Building Blocks (Exotic Touching)

[Tashe]

Tail twitching in anxiety, Millieth lay curled around her clutch, trying to shield as many of them from sight as she could. She hadn't allowed anyone to come into the hatching grounds at all, the Gold didn't want anyone looking at her clutch, let alone coming in to touch it. Her Rider was still in the infirmary, so for this Touching she'd be flying solo. She was still agitated from the attack, that coupled with the mothering instinct, was not exactly the best combination.

Big goldy! Big Goldy!

Tilting her head downward as a small Brown Mandyr scurried over to her from the stone couch, Millieth let the male climb onto her nose. Big Goldy clutch hatchhatch? /No. Little Brats come to see the eggs now./ Bratbrats. You call them? I watch. I help? /You can bite anyone who isn't nice./ I bite! I help Big Goldy. Loveours is hurt. So I helphelp. Rolling an eye upward as she felt the Mandyr move onto her eyeridge, the Queen snorted before turning her gaze onto the doors to the Sands. She disliked having to talk to any Human other than Her's, it felt wrong, but she always made do with the situation. /Candidates. If you wish to stand at my Hatching, you will attend the Touching. Come now or do not come at all./ She did not attempt to hide the displeasure in her voice. If the little Brats wanted to gain her grace, they'd be on time, and incredibly polite. The Candidates had no human liaison, they would have to deal directly with her and unfortunately Millieth was not in a lenient mood.

Big Goldy? /What?/ Dashdash no get in badness if bite? /No. Dash will not get in trouble for biting./ Good! Big Goldy's eggs will be finegood. /Yes of course they will... of course.../ She huffed, curling tighter around her clutch of thirteen eggs, having lain them close together out of paranoia. She could only fit her body half way around them, so she made up the difference in her menacing posture.

[Rei]

Candidates. If you wish to stand at my Hatching, you will attend the Touching. Come now or do not come at all.

As the strong words filtered through his mind Danar jumped form his place pealing tubers. Hero trilled in excitement and the candidate gave the flit a stern command to stay put. He didn’t know how Millieth was with flitters. Aslath had hated them and although Millieth wasn’t Aslath the candidate was willing to bet that Millieth would be extremely nervous at this touching. After all the Weyrwoman was still in the infirmary.

There would be no buffer between Millieth’s fury and the candidates. Taking a deep steadying breath Danar made his way to the dock, acquired a boat, and began the trip to the hatching sands.

As the boat ground onto shore Danar stepped out and brushed himself off. Well it was now or never. Striding purposely onto the hot sands he was a bit surprised to see he was the first male to arrive. The candidate paused and bowed deeply. Straightening up to his full height he raised his voice.

“Good day queen Millieth. What a lovely clutch you have blessed us with. They are a shining light in the darkness that shrouds our weyr. I humbly ask that you allow me to approach your eggs.” As he waited for approval or disapproval he shifted from foot to foot. Darn the sands where hot.

[dragon]

At the summons from Millieth, Nris was surprised, distinctly. The Touching was going to happen, even with the Weyrwoman out of comission? Well, that was unexpected, to be sure. But she knew better than to tarry anywhere along the way ... that gold sounded ready to bite, sure enough. It was time to keep the Queen happy, in any and all ways possible.

She hurriedly prepared for the event, and then quickly made her way to the hatching grounds. Upon reaching the entrance, she paused long enough to resort herself. Shards! Why was she so flustered? Maybe it was the big angry looking gold, or was it the very idea of her whole world changing soon? She didn't know.

Straightening her clothes and running her hands over her head to make sure not a single strand of her platinum blonde hair was out of the bun, she took a deep breath and strode forward onto the sands. She took several measured strides toward Millieth without flatering, and then took a measured bow to her. "Good day, Senior Queen Millieth, mother of these lovely eggs. Might I partake of the honor of visiting with them?" She asked.

And then she folded her hands before her, patiently waiting for permission - or rebuke. She knew not which was coming.

But at least she hadn't tripped on her feet on the way in. Graceful in the water she might be. But sometimes land got the best of her!

From the entrance, Aslan peeked around the corner of the wall. I come no? Safe, yes? Hot yes. Not comfy, I not come. He finally decided, crouching down where he was to watch from safety.

That sand was awful hot.

[Lotty]

Ughtouchingugh.

