i think we have an emergency [tags; r'wign]

[Avu]

Darkness. Zesa rustled her wings lightly, the gold firelizard silently watching. Both her eyes and hide stood out against the darkness of the small room, her gaze fixed on Hers, swirling in shades of anxiety. She was wedged in a corner, the wall pressing against one wing, something hard and wooden and round curving against her other side. Her talons clicked in agitation against the ground; she uttered a single, quiet peep. It had been such a while since Meisk had Chased last, and this time it hadn’t even been one of the Selenitas whers. The green had been wild – but then, it had been such a long time since one of the Selenitas greens had Run that the gold firelizard supposed he could not have helped himself, especially when the flirtatious female had breezed right by the temporary Wherhandlers’ Apartments. But that did not make it all right. And now they were in this –

Stirring.

Meira heard the gold firelizard’s soft chirp, and she automatically lifted her head, the slight groan of protest directed at Zesa. Did she have to wake her up…? She was still sleepy, and she didn’t want to get up and…and where was she? It was pitch black – and for some reason, Meira had the impression that the walls were very, very close around her, though she could make out no outlines except the light emerging from the bottom of what she supposed was the door; the hairline crack of bright gold highlighted only the things nearest to it – Zesa, eyes whirling; and…and a bucket. And then Zesa’s flickering imagework filled her mind, and the wherhandler flinched violently in a mixture of shock and horror, rolling over onto her back, away from the source of warmth that she had previously been curled up against.

She’d assumed it was – Meisk, or something – a ridiculous idea, now, considering that Meisk had hide, not skin, but the wherhandler was still tired. Rubbing her eyes, Meira felt around cautiously, searching for something to cover herself with – or the glows. Sight or covering; either would be appreciated. And then – so – wait – it still hadn’t entirely clicked. While she was aware of the circumstances of the…situation, she certainly hadn’t figured out who yet; Zesa’s imagework had been only of Meisk. The forest. The green. And…so where had she been…? Infirmary, most likely, and so…the wherhandler stilled, froze entirely, as the firelizard crawled to her side, crooning quietly. She’d been…in the closet. The storage closet, to be precise. Rewriting the yellowing labels, looking for numbweed, and someone had been with her, and that someone was –

“R’wign?”

The name was uttered in nearly a whisper, the wherhandler straining the see in the darkness. Glows – glows? The glows would have run out by now. Probably. They hadn’t been all that bright to begin with, if she remembered correctly, and Meira wasn’t sure how long it had been, anyway. Swallowing, Meira glanced at Zesa, and at her silent, nearly pleading request, the firelizard stepped across the floor until she literally ran into the brownrider, and then crooned loudly as she carefully made her way to R’wign’s head to nudge his cheek with her head. Nudge, nudge, croon. Was he going to wake uuuup and make the darkness go away…? Because apparently Hers didn’t know what to do right now, and wake up.

Meira repressed a slight shiver, a mixture of pain – the floor was hard, not to mention the clutter in the place; she could feel something that was probably but not definitely a shelf pressing against her back – and apprehension as she cleared her throat, feeling ridiculously nervous as she spoke again, slightly louder. “R’wign…?” She wanted to panic. The darkness and the closed-in space was nearly more than she could stand, and she curled into a fetal position, instinctively leaning back against the presumed shelf and pulling her knees up to her chin, arms wrapped around her legs. Prioritize. Right. First, they had to wake R’wign up. Second…second…depended on whether or not R’wign thought he was hurt. Because he had been, and she’d still…jumped him, as it were. In a…storage closet.

[glamourie]

The two-leggeds were very strange about Running and Chasing, Ellie decided with a slight cock of her head. In the darkness, only the bright whirl of her eyes was indication of her presence. She was perched on the highest shelf of the cabinet, because for once, perching on Hers was not an ideal option. He’d been very, very busy… being… well, if he hadn’t been hurt so recently, she would’ve felt more inclined to let him alone. He obviously… needed some privacy. But he was hurt and it was her job to make sure that Hers was all right, wasn’t it? She was the one responsible for him and her fair. So she’d stayed, perching up on the shelf, and she made herself comfortable against a few bottles of cleaning solution. They were firm and slightly cool and it felt good against her hide, yes it did. She’d fallen asleep, at least for a little while, and then she woke up - woke up to the darkness, with Hers curled up so soundlessly. She was worried about him, she was; he wasn’t awake to tell her if he hurt, and if he did hurt, she’d have to make sure someone made him not hurt anymore. Somehow.

Zesa’s chirp made the younger gold look over toward the other female and she flicked her tail. Her claws rattled slightly and she made a low, half-purring noise in her throat that could have been described as humming, but more accurately would have been termed as a trill. The quiet inquiry was clear as she bounced from her perch on the top shelf down to the next one for a closer look. Her movements repeated until she was on the very bottom one, and then Ellie leaned forward on the shelf as far as she could, wings spread, to avoid completely falling off. Her gaze followed PetZesa’s and her head cocked to the side again, a low chirrup escaping her. Exactly what was she doing, recoiling that way? As if Hers had some kind of ailment! Disapproval flickered through the young queen’s eyes. Not nice, that behavior!

