recipe for exhaustion [tags: req!]

[Avu]

Riaren was almost a month old, and though Meira was certainly no expert on babies, it was obvious he was learning very quickly – and that he was a quiet baby. He only made as much noise as was necessary to get her or R’wign’s attention when he needed it, and was otherwise content to just watch everything. Which she was very, very grateful for; she was already permanently tired as it was, it seemed. One baby would have been fine, but she had two to take care of – though Jingth was not entirely happy with the term ‘baby’ being applied to her. Because, clearly, Riaren was her clutch, so she should not be a baby as well. But the frequent oilings, bathing – took as much time out of her day as taking care of Riaren did, even if Jingth tried to be as helpful as she could and not be too much of a bother; the queen hatchling recognized that Hers was tired and she didn’t like the emotional stress, but she couldn’t do anything about it. Add Weyrling Lessons, and you had a recipe for exhaustion, as far as Meira was concerned, though the goldweyrling had decided to take a break from the Infirmary. Too many people still sick, and she didn’t want Riaren anywhere near a place where he could potentially get sick. Dorava had already lost her baby to it – unborn, but nonetheless, it had been lost, and the idea of loosing Riaren was terrifying.

As of the moment, said baby was with R’wign. She’d just gotten out of Weyrling Lessons and decided it would probably be best to go ahead and bathe and oil Jingth before Riaren returned to her; it felt weird to put Riaren on the bank and just expect him to be okay; Meira would constantly check up on the baby and – it just didn’t feel right. Neither did leaving him in her room alone feel right – so she’d just take care of Jingth as quickly as possible before she rescued R’wign from Riaren (though the brownrider didn’t seem to be flailing too much: Riaren was hardly a handful). As far as Jingth was concerned, Hers should go as quickly as possible; she liked Riaren very much. He didn’t wake her up if he needed to be fed in the middle of the night; Meira was light enough a sleeper that she’d wake up before Jingth did and had gotten used to moving around in the dark as not to wake the hatchling. At least Jingth wasn’t tired all the time. That made…one of them. Better than none, she supposed.

The goldpair was currently in the river. Jingth was sprawled contentedly, letting the water run past, eyes half-closed and head resting against a protruding rock, Meira standing next to her. The weyrlingrider was still relatively dry for being ankle-deep in water, scrubbing at her dragon’s hide in silence. Peaceful silence – tired silence. The queen’s tail twitched minutely, and then the next second, it snaked around Meira’s ankle and tugged lightly, overbalancing her enough that Meira had to grab Jingth around the neck to keep her balance on the slippery, moss-covered rocks underfoot, yelping before she could stop herself. The sponge was dropped, and grabbing Jingth meant getting water smeared all down her front. For the moment, it was ignored as Meira tilted her head exasperatedly at Jingth, shaking her ankle free of the gold’s tail, and then cautiously released her again, before she twitched the wet shirt away from her skin, almost shivering despite the warmth of the day.

“What was that for, Jingth?” she inquired, crinkling her nose; the words came out as patiently as she could manage, but the exasperation in her voice couldn’t be hidden.

I don’t like it when you’re tired. The simplicity of Jingth’s statement drew a blink from Meira, and the gold turned to look at her before she went on. I was trying to wake you up. Also, I don’t like it when I can’t understand you. You love the hatchlingbrown and you love taking care of me but you don’t like being tired. If you did not have the hatchlingbrown – or if you did not have /me/ – Only a slight flick of her tail displayed Jingth’s upset at the idea of not being with Hers, something she simply could not repress – You would not be tired. And you know that, and you don’t /want/ us to not…not exist. So – what? Without missing a beat, the gold stood up and – shook, spraying Meira with water, before she crooned and turned to nudge Hers again. I think someone is coming. Perhaps Checkoth’s is returning the hatchlingbrown? A pause, and then – Do you think if you asked Checkoth’s to teach you everything we learn in Weyrling Lessons, we could skip them? It would let you sleep more.

Because, yes. That would definitely work; I’fael would definitely see and allow it!

[Requiem]

The prettiest ones are at the center. Uhuh. They shine and sparkle and are all polished smooth. Just don't swallow them. They'll hurt when they pass. Look, Mine. Mine...look! Why won't you look? Not now, Ruth. P.M.S. dangled from the ear not gleaming with the earring, watching the gold dangly swing forward with each step. And back to where the medium pet's head was in the way...now forward again. His eyes narrowed, long, prehensile tail looped securely for now.

The brownrider could hardly have looked more dangerous with blades drawn, blood smeared all over his face and arms, as he did right at that moment. The glower was stunning, a mix of frustration and anger that almost never showed on his face. M'ta had a tendency to go cold and neutral when angry, but that wasn't the case now. The emotion was quiteactive in the turn of the mouth, the flash of the eyes and the knotting of the brows. Even the quick pace he set was aggressive in nature. His hands were in his pockets, but they might as well have been clutching at the daggers looped over his chest, for all the tension in his arms.

P.M.S. was blatantly tuning M'ta out, still watching the flash of the earring that, with the longer hair that the young man was tying back rather than getting it cut, would have allowed him to blend in at any dock here in the south without a problem. Behruth had been attempting to, but even shiny hunting was hard to concentrate on when ShortyHis was in such a mood. Jingth's is fine. You will only scare her. You're scaring me. Good. Maybe she won't do it again then. I like Jingth. Don't scare them away because you're afraid. I'm not afraid. It's irresponsible. She's a goldweyrling and she has an infant and R'wign would have to take care of the kid alone and you're scared that if you're not here something bad will happen and it will all be your fault because you could have stopped it.

M'ta paused to glower at the shadow in the waters. And so what if that's true? I'm allowed to be afraid sometimes, aren't I? Just don't scare her, Mine, the brown replied, with a touch of exasperation.

The stalk paused at sight of the goldweyrling and the girl, M'ta's face losing some of the nastiness as relief washed over him. Still here. Not disappeared. Not attacked by felines. Just...bathing and oiling Jingth. Ruth broke the surface of the water, mouth bulging with shinies. Hello shiny Jingth pretty. I have brought pretties to apologize. Mine is angry, but tell Yours it is because he is scared and not to be afraid. He always thinks bad things will happen. Silly Mine.

