Pink is the color of romance? Riiiight...

[Rei]

No go! Nononononono. Sel’n kept a tight grip on Vanity as she wriggled in his grasp. “Sorry love. You have to go. I’m tired of having to play hide and seek with you. I’m sure Kali is tired of your presence. Time for a break. You don’t want to break my heart do you?” The little green mandyr stopped struggling at this. No want break dummy. Loooove dummy mine. The brownrider sighed before releasing the mandyr who coiled herself about his fingers and proceeded to nuzzled and nip enthusiastically. Lustlove fix dummy. Vanity love.

Sel’n didn’t comment. If she wanted to believe that the bronze had “fixed” him he wasn’t going to argue. To be honest having three creatures threatening you with various unpleasant things if you missed sleep or a meal was enough to “fix” anyone. Sigh he was so abused clearly. Abused with love. Kaaoloth chimed in cheerily from his sprawled position on his ledge. The sun was peeking out today and he was taking full advantage of it. His was at the infirmary and thus he could not be safer. No sense in shadowing him for the moment.

Sel’n had stopped momentarily as Kaaoloth spoke and as he continued to navigate the hallways of the infirmary he couldn’t resist a quick peek in each room he passed. Sick children, rider with a buster nose, pink haired Weyrhealer…..cue double take. Sel’n’s eyebrows both rose simultaneously. Was that R’wign? Yes it was. Words failed him for the moment. The only thing running through his head was one word. Pink. Vanity paused in her affections. She was no longer the object of his attention. Who dared! Hissing she frilled at the pink object.

Wait she knew this pink man. He was the one with the many uglywings who was so nice to her. Prettylove hi. she exclaimed. The words broke the brown rider’s surprise reaction. Open gaping not socially correct. “Pretty love indeed. Pray tell R’wign, what in Faranth’s name have you done to your hair?” A slightly amused half smile flitted momentarily across Sel’n’s face. Odd R’wign always was but this….this was new.

[glamourie]

Made better, mine has. You are who?

She answered before R’wign had a chance to – and was getting worse, and worse, about doing just that. The green salamandyr hatchling in question frequently sat on the shelves of the infirmary (because R’wign forcibly removed her from his person every time he noticed her) and watched her surroundings; she usually paid attention to where Hers was and he was never, ever let out of her sight. As it was, Vex did not do very much talking in the infirmary. Hers was very busy, which she recognized, and the salamandyr had no desire to disturb Hers. This one, however, spoke to him. She was not typically a jealous or possessive creature – possessing an ego with its own gravitational orbit meant that she didn’t feel threatened often. This one however was complimenting Hers… or she assumed it was ‘pretty’ meant as a compliment. She did not really understand her cousins’ habit of using ‘pretty’ as an insult and saw it as beneath her. She also took it as a compliment whenever anyone called her that. Impossible to insult, she was. After all – she was quite pretty. This one was a stranger – she wasn’t jealous, merely fascinated. Studious would be a good way to describe the green’s response. Curious.

Fanning her frill in interest, Vex came out from behind one of the jars on the shelves and leapt – just in time to land right on R’wign’s shoulder. Hers was something of a nuisance at times. She loved him unfailingly – and he stubbornly refused to acknowledge her as more than a pest. It would take some work to convince him of her obvious virtues, but she’d already convinced his man-servant of it; him and his salamandyr both. The firelizard was strange and therefore ignored. So were most of R’wign’s firelizards, though she had a particular fondness for Elegance; she was nice. Hmm, hmm. Vex lifted herself onto her hind legs, licked her paws and groomed her head curiously. This was interesting.

“Vanity,” R’wign said by way of greeting and Vex was intelligent enough to decipher that the name applied to the other green salamandyr. Amusement whirled through her eyes, and R’wign turned, brushing one stray pink lock from his face, to smirk at her. He enjoyed stroking the salamandyr’s ego, primarily to watch Sel’n squirm. The healer set the jar he was relabeling down on the counter, turning to completely address the pair. Vex was ignored. “It’s always good to see you, gorgeous. Your human is not thinking clearly again. He’s asking silly questions that have obvious answers. Does he do that often or is that a trait he only displays when I’m around?” He leaned forward to smile at Vanity charmingly before turning to look at Sel’n, one long pink-and-blue lock falling in front of his face. The tips of the lock were blue; the rest was a very vivid pink, as the other brownrider had clearly pointed out.