On the floor, R’wign shivered. That was his only response to Meira’s movements, and the abrupt loss of warmth all around him; it suddenly felt very cold. He cringed away and crinkled up his nose in distaste, not at all satisfied by the sounds of… chirping and chattering. But he was used to sleeping through the noises fire lizards made. He had too many not to be. He tuned out the rattling of claws, the chirping and chittering, and groaned to himself. It was a very quiet sound, but then, the small confined space they were in was relatively quiet, too. He was just about to go back to sleep completely when something bumped into him. Something that was decidedly not any of his fire lizards. He groaned again and swatted around himself, fingers brushing Meira’s leg in the process and then --

Skin. Skin. That was skin. Something was nudging his chin but that was definitely skin.

And then memories flooded back. They’d been working together on organizing the storage cabinet and taking inventory, a necessity after the relief caravan had arrived. Making notes of what was most essential and what wasn’t took priority over his desire to sleep pretty much day in and day out. He’d just finished counting the jars of numbweed, and turned to Meira to tell her how many he had, when she’d shoved him against the side of the wall and kissed him. Which really was embarrassing, all things considered, because he’d been talking and talking and kissing weren’t really two things that went well together. He’d thought she was just joking, initially, but when it was followed by his shirt being fast removed, he’d been very alarmed. He would’ve panicked, if not for Checkoth’s explanation. Meira suddenly being aggressive at advances was like being hit by a sledge hammer; it had come as quite a shock, until he realized it was Run-lust related. And then, against his better judgment, he’d responded rather than lock her in the closet alone.

Some part of him felt guilty. Only a little. It wasn’t like he could get away, pinned as he was (and his chest was still sore enough that running wasn’t really an option). Still, Meira was… so meek. So not his type in any way.

He flicked open his good eye, but found only darkness. A quiet chirp from above him alerted him to Ellie’s presence… which meant the fire lizard on his face was not Ellie. Zesa? He lifted one hand and poked at the figure carefully, before hearing his name (for the first time; he’d missed Meira’s initial words). There was a definite edge of alarm to her voice, and that made the guilt intensify. Just a bit, but enough that he swatted around at his other side - the side without the skin - to try and find where the glows were. Surely they were somewhere nearby, even if he couldn’t see them. (Night vision wasn’t one of his strong points, and having only one eye made it worse by far.)

“I’m here,” he said, more to try and calm her than anything else… although, somehow he suspected Meira was going to beat him when she found an object suitable to do so with. He would’ve. “Where’re the glows?” And where were his clothes…?

[Avu]

Meira caught her breath, torn between a rising sense of claustrophobia and anxiety, at the groan. Was he really hurt? It was a…relatively soft groan, though. Hugging her knees tighter, the wherhandler touched Zesa’s mind lightly, questioningly, as the queen firelizard glanced up at Ellie, eyes gleaming as she chirruped quietly at the younger gold. They were both…awake now. But she couldn’t see, and she’d gotten relatively used to the darkness already; if they both got up and tried to walk around they’d…probably run into the walls a lot. Or the shelves. There seemed to be a lot of those. Another groan, and Zesa’s wings fluttered in a faint alarm; the gold was very clearly confused, something that she rarely was. She did not understand why, exactly, he was just…groaning. Wasn’t he going to get up? Hers had already gotten up, and…and why wasn’t he? Hers was very upset, too. Clearly Zesa was going to have to impress upon Meisk exactly why he should not Chase any more greens.

The wherhandler cringed, the motion involuntary and purely instinct, as R’wign’s hand caught her lower leg, pressing her back more firmly against the side of the shelf. Raising one hand from her legs, she pushed her hair out of her eyes again, in the vague – and completely unfounded – hope that perhaps it would help her see better. She’d become accustomed to being more or less nocturnal, but it was nearly pitch black inside the closet. Purportedly, they could just open the door, but in all honesty, Meira would prefer to find her clothes first. And make sure R’wign wasn’t…badly injured because of her. Her stomach twisted at the thought, and she saw the slight twitch as Zesa’s tail flipped in agitation – an echo of Meira’s, clearly; the firelizard was no more comfortable in their situation than Hers was.

And then the queen gave a rather undignified squeak of alarm as he poked at her, shying to one side to avoid it. She flicked her wings open to take flight, and then thought better of it: Not entirely was Zesa comfortable in the storage closet, after all, and in the pitch blackness, it was safer not to risk flying and catching her wingtip on anything. So, carefully, the firelizard half-hopped back to Hers, leaning against Meira’s leg uncertainly. Well…Ellie’s pet was alive, for sure. His condition…would likely not be known until he decided to talk, or when the lights came back. One hand dropped to the firelizard’s back, numbly stroking Zesa as a way to occupy herself; Meira settled her chin on her knees, swallowing convulsively.