Neutrality had again taken M'ta's features as he paced forward, not noticing the clinging shirt or anything, really. So much emotion had to be expelled somehow. It released in a quiet hiss. "What do you think you're doing out here alone? Even if you hadn't Impressed to Jingth, you have a child, and with so many people disappearing...Don't you even care about the responsibility you have to everyone else, to your bondeds and your child, not to mention the Weyr?" His face might not indicate his upset directly, but the words certainly did. He had not been at all happy to learn where she'd gone. And how.

[Avu]

Behruth! Her claimed brown, that one was. Jingth crooned a greeting at Behruth before her head tilted in an undeniable show of curiosity as the brown bespoke her; apologize for what? Still, she wasn’t complaining about ‘pretties’; while she certainly didn’t have the same affinity for them that Behruth did, she had no complaints about them either. Very nice, they were. But – she still wanted to know why her brown felt the need to apologize. The gold hatchling crooned again, stretching in the water before she flared one wing happily. Why are – Her question was not finished, for that was the moment that M’ta paced forward and spoke, and Jingth’s attention flashed instantly to the brownrider; his words didn’t register as much as his tone did, and her agitation was apparent even before M’ta finished speaking. Her wings flared, a single low hiss emerging from her throat. Neither of the two gestures were threatening – it was more just upset. It didn’t occur to Jingth that what M’ta said was right: She just didn’t like his tone. And what was he saying? (That thought came after her upset, and only intensified it.) Hers was the best.

There was absolutely no desire to defend herself, though. Meira just stared, shock and hurt printed across her face. She could never hide her emotions too well, and didn’t bother with trying. The thoughts that flickered through her mind were disjointed at best, startled, but the upset was dominant; but – Jingth was there; not many people disappeared when their dragons were with them – and – of course she wasn’t – Riaren. Riaren…Meira swallowed before she pressed her lips together, turning her face sideways. She wasn’t looking at Jingth, nor at Behruth – away from all of them, though mentally she felt Jingth’s agitation. “I don’t – ” She wasn’t sure if it was an excuse or not, but if it was, it was an exceptionally weak one and the crack of her voice probably didn’t help at all – “I didn’t – I didn’t know we were out so far – it’s not – that far…” The words were quiet, barely audible over the sound of the water, and while they gave away how much M’ta’s words hurt, they didn’t reveal another cause of despair: Riaren.

She did love him, but she wasn’t…ready, even though she’d thought she was. How much time Riaren would take up of her life she hadn’t actually known; she hadn’t expected to be so exhausted all the time, or maybe she just wasn’t cut out for being a mother. Meira already knew she wasn’t ready to be a goldrider, but Jingth forgave her that and she hadn’t nine months to prepare for that: She just went with what Jingth suggested because usually the gold was intelligent enough and helpful enough not to do anything stupid. Which was, ironically, why there were here; Jingth hated the idea of sharing a river with Weith, and the bronze had been there at the Weyr, so she’d suggested going upstream so she would get the water before Weith did and Meira’d agreed because it was simpler than trying to talk Jingth out of it. Her animosity with Weith didn’t seem to budge over the months and if Jingth obeyed her most of the time, this was the one thing she wouldn’t. They’d started out just upstream, out of Weith’s sight (Meira didn’t intend to be stuck in some sort of who-can-get-the-farthest-upstream contest with the bronze), and had just…gradually moved farther away.

You might ask Yours to blame /me/, Jingth suggested to Behruth, the edge to her voice unmistakable – when she’d just gotten done saying she didn’t like it when Hers was tired, too! She hated it more when she was actually, actively upset. I certainly did not intend to bathe anywhere near Weith, and it’s much more peaceful here. And I would not let LoveMine disappear. I didn’t let her get sick, did I? Because, of course, that was entirely Jingth’s doing. The gold turned to nudge Meira’s palm gently, licking her fingers reassuringly. Jingth normally wouldn’t have taken the blame; that just didn’t happen with her, but LoveHers was upset and that meant she had to interfere no matter what it took, or do the best she could to interfere – she knew very well she could do nothing about the idea that Hers was a bad mother for the moment, but Behruth’s was causing the upset too, and she could at least make that half stop, yes? Halfway there was better than not at all.

[Requiem]

The fact that he'd clearly hurt her with his outburst would usually have been enough to stop him - it almost did, actually - but she made the mistake of offering up an excuse and he was already angry. M'ta...was a person of heat, even if he had hidden it quite well in the initial turns after coming to Selenitas. Fueling the flames simply never was a particularly good idea. Not when they'd already climbed high enough that he wasn't bothering to conceal them anymore in the first place. Behruth was quick to snake in front of Jingth, strong waves of disapproval radiating off him in the direction of His. Still, when M'ta caught up the woman by the arm, he didn't want Jingth getting the wrong idea. Stupid, foolish His, being so threatening with the dragon right there.

M'ta's grip was strong enough to bruise, but he either didn't notice or didn't care. Probably the former in this case. "And how far out do you think T'rid was? Or K'dran?" he hissed sharply. "They with adult dragons. Meira, I don't understand you." Nevermind that he'd come out here alone to retrieve her. Hypocritical much? But someone had already tried to either kill him or the bluerider...or at least get them to fight...or something to that effect with no success. Perhaps stupid to think it was connected. If it was, though, clearly he could handle it. (In all actuality he'd just gone off in an emotional hissy and hand't thought about it at all.)

P.M.S. had been trying to ignore all the bad emotions seeping out of His medium bonded, but now the large bonded was distressed, too. He twitched irritably. Why couldn't they all just be happy? It was such a nice day out and...oh, look, shiny! The earring that had been swinging back and forth glistened into view one more time, and this time P.M.S. couldn't resist. So pretty... He launched himself off M'ta's shoulder, wrapping his body around the glinting gold piece, and cooing...only to twitch at the sudden sharp pain, landing stunned on the ground with the shiny stained in that icky red stuff. Shaking himself off, he nudged at it. What was that?

