It's hot tonight (demi)

[Kisha-Ra]

If it got any hotter the river was going to start steaming Yoalla was sure, she could only hope that it cooled off later into the night, now that the evil ball of fire that was heating Selenitas had sunk so far below the horizon that only a small strip of lighter blue in the dark sky remained to let anyone know it had been there at all. Frankly Yoalla thought she preferred this state of affairs, and not just because she was bonded to a wher, some people were naturally night people she supposed.

With a sigh Yoalla flopped backwards bonelessly to sprawl on the grass, at least for a moment, then she was forced to expend more energy wriggling around and fishing an offending stone out from underneath her. With a disgusted look at the water smoothed yet incredibly uncomfortable pebble Yoalla flung it out into the river, where it vanished with a plop.

Yosk gave a sigh and half opened her eyes, since there was no one around to see her the wher had been snoozing peacefully, sprawled out on her side. If Yoalla didn’t like the heat why didn’t she go swimming? That stone was hardly going to make enough of a splash to cool her off.

‘I just wanted to get rid of it Yosk. I love you, silly wher.’ Yoalla answered the inquiring thought, flopping back down with more care for stones than before. ‘Do you want to hunt later?’ the handler inquired from her prone position, hoping the answer was yes. Yosk was so wonderfully focused during her hunts that she totally forgot all her usual insecurities, something that pleased her handler no end, and if Yoalla just happened to imagine certain rather annoying human faces on Yosk’s prey, well that was all just some kind of odd coincidence. Honestly.

Yosk snorted softly, amused by the amount of pleasure her bonded got out of a simple hunt. Yes, later. The green shifted abruptly from her sprawled posture to an alert one. Someone coming…

[Requiem]

Easy, pretty green sister. It was just him. The light mental brush was followed by a half-amused prodding at His. So noisy. Could have gotten much closer without being noticed if not for the loud harper. Dmitri snorted softly at his blue and shoved the male at his side ineffectually; Dmisk was too solid to push even a little bit. Well excuse him. Not like he knew they were playing the let's sneak up on Yosk and Yoalla game. Dmisk should just be grateful that Dementia wasn't here or there would have been no hope for success whatsoever. The blue was grateful, the wher returned. The gold had been around constantly since His returned to the apartments, and then she'd gone and gotten proddy so Dmisk had two Dementias to deal with. Now that was just rude. Dmitri scrunched his nose at the wher. He was not a second Dementia. Over-dramatic much? All those extra hormones must be rubbing off on him as well, Dmisk offered silkily.

The harper returned to rolling his sleeves up past his elbows - no doubt what had given them away to begin with - the teen having already loosened his collar against the lingering heat. Even the compulsion to cover the warping of his right arm couldn't compete with this type of heat. Dmitri didn't really see it as that grotesque, anyway, but stares made him want to chuck things at people, so avoiding them altogether was usually the best way to go. Right now? If it made people uncomfortable to look at him they could just stuff it. (That attitude, though, might have had more to do with the currently very irritable, egg-heavy little monster sulking on a mound of pillows back in his apartment. She hated being fat. It reminded her of having to look at the ugly non-daughter, and sent her into boiling rages at the world.)

Dmisk veered away from His to pad over to Yosk and brush lightly against her in greeting. Over the turns, he'd taken to those small touches more, at least with his siblings. The silence of the male seemed to be incurable, though; even His got a croon with such rarity that it never failed to shock him. Taking a nap already? the blue questioned his clutchsister lightly. She'd just woken up, hadn't she? (To be fair, though, probably most of the whers had been up earlier than normal. Even the cool of the waterfall and caves wasn't enough to stave off the miserable stuffiness of the middle of a Selenitas summer.)

Dmitri plopped down beside Yoalla, draping his arms around his knees. Sweat already glistened on his hairline, the moisture transforming the short blonde hair into dark ringlets. "Tempted to start something with one of those pesky guards just to compell them to put me out of my misery," he commented dryly. Dark blue-grey eyes turned to Yoalla, lips quirking at her sprawled position. "Though you look sinfully comfortable right now. Got some trick I don't know about?"

[Kisha-Ra]

Oh. Yosk’s eyes tinged pink with embarrassment as the green shifted to get all her legs neatly underneath her and coil her tail up beside her. Just Dmisk and his, nothing to worry about. How embarrassing though, that Dmisk had seen her sprawled out like a hatchling. Yoalla reached one arm back over her head to swat lightly at Yosk’s muzzle (and miss), Yosk worried far too much about what everyone thought.

