News from Home [Open]

[Rowana]

Toumke,

Ruwja and I were sorry to hear of what happened to Selenitas. We hope you are making yourself useful and not hiding in your room. Kerjuw is doing well. He is one of the best riders at Sourthern now. He hopes to breed runners for speed and endurance to run messages across Pern.

Please write if you plan to visit any time soon.

Kertash

T'ke leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. The strip of hide lay lifeless on the table in front of him. Why had the man bothered to write at all? It had already been weeks since the attack. Had he even bothered to find out if he was alive after? He hadn't asked if he was alright, only if he was being useful. And "Toumke"? It had been over a year since he had impressed! Didn't he even know that?!

T'ke sighed. What had he expected? Praise? Concern? If he had died, would they even have cared? Ruwja wouldn't have. That woman had never liked him. And no matter how hard he had tried to please them, Father had never looked at him the same way he did Kerjuw. He always looked so sad and disappointed.

T'ke leaned forward on the table and buried his face in his arms. He would not cry. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction. But that didn't mean he didn't want to.

[Sheari]

The Main Hall was mostly empty at this time of day. Not many were hanging out here and if they were they all seemed lost to themselves or chatting with someone. The only oddity, it seemed, was that Child had once again chosen to roost upon C'ryl's head as he walked in. Looking as pleased as a mother hen, and feeling like one too, he supposed.

With no one to talk to and most either busy or already with a friend, C'ryl looked around. At one of the tables with a strip of leather before him sat a man...doing nothing?

Not sure whether or not he was asleep (and not being one to talk to people he didn't know) the brownrider took a seat across from him. Green flitter hat in tow.

[nightingale]

A quiet rhythm of scritchity-scratch slowly became audible as tiny clawed feet scrabbled their way across the quiet dining hall. There was a brief moment of silence just as they seem to draw nearest, then all at once there was something small but relatively heavy clinging to the back of T’ke’s tunic. The object made a small sound of exertion as scrambled up the boy’s back, hopped onto his shoulder and then did a lovely job of tangling itself in his hair. Happy day Mine T’ke! Baby squawked enthusiastically, broadcasting the message to the entire room as was typical of his pleasant and excessively showy nature.

The blue salamandyr waddled forward a few inches, using his tail to anchor himself in place as he leaned forward onto the boy’s forehead. He peered curiously down at where he was sure there should be a face, but was slightly alarmed to find a pair of arms in his way. Whereja go? Baby miss you so~ He crooned tunelessly, poking his tongue out to touch the boy’s forehead. Thus inspired, the large blue began gnawing gently in an attempt to draw his perch’s attention. Deeeeer T’kething! Woncha come out to paaa…puuuaaaa…puaaaaaaaay~? He struggled to pronounce the word properly, but couldn’t quite manage to articulate ‘play’ with any degree of success.

[Rowana]

T'ke groaned and buried his had further into his arms. Sharding salamander! Why did he have to follow him around?! Saeo should keep him on a tighter leash. Or maybe she was the one putting him up to it. It was hard to tell. Unfortunately Baby did not just leave him alone. T'ke swatted at him with a hand, lifting his head at last. "Go away, you pest," he scowled. "I'm in no mood for your antics."

That was when he noticed C'ryl. Great, now Baby had embarrassed him in public. T'ke wanted to bury his head again, but he knew that won't make the man go away. Instead, he started to get up from the table. "Sorry," he mumbled an apology. "He's not mine." The rider probably wanted to have food in peace, though if that was the case why had he sat here?

[Sheari]

C'ryl chuckled. "No need to apologize. Even if it isn't yours, at least it isn't Child!" he said. The man had gotten rather used to the green's erratic habits, if you could call them that, and had personally never seen a creature so easily distracted. At least the blue creature the man before him seemed to make sense. Ah well, fire lizards weren't exactly something one could predict.

As if on cue, Child launched from C'ryl's head and glided toward the blue 'mandyr. She poked his belly with her snout and chirped at him. Was it hurt? Did it need help? What was it's name?

What was a child?

"May I ask what's with the leather?" Broaching the subject of a message that was probably the source of...Toumke's? C'ryl glanced down quickly enough to catch the name. Bringing up the probable source of his distress was possibly not a good idea, but it was nice to know what was going on.

[Rowana]

"Child?" T'ke decided he didn't want to know who or what that was. He certainly didn't want anymore like Baby hanging around his head and screaming in his ear. Which, unfortunately, didn't stop the fire lizard in question from joining the salamandyr. T'ke shook his head violently. "Get off!" he snapped irritably. He was not in a good mood, even by his standards.

The creatures were forgotten, however, when C'ryl mentioned his letter. T'ke looked at him sharply. He didn't like other people knowing his private business. Particularly those he had just met. "It's nothing," he mumbled and quickly shoved the hide into his shirt. Maybe he would get Garaeth to burn it for him later. T'ke got up and started to leave. He was probably being rude, but he didn't really care at the moment. Child could find her own way back anyway.

[Sheari]

C'ryl just sat there as the man stuffed the leather down his shirt after successfully dislodging Child. It wasn't the first time someone had gotten into a negative mood because of him and he knew it wouldn't be the last. Though it appeared he'd been upset prior to the brownrider sitting down. Either way, C'ryl was undisturbed by it. Child, on the other hand, was a little ruffled by her suddenly being shoved off like...like...like some Green. Right now she refused to acknowledge that that was, in fact, what she was. But when she saw the letter suddenly vanish beneath the man's shirt she immediately forgave him at his deciding to play a game with her.

She dove after him, wings outstretched to assist in her leap, and she clung to his shirt. The little flitter crawled up to his collar and then down between fabric and flesh after the strip of hide. Once she found it she grasped it in her claws, catching herself with them and, ignoring the cut, squirmed down the shirt to the bottom of it. If he was frustrated with her she didn't notice as she flew up to his shoulder, hanging the strip next to the man's face with her tail, peeping encouragingly for him to hide it again.

This game was fun it was. Hers would have to play it with her sometimes and maybe the one called Pagoth could play too. She liked him she did.