For M"ta's part, he just kind of stood there blankly, his expression entirely unreadable. Then he glanced down at the salamandyr. Strangely enough, the pain effectively wrapped up all his emotions and shoved them down deep, where no one could see or get at them. Old defense mechanism still very much alive and well, apparently. One hand released Meira to cover the ripped ear, but the other tigtened around her waist and drew her against him. "That's really...not a toy..." he murmured to P.M.S., half-amused. His arm wrapped around her, threading through Meira's hair. "You scared the shells out of me, girl," he told her gruffly.

Should have let her go, then, but...he didn't really want to. So he didn't, ignoring the slickness growing between the fingers of his left hand. "How am I supposed to protect you if I don't know where you are? Please don't do this again. Just take someone with you. Likely you're right and nothing would happen, but I don't want to take that chance."

Behruth let the pretty river shinies spill out on the bank, watching Jingth closely as he retreated, no longer standing between her and Theirs. He didn't feel good doing that, but...well, someone has to watch out for His, and angry dragons could be scary. He was - is - worried for her, shinyJingth. But the sky shiny made the growls go away. I am sorry. It is not usually so bad. Ruth wanted to cuddle her, but he wasn't sure if it would be welcome, so merely sat awkwardly on the bank, coiling his tail over his feet.

[Avu]

Jingth’s agitation was prominently visible in her eyes, though the gold made no move to wind around Hers or snap at M’ta: She knew better. It wouldn’t be received well and Hers liked Behruth’s. Normally. The hatchling was pretty sure that right now did not count, though, and she settled for another low hiss, head lowering until she was almost entirely underwater; it didn’t hide that she was very clearly fuming. Behruth was there; he belonged to her and therefore (in Jingth’s mind) wouldn’t let His hurt LoveHers, but – but – how mad he was making her; she’d almost gotten Hers calm, she had, before he’d come and now she was upset again. So unnecessary; and could his timing have been any worse?! Behruth’s moving in front of her upset the hatchling even further; she didn’t like not being able to see Hers and Jingth moved, then, slinking forward till she could look under Behruth’s belly. Not the best vantage point, and the limited sight made Jingth even more frustrated, but it was better than nothing, when all was said and done. She couldn’t do much, but she could see.

The gold’s upset was rooted directly in her Rider’s, though Jingth wasn’t actively aware of such a fact: While the hatchling’s emotions were primarily frustration and anger, Meira’s was just plain upset; she wasn’t looking at M’ta or anybody else for a good reason: If she did, she’d cry. The goldweyrling didn’t move, even when the pain flared in her arm; she swallowed back tears and simply shook her head. Not really an answer, and that she would cry right now only served to make her more agitated. What kind of mother – ? Never had she heard of anyone’s mother crying, however young…Don’t cry, and Jingth’s plea made her press her lips together and squeeze her eyes shut, face still turned away from M’ta: Don’t – please don’t, MeiraLoveMine, I love you, please don’t cry… The hatchling creeled softly, though the sound carried in the relative silence that followed – and then another spasm of agitation not directly related to Hers crying made Meira turn before she could check herself.

Blood.

Before she could actually do anything, M’ta had released her arm and though her instinct was to touch the area and see if it had bruised or not – likely it had; she was pale enough that it didn’t take much to bruise – the brownrider had already wrapped an arm around her waist and she was still too shaken to protest being pulled against him; she turned to press her face against his shoulder to hide the tears for a moment, biting her lip and blinking, simultaneously trying to swallow back the choked feeling. The brownrider’s words only made her shake her head slightly – not in disagreement, as was evidenced by the two words she spoke as soon as she was sure she could speak them without the tears being too obvious in her voice: “I’m sorry.” Her arm hurt, but – that twinge of pain reminded her of the blood and she raised her head to look at what exactly PMS had gotten – earring? Ear – “Are you still bleeding – let me see…?” Blood – not good – she hadn’t had to deal with an earring being ripped out before, but she didn’t exactly have a first aide kit with her either; the best she could do for the moment would be to stop the bleeding. And doing that would provide adequate distraction…

/You/ hurt, too, Jingth reminded her, the gold nudging Meira’s palm pointedly after she’d slunk past Behruth once the brown had moved; she glanced at M’ta and flipped her tail, but otherwise there was no display of anger. He’d stopped, and Hers wasn’t upset with him, even if she still was; she’d see for now. You needn’t apologize, ‘ruth, the hatchling added firmly, glancing at her brown. Her croon was not as warm as normal, but it certainly was warm enough to be polite. It wasn’t your fault. And as far as she was concerned, it wasn’t. That wasn’t to say she was happy with Behruth for allowing it, but she understood – she wouldn’t have argued with LoveHers, after all. If she blamed anyone, it would be M’ta, but she wouldn’t do anything about it; Hers liked him too much. Except…maybe…the hatchling tilted her head up to glance at the brownrider, and then she shook, spraying him – and Meira – with water from her bath before she slid past them to the shinies that Behruth had dropped. Very pretty, they are, she said innocently to the brown, Where do you find them?

[Requiem]

He liked having her right there against him. Because then he could feel her warmth, her movement, know she was here and okay and alive. The brownrider's paranoia was an accepted part of him by this point. Oh, he wanted to be a bit more...normal...at times, if only because it would make it easier on everyone else, but that was definitely wishful thinking. R'wign and Meira both worried him almost constantly. He didn't begrudge the girl Jingth, but...he would have rather she remained obscure. He really would. And R'wign was dead set on painting a nice target on himself, between his position at the infirmary, his child with Meira, and now this ridiculous crush on the useless goldrider they called Weyrwoman.

If M'ta ever actually slept long enough to dream, he likely would be having nightmares about those two. It wasn't just because he was convinced that his weyr - R'wign's old weyr - was haunted that he lived with R'wign. If he could have, he would have lived with Meira, too. People didn't sneak up on M'ta easily. He couldn't trust anyone else to protect them. R'wign was missing an eye and Meira...yes, well. Anyway. Of course, he simply wasn't good enough to shield them from everything, certainly not plagues, but it was better than nothing. She was moving. "It's okay. Not really your fault, Meira. I...get crazy sometimes." Oh, was she really worried about the ear? He knew it wasn't bad. (M'ta was half-convinced he'd been pierced initially just so they could tear the rings out of him. That seemed to be an enjoyable pasttime for them.)

