Perfect Day {tags K'lir and Baoth!!}

[weaving]

Feedermine much love. Yes, love on feedermine. Very yummy in tummy. Delicious, good food. Yummmmyummmmmmmmm.

Brat was in a good mood, as she usually was whenever she was fed. While this led to few insults from the gold, it also meant that the ‘prettily plump’(as she insisted she was when anyone called her the dreaded ‘f’ word) creature had a tendancy to “love” on Lennae. Unfortunately, being loved on was simply a euphemism for biting. Love bites! Bite loves, she insisted over and over, though Lennae was inclined to disagree, not that she’d ever let Brat know this. Unfortunately it also meant that the salamandyr was currently clinging to the underside of the greenrider’s breast, a place that while exceptionally painful, would have been hurting even worse if she’d attempted to remove the obnoxious twat. Thankfully Brat hadn’t pierced skin, making the pain somewhat easier to ignore. Stupid, idiotic gold blob.

I do not think that she means to hurt you, though I suppose it is an odd way to show affection. Wouldn’t cuddles be much more pleasant? More comfortable too, I would think. Kaaoloth was nice enough to cuddle, but he didn’t stay long. Why not? As Lennae scrubbed away at the green’s rear end, Amith talked away, lounging in the shallows while Hers did all the work. They had not had much quality time together, what with Hers running around trying to find Checkothbrown’s all the time. She’d wanted to ‘castrate’ him, she’d said. Whatever that meant. She’d said it was like cutting off an extra limb that wasn’t supposed to be there. She’d said that Checkothbrown’s needed to be fixed, to make him better, just like Lennaelove and, despite Lennae’s less than truthful tone, the gullible green had believed her. After all, Lennaelove was perfect, so what was wrong with fixing other people to make them just like her?

“I’m sure,” Lennae replied, between scrubs, “that Kaaoloth and Sel’n were very busy. They are assistant weyrlingmaster after all. Perhaps they had to go and teach a class. Besides, there are plenty of other dragons who would love to cuddle with you. Better ones, I’m sure, that wouldn’t leave.” Scrub, scrub, scrub. Not for the first time, she was glad that Amith was small for her size. It made baths like this quick and easy, giving her more time to spend on other pastimes, mostly knifework.

I suppose. I still think that it would have been nice if he had at least said goodbye. Perhaps he merely forgot. Yes, I’m sure that’s it. After all, he’s a busy dragon. With a deep sigh, the green let her head plop down in the river, submerging it for a moment before letting it rest on the surface. It was a very nice day it was, what with the sun shining and Lennae scratching all of her itchiest spots. Yes, it was a nice day indeed. There wasn’t much that could top this, though she wouldn’t mind some company perhaps. That might be okay, depending on the company.

Lennae was readying herself to reply to the green when Amith’s head lifted quite suddenly.

I think someone is coming. Do you think that they might want to play with me?

[glamourie]

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Fatty, fatty, fatty. Fatty eat lots, get more fatty. Ugly fatty false-gold. Fatty. Go’way fatty. Greenslave no like fatty either.

Bouncing along the edge of the river, Showoff flung himself from rock to rock. His little body made vivid splashes as he went, finally coming to stop right before Amith and Lennae with his frill flared wide enough to show off its red coloration quite vividly. His eyes faded to a hint of blue-green, and he flared his wings, bringing more prominence to his size… and making him actually look the size of a small green flit, for his trouble. Of course, he wasn’t. If he folded his wings it was more obvious how small he actually was. However, Showoff was known for living up to his name, and as he stood up on his hind legs, in a classical meerkat pose, he gave the greenrider a look that was unpleasant. Or, rather, he gave her breasts an unpleasant look. It wasn’t Lennae he was glowering at, it was Brat. Trust Showoff to always antagonize the gold that wasn’t His, if it could be helped. She was a false-gold. Daeluunya was the only true gold salamandyr, in Showoff’s admittedly not-so-humble opinion.

Where Showoff went, K’lir was sure to follow. However, seeing him outside would probably surprise many people. He hadn’t left his weyr (not even for food) except for the Hatching since Calistoth’s death. The only reason he was out at all was in front of him, snaking her way through the water as though she were made for the sinuous movements, and he was walking beside her with his head down, gazing awkwardly at the dark green form obscured by ripples. Baoth liked to swim, and she’d taken to the water naturally. It was probably odd to see her move, for she swam like a snake, not like a dragon, her wings clamped tightly to her sides, but… she seemed to have no problem going against the current, and the water felt good against her skin. K’lir himself was bare foot and making his way through the shallows, far less eager to become totally drenched. He’d leave that to her.

