Success! Sort of... (Shock)

[Kisha-Ra]

Vivano ran his hand through his hair and then made a face at the damp hand and scrubbed it against his trousers until it was dry. Ew… tonight was, so far unseasonably warm, and unspeakably humid. It was probably going to rain later, Vivano thought as he squinted up at the sky. Ah well, he and Vivask had better get on with this whole gliding practice thing before it started.

Vivask snorted his agreement and gave Vivano a prod with his muzzle as a hint for him to hurry up and climb aboard if he was going to. Vivano gave the bronze a doubtful look, he was maybe the size of a pony now, and strong enough to carry Vivano through ground exercises but Vivano was having serious doubts about whether Vivask could carry him in a glide or whether it was going to all end in a heap. Vivask responded to this by giving Vivano a solid prod in the chest and expressing the opinion that he was strong enough to do anything he pleased, thank you so very very.

Vivano supposed he wasn’t going to be able to argue with Vivask so he hopped up onto the wher’s back, noting as he did that Vivask seemed to have put on a bit more height lately. For his part, as soon as Vivano was in place, Vivask broke into a run up to the small slope they’d chosen for this exercise and leapt into the air, spreading his wings as he went.

The feeling that emanated from the bronze wher was undeniably smug. He was the best, he could do whatever he wanted to do! The feelings Vivask was projecting gradually turned uncertain, then regretful as the bronze wher ploughed into the ground, kept his feet by running for two or three steps, then gloriously faceplanted on the grass. Vivano went pitching forward over the wher’s head when Vivask fell and landed on his face a couple of feet away. ‘I thought that went quite well.’ He announced to the dirt in front of his face. At least it was soft, or softer than a rock anyway, he reflected.

[Aftershock]

Cainith and Cainsk were working their way through the jungles, practicing the vision transfer that would allow Cainith to utilize Cainsk's sensitive night vision directly. Over the months of wherlinghood, the two had gotten closer and more used to each other, and now the insults exchanged between the wher and his bonded were more their personal way of greeting one another than the boundary tests they began as. Cainsk rarely even defied Cainith's orders anymore, though Cainith's requests were often perverted slightly just to get a rise out of His.

As they walked, Cainsk would occasionally disconnect his vision from Cainith's, explaining to His that he needed to enhance his natural night vision, as well, and could not become dependent on Cainsk's. Of course, being Cainsk, he would often disconnect just as Cainith was about to reach a hazard, so His would end up tripping on a root or getting a low-hanging branch in the face. Cainsk enjoyed the off-color expletives His would yell at each instance, and was mentally noting a particularly vindictive curse that resulted from Cainith catching a prickly bush in his groin when he suddenly heard a crash from the left.

Cainith had stopped to remove a couple errant spines from his crotch when suddenly, Vivano came flying from the darkness to land face-first directly in front of him. Cainsk, seeing Vivano, searched the area for the mental signature of his bronze clutchbrother, and discovering Vivask's presence nearby, went to check on his half-blind sibling. Reaching the downed bronze wher, Cainsk dispensed with any cutting remarks, instead worriedly sending Vivask an image of the bronze wher cut, bruised, and injured, followed by a question mark.

Cainith, meanwhile, looked down at Vivano, hearing his statement regarding the glide that had occurred just before the accident, and said to his fellow wherling, "If that was something going quite well, I'd hate to see it going poorly," as he reached down with a huge hand to help the other man to his feet.

[Kisha-Ra]

Vivask snorted into the grass and told Vivano, in terms of an action replay of the ground rushing up to hit him in the muzzle, that he did not agree with Vivano’s analysis. That could have gone much, much better.

‘Everyone’s a critic.’ Vivano muttered, partially in response to Cainith’s comment and partially in response to Vivask’s. ‘It went better than I had any reason to expect. There, are you both satisfied?’ Vivano facetiously corrected himself in a put upon tone as he moved into a sitting position and glared up, and up, at his giant roommate, although he did take the offered assistance in getting to his feet. Vivask escaped the glaring because he was out of sight for the moment. Though he might have been out of sight the bronze wher wasn’t out of mind, Vivano carefully formed an inquiry about whether Vivask had managed to injure himself.