This was…potentially the most embarrassing and horrifying situation she’d ever been in, all things considered. Guilt – shame – her stomach was twisted, and it was only her position, curled tightly, that kept her from trembling in shock – at herself. She could have – should have – managed to get out. Away from R’wign. At least – someone else – they probably wouldn’t be hurt. Maybe. Considering their proximity to the temporary Infirmary, the chances were high – but at least there would be a chance. Meira exhaled slowly at R’wign’s voice, Zesa arching her back under the wherhandler’s touch and whistling softly. Glows. Glows? Meira swallowed, not responding for a second as she dropped her head backwards against the wooden shelf, closing her eyes wearily. Had she…dropped them? Or had they knocked them over, or…what?

“They…might have died,” she answered softly, biting back the tremble in her voice. “Can we send Zesa and Ellie to get some…? Even a single glow can help find the others…” The glowbaskets were latched, but a bit of nosing, and it shouldn’t be terribly hard to get the basket open. It was, however, a job for two, because even if Zesa could open the basket by herself, she’d have a hard time keeping the glowbasket open while she was getting one from inside of it. “I…um, are you hurt? Worse…?” Some part of her did not want to hear the answer; dragon and wher-incited lust tended to be violent, at best. She hurt, too, but she wasn’t quite sure if the cause of it was the…activity, or that they’d been basically sprawled on a cold, very hard floor.

Stopping the absentminded stroking of Zesa, Meira squinted through the darkness, one hand skimming just above the floor to find fabric. Meisk would probably be fretting at her absence, but she could hardly help it…what time was it, anyway? The disjointed phrases and questions that flicked through her mind were interrupted as her fingers snagged onto cloth, and she instinctively pulled it towards her, fumbling with it. Pants, shirt? And whose? Shardit, but she needed light…

[glamourie]

Send Zesa and Ellie…? R’wign squirmed in his spot, pushing himself up into a sitting position as best he could. Were they still in the closet? How embarrassing. He pressed his back against the wall he was curled up against and pushed at his hair around his face, when his hand came in contact with his eye patch and pushed inward. The sensation made his stomach swim and he forced his nerves to calm. The lack of his eye was going to take a very long time to get used to, but he was getting better, all things considered; at least he didn’t tremble at the eye patch itself and he hadn’t run into walls in awhile. He was getting used to his vision, adjusting; trying to change his way of seeing would be more a habit than anything else. He brought one knee up toward his chest, which was still somewhat sore, and then squinted to try and see further in the darkness. But it was too shadowed; all he could make out was a faint outline, presumably of Meira, sitting on the other side of the closet… as far away from him as she could get. Probably embarrassed. He was, though R’wign was better at hiding that than the average person. Did she hate him…? He hoped not; he liked Meira just fine and… it would be awkward working together if she thought so little of him…

Gently touching on Ellie’s mind, R’wign found confusion. He quickly reassured her and then made his silent inquiry, before scooting across the floor as best he could without knocking anything over. Which really involved more walking on his knees than anything else. Once he was next to Meira, he sat down, careful not to squish the glittery gold form that was slightly visible even in the darkness. Somehow he doubted Zesa would appreciate becoming a splat beneath him. Just a guess. Both of his arms came up and wound around Meira’s shoulders, pulling her over against him in an attempt to reassure her. Or. Something. Her second question had sounded entirely too upset for his liking. R’wign couldn’t stand seeing anyone upset for very long.

“Ellie’s gone to look for the glows. Presumably she’ll get Roxie, Hazard, Collision and Stumpy to help her, though I’m sure Zesa could be helpful, too,” he explained. “We probably left the glows up on one of the shelves or something but I’m not brave enough to stand in the dark, nor vain enough to open the door to look. With my luck, someone I don’t like will be outside that door waiting to make fun of me. Like Saeo.” Admitting he disliked her was unusual for R’wign - he typically played himself off as a jokester, someone who took nothing seriously. Dislike was an emotion of a lot more intensity than he admitted out loud most of the time, but he was hoping it would comfort Meira. At the very least, his goal was to keep her from sounding so - so distant, far away and upset. He should’ve just locked her in the closet, he should’ve fought more - then maybe she wouldn’t sound so… distraught. Selfish jerk, he was.

His arms around her shoulders tightened slightly, and a soft laugh escaped him. He couldn’t help it. The reason for making his grip more firm was so that Meira couldn’t run away. She always seemed so shy -- and R’wign was very much the teasing sort. He didn’t want her to take it personally, become upset and run off. He meant no harm, even if he was tactless most of the time.