One hand came up to push the strand from out of his good eye and R’wign clicked his tongue. “It’s a standard herb-based dye, similar to what is used on clothing but with a lot less damaging agents. I’m an herbalist. I know how to make the coolest things.” He shrugged and smirked. “Like it, weyrlingmaster? It gets so many compliments.” If by compliments he meant odd looks, anyway. R’wign didn’t care – it actually made him happy, and not much about his appearance did anymore. Not for awhile. But the pink hair made him genuinely happy. He liked looking in the mirror, and R’wign didn’t care if anyone else didn’t like it because of that. It made him laugh, and it made the kidlets happy – that was good enough for him.

“Did you need something, Sel’n, or did you stop me just to gawk at my amazing good looks? I’m taken, sorry.”

[Rei]

Sel’n blinked in surprise as a voice that was definitely not R’wign spoke first. Idly he scanned to room and chuckled as he caught sight of the small green mandyr. “Made better he has huh? I see.” The brownrider trailed off as Vanity frilled halfheartedly at the newcomer. Her full attention was reserved solely for R’wign.

Yes Greenqueen is gorgeous. She replied silkily, wriggling happily against Sel’n’s neck at the attention. Dummymine is dummy. She continued in agreement nipping her bonded’s neck in clear admonishment. Should know. Pausing the mandyr gave Vex a glance, still not sure where the other green fit in. Obviously she belonged to the prettylovepinkone. Interesting. Flicking her tail in the direction of the other green she spoke. You is? I Greenqueen. Vanity me. You? The obvious answer would be baby. Because clearly the green was a baby currently. Was she the Fattygold’s baby? Either way Vanity was ok with it, as long as the other green stayed away from hers. He was not for claiming. She had already done so. Really she was just content to sit and be complemented.

The Weyrlingmaster snorted in amusement as Vex landed on R’wign. “So you have finally attracted one of the lovely horrors. Congratulations. What pray tell is your little lady’s name?” Yes he was intentionally ignoring the question about whether or not he liked the hair. It was different surely. Not in a totally bad way of course, but it took some thought. Pink and blue where colors that had no place in his wardrobe or décor. It didn’t look bad on R’wign but he still wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Running a hand through his hair he remarked. “Bored enough to be playing around with plants?” Truly Sel’n wasn’t surprised. R’wign had always been a bit of a wild child. Nice to know that some things never changed. "I see you have collected a few holes since the last time I saw you as well.” He bit his own bottom lip in an unconscious gesture. What purpose could those possibly serve other than to attract attention? Some people’s children. Tsk, attention deprived clearly.

Sel’n let his eyebrows rise at the claimed comment. “Ah so the rumors I have heard are true. Congratulations to M’ta I suppose. As far as why I am here. No I don’t need anything. Besides my Harpy.” He poked Vanity gently earning another nip to the offending finger. “I suppose that means I am guilty of gawking at your "amazing good looks". Either that or maybe I have a secret fetish for the color pink.” He kept his voice intentionally deadpan. Yes it was a poor attempt at a joke. Maybe he was going insane? I always assumed you had already gone insane. Kaaoloth chimed in helpfully. Sel’n snorted and shook his head. Perhaps you are right.

[glamourie]

Called Vex, I am. Pleasant meeting, Greenqueen Vanity. Whether it was serious or not was unclear; her voice certainly sounded sincere enough, but Vex was something of an expert at sounding like she meant something when she didn’t. The salamandyr flicked her tail and flared her frill encouragingly before licking her paws again and grooming her head. Know mine, do you? How, ask I? Very interesting, Vex finds this. Not met Vanityqueen yet. Why not, do tell? Vex was possibly one of the most eloquent salamandyrs ever to hatch – and she was definitely intelligent. For her age, the sheer amount of words she understood was startling; she simply plucked them from R’wign’s mind to make her statements. Much of the time, she had no problem figuring out what she wanted to say, even if she arranged her words strangely enough to earn second and third odd glances from those who didn’t know her. There was no doubting that she was a unique specimen – especially in how quickly she’d deduced that flattery would get her somewhere with Vanity. But that wasn’t difficult. Hers gave her the clue-in with his behavior, and Vex paid extra close attention to the only human that she could ever love.

