throwing beams of bright lights [r'wign]

[Avu]

The best part of a ground weyr was…well, the ground. No need to worry about Riaren falling off the weyrledge or anything like that (though Jingth and Mimic both vehemently protested the very thought; as if they’d let that happen) and it made for easy access to the outdoors. And Riaren very clearly liked the outdoors, muggy and hot and damp as it was. Jingth had complained about what she’d described as ‘irritating weather’ and Mimic had become lazy, preferring to drape himself over Riaren’s shoulder and croon pleasantly at him than bouncing around, but Riaren was still very much interested in being outdoors.

Unfortunately for him, Meira was less than crazy about running around with him (although Riaren couldn’t move very quickly yet without help and it was more like just walking) and had, therefore, distracted him. The four of them – four counting Jingth and Mimic – were sitting half on and half off the weyrledge. Meira was sitting on the edge of the stone, Jingth sprawled behind her and humming contentedly low in her throat – the day wasn’t entirely as overcast as was normal and a breeze had actually picked up – while Riaren sat facing Meira, leaning against her knees, Mimic snoozing in his lap.

“Look, see?” The words were soft as Meira demonstrated, tilting her head sideways as her son’s eyes went obediently to her hands and then back to her face, solemn and awed. “You need a big piece of grass like this one and you put it in between your thumbs, here…” She offered her hands to Riaren to show him, and the smaller hands clung to hers for a moment as he inspected the arrangement of grass stalk and fingers carefully before releasing her again. Once Meira was sure Riaren was done with his examination, she reclaimed her hands and went on quietly, “And then you blow between your thumbs, like this – ” For a minute she watched her son’s gaze follow her hands, fascinated, before she pressed her lips against her thumbs and blew.

The trumpet-like sound that emerged made Riaren’s face split into a wide, genuine smile and he clapped his hands together once, approvingly. It did not go over quite so well with either Jingth or Mimic. The gold dragon twitched very visibly before shooting Meira a look that definitely said, If I didn’t love you, I’d scold you for that. Mimic, meanwhile, gave a very audible squeak of alarm and tumbled straight off Riaren’s lap to roll onto the grass, where he beat his wings against the ground to demonstrate how very startled he was before he cooed quietly up at Meira and Riaren.

So loud, he commented, but it wasn’t really a complaint; the Salamandyr crawled to his feet and let Riaren grab at him, carefully rearranging him in his lap again, the brown going limp and licking the baby’s fingers adoringly.

Too loud, Jingth amended. Her wings flared, tail flicking, before she arranged her head away from the loud. Do give some kind of warning before you do it again. The gold’s request had a tinge of indulgent amusement to it, though; she knew all too well that she’d receive very little warning, if any at all; the minute Riaren asked, he’d get. And maybe it was spoiling him but Meira didn’t seem to care and Riaren was still very well-mannered (for a baby, Jingth insisted upon adding). And he did ask, reaching up to wrap his hand around her pinky.

“Please?”

Jingth sighed disapprovingly as Meira obliged, softer this time for the sake of her two mindmates, but at least the gold did wait for Riaren’s bright laugh to fade before she broke into Meira’s mind again, brushing affectionately. The Checkoth’s is near. I expect he’s heard you and the hatchling both; neither of you are particularly quiet, my love. I could count down the seconds till he shows up if you’d like?

[glamourie]

I think Jingth will like it. I don’t know – I mean – it’s not like she can use it but it’s very pretty and maybe Meira will be able to think of something to use it for. You’re sure you don’t mind me giving it to them…?

“I’ve already said no. I’ve got, how many blankets? Thirty? Forty? That I don’t use? It’s not like I have a vast detriment of them and anyway I can always buy more,” R’wign patiently explained to the brown curled up on the weyrledge, his two tails twitching animatedly. The healer, for his part, was busily dancing – yes, dancing – in the shaded part of the dragon half of the weyr that he and M’ta shared. He wasn’t dancing alone, though. No, R’wign had a companion with his dancing – a little girl celebrating her first turnday. And she definitely looked happy to be dancing with R’wign; the pair of them were literally swirling around the ledge, as if they owned the place (which… they did, so it was okay). The periodic giggles carried, though not terribly far. The little girl was dressed in a very pretty blue dress – obviously made just for her due to the weather; it had no sleeves. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, already growing like a weed. R’wign’s outfit matched it – black pants and a blue sleeveless tunic that brought prominence to the fact that he was actually filling out more. Side effect of practicing constantly.

He’d taken the day off the infirmary to spend it with her. He wasn’t entirely sure where his weyrmate was – but likely off making something for Teri just for her turnday. It wasn’t like she was missing him terribly, not with going loop-de-loop in R’wign’s arms. Yeah, those giggles made it very clear she was happy, if her continual attempts to grab the studs in his bottom lip hadn’t.

I hear the Riarenhatchling, Checkoth proclaimed excitedly. Meira and Jingth are on their ledge too. Can we go deliver it now, before I forget? I don’t think the Teriling will mind too much. She can show the Riarenhatchling her new toys. Please, R’wignmine? I don’t want to forget to give Jingth her present.

“Do you want to go for a ride on Checkoth, Teri? He wants to go visit your brother.”