“Hurt is not the word most people use to describe that, you know,” he said, a slight playful lilt in his voice. More seriously, though, he added, “I’m fine, or I will be once I find pants. It’s kind of cold in here.” Actually, it was really cold, which probably had a lot to do with sleeping with a warm body curled up next to his rather than being completely alone. He didn’t voice that thought, because it would almost certainly get him slapped, or at least glared at. While looks rarely had any effect on him when he could see them let alone in the dark, he didn’t want to make Meira feel worse by being relatively inconsiderate of her feelings. Which… brought him to another concern of his that he was dreading giving voice to; he didn’t know if he really wanted to know the answer, but he had to ask. He had to. He owed her that much. “Are you…? Did I hurt you?”

[Avu]

Her eyes were adjusting, if only slightly, to the darkness. Meira blinked, gaze flickering around what she could see of the storage closet. There wasn’t much room in it – or perhaps there was, and there were just shelves blocking her immediate view. She couldn’t quite remember, and it still didn’t help the sense of claustrophobia. R’wign was…sitting up, now; she could vaguely see him, but not his face. If he could sit up, that was all well and good, but – that didn’t necessarily mean it didn’t hurt him, and the wherhandler exhaled softly, dropping her gaze miserably to Zesa. The small gold firelizard was silent by now, watching R’wign intently; her tail flicked in slight agitation. She liked R’wign, she did. He was amusing, and if nothing else, he’d Impressed Collision and Hazard and she liked her babies. Most of the time, anyway. Moving. He was moving now, and Meira glanced up again, watching R’wign. She didn’t move – she didn’t even consider it, to be honest; she didn’t know what she was supposed to say or do…at all.

And then his arms were around her shoulders, and Meira stiffened for an instant before she relaxed, partially uncurling from the fetal position she’d pulled her knees into to lean against R’wign. She wasn’t quite thinking about exactly what she was doing – this couldn’t possibly be really happening, surely. Stuck in a closet without clothes, without light. It felt more like a dream than reality, and she couldn’t shake herself of the desire to just wake up. Blinking, Meira dropped her forehead against R’wign’s shoulder, closing her eyes wearily. If they could…figure out what time it was, they could figure out which Healers were on shift, and…and then they could possibly get help. Jermayan, for example, wouldn’t laugh, she hoped…she could get Meisk to find Jermaysk, perhaps…?

R’wign’s speaking made her lift her head up again, the wherhandler shivering slightly despite herself. Ellie had gone…? And – oh. Of course. How could she have forgotten that R’wign had an entire fair of firelizards? Nevertheless, Zesa rose to her feet at her light nudge and sprang into flight, disappearing almost instantly. The gold was calm, her anxiety at least temporarily appeased, and she’d much rather be doing something than…sitting there in the storage closet. It was far too dark in there. Meira exhaled, the breath not quite a sigh, as the gold disappeared, focusing numbly on the brownrider. Stand up…? No. Too many shelves, too many things to potentially trip over. She couldn’t help another shiver at the thought of opening the door – this one not of cold but of something close to panic. There were people out there – and coming out of the closet was strange enough without being nude with it. Saeo – Meira didn’t mind the girl, but she didn’t trust her not to spread rumors.

But still – it was only a matter of time before somebody needed whatever numbers they’d been recording, or went into the storage closet to get something…

The brownrider’s laugh startled her – not unpleasantly so, but it was still surprising. What, exactly, was at all humorous about the situation escaped her entirely, and if she could vanish on the spot, she gladly would have. Meira shivered again, squirming tighter against both R’wign and the wall in an almost instinctive search for warmth. Normally, she wouldn’t have been – indeed, she probably would have been shying away from R’wign – but she didn’t know what else to do; it was warm; and M’ta trusted R’wign. She did, too, but M’ta made it feel safer.

Still, the brownrider’s comment made her crinkle her nose in the darkness, though the more serious reply that came on the tail of the first made her relax, the relief clear in her voice as she answered. “Most people aren’t hurt to begin with…but…um, I think I found a shirt?” It was more a question than a statement as she fumbled for the fabric with one hand. It was…almost definitely a shirt. Unless R’wign had been wearing…shorts? Hmm. Turning the clothing over in her lap, she half-stiffened at the question, and then shook her head slowly. He…could see that motion, couldn’t he? “I’m okay,” she vocalized. Whether or not it was entirely true, Meira didn’t know; she did hurt, but it wasn’t a specific ache so much as a general one – the result of sleeping on the floor, doubtlessly. “I mean…considering…the floor, and all.”