To Sel’n, the only response Vex offered was a quiet trill-chirrup; it was affirmative without words. Yes, Hers had the best hair ever. Not that she’d known him with any color, but it made him happy, and therefore, it was good. That was what mattered.

“Her name is Vex,” R’wign replied pleasantly, all without looking at the salamandyr perching on him… but at least he didn’t throw her off of his shoulder in a fit of temper. Odds were, if Vex looked to anyone else, he’d have liked her quite a bit; R’wign had no problem acknowledging her blatant intelligence, and that she had a very interesting personality. He’d already picked up on how manipulative she was, and her treatment of Vanity did nothing but confirm that in his mind. No, he didn’t dislike Vex for her mannerisms, he didn’t find her unintelligent… he found the fact that she was attached to him burdensome. He was not looking forward to the prospect of her Running and some salamandyr-lust driven fool trying to molest him. He just wasn’t. And not even the promises that he’d want it, come time, helped dissuade him from the agitation. “You ask a lot of questions without giving any kind of answers, weyrlingmaster: What is her name, am I bored enough to be playing with plants, the implied query as to the piercings… my, my, my. I could ask you quite a few too, you know…”

R’wign let his voice trail off and he moved, circling Sel’n. Congratulations to M’ta, hm? Interesting wording choice. He let the smug smile pass over his face before stepping just one step too close – just enough to be in the other brownrider’s personal space, without actually touching. No touching. M’ta would not approve of touching. He’d probably not approve of teasing either but he didn’t get a say in that. Touching he did. Fair was fair. “Congratulations… to M’ta?” There was a definite edge in his voice that made it clear how his mind had twisted that little tidbit, and R’wign leaned forward so that his face was only inches away from Sel’n’s. “I think you have a secret fetish, but whether it’s for the color pink or just my presence remains to be seen. Clue-in… most people would congratulate the person they’re talking to… not their significant other.”

You do enjoy tormenting him. I’ll never understand why. He’s much too old for you and Kaaoloth is nice, but he isn’t my Ruthclutchbrother. Because molesting M’ta was socially acceptable since Behruth and Checkoth were close. Apparently.

Ignoring his dragon, R’wign brought one hand up toward Sel’n’s chest – as though to touch him; perhaps stroke his fingers down his shirt. However, he immediately moved to put his palm flat against the other man’s lower stomach, where the stitches had been only weeks before. His expression changed dramatically – from coy and teasing to one that was definitely fascinated. “You came in with messy, ugly stitches on your stomach that Kalierre described as reminiscent of battle stitching, you were in horrible condition with infections like nothing we ever dealt with before, and I got interrogated for treating you. I never treated you. May I ask why you’re telling our lovely Dragonhealer these falsehoods? Think carefully before you answer, as it’s very tempting to knock you out and perform exploratory surgery.”

[Rei]

(Sorry for the monster post Oo I trimmed it down a bit but it is still long xP)

Vanity preened happily as Vex spoke. So polite was this baby. Good baby. Her eyes took on a pleasant blue color. Know yours yes. Meet long time past. Before Vex. Vanity be here much. Lustking is Vanity Love. Like stay Lustking. Watch firmary with. The green explained in a conversational tone. Yes Lust was hers. Hers. The possessive use of his name was obvious. Prettylove yours nice is. The green began, licking Sel’n she continued. Cripple tis mine. Love mine muchly. Love prettyyours does Vex? Vanity spoke curiously but without malice. It was strange because she normally hated other females but this baby was very polite and Vex did not seem interested in her cripple. Besides Vex had complemented her. That automatically elevated her to a good place. Nice baby. Vanity was intelligent but her ego made her very easily manipulated. A fact which Sel’n was grateful for.

The Weyrlingmaster didn’t move as R’wign stepped closer. What the other rider was up to was debatable, but not completely unexpected. He had been around R’wign enough to expect such things. Sel’n’s’ words had been twisted it seemed, but the brownrider was not overly worried about that. R’wign would think what he wanted. Backtracking now would only cause more unnecessary teasing. Instead he merely offered a return comment which was likely to go ignored. “Excuse my social inadequacies. I don’t get out very much. I am afraid correct way to interact socially sometimes escapes me. My apologies.” He looked directly back at the other rider without blinking. Yes the intrusion into his personal space bothered him but he was not going to react to it if he could help it. R’wign didn’t need fuel for the fire.