“Fly! Fly! Roo~” was the happy reply that R’wign received, undoubtedly consent. In fact, a second later, Teri turned and started making grabby-hands at Checkoth, as if that would make him come closer, become easier to capture in her grasp. One of her favorite things to do (spawned, undoubtedly, by the inferno that Selenitas had become) was to fly on Checkoth – not far, just around the Weyr enough to get the wind through her hair and cool off. R’wign was pretty sure he wasn’t the only one who took her flying, either, but he hadn’t asked. He didn’t really care. M’ta was really good with her, after all. And Teri favored him. R’wign wasn’t unobservant enough to miss it; he just didn’t mind all that much. With her squealing in obvious delight, how could he not?

The brown crooned to the small girl as R’wign looked up at him with a crinkled nose. “There’s your response. You have to take her flyyyyying first,” he teased, and Checkoth nosed him lovingly; obviously, he didn’t mind it that much. “Grab the blanket, then.”

Crooning, Checkoth leaned forward and grabbed what appeared to be a patchwork quilt in shades of brown, gold and white, with lace on the edges. He held it carefully in his mouth and then leaned down for R’wign to mount – not the easiest process with a one turn old in his arms, particularly one that was squirming and squealing in obvious happiness. Just the same, the brownrider managed all right, and his dragon took off, soaring up and around the canyon to the sounds of the one-turn-old squealing loud enough to be heard far and wide. Her words were lost, but the excitement wasn’t – flying, flying, flying!

A whistle broke through the air as Checkoth swerved down – down toward Jingth’s weyr at the bottom level – and only a few seconds later, he landed on the very edge, doubtlessly giving Jingth her space. Leaning down, he turned to look at R’wign as the brownrider dismounted, blanket still dangling from his jaws.

Did you and the hatchling have fun?

From Teri’s giggles, it was hard to assume anything less. R’wign eyed Checkoth mildly before leaning over to kiss the end of his snout in obvious affection. “Don’t I always? Meiiiira. Riaaaaaaren. It’s Teri’s tuuuurnday, don’t you want to tell her happy turnday? She got a brand new set of blocks to play with, yes she did – tell them all about it, Teri?”

“Icky boy!”

So much for that…

[Avu]

Oh, look. Not only a Checkoth’s, but a Checkoth too. And…with a blanket. Why with a blanket? Jingth eyed the brown with undisguised curiosity even as she crooned a pleasant greeting; her entire body curled inwards to allow the other dragon more space on the weyrledge. She’d much prefer to be sprawled out entirely, but…there was company, and company would not be neglected. The gold rested her chin against her forepaws neatly, watching quietly as the Checkoth’s (yes, Checkoth’s got a ‘the’ in front of the title) dismounted with the little female hatchling. His words were mostly ignored; the queen wiggled around to face Checkoth and His (never mind that her squirming progress was nothing near dignified) so she could lean forward and nose pleasantly at R’wign.

Hello, Checkoth; could you please tell Yours and the hatchling hello for me as well? she inquired, and was at that moment very glad that mental speech was hard-pressed to be drowned out, because Riaren, when Meira had hummed quietly and nodded at Checkoth and R’wign, murmuring, “Look” to the child, had tried to stand and turn simultaneously. The result was Mimic falling out of his lap as he almost overbalanced, falling back against Meira as he exclaimed loudly:

“Daddy!”

He didn’t run to the brownrider – possibly because Meira had caught his hands lightly, prepared to hold him up from falling onto the ground instead of against her if he did choose to run – possibly because the wide smile on his face said it all – and possibly because of Terilyn. He liked Terilyn well enough, but when his Daddy had Terilyn in his arms he couldn’t hold Riaren too, so he’d wait. Simple. Riaren settled for bouncing as he wound his arms around Meira instead, though his gaze remained on his father as R’wign spoke, right up until Terilyn called him an ‘icky boy’.

Confused upset flashed across his face as he stared at her, and then at R’wign, and then twisted to stare at Meira, clearly seeking clarification. Icky – icky; he knew it was a bad name, why was he being called a bad name…?

“Say ‘Happy Turnday, Teri,’” Meira instructed, softly, smiling briefly at R’wign and Terilyn both. “Isn’t it nice of them to come visit? And Checkoth, too – say hi, Riaren…”

Hi! Happy ‘day! Mimic blurted excitedly for Riaren; the Salamandyr, unhurt by his meeting with the ground, scampered across the ‘ledge to sit at R’wign’s foot and stare up happily at the brownrider and the hatchling. He liked Riaren best of all but this hatchling was a good hatchling. Then: Icky girl? Because ‘icky’ was a compliment, right? Right? It must be; why else would the hatchling that wasn’t his use it to describe Riaren? Definitely a compliment. Right.

Mimic’s excitement seemed contagious; Riaren tilted his head and smiled at Terilyn, wiggling his fingers at her in an attempt at a wave. “H’ppy Turn’ay, Teri,” he echoed, and then wiggled his fingers at Checkoth. “Hi, Checky.” His head tilted back to R’wign, clearly seeking approval as Meira pressed her lips gently to the dark curls. “Hi, Daddy.” One hand lifted, palm up to expose a crumpled piece of grass, and he tilted his head hopefully at R’wign. “Please?” Terilyn was all well and fine, but he really liked his daddy a lot.

