lighting this fuse might result in a... {open}

[glamourie]

How silly he must have looked. Rawign was sitting with his legs crossed on top of a large rock in the jungle, the mossy coverage of it ignored as he worked at braiding a few long blades of grass together in an intricate and otherwise worthless rope that meant nothing to anyone but him. It was late in the day and he was having the most rotten one, having woken up after sleeping on his wrist so that it was sore. That was followed by actually tripping and falling on his face on his way to the infirmary after doing his chores, scuffing up his right cheek bad enough that he had to clean it when he got there. Then the entire time he was at the Infirmary he'd been in a foul mood, and rather than express it outwardly, he buried it all deep inside. Repression was his finest friend. He silently braided the grass together more firmly and pulled on both ends of it, to test the strength of the rope. Good enough, for the moment.

Silently, Rawign swung his legs over the side of the rock and retrieved another handful of grass, jerking it away from the leafy ground-coverage of the jungle. Then he climbed back onto his rock and started lacing it into his braid. It was anything but neat and pretty to behold, but it was soothing his nerves slightly. He found that monotonous activity usually helped to calm him down slightly when he was upset. That and being completely and utterly alone. As a result, he'd left Beggar in the kitchens to drive someone else completely mad. He'd probably have a few angry drudges on his hands later on. Oh well.

It wasn't helping, though, at least not as much as he wanted. His bad mood hadn't dissipated very much because being left alone left him with the shadows in his mind. His thoughts were racing and whirling. Maybe it was the fact that he'd fallen down and scraped his face that drew the realization - he'd been most effectively humiliated - or perhaps it was just a general acceptance, but he'd spent the entire day with one very plain thought on his mind: He didn't really trust or like anyone. There was Cezine, who he'd told his 'big, dark secret' and that was more based around sleep deprivation than actual trust. Did he actually consider anyone at the Weyr his friend? No. Well, Beggar, but aside from him, no. He went to sleep every night feeling completely alone and woke up hollow inside, wanting to curl up and wish himself back to the North. There at least he had a reason for keeping to himself, it was for safety purposes. He really didn't have that excuse to hide behind anymore, and it... bothered him.

He was bothered to think the person with the problem was him, not everyone around him.

Giving the 'rope' another tug, Rawign continued weaving the grass strands together. It was really a poor task and he couldn't have been worse at it if he tried, but it was growing long enough that were it not for how weak it was, it might have been considered rather impressive. At least the effort was soothing to his still somewhat-sore wrist. Why he slept on it, he had no idea. Normally he slept on his back, but then, restlessness did that to a person. He was fairly sure he was losing his mind, one day at a time... or perhaps he'd lost it the day he agreed to come to Selenitas in the first place. He felt so out of place, even if he wouldn't admit it to anyone but himself. Even if he wasn't paralyzed by fear when in the presence of dragons anymore, he was still so lost. It was his own fault, though.

Some part of him wished he'd stayed at Nerat, though. There, at least, he had a place... even if that place was to a life of relative monotony as a fisher, rather than anything worthwhile. But was he really doing anything worthwhile at the Weyr, aside from being an inconvenience? Not really. He was pretty sure the most useful thing he did for the entire sevenday was fall on his face. No doubt the people who'd seen him found the sight rather entertaining. No one had laughed... that he could hear, but that didn't mean they weren't deriving great amusement from his misfortune. People did that and he couldn't fully blame them. He probably did look funny, tumbling right onto his cheek that way.

Another tug made the entire rope tear in two and Rawign scowled before throwing it to the side in fury. His hands rubbed down his green tunic to brush the grass stains off on his clothing. "Sharding grass. Well, I don't like you, either!"

[descent]

He was having an amazing time! Oh what fun the Weyr was! So much better than those stuffy crowded halls back at the crafthall! Doing acrobatics in the air brown Splotch chirped for his human to hurry and try to keep up. The little brown flit was having an amazing time. Aside from a small misunderstanding about stealing others possessions he’d certainly taken to it all faster than his master. Speaking of Malkier, he simply arched an eyebrow at the chattering brute and kept his slow steady pace. He wasn’t about to run through these thick forests, not when he didn’t have wings to glide on or the complete abandonment of dignity that Splotch possessed. The flit made a fool of himself at least twice a day and rarely seemed to notice. It was a trait that endeared and disgusted Malkier all at the same time.

Seeing as his wasn’t going to keep pace Splotch let out a trill sound and soared ahead, little wings pumping to keep himself aloft. He did a few ariel cartwheels, soaring and diving in an attempt to impress no one in particular. The little flit rarely sat still and even when he wasn’t airborne the firelizard kept himself busy by nosing about or playing with some of the toys Malkier had finally gotten around to fashioning him. Much to Splotches delight since Malkier wasn’t able to do much craftwork at the moment he’d taken to greeting new little toys for his flit…the firelizard was certainly proud of his treats.

