A-B-C and 1-2-3 [Open]

[Requiem]

He let his leg fall back down, leaning into Zesa a little as well. Well, yes, hispet was most important, but he'd still missed the best of Pern's golds a good deal. It had been a long time. He was glad she hadn't forgotten him, that he was. His tail coiled around hers a little tighter in a brief squeeze. They had so many flitter friends around today, now didn't they? He couldn't decide if he preferred the merry atmosphere of the room with all the firelizards, or if he'd like it better to go off with her somewhere. Both were nice. What did Zesa want to do?

Though he didn't acknowledge it, Meira's small sound didn't escape M'ta. He wasn't really sure what the reason behind it was, to be quite honest, and though he was tempted to ask her what the tongue clicking was for, he didn't care to in present company. Besides, it was rare that he had a chance to entertain himself quite like this. M'ta found it dreadfully amusing that Danar was actually gullible enough to believe this farce, and that R'wign was doing such an epicly wonderful job of backing him up.

The boy did shoot a warning glance that was more playful than ought else at Meira, though. If she started laughing, the girl would ruin their ruse. And that wouldn't be very fun, now would it? Casting a sidelong glance at the ranting R'wign, as if to make sure the other brownweyrlingrider wasn't listening, M'ta nodded solemnly. "As long as you help me hold him down, I'm sure she's more than capable of giving him his meds."

He shook his head solemnly at Danar's suggestion, though. "Oh, that'll tip him off, if we get something to bind him with. He's crazy, not stupid. No, we need to take him by surprise and use the restraints on the cot to tie him down." Watching R'wign as his gaze turned away from them, he hissed, "Now!" and shot off like a rocket. The boy moved very fast when he wanted to. He flung himself at R'wign, catching the healer around the waist and twisting so his body contacted the floor first, as he trusted himself to keep from splitting his head open more than he trusted a R'wign who may have been startled by the move, even though he had to suspect it was coming.

M'ta fumbled for R'wign's arms. "Hurry! Get his legs!"

Behruth waddled, making an almost serpentine motion across the ground with his wings flared wide, as if they might help him catch the bug if it tried to move in any unexpected directions. He twisted, ready to pounce on the thing...his wings flapping wildly when he realized where his pounce was going to take him. Watch ou-! He cleared most of Checkoth, but still caught his lower hinds on the other brown's back. Behruth did an aerial somersault and landed on his back. He huffed, winded. Okay. Maybe that wasn't the best idea.

[glamourie]

He probably should not have found it quite so amusing. While there was no doubting the fact that the candidate believed him insane was funny (he was a Journeyman Healer and one of the lead healers in the infirmary, no less!), the level of entertainment R’wign derived from his current predicament could almost qualify as masochistic. The fact was, it was painfully obvious the boy bought his act hook, line and sinker (to use a fishing reference which would have irrationally annoyed R’wign if he realized it). Completing the show were M’ta and Meira playing along and he almost - almost - felt guilty for playing with the boy’s head. He was obviously not the sharpest tool ever wrought and certainly not the most observant (note that R’wign had been behaving with obvious facetiousness only moments before, a direct contrast to the insane comparison). Taking advantage of him for his own amusement almost qualified as being mean. Unfortunately, it was too far in for R’wign to remedy that fact, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Danar was a funny little candidate. Because dragons always picked lunatics to look to. Really.

It took all of R’wign’s effort not to laugh. Keeping a straight face was nearly impossible, so he settled for flailing in distress at one of the opposite walls and wailing - a disguise meant to cover that he was on the verge of hysterical cackling. “You - you,” he said to the wall, then blinked twice. “No, I will NOT do that! I won’t. I simply won’t. You should leave now. Look, you’re upsetting the womenfolk.” Lifting one hand, he pointed toward Kalerary and Meira. “You apologize to them this instant, you -”

Whatever else he was going to say was very quickly cut off by a weight impacting him that he honestly did not see coming. He would’ve liked to say that it came from being distracted but the truth was that R’wign’s survival instincts were just not up to what most people would have expected from someone born and raised in Nerat. He didn’t watch for signs and M’ta was very, very fast. He hit the ground with a startled squawk and shot M’ta a murderous look that was only half-fake. The positioning was awkward and, half-dazed as he was, he only struggled for a moment before thrashing in a mock attempt to free himself. He kicked and squirmed, but was careful not to hit M’ta. Even though he would’ve deserved it, shocking him that way. Just because he was a good sport didn’t mean he wanted to end up a splatter on the ground, thank you very much!

“RELEASE ME AT ONCE!” he proclaimed, loud as he could (in an attempt to make the act seem more genuine). “I’ll have you know that I’m not about to let you manhandle me, you - you - you buffoon!”