“Happy Turnday, Terilyn. Hi, R’wign; hi, Checkoth – why do you have a blanket…?” Why indeed. Jingth was still looking at the blanket in clear curiosity; the gold was clearly dying to ask – but Meira nodded at Terilyn again and stood from the weyrledge, holding both of Riaren’s hands to help him toddle over towards R’wign and Terilyn. “Isn’t Kai Turning one soon too?”

[glamourie]

“Nu-uh,” Terilyn proclaimed in response to Mimic – because he was obviously the most important thing to be responding to. The little girl scrunched her nose and looked down at the brown salamandyr, recognizing him easily enough, though she usually was accompanied by PMS, Vex, or the both of them, and any combination of R’wign’s flits. For once they were all suspiciously absent, perhaps out of fate for her needing them to help emphasize that she was not at all icky. Silly salamandyr. “Boys icky,” she reinforced with a slight nod of her head – she’d been told several times that the woman from the infirmary was ‘Icky lady’ and her maman always said that boys were bad, so obviously, icky boys. ‘Specially that one. Toy stealer. Roo stealer.

“Be good,” R’wign chastised her quietly and he leaned down to kiss Terilyn’s head. The girl shot him a distinctly disapproving look, obviously unfamiliar with the word ‘good’ and turned to look back at Riaren seriously – of course, she didn’t have much choice. At that exact moment, R’wign actually dropped to his knees in front of the little boy and leaned forward toward him, crinkling his nose in obvious affection – playful, silly look. “Your uncle keeps telling Teri that boys are icky. Yes he does. He’s trying to convince her that boys are bad so she’s being silly. Teri, love, tell your brother thank you.” As far as he was concerned, they were siblings. They were both his in their own way – Riaren by blood, Terilyn in his heart. (Even if he did, unfortunately, favor the child that was biologically his – R’wign did his best to hide it but he strongly suspected that at least M’ta had noticed.)

The little girl looked up at R’wign and then back at Riaren for a moment before toying with the sleeves of her dress and mumbling something that may have been a thank you – it was really difficult to tell.

Squirming free of his grasp, the little girl stood up and wobble-walked to sit right next to Meira and look up at her in wonder – as if she were the most interesting thing in the world. In some ways, she was. She didn’t get that much exposure to females, considering that she lived with two males, and naturally was curious whenever she was around Meira. She was curious in general, though, so it was hard to tell what her real motivations were aside from contentedly putting one hand on the girl’s shirt, as if in examination. Hmm.

This left R’wign’s lap free – although not for long, since a moment later he leaned forward and held his hand out for Riaren to take. Always willing to hold him, he was, and Terilyn seemed quite distracted. “C’mere, you. Your sister’s just sulky over having to share her toys.” Oh, that earned him a look that would be frightening when she was older, though the little girl said nothing – so intent was she on examining Riaren’s mommy. “I got you a toy from the Gather, Riaren. I’ll let you see it the next time you come over to my weyr – I think you’ll like it. It’s very pretty. I got one like it for Teri too and she loves hers. I figured you two wouldn’t thank me for making you share, hmm?” He grinned through the long strands of his black hair – ever-so-slightly curled, doubtlessly evidence of his lack of effort with it. His gaze flicked to Teri, who took that moment to try and climb into Meira’s lap, and then he looked up at Meira curiously.

“He might be. I don’t know. I’ve never met Kai. And you have a Teri who is very fascinated with you.” To prove his point, Teri giggled and reached up toward Meira’s hair. “She’s Riaren’s mommy, remember, Teri? Riaren’s mommy Meira.”

“Era,” she replied brightly. “No’icky.”

Checkoth took the freed space and squirmed his way closer to Jingth, though his head swiveled around for him to offer an awkward, close-mouthed croon to Riaren that was nothing short of adoring; he was pleasant to Teri, yes, but absolutely besotted with the hatchling that His actually sired (and amazingly he remembered that detail). Meira’s question made his eyes whirl, reminding him of his gift, and he turned to offer it toward Jingth, though he broadcast for them all to hear – including the two hatchlings.

We brought you a graduation gift. It’s a very pretty, soft shiny, and you can lay on it and curl up on it. R’wignmine said you won’t be a weyrling much longer, and that means you need a shiny to celebrate. I’m sorry it’s not bigger but I like the soft things and mine loves them, so I thought you would too. Do you like it? It reminded me of your colors.

[Avu]

Okay, Mimic replied agreeably. He was confused, sure, but that didn’t bother him; whatever Terilyn said was good with him. She sounded so sure, after all, so how could she possibly be wrong? Answer: She couldn’t. (It still didn’t quite register on him that ‘icky’ was an insult – maybe it was just one of those gender-specific compliments?) The Salamandyr cooed, low in his throat, wiggling in quiet joy – he planned on attaching himself to Terilyn as soon as R’wign let go of her, did the brown. He’d already have been clambering all over her and lavishing her with affection, but he didn’t want to upset any firelizards that might pop up suddenly (or Vex, for that matter).

