slid backwards again, glancing at R’wign’s firelizards and then at Zesa as her queen looked back at her, still humming excitedly; the firelizard’s soprano tones were very distinct and the pulse of delight Meira received was clear as well. The egg: Zesa was strictly focused on the egg. Meira dropped her head, glancing up towards the egg warily. Just as long as R’wign didn’t run, maybe his firelizard-magnetism would…would just work again…? It ought to now, if anytime; it was his firelizard that had done the damage – which he knew, judging by the nearly murderous look he’d sent towards Roxie, who looked thrilled by it. Her nose crinkled slightly at Roxie, Meira half-grinning reluctantly before she flicked her eyes back up at R’wign. Firelizards liked him, didn’t they…? Obviously it would go to him…

[glamourie]

The egg was wobbling. R’wign wanted, very badly, to bolt. Even as his fire lizards hummed louder, though, he couldn’t keep himself from staring. Not at the egg, though. In fact, the little object inciting such horror in him was not even in his gaze. No, R’wign was staring very pointedly at Meira’s face, his eyebrows raised as high as they could go. She was backing away too --? That just wasn’t fair at all. Didn’t she realize that he had five fire lizards already? Five. FIVE. It wasn’t a good thing, giving him another one. He’d explode, he would. Five and Checkoth was hard enough as it was. A sixth -- a sixth would just make him totally, completely explode. He’d never survive, he was certain. (Actually, he was being overdramatic mentally; he was positive he wouldn’t drop dead on the spot but the headaches would be enough to make him wish he had simply because --- six fire lizards? SIX?) What had he done to merit her hating him so much that she’d dump another fire lizard on him, regardless of what Roxie did? And why had she indulged Roxie in the first place?!

“That’s no excuse -- I’ll buy food for it for you if you just take it!” R’wign replied, neatly ignoring the scolding peep that Zesa offered him. “I’ve already got five and a dragon. Another one might make me explode! Plus your gold likes to clutch in the infirmary -- though, maybe she won’t now that her cupboard is gone but -- another one? I don’t think I can handle - Ellie’s egg heavy as it is -- Meiiiiraaaaaa.” The brown rider carried out Meira’s name like a high pitched whine, not all that different from that of a child, and a casual observer might expect him to start kicking and flailing at any moment. “I don’t want any more… Five’s enough. I’m happy with my colorful entourage…” If he kept on whining, one of his fire lizards would probably begin to scold him, but -- he couldn’t bring himself to stop, since he felt rooted in place. Actually running seemed rude with Meira standing right there. “This is revenge for the dress, isn’t it?”

Oops. He’d meant to keep that he bought the gown for her a secret, but -- oh well. In the face of hatching fire lizards, he would tell all. A remarkably effective interrogation technique, they were!

Right at that moment, the egg on the table split to the side and then fragments of the shell fell over. R’wign yelped and actually jumped backwards, releasing Stumpy in the process. The blue fire lizard darted over and started tapping on the egg curiously, and he was quickly joined by Roxie, who tapped on the opposing side. Then both of them jumped away as the top of the shell broke off and a nose peeked out, vividly red in tone and glittering in the light of day. The nose promptly jerked back into the shell before a musical set of fluting escaped it, clearly talking to the humming adult fire lizards all around. Stumpy’s response was to cock his head to the side, while Roxie edged a little closer, highly interested. The chittering got louder, and then the entire top of the egg exploded outward as the fire lizard within leapt into the air.

Very long wings flapped repeatedly, holding up the baby fire lizard still covered in egg goop. His entire body looked to be a pale brown - at least on first glance. But over his hindquarters and face were burnt reddish-toned bronze shades that made it impossible to deny exactly what color he was. He was on the smaller side for a bronze, though, and despite his insistent flapping, he fell to the table right next to Zesa before creeling quietly. His upset at falling was quickly dissuaded when he noticed the pretty! Shiny! Gold! Right next to him. Turning his head, the little bronze leaned over and nudged Zesa very lightly, then gave a low, pleasant flute. Wasn’t she pretty…! Pleasantly whirling purples, his eyes turned, from Meira -- and then to R’wign’s pies. Food! Food!

Leaping forward, the young bronze seized the end of one of the pies and prodded it with his claws. Upon discovering it wasn’t meat, he recoiled slightly, then looked up at R’wign before peeping in curiosity. Why was he feeding him something so nasty…?

“Don’t look at me that way,” R’wign said as the bronze flit neared him. “You don’t want me… You don’t-- shard it, you do.” Why, why did he always Impress just by looking at eggs wrong…?

[glamourie]

Name: Crash
Color: Bronze DBAAA87 883F13
Age: Hatchling
Gender: Male

Appearance: This bronze is rather small for his colour, and unfortunately his build does nothing to compensate for it. This is a male who is severely lacking in muscle mass and definition, and so when his slight form is grouped with short limbs and an almost abnormally long neck and tail, he can look positively scrawny at times. His wings are long but very narrow, meaning that while his speed and acrobatic proficiency will be impressive, his stamina will be more akin to that of a small brown than a bronze.

While most of his body is a pale shade of golden brown, his face smudged with a far darker shade of rich bronze that almost looks as if it’s been scorched onto his hide. His hindquarters and tail are specked with a similar shade -which shimmers significantly more than the rest of his hide- meaning that they catch the light beautifully when the light shifts over them. This bronze enjoys looping his tail around things, and so can often be found perching at odd angels from Hispet and various objects.

