Not-Quite-Summer Squash (Rys)

[Requiem]

He had a leg ornament. A leg ornament and a hand attachment, to be precise. Neither precisely expected, but that didn't mean they were unwelcome; Reiscia should have been with her mother still, and Miguel now lived with K'lir. It had been a hard decision. But only on an emotional level. The logic itself wasn't hard at all. (Part of him thought it would be just as good for K'lir to have the six-turn-old as some sort of companion as for Miguel to get out of the weyr that already housed three high-maintenance weyrbrats. Much as he adored Reiscia, she was high maintenance, even by normal standards for active three-turn-olds.) Miguel tugged lightly on his hand, keeping just a little ahead at a scamper, while S'rei strode awkwardly along with his daughter's limbs wrapped around his calf.

The awkwardness probably had more to do with what he carried in his other hand, however. Soup. Enough of it to serve several people...or last for a couple meals. Squash soup. So maybe it wasn't just to be nice, but he was most definitely curious, after the Weyrsecond's slip, to see if he could find out just how much Ka'rys actually remembered. The reaction to the soup and having children around should help. (Not that the children had been planned.)

"Daaaddy, where we goooiiing?" the little girl asked, for the third time. Miguel apparently noticed for the first time how difficult they were making it on his uncle to simply walk down the hall, and released the man's hand, poking at Reiscia's nose. "Rys's. He already said silly," the boy responded teasingly, wrinkling his nose. Which had the expected result of Reiscia vacating S'rei and poking back at her cousin in a flurry of motion while he retreated with a laugh, trying to catch her hands." 'M not silly!" she protested, but she let Miguel take her hand, leaning up against him while they walked so she could tug on his arm whenever she saw something interesting. Pointing and chattering excitedly with her cousin in muted whispers. Secrets. S'rei tried to hide a smile.

That freed up S'rei to knock on the door to Ka'rys's office - after having checked with Ciceroth through Salenth to make sure he'd be there - the Weyrleader leaning partially against the doorframe as he turned enough to keep the children in sight. Miguel had bent to whisper something in Reiscia's ear, eyes flicking mischievously up toward S'rei. The bronzerider adopted a stern look. "Don't you two be planning any surprises now." Reiscia's titter was all he needed for confirmation. He affected a dramatic scowl, which had the girl ducking behind Miguel, peeking out past his arm and trying to stifle a giggle.

[glamourie]

Door knock. Who was bothering him? Ka’rys blinked and looked up sharply toward the door before quickly opening the drawer of his desk. Into it he threw needlethorn and a syringe and he quickly unrolled his sleeve. The dark brown fabric covered his arm down to his wrists; he’d worn long sleeves for the sole purpose of hiding the needle marks from view. He didn’t know who would be coming to visit him but they couldn’t have had worse timing. Crinkling his nose, Ka’rys rose to his feet (too quickly; his head spun in response) and he shook his head to wash away the vertigo. The movements dislodged his blue salamandyr, who tumbled to the desktop with a quiet squeak before sneaking into one of the drawers to sleep further (his former perch being Ka’rys’s shoulder and not nearly steady enough to be comfortable any longer – silly MonsterHis). The bronzerider didn’t notice, instead mentally prodding Ciceroth with the inquiry of who was at the door – and the only response he got was mild amusement; he was outside, he was lounging by the river, how exactly would he know and even if he did, why would RysHis expect him to tell him again?

Resisting the urge to gripe out loud (someone might hear him, even if the overgrown bronze pile of flesh deserved it), Ka’rys settled for calling out, “Coming.” Which was really not that useful since he was already to the door but as he spoke, his hand went to the wall to brace himself and prevent his face from meeting the floor. The poison worked fast – which he wasn’t really all that surprised by, considering that he’d asked for non-lethal (in small doses), fast-acting poisons for his wing to build up immunity to them. Had he given himself too much? It was a possibility – or maybe he’d used the wrong vial. Or maybe he was just allergic to people coming to bother him in the middle of the day. He was, after all, ever so social. Twitch.