Riaren, meanwhile, had never looked less concerned about upsetting anyone; it was clear from the wide smile that stretched across his face, brightening his eyes, that he was very, very happy that his daddy was so close to him. He didn’t say much in response to the brownrider’s words, save for mimicking quietly, “N’uncle?” Because – why would his uncle say that? Regardless, he blinked solemnly at Terilyn’s mumbled might-have-been-a-thank-you, and replied, “Welcome, Teri” – and if he mangled the first word a little, Riaren made no effort to correct himself because his daddy was unclaimed now. His eyes lit up, and Riaren wobbled the few steps to close the gap, attempting to wrap his arms entirely around R’wign and burrow into him, propping his chin against the brownrider’s chest so he could look up at him.

“Pretty?” he echoed; it was a word he was familiar with, thanks to Mimic – that and ‘toy’, but ‘toy’ sounded too demanding. Riaren considered for a moment before he added, “Wanna see pretty, daddy, please. Soon?” He didn’t get to go see his daddy and ‘uncle’ nearly enough, in his opinion; part of his fascination with the brownriders was that they weren’t a constant, like his mother was.

Said mother was currently, having settled back onto the weyrledge’s edge, smiling at Terilyn, amused by the girl’s curiosity. “Hi, sweetie. You’ve gotten big since I saw you last…” Automatically, Meira reached out to support Terilyn and help the girl in her efforts to climb into her lap, carefully pulling the child into a comfortable position and, almost automatically, as she did with Riaren, pressing her lips in an absentminded touch against the top of Terilyn’s head, against the hair that was definitely not the familiar black curls. R’wign’s response earned a flicker of her gaze up to him, her smile widening at the sight of Riaren clinging to him.

“Thanks, Teri. I’m glad I’m not ‘icky’.” The words were playful, definitely amused. Boys were icky, were they? Nice, M’ta, very nice. “We’ll leave being ‘icky’ to Riaren, hmm?” She wasn’t worried about Riaren overhearing the comment; her son could tell very well when she was just teasing. “Oh – hi, Mimic…” The greeting didn’t receive a verbal answer, only a low pleasant coo, as the Salamandyr leapt into her lap and then onto Terilyn’s shoulder, careful not to prick the girl with his claws, and Mimic rubbed against Terilyn, licking her cheek and nuzzling her happily. Baby baby baby; he liked babies so much, he wanted to keep this one too…

Teri Teri Teri~ Icky is what? Important question, it was; very important.

Jingth tilted her head and crooned curiously, low in her throat, at Checkoth; the offer of the blanket and his explanation made her eyes whirl in brighter shades of blue, pleased. So nice of him to think of a graduation present. She hadn’t been expecting anything at all, and that just made it all the nicer. The gold wiggled forward slightly on her belly so she could carefully take the blanket from Checkoth, pausing to nudge his shoulder in a physical show of her gratitude. It’s lovely, very pretty – thank you, Checkoth, I /do/ like it. I expect, she added, casting an amused glance at Riaren, That I shall be forced to share it with the hatchling once he sees it.

[glamourie]

“The very next time you come to visit, you can have it,” R’wign said with a light nod to Riaren, obviously amused by his antics. He was watching Terilyn out of the corner of his eye though. It was kind of ironic – he trusted Meira implicitly, yet he still watched. Odds were, he’d have been watching Riaren too, if not for the fact that the boy was quite pointedly focused on him. No need to keep looking elsewhere. “But you have to promise to be patient and good for mommy until you come to visit me – okay? ‘Cause if you don’t – then you won’t get to play with your new toy.” Not that he needed to tell him that; Riaren was a remarkably well-behaved child. Sometimes it concerned him how well-behaved his son was, actually; most babies were not so sweet. They just weren’t. Still, R’wign felt it prudent to remind him that he had to be very good – sometimes he worried that he spoiled Riaren when he was visiting. It was a side effect of not seeing him as often, he was sure, but that didn’t take away the concern – though it was really more of an afterthought than valid worry.

Aside from the very paranoid glance over his shoulder, R’wign had (for the most part) let Meira look after Teri. He did trust Meira – well, within reason. Part of R’wign was continually paranoid about her refusal to think of her own safety, but aside from that one blow-up at her (partially fueled by M’ta being so upset, he suspected), he’d been good about not losing his temper on the gold weyrlingrider. And he liked to think she really did have Riaren’s best interests at heart if not her own. He knew she loved him as much as he did, anyway. So he didn’t believe that Meira would let anything happen to Teri – he just didn’t.

“You’re getting really quite eloquent. By the time you’re two, you’ll be more eloquent than your uncle,” he proclaimed with a light sniff. “He’s really not very good at speaking, no he is not, he always says I don’t speak like a normal human being. Speaking of that, why’re you all the way over there?” Without waiting for a response, R’wign quite deliberately tugged the toddler into his arms and wound his arms around Riaren in obvious affection. He wasn’t terribly worried about Terilyn being jealous, since she had Meira’s attention. She was usually good as long as she had the attention of at least one person. Silly girl. “I’ve missed youuuu. Have you missed me, little man?”

Indeed, she was not jealous at all. Teri was quite content in Meira’s lap, looking up at her with a smile. She usually preferred women – her ‘parents’ exempt – and favored them when she had a choice. The only people she preferred more were Roo and maman but they weren’t around so that meant Meira was the bestest to her. She nodded her head as Meira spoke, a wide smile coming over her face as she brought her fist up toward her mouth. Meira wasn’t icky. Boys were icky. Girls were okay. Her maman said boys were icky. Meira wasn’t a boy though so she was okay. She assumed that it meant Roo wasn’t icky either because her maman seemed to love Roo so much. So… only boys like Riaren. They were icky. Bad Riaren.