Roxie chirruped anxiously at R’wign, obviously not at all pleased by his behavior. The little green ruffled her wings and then looked over at Hero. Her eyes whirled dangerously and she turned to look at the bronze. The green, large for her color, twitched her tail and then trilled lowly in her throat. The sound was half-threatening, definitely not pleased at his inquiry. How dare he imply that Hers was anything short of flawless? The green twitched her wings in defiance, and started to move toward Hero, before a low chirrup of warning sounding from near Kalerary caught her attention. Agitated, Roxie squawked and then took to wing before vanishing between. So not worth the fight. Bronzes weren’t worth her time anyway! She was better than that!

Watching her green go, Ellie twittered nervously. Her head cocked to the side and she looked up at Meira as Kalerary grinned her response. Thoughtfully, the gold took to wing, abandoning her perch to fly over and land several paces from her bonded and the odd brown-thing’s person. Intrigued about their behavior, she chirped and waited for an explanation. What were they doing? And why were they doing it on the floor? Didn’t they know that the floor wasn’t a good place to be laying? Silly Hers, he always did things like that. Ellie considered hiding behind her wing briefly, before bouncing back a pace, just to make sure she wasn’t squished. How she wished they’d stop. It was all-together very strange behavior, and she didn’t want to imagine Hers as hurt.

“He’s not hurt is he?” Kalerary whispered to Meira, her arms wound around the wherhandler still. She tried to imagine drugging R’wign, but her mind did not allow for it; she viewed him the way most children did older siblings and she had a hard time thinking he’d fall for such a trick. That thought was kept to herself. “Either of them? R’wign and the little guy? I hope not…”

It was fortunate that Checkoth was distracted by Behruth, or R’wign’s odd behavior would have been concerning to him. As it was, the brown let loose with a startled cry as his back was most effectively walloped by the smaller brown’s hindquarters and he flopped onto his side in a daze. Confused, he crooned and then rolled over flat onto his back, legs up in the air, in a remarkable imitation of Collision fast asleep. One wing draped over his face. A good effort, I think, Ruthclutchbrother, but we’re clearly outmatched. I think we should get one of the little winged flutterbies to help us, he suggested as he wiggled in his spot to make dragon-shaped indentations on the ground. You’re not hurt, are you?

[Avu]

As her brown dropped his foreleg from hiding his face, Zesa crooned, encouragingly. Had he thought she would be upset at him? No. Why would she be? It simply wasn't in Zesa's nature to be upset about anything, unless it was her clutch (she went into all-out protective mode in such cases) or someone that she liked in trouble. Jabari hadn't been in trouble, and she'd missed him, but she wouldn't fuss at him for that. She was just...excessively and obviously pleased to see him again, to the point where she'd more or less forgotten about the presence of other firelizards in the room. Not exactly quiet, they were, but the gold was quite capable of...tuning out...unnecessary noises. After all, she most certainly wasn't happy to hear cursing, hissing, or groaning when any badly injured person arrived at the Infirmary -- pain of any sort agitated her to varying levels depending on who it was. Jabari's question made Zesa's glance sweep around the room again, and she crooned, almost uncertainly. She...really didn't know. Had her brown no preference?

Biting the inside of her cheek hard enough that pain flickered through her jaw, Meira managed to keep a straight face. At least her role as Healer didn't require too much talking, or else she'd run the risk of laughing in the middle of saying something. As it was, she kept the curtain of dark hair carefully before her face anytime she felt laughter bubbling in her throat. How she wanted to laugh. Her arm around Kalerary was still reassuring, protective, but she'd decided that there was absolutely no reason to worry. R'wign she had been fine with; M'ta wouldn't hurt her; and Pasine's little boyfriend was just...he didn't seem the kind to notice fear, much less prey on it. Neither did he act particularly intelligent. R'wign's act was quite fine, but he'd been sane enough up until the moment that M'ta had decided to act as if he was crazy. The Healer raised her gaze to Danar, both eyebrows lifting at his question, and she nodded solemnly, forcibly fighting down the laughter that so wanted to spill. She hadn't missed M'ta's warning look, and didn't plan on being the one to ruin the joke before the climax.

