Motley Crew [Req and Rii]

[Lotty]

Fah-fa-la-la-lahhhhh....

Raebeli was rather cheerfully skipping her way to the entrance of the main hall, completely unphased by the fact that it was night. Sure, a lack Vitamin C could put a damper on the normal human being, but since when was the mindhealer exactly normal? She did after all deal with the crazies on a regular basis and ran around with a bird of prey on her shoulder. She also could hypnotize people into thinking they were wherries. See? Not normal behaviors, but who could deny that at least her utter exuberance was endearing?

If anybody thought that the night shift would ruin her spirits, they were wrong. You just have to adapt, and Rae was just the type to do that. It was a gift really. So no, learning to live life (mostly) nocturnal wasn't much of a problem. She was her very own "Rae of Sunshine" afterall.

She tried to fit the name too and not just with a winning smile. She stuck out even at night with her bright clothing choices: a red - cherry red - skirt with white hem paired with her trademark leather clogs and a white peasant top decorated with flowery embroidery. Very appropriate for a sunny day's picnic, a stroll during her midnight break was up for debate though. But a few things were missing, first of all she didn't have her number one companion: Cap'n.

With Cap'n roosting, or whatever it was that big birds like him did at night, she could sneak off to find him treats. Hence her little path to the kitchens as opposed to taking a short nap in her little tree top apartment. It was a lonely walk though, and it reminded her of one more missing thing. Her long lost friends. Why she hadn't seen Demi since he had Impressed that wher of his...she wasn't even sure what color it was. Although that didn't stop her from conspiring against him but...well that was beside the point. Rae continued to skip along...fah-la-la-la-lahhh.

[Requiem]

"A what?"
Flowery human thing.
"Human thing."
Well, yes. Human was debatable, given most didn't move like that.
"What exactly is a human thing, then?"
A human like thing.
"That isn't human...?"
That may not be human.
"Is it just me, or is this conversation going in circles?"
As long as you keep asking silly questions.
"They're not silly questions."
Then why are we going in circles?
"I don't know. That's why I asked you!"
No. Really. Why are we going in circles?

Dmitri paused, blinking. "Give me your eyes." Yes, they were right back by that same tree, the one with the markings just at his eye level. For the third time that night. He shrugged. "You're the one leading."

I am?
"Aren't you?"
Would have been nice to know.
A heavy sigh. "The blind leading the blind."
Technically, you're the only blind one.
"No. Technically, my eyesight just isn't as good as yours."
Granted.
"What, I'm right for once?"
Don't get used to it. I'm sure it will only happen once or twice.

A typical conversation...albeit odd in that Dmisk was conveying its entirety through emotions and pictures...between the wherling pair. By mutual consensus they had begun moving toward this 'human thing.' Dmitri was curious (and, even though he could have simply borrowed Dmisk's senses, from this distance that was mostly heat signatures and scents, which meant nothing to him without Dmisk's interpretation - which was currently 'human thing').

Dmisk was first to emerge from the trees, slinking along with a grace that was more feline than wher-like. Soft matte-blue, he shone in a phantomlike fashion, completely silent as he circled around Rae. His head came up, glancing toward Dmitri. The human thing was actually a queer human, it would seem, and it was ok- Psht. His hadn't even waited for the go ahead. Dmisk's eyes slitted, the only indication of his annoyance.

"I know her already, Dmisk," Demi stated, by way of explanation. He flashed a smile at the healer, glancing at her clothing. "Uhhhh...isn't it a little cold for skirts?" What with it being night and all. Not that he was complaining about the view.

[rii]

Where were the tongs. He couldn't take it out of the fire without a pair of tongs. Rulven stumbled out of the candidate barracks, mumbling nonsense to himself as he heavily dragged himself through the darkness. Even if he was remotely awake, the night had settled in heavily enough to make him blind. His feet steered the course, a unsurprisingly familiar one that would lead him to the outdoor kitchens.

"Little dragons.. need out.. hot.. too hot.. No–" Rulven paused in the middle of the adjoining bridge to look sternly at the stretching rope railing. "–leave the blue ones. Take the little green ones out, put them in the water." Apprentices. Rulven lightly shook his head and went back to staggering along. The young ones were so eager to please they didn't really listen to instructions. Now the dragons were going to end up with three wings, wherry tails, and sweetstick tongues. What a disaster..

