Twice as fun (Ka'rys)

[Ember]

Nephele was busy handing out snacks to the creche kids, occasionally snagging something out of childrens' mouths. Kids were so much work! The greenrider loved it though. Kids were just too cute and innocent. Not to mention honest. She leaned down and ruffled a little boy's hair before offering him some redfruit slices. The young greenrider spent a fair amount of her spare time helping out in the creche because she loved kids and didn't have one herself. Or any friends who did have kids, for that matter. Well...she supposed her firelizards counted as kids well enough. They all needed taking care of though some were more independent than others.

Oddly enough, none of her 'kids' were perched on her. Usually Mother kept to her shoulder, always ready to boost her confidence with a quiet thought. He was busy loving on the creche children though. Without him on her shoulder she felt rather bare. She was just that used to him being present. He was quite happy playing with the kids though. He loved babies and that's just what he saw the weyrbrats as. Charming was another one who popped in to make the 'brats laugh and to have fun everynow and then. He preferred other places though. The children just didn't recognize how gorgeous he was enough for the vain creature.

A sudden alarmed feeling made Nephele blink and turn her head to see her poor bronze firelizard being pulled on by a couple of kids. She passed the tray with the snacks to another woman for a moment and approached the kids to free her firelizard. Young children were amazingly possesive. It reminded her all too much of Diva. The bronze agreed with Nephele even if he knew it wasn't the childrens' fault. They just didn't understand, that's all. Nephele tapped each of the kids on their heads lightly to get their attention. "Hey, none of that now. He's happy to play with you both if you don't pull on him."

She proceeded to extract the bronze from their hands carefully. Mother sent warm feelings to the two with a faint apology. They shouldn't do that (it did hurt, after all) but he was sorry if His' abrupt reaction upset them. Nephele crouched down to be more at eye level with the pair of kids. "Can you two play nice with him for me? Keep him from getting bored?" she asked them in an attempt to be diplomatic. She really didn't want them to think they couldn't play with Mother. She just didn't want them hurting him either.

((The two kids could be Rys' or just random kids. Up to you, Symlove <3))

[glamourie]

Well that was not fair, the older of the twins decided with a look toward Nephele. Keravi and Samera were mirror twins – and as a result, they looked enough alike to be startling. Both twins had dark blond/light brown hair (with Samera’s being a tinge lighter) and the two toddlers also both had startlingly chocolate-brown eyes. Samera was the smaller twin, and she was also the one not standing. Initially, Samera had been petting Mother (gently, no less) but Keravi became jealous and tried to snatch her away. This was not uncommon as Keravi frequently became jealous of how much Shadow paid attention to Sammy. It upset her that none of the silly mini-dragons played with her. She hadn’t meant to hurt him and being told she was being too rough wasn’t very nice. Her eyes filled up with tears, but stubbornly Keravi nodded – she would not be put off by being scolded. (She hadn’t yet figured out that firelizards and salamandyrs only preferred Samera because she was quiet and still much of the time – to Keravi, it was just another way of someone favoring her sister and that wasn’t fair at all. Only Bryce seemed to like her and Kaley had stolen him. Bad Kaley.)

“They didn’t mean it, you know.”

PAPA! Both of the girls turned away from Nephele (Keravi’s upset vanishing instantly) to address their father. It was rare for Ka’rys to come down to the creche in the middle of the day (he worked, after all) but both of the twins were always excited when he did as it meant quite a lot of playing. They were equally close to their mother and father – and since most of the evenings were spent with mommy, both girls were happy to have a day to spend with their daddy. Keravi immediately held her arms up, chanting quiet ‘Up up!’ to emphasize her point, while Samera held her arm back out to Mother – trying to encourage him to come back. She hadn’t pulled on him. Shadow got upset when he was pulled on, so why wouldn’t this one? She wouldn’t pull, she promised~

Crouching down, Ka’rys scooped up Keravi and kissed her nose (earning a light poke of his for his trouble) before turning back to Nephele – whose name he didn’t know; she was a stranger but he was pretty sure she’d Impressed from one of Hepaticath’s clutches. Ciceroth supplied him with the information that she was a greenrider and that was good enough for him – he didn’t usually address people by their names anyway, always their rank. Formal, perhaps, but he wasn’t the friendliest creature ever. He was Ka’rys, after all.