The nausea and faintness passed in a matter of seconds and Ka’rys yanked open the door to find himself face-to-face with possibly the last person that he wanted to see right in that moment. He blinked, a slender eyebrow raising, and then his head bowed – more drawn by sound than anything else. Kidlets. Littlelings. Miguel and Aliscia-spawn. What was the Aliscia-spawn’s name again? He didn’t know the names of S’rei’s children, other than Shei and Miguel, due to almost no experience with them (he was betting that S’rei didn’t know Samera and Keravi’s names, either, so he felt justified in that ignorance). Only one way to find out – ignore S’rei and talk to the far more interesting companions, at least for the moment.

Dropping to a kneeling position to be closer to eye level, Ka’rys offered a bright smile – considerably nicer than any adult would’ve received from him, friends and family alike. “Migueeeel. And this must be your cousin – hm, I haven’t met you yet, have I?” He didn’t remember meeting Aliscia and S’rei’s daughter (or son) but that didn’t mean anything, since he’d been having memory issues. He recalled some things. Some. Considerably more than he let on. But it was possible he’d missed something. Turning his head, Ka’rys scooted out of the way to let the pair into the office. “You’re welcome to come inside.” His head tilted up and he eyed S’rei for a moment, expression hardening; nowhere near as friendly with grown-ups by default, and he didn’t think much of S’rei most of the time. Calmly, he tacked on, “I should slam the door in your face. I said I wanted cookies, not soup. I bet the kids agree with me that cookies are far better, too.”

[Requiem]

Miguel waved at Ka'rys (he saw the man rather more often than his uncle would have guessed, weyr-wanderer that he tended to be) while Reiscia coiled her arms around her cousin's waist from behind and stared up at the scary-faced man. Not terribly shy, no, but she still knew enough not to tackle strangers. (So her mom told her. That didn't keep her from snugging anyone who looked nice or fun to play with, though.) The girl cast a questioning look up at her father, but he didn't seem concerned, the man having not moved from his spot against the doorframe.

But then the 'scary man' was dropping to a knee, and he didn't look nearly so scary now. Blinking, Reiscia broke out into a bright smile to match his, edging out from behind Miguel who had smiled welcomingly at the bronzerider. Lord chirped a squeaky greeting to the Weyrsecond, just the top of his head showing from the loosened laces at the boy's neck. A flicker crossed Miguel's face - concern? - and he murmured something to the flit, the blue disappearing back into his shirt obediently.

Reiscia hardly noticed. She stepped forward, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking forward onto her toes. "I'm Reiscia. You Ryssy? My budduh's blind." She covered her face with her hands, peeking out past her fingers. As she moved to touch Ka'rys's face, however, Miguel slid a hand up her arm and curled his fingers with hers, earning him an impatient look before she started swinging their arms back and forth. If Miguel had intended to linger outside, Reiscia was more than happy to accept the invitation, dragging her larger cousin along after her and shamelessly climbing up onto Ka'rys's chair. Her eyes lighted on the hammock, pointing at it. "Waz that, Gel?" Miguel glanced over, but then shrugged. He'd never seen a hammock before, either.

S'rei snorted softly at Ka'rys, stepping past him without waiting for the invitation his children had received. (It was ever so much easier to slip by someone while they were still kneeling, after all.) "Not that I doubt you couldn't slam the door from your current position, but it at least would be somewhat awkward." Clearing enough space for the stand he'c clamped under his arm, he set the pot on top, turning back to Ka'rys - and deliberately leaning against the desk in such a way that curious Reiscia fingers would not be finding their way to the hot metal. "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't agree with you, actually. What do you like more, Reiscia? Daddy's soup, or Daddy's cookies."