The former Hyphen smith had slimmed down a bit from his original bulk. He had been at Selentias for over a turn and without the demanding physical labor of the forge his muscles had smoothed into something more streamline than powerhouse. His height and broad shoulders still made him intimidating build, no doubt, especially to the quirky young candidates that barely stood to the middle of his chest.

And what had the smith sleep walking this fair night? A mixture of unacknowledge stress and desire to leave the Weyr. Rulven didn't like being a candidate – that people looked at him and only acknowledge that they held rank over him. Perhaps too stubborn for his own good, Rulven still had not adapted to taking orders from just anyone just because they rode a dragon and he didn't. Too many of them seemed to lack the responsibility for the position; as disobedient and lolly-gagging as the candidates and weyrlings that liked to skip their chores and duties. There was just something infuriating about slackers telling him what to do.

"Hammer.. don't eat too fast. Upset the–" His muttering continued until his foot caught in a footstool and down the candidate went, landing with an audible thump. Who put that anvil there? Dazed, Rulven sat up and blinked around at the darkened scenery, slowly drawing out of his sleepy haze. Yet, not quickly enough because his gaze settled on the pale hide of Dmisk and the first thought that went through his head was: that was one big firelizard..

[Lotty]

She paused for a moment. Was that a sound? The mindhealer kept an ear open for what she suspected was rustling in the woods, but then when there failed to be a repeat performance she went on her way again...until that noise plagued on her mind again. She wasn't particularly paranoid, and she wasn't one of those people who were told too many scary stories as a little kid but...this wouldn't be the first time she was snuck up on. Being surprised wasn't a very welcomed sensation, at least not at night; there wasn't bound to be cake and confetti when it came to night time surprises. She was taking her steps much more gingerly by now, skipping didn't seem quite as appropriate, and that is when she saw it...wait...what was that?

She crinkled her nose in confusion as the creature quietly stalked around her - it was only after a moment that she was able to distinguish the creature as being a wher as opposed to some kind of ghost of the forest. Now it made sense that the wherhandler should be close behind. Or at least assuming that this wasn't a wild one, but if it was wild she figured that she would be dead and sat on by now.

But it just so happened that her suspicions were correct and this was no rogue blue, oh no she happened to be rather familiar with it's bonded and she set her hands on her hips and feigned a stern look at the harper boy she had grown so fond of since her arrival at Selenitas, "Demi...what do you think you are doing?" Rae was completely disregarding the comment about her skirt. As long as you kept a little bit of pep in yor step, the chill of the night was usually kept at bay. She really didn't notice the slight cold until Demi had to go ad point it out, "Going off, Impressing whers and forgetting all about your friend..." She grinned mischievously, she had definitely not forgotten about him.

"So..." her train of thoughts were interrupted when she thought she heard a sound again. Oh no! She really was losing her marbles! Working with all of those "crazies" really did rub off on you. She squinted her eyes and looked around the area, hardly picking up much of anything in the dark, "Demi, please tell me that was a sound you made..." but it couldn't have been. She thought she heard a thump, and aside from pipe music, she didn't image the harper making any other kind of noise. Little did she even know that Rulven was in the scene and had Dmisk in his sights.

[Requiem]

What was he doing here? "That one's mine," he commented, nodding toward Dmisk. Wasn't it obvious? Wherhandlers were always out at ni- oh. Clearly that wasn't what she'd meant. He eyed her for a long moment, his lips twitching up into a wry grin. "Thought maybe you'd rather distance yourself from the black firelizard. Smacks a little too much of work. That sort of thing," he stated dryly. For once, he was clearly mocking himself. No, Dmitri still didn't know that it was Raebeli who had beaten him up - with the help of a few pesky inanimate objects - but he did remember some of the crazy ramblings that had dropped from his lips when he was knocked silly. And yes, they embarrassed him. Dmitri wasn't one for spouting drivel. At least, not without a specific purpose in mind.

