A Costume Affair (Darya

[dragon]

The directions and instructions both had been fairly precise. However, there was one glitch that made the whole thing rather fuzzy and unsure. Between recovering from the aftermath of the attack, recovering from an infection subsequent from that, and then catching up on the heap of work to do after that ... time had not been a commodity in supply for Emoyan. Thus it had been quite a long time since the invitation to come by and visit had been made.

Nonetheless, late was better than never. Right?

To make up for the tardiness, Emoyan had stopped to get a few things, and was carrying them in a small lidded basket just to keep from dropping them. Resting inside the basket was a gift bottle of some very nice wine - since he knew she liked to drink. He'd never touch it again himself, it was too easy to completely fall in. Even if he'd rather liked it before hand. Beside it was a full round of hard cheese to go with it, in a complementary flavor. Maybe it would make a good snack for her, sometime, when she didn't have anything else to do. Curled up alongside the whole thing, inside the basket, was Rascal, sleeping the afternoon away rather happily.

Walking the length of the Weyr took time ... but it was good to get out, stretch his legs, and walk. Breathe clear air. Or ... clearer anyway. Stopping at the appropriate door, he set the basket down and knocked with that hand ... mostly because the other arm was still occupied with hanging onto Skink. Troublemaker that she was, he wasn't going to risk her randomly jumping off to go pursue something. Or sneak into someone else's weyr and wreck it ... again. Emoyan felt rather lucky to still have his skin, after she'd done that to Ka'rys. He was especially cautious about the 'mandyr, since Rascal was getting some much-needed shut-eye at the moment. The poor brown was run ragged trying to keep track of the little green creature.

[Kisha-Ra]

Skink’s Imp climbed over the edge of the table and hopped up and down. I see not see I the salamandyr added, and much to his frustration Darya just ignored him and carried on making the bed, mildly impeded by Irony as the chick desperately wanted to be in the bed rather than on the floor and kept getting under her feet. Standing up on his back legs Imp flared his frill slowly, thinking. Show, love, show. He appealed to Bit, thinking a picture might speak more clearly than words.

‘Sharding chicken.’ Darya muttered and swept the chick up in one hand, dropping him on a blanket, folded into a nest like shape for his comfort, or at least Darya assumed it was comfortable for him since Irony slept most of his time away there. Darya was vaguely aware that Imp was talking about something but she was used to sort of tuning the salamandyr babble out. However when Bit landed on her shoulder and projected a very clear image of Emoyan she ran the last bits of Imp’s chatter back to herself. ‘As in now?’ she asked them, although it was something of a redundant question, Bit only showed relevant images because, like all firelizards, her memory was very short. Yes, yes. Now. Imp agreed impatiently, flaring his frill again for emphasis.

For the two minutes or so between Darya getting the advanced warning and the knock at the door there was a mad scramble, and some radical transformation to the room, mostly in the form of crockery being stacked out of sight and laundry being kicked under the bed, and after some frantic rooting in a trunk the gather garments of doom were revealed, and pulled on in place of Darya’s normal clothes. She couldn’t believe she’d ordered these, and she couldn’t believe anyone had actually made them for her. Both the long skirt and the flowing shirt appeared to have been made from rags and tatters of black cloth, carefully layered rags and tatters over some kind of light silver coloured cloth that showed through the upper layers in flashes when she moved. It might have looked really good as a dancing outfit, if she could only dance, Darya thought wryly as she walked across the room with the skirt and trailing sleeves of her shirt billowing around her.

Flicking her eyes round the room one last time to check there wasn’t anything hugely embarrassing in the middle of the floor, like dirty underwear, Darya noted that her dragon had diplomatically decided to take himself out to the ledge to sun. Satisfied that the room was superficially in order, or at least that the mess was hidden, Darya pulled open the door before Emoyan could decide she obviously wasn’t in. ‘Emoyan. You’re late.’ She greeted him, sweeping aside so he could enter. ‘However since I’ve been kept busy enough that I haven’t come and hauled you out your office I suppose I can forgive you.’ She added playfully.

[dragon]

Emoyan waited patiently after knocking on the door. Fiddling with his mandyr in one hand, trying to keep her from biting the webbing between his thumb and finger, he looked up the hall when someone started moving around down there. Hm. Maybe he hadn't knocked hard enough. Or maybe she wasn't actually in. Sometimes his timing just stank, after all. Even if he'd been informed she was in. Maybe she was busy? That was always possible.