The little girl wrinkled her nose. "Soup! Cookies like wocks. They make my mouth hoits." Then, just in case it wasn't clear, she stuck out her tongue in a clear 'blech' face. "Mae's cookies are yummy." Cue shirt tugging from behind. "Daddy, Daddy, can we has Mae cookies? Pleeeeaaase?"

[glamourie]

“Rys, yes,” Ka’rys replied with a mild smile. He’d actually known that – though he couldn’t recall who told him. Savitri, possibly. She was around Aliscia’s children a lot. Truthfully, he was somewhat... selfish. Upon hearing out that one of S’rei’s children was blind, he’d immediately been grateful that all three of his girls were completely fine. Healthy, happy. Not that he wished an ill child on anyone – not even S’rei who had a peculiar talent for dreading on his nerves. He just... was glad... that it wasn’t him. That was a sentiment that he’d never voice, not even to his worst enemy, though. Ka’rys had few boundaries. Children related to most of them. Cocking his head to the side, he tapped his chin as though inquisitive, watching the little girl wander into the office as if she owned the place. Amusement flashed through his dark brown eyes and he rose to his feet, hands clasping at the small of his back. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Reiscia. I actually knew that. Did you know that my oldest daughter is a dragonrider?” He was betting the little girl didn’t even know he had a daughter. Miguel, though, likely did. He also likely knew about Kale.

Shards, but he felt old.

Ka’rys didn’t answer the question of what the hammock was immediately, namely because at that moment, S’rei stepped in and his survival instincts had him turning before he could help himself. He turned too fast, though, and his mind immediately swam. He disguised it by rolling his eyes and hoped that S’rei didn’t notice the slight twitch in response to the rapidly-forming headache. No need to make his own situation worse. Reiscia’s answer made him laugh outright before he slyly added, “Fine. Sam and Kera would agree with me. Are we going to run a poll? I bet I could get more people to agree with me than you.” Namely because he was sure that most of the non-drudge population would get an immense kick out of S’rei in the kitchens in a little apron baking cookies, but that was irrelevant; his point was made, thank you very much.

Glancing at Reiscia, he crinkled his nose. “I hear Mae’s cookies are baked with old lady attitude. If you eat them, you morph into an old lady. Best not to,” he said seriously. He actively avoided that woman simply because she gave him the creeps. Old and crotchety. He’d thought he had a monopoly on that. Apparently not, though. Creepy woman. “And that,” because he’d just remembered her question, “is a hammock. It’s for napping, or in my case, sleeping when avoiding people. It’s not very comfortable though – likes to turn over on me. I keep getting dumped out of it.” He didn’t, actually, but he didn’t really want S’rei’s daughter to get the idea that it was okay to climb in it; he doubted S’rei would like fishing her out of the nest of blankets he’d formed in order to be comfortable. There were worse places to sleep, though.

“Did you need something, Weyrleader?” The question posed to S’rei was a lot less friendly than his children. It wasn’t mean per say, but Ka’rys and S’rei weren’t friends – and he doubted that was ever going to change. Beyond the point, he didn’t really want to try. He wouldn’t be mean but since being friendly wasn’t in his nature by any stretch of the imagination (he tended to stick to himself), it was easier to just ask directly. Social calls weren’t S’rei’s style. He wanted something – he wouldn’t be there otherwise. As he was all-too-happy to point out, he was a very busy man. Between enough children to sink a Neratian fishing vessel and Weyrleader responsibilities, he believed it. So why was he there?

[Requiem]

"Kalerary. Kale." Not recognizing the name, Reiscia proceeded to toy with the hem of her father's shirt, peeking out past his side at Ka'rys. Miguel stayed near the chair...possibly to make sure she didn't overbalance, followed by enough dramatics to make any sane person remove themselves as far as possible from the scene. The bronzerider was regarding Ka'rys with his usual slightly amused expression. Yes, he was definitely going to do something to the other man in front of his children. There was caution and then there was simple downright paranoia. Not that this was anything new to him. The extent of it, yes, still surprised him at times, but it would likely be more surprising if Ka'rys had been acting...well, much like he had been the first time of the squash soup.

