Nighttime Terror

[flupine]

The night air was cool and dry against his skin, one thing that Derrin could be thankful for. One thing amongst many, that of late, he was not sure he should be thankful for. As of late it seemed that things were more on the downhill slide. And if one thing could be to blame for this slide, Derrin would never say so. Of course it wasn't hard to figure it out for one's self. Derrisk entered Derrin's life with a force to be reckoned with and had been practicing his skills on ruining it ever since. Or so it seemed to everyone who watched the pair together but Derrin staunchly defended his little Blue Wher ferociously, which is why no one had said anything yet.

In fact Derrin for the moment was alone, walking along the shoreline with the water lapping at his feet thinking about his new life while Derrisk played ahead, trying to sneak up and attack his shadow. What else could be expected for Derrisk to do? Be nice? Watching Derrisk closely, a ghost of a smile tugged at Derrin's lovely smile, almost revealing his beautiful smile yet somehow it was not quite a smile. The tight tugs of lips looked more like Derrin resigning himself to whatever the night would bring. And with Derrisk dominating the relationship, who knew what that would be? For now Derrin worried about what Derrisk would want to do when he finally grew bored of trying to attack his own shadow, which was hard enough to make out on the dimly lit sand. Pausing Derrin pushed back his hair with one hand, lifting his heavy bang so he could see the beach more clearly.

It was so quiet, so peaceful that the tension that Derrin usually carried from constant contact with Derrisk began to fade away. The water was so lovely and with no harsh sun beating down overhead, he could almost forget about any of the problems that had been occurring since, well, Derrisk's Impression. Sighing a little and reaching an arm back to rub his shoulders with lingering sadness, Derrin turned his eyes back to look for Derrisk, but Derrisk was not where he had been. Panic struck Derrin sharply and he swung about in a a circle. Where was Derrisk? Where had he gotten to?

Oh no... what if he was out trying to hurt some poor innocent creature? What if he was trying to eat some poor innocent creature? A number of crazy ideas popped into Derrin's mind, terrible horrible ideas, dark images all of them. Oh Faranth, he needed to find Derrisk before any of the ideas came true. "DERRISK! DERRISK?!" Where was he? What if he snuck back to the Weyr to wreak havoc? What if he, at this very moment, was attacking one of his poor siblings, one of the nice ones? So he might be dramatizing the moment a little bit but it didn't seem too out of place considering that his bondmate had been terrorizing Derrin since the moment he forced the bond between them.

[Avu]

Meira had always preferred night-walking to walking during the daytime, and now the like of the cool dark hours had intensified. For one, it was the only time that Meisk could come out of the Weyr. And two, there weren’t as many people around to frighten the chubby little blue wher. At present time, Meira was walking down the beach at a leisurely pace, with Meisk trotting beside her and occasionally tripping over a stone or some such thing. All right, dear? she asked softly, as he gave an apologetic eep. The wher nodded his head vigorously; apparently the lacerations were no longer bothering him.

The girl smiled softly at him, absently crouching a few inches from the oncoming water and picking up a rock, washing the sand from it and then offering it to Meisk, who considered it solemnly. He was so lovely, his pale dusty blue hide all but shining in the moonlight…Meira admired him as he took the stone in his mouth and rolled it around before spitting it out again with a wave of playful irritation. “Sorry—I know you don’t have a playmate,” she told him, draping one arm around his shoulders. “I don’t think we ought to play, though, dear. Can’t tear up your wing any more, or anything, can we? E’rro might just kill us.” The healer had been rather brutally straightforward, after all…

The peace, naturally, was ruined abruptly by someone shouting. “Derrisk! Derrisk!?” The very mention of Derrisk was enough to have Meisk shivering violently; to know that the blue where was somewhere near—Meisk reacted with sharp terror, all but pushing himself into Meira’s lap, curling himself into a tight, quivering ball. “No, no stop dear. Hush. Derrisk won’t hurt you…” A flare of irrepressible irritation rose in the girl. The boy had lost his wher? Was that even possible? They were linked, bonded. And he’d lost Derrisk. So close to Meisk?

She got up, carefully placing Meisk down and urging him to his feet. “Let’s go see where the boy is, shall we? Where he is, Derrisk obviously isn’t, or he wouldn’t be yelling,” she added kindly, and Meisk pressed himself against her, still quivering as his eyes shot around at the darkness, suspicion and fear broadcasted largely as Meira approached Derrin, squinting to make out the boy’s form. “Did you loose something?” she asked, rather coldly. It was, wasn’t it, his wher that had attacked Meisk? Broken his wing? His wher. His fault. The two were linked, she felt.

[flupine]

Derrin heard someone approaching him and jerked around to face the person. And who would it be? Who could is possibly be but Meira and Meisk. Meisk whom Derrisk had hurt before the little one had even made it out of the shell. This was down right embarrassing. How was he suppose to face her and... and talk to her. He could barely make himself look at her. And he still needed to find Derrisk. Derrin stared at the approaching Wherling pair with something close to panic and without thought, his eyes slid away as if trying to find and escape route. But he couldn't escape, he needed to find Derrisk still and it would hardly be nice if he just turned around and ran away, what would she think? What would anyone think of him, he was bonded to Derrisk, so lately his social schedule had been on the low. And here Meira was.... and she did not look happy to see him.

"He....He.Hello Meira.... Meisk. Uhh.. I, I am pretty sure he's around here.... Somewhere. He's just hiding... yeah that's it. Hiding. And umm... I just haven't found him yet. But I will. I'm pretty sure." Pausing awkwardly, Derrin shifted back and forth from one leg to the other trying to shake off the awkwardness of the moment. Scanning the sandy beach one last time before turning beack reluctantly to Meira, Derrin was close to tears. Where was he? "So... um. I'm sure any moment he'll return. Really so uh. How's Meisk?"

