So this is Home (Tags R'ahre)

[Rowana]

Merridan was surprised at how little time it took for her to collect her belongings from the Candidate Barracks. Considering she had been living there for months, she still hadn't unpacked some of her things. She supposed she had never considered the place home, expecting, or rather hoping, to move out sooner rather than later. Of course she wouldn't be in the Weyrling Barracks very long either. Only ninth months until she was assigned her own weyr. But anywhere with Chaoth would feel like home now.

Is it time for bed yet, MerridanMine? Chaoth nuzzled her tiredly. He had had a busy morning: hatching, eating, then following Mer to their new home. I need sleep so I can play with big brothers Checkoth and Behruth. Mer smiled. She like that the three of them were getting along so well. "Soon, Chaoth. We just need to figure out which room is ours."

Last time she had been here, the ground had been covered in bodies and blood from the Bendan attackers. It was amazing how different the place looked cleaned up and in daylight. She might never have recognized it as the source of so much tragedy. "Now then," she looked around briefly. "Where are your clutchmates? They sure are taking their time."

[Avu]

Do you know which room is ours, R’ahreMine?

“Of c – uh.” R’ahre blinked dumbly after a moment, glanced around the foreign Weyrling Barracks as he teetered at the doorway, Sylph perched in his hair, and Ahth hovering behind him patiently, the blue having followed him uncomplainingly from Point A to Point B – all day. Well, he had a lot of things he needed to put in order. First, he’d gone to the kitchens, got a grapefruit, and then wrote a note on a piece of paper, wound it around a toothpick, and jabbed the toothpick into the grapefruit. The fruit was duly left on Emoyan’s desk. The note said, “Lots of love, certainly won’t be missing Candidacy, R’ahre and Ahth”. He’d have signed it for all of Rotation One, but he wasn’t comfortable doing that when Anz and Zan had not Impressed. While the pair had graduated Lessons, they still were under Emoyan’s rule and that was bad. Bad, bad… After doing that, he’d gone and borrowed a bottle of oil from the storage closet near the Infirmary, to oil both Ahth and Sylph with later. Mostly it was Ahth he’d wanted to oil, but he couldn’t leave Sylph without it, so he’d promised he’d oil her, too. If he didn’t oil Ahth, the blue’s hide would be itchy tomorrow – and he didn’t want that. It probably still would be, but not as itchy. Then he’d gone back to the Main Hall for food for himself and Sylph, and finally, finally dragged himself to the Candidate Barracks to gather his things to move into the Weyrling Barracks.

Which looked just about as comfortable as his old one. Hmph.

Not Yours, Sylph informed Ahth agitatedly, the green Salamandyr scurrying over the top of R’ahre’s head. Mine Mine Rusa Mine /not Yours/. Yes, she was still calling him ‘Rusa’. He was Rusa. Her Rusa, not the big blue thing’s.

R’ahreMine. I know you like the skittering green thing, but she is /very/ annoying, Ahth commented to R’ahre, exasperation lacing his tones. Please ask her to be quiet about you being Hers because you are, clearly, /Mine/, or I /will/ have to deal with her. And I do not want to because you like her so much. He sighed, as much to say, Do you have to like her? The only response either of them received was a wave of amused irritation – already! – before R’ahre rubbed his nose with his free hand; the other was carrying a pack of his clothes, he had another strung over his back, and he was wearing his boots, both dirks, and what looked to be an outfit that had been completely revamped – sleeves cut off, pants cut across the knees – which it had been. Northern clothes didn’t do so hot when it came to Selenitas – no pun intended.

It was then that Merridan’s words carried to him, and R’ahre rocked on his feet, head tilting curiously to one side. Was he eavesdropping? Oh, yes. Ahth was, too; the blue slid forward past him, moving almost silently till his dark form, almost pure black, was just visible to Chaoth, though probably not to Merridan herself. R’ahre, however, stepped forward, clicking his tongue audibly just so that he didn’t scare Mer out of her wits. She didn’t seem the type to scare easily anyway, but it was probably better, just in case – and it was polite, anyway, to announce his entrance, which had been largely silent, with some small noise.

“Well, this pair of those ‘clutchmates’ who are ‘taking their time’ just went to the kitchens, Candidate Barracks, Infirmary, kitchens, and then Candidate Barracks again before I came here, so I certainly hope you aren’t implying that we’re slow,” he commented, without further intro. “And I’ll bid you good luck finding your rooms. Which are which? They haven’t the time to make – you know, big ‘This is your room’ signs, have they…?”