Reiscia grinned broadly. "The cookies will make me older?" Miguel laughed softly and poked her in the side. "Yes. All old and wrinkly and grumbly, and everyone will run away from you just like they do Auntie Mae. Then you'll be lonely and no one will play with you. One or two cookies every once in awhile is okay, but you don't want to eat too many." Reiscia paused to consider that one. Older would be fun, but not too much older. She didn't want to creak like Mommy or complain about the cold and joints like Daddy. Getting that old didn't seem fun at all.

Peering at the hammock that Ka'rys was talking about, she thought that it probably wouldn't be very comfortable to sleep in, even with all the blankets and stuff. Silly man. Why was he sleeping like that anyway, especially if it turned over on him? The girl's attention was stolen by the smiling man's tone towards her father. She blinked, then nudged Miguel and whispered, "I don't understand; does Ryssy not like Daddy?" The little boy shrugged. "I suppose he likes him well enough." S'rei fished out a bowl and poured soup for both children. "Don't make a mess, hm?" After making sure there was nothing on the desktop that could be ruined by spills, he turned back to Ka'rys.

"You look a bit faint," he responded bluntly. "You're free to eat the soup if you like...I brought it here for you, anyway." His head cocked slightly to one side. "As to what I want, I just came to see if we can have a normal conversation," he finished smoothly. "Without it being work-related. Though I would like to know how your wing's coming along if you don't mind the curiosity."

[glamourie]

Ka’rys resisted the urge to grin at the pair of children; it was a real grin threatening to slip out, too, not one of his faked ones or a smirk. He was definitely amused by their responses... although it made him miss Samera and Keravi something awful. He wasn’t terribly close to the girls though, and he didn’t even know if they behaved remotely similarly. From his experience with them, they tended to both be more mild, though Keravi could not hold still to save her life. Miguel was calm. The fidgety little girl was definitely not. Reiscia, she said her name was. And that her brother was blind. So many little kids, it was like the creche was overgrown. Speaking of which – hadn’t S’rei sent his children to one of the nearby holds? Savitri got the idea from somewhere, and he’d assumed it was from S’rei’s weyrmate, since she seemed to plant every bad idea in Savitri’s head. When had they come back? He didn’t ask. It wasn’t any of his business and he doubted that S’rei would deign to tell him, but he did wonder.

The inquiry about his wing though made him glance at S’rei curiously, and he looked from the pair of children to S’rei and then back again in obvious contemplation. Did he really want to discuss wing drills in front of them? He couldn’t have meant wanting details, not with little ears so nearby, so Ka’rys settled for vague. Ambling away from S’rei and over to the other side of the room (physical distance was a must when one felt like vomiting), the Legatus wingleader rubbed his nose and took to toeing (barefoot as always) the floor curiously. “Uh. Wing’s fine. I was teaching them to untie knots – and tie them. But mostly untie them when they’re bound. Some of them picked up the talent faster than others. Iskierka didn’t seem to like being used as an example.” She was permanently the example, as far as Ka’rys was concerned. “Evrgarde is teaching the wing archery.” He wanted to make sure that everyone on the wing had a ranged weapon that they were able to use, and learning each other’s specialty was helpful. Ka’rys held his hands out for emphasis of his next point, though. “It’s not going so well for any of us.” His fingertips were scarred up, obviously having bled recently. The price of progress, sigh.

He did not mention that he was poisoning his wing. It was Ka’rys’s mentality that what S’rei knew need only be the essentials – everything else was to be kept private; the less amount of people who knew their secrets, the better. At least one healer did, which was a pain in and of itself. He’d have preferred only the wing know that little tidbit of information. He wouldn’t have denied it if asked directly, but it was a kind of information that he had no intentions of volunteering. Ever-secretive was Ka’rys, and ever inquisitive... which brought him to the curiosity that came with S’rei’s next words: social visits were definitely not typical of the Weyrleader. He wanted something. And Ka’rys was determined to find out what it was.

