In Praise or Pudding [Rei]

[Ruby]

Pudding.

Seriously? Yes, seriously.

Sure, pudding didn't exactly seem to fit in with Caden's personality, but it was still her favorite food. And for someone who looked like a young teenage boy, she liked pudding a lot. Particularly the old-fashioned ones spotted with raisins or filled with plums, but really, anything would do. Something about it just screamed comfort.

Of course, Caden hardly ever needed comfort, but she figured today was an acceptable day to desire it. The disappointment of the hatching had receded (if it had really been there at all), but she'd hit a wall with her tanning, and had been reprimanded by the Journeyman in charge. But it wasn't the reprimand that bothered her. It was her inability to be useful, to complete the tasks she was set. That was simply not acceptable, and was something she'd never experienced before. It wasn't an easy adjustment.

Hence the enormous bowl of pudding in front of her. It was chocolate tonight, luckily on the menu before she even knew she needed it. Sel, who was constantly trying to get Caden to eat more green things, was out hunting up the trinkets she loved to hide, so the Candidate had forgone a real dinner and simply selected the largest bowl she could. She'd taken three or four servings of the delicious chocolate goo and combined them, making a delicious, jiggly concoction fit for someone about five times her size. An over sized spoon was used more like a shovel as she attacked the first half - she'd always been told she was too skinny, anyway.

Halfway through, though, Caden slowed down, leaning back in her chair and savoring another bite. Everything looked better from behind a bowl of pudding, she decided. Everything would be alright.

[Rei]

Everything would be alright.

That was Amour’s current thought as he bounded around his bonded. Look! Look at him! Wasn’t he cute and cuddly? Why was she soooo sad? His gold should not be sad. He hated to see her cry. Please oh please just look. A creel punctuated that broadcast as he butted his head against Elysia’s glass of wine, almost tipping it over. Really the brown shouldn’t have been surprised at the hand that suddenly attempted to pin him, nor the irritation of his moody gold. Bouncing backwards the firelizard avoided the greenrider’s half hearted attempt at a pin. “Go away Amour. I’m not in the mood.” Was the hissing response to her pet. Baron meanwhile was off in the rafters looking down upon everyone with quiet disinterest and he chattered as well in scolding at Amour. The warning was clear. Leave there’s alone. She was upset. Better to let her brood. Violence happened otherwise.

Amour tilted his head up at Elysia and then with a huff launched himself off the table. Obviously losing her mate had broken her. He needed to fix this. Coiling about the room the brown looked for a good replacement. Too skinny, too hairy. Ah ha! That one alone eating the pudding looked like he might be around the right size. He had food to. Good male. He could obviously keep his fed. Now how to get his there. Hmmm. His tiny flitter brain puzzled that as he watched the male shovel food into his face. Maybeeeeeee. Yes! Looping above Caden Amour gave a sudden shriek and then plummeted, straight into her bowl of pudding. For a few moments the brown positively failed in the chocolate mess, flinging the brown goop everywhere. Help! HELP! He was drowning! He couldn’t breathe! He was stuck. Oh woe is him.

From across the room Elysia flinched and then got hastily to her feet, frantically looking for her distressed pet. Ah there he was. Without so much as a pardon me or excuse me the rider merely hopped up on the table and from there made her way to where Caden was sitting. Amour by this time had righted himself and was licking pudding from his maw while crooning happily at Caden. Well hello there handsome. Did he need some cheering up? Well his did to, maybe they would help each other eh? If Amour had eyebrows they would have been waggling. Then his was upon the scene and the brown flopped backwards, trying to make himself look as pathetic as possible to avoid a scolding. He really was trapped see?

Elysia gave an exasperated look at Amour before her attention snagged on the boy. “I’m so sorry about that love. He’s a twit at the best of times. He’s right messed you up hasn’t he?” She said trying to hide a slightly amused smile while reaching over to offer a napkin to the candidate. Poor boy. Tsking she reached down for Amour who practically exploded from the pudding to leap onto Caden’s shirt front. Don’t let her get him! Clambering upwards, and making a mess the whole way, the firelizard slipped down the shirt collar and into the boy’s shirt. There he paused. Whoops….this one wasn’t a boy.