Mimic’s question made her turn to look at him and she blinked twice before giggling. “Icky boys,” she explained, and to further emphasize that yes, it was boys that were icky, she turned and pointed at Riaren. “Icky icky. Boys icky, mamaaaan~”

The statement that she liked the blanket made Checkoth croon in obvious pleasure and he sat down (considerably more gracefully than her) with his forelegs crossed in front of him in a classical sphinx position. His eyes whirled pleasant shades and he bobbed his head, the dragon version of a nod, in agreement with her assessment. Yes, she would definitely have to share with the hatchling, but that was okay because she liked the present. That made him happy.

[Avu]

Hmm.

She was kind of ignoring R’wign in favor of Terilyn. Part of Meira felt a little guilty at that, but a quick glance towards the brownrider made it clear he was more than distracted by Riaren, and she was fairly certain Riaren (and Checkoth and his blanket) was probably the reason he’d dropped in anyway. She’d be seeing him later, in the Infirmary, probably, and Terilyn was in her lap at the moment. Her arms wound around Terilyn, and a definite smile of amusement crossed her face at the little girl’s explanation of what ‘icky’ meant to Mimic – chances were, the Salamandyr understood it no better now than he had before, but he was too polite to say so.

“You want to stay away from icky, Mimic. Icky’s a bad thing, isn’t it, Teri?” The words made the Salamandyr even more confused, and Meira felt the wave of it, but he merely cooed and nuzzled at Terilyn’s cheek again, tongue flicking out to rasp against her skin adoringly. “Did M’ta tell you about cooties, too, Teri?” Already telling her to stay away from boys – that in itself amused Meira, because, really; Teri had just Turned one. How many boyfriends could she possibly have?

“’M good,” Riaren promised, staring up at R’wign intently; his eyes widened, sincerely, and he added, just to emphasize his sincerity, “Pwomise”, in an attempt to echo the word that his daddy had used. He wanted to see, Riaren did. It had to be pretty if his daddy said it was. And he was good, all the time; his mommy said so and said that Jingth thought the same thing even if she wouldn’t say so to him and Mimic said so, too. One hand released R’wign’s shirt so he could press his first finger against his lips: The universal hand sign for ‘quiet’. Because he was, see? He was really quiet. And quiet was good, and good equaled toys, right?

Unfortunately, that point didn’t really have a chance to be proven, because R’wign’s pulling Riaren into his arms had the side effect of the boy squealing softly, unable to express his excitement any other way as he grabbed onto the shoulders of his daddy’s shirt and then wrapped his arms around his neck, wiggling forward to press a sloppy kiss against R’wign’s cheek. “Whas el – ” He stumbled over the word, wrinkling his nose slightly. “Elo – ? Whassit, daddy?” Never heard of that word before, he hadn’t. It was new. Riaren pressed his face against R’wign’s shoulder, attempting, “’loquen’…?” There – that was right, wasn’t it? And then another smile, Riaren resisting the urge to actually wiggle in happiness, and he said very quietly, conspiratorially, “Miss Daddy more’n Teri.”

He liked Teri, but she called him icky and was kind of part of the package when it came to his daddy, and Riaren would’ve much preferred that R’wign didn’t come with a package deal at all. Just daddy would be nice. And his uncle, of course, but mostly his daddy.

Jingth glanced over the gathering at her ‘ledge idly for a moment before she deposited the blanket carefully across her forelegs and settled her head upon it, eyes half-lidded; Checkoth’s lack of a verbal reply meant to her that she was allowed to just doze again, yes? A low sigh left the gold’s chest, a sound of contentment, and she curled a little tighter. Her gaze still lingered primarily on Riaren, though, a definite look of indulgent amusement whirling in her eyes. Hatchings were so silly, but at least it was a happy hatchling that made Hers and apparently Checkoth’s happy. Happy slaves tended to be so much better than unhappy ones, yes…

[glamourie]

“Cookies? Nommy nommy cookies! Nommy nommy!” Terilyn replied in excitement – not understanding the difference between ‘cooties’ and ‘cookies.’ The words sounded alike, and her Roo had cookies sometimes, but he only let her have one that was very soft and sweet and she’d loved it. Was Meira going to give her cookies? “Maman no cookie. Roo cookie. Nommy cookies. Peas, nommy cookies?” She clapped her hands together in front of her in excitement, all thoughts of things ‘icky’ forgotten. She didn’t get a lot of sweets (primarily because they weren’t good for her) but whenever the subject of one came up – well, she never turned down a delicious treat. Roo wouldn’t find out – see, see, he was very distracted with the icky boy (okay so maybe thoughts of icky weren’t totally forgotten) and he’d never know the different, please could she have a cookie?