Derrin really shouldn't have brought that up and was ready to kick himself after he said it. But, he was desperate after all. Watching the pair for a moment, Derrin suddenly thought of something. Something that he should have known the entire time and was now even further embarrassed that he hadn't. If he didn't want to wander the Beach calling out, he could call along their mental bond... Derrin just forgot since he rarely used it. Derrisk? Nothing. Of course, what would have have made him think that Derrisk would be nice or at least courteous enough to show up or respond. Stupid Derrin, of course Derrisk wouldn't answer. Shoving his hand through his hair once more causing it to stand on end, his eyes wandered again. Derrisk?

Derrin had not even noticed as the shadows deepened and grew longer, extending toward his own, another's breathing pattern joined in with his, not that he noticed. One moment Derrin was standing there all awkward and embarrassed and the next moment, Derrisk was there, running smack dab into the back of Derrin causing the poor boy to stumble forward towards Meira, hitting his knees and then the small blue blur passed him. Leaping out from behind Derrin, Derrisk made a wild leap in the air, his target clearly being the other blue Wher, Meisk. "Derrisk!!! DERRISK NO!!!"

[Avu]

He looked embarrassed—as he well should. Meira would have crossed her arms, but she had to keep one hand on Meisk’s head to keep the chubby wher from downright panicking. Meisk was still trembling violently, his eyes flashing shades of grey and red. His stuttering wasn’t exactly appeasing, either, although he apparently did recognize that she had quite a good reason for hating him. Although, truth be told, it was rather hard to do so when his wher wasn’t around—simply being around Derrin, however, was quite enough to send Meisk nearly into hysterics. Poor dear; who could blame him? The Hatching trauma had evidently not faded, but then neither had the multiple cuts. His wing was still splinted, for Faranth’s sake.

Hiding? His wher was hiding from him? He sounded close to tears, and his wher was hiding? Pity, not for Derrisk but for the Bluewherling, rose. Perhaps it was a Healer instinct. It softened her tone slightly. “Meisk is getting better, thank you.” As if it wasn’t completely his fault that the wher was injured to begin with. Oh, well no. Perhaps that was a little harsh—it was all his wher’s fault, and if the scene before her was anything to go by, he still had obviously not learned to control Derrisk at all. “Does he normally run away from you?” she asked dryly. She wasn’t ready yet to help him. If she didn’t find the wher, she’d feel bad. And if she did find him, Meisk would be even more terrified than he already was. It was hardly good whatever did happen.

The wherling’s breathing was harsh as he whimpered, trying to melt himself into Meira’s leg. He wanted to go. To get away from Derrisk’s. He didn’t want to be near Derrisk at all…but he didn’t want to go back alone! Oh, that was scary. There was no telling where Derrisk was, where he’d leap out from, whom he would unexpectedly maul. He was very scary, and Meisk didn’t want to be near him, but his Bonded was there…the conflicting thoughts were very confusing, and so Meisk buried his face in the folds of cloth, his shriveled wing flapping helplessly in its splint.

Meira was still looking directly at Derrin—perhaps the reason she didn’t notice Derrisk’s approach until Derrin stumbled unexpectedly—rather a hard thing to do from a standstill—and fell, exposing the blue wher behind him. Her mouth fell half-open in shock, her pale eyes widening, seconds before Derrisk launched himself through the air at Meisk, whose sharp squeals rivaled Derrin’s as he spun, diving frenziedly for cover behind Meira, who instinctively grabbed at Meisk, tugging him out of the way. Perhaps it was a good thing his leap was so wild, for if it had been carefully planned there was no way he could have missed. Meisk, perhaps small, was hardly lithe enough to avoid such an unexpected attack. While Meisk continued to cry out, terror clear in his tones, Meira interposed her body between Meisk and Derrisk.

She spared Derrin one glance, forgetting her pity towards him. Could he not control his wher at all? “Control him!” she shouted, as Meisk hovered uncertainly. “Make him stop!”

[flupine]

Control him? Control him? Control HIM? Impossible. Simply impossible, he controlled Derrin not the other way around, they way it probably should be. In that moment, with Derrisk leaping toward Meisk, only to land heavily near him but luckily not on top and the girl, Meira throwing herself between them; Derrin was stuck on the words, "Control him!" Staring at the scene rapidly unfolding before him, it was as if Derrin could see his future lay before him playing out in dozens of different scenes, each one having their own variations but basically the same. Empty blank faces filled with terror, Derrin breathing hot and heavy accusing stares at him, Derrin. As if he was able to control Derrisk. As Derrisk began to stalk towards Meira menacingly, Derrin could only see the various scenarious replaying in his head of all the times that this exact thing, this exact situation in various forms would unfold forever. Those accusing stares as if he was making Derrisk do these things. It was enough to break the poor boy.

"STOP!"

stopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstop
"stopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstop"

The words and thoughts blended together pouring out of him. Whatever Derrisk was doing, just stop. He was tired, cranky from no sleep, cranky from being bonded to a Wher that seemed to hate his guts. He was just cranky and here that sharding girl was putting unreaonable pressure on him. Demanding that he gain control over Derrisk. Impossible unreasonable, stupid, sharding, why? At some point Derrin began yelling the words before he noticed somethign warm and wet touch his hand which was clutchi ng the dirt as if to anchor himself to that particular spot. What now?! What else could he possibly do for these people? Roll over backwards? Teach Derrisk to do a flip? WHAT ELSE....? His eyes finally made the distance down to find that it was Derrisk who was trying to gain his attention...politely. By licking him. Oh Faranth. Was Pern going to fall out of the sky and burn to death now?

