Scientific Observations (Open)

[Rowana]

Peace and quiet. Puddleglum allowed himself a small, content sigh. No annoying Tiida to nag him. No large, shiny Roisk to squash him. No gloomy His to worry about bothering. Yes, daytime was a good time. It had sun and people. He couldn't understand why His and the other mindmates didn't like it.

It would never last, though. Happiness was fleeting in the life of this fire lizard. Something was sure to ruin his day before long. For now, he lurked around the bathing pools. This was one of his favorite places. The human obsession with extra skins fascinated him. When they took them off, it was interesting to see what was underneath. Some humans were smooth and pink, while others had little hairs all over. They were such curious creatures.

Puddleglum circled around a pile of towels on a shelf. Crawling underneath the top one, he poked his head out a tiny bit to see. Several humans had already arrived. He wondered what they were like? He'd better stay out of sight though. Knowing humans, they probably wouldn't be happy if they saw him. No one ever was.

[raii]

Silly hers was all tired. Upasanath wasn't even sure exactly why hers was tired. Something pertaining to Dusk, no doubt. That pink little critter was certainly a handful, but he didn't bother Upasanath one bit. Duskpinklittle was a silly beast. He seemed to think he was a queen, and got so huffy when he didn't get his way. Not to mention, of course, the brown's color! Pink! She wondered if there were any pink dragons? Were there red dragons? She'd seen a reddish bronze salamandyr before--or maybe that was one of Sari's sights? She was always confusing what she saw with what Sari saw. When she was away from hers, she often paid attention to everything hers saw.

Now, however, hers was being quite boring. Who slept during the day? Certainly not Upasanath! Sari had muttered something about Dusk keeping her up, but the girl had made no sense. When people stick to strict sleeping schedules, staying up for a night could make them difficult. She wondered if hers would become nocturnal, like those silly-looking things that had hatched. What had hers called them? Whers? They looked kind of like dragons, only different. Bigger in places, such as the heads, and smaller in others, such as the wings. Poor things would be stuck to the ground forever.

The green dragon's mind continued jumping from idea to idea as she made her way to the community bathing rooms. Why, exactly? Firstly, Upasanath had recently discovered a love of "swimming." Of course, her version of swimming was merely flouncing through the water, splashing and playing. Too bad hers was asleep. Secondly, she could meet more people! She loved making new friends! She would have gone elsewhere, but somewhere so close to the Weyr was more likely to have people.

She entered, humming softly. It was more of a buzz, actually. Maybe some Upasanath-version of a rumble? She glanced around, immediately spotting one a non-human creature. A cousin of her kind, a fire lizard, was poking out of towels, watching the people with amusement. He was all alone! Maybe he'd like to play in the water with her like Sari's fire lizards. She crooned to him. Hello, there! I'm Upasanath! Who are you? Would you like to play with me? She flicked her tail, almost like a dog's. She tripped a passerby that way, and crooned sadly to him as he got up. Oops, sorry![/i]

[Rowana]

The towels stirred suspiciously as Puddleglum rolled to look up at dragon. He blinked at her. Great, it was a dragon. It was a green one at that. He sighed. He knew something would go wrong. Why would a dragon want to talk to him at all? They were such big creeps, worse then those whers His was around all the time. Always thinking they ruled the place. It wasn't fair that they come make demands of him too.

Glaring up at Upasanath, Puddleglum hissed loudly. No, he did not want to play with her. She should just go away and find a real friend. She obviously didn't have any, why else would she bother him? Puddleglum curled around so that his head was hidden, but his tail stuck out, twitched peevishly. Of all the horribly things to happen. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? At least fire lizards were sensible in their own way. Dragons and the rest of their kin were just pointless.

[raii]

At the hiss, Upasanath drew back. At first she was a little hurt. He thought that he didn't deserve to have a friend? Completely misinterpreting his annoyance for a depleted sense of self-esteem. Oh, don't think that way! I am not above playing with those other than dragons. I understand that you don't think you're worth playing with, but you can't feel that way! I'm sure you are a perfectly wonderful fire lizard, very deserving of anyone's attention![/color] Upasanath launched into an encouraging speech about how Puddleglum shouldn't put himself down. She decided that he was too shy to admit to it, so she pulled the towels away from him with her jaws.