Personality: Curious and fond of bread crumbs, this is the sort of flitter that you desperately want to like, but can’t quite manage to trust. He’s pleasant, thoughtful and charming…but there’s just something about him that makes you wonder if he’s trying to hide something…but he’s not. Quite to the contrary, this flitter is always sincere about everything, and it’s really that mind numbing amount of honesty that makes him seem to shady. He speaks his mind and offers nothing but the sincere truth. Unfortunately, this means that unless you know him well, there’s a good chance that you’ll think he’s being sarcastic much of the time. Note: He has absolutely no sense of humor to speak of.

This flitter is irrevocably in love with being in love. Every female he meets is beautiful –regardless of her physical appearance, colour and even species- and goodness knows that while she has his attention, he’ll go out of his way to dote upon her and tell her exactly why he thinks she’s so marvelous. If it happens that a particular female does not return his affections immediately, all his efforts will go toward being as charming and sweet as possible until he manages to win her over. He’ll then move on to a new project. It goes without saying that he’ll break a lot of hearts, as this flitter will never be able to focus his affections on just one female. For this flit, love is a game that he aims to win.

[Avu]

R’wign’s staring went unnoticed at first; Meira’s gaze was, unlike the brownrider’s, focused very intently on the egg – but in due time, her gaze rose uncertainly, feeling R’wign’s eyes on her, and the wherhandler swallowed, dropping her eyes immediately again back to the egg. Zesa was focused primarily on the gently-hued, wobbling egg as well, her wings folded neatly over her back as her hum increased in pitch, eyes sparkling with excitement. The gold wasn’t looking for another firelizard to join Hers – she really wasn’t. Zesa was just very, very pleased at the idea of having a firelizard Hatch with her in attendance; she adored most young firelizards as long as they weren’t…weren’t like Ras, for example. The gold flapped her wings in agitation as R’wign spoke again. Why was he so upset? He was upsetting her – bad brownrider. If he was closer, Zesa would very likely have pecked at him reprovingly; she settled for an agitated flick of her tail. He was ruining the Hatching!

Zesa’s fretting was mostly distracting Meira, but the wherhandler still had to grin, amused, at the whining that R’wign offered in response to the thought of Impressing. The excuses were…impressive. “I’ll keep Zesa from clutching in the Infirmary, if it makes you feel better,” she countered, shaking her head from side to side rapidly, one eyebrow rising in amusement at the thought of someone…exploding due to excess of Bondeds; was it bad that she found that…funny? Probably, but the brownrider’s reaction was – what? For the dress – revenge – what? Her gaze rose again, and she blinked at R’wign, completely bewildered. The dress – the one she was wearing? Her hands rose, and she smoothed down the fabric unconsciously, still staring blankly at R’wign. He’d…he’d been responsible for the dress…? Disconcerted, Meira opened her mouth to respond –

– and was distracted by the egg cracking; R’wign’s yelp, along with the sound of the crack, made Meira immediately look back down at the egg – and Stumpy and Roxie, apparently. Were they…helping the hatchling? Zesa flicked her tail again, the gold’s humming nearly a croon of delight by now; she edged forwards eagerly as a reddish bronze nose emerged from the egg, followed by a set of croons that Zesa answered with a polite twitter of her own as she moved closer still, clearly fascinated by the sight of an egg that was not hers Hatching – and then the egg exploded and the queen’s wing jerked up to defend her vulnerable eyes instinctively, Zesa peeping curiously as the bronze hatchling tried to stay aloft on wings still covered in the typical egg-goop; the gold’s head followed the bronze’s ungainly descent from the sky and she crooned anxiously at him, though apparently his nudge and flute assured the gold that nothing was the matter with him. She crooned back, though why exactly his eyes were purple confused her; she wasn’t Rising and he was a hatchling.

Meira stayed silent, watching the bronze firelizard warily. As soon as he pounced on the pie, she extended her arm for Zesa, mentally calling for the queen as the bronze moved towards R’wign and the brownrider addressed the firelizard. As soon as Zesa made it clear that the bronze had Impressed, her faint humming finally fading into a pleasant trill, she dared to move, shifting closer curiously to look at the firelizard. Was R’wign really…upset? With her…? She didn’t want him to be mad, especially since she hadn’t thanked him for the dress yet – since he’d as good as said he’d bought it. She twitched at the skirts nervously with one hand, and tentatively broke the silence, glancing up at R’wign hesitantly: “I…I’m sorry…? I just thought, since it was Roxie…” She shrugged expressively, and then added, “He’s quite handsome…” And sweet, too, judging by his reaction to Zesa; the gold, who had moved to land on the wherhandler’s forearm, tail looping her wrist lightly, trilled approvingly at the bronze, and then chirruped softly at R’wign.

See? It wasn’t so bad; the way he’d been reacting, you’d have thought he was going to die.

[glamourie]

Crash twittered pleasantly at R’wign, his eyes surging to hungry shades to indicate exactly what it was he wanted. His tail swished back and forth, and then he flapped his wings to rid them of the egg goop that was making them heavier than necessary. Three - four flips and then, once they were dry, the young bronze flew over and latched to R’wign’s shirt. He climbed up onto his collar, wrapped his tail around the brown rider’s neck and took to chittering quietly in R’wign’s ear while insistently projecting his hunger onto his newly-bonded. The females were not forgotten, though, and he was making a show of wiggling his tail and wings to make the bronze of his hide sparkle. Wasn’t he pretty? So pretty, so pretty, but so hungry -- why wasn’t he being fed faster? He was going to wither up and starve at the rate his bonded was working, why why why…? Need. Food. To emphasize his point, he actually leaned forward and nipped the bottom of R’wign’s ear before nudging his chin again, undeniably in affection.