For his part, Ahth slid lithely past His again; the blue was surprisingly graceful considering the typical clumsiness of hatchings. Greetings, clutchbrother Chaoth, he said quietly, dipping his head slightly in greeting. And pass my greetings to Yours as well, please. How have you been today? Because, really – today was the only time that he and Chaoth had yet to experience. Hmph.

[Rowana]

If Mer was bothered by R'ahre's tone, she didn't show it. "Since you were here first, I guess that makes us the slow ones." Are we slow?? Chaoth asked, almost concerned. No, silly. We're just not the fastest. We'll just have to try harder next time. We will! Chaoth declared, making it plan that Mer wasn't going to get out of it either. She chuckled and turned back to the R'ahre.

"Congratulations on impressing, by the way. He's an impressive blue." Mer meant it. Not many hatchlings that she'd seen could be so graceful just out of the egg. Ahth was sure to be quite the dragon when he grew up. Chaoth on the other hand, was still a little clumsy, but he looked like he was going to grow quite large. Hard to say how big though, when most of his size could be attributed to his recent, and enormous, meal. I know the previous group of weyrlings live here too, so they already have rooms," she continued, returning to the problem at hand. "I thought someone might be here to meet us, but maybe we're too early?"

And greetings to you, clutchbrother Ahth, and to Yours, Chaoth returned politely with a dip of his own head. It has been a good day. I found Mine after all! And you have found Yours. The brown crooned happily to his sibling. Have you also been well? He couldn't see how the blue could be unwell, given that this was the best day of Chaoth's life in his opinion. Granted it was his first day, but that just made it extra good.

[Avu]

“I didn’t mean you should call yourself slow, either,” R’ahre answered, shrugging slightly. “Since – I mean, I guess that implies the rest of the Weyrlings are crawling along, doesn’t it…?” Which, they kind of were, but R’ahre had always been quick on his feet, and their hatchlings probably weren’t as graceful as Ahth was. (A surge of what was undeniably a possessive pride rose at that thought; his blue was much more graceful and quicker than any of the other hatchlings, clearly…) He shifted the pack on his shoulder, tucking one thumb between strap and shoulder, and clicked his tongue thoughtfully, glancing around the Weyrling Barracks again curiously. He supposed it was marginally more comfortable than the Candidate Barracks – probably because they were more worried about them now, not going into depression and traumatizing the hatchlings and all – complete with chairs that didn’t look like they’d leave you with a sore rear end, a rug on the ground (currently unoccupied; R’ahre had a feeling that once everyone arrived, he’d have to fight for a spot on the rug, which looked more comfortable to him than the chairs did), and a few windows scattered around.

The compliment to Ahth brought another surge of possessive pride, and R’ahre smiled slightly and nodded, gaze flickering towards Ahth. The dark blue dragonet looked back impassively at him, eyes gleaming curiously even as R’ahre touched his head with light fingers, and then gestured towards Chaoth. “He’s quite a handsome brown as well. Nice color – and large, too.” He half-smiled at Chaoth, and his head tilted curiously. “Lucky, aren’t you? Not many women Impress browns…” There had been some women…but they’d been all the more impressive for it. The most notorious in Benden had been, naturally, the one involved in the Siege…though R’ahre had never had contact with her; he hadn’t wanted it, was content at the time to melt flawlessly into the background. “Anyway – pity Anz and Zan didn’t Impress…” A half-frown touched his lips, though it didn’t stay long. “I was kind of hoping we’d all Impress together…” Actually, he’d been hoping they all Impressed; he hadn’t really thought he would.

Of course you were to Impress. I would not have had any other. Ahth’s voice was decidedly smug as the blue flicked his tail, though his eyes did not betray the comment, and R’ahre’s gaze never flickered from Mer even as the blueweyrling considered again, commenting absently – since it was rather beside the point anyway – “Mm, yes…don’t want to barge into someone else’s room. Hmm…” His hand rose, this time to rub Sylph sympathetically, the green having scuttled to his shoulder, winding her tail as far as it would go around his neck. Her Rusa, not the big blue fatty’s ‘R’ahre’. Hmph. A smile flickered across the blueweyrling’s face, and R’ahre tapped Sylph lightly on the back. “I guess we can just…lounge around…I wouldn’t mind sleeping on the rug.” He rubbed his nose slightly, a wry expression flitting across his face before he promptly sat down on said rug, Ahth sliding noiselessly beside him, though the blue didn’t lie down. He’d wait until he had a nice, hard dragon’s couch, thank you.