R’wign’s change in tone and demeanor caused Sel’n to tilt his head. However he outwardly flinched when he was touched, and it took a moment before the words R'wign offered where processed. “What? I am afraid I….” The brownrider trailed off and froze. Kaaoloth tried to retreat from him but Sel’n griped the brown’s mind firmly. His eyes hardened and when he spoke his voice was cold. “You both have lied to me haven’t you.” The words where spoken out loud as well as mentally.

It was a reflex. When he was especially angry he tended to speak with both mind and voice. Vanity creeled softly and paled, her body flattening against her bonded’s shoulder. Kaao said. He tell Vanity. Must not tell. Is sorry. Sorry. No angry? Vanitylove is sorry. She offered in a quavering tone, her tongue flicking out against his neck in a gesture of appeasement. It seemed to be for naught though. Sel’n made a hasty grab for her which she dodged by leaping off him to glide to the nearest flat surface. Is sorry. The small green reiterated before scampering over the shelf to hide behind a jar. Usually hers did not get so angry and it confused her. Vanity usually just would have bit and screamed at Sel'n, but hers was slightly unstable lately and she was worried. Badbadbad.

Sel’n took a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose, R’wign all but forgotten. You better tell him or I what really happened right now. I mean it Kaaoloth. I am sick of the lies. You know I do not like to speak… DON’T! Just don’t. I don’t want to hear you make excuses. Just stop. Please. I’m tired of this. Tell Checkoth then.

The pain in his bonded’s tone was tangible and the brown flinched, his body coiling tighter about itself. Wearily he touched Checkoth’s mind. I am sorry to disturb you Checkoth. I have some information to relay if you will hear me. The dragon bowed his head. Please tell yours not to be angry with mine. It is…all my fault. I have not been completely honest with mine. Sel’nmine was jumped on the coast. They…they....hurt him very badly. I was afraid he was going to die but there was nothing I could do. They took him away. To a place for the sick I think. Why they did not kill him I do not know. I think they where frightened or confused. There was a pause and the brown began again slowly and with effort.

The sick place did not seem to know exactly what had happened and I was in no condition to tell them. Sel’nmine got worse. I was positive he would perish and I could not bear the thought of him dying there. He was in and out of consciousness a lot and seemed to have no recollection of what he was doing. Or where he was. I…I drew him outside to me and took him away from that place. I wanted us to die at home. It was selfish and I regretted it as we flew home. I do not know how we managed the flight but we made it here.

I touched down near the infirmary and they took him from me. I do not know how, but he began to get better. When he was able to understand I told him he had always been here. I think he assumed R’wign had been the one to treat him and I did not correct him. I did not tell him of the other place because I knew he would react badly. He has been in so much pain. I wanted to try and save him some hurt. But all I I seem to have done is cause more….I am sorry. He withdrew from the other dragon’s mind with a soft whine, eyes whirling in shades of yellow and grey. So much pain. He was tired of all the hurt. His had every right to be angry but it did not stop Kaaoloth from hating it. He curled himself tighter and lidded his eyes.

Sel’n had remained silent trough the entire exchange. Why did you lie? Do you think you can’t trust me? Kaaoloth I don’t understand. Fighting to regain his composure he looked tiredly at R’wign. “I was misinformed. I apologize if it caused you any trouble.” He clenched his fist tightly, the only outward sign of his agitation. “As far as any surgery goes. I am afraid I will decline. I’ve been cut up enough for five lifetimes. I am sure it isn’t the end either. I‘m afraid I am just not comfortable with allowing someone to cut into me. I prefer it if my injuries remained accidental.” He fell completely silent then. What else was there to say?