However, before he could decide that he needed to do something, the door was whisked open. Emoyan looked over that way again, and most certainly was not expecting what he saw. For a moment he just looked at her, holding the door open, rooted to the spot. Finally, he blinked. "Wow." He commented, before stepping forward and offering her the basket he'd brought. "Well, this is interesting! Is this the costume you were referring to, or is it still in hiding?"

It certainly wasn't as awful as she'd made it out to sound like. It was kinda dark ... but that was typical of Darya it seemed. She just liked dark. However, the silver flashes brightened it considerably. Regardless, he smiled at her a bit. "I heard." He mentioned... even if he hadn't heard any such thing. He had no idea what anyone had been doing, what with the world being obscured behind an infected gloom of little air. Thank Faranth that spat was over with. Teach him to breathe too much smoke again! "Came as soon as I could get away." He told her, with a small nod, wishing his hands were free... Skink was really starting to do a number on his thumb now, hissing.

She really wanted to get away ... she'd spotted Imp. And though she didn't remember much, she did remember that Imp was great fun to play with. He had a strange sense of mischief, but that hardly mattered to her!

"Um ... the flitter in there is still mine. He's a bit tired." He apologized. "But everything else is for you." Emoyan told her, referring to the basket of wine and cheese he'd brought along. "Enjoy!" He added, brightly.

[Kisha-Ra]

Darya took in Emoyan’s expression with mild amusement, she could only assume he’d been expecting something much worse, and, well, she had been playing up just how awful this outfit was. Still she looked at him with a world of sorrow and shame in her eyes. ‘It just vile isn’t it?’ she asked mournfully before breaking into a grin. ‘I did buy that awful bone jewellery to go with it but I can’t seem to find it anywhere, some salamandyr’s probably run off with it.’

For a moment Darya looked startled, then relaxed as she realised Emoyan meant generally rather than any specific event. ‘I think everyone’s been pretty busy cleaning up after that business with Fort and what have you.’ She commented neutrally. ‘You know you can probably put that salamandyr down.’ She added, looking rather amused at Skink. ‘I can set Bit on her, she’s used to grabbing Imp for me, although I doubt she’ll be anything like as gentle with Skink as Rascal is. Bit’s not very patient.’

The mentioned firelizard gave the hissing salamandyr a look over and dismissed Skink with a silent opening of her jaw, which was as close to a contemptuous sound as the mute green could get, and a flick of her abnormally long tail. Noisy bad tempered little mandyr, not like her salamandyr. Bit cast a curious glance at Imp, who made a quiet chattering sound. Skink is. Skink fun, make noise though. Fun noise maybe. Imp answered the unspoken question as Bit took to the air a flurry of wings.

‘I wouldn’t dream of taking Rascal off you.’ Darya took the basket and peered inside curiously. ‘But I may disturb his rest a little for that wine. For a man who doesn’t drink you do have excellent taste. And what’s this? Cheese, hrrm, most excellent taste.’ Darya looked faintly sheepish as she put the basket down and returned her attention to Emoyan. ‘I’d be a good host and offer you something but I didn’t get that much warning so all I have up here is some cold mint tea.’ In fact up until this point it never occurred to Darya that she didn’t have anything, aside from some quite dreadful wine, to offer a guest, but then it was only in the last few minutes she’d been expecting anyone.

‘So, as nice as it is to get presents and sleeping firelizards, I’m still going to have to force you to sit down and talk to me.’ Darya indicated a chair with one hand. ‘You might be the only person I see for days on end you know.’ She added, returning to the mock tragic expression, this time complete with clasped hands and slumped shoulders.

[dragon]

"Vile?" Emoyan repeated, following her into the weyr and watching as she inspected the contents of the basket. "No, far to the contrary actually. It's very nice. A bit on the unexpected side, a touch eccentric ... but very nice. I like it." He admitted, with a smile. "It flatters you, a lot more than your usual does." He pointed out. And he did like it ... it made Darya look like a woman, instead of just another rider wandering around ready to leap into the sky at a moment's notice. "I can't say as I am sad something ran off with the bones, though ..." he grinned at her a bit, laughing softly. The bones ... now those could have stood some chewing on. He wasn't much of a fan of using animal bits as decoration. Much less the morbid bits like bones. Feathers and wool tufts were a bit more tolerable.