I do indeed have Mine, the blue agreed politely, head coming to rest lightly on R’ahre’s other shoulder (Sylph frilled defiantly and hissed, but both R’ahre and Ahth ignored her). I expect it’s been good enough, but I have hardly anything to judge by, Ahth added explanatorily, though – that didn’t really say much. He didn’t want to say much. Have you met any of our clutchsiblings? he added curiously. He’d met Futh. He wished he hadn’t met Futh. He’d also met Baoth; he liked Baoth. Not that we’d much time to… he added musingly, flicking his tail idly before he curled his neck slightly, pressing his muzzle more firmly against R’ahre’s chest. Decidedly impersonal, all of his comments were, even though he was definitely asking Chaoth for his opinion; Ahth didn’t feel the need to explain his opinion, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to know Chaoth’s – and his questions were polite and stereotypical enough.

[Rowana]

"That's true," Mer looked behind her with a frown. "I expected most of them would be here by now. Maybe there lost?" That was an idea. She had already known where to go after all. Still, she doubted they would stay that way very long. Plenty of riders would be happy to help the new weyrlings settle in. Chaoth stood proudly at R'ahre's comments. "I suppose I am lucky," Mer said thoughtfully, patting the brown's head. It had never occured to her until he'd said it out loud. Why had Chaoth picked her of all people? There had been plenty of boys to chose from. Because you are MerridanMine. he crooned at her, as if it was so simple. I would not have chosen any other.

"It is a pity about Anz and Zan," she agreed sadly. Then she grinned and chuckled. "When I think of some of the things you three did to poor Emoyan! I guess our weyrling master should feel lucky he won't have you all at once." Auran suddenly decided he would try out his new perch and flapped over to sit on Chaoth's head. The hatchling glanced up at him and purred. Auran decided it was a good perch, for now. Mer smiled at them and went on. "I'm sure they'll impress some day. I didn't impress at my first hatching either."

"Sleeping out here wouldn't be all bad. Chaoth does make a good pillow." She quickly found her own spot and sat down. Chaoth trotted over and curled up behind, resting his head on his claws so that he could still she R'ahre and Ahth. Mer gave a relaxed sigh and leaned back on his hide. Chaoth did make a good pillow. It helped that he was so big, even as a hatchling. "Do you know any of our new weyrmates?" she asked, in an attempt at conversation. "I didn't really get the chance to meet all of them as candidates."

I have not, Chaoth admitted thoughtfully. I remember you and Futh, and Nuoth, she seems nice. He actually remembered Ahth being quite rude and Futh was noisy, but they had scattered the boys nicely and made it easier to find His. He was willing to forgive them all for any rudeness. One could not expect best behavior when they were all busy trying to find Theirs. I did meet bigbrother Checkoth and bigbrother Behruth. he said happily. They are brown like me and said they wanted to play with me later. They know Jingth's too. He hadn't actually had time to speak to his queen sibling, but if she was already a friend of Behruth and Checkoth, Chaoth decided he liked her.

[Avu]

Lost? Lost? Okay, some of them were more recent Searches, he supposed, but…still. R’ahre was intelligent, and his memory was an impressive one, and – judgmental, he was. Not openly so, but he was, and if anyone had gotten lost and did not even have the common sense to ask for directions – there was nothing humiliating about asking a question given that one truly did not know the answer (though he’d asked quite the number of decidedly inappropriate questions that he did know the answer to, but that had been to annoy Emoyan, not for himself) – it was likely that he’d hold them in utter contempt if he ever found out. Fortunately, given the fact that scorn did not often display itself in R’ahre – unless you were Emoyan, but the Candidatemaster had been unlucky enough to catch him in a rage – likely not many people would ever know how lowly he thought of them. R’ahre could be friendly enough, but only when he was in the mood to be; it wasn’t unusual for him to be quiet and on the condescending side. He made a noncommittal noise in his throat, though the distinctly amused look that flashed through his eyes was not entirely pleasant. Easier to talk about Chaoth. He actually kind of cared about Chaoth (if only because he was Mer’s), whereas incompetent Weyrlings did not merit his attention for very long.