As Danar started plotting -- and a failure of a plot it was -- Meira couldn't resist flicking another glance at R'wign, who had decided to flail and wail at the wall some more. Poor wall, it'd probably be traumatized. As he pointed at her -- and Kalerary -- Meira flicked a look at Danar that was clearly a silent plea for assistance. Honestly, what were they supposed to do with him? And then, abruptly, M'ta launched himself at R'wign, and Meira automatically tightened her arm around Kalerary's shoulders, her hand stroking the girl's hair absently, soothingly, in case the sudden motion had startled the little girl. It was noted that M'ta had twisted in order not to bash R'wign's head against the ground, and she cringed slightly, glancing at Danar and gesturing with her free hand towards the writhing weyrlingpairs even as M'ta's order rang out. "Do what he says," she blurted, "Hurry!" The reason behind her pushing him into action so quickly? So that there would be no time for him to actually think, and back out of doing what he'd agreed to.

Under the cover of R'wign's shrieking and wailing, Meira bent down to fill Kalerary in at the girl's question, meeting her eyes and smiling reassuringly. "No, neither of them are hurt." Part of her wanted to giggle at M'ta's expense at the nickname Kalerary had labeled him with. She bit that back, for it would surely become unstoppable laughter if she even let it out at all. "They're playing a joke, you see. M'ta -- that's the 'little guy' -- and R'wign." She was whispering to make sure Danar couldn't hear her, and even though her face was solemn (in case the Candidate looked her way), there was a mischievous edge to her voice. "He," with a slight, almost imperceptible jerk of her head towards Danar, "doesn't know it -- but it won't hurt anybody, and I won't really drug him. It probably won't get that far anyway, but play along, hmm?"

((kekeke cue failpost. >>))

[Rei]

Take him by surprise? Before Danar could even open his mouth the brown weyrling was off and had tackled the other boy to the floor. Whatever Meira said was lost in the rush of adrenaline that sped through the candidate’s system. He bolted over to the tussling twosome and grabbed R’wign’s legs in a strong hold.

Hero flared his wings in distress and gave a loud cry. It was not Roxie who startled him, (although she was very scary, scratch that green off his possible mate list) it was his bonded’s uncharacteristic tackle of the other boy. Surely his did not intend to fight with the other boy. The bronze landed near the three boys, headless of the fact that is was entirely possible that he might be struck. Hopping to and fro he shrieked rather loudly, causing Danar to turn and promptly get a thrashing foot in the face. Hero shrieked louder as his fell backwards and brought his hand up to wipe the blood off his mouth.

The bronze launched himself towards his and landed on his chest hissing and flaring his wings to warn everyone off. They had hurt his! He would protect his! These where not friends, not at all. They were hurting his on purpose! “Hero get off.” Danar’s head swam, what in Faranth’s name was going on? Sitting up he blinked once and clutched the small enraged flitter to his chest. His was ok? These people were mean they hit and played games that were mean. His did not need such friends!

Danar stroked his tiny flit to calm it, trying to make out the flood of emotions and images the creature was sending him. Finally a light seemed to go off in the lads head, (seriously if you looked hard enough you could probably see it) and he took a searching glance around the room before groaning loudly. Why did he always seem to be a target for these kinds of things really? “Forget it. I’m out of here.” Danar stated trying to gather his last shreds of dignity. Hero chirped loudly the sound almost a scold.

[Requiem]

Jabari considered for a moment. It wasn't that he didn't like company, really - other firelizards were more than welcome to hang around. But...it was rather chaotic in here. Between Hispet and Hispet's big petfriend, and the silly green that ran into things and made much noise, and that bronzey who was bouncing around like something that had lost his mind, it was perhaps just a little too crazy. The brown wasn't what you'd call an exciteable creature, and so much stimulus could be wearying. Trilling low at the gold, he showed her that nice little alcove in the fronds, where they could either take shelter beneath the leaves or sun on the smooth rocks in a secluded area along the beach. Would she like to go with him there? It was really very nice and peaceful.

Oops. Hadn't meant to startle the healer completely, though he had to bite back a snicker at that death look R'wign was directing his way. How scary. He braced himself with one leg, drawn up at the knee, arms visibly working to try to hold R'wign in place, though of course he wasn't clutching at the other weyrlingrider nearly as tightly as it looked from a spectator's perspective. Danar wasn't far behind, and that nearly had M'ta grinning, the boy flicking a glance at R'wign, triumph flashing behind his eyes. The other boy was squirmy though, wasn't he? Almost like an overgrown fish. He'd be quite difficult to restrain without knocking him silly if R'wign had actually been trying to break free in earnest.

His grip loosened a little when he saw that Danar had somehow managed to get a foot to the face, which was nearly impossible given R'wign was merely pretending to put up a struggle. Talk about completely incompetent. M'ta hadn't intended to get anyone hurt, but since Danar apparently couldn't concentrate on more than one thing at once - and he'd clearly finally come to the realization that a journeyman healer who'd been quite in his right mind just a few minutes ago couldn't possibly be a looney - the younger of the brownriders released R'wign. He didn't quite let the journeyman go scott free, however. M'ta clipped him lightly upside the head. "Buffoon, huh? Well, you're a...a...snake."