“Handsome,” R’wign said with a soft sigh. He hadn’t missed Zesa’s agitation, but for the moment, was not up to placating the gold. His fire lizards - save for Stumpy (who had taken the first chance to escape and zoomed off toward the food) - all came up to examine the new hatchling. Roxie in particular took an interest in the young male and twittered up to him, receiving a musical flute back that made her preen in delight. “Yes, I guess he is -- It’s just -- I can’t even be in the same room as them when they’re hatching of they come and latch onto me. Five was bad enough to feed, six is just - six is frightening.” His gaze flicked to the bronze nudging at his face and he gently peeled the baby fire lizard off, into his hands. “But I guess he is cute. It’s typical Roxie to fly into things. She does that always, I’ve had to buy tons of jars I never use -- I just shove ‘em in the infirmary to hold needle thorn, works well enough in my experience and they don’t go to waste… Now, what’m I gonna feed you…?”

Casually, R’wign walked back to the table and sat back down, his legs sprawling out on the seat he’d previously occupied. He supposed it was good that the fire lizard (for whatever reason) didn’t like pie; he wasn’t too fond of sharing his favorite snack. Oooh, Roxie. He was going to have to teach her some manners. And Collision hadn’t even bothered to wake up for the event. R’wign squinted, then leaned over to poke Collision in the side, earning an irritable peep in response. Rolling his good eye, he turned his attention back to Meira and held the bronze out for her to get a closer look at. The male squirmed in his hands, turned around, and positively preened at the idea of being examined, showing his wings off for all to see. Wasn’t he handsome? Gorgeous? Spectacular! His tail flicked animatedly and then he stood back up and stuck his chest out in a remarkably silly attempt at showing off. So many lovely ladies, he had no idea who to fixate on -- so he took to fluting pleasant compliments at both Zesa and Meira, as both of them had his attention sitting so close together.

“Umm -- there’s some marks left over from my pie,” R’wign said with a nod toward the set on the table. “Do you think you’d mind taking them and buying him some meat scraps…? I don’t want to move him, and I’m worried if I take him too near the meat stalls he might dive on them. That or my others will, they’re pretty much gluttons despite how often I feed them.” And it was obvious his fire lizards were well cared-for, given the vibrant glow of their hides. Even Collision, who was naturally stormy-colored, looked healthy, with a radiant sheen no one with eyes in their head could miss. No pun intended. “You can get a snack for Zesa with that too - he won’t eat all of that, and from the noises she keeps making at me, I’d guess she’s not happy. Are you, li’l gorgeous?” He always complimented Zesa; it was undeniable that R’wign definitely liked fire lizards. He just didn’t like Impressing them all that much anymore. Five -- SIX! -- was really too many. “Shards, what am I gonna tell Check when he wakes up from his nap… he’s going to be so amused. Why’d Roxie have to crash into an egg anyway…”

[Avu]

He really was cute, Meira noted, eyeing the bronze curiously – and sweet enough, it seemed; he wasn’t noisy or bad-tempered from what she could tell, and being as hungry as he undoubtedly was would have provided an excuse to shriek, too. A rather pale shade of bronze, but pretty nonetheless – and the way he was moving showed off the metallic quality nicely. Meira tilted her head to one side, her free hand stroking Zesa’s back as the gold watched Crash with as much curiosity as R’wign’s firelizards – but she didn’t move to examine him more closely; he was practically being swamped by the others, after all. She could look at him later, since he apparently very much enjoyed being looked at. The queen chirruped quietly, no longer as reproving; she looked almost pleased now. R’wign was clearly a good humanpet, or else why would all of them go to him…? So it was good that he’d Impressed and not someone else – the idea that Meira could possibly have Impressed did not occur to Zesa; Meira was Hers and why would another firelizard want her, after all?

Meira bit her lip, absently pushing the ball of her right foot at a tiny tuft of grass growing just underneath the table, eyes flickering to R’wign’s face uncertainly. She hadn’t really been – thinking about how the egg would have been taken before; it was just an egg she didn’t want and couldn’t return to the stall-keeper – and since it was Roxie that had caused the damage, the first person that had come to mind was R’wign. But he wasn’t – she didn’t blame him for not wanting the bronze, but – well, as long as he didn’t magnetically attract any more (but, like he’d said, they did tend to latch to him spontaneously) and stayed away from Zesa’s clutch while they were Hatching, six wasn’t…an immense number, especially since Hazard and Ellie seemed to be quite polite, Collision constantly slept, and the new bronze didn’t seem incredibly ornery – right? “At least he’s…nice?” she offered weakly, aware that it was rather pitiful consolation.

Taking another step took her directly up to the table again, and she crinkled her nose at Collision, distinctly amused; where did Zesa’s offspring get their habits from…? But nonetheless, as R’wign offered the bronze for her inspection, Meira duly examined him; a half-smile that was distinctly amusement flickered across her face as Zesa leaned forward to get a look at the young bronze as well – he was showing off, wasn’t he…? His fluting made the wherhandler raise her hand tentatively from the tabletop, wanting to stroke the bronze – he really was sweet but she decided against it, dropping her hand back to the table – baby or not, firelizards could still bite, and some firelizards didn’t like to be petted – she doubted the bronze fell in that category, but it was still politer to wait, wasn’t it? Zesa seemed to approve of the bronze as well; the queen trilled back at him, eyes whirling rapidly as the gold resettled, content with the short time she’d had for inspection.

Meira took a step back from the table, nodding at R’wign’s request as Zesa slid from her forearm to the table at her request, and picked up the marks, glancing at R’wign uncertainly – she wasn’t sure if she ought to outright apologize or not, since nothing could really be done about it – before she bit her tongue and headed for the stall, leaving Zesa to croon apologetically at R’wign, tucking her tail neatly around her haunches. She wasn’t unhappy with him anymore – it was just during that brief period when the bronze was actually Hatching; didn’t he know it was sacred in its own way – ?