Vivask responded to the dual inquiries about his health with a sigh. Was he forever to be known as clumsy? Well, probably, he conceded to himself as he extracted himself from the Vivask shaped depression in the vegetation, but it might be nice if people didn’t draw attention to his clumsiness sometimes. Being Vivask however, he did not express his thoughts to either his brother or his handler, instaed he stretched his limbs out one by one, lashed his tail, and flared his wings. He seemed unhurt and sent this idea of his undamaged self to Vivano, and also to Cainisk and Cainisk’s. He was clumsy, but he was also lucky, most of the time.

Vivano received the news that only Vivask’s pride was hurt with a little relief, he didn’t think anything serious had happened to his wher but it was good to have confirmation of that. ‘If we’re going to keep having landings like that I might have to mix up some more of that bruise lotion.’ He commented to Cainith as he brushed some of the dirt off his clothing. ‘It’s a shame it stinks up the place so much, I suppose I could use wine as a base instead of vinegar but the fact is that no one’s likely to try and drink it if it’s in vinegar, which is good because it’s probably poisonous if you drink it. I’m thinking of asking someone about getting a separate room for brewing up herbs.’ Vivano abruptly shut up, aware that he was probably blathering on about herbal remedies most people had no interest in unless said remedies were being applied to them. In fact since the only place Vivano had to brew, infuse, decoct, and distill such things was currently their shared rooms it might even be fair to say Cainth had reason to like them less than most.

[Aftershock]

"Calm down, Viv," said Cainith, giving his fellow wherling a friendly slap on the back after the man was on his feet, "No offense intended. I'm so used to being around my shrimpy, useless wher that I forget not everyone communicates in insults." Grinning cheekily, Cainith removed one of the remaining thorns from his pants and flicked it at Cainsk, who replied by turning his back on Cainith and lifting his tail, displaying his hindquarters.

Turning his attention back on his clutchbrother, Cainsk rubbed against Vivask once, happy to verify that his bronze sibling was unhurt, then sent him a series of images showing Cainsk spreading his wings and gliding carefully to a perfect landing, then Vivask doing the same, imitating Cainsk's moves exactly. This series was followed by the image of a question mark.

On the human side of the conversation, Cainith said, "It's good to see that you and yours aren't hurt. It would be nice to avoid you having to brew any more of that foul-smelling stuff than necessary." Cainith left it at that, not wanting to get his apartmentmate's bad side if not necessary... sneaking both food and sometimes Ivy into his room, Cainith would rather his apartmentmate have no reason to turn the bluewherling in for the minor, but numerous, rule violations he performed.

[Kisha-Ra]

Vivano gave Cainsk a look over. ‘I don’t think he’s all that small. It’s just you who’s huge. Sure he looks small next to Vivask but he’s leaning toward the huge side.’ Vivano’s eyebrows quirked a little at the blue wher’s… unique manner of reply to his handler’s comments. ‘It is true that we don’t see much point in insulting each other though, we’ll save that for everyone else I think.’

Vivask snorted softly at the images his brother sent him and replied in kind, showing Vivask alone gliding to a neat landing on all four feet and Vivask with Vivano landing less than gracefully. Out of sheer mischief the bronze added an image of Cainsk being squashed by Cainith, along with a polite inquiry as to how Cainsk was getting along in carrying his handler, and if that query seemed to have some smug overtones, well maybe Vivask was feeling a little superior that he could actually get his handler off the ground. As if to prove his point the larger wher headed back up the slope at a trot, clearly intending to demonstrate his alleged skill in landing without Vivano.

Vivano offered a slight smail and gave Cainith an inscrutable sort of look. ‘I guess I’ll have to tell you what I told my family when it was their house I was brewing things up in.’ Vivano raised on index finger and put on his most grandfatherly expression and voice. ‘You’ll be glad of that when it you that needs it. I’d also like to point out that no one notices when I make up things that don’t smell awful.’ He added in a slightly miffed tone of voice.

‘I suppose I’d have more chance to make up the less stinky sort of thing if I did have somewhere to work,’ Vivano mused ‘but I don’t want to be lumped in with the healers, I’m far more frivolous than that, though I must admit my remedies do work.’ Vivano was about to continue with this musing but Vivask called for his attention. ‘Oh looks like my wher’s showing off.’ He grinned. ‘Best pay attention.’

