Timber (Ember; Open ^^)

[reqqy]

“If you fall asleep in my weyr one more time, I’m dumping you in the river.”

S’rei sighed, barely catching himself as Laurie gave another vicious tug on his arm. “All you are is a bag of sleepwalking bones nowadays. Look at how thin this wrist is!” She lifted his arm and waved it about, clearly intending to wave it before his nose, though she settled for simply whipping it about since she was nowhere near tall enough. “I’ll bet you’ve lost a good twenty pounds in the last month. You certainly look like you have. So you’re going to sit down and eat, and I’m not letting you leave until I’m satisfied. Then we’re calling off today’s wing drill.”

He straightened. “Hey, you ca-“

“Already did. The benefit of having posted drills – it’s really easy to mark through it and write CANCELLED in big, bold letters. If you fall asleep in drills, it’s going to be a lot more serious than an unexpected swim in the river. You’re not fit to be doing anything like this. And don’t even try that look on me. Salenth’s called it off, too.” Laurie relented a little at her brother’s stricken look, taking him by the hand and leading him into the dining hall. “We’re all just worried about you, Rei. The fact that Salenth could do something like that without your knowing is distressing.”

“Lauranna.” She glanced back at him, raising a brow questioningly. “I’m trying, really.”

The greenrider bit her lip, but didn’t respond until she’d acquired a tray heaped so high with food that it threatened to topple off. “Here. Take it.” They settled down at one of the tables, Laurie lacing her fingers beneath her chin and staring at S’rei contemplatively. “I know, hun. But there comes a point when you just have to shake it off, and you’re way past that point. No woman is worth this, eh? I hate to say it, but it’s obvious you can’t keep on doing this – eat, shardit!” The man jumped, quickly taking a bite of the food under his older sister’s watchful eye, but it tasted like dirt in his mouth and it was all he could do to swallow. S’rei’s stomach writhed, the man picking at the rest of it half-heartedly, mostly to placate Laurie. “I’ve gotten Kalierre to give me fellis, to force you to sleep. Just this once. And I strongly suggest that you fix things now or give up on your weyrmate entirely, before you kill yourself.”

Grimacing, he stared at a point on the table. “All right, Lauranna. Okay. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before,” he snarled, sullen. You brought her into this. She’s the only one you’re likely to listen to. Don’t be angry.

[Ember]

CheMine needs to eat? Again? Why do you humans have to eat so often? I can survive on three herdbeasts for a sevenday and yet you must eat three times a day. Ch'ero chuckled, shaking his head as he paused just outside the dining hall. That's because your stomach is much, much larger than mine. We've gone through this before. It's just how things are. The brownrider entered the large room, a curious scene unfolding. This normally wouldn't have bothered him but the man who was being scolded by a woman seemed eerily familiar but he couldn't put a name to the face.

From what was being said and the appearance of the other rider he assumed that the woman was telling him he'd better eat. He chuckled as she swung his wrist about and slowly moved closer. He was curious and he needed to find a seat too. he got close enough that the name of a dragon could be heard Salenth? I would know that name anywhere... he thought, Rosilinth sending soothing thoughts to his rider. He hurried to the kitchen himself to grab his food, peeking out as a candidate filled his tray to see the pair sitting down. There was no doubt in his mind who the man was. S'rei, the traitorous scum of the north.

After he acquired his meal the rider returned to the hall, glaring daggers at who he thought was the weyrleader. He couldn't exactly confront S'rei with whoever that woman was hanging around, but he could certainly glare and huff quietly to himself as he ate. He sat down not far from them, wanting to hear them while being able to glare at S'rei at the same time. His current appearances made even Ch'ero pity him a bit. That didn't stop the dark glares though.

[reqqy]

"What did I say about eating? All you're doing is pushing the food around on your plate." Laurie paid no heed to his grumpiness, knowing full-well what it was like to love someone. Nothing hurt worse, really. The highs were fantastic, but the lows...Her weyrmate of twelve turns had died, after all. She cut him some slack. The woman frowned a little more, sparing only a glance at the vaguely familiar brownrider. A new wingrider right before she transferred? She didn't know, nor care. "When was the last time you ate, Rei?"