The man running the stall was openly staring at R’wign and his colorful fair. Likewise, his daughter, who was too small to see properly over the counter, was stretching on her tiptoes, doing her best to stare, too; as Meira approached, the girl’s gaze flickered to her and then back to R’wign while the man blinked and then raised one eyebrow at her. ”Does he need meat?” he asked, looking almost amused. At Meira’s weak, almost apologetic nod, the man duly retrieved a bowl of meat scraps, offering them to the wherhandler. Exchanging it for two 1/32 marks, Meira retraced her steps back towards R’wign, but very audible was the little girl’s whispering: ”I thought he was the Pie Man – is the Pie ‘n’ Firelizard Man now…?” Pie and Firelizard Man – quite accurate, Meira noted wryly, as she set the bowl onto the table and then pushed it gently towards R’wign, dropping the remaining marks on the table as well.

“Here…and don’t worry about Zesa, either – she’s not hungry…” Her soft comment was emphasized by the gold’s reassuring croon – she wasn’t hungry.

[glamourie]

Nice -- for now. R’wign stared at the little bronze skeptically. He’d Impressed a bronze fire lizard once before, long ago. Li… named after Religna. The idea of her made his stomach turn over, and the other bronze wasn’t that comforting a thought, either. He’d been much bigger than the new hatchling though. Li was a large bronze, with a dazzlingly mossy-hued bronze hide that made him memorable. Of the three he lost in the plague that swept through the fire lizard (and salamandyr, though to a far lesser extent) population, Li was the one that hurt the most. Beggar, he’d been close to, but he was a very independent creature, living up to his name. Ennayoh was very shy and quiet in demeanor. Li was quiet, regal, almost snobbish in some ways and -- and Hazard reminded R’wign a lot of Li. Except that he was a brown. R’wign, up ‘til that point, was extremely happy he’d never Impressed a bronze. He wasn’t sure he could handle a reminder of his beloved little pet. Yet -- the way the baby wiggled in his hands, and looked up at him with positively loving eyes -- he couldn’t deny that the creature was adorable. But… Could he really handle another fire lizard…? It didn’t seem like he had a choice in the matter; that bugged him. More than that though was the fact that the fire lizard was… another male. Another male to chase Roxie and this time probably Ellie too. Great. Well, at least he had one of every color at last…?

R’wign’s gaze followed, soundlessly, as Meira moved to retrieve the meat. His head cocked to the side slightly and then he looked back at the bronze fire lizard in his grasp. The creature wriggled in delight, and R’wign crinkled his nose. Such an excitable little beast, so enthusiastic -- if he didn’t know any better, though, he would’ve thought the fire lizard was staring at Meira. Staring. There was a definite affectionate gleam in his eyes which made R’wign weary. The last thing he needed was a fire lizard following Meira around chirruping at her constantly. Zesa would surely not thank him for that. Though, he doubted he could stop the bronze if that was his ambition. After all, fire lizards tended to be quite independent creatures.

“What’m I going to name you?” he inquired of the fire lizard, oblivious to the eyes on his back. If he’d seen the look he was receiving from the people at the stall, he probably would’ve shown off some more. R’wign liked attention a little bit too much and would actively do things to earn staring. But, as it was, the fire lizard in his hands had his full focus and he lifted the little male to press his forehead against the baby’s. Maybe in time he’d accept him…? It was -- weird. Weird to imagine being with a bronze that wasn’t Li. Weird to imagine having another fire lizard. Just weird. The fire lizard gave a cheerful peep and leaned up to nip the tip of R’wign’s nose before swishing his tail insistently. R’wign snorted, then set him down on the table. “That’s very unhelpful. I should just start numbering you guys, it might be easier that way…”

As Meira came closer with the meat scraps, the baby bronze leapt to his wings and threw himself into the bowl head first. Several scraps of meat flew up around him, and he practically swam in it before poking his head back out of the top with one piece crammed into his mouth. His eyes whirled adoringly and he gulped down the meat before doing another dive into the pile, with low, almost trilling noises escaping him in his hunger. Even as the bowl was set down he barely seemed to notice, so focused on gorging himself was the hatchling. It would have been an adorable sight, if not for what happened next. The remaining flits (with the notable exception of Ellie) all dove straight into the bowl with the little bronze and began snarfing away. The gold herself looked at them with a hint of amusement, mingling with agitation. Pfft.

Rolling his eye (again), R’wign looked up at Meira and Zesa before smiling. “She’s not hungry…? Well, neither are they. They’ve eaten today.” Spying a green tail, he reached over and grabbed it, plucking Roxie out of the bowl effectively. The green gave a startled squawk and curled in against her body, hanging upside down and looking straight at Meira inquisitively. “Thank you got going to pick it up. Zesa’s welcome to some if she changes her mind, there’s no way they’ll eat all of that… not without Ellie helping, anyway, and she’s full.” Roxie squirmed in his grasp some more and R’wign deposited her on the table top. The green wriggled and rolled over before lying flat on her stomach, her expression clearly frazzled. R’wign ignored it. “What should I name the bronze?”