"Well ... so long as she doesn't try to actually eat Skink, I think Skink could stand a bit of roughing up." Emoyan answered, before shaking his hand to try and dislodge the mandyr ... who all of a sudden didn't want put down. Hissing, Skink glared at hers. How dare he thing she needed chewing on!!! She bit the webbing of his thumb just to show him, before letting go and flying head over teakettles due to the jerk and flick Emoyan gave her along with a startled yelp. "Yeah, I think she could use it." He remarked wryly, rubbing the bitemark with his fingers to keep it from bleeding - not that it would much. Her teeth were just little pinpricks. Landing hap-hadardly, Skink righted herself and glared hotly at Bit, daring the flitter to come anywhere near her. Skink kill! She intoned, before her gaze flickered over to where Imp was. There, her gaze softened considerably as she scampered to her favorite piece of her collection. Imp was such a good shiny! GoodImp, very good. Keep ugly 'way, yes? She requested, before slinking along his length and peeking back at Bit again. Bad flitter!

"Go ahead, he'll probably just go back to sleep." Emoyan answered, smiling slightly as she made note of the kind of wine and cheese. "I'm glad you approve. I don't drink now, but I used to. I loved wine, before." He didn't even bother to say before what. It likely didn't need to be said. "Was something of a hobby, and yeah ... I kinda splurged on the better stuff. Go ahead, enjoy it. I'll help you with the cheese though." Emoyan told her with a laugh. Cheese was always a good snack, wine or no wine. "Mint tea ... sounds good actually." He looked at the seat she wanted him to take, and then smiled at her as he took it.

Her mock expression had him laughing, though. "Oh, come now Darya. Don't look at me like that! You might well force me to come bother you more often, just to keep that from sticking! And I had actually intended to stay and visit a bit, you know..." He nodded once, before gesturing for her to sit, too. "What was it you expressly had on your mind that you wanted to talk about?" He asked... partly because she wouldn't have demanded he stay and talk if she didn't have something on her mind. Or maybe she was just that lonely?

[Kisha-Ra]

Darya pretty much expected that description, that was what you got for ordering custom made clothes while utterly sloshed, any garment ordered thusly would likely be described as eccentric, and quite probably unlikely too. But a compliment? That was pretty much unexpected, and even though Darya looked sideways at Emoyan to check he wasn’t being sarcastic, a faint blush still formed. She just wasn’t used to taking compliments. On the issue of the bones she just nodded her agreement. She couldn’t recall why she’d thought buying them was a good idea, she could only assume they looked better if your vision wasn’t quite steady.

‘I really don’t think Bit’s big enough to eat Skink.’ Darya responded with some amusement, it was probable that Emoyan hadn’t had a chance to take in the firelizard’s tiny size since Bit tended to be constantly on the move. ‘She’s only just bigger than Imp, she must be at least half salamandyr with that tail she’s got.’ There was an indignant feeling from Bit as the green perched on Darya’s shoulder for a moment and peered down at Rascal. She’d better not be comparing Bit to that green salamandyr, which was clearly defective since it was now biting people.

Imp looked slightly nonplussed to find Skink pressed against his side, but he was hardly going to object. Where ugly is? He inquired, looking around curiously, there was nothing threatening in here, just them, Bit, and the pair of humans. Nothing. Not get Skink. He assured the green salamandyr, winding his tail up around her, and his own front feet.

Darya fished the wine bottle and the cheese out from around the snoozing brown firelizard, feeling totally inadequate to comment on Emoyan’s dragon. Fortunately for her, Emoyan seemed to want to avoid the topic too, not surprising really. Darya collected a pair of clean mugs and a black kettle from a shelf. ‘Well as the unwitting benefactor of your former hobby, I’m glad you enjoyed the good stuff.’ Darya smiled as she poured out pale green tea and placed the mug on the table in front of Emoyan.

Darya shrugged. ‘I don’t know, you might just be coming up here so I won’t come down and force you out of you office.’ She returned with a crooked smile. What was on her mind? That was so not a good question to ask, so rather than answer with the first thing on her mind Darya pulled the cork out of the wine with the tip of a belt knife and folded down into the remaining chair. ‘Well to start with, do you know anything about chickens?’ Darya indicated the chick sleeping on her bed with a wave of one hand, while her firelizard abandoned her shoulder for another few circuits of the room. ‘I mean I’ve kept the little bugger alive this long but I wonder if it isn’t mostly luck. I don’t even know how big he’ll grow. I got him out a mystery egg.’ Darya seemed to feel some explanation of why there was a chicken in her weyr was required.

[dragon]

Emoyan smiled as he saw the faint edges of a blush color her cheeks. It looked good on her ... it made her look not quite so pale, a bit more alive. Really good, actually. But he didn't comment on it ... he knew that making a point of noticing such things on women was a fast road to getting one's self hurt. In more ways than one cared to think about. So he let it pass unmentioned, instead just watching her in a more polite fashion. No staring, no ignoring. A sociably accepted medium that was both polite and sane.

