today never happened before [r'men&weith]

[Avu]

“You’re…glowing.”

Jingth was nice enough, at least to Meira, not to just pin her with a stare that dripped sarcasm, the kind Meira knew she was perfectly capable of giving. Instead, the gold just blinked, slowly, and then said, Yes. The unspoken ‘and your point is…?’ that narrowly avoided being tacked on to the end hovered in the air between them, dragon and Rider regarding each other silently for a moment before Jingth pressed, /Yes…?/ This time, the question in the word was clear, emphasized by the ‘s’ being drawn out to the point of being sibilant.

“I,” Meira replied, blankly, entirely unsure as to what she was going to finish with. “I…just…didn’t expect it, is all.” She blinked, looking faintly embarrassed, and shrugged. “Which…is really stupid, I guess. I mean, all the green’s’ve already Risen and it’s not like I haven’t been told about goldflights and all, I just can’t really imagine…it.” Her voice dropped on the last word, and she blinked at Jingth, still not comprehending that her dragon, the one who’d crawled into R’wign’s lap to get to her over a Turn ago, was getting ready to Rise – there was no mistaking the glow for anything else.

You’re not frightened? Jingth questioned, gently, flicking her tail sideways to avoid Riaren pinning it down. The baby giggled, reaching out from his sitting position a few feet away from Meira to grab for the golden tail again. Meira watched him for a moment, tempted to curl up – felt more secure, even if she didn’t really know why she would feel anything less than totally safe with Jingth right next to her anyway. Mimic, draped over one leg and fast asleep, his sides rising and falling in time with the little breathy snores, discouraged that.

“Umm. I’m sure I will be.” There was a vague stab at wry humor in her tone, one that fell flat. Jingth was studying her carefully, solemnly. Then she twitched her tail just out of Riaren’s reach again, leaned forward, and nudged the baby a little closer to her side, affectionate and possessive, and Meira knew there would be some kind of jab coming.

It came.

I could let Dsoleth Catch me, Jingth commented, and her ‘voice’ was silky, laden with mischief. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. In fact –

She was interrupted by Meira’s burying her face in her hands to hide both the bright blush and the helpless grin at the teasing, mental laughter tickling. “Jingth, I don’t even – ” she groaned. “That’s not – I hate you,” she finished, still laughing despite herself as the waves of amusement emanated from Jingth. The gold rolled onto her side, huffing as Riaren grabbed the tip of her tail, levering himself on top of it, straddling it as if he was riding it. Jingth twitched her tail accommodatingly, careful not to unseat the baby, and then abruptly her tail slid to a stop, head turning thoughtfully.

I spy a Weith, and though the wording of the statement was lighthearted, her tone was decidedly less so.

[Sheari]

And indeed, Jingth did spy a Weith. The bronze was crouched down on all fours, slinking as though he didn't want to be seen. In truth, he didn't. He was hiding from His, it was a game. Oh yes. Weith slunk behind a tree and looked around. He couldn't see His but...could His see him? Where aaarrrreeee you? Weith turned his head quickly and ducked, squinting his eyes. No, the person he saw was not His. He moved from behind the tree, tail tip twitching in anticipation. R'menmine...?[/i]

Hiding.

The man that was the bronze mass's mindmate could see his dragon perfectly. He knew that Weith knew that the tree did not hide him. He knew that anything other than another dragon would not hide him. However, being only a fraction of the beast's large size meant that the boulder that R'men was behind covered him quite well. He was taking his time, however, in "finding" Weith. He was more distracted from their game by the gold dragon that his mindmate was slowly working toward. Too focused on dodging the stone in R'men's hand when it was flung at him, the bronze hadn't even noticed her yet. However, the glow would be unmistakable once he did. R'men had been grateful that Weith had ignored the greens that had risen. He could only hope for the same when Jingth went up.

I have found you R'menmine![/i] The man looked up to see a big bronze head looking down at him. If a dragon's face could be smug, Weith's was. Quick thinking, R'men twisted his arm back and released the stone he held. A smooth stone from the river (his fingers were still cold) so it wouldn't actually hurt him. The rock flung through the air and hit the dragon right above his right eye. In a display of theatrics, Weith put a paw to his eye, wings half furled, and stumbled backward until he fell on his rump. I am slain!--pretty.....[/i] came the thought into R'men's head. He looked at where the dragon's snout was pointing and his hope sagged a little. He had obviously noticed Jingth differently from the greens. As he should, but still...