Yosk snorted softly, blowing hot air over Yoalla’s hand, one of them should worry about what people thought. Besides, Yoalla had to deal with Dmisk’s, who was far more impressed by words than actions. Despite her pretensions to dignity Yosk turned to butt her head affectionately against the blue as he brushed against her. Dmisk might not be the most talkative of whers but in spite of that, or possibly because of it, Yosk counted the blue among her friends though she took care not actually come right out and tell him that.

Yoalla looked up, waaaay up, at Dmitri from her position sprawled out on the ground; no way was she expending the energy to move on him. Well at least she wasn’t the only one apparently suffering from the general horror of a southern summer. Honestly, the only time she ever miss Bitra would be when Yoalla felt she was about evaporate, leaving just an empty dried up skin. She just took it from the way the harper had his shirt unbuttoned and was busily rolling the sleeves up that he felt pretty much the same as she did about the temperature.

Hot. Yosk complained, ducking her head. It was too hot to sleep properly in the day even hidden away behind the waterfall, and Denial had been particularly loud about trying to eat The Devil this afternoon. Besides, dozing allowed her to ignore the greater part of Yoalla’s complaining about the heat. So silly it was for humans to put bits of cloth over their hides when they couldn’t possibly get cold was it not? Yosk was sure if they left off the extra bits they wouldn’t be so hot.

Yoalla snorted softly. ‘If you want to end it all, the river’s right there. It’ll be cooler and I’ll get the entertainment of watching you.’ The greenhandler lifted a hand in a lazy gesture indicating the surface of the river. ‘I expect Dmisk would feel obliged to drag you back out though. For some reason he actually sees merit in you.’

The second comment inspired a low chuckle from the sprawled greenhandler. ‘Well, I did used to be a professional doxie. If I can look comforatable lying on my back I must be losing my touch.’ She replied with a raised eyebrow and a crooked smile.

[Requiem]

The scarred blue stretched langourously, the compact body lengthening in a way that suggested he knew full-well how handsomely the movement showed off his muscular physique. Dmisk's stretch ended in a wide yawn as he curled around Yosk in a decidedly protective posture, only the very tip of his tail touching her flank. The blue would have encircled her entire, pressed close, had it not been for this heat. There were four creatures he never hesitated to touch, his clutchsisters comprising three of them. He was especially prone to these mannerisms with Yosk. Eikask was a gold, after all and needed no further boosts to her ego with her posse of bronze-slaves. Dmisk gave her just enough acknowledgement to keep her craving it without driving her mad with possessive jealousy. (Nevermind that it was surpassing odd how she claimed him as vigorously as she did her own mate.) And Nautsk loved to play, rarely sitting still for long. He didn't mind indulging her, though he was not particularly playful himself.

Yosk was so shy and self-conscious, though, that she often received his physical affection. Dmisk was fond of his clutchsisters and preferred them happy.

Ah, yes, he'd heard some of that, Dmisk commented in his own peculiar precise array of images and emotions. Few whers communicated as accurately as the blue without aid of sound or body languaged. Dementia had made her hormonal displeasure all too clear at the disturbance. He was sorry that Yosk had to put up with it all the time; one little cousin was irritation enough. Tailtip sild down her flank in a gesture curiously similar to a carress. Human hides were so sensitive, easy to cut and to bruise, not like wher hides. Besides, he continued, many humans were self-conscious without the extra bits. They worried what other humans would think. It was silly, yes, but it still made a little sense, did it not?

"You certainly like to bring that up every opportunity you get. Just hoping to make me squirm? I don't imagine one woman is made much differently than any other, and after apparently entertaining all of you when Dementia last Ran, I can't say that the mental image is terribly disturbing. You're at least moderately attractive and not after my ass." Or after any part of him at all. After Elysia's 'indiscretion' involving Ba'sun, Dmitri had found he wasn't much interested in playing between the sheets, so Yoalla's continued disdain was actually comfortable. "That said, your river idea would have more merit if I couldn't swim. Dmisk knows I'm too much of a coward to deliberately drown myself. I did entertain the notion of taking him to a mindhealer when he first Impressed, but Raebeli apparently doesn't deal in whers. I've since come to the conclusion that he was merely on a power trip and wanted to order his dam around. Rather short-sighted."