His arm loosened to allow her to see, though, hand falling away covered in blood. A nice tear. Hmph. "Ears just like to bleed a lot," he added, a tad insistent. Easier to comply than argue or worry her, but...eh. "Shouldn't have started wearing it again, really. Not with shiny-loving bondeds." Actually, he was wearing it because it was...kind of like a small triumph over his past. They'd done it to him, but see, it didn't bother him. (Nipples and navel still weren't sporting any jewelry, but one step at a time, right?) He caught her wrist. "I'm more worried about this." A sheepish look. "Did I really grab you that hard? You're okay?" Bruising. Lovely.

The water splashing over them caused him to draw the girl against him again instinctively. It managed to wash away most of the blood, at least. His head was buried against her neck, the shorter man half-turning to present his back to the water. Protective. Even though it was just wetness. Her scent. A hint of spice that was...a natural scent. Vaguely reminiscent of basil? For the first time ever around the girl, he actually noticed her pressed against him, M'ta pushing her away lightly and turning. He blinked, running a hand through his hair, the bleeding of the ear having already slowed to a steady trickle. "Ummm. Heh." Heat on his neck. Good thing he was keeping his hair longer. M'ta wanted to curse Fi. He'd never had trouble before with holding women. Sharding greenrider.

Any thought of why and who was carefully ignored. "So, I was looking for you, before I went into a random madman rage," he commented, changing the subject. That would work.

P.M.S. shook out the water that had nearly drowned him, chirping inquistively at the gold. Not very nice of her. He caught up the gold earing and made a beeline for Ruth, who still looked a bit crestfallen over in the shallows. Jingth's interest in the pretties helped some, but... Hrm. He felt embarrassed for His still and she didn't really sound pleased. Nor was she showing any affection. Probably miffed at him, at least a little. Still, he put on a cheerful tone. They're at the bottom of the river, in the center. The water makes them that smooth. Would you like me to show you? he asked hopefully.

[Avu]

Not – but it was her fault, wasn’t it? Meira almost managed a smile, but it was clear she didn’t really feel it. If she hadn’t come out so far – and she actually hadn’t thought it was so far; she’d lost track. Jingth had a habit of making her do that; that the gold dragon was hers and loved her more than life itself fascinated her as much as Riaren did, and as far as she knew, their conversation hadn’t taken too long to finish, even if they had been moving farther upstream as they’d been talking. It didn’t bear mentioning, though; that his ear was bleeding, and hardly a mere trickle, had her very much preoccupied, which she was almost grateful for; that way she wouldn’t think about anything else. And it was still bleeding, too; her nose crinkled slightly at the sight, and it was tempting to insist on going back to the Weyr to get it washed properly; ear infections from a piercing wasn’t uncommon, though having it literally ripped out was – but the effect would be much the same, wouldn’t it? Redwort would clean it just fine and…leave him with a red ear, but that was temporary. Much more temporary than an infection.

Meira had just opened her mouth to say so when he caught at her wrist and she looked down at the bruise forming, blinking in dismay, before she swallowed, biting her lower lip as she raised her arm to see the extent of the bruise. Not pretty, but…it didn’t seem too bad, either. “Um, I – Jingth!” The exasperation in her voice was clear, but the gold didn’t apologize, flicking a glance over one wing at Hers and Behruth’s before she turned away again, and Meira felt no regret in the hatchling’s demeanor or emotions. Upset, Jingth still was, even if Hers wasn’t as much anymore, and, hatchling-like, she sulked when she knew she could do nothing about it. Rubbing her arm absently to get rid of what few flecks of water had hit her (it wasn’t for her that she was upset at the hatchling for shaking; she’d already been wet to start with), Meira shrugged in a wordless apology, she finished her half-sentence from before: “I’m fine – it doesn’t take much to – bruise…” Not that it hadn’t hurt, because it had, but it was the truth, anyway; it shouldn’t be too bad and in the end, a bruise was pretty superficial.

Still, it didn’t stop her from glancing down at her wrist, even after she’d dropped it and glanced back towards Jingth, before she made a noise that was a mixture of amusement and exasperation at the sight of her nosing through the ‘shinies’ that Behruth had brought. So much for washing the hatchling. Hrm. Well, it could wait…but if she didn’t have anything to do, then she’d definitely be sitting down. Or at least…seeing as the ground was wet (courtesy of Jingth)…leaning. A rock a few steps away presented itself, so the goldweyrling pulled herself onto its fortunately relatively flat surface before she tilted her head at M’ta again, pulling her legs up and crossing them at the ankles to wrap her arms around them and press her chin against her knees, the position decidedly childish. “Was there any specific reason?” she inquired softly in response to his comment. “Or was it just – Riaren’s okay, isn’t he?”

I would like that very much. Jingth’s croon had acquired more of her typical friendliness; the gold never meant to be rude to anybody, but Hers upset made her incredibly agitated. Better now, it was; in turn, Jingth’s upset was cooling noticeably. Slower than Meira’s, but still fading. That she really didn’t think it was Behruth’s fault helped, too, made it easier to not be mad at him. They are /very/ pretty, she added, nosing through the pile once more before she straightened, flipping her tail absently before she glanced sideways at Hers and ‘ruth’s. Worry was bad if it made ‘ruth’s act like that, the gold decided, padding over to join Behruth. So, clearly, she had to make him not worry, and then he wouldn’t be hurtful like that and Hers would be happier. How to go about that, she had yet to figure out, but Jingth would – she knew she would. Splashing him probably hadn’t done that, but that had been her own form of pointing out her upset with him; she was satisfied now, see? The hatchling brushed her muzzle lightly against Behruth’s shoulder before she slipped past him towards the river. So, how do we find them?

[Requiem]

It was a nasty little bruise though, it was, and M'ta's mouth twitched. He didn't bother to argue with her. Meira never seemed to acknowledge fault in anyone else, or acknowledge hurts to herself. Almost as if she felt she deserved it. Of course, the goldweyrling did deserve the lecture, even though he probably shouldn't have been so harsh about it, but the bruised arm was another thing entirely. He was old enough by now to know how to control his own strength, wasn't he? Fear and worry had strange effects on him. Like vomitting, he thought to himself wryly. Always fun to heave nastiness onto the feet of the Weyrwoman. At least he was likely so far beneath her notice she wouldn't recognize him if they crossed paths again.