[glamourie]

Ahhh… Lust’s mate. Vex’s eyes flashed knowingly. She didn’t have a very high opinion of the “King” of the infirmary. In her mind, he was like many leaders she’d discovered – figure heads who boasted frequently but, deep down, had little purpose save to try and boss around other creatures who really were better off ignoring them. If Lust was capable of making himself useful in the infirmary, her opinion might have changed; as it was, Hers thought him useless and she quite agreed. Which meant Vanity herself was useless – something that Vex suspected immediately from the way the other green proceeded to boast about her own ‘queenhood’ (who would want to be a queen? They were slower and lacked the agility that she could pull off) but was pleased to have confirmed. She flared her frill thoughtfully as she watched the other salamandyr, analytically judging. Mechanical, even. Her eyes were friendly enough, though, and she doubted that her ‘companion’ was intelligent enough to even recognize that she was disliked. ‘Harpy’, the weird man had called her. Harpy indeed.

The sudden interaction between salamandyr and rider gave Vex the distraction she needed to plot. It was fortunate that the flyers were not nearby to tattle on her – though most of them wouldn’t, either. Just that brown who told Theirs everything. Annoying, really. She licked her claws again.

The curious look on R’wign’s face was enough that he didn’t even follow up on his teasing. His head cocked to the side and he glanced at Vex as Vanity launched into explanation – and then leapt onto Vex’s old shelf. The younger green was amused – R’wign could feel that – and part of him wondered what his newest menace was plotting. Surely it would not be good. He didn’t ask, though, because Sel’n seemed lost in thought. That was okay; he was patient. His hands went down to his sides, and then clasped behind his back, his weight rocking on the balls of his feet. He likely would’ve inquired further, but Checkoth’s surprise was expressed quickly onto R’wign’s face and the healer cocked his head to the side as his brown attempted to awkwardly relay everything that Kaaoloth was telling him – a difficult project since Kaaoloth was talking fast and Checkoth was quickly becoming confused. Confused dragon meant even more confused rider and R’wign made a face before throwing up his arms in defeat.

“STOP! Stop! You lost Checkoth after something about home – he’s trying to figure out why Selenitas isn’t your home and because he’s confused, he’s confusing me. Too many words at once.” Checkoth wasn’t an unintelligent creature, but the whole thing thrown at him at once was really too much for him to relay. The sudden shame that the two-tailed brown felt was enough to almost lead to R’wign punching Sel’n, or at least kicking Kaaoloth. He dropped his head to disguise some of the anger.

R’wignmine, I’m sorry – he keeps talking about places and hurts and he talked so fast all, at once – I’m sorry –
Stop apologizing. He should’ve known better than to prattle all at once. Do you prattle like that? No. It’s bad manners. Sel’n is just stressing Kaaoloth out, and now I’m really tempted to follow through on that threat of cutting him open.

If he was outside, he’d have hugged the brown to comfort him. As it was, the mental reassurance was enough to assuage most of those bad feelings, though the frantic plea not to cut open anyone was almost enough to make him feel worse. R’wign silently consoled Checkoth, while fixing Sel’n with a penetrating look. “I was being sarcastic. I’m the one who told Kalierre we can’t do exploratory surgery on you, even if it is interesting. That being said, you need to stop stressing your mind mates out. You made Kaaoloth ramble something at Checkoth so fast that he got confused –and now he’s sitting here wondering if he’s just not as intelligent, and I don’t tolerate anyone making him feel bad. And Kaaoloth wouldn’t, if you weren’t freaking out on him because I started razzing you. Sit down. Now. And calm your ass down before I hit you with something. Now, I want you to tell me what Kaaoloth was trying to explain, and try to do it at a slow enough pace that I can keep up. Something about you got hurt and went home – Fort, I’m guessing?”

Distracted. Excellent. Vex squirmed for a moment, eying R’wign and silently complimenting Checkoth – he was the best of the big flyers, he needn’t feel bad, she loved him – before leaping onto the shelf with Vanity. Tail swiveling behind her, the salamandyr circled the jar before leaping up onto the top and looking down at the other green. Mischief. Lustking Yours? Sure, you are, greenqueen? See Lustking often, Vex does. Thought he liked Bratling queen, Vex did. Saw them together, yesyes. Fattygold and Lustking frequently talking, always. Thought he was her mate? Because stirring the pot was always fun.