"D...D...Derr..isk?"

Oh no, it looked like Derrin was about to cry and was at the moment, sniffing back the tears that had been building all night. Had been building since the impression actually. Tears that had not been cried that were definitely on the verge of being released. But staring at the little Blue wher who had just licked his hand, had just offered a piece of himself really, Derrin knew he had better sniff it back. He could cry later because the moment was to important to ruin with tears and if he cried Derrisk would definitely be upset even more. Derrisk seemed to hate crying. And for a moment, Derrin thought that everything was great and nothing could go bad. For a moment.

Crooning gently towards His, Derrisk eyed him carefully and finally judging that His had his emotions back under control after that outbreak, he switched back to his normal tough exterior. That outburst had startled him and if the little Wherlet would admit it, scared him. He controlled Derrin so well, took care of him so well and then he had done that... that thing. But it was all okay now because Derrin was back under control. Letting the warm feelings he had been reassuring Derrin with fade, he spun around to face Meira and Meisk, his eyes were hardened with a glint that promised of nothign good. That little 'spell' of niceness was nothing that should have witnessed and would forget if they knew what was best. He would make sure. Stiffening his body posture he stepped back in front of Derrin warningly, watching the Wherling pair with eyes as cold as death.

Derrin watched the change envelope Derrisk rapidly and sighed. They were back to this again? He thought... well it didn't matter what he thought or hoped but it saddening to realize that the breif display was nothing now. Derrisk hadn't changed anything just relented for a moment. Looking at Meira pitifully he tried to reach her eyes and barely managed it. "I'm sorry, really sorry about that. Is Meisk okay? Are you okay? I don't know what came over him, well actually he is always like that. But I suppose you know that... hatchi... Ummm.... I can only try to control him, he does what he wants and I try to protect others. Does Meisk do what you want him to do? I"


Derrin was desperately trying to change the subject although he knew it was not going to be that easy. Hopefully she wouldn't absolutely hate him because those accusing stares he had been receiving lately were killing him.

[Avu]

Oh, dear. Meira had to admit she was frightened. Whers had no instinct to not hurt humans, as dragons seemed to have. She tensed, wondering if she had the nerve to use her knife against a wher. Derrin would be heartbroken, obviously, as he still sounded rather as if he felt like crying, but Meisk had been hurt and Meira had been sad, but she had gotten over it. And it was hardly her fault if it was in self-defense, was it? And Derrin! He was…doing nothing. Just standing there and looking…Meira didn’t take the time to read his expression, as she was rather busy instructing Meisk. Get back to the Weyr—or—or something. Wake Zesa up if you have to… She rather doubted the fire lizard would fare against Derrisk, but at least she could get a healer or something, yes? The blue wher didn’t seem ready to think, though, as he was still pressed tightly against her legs as if she offered all the safety in Pern, keeling.

“Stopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstop.”

Well, um. That was one way to do it. Apparently it worked, too, as Derrisk not only obeyed, but acted rather as if he cared about Derrin. Meira blinked in astonishment and Meisk peeped fearfully out from behind her legs. She let both heartbeat and frantic thoughts slow, grateful she hadn’t grabbed for her knife now. The boy still seemed to be on the verge of crying. Meira considered comforting him, but she wasn’t exactly sure why he was crying. Derrisk seemed to be perfectly able to love him, and take care of him. Apparently it didn’t work very well the other way around, though. Meira bit her lip nervously as Meisk radiated a feeling of astonished fear to her, one hand automatically going to the wher’s head to comfort him. Apparently the boy could control the wher when he took the time to and it…seemed to terrify him.

And then, of course, he was back to staring at Meira and Meisk as if he’d like to kill them. Lovely. The girl sighed as Meisk’s new wave of nervousness washed over her, his body all but trembling as he peered anxiously at Derrisk and offered a chirp. Meira kept her eyes warily on the blue wher while she listened to Derrin babble. Was he normally this anxious? Her glance flicked upwards from Derrisk to his Bonded and, truth be told, she was rather surprised to realize that he was actually looking at her. That was unexpected…she’d have thought that he’d be staring at his feet like most people did after displays like that. It made a nice change. Meisk’s peep reminded her that she should be watching Derrisk, but she calmed him carefully. It’ll be all right. I think he’s…um, vaguely under control now. Kind of. The words of comfort did not have exactly their desired effect, but Meisk relented to stop trembling as hard.

She should probably forgive him. Probably. It wasn’t his fault that his Bonded was a tyrant. At least he’d tried to control him…kind of. Yelling “stop” repeatedly wasn’t exactly what she had meant by ‘control him,’ but that was…it had at least made sure they had a few more minutes to live. Forgive. Meisk was still frightened, as always, by Derrisk. He was probably frightened of Derrin himself, too, although Meira decided not to point that out. “Um…” She forced herself to relax. Faranth, but Derrisk looked like he wanted to kill. “Um…don’t worry about it…it’s not your fault…” Meira managed. “I mean, if you hadn’t been able to stop him, it would’ve been a lot worse…” Was Meisk okay? She okay? “We’re fine, thanks.” Physically, at least. Emotionally rather disturbed.

Meira sighed slightly as he spoke about Derrisk. Now she felt bad for him again. Controlled by a murderous wher. It couldn’t be a nice feeling…if Meisk tried to control her Meira would’ve probably gone along with it, though, she realized meditatively. He was her Bonded, after all. One of them had to submit or there would be eternal clashes of wills. What did someone say to that? “He listened to you now,” she pointed out. “You just need to learn how to c—err, work with him.” Saying ‘control him’ had apparently not gone over very well.