“I appreciate the soup – just... your timing is kind of bad; I’m really not feeling well enough to eat.” He looked faint? Well, there was a reason for that. “I’m nauseous. It’ll pass. I’ll heat it up later, though.” He would, too. Ka’rys didn’t often turn down food unless it was likely to make him throw up somewhere – thus contained red meat. Eyes turning toward the children, Ka’rys decided to go for it – if S’rei was on a social call, he’d have to deal with questions. Or learn not to come for social visits. They weren’t friends. “When did the twins come back?”

[Requiem]

Archery. Now that was an interesting thought, though S'rei wasn't too interested in adopting it for his own wingriders. Ka'rys and Mi'rah seemed to be concentrating enough on the ground, so S'rei would be focusing on aerial fighting for his own wing. Which seemed a natural extension of flying Threadfall, and flying arrows wasn't conducive to aerial fighting when dragons were blinking in and out of Between and changing directions abruptly. They were going to end up shooting each other. Still, it was an interesting idea, though, from the looks of those hands, not one that would come without a lot of effort.

The older of the bronzeriders nodded. He could believe Ka'rys was nauseous, and, either way, it wouldn't offend him if the other man chose not to eat the soup. Reiscia piped up from behind him. "Is Ryssy sick? Go 'firmry. Give cookies if Ryssy is goood." S'rei smiled slightly, wiping at liquid glistening at the corner of her mouth. She cuddled into her cousin a bit more, who was dividing his attention between the little girl and his own bowl of soup while sneaking Lord something from his pocket.

"When? Recently. Not long after Shoal was born, once Lish had more energy. They're safer here with us and Aliscia didn't tell me where she'd squirreled them." Which was still a matter of some small annoyance for him, but it was hardly a point of contention now; the twins were back. He'd wanted to take them back directly after Fort attacked, but Aliscia was having a difficult pregnancy - put on bed rest even - and he didn't think she needed the extra stress. "How are Sam and Kera? I haven't heard as much about them from Lish as I normally do." She hadn't been getting out too much to see Savitri lately, though...between wing drills, nursing an infant and the twins. S'rei often had at least one child with him when he wasnt in drills himself, but that didn't do much to keep her less busy. Reiscia was more of a handful than most children her age, Silas was blind so needed a constant eye (though he was less of a problem than his sister, often as not, content to sit still for the most part) and Shoal of course was an infant. A fairly fussy one, though generally happy. S'rei anticipated he'd be getting into everything once he got old enough to move about on his own.

"Sam and Kera? Kera! 'Gel, 'member Kera?" The boy nodded, smiling awkwardly as he wiped the soup she'd spilled down his shirt off as best he could. Reiscia hugged his neck, slipping off the chair and bouncing over to latch herself to Ka'rys's leg. "Ryssy, can we play wid Kera? Can we? Can we? Daddy?" She glanced back at S'rei. "If it's all right with Ka'rys and Savitri, I don't see why not," he responded quietly. He already knew that the two sets of twins used to see a lot of each other before.

[glamourie]

Reiscia’s question made Ka’rys turn back to her and he smiled. Look, one of those rare, elusive smiles – capture it in memory, it may never come back. He shook his head slowly before replying, “I think I ate something that didn’t sit well with me – no need to bother the healers with it. Thank you though.” Aside from the fact that he’d have to be close to dying or in a near unbearable amount of pain to willingly go to the infirmary (ugh), he knew what was wrong with him. It would pass – and he didn’t see a point in irritating the healers by complaining about something he’d intentionally, knowingly done to himself. He was pretty sure at least one of them would want to beat him up. “How’d you get to be so smart, hmm?” He crinkled his nose and barely restrained the urge to poke her on hers playfully; it was one of his favorite things to do to the girls – but that didn’t mean that made it okay to do to someone else’s child. One of his personal pet peeves was anyone touching Sammy or Kera when he was around, without first confirming he was okay with them handling his children. Fastest way to actually get real, unabridged anger from Ka’rys. Not that he expressed it in front of the kidlets. Nope – they never saw their daddy angry. It’d stay that way, too.