“Lots of boys would probably kill for Chaoth,” he commented mildly, the statement utterly without envy. How could he be jealous? He and Ahth had not gone a full day together and he already knew that he loved the blue more than anything in the world – R’ahre wouldn’t have given him up for the fattest, most arrogant bronze in all of Pern. One hand rose, brushing the blue’s neck, the lightest of touches, almost an accident, as R’ahre didn’t waver; the hand continued upwards, pushing his hair out of his eyes and stroking Sylph in the same motion. The green Salamandyr arched her back under his touch, tail twisting around his finger; she eyed all of them unhappily. Rest assured, Weyrlingmaster; those papers pinned to the wall? Would be shredded come daylight. Bad Ahth-blueling, picking Hers like he did; bad RusaHers, not rejecting him; bad bad, all bad…

Still, R’ahre couldn’t help but click his tongue at the mention of Emoyan; his nose crinkled. “Well,” he said (and if a little edge of irritation slipped into his voice, who could blame him? Nobody took well to being treated the way he had by Emoyan; he’d very nearly gutted the Candidatemaster in the middle of the kitchens once out of pure instinct), “Assuming our dear Weyrlingmaster treats us with something approaching respect, I swear I’ll be a perfect angel for him.” R’ahre, a perfect angel. Faranth forbid; R’ahre being sweet meant deviousness. His usual was simply being quiet, and keeping opinions and anything to himself; being deliberately, annoyingly outspoken was rare, as was speaking with a sugary sweetness, since that indicated worse was to come than tripping someone publicly, dressing up in skirts and grapefruits – far worse. R’ahre shrugged absently, and then gestured towards Ahth. “Ahth’s already told me that he’s been looking through my memories, has discovered my relationship with Emoyan, and has decided to ‘take care of him’ for me. I…ah, don’t doubt be will.”

One arm wound around the large blue’s shoulders, and Ahth deigned to settle onto the rug after Mer and Chaoth did, becoming utterly silent and still, save for his mental voice, commenting quietly to His, I did not make that promise without basis, MineR’ahre. I promise you that I will take care of him. He has no right to irritate you so. And in any case, I am sure Baoth would help me. His confidence in the green was obvious. Baoth would help!

“Um” was the initial answer to Mer’s question; R’ahre tilted his chin up slightly thoughtfully before he replied. “I knew Anusha, but then – I guess you did, too…and I knew Mikai – er, M’kai…you call them ‘weyrmates’? I think that’s awkward…” It was different, he supposed, if you’d actually had a weyrmate. When he thought ‘weyrmate’, he thought ‘lover’, not ‘weyrling class’. Awkward indeed. Still, he clicked his tongue as he went on, “Um…I kind of know that one who Impressed the other brown…” Taith’s, Ahth interjected helpfully (if privately); the blue didn’t want to talk to Mer yet. “…right, Taith’s, from when Fort dropped in the Hatching Sands. Annnd…” Another mild shrug; R’ahre leaned his head against Ahth’s neck. “I think that’s all.” Mmmf, but he was tired! People had said that Impression made the human counterpart hungrier and generally sleepier too, but he hadn’t expected this. Doubtless some of it was Ahth’s; he shouldn’t have dragged the blue all over the Weyr but Ahth had refused to leave his side, scorch it…

Futh. Oh, Futh. Greedy, silly blue, and he’d choked, he’d been eating so fast…Ahth flipped his tail. He hadn’t met Nuoth, so the green was not commented upon. Did you speak to Futh? the dark blue inquired curiously, his voice completely polite. And – you have met Behruth and Checkoth…? What are they like? Jingth’s… he added thoughtfully, though he didn’t expand on the one word. HisR’ahre had been decidedly agitated over that Impression, for reasons Ahth could not yet comprehend, but stored away anyway for future reference. Something about her being ‘pregnant’ (which, once Ahth inquired as to the meaning of such, was translated to ‘eggheavy’) and that not being good for Jingth, for whatever reason. Whatever the case, they had not met and Ahth had not formed any real opinion on the gold save for that he didn’t like her because her egg had taken the limelight off of his own. ‘That Creature in the big egg’ – an adept name for her, no?