"Oh, I don't know about that though. Imp is big enough to eat Skink." Emoyan laughed, gently. Skink was, after all, smaller than most leaves. Tiny thing. It was a good thing, too, considering how often she liked to bite him. Her teeth weren't big enough to do any real damage to a man's skin. Her mind-voice on the other hand ... it could be quite shrill. And no amount of stopping the ears dimmed it a bit. "But I am glad Bit won't do such." He cast a look at where Skink was adoring the attention she was getting from Imp. He hoped it was just fickle green nature, and not something else entirely. "Erm ... does Imp have a mate?" He asked, hoping the answer was yes. Because Skink didn't, and he didn't like the idea of her suddenly discovering one. Not that he had anything at all against Darya.

Skink was at first surprised to find herself being wound up and grabbed, but then she chirped and tried to do the same. Undoubtedly she failed miserably, being so much smaller than the bronze mandyr. But it didn't stop her from trying, cooing the whole time. She'd remembered that Imp was a good mischeif buddy, but she hadn't known he was good at snuggling too!! Preening the front edge of his near wing, Skink hummed happily, tiny wings vibrating. The ugly green thing wouldn't bother her with Imp so near. She was sure of that! Maybe not even Rascal would! Oooooooh, the thought of Rascal irritated her for a moment, but only a moment! Good. Imp keep ugly 'bay. Yes good. Skink eat ugly. She answered, not at all answering his question, if she even realized he'd asked one.

"Indeed." Emoyan answered with a small nod and smile. He had liked the good stuff ... there was nothing else worth it, after all. When one was often pulling a double salary, it had been easy to get. Dragon riding, followed by a bit of on the side harpering, it was too easy. These days - not so much. These days, he was the Candidate master, and that was it. Nothing else. Plain old wine was easy to get in the Weyr, it was practically free. But the good stuff? No, he'd had to go to a market to find that. Thankfully, the vendor had remembered him from before, though musing at the lack of purchases of late. Emoyan had dodged the questions as slickly as he could, merely getting what he had hoped was a flavor that Darya would enjoy. "... are you going to drink the whole bottle in a sitting?" He asked, curiously. Not as if it was a bad thing - he'd done it a few times himself. It never ended well though.

"What? Beat you to the very thing I am supposedly supposed to be against? I fail to see the logic there. Maybe ... maybe I came all this way because I enjoyed your company last time?" He offered, with a crooked grin as he accepted the mug of tea. Lifting it, he gave it a sniff to see how strong it was before sipping it. Mostly to forestall any grimaces that might come unwitting to an overly strong tea, or a surprisingly weak one. But it was good ... a good tea. He rested the mug in his other hand, not about to start guzzling the stuff.

"Chickens?" He glanced over at the chick. "Er ... I could give you a run down on all the listed husbandry information, but as for any particular thing ... they're good eating?" He offered, with a shrug. No, he hadn't been a beastcrafter. A medium of information, yes. But it was all hearsay so far as he was concerned. "A mystery egg, then? I had a few of those once." A few. One of them had turned out rather ... dead. The other one had been Valiant. Which he was unwilling to really think on at the moment, because as with any mindmate, losing one was a sore spot. So, ostensibly, both were now dead. If one had ever been alive. "What had you been hoping to get out of it? Other than suspense?" He asked.

[Kisha-Ra]

It came as quite a surprise to Darya to look again at the salamandyr pair and realise that Emoyan was probably right. She’d known Imp was one of the biggest salamandyrs around, but seeing Skink next to him brought it home that the green was one of the smallest. A slight smile tugged at her lips on noting the way Imp had curled his tail up around his companion, was Imp actually developing an interest in salamandyrs this far into his maturity, or was it only that a female was paying attention to him? ‘Hrrm?’ Darya looked back at Emoyan curiously. ‘Not an exclusive one.’ She answered, looking slightly confused. ‘He tends to chase firelizards more often than salamandyrs, he’s caught a few from time to time but he doesn’t stay faithful to them.’ Whatever the reason for the odd question Darya gave it her fullest answer.

Imp’s frill slowly extended as Skink’s tail curled around as much of him as it could, the bronze was prone to displaying purely to show off, and who wouldn’t want to show off with a pretty green beside them? He didn’t actually know what he was doing that was so pleasing to her, but he certainly wasn’t going to admit that! Anyway if he’d managed to scare off whatever upset Skink without even knowing what it was he must be fearsome. Most fearsome. Imp turned and licked the top of Skink’s head in proprietary sort of way. Lovely she yes? he asked the room at large.