Let's be perfectly honest. Kasella was totally over it. Touchings, formalities, politeness, chores, the whole kaboodle. He had to force a smile on his face, but that was like a chore all in itself, so he settled for the little smirk he managed when the gold dragon first made her announcement and let it be known that she was all business. Maybe he was a little put off about the rigidity of the whole operation, and the buffer role that the Weyrwoman typically played in the ritual usually gave him a small sense of comfort about approaching a large upset clutch mother, but he at least respected Millieth's no nonsense approach. Kasella accordingly found it only appropriate to return the same kind of attitude.

This was a custom. He didn't particuarly like it. But he was going to participate and force all the politeness he knew, if only to prevent himself from any bodily harm.

He did little to prepare. He left his task cleaning up rubble and joined the group of boys and girls trickling onto the sands, filing in somewhere behind Nris and Danar, inwardly snickering at the latter's overly flowery language. For a moment he was so concerned with the others that he almost forgot to do his own introduction, but he shaped up and bowed, maybe a little shallower in his dip, and completely lacking in the same compliments. He caught a glimpse of one of the eggs unprotected by the queen, "It's a beautiful clutch you have here Millieth."

Hmm, maybe I should have opted for something a little more eloquent, he thought for a second, too late now. Crushed Kasella coming to a hatching grounds near you.

[Rowana]

Merridan nearly jumped out of her skin as the queen's voice entered her mind. Shards, but that was a neat trick! Struggling not to drop the tray of food she was taking to the infirmary, she quickly passed it to one of the drudges. Yelling her thanks, she took off running for the hatching sands. Millieth didn't sound like a patient or happy dragon and she did not want to miss this for being tardy. She couldn't blame the queen really, from what she heard, the Weyrwoman wasn't doing so well and that had to make her edgy.

Mer skidded to a halt before entering the sands at a walk behind Kasella. Best not to run in, she figured, or Millieth might squash her as a threat. She had not doubt the queen would have no qualms or regrets about doing it. Especially considering what they'd all been through. She watched Nris and Danar, who were both very formal, and Kasella, who was still pretty polite. Proper address and manners were not something Mer had learned well, but she did her best based on what the others did before her.

Bowing low, Mer spoke as calmly and nicely as she could. "It's nice to meet you, Queen Millieth," she intoned with a pleasant smile. "Your eggs are very handsome. May I see them?"

[ladybug]

Burena was by the river, oiling Doc, when the Queen's voice boomed in her mind. She jumped, and Doc gave a little squawk of protest. "Sorry, Doc. I have to go, and I don't think you should come," she told the blue. He snorted, then lifted off and flew away, probably to wait in the barracks for her return. Burry stood and brushed her hands together, rubbing in the rest of the oil. Her hands would be nice and soft for the eggs.

Burena hurried to the Hatching Grounds and followed Merridan onto the sands. She had heard about Mer's bravery during the siege and she felt a little embarrassed for hiding in her room the whole time. Well, at least she was alive to be here at the Touching. She glanced over what eggs she could see, then noticed the 'mandyr and frowned. Burena didn't like 'mandyrs, and they generally didn't like her.

Millieth was probably on edge, so she was sure to be extra polite as she approached the Queen. Burena curtsied low, then smiled up at Millieth a little nervously. "Er, ah..." A wonderful way to begin. "You have a beautiful clutch and I would be very honored to touch it, and I promise not to hurt your babies," she said fervently.

[hseru]

Lanthos abruptly pulled the bandage he was wrapping a bit too tight as Millieth’s voice flashed like an annoyed hornet through his mind. His ‘patient’ cursed him, and he apologized profusely, finally earning an exasperated smile in return. Finishing the task only took a few more seconds, and the candidate almost bounced to the head healer for the day to explain why he needed to go. The healer waved him out without him needing to, well aware of the situation, and he was shortly racing up the stairs to get to the top of the cliff.

Despite his hurry, he slowed when he was close, regaining his breath and trying to look somewhat composed, when everything within him was abuzz with sheer joy and excitement at the simple act of touching those eggs. One of them could hold his future soulmate… he would be certain to keep his welcoming affection foremost in his mind when, indeed, if he was allowed to touch the eggs. He wasn’t the first, but he wasn’t late either, trailing after a few other candidates and noting their sometimes simple, sometimes flourished greetings to the big queen.