... He’d learned that habit from Leradi. When they’d been weyrmates, no matter how angry with him she’d become, she refused to express it where Kalerary could see or hear, arguing that a child should never have to watch adults fight. “She’ll see enough fighting when she’s grown. While she’s a baby, she shouldn’t have to see it,” she’d argued; it was a mentality Ka’rys adopted well after Leradi’s death. He still didn’t argue with anyone in front of Kalerary if it could be helped. He couldn’t stop others, but he wouldn’t do it. She didn’t deserve to have to see him angry. (While he got irritated with Kale regularly – so ornery – it was a very dramatically different response. Ka’rys was nothing if not stubborn, heh.)

Turning back to S’rei, Ka’rys nodded – and politely declined to comment on his opinion of Aliscia taking their children away without telling their father where they were. Even if one of her children wasn’t sitting right there, Ka’rys wouldn’t have voiced the thought. He’d never made a big secret of his dislike of Aliscia. One of the first things to return to him was an innate disdain for the woman – and he didn’t know if that was so much from him or Ciceroth; regardless, he didn’t think S’rei particularly wanted to hear about it, and he didn’t see any gain from voicing his thoughts. Thus his opinion got shunted back where it belonged: private to himself.

“She’s getting big,” he replied, though it wasn’t really much of an observation since he hadn’t seen either of S’rei and Aliscia’s kids much. For all he knew they’d always been big – unlikely though since their mother was half a person. “Sammy and Kera are fine. Sammy still doesn’t talk. Kera does though – well, sort of. She mostly mimics.” Samera didn’t make a sound actually, unless it was really important. She could make noises (she giggled often enough, he supposed) but she was just a quiet baby. Keravi was the noisier twin and loved to wander around and climb into things. Whenever he was watching them, it was a constant chore to explain to Keravi that the drawers of daddy’s desk were not for playing in. She’d discovered she could fit entirely inside of the bottom one and oh, how fascinating she’d deemed that – must explore possibility more. Yes, she was quite the handful. He blamed Savitri for that. “Their eyes finally finished changing – they’re the same color as mine. I don’t know if you’ve seen them since that or not. Sammy has also decided that Chandath is hers.” He rolled his eyes, amused. “Kera’s too busy trying to climb Ciceroth to care about her sister’s dragon, though.”

The sudden response to the mention of the girls made Ka’rys turn to look down at Reiscia and he crinkled his nose at her playfully. He dropped down to a crouching position (and immediately regretted the swift movement as his stomach did a nice flip – ugh) and tilted his head at her. “What, you don’t want to play with Sammy too? I see how it is. Well, I won’t tell Sammy that you don’t like her. Tsk.” He pretended to be hurt (he knew very well though that Samera was just a lot less rambunctious and if Reiscia’s current behavior was anything to judge by, she probably broed her) before smiling. “I’m fine with it – right now Sammy and Kera are in the creche though, because their mommy’s on shift in the infirmary and I was working. So you’ll have to wait until this evening, and if you’re good for your mommy and daddy, then we’ll see. Okay?”

[Requiem]

Reiscia gave Ka'rys a wide smile in response to his compliment. She liked this man, and was already plotting ways to get compliments and smiles from him more often. Oh yes, her parents would be hearing lots about Ryssy for awhile - at least until she fixated on something else - because he was her knew favoritest growed up. "Was bawn dis way," she announced, around another spoonful of soup. Miguel hid a smile behind a hand behind her, his gaze flicking up to Ka'rys's face for a moment before he went back to eating his soup as neatly as possible so as not to mess up the furniture of Kale's father.

