do you remember the night [yoalla]

[Avu]

“Ow,” Vix grimaced, and wiggled his fingers dubiously. “Oh, look, I didn’t completely lose feeling in my fingers. What does that mean, my nerves aren’t dead? That’s helpful.” He blinked doubtfully at his hand, grasping it at the wrist with his other hand in the vague hope that it might help stop the flow of blood that was dripping from a gash that spanned his palm, deep and ragged at the edges. “This is seriously – ow. Maybe I should – maybe I should just never touch another knife again. Faranth. This sucks.” His frown deepened, Vix twitching his fingers again. “Huh.”

The Infirmary might be a good idea, Tekivisk offered weakly, attempting to lick the blood from Vix’s elbow. He twitched sideways and glared, and she ended up licking unhelpfully at empty air. She blinked reproachfully, whining quietly as she edged closer to him again. He was cut, shouldn’t he doooo something about it…oh, the green added, stepping on the hilt of the guilty knife (it was edged in scarlet), he should probably pick this up if he could, someone might step on it and that wouldn’t be good at all…it would hurt.

“Like I’m hurting now?” Vix inquired, voice edged with indignation. “Yeah, ‘ki, I kind of did realize that. I just – I don’t have that many hands, okay? I also don’t want to stab myself in the foot ‘cause I couldn’t hang onto it, my hands are all slippery…” He hissed a quiet curse, curling protectively around his torn hand. “I’ll come back and get it. Someone would have to be about fifteen kinds of dumb as a post to hurt themselves on a knife that’s not even doing anything but lying there. Like, what, they’re going to trip and conveniently land face-first on the pointy end? I don’t think so. It can wait.”

He pressed his palm against his pant leg (it had already been stained by blood dripping from his hand, a few more smears wouldn’t make a difference), hissing softly at the sting of pain. “Unless you can grow a pair of arms miraculously – I mean with opposable thumbs, ‘ki,” Vix sighed, eyes narrowing as the green pawed at the knife hilt hopefully, “Two toes doesn’t really do much, no offense. Now seriously, can we go. Human beings only have so much blood, you know, I don’t really want to bleed out by the river, that would be inconvenient, all things considered, move it.”

And Vix brushed past Tekivisk, kicking the hilt of the knife as hard as he could. It spun in the direction he was going, whirling around and smacking into a rock. So he abused his knife. So what, it abused him. Now they were even.

[Kisha-Ra]

‘I thought you wanted to hunt.’ Yoalla commented, giving her wher an inquiring look as the wher returned to her side at the bouncy trot the green most often used when she thought she was out of sight of anyone but those she trusted. There was no way Yosk could have made a kill in the short time she’d been out of sight, and Yoalla would have known if she had. Yosk did take quite some pleasure in a successful hunt.

Yosk gave a soft bark. Yes, she had wanted to hunt, still did, but there was something else to do now. Yoalla cocked her head to on side inquiringly. ‘And what is that Yosk?’ She asked patiently, because a display impatience would only be taken as disapproval by the flighty wher, as she had learned in the past. Yosk blinked. Oh yes, the blood. Human blood, not far from here. Someone was hurt, and yelling about it a bit. Tekivisk’s. Not good. Sniff, the taste of blood on the air, see?

Yoalla sighed heavily, did people really have to hurt themselves in her vicinity? She was actually trying to relax dammit. ‘Alright I’m coming.’ Yoalla wouldn’t actually know Tekivisk’s handler from an assortment of other people, though she’d recognise his wher, but she didn’t credit him with sense (who with sense went around hurting themselves?) so she supposed she’d better go and check it wasn’t serious. With another put upon sigh Yoalla climb on her wher’s back and patted the muscular shoulder lightly. ‘Let’s get on with it then. The sooner we sort them out the sooner you can go back to your hunting, hmm?’

Yosk moved swiftly along the riverbank, the other green wher and her handler were apparently not very far away, in fact if the wind had been the other way Yoalla would have heard most everything for herself. It was amazingly easy to tell when the other greenpair was nearby, Yosk changed from her bounding gait to a more sedate, and more guilty looking, walk. The pale green barked in alarm at the knife that went skittering across the ground, and Yoalla snorted softly. ‘That’s right, see if you can slice your foot open on the way.’ The greenhandler said to the shadowy figure walking away. Slipping to the ground she wandered over to retrieve the offending knife and gave it a glance over. Bloodied, and now somewhat dented, probably need a lot of sharpening.