[Rowana]

Mer rubbed Chaoth's head idly. It was amazing how it just felt right having him there. And to think just yesterday, she only had Auran at her side. "Lots of boys would find me hard to kill," she returned, but without any malice. She could tell R'ahre didn't care that she had a brown, and who could blame him? Ahth was a very handsome blue. I do not want anyone to kill you, MerridanMine, Chaoth snuggled her leg. You are Mine. I would not go with anyone else. I know. Don't worry, no one is going to kill me if I can help it. Chaoth yawned. I would stop them first, he declared firmly.

Mer winced as the discussion turned to their former candidate master. "Poor man, if Ahth has it in for him." She thought for a moment. "I haven't met our weyrling master, so I couldn't say what he's like. I imagine he'll give us at least some respect, though. We are future riders after all." It was hard to say what kind of man he was though, until they met him. Mer shrugged. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"Is it?" Mer paused for a second to about the term "weyrmates." "Oh!" she chuckled. "I suppose it would be then. Wingmates, then? Words have never been a strength of mine." Her mind drifted back to the attack on Hepaticath's clutch. "I do remember some of them from that," she admitted. "Though I didn't exactly have time for names. I met Nephele before though, she's nice. She impressed the first green." Mer yawned. "I hope they don't have much planned for us tomorrow. I think I'd like to sleep in for once." That is, if Chaoth let her. From what she'd heard, newly hatched dragons were constantly hungry. Maybe she should have listened when that old bad, Haeli tried to teach her about "babies."

Chaoth paused to remember. I haven't, he replied, almost apoligetically. I was busy finding Mine. It had been a little tricky after all, until he had realized she was with the girls. Then it had been easy. Merridan stood out nicely among members of her own sex. It was one of the reasons Chaoth loved her so much. Behruth and Checkoth are nice. he piped up with a pleased croon. They like to play and they like MerridanMine. He paused again to think about Ahth's next question. Jingth's seemed sad. I wonder why? She is also very round. Do you think she will have many eggs?

[Avu]

R’ahre allowed himself a slight, amused smile in response to Merridan’s comment; no, he didn’t think she’d be too easy to kill. That didn’t mean it’d be difficult, strictly speaking, depending on who was the one trying to kill her, but…not easy, no. How much training Mer had, he wasn’t sure, but there was always someone better. Always. One was never the best, and it was never left at that; funny how the ‘best’ people always seemed to die before they were the ‘best’ for a very long time. Safer not to be, really. The blueweyrling didn’t say any of that out loud, though; he liked Mer well enough and the girl was the only one around to amuse him until the other Weyrlings showed up. And even then…he liked Mer more than he did M’kai; whether or not he showed it, R’ahre did have a conscience and it bothered him that he was hiding the truth from the other boy. M’kai was trusting him to keep that they were from Benden a secret – and had Fort not come that first time, it still would have been a secret for R’ahre. Not anymore; should he tell, it would have little consequence upon him. Admittedly, he preferred Anusha’s company over Mer’s (mostly because he liked Akos, and Sylph liked the white, too) but there was no reason they couldn’t all amuse each other. Or something.

The blueweyrling glanced sideways at Ahth before he said softly, “HE” – all caps to emphasize who he was talking about – “lost a blue, didn’t he…? I don’t want to hurt him like that. I don’t.” He’d only been a few hours with Ahth, but if somebody took the blue from him, he’d kill them. And then himself. Simple and efficient as that. He loved the blue more than he’d loved anyone in his entire life, his previous weyrmate and himself included, and the Candidatemaster had likely had his blue much longer than R’ahre had Ahth. Would it hurt to see another blue? He wasn’t sure; it wasn’t something one could just ask; and in all honesty he didn’t want to find out. Even Emoyan didn’t deserve that; R’ahre had a certain pity for the dragonless, had no desire ever to become one. That old saying – ‘tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all? – wrong. Completely wrong. Ahth didn’t make a sound; simply turned his head and pressed his muzzle against R’ahre’s leg.

I said I would take care of him, MineR’ahre. I didn’t say that I would let him see me, or that I would hurt him. The words were quiet, confident. There had to be some dirt that he could dig up somewhere on Emoyan, no? Spread it around? Or something of the sort that would equally disgrace Emoyan, something that he could not be proved to have had a hand in. There had to be something.