Oh, hi Jingth.[/i] Weith straightened himself up, in an erect posture with his wings folded neatly and his tail curled. His chest puffed out a little as well, as if none of the dramatics just two seconds prior had a happened. He could stand her presence now, and he found it odd. R'men walked up then, keeping his expression pleasant with a hint of this-just-got-a-little-awkward. "Hello, Meira, little one," he greeted not yet knowing Riaren's name, as well as standing next to a creature that, for the first time in his life, he wished he could put a chain on to keep him away from the girls.

[Avu]

“A Weith,” Meira echoed blankly, and then exhaled. “It’s okay, love, I doubt he’ll come over here.” She hoped he didn’t. Meira really didn’t want to deal with her gold acting like a total brat and infant (which she did when it came to Weith; she was worse than Riaren in some respects). And, given how very obviously glowy she was, she’d probably be even worse. That would be just her luck, wouldn’t it? Although…‘proddy’ was a very loose term; was it too much to hope that Jingth would be nicer? Judging by the slowing of blue shades in her eyes, which narrowed as she focused on Weith, it was too much to ask. Great.

What’s he doing? the gold asked softly, watching in a mixture of curiosity and distaste as Weith drew ever nearer. His sudden dramatic acts, which landed him on his rump, earned a soft snort from Jingth, who curled quietly around Riaren, drawing her tail in to her side with the baby still riding it. She lowered her head, close enough to Riaren that her breath stirred his hair, though her attention was still on Weith; she didn’t notice when Riaren squeaked in delight and raised his hands to try to pet her muzzle. To be fair, Meira didn’t really notice it, either, still watching Weith with a kind of helpless dread.

His greeting, and sudden erectness, was startling in its politeness; Jingth’s tail twitched at the tip and Riaren grabbed for it again. The gold’s eyes narrowed upon Weith, though her position was still relaxed, sprawled loosely over the ground. Weith, she acknowledged, the same edge to her ‘voice’ as always. Just because she was glowing didn’t mean she liked him any better. If anything…You may pass, she informed him, her tone indicating clearly that if she hadn’t given him express permission, he wouldn’t be allowed to. Good-bye. Dismissive.

She wanted nothing to do with the bronze. Which, Meira supposed, was kind of okay. Better than her flirting with him or anything – Meira didn’t think she’d be able to watch that without her brain short-circuiting. Flirting in general for Jingth was fairly uncharacteristic. She cuddled with ‘her’ males, sure, but actual flirting…no.

“Hello.” The word was quiet, awkward. Meira blinked up at R’men, fairly bewildered. “Um.”

Her hesitation was interrupted by Riaren wiggling his fingers in greeting at R’men and offering a cheerful, “Hi!” before his attention turned to Weith and he cooed, holding out his hand in greeting. “Hello, pretty.” Shiny. Jingth was shiny too, of course, but this was a new shiny. And he already had a Jingth. He was sitting on her, after all. The gold’s low rumble was definitely antagonistic this time, Jingth drawing her tail closer to her side and bringing Riaren with it, almost curling entirely around him. She was hardly willing to share the hatchling, pfft.

Meira managed not to outright gape at Jingth, though it was a pretty close thing. Instead, she looked nervously at R’men, nodding at Weith in absent greeting, and then asked, almost blurted, “He isn’t – um, I thought he hated her?”

Because yeah, that was a much more appropriate question than ‘He isn’t flirting with her, is he?’

[Sheari]

I would have passed without your approval either way, Jingth.[/i] The hint of smart comment was there but the statement was more matter-of-fact. He sat proudly, looking Jingth in the eye. There was almost a childishness about him, in his demeanor. On other terms, yes, maybe he would have sneered and his comment would have truly held a proud edge to it followed by him strutting by (leaving his looking at the ground sheepishly). No, instead, he was more of the frame of mind that Jingth, was no in fact the gold that had bitten him when they'd hatched; she was the Queen close to rising.

He fully intended to chase.