Meisk listened to her. Of course he did. The blue chirped softly, a low hum of pleasure at what he took to be a compliment swelling in his throat. Until he remembered present company, whereupon he fell silent and averted his gaze. “Meisk…yes, but when he Hatched”—force-Hatched, she said silently—“he was already willing to listen to what I said and…well, some whers just aren’t like that, I suppose. It doesn’t mean they’re necessarily bad, they’ve just got a wild streak.” In the case of Derrisk, Meira had a feeling he was ‘bad,’ but that was yet another thing she decided to leave out of the conversation.

[flupine]

Willing to do what she said? Little Meisk would actually do what she said, like... he was born ready to actually listen? And not attack? It was an interesting concept to be sure, Derrin had always thought that Whers, for the most part listened relatively well to their Handlers. He had thought so, before Derrisk came along. And now that he knew life with Derrisk, it was a tantalizing thought...actually being able to have a conversation with someone. Actually not being afraid of the Wher he was bonded with. Not having Derrisk attack other Whers. Wild streak... psshhttt. Derrisk had a wild streak alright, one that urged him to eat other Whers. Feeling guilty for thinking that last thought, Derrin looked down at Derrisk with his face turning a dull red color. He sure hoped that Derrisk hadn't caught how he was feeling or what he had been thinking but when Derrin looked down at Derrisk, he didn't notice anything that gave away that Derrisk noticed. Thank Faranth because who knew how Derrisk might react.

Reaching a hand down to touch Derrisk for a little reassurance though he didn't know if it was for himself or for Derrisk, Derrin only felt disappointment when his hand was shook off by Derrisk. There was a definite bite of rejection but Derrin shook the feeling off as Derrisk had shook his comforting hand off. Oh well, perhaps he was simply moving to fast. Trying to smile at Meira even though it didn't work and came out as a painful tightening of his lips, at least he was pretty enough to pull it off. On the other hand, Derrisk's reaction did not come as a surprise like his obedience had. Derrin had been just as shocked as Meira seemed to be, if not more so. He was bonded to Derrisk and did not believe for a moment that Derrisk would ever do anything that he asked. Which was rather saddening. But Derrin was not even worrying about it anymore. That's how used to being rejected he was.

Looking back up to Meira, his body seemed to almost jerk to attention as he tried to gain his focus back again. Meria, Meisk. Oh yeah. Pay attention, Meira had been talking. She had clearly claimed that Derrisk had a wild streak and Meisk had not. And they were okay, wasn't that all that mattered right now? And keeping Derrisk under control. Unable to keep his gaze from repeatedly wander down to Derrisk, he attempted once more to put on a 'happy face.'

"I'm really glad that ya'll are okay, really, if somethign were to happen, I would just feel awful. I'm sure Derrisk would too. And I will work with Derrisk more, I promise, and learn to... to... ummm... balance our relationship. Yeah because he does have a wild streak, just like you said. Yeah definitely a wild streak."

At the end of his speel, Derrisk took up growling in much more force, his throat creating rumbling vibrations that touched Derrin's leg, making his legs feel as if they were rocking back and forth uncomfortably. He really was just an unhappy Wher. Angry, or so his whirling eyes proclaimed, as he tried to stand betweened Derrin and the Wherling pair. They would all know he was in charge here. Derrin's reaction was comical at this point though, he was tired of constantly dealing with Derrisk's anger and finally reacted on impulsion. Havign scrambled up from the dirt, he abruptly bent down, landing heavily on his knees again and wrapped his arms around the Wher and stood back up, remembering to lift with his knees not his back. And thank Faranth the little Wher was small enough to hold in his arms. Stroking the Blue head, Derrin smiled awkwardly again. How could such a beautiful blue wher be so ferocious?

"Perhaps i will just carry him around until he becomes nice." Another loud rumble emitted from Derrisk. "Or perhaps not. I don't even know what I will do when it comes to lessons, how I will keep him him from attacking others while he's surrounded by others." Derrin let out his own sorrowful sigh that overpowered the steady growls that Derrisk was letting out. And I don't want him to scare other especially Meisk. I would apologize for Meisk's... Meisk's hatching but I can only offer my apologies and well, I was just a viewer. I was as surprised by my own Impression as everyone else. Bending his head to cuddle the top of Derrisk's head he was glad to see that Derrisk had given up his struggles and growls, deciding to go with the flow for now. He couldn't overpower Derrin so he was just going to have to know how to handle this. Still shooting dark looks at the Wherling pair, Derrisk finally decided to just look away and pretend they didn't exist. "Maybe we could start some exercises together, doing something that makes us work together, I don't know what else to do other than that. And I'll keep him away from Meisk, the best that I can. I would just die if he actually hurt him."

[Avu]

Meira was quite sure her heartbeat, not to mention Meisk’s, was quite audible. She was doing her best to look at Derrin as she addressed him, but the constant threat of being attacked kept drawing her eyes back to Derrisk to check his position before she flicked them back to Derrin’s face. Idly, her finger drew spiral designs on Meisk’s head—it felt nice, to know that even if Derrisk did decide to eat her or something, at least she wasn’t standing entirely alone. Having Zesa with her would have been an added bonus, for the young queen wouldn’t put up with Derrisk growling at Hers and Meisk—for one, she didn’t like too much noise and come now, growling really wasn’t necessary, was it?—and for another, Meira doubted the queen would sit by, quiet as she normally was, and let them get terrorized. She wasn’t quite sure if a wher would listen to a fire lizard queen—probably not—but at least it was some sort of backup. Meisk nudged her hand with his head, and Meira realized her finger had slowed. She glanced questioningly at the wher, who dared to utter an anxious peep and the desire to turn around and leave, along with an image of it, flashed through her mind. Wait, she signaled. She wanted to make sure Derrin understood that controlling Derrisk was essential considering the blue was frankly on the warpath.