Oh, nice one, M'ta. He snorted at his own inadequacy when it came to finding an appropriate insult, scooting away from R'wign and his eyesore of a purple skirt to regard Danar with mild amusement. "For being 'out of here,' you seem very much still here," he commented drolly. The boy cocked a brow at the candidate, nodding toward the bloody mouth. "Maybe our resident lunatic would be willing to look at that for you." He decided not to say anything about Danar's being kicked in the face. M'ta could apologize, but he was certain it would sound quite insincere, so he didn't bother. The weyrlingrider was very much of the opinion that if Danar was both stupid enough to fall for the ruse and inept enough to get kicked in a play-fight, he deserved what was coming to him. Sides, a little blood might toughen him up.

It must have been quite a sight, the two young brown dragons lying sprawled on their backs in the dirt, but Behruth merely coiled in on himself and shot a glance at Checkoth. I think you are right, Checkbrother. A flutterbye would be great help indeed. The little shinies are very tricksy, they are. He uncoiled slowly and flopped over onto his side, free wing flapping for some semblance of balance and throwing dirt into the air. I am fine. I did not break you, did I Checkbrother? It would not be at all good if you were broken. He crooned worriedly. They had to find a better way to catch the tricksy shinies.

[glamourie]

Kalerary tilted her head and nodded in agreement with Meira. If she was sure nobody was hurt, she could play along. That fall definitely looked like it hurt, though. She winced slightly, then ducked her head half behind the older girl again - only to have her gray eyes widen to saucers as a foot (unidentifiable from her angle) came to collide with the candidate’s face so effectively. That definitely looked like it smarted, and she couldn’t help but wince in sympathy pains. No one was supposed to get hurt from their game, were they? She was sure that R’wign and the little man did not mean to hurt anybody. Too timid was she, though, to speak. They were strangers, save for R’wign, and Kalerary did not normally do well with strangers (who were men). When she had no other choice she could do so, or if she had Z’hin or her papa to hide behind, but otherwise, men frightened her to the point of being mute. A side effect of coming from Fort, perhaps, or maybe Kalerary was just naturally that shy; whatever it was, she didn’t give voice to her concerns or her inquiries, but she did stare at Danar with eyes as large as they could be, and her grip tightened ever so slightly on Meira’s shirt. He sounded so upset, so angry. Didn’t he know it was an accident? She guessed not…

But it was an accident. Amidst his flailing, R’wign did not realize anything was wrong or even that Danar was coming too close until the sound of fire lizard shrieking (Not any of his, he noted with amusement) was loud enough to deafen. As soon as he was freed, R’wign moved to sit up only to be bopped upside the head and he shot M’ta an amused look. He was glad Roxie was gone, for his green would doubtlessly have given the bronze a piece of her mind for making so much noise. As it was, the look Ellie shot Hero was dangerous. She didn’t scold. She didn’t have to. There was a definite warning in that look, telling him to silence himself without words, and the little gold flicked her tail animatedly as she watched the bronze. He was making too much noise. He was going to disturb the patients. Unacceptable, it was. Didn’t he realize he was in a place for hurt two-leggeds? Bad, bad bronze. She flicked her tail again and stared, hoping to get her message across.

“Come now,” R’wign said to Danar with a raised eyebrow, “you’re leaving so soon? Surely our feet aren’t that offensive. I, at least, wash regularly. Can’t speak for M’ta.” He shot his former room mate a playful look and then rose to his feet. “Snake. Really. That’s the best you can do? I can think of so much better insults. Snake indeed. Snake!”

The insult wasn’t really that funny. Danar’s reaction, on the other hand, was, and R’wign carefully used the insult to disguise his laughter in a half-baked attempt to preserve the candidate’s self-esteem. He didn’t mean to bully him - really. R’wign was not used to anyone falling for his ploys, even ones so supported by Meira and M’ta. Most people saw through him. It wasn’t as if R’wign’s antics were not well-known throughout Selenitas. Subtlety wasn’t his suit, and he didn’t see a reason to try and hide his own playfulness. That and he was well-known as a Journeyman Healer, one of the longest stationed at Selenitas to date. Not that most people remembered that (a fact which embittered him periodically). He supposed the candidate simply didn’t pay any attention to ranking individuals aside from those he specifically had need to interact with. Comical really, and in that thought, he had the picking on him coming really. He was not very bright. Still, R’wign felt it mean to pick on people less intelligent than himself for too long.