Elysia sat cross legged on the table top then and glared daggers at Caden’s shirt. “Well this is only slightly embarrassing. I’m sorry handsome.” Okay maybe he wasn’t really good looking but a bit of flirting never hurt a weird situation in her experience. If it got him to take his shirt off she could get at her firelizard at least.

[Ruby]

Caden took another bite, then stretched backwards with a big yawn - only to be startled by a shriek. She sat forward again quickly, looking for the source of he noise, just in time to recieve a faceful of pudding. Blinking in shock, her mouth a perfect 'o', the Candidate shook her head once, then reached up to wipe pudding out of her eyes. If she wasn't so shocked, she would have been mad. What a waste of delicious pudding.

But she was shocked, so instead of yelling, she just sat there, watching the little creature flail. It was hard to tell where the flit ended and the pudding began, even the parts of him that weren't coated in viscous goo. He seemed to be in trouble, though; something must have gone wrong with his wings to make him plummet like that, and now the pudding had him trapped. Gently, Caden reached into the bowl, using her spoon to scrape pudding away from his face, but before she knew it the firelizard had freed himself (at least partway) and sat upright, seeming incredibly pleased with himself.

Caden was lost.

She didn't have long to be confused, though; within moments the creature had flopped backwards again, flinging even more pudding around. Caden was fleetingly thankful she had no friends, and hadn't sat too near anyone. Maybe bowls of pudding the size of a person's head were not such a good idea, after all.

It was Elysia's voice that broke through her continued shock and confusion, dragging Caden's eyes up to her face as if by force. Oh no, she recognized this type - C'leon had sent them, trying to figure out if she was gay or not. Then again, what reason would S'rei have to spy on her? He already knew the secret, and Benden was far different than Selenitas. Still, Caden decided it would be prudent to proceed with caution. Luckily, she didn't exactly have to put any effort into playing the bumbling idiot.

She reached for the napkin and let herself start talking, aware that she would make little to no sense. "I - uh, yeah, it's everywhe-" Oooooo, coooold pudding covered flit down the shirt and into the breastband. With a violent shiver, she reached in and caught Amour by the scruff of is neck, trying to remove him without pulling her breastband off, too. "Uh, I think he has my... my... Handsome?" she asked, incredulous, pausing with her hand down her shirt, covered in pudding. How did she manage to get herself into these messes?

[Rei]

If Amour was aware of Caden’s discomfort he gave no indication. Instead he was just concerned that A. this one was NOT a male. As well as B. His was very irritated with him and he hated when she yelled at him. She had never struck him in anger. But her disproval and scolding was worse than a swat in the brown’s opinion. Thus the little brown clung to Caden’s beast band for dear life. Nooooooooooo! He was not going. Yes she had him by the scruff of his neck but he was doing a quite good job of keeping his grip. His tiny little flitter talons tangled into the fabric of the clothing. He was not going anywhere. A creel left his throat at her continued pulling. It huuuuurt stop. Briefly he contemplated nipping her fingers but one he couldn’t reach and two he had been trained to well that biting was the biggest no ever. Unless his specifically asked him to bite. When the girl paused in her tugging Amour was beyond grateful. Taking advantage of the momentary lull in her pulling he retightened his grip.

Elysia was trying really hard not to laugh at this point. Poor little flustered candidate. Not his fault her flit decided he was to be next in line as her mate. Damnable flitter just wouldn’t give up on the whole baby thing. Well damn it if the greenrider was going to cave and become infected with a womb leech just to please him. The greenrider offered a soft snort at Caden’s incredulous look. Was it really that off for the boy to be called handsome? He was a little feminine looking sure but overall he had a nice face. His clothing though could use some work. Far too baggy. Tsking she reached over with another napkin to swipe some more pudding off his face. This unfortunately unintentionally gave Caden a quite good view of Elysia’s cleavage. “You definitely are going to need a bath boy. I really am sorry my firelizard is being such a snot.”