The man looked up at his sister blearily. His face scrunched up in concentration, the lines of cheekbones made more prominent through half-starving himself stark against his pallor. "Umm..." Three days ago, Salenth supplied, not bothered by speaking to Reysalth's. She was ReiMine's clutchmate, after all. It didn't stay down, as I recall. S'rei saw her darkening expression and shook his head. "It's no big deal, really. Shouldn't have tried to eat so much at once." Which was exactly what she was trying to get him to do now, though he was kind enough not to point that out. "Shouldn't you be with F'rah? It's your birthday; I'm sure he's got something special planned."

"Nice try. You won't be rid of me so easily. Besides," she sniffed mildly. "I don't need everyone knowing I'm getting older. I rather enjoy everyone thinking I'm your little sister." He rolled his eyes. "Well," she interrupted severely, before he could say anything. "If you took better care of yourself you wouldn't look like a middle-aged man. Probably wouldn't look as young as I do, but at least you wouldn't be all angles and grey hair, no?" Her brother merely shrugged.

That was when it finally started getting to her. Laurie's head came around, her green eyes flashing dangerously. The woman snatched up a cup - still filled with klah - from the person next to her and whipped it at the brownrider. "If you're that interested in our conversation, come and join us like a normal human being," she snapped, tossing her head of blonde curls with an air of finality. "But lose the glare. Or I'll lose it for you. Got that?" The woman had no idea why he'd be regarding her brother with such open animosity, but, no matter how old S'rei looked or how difficult he could be, the wingleader was still her baby brother.

S'rei himself looked on the scene, clearly lost. He hadn't even noticed the brownrider at all until Lauranna started throwing things at him. The man winced. "I'm sorry. My sister's a little exciteable." He ignored Laurie's glare.

[Ember]

Ch'ero was surprised. S'rei actually had a sister? Well, siblings weren't very surprising but he never imagined the man as anything but a traitor. In his mind S'rei never had any other life besides prolonging the war. It was interesting to note that he had family that cared. he bet his sister was from Benden. Surely no one from Fort liked him. The sudden view of a cup of klah being hurled at him had him ducking, able to avoid the object but not the liquid.

His glare only switched to the woman as he came up, his right side burning from the hot klah. "I have a right to glare, thank you very much," he snapped, wondering if all of S'rei's family would end up disliked. He stood up and walked closer, a bit of menace in his eyes. And yet he couldn't bring himself to hit the girl. He just stared at her angrily before flashing a dark smile and plopping himself down on the opposite side of the table from S'rei. "Since you invited me so nicely I shall join you two."

He managed an almost cheery dismissive wave for S'rei, although the klah still smarted. "No problem at all we - wait...you aren't weyrleader at all are you?" Ch'ero commented with surprise as he noticed the bronzerider's knots. He chuckled to himself, realizing Ka'rys' deception. Ooh, what a troublesome bronzerider Ciceroth's was. He must have looked a bit strange, soaking wet on one side, randomly sitting with strangers he disliked, and chuckling.

"While I can't say I'm sorry, I can admit that I have been mislead and it has changed the way I would have approached Fort's betrayer," he said after he got a leash on his amusement. He watched S'rei and his sister's reactions with quiet antagonism. Ch'ero was also thinking why Ka'rys would deliberately led him astray. The only conclusion he could reach was that he'd been protecting himself. He'd ask the two he was currently with - unless they told him before hand, of course - after he made S'rei fess up why he'd ruined Fort weyr's chances at victory.

[reqqy]

Laurie's gaze burned into Ch'ero, the woman not at all liking his attitude. A right to glare? Okay, so her general ill humor probably had more to do with the fact that she was turning thirty-one today than ought else, but this man still didn't have a right to be glaring at her brother like that. Especially since it was clear that S'rei had absolutely no idea who this brownrider was. Returning his angry stare with a tiny little sneer, the woman shifted over a little so that Ch'ero had plenty of room. "It's polite to introduce yourself, you know," the woman commented huffily. Then, her eyes widened. "You were in Reysalth's flight!" Laurie hissed, in accusation.