Darya shrugged and poured wine into the second mug. ‘Well, that would rather depend on how long this conversation goes on. I have no desire to get shamefully drunk in front of you again.’ No, she thought as she sipped the wine and nodded her approval, she’d never live that down. ‘I couldn’t handle having to make another blanket apology for my behaviour.’ She added.

‘I’ve got a bet on with R’fuin about if I can keep Irony alive to adulthood, so I don’t want to eat him. I can’t eat him now anyway, I gave him a name, that makes him a pet.’ Not a very interesting pet, since all he did was sleep, eat, and crap on things, but a pet none the less. ‘I was curious.’ Darya admitted ruefully. ‘I was at the stall to get something for R’fuin, mostly to cheer up Flirt, who knew a blue firelizard could miss a brown salamandyr so much? Anyway I saw these and I was curious.’ Darya shrugged. ‘I got Bit out of a mystery egg, so it seemed like a good bet at the time. I thought I picked out one that was too small for a bird but I guess not.’ The bundle of feathers was given a semi affectionate look, at least he was cute. ‘I think I did a bit better than R’fuin. His egg hatched a green firelizard that acts like a kid that’s had too much sugar, a kid with a low attention span, at a gather. But on the other hand Flirt loves her, probably because he’s got a low attention span too.’

[dragon]

Not an exclusive one. Wonderful. Skink didn't have one either, and it would be rather awkward if Imp suddenly decided to chase the green monster when she next ran. And she would, it was inevitable. Oh, wait. He liked flitters better. Whew. "Skink does that too. So far she seems to have a think for brown flitters. Don't ask me why." Emoyan shrugged. Maybe Skink snuggling up to Imp, and Imp not having a mate already being possessive was harmless after all. Maybe they were just being sociable. Nothing wrong with that. Actually, it was a far cry better than having to sit on one or the other cause they were being antagonistic.

Pretty pretty! Skink agreed whole heartedly, in lieu of anyone else. Might as well fill in that gap! Especially since she had his conviction that it was her he was referring to. This was being the best shiny she ever collected! Bestest ever! He did fun stuff, had insteresting talents, and also complimented her! Not to mention didn't run away in short order. Bestest Shiny ever. Yepyep. She propped her front feet close together, and leaned over onto Imp's side, her own frill lifting. But definitely not in anger or upset. More in pride. Her Shiny!

"Wellllll ... I never suggested that you had to get shamefully drunk. Though that would be rather hilarious and sad at the same time." Emoyan answered, looking over at her again after shaking his head at the sight of a lil green scrap leaning on a bigger bronzy scrap. "Do you seriously not remember anything when you get wasted?" He asked, in genuine curiosity. Maybe it was so ... rumor had it that ladies handled it ... not as well as most men. Emoyan hadn't ever put any stock into that though. But then ... he'd never really truly gotten wasted either. Not usually anyway.

"A bet? On the bird?" Emoyan asked, a bit surprised. "Well ... I don't know what to tell you then. Other than good luck. What exactly did you bet him?" he asked, wondering just how many people bought into the mystery egg basket. Apparently it was a pretty big hit, since they were still around. It was a scam, he rather thought, on the part of the vendors. But people apparently liked the gamble and excitement of not knowing what was in that egg. Silly people! "I guess ... keep his feet dry. Only thing I can think of."

[Kisha-Ra]

Darya smiled, an amused but not totally pleasant expression. ‘Well, someone has a taste of the same embarrassments I do at least. That’s good to know.’ She commented with a gentle touch to Emoyan’s arm that was supposed to convey sympathy, however she was unable to resist the further teasing comment, ‘You never know, she might be carrying a torch for Rascal.’, which was delivered with a broad wink. ‘In any case I really think she’s safe from Imp’s wiles at the moment.’ She added seriously. ‘He just likes females of any sort paying attention to him, he’d probably snuggle up to a tunnelsnake if she looked interested.’

Imp loftily ignored the human conversation going on over his head and made a purring sound of agreement at Skink, yes she was pretty indeed. The bronze also ignored the dirty looks he was getting from Bit with aplomb. He’d be able to make it up to her later, he was sure, but snuggling was good and right now, Skink wanted to snuggle, so Bit would have to wait. Bit didn’t like to snuggle much anyway.