Dmisk didn't lift his head, but the cool amusement washing through Dmitri's mind made it clear the blue was paying attention. The harper sprawled out in the grass beside Yoalla. "So, been keeping busy while I wasn't here to irritate the snot out of you?"

[Kisha-Ra]

Yosk snorted softly as Dmisk stretched. Show off. Yes he was prettier than Yosk with that figure, and he must be enjoying himself now there were more greens for Dmisk to show off to. An image of the younger greens accompanied this bit of teasing, because Yosk was comfortable enough around Dmisk to tease him about other greens. Even if he’d made the most lovely conquest Dmisk would have the grace not to go on about her.

A soft croon and a wave of timid affection met the gentle touch of Dmisk’s tail to her hide. Probably not all of the salamandyr and firelizard population were as bad as those two, Yosk replied with a dismissive flick of her tail. Lao was really quite sweet, what a shame the greens couldn’t copy him, and what a shame they’d had to wake Dementia. Yosk could certainly sympathise with Dmisk about the gold salamandyr, mostly because The Devil was magnetically attracted to her golden sister, and unfortunately for Yosk that did sometimes bring her into the gold’s proximity. Never mind, soon the gold terror would have eggs to guard, that should keep her out of Dmisk’s way, maybe she’d take The Devil with her again. Yosk’s expression could only be described as hopeful when she mentioned that, it would be nice to have a bit of peace.

Oh, Yosk’s head canted to one side as she considered the two sprawled humans, she hadn’t thought of that, but how much good would the extra hide do them when it covered so little? The green fell silent as she considered the humans again. Possibly it made sense, but Yosk wasn’t sure her handler had ever worried what another human might think of her.

Yoalla shrugged as well as she could in her current pose, which wasn’t all that well but it got the message across. ‘I think it’s probably worn off by now, if it ever shocked you at all.’ She commented idly. ‘I just thought it might do your ego good if I reminded you that there’s someone around you can morally look down on, of course you can look down on just about anyone physically.’ The greenhandler reached out to poke Dmitri meaningfully in the ankle. ‘You still owe me for that; I have a bad reputation to maintain after all.’ Yoalla forbore to comment on any part of Dmitri’s body except with a snort of obvious distain.

‘Well I could always hold you under I suppose,’ Yoalla offered generously, ‘I did want to just sit back and watch though, and it would probably upset Dmisk, so I don’t think I’ll go to that much trouble for you.’ Tilting her head back Yoalla smiled gently at the pair of whers, she was predisposed to like Dmisk just because the blue was so unfailing pleasant to Yosk, a shame she couldn’t have shared weyrling quarters with this pair (even if would have meant putting up with Dmitri), would the blue have managed to make a significant impression Yosk if she’d spent more time with him and less with that arrogant bronze brother of hers?

‘Well that would explain why such an otherwise sensible wher would bond to you, Dmitri.’ Yoalla flipped her body over in an attempt to leech some more heat out into the ground. ‘You don’t need to worry about us missing you while you play with the day people though, you could be an irritating little brat if you were on another continent. You’re like an annoying little brother.’ Maybe it wasn’t the best comeback in the world but repartee was never around when you really needed it was it? Certainly not for Yoalla.

[Requiem]

For once, the blue didn't respond verbally to Yosk's teasing, simply arching his neck and canting his head to one side in a questioning, innocent posture. Showing off? Who, him? When he did speak, the disdain was only partially feigned. (He didn't actually care enough about whers that were not his four siblings - no, he didn't count Ariysk since the bronze had more or less abandoned them all - to have a stong opinion of them.) No daughter or Eikask's could possibly be as pretty as Yosk, and none so sweet as Nautsk. Why should he bother himself with them?

Dmisk hardly felt the need to mention that he'd noticed Tekivisk's little Run and promptly curled up and went back to sleep, decidedly uninterested. The blue never really felt the need to defend himself, especially not from teasing.

A ripple of quiet amusement touched Yosk's mind. Whatever would they do without the little irritants to occupy them? Nevertheless, he was certain that a little nudge in the right direction could plant the idea in Dementia's head, if Yosk wanted free of the Devil for awhile. Right now, though, the gold was prone to tear up anything coming within reach of her claws. Sadly, they must wait until the eggs were laid. Dmisk considered Yosk's revelation with some curiosity. Now that was an interesting notion, he shared, his attention turning to the humans as well. Someone who didn't care what others thought. His cared, even if he went out of his way to not let it effect how he acted too much.