The bronzerider merely watched the pair wearily, wondering if he might be able to surrepitiously remove some of the food from his plate while his sister was distracted...His head came up at the odd question, though, brows furrowing. Weyrleader? His sister answered before he could. "No, of course not. That was a couple turns ago. He and Salenth weren't here during Aslath's last Flight," she replied with a disdainful sniff. The brownrider's next words had her brother sitting stiffly in his seat, but she didn't notice right away. What? Did he think that he didn't have to be respectful just because S'rei wasn't holding the highest rank? "He's still Blizzard's wingleader, and he's Shmee's weyrmate, so that's no excuse to -" The words finally registered on Laurie. She turned her head to S'rei, but his face was impassive. "S'rei? What is he talking about?"

The man was staring at Ch'ero rather hard, most of the daze from before long gone. "A Fort transfer, I take it?" he questioned, though the answer was self-evident. The tension seemed to bleed right back out of him, and he took to staring at his plate again, clearly lost in thought. Lauranna wasn't about to be blown off, though. She called his name rather forcefully. Glancing at the brownrider, the man met his sister's eyes. "After Sera booted me out of Selenitas, and the Gather...I was actually at Fort for awhile." That was news to the greenrider. S'rei had been transferred to Benden Weyr when he'd crossed the Selenitas Weyrwoman, and he'd transferred back here from Benden before the northern weyr and Selenitas began to get into it with each other, so she'd just assumed he'd always been there.

Laurie's gaze shifted back to Ch'ero. Obviously, S'rei couldn't be in the wrong. "Just because he was at Benden first and went back doesn't make him Fort's betrayer, or whatever you said. It's not like he had much choice in the matter." She was quite annoyed at this interloper for being so bothersome.

"Pixie." The woman subsided, then, looking back to her brother questioningly. "I went back, yes, but with the information that turned the tide of the war. He's not wrong." S'rei pinched the bridge of his nose lightly, a nervous habit. Lauranna was simply staring at him now, clearly aghast.

"You were an informant?"

The bronzerider was now looking Ch'ero in the eyes, though he still spoke to Laurie. "More or less. I was nineteen at the time." He nodded solemnly to the other man at the table. "I suppose that information was going to get out sometime." A trace of bitterness touched his tone. Lauranna hadn't known, being Selenitas-bred. Shmee still didn't know. She could, if she kept track, but he knew she didn't. Ka'rys, another Fort rider, was very much aware. "That would explain the glaring you two were talking about. Was there something you wanted, other than a crack at me?" the bronzerider concluded dryly.

[Ember]

Ch'ero appreciated the space, if not the snarky attitude he was getting from the woman. What did she know of him! Nothing. He raised a brow at her comment. That seemed more like a command than anything to him. He would have replied, too, had she not spoken again. He gaped slightly before turning the expression into a guilty grin. "So I was. Or rather, so Rosilinth made me be." He was so glad that Rosi had lost that one now. "At any rate, I'm Ch'ero of brown Rosilinth. Thanks for the very warm welcome," he said sarcastically. He wished to return to his weyr and change but he would not be the first to leave.

Ch'ero chuckled slightly. He'd address who the current was later, although he could just as easily look in the records. The reaction he got from S'rei was very satisfying but the sister kept talking for a moment before it dawned on her. He was interested to learn that the man had not told his sister in the first place. Normally family was privy to that sort of information. Not the type of thing you go bragging about he supposed. If he hadn't old his sister then did Shmee even know? He tried not to imagine the reaction she would have, or had already had.

The bronzerider hit the nail on the head. The ex-Fort rider nodded but didn't say anything. Ch'ero watched him explain it to his sister. That was just the beginning of it. He would have rather sprung this on the man without company but he couldn't very well take the words back. He watched the greenrider with interest. What was she going to do with the information her brother gave her? He snorted with annoyance. So she didn't understand. At least not yet. S'rei fixed that within a moment and he was perversley pleased with himself. The nickname was even more amusing.

S'rei's gaze met his and he raised a brow. Was he trying to use his age as a defense? Ch'ero looked between the two siblings before replying to both the second comment and the question. "That kind of information doesn't stay buried forever," he said with some sympathy. He could understand why the bronzerider would want it to remain a secret but the man needed to face the facts. "I mostly did just want a chance to yell at you, maybe throw a couple of punches, but," here he waved a hand to indicate the others in the hall, "that doesn't seem prudent." He was mostly kidding about fighting and he indicated so with the tinniest wry grin. "I suppose you could tell me who the current weyrleader is? I'm fairly certain who it is but I should hope not for he is a tricky man indeed."