Darya gave a thoughtful frown. ‘I normally don’t get that drunk, I don’t know how much wine I poured down my throat but it all went to my head when you pulled me off that bench. I recall bits and pieces after that, but there’s no order to it. I do seem to remember carving my name into a table somewhere, telling you no one would ever admit to knowing me, which is probably true in fact, and did I actually turn round and kiss you in the middle of a crowd on the theory that it might get you drunk as well?’ She was pretty sure she’d actually done that, being in the middle of a crowd would have been no reason not to do anything to Darya in that condition.

‘Yes, he thinks I can’t keep a bird alive for, um, however long it takes for it to grow up.’ Darya attempted to look indignant but couldn’t hold it for more than a moment. ‘That’s quite likely since I have no idea how long that’ll take. Until it grows new feathers I suppose.’ She shrugged off the issue, either Irony would make it to a stage where he could fend for himself, or he wouldn’t. ‘So far, we haven’t decided. Loser’ll probably end up doing something utterly stupid.’ Darya raised an eyebrow at the advice, but made a mental note on it anyway, dry feet seemed unlikely to help the chick along much but, she’d take whatever advice seemed useful.

[dragon]

Emoyan could only laugh a bit, and shake his head, patting Darya's hand lightly. "No, I have no fear of that. She hates Rascal to no end. Used to be proud of him, cause he stuck around. Now, she sees him as a blight ... mostly cause he puts a stopper in her mischief every time he can catch her. Which ... is pretty often, all things considered. He's gotten bloody fast with the practice." But he was immensely glad neither of his pets were so desperate for attention that they'd consider snuggling with a tunnelsnake, though. Sheesh... he liked to think the pair of them would keep vermin like that at a far distance from his place of residence, not invite them in!

Skink peeped in her tiny mandyr-voice, hardly ever really used. It made her sound so very ... small. And delicate. Which she probably actually was. However, her screaming, caustic mind-voice and rather over-the-top attitude when it came to being thwarted tended to blow the small-and-vulnerable appearance out the window. So when she did use her real voice, it always came as a shock to the ears. At least, to Emoyan's ears, earning her a glance from him. Gloating, Skink rubbed her head on Imp's shoulder, proud of the amount of attention she was garnering. Today was a good day after all!

But Darya was a hard one to ignore, and a single peep from a miniature lizard wasn't going to hold his attention for very long anyway. He grinned, and nodded. "Yes, indeed you did. But, if I recall, I didn't protest. Though, hearing all of your notions while you're in such an imbibed state is certainly entertaining." he teased. "But don't worry, I didn't come all the way over here to try and trap you into feeling like you had to issue another apology for things you don't remember. Even if the visits are nice!"

"I rather imagine they grow up pretty fast. If they didn't, they wouldn't be nearly as alluring as a food source. Seeing how small they are, and all that." Emoyan mused, on the bird. "I had a cousin ... he tended to do the animal thing. He had this mantra about them ... always keep their feet dry and they won't get sick. Or something strange like that. I can't say as I paid a whole lot of attention to him. Animals were hardly my utmost concern at the time. But ... that's why I offered that bit." He waved a hand at the concept of a vague memory from long turns gone by. "I am not even really truly sure what that's got to do with it, but apparently it worked for him. The man made marks hand over fist on the tiny scraps." Even more puzzling at the time, Emoyan remembered that every water dish his cousin had owned had been full of pebbles to the very top. Not a lot of water could be put in them, in that state. But it was again something to do with keeping the silly birds dry. Whatever worked, he supposed.

[Kisha-Ra]

Darya chuckled softly. ‘If he wasn’t so quick I hate to think how many peoples food she’d end up in. Or how many peoples clothing come to that. Someone needs to keep Skink under control, at least as much as possible.’ With a wry grin the bluerider added. ‘Anyway, you should be thankful Rascal isn’t in league with Skink. Bit rescues Imp from anywhere I shut him in.’ Now there was a situation that could be highly annoying, Darya had long since concluded that the safest pace for Imp to be was with her, where she could keep an eye on him.

Imp looked at Skink in surprise, as if he’d only just noticed how small the other mandyr truly was. Small she. Sounds small acts big. Big trouble Skink. The bronze mused, fanning his frill slowly backwards and forwards. For a moment Imp was worried as he noted Bit had vanished somewhere, but he dismissed her for the moment, she was sulking but she’d forget soon, she always forgot eventually, and he, imp, was so very charming of course.