R’ahre didn’t respond to Ahth’s comment; it had been uttered privately, and he didn’t want to call attention to it, because honestly? That Ahth would not let him see, that he would not hurt him – meant that another would be seen, another would be the one hurting him. Emotionally or physically? He didn’t know, and R’ahre decided that now was not the time to pursue that train of thought, and simply shook his head playfully, the look that was almost sadness vanishing from his eyes to be replaced by vague amusement. “They won’t,” he said positively, “They never do let you sleep in…” Would he know? Why, yes. Aiwyre, his ex-weyrmate, the reason he was at Selenitas, had told him about it and whined about how one never got enough sleep between a hatchling and Lessons and chores. He didn’t doubt her word, though…she probably had been exaggerating slightly. Hopefully. “Even if the Weyrlingmaster does, I doubt Chaoth will. No offense meant, Chaoth, but – I mean, he did gorge, didn’t he? Ahth did. Slowly, but he did gorge.” He crinkled his nose slightly, and then pulled the neat bottle of oil out of his pocket. “Got this from the Infirmary storage closet; I was going to oil Ahth tonight so his hide hopefully won’t itch tomorrow. As much. And yeah, wingmates is probably a better term.”

Understandable, Ahth agreed graciously, tail flicking idly to settle around R’ahre’s waist. It is very good that you have friends already, the blue added. Sounded like Behruth and Checkoth were already friends, didn’t it? Hmm. Anyway, he was sure Baoth was much better than either of the two browns; the green was absolutely delightful and she was his first, nobody else’s. Did not need to mention that to Chaoth, though; he had no right to know. Mine heard that she lost a wher before, Ahth informed Chaoth, rather delighted to know such things, even if he had plucked it from R’ahre’s memory. I expect it was upsetting. His voice did not convey sympathy, however; he didn’t know Jingth’s and was not fond of Jingth, and why would anyone want a wher anyway? Silly people. Hepaticath’s was eggheavy too; she only had two eggs. Why would Jingth’s have more? he added. It made sense to him…and it had been deliberately voiced as not to state Ahth’s own opinion, something that he had scarcely offered at all since the conversation began.

[Rowana]

Mer nodded, her face becoming more serious. "He did." Mer remembered Kindrith well, even if they had only met for a second. He had been a brave blue. Perhaps he had been a little foolish and impulsive, but no one could deny he was one of the bravest. His sacrificed had saved many that night. She was glad of the subject change. The thought of loosing Chaoth was too depressing. Maybe she would get Emoyan a gift sometime as thanks for his lessons.

She glanced at her brown and patted him. "He does eat a lot," she admitted fondly. "Guess I can't complain though. Small price to pay for this. I wouldn't change it for anything." She looked up at the oil and brightened. "That's a good idea! I have a little I keep for Auran, but I doubt there's anywhere near enough for Chaoth." She looked at him thoughtfully. "There is quite a bit more to oil. I'll have to run and get some first thing tomorrow." She would go now, but Chaoth was clearly settled for the night. She hoped he wouldn't be too cranky in the morning when he itched.

Friends are good. Chaoth agreed. He cocked his head curiously. Would you like to play too? He didn't want his clutchbrother to feel left out. That must have been sad for her. He crooned in sympathy. At least now she is Jingth's. Jingth will look after her. He considered for a moment. Only two? That seems like so few. Humans really were strange. Imagine only having two hatchlings?

[Avu]

Oh. It had been a blue. R’ahre nodded, bowing his head; his fingers rose to brush over Ahth’s hide possessively again. The blue hatchling turned his head almost minutely to appraise him for a moment, eyes swirling curiously, but R’ahre could not have told him what was going through his mind at that moment regardless. It would have…possibly terrified Ahth, and R’ahre had proved very adept already at closing out what he didn’t want Ahth to know. And that was quite a bit. He didn’t want Ahth to know the pain at Benden, and didn’t want him to know about his previous weyrmate because – because dragons were not supposed to know about intimacy, feel it, understand it, and it was easier to keep it from him altogether than to attempt an explanation, and had therefore pushed it away from Ahth. At the moment? His mind was on K’lir. Baoth’s. He’d reImpressed. How old was Emoyan; could he reImpress…? “Do you know how old Emoyan is?” he asked softly. If he lost Ahth – he wouldn’t want to reImpress, but Emoyan wasn’t him, and…maybe he wanted to. Maybe he could reImpress. “I don’t know…I don’t think he – or anyone – should live without…not when he knows.”