No! By the golden egg of Farnath,please no! R'men's mental pleading fell on deaf ears. Outwardly, he smiled back at Riaren with an enthusiastic "hi" in return. The little one was cute, he had to admit. "I thought he hated her as...well...?" Obviously, the change in the bronze was as unexplained to R'men as it was to anyone else. "I'm not sure what to make of this." The man craned his neck up to look at Weith's head, right hand resting on the back of his own in confusion.

Weith ignored any pleading from His about his own intentions. He personally began wondering why he'd never seen Jingth as the beautiful creature she was. His head felt slightly fuzzy on that thought. It didn't really seem to make sense. The bronze's attention, however, was distracted by the "hello, pretty" from Riaren. He ignored Jingth's curling around the little human. How good of him to realize the good looks the dragon possessed. He was more than pretty, he was absolutely stunning! A shame Jingth didn't think the same. Tell the Little Bronze that he is intelligent for recognizing that I am pretty.[/i] After all, only another bronze would be smart enough to recognize Weith and still harbor favour with Jingth.

R'men's face contorted into a "what...?" expression before he looked down. "Uhm, Weith told me to tell 'Little Bronze' that he appreciates the comment," he directed at Meira. He was unaware of whether the woman heard Riaren's words to Weith, so his comment was a bit sheepish. "You've obviously met, Weith and I but...what's your son's name? If I may ask?" Anything to change the subject.

[Avu]

And yet you remain. Her tone was rapidly falling into the realms of actual coldness as opposed to simple disinterest and dismissal. She was irritated. Why was he just sitting there? Of course in a Weyr there were bound to be run-ins, but generally Jingth just breezed past him like he didn’t exist, and expected that to hold true with Weith, too. And she may or may not have been cheerfully turning her favorite bronze against him. Such a nice partner-in-crime, Kierjaarth made. His company, she would have welcomed. Weith…not so much. The Weyr is a large place, Weith. Surely Yours, even if you are not, is capable of finding another location that will please him?

Oh. Well.

Meira blinked at R’men’s words, mouthing a quiet “oh” in response. Well. How awkward. This was somewhat akin to being told that the sky was purple. Weith and Jingth hated each other: It had just been another constant, unchanging and invariable. And…well. At least her half of the constant was still the same. Childish half-insults and all. Perfect.

We could…go, she suggested to Jingth, but the gold didn’t even deign to reply to that – she knew the answer. Why would she allow Weith to inconvenience her? No; she had been there first and therefore, Jingth reasoned, it was her spot more than it was Weith’s (although the gold also considered the entire Weyr to be hers, which, by proxy, made Weith hers. He was just the irritating one she would disown if she ever got the chance to). Meira decided that now was probably not the best time to point out that Weith’s existence, without fail, managed to irritate Jingth at least for a while.

And she would be the one coping with a sulky queen dragon. Wouldn’t that just make her day.

Little bronze, what?

Jingth’s head turned to appraise R’men for a moment before she corrected to Weith, If you must label the hatchling a color, I believe ‘brown’ would be most appropriate. Condescending, who, Jingth? Neeeever. After all, she was just being helpful. Suuure. Riaren didn’t seem too fussed, still smiling up at Weith, hand extended hopefully. His fingers wriggled as he leaned forward on his perch on Jingth’s tail, trying to touch. Such a pretty shiny~

“Ah, Riaren,” Meira replied, crinkling her nose faintly in Jingth’s direction. “His name’s Riaren…um, I hadn’t realized you hadn’t met, I’m sorry…Riaren, sweetie…” Jingth’s tail swept towards her, Riaren’s hand dropping to cling on to his ride. “Riaren, look, this is R’men, can you say that…? And Weith’s his dragon, yes?”

“Hi, R’men,” Riaren echoed obediently, wiggling his fingers in a wave at the bronzerider briefly. It was still definitely Weith that held his fascination, though. “Hi, Wei’. Pretty. C’n I keep him?”

[Sheari]

Me and Mine have as much right as you and Yours do to be here, Jingth. Surely you aren't yet addled enough by your current mood not to realize that?[/i] There, how was that for a response. It was true, he could hardly stand the gold's presence, he hardly understood why he could now. Perhaps it was due to her glow? Yes, that must be it, Jingth was glowing, and as much as Weith hated to admit it, her shine attracted him. He hoped it went away soon. Indeed he did, he didn't really want to be around her more than he already was, though he just, couldn't, pull away.