And R’wign was indeed quite distracted. Riaren’s hug made him wrap his arms tighter around his son and he kissed the little boy back, right on the cheek, before he tilted his head to the side. “Well if you promise, I might be able to give it to mommy to bring back to you when we see each other at the infirmary later. Then you can tell me what you’ve named it when you come to visit. I have a lot of toys, because your uncle has discovered that he likes to play,” the healer said with a nod. “I have a toy that flies. Do you want to see a flying toy?” He could just imagine what Riaren’s response to the brilliantly colored kite would be – probably even more adorable than M’ta’s, and the starscope would likely fascinate him as well. He’d have to find out if Meira minded him borrowing Riaren for one evening so that the toddler could use it; he’d give it to her to play with him afterwards, because he was positive Riaren would like the stars. He had at that age, anyway.

The quiet confession made him smile and he whispered to Riaren, just so that he could hear, “I missed you more than I did your mommy. Don’t tell her though. Mustn’t hurt her feelings.” He put one hand against his lips, obviously dictating that his remark was to remain a secret. Then he smiled. “Eloquent means to speak well. You do, too. Saying, ‘Riaren is very eloquent’ means ‘Riaren speaks very clearly.’ Do you understand?” It never dawned on him that a one turn old might not be able to follow his line of conversation – the baby was, after all, very intelligent and R’wign had an exaggerated sense of Riaren’s worth because Riaren was his. No matter what he did, he’d always be brilliant to R’wign. “Do you think your mommy would let you come to visit for one night sometime soon? ‘Cause I want to show you all kinds of fun things I’ve been learning about. See, I’ve been trying to learn new things to show you so that we can learn together. Sound like fun?”

He’d ask Meira herself after awhile and… maybe it was wrong to ask Riaren first, but he wanted to anyway. He didn’t think Meira would mind so long as she had enough notice, too. She’d probably be grateful for having a night to herself for once, and R’wign would love the chance to spend the night with both of his kids. Terilyn was wonderful – but his family wasn’t complete without his son.

Does Yours know how to fly a kite? Checkoth inquired curiously – unaware that Jingth might view the sudden question as invasive. Being Checkoth, he was not exactly observant to those sorts of things. He knew only that His was happy, and that Jingth had just been speaking to him, so obviously it was okay to talk to her, right? She intimidated him slightly less than Hepaticath and considerably less than Millieth (he was terrified of them both though – Jingth he was more comfortable with than either). She didn’t seem to find him that annoying, anyway. Mine has a kite and a starscope, and he wants to bring the hatchling to see them. I think if Yours wanted to come he’d let her too, because he thinks everyone should see them. He plans to give the starscope to MeiraYours along with some charts, to help teach the hatchling, if she wants them. What do you think?

[Avu]

Cookies?

For a moment, she was confused, and then Meira couldn’t help the amusement that flashed across her face. Cookies. Of course. She hugged the little girl affectionately, making a show of considering. Actually, she was considering. Meira kept snacks in the weyr for Riaren (just to make it simpler than going down to the Main Hall every time Riaren wanted something), but she didn’t have anything that could really be called a cookie. Maybe it’d do anyway…if R’wign was okay with it. Riaren didn’t get snacks every time he asked, after all, and she’d hazard a guess that Terilyn probably didn’t, either.

“Sorry, sweetie, I don’t have any, but if you want we can go see if there’s anything else you want.” She nodded towards R’wign, adding, “Only if your daddy says it’s okay, though. Do you want to ask him?” Riaren would probably be wanting something to eat too if he saw Terilyn eating, but her son looked more or less completely distracted for the moment. “I bet he’d be okay with it if you asked him so politely.” It wasn’t like much of what she kept for Riaren was unhealthy, after all, and he seemed to like it, for the most part. Or, if he didn’t, he was good at hiding that.

Riaren crinkled his nose again at the kiss, smiling widely. His head tilted expressively to one side to listen to R’wign, Riaren nuzzling his entire body as close to his father as possible, practically burrowing into him. He nodded vigorously in response to the question, even though his voice was muffled by R’wign’s shirt. “Uh huh, lots.” Chances were he’d agree with anything that R’wign said, though, because R’wign said it – just being around him made Riaren positively euphoric. Whatever he said, went. The smile widened as R’wign went on, and he mimicked R’wign’s gesture, pressing his finger against his lips mischievously: Secret.

His dropped back to curl around R’wign’s neck again at the explanation of ‘eloquence’, Riaren nodding solemnly. It didn’t really all make sense, completely, but it made sense enough that Riaren didn’t ask again. “’loquen’,” he mouthed again, trying the word in his mouth, and then he grinned, pleased with himself for learning it – although it was more or less forgotten again at the idea that R’wign proposed; the grin that spread across his face was definitely delighted. “Mommy will,” he replied, confidently, and then – “Uncle ‘n Teri learn too?”

A kite, a kite. What was a kite?

Jingth’s tail twitched in curiosity as she turned to look at Checkoth, considering. I’m unfamiliar with what a kite is, she admitted. So I don’t think so, or I would /know/…but I know what a starscope is and I think it sounds lovely. She wasn’t really sure why one needed a starscope, either, since you could see the stars just fine as they were (and if they wanted to be closer Jingth could always fly, after all) but Meira had said they were interesting and that was okay with Jingth. I think Meira will probably let Yours have the hatchling all to himself, but…what’s a kite?