A glare was given Caden’s shirt. “You needn’t be so shy love. All I want is the flitter. Just take off your shirt so I can collect him and I’ll be out of your hair.” Elysia gave the young candidate what she hoped was a reassuring smile. The greenrider didn’t have much practice in being actually nice but there was no need to scare this poor boy out of his wits. For once it wasn’t the woman’s intention to mess with someone. Obviously Pern was coming to an end. “His name is Amour by the way and he is not being mean. He’s simply being a silly git. I could further explain but it’s a long story and horrible boring.” Not to mention embarrassing, at least he hadn’t resorted to flashing naked pictures of her yet. Then again maybe he had and that’s why the boy was so speechless. It was hard to make out whether Caden was blushing or not with all the pudding in the way after all.

Amour listened carefully to the voice of his but made no movement. She might not sound mad talking to the poor girl but he could feel that underneath her careful mask she was quite pissed at him and he was NOT going out there. Instead he chirped quite softly to Caden and wiggled his little pudding covered body against her. Save him. Save him.

[Ruby]

Well, the little creature wasn't letting go, and Caden didn't want to hurt him. She stopped pulling, reaching up underneath her shirt instead of down through the neck in an attempt to free his claws. They were poking through the breastband now, tiny pricks that half tickled, half hurt. Trying not to squirm, she stuttered vaguely at Elysia's questions, eventually pausing and starting over so she could be understood. "Not a snot... S'ok, I've got one too -" Owww, claw to the flesh. Elysia's efforts to clean the pudding up went unnoticed, Caden instead focusing almost exclusively on removing claws. At this point, she was about ready to give up the breastband.

But no, she was not about to remove her shirt for the whole Dining Hall to see. She'd done it as a kid despite her mother's rules, but as soon as she discovered she wasn't a boy that had pretty much stopped. She pretended to be shy about the burn she'd gotten as a Weyrling. "I- no, can't, bad... bad burn... I'll get him off," she attempted to explain, looking down when Elysia's 'reassuring smile' brought a hint of color to her (pudding covered) cheeks. Yep, Caden would absolutely not be removing her shirt for Elysia. "Plus, if I take it off it'll get pudding everywhere." There, that was a better reason, right? Relaxing a little, Caden managed a hint of a smile at the flit's name. That was a way to say love, right? Like Amorous? Cute. "Amour, huh? I'll get him..."

Caden had nearly coaxed all of the claws off her breastband when something made her look up, her face changing quickly to exasperation as she looked at Elysia. It wasn't the greenrider who was causing it, although it might look that way - a pretty green flit, her color fading from bright to dark all the way from her nose to her tail, had appeared just behind Elysia's head, setting down on the Greenrider's collar only long enough to drop a shiny, water polished river rock down Elysia's shirt. Hopping between again, she re-appeared behind Caden, skulking out of sight behind her owner's shoulder and shoving her head under Caden's collar to trill at Amour. Don't worry, Hers was the best, she would keep Amour safe!

Retrieving a napkin from the table to supplement Elysia's, Caden wiped a bit of pudding out from under her eyes, then went back to trying to remove Amour. "Come on, little one," she coerced, cooing roughly the way a man might talk to a kitten. "She's not mad. You gotta get out of there," she added, glancing up at Elysia for approval.

[Rei]

Amour was definitely outright refusing to remove his claws. Had he known he was scratching the girl a tad he would have felt terrible but as it was all he could think about was keeping out of sight of his. She was angry with him. So very angry. Creeling softly the brown wrapped his pudding covered tail about one of Caden’s shoulder straps and simply kept his grip, despite the prodding fingers.

Elysia by this point was a tad irritated. Silly thing was acting as if she beat him on a regular basis and that was very embarrassing. Especially since she never had laid a finger on him in anger. Despite the desire to a few times. No the greenrider had been very well behaved in that regard. Caden’s stammering was chalked up to the boy being nervous and horribly shy. Poor thing. Despite her irritation Elysia almost felt a small stab of pity for the boy. Well didn’t that beat all? Her pitying someone. Really Pern must be doomed. Who had ever heard of her being nice. “I’m sure it’s not all that bad. Everyone has their scars darling. Some more visible than others. No need to be ashamed of them.” Not the physical ones anyway. Bringing her arm up the greenrider allowed Caden a good view of the whip scars crisscrossing up and down her skin. “Believe me hun. No one here doesn’t have scars in some way and pudding will wash. You’ll need a bath anyway after this I’ve no doubt.” Dark eyes fixed themselves on the candidate’s face. She was giving him another minute and then that shirt was coming off with or without his permission. “Amour yes. Although right now love is a poor name for him. Annoyance fits much better.”