“Keravi’s kind of used to getting ignored by flitters – she probably got jealous.” The word jealous made Keravi pout and she mumbled something that was probably the baby version of a denial. She understood that word well enough, thank you very much. Ka’rys turned back to her and snorted. “Oh, denial, hm?” There was laughter in his voice as Keravi glared at him. “Ah, see, now you look like your mommy. Her glare, all over. Doesn’t work any better for you than it does for him, sweetie. Treat the firelizards like you did Merce. You remember Merce?”

“Mercy! Be soft, soft?” Keravi asked, and Ka’rys nodded before setting her down next to her sister. He crouched down, then glanced up at Nephele, indicating her and whispering. Keravi turned back to the girl, looking slightly sheepish, before looking at the firelizard. “Am sowwy, flitterby. Hurted was akki-dent.” As soon as she was done speaking, she turned back to Ka’rys and asked loudly enough that Nephele would surely hear her, “Is okay now?” At his nod, she clapped and then flopped down, half-leaning on her sister who giggled at her. Yes, despite the fact that Keravi got jealous, both twins were quite close. They were each other’s twin, after all.

[Ember]

Nephele smiled apologetically at the upset girl. She didn't really like scolding children but she knew better than to spoil them by not saying anything. The greenrider was wondering what to do next when a man's voice pulled her gaze away from the pair of twins. She didn't recognize him from voice but that was no shocker. However, she did know who it was by sight. Nephele had made a habit of knowing which bronzerider was which from her time at Benden and that hadn't changed. She was understandabley a bit surprised to see the Weyrsecond in a place like the creche. The twins made it clear what his reason for being there was though.

The young woman nodded in understanding at what Ka'rys said. The little girls definitely didn't seem mean and they were young. She watched the interaction between the bronzerider and his daughter in mild fascination. It was odd to think of the man she'd heard about being the same person as the guy in front of her. When she'd asked around about him (that was admittedly a long time ago) she'd gotten a different impression of him. Mother licked her hand softly, politely asking to be let go. The other little one seemed to want him back. Nephele obliged him and the bronze jumped back over to Samera while the greenrider continued to be distracted by Ka'rys.

At the explanation, Nephele smiled slightly. Ah yes, jealousy. That would explain it. Kids got jealous quite easily and there were often little arguments and fights in the creche over toys, snacks, napping spots...just about anything that could be considered someone's was fought over. Thankfully people tended to grow out of such posessiveness over time. She let the father deal with the situation since he clearly understood his daughters better than she probably ever would. It was always best if the parents could deal with situations like that but the creche existed because dragonrider parents were often busy. Or dead. It wasn't the safest line of work.

At the whispering, Nephele couldn't help but be curious, especially since both parties looked at her which meant it had to do with her. She was relieved when it turned out to be a suggestion to apologize to Mother. The apology was warmly received by the bronze and he gently brushed Keravi's mind to let her know he was okay and not mad. When Keravi sat down next to Samera the bronze carefully made his way along Samera to Keravi and sat on her shoulder. There, that was fair, right? Nephele smiled and turned her attention to Ka'rys. "Thank you."

[glamourie]

Keravi’s eyes went wide as the bronze firelizard landed on her shoulder and she looked back at Ka’rys, excited. He offered her a light smile before repeating quietly, “Be gentle with him, Kera. He’s very small. Smaller than you, and if you’re not, you might hurt him. Hm?” She nodded back to her father and then lifted one hand to very gently pet Mother’s back, stroking him awkwardly and most likely missing all the spots that were most sensitive – but her intentions were clear; she was trying to be gentle and nice, just like her papa said. He was a very pretty firelizard. She smiled at Mother encouragingly, very effectively distracted, and Samera scooted over to smile back – equally encouraging. Unlike some children, Samera did not make any attempts to grab Mother from off of her sister’s shoulder. She was happy to look at the shiny bronze right where he was, and he seemed to make her sister so happy by being there... that was good enough for her. It really was.

“Good pwetty,” Samera said softly. Unlike Keravi, whose voice was very clear, Samera’s was soft and almost rough from lack of use; she didn’t talk very much, after all. But there was a certain sweetness, a similarity, that made it clear that she was definitely Keravi’s twin. As if their faces being almost identical (though notably, Samera had smaller, more narrowed eyes, and Keravi had a rounder, warmer face) wasn’t an obvious enough indicator. “San’you.”