She watched silently, her throat rather dry, as Derrin tried to stroke the wher and was promptly shaken off again. Oh, dear, now she felt bad for him again. Apparently the Bond between the two was…tenuous…to say the least. Or rather, the wher’s bond with Derrin was weak. Derrisk seemed to control His quite well. Meira was rather occupied studying Derrisk—he was a pretty wher, despite the terror he brought—and didn’t notice the painful-looking twist to Derrin’s mouth. Perhaps in better light it would seem to be a smile, but it hardly was now. Meisk, on the other hand, had noticed it and gave a confused chirrup. Why was he making weird faces? The wher still didn’t trust Derrin—not to mention Derrisk—enough to come out from behind Meira, but at least he was expressing curiosity…

Meira glanced up at Derrin as he started to talk, her pale eyes slightly nervous still. A slight, amused smile twitched at the corner of her lip, barely perceptible but still there. Derrisk would feel bad? Perhaps she was biased, but for some reason she felt the only reason Derrisk would feel bad for killing Meisk—a corrosive shudder ran through the wher’s body—was that Derrin would feel bad and he’d feel bad for making His feel bad. That didn’t really count, did it? But Derrin was so…well, rather sweet in a childish way, despite the fact that he was probably older than Meira was. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, trying to keep her voice light rather than motherly. Stupid Healer instincts. “We weren’t hurt—that’s all that matters now, isn’t it?” At least he’d accepted her whole ‘wild streak’ idea, yes?

Oh, there Derrisk went again with his constant growling. Zesa would have started beating him around the head with her wings if she were here. The idea made Meira smile affectionately without quite meaning to. The affection in her smile was for Zesa, but seeing as the queen wasn’t there, it probably looked more like it was aimed at Derrin—or Derrisk, but the latter was hardly likely. It faded into a confused frown as Derrin…collapsed onto his knees, wrapped his arms around Derrisk, and picked the wher up. That was rather awkward, wasn’t it? And still Derrisk didn’t stop his growling, which was grating on Meira’s nerves despite her attempt to ignore it. Meisk had stopped trembling, too, and stuck his head out from behind Meira, clearly curious. Why wasn’t Derrisk on the ground? And more importantly, why wasn’t he, Meisk, being attacked? His “enemy” had clearly baffled him, and he inched out from behind Meira carefully, his eyes confused as he chirped questioningly at Derrin, flicking his tail nervously to loop it around Meira’s ankles. Just in case.

Meira reached down, rubbing Meisk’s head and the top of his neck. Carry him around until he became nice? She bit her lip, grinning slightly. “What’ll you do when he outgrows being held? They do tend to grow fast—or at least, dragons do,” she pointed out. Then—lessons. Oh, oh. That was the one time that Meisk and Derrisk would most likely be together. Perhaps in the earlier lessons they could stay apart, but no doubt soon there would be lessons in which Handlers and whers were separated—then what? “Perhaps you could go in early and talk to the Wherlingmaster about it?” she suggested anxiously. She wasn’t above suggesting that he collar Derrisk if it ensured Meisk’s safety, but if the blue really wanted to hurt Meisk, he could probably jerk out of a collar. He was sorry for Meisk, though? Aw—again with the childish sweetness. “It wasn’t your fault,” she said frankly. “You did try to stop him—I remember.” A faint smile curved her lip at the memory of Derrin chattering away to the blue while the creature was in the midst of a face-off. “Congratulations, by the way—I don’t think there was time at the Hatching for that.” Sarcastic? Nope. She was doing her best to remain optimistic. It was working, too, for Meisk, since Derrisk had stopped glaring and growling, had actually ventured to her side instead of behind her and sat there, his eyes glowing. “We’ll probably be doing stuff like that in Wherling lessons—it can’t hurt, though,” she agreed solemnly, pleased.

Perhaps, someday, Meisk really would be safe.

[flupine]

Well... well well well.. Derrin had not exactly thought that far. Derrin tried not to think about the next day unless it somehow included Shmee and yet here he was, in a position that simply demanded he think of the future. And yet Derrin couldn't really see anything. He simply couldn't picture him and his beautiful blue wher several turns ahead. He couldn't picture himself several days ahead. How would he control Derrisk when the Blue Wher gain body mass? He would have to have a heart to heart talk with Derrisk a final meeting of bonded minds, so to say. Some sort of compromise would have to be reached because Meira was right - Derrin wouldn't be able to carry Derrisk around forever. And then what would he do. Well he would have to deal with it then. Or deal with it now. Derrisk was simply going to have to learn that he couldn't go around attacking others at his every whim because Derrisk was having entirely too many whims.

Sighing heavily and resting his chin on the now quiet Wher, Derrin eyes Meira remorsefully. He couldn't take back what had happen and he wouldn't be able to take back what undoubtedly would happen. And he wouldn't give up Derrisk for all the world, Derrin knew that Derrisk loved him, he knew it. Though he rarely ever showed any physical emotion, Derrisk could feel it reverberating from the Blue... sometimes. Derrin could feel the warmth, feel the care from Derrisk. He knew what everyone else didn't know. Derrisk secretly did love him, he just never showed it. Deep inside, deep deep inside.