Come play! Upasanath crooned. Her tail flicked with happiness, luckily far away from any trip-able humans. You will feel better if you do, so come play! The green flounced around in a somewhat comical manner. If only hers would wake up! Flirty Mika could probably get the fire lizard to play! A pretty green complimenting him would certainly boost his confidence. Unfortunately, all of the fire lizards were sleeping rather soundly.

[Rowana]

What was with this dragon? Was she really that dense? Couldn't she understand? Puddleglum didn't want to play with her. She was the problem. If only she would just go away and leave him in peace. It might be true that no one usually liked him. He was used to that. He could care less if a dragon liked him or not. They weren't worth the effort it took to converse with them. And now this one had gone and ruined a perfectly good hiding place. How dare she!

Now that he was exposed, the pale, little brown fluttered into the air. Tiny and delicate, maybe, but Puddleglum was fast when he wanted to be. He'd had enough of dumb dragons for one day. Zooming up in Upasanth's face, he uttered a series of angry hisses and whispers. Then he circled her once and zipped to the other side of the bathing pool. Maybe she'd get the point and leave him alone. Now that she'd ruined his day, he wanted to find a good place to be miserable. Maybe the shelf where the scented oils were kept would do. Puddleglum curled around a bottle and sighed mournfully.

[raii]

Hmm, what was with moody pale-pinkish browns? You would like my friend, I think, Upasanath said while she made her way over to Puddleglum. The green's mind gently brushed the sleeping fire lizard. He woke sleepily. Duskpinklittle, come here.[/i] He didn't like listening, but Mika woke with him. Oh, fun! Mika zoomed down to the bathing rooms, followed by her admirer Dusk. The green flit perched on Upasanath's shoulder, crooning to the new brown. Or whatever he was, Mika wasn't sure. He was male, though, which meant he was one of her admirers, right? She trilled sweetly to him. Hi there, new friend!

Dusk landed next to Mika. He gave the brown a nod. He was used to Mika's flirting, but he didn't like it at all. She was his, she just didn't realize it yet, since she hadn't taken flight yet. The brown was a pink-hued brown, rather similar to the paler coloring of Puddlegum--just pinker and darker. This is Mika, and this is Duskpinklittle. My rider Sari has a blue too, but he is asleep. Who is your bonded? Do you have any other fire lizard friends? Salamandyrs? Dragons? Whers?

[Rowana]

Puddleglum looked up wearily. This was just great. The dragon had brought reinforcements. At least these were sensible fire lizards and not annoying salamandyrs. Maybe now he could convince them to leave him in peace. Puddleglum spoke in a series of whispering sounds directed at Mika and Dusk. He'd decided to ignore Upasanath and her questions in favor of much better company. With a despairing moan, he explained that he'd just been minding his own business and he would really like to get back to it now. Not that anything was likely to make him happy today. He was completely devoted to the idea of brooding over his mood for the next few hours.

He did begrudgingly offer Mika a little chirp of compliment. She was a lovely green, but he was only a tiny brown. He was sure she had much better males. Dusk, for example, was a handsome fellow. A far cry from Puddleglum's own delicate bones and pale color. Just no help for it, Puddleglum knew that no female would ever find him attractive. What was the point in trying?

[raii]

Dusk nodded sympathetically. None of his bonded pets really understood how to leave him alone. But, he informed Puddleglum with a croon, the large green one wasn't so bad. Sometimes. He was still mad at her for snapping at him. True, she had yelled at him after he'd bitten Sari. The green had a mind of her own, and would likely not leave. Either he was stuck with her, or he left this place.

Mika crooned sweetly to him. He was a fine male, and definitely worthy of her. She was just an ordinary green, after all. He was quite attractive, just as much so as Dusk. Well, definitely no worse than Dusk. He wasn't quite as wonderful as Puddleglum thought. Dusk stiffened. He'd started preening himself vainly as Puddleglum had assumed him a proper mate for Mika. As he was a proper mate for his dear love. Then she had put him down in her usual oblivious manner.

He squawked angrily. He was quite good looking! Much better than that brown! He would win her in flight, he would! Mika blinked. Her short term memory often made her forget Dusk's infatuation. She trilled to both of them. They were lovely, and they would see. She liked them both, after all!

Upasanath, being ignored, had gone of to play. The poor little brown was entertained and had friends now, so she would go swimming! Quite a sight, a half-grown dragon splashing around with the surprised people.