[Avu]

Zesa still eyed the baby bronze curiously, though for now, her interest was a passive one; the gold firelizard had settled herself comfortably on the table, lying flat on her stomach in the Terran Sphinx style, head up and eyes brightly appraising both R’wign and the bronze. Not one of her eggs, that had Hatched the bronze, but she had been at his Hatching, so he was, the gold decided, her hatchling – of sorts. Adopted hatchling, perhaps…? He was certainly sweet, and nicer than many of her offspring were (see Ras, Collision, and Brass for further reference); couldn’t she adopt him…? Probably Ellie would, though, Zesa noted idly. The younger gold’s clutch would be closer in age to the bronze than her previous would, after all, and the bronze’s was Hers, too. Hmm…the gold’s gaze slid to R’wign; was he still displeased…? It was a nice bronze; she didn’t understand why he wouldn’t be happy.

Why, exactly, the bronze was staring after Meira, though, the gold was not entirely certain, and her eyes flickered in confusion as she glanced from the hatchling to Hers, and then back again, to make sure it was indeed Hers that the bronze was looking at and not something else that would have been more amusing to a new hatchling. But – nope; it was Hers…why? The gold flicked her tail thoughtfully, watching in silence as R’wign picked up the bronze, talking to the young male in regards to his name. It should, Zesa decided, be a nice name – to match what he seemed to be like, personality-wise. She couldn’t help the trill at the idea of the bronze being named Six, or Number Six – no no no; that was bad – he needed a real name, a good name. The gold’s sound was more surprise than horror, though – she liked R’wign, and, therefore, she trusted him not to…not to pick such a degrading name. Be a good brownrider and be nice…?

Diving firelizard ahoy~

Zesa’s twitter was purely surprise, the gold’s wings flaring open as she took a quick hop backwards to avoid a chunk of flying meat before she nosed it back towards the bronze curiously, watching as he waded in the bowl of meat – fortunately it was shallow enough for him not to drown, though doubtlessly he’d be positively covered in blood when he reemerged. Manners, manners – what had happened to manners? But it was cute – and Hers thought so, too; the wherhandler was watching the bronze with a smile on her face, clearly very amused as dropped a stray piece of meat back into the bowl from where the bronze’s enthusiasm had spat it out – and then snatched her hand back instinctively as four more firelizards dove for the bowl as well – Hazard, Collision, Stumpy, and Roxie, for Ellie, like Zesa, seemed content to just look on; Meira watched the five firelizards gorging for a moment before R’wign’s words caught her attention and she looked up at the brownrider, the amusement still clear in her eyes.

“You can’t blame them for wanting to eat,” she pointed out, shrugging. It seemed reasonable enough – firelizards were practically slaves to their stomachs, most of the time (with Zesa, and apparently Ellie, being notable exceptions, it seemed) and R’wign bringing them to the Dining Area of a Gather and not expecting them to want to eat didn’t seem very likely. And anyway, it wasn’t like he hadn’t eaten quite enough himself, judging by the pie tins. Neglecting to point them out, Meira half-smiled at Roxie before she wiggled her fingers at the green in an amused kind of wave. From what she could see of the bronze’s enthusiasm, not to mention that of his dining companions (minus Roxie, now) – they looked as if they might actually manage to polish off the bowl, R’wign’s opinion aside.

As far as the bronze’s name went, Meira…didn’t really know. She shrugged one shoulder, flicking her hair out of her eyes thoughtfully. “I…don’t know – you don’t have any name preferences…?” How long it had taken him to name Roxie and Stumpy, Meira wasn’t sure, but Collision and Hazard had been pretty spur-of-the-moment, if she remembered correctly. Zesa chose that moment to pipe up in a high flute, offering the image of Roxie…crashing headlong into the egg stall and the corresponding chaos. Would that help…? He’d named Collision and Hazard for when they’d Hatched, but the bronze hadn’t done anything exceptional during his Hatching – perhaps that would help…

[glamourie]

“They always eat,” R’wign protested, his gaze settled on Zesa rather than his flits. The interest she showed in the bowl and its winged contents (more specifically in the bronze baby within) was highly amusing. Did she take such a fascination with all of her babies? Would Ellie…? The gold had only recently Flown (to be caught by some bronze weyrling’s bronze fire lizard, at that -- and he strongly suspected that the few times she vanished were her off seeking out a place to clutch) for the first time, so he had no idea what she would be like to her hatchlings. Considering her fondness of baby humans and other creatures, he could only assume she’d dote upon them. Not a thought he was looking forward to, since it was likely Ellie would expect him to dote as well. He was Hers, after all. Hnnn. “They’re far from starved. Do they look hungry to you? They’re just greedy; you brought meat and they automatically assume it’s for them. Really, they’re shameless… Once, I caught Stumpy trying to beg from a candidate because he was fool enough to believe that the fire lizard was wild and hungry. Never mind the sheen of his hide.” Fire lizards were identifiable as healthy by their hide’s sheen -- the brighter, the more healthy it was. All of R’wign’s flits were very well cared-for -- spoiled, even.

The fire lizards in the bowl continued to gorge themselves, before the little bronze finally came tumbling out. Across the table he rolled, until he came up next to Roxie. There, he curled into a neat ball, his head resting on his tail, and went to sleep. He seemed oblivious to the fact that he was completely covered in blood and meat-juice. Then again, fire lizards were not known for their feeding grace. Roxie looked at the baby for a moment before curling possessively (and protectively) around him, then she rested her head on the young male’s back. He was Hers now, she decided, and that meant she’d keep him safe so long as he was a baby… or so long as she remembered and he stayed in her good graces; whichever was more likely, really.