"I think you meant to say vertically," Dmitri commented dryly, his eyes on the sky above, lazily slitting. If people actually found him physically interesting, he was sure it was more a matter of curiosity than actual attraction. He was fine with that, though. "Owe you for what exactly? Aren't bad reputations furthered by being spurned and looked down upon? You've hardly been doing a good job, you know. Being far too well-behaved here. Should go talk to Piden, if you want pointers."

The bluehandler snorted softly at Yoalla's declaration of laziness. He didn't miss her glance toward Dmisk, though, or how her respect for the wher kept on coming through whether she meant for it to or not. Dmitri was...proud...of the blue, even if Dmisk found that sentiment rather silly and pointless. Despite his cold demeanor, the ruthless edge to the male, he'd found a place amongst his siblings and they loved him. Dmitri could only fantasize about being so accepted as to never have to pretend at being anything other than he was. Good and bad. His mind sidetracked enough that his usual comeback got lost in the shuffle, and he blinked when Yoalla spoke again.

A wry smile touched his lips. "Aw. You're claiming me as family now. Careful, Yoalla. People might misunderstand and actually think that you're somewhat fond of me." His expression turned cheeky, and he pinched her on the arm just to fulfill that 'brotherly' role. "Although I must say that there's really no way to go but down from here. How can I ever get more irritating if a whole ocean between us couldn't keep me from annoying you?"

[Kisha-Ra]

Yosk’s tail lashed once, her expression and pose clearly stating that, yes, Dmisk was a show off, and he knew it. Abruptly the green’s eyes faded into their embarrassed pink hues again and she dropped her head to one side, looking away from Dmisk with a low whine of confusion. Yosk was fairly sure the blue wouldn’t make fun of her, Dmisk and making fun hardly belonged in the same thought, but clearly he could not really mean that, and Eikask’s hatchlings didn’t seem to be ugly so that couldn’t be what he meant either. After a moment of further consideration Yosk decided that Dmisk was just trying to be nice to her, the action of a kind clutchsibling. Now Nautsk Yosk could agree on, and conveyed that agreement with another of her soft snorts, her greensister was certainly one of the sweetest creatures around.

What would they do? Why get more sleep and listen to a great deal less salamandyr nonsense, and be pestered by less firelizards too. Yosk conveyed her opinion in a clear series of images and emotions, the green had strong views about having her sleep interrupted, especially in the sort of heat the Weyr was currently experiencing. She filed away the information about Dementia for a later time.

Oh, that. Yosk flicked her wings in a shrugging gesture. Hers did care about some things, just not things that other humans seemed to deem terribly important, or maybe just not as much as the other humans did, sometimes it was hard to tell.

‘Oh silly me for thinking height was a physical attribute.’ It might have been a biting comment if only the greenhandler could be bothered to put venom behind it. For a moment she was sorely tempted to revert purposely to the cant she’d grown up speaking and see what smart ass remark that would get, but she doubted the harper would even understand two words of Bitran slang.

‘I’ve worked out what I did wrong, I obviously should have bonded with a green dragon, those riders get all the action.’ Yes Yoalla was using the chance to have a none too subtle dig at Dmitri, and put Piden in the same group while she was at it. ‘There’s hardly a point to misbehaving when I have a wher, it’s clearly not going to work out.’ Apparently Yosk was too involved in whatever conversation she was having with Dmisk to pay much attention to her handler, because Yoalla didn’t have to deal with the outburst of insecurity she was expecting from her wher. As if she’d trade Yosk for a dragon!

Yoalla snorted and took a half hearted swing at the blue handler, which was severely impaired by her position lying on her stomach. ‘If knew what I’d grew up with as the closet thing to a family you’d want to go and wash your skin off just for considering that idea.’ In point of fact the children from her mother’s bordello were not that bad but Yoalla was fairly sure they’d be a culture shock for the bluehandler if he was ever to meet a group like them. ‘We are so incredibly not like family Dmitri. That’s family.’ Yoalla indicated the whers with a nod. She was secretly impressed that Dmisk had managed to get a compliment in without Yosk utterly withdrawing on him (could just tell Dmisk had made a compliment by the shade of Yosk’s eyes, they only went that dark a shade of pink for one reason). ‘To trust someone, to care for them.’ The greenhandler was remarkably bad at putting words around the vague concepts she had, most of which were based off Yosk’s reactions to her siblings (Eikask and Ariysk obviously didn’t count), most of whom the green did actually like and trust to some degree. ‘Make no mistake harper boy I don’t care about much and I certainly wouldn’t trust you. As for irritating, I hardly see how you can yet worse, and I’d probably hear your dreadful pipe playing from across the ocean.’