[Rei]

R’wign’s outburst was almost enough to make Sel’n wish he hadn’t opened his mouth in the first place. Paling, he did as was instructed and sat in a nearby chair. Yes he was stressing out his mindmates, but that was their own sharding fault. If they had told him what had really happened in the first place he wouldn’t be in this mess. Shard it all, even he hadn’t even really followed half of what Kaaoloth was saying. Dropping his head the brownrider placed his hand over his face and tried to make sense of any of it. “I…don’t think…he’s confusing me to.”

Closing his eyes he took a few breaths and prodded Kaaoloth but the brown wasn’t giving anything up. He moved away from Sel’n’s prodding like a frightened puppy scrambles to avoid a kick. Shard it all Kaaoloth. Stop being such a idiot and explain to me quietly and rationally what happened. Nothing… just silence and upset. Anger welling again, Sel’n disengaged from the brown’s mind. “He isn’t speaking anymore. At least not right now. He is very upset.” As if that wasn’t already obvious.

“All I remember is waking up here R’wign. Anything that happened beforehand, only Kaaoloth and Vanity where privy to. I can’t tell you more because I have no clue.” He spat vehemently and then fell silent brooding. Not the healer’s fault. No sense snapping at him. Willing himself to a calmer state the brownrider spoke again. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped and I am sure Kaaoloth had no intention of upsetting Checkoth. I wish I could tell you what happened and who treated me but I can’t.” The words where now slower and calmer but inwardly he was upset, angry, and very confused. Still he felt obligated to try and at least answer something.

Taking a few moments he seized on R’wign’s question and did his best to answer it. “I don’t think it would be Fort. Neither of us view Fort as home…not anymore. Besides if we had gone there do you really think they would have allowed us to leave? With Selenitas siding with Benden we would have probably been tortured for information and then killed.” Sobering thought but true. “I can’t see us going there and I don’t remember going anywhere. Like I said all I remember is waking up here. Maybe a few snatches of pain and jumbled images as well but the first clear thought I had was being here and feeling very tired.” Exasperated he fell silent again, nails biting into the palm of his hand. Why this was difficult for Kaaoloth he could fathom and all he knew was the whole thing was making him very angry.

Vanity peeked from the jars on the shelf and hissed, frilling as Vex spoke to her. Anxious whirling eyes regarded the other green in confusion. What? Fattygold? She did not care about the Fattygold. Hers was so upset and the big one was upset also. What was going on? To much hurt. Lust? He was hers. Even if he did talk to Brat he was still hers. Confused and upset the older green creeled and flung herself from the shelf to the floor. So much upset and anger. It was all to much for her at the moment. It reminded her of the bad time and she didn’t want to remember. Scrambling across the floor she flung herself onto Sel’n’s leg and sprinted up him. Diving into his sling she curled up in the darkness and whimpered softly. Notliketoomuchhurt. Leaveleaveleave. Nostayhate. Babynolikenolikebaby.

The words all strung together in one slurred confusing heap and Sel’n resisted the urge to remove her from her place of safety. Instead he sent her a quick worded reassurance. Calm down Vanity. Upset mindmates where not helping his current confusion. Never mind that he had been the one to upset them both in the first place. It was a vicious circle that was becoming all too common in his life as of late. Was it any wonder that he was seeking solace in wine?

[glamourie]

“I can’t imagine why Kaaoloth would be upset. You’re freaking out. I don’t know why you’re freaking out at me – I always sass you – but you are. Hold still and I’ll make you some tea to calm you down.” It wasn’t a request. R’wign didn’t really care if Sel’n liked it or not – his first response was that of a healer and panicking people needed to be calmed. He hated giving patients fellis and always went with tea if it could be helped. Most teas were very calming, and warm liquids tended to help relax even the most restless souls. The healer gave Sel’n a look that said without words that if he disobeyed, he was going to find himself presented with a furious R’wign – which was always a rather terrifying thing: R’wign was not a creature who got angry that often so when he did, he definitely did anger well. Annoyance was far more common. He’d only gotten angry once in turns, after all… and Dorava still hadn’t spoken to him since (thank Faranth).