When a sight of mottled green of varying hues came into her gaze, Baoth stopped and growled. Then she swept over to the shoreline and put herself just in front of K’lir, her entire body shaking to fling the water around - effectively splashing Hers in the process.

MyLove, can we go play by the forest? I want to chase the little bugs that fly up and down, Baoth suggested, slinking around K’lir’s legs adoringly. Her own feet made little splashes as she went. Please? The water is very cool, but the shade will be better so that your hide does not hurt so much. I do not want you to hurt.

It was still very awkward, Baoth’s presence. K’lir glanced down at her, watching the green slither against him with a kind of grace on the ground he’d never witnessed in dragons before; she almost seemed made for that purpose. Sometimes he found himself staring at her, when she was distracted by something else, and other times, he couldn’t bring himself to even look at the dragonet. It wasn’t right, that bizarre avoidance of her affections, and the only thing that kept him from breaking down in misery was the knowledge that she would not be able to handle such a surge of pain. She wouldn’t understand it. Their connection, however brief it was, was such that she’d already figured out who and what Calistoth was… and she’d been smart enough not to bring it up; Baoth was intelligent. She thought that the other green was less so, for she’d let go of K’lir, and she would never do so. But she also knew that K’lir would never be able to handle that thought given voice. He knew what Baoth felt, though. He could feel her emotions more intensely than he ever could Calistoth’s. It was… very odd.

A reflection in the water stole his focus, and he slowly lifted his head to follow it before the reason for Baoth’s desire to escape the river came into focus. A green dragon. Amith. Calistoth’s clutch sister. His stomach knotted up and he glanced at Baoth, and then defiantly jutted his chin. If she wanted to be bonded to him and not someone else, fine. She’d have to deal with his friends, then.

“That’s Amith.”

I know who she is.

“Lennae is my friend. Let’s go talk to her.” The surge of irritation he got in response was almost satisfying. Almost. The only thing keeping Baoth from objecting was how firm he was in that suggestion, and she sensed his need to prove something -- whether it was to her or himself was unclear. Huffing her annoyance, she slipped back into the water and wove her way up toward Amith, as K’lir half jogged to Lennae. If she had to be around this one, she’d study her… she’d learn her weaknesses, in order to get that one away from Hers. ‘Friend’ wasn’t acceptable. She did not like that one. ‘Friend’ he said, but she wasn’t fool. She knew that he liked her. She didn’t know what that meant, but if he liked that one better than he liked her, she needed to be removed most effectively. Otherwise…

K’lir came to a splashing stop next to Showoff, who flung himself over onto Baoth as the green weyrling came more into the shallows. She crooned in affection to the salamandyr, who perched on her and looked down with a bemused expression before chirping back. Ignoring his two mindmates, K’lir fidgeted, suddenly aware that he had to actually talk… and, oh-so-eloquently, offered up a quiet (and sheepish), “Hi, Lennae.”

[weaving]

Pleasantly plump! Brat declared defiantly, letting go of Lennae in order to scramble up onto her head and frill at the bronze who dared to say otherwise. True-gold is best! Fake-bronze dung eater! Is yuck, no good! Bye Byeeeeee With that last statement, the rather large gold flung herself off of her perch, wings flaring out wide to carry her toward Showoff’s rock. She’d show him, yes she would! She’d knock him right off of that rock. It was her rock anyway because she wanted it and he didn’t deserve it! Just like the river was hers and the trees and Amithflyer and Lennaefeeder and all the food in the world. Yes, it was all hers and he was just jealous that he couldn’t have any of it.

She landed just in front of the bronze, though the momentum of her brief flight carrying her forward and crashing into him, efficiently knocking him off of her resting spot. Is mine, is mine! Queen of mountain! You bronzeslave, bring eating now. Hah! That would teach him. Maybe if he was very, very nice she’d give him some of her food. Maybe.

Oh! Oh! What is that! It’s coming toward us! Get out, get out! Having spied Baoth’s form moving through the water and being unable to properly identify it as the hatchling it was, Amith had immediately leapt up from her lounging spot in the shallows, diving behind Lennae and cowering there. Because clearly, clearly she was formidable enough to take on whatever menace it was on her own. Lennae eyed the river warily, slowly backing her way toward the riverbank. If there actually was anything there, quick movements would only send her slipping and falling down. Her footing was less than sure and the bottom of the river was too slippery to chance anything. Amith had been much quicker, and was already eyeing the river, alarm evident in the small green’s eyes.Man-eating fish! Hurry love-mine!