[reqqy]

S'rei mentally sighed. Laurie was giving him the look. It was always worse when she wasn't being highly dramatic or chucking random blunt objects at you, for this meant that the greenrider was truly angry. The age had been thrown out to give her an idea of the timing, but that didn't seem to mollify Lauranna in the slightest. He tried to appear innocent. It clearly wasn't working, as Lauranna proceeded to sniff pointedly, turning her full attention to Ch'ero.

"I see I was in the wrong. My apologies, Ch'ero. I suppose it's just a kneejerk reaction to get upset whenever someone is glaring at my baby brother." Happening to glance over, she caught S'rei offering some of the food on his plate to a little girl seated not far away, and kicked him hard in the shin. "Oh, I doubt anyone would care overly much if you decided to take a swing at Rei. Except perhaps Shmee." Laurie shrugged mildly. "As for the current Weyrleader...it should please you that he is also from Fort. Ka'rys of Ciceroth. Although I'm fairly certain he doesn't go about proclaiming that particular bit of information."

The wingleader was still rubbing ruefully at his shin, shooting Laurie periodic glares. Definitely angry. He was wondering what that would mean for him over the next few tendays. "Who told you I was the Weyrleader, anyway?" the bronzerider questioned out of pure curiosity. He was aware that there were a few who still got that confused - generally people with their heads shoved firmly up their arses, but that was besides the point. It would have helped if Ka'rys had been at the promotions ceremony. Most certainly. Just the thought of that ceremony, though, made him want to crawl off somewhere. That was one of the last times he remembered being truly content.

If the bronzerider registered Ch'ero's sympathy, he made no indication of it. Truthfully, he wasn't feeling much of anything, and what the brownrider felt about him mattered little. He wasn't in the mood to try to defend his actions - much less defend actions that he felt had no excuse - nor was he interested in a fight. Ch'ero didn't seem to be, either, but even if he was, S'rei would likely just take whatever came at him. He simply couldn't dredge up the interest or the energy to do anything else.

[Ember]

Ch'ero suppressed a triumphant grin when Lauranna turned to him to apologize. he picked at his wet clothes for a moment before nodding. "Well, no real damage done. And I know the feeling," he said truthfully, even if the feeling was pretty vague. He'd never been on the best terms with his sisters. The more outspoken one he defended on occasion and he was the only one allowed to bully the other sister. Not that it mattered though. He would make a point not to see either again. No desire to at all. Mostly because that meant going back north but that wasn't it.

The brownrider chuckled at the comment. "Even you wouldn't mind?" He asked curiously. Did she normally change her mind on things so quickly? One minute defending her brother, the next telling him no one would mind if he hit him. When she told him who the weyrleader was he grinned and shook his head. "I can't say as that pleases me very much at all." No, he didn't appreciate being lied to. That also meant Ka'rys was responsible for his wing placement. Lovely.

His grin faded as S'rei spoke again. He still couldn't forgive the man. That information exchange had caused Fort a lot of trouble. "Ka'rys actually told me you were weyrleader," he told the bronzerider dryly. "I can understand Aslath liking Ciceroth, but I don't envy people who have to deal with Ka'rys day in day out. He's not exactly what I call charitable company." Ch'ero shrugged, indicating he could live with the fact that Ka'rys was his weyrleader.

One of the few reasons he didn't bother fighting S'rei was that the man seemed to be in bad enough shape as it was. Rather than the glare he had earlier he glanced over S'rei as a herdsman might look over a runnerbeast. Seemed like S'rei was paying for his past mistakes in some way. He turned again to Laurrie and spoke. "Beyond Reysalth's Flight I don't think we've had any interaction. Have you been in Selenitas long?"

[reqqy]

Had Laurie not been in a pissy mood, she might have taken to flirting with Ch'ero. He was male and pretty enough, after all, though he wasn't precisely her type. You have a type? That's news to me. Laurie grimaced. Apparently Reysalth was awake. So sorry to disappoint, riderMine. It is, however, the middle of the day, and much as I'm just the laziest green to ever crack shell, even I have my limits. The greenrider couldn't help but chuckle at her mindmate. Reysalth would be Reysalth. "Reys is up," she commented, as explanation. Laurie flashed a grin at the brownrider, who seemed to have brigthened almost instantly after her apology. "I'm too impulsive for my own good. If the klah stains don't come out, feel free to hop by our weyr and I'll reimburse you."