But as he went along, soaring well out of Malkiers sight the flit grew a bit tired…. Which was how Rawign would suddenly find his head the resting place of a wiry little brown. Leaning down the firelizard swiveled his neck to get a better look at the boys face and stared at him a thoughtful moment before letting out a loud chirp. Why was this two legger unhappy? Considering Splotch was Malkier’s firelizard it wasn’t as if the emotions Rawign were facing were unknown…Letting out a much louder chirp the little flit launched himself into the air and went between.

Meanwhile Malkier had paused to gather a few pieces of red fruit from a tree limb that hung low. He had eaten a light lunch and the Journeyman had yet to be in the south long enough to get over the superior quality of fruit. Why nothing he’d eaten in the north was as succulent!

A few moments later Splotch appeared in the air above Rawign, a special something hanging from his mouth. The rope, made from colorful scraps, was about half the length of the firelizard and from both ends hung small iron clumps of metal that were rather crude spheres. Dropping the toy from his mouth Splotch uttered a warbled and soared down to flutter in front of the boy. His toy was so fun! It was special! It made him happy…so surely this two-legged thing would like it to right? Chattering excitedly the firelizard continued to pester Rawign with his excitement.

[glamourie]

Uh ... huh? Blink. Rawign went cross-eyed when a weight landed right on top of his head, and the brown that looked down at him received an arched eyebrow in response. He was someone's pet - else he would not have so daringly come close to the boy. Firelizards that were wild simply did not come up to people like that. They were distrusting of humans and perhaps rightly so. To actually land on someone was very, very bold. Especially when that someone had a blue who looked to them, even if said blue flit was probably in the kitchens snuggling up to one of the drudges, trilling and chittering as adorably as he possibly could in hopes of getting extra food. It was a wonder that Beggar wasn't rolly-polly! Who's flit was that, anyway? Rawign quirked an eyebrow as he was chirped at before promptly sniffing and replying with a half-squawk of his own that was a very poor imitation of the flit. Unfortunately, his 'chirp' met empty air. Harumph. Well, fine then.

He was wonderfully oblivious to the fact that Beggar was actually not in the kitchens at all. In fact, the little blue was very near by.

Since begging in the kitchens had proven unsuccessful, Beggar had returned to the jungle. Rather than go to his agitated pet on his own accord, Beggar chose to fly about in hopes of finding someone to play with. It was during that lazy flight that someone gathering food (!!) had drawn the firelizard's attention. Inquisitive by nature, Beggar swept forward and landed on one of the branches, eyes whirling, as he watched Malkier for a moment. The boy gathered one, and then two fruit... and Beggar bobbed his head before gliding over to land right on top of the third fruit, wings spread at his sides, as if to say, Look at me and how impressive I am! Clearly, he thought he made quite an imposing sight and felt everyone should admire him. It never even occurred to Beggar that sitting on someone's fruit might be impolite, not even as he offered a sweet, musical flute that was clearly friendly.

Rawign, meanwhile, looked up at the sound of wings, just in time to see the brown firelizard return with... a rope in his mouth. A rope with little metal balls hanging off the sides of it. His eyebrows raised as the little toy was dropped into his lap and he picked it up casually as the firelizard landed in front of him. Was it... trying to get him to play with it? That was almost... cute. He raised an eyebrow at the firelizard as he examined the toy before twirling it between his fingers. Beggar would probably be jealous if he ever saw such a handsome and brightly-coloured toy. He'd be all over whoever made it, like hide on a dragon, wanting one for himself. It was rather nice.

"Aren't you sweet? Do I throw it, then?" Would the firelizard chase it, like a canine? The visual amused him. He twirled the toy and crinkled his nose at the firelizard in his amusement. "Or do you pull on one side and I pull on the other? There's a trick to it, right?" Was he expecting a response? And how would the firelizard do that? Rawign decided that he was being foolish - but he was willing to be foolish, if only because the little firelizard was far more entertaining than trying to braid grass when he was terrible at it.

[descent]

Splotch was very proud of himself and acted quiet the little fool by puffing up his chest and chittering with what seemed like a great bit of authority. No other flit had toys like HE did! Grant it they had started out as a way for Malkier to shut him up when he’d been little and refused to stray to far from his human…but over time the small brown had gained a good deal of conceit about his treasures. Of course he often hid them and forgot where they were…. but no one else needed to know that! Yes, Splotch was rather pleased with himself…he had a new delightful toy and he’d made this human thing happy! Rearing back on his hind legs the scrawny brown fluttered his wings and trilled his accomplishment.