The green’s arrival was only noticed as a light weight and Elysia blinked in surprise before looking towards her shoulder, expecting that possibly Amour had finally come to his senses. But no. Instead the feeling of something cold and slightly damp dropping down into her cleavage had the woman giving a little cry of surprise and a wince. Faranth that was cold. What the hell. Without even so much as a touch of shame Elysia pulled off her tight fitting shirt for easier access and digging her fingers in her breastband pulled out the stone. Holding it up she looked puzzled for a moment before she turned her gaze back to Caden. If the greenrider was aware of the looks she was getting from a few people she didn’t seem to mind. “See easy. Now you do yours.” Leaning over she tapped the candidate on the nose. “Easier for a man hun. No one cares anyway.” Sheesh the boy was a tad bit of a prude wasn’t he?

Amour’s head snapped up at the trill and he softly cheeped back at the green. But his was not happy and he didn’t want to go out there. How could hers protect him? Nope he rather liked the barrier the shirt provided. Caden’s voice had him chirping to her very softly and quietly. Oh his was not always what she appeared. She was good at masks she may not seem angry but she was. He knew it. He just did. Still the candidate’s tone of voice had the brown loosening his claws although his tail stayed tightly wrapped about the breast strap. In her head Elysia had started a countdown. Still she smiled at the boy as if absolutely nothing was wrong. “Sure I’m not mad Amour. I just want you to come when called like a good flit. Right now you are being a very naughty boy. Come out now and maybe I’ll forgive you.” No immediate response came from Amour. He was busy mentally debating pros and cons. Hmmm.

[Ruby]

When Amour curled his tail into her strap, Caden knew she'd lost. There was no way she'd get him out now, short of ripping her breastband in half, and that wasn't going to help anything. Still feeling stubborn, though, the Candidate kept trying, attempting to explain to Elysia why she didn't want to take the shirt off. "It's really bad, and I didn't get it doing something brave. It was something pretty stupid, actually," she claimed, and even to herself the words sounded like drivel. Avoiding Elysia's eyes, Caden wracked her brain for a better excuse, but came up blank. Amour had only managed to dig his claws in deeper and curl his tail up tighter, and by now at least half the main hall was staring at the wriggling candidate and the apologizing Greenrider. Not something you normally saw - usually it was the other way around.

Caden pulled out the collar of her shirt to get a better look down, now that Sel's head was in the way, then glanced back up to see Elysia... shirtless. "Ah," she gaped, accidentally doing a very good impression of a young man seeing a shirtless woman for the first time. "I... uh. It's just..." But that was an order, and Caden didn't question orders, especially from someone who so obviously ranked herself. She reached for the hem of her shirt, moving slowly in hopes that something, anything would interrupt her movement. The whole dining hall had to be looking at them, now.

Sel, meanwhile, was vaguely displeased. Her gifts were meant to inspire delighted smiles, not puzzled examinations. This was not the way this should be going at all. But if she was going to plant another gift for Elysia (and she certainly was), she would have to follow the Rider back to her weyr, or at least her seat in the dining hall. To do that, it seemed, she would have to lure Amour out of Caden's shirt. Flashing him a picture of the pretty stone in Elysia's hand, she trilled sweetly. It was for him! The pretty stone was all for him, he just had to go fetch it from His!

Unaware of the congress occuring between the two pets, Caden had made her decision. She'd been ordered to remove her shirt by a superior, and honestly, there had to be weirder people than her here if this greenrider was so willing to strip, herself. By now, most people had lost interest in the scene, although to Caden's mind, it still seemed like every eye was trained her direction. Well, now or never.

She peeled the shirt off carefully, trying to avoid getting more pudding in her face. She did indeed have a burn scar, and a very nasty one at that, a triangular swath wrapped from just below her left 'breast', across her abdomen, and out of sight beneath her pants. Turning a mutinous gaze on Elysia for a moment, she then set to work on extracting Amour.