[Requiem]

It was a shame, really, that Yosk couldn't see what was so obvious. But Dmisk knew when not to press a point, and he let it go. Ultimately it didn't matter if she ever realized how beautiful she was; it wouldn't change anything in the way he dealt with her. The embarrassment was kind of cute so long as he didn't push it too far, too.

Dmisk's amusement at his clutchsister's words wasn't blatant, but it was most definitely there. Sleep is very important, the blue told Yosk solemnly, his amusement still present in his eyes if not in his mindtone. Now if they could just arrange for a more permanent way to keep the 'mandyr and flit noise down - at least during the hot months - life would be almost perfect. The male stretched, finding Yosk's description of Hers curious enough to warrant further questioning but taking his time about finding just what he wanted to ask her. It didn't sound like she was completely sure, either, but it couldn't hurt to ask, now could it? Finally, he asked her what sorts of things Hers cared about that others didn't seem to?

"Have you been misbehaving, then? If you have been, it's so slight that no one has noticed. I certainly haven't seen you coming on to anyone since we Impressed. Can hardly blame a man for looking to daylighters when the female population around here is so...dull." He stuck out his tongue at her, because that was clearly the mature thing to do. Tit for tat and all that.

Dmitri grunted as her hand glanced off his shoulder and jabbed an elbow - not terribly hard, but definitely enough to notice - into her side for her troubles. The harper glanced at their whers, then laughed as she finished speaking. "Well,you should be happy, then. I haven't been able to play my pipes for over a turn. Thanks for noticing." He gave her a two-fingered salute, drawing one leg up at the knee and settling into the grass more comfortably. "For not caring you certainly seem fixated on this greenrider thing. Jealous or just slighted?"

[Kisha-Ra]

Letting Denial eat a few salamandyrs might take the noise level down a bit, Yosk suggested, though she was not serious about it, but it would be sure to upset the humans when they realised their troublesome little pets had been eaten. A shame that the salamandyr population could not simply be rendered mute somehow, that would be the ideal solution. Maybe Dmisk could work on it, he was certainly always quiet, when he didn’t bring his handler along with him anyway. The green cast a sideways look at her brother, hoping for a positive answer but not really expecting one.

The green made another dismissive wing flick, say rather, what did the others care for that her handler seemed to pay no mind to. The green half closed her eyes and thought a little, Yosk, Yoalla always cared for Yosk. There was a strange thing was it not, that she should care for Yosk, Lao, and even Denial and The Devil (both of whom Yoalla often professed to hate) over and above other humans? Yosk was sure her handler wouldn’t hesitate to puncture the illusions of the most naive and innocent human but when it came to her pets, well just look at Lao, two gold mates and still totally convinced he was green. No her handler would never shatter the firelizard’s illusions.

Yoalla snorted softly, sounding very much like Yosk as she did so. ‘Well I have been stuck with the night people.’ She commented. ‘Hardly an inspiring bunch. There’s hardly a human in the wher quarters that’s worth my incredible talents.’ Yoalla stuck her nose in the air as she spoke, calling up all the arrogance she could muster for one moment. ‘As for relationships, I don’t think I’m made for them.’ The greenhander added as an afterthought. Friends were one thing; committed relationships were really quite laughable in this environment.

Yoalla gave a dismissive sniff and rolled away from the poking elbow, flipping back onto her back and examining the sky. ‘You mean you haven’t been able to inflict your pipe playing on anyone recently.’ Yoalla translated. It was probably an unfair assessment, and Yoalla would be the first to admit that, she wouldn’t know good piping from bad unless the bad was spectacularly bad.

‘Oh I’m incredibly put out.’ Yoalla declared in an obviously sarcastic tone, lifting one hand to her heart. ‘I realise I’ve fallen among some unworldly types but I always thought there’d be a place for… sophisticated… entertainments.’ Just as abruptly Yoalla dropped the tone and exaggerated manner. ‘Fixated? Hardly, I was making an observation, it probably didn’t need to be made, but I did it anyway. I’m like that sometimes.’