Auran. Oh, right. That firelizard of hers. R’ahre nodded, reaching up to touch Sylph lightly; the green had draped herself over his shoulder, staring in blatant fascination and disapproval at Ahth, who was ignoring her outwardly, though there was no denying that the hatchling was intrigued: That she had had a previous claim on Hers and that he loved her nearly as much as he loved Ahth confused the blue, though he was not at all jealous; he knew he’d always come first, he did. R’ahre looked up, no longer as obscenely happy as he had been before, and his gaze fell on Chaoth after a moment before he shrugged. “Next morning might be too late,” he replied softly, as if the volume of his voice could detract from the bluntness. “If you wanted to oil Chaoth right now, I’m sure there’s enough oil here to go around.” Ahth was big, but not huge; thanks be to Faranth he’d avoided Impressing a bronze. “I might as well do Ahth now, too; by the time we actually get into our rooms the only thing I’ll want to do is pass out.”

Was it odd that he knew so much about dragons? He didn’t think it was; R’ahre kind of took it for granted even as he uncorked the bottle and tipped some of the golden oil (scentless; he’d been careful not to grab one that smelled like flowers or fish or something equally random and strange) into his palm, cupping his hand. It was the best he had at the moment; he’d rather get his hands covered in oil than have Ahth itch the next morning. The blue hatchling barely moved as R’ahre offered the bottle to Mer, one eyebrow quirking slightly even as his other hand flipped over, smearing a line of oil down Ahth’s spine; the trickles of it slid down his sides, caught by R’ahre before he started to actually rub it in. Easy, quick motions. Just like with a rag, only…without, and some way, this felt better, the smoothness of Ahth’s hide beneath his slightly cupped palm. Sylph frilled silently from his shoulder, though the green did not comment, eyeing Ahth with open animosity now, claws tickling R’ahre’s neck as she slid down the collar of his shirt to curl up sulky, a little lump, on his leg, under his shirt.

I would not dream of intruding, Ahth replied softly, his voice as quiet and with much the same inflection as R’ahre’s: Soft, mostly deadpan, save for a slight note that barely hinted at arrogance. The intelligence was undeniably there; the dark blue creature crooned low in his throat at R’ahre’s touch along his back. Human hatchlings are not the same as dragon hatchlings, Chaoth, he added, completely ignoring what had been sad about Jingth – because anything he said would have been his opinion, and Ahth did not think highly of That Creature in the big egg. I suppose we shall see. It’s /possible/ for her to have more, I assume. Or less. It depends which is the better queen, I presume. R’ahre’s amused glance was ignored by Ahth; the blue stretched under the oiling, tail-tip twitching pleasantly. Is Yours going to oil you? You’ll itch horribly tomorrow if she doesn’t. Not as much as Futh would, though. Futh was greedy; he’d gorged fit for two queens, let alone a blue. Hmph.

[Rowana]

Mer frowned in thought. "I'm not sure. At least 30 turns." She raised an eyebrow. "Too old to re impress, if that's what you're thinking. Besides, that was one in a million." Forget her impressing Chaoth, K'lir re impressing after loosing his dragon was nothing short of a miracle. She pondered a while longer. "I wonder if he could bond to a wher? I've heard they're a dragonless wherhandler here, though I've never met him." I wonder if he'd even want to. She couldn't imagine living with anyone besides Chaoth. She didn't think she'd want to, given the choice.

She smiled in gratitude, both for the oil and the change of conversation. "Thanks a lot!" She poured a little into her hand and began to rub it over Chaoth's hide. He purred in appreciation. Must be ichy already, she thought. Good thing R'ahre was ready for this. "You know a lot about dragons," she commented as she worked. "Have you worked with them before?" She couldn't recall R'ahre being here longer than she had been, but she supposed it was possible. It was a big Weyr after all.

Chaoth was not bothered by Ahth's tone in the least. In fact, very little bothered him at all about anyone. As you wish. Maybe Ahth would want to play some other time. He pondered the puzzle of human hatchlings for a moment. They must be different, as his clutch brother said, especially if they had so few. He wondered if Merridan would ever have a hatchling. That would be nice. I suppose. Though, it would be lonely without clutch siblings I think. Chaoth crooned and turned under Mer's hands so she would reach all his ichy spots. Please thank Yours for bring the oil. I am sure I will feel much better in the morning.