Vivask replied firmly that he was not showing off, merely setting the record straight and showing Cainsk that he didn’t always end up face down in the dirt. With that he took off in another glide, which may not have had the perfect landing but certainly didn’t ending in a second face plant. There! See? Vivask looked Back at Cainsk and flicked his wings and tail in a triumphant little gesture.

[Aftershock]

Cainith shrugged in response to Vivano's statement, saying, "Yeah, I'm well aware not many handlers communicate with their bondeds quite like me and Cainsk do. But then again, there aren't many whers like Cainsk... with how he acts sometimes, I wonder if I should install a library in my half of the apartment and put a book out for him every day." Shaking his head ruefully, he added with a smirk, "Sometimes I worry he's gonna end up being the smarter of the two of us, with how he just seems to seek out knowledge like I seek out food."

Meanwhile, Cainsk nodded when Vivask implied it was carrying Vivano that made him land poorly, and playfully slapped Vivask on his blind side with the tip of his tail when the bronze wher sent the image of Cainsk getting crushed by his large handler, sending a response image of himself riding atop Cainith's back, with Cainith wearing a wher harness and Cainsk mushing him along by whipping Cainith's rear with his tail. When Vivask went back to the ridge to attempt a rider-less glide, Cainsk sat down and watched his bronzebrother carefully, ready to help him if he fell once again.

Back among the humans, Cainith nodded as Vivano spoke, and responded, "I'll be sure to let you know if I need anything you make, don't worry. As for having your own place to brew, just think, only a couple more months and we'll be graduated, hopefully, and then you'll have an entire apartment to yourself, to stink up as you please." Crossing his arms and guffawing at his own statement, Cainith quieted down and turned to watch where Vivano indicated when his apartmentmate indicated that Vivask was going to try a rider-less glide.

As Vivask landed successfully, if not entirely gracefully, on his solo glide, Cainsk crooned in congratulations and slapped his tail against the jungle floor in a wher version of applause.

[Kisha-Ra]

‘You’ll excuse me if I say that if Cainsk’s Uniqueness means not being shown a wher’s butt on a regular basis, then it’s a good thing.’ Vivano said with a quirky little smile. ‘What I can’t believe is that people ever thought whers were stupid. Okay, they can’t speak, but on the other hand Monster can speak and is not all that smart. That might be a bad example though; smartness in salamandyrs seems to be very varied and oddly focused.’ Vivano let his musings trail off, partly because he was distracted by a mental image of Cainsk sprawled out with a book in front of him that he was fairly sure actually came from his mind. ‘Maybe whers are smarter than even we think. I hope not because Vivask practically outclasses me in some areas already.

Vivask snorted at the idea of Cainsk riding around on his handler’s back but he was forced to admit that it did seem the most sensible way to do things. However, in an attempt to have the last word Vivask showed Cainsk using one claw to cut an improbably long strip of leather for a Cainith harness, and then Cainith, neatly harnessed up and with his wher rider, attempting a glide and just belly flopping into the ground.

‘I’m thinking of holding out for somewhere a bit more ventilated than a windowless apartment.’ Vivano made a face. ‘If you think the cures are bad wait until you’ve come across some boiling dye stuff, some of that is probably toxic to breathe.’ Vivano chose to take the statement seriously, although he suspected from the laughter it inspired that Cainith was only saying so for his own amusement.

Vivask gave Cainsk his best puffed up are you mocking me?! look but couldn’t hold it for more than a few seconds before he bounced over to give said blue a flick on the rump with his own tail. Less of that, thank you. Save it until he made a successful landing with Vivano. After that thought Vivask spent a moment in a contemplative stretch before turning back to his brother. The next image he sent his sibling was of Vivano perched on Cainsk’s back with a hanging question mark over it. His brother was welcome to borrow Vivano if he wanted to practice gliding with a human…

[Aftershock]

Cainith grinned at Vivano's response, replying, "I see your point, but I wouldn't give Cainsk up for anything even if I had the option... and not just because I enjoy our bond. Having an apartment, even one I share with you, is much better than having to bunk up with a bunch of children and be treated like a useless pile, I'll be honest. Candidacy is something I will never miss," Cainith concluded, a sour expression crossing his features as his memories of Candidatehood (barring those memories involving Ivy) passed through his mind's eye.