The healer dusted himself off, then raised an eyebrow. “Seriously, don’t run off. I don’t think I meant to do that. It was me, wasn’t it?” He couldn’t tell, really. Was M’ta flailing too? “If you come over here, I’ll fix you up and we’ll say you took a punch defending Meira’s honor, no one will ever be the wiser. Betcha she’d fib to spare your image if you asked, she’s a nice gal that way. Aren’t you, Meira?”

I am very hard to break, Checkoth proclaimed proudly as he wriggled in the sand. More dragon shaped spaces forming, sinuous and vague. At least, he liked to think they were dragon shaped. His attempt at ‘sand dragons’, however, more resembled blobs than anything else. From his position Checkoth couldn’t tell, though, and that was just as well. Nothing to pop his bubble. You didn’t hurt me, Ruthclutchbrother. I’m very hard to hurt. I am a tough Checkoth, I am. Which flit flutter do you think we should ask? Ellie maybe? Elliegoldie is a very good flit flutter and I bet she’d help us. Maybe the brownling because he is brown like us? I can ask them, I can, or get R’wignmine to. You can pick. You’ve met all of my flit flutters!

[Avu]

While Jabari considered, Zesa took the time to glance around at the rest of the Infirmary. Chaotic indeed, was the place. Mostly due to the people, but the firelizards were hardly helping at all. The older queen blinked, a low, almost confused croon starting in her throat. What...were they doing? Crazy people, crazy firelizards. One wing twitched lightly as she nuzzled closer to Jabari, her head snaking downwards to rest on one of his forelegs, peering up at him trustingly. The image given by the brown made the queen's head come up, and she crooned, soprano tones low. Very well; they would go, then. Suiting croon to actions, Zesa furled her wings to her sides, rolling to her feet and stepping to the edge of the cabinet to cock her head back at Jabari and then croon again. A straight flight: That would be better, yes? Warmer, and more time to play, along the way, than if they went between. And her lovely brown would lead the way? (Normally, the sound of any firelizard shrieking like Hero was would have made Zesa thwap the bronze soundly over the head to make him stop, but right now, she didn't mind so much: She had her brown.)

Usually, Meira would have actually said something, to comfort Kalerary, but between Danar, M'ta, and R'wign -- she was very adequately distracted. It didn't stop her from noticing the girl's anxiety, though, and, almost without noticing what she was doing, she wrapped both arms around Kalerary reassuringly, and one hand stroked the girl's hair again. There...was no need to be frightened, really...was there? M'ta and R'wign were just playing: The farthest it would go would be R'wign getting tied down to an Infirmary bed and left there for a while. Even that -- was doubtful. Because, honestly? R'wign was big. And he was squirming around like a fish out of water, even in playing. Tackling him down was one thing; lugging him off of the ground and into a bed and not letting him escape was entirely another. As Hero's shrieking started up, Meira winced, flicking a glance at Zesa. The queen...did not like excessively loud noises, especially when it was caused by one person only. A crowd, she could understand. But one person had no right to shriek like Hero was. As the gold seemed to be ready to leave, the wherhandler's glance flicked back towards Danar --

-- just in time to see him get a foot full in the face. Meira blinked in shock. To whom, exactly, did the foot belong? She was ready to place a bet and say it was R'wign, since M'ta wasn't flailing around nearly as much as the other weyrlingrider was. Her nose crinkled slightly. How, exactly, had he gotten kicked hard enough to break skin in a struggle that wasn't even real? R'wign hadn't been flailing around that much...Hero's shrieking, though, was not good. He needed to stop. Just because the section of Infirmary they were in at present moment wasn't occupied didn't mean the rest of the Infirmary wasn't. As it was, the Infirmary always seemed to have someone or another there. The Healer didn't miss Ellie's warning glance towards Hero, and she couldn't help a flicker of a smile. Just like Zesa, she was, in that count: Didn't like too much noise. Or maybe she just didn't like Hero. Typically, Zesa was fine with Hero. Her nice bronze son, he was. But noise was bad. "Can you make your firelizard stop, please?" she asked quietly, one eyebrow rising slightly. "You'll disturb the patients, and they won't thank you for that."

The exchange of insults between M'ta and R'wign were more or less ignored, as they clearly held no venom. And now...teasing Danar, M'ta was. Not exactly necessary, as no doubt the fact that everyone but him in the Infirmary -- and yes, that included Kalerary -- knew that R'wign was perfectly sane was humiliating enough. She would be embarrassed, if it was her (but then, she wouldn't have tackled R'wign, so maybe not). At least R'wign wasn't mocking him as much as M'ta was. She couldn't help the amused smile as R'wign decided to use her as an excuse for what appeared to be a split lip. "Let's be realistic and say it was Pasine's honor instead." Was she teasing? A little, but it wasn't intended to annoy or hurt Danar. And anyway, if he had a problem with everyone on the face of Pern knowing about his girlfriend, he'd already messed that up big time. "You can say she owes you for visiting her every single day when she was in the Infirmary." Rather uncharacteristic, this teasing, but the Infirmary was safe, made her loosen up, and it did amuse her, that Danar had come to see his girlfriend all the time, and yet...did not remember the Journeyman Healer.