M'ta smiled slightly at her question, drifting toward the boulder and leaning against it belly first. He brushed at the wet hair clinging to one cheek, clearly not that perturbed to find himself wet. It wasn't altogether that chilly at Selenitas anymore. "You really think that if there was a problem with Riaren, R'wign wouldn't be running around like a headless wherry, demanding you fix him because he sniffled and what does that mean?" M'ta questioned teasingly. His expression grew more serious. "He really does adore that boy, you know. Not a month old and Riaren already has him wrapped around his little finger."

It was even becoming possible for M'ta to mentally digest the fact that Meira and R'wign had a child. He wasn't exactly sure how this had come to be, considering they didn't seem...well, that interested in one another? Friendly, certainly. Hrm. M'ta found it best to not ask those types of questions, however, because you may not like the answer. In this case he was pretty sure he wouldn't. Better not to ask. "No. Just made a couple things." Pulling back, he drew a pouch from inside his shirt, presenting it to her. "He's a little young for them yet, but maybe when he gets older?" They were just wooden figures to play with, nothing too fancy. Dragons and people.

"How you holding up, anyway? You look exhausted." He pulled a face. "As soon as Riaren stops needing to be fed so often, you should consider leaving him with us more. Especially me. All I do is fly on a wing...leaves a good chunk of free time." Unlike the two healers. He liked the boy, too, even if he wasn't nearly as entranced with the infant as his weyrmate was. As if it was even possible to be so taken with a child as R'wign!

Oh, croons! Ruth visibly perked up, returning the sound, as P.M.S. changed course and skittered over to Jingth. A shiny for a shiny. A shiny for a shiny. The brown huffed at the little creature, amused. You just swim along the bottom and pick the nice ones up in your mouth. It's not very hard. Just need to remember not to swallow. Wait a second, though...the sky shiny wants to give you something too. And the mandyr did indeed. He flopped on Jingth's snout, scooting forward. Dangly goldy thingy for the gold? Did she want?

[Avu]

The idea of Riaren not being okay was downright terrifying, but the idea of R’wign running around ‘like a headless wherry’ made her laugh softly nonetheless, bowing her head in amusement. That she knew babies no better than R’wign didn’t make her very confident – being asked what a noise meant when she really didn’t know made her feel like she ought to know. Fortunately, Riaren was a very patient baby; he didn’t wail or scream or throw tantrums when he didn’t get what he wanted immediately, or Meira was sure he’d be wailing/screaming/throwing tantrums/whatever quite a lot. She tried, and the more obvious things like being fed, diaper changing, and so on she could figure out, but…not all the time. The amusement in her smile faded slightly as the brownrider went on, and Meira half-tilted her head to look over at him. “I know,” she agreed softly. It was obvious that R’wign did like Riaren, and that the baby liked his father (the latter she hadn’t been worried about, but the former she had been, even if she hadn’t ever voiced it and probably never would).

Made a – couple of things? Meira turned, curiosity flickering across her face as she accepted the small bag, shifting to sit cross-legged on the rock to set the pouch in her lap to open it, tilting it slightly to allow more light inside of it. “They’re lovely – I’m sure Riaren’d thank you if he could talk…” Likely she wouldn’t have needed to actually say it for her gratitude to be known; her eyes widened at the sight of the wooden figures before she smiled at the brownrider, though – it amused her, that typically people offered toys for the baby. T’san had – the stuffed blue firelizard paled in comparison to R’wign’s fair, especially Stumpy and Ellie, who seemed to adore the baby, but when Riaren was sleeping, Stumpy and Ellie – and the other firelizards – couldn’t be expected to allow him to cling to them until he woke up, so the replacement? The stuffed firelizard. Occasionally Jingth’s tail, too, when the gold felt like indulging the baby and slipped her tail through the crib to allow him to cling to it. “Thank you,” Meira repeated, softer, before she crinkled her nose slightly and indicated the water that Jingth had so-politely splashed all over. “And – I’m sorry about Jingth…”

Exhausted? “I am,” the goldweyrling admitted, before she shrugged one shoulder, adding, “I expected that, though…” Not entirely true, that; just because she’d expected to be tired didn’t mean she’d expected it to this level. That didn’t merit mentioning; every mother had to deal with it and she was probably lucky that she had Riaren – and Savitri had two to deal with. She’d survive. “I like Riaren staying with me,” she added, still slightly uncertain as to what she did and didn’t like. “It’s just getting up in the middle of the night to feed him…and – I don’t know. I wake up even when nothing’s wrong…” Nerves, she supposed, and it took so long to fall asleep afterwards, even when everything was dead silent. Jingth slept fine, but she didn’t actively love Riaren. She certainly was fond of the baby, and had a tendency to view him as an extension of Hers, but ‘love’ was pushing it with Jingth. “If you’re sure you don’t mind, I probably will drop him off, though…”

Until Weyrling Lessons ended, everything would be…stretched, taut. And, unfortunately, there was still over a Turn to go before graduation.

Ooh, PMS. Jingth lowered her muzzle towards the blue Salamandyr, and her eyes took on a slightly surprised whirl. Was he wet? She hadn’t splashed him by accident, had she? Oops. Her croon was softer, though she didn’t actually nudge him; Jingth was far from full-grown but she was still plenty big enough to accidentally topple a Salamandyr. I didn’t splash you, did I? I’m very sorry if I did. I didn’t mean to. Behruth’s instructions, followed by the comment about PMS wanting to give her something, made Jingth look down at PMS, cross-eyed, and the gold hummed quietly. For me? It’s very pretty, it is…oh, but I’d like to go see if I can find a shiny in the river. Would you hold onto it for me for now, please? I’ll see if I can find something to give you, too. ‘ruth, she added, turning (slowly as not to unbalance PMS) to the brown, Could you show me first? It would be much easier, I think, if I could /see/ how to?