Smiling at the two girls, Ka’rys gently ruffled their hair and stroked one finger down Mother’s back from his head knob – just firmly enough to satisfy any itches – before standing back up on his own. He didn’t move away from the little girls, though he did turn back to the firelizard’s owner with a polite nod. “I think she just got a little excited. She’s normally very sweet.” Realizing that he was displaying relatively poor manners, Ka’rys turned back to her and absently held one hand out. He wasn’t the most social of entities, but he did have one rule – one rule above and beyond all else: set a good example for his children. And he wanted them to not be as socially awkward as he was. If that meant pretending to be more comfortable with strangers, he’d do it; he’d go out of his way to be nice if it would make sure that Keravi and Samera were as adults. “I’m Ka’rys; my dragon is Ciceroth. This is Keravi.” He indicated the very-distracted little girl with one finger (and she chirped a pleasant ‘Hi!’ in response – not even registering what she was saying hi to, so distracted by Mother was she). His other hand came down to ruffle Samera’s hair and she looked up at him with a wide, obviously happy smile. “And this is Samera. Or Sammy.”

Rather than speak as her sister did, Samera lifted one hand in a little wave that was friendly, but not as outgoing. She wasn’t talkative like Keravi, but she was sweet as could be most of the time. This girl let them pet her firelizards – she was okay in Sammy’s books. Not that there was anyone who wasn’t. She liked most everyone, after all.

“I hope they haven’t given you too much trouble. Ciss informs me you’re a greenrider, but I don’t believe we’ve met before...?”

[Ember]

Mother rubbed his head against Keravi's cheek, almost encouragingly before letting her simply pet him. The touch was a lot gentler than the earlier treatment and he brushed her mind thankfully. That was much better. He preferred a slightly stronger stroking but any positive attention was welcomed by the bronze. She was trying so hard too! He saw the other one approach and brushed her mind pleasantly as well. He didn't have a preference one way or another for shoulders (except that of His) but he did like that Samera was gentle since the beginning. Her words had him tilting his head and he uttered a single, simple chirp in response.

Nephele continued to wait for the bronzerider to do...well, anything. Chat to her, ignore her a little longer, dismiss her. Something. It was impolite to just walk away though. Not enough time had passed for that to happen. Mother recieved the stroke happily before turning his attention back to the two girls. When Nephele was addressed again she put on a pleasant smile and replied, "Yes, she seems that way." At the offered hand she blinked but didn't hesitate. Perhaps the rumours were a little off about this man. She nodded as both of the girls' names were said. Samera was given a bit more of than a nod given she was actually looking up at her. "Hello to you as well."

Nephele released Ka'rys's hand and shook her head. "Not at all. My name's Nephele, rider of Nuoth. Pleasure to meet you, sir." It was a bit unusual for her to be so formal and not flirting at all but he had kids. Kids that were there with them. "Pardon me for a moment. Would you like your snacks now?" The first part was directed towards Ka'rys, but the other was most definitely directed to the two little girls. It was technically snack time and the duty of those working in the creche was to provide them.

[glamourie]

The two girls were almost completely absorbed with Mother. Keravi continued her gentle petting while Samera, the more docile of the twins, watched him amiably. For the moment, Kera was distracted. She didn’t get a lot of attention from firelizards. It wasn’t that she was badly behaved – she just sometimes was too rough, and more often than not was too mobile. She’d been told by her mama time and again that she needed to be still and quiet for them to want to perch on her (as evidenced by her behavior toward Mother), but it was hard. Still and quiet were Sammy traits. Kera was always in motion, always up to something, always getting excited. She liked to explore, to get into things, to find out everything going on around her – and she had to chatter about it to everyone who would listen. Look how pretty the shell she found was, did you SEE that wave – these were her favorite things to discuss. She wasn’t expressly ‘loud’ but she was definitely not as quiet and docile as her sister. Mother, by perching on her, was now her favorite firelizard ever. She’d probably give him gifts on sight too, if she could find any. Such a nice little bronze. Like her papa’s dragon only smaller. Except Cissy looked like a gold. Hm.