Dmisk slunk close to Raebeli, almost curiously, though he didn't get close enough to touch. He didn't like being touched, any more than he liked talking to anyone but His. He would, of course...other whers, anyway, if he felt the need. But he still didn't like it much. Just as he only really permitted His to touch him. Definitely not the most social wher, though at least he wasn't vicious either. He simply didn't care enough to be aggressive the vast majority of the time. Not for no reason at all. The majority of his siblings were - in his not so humble opinion - quite foolish and given to all sorts of needless emotions and activities.

Something was moving. Someone, actually. A rather large someone. His head curled around Raebeli, nares flaring, before she noticed the other on the approach. Dmitri, too, noticed before she did, though that was simply because Dmisk chose to share the image with him. He was getting very good at deciphering heat signatures - even though it wasn't the same as seeing something with his own eyes. Not too many people that size, though it threw him off for a moment, because he remembered the smith being bigger.

"Calm down, mindhealer," he stated teasingly. "Don't you treat the paranoid? It's just Rulven. Not sure why he's wandering around at this hour, but..." Dmitri turned on a heel and strode into the trees, his long braid swinging behind him with each step. "Those rocks can be nasty, getting in your way." He flashed a smile that likely wasn't seen. "Are you out sleepwalking or something? A little late for the regular people to be out and about. Then again...saying you're regular implies you're normal. Hm. Should probably rephrase." The gesture of an offered hand was little more than a gesture, given Dmitri couldn't pull Rulven up as like as not, but it was still offered.

He wasn't nice. He wasn't pleasant. (Not unless he wanted something or it amused him to be that way for whatever reason - or it would likely be fatal to act otherwise.) But he did remember when people tried to help him. Never an easy thing, dealing with Dmitri. He did remember, and he did appreciate it. In his own...odd...way.

[rii]

Voices.

Rulven rubbed a hand against the stubble growth along his jaw. He was fairly certain the giant pale blue firelizard – wher, it was a wher. Rulven blinked a few times, eyes widening a moment before he tilted his head up to regard the approaching figure. Southern bred through and through, Rulven didn't even think to be cautious about the unknown silhouette. A wild animal would be something to grow nervous about, but a person – why would they do him any harm; especially someone in the Weyr.

At least.. he assumed he was still somewhere inside the Weyr. Too dark to really tell, but it didn't make sense for him to be anywhere else. His fingers curled in the dirt under his hands and he took a moment to look around at the shadowy trees looming overhead. He scolded himself for not taking a glow basket with him – as if he had the choice to prepare himself for the impromtu nighttime wandering.

"Dmitri?" Rulven asked uncertainly of the shadow. The words had not registered in his head, only the voice. Odd, the candidate squinted as he night vision slowly kicked in, where had all of Dmitri's hair gone – had he finally cut it? It could have been possible, Rulven hadn't seen the harper since the Wher impressing (something he had slept through like a rock). Although, it must have taken turns to actually grow it that long, must have been a hard decision to— "Oh you braided it."

Absently Rulven took the offered hand and stood. He knew better than to actually use the gesture as a brace; he was more than use to not being the smallest of figures. Dusting off his.. short, hm, of course he had not thrown anything else on. Rulven shrugged the matter aside, it wasn't too cold out. All worries about where he was had been dismissed with Dmitri's appearance. Also not present, were any hostile grudges about the harper's last parting action toward the smith. Let the past be just that. "Nice to—"

Upon noticing the second figure, female, Rulven's words halted. He looked from the mind healer to the harper, back and forth a second time before forming his lips around a new set of words. "Am I.. interrupting something?" They both looked young, out on a midnight rendezvous? How classic, sweet even. Who was Rulven to know any better, he had met the harper when he was flirting with some brute's girl.

Maybe he'd just move himself back to bed. Only one problem. ".. Where are we?"

[Lotty]

Really? Did he just say something a little self-deprecating? Who would have thought that the harper who had such a reputation for having something of an ego would actually make a joke about himself? Well, Rae didn't think that Demi was above making such a joke, but then again Rae thought that deep down inside just about everyone was sunshine and rainbows...and there was only a few exceptions to this rule. Raebeli: true believer of the inherent good of the world. But apparently not a true enough believer to reach out and pet Dmisk. Call it hippie mindhealer crap, but the woman tended to pick up on vibes and there was a big one that seemed to say not to touch this one, or maybe it was just the big talons and gnarly musculature the creatures had.