Darya was momentarily distracted by Imp’s musings, but now that she was part of the sober world the words of a salamandyr no longer had the power to divert her for long, especially in view of what Emoyan had to say. ‘Well that’s alright then.’ She replied with a smirk. ‘I wasn’t going to issue an apology for that. I just don’t normally do that sort of thing, well not in the middle of gather crowds anyway.’ She clarified, letting her gaze sweep over her companion from under slightly lowered lashes. No Darya tended to prefer directness and a total lack of subtlety when someone caught her attention, so she could only assume she’d been too unsteady to actually haul him off anywhere moderately secluded.

Huh? Darya blinked and tried very hard to look like she hadn’t been contemplating, well… however the heat in her face probably meant that she was blushing again. With a superhuman effort Darya managed to focus back on the conversation, rather disappointed to realise that the topic had returned to the stupid chicken. ‘Hrrm I suppose I’ve heard a lot of stranger things.’ She opted for a neutral answer wondering if she’d missed something important while she’d been thinking. ‘In any case I’ll keep it in mind.’ She added, maybe chickens died from foot rot all the time and no one told her, she thought with a mental shrug.

As she cast about for a subject that was not chickens, Darya gave Emoyan a speculative look. Why hadn’t she jumped on him while she was drunk? It would have made things so much easier. ‘Talk to me about something that isn’t chickens. I knew buying that egg was a mistake.’ Darya requested with a sigh, she’d think about everything else later, just get through the conversation and behave, that was the idea.

[dragon]

Emoyan nodded in agreement. "Skink does need controlled. But to be honest, I think you're the only person she's pulled those specific stunts with. She's a big fan of rolling eggs into fires though to see them explode. Or other nasty and sundry stuff. Once she absolutely trashed the weyrleader's office, dousing all of his papers with ink to the point of illegibility. For a while there I thought I was going to lose my head, you know it. I was sweating rocks for a while there." Emoyan admitted. "But yeah ... definitely needs controlled. I don't know what I would do without Rascal. She used to at least sort of mind Voyager, before he died. I have no idea why, probably because he was pretty. She's got this thing for collecting bronzes. Nevermind they never stick around after she 'collects' them. I am not even sure if she remembers." He shrugged just a bit.

Small good slide tiny places. Get in, get out quick. Do lots stuffs. Fun stuffs. Destroy, see high wails. Funfun!! Small make big stuffs happen! Skink agreed. Yes, she knew she was tiny. Even for a green. But she hardly cared in the least. Being bigger didn't matter a whole lot to her, especially not when the smaller size made her all the more better equipped for her tasks!! No, sir. She didn't mind being small ... or being called small either. And of course being called big trouble only served to inflate her ego dramatically. Puffing up happily, she flared her own frill and wings, giving the wings a little flap happily as she gave another tiny croon. Nope, this mandyr was not capable of flight. Or even gliding really. Running fast and leaping to look like she was flying ... that she could do!

Emoyan could hardly miss all the undercurrents in Darya's reply ... both in wording, and what wasn't said. "Not in crowds, huh?" he asked, quite amused. "Are you implying that you try to get a lot of people drunk by kissing them in more secluded locations, then?" Emoyan teased, good-naturedly. "I suppose it might work, depending on what you were trying to get them drunk on."

Talk to her about something not chickens. Well, on principle that was easily enough done. But in practice a bit harder. What could he talk to her about? Having to fish around and hunt up a topic wasn't always as easy as it sounded, and sometimes it sounded pretty hard. "Alright." He answered simply, partly in answer and partly to buy a bit of time before being on the spot. Asking her about her sudden bout of mad blushing probably wasn't a very tactful thing to do, so that was discarded fairly quickly. Even if he would like to know just what exactly it was she was thinking. "Did they kick you out of mastership because you painted your desk red and green?" He asked, more as a playful question than a serious one ... and poking fun at her all at the same time. But it wasn't chickens!

[Kisha-Ra]

‘Oh I feel so special,’ Darya replied in a deadpan tone. ‘It’s great to know I’m the only person who’s ever been decorated with cream by a tiny winged lizard.’ A sparkle of amusement in her eye betrayed Darya’s thoughts. The bluerider gave the salamandyr a sideways look. ‘That little thing destroyed a whole office? How long was he out?’ There was a slightly creepy intensity to Darya’s gaze, other people’s misfortune often entertained her, and anyone who didn’t think to salamandyr proof their office as much as possible deserved the loss of a few papers. ‘I would say maybe Imp could persuade her a little, but he seems rather impressed by the amount of chaos she can cause. I can only be thankful that he’d rather eat an egg than throw it in the fire any day, or he might decide to emulate her.’