Go figure.

[Rei]

“No thanks I’ll be fine.” Danar replied to the brown weyrling, before tapping Hero lightly and eliciting a startled cheep from the bronze. “It’s not a life threatening injury.” M’ta’s comment about his still “being there” was ignored. No sense getting himself in trouble over a stupid prank that be had the ignorance to fall for. “I’ll shut him up.” Was the only response Meira got. He prodded the lizard mentally and the bronze lowered his wings and fell silent.

Ellie’s poisonous gaze caused the bronze to immediately deflate and his eyes took on sorrowful colors. The gold was displeased with him. By the looks on a few other faces quite a few people were displeased with him as well. But, but, he had been protected his. Why was that so wrong? The little bronze’s body quivered as he clambered up his bonded’s shoulder. Hero slipped his head down the back of Danar’s shirt to hide his face and perhaps also his shame.

R’wign’s words were taken in with an inscrutable expression. “You know really, I’ll be fine. I really don’t care what anyone else thinks of me. I’ve long since stopped worrying about it. It gets you no where. Tell people what you want.” Danar tugged lightly on Hero’s tail to get the bronze to look at him. “We are leaving.” His voice was not friendly, but nor was it condescending or angry. Truly Danar didn’t care. He had never had many friends nor ever needed any. If these people wanted to pick on passersby they needed to find another idiot to bother.

Hero chirped questioningly. Did his just call himself stupid? Danar gave the flit a dark look and the bronze jumped from his shoulder to wing ahead towards the door. With any luck the candidate would get back to his chores without further interruption. Let them clean up the infirmary by themselves. They obviously had each other to rely on.

Although Meira could not have known, Pasine had been avoiding Danar for sevendays. Why he wasn’t exactly sure, but he had a lingering feeling that Shmee’s death had something to do with it. That fact had Danar in a depressed mood most days and her name was sufficient reminder to dredge up the dark cloud that always lingered on the edges of his mind. Without saying another word the candidate strode purposefully towards the door.

[Requiem]

Trilling his pleasure quietly at Zesa's acceptance, Jabari willingly took the lead, though he was careful not to go too fast since his lovely queen was, if only a little, bigger than he was. He gave the tall one's head a wide berth and slid out the window, angling almost immediately for the trees, though he did take the time to loop low over the water and splash at Zesa playfully with his tail. He might have been inclined to frolic near the river for a little while longer, but that was not going to work so well, it wasn't. Not when the beach was still quite a ways away. That didn't keep him from flying high amongst the trees to spin and dart through the branches. He crooned to Zesa as he played. This time she was chasing him!

"I should say not," the boy muttered, his dark eyes rather lacking even in humor. They fixed on Danar intently, such that he barely acknowledged R'wign's jab about his lack of ability when it came to insults. M'ta was, quite frankly, not amused. It was nothing more than a harmless little prank. Really, though, the weyrlingrider was just a little insulted at the candidate's reaction (although, if asked, he'd hardly be able to tell you just how it was insulting). So what if he was kicked in the mouth? It wasn't a big deal, and the boy was acting like they'd gone out of their way to gut him or something. Sniffing pointedly, he crossed his legs and didn't bother getting up off the floor. If Danar was going to sulk, then he could act like a weyrbrat. So there.

Swiftly losing interest in the stupid one who insisted on playing the victim when he was really just rather daft (M'ta hadn't actually expected Danar to believe the whole thing) the short teen wiggled his toes contemplatively. Did his feet smell? He was fairly certain it was R'wign who had kicked the candidate. Even though he hadn't been shoulder-to-shoulder with the healer in order to get a hold on him, M'ta was fairly certain his legs weren't nearly long enough to have R'wign's reach. Still, he glanced up at his former roommate to make sure the older boy wasn't looking, then quickly sniffed at his bare foot, just to be sure. Noooo, not bad. And no blood, either, so it probably wasn't his foot anyway.