Shaking his head slightly to clear such negative memories, he continued, "As for whers, well... it seems many in this Weyr see whers as more the poor cousins of dragons rather than a species all their own, with their own merits to consider separately from dragons. Honestly, I prefer the bond I have with Cainsk to a bond I might have had with a dragon... I've heard they have bonds even stronger than salamandyrs, and with the way Rollhead's moods affect mine sometimes, I think I'm good with the more independent nature of Cainsk." He almost instinctively braced for the mental yell when he mentioned his pious blue 'mandyr, before remembering that Rollhead still often maintained a diurnal schedule, and was currently sleeping back in the apartment... something Cainith was often privately thankful for.

Among the whers, Cainsk's eyes scintillated between blue and green in wher laughter at Vivask's image of Cainith trying to glide with Cainsk strapped to his back.

Back at the wher's handlers, Cainith scratched his head in response to Vivano's desire to "hold out" for a non-wherhandler apartment. "Not sure how that would work... I think the windowless aspect is kind of required for a wher to stay somewhere," he started. "However, I have heard about one of the handlers... Dmitri, is it?... who Joined with a rider, and therefore stays in her weyr while his wher stays by himself. One of the advantages of the more independent nature of whers, indeed. So, if you can get Joined to a rider, you might be set to get a room with a view," he concluded, grinning in jest at his apartmentmate.

Cainsk, meanwhile, sat staring at Vivask worriedly as he thought he actually offended his bronze sibling, before breathing a sigh of relief as his clutchbrother was unable to maintain his offended facade. Receiving his brother's suggestion about practicing with Vivano, Cainsk curled his lip in distaste for a moment, then sent Vivask back an image of Cainith sitting on the ground crying as a cartoonishly exaggerated Vivano flew happily on the back of Cainsk. Adding an image of a plus sign, he sent another image, this time of two points separated in space, with Cainsk on one side. First, the image glided from it's starting point to the other point, but wind gusts flipped and shoved the image-wher about, causing a dotted line following him to be sloppy and skewed as it followed the image-wher to it's final destination. Then, the image reset, and this time carefully walked, with the dotted line trailing the image-wher straight and true.

[Kisha-Ra]

Vivano laughed, recalling his own opinions about being shoved in a room with a bunch of children. ‘Oh but don’t you just love being worthless and getting looked at sideways by babies because you’re not there for a dragon?’ In truth Vivano hadn’t found the whole business too arduous, but even someone as easygoing as he was could start feeling like making a grown man do chores and bunk down with the kiddies was rather silly. Not to mention slightly creepy in the second case.

With a shrug and a short snort Vivano marshalled his thoughts on the prevailing attitude to whers. ‘If I’d been young enough when my siblings were searched I might well have stood for dragons, but that’s neither here nor there really.’ Her said as he got his thoughts organised, and once they were Vivano’s expression reformed into a frown. ‘That’s just it really. Why compare them to dragons at all? They’re nothing like alike, except in the broadest terms, intelligence, number of limbs and that sort of thing. But a runnerbeast has the same number of limbs as a wild feline and no one thinks those two species should be alike… I guess I resent that sort of thinking on Vivask’s behalf, although he doesn’t seem to care overmuch.’ Vivano came to a conclusion with another sigh.

Vivano rasied an eyebrow, wondering where Cainith had got the notion he wanted a dragon’s quarters from. Certainly Vivano and Vivask would be lost in such a place, and they’d still be n close proximity to whatever noxious things Vivano mixed up. ‘I don’t think I was clear enough there.’ The bronzehandler’s voice seemed oddly distant as he clarified. ‘I wasn’t planning to live in this room I’d like. I was thinking of applying for a workroom to brew more complicated potions and dyes up in. Somewhere rather more safe than my own quarters. I certainly don’t want to pick a lifetime’s partner based on his or her rooms. Plus joining doesn’t seem to be the standard around here.’ Vivano’s tone returned to normal as he reached that conclusion, although it was accompanied by an odd look at Cainith to try and work out how he’d even gotten the idea.

Vivask responded to Cainsk’s worry by opening his jaws in an imitation of a human grin. Fooled him! In response to his brother’s whole communication on Vivano’s use in gliding the bronze poked his tongue out, imitating humanity again. When the bronze replied he showed himself gliding with Vivano several times, with the glide improving each time. Then showed himself shoving his gift wrapped mindmate toward Cainsk. The next image sequence showed the jungle and a wounded human on the ground, then added Cainsk swooping in and gliding away to vanish between with the human, leaving a frustrated hunting feline behind in the image.