[Requiem]

M'ta reached up to finger the rip in his ear absently. It didn't really hurt...just kinda felt funny. In more ways than one. He was actually glad that his body was beginning to show some of the abuse he'd put it through, if only because it put distance between now and when that body had been...precious. Not too many people would be interested in someone missing nails from one hand, scarred across the throat, in the chest, the calf, the bicep...etc. At least not for the same reasons. But then, he wasn't a small child anymore. A small man, yes, but definitely not at all androgynous.

And not really as unaffected by women as he had been, either, because a part of him that was distinctly more hormonal than emotional was pleased with Meira's smile. Well, things were the way they were. Even if she hadn't been a weyrling, he was still far from comfortable, and he could hardly bring himself to get even remotely bold with the mother of R'wign's son. There was just something wrong about that. Besides, Meira was a pretty girl. Hormones didn't have to line up with actual feelings. He found Fi attractive enough, didn't he? But he avoided her as much as he could. Blinking, he realized his thoughts had wandered. "Oh, no problem at all. Bring him over any time. R'wign won't mind..."

It was laughable to think of the healer protesting having Riaren in their weyr a little more often. "You can come visit us too, if you like." A slight smile touched his lips, the expression very young on his face. "Behruth loves having Jingth around, though I'm afraid it's more out of a sense of possessing the pretty gold shiny than any particular interest in her," M'ta added dryly. That might have been slightly misleading in that the brown loved being around all dragons. He didn't see Jingth as an object. It was just as true, however, that the brown considered her part of his hoard, and was a bit more enthusiastic about having her around than the other weyrling dragons.

"Jingth's perfectly free to get me wet as often as she wants. Particularly now that the weather's gotten warmer."

Silly golden large pretty. P.M.S. crooned to her reassuringly and rubbed all up and down her snout. Splash, he told her gallantly. She need not apologize to him! The salamandyr knew he was small and sometimes got overlooked, he did. River shinies? P.M.S. was momentarily crestfallen. He couldn't get river shinies. He'd drown! But of course the golden pretty had the answer for that, too.Splash! he agreed heartily, vacating her snout as soon as she stopped moving and darting for the single clutchmother, crawling directly into her lap and depositing the earring in the bag. For Jingth!

Behruth rumbled in amusement at the two. Certainly. But you don't have to give me anything. (Honestly, since Jingth was part of his hoard, anything she had was technically his anyway, but the brown was smart enough not to voice that.) He slid into the water, settling down onto his stomach and creeping along the center of the river in the direction of the current, nosing at the rocks patiently. Only when he found one that glittered did he carefully take it into his mouth. See? It's really easy.

[Avu]

No, that didn’t answer her question…Meira tilted her head to one side slightly, regarding M’ta curiously. She knew (or was relatively certain) that R’wign didn’t mind having Riaren, but the brownrider hadn’t told her whether or not he minded. He’d said it wasn’t a problem, but there was a difference between a problem and a nuisance; even if she didn’t think Riaren ever could be either. “I know R’wign won’t mind,” she agreed, adjusting the pouch of wooden toys in her lap and settling both elbows on her knees, interlacing her fingers to rest her chin on them. “I – you’re sure you don’t mind, though?” The anxiety was a very real one; Meira knew she’d love a break – needed a break, even, but that still didn’t mean she wanted to even consider leaving her baby somewhere he wasn’t completely welcome, for whatever reason. There was always the crèche…”I’m sorry,” she added, glancing towards Behruth and Jingth absently to check up on the weyrling dragon, “I don’t know – I mean, I wouldn’t ever complain about having Riaren, but – I don’t know, is it different…?” Different if you weren’t a parent…?

“I doubt Jingth would mind,” she commented, more quietly, more as a side note than anything else, because in all likelihood, the hatchling wouldn’t mind being a…‘possession’? She had her own possessions, after all, and, perhaps ironically, Behruth happened to be one of them. The gold didn’t use the word ‘slaves’ anymore; she was too sensitive to do that. But she did feel that she owned some creatures. Namely, Behruth, Checkoth, Dsoleth, and the weyrling dragons in her class. She was their queen, see? Admittedly, she was the entire Weyr’s queen too, but they were special because they were hers. Not hers like Hers was, but hers nonetheless. “I’ll come by when I can?” Meira added, crinkling her nose thoughtfully. Weyrling Lessons first thing in the morning, and then her Infirmary shifts, then bathing and oiling Jingth, and in between all of it taking care of Riaren – how much time, exactly, did she have before curfew came on? She’d have to figure that out; hrm.

“I don’t want Jingth to get the idea that splashing people’s ok – ” Blue and gold – blink. “PMS,” she said, surprised, previous thought forgotten, and then straightened, using one hand to run her fingers lightly down the blue’s back. So very breakable, he seemed. Until his kin started spitting insults across the Dining Hall, anyway; then Salamandyrs didn’t seem half as cute or as fragile. “Was that – do you want this back?” The second half of the question was aimed at M’ta, the weyrlingrider having opened the top of the pouch cautiously to peek into it; she crinkled her nose slightly in Jingth’s direction. “I’m sure ‘ruth’d like it more than Jingth…?” Jingth didn’t need anything shiny. She just didn’t; she was plenty vain enough without being draped in shinies and gifts along with it. Sigh. Meira very much hoped she wasn’t half as vain as Jingth was; the gold liked to preen and sun herself, and the worst insults were those to her intelligence – and her beauty. Fortunately, neither had come from any save for Weith thus far. Because Weith didn’t count; Weith was just jealous. Of course.

Aforementioned vain gold crooned pleasantly after PMS, eyes whirling in shades of reacquired blue. Everything was better now; no more worry and no more upset and no more pain for Hers made for a very happy Jingth indeed. Now…to get those river shinies. Jingth didn’t really have any exceptional fondness for things that glittered and gleamed and shone; wasn’t she plenty shiny already? But it was fine to look for them and it seemed to make both PMS and Behruth happy, so she wasn’t complaining. Her slaves claimed Salamandyr and dragon were happy, see? I see. So I just… Jingth splashed into the river again, flaring both wings against the sudden change of temperature before she closed them and ducked underwater, the transparent lid of her eye closing. …go like this? she finished, scrabbling and squirming underwater until she got a foothold and used her nose to push at the stones at the bottom of the river. It was…quite simple. Simpler than she’d expected. And it was kind of nice, being underwater with the odd lack of sound.