So he didn't smell bad. M'ta frowned slightly at the retreating candidate. What was it then? Danar certainly couldn't be mad at them over a joke? The brownweyrling often scared people off when he was trying, but here, with his two friends where he was most comfortable, he hadn't been attempting to run the candidate off at all. It...made him feel...odd, that apparently Danar simply didn't want to be...M'ta nearly laughed aloud, then. Really?! He was getting upset because this candidate he didn't even know wanted to leave when he was just being friendly? - in an admittedly abnormal sort of way. But inviting Danar into their play was being friendly for M'ta, and he saw the candidate's sullen retreat as a rejection.

Before he even realized it, M'ta was speaking up. "We were just messing around a little...nothing personal. You don't have to leave." The brownweyrling mentally winced at the strange quality in his voice that sounded almost like...pleading. Lovely. "Unless you want to," he added, more quietly.

You are a very tough Checkoth, Behruth agreed, gaining his feet and moving carefully near his wriggling clutchbrother as he looked to see what the other dragon was doing with unveiled curiosity. The Elliegold is very shiny. Maybe, since she is shiny, it will be easier for her to catch a shiny? The logic made sense to him. Arching his neck to nose lightly at Checkoth's stomach, he questioned, Do you have an itch, Checkbrother? A touch of amusement lingered behind the question.

[glamourie]

Ellie was not the sort of creature to scold. It was beneath her. She was more the type to leave if something bothered her enough, and she resolved to do just that if the bronze did not quiet himself. He was so loud! So loud! His behavior made her somewhat glad for her browns; neither of them was particularly loud, not Hazard nor the large one with two tails. Peaceful, they were. Much better than being noisy. Noise was unpleasant, didn’t he know that? Twittering quietly, the little Gold shifted her weight. Her anxiety was obvious. The loudest creature she was used to dealing with was Roxie and usually - usually - Roxie only was loud for a few seconds before quieting. She could deal with that, since her green usually listened to her, and understood what the scolding looks meant. But Hero was a stranger, and the hatchling gold couldn’t help but fidget uncomfortably, her head ducking in her embarrassment. Why did he have to make so much noise? There were better ways to get a point across. Didn’t he know that? Maybe she should teach him. Ellie squirmed slowly. Maybe.

Oh, but he looked so upset. Alarmed, Ellie flapped her wings and stared at the bronze before chirping very, very quietly. It was an encouraging sort of noise, as though to reassure him that she wasn’t truly angry. No, no, she wasn’t terribly mad at him, he needn’t worry; she never held grudges, that wasn’t the kind of queen that she was! Distress colored her eyes. She didn’t want him terribly upset. But -- but her minething was also upset. So confusing. Ellie flew over and landed quite daintily on R’wign’s shoulder and proceeded to hide in the healer’s hair as best she could. Maybe then she wouldn’t have to think about so many complicated things - like upset bronzes, puzzled healers, other queens and thrashing around on the ground. A normal day, that was what she wanted. Was it too much to ask for?

Unfortunately for Danar, R’wign was not a nice individual. Though he pretended to be (often very well), he was inherently sarcastic, and he had no tolerance for what he deemed to be “pity parties.” The candidate’s response to his words, however unintentional though it may have been, sounded exactly like such a trait: woe is me, I don’t need anyone, I am better than that. It made R’wign roll his eyes in a very obvious show of disapproval. Anyone who thought they could live life without needing anyone was mistaken. So many fools believed it but human beings were social creatures by nature, plain and simple, and though some were more so than others, everyone needed at least one person, eventually. Surviving and thriving meant learning to deal with people in an extended time period. It meant learning to play the system, so to speak. Pick and choose who to need. R’wign was very, very good at it.

“Oh, let him go,” R’wign began with a glance toward M’ta. “We’re obviously not worthy of his attention, don’t you see? He’s too good for the likes of us.” Manipulative guilt trip? Oh, hell yes. R’wign was not above trying to screw with people’s heads to make a point and Danar, by being so snotty when he’d tried to be nice, had walked right into it. “We were fools to think he’d want to be our friend and involve him in our games and playing. Really. I mean, what kind of candidate wants to befriend the likes of us? He’s probably heard of our failures to Impress for so long, thinks us a blight on his chances. Can’t say as I blame him, I mean, I would - but then, we did manage to Impress eventually, and we’re something of experts on candidate lessons, having done them so many times. I mean, really, why would he want to be friends with us? With the two senior brown weyrlings? What exactly is there to be gained by being friends with healers at that? Obviously the three of us -” He was considering Meira part of their group, “- are just not good enough for him. We should work harder, maybe then we’d be deserving of his friendship.”