The greenrider’s introduction was received with a pleasant smile, but nothing more. Ka’rys was not the most social of individuals at the best of times, but around his children they were always first and foremost in his mind. He didn’t get enough time with them to allow himself to be distracted by someone else for very long – even if he did appreciate this woman loaning her firelizard to the girls for entertainment. He didn’t have any pets, not since Ophelie and Merce both went between, so he was left with only borrowing Kale’s cats to try and teach the young twins how to handle animals. And Reggie being a monster of a fluffball did not help matters (though the orange-and-white feline was more than content to let both girls climb on his back and pull his fur; he was patient with them in a way that even Ka’rys envied at times).

His eyebrow raised slightly and he glanced at the girls at the mention of ‘treats.’ Keravi instantly brightened, eyes going wide and she bounced (though she was careful not to dislodge her firelizard companion in the process). “Yummies? Daddy, can we...?” Samera’s gaze followed her sister’s to Ka’rys and he shrugged, smiling. This made Keravi brighten further and she turned back to Nephele before clapping her hands happily. “Treats goodies, pwease?” See, she remembered the please this time, too. Wasn’t she being good?

“Do you work here often?” Ka’rys asked absently, without moving from his spot. It would be easy enough for her to answer his questions without having to stop with her chores – whatever they were. He didn’t know of any riders being assigned to the creche but that didn’t mean that none were. S’rei didn’t answer to him in terms of assignments, after all. She wasn’t a weyrling anymore, as far as he knew – Ciceroth insisted that she’d Impressed from his and Cath’s first clutch and they weren’t babies anymore. “Or is this just a hobby?”

[Ember]

Nephele wasn't put off by Ka'rys' coldly polite appearance. It was preferential to some things. She'd certainly had worse aimed her way. It's not like she planned to get overly friendly with the man despite his influential position anyways. He had kids for one thing. Second of all, she'd stopped herself from actively pursuing uninterested men. Selenitas was not Benden. She had no reason to try and turn every single man in the weyr to her purpose. There wasn't even really a purpose to turn them to. At first it had thrown her off but after a while she'd gotten used to it. She'd even grown to like it. It was a lot simpler.

Mother carefully curled his claws into the fabric of Keravi's shirt so as not to be bounced around too much. Such energetic babies! The bronze was very happy to see such happy girls. For all she could sometimes pick somewhat odd names for her firelizards they definitely fit. The bronze's wings flared for a moment almost defensively at His' thoughts. Nothing wrong with fussing over babies! Even the big gold had seemingly agreed. At the very least Hepaticath hadn't shooed him away from her hatching babies. Yeah, yeah she got the message.

Nephele smiled at the girl and, while usually affectionate with the weyrbrats, barely managed not to ruffle her hair. She'd save that for the kids whose parents who weren't visiting them in the creche. "Goodies coming right up," she replied pleasantly. She moved to the nearest worker who still had some of the snack of the day and returned with the girls' snacks. They got the same as all the others; a few (very, very lightly) sweetened redfruit slices. The fruit was sweet enough on its own most of the time so there was no need to put much, if any, sweetening on it at all.

As she offered the slices to the girl she tilted her head up to look at Ka'rys. "I come pretty often, pretty much whenever I have the spare time, so i guess you can call it a hobby." She certainly wasn't paid for the work she did, nor did she necessarily want to. Taking care of kids for a living seemed like her dream job. She wasn't disatisfied with her lot though. Nuoth was great and made any duties of a dragonrider bearable.

[glamourie]

“Yay!” Keravi happily chirped, oblivious to the discomfort she may have been causing for Mother. Sammy, the better of the two with firelizards, reached up one hand to gently stroke and soothe him; it was a quiet apology for her sister’s rambunctious behavior. She hadn’t meant to dislodge him or anything, that one touch said. Really, she hadn’t. Keravi looked at her, then turned back to Mother and ducked slightly, mumbling a quiet ‘sowwy’ to him under her breath. But neither of the girls had long to focus on that because they were quickly distracted by the goodies that Nephele promised. Being young children, they both were easily placated with sweets and the offered fruit was taken with absolute delight. However, an observant party would notice that neither tried to snatch, or take their sister’s from them. Whether that was because they were simply that well behaved or – more likely – because Ka’rys was present was difficult to decipher. Either way, they both sat down neatly, with Samera holding a piece of her sweetened fruit over to Mother in case he wanted a taste. Keravi eyed her for a moment, then decided that while sharing was nice, firelizards didn’t eat fruit, and contentedly ate her own. It was too good to give away.