Digging around in one of his pockets, R’wign cocked his head to the side. His gaze lingered on Zesa, who earned an inquisitive flute from Ellie. The younger gold twitched her tail curiously, then nudged R’wign’s chin. The brown weyrlingrider lifted a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it over toward Ellie, who snatched it and moved over to actually rub it against the baby bronze’s body. The cloth came away covered in blood, leaving his hide looking good as new. When she was done, she moved on to Roxie, who rolled over and looked at Ellie in confusion. The gold simply twittered an explanation down to her green and continued to rub the cloth over her in a remarkably comical fashion, her own tail twitching back and forth. It simply wasn’t lady-like, being covered in blood that way, didn’t Roxie understand…? That inelegant behavior was fine for the males, but not for the females, they were prettier and simply better than that. The entire time she cleaned off Roxie, she chirruped and chattered (each very quiet) to express her point, while Roxie… primarily ignored her, though she basked in the attention. Typical Rox.

The image that flashed through his mind made him flinch and flush pink in embarrassment. Why his green could not land, despite being nearly four turns old, was beyond him. She was an embarrassment in many ways. He’d tried to teach her but Roxie wasn’t a good listener and she was even worse at being trained. Most of his fire lizards were obedient, eager to please. Roxie - not so much. The image of her smashing into an egg was so embarrassing that he actually bowed his head, though one hand snaked over to poke Roxie in the belly in response. Rather than be upset by her bonded’s agitation, the green wriggled and rolled over before fluting, and R’wign rolled his eyes. So oblivious she could be - it was hard to stay mad at the little bigmouth, most of the time. But -- the image gave him an idea.

“What do you think of the name Crash?” he inquired, the question more directed at Zesa than Meira; Zesa, after all, had expressed a very surprised chirp at the name ‘Six’ -- so obviously she wanted her opinion considered on the matter. That was R’wign’s logic, at least. While some people would doubtlessly have found it odd to ask a fire lizard what she thought, R’wign wasn’t most people, and anyway Zesa wasn’t most fire lizards. The question was partially posed to his flits, too, but most of them were still eating. Except Ellie, but… she was very, very distracted. “Since Roxie crashed into him -- do you think it suits him…?”

[Avu]

“I didn’t mean they were hungry,” Meira corrected, shaking her head slightly to emphasize the negative. “It’s just…I mean, most people think that firelizards constantly gorge…” Not inaccurately, as it happened, but Ellie and Zesa were exceptions; queens, perhaps, had a sense of dignity…? Zesa had never gorged – even at her Hatching, she’d eaten very, very daintily, and since then, she had never eaten until she was positively round and helpless, like firelizards were commonly reputed to. Bronzes, apparently, did not share that…dignity – awareness of how amusing it was to watch the hatchling gorge…? But he was cute – that much she had to admit. Some firelizards – i.e. the rest of R’wign’s fair – hadn’t seemed to grow out of their eat-till-explosion habits, but firelizards were still adorable enough to get away with a lot – the same seemed to hold true for Salamandyrs, though admittedly firelizards never actively seemed to exploit people like Salamandyrs did. The tale about the Candidate, though…Meira smiled, almost reluctantly amused by the blue, and cocked her head, trying to pick out Stumpy from the others in the bowl. “Smart of him – trying to get fed, I mean, not the getting caught part…”

Her gaze followed the bronze as he literally rolled out of the bowl of meat, and Meira smiled indulgently at the firelizard as he ended up across the table, next to Roxie, covered in small smears of meat and positively coated in blood, and promptly curled up to sleep. Zesa watched the bronze with the same level of curiosity as Hers; the queen stayed silent as Roxie, equally smeared in blood – and probably even more so now – curled up around the small hatchling. It hadn’t occurred to Zesa that the green would take “possession” of the bronze – if only because greens were not typically known for their motherliness. Shouldn’t she try to clean him, though…? He was very, very bloody, and people were staring – she’d just noticed it, but they were, particularly the younger children who were drifting by, pies in hand and in mouth. They would think that firelizards were so messy…and Ellie was taking care of that, then? Zesa, who had started to move forward, settled back down again, watching as the younger gold cleaned off first the bronze and then the green curled around her, scolding quietly all the while, before her gaze moved to R’wign.

The naming of the firelizard was an important matter, it was!

Meira, on the other hand, kept her attention on Ellie, Roxie, and the nameless bronze, a bemused smile twitching the corner of her lip upwards; it amused her that Ellie would clean them in such a way – she didn’t expect firelizards to preen and groom each other like felines, but using a handkerchief and rubbing in such a manner was distinctly reminiscent of a human rubbing dirt or blood off of another human, rather than firelizard from firelizard. Zesa’s sudden soothing croon, however, distracted her; it was aimed not at the firelizards nor yet at Meira, but at R’wign; why was he turning funny colors…? The imaging had been very, very accurate, right down to the distressed stall-keeper – Zesa could formulate surprisingly clear mental images; she always had – but Roxie hadn’t been hurt, and apparently neither had the hatchling within the egg, so what was the problem? Hers was self-conscious, she knew, but she didn’t associate the quality with R’wign in the least.

As Meira raised one hand to stroke Zesa’s back and wings, glancing at R’wign in a mixture of amusement and sympathy – watching Roxie collide squarely with such a large egg had been horrifying, to say the least – the queen nuzzled her hand absently, clearly considering the name. Definitely better than Six – and he would match Collision and Hazard, wouldn’t he? Her approval was very clear; the gold bobbed her head in an approximation of a human nod and twittered pleasantly to the brownrider, eyes whirling a bit more rapidly to express her delight with the idea. Meira glanced down at Zesa, head cocked slightly, and the gold arched her neck backwards to catch the wherhandler’s gaze solemnly. “Zesa’s the local naming expert now…? And…um, I guess I’ll leave you to your pies and firelizards…?”

Pie and Firelizard Man. Amusing.