[glamourie]

She uncurled slightly - and R’wign felt instantly better. If she wasn’t recoiling from his touch, that probably meant that Meira didn’t feel completely violated. He wasn’t completely reassured, though. If he were to be completely truthful, R’wign didn’t know Meira very well… but one of the things he did know about her was that she seemed very skittish. Not necessarily with him but others. He’d never heard her speak more than a few words here or there. She was M’ta’s friend, so he assumed her to be pleasant beyond how quiet, and he knew she was intelligent. Past that -- well, he didn’t know her on any level other than being a Healer. Which wasn’t really much at all. She seemed… fragile on several levels, and the tension in her body, even as she leaned to rest her head against his shoulder, worried him. R’wign tightened his arms around Meira’s torso and rested his head against hers. Maybe it would comfort her… maybe. He hoped so, at least. She just… did not strike him as someone who would take sleeping with her fellow healer as nothing more than casual Run/Flightlust. Perhaps it was a good thing she hadn’t Impressed a dragon…

The slightly shimmering gold form disappeared from his peripheral vision and R’wign bit his tongue. Hopefully, Zesa and Ellie would be able to find some glows. Something they could dress by, and… act as if nothing happened? Were they both capable of that? He was, so long as Meira didn’t… well, didn’t act strangely. Somehow he suspected she would, though, if only because she’d asked after him first… he doubted she believed he was unharmed. But he wasn’t hurt, far from, and he didn’t know how to make her believe that. He also didn’t know how to comfort anyone very well to start with. What if she hated him…? Her name was so much like -- no no. No.

“I’m fine, Meira, really,” he said with a little more insistence in his voice. “The worst thing about me right now is that I’m cold, but you’re helping fix that pretty quickly.”

Probably not the best way to word it, but it was true. If he hadn’t said so, odds were she’d think he was still cold and fuss over that. At least the slightly teasing comment would make sure that Meira knew he wasn’t chilled or anything. He squinted with his good eye as she moved her hand and he lifted one of his to try and touch the shirt. Was it his? Was it hers? Too hard to tell in the darkness and his vision was… not the best to start with. Since she was just fondling it, he assumed it was his - but… maybe not. Maybe she was just waiting to see whether or not the fire lizards would have any success. That seemed much more likely than --

Why was he analyzing it all so much? Pushing that from his mind, R’wign focused on their predicament. Naked. In a storage cabinet. He’d been jumped by one of the shyest people in the Weyr. He had to admit - it was funny from an outsider’s perspective, but no one would ever find out. He had some sense of decency, and it would probably traumatize Meira. At the least, she would be very unhappy. Besides, who would he tell, really?

“Floor is probably not the best place to… yeah. Walls aren’t much better.” And part of the time had been spent against the wall. He didn’t point that out, though R’wign did continue, “I’m glad you’re okay. I was… worried, about you. You come off as very -- skittish. Are you angry with me?”

[Avu]

It was her fault, wasn’t it?

Not Meisk’s, because she should have anticipated the blue’s need and made sure she was somewhere – somewhere safe when he Chased again; that first time with Risk had been bad enough that she should have remembered…closing her eyes numbly, Meira exhaled, keeping her head against R’wign’s shoulder, more out of an instinctive need for the comfort and warmth that he provided than because she was consciously aware of the awkwardness of the embrace. For a moment, she focused on keeping her breathing even. Claustrophobia. She’d never considered it before, but now she did, but at the same time, she was almost grateful for the small space. But it was her fault…her stomach twisted at the thought, and she closed her eyes tighter. The green wher that had Run…was wild, wasn’t she? She wouldn’t know – she couldn’t possibly understand the chaos…funny how she could think of an excuse for everyone except herself.

The brownrider’s comment drew a shaky laugh from the wherhandler, though she wasn’t quite certain if it was actual amusement or hysteria. It was cold in the storage closet – side effect of having no glows or windows? She wasn’t shivering anymore, but she was still aware of the cold, and thoughtlessly tucked her legs closer to her body, till the bottom of her feet were pressed against the wall at her back. But…but she hadn’t hurt R’wign inadvertently; the guilt lessened exponentially as another wave of relief flickered through her, the tension in her shoulders momentarily loosening. She had her eyes closed, still, folding the shirt in her lap vaguely. Very clear, it was, that she wasn’t entirely thinking straight; she was relying on Zesa and Ellie (and the rest of R’wign’s fair) to return quickly with the glows.

The thoughts going through her mind were disjointed at best. It would probably be best to put on the shirt, regardless of whose it was – she knew it wouldn’t be too small for her, at the least, and it might help with the cold, but that would require movement, and at the moment, she couldn’t bring herself to do that. She was still waiting to wake up, after all. Some part of her still felt numb with shock – ironic; she’d never, ever expected to be the one to jump someone else, and she couldn’t entirely comprehend that she had. Anyway, if it was R’wign’s shirt, it’d be easier to just for the firelizards to return so that she could see and get her shirt instead of putting it on…and then having to take it off again. She probably still had Z’hin’s shirt somewhere because she lacked the nerve to return it, and Meira didn’t want to have to add another shirt to that collection, please and thank you.

R’wign was speaking again, and, distracted – she wasn’t really thinking anymore so much as just blankly waiting for something to happen – Meira lifted her head from his shoulder. Floor – walls. Right. Either way, it didn’t – it just didn’t work; she twitched one shoulder unconsciously, and then blinked at R’wign, vaguely able to make out his expression in the light. “I – why would I be?” Taken by surprise, she was; it hadn’t occurred to Meira to be upset with R’wign – to be completely honest, the wherhandler underestimated the brownrider’s strength, injured as he was. Hard to fight off anybody controlled by Runlust – or Flightlust – and she’d been under the impression that he hadn’t had any chance of getting away. “I’m not…” Her gaze flickered towards the door again; where were the firelizards…?