Stepping to one of the side tables near Sel’n – close enough to keep the brownrider in his sight – R’wign quickly prepared a pot of tea that carried a very smooth fragrance. He poured a cup of the tea and carried it over to offer to Sel’n; it smelled floral and probably would taste vaguely sweet. R’wign was good about flavoring teas well while keeping the desired effects. Things worked out better if people liked what they were sucking down. Less likely to gag, more likely to drink enough to get the desired effect. It was practicality, not kindness. He crouched in front of the weyrlingmaster and cocked one eyebrow up inquisitively, head tilting ever-so-slightly. He listened, intent. Sel’n’s words were considered with a slight nod, and then he turned in the direction of Kaaoloth – or where he assumed the brown was. Being in the infirmary, he couldn’t actually see him. Not that it mattered. The brown didn’t need to see him to hear and comprehend what he was saying.

“Okay. Now, I need Kaaoloth to explain in chunks what happened. First: What does he know of how you got hurt? I want you to ask him, and I want him to explain that and only that to the best of his ability.”

That shouldn’t have been too difficult on the brown. It made him angry that Sel’n upset him so much. He was protective of his dragon but also an apprentice dragonhealer; while his heart would always be in treating patients that were humanoid, that didn’t mean he liked seeing any creature upset. Having half a million creatures attached to his mind meant he longed to make sure no one was upset or hurting. Especially not draconids. Curse being too sentimental, too soft, too kind. It was his greatest weakness and was definitely going to come back to bite him in the butt later on. But for the moment, it was to his advantage; he sounded more understanding and he hoped that compassion would be enough to calm Kaaoloth, if not Sel’n. He hoped.

Vanity’s upset sent a wave of amusement through R’wign not his own and he turned his head to look at the green skeptically. Vex watched the older female, her frill flaring before she stated softly, Not bad. Honest, honest. Sorry to upset Vex is. Thought Vanityqueen like to know, is all. Very sorry to upset Vanityqueen. Without waiting for a response, Vex leapt onto R’wign’s shoulder again and snuggled up to his neck. Secretly to Hers, she whispered, the ever-tempting snake, Greenqueen and Hers not liked. Not liked at all. Hurt Checkothlove, they did. Destroy them, Vex will… in secret. Belovedmine never be caught. Vexy promises, yes yes. Punish for hurting Checklove, I will. Not acceptable. Not acceptable at all. Do love you, mine. Do love Checklove, too. R’wign glanced at her, but… he didn’t scold. It was tempting to ask what she was up to, but… he couldn’t. She really did love Checkoth and he was upset at Sel’n for letting Kaaoloth upset Checkoth too. Bad spillover was bad.

[Rei]

The look R’wign gave him was sufficient to shut Sel’n up for the moment. Instead of speaking he concentrated on slowing his breathing and trying to get some handle on his emotions. To do that however he had to distance himself from his mindmates a bit. They where more upset than he was and enough was enough. Of course Kaaoloth was freaking out because he was upset. That fact was obvious. Although having R’wign say as much helped Sel’n to put everything back into perspective. Calm. If anything was going to be worked out at all, he needed to regain calm. Part of him wanted to refuse the offer of tea but the other half was wary of upsetting the healer further.

So when R’wign offered it he quietly accepted. Taking a tiny sip he closed his eyes for a moment. It really wasn’t bad tasting at all. Surprisingly. He could stomach it if it would help. The other brownrider’s question was passed to his dragon in a clam tone and he felt Kaaoloth consider. Finally the words came slowly and quietly. This time the brown pushed aside his misgivings to speak directly to R’wign himself.

The touch on the other’s mind was extremely light and hesitant. They jumped mine on the coast. He didn’t have a chance to fight back. I do not know how many there where. I do know that they had dragons with them. The brown paused as he worked it all out again. I was not there when it initially happened. I was further down sunning. He was badly hurt. I could feel the pain and then he went blank. I tried to get to him as quickly as I was able, but there was nothing I could do to stop them. I believed they would kill him and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. He growled quietly to himself. As to who they where... I do not know. They did not speak to me directly and I did not recognize the dragons.

Kaaoloth fell silent then and trembled. The memories where not something he wanted to remember, but they remained all the same. Sel’n had been privy to the conversation as well and he took another sip of the tea before gently prodding Kaaoloth’s mind. It’s ok. I am sure you did what you could. Thank you. Sending calming feelings to his dragon he fell silent. The tea and slow speech where helping.