Yosk cringed slightly and lifted her wings before thinking the mildest of rebukes at he handler. It was Tekivisk’s she was supposed to be looking at, not the knife.

[Avu]

Oh, company. Just what he needed.

Vix scowled at Yoalla’s words, not bothering to ask where she’d come from. It was an unspoken rule—whenever he was even mildly discomfited, somebody had to turn up. It could be Kostya (it normally seemed to be, anyway), or Darmori, or some random Drudge or just somebody. But always somebody. He should’ve guessed. “The hilt doesn’t bite, you don’t have to worry,” he replied, because making minimal sense was a specialty of his when he had blood dripping steadily down his wrist. “I checked. Or should I apologize for not picking it up with the extra hand I don’t have?”

Tekivisk blinked apologetically in the darkness, nuzzling Vix’s thigh before she slunk towards Yosk and Yoalla, crooning tentatively at the older green. So sorry for VixHers, she was, but he was hurting and hurting made him grumpy. She decided that the fact that Vix was almost always grumpy, at least outwardly, was best not mentioned; she didn’t want to put Yosk’s off of Hers, after all. Friends were good. They should all be friends. So…apologies, yes?

“Stop apologizing,” Vix told her, not bothering to censor his thoughts in from of Yoalla, “Unless you want to stick around with them for a while, I don’t care, I’m going to fix this stupid leak and I’ll find you later. Forever and a day later, probably.”

Only a little grumpy, Tekivisk whispered quietly to Yoalla and Yosk, blinking at Vix uncertainly. It had been a while since he’d last threatened to ditch her and not come back. The green pawed anxiously at the knife’s hilt, dual-toed paw trying and failing to pick it up. Well…maybe Yoalla would be ever so kind and pick it up for them? Put it on a rock maybe, so nobody would step on it. That would be so nice of her and she was sure VixHers would be grateful once…once he wasn’t grumpy.

Which, unfortunately…forever and a day. If they were lucky.

[Kisha-Ra]

Yoalla merely raised an eyebrow at the young man, a gesture that inferred, without making a sound, that he was young, careless, and rather stupid to boot. It was a good little gesture, and Yoalla had plenty of chances to practice it because there were so very many people around that she thought so little of. Apparently an upbringing in Bitra hold was just not conductive to giving people the benefit of the doubt.

Yosk stepped forward a pace and stretched her neck out to press her muzzle gently against Tekivisk’s shoulder for a brief moment, feeling guilt ridden about daring to touch the other green but also, timidly, trying to extend a little comfort towards the other wher. Tekivisk need not worry, Yoalla could be grumpy too, so maybe the two humans could wear out their grumpiness with each other yes?

Yoalla snorted slightly at Yosk’s conversation with the other green wher, but reached out to pat the side of Tekivisk’s blindingly green neck in the same comforting way she so often touched Yosk. Then, calling after Tekivix, the greenhandler allowed a note of irritaion to enter her voice. ‘You know Yosk didn’t bring me here to listen to you insult your wher, she actually thought to bring you some help. The kind with hands.’ The young woman’s hand ran comfortingly along Tekivisk’s neck again to let the wher know Yoalla wasn’t insulting her for having no hands. It was, however an unfortunate lack of wherkind in certain circumstances. ‘So if you wanted to stop marching off dripping blood everywhere maybe I could slap a half decent bandage on it to stop some of the bleeding until you get to the infirmary.’

See? Yosk blinked at Tekivisk. Grumpy. They matched perfectly, therefore Tekivisk was right, they should all be friends, the paler green lifted her head cautiously, remembering to keep her huge eyes squinted half closed so she didn’t horrify poor Tekivisk.

Yoalla looked down at Tekivisk’s paw trying vainly to pick up the discarded knife. ‘You’re probably right. Such things do have a habit of turning up in the worst possible places.’ Yoalla agreed with the wher, some brat could easily come across the bit of sparkle and pick it up, or someone’s beloved pet slice its mouth open licking at the bloody blade, or any number of other things. With that in mind Yoalla picked up the abused blade and, for the moment, stuck it in her belt, wedging it tightly behind the sheath that held her own belt knife. ‘So.’ The greenhandler cocked her head inquiringly at Tekivix. ‘Are you cooperating, or complaining?’