Nudge, nudge. Her feet slipped and the current pulled her a few feet downriver before she caught herself and resumed her search. A minute later, the gold surfaced, and sprawled half out of the river to deposit a single stone on the shore. It was simple and common enough a find – a little pinkish-white, semi-transparent stone that had been washed smooth, a kind of flat oval with flecks of white in it. PMS, the hatchling “called”, Will this one do, or shall I keep looking? The question included Behruth – Master of Shinies, after all. And then, suddenly, privately to Hers, LoveMine, I /do/ want it, it’s shiny and it’s /gold/ like me –

[Requiem]

M'ta shot Meira a questioning glance, his brow knotting briefly, before smoothing back out. He chuckled. "Have you always been this tentative? Don't worry, girl." Shifting to lean against the rock where he could still see her out of the corner of his eye, he glanced over the small hoard of 'shinies' Ruth had given Jingth. Clearly in an attempt to distract her. Sneaky brown. Of course, it would be more sneaky if she actually was as interested in shinies as Behruth was. "Oh, it's probably different. Wouldn't know. Never had a kid of my own." Thankfully. Though the only ones who could have given him one were Fi and Farryl. Both accidents of Flights...big surprise there.

"But Riaren's you and R'wign." Mild shrug. That should be answer enough there. "If I'm willing to help out in the creche and take in kids off the street...I should be able to look after Riaren without complaint. He's pretty tranquil." Truthfully, M'ta liked having him around, if only because R'wign's behavior with the boy constantly amused him. Even if it did mean that the healer often wheedled - or attempted to wheedle - him into doing the less glamourous jobs. M'ta figured it migh be best if he didn't mention the wager about changing diapers.

A smile flashed at her, his head turned strange to look up at Meira. "You do that. I see your son more than I do you." A wink. "Seriously though, I don't mind coming to find you if you're busy. Just don't want to be a nuisance." He was mostly just amused by P.M.S., who had decided that Meira's hair was worthy of investigation now that his task was discharged. M'ta smirked slightly. "Want the thing ripped out of my ear? Not particularly. Just goes to show you that a stud is far more reasonable, especially with shiny thieves." The little blue rubbed up against Meira's jaw. He'd liked her touch, but he wasn't much for sitting still.

Yes, that's right, the brown agreed, his mindtone slightly distracted. Small, wasn't she? He'd forgotten that, apparently. Probably because golds and small didn't usually line up in his mind. The miniature brown slid around to force the current around his larger body so she could find her feet. He slunk out of the waters on her tail, dropping the pearlescent find of his own in with the rest he'd brought her. Perfection, the brown murmured, after turning over her shiny a couple of times. He nuzzled her happily. It will be one of my specials. His 'specials' being the shinies given to him that he slept with on his couch, more because of who gave them than because they were prettier than all the others.

P.M.S. peeped, bouncing on Meira's shoulder before shooting down to take up residence on the gold's foot. Splash? Behruth's head dropped, his small huff causing the little guy to frill a little to stay put. The blue stretched out to nuzzle Ruth briefly. He still loved his medium bonded, he did! Satisfied, the brown twisted his head to look up at Jingth...the posture strangely similar to that of His just a moment ago. Weren't you in the middle of a bath? the older dragon inquired teasingly.

[Avu]

Still not answered directly. Well, she’d take what she could get. Meira shrugged silently – she couldn’t help worrying when it came to Riaren. She hadn’t always liked babies that much (namely, she hadn’t been too fond of the noisy ones), so it seemed reasonable that not everyone would and she hated the idea of anyone thinking of him as a nuisance. “Not always,” she thought to add, crinkling her nose slightly. It wasn’t meant to be defensive; she knew she had been and was almost always tentative: That knowledge made the comment more of a side note than an actual protest. Well – well, Jingth wasn’t tentative; she could do everything that Meira wouldn’t, see, so she was fine. Just fine. A half-smile flickered across her face at the brownrider’s description of Riaren: Tranquil. Turning to look at PMS curiously, the weyrlingrider wrinkled her nose at the blue Salamandyr playfully before her gaze flicked back to his Bonded. “The creche – was that chores…?”

Meira bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement to M’ta’s comment, a smile that was both apologetic and wry touching her lips. “I’ll see if I can come and find you, but I don’t – you couldn’t annoy me…” And fortunately, it wouldn’t take much searching either way, since Jingth and Behruth provided a very helpful form of communication. No traipsing back and forth across the Weyr, nope…“Or you could come to the Infirmary…? If you’re not sick of it, anyway…” She didn’t think she’d ever be sick of the Infirmary; she liked it there very much, liked it more than she liked spending time at the Weyrling Barracks. But…M’ta wasn’t a Healer there; the time he’d spent there was generally because of sickness, whether be it his own or R’wign’s or just other people’s. Admittedly, that was the primary reasons Healers even existed, but whether or not he liked being there, she didn’t know. “I’d say you could come to Weyrling Lessons, but I don’t think that’s my choice…” And she didn’t think I’fael would like that very much; she didn’t even bring Riaren to Weyrling Lessons, just in case the baby would be seen as a distraction or something.

“When you put it like that…” Meira looked down at the gold earring again, half-glad that Jingth had sprayed it along with M’ta and washed the blood off. Would not do to get blood on the wooden toys, nope. “Are you going to be able to – wear an earring after that?” It’d heal, of course, but whether or not – she didn’t know; Meira didn’t know much about earrings, mostly because she’d never considered getting any piercings. She turned to look at PMS again, clicking her tongue softly at the Salamandyr. Well, now M’ta had a bleeding ear, Jingth had an earring she didn’t need and never would need, and she had no idea how piercings worked when torn. Hmm. Fail on her part; she wanted to fix it but didn’t know how to. At least, she noted, glancing at the brownrider’s ear, the bleeding had stopped…and there PMS went again. Active little thing, wasn’t he?