He took his turn after Burena, bowing as low as he could and still look accomplished at the task –he’d practiced for this afterall- “What a beautiful clutch you have created, good Queen. It would be the honor of my life if you would allow me to touch them.” There was no doubt to his sincerity, it was written plain over his face and laced into his voice. Lanthos straightened and lightly let his hands hang at his sides, at ease and trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. No use tempting an egg-proddy queen, especially without her rider there to oversee the situation and following consequences of such an action

[tompoko]

It had been a troubling time at the wyer, and even with his small amount of knowledge of dragons Tyrone figured the Gold would be under a good deal of stress with this clutch. Even so, it was probably his only opportunity for a while to get in and hopefully impress one of the new clutch.

Tyrone walked across to the hatching grounds. Shivering a little bit at the chill, part from the coolness, and part from his fear of the gold’s impending silent—or verbal—judgment of himself, he entered the nest.

13 eggs were there along with a massive golden dragon curled around them. Tyrone stared, frozen in place, this is too much.. he thought to himself. He was shaking badly, visibly now.

It took several minutes to be able to move again, Tyrone moving slowly but steadily and controlling his stride to convey as little fear as possible. Who knows how the queen would react to someone un-sure of themselves. If I were in her position I’d probably bite anyone’s head off that so much as looked at me funny. Tyrone was within 20 feet of the clutch now. Staring at the queen, he chose not to go further before introducing himself.

Tyrone began with a bow, took a deep breath and prayed his voice would not shake. “Queen Millieth, I am Tyrone, a candidate of selentia's wyer. Please permit me to view your clutch.”

...The silence conveyed levels of tension that Tyrone had never before felt. He had hoped after this was over, he would never feel them again.

[topaz]

Thora jumped at the sound of Millieth's voice in her mind, nearly dropping her basket of fruits and berries in the process. She had been gathering for only a short while now, so she hastily passed her half full bundle into the hands of a weyrling who also shared the task, quickly explaining her need to leave. Rushing back towards the candidate barracks, she donned the crisp white robe she had been given only a few sevendays ago, and bounded back down towards the hatching sands. She wasn't exactly sure if they were expected to wear the robe for the touching as well as the hatching - everyone had been a bit busy with the attack to instruct her properly - but the blonde figured she should be better safe then sorry. After all, the queen's booming voice did not sound pleasant.

Walking briskly along the hatching sands side of the river bank, Thora tried to formulate an eloquent way to phrase her question to the queen. She didn't want to sound like she was trying too hard, but she had to be polite. It was a tricky balance. By the time she entered the hot arena, she had managed to come up with something decent.

The hot, dry air of the sands washed over the candidate as she filed in behind the rest. As she waited for her turn to speak, she glanced over at the massive clutch. The eggs were so large, and thirteen of them! The childish excitement slowly began to creep over the girl, filling her with a joyful giddiness which radiated from her wide grin.

When it was her turn, she followed suit with the other candidates before her, and bowed low for a few moments, before addressing the large queen. "Lovely queen Millieth, I am so glad that you eggs have survived the past few days. They give the entire Weyr hope. May I touch them dear queen?" Okay, so it was a bit fancy, but it seemed appropriate to Thora. The girl smiled sweetly, and confidently up at the looming gold dragon above her, trying her best not to look over zealous.

[Tashe]

Lifting her head slightly as the first of the Candidates appeared, Millieth narrowed her eyes as she watched the girl's movements. Truth be told, the Gold had always been partial and more trusting toward females, and this one seemed polite enough. Prodding Dash mentally, she turned her eyes onto the next candidate that appeared.

Girlygirl yellow hair. May pass, may pass. Gentle with Big Goldy's eggs or get bited!

The boy's words were so... flowery. She snorted, these Brats always tried to boost their requests with added words and shiny phrases. Flicking her tail, Millieth slid her eyes onto the boy who had just arrived.

Floweryboy, Passpass. Be nice or I eat!

Kasella complimented her, but did not ask her permission to participate, he was then skipped over as she listened to the next female speak. Dash flared his frill at the boy with a small hiss. Like the first girl, this one received about the same amount of Millieth's attention. She could proceed.

Second Girly, comecome. You may touch!

Watching Burena as she approached, Millieth was amused to see that at least one of the Candidates showed a bit of obvious nervousness in her presence. The Brats should be nervous, by deciding to Touch her eggs they were voluntarily wondering into the striking range of her jaws. The girl was judged harmless.