[Avu]

Double negative made a positive, Tekivisk agreed contentedly—why two negatives made a positive she hadn’t the faintest idea but she knew it—the green hummed, a small happy sound bubbling in her throat as she leaned into Yosk’s touch, not at all shy about nuzzling back into the older wher’s side. She repeated her content murmur at Yoalla’s touch, twisting her neck to swipe her tongue along the young woman’s palm. Company was ever so nice, and being able to touch was better—Tekivisk was very touch-oriented (much to Vix’s dismay, though he’d mostly given up pushing her out of his bed in the middle of the night by now unless he had a rare fit of petulance).

“Help?” Vix mouthed silently, and then blinked, utterly discomfited; he stilled, blinking at Yoalla. People did not just help, unless they wanted something—not that Vix had anything, really, anyway. He wouldn’t just decide to stop and help, other than to tell someone to stop bleeding in the river, they drank from that, thank you very much, the Infirmary was that way, so why on Pern was she trying to help him? He frowned, struggling to come up with an adequate response—something that was vaguely reminiscent of pride kept him from outright accepting the help, much as he wanted it, because ow.

He stood dumbly while Yoalla picked up the knife, scowling weakly as her attention fell onto Tekivisk briefly, a surge of possessiveness rising, “Don’t see why I can’t do both, isn’t that called multitasking?” He did deign to move over to Yoalla, though, tugging his sleeve back. It was rimmed in blood, the gash spanning his palm deep and still sluggishly bleeding, trickles tracing the lines on his palm and fingers. “Cooperating,” he sighed, and absolutely did not pout, “Don’t suppose you carry around bandages with you, do you…”

Thank you, Tekivisk whispered quietly to Yoalla, the green bumping her head lightly against the girl’s thigh before she turned back to Yosk, content to make friendly with the wher now that she was sure Hers was not going to bleed out—she was convinced he would if he just kept bleeding like that. Humming softly, Tekivisk rubbed her head against Yosk’s shoulder, so nice of her and Hers to think of stopping and helping. Had taken VixHers by surprise, they had. Not many people helped, he thought, the green commented, pawing idly at the grass underfoot and trying to clasp it between her toes, they mostly passed by and just left…

[Kisha-Ra]

Yoalla could practically feel the confusion rolling off the other handler without being able to clearly see his expression. To be honest it was a confusion she sometimes shared, Yoalla wasn’t certain where along the line she’d changed from the blatantly self centred doxie who’d arrived in this Weyr into the person she was today, nor was she entirely certain whether it was the attitudes of the southern continent or something about her mindmates, or possibly a combination of the two that had changed her, however she was certain that it was often a point of confusion.

‘No that would be called being annoying.’ Yoalla responded to the inquiry. ‘Or possibly just pigheaded stubbornness.’ Nevertheless she moved forward to examine the wound that brought her here with a critical eye. ‘Do I even want to ask how you managed to do that?’ She asked rhetorically, and moved on to fishing in a belt pouch that any pickpocket would be very disappointed to steal, because despite the way it bulged it contained no marks at all, only a few basic supplies for a night spent out in the jungle. ‘Strangely enough, yes, and believe me after a few accidents in the jungles around here you’ll think about it too.’ Yoalla refrained nobly from adding that he might want to think about it now if he was always so accident prone and finally laid her fingers on the rolled bandage she wanted.

Yosk raised her head a fraction and gave Tekivisk as doubtful a look as she could manage with her eyes half closed. Yosk didn’t mean to contradict, she didn’t, but would Tekivisk happen to know just how long it took for the two negatives to make positive? Because their two handlers still seemed rather negative to her…

Yes. Yosk agreed, returning Tekivisk’s touch by rubbing her head against the other green’s neck since she seemed to want to be touched. Hers could be nice, she just hid it well sometimes, always kind to Yosk though, even kind to her little mindmates, even though they could be dreadfully annoying. The short huff Yosk provided along with this information showed exactly what the green thought of Yoalla’s pets most of the time. The wher was happy to rank Lao and Zai as alright since the bronze was sweet despite his gender confusion and Zai spent most of her time asleep. The salamandyr and the youngest firelizard however, were nothing but trouble. Tekivisk should watch out for those little ones she should, if her handler felt he must go to their hatchings she should be sure he got a pleasant one.