[Aftershock]

Cainith nodded in agreement to his apartmentmate's thoughts on whers, adding, "Whers, and wherhandlers, are like the cooks in the dining hall... most people don't even think about their contribution when they go to get their meal, though they'd notice if they were suddenly gone." Shaking his head sadly, he continued, "It seems us handlers are doomed to be the hidden heroes of the Weyr, while the dragonriders take all the glory with Threadfighting and bursts of flame."

He nodded again as Vivano explained his desire for a workroom, responding, "Ahhh, I understand. My apologies, for some reason I have handlers being Joined to dragonriders in my head lately, so that's where my mind went when you mentioned wanting a ventilated room..." Even as he spoke, thoughts of his hopefully-soon-dragonriding girlfriend surfaced in his mind, and he smiled wistfully before shaking his head to banish the thought and concentrate on the conversation at hand.

Meanwhile, Cainsk received his bronzebrother's images, and replied in turn, sending an image of Vivano (still gift-wrapped) sitting on Cainsk's back, awkward and off-balance on the much smaller blue wher, before falling off to land on his face. Cainsk then put a large "X" through the image, displaying his thoughts to it's non-viability. He then repeated Vivask's image of him gliding in to an injured human, and showed himself trying to put the human on his own back with his wings and mouth, failing miserably due to his lack of hands and arms until the feline was upon them both, with the image then zooming out to show Cainith panting and sweating, jogging in an attempt to catch up with his much smaller wher. Sending another "X" to overlay that image, Cainsk shrugged, using a human gesture himself to show his uncertainty in regards to what he and his bonded were really meant to be best at.

[Kisha-Ra]

Once again Vivano’s first response was a shrug. ‘I’m sure plenty of people feel eclipsed by dragonriders. There’s certainly enough dragon flesh to hide an army, just in this Weyr, and they tell me the north has many more dragons. When you think about it there’s a lot more people behind threadfall than just dragons. Miners, carters, ground crews. None of them get any of the glory either. On the other hand the dragonriders also get all the blame for the war, and a healthy portion of the resentment for the tithes we all subsist on here. I’m glad not to be catching any of that.’ Vivano stopped abruptly, if left in enough silence he did tend to let his thoughts take over his mouth, which could be rather awkward when he realised how much he’d blathered on.

‘I’m sure it was.’ Vivano’s eyebrows twitched slightly. He recalled that the woman (it hardly seemed fair to call her a girl, even if she was still candidate age) that Cainith was seeing was not a rider, nor even a weyrling, but he did assume Ivy had hopes of Nitrath’s clutch, certainly she didn’t seem the biggest fan of wherkind. ‘Do I take it you have hopes in that direction yourself?’ he inquired upon seeing the expression on what he could see of his roommate’s face.

Vivask huffed out a sigh at the implication that his bonded wasn’t good enough for Cainsk, although it was quite true. The idea of Cainith getting left behind was a bit more entertaining to the bronze, though he couldn’t resist correcting the image slightly to show Cainith loping alongside Cainsk since their legs were almost the same length.

The bronze wher turned to nibble at an itchy spot on the edge of one wing while he thought about what Cainsk might be good at, factoring in the fact that Cainith had to run behind. Eventually he formed an image sequence of Cainsk and Cainith in a series of different locations, changing the insignia that Cainith wore each time. They were bound to find something that worked eventually.

[Aftershock]

Cainith again nodded in agreement to Vivano's thoughts, saying, "You do have a point. Doesn't seem to be nearly as much pressure from anyone outside your peers when you're a wherhandler, that's for sure."

To Vivano's question, Cainith grinned again and responded, "Well, it all depends on whether Ivy actually Impresses a dragon from the clutch currently on the Sands. There a lot of them out there... I have a feeling one of them has to be for her this time. If so, I hope to convince her to let me move in with her once she gets her own weyr... I'm sure Cainsk can take care of himself easily enough." Laughing a bit, he added, "Shards, he might be happy to have me no longer around dumbing up the room."

Cainsk, meanwhile, settled on his haunches beside Vivask, bouncing ideas back and forth with his bronzebrother, but never quite able to decide what job he and His would be best suited for.