Rubbing his chin lightly agains the top of Derrisk's head, he shifted Derrisk's body to get a better grip as he agreed with Meira aloud. "Yeah, that might be a good idea. Talking to the Wherlingmaster alone. I mean, I don't want to isolate Derrsik" I don't want to isolate myself. "But perhaps it might be best for the rest of the class." Even though Derrin said it, his voice clearly said he was unsure of this idea, he liked the thought of throwing Derrisk in with the others and forcing him to get along with them, though to be completely honest that would be more beneficial to him that to Derrisk or the other Wherlets. "Maybe if he just works on team building skills more? You know, more than the other Whers. If I can work with him on social skills and being nice and stuff, it would help him. If he has no choice but to work with others, he will at least build up a tolerance. You know, how you cna build up a tolerance for something you don't like. Sometimes if you are around someone you don't like, day in and day out and have to work with them, you grow used to them and eventually even start to like them!! Maybe Derrisk..." Derrin was abruptly cut off by the said Wher beginning to wriggle in his hold, letting out another rumble but this one more for Derrin.

The way he moved and if desperately trying to get away, Derrin wondered if maybe he hurt his feelings. Maybe by talking of trying to change him, even if he wasn't really trying to change him... well yes he was. Aghast at that train of thought, Derrin squeezed Derrisk tighter to his body, cuddling him. "I wouldn't try to change you, I love you just the way you are, you just need some umm... help in your socializing. But you are perfectly fine..." Blathering on, Derrin hugged the wher to him, afraid that he had hurt Derrisk. But that was Derrin, switching from one subject to the next in the bat of a long eyelash. Realizing that he might look a little ridiculous, cuddling Derrisk and cooing to him, Derrin straightened a little, though he still held Derrisk in a vice grip. "Well, I know I won't be able to hold him forever and he will have to learn sooner or later..." But Derrin was not sure if he should protect the Weyr or protect Derrisk. "And thanks, congratulations to you too! Meisk seems simply wonderful and growing a lot too!" Derrin, always the oblivious happy one, gave a much more enthusiastic congratulations, grinning with his whole face lighted up. Despite the pain of the Impression and the tragic drama that unfolded, Derrin still considered the Hatching to be one of his -absolute- favorite memories.

You know, adjusting to being bonded and dependent on another creature, you know, emotionally and having to always look after them and everything. I really had not expected such a big change in my life, but it really is. And work too. How was adjusting to Meisk? Any major problems? Me and Derrisk are still working out our problems, but hopefully we will be a team together." and he always had such a bright outlook on life. Was there such a thing as getting Derrin down, because it sure did not seem so. He hardly even noticed that Meisk was overcoming his fear with curiousity. Derrin was curious himself. Crouching down just a little, with Derrisk still safely tucked under an arm, he smiled just for Meisk. "Hey there, Meisk, how are you?" Looking around quickly, Derrin deemed it safe enough and did the worst thing possible. He sat Derrisk back down on the ground.

Derrisk immediately snapped his jaws together and took a menacing step forward but was stopped when in his eagerness to get closer, he stepped on Derrisk's tail. The little blue Wher set to yowling loud enough to break and eardrum, turning around and snapping at Derrin but not quite catching him in his jaws. Derrin in response, teared up sadly all but crying at the thought of hurting his precious Derrisk. "Oh. I'm sorry, i'm sooooo sooooo soooo soooo sorry. Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry. I am really really really sorry. Oh I don't even think Faranth knows how sorry I am." Looking at Meira, a tear fell from his eyes. Now he had done it. He had actually hurt Derrisk. Well, not really hurt, he just managed to stumble and step very quickly on his tail, once and Derrisk had already quite making noise about it. But still, Derrin felt horrible. "I must be the MOST HORRENDOUS wherhandler in the history of Pern. Seriously. Meira, I didn't mean to, you saw that it was an accident! What if they try to take Derrisk away now?!"

[Avu]

Meira was quiet, letting Derrin think it out. She still felt bad for him, which made her slightly irritated at herself—shouldn’t she dislike him? It was his wher that offered a probably lethal threat to Meisk, and yet it was…impossible to. Derrin had childish naïveté that appealed to her, and it was clear that he adored Derrisk. And perhaps the wher adored him too? (Perhaps ‘adored’ was pushing it…) He had showed concern before, after all…and it wasn’t as if he couldn’t be cajoled out of doing wrong. Maybe. Meisk tilted his head up at her, chirping inquisitively at the whirlwind of thoughts that were rolling around in Meira’s mind, none of which quite made sense. For some obscure reason, she could almost—not quite—but almost—like Derrisk. He clearly cared at least a little for Derrin. And hid it…quite well. She sighed absently, trying to communicate what little made sense to Meisk. Like, maybe he should forgive Derrisk? The blue Wherling eyed His in slight alarm, clearly wondering if she’d gone mad. Well, perhaps she had.

As he began to talk again, Meira focused on Derrin, her pale gray-blue eyes flicking from the tide licking against the coast to the man. He didn’t want to isolate Derrisk? In her opinion, isolating him might be a good idea for the safety of other whers if Derrin didn’t learn to control him. She refrained from pointing that out—hopefully the Wherlingmaster could point Derrin in the right direction…? His idea alarmed her slightly. Forcing Derrisk to work with other whers sounded more like Derrisk would establish a master/servant scheme if at all possible. Social skills, being nice, tolerating others…it would be nice, really. Meira tilted her head thoughtfully. And it just might work, crazy as it sounded. “What about the Night Watch?” she offered. “I mean, there’ll be plenty of grown whers there that Derrisk can interact with…and it’ll require whers and their handlers to work together, won’t it? And perhaps with other whers, too. So it’ll be good for that…?” she ended questioningly. She couldn’t see Derrisk liking Meisk anywhere in the near or far future, but at least perhaps he could, as Derrin pointed out, tolerate him…right now, that seemed rather pushing it, too. Who knew?