Left? Oh no, Yoalla would not be leaving, Yosk would be sure of that. The pale green found herself responding firmly. Ah well it wouldn’t keep her from her hunting for long she thought, being sure not to project that to Tekivisk, that would be rude, Yosk didn’t want to make anyone feel bad, besides waiting a little longer to hunt might help her in getting rid of some of that fat (and she was fat no matter what her handler said, she could she it, she could), if it worked for human females it was bound to work for Yosk.

Yoalla took the offending hand and, regardless of how much it might hurt Tekivix, began to apply the bandage firmly around the wound in an effort to get it to stop bleeding all over the place. ‘You’re still going to the infirmary with this.’ She looked up to catch the other handler’s eye, she had a feeling he might avoid the infirmary out of pride, or pigheadedness, if she didn’t insist. ‘I only know enough to get people patched up well enough to limp to a healer without dying on the way. Anyway I’m coming with you. I need to pick up some more bandages now, you know how it is, if I don’t whatever Yosk hunts later will manage to bite, claw, or kick me and I’ll feel a total idiot for not having any. There you go. That should keep most of your blood on the inside.’ Yoalla added the last couple of sentences as she tied off the bandage.

[Avu]

“I’m okay with both of those,” Vix replied, crinkling his nose honestly and deciding it was probably best to ignore that Yoalla was prettier than he’d originally given her credit for—blame the many shadows, how dare the night be so very dark—and wasn’t that just his luck? The question was answered with a slight, evasive noise in the back of his throat, Vix making an expressive face. “Long story, actually,” he replied, the lie ringing false even in his own ears, and attempted a lopsided shrug, trying to hold his hand still. Difficult when the pain was beginning to turn into an ache. His fingers twitched slightly, as if in gloomy resignation of more pain forthcoming.

“Ow!” he complained—just because he could, ha—at the application of the bandage, reflexively jerking his hand backwards away from the pressure before he caught himself and held still, blinking away the uncomfortable prickle of what were definitely not tears. No. Never. “For numbweed if nothing else,” he grumbled, although it was an agreement. He swallowed, tipping his head back to stare at the sky, searching for anything to distract him from his cut hand being manhandled. Yoalla’s rant did the job admirably. “Well, sorry for wasting your bandages,” Vix said, dropping his hand as soon as Yoalla let go and taking a step back, “Thanks.” The word came out uncomfortable, but still sincere.

Bleeding out was not, and had never been, high on Vix’s list of Things To Do As Soon As Possible Because It’s Just So Fun. Vix sighed. Normally he would’ve stuck his hands into his pockets, but smearing blood all of his pants as well was also not something he planned on doing in the near future. He left his hand to hang, throbbing regularly, at his side instead. “Infirmary, then,” and he turned and began walking back towards the Weyr.

Nice, Tekivisk was busy commenting to Yosk, the green purring in blatant delight at the touches, was already positive, so there! They were already getting somewhere, weren’t they. And VixHers had a little pet too, a Salamandyr. And he was ever so sweet—(Tekivisk was blissfully oblivious to Rook’s abusive, passive-aggressive tendencies when he didn’t get what he wanted because she always gave him what he wanted, how could she resist him when he was just so polite and adorable asking?)—so she supposed VixHers had gotten lucky, hadn’t he? And, she whispered confidentially, he really did love Rook, VixHers did, even if he pretended not to. Weren’t humans funny?

She bounced to her feet, a brief lick rasping across Yosk’s shoulder agreeably, as Vix turned to leave, tail slithering across Yosk’s invitingly. Come along; they could race if she wanted, huh? The green dropped her forequarters playfully to the ground—it didn’t occur to her that Yosk might not want to play, since she spent more of her time with Darmosk and he always wanted to play, did her roommate—and then took off to circle Vix once, letting Yosk catch up. Could they race, Vixlove, coooould they…?