Eying the girls for a moment, Ka’rys smiled. He didn’t typically give the twins sweets because, let’s face it, they were hyper enough without them. He didn’t object to Nephele doing so though, when it obviously was something she did regularly. He went out of his way to not tell other people how to do their jobs unless it directly impacted his. If she was volunteering or assigned to the creche, she knew what she was doing, and probably knew the habits of the children there well enough to know how much they could eat of sweets without becoming little terrors. Trusting other people was hard – especially with his children – but he was getting better at it day by day. And he was determined not to run this woman off just because he was borderline psychotic where the girls were concerned. She hadn’t done anything to merit his paranoia. He just was who he was.

“Everyone needs one. I build things. Not very well, I might add.” Was there such a thing as a modest bronzerider? Apparently – though really, only in that regard. Yes, Ka’rys was quite conceited when it came to most of his abilities. He knew very well how intelligent he was, how proficient he was at defending himself, and that he was very good at organizing things. He denied it on a regular enough basis to make some people question but that was more to try and get out of responsibility than anything else. Believing that other people’s lives hanged in his hands, that his mistake could cost countless people their lives, was enough to repel Ka’rys from being too cocky... and to make him want S’rei to find a new Weyrsecond. He had all of the ambition of a rock. But he was modest on some things, his woodwork being one of them. He wasn’t trained by a craftsman, so he made silly mistakes. It was a hobby though and unlike what some of his associates believed, hobbies were meant to be fun, not something he was fantastic at. “Keravi and Sammy seem to be pretty familiar with you. I think I recognize your flitter too – was he at Cath’s hatching?”

[Ember]

Mother had been mildly worried by Keravi’s bouncing though the worry had not been directed to himself. Rather, he felt concerned for the girl’s sake. She was really quite sweet but he could see why other firelizards would be wary of her. The bouncing, for one thing, not only made it hard to land but hard to be comfortable as well. There were other things a firelizard could do with the girl that didn’t require landing though. He’d never tried it but he’d watched Charming play a modified version of tag with a kid before. Samera was equally sweet and considerably more mild than her sister. He accepted the petting good-naturedly and nudged Keravi when she apologized. The bronze was glad when both settled down to eat their snack. Sammy’s offer was politely refused however. It was her snack. No need to share with him when he was provided with enough meat when he needed it.

Nephele’s smile when Ka’rys admitted that he wasn’t the best builder around was tinged with the odd real smile that she didn’t show often. She had let her guard down considerably over the past two turns. It showing at all was a good sign of that. “We all have things we’re bad at,” she commented neutrally. It wasn’t meant to be soothing but she’d let the bronzerider think what he would of it. People tended to stop talking if they got no response. She preferred him coming up with the topics in the beginning. It would give her an idea about appropriate topics to talk to him about. To keep him talking even more Nephele asked, “What kinds of things do you build? Furniture, knick-knacks?” It wasn’t an empty question either. She actually was curious what kinds of things a Weyrsecond built.

His statement was fairly obvious so she didn’t respond to it. She’d already said she spent a while in the creche, meaning she had to know the girls at least a little bit. His recognition of Mother though…ah. She smiled wryly and nodded. “He was. I’m glad Hepaticath was fairly tolerant of him.” She wasn’t sure what she would have done had the gold eaten him or hurt him in some way. Nephele knew better than anyone else that she had quite a temper. Gold or not, she would have been very pissed off at Hepaticath for ever hurting her fire lizard.

[glamourie]

“She likes firelizards,” Ka’rys replied with a slight shrug. “Ciceroth tells me that Hepaticath finds them amusing as he does, so long as they’re quiet and respectful. They’re both fairly fond of R’wign’s little gold, Elegance.” He distinctly remembered Ciceroth and Hepaticath allowing – wait. Wait. His gaze lifted and he regarded Nephele curiously for a moment. He recognized her and it had absolutely nothing to do with her firelizard, he came to realize. It was nothing to do with things that he’d seen at all, so maybe the sense of recognition wasn’t even his. Maybe it was Ciceroth’s... the memory definitely was. His head tilted and he fixed Nephele with an odd look, one that was probably very critical. He didn’t speak for a long moment, intentionally. Any trace of normal behavior was gone as he narrowed his eyes, seemingly oblivious to how weird it was to suddenly go quiet. He also seemed, for the moment, oblivious to his children. He kind of was.