Apparently, Amith couldn’t wait for Lennae to make her way out on her own, instead drabbing the rider by her shirt and lifting her out of the river. Only then did Lennae notice K’lir standing near a rock where Brat perched triumphantly, while Showoff rested on the head of a green hatchling. Baoth. So that had been true, though she hadn’t really ever doubted the information. Still, it was always different to actually see it with her own eyes. It was so strange, not to see Calistoth. But, at least he looked somewhat healthier than he had for the past month, and despite the odd way that the green seemed to study her, she was grateful that she’d chosen K’lir.

“Hey K’lir,” she returned with a jaunty wave, before turning to look over her shoulder and growl at Amith, “let me down you silly beast.” Sheepishly, the green complied, gently setting her rider down at K’lir’s feet before extending her neck to more closely examine the small green that had startled her. So she wasn’t a man-eating fish at all. She held off on actually bespeaking the hatchling. Despite her larger size, Baoth intimidated her, though she wouldn’t ever admit it. After all, she was only a hatchling, though a very odd one. Hmmm. Maybe she’d want to play, though Amith didn’t find the idea of Baoth as a playmate very appealing anymore. She didn’t like the way that Baoth was watching Hers, not one bit. It was almost as though she were plotting something.

“Soooo,” as she spoke, Lennae stood, brushing herself off and doing her best to straighten her clothing, though the dampness made everything too clingy. Well, it looked like she’d be needing to do laundry sooner than she had hoped. Silly Amith, overreacting at the slightest things, though she had to admit that Baoth was rather odd looking. “How’re you?”

[glamourie]

Silly baby, not mountain. Is rock. Silly fatty does not know. Showoff true king. Silly baby no exist w’out Showoff. True king. Fattybaby false-gold forgets! Was he upset at being dislodged from his spot? Why, of course he was. However, Showoff had no problem remaining on Baoth’s head; this greenflyer was a good pet, she was. She was nice to him, and very good to Theirs, even if DungheadHis didn’t understand it yet. DungheadHis was still stuck on the green thing that left them and Showoff would never, ever forgive her for hurting His that way. This one - this one climbed all the way up the mountain to get to them, she obviously wanted them very much and loved Theirs very much, plus she was nicer. Nicer, smarter, and just better. He approved of her, he did, and Showoff did not approve of very many of the annoying flyers, because they were annoying. Was she actually asking him to bring her food though? Hah! Like that was going to happen! Fatty baby go diet. Need exercise. Need less food. Ugly baby. Should see Daelmine. Lovely lovely love mine. Proper queen, Daelmine.

Ignoring the bickering salamandyrs, Baoth remained deep enough in the water that her eyes, ridges, and nostrils could be seen, as well as her head knob and Showoff’s position perched on her. Otherwise, she was spread out serpentine, wings clamped tightly to her body to avoid any extra waves. She did not move toward the beach and instead took to watching Amith and Lennae with a fierce intensity that spoke of mistrust. Judging. She didn’t trust this one, she didn’t. She was important to Hers, and obviously interested in him, but Baoth could sense that it wasn’t something she could be trusted about. She wanted to steal him, she did. She could feel it. Not that she could blame her: Hers was amazing. But she wasn’t welcome, she wasn’t. Hnn. How to best go about getting rid of her, though? Stubborn refusals to allow her presence wouldn’t work, she could tell -- hers would just defy her on purpose and they’d bicker. She didn’t want him to bicker with her. She loved him, she did. She’d have to think of another way to remove this one. It involved studying… and she’d be happy to do exactly that…

Oblivious to Baoth’s plotting, K’lir tilted his head up toward Amith and raised an eyebrow almost curiously. He didn’t speak to her though. When she let Lennae down, he turned back toward Lennae and… pretty much totally ignored the green; it wasn’t personal, per sey, but the sight of her stung hard. He could almost hear Calistoth in the back of his mind, discontent at him being so near to other females. It was a very bizarre sensation.

“I’m --” He shrugged; it was hard to answer that, so he settled for pointing at Baoth. “That’s Baoth. I don’t think you two have met yet. Baoth…?” He spun around and blinked at the green, before crinkling his nose. “She’s not normally so, um… odd. She likes to swim though.” It was uncomfortable, mentioning Baoth, but at the same time, it would’ve been harder to answer how he really was. “I’ve been assigned a weyrling weyr. They expect me to sleep in the barracks. More over, they expect me to do chores, and I have to attend lessons all over again. Again. I already know all this. It’s stupid to make me go back and I shouldn’t have to do chores, I already did them for a Turn when --” When Lis was a weyrling. The thought made his stomach turn over, and he shook his head. “They promised me my own rooms though because of Kahrelir… that and I threw a tantrum that had Showoff in near hysterics. Um, how ’bout you…?”