Third Girly. Touch eggs you can. Gentle!

Another boy who decided to embellish on his request. Were all of the young human males so inclined to try and impress her with cheesy sayings. Touching her eggs would not be the honor of his life, actually having the ability to Impress one of her children would be. She huffed slightly before looking directly at Tyrone.

Floweryboy number two, touch you may. Be bad and I bite.

Did he think she was stupid? If he wasn't a Selenitas candidate, he wouldn't be standing before her. She was tempted to not let him pass, just to spite the boy out of annoyance. Twitching her tail the Gold decided to make the boy wait, he would be able to pass but not until the rest of the candidates (with the exception of Kasella who needed to realize the error of his ways) had either gained her permission or were sent away.The next boy she didn't like, she had no viable reason for her dislike, but never the less she gave Dash the permission to chase him off.

Flaring his little wings, the Brown Mandyr took a running leap off of Millieth's nose, landing on the boy with a hiss. Dash gave him a smart bite on the arm before leaping off of him and landing on the next person, using them so he could go after the boy again. Chasing the spry boy off of the sands, the Brown hopped back to the candidates, landing to rest on Thora's shoe.

The girl wore her robes to a Touching? Millieth eyed the girl skeptically, unsure whether or not to trust the girl around her eggs. It didn't seem like she had attended Candidate classes. The nervous twitch didn't leave the tip of her tail.

Silly girl you passpass. Be careful. Very careful. Leaping off of her shoe, Dash bounced off of various candidates as he made his way back to Millieth's nose. Curling up, he trained his eyes on the two boys who had not been allowed to touch yet, but been allowed to stay on the sands. Raising his head as the Big Goldy spoke to him, he turned his attention onto Danar. Ignoring the growl the Big Goldy gave the sillyhumans in a general warning, she wanted to make sure the Braties knew she was nokind.

Flowery Boy one! Big Goldy says watch others. Make sure no hurt eggs. She notrust Brats! You candy longest.

[Rei]

After the queen and the mandyr allowed him to proceed Danar looked over the eggs carefully. Which one should he touch first? Before he could even take a step towards them however the mandyr was addressing him again. Him? Millieth wanted him to make sure the others didn’t hurt the eggs? Turning towards her again he bowed. “Sure Millieth don’t worry. I won’t let them get rough with them.”

Spinning on his heel Danar looked over the candidates that had been allowed to pass. Clearing his throat he addressed them. “Listen up guys. Millieth has been gracious enough to let us pass without the Weyrwoman here. You should all return the curiosity by staying polite and very careful. Be gentle with the eggs no need to put to much pressure on them it’s doubtful you’ll be able to hurt them but always err on the side of caution. Alright please continue and if Millieth asks you to leave do so. For your own safety.” Flashing the other candidates a smile that he hoped was reassuring he made his way over to the group of eggs.

Stopping beside the Cyclamen Egg Danar stooped down and examined it’s bright pink color before reaching out to stroke it gently. Pasine might have liked this one. The thought caused him to frown where the heck was she anyway?

Standing up he eyed the other eggs. The Hybiscus Egg was the largest of the clutch so he went to that one next. It most likely contained a brown or a bronze judging by it’s size and he spent some time with it before continuing on his way. All the while he watched Millieth smiling reassuringly at her whenever she looked his way.

[Rowana]

For a second Merridan was confused. The voice in her head now sounded nothing like the booming demand from a few minutes before. Then it dawned on her as the the little salamandyr glided towards some of those behind her. Well he was certainly clever, but "girly"? She resisted the urge to protest the wording. She was allowed to touch now, and she wasn't going to ruin it by complaining about a salamandyr's vocabulary. She took a few steps closer. Danar was talking now. Who put him in charge? Well, he had been here longer than most, so she supposed it made sense. So did most of what he said.

Mer nodded her understanding and approached the clutch. From a distance they had looked colorful. Up close, she could now see that they were of a wide variety of hues and patterns ranging from the simply the the complex. It was like looking at a collect of the the most vivid flowers she had ever seen. Mer could not help smiling widely. "They really are beautiful," she murmured. She wanted to touch them all.