Since she was so stuck on keeping an eye on the blue and not Demi (though wasn't your bonded an extension or part of you...and therefore she was wasn't really being too ignorant) she finally caught onto the hulking mass off on the horizon. Apparently it was a "Rulven"? Hmm. She had never heard of a "Rulven" before, perhaps that was a person she should get to know? Especially since Demi was being awfully mean to him, and we all know how well Rae tended to get along with uneasy associates of the harper.

Even though she was at first intimidated and a little scared of someone so...big, it didn't seem to stop her from taking a few brave steps forward past the wher to get a good close look. See! She wasn't being paranoid! She flicked a glance back at Demi and casually replied, "Yes, sometimes I do...." then in a mumble only she could decipher she added, "and little boys with attitude problems," enough of that though. She flashed a winning smile at the smith, even if all he could see in the dark was the white of her teeth, "You're not interrupting anything at all...." and then laughing a bit at his confusion she managed to peep out, "well you are outside...having a little night time fugue are we?" Leave it to the mindhealer to try and analyze the situation...she couldn't help it though, sleepwalking was so interesting.

[Requiem]

Dmitri didn't turn to Raebeli, even as he 'helped' Rulven up to his feet by standing there and looking like he was actually doing some lifting. Slip that he was. "You know, my hearing may not be good enough to catch mumbles, but Dmisk can hear you just fine, old hag." He was being a snot, yes, but his tone still made it clear that he was teasing and not upset or anything. It would have been a silly thing to be upset about. (Even though, for some reason, it bothered him that she was calling him a little boy.)

"What the old lady said," Dmitri added, flipping his braid over one shoulder and shooting Rulven a cheeky grin. "Before she got all nosy. Must you psychoanalyze everyone?" he questioned the woman who had already demonstrated she could easily beat him up. Whether he knew it or not. "She's a mindhealer. Raebeli is her name, and she helped me move in when I first got here, which I am thankful for despite more recent transgressions." He wrinkled his nose at her.

"We're between the barracks and the kitchens." He eyed Rulven narrowly. "You didn't know where you were going?" The wherhandler didn't really show concern often, and he was likely to deny it in this instance, but the smith just wandering around in the dark wasn't the best scenario. Not this close to the woods and clearly - unaware of what he was doing. Was he sleepwalking as Raebeli seemed to think? That could be quite dangerous, especially near the falls or the river that led to the falls.

[rii]

Any ideas about the harper and mindhealer on some lover's sneak-away were quickly discarded as the names old hag and old lady took the place normally reserved for terms of endearment. On the other hand, Dmitri was something of a special case – maybe that was normal. Rulven shrugged the matter aside and returned Raebali's smile. It was dark but she hardly looked any older than Dmitri. And, this part came as a relief, Raebali didn't seem to take offense to the harper's er.. unique personality (as far as the smith could tell).

"Rulven," He greeted her while extending one calloused hand. "Nice to meet you Raebali."

Rulven ignored most of Dmitri's words – or maybe just didn't catch them as they flew through the air. Either way, even though they were directed at him, they didn't seem meant for his ears. A little something he had taken to during their shared candidate lessons. Ignoring 90% of what the harper said and only taking into account the remaining words – and if those didn't make any sense. Well, must not have been important.

He didn't know what the bit was about psychoanalyzing – all Raebali had done was ask a question, and Rulven would answer. "I suppose. Although I wish I had thought about getting dressed before going out for a stroll.. " He managed a quick smile before shifted his eyes from Raebali, up to Dmitri. "No."

A dismissive shrug. "I assume I was going toward the kitchens. I usually end up there." A few previous occurrence of his nightwalking had ended with him being woken by a concerned drudge. "I would say for a midnight snack, but apparently trying to stuff bowls into the cook fires isn't normal behavior. Lucky I.. stumbled.. on to you guys. The drudges will be thankful.

"So.." A glance darted between the other two, ending on Raebali. "Since you two are old acquaintances–" Friends, he assumed, otherwise the idea of Dmitri making visits to the local mindhealer were a little worrisome. "–and you still seem to be friendly with him, I'm going to guess that either you've developed a bit of thick skin or Dmitri is a perfect gentleman when I'm not around."