Her brother wrinkled his nose mildly. "He probably has no idea what you mean by 'our,' pixie." Laurie blatantly ignored him. S'rei sighed. "The Weyrlingmaster is her weyrmate. F'rah. Pretty much anyone you meet would likely be able to point you in the right direction."

"Wouldn't mind one bit," the greenrider replied cheerily, as if her brother hadn't spoken at all. "In general, I wouldn't mind, as long as we're not flashing blades. An exchange of fists rarely ever seriously hurt anyone, yes?" Of course, she hardly knew, being rather unaware of basic self-defense (Laurie's idea of a fight included scratching, leg-gnawing, flailing limbs and perhaps a knee to the groin if it became really serious).

The Blizzard wingleader regarded Ch'ero quite curiously. Ka'rys had told him that? He pinched the bridge of his nose again, shaking his head. "I swear, if that man thinks he can do something to further annoy me, he will. How many transfers are walking around thinking I'm the Weyrleader, do you suppose? Good thing I never cared for the title or the position. Or this might actually be offensive."

Lauranna shot him a quelling glare. "Get off it, Rei. Is it really such a big disservice for people to think you're the Weyrleader? Ch'ero was the one who was blatantly lied to." The bronzerider at least had the good grace to appear contrite, although whether the expression was a true one or not was anyone's guess. The greenrider's eyes briefly flashed with mischief as she leaned in, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "I agree that he seems quite uncharitable, but he's an absolute softie when it comes to kids. Take one around him and he melts." Laurie pulled back and grinned. "If you ever have need of him, you're welcome to cart my Miguel along to make Ka'rys a little more...reasonable."

It sure didn't take long for Lauranna to warm up to someone, did it?

She smiled lightly at Ch'ero's question. "Oh, I've been here all my life. Born and raised at Selenitas. Our parents were both Selenitas dragonriders, in fact," she added with a little shrug.

[Ember]

Ch'ero raised a questioning brow when Lauranna grimaced, wondering what was bothering her. Her three world explanation was more than enough. It caused the man to nod in understanding, returning the grin. Dragons almost always had some kind of strange quirk that could annoy their riders at times. Rosilinth's was flirting. It made His very annoyed sometimes, especially if rider or dragon were touchy on the matter. He chuckled at her comment about impulsiveness. He was a little puzzled about the 'our' part though. Her weyr and S'rei's? Couldn't be.

The bronzerider explained and Ch'ero made a point to remember that. Collecting and using information was an important part of living in Fort weyr. At least, it used to be. "Don't worry so much about it," he told her dismissively. "I've got plenty of other things to wear if this one gets stained. You should have seen when Rosilinth managed to get redwort all over me. It was a light coloured shirt too. That stuff stains worse than klah."

The happy tone to her voice made him smile. "Some champion you have here, S'rei. Some fist fights can get pretty bad. We had our fists before we had knives, after all. I probably wouldn't do to much harm though," he said, tone bordering on contemplative. With Lauranna's...blessing of sorts it was tempting but he decided against it. "Interesting as it is, I won't. It looks as if he's doing a goo enough job of that on his own." It was a simple observation but he as interested in the reaction, if any.

Ch'ero blinked at the bronzerider before grinning a little. "I doubt there are too many, actually. Ka'rys probably oversees a lot of the transfers as Weyrleader. I never knew him too well but I think he may have been toying with me," he informed the ex-weyrleader wryly. Lauranna scolded her brother, causing Ch'ero to wonder again how she could go crazy if someone else glared at S'rei. Probably another case of 'I can but you aren't allowed' kind of things.