Vanity however wasn't helping. She didn’t take heed of the other mandyr’s words at all. Instead she hissed quietly from inside her bonded’s sling and proceeded to sink her tiny fangs into his arm. Sel’n flinched once and bit the inside of his lip. Stop it please Vanity you are not helping. Badbadbadbadbad. Do NOT want. She spat in response before emerging from her dark safe haven to frill and hiss up at Sel’n. Her next words where privately given only to him. Go way. Not want Prettylove. Not want Vex. Cripplemine love. No hurt please? Too much hurt. “I’m not hurt. Now stop it.” The Weyrlingmaster said firmly before running a finger down her back in an attempt to soothe. Vanity was having none of that however. Creeling she leapt away from him to land on the arm of the chair and opened her tiny mouth in a threat display. No touch. Bite will. She warned him frill trembling. Sel'n sighed.

[glamourie]

Dragons with them… from where…? R’wign didn’t speak, but his fascination was almost tangible; although he understood that Kaaoloth was trying to help, he really was just making R’wign want to ask more questions. The ironic thing? He’d been half-teasing when he asked, not really angry; Kalierre had mentioned that the brownrider remembered nothing and R’wign had been content to leave it at that. Apparently, though, Sel’n’s mindmates did remember quite a bit – even if they didn’t understand it. He found the fact that they hadn’t told Kalierre suspect, and he did wonder briefly why Sel’n snapped when he inquired but not when his salamandyr’s mate’s mindmate did. So strange. His gaze turned toward the ledge and silently prodded Checkoth; would he have kept secrets, too? The answer he received was a resounding no – not in words but in absolute offense; didn’t he know that Checkoth loved him more than words and would never keep things from him if it was safe to tell him. No way, no how.

Kaaoloth’s explanation had him curious. Dragons. The coast. Did he mean the river or the ocean -? Only one way to find out.

“What coast does he mean?”

It was kind of unnerving to imagine dragons involved in the injuries paid to Sel’n. What had they done? It wasn’t Selenitas; that was certain. That left High Reaches, Fort and Benden to have attacked him. Benden had a reputation for attacking Selenitas, but that was under C’leon’s rule and he was gone. It was difficult to determine who was most likely. He didn’t trust Benden as far as he could throw them (he wasn’t quite as naïve as others seemed to believe) but he also didn’t trust the other two Weyrs. If Kaaoloth remembered dragons, it was a Weyr. Was the attack on Sel’n tied to the disappearances? It sure sounded like it; they’d hurt him and taken him somewhere… was that what they’d done to the others? What they’d done to T’rid and the rest? Who were they? His anxiety flashed through his eye for a moment before he turned his head in the general direction of his dragon for comfort. Checkoth was his baseboard, his brace; it was strange, but true.

Vanity’s behavior made R’wign glance down at her and he quirked an eyebrow casually. He didn’t respond – but he didn’t get a chance, for her threats earned the loudest of screeches before a form of steely blue came down to land on his shoulder opposite of Vex. Grouch flared his wings and looked down at Vanity disdainfully before launching into a series of chattering (quietly, so as not to be directly in his mindmate’s ear – he was learning) that was undoubtedly telling the green salamandyr where she could take her threats. Apparently, only Grouch was allowed to tell off R’wign or what have you. R’wign ignored his firelizard (trying to make Grouch behave was like trying to stop the sun from rising – impossible and a fruitless effort). He did reach up to stroke Vex’s back though, more to calm her than anything else.

She was totally unapologetic. As far as Vex was concerned, Vanity and Hers had whatever she did coming; she was being careful not to tell Vanity that, but she did think very little of them. She was protective of Checkoth, R’wign and Ellie. The rest of them, she tended to ignore, but Vex was a creature of logic. Checkoth was Hers, because Hers was attached to his mind, and Ellie was very close to him too. Protecting them meant Hers would be happier, and she wanted him to be happy. Her beloved R’wign; her favorite.

“I expect Vex has upset her. Sorry about Grouch; he’s… Grouch.” He shrugged and then crouched down. “Does Kaaoloth know where they took you, following that? These foreign dragonriders? And does he remember what they looked like – did they look like Fort or Benden dragons?” Fort dragons were usually paler in color, but then, Benden’s population was mixed in, too, since Fort riders now led it. Hard to say…