Mer's steps drew her to the Rose of Sharon Egg first. She wasn't sure why, but the delicate pattern and deep red mark were appealing. She passed a hand over it gently, fascinated by the varied texture, rough towards the top and silky at the bottom. She lingered a moment, then moved on. The Gladiolus egg was next. While pink was not her favorite color in the world, she rather liked the marbled white lines that covered it. The shell was warm beneath her fingers and much smoother than she had expected. She decided she liked this egg, after all, and spent a little more time with it. Then she was drawn to see still others. Several of the larger eggs drew her attention. It didn't bother her that boys were probably the preferred candidates for those. She didn't see any reason why she couldn't touch them too.

[Lotty]

Denied.

And he wasn't surprised after hearing everyone else's parade of compliments and niceties. Did Millieth like that sort of thing? Kasella sort of always viewed such speech as brown-nosing or even sometimes patronizing and didn't think to dress up his language, but then Kasella reasoned that he wasn't always the most popular boy around the weyr and maybe he could have learned a thing or two about flattery. He caught the hiss from the salamandyr; he had never cared for the creatures and although he had never planned on announcing this to the world he shot back a dark glance, only to quickly school his face back into a more humble expression. His qualms with the frilled creature were going to have to wait, after all he did want to live and he did want to stand for this clutch.

He wasn't exactly sure why the other boy was held back, but he did have a clue as to why he was left standing there. Certainly Kasella lacked something in his introduction, but the boy was too proud to stammer an apology or beg forgiveness, and yes he was quite intimidated by the creepy killer dragon he was standing before, but Shardit it's too late to back down now. Leaning forward he attempted his neutral-non-offensive-plea, "Did I fail to mention how grateful I would be if allowed to touch those beautiful eggs? May I?"

Yep, that's not going to work, he glanced over at "Floweryboy" as he led watched over the other candidates in his chipper Old Auntie manner, yeah, maybe it's better this way. I might as well get kicked out now since I'll never be as excitable about eggs as them. Already he was accepting his own defeat.

[hseru]

Floweryboy? Well, he wasn't going to argue such a moot point, especially not right now, but he'd been allowed to come forward, so that's what he was going to do. The mandyr's voice wasn't familiar, but the fact that it was the mandyr speaking to him became readily apparent. He was used to those clipped, sometimes odd sentences out of Pep, who he was glad he'd left behind, as instructed. Mask was fine remaining in the barracks, as it was what he usually did when Lanthos went to the infirmary.

Danar seemed to have been given authority over the group, which really didn't bother Lanthos. He knew the other candidate had at least a decent head on his shoulders, even if he was sometimes too big for his pants, what with his high hopes that felt more fact than fiction to the boy, which was evident from how he talked about them.

Lanthos bowed again in thanks to the dubious queen, and moved slowly forward, his eyes focused mainly on the brilliant clutch. He hadn't known that dragon eggs were, well, so darn colorful. It was like a rainbow had come home to roost in the sands. The myriad of colors had him pausing before one caught him and he moved to examine it closer, all at once reminded of the danger the queen could present, and keeping a careful eye on her too. The vibrant, almost violent shade of red on the Hybiscus egg drew him first, and he paused just before touching it. Finally a few fingers brushed the surface, and he was perturbed by the void of emotion he felt from the egg. Was it supposed to feel like that? Taking his fingers away and holding them as if he'd been burned, he moved on to another, more peaceful looking egg.

The Dahlia egg's rich burgundy had him thinking about Brownie, his runner, and he grinned as he reached to give it a gentle full handed caress along the stripe of green, happy to find it warm and smooth to the touch. He emptied his mind of everything but welcome, and gave the lovely egg another few caresses before moving on.

[tompoko]

Tyrone felt 3 individual beads of sweat trickle down his back, and at the same time shivered visibly.

He wasn’t absolutely sure but he had a good guess that he had just offended the queen.

Then again, he was still standing on the sands, and that was better compared to the last guy.

While waiting to see if he were going to share the same fate as that other candidate-- hopefully with less biting involved if it came to that-- Tyrone stared as the other candidates moved towards the egg clutch.

It was hard to watch from the side lines.. the suspense and tension felt like a huge bolder on his shoulders. It was almost unbearable. Even so he stood straight and tall, neutral expression tapered on his face and schooling his glances to a minimum.

Hopefully it would work out alright. and there was always next clutch.. if I don’t get mauled to death.