[glamourie]

“Yes, your uncle and sister do learn too. They get to learn and play with all kinds of things, but you know what? I save the best things to play with for you. But shhh – Teri mustn’t know. She’ll be mad if she knows,” he said quietly – though R’wign was fairly certain that Terilyn was paying him zero attention and anyway he told her all the same things. Actually he let both children play with whatever toys they wanted, and usually tried to give them the same things so that they didn’t fight over anything. It was more Teri he worried about fighting than Riaren though. Riaren was happy to share most of the time but Terilyn… did not like sharing, no she did not. R’wign kissed Riaren’s forehead and smiled. “You know, we could play with the flying toy now if you wanted. I bet your mommy would like it too – Checkoth tells me that Jingth and Meira don’t know what it is. Do you think I should go get it?” His voice was slightly louder – for the dragons and Meira to hear as well. “I’d have to untangle myself from you for a few seconds to go get it, though. Or convince your uncle to bring it. What do you think, should I? Hmm? You get the final decision.” He put one finger against Riaren’s nose and then glanced at Meira briefly.

How had she grown up without knowing what a kite was? M’ta grew up in Bitra – on some levels it was understandable because of that. But Meira… grew up at Benden Weyr. So many people he knew, that had no childhoods. He was almost positive that Meira would love the kite as much as M’ta. It seemed almost robbery to share it with Riaren and not her as a result. He fidgeted awkwardly, and then looked down at Riaren with a smile.

R’wignmine is going to bring a kite for you to see. But they are toys that fly. They’re not terribly special, but R’wignmine likes them because he can make them fly circles and things. They are colorful and they fly on the wind. They’re pretty enough, but I fly better, and I don’t understand why he likes it so much. He said it is a hatchling’s toy – making things fly is interesting to them. He feels sad that Yours doesn’t know what they are, though. He thinks it is a crime that she doesn’t and wants her to now, Checkoth explained to Jingth with a quiet croon. ShortyMineRuth’s likes the kite. R’wignmine is making him one for his turnday. Did Yours know they are getting joined? R’wignmine explains this is becoming weyrmates, Holder-style. I don’t know what that means but he said it involves their hands being tied together and that seems funny.

Ignoring his dragon’s amusement, R’wign turned his head toward Meira and Terilyn, offering them both pleasant smiles. Teri, on the other hand, looked at him for a moment, obviously plotting. It was plain as day to those who knew her that the wheels in her head were turning and she smirked – yes, smirked, for there was no other way to describe the look – before looking up at Meira. “Seeeeecret. Shhhh. Roo eated all cookies,” she said conspiratorially, hoping to get out of having to ask R’wign to let her have some of whatever snacks Meira had squirreled away. Being barely one, she believed firmly that Meira would accept her words as fact: Roo obviously ate all the cookies, so she couldn’t tell him or he’d take them and eat them from her too. See? “No let Roo eated cookies…. Meira peas?” She looked up at Meira pleadingly and lifted one hand to gently tug at a lock of black hair. “Shh, shhh.” Her hand came up over her mouth. “Secret.”

Over Terilyn’s shoulder, R’wign mouthed, ‘It’s okay with me’ to Meira – for her to see. He was willing to bet that whatever Meira would give to Terilyn would not really qualify as a ‘cookie’ and he trusted her judgment. He didn’t know if she’d be willing to indulge the girl’s pretend evilness, though. Hmm.

[Avu]

Was it bad that the thought of being special pleased Riaren? His smile widened, a dimple appearing in his right cheek. It was good, being special, being singled out, especially by his father (Riaren had yet to realize that being singled out could be a bad thing, too; it had always been good, for him!) – he buried his face against R’wign’s neck and whispered quietly into his father’s ear, “’Nother secret.” His arms tightened, almost as an automatic reaction to the idea of his father leaving so soon, and Riaren scrunched up his nose, debating internally. If his uncle came, then he wouldn’t have his daddy all to himself, probably…

“C’n I come with you?” he suggested. Third option, right, right? That was an option, yes? Then, confidently, “Mommy won’t mind. We’n be fast.” His nose crinkled, Riaren momentarily lifting his head from R’wign’s shoulder in order to widen his eyes hopefully at his father. Puppy-dog face worked, didn’t it? “Check can carry us both,” he continued, wheedling, intent on convincing his father that it would be the best idea. “He’s strong.” One arm unclamped from around R’wign’s neck, Riaren making a fist and attempting to flex his arm explanatorily. That was how strong Checkoth was, see?

Meira glanced over at R’wign as Terilyn did, one eyebrow raising in slight amusement as she caught the brownrider’s words – and Riaren’s. One shoulder rose in a shrug – she was okay with it. It wasn’t like she hadn’t flown on Jingth with Riaren before. She might have actually said so aloud, had Terilyn not spoken, and Meira looked down at her. The smirk was surprising, drawing a smile to her own face. Riaren had never looked (or been, really) quite so manipulative as this. And it was…somehow…endearing, on Terilyn. “He did? Tch, that’s a shame. Hmm…”

Her gaze flicked up to R’wign, catching the words he’d mouthed, and she crinkled her nose in his direction before she nodded decisively at Terilyn. “Okay, then. I think he’s going to get a kite for you and Riaren to play with right now, so once he’s gone we can go in and get you something – but you’ve got to be able to keep it a secret, okay? I don’t want him jealous because he didn’t get anything.” Yes, because that was definitely something R’wign would do. In her mind, she mentally tried to remember just what it was that she had in the weyr at the moment – dried fruit, almost definitely; maybe a muffin…? Sweetrolls, probably a rice cake of some definition…in short, things Riaren liked. She wasn’t sure about Teri, though.