Meanwhile Malkier was having his own interesting flit encounter. The candidate simply stared a moment…. waiting for the firelizard to relocate itself…but after a moment it became clear he wouldn’t be so lucky. Now an unkind part of the young man was tempted to simply shove the fruit in his bag and let the flit decide if it would join the food in his pouch or find itself a new perch… But even though they were agitating little things Malkier was a little fond of his own brown companion. Come to think of it…what was Splotch up to? The little fellow usually would have reappeared and chattered at him to keep up by now… He shrugged the concern off. Probably the flit had found a pack of wild firelizards to go play with for a few hours.

In any case he still had a mildly bothersome flit to deal with. Though while the amber eyed man could usually guess what Splotch wanted…he had no idea what this friendly little fellow desired. Shaking his head Malkier forced away the sour expression that had come across his face.

“Hello. Can I help you?” it was spoken in that deadpan serious tone of his, honestly and without mockery. Malkier being…well Malkier figured the logical thing to do was ask the little bugger what he wanted and than give it to him to get rid of him. Surely though he didn’t want fruit? Well at least he was a friendly pest the candidate admitted grudgingly.

As Malkier attempted to have a conversation with the strange firelizard Splotch was growing tired of flattering himself. Instead the little brown fluttered over to Rawign’s shoulder and sat, peering down at the toy with delighted eyes. Oh wasn’t it pretty! Wasn’t it grand? And it was his! All his! Fluttering his wings in excitement the little brown whacked the boy in the face a few times, though Splotch didn’t seem to mind. He liked this human thing, so if it got in his way a little it was all right. Moving so his forearms rested on the lads head Splotch continued to chitter every so many moments as if giving the boy instructions. After all it was HIS toy and HE knew what to do with it.

[glamourie]

Well, that was so wonderfully unhelpful. Rawign smiled weakly at the firelizard and turned the toy over in his hands, trying to figure out how it was supposed to work. He'd never given Beggar 'toys' before; they typically played games of hide-and-seek, with Beggar burying himself under things and him digging the firelizard out. Hardly an accomplishment really. He suspected it wasn't a throw toy, but how did it work? His eyes flicked up just in time to see Splotch move to his shoulder and start chattering away, much to Rawign's surprise. The fact that he was being smacked in the head by the creature's wing did not help him to understand what the message the little brown was trying to get across was. He continued twirling the toy before holding it up to Splotch, a very serious expression on his face, as though considering something of considerable importance. He expected Splotch to take the toy.

"Show me how to use it," he said softly. Telling was obviously not working but most firelizards seemed to understand 'show' or at least some degree of that. He was patient enough to try and understand what the little fellow wanted, but he needed more than just firelizard sounds. The problem was, he wasn't sure how much the little creature knew about instructions. Beggar was relatively well-trained when it came to fetching things, and that was about it... Browns were usually smarter than blues and greens... so maybe...?

Not that Beggar was dim. No, the firelizard perched on the fruit with rapidly whirling eyes was anything but dim. He gave a quiet chirp as he was stared at, meeting Malkier's gaze without the slightest hesitation. Did this human-thingy think he'd be scared off by staring? Silly human-thingy. Aha! It was speaking to him! He had no idea what the human-thingy was saying but it was making noise, which meant he should make noise in response. Beggar responded by chirping twice and taking to wing, only to glide and land on Malkier's shoulder. Trilling sweetly, he rubbed his entire body along the boy's jawline with such enthusiastic dedication that there could be no denying that he wanted something very much. His eyes whirled rapidly and he moved to rub against Malkier's chin again before giving a startled cry; he'd fallen backwards! His little claws caught in the boy's tunic and he frantically climbed right back up his shoulder... down and then right into the bag with all the fruit.

Success!

Chattering animatedly, he rolled around the fruit and proceeded to look up at Malkier expectantly with another chirp. Clearly, he thought where he was at and what he'd landed on emphasized his point well enough. He was hungry and thought that the human-thingy should feed him. After all, he'd gone to such lengths to prove himself worthy. He'd even fallen over. He clearly deserved a scrap of meat! He'd earned it with his antics, or so Beggar felt.

[descent]

Splotch stared down at Rawign a moment before offering a curious chirp and clamping his small mouth unto the toy. Was this one tired of the toy? Impossible! It was grand! Magnificent! No…he was just returning it to Splotch…. Tilting his head to the side the fire lizard observed the boy for another moment before launching himself into the air. He felt bad for two-legged things. They were so big and bulky and even worse they had no wings to soar on! How sad!