Yes fast. Know I. Imp agreed, leaning over and nibbling gently on the edge of Skink’s wing in an affectionate gesture. He remembered trying to keep up with her! Sneaky good, hide well none see until… too late is, trouble happens. Imp cheerfully flattered his little companion’s ego, looking decidedly smug as he did so.

Darya gave a slight smile and met Emoyan’s gaze squarely. ‘Well I wouldn’t say exactly that, but I’ve been to drag people off to secluded corners anyway. I can only assume you escaped such a dreadful fate through me lacking the coordination required to haul you along. Lucky you.’ Darya looked distinctly regretful for a moment before assuming a patently ridiculous lecherous expression, complete with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

Wiping the stupid look off her face Darya waited patiently for a subject to emerge, so naturally it had to be one of those she wanted to avoid. If anything she managed to blush even harder, as if to hide the expression, although not her embarrassment, Darya’s ands came up to cover her face, and she leaned forward onto her elbows. ‘No. I quit. I’m pretty surprised you haven’t heard the whole story on the Weyr gossip vine.’ Darya’s fingers parted slightly so she could peep out between them almost comically. ‘Imp actually managed to catch a firelizard, and that sort of, er, resulted in me jumping X’rx, although he actually put himself in my way deliberately as it turned out. Anyway that got me thinking, it was probably only good luck that Imp hadn’t managed to find something to chase in class time yet. I’m not really into courting disaster.’ The whole story emerged slowly, without Darya moving her hands at all, though she was pretty sure her entire body must be glowing bright red by now. Finally she fell silent and let her gaze drop to look at her own palms, already regretting every word.

[dragon]

"How long? I have no idea. I wasn't there." Emoyan answered. "If I had been, I would have stopped her, I assure you." He said, with a nod. Indeed, Skink was more than talented with both speed and, well ... general mischief. Emoyan had no idea how far she would go, either. If it was just liking to see people throw a fit, or if she's actually hurt anything. Time would tell, but he rather hoped not to find out. It would be awfully difficult to figure out how to deal with things if Skink actually managed to hurt something or someone. "Oh, dear. The last think Skink needs is an admirer. I am afraid what she'd do if she realized that... who knows what she'd do."

Skink trilled happily, quite pleased to be getting proper worship from her collected shiny in both verbal and physical demonstration. Imp was such a good collected shiny! Frilling for a moment, she watched Darya intently, as if suspecting the woman of having intentions to do something dastardly. What with how often she was looking at the little green lizard!!! But Skink didn't do anything about it ... yet. She didn't want to interrupt Imp's flattery, after all. Quick is, is quick. Imp quick, maybe but get quicker? She answered, conspiratorially. One could get away with a lot, if they were fast enough, after all. And one could get away with a lot more if they had a partner in crime!! Who was also quick.

After what Darya said, and the act she put on with a rather convincing expression, Emoyan couldn't help but laugh. "Lucky me, is it?" He asked, quite amused. "I wouldn't go that far ... a lot of fellows would consider themselves lucky to get dragged off by an attractive woman, you know. Doesn't happen very often." He said, with a solid nod before quirking one brow upward.

However, she seemed entirely too easy to embarrass with what he'd thought was a simple, innocent question. Hrm. Maybe not so much after all. Indeed, he had not heard of this event ... well. Maybe he'd heard of the event, but he hadn't known who all was involved. No details. Mostly because he didn't bother to stop and gossip with people to learn these things. He had entirely too much to do to stand around and gossip. Especially about such things that were generally considered standard fare in a Weyr. Who jumped who and why ... yeah. Not usually a very unusual item or terribly interesting either.

Emoyan leaned forward and took a hold of her hands so to move them so he could see her face again. "Darya ... that was hardly your fault. If that were a problem, anyone with a 'mandyr should not hold any such position. And these days that's getting a bit hard to accomplish, with more and more people having them. Worse, the young people are getting them, despite my every effort to stop them. Just like dragon flights, these things are going to happen. You shouldn't beat yourself up for it. I admit, I've ended up in a few similar scraps with young folk, because of Skink." He shrugged slightly. "It's going to happen. Doesn't mean I should quit my job and go hide under a rock. It's okay." Emoyan offered her a small smile before releasing her hands and patting her shoulder lightly, reassuring. Of course, he didn't blame her for leaving the job ... but he really did feel she shouldn't beat herself up over it having happened. Which she was clearly still doing, since it embarrassed her so badly to say that it happened.