He kept on forgetting that Sammy and Kera were both younger than his own twins, though that probably had more to do with the fact that all four children had been born during the time of his life when he'd been particularly...self-absorbed might be the best term. S'rei still wasn't sure why Shmee's death had been that hard on him; he usually bounced back much quicker. Though some of it could, no doubt, be attributed to relapsing and taking care of an infant daughter. Some of it. Not all. Actually, there wasn't much of an excuse, when it came right down to it, though fortunately no one had ever really asked him for one. It was definitely past now. But yes, he supposed they were a fair sight younger, weren't they? Aliscia had given birth quite awhile back by the time the Siege rolled around, and Savitri wasn't showing then, as he recalled.

S'rei shook his head silently. No, he hadn't seen them recently enough to note the eye change. Aliscia usually dealt with Savitri, and, by proxy, the twins. It would be a bit too much to say that S'rei went out of his way to avoid the goldrider, but he certainly didn't seek her out. Neither of the women tended to leave their kids with the other one too regularly, so he hadn't had cause to go pick up his little ones or something similar to that, either. Mention of Chandath brought a smile to his face, though. "Salenth adores Kale's green. He says she's welcome to come by any time and try to scale the bronze mountain." S'rei snorted softly. Miguel, too, brightened at mention of Chandath, pausing in his eating to look to Ka'rys to see if Kale's father had any more to say of her.

Reiscia's lip trembled at the sad-sounding voice when Ka'rys knelt in front of her, however. "No! Sammy's nice," she insisted emphatically. Whatever else she might have said, however, was washed away with his smile, though she clung to him anxiously still. Of course she wanted to play with Sammy! Kera liked to play with her more, but that didn't mean she didn't like Sammy. She didn't want the nice man to think wrongs about her, or think she was mean. (No one could not like Sammy.) Listening to him very attentively, she nodded her head. "I'll be good. Pomise." Then the girl held up her pinky to him. "Pinky pomise."

Miguel slid down off the chair, coming over to tug at S'rei's pants. "Can I come, too? I haven't seen them in a long time." His uncle ruffled his hair lightly. "I'm sure you can, Miguel."

[glamourie]

Cute. Ka’rys shot Reiscia a pleasant look; it was, again, a mildly friendly smile. He was always nicer around children though. It could be argued he liked them better than adults, simply because children were more genuine. He had no doubt that S’rei bringing the kids to see him was not a coincidence either: the Weyrleader knew of his fondness for children and was, apparently, not above using it against him. He’d have been annoyed if not for how cute Reiscia and Miguel were both being. (Was it wrong that he instinctively favored the boy-child, too? Reiscia was certainly sweet enough but his impressive disdain for her mother made him inclined to prefer Miguel instead – that and Miguel was quiet; it reminded him a lot of how Samera behaved, except that Miguel was much older, while Sam was barely two turns old. My, how time flew.) As it was, he was neutral – for the moment anyway. S’rei did have a peculiar talent for making him recoil, clamp down and close up on him though. Only a matter of time, sadly.

Taking Reiscia’s pinky with his own, Ka’rys bobbed his head into a nod. “A pinky promise is a very big deal, you know. If you break it, your pinky will fall off. So you’ve got to remember to keep your promise, hm?” Of course, nothing like that would really happen but she was probably still young enough to believe such comments, and if it made her behave better for her parents, all the more reason to say it. He had no doubt that S’rei and Aliscia could keep their children in line as they saw fit – he just preferred to promote good behavior when he could. He didn’t think S’rei would oppose it either. “So you remember – you promised to be good. No being bad – not under any circumstances.” He leaned over and whispered, “And I won’t tell Sammy that you like Kera better. Our little secret.” He put one finger over his lips and winked. “Teasing. I’m sure you all get along fabulously.”