Behruth’s approval of her ‘shiny’ (Jingth thought of it more as a ‘pretty stone’, but ‘shiny’ did just as well) made the hatchling croon, eyes whirling in pride. See, see, how pretty it was. Perfect, just like her. Modest, who, Jingth? Of course. I’m very glad you like it, she stated truthfully, before lifting her forepaw up slightly, keeping it level so as not to make PMS slip off. Bad, that would be. Do you like it too, then? Of course he would, though, because Behruth was the master on pretty stones and anything else vaguely shiny and therefore nobody could disagree with him, right? Oh, yes; she’d claimed a master, she had. His question made the gold turn to look at Hers before giving a little rasping rumble of amusement. Oh, she had, hadn’t she? I am getting washed in the River, she pointed out reasonably. It doesn’t much matter; we were almost done and I don’t need to be /here/ to be oiled.

[Requiem]

"Mmm. I'fael." M'ta's expression was half-distaste, half-smirk. I'fael wasn't as bad as Sel'n, really, but neither man likely had much use for the brownpair. They'd done a good job of making themselves complete nuisances. Even if M'ta had managed to redeem himself a little by saving Sel'n's hide in the siege. "Yeah, I think I'll just pounce you when I go to see R'wign. He said something about the two of you having most of the same shifts, I thought? And make sure he eats while you're there. Skinny thing." Which M'ta had every right to say, given he was back to the sleek, well-toned figure in relatively short order after his illness. R'wign certainly wasn't back. Not that most would notice, given how slender the healer was anyway. "I bring the food, but..." Mild shrug. "It wouldn't take much to distract him."

The man that was more brother to M'ta than any of flesh and blood that might be walking around was never going to be rid of the short brownrider. Not after taking care of him for six months. Not after getting himself sick. His decision, yes, but it tore down any remaining barriers M'ta might have erected. He often risked himself, sometimes for near strangers, but it was rare for anyone to do so in return for him. The slash across his throat seemed to tell that story all too clearly.

"I've got another ear," M'ta commented, amused at Meira. "It'll heal up if taken care of properly. Might have to pierce it again..." Which he wouldn't, but that wasn't an important piece of information. "Certainly isn't the first time." Slightly wry smile.

"And no. I just don't like doing nothing, and Ruth loves hatchlings, no matter the species." Yes, he'd spent a decent amount of time in the creche for awhile. And the kitchens. The infirmary during the plague. Pretty much he was out helping somewhere most of the time. "The creche isn't bad. I think I like the ones old enough to play with a little better than the infants, but infants aren't bad either."

Splash, P.M.S. agreed, curling his tail as much as he could around the ankle of the gold weyrling to make sure he could stay in place. He liked this spot, he did!

Mmm. True enough. Picking up some of the speech mannerisms of His? Of course not. It looks like you missed a spot, though, he commented with studied gravity. A sweep of a leg sent a small wave of water against her side - careful to miss P.M.S. so the mandyr wasn't swept away - and he backed up playfully, wings flaring.

[Avu]

She almost asked – and then decided that it was probably better not to. She didn’t really have anything against I’fael as a teacher or as a person – not that Meira had actually spoken to him outside of lessons anyway – and it was probably better not to have anything against him. Definitely easier, anyway, to listen to him during lessons. The infirmary worked better than weyrling lessons anyway. “Um, I have one shift the same as him,” she replied, crinkling her nose. “The first one’s pretty early in the morning…” But that was beside the point; Meira didn’t expect the brownrider to stick around both shifts anyway. Day shift was nicer – more people got hurt (since it was pretty hard to get hurt while you were asleep), but it was nicer. A slight frown drew one corner of her mouth downwards, and she tilted her head sideways. Disapproval. “He’s been trying not to get distracted, hasn’t he?” Agitation was obvious in her voice; she hadn’t noticed whether or not R’wign had been eating well because she didn’t have the time to hang around too much, and the Infirmary was always busy, but the idea of him not eating…

Hmm, though. Another ear. “Only one more,” the goldweyrling pointed out absently, before she cast an amused look at PMS. Shiny-loving indeed…at least she didn’t wear any jewelry, gold, shiny, earring, or otherwise. First time – Meira shrugged one shoulder. Unlike most Healers, she didn’t like lecturing, though it was tempting to point out that it could have been anticipated. Blood automatically equated to not good, anyway, and that made her…want to fix it – which she couldn’t. Which meant agitation. The pain from her wrist had been forgotten by now, though it certainly wasn’t pretty, having darkened very noticeably. Lovely. “Do you have disinfectants to – ” one hand rose to touch her own ear “ – take care of it and all?” Or was he going to go to the Infirmary? Because if he didn’t, she’d ask Behruth and Jingth to carry/push him there. Not that either dragon seemed at all interested in pushing anyone anywhere, or even in M’ta at all, but she could wait for them to finish…swimming around and picking up pretty stones.

The explanation on the crèche earned a curious look and a nod – she was okay with that. Meira hadn’t ever thought to help in the crèche until she’d gotten pregnant, but she had the Infirmary to make up for that. “Never thought about leaving Riaren in there,” she admitted, resting her chin on her fingers again absently. She couldn’t either. Nothing against the crèche-workers, but there weren’t enough to tend to each baby for very long before moving on to the next unless they had helpers there and there weren’t always Candidates or Weyrlings or whatever helping. And Riaren – she didn’t know how well he would or wouldn’t adjust to the attention not being entirely on him (as it was; were they spoiling him?) and she didn’t want to find out. “Busy, isn’t it…?” Meira added; the undeniable note of curiosity was there. It seemed like it ought to be busy, with all the Weyrbrats in there at any given time of the day…

Splash. Jingth squeaked in alarm before playful blues overcame her eyes and the hatchling bowed her head low to croon at PMS. You may climb onto my back if you’d like so you won’t get as wet, she suggested. She was planning on waging a water-war, she was, and she didn’t want to get PMS soaked. At least on her back if he wormed into the folds of her wings he could duck away from the water and hopefully avoid it. Why, thank you, ‘ruthmine, she added in tones of mock politeness to the brown before she tilted her head to look at him. I must return the favor, and honestly I believe you need a bath more than I – don’t you see the spot that /you/ missed? Jingth’s tail came around, splashing down and sending a spurt of water at the brown playfully; nothing she hadn’t done before, be it to other dragons or to Hers (she wasn’t above splashing Meira if it got her attention). I think I got it, she stated proudly, crooning in amusement. See, see – she could splash too.