The mouthed "oh" was enough to make R'men unsettled. So, she didn't know what to make of it either? But, she was a qoldrider, right? The man was ignorant of anything involving Meira before her Impression of Jingth, heck, his own was sort a blur at times. He did know that she had been pregnant during that time, Riaren was a testament to that. At the child's hello and wagging fingers, R'men forgot his unease and crouched down to the little one's level. The smile on his face was a bit comical, and he reached out to touch the little hands. "Can you keep him?" The man looked up to Weith's shoulder (it was easier than trying to look at his head) and then back to Riaren. "I'm not sure he'd follow you around as much, and I don't think Jingth would like it too much. You can try, though."

Weith also bespoke Riaren, but holding back wasn't too hard. You may prefer browns, but a bronze is never to be denied.[/i] He directed to Jingth. I will let you be delusional. "Queen" is similar to "Green", after all.[/i] Thus, the petty insults had worked their way in. Weith had really wanted to finally have a decent conversation with the gold. The constant fighting simply wasn't practical and though he was but one dragon in the whole weyr, the tiniest bit of in-fighting could lead to disarray. Certainly, not all of the weyr dragons disliked him so much, right?

Weith, you're addled.
I am no such thing. It's the pretty Jingth who is.[/i]
Did you just call her pretty?
No.[/i]

"I, uh...could leave...if you like?" R'men offered. "They've never gotten along and I don't think they ever will." Really, he was more than willing to leave if it made Meira's day better. He didn't really know the woman, but that didn't mean he wanted to inconvenience her with the presence of his dragon irritating her's. Maybe one day, they could actually have a real conversation over a cup of klah...and for once not have to apologize to each other for the comments they didn't hear.

[Avu]

Really, Jingth said, and her voice had transformed into a kind of sickly sweetness, the kind that left a bitter aftertaste, the kind that came with a handy little sign with flashing neon lights that spelled ‘DANGER’, Enlighten me, Weith. What mood, exactly, would that be? Her claws tapped lightly against the ground, occasionally clicking lightly when they struck a stone; the gold’s head was tilted, her eyes barely touching on unpleasant yellows. She was, after all, fairly good at pretending, even if it had to be very, very obvious that she was feeling less than generous towards Weith. Oh, she knew she was being snappy, but he deserved it.

And…yes. He was simply digging himself further in a hole, as far as Jingth was concerned. Her eyes narrowed briefly, still primarily blue – albeit a very slow, forced blue – at his petty little insult. Compare her to a green, did he? Of course, I would never /dream/ of denying a /real/ bronze, she crooned, still too sweet. Kierjaarth, for example. You, however… Jingth tilted her head a little further right, gaze sliding down the length of Weith’s body. I find myself disinclined to wish upon /anyone/, particularly /my/ hatchling. Her tailtip swayed, dragging lightly over the ground, Jingth ending with an altogether too pleasant rumble.

Riaren’s face crinkled slightly, though not in upset of any kind, as Meira caught his hand, tugged him gently off of Jingth’s tail. He allowed himself to be pulled against his mother, leaning against her side, closest to Weith and R’men, and tucked his head against her shoulder. “How?” he asked. “Jingth won’ mind, I promise.” He blinked large green eyes up at R’men, hesitated, and then asked, “You won’ mind either, will you? He’s yours. Right?”

Just because he may or may not be attempting to collect every dragon he saw (thus far: Jingth, Checkoth, and Behruth were definitely part of that collection, Kierjaarth was a to-be-collected and Millieth was Kai’s) didn’t mean he wanted to upset their owners. “You could have,” he paused, looked around for inspiration. Not a Mimic, even though the Salamandyr was appropriately close at hand. He liked Mimic. “Um. Something?”

Meira rested her chin idly on top of Riaren’s head, glancing in Jingth’s direction with something approaching relief. Bickering was normal. Bickering she could deal with. Flirting…just absolutely short-circuited in her mind. It did not compute. Not Jingth and Weith. Just…no. “Well,” she murmured wryly, looking back up at R’men, “I guess some things are constants. If – I mean, Weith doesn’t really look like he’s going to move anytime soon, but if you could – I mean, it’s not personal, it’s just Jingth and Weith and…yeah. I’m sorry…could you, though?”

Wow. She really seemed to spend most of her time with R’men apologizing to him.