Love? Do me a favor and ask Check to ask R’wign if there’s anything Teri’s allergic to, please?

Jingth crooned in reply, head tilted towards Checkoth; her eyes were whirling rapidly in interest. I see, the gold responded after a moment of trying to imagine a kite. It sounds…interesting. Does it…have wings? One of her own twitched at the thought. It was sounding kind of like a fake firelizard. That, and Jingth couldn’t see anything flying without wings. That was why humans didn’t fly, wasn’t it?

Her head tilted further to the side as the brown went on, and Jingth crooned out loud. Joined…was a good thing, wasn’t it? She didn’t fully understand the concept either, but…I don’t think she knew, Jingth told Checkoth, and squirmed around so she could face the brown head on. But it sounds like a good thing. Should I tell her? I think she’d be happy for them. I won’t if I’m not supposed to, though…? Like – well, she hadn’t known, so there had to be a reason why she hadn’t known, yes? Also, Meira wishes to know if Yours has discovered anything that the hatchling is allergic to. The Terihatchling, that is, not the Riarenhatchling.

[glamourie]

R’wign blinked in response to the question. He hadn’t even considered that possibility – namely because he didn’t know if Meira wanted him dragging Riaren around, even if it was for five minutes. He continually worried about stepping on her toes – paranoia, probably, but it didn’t dissipate, even over time. He needed to get over it – Meira’d never gotten mad at him – but… he wasn’t even sure of the source. No doubt part of his problem was Checkoth’s. The brown was petrified of Meira’s beloved gold – he lived in constant fear that Jingth disliked him, no matter how nice she was, and R’wign was getting to where many of Check’s moods influenced him. (Technically, Checkoth was afraid of all golds… he was more at ease with Millieth than most, but he was awkward with gold dragons – Jingth made him nervous still, and always had. And Hepaticath was a total stranger.) It never occurred to him, but it was a good idea. If Meira didn’t mind, anyway…

“What a little genius you are,” he said pleasantly, putting one finger against Riaren’s nose. “How did I end up with such a smart son? You must get that from your mommy. I’m not too smart, I’m just funny.” He nodded emphatically. Oh, R’wign knew intellectually that he was intelligent – but eh. It was more fun to him to claim that all of Riaren’s best traits definitely came from Meira. She was smart though – so it wasn’t like Riaren being intelligent was a surprise. With parents like the two of them, how could he not be? “But you’re right, see, Check can carry us both and probably more.” He leaned over as though to kiss the top of Riaren’s head, gentle and obviously affectionate. “But you have to ask your mommy if it’s okay if you go. Otherwise the deal’s off. Okay? ‘Cause your mommy has to say yes.” He was hoping Meira’d be fine with it – why he thought she’d object, he didn’t know; insecurity, perhaps. It was important to him that Riaren learn to always ask Meira before doing things. Needed both parents’ permission, not just one.

When he was little, he would run from his father to his mother when he wanted something. He wanted to make sure that Riaren never got into that habit (primarily because he had trouble telling Riaren no). He was trying with Teri, too, but… she was pretty sneaky. Sneaky girl.

And the little girl looked up at Meira with a big smile. “Did,” she explained with a nod, and then glanced back at R’wign, as though to make sure that he wasn’t listening. Roo was sneaky. He had spies everywhere. She looked back up at Meira and nodded emphatically. “’Ecret. Maman ‘ecrets,” she explained. Her maman and her Roo had many secrets and she was very good at keeping them. She wouldn’t tell Roo or Maman if Meira gave her nummies. “Won’t tell, nope nope. Kite?” She got a bright look on her face and clapped excitedly. “Kite! Kite kite kite. S’best, s’best…”

The brown sprawled out on the ledge rumbled his amusement at R’wign’s thoughts, and then swiveled his head to look at Jingth curiously. Wings? Sort of. It’s – it flies on the wind – it’s more like… it’s not something that flies like we do. It has wings, in a manner of speaking. It’s made of fabric and hide. R’wignmine says the sides are called wings, but they don’t flap like ours. It’s very odd, but nice. You’ll get to see soon. Ours is very pretty, it looks like a colorful fish. His eyes whirled in obvious happiness; he liked knowing about something that he could teach Jingth, even if he was sure that she would not be terribly impressed by the kite, just as he wasn’t. Maybe Hers would like it as much as Ruth’s did though. The joining is next month and you should tell her – R’wignmine wants her and the hatchlings to come. And I think Ruth would like it a lot if you came to sit with us. It is some human thing – being weyrmates forever, or so Mine explains. The Terihatchling also has no allergies, though she doesn’t like greenthings. I don’t blame her. I don’t like them either.

What Checkoth (And R’wign) did not notice was that as he spoke, Teri cocked her head to the side and crinkled her nose before she leaned over to whisper to Meira, “Green icky. Vebbies nasty,” she explained with an emphatic nod.

Well, they were.