[glamourie]

“Not all flits gorge,” R’wign commented absently. It was true that most fire lizards were prone to eat until they could eat no more - and some of his (like Stumpy) were among the worst in that respect. Roxie would eat whenever the others did, because the others did. Left to her own devices though, she followed Ellie’s example more often than not, and was an extremely active creature. Hazard probably was hungry; he had a tendency of filching food back to Collision, because the sleepy-blue only woke up to eat and was usually unhappy to find that he didn’t wake up exactly at meal time. His brown clutch brother took it upon himself to care for the little goof. R’wign found it sweet - but sometimes irksome. As for his talking -- he didn’t want Meira to leave. Maybe it was weird, but he was… enjoying her presence? Maybe if he kept talking she’d stay put; that was his goal, anyway. “They’ve all got really interesting personalities, in terms of pets. I mean, people can say what they want -- but all of my fire lizards have got really, really interesting personalities. I’ve heard people say most greens act this way, browns that -- it’s totally not true. They’re all unique in their own way and to generalize is just proof of ignorance if you ask me.”

Oblivious to Zesa’s interest in his fire lizards, R’wign mentally prodded Stumpy. The blue appeared instantly before him and landed right on the table, and R’wign captured the handkerchief from Ellie to clean him off. “Take Stumpy for instance. He’s scared of salamandyrs, yeah, and he’s pretty clever. He’s also disturbingly curious, and sometimes it gets him into trouble. Once he climbed into a numbweed jar and well you can just imagine how that went. His whole body was numb for a day and he sort of limply hung on my shoulder. He’s a really good listener though and he adores Roxie, won’t Chase any green but her. They’re mates. Of my group he’s the smallest for his color, and I’ve got to admit it, he’s one of the most amusing. Devious, too. Probably because he’s half-salamandyr. He was from Daeluunya’s first clutch.” The entire time he spoke, R’wign cleaned Stumpy off, and then when he was through, he picked him up and offered him over to Meira to hold. “He doesn’t bite. He’s sweet. You can take a look at him closer if you like. He’s kind of special; he can drop his tail the way a salamandyr does and regrow it. Most fire lizards can’t do that. That’s why he’s called Stumpy.”

The explanation made the little blue preen slightly and as he was held out, he turned and fluted pleasantly to Zesa. Being cleaned off, he hopped from his bonded’s hand and across the table to look right up at the wherhandler. His tail swished back and forth and he flared his tiny wings curiously before cocking his head to the side, obviously wondering what this one was to His. Since she was talking to him, she must have been something special, right?

“Roxie’s the oldest of the group, she’s from a clutch that me and Marra found when I first got here. She’s never been able to land though,” R’wign explained as he reached over to pluck a piece of meat from the bowl. “She might be the loudest fire lizard I’ve ever seen, but she positively adores me, and she saved my life when we were attacked by felines.” Holding the small sliver of meat out toward Zesa, R’wign smiled. “Me, Z’hin and Paryal I mean -- it was out by the river, before Aslath’s first clutch. That’s where I got all the scars on my torso.” He was talking to fill the silence. While conversing with Zesa was fun -- it felt weird not to talk to Meira, and he was pretty sure she knew almost nothing about him. He felt more comfortable babbling about the flits. “She, Beggar and Li all flew around to keep the felines from focusing entirely on me. I was the only one there without a dragon -- if not for them, I’d probably be dead today. Beggar and Li didn’t make it through the fire lizard plague, but Roxie did. She’s from the clutch that actually hatched Dael.”

Cocking his head to the side, R’wign eyed Meira for a moment before offering forth a moment of extreme bluntness, “Is there a reason you’re in such a hurry to be rid of me, Meira? Someone else you’re hoping to meet? Hot date?”

[Avu]

No, didn’t they…? Well, she already knew that, though Meira didn’t point it out – she was Bonded to Zesa, and wasn’t the queen proof positive that not all firelizards gorged? Running a finger lightly down the gold queen’s back, the wherhandler flicked Zesa a distant smile as the gold straightened, her gaze seeking R’wign’s face unerringly. This one was the more interesting, now; he was talking, and about firelizards – which meant, of course, Zesa had to know what was being said! Her tail flicked loosely to drape over Meira’s wrist, barely noticed by either firelizard or wherhandler as the latter glanced at R’wign’s firelizards, and then smiled, amused by the brownrider’s…rant? Was it a rant…? – on the firelizards’ personalities. She let him talk; interrupting was impolite and nothing she had to say was urgent enough to interrupt R’wign for anyway. She couldn’t stay completely silent, though, chuckling slightly at the thought of the firelizard falling into numbweed – something she hadn’t even considered possible before; certainly Zesa had never gotten into it once Meira had explained that she wasn’t supposed to.

Having the blue offered to her, however, made Meira glance questioningly at R’wign for a moment before she nudged Zesa, asking the gold without words to move her tail. Flicking her tail sideways obediently, the gold twittered pleasantly at the small blue as Meira lifted her hand as the blue approached to offer it to the firelizard. She wasn’t sure, exactly, how precise firelizards’ sense of smell was, or even if they insisted on being able to examine one’s hand before they were petted – Zesa liked to, but whether or not the queen was sniffing, Meira wasn’t sure of – but nevertheless she held her hand perhaps three inches away from the blue’s head for a moment before she touched his neck lightly, moving the tips of her fingers down the firelizard’s back – now, what was it about his tail…? It didn’t look too strange – long, and rather thin, but that was it – but being able to drop his tail would probably come in handy.