He too leaned in a little more, the expression on her face and the volume at which she spoke caused him too. He convinced himself it was out of no desire to learn something he could use against the other former Fort rider. He straightened with surprise. Now that was an unexpected weakness! Ch'ero, too, found himself grinning. "Well that might be helpful. I take it Miguel is your son?" He asked curiously. It certainly wasn't a girl's name so he felt safe with the assumption of the kid's gender. Ch'ero considered the information of their birthplace. Born in the south? That seemed a nice prospect. The south definitely had a better reputation than the north. "I'm from the north myself. From Fort Hold to be precise," he told them, slightly stressing the word 'hold'. Unfortunately he had not been weyrbred, but being in the weyr life as long as he had one grew accustomed to it.

[reqqy]

Laurie seemed willing enough to accept Ch’ero’s reassurance. Truthfully, though, she was distracted. Her Zephyr had shown up to demand meat from S’rei (she loved to bother him, as if sensing his great dislike for firelizards). Before the bronzerider could react, however, a small little streak of green dropped from the man – though Laurie would have been hard-pressed to discover where she’d originally come from – and skittered over the table to preen before Lauranna’s firelizard. The greenrider frowned at the salamandyr. One look at S’rei’s carefully neutral face, however, told the tale. Laurie began to laugh. A green? Her brother absolutely abhorred firelizards – yet alone salamandyrs – and somehow he’d managed to Impress a green salamandyr? S’rei shot her a scathing look, but she couldn’t help herself. Meanwhile, Zephyr was scolding the salamandyr roundly for coming anywhere near her.

The bronzerider, ignoring his sister’s laughter, pulled a face at the brownrider’s words. “A champion is right.” Worm’s constant stream of chatter had grown louder and more excited with the arrival of Zephyr, and S’rei could feel a headache coming on. From Laurie’s expression, she clearly didn’t believe that it was possible for a fist fight to do any real damage. Actually, the wingleader was glad of that. It meant that she had not been in a situation that might convince her otherwise. His older sister was certainly naïve, but she wasn’t at all stupid.

A brow rose mildly as it became clear that Ch’ero was considering taking a swing at him after all. S’rei didn’t much care, honestly. Nor did he truly believe the brownrider would decide to fight him in this setting, under these circumstances. Actually, the wingleader had a bad habit of never really believing anyone would be interested in fighting him. He was an arguably formidable opponent in a spar, but an actual fight was another story entirely; it always took the bronzerider an inordinately long time to respond to the threat. “A good job…of what?” he questioned quietly. Harming himself? He didn’t much care what opinions Ch’ero might have of him due to his state of health. Frankly, S’rei thought that was really none of the brownrider’s business.

“That does sound like Ka’rys. Shifty bastard.” Strangely, though, there was no ire in the man’s voice. Ka’rys was…a contemporary. Friend was too generous a word, certainly, but he was the only other currently at the weyr who had ever served as the Weyrleader, and that bond was a strangely potent one. They had no trouble getting along (although S’rei made a mental note to find an equally inconvenient manner to get back at the current Weyrleader). Actually, it was something of a tacit truce, for if S’rei and Ka’rys were to come out openly at odds with one another, it may well divide Selenitas at a most inopportune time. Many still believed – despite the problems between S’rei and Shmee at the moment – that Ka’rys was Weyrleader by default, and S’rei would hold the title again soon enough. Presenting a united front therefore nullified any potential problems that belief might have generated.

“Yes, he’s my son,” Laurie replied happily. “He’s about two-and-a-half turns now – born right before Fath’s last clutch hatched. They’re absolutely fearless at this age, too,” she added with a laugh. Of course, the boy’s mother wasn’t exactly known for caution, so it really wasn’t that surprising, was it? “Fort Hold. You should talk to Kalierre! When she has a chance, that is. I think she said she lived there for…seven turns? When she was a girl. Well, at Healer Hall, to be exact, but at least she’d know what you were talking about if you wanted to exchange stories,” Laurie concluded cheerfully. Then she just couldn’t resist. “What is the name of that gorgeous salmandyr, brother?”

He flushed, but otherwise refused to let her get to him. “Worm.”

[Ember]

Ch'ero watched the firelizard curiously when it joined them. No sooner had it arrived than a green salamandyr joined them. He looked from S'rei to Lauria and back again. Suddenly a curious chirp emitted from his sleeve and he grinned as his own little friend stirred from sleep. A little white head peaked out to watch the going ons. He gently pet Mystery as he looked at S'rei as he spoke. He vaguely wondered why a salamandyr would like to be around the man.