When Derrisk rumbled, Meisk flinched, but this time, Meira was alarmed to note, it seemed to be aimed at Derrin himself. Did he not approve of the plans to make him more friendly? She thought of that as a fairly good thing. A small smile crossed her face as Derrin cuddled Derrisk—looking rather awkward, but it was a nice gesture, wasn’t it?—and muttered soothingly about how he didn’t want to change him, etc. Meisk watched silently, clearly bewildered that Derrin was still fully intact and operational. And then he was afraid, as he let Meira know, that Derrisk would want to kill him for witnessing this cuddling scene. He wouldn’t like it to be known that his handler loved on him so much, would he? The blue wher looked up anxiously and peeped at Meira. She automatically stroked his neck. Don’t worry, Meisk. You’ll be fine, you’re doing great right now! Meira grinned apologetically as he admitted the flaw in his plan. It was a…perhaps not a good plan, but an interesting one to be sure. His clear enthusiasm in congratulating her made her smile even more widely. Yeah, he was definitely sweet in much the same way a small ‘brat might be cute. “Thanks,” she answered, glancing down affectionately at Meisk, who hummed approvingly. She should, it seemed, return a compliment, but she really was at a loss as to what to say. Personality-wise, there was little about Derrisk she could formulate a compliment about. “Derrisk really is beautiful,” she offered. He was, too. She thought Meisk was the most beautiful, but that was from a highly biased point of view and she knew it.

Adjusting to Meisk? Problems? The two hardly seemed to fit together. Meisk was far from demanding, and didn’t mind that she was only awake half of the time he was, since she hadn’t wanted to make Zesa adjust her schedule too, for more reasons than just that she thought the young queen wouldn’t like it. When she Rose, for example, she would only be Chased, Meira thought, if she Rose during the day when the bronzes were awake—and if she was used to night, she wouldn’t. Plus, she could hardly see. She considered. It was life-changing, to be sure, but there had been no problems. “Problems…not really. Except Meisk is awfully shy, so it’s hard to go around as—as openly—as before.” The blue wher was horribly shy, too. He was scared of basically everyone except Meira and Zesa (who had adopted him) and possibly Ferneth. He wouldn’t let the Candidate touch him, but he wasn’t frightened of him. Much. “I think you two are going to make a great team, once you figure each other out,” Meira said quietly. It was a hard thing to admire Derrisk, but he was admirable. He seemed determined (to hate Meisk), protective (of Derrin only), and he did love His. He just didn’t show it much…“Hey there, Meisk, how are you?” Derrin’s query made Meira smile and Meisk chirp in surprise, but the blue wher cast an anxious look at Derrisk and then crooned in response. Maybe he liked this boy a little bit, even if he was scared stiff of his wher. I’m glad, dear, Meira told the wher, smiling widely.

Oh, she was so proud of Meisk…

That line of thought ended abruptly as Derrin put Derrisk on the ground, making Meisk slide backwards unobtrusively, whereupon Derrin stepped on Derrisk’s tail and the blue wher yowled very loudly, and then twisted and promptly snapped at Derrin—Meira winced—thankfully not actually getting the boy in the snap. Oh, Faranth…Meira exhaled, realizing she had caught her breath in alarm. Derrin was back on the verge of tears, it sounded, from his tone, as he apologized repetitively to Derrisk—when he looked up at her, she was alarmed to see he was actually crying. Meisk keeled unhappily, catching her mood, as Derrin began to berate himself for being a horrendous Handler, and then cried about Derrisk being taken away. She would have gone to hug him—she had even taken a step forward—but Meisk’s alarming proximity to Derrisk made her stop, blinking anxiously. “Don’t, it’s all right,” Meira said soothingly, and Meisk crooned, still not moving closer, comfortingly. “You’re not a bad Handler, and Derrisk’s all right! He was just startled. It’s like stepping on a tame feline’s tail, they’ll yowl, but they’re not really hurt. Nobody’s going to take Derrisk anywhere,” she finished firmly. “I’d like to see them try to take away Derrisk if he didn’t want them to, anyway. Don’t cry.”

[flupine]

Derrin gripped Derrisk harder making the little blue wher wriggle to be free. Of course. Of course they wouldn’t take him. Of course they wouldn’t. Meira was right. There was no way that they would even try. They were bonded…. But Wher bonds could be broken in the strictest sense, right? Oh dear. Of Faranth. But no, Meira was right, she had to be and she sounded pretty convinced. What would they do with Derrisk even if they did manage to take him away? They would probably hand him right back over. No, they would probably throw him back. No. They would throw him back along with a hand full of marks just to bribe Derrin into keeping him and then take off running as if the dragon Faranth was after them. Yeah. They wouldn’t take him.

Feelign the nudge in his mind, his grip loosened greatly from the choke hold he had Derrisk gripped in. Even Derrisk sensed that Derrin was more than simply disturbed by stepping on his tail. It had hurt but not to the extent that His was taking it. Reaching out his tongue to slowly reach out and wind about Derrin’s thumb he glanced up briefly, looking not only to assure the very troubled Derrin but to receive assurance. Derrisk did not even like to entertain the thought of leaving his, it was just as distressing to him though he hardly showed it. Though he might like to reach over and grab ahold of a large chunk of his clutch mate’s hide, the distress from Derrin was starting to carry over through their bond. Deciding to give up the straight out-and-out attack on Meisk, Derrisk subtly changed tactics. Well it was not all that subtle, really. Slackening the tension in his body visibly, Derrisk pulled away from derrin to sit beside his leg companionably, looking like one of those disgusting idiotic canines that followed their masters around. Derrin was not his master but he was his bonded to him. Derrisk was truly smart in picking the one person who could smooth the way for him no matter what he did.