[Requiem]

Mmm. Dmisk's tailtip flicked lightly back and forth. The idea had merit, but he rather thought that if salamandyrs wished to remain silent, they would. Case and point: Dementia's new little blue mate. Dmisk hardly ever heard the male speak. They certainly did not have the ability to use pictures to communicate. In all actuality, they were rather inferior creatures if they must project and could not use pictures. He also figured that they probably suffered from a Napoleon complex, being so tiny. Nevertheless, if she found any salamandyrs who wanted to be quiet, he'd be happy to help.

Dmisk rested his head lightly on his forelimbs, eyes on the two humans for a lingering moment. Was it so strange as all that? he questioned of his green sister. His stayed here because he knew Dmisk would never leave his family, and he never told Dementia that he couldn't chase her and be her mate. No, Dmisk did not find this love for mindmates over people so strange at all. He would do anything for his siblings...unless it meant losing His.

"Or outside it, apparently. Talents fade over time. Your 'incredible' talents have no doubt atrophied to something of a more normal range. I rather think you just can't be bothered." Perhaps because she wanted something that she knew - or thought she knew - she couldn't have. He snorted softly at her. "I never knew it pained you so much to hear pipe music. So much, in fact, that you didn't even notice it had stopped. Forgive me for torturing you so." Dmitri rolled his eyes and turned his gaze to the line of trees on the opposite bank.

"Is that so?" he murmured. His fingers curled lightly. "Everyone and their 'that's just how I am's. Make it sound like you're not the one choosing to act that way." Hard to tell what or who he was talking about. The statement was almost thoughtful, and certainly not very loud. When next he spoke, though, he raised his voice to a more normal decibel. "At any rate, since we're effectively stuck here - as if Dmisk would leave anyway - I don't suppose anyone has been talking about what to do next?" They certainly hadn't been discussing the topic with him if they had. Not that Dmitri was at all sure there was much of anything they could do apart from what they'd been doing from the start.

[Kisha-Ra]

Yosk’s head drooped sadly, she’d thought maybe Dmisk would have ways to make the salamandyrs want to be silent. He was right, the green admitted, she had never found a salamandyr projecting images, they must have to use words then. No wonder so many were ill tempered, The Devil hardly seemed able to remember more than a few words, it must be terribly frustrating for her to not be able to talk clearly, which would explain a great deal really.

Yosk blinked slowly flicking her gaze from the two humans to Dmisk as she did so. Didn’t humans need other humans? The perception had worked its way into Yosk’s mind through her observations of others and she projected some of those observations to Dmisk with a curious yet slightly confused undertone. See? They spoke kindly to one another, touched, played together. Didn’t Dmisk’s do those things as well?

‘Unworthy is unworthy Dmitri, no matter where they hang around.’ Yoalla replied in her loftiest tone. In truth after learning that people in the south just weren’t very interested in paying for her services Yoalla had decided to give things a rest for a while, and never really picked them up again after Yosk reached her maturity. ‘You may have the glimmerings of a point there. No one’s worthy of me and I can’t be bothered.’ The greenhandler blithely corrected her previous argument. ‘Don’t think I’ll let you correct me all the time though.’ She added

‘Oh it’s agonising.’ Yoalla rasied a hand to her heart to go with the overblown tone of her opinion on pipe playing. ‘It still lingers on the very air to torment me and haunt my dreams with unspeakable sounds, unless that’s my pets trying to kill each other again. I just don’t know if I can forgive you.’

Everyone? Yoalla closed her eyes briefly in thought, wondering if Dmitri had even meant to say that aloud, it certainly wasn’t like him to be quiet in expressing himself. ‘Everyone has choices.’ She eventually replied, whether Dmitri wanted a reply or not, in a measured and thoughtful tone. ‘I just think my natural personality influences mine.’

Yoalla shrugged and hauled herself into a comfortable sitting position as the conversation took a businesslike turn. ‘Well Roivao, Piden, and I had an informal sort of chat about what to do with all these lovely young whers we’ve got growing up.’ She admitted. ‘It didn’t go very far but the basic suggestion was to rotate them around a bit and see what they’re best at. Piden suggested you and Quintrell might want to pair up with us watchers for a while so we can make it in five rotations. Not what you’d call a highly productive meeting.’