“Has he ever?” she asked, still looking at Stumpy even as she spoke. “Had to drop it…?” Meira’s gaze flicked up towards R’wign and then back to the blue, almost an automatic gesture, as Zesa, catching her mild curiosity, rose to her feet and made her way to Stumpy’s side with a light croon of greeting. Something about his…his tail…made Hers curious…? How odd.

The wherhandler couldn’t help the amused smile at the mention of Roxie not being able to land properly – she was pretty sure she’d seen that part of the green – as had the presumably very horrified egg stall-keeper – but she managed to bite back the slight giggle, even the smile fading as the brownrider went on – feline attack…? And…Z’hin. She bit the inside of her cheek; it was easier to focus on what had happened to R’wign as opposed to the people he had been with – and, speaking of which, Paryal? She’d been…Meira thought a goldrider – goldweyrling? – but she wasn’t entirely sure; the woman had been killed before she’d come, and she’d never actually asked for information. The wherhandler was leaning slightly against the table, watching Zesa as the gold crooned politely at R’wign and raised one forepaw to take the small piece of meat from him before she nuzzled the brownrider’s palm before she settled down to eat the…treat.

She watched Zesa for a moment before she tilted her head sideways slightly to look at R’wign, nervously; the firelizard plague had been one thing she’d been aware of – how did a firelizard’s death affect the Bonded, anyway? There had been several firelizard deaths during the Siege, she knew, but she’d never lost one personally and she didn’t plan to. “That’s brave of them,” she offered softly, not quite certain how deeply the loss had affected the brownrider; he certainly didn’t act like he was – lonely, but that might have been more because he was almost constantly, from what she could tell, surrounded by his five, now six, firelizards. “I’m…sorry they died,” she added, still addressing Stumpy instead of R’wign. But his question did make her eyes come up – and she couldn’t help flushing slightly as she shook her head in a quick negative. “I don’t have a date – “ If she had, she’d probably have gotten a ride with them (assuming it was a dragonrider) as opposed to R’wign, after all. “I don’t want to bother you,” she admitted, shrugging honestly. He seemed very busy…eating pies.

[glamourie]

“When he hatched, yes,” R’wign said with a slight nod. “That’s how I know he can do it. Lust - Kalierre’s salamandyr - ate it after he did it.” The mere mention of Lust’s name had an almost magical effect on Stumpy: the little blue actually shuddered, and R’wign cooed quietly to him to try and calm his nerves. Eyes whirling, Stumpy looked back toward R’wign and then edged behind Zesa, as though certain that the pretty gold would keep him safe. Lust was scary, he was, and very, very mean. Stumpy didn’t like salamandyrs at all, but he particularly didn’t like Lust, because Lust was absolutely the scariest creature to hatch on Pern. But if anyone could keep him safe it would be one of the pretty queens, wouldn’t it? And Zesa was older than Ellie which made her the senior queen, right? Right. And His had already explained to him that Senior Queen meant being in charge (although Stumpy did not really understand the drastic difference between fire lizard and dragon queens - he just knew that Millieth was absolutely beautiful and therefore the best queen ever, but Zesa was a close second, she was). “He hasn’t had to in a long time though. I’d probably be frightening if anyone dared to harm him now.”

Probably was an understatement, actually. R’wign took his fire lizards’ care and safety very seriously. From oiling them near-obsessively (not a single patchy spot could be found on any of them) to defending each and every one when they got into trouble, there was no denying his obvious affection for the little monsters, despite his constant complaining. R’wign liked to gripe - it made him happy. However, when it came down to it, he’d have missed them if they were gone - even one of his flits - for a candle mark. Every day he missed the fire lizards he’d lost and nothing would change that. And every day he was grateful for the ones he still had… even if he avoided hatchings like the plague. Some sort of weird magnetism he possessed just drew fire lizards to him. He didn’t understand why.

The rest of Meira’s statements made him smile slightly. “Very brave. Roxie can’t remember it at all,” he said with a slight smirk. “She’d probably be insufferable if she could.” Her apology made him shake his head and he reached his fingers out to rub Zesa as best he could. He was careful not to wipe any blood on her hide though. It was unlikely that the gold would thank him if he did something so inconsiderate, and he was getting better at reading fire lizard body language thanks to Ellie being so quiet. Before her, only Hazard was so evenly tempered. The rest were… loud. “I miss them sometimes, but -- it’s not your fault. I spent the following months studying dragon healing more obsessively, with Kalierre. She showed me how to stitch wings back together and taught me about dragon anatomy, allergies and basic remedies. They don’t teach that sort of thing at Healer Hall. It was a good learning experience. Besides… I don’t think I would have had the courage to Stand again - and actually hope to Impress - if Li, Beggar and Ennayoh weren’t gone. Before that, I sort of… hid behind them. I always resented hatchings because I couldn’t bring Li with me.”

Ellie winged her way over to perch right in front of R’wign’s chest as he sat, addressing Zesa more than Meira, though the words were meant for them both. As it was, he missed the slight embarrassment on the wherhandler’s face or he probably would have felt inclined to tease. Her words made her embarrassment clear, and he turned his good eye up toward Meira before raising an eyebrow. “Whatever have I done to give you the impression that you’re bothersome?” There was a definite note of curiosity in his voice that he couldn’t suppress. He didn’t think he came across as condescending or, at least, not as cruel in it; he didn’t know why Meira would view herself as bothering him at all. R’wign thought he was very approachable. “I like having you around. I’m determined to make you talk more, but I’ve concluded the best way to do that is embarrass you because then you protest and stammer disagreements. I’d suggest you start talking more often to avoid me having to resort to that though.” Smiling (playfully!), R’wign indicated one of his pies and cocked his head. “Want one? They’re delicious - as usual.”