Miguel’s question made him turn his head and Ka’rys smiled slightly. “You’re always welcome, Miguel. Even if Savitri says no, I say yes, so it doesn’t matter.” Savitri wouldn’t say no anyway though. She liked children, especially mild-mannered ones like Miguel. She’d probably be glad for the company, she always seemed lonely – it wasn’t something he could immediately fix either. Memories coming back or not, he wasn’t the same man that she fell in love with and it was going to take some adjusting on both their parts to deal with that. Hers especially though – she was the one who was still mourning his loss in her own way. He’d gotten used to his state and almost preferred it; he didn’t feel anywhere near as weird around most people anymore.

Rising to his feet, Ka’rys dusted himself off and then cracked his neck. Another wave of nausea passed through him and he closed his eyes, inhaling sharply for a moment before turning back to S’rei.

“She tries to scale Ciceroth too. His new favorite thing is holding her under one foot and watching her squeal in distress. Kale gets fired up over it too... at Chandath. Keeps insisting she’s bringing it on herself with her desire to be Weyrleader. I told her you’d probably let her once she got old enough – just wait and then ask for the knots,” he mumbled, rubbing the end of his nose. He could totally see S’rei trying to pass his knots off to the young girl too, if only to get out of having to be Weyrleader anymore. Though, technically that was more his style. He’d been succeeded by T’rid. (He didn’t regret it either – not his fault Aslath had no taste in dragons. And he wasn’t supposed to remember that anyway.) “I didn’t know Chandath was bothering Salenth too though. That’s amusing...”

[Requiem]

Ka'rys's words as they hooked pinkies caused Reiscia's eyes to widen to two small saucers. They wouldn't really...would they? "Daddy?" S'rei looked at his little girl gravely. (He'd never gotten into the habit of fibbing, even to make children behave, though that didn't mean he didn't appreciate what Ka'rys was trying to do.) "I've never broken a pinky promise. You should probably play it safe and be good, sunshine." Reiscia nodded, her small jaw firming before Ka'rys commented on Sam again. "I don't, hon-" Then she smiled tentatively. Just joking? Well, okay then, but only if he wasn't really serious.

Miguel smiled gratefully at Kale's dad, though he knew Savitri wouldn't mind him going to see the girls; she never did. Most people were okay with his wanderings, actually, except an occasional disgruntled drudge here and there. He did get into trouble from time to time after all, usually due to wandering into a place where he really wasn't supposed to be. Concern flickered behind the dark blues of the child at Ka'rys's apparent dizzyness, the boy glancing up at his uncle's face while his hand tightened slightly on the fabric of S'rei's pants. Lord peeked just his snout out from the neckline of Miguel's shirt, directing a worried chirr at His, followed by a quiet croon for the bronzerider, his head disappearing almost immediately.

S'rei, too, had noticed the moment of obvious weakness. The Wingleader nodded, an amused smile tugging at his lips. "Well, he's easy enough to find, and apparently he's the one to dominate if she wants to be Weyrleader." He didn't respond to the comment about giving up the rank when she was older, mostly because it was a joke and didn't much matter; he highly doubted Millieth would choose Salenth again. She seemed to have little interest in a habitual mate. "Come along, Reiscia. Bring your soup." He caught up his baby girl in his arms as soon as her hands clasped the bowl. "Bye Ryssy!" the little one chirped. "I'll catch you at a better time. Miguel?" The boy smiled slightly and nodded. As his uncle left with Reiscia, however, Miguel lingered behind.

The boy eyed Ka'rys solemnly for a long moment, his little face etched in very serious planes. "Mom liked you," he offered finally. Miguel did, too, but that wasn't really the child's point. "Be careful, please? Kale loves you. Still needs you. She's big now, but she'd still be very sad." Miguel nodded to himself after a moment's thought. The boy moved forward, brushing his hand over Ka'rys's arm, then hugged his leg briefly and scampered out after his uncle and cousin.