[glamourie]

“Women often find reasons to be angry at men when they wake up in awkward situations,” R’wign pointed out casually and in his opinion it was true. Opinion, not experience. For all of his flirting and goofing around, R’wign was not very… experienced. Not that he intended to ever fess up to that much aloud (it would ruin his image!) but the amount of people he’d been with was staggeringly small. Over the past few months it had doubled - literally - due to flight/runlust, but before that, it amounted to all of two. Cezine, once, out by the river and he’d been blushing, fumbling and making a fool of himself in general - and then Marra - for three solid turns. Really, he didn’t know much about… anything, aside from her. He just assumed, based on rumors and comments he’d heard, that women were more awkward to wake up with men. Not that waking up with Tr’esn had been particularly easy but at least that he could blame on Checkoth, as an excuse for why he hadn’t run for the hills. With Meira, he didn’t really have an excuse… except that he’d liked her touch; he hadn’t wanted to run. If she hated him, she would’ve been in the right, but he didn’t want her to hate him. He didn’t want that at all…

Following Meira’s gaze toward the door, R’wign fidgeted slightly. She wasn’t unhappy…? Well, that was a plus. She probably would be when she realized, though, that he could’ve gotten away. She’d probably yell at him or something. Though, Meira didn’t seem the yelling sort. More the silent scorn, which was… worse. He was used to being yelled at. Women yelling at him had happened all his life. The idea of her hating him was… terrible. Absolutely terrible in his mind. The fear he felt made him tense up, and R’wign clenched closed his good eye before leaning his face against Meira’s hair. He was almost thankful for the darkness. She wouldn’t be able to see the cold dread he wore on his face. If she did - she’d probably misconstrue it. The idea of her hating him - which she undoubtedly would soon enough, he was certain - was extremely depressing.

“I guess,” he began, trying to tease; maybe if he lightened the mood somehow, she wouldn’t think too badly of him, “you’re just unique among women. Certainly a lot less loud than I’m used to… do you ever talk much?”

Where were their fire lizards? Reaching out to Ellie mentally, he was surprised to find that… the gold was… not coming back. His head cocked to the side, but fortunately he was kept from musing too much on what had distracted his little queen because a burst of light appeared above the two of them: glows. Tilting his head up, R’wign squinted as one of the glows came barreling down to smash right into the space where Meira was leaning against him -- colliding with both of them at once. A startled squawk (decidedly feminine) announced the figure to be Roxie before she uncurled enough to look up, triumphantly, at R’wign and Meira both. Preening prettily, the green showed off; wasn’t she the smartest fire lizard ever? Her companions settled on the shelves above, with Collision scolding loud enough to make his presence undeniable -- his irritation, too, was obvious. How dare they wake him up for this! It was an outrage! A scandal! None of this merited waking up for!

R’wign winced and gently scooped Roxie into his hands before looking at Meira curiously. “I don’t know where Ellie and Zesa went,” he said over the loud racket Collision was making from the top shelf. The blue spat three times, then suddenly went silent. R’wign paused, then looked at Roxie who preened in his hands to show off; look how magnificent she was, wasn’t she just the most gorgeous green ever to hatch on Pern? Then he cocked his head and looked up toward the top shelf and raised an eyebrow. Collision glared down at him. “What, suddenly silent, my little grouch? Since when?”

I asked him to be quiet. I told him he would distress the WherHealer, Checkoth explained, and not for the first time in his life (nor likely the last), R’wign was grateful for his dragon. The brown really was a lifesaver. You should put on some pants, R’wignmine. If she’s as shy as you say, your lack of them might make her nervous.

Good advice. Very good advice. R’wign glanced around and, finally locating his pants (crumpled up on the floor from where they’d been pulled off), he snatched them and pulled them over to him. Then he pulled his pants on, all without having to stand up, and fastened them at his waist carefully. Maybe that would make things a little less awkward.

[Avu]

Oh. Until he’d pointed it out, Meira hadn’t even started to consider being upset with R’wign. But then, she didn’t even plan on being upset with Meisk – it was clear by the blue’s presence in her mind that he was appropriately contrite – perhaps too much so, worrying over the entire situation and fretting incessantly. Meira stayed silent, trying to assure the wher that it was not his fault, but though he withdrew, she was quite certain that she had not entirely succeeded in making him feel better. Sighing, she turned her attention to Zesa, trying to pick the images from the firelizard’s mind – fortunately, the gold was intelligent enough that her imagework was usually quite understandable. Nevertheless, the blurry view she received was primarily of…a duck. Which was…not at all helpful. Where was Zesa going, and what was she doing…?