After getting a few feet into the air Splotch flung the toy into the air above him and watched as it first went up and then sped toward the ground. Suddenly the little flit dove after the toy, clamping his jaws unto the rope and pulling himself out of the dive so he skimmed along only a few inches off the ground. Taking to higher air the firelizard went even higher before repeating his trick. Clearly the point of the game was to catch the toy before it landed in the dirt! Why, like so many of his toys, the one had a special role…and Malkier had gotten nipped a few dozen times before he caught unto the fact it was not to touch the floor at all!

Splotch demonstrated his clever little game one last time before fluttering over to settle in Rawign’s lap, the toy resting in his jaws. He was the very best player of throw the pretty thing and catch if before it falls! Of course since this human had no wings it couldn’t play as well as HE could….but when Splotch decided someone was going to play his game, and Malkier wasn’t around, it was rare the subject could avoid it.

At the moment Malkier was watching the jester like strange flit flop into his bag… The sight caused the smith to stare a moment before a deep rumble of amusement escaped him. He didn’t laugh much around people, often trying to come across as serious and professional as possible. But even if he’d been in a room of his fellow journeyman Malkier doubted he’d have been able to hide his amusement at the foolish little flit. Well, it was friendly…if not the brightest star in the sky. No, the interesting little fellow seemed more like the kind of star you only saw on a very VERY clear winter night…with a lot of luck and a very good far seeing scope.

“Well you can help yourself if you want, that’s my lunch” the candidate offered with a shrug. Despite his sturdy frame he was a surprisingly light eater, owing his build more to genetics than a decent diet. Not waiting for the little fellow to relocate himself Malkier continued walking. Though he was kind enough to not toss the last fruit in with the little flit. Harming a fire lizard, while at times tempting, would be an act of cruelty and impracticality that didn’t appeal to the youth.

Splotch suddenly let out a loud cry, launching into the air and fluttering about. Having seen Malkier approaching the little brown began his usual assortment of calls to summon his human. No need to speak flit, the message was obvious. COME OVER HERE!

[glamourie]

Rawign blinked, twice, as the little firelizard took the toy from him and started ... tossing it around. How cute. It was actually very clever as well. Did whoever that flit looked to know how easy he would be to train, from his obvious intelligence displayed with his game? Probably; most people tried to train all their firelizards. Rawign had learned the hard way that Beggar was a stubborn little fellow who would do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it as opposed to actually listening, but most firelizards seemed quite eager to please. The little one in his lap, with his dazzling little toy, seemed quite happy to oblige, and Rawign wondered who he looked to. There were plenty of darling little browns around the Weyr. The one in his lap was familiar, and Rawign suspected he looked to a candidate, though who was lost on him. Oh well. He had a pretty nifty toy. Whoever he looked to must have liked him quite a bit.

One hand lifted to run along the firelizard's headknob affectionately before he offered him a wink. "Aren't you wonderful?" he asked, grinning ear-to-ear. "Your person must be very happy with you. I wish Beggar was quite so smart. You should do that trick in front of the Weyrbrats. They'd love it."

Back in Malkier's bag, Beggar looked up with whirling eyes at the boy, wondering why he wasn't getting the point. The fruit was good enough, yes, but it was too big, how was he supposed to eat it when it was in such big hunks? Didn't the boy know he had to cut it up, or else it wouldn't be much use to him? Silly human. Beggar creeled quietly, then proceeded to nudge one of the fruit, as if to draw attention to it. Chirp, chirp. He needed to cut it up for him. Another flute, a sweet chitter, and Beggar inclined his head to the side. And then another loud cry filled the air and the blue gave a startled chirp before shoving his head right out of the top of the bag to look about in surprise. There was another firelizard nearby! Close, close! Chattering excitedly, he looked back at Malkier as if to instruct him to go to the sound. Never mind that Beggar could fly there himself, if the human-thingy wouldn't cut the fruit up, he could at least carry him!

Splotch's outburst made Rawign actually jump, though he caught the toy to avoid it falling to the ground. His gaze flicked up to the firelizard flying about, and then to what the brown had addressed and -- ah, that was who he looked to. Mal.. something was his name, to Rawign's knowledge, though he couldn't remember the full name. Holding the toy out to Splotch to take, he looked back and --

"Beggar! Get out of there right now!" he called, spotting the blue peeking out of the bag. "I've taught you better than that!"

Startled, Beggar squawked and flew right out of the bag before chirping sweetly at Malkier. Then, excited, he flew straight over to Rawign and proceeded to examine the shiny thing he held. Why, his was proving more useful by the minute! He'd found a shiny! What a nice shiny it was! Beggar chirped and looked at Splotch before bursting into loud and excited chattering, clearly wanting to know if he was the rightful owner of the shiny that his human-toy found and whether or not he would share it with him.