[Requiem]

The blue remained silent for awhile, if only because he was certain that he was missing something in what Yosk was trying to tell him. Humans needing humans had never been at question, had it? As he mulled over that, he traced the tip of his tail over her flank again, ever-so-lightly. Dmisk didn’t often touch people or other whers. He simply didn’t. She sounded so sad, though. He found it slightly amusing, actually, that she thought him capable of controlling the noisome little monsters. Amusing and a bit flattering. No one could keep those creatures in line.

Finally, the male decided to simply admit his ignorance. Yes, His played with other humans, was even nice to them in his own way. That didn’t mean he cared about them more than he did his mindmates, though. Was Yosk trying to say that Hers didn’t care about other people at all? Because, if that was the case, then yes, he’d have to say Hers was very strange indeed. Humans needed humans like whers needed whers.

Dmitri folded his hands behind his head, wondering what Yoalla got out of it, talking like that. Was it just an extended joke gone wrong? Surely she didn’t think anyone would take her at face value. That just left the question of what her aim was, then. Perhaps just to not have to say anything too intimate. If you were never serious, no one could know you, and then you couldn’t get hurt.

“Mm. I guess I’ll just have to live on without your forgiveness, then.” He might have said something more. Yoalla’s response to words that hadn’t really been meant for her in the first place, though, arrested the thought before it could fully take shape. A twitch of his lips. “I’ve never blamed anything I’ve said or done on anyone or anything else. I’m naturally an arrogant ass, but I know that I could be anything you could possibly think of. Probably have been at one time or another. Not asking anyone to change, just to take responsibility for what they are.” He chuckled slightly. “Soapbox. Sorry. It doesn’t really even apply to you. Just sick of hearing people say things like that.”

His eyes followed her upright position. Lazily, he plucked a long blade of grass and slipped it between his teeth. “Roivao doesn’t know where his own students would fit? Trell’s hard to pin down. He suffers from the paranoia bug some of these deposed northerners do. Would probably be best if the old man would just do his job, and if someone doesn’t work out in one place we can try them in another. Did Nautic mention how many he’d need to keep the mines running?”

[Kisha-Ra]

Yosk huffed quietly and dropped her muzzle to rest on her crossed wrists as she worked her way down her line of thought n silence, rather more confused now than she had been when she started out. Perhaps she just hadn’t expressed herself well enough, Dmisk could surely not be as confused as Yosk was unless there was some kind of communication error along the line somewhere. That logically meant that Yosk had to think up the next thing she wanted to say with care.

Hard to explain, the green mused, lifting her head again to look thoughtfully at her bonded. If humans needed humans like whers needed whers then hers was a bad tempered wher indeed. Other humans were allowed near, might be able to speak if they were prepared to endure the signs of her temper, but they were not allowed to touch unless they approached strictly on Yoalla’s own terms. There, Yosk thought she had everything set out now. So… She looked sideways at Dmisk, was that normal for humans? It seemed strange to Yosk but she didn’t want to mention it in case it upset her handler.

Well, Dmitri must be in some strange mood tonight, Yoalla mused briefly, he’d just missed a huge opening to mock her, and even allowed an admission that he was right to slip by. She wondered if she should drag him over to the infirmary but they probably couldn’t do anything about this apparent change of personality. Possibly getting rid of the new management would do that but nothing was guaranteed.

However before Yoalla could start seriously considering mass assassination of the takeover forces Dmitri managed to re-establish his personality by coming up with a semi snide comment. That was probably just as well, Yosk would never be a willing cohort in that sort of thing, she wanted people to like her so very badly.

A half smile crossed Yoalla’s face. ‘To be honest I kind of guessed you weren’t specifically talking about me.’ She answered, wondering just who the bluehander was referring to anyway, that greenrider of his? See? Commitment was a bad idea around here if it got you soapbox speaking to Yoalla and a pair of whers who didn’t even look like they were paying the slightest bit of attention. ‘However I do feel obliged to point out that I wasn’t blaming other people for my flaws, just mentioning in passing that I don’t think I have the right social skills to carry off a serious relationship. Never had much an opportunity to learn them. That is, of course, assuming I ever met someone I had more than a passing interest in.’

Yoalla’s mouth twitched down in irritation, okay so maybe Roivao wasn’t the best wherlingmaster they could have had but he was, in fact, the only one they had, and she didn’t notice Dmitri rushing forward to volunteer (of course she wasn’t either but they didn’t want the babies exposed to such moral depravity. That was her excuse and she was sticking to it). ‘I doubt any of them have expressed a specific desire.’ The sentence emerged in a clipped tone to hang in the air for a moment before Yoalla continued. ‘Besides I thought we were supposed to be looking at who’d be good for what while they were training.’ True she hadn’t done that either but that wasn’t the point, or at least not all of it.