Tension. She could feel it; she was in a good position to. Meira instinctively stiffened in response, her gaze flicking upwards uncertainly towards the brownrider’s face – which was nicely shielded by darkness. Repressing the instinct to squirm in her agitation, the wherhandler swallowed against the dryness in her throat. First stop – either the Infirmary or the kitchens; it depended on how bad she felt when she stood up. R’wign’s comment drew a half-chuckle from Meira. She could have come up with a halfway decent excuse for her lack of speech – not least of which was that she did not want to draw any attention to the closet; a single door was all that was keeping them from being in plain sight, and she didn’t think it was locked – but it wasn’t in her nature to talk anyway. But the question was direct enough that she crinkled her nose thoughtfully before she answered with a slow shake of her head, slightly embarrassed.

And, abruptly, lights were overhead, and one hand came up instinctively to shield her face from the sudden light, Meira passing one hand over her eyes and blinking to get rid of the image that danced in front of her gaze – but she only had a split second to do so before something collided with her – and probably R’wign, too, judging by the area of impact; Meira directed her blinking at Roxie, taken completely by surprise. To be quite honest, she’d expected a warning before the glows came – Zesa was not among the firelizards who swooped into the closet, though; a slight nervousness flickered through Meira, adding to the guilt already bubbling in the pit of her stomach as she raised her head from R’wign’s shoulder to stare at the glow that marked Collision’s perch as the blue scolded.

If he didn’t stop, he’d have someone coming to see what was up…

Meira blinked again, finally ridding her gaze of the three glowing yellow dots, before she answered R’wign, glancing down at the shirt in her lap to identify it in the light of the glows. “Um…I got an image of…of a duck?” Hopefully he wouldn’t think she was crazy, but just in case, Meira pressed against the firelizard’s mind again – and received the same image, along with Zesa’s undeniable amusement. Her shirt, it looked like. Very hard to tell, even with the glows; three glows wasn’t enough to shed light onto the entire closet. Nevertheless, she straightened, unfolding the fabric and pulling it over her head before she registered Collision’s silence – and was instantly grateful. Any louder and the entire Weyr would been woken…and speaking of which, what time was it…?

Tugging her shirt down, only half-registering R’wign’s pulling his pants on – it was much easier to ignore if she had something else to focus on – Meira glanced around, scanning the ground. She tilted her head forwards slightly, instinctively, letting her hair drop down so she wouldn’t have to watch R’wign. It wasn’t really any different from it was purely dark. On an intellectual level, she knew that – but on another, she was distinctly uncomfortable, even in the half-light, because of that light. Pants…pants…? She moved forward to catch the end of them, biting her lower lip as she pulled them on, and then leaned against the wall again, twirling the hem of her shirt around one finger as she finally looked up at R’wign again, for possibly the first time since the glows had been brought.

“I…guess I can open the door now?” And leave – but she was too polite to outright say so.

[glamourie]

“You should talk more.” It was a suggestion, not a demand, and his tone made that clear. R’wign was naturally soft spoken when he wasn’t being flamboyant -- he didn’t raise his voice unless he was being deliberately silly, and even then his version of ‘raised voice’ paled in comparison to the average person. He wasn’t all that worried about being heard. If no one heard them before, talking wouldn’t draw the attention of outsiders. Most likely, it was late enough in the day that no one would be coming around. Probably eating midday meal or something. Maybe dinner…? How late was it? He crinkled his nose, wondering. A gentle brush of Checkoth’s mind told him that it was close to dinner time, and he reached one hand up to rub the side of his nose. They probably could’ve escaped the closet without being seen, but -- “It’s apparently close to dinner time,” he tacked on as an after thought. It felt better to be wearing pants… considerably less vulnerable. Who knew cloth could be so reassuring?

Running his hands over his pants, R’wign looked around for his shirt. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find it -- which was decidedly odd. His hands wrapped around Roxie and he pulled her up onto his bare shoulder before crinkling his nose. The green scurried up to the curve of his neck and took to affectionately rubbing her entire body against him, adoringly. For all her squawking and annoying habits, she really did adore R’wign and finding her away from him was a near impossibility. He was her favorite thing ever. Comically, she was also the first to spring to R’wign’s defense, in the form of screeching and attacking. His little protector. R’wign felt better with her there, like there was less chance of him being hurt or - or something. It didn’t make sense. It didn’t have to.

His gaze lingered on Meira as she pulled on her shirt, and only propriety kept him from staring; it wasn’t entirely his fault, was it…? At least she didn’t seem to notice. Her statement made him blink, then roll his eye with an obvious look of agitation on his voice.