Little cousin, Baoth asked of Showoff, and the salamandyr stopped his preening to look down at Baoth in interest. We must think of a way to remove this one. You are clever, little cousin, and I can feel you do not like them any more than I do. What do you think?

Clearly surprised at having his opinion considered, Showoff stood on his hind legs, and he too turned to watch Lennae and Amith with cool interest. Yes, yes, they needed to be punished for trying to steal DungheadTheirs… but how to go about doing it was the question. They needed to make sure DungheadTheirs was on their side first. Which meant deviousness. But Showoff made devious fun -- he had a gift for wicked schemes… and he’d finally picked a semi-permanent target to launch them at…

[weaving]

No no no! Is Mountain, no rock! Stupid Fake-King no bronze blind! No can see true mountain not rock. Clearly Showoff was an idiotic unintelligent creature, too proud to admit that he was wrong. Besides, if he really was a king, and she was his daughter, that would make her a princess! That was only one step below queen, which meant that she deserved to be treated with respect. Didn’t he realize that? Obviously not, or else he would have stopped insulting her long ago. ‘Fat’ wasn’t a nice word to call anyone, and she was definitely not fat. She was curvaceous! And besides, man liked women with curves much better, which was why she had many admirers willing to do her bidding (see: Hazard). Showoff was clearly simply jealous that she looked prettier than DaelUgly.

I King spawn make me Princess. Nice you to me. Dael die I Queen, you listen to me. Maybe he was simply ignorant, in which case a logical argument might make him understand. She flopped down on the rock, claiming it as hers, as if that wasn’t obvious, while explaining herself. If he didn’t understand her after such a thorough expression, then clearly there was something wrong with him. Perhaps his egg had been cracked early, resulting in an underdeveloped brain. Hmmm. She would never let that happen to her babies. She was a good mommy, yes she was.

Blocking Brat was common practice for Lennae, who more often than not was able to completely ignore the gold salamandyr whenever she became particularly irritating. It was necessary if she ever wanted to get a decent night’s sleep. She’d learned early on that Brat had no qualms when it came to interrupting a perfectly nice dream, demanding what else but food? Recently R’wign’s brown had been fulfilling that role quite nicely, and while it did nothing to help Brat’s expanding waistline, it certainly kept her content. She’d need to put the gold on a diet at some point; if people could die from being overweight, then surely salamandyrs could as well. For now though, there were other things that she found herself preoccupied with. One of them being K’lir.

As K’lir spoke, formally introducing her to Baoth, Lennae focused on the green. The hatchling seemed content to rest in the shallows, with only the very top of her head actually above the surface. It was always hard to tell what a dragon was looking at, what with their multifaceted eyes and all, but she couldn’t help but feel like the green was staring at her. Creeeeeeeepy. Very creepy. While she listened to K’lir speak, she couldn’t seem to tear her gaze away from Baoth, finding herself locked in a staring contest with the odd hatchling.

“Hmmm? Oh, I’ve been fine for the most part, aside from dealing with Brat, watching my back to make sure R’wign’s not pulling another prank on me…you know, things like that.” She shrugged as she spoke, not really able to find anything too exciting to talk about. His question had caused her to turn away from Baoth and she gladly focused on the redhead. Yes, he was much nicer to look at. “That sucks about lessons, chores especially. I’m sure the weyrlingmaster –who is it now?- wouldn’t make you do chores if you asked.” In her opinion, chores were stupid. Weyrlings were busy enough as it was, what with dealing with a hatchling. Besides, there were plenty of candidates with nothing better to do. It wasn’t as though the Weyr was hurting for help.

Amith, meanwhile, had been busy working up the courage to actually speak to the green hatchling. She didn’t like the way that the creature was watching hers, but perhaps it was part of a game, a new one that she hadn’t heard about yet. Why are you watching Mine? she asked, curiosity overcoming her natural reservations. Are you and the little bronze cousin playing a game? May I join?

“Where is Kahrelir?” Lennae asked curiously. She was surprised that the toddler hadn’t accompanied K’lir. There weren’t many people that he’d trust to leave the boy with so she couldn’t help but wonder. Despite her general dislike of children, she didn’t mind him, possibly might even go so far as to say that she liked him. He was a rather likeable child, which wasn’t surprising considering his parentage. K’lir may have claimed to be mean, sarcastic and unlikable but he’d never been anything but a good friend to her, even from the beginning.