‘Well, since Nautic wasn’t there I didn’t ask him. I can’t imagine why he’d say anything to me anyway.’ That was another of those comments that hung in its own pause until Yoalla sighed. ‘You can always ask him when you see him; you get on with him better anyway. Unless you’d like to grumble that Roi’s not doing his job and defer it to him to ask of course.’

[Requiem]

Dmisk considered Yosk's explanation, giving her the mental equivalent of a nod. It was clearer now, yes. He didn't know how strange it was, actually. People were not the same. Yoalla was a good match for Yosk. Their scents and colors complimented each other. His was a good match for him. Yoalla was not a good match for him. If whers were different, people were allowed to be, too, he supposed. As long as Yosk and Hers were content with things as they were, he supposed there was nothing to worry about.

The teenager glanced at Yoalla. Yeah, he knew she hadn't really been blaming anything else, which was really the only reason he'd bothered apologizing to her for his moodiness to begin with. Dmitri had no qualms about snapping at someone if they irritated him. If it was just backlash, though, it wasn't really something they should be expected to put up with.

Would Yoalla find anyone who interested her? Couldn't say. Couldn't say that it would be a good thing if she did. Dmitri was of the opinion that people couldn't avoid hurting each other and it was better to just keep up the walls indefinitely. Of course, that could be lonely, couldn't it? Eh. Whatever.

His attention sharpened at the sudden bite to Yoalla's tone. Hit a nerve, had he? The dark blue eyes narrowed slightly. Taking an off-hand remark a bit seriously, wasn't she? "Some sort of clique war, is it?" he questioned, a quiet chill behind his tone. Mental note: if you want to upset Yoalla, say something about Piden or Roivao that isn't expressly nice.

"Only pair with any use to Dmisk and Quintresk would have to be Konstask. All the others are too...soft. Or silly. But Kostya is getting healing training, so that pair isn't going to be available to anyone but possibly Eikane. Marsask and Tekivisk should serve you and Piden well enough. Ximesk will go to the mines. I asked about Nautic because that should decide where to put Darmosk. It was a simple question. But if we're going to draw our battle lines and choose sides, then of course I can talk to him and you can talk to your people. Should we send representatives to a central meeting, or just send messages by salamandyr?" He snorted. This factional thing was ridiculous.

[Kisha-Ra]

Yoalla cocked her head to one side and gave Dmitri a coolly curious look. What had suddenly gotten into him? She, for one wasn’t aware there was a division to have a clique war over, and if was counting her in some kind of group she’d like to know who else was in it, just so she could disapprove of them.

Well at least someone had useful opinions, of course he did have Dmisk for a mindmate, and Yoalla was certain the blue would make it his business to know every one of Eikask’s offspring and what they were good for. Next time Roi wanted to know something he should just ask Dmisk. The blue’s handler however, left something to be desired. ‘Something suddenly run up your leg and bite you?’ She inquired of said handler. ‘Because that could be an explanation for this sudden burst of acting like a prat. If I’d known we was meant to be picking up sides I might’ve bothered earlier.’ The greenhandler’s words began to slip back into her childhood speech patterns as she lost her grip on her temper and glared at the harper. ‘Excuse me for thinking that mayhap you’d see your own friend and talk to him afore I seen him, or ain’t you two friends no more?’ The sheer ridiculousness of sending messages by salamandyr around the wher quarters made Yoalla snort with amusement despite her outburst of temper. ‘Who knows what messages we’d get if we tried that. I don’t fancy The Devil’s chances of remembering more than three words at a time. Now, we done being stupid or what?’ her tone became noticeably less sharp though a trace of Bitran accent and a certain tenseness in the greenhandler’s pose betrayed her as still being annoyed.

Yosk blinked slowly, considering. It all made perfect sense when Dmisk put it like that. Why hadn’t it made sense before? The green leaned over slightly and brushed her muzzle lightly against the blue’s neck, such a clever brother she had.

Oh dear. Yosk’s pose dropped into nervous dejection again, any second now Yoalla was going to chase away Dmisk’s and she’d never see Dmisk again, oh she just knew it. See? She implored Dmisk. Just like that. Why were they arguing when it was so hot? More to the point what would distract them before anything disastrous could happen?