He patted the harper's shoulder good-naturedly, lightly leaving the digit there while leaning closer to whisper. "She doesn't have a big brute of a boyfriend I need to worry about, right?" Was that, yes, a smirk. Rulven patted Dmitri's shoulder one last time before dropping the arm back to his own side. "By the way, it's good to see you again–" And he meant every word of that. "–Candidate lessons just haven't been the same without you."

[Lotty]

Old hag? Rae gave a rather scolding look to the wherling, it was beginning to seem that they treated each other very much like siblings and that anything they did to each other seemed to hash itself out in an old television sitcom sort of way. So it was no surprise that despite the critical look, it quickly cooled into something of a smirk, and the mindhealer brushed away the comments and answered the question, even though the question was something of a barb in itself, "I haven't done any psychoanalyzing yet my dear Demipoo..." see, if she was an old hag then she could throw goofy pet names back at him as revenge.

"I'm just asking questions...and everybody asks questions, just fewer have the guts to say them out loud...." and then as if there wasn't any issue at all, she put her hand out to meet in a shake with Rulven, "Hmmm big strong hands there sir..." that wasn't psychoanalysis either for the record...merely an observation, "and it's nice to meet you too!" She was always so delighted to be around new people, which could be a little overwhelming for some of the more reserved fellows back up north, but she was rather thankful that the south had a much more relaxed nature.

The perpetual happiness machine kept rolling with the punches though and sort of bounced on her tippy toes as she went on and on, "Really? In the kitchens? Hmmmmmm...." she had ideas brewing, "ever thought of having someone follow you around at night? I mean not to be a stalker, but maybe we could get to the bottom of that myth about sleepwalkers!" she turned her head to the wherling companion, "Demi? I would need your help, your job would be to try and wake him up as he is wandering around," because the rumor was that waking up sleepwalkers was extremely dangerous, and the girl wasn't dumb enough to put herself at risk in this little experiment. She figured the blonde would decline though, he really wasn't fun enough to agree. Moving on...

"A thick skin? I suppose that would be the answer...though I don't ever remember him having such a mouth when we first met. Maybe he was still in a little bit of culture shock when he arrived?" She was willing to make excuses for her favorite harper, or at least her favorite harper after her father.

[Requiem]

"You have no idea," Dmitri muttered, the humor in his face likely lost to the darkness seeing as how the other two didn't have the benefit of a wher. Strong hands was an understatement. He distanced himself just a bit from Raebeli and Rulven, having never been someone who liked to be packed in close with other people. Touching wasn't something he expressly disliked per se, but he himself was not touchy-feely in the slightest. He was most likely just doing it to be annoying or because it suited his purposes to portray himself a certain way if he was touching someone else. Everyone had their quirks.

Dmitri regarded Rulven thoughtfully. It was queer, truly. Raebeli liked everyone - probably was hyped up on her own happy chemicals, as like as not - so he wasn't surprised that she didn't mind his company. The smith, on the other hand, didn't have much reason to be more than polite, in his opinion, and the smith seemed friendly enough. Decidedly queer. Dmitri was used to more...negative reactions from people unless he went out of his way to be nice and sweet and charming. Something he had done quite a bit at Fort Hold, which was likely the reason he'd hardly bothered at all here.

No one to lecture him here. Who was going to get on his case for being a twit? Roivao? Laughable.

At any rate, he didn't know a lot about smithing, but he did know enough that fire was involved. Attempting to do his craft while asleep? That was interesting. Dmitri didn't say that out loud, though, because he was sure Raebeli would jump on it. He glanced at her, brow lifting in inquiry despite how unlikely it was to be noticed. Wake Rulven up? Dmitri wasn't a stalker...though the idea of the smith randomly walking off a cliff in his sleep didn't sit well with him. Another thing he was unlikely to mention out loud. It wasn't like Raebeli was giving him a chance to reply, anyway.