“That’ll be Fuzz, K’lir’s duck.” That he, technically, was responsible for straddling K’lir with, but that was totally not something he was going to fess up to. The response was immature and it might have made him sound ungrateful for Ellie. He did love his little queen -- he just wasn’t really sure he could handle five fire lizards and Checkoth without exploding. So far, so good, though. “She’s fond of anything that shines. Rocks, shells… fire lizards, apparently. I don’t know what she’d be doing near the infirmary, but then, K’lir’s assigned to the infirmary… so maybe she’s following him…?” Obviously, the duck had spontaneously decided to collect the two queens. Typical. Just typical. He didn’t know Zesa very well but he knew Ellie, and Ellie would indulge the duck solely because the duck was young. Ellie liked baby creatures. It was frustrating at times.

Carefully, R’wign pulled himself to his feet. It took some doing, since the closet was relatively small and he didn’t want to step on anyone (flit or human alike). The elevation drew his attention to his shirt - which was conveniently hanging from one of the shelves. Flushing slightly, R’wign snatched it and pulled it on before turning the doorknob and gesturing for Meira to go out it. “Ladies first,” he said weakly. “Do you want to -- go get something to eat?” That was half an after thought, but - he really was starving. And so were his flits, if the way they all flew down to land on him, perching over his arms, shoulders and on his head were anything to indicate. The waves of hunger they sent over him were enough to make him twitch. “In the kitchens…? I have to feed these beggars… Checkoth says hi, by the way…” The brown’s interest in Meira stemmed primarily because of R’wign’s... and… their activities. R’wign didn’t explain that. It… would probably upset Meira immensely, and he was trying to avoid that if at all possible…

[Avu]

Talk more, should she? Meira wrinkled her nose at the idea, thoughtlessly smoothing the fabric of her shirt as she shifted her weight cautiously from one foot to the other, prepared for her body to protest even more than it already had. The lack thereof was reassuring, though she wasn’t ready to completely stretch yet. Knowing her luck, it would hurt. A lot. She shrugged one shoulder noncommittally, though, in response to the statement; Meira didn’t feel the need to talk a lot and therefore, she didn’t. Serious, she was, and she knew it, but she couldn’t help it – unnecessary noise and being very, very loud without cause just wasn’t in her nature, and she couldn’t make herself do it without feeling…very, very foolish. But…“I’ll…keep that in mind.” The wherhandler’s comment was soft, and a half-smile flickered across her face. She probably wouldn’t talk more, but she still wouldn’t just ignore R’wign’s opinion.

The answer to her unasked question came shortly thereafter, and Meira nodded slowly, trying to mentally count up the hours. Dinnertime – around six or seven, then? And it had been…relatively late before…but awhile, either way; considering they had opposite shifts, they’d be lucky if neither of them had been missed, especially considering R’wign was a Journeyman. “That’s nice to know…” she murmured. It wasn’t a sarcastic comment; it was, instead, thoughtful. Raising her hand to pull her hair away from her eyes, the wherhandler glanced sideways at R’wign as he picked up Roxie, and added, “Do you remember what time it was…before?” She’d thought it was around – eleven at night, perhaps? She wasn’t really sure; there were no windows in the closet to check the moon’s progress by – nothing to help make even the slightest of guesses.

What? What? So there…really was a duck? Her nose wrinkled as she mentally reached for Zesa again, and received an image of the same duck – though by the image, it looked as if their location had changed from the last image. The amusement still lingered – a tolerant kind of amusement, it was, combined with a slight affection for the duck. The duck that collected shiny things and belonged to K’lir, apparently. Meira exhaled, and half-grinned, more at the duck’s expense than R’wign’s. As long as it wouldn’t hurt Zesa, that was okay; she trusted the queen to return when she had appropriately indulged the duck. But…really, why would someone in the Weyr want a pet duck…? “She sounds cute,” Meira observed. She wouldn’t want a pet duck, but…that didn’t mean she couldn’t think it was cute. And then – “Zesa likes her, I think…” Or, at the very least, the gold found Fuzz amusing, which was good enough for Meira.

As R’wign stood, Meira instinctively took a step away. The motion wasn’t out of nervousness towards the brownrider – but more from pure instinct to give the other Healer a bit more room to stand properly. Small place, it was – and, uh, why was his shirt on the shelf…? Meira bit the inside of her cheek, focusing on the pit of her stomach to keep from flushing, because she knew she would – and probably was despite her efforts not to. As the door swung open, Meira automatically glanced around to check for anyone nearby, mumbling a thank you to R’wign as she passed him into the hallway, smoothing down her shirt nervously again just in case it was rumpled (it wasn’t) – before she glanced back at the brownrider, managing a slight smile – weak, but it was the thought that counted, right?

His question made Meira pause, considering nervously. She wasn’t hungry, but she wouldn’t mind something to drink; her throat was positively aching. And if R’wign’s firelizards were hungry, then she’d better get something for Zesa, too; the queen would probably want to eat whenever she escaped from her kidnapper. “I’ll come, if you don’t mind…and tell him hi, too, please?” The wherhandler had already taken a step in the direction of the Main Hall, and she glanced over her shoulder at R’wign to make sure he was moving before she kept going.

She was never going in that storage closet again.

((Closed~~))