Curled around Meira’s legs as she was, Kalerary watched Danar edge toward the door. Unlike R’wign, though, she wasn’t a manipulative sort. She was very blunt, sometimes painfully so, and as he edged away, she crinkled her nose. “You’re kind of a dummy,” she said without hesitation; it was the first time that she really spoke to the candidate without thinking her words through. “They were just playing and no one meant to get hurt. You don’t gotta run away. People who run away don’t make any friends. No one likes a coward. You should stay and let them fix you up and play with us. You don’t gotta run off just because they played with you. People play with me all the time. R’wign told me he was a girl once, and that he pretended to be a boy just ‘cause. It’s not just you. Taking it personally is really dumb.” Kalerary had all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop -- sometimes it was for the better, though. Her chin jutted up and she looked at Meira. “So what’s a Pasine?”

So you want me to ask Ellieshiny? Checkoth inquired, just to confirm. He wriggled in his spot again for a moment before sitting up properly. His eyes whirled confusion before he rumbled. No, no. I was making sand dragons. R’wignmine likes to wriggle in the sand, he says it makes silly shapes. I was doing that. I don’t itch! If I did, I’d ask the green thing. She is very good at scratching itches. Would you like me to show you?

[Avu]

As her brown leapt into the air and took flight, Zesa, too, did so, gliding after the brown and pausing to loop around Meira's head and croon softly, to make sure she knew that she was leaving, and then darted out of the window after Jabari. As the sun warmed her wings, the gold crooned, delighted as she looped mid-air, tucking her wings. Along towards the trees, she followed Jabari, and as he splashed at her in the river, the queen deliberately dove to cut cleanly through the splash of water, the liquid droplets gleaming along her hide as she closed one wing, dipping and cupping the water in her wing. Almost immediately, it weighed her down, and she righted herself, sending the water towards Jabari with a playful croon. The trees, was it? Oh, she liked the trees, the challenge that they presented. Her slender body wove through the branches as she darted below Jabari, closer to the thick trunks than to the foliage-covered branches, and, abruptly, as the trees thinned ahead of her, she darted ahead and whiplashed around a tree, her mometum taking her up and just behind Jabari again.

The boy's couldn't-care-less attitude made Meira crinkle her nose, arms still wrapped around Kalerary. Did he not understand that it was an accident? Just a prank? A harmless -- well, admittedly not harmless, but accidents did happen -- joke. It was all in fun, and honestly, did he expect them to start teasing him and laughing at him because he'd fall for it? Because, really. Nobody was laughing. The Healer raised one hand absently from the little girl's shoulders to tuck her hair entirely behind one ear, to make sure it didn't fall across her face again. While she was trying to hide laughter, it was fine, but once that was over, she preferred it tucked out of the way. Her arm returned automatically to Kalerary's shoulders once she was done, and before she could protest the boy's departure -- from the Infirmary with a bloody lip. What, did he want people to think the Healers were too inept to deal with a split lip? He looked as if he'd been...oh, she didn't know. Attacked by a Salamandyr who liked to dangle from people's upper lips? Or just...mugged by someone who happened to be really, really bad at mugging...?

Whatever. The point was, leaving the Infirmary with blood still running down your lip did not make the Infirmary look good.

And that made her slightly irritated. Couldn't he just swallow his pride and get it seen to? It would take all of two minutes. M'ta's words made her blink, almost surprised and vaguely amused to realize that the Weyrlingrider had...taken a seat on the ground. The...pleading? -- tone in his voice drew a slight surprise from the Healer, too, though she didn't show it. She did stare at R'wign, though, torn between disapproval and amusement, at the Healer's...what, exactly? Attempt at guilt-tripping Danar? To...keep him from leaving? Or just...taunting him, or just trying to get him to get even more annoyed? Because, if he really didn't care about what other people thought, Meira could see the boy just ignoring him entirely and walking out regardless. She bit her lip, noting, but not answering, that she had been included in R'wign's...uh, indirect lecture.

Kalerary's piping up startled her, too, and instinctively she drew the little girl a little closer. Her outspokenness...was surprising, after her apparent shyness only a few minutes before. But the words themselves drew an amused grin from the Healer, and she flicked an amused look at Danar. "It is true, you know...they weren't trying to hurt you," she commented quietly, the little girl's proximity as comforting to her as she assumed it was to Kalerary. "It was just a joke..." And, really, who would have fallen for that? Didn't everybody know R'wign? It wasn't as if the Journeyman Healer was...quiet. As had been more than proved by his display in his lovely purple skirt. Kalerary's question made the Healer's gaze flick towards Danar again before she answered. "Pasine is a person. She's a Candidate, and she and Danar -- they're good friends." Yes, she was pretty sure most of the Infirmary considered him as 'Pasine's boyfriend,' but technically, they could just be really...really...really good friends. Apparently Danar wasn't much for jokes, though. That made for good company...