The weird thing about his ‘memories’ was that they were like watching a scene through a fogged glass window. They were his, he was there, but there was a disconnect – no emotional attachment despite the realization that there should’ve been. Though, in that case, the emotions weren’t his at all. They were Ciceroth’s.

“You were one of the ones who ran across the Sands to help guard Hepaticath’s eggs when those riders tried to steal them, weren’t you?” It was a question, but not one that needed to be asked. “Ciceroth remembers you vividly. He remembers approving of you.” Well, at least he was explaining why he’d gone quiet. His words were soft – meant only for Nephele, though it probably wasn’t necessary, since the girls were thoroughly distracted by her little bronze firelizard. He smiled, despite himself; it was a look of amusement at his own expense. “You and Merridan – Chaoth’s rider. Before either of you Impressed. He says he was glad that you both Impressed from the clutch you tried so hard to protect.” Rys was a much better mouthpiece for Ciceroth than as a person, apparently. That got his thoughts turning though and – “What wing are you on now? Miles?” It was the trainee wing, so it’d make sense. “I think Merridan is on S’rei’s?”

That was before you hatched, Ciceroth helpfully pointed out to Nuoth. The bronze was in his usual ‘King of the Weyr’ spot – one of the rock clusters by the river, curled up in a position that should’ve been unbelievably uncomfortable for a dragon of his size. Did he find it so? Nope. Others tried to steal your egg. Yours helped to protect it. I remember her. Hello, by the way. Because greetings must always have been given. Hepaticath would’ve been annoyed at him if he didn’t follow proper manners, and the last thing he needed was his lovely mate scolding him for being rude. I apologize in advance for the fact that Rysmine is socially awkward. He’s very bad at communication.

[Ember]

Nephele smiled slightly in return. "I'm glad. My little bronze loves babies," she half-explained. It was good that the gold liked firelizards because the odds were good that her two boys would be at it again next hatching. Though...the next gold to rise probably wasn't Hepaticath given she'd had a clutch six or seven months or so ago. So it actually was still a valid enough concern. She could likely stop Mother from pestering any gold and her eggs but Charming likely wouldn't listen to her. He was selectively obedient. He was usually smart enough to know when he should obey so she was generally okay with him doing as he pleased.

The change in Ka'rys' behaviour didn't go unnoticed and she withdrew subtly. She kept her feet planted where they were but his look had her angling her upper body back slightly. She didn't really like being stared at, especially not critically. She was worried she'd somehow managed to do or say something to earn that look. The feeling it gave her was unpleasant and she considered making an excuse and leaving the man to his daughters. She was about ready to do so when he finally spoke again. Nephele's eyebrows shot up in surprise and she nodded numbly.

That was...two turns ago. It was very odd that he was bringing that up at that time. She hadn't been thinking too much when she'd leapt down to the sands to help defend the eggs. It was sort of a 'let's just do now and think later' moment. She didn't regret it though. Her confusion at the odd choice of topic was relieved when he mentioned Ciceroth. Ah. Come to think of it, Ka'rys' bronze was Nuoth's sire. She smiled at the knowledge of Ciceroth's approval. It wasn't needed but it was nice to have all the same. "Yes. Merridan...I think she might have been on S'rei's wing before but she's on Miles right now." She was careful to keep her voice neutral. No need to reveal the fact that she was slightly bitter about it.

Nuoth had been listening in on the conversation Hers was having but was quite lost. Defending eggs? Ciceroth's sudden address surprised her but it explained a lot. That explained why she didn't remember (and she was sure she would have remembered something so important). Greetings Ciceroth. No apologies necessary, the green said pleasantly albeit quietly. She had no problem conversing wiht others but she was always polite about it. If Mine told me about such an incident I have forgotten. Would you be able to tell me who was interested in stealing my egg? The green couldn't even imagine not Impressing to Nephele. She wouldn't have chosen another.