Derrin stood back up a little clumsily, looking down at the now rather peaceful looking Derrisk with undeniable pleasure. Derrisk was sitting! It was as if Derrin’s first child took it’s first steps and though Derrin never had a child, he was pretty sure this was how it would feel. Sniffling dramatically and wiping his sleeve across his nose in such a way that would have been utterly disgusting if it had not been quite so adorable on him. Brightening greatly in contrast to his earlier tragedy, Derrin seemed transformed. The world was righted once more for him and Selenitas was the best place on Pern once again. Surely Shmee would not just decide to take away his precious Derrisk and Meira who had every right to hate Derrisk was comfortable with him keeping Derrisk. She didn’t think he was a bad handler. And she witness his big blunder so surely that meant…. HE WAS THE GREATEST WHER HANDLER EVER!

Perhaps that was taking it a bit to far but Derrin felt like he was ontop of Pern at the moment and who really had the desire to crush that, certainly not his conscious. Well either way. guess everyone makes mistakes sometimes… right? I mean no one’s perfect. And well… Looking about worriedly, as if afraid some weyrbrat might be lurking about or worse Shmee might be lurking about, just waiting to catch his do something silly or say something horrible. Leaning his whole body forward, strained with excited tension he glanced around suspiciously once more. Finally satisified there were no lurking people waiting to jump out from behind some unsuspected tree… or sand dune… he whispered in a loud paranoid voice. Well… you see… the thing is… I….. well… I… amclumsyalotofthetime. All but spitting the last of the sentence outDerrin glanced around in paranoia once more. What if someone else heard that? I don’t mean to be but… but I cannot help it, I trip over my own feet and over Derrisk, I was terribly afraid they wouldn’t allow me to bond. But SSSSHHHHHHHHSSSSHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Please…. Don’t tell ANYONE. They they they might laugh at me.

[Avu]

Meira watched Derrin silently, anxiety clear in the healer's eyes. He didn't honestly think that anybody would take Derrisk away from him, did he? Well, she amended to herself, nobody in their right mind would take Derrisk away for anxiety over their own lives. Except perhaps the North; there was always that risk...but if Derrisk cared for Derrin half as much as he'd showed, there was no way he'd just let himself be taken. Or at least, that was what Meira was telling herself. Meisk, meanwhile, was completely confused. He was doing his best to keep up with the conversation and decipher what exactly was being said - but quite honestly, he was lost. Why anybody would separate a Bonded pair was beyond the little wherling's comprehension - they were bonded, after all. Not just friends - Bonds were forever. (And plus, why anybody would go within an armslength of Derrisk was confusing, too.)

The smaller blue ducked behind Meira's legs again as Derrisk was released. Had it been anybody else that faced him, it would have been a shy reaction. As it was, it was completely out of fear. Derrisk may be Bonded, may be tamed - but that made him no less liable to kill, in Meisk's point of view. His would protect him from the horrible scary blue one, yes? He pressed himself against the backs of her legs, neck stretched out curiously despite the fear - and then he uttered a confused warble. What was Derrisk doing? Was this some sort of subtle scheme to hurt him? Why was he sitting? Meisk had come to expect aggression from Derrisk; any change, no matter for better or worse, elicited sharp suspicion from the wherling. Scary. Derrisk was scary...and sitting made him scarier, because that was not a Derrisk-type thing to do. Therefore, it was a good reason to stare at Derrisk and make sure he wasn't about to suddenly lunge at him or something. The confused, suspicious fearfulness radiating from Meisk was affecting Meira, too; she blinked, more alarmed than suspicious, at Derrisk. He was...sitting? It's okay, Meisk, dear. He can't move as fast from a sitting position, you can come out if you want... Meisk chirped at her, venturing out slowly from behind her and mimicking his clutchbrother's position, sitting nervously with his side pressed against Meira's leg.

Meira was about to say something, but when she opened her mouth, she caught sight of the clear elation on Derrin's face and shut her mouth again. No need to intrude on his joy...of sorts. She found it slightly alarming that Derrin took such pleasure in just seeing Derrisk looking peaceful, but then again, she'd become accustomed to Meisk's sweetness, shyness, his painful paranoia, his desire to be cuddled. Had it been anyone else, she would have commented - but quite honestly, she figured any small achievement of Derrisk's should be encouraged and the look on Derrin's face was much to exultant to be ignored. She smiled slightly at the almost childish gesture he made - she supposed he had reason to be delighted. Meisk blinked uncertainly, glancing up at Meira with a confused, soft cheep. Why was he so happy? Derrisk hadn't ripped him to shreds, yes - that was a good thing - but...all he was doing was sitting. Sitting, and, no doubt, thinking of some elaborate scheme in which to trap him someday and then rip him to shreds. Meira reached down, rubbing the eye ridges consolingly.

As Derrin started to speak, she nodded at his comment. No, nobody was perfect - and if anybody was, she thought it'd be really rather boring, not to have that chance of screwing up, to have everything just so. Oh, maybe it would be good for some time - but still. In the end there would be no fun; no risk. As he looked around nervously, Meira couldn't help but imitate him, her gaze, too, glancing around. What was wrong, had he heard something? But no, it seemed he was just like Meisk - paranoid. That made her smile twitch at the corner, very sorely tempted to turn into a grin - she resisted, just in case Derrin would take it the wrong way. She wasn't laughing at him - she just found it adorable. As he owned up to being clumsy, Meira couldn't help it - she tilted her head to one side slightly, the smile stretching in an affectionate grin, the type that most people associated with those younger than oneself. Derrin was such a dear, though..."It's all right," she consoled, "I won't tell anyone - and I wouldn't worry about it. Lots of people are, and nobody would keep you from Bonding just for that...like you said, everyone has faults."