[Avu]

“Oh. I didn’t think he was that old. Explains a lot.” R’ahre bowed his head slightly, nose crinkling absentmindedly as he reached out to rub more oil onto Ahth’s hide; the blue hatchling gave no sign outwardly of his pleasure, but R’ahre could feel the inward delight at the touching, stroking, the oil upon hide already stretching from his gorging. He’d practically double in size in no time, the blueweyrling noted absently, glancing sideways at him. Large, for a blue hatchling…“If he was a wherhandler, I guess we’d be out of a Candidatemaster,” he added, and then, added – the inflection in his voice was almost sarcastically amused, so whether or not he was joking was anybody’s guess – “I bet I could be Candidatemaster if I didn’t have to attend Weyrling Lessons…hmm.” Actually, he bet that he didn’t have to attend the first few Weyrling Lessons, either. The later ones, like how to actually make straps and take measurements for Ahth and fly and go between, certainly, but the simpler ones like eating habits and oiling and bathing, he didn’t want to attend. So pointless. Whether or not M’kai felt that way – R’ahre didn’t know if the other had had any experience with dragons or not – had yet to be seen, but R’ahre kind of hoped he did; it would help if he had someone to whine to. He’d see. “And yeah, we probably do…I mean, we have everything else, right? Dragonrider who lost a previous dragon; dragonrider who lost a previous wher; why not?”

Her question didn’t elicit an outward reaction from R’ahre; he half-smiled, gaze flickering towards Mer before he answered. “Yes. Not here, but I have.” Honestly? He was surprised nobody had guessed at it yet. He’d known of the change in Benden leadership; he’d arrived not long after the Siege; lied about where he came from; was clearly related to one of the Lord Holders who tithed to Benden; knew about dragon Hatchings…it added up. Maybe just to him, but still. R’ahre coaxed Ahth into turning his head towards him so as to smooth the oil onto the other side of his neck as well, and then glanced up at Mer for a moment, one eyebrow rising curiously; surely she’d guessed something was up? She’d been there, when Fort had taken control of the Main Hall; she’d seen. She and Anusha and Nautic, and none of them had asked, or guessed – or tried to confirm what guesses they did have, anyway. “Where are you from, if you don’t mind my asking?” he added, reaching forward to dip the fingers of his left hand into the oil before he reached back to smooth it onto Ahth’s hide, worming his fingers into the crease between body and hind leg awkwardly. “Ahth – turn over for me, turn over – thank you~”

Oil me too, you do, Sylph instructed, not at all put off by the decidedly dangerous look Ahth gave her. She had her uses, did the green, but as of the moment, Ahth thought of her as nothing more than an annoyance, and for Ahth to view one as an annoyance was very, very dangerous indeed; the blue was not above turning an annoyance into a victim. Promise! Rusa, Rusa, promise oil me too, you will. Proooomise. Her insistence was emphasized by the claws digging into his shoulder for attention, the green’s body squirming petulantly. He’d better do it, or she’d shred everything she could see in his room and whoever shared their room would be mad and he’d be mad too and it would be all his fault. Hmph.

“I promise, you little worm. I said I would,” R’ahre replied, flicking Sylph lightly. She still called him ‘Rusa’. It had been her first word, his name; she’d never stopped calling him that – an unbreakable habit, perhaps…?

Human hatchlings stay with their parents for some time. I expect they would not be lonely with their parents, Ahth replied simply. I should not be lonely if I had Ciceroth and Hepaticath for company. Not that he wanted their company, but he wouldn’t be lonely. Lonely was not the right term. Actually, he’d prefer to be alone to having his parents’ company, but that was quite beside the point. Mine, the blue added, tongue flicking out to touch R’ahre’s hand lightly in thanks for the oiling, Went to no trouble to get the oil for you. But I am sure he will be grateful to receive your thanks. We certainly will be more comfortable than any of our other siblings, I expect, unless Theirs have the foresight to oil them tonight as well. His eyes glittered slightly; what he said was true. HisR’ahre had not gone to any trouble to get oil for Chaoth because, regardless of whether or not Chaoth wanted it, he still would have gotten the oil – for Ahth. And as for the other clutchsiblings? He’d make sure Baoth did not suffer, but he doubted it was necessary; Baoth’s was smart, he was.