He grinned slightly at what he said. It wasn't really much of anything, but it was neat to see the interaction between the two siblings. The firelizard and salamandyr were equally interesting though. His glance flicked at them and he heard a worried chittering from Mystery. He frowned slightly, mentally reassuring her. Uh oh. She was rather uncomfortable around others. He couldn't even send her back to the weyr, for she couldn't fly. The white firliezard would have to put up for it for a bit.

Ch'ero was somewhat amused by the almost belated reaction to what he'd said. He made himself more comfortable and waited to see some response. The brownrider glanced at Laurie before replying. "Never mind," he said lightly, not much in a mood to explain it. He'd much rather leave but Laurie seemed like interesting company. He probably wouldn't have hung around for long if she wasn't there. Mystery rubbed against his wrist comfortingly. She was such a sweet little thing.

Shifty fit Ka'rys very well in Ch'ero's mind. He could live with that though. If someone had to be Weyrleader it was better to have a shifty bastard than a stupid coward. At the very least Ka'rys knew this weyr had to start preparing more for attacks by the northern weyrs. The weyrling massacre and attempts on Shmee's life should have taught them that. Apparently there was strength in this weyr, if only they could recognize it. One doesn't have to join a war to have a defense force. Hopefully Ka'rys could pull something together before it was too late. It's not like the weyr lacked skilled riders either. Plenty of riders probably tranferred from the north that have experience.

Ch'ero chuckled at Laurie's description of Miguel. Interesting age. He blinked when mention of his birthplace turned them onto a conversation of Kalierre. A healer, eh? He smiled at the idea of sharing stories. Most of his important ones had occurred at the weyr though. "Thank you," he replied, "I might just search her out then. She's a healer since she was at the Healer Hall?" How many times had he been to a healer during is Turns at Fort weyr? Suddenly the presence of the green salamandyr came into question. He watched S'rei blush and was rather amused by the poor creature's name.

[reqqy]

S'rei glanced from Ch'ero to Laurie, his eyes lingering for a moment on Worm, who had left off pestering Zephyr long enough to stare curiously at the white head poking out from just inside the brownrider's sleeve. The wingleader got the distinct impression that Worm would be approaching this new creature with the same amount of enthusiasm as she had Zephyr, deciding then that he really had no desire to stick around. A happy Worm taxed him more than it should, as an emotion like that was far from his usual range of emotions over the last months. S'rei rose silently and left the table, tray still sitting there and nearly untouched, Worm letting out a short, disgruntled sound that resembled a reptillian bark and leaping for the back of his shirt.

Laurie had her mouth open to respond to Ch'ero's words, her head snapping around. "Rei!" He ignored her. The woman's eyes narrowing, she sniffed pointedly. "I'd apologize for his rudeness, but I don't much feel like taking on the burden of my brother's poor behavior." She subsided, then, rubbing lightly at the bridge of her nose, a gesture that was strangely similar to S'rei's nervous habit of pinching his. "For the life of me, I can't understand why he stays in a situation that obviously distresses him this much. It's irresponsible. A person can't lead anything when they've let themselves go like he has. If I didn't know we had no one else, I'd go to Ka'rys myself and demand he be demoted. Possibly grounded."

She turned to Ch'ero then, flashing him a somewhat sheepish smile. "You probably don't want to listen to talk like that, do you? I'm sorry. That's insensitive of me." Laurie sighed. "Let's speak no more of him. What were we talking about again? Oh yes! Fort Hold. I've only seen it once, myself, and that was more than enough to convince me never to return. Kalierre has some nice things to say about it, though. She's the dragonhealer here, and yes, I do mean the only one. Spent seven turns at Healer Hall, if i remember correctly, as an apprentice. That woman's got quite a story, if you ask her properly."

Without pausing to really think, Laurie had begun scratching Zephyr lightly behind the eye ridges. "They assigned her to Benden Weyr, you see, after she walked the tables. Kalierre hates the war. She was part of a first response unit, and she says that...well, that there are things she saw out in the field that she'd never repeat to anyone living, much less a southerner. Senseless foolery, these wars. I have to agree with her there."

A spark of curiosity came into the woman's eyes. "So, Ch'ero. You're a Fort transfer. Anything else interesting to speak of? Do you have a family? Kids?"