[glamourie]

You king accident, not spawn, Showoff corrected from his perch, not bothering to argue the difference between a mountain and a rock. If she couldn’t tell that it was a rock versus the mountain behind her (Showoff was oblivious to the fact that his mountain would probably have qualified as a boulder in anyone else’s view) then she was just not worth arguing with, and he wasn’t claiming her as his offspring. He just wasn’t. Only the smart ones had a right to be called his babies. She was just… a Fatty. Not worth trying to talk to.

However, her comment about Dael dying sent him into a near rage and he flattened himself defiantly, frill flaring widely as his eyes went to a shade of scarlet alarming. He flared his wings, his whole body almost perfectly flat against the top of Baoth’s head, and his tail jolted entirely outright. The salamandyr was most assuredly in combat mode. His rage was impossible to miss, and he crawled forward until he was right between Baoth’s eyes, watching Brat like a hawk. Little claws flexed (carefully, so as not to cut Baoth) and a low growl rattled in his chest, melting into a menacing hiss. It wasn’t often that Showoff became so angry, but what Brat didn’t know - couldn’t know - was that he hadn’t seen Dael since the Siege. She’d been gone. His beloved Daeluunya was missing, and that - that little ugly - was talking about her dying. She needed to pay. He fanned his frill and backed up a few steps, then made a flying leap across the water, wings flaring to carry him forward. He’d kill her, he would! No need to insult, too stupid to understand the words - he’d just flat out kill her! How dare she even imply that she was remotely equal to Dael. Dael was the only salamandyr he considered his own equal - she was just inferior. Death death death --

Snatched. Hissing, Showoff turned around and promptly bit down on K’lir’s hand between his thumb and his index finger, his whole body squirming in his fury. She was just lucky that His grabbed him to stop him - he’d have killed her, he would have. Killed the ugly false gold for her audacity. Kill.

“I’ll thank you not to try and kill Brat, Showoff,” K’lir said abruptly (no doubt giving indication to how angry the salamandyr really was; there was a note of insult in Brat’s name that even K’lir couldn’t disguise). “It’s not as though she knows.” He glanced at Lennae and then toward Brat before speaking to the salamandyr directly, “Dael is missing. I’d suggest not mentioning anything negative about her to Showoff again, or I won’t stop him the next time.” It was perfectly natural to him to talk to Brat as if she was an intelligent little person. Although, intelligent was an exaggeration: K’lir thought very little of Brat, primarily due to her upsetting Showoff so much. For better or worse, he’d become very protective of the obnoxious little creature, and if she looked to anyone but Lennae, he probably would have responded viciously. As it was, he was holding Showoff firmly for Lennae’s sake, not Brat’s. The little gold had whatever Showoff did to her coming. He just pitied Lennae when the bronze calmed down enough to retaliate.

Turning back to Lennae, K’lir shook his head. “It’s I’fael of Morendoth for our class, and I fully intend on making it clear to him that if he makes me do chores, I’m sending Showoff after him. He’s smart enough to know what that entails.” When he was sure that Showoff wouldn’t go after Brat, K’lir slowly uncurled his fingers from around the salamandyr. Hissing, Showoff scurried up onto K’lir’s shoulder and displayed prominently at Brat and Lennae both. K’lir ignored him. “Rel is with R’wign. You know. The man who’s baby you’re having.” There was a hint of agitation in those words, too - but mainly because he was jealous. He’d admit it to himself if never aloud. “Dare I ask why he’ll want to retaliate now? It’s my understanding that he felt the slates were even and was going to let it go… Unless you’ve done something I’m not aware of?” He hadn’t really talked much with R’wign since Calistoth… The healer mainly just showed up to demand that he eat, before, and then he’d taken to babysitting Kahrelir frequently. “He’s going to be a father, you know. For real, not play.”

Amith’s words made Baoth lift her head out of the water, droplets falling from her neck. Her gaze snared on the other green as she weighed her options. Unacceptable companions, these ones were, but if she said anything, they’d become suspicious. She didn’t want to let them know that she didn’t like them. She settled for crooning lowly and saying simply, Yours is new to me. We have not met She liked hiding in the water and seeing who could find her, but Amith needn’t know that. It is not a game. Simply swimming. Your worm has offended the little Showoffcousin. You should control her better. There was no malice in those words, unlike with K’lir… Baoth was simply trying to plant an idea, more than anything else. Social experiment. How would Amith react? That remained to be seen.