And then suddenly he was the center of attention, it would seem. He usually didn't mind that, but this was hardly of his own doing. Rulven's whisper caused the harper to break into a small half-smile. "Not that I'm aware of, but then, you never know. Might even be one of her patients. Best keep an eye out," he whispered back. He allowed his voice to rise back to a more normal volume. "I imagine they haven't been. Emoyan seems dreadfully dull, and everyone's so intent on sitting there and playing goody goody. He's got a quota to fill...being less than perfect won't keep you from Standing."

The pale grays flicked back to Raebeli. "I was curious, and an extra pair of hands for moving all that unneccesary baggage couldn't hurt." He smiled sweetly. "People just never believe me when I say I can be charming." Dmitri poked the woman on the arm. "Or maybe it was a crush. You never know. Speaking of which, it's not very nice to attempt to use your feminine wiles to get me to do your dirty work for you. If you want to study Rulven, you can do that yourself. I only plan on waking him if he decides to take a swim or a swandive off the cliff face."

[rii]

Demipoo. Rulven had the strangest thought, as the quiet (and not so quiet) barbs and teasing passed between the other two. If Eikane had been female, would the two harpers sound like this? It struck similar enough, to the former smith, who didn't nit-pick each word into thorough individual analyzing. And, even though he had dropped any assumptions of a lover's rendezvous, Rulven still felt like he was caught in something between the two – his hazel eyes darting between them with each exchange.

"Thanks..?" Rulven smiled, but there was still the odd questioning lit to the single word. An odd compliment, but one none the less – even if more of an observation; albeit a blurted one.

The edging distance was noticed, but not noted as important. Not an obvious recoiling of any kind – and if anyone should be nervous around Rulven the harper would likely have a suitable reason. The smith did threaten to break his legs, but that had been months ago he hardly remembered. Aside from that, it felt more normal to have other males at a certain distance and to his side – not talking face-to-face or anything more personable. Females were an entirely different matter; apparent by the way Rulven faced her and left Dmitri to the side.

And, Rulven's brow furrowed as Raebali launched into the matter of his sleepwalking. "No, I don't.." He began to answer her question but it seemed the mind healer went on without consent. The idea of anyone hovering around his bed, waiting for him to wake up and stagger around was an odd one. Rulven flicked a questioning glance Dmitri's way with a faint wondering if the mindhealer was being serious about her suggestion. ".. there's a myth?"

Hm, Rulven was almost tempted to whisper back – but that would leave Raebali out of the conversation and the former smith didn't want to appear rude. No, he wasn't really worried about Raebali having some overly possessive boyfriend (Although, to be honest, he could easily see such a thing, as she seemed to be a very friendly person) Again, on the other hand, even if Dmitri wasn't making an obvious pass at the mind healer, the harper seemed to easily slip into the center focus for misunderstandings (even if they weren't misunderstandings).

Harpers, in general, seemed to be that way – from the smith's observations. Emoyan was not quite as entertaining as Eikane and Dmitri had been. And, since the conversation brought the candidate master to his thoughts along with the upcoming hatching, Rulven gave a light snort. The words that followed were equally quiet and spoken more out of a reflex than actual contribution to the conversation. "No it won't, unfortunately." Rulven had stopped reporting his chores in hopes of being banned from standing the sands.

Brow lowering, Rulven gave a brief stern look at the young harper. Here Raebali was being nice, and Dmitri had to say things like that. Honestly. "I'm sure you can be, not that you are charming." He muttered while rubbing fingers over his nose so his hand covered the tease-worthy smile. He quickly shook his head of the matter. "No one needs to be studying me, thank you." Oh, he appreciated the volunteering to keep him from doing anything fatal while sleep walking – but he wasn't about to speak up on that small sentiment. It struck him as something that might be used as ammunition while in the present company.

"I'm sure I'm just hungry." It had to be that simple. His voracious appetite did precede him at times. It did well enough to steer the topic away from the means of his arrival upon the other two. "A craving for a midnight snack gone awry – so, if either of you could point me in the direction of the kitchens it would be nice to have some.. light." He didn't know about the others, but it wasn't exactly fun trying to make sense of two darkened faces. "Company would be nice. That is, if you aren't busy with.. whatever it was before I stumbled in?"

[Lotty]

To be amongst a couple of boys - while not completely out of her element - was a handful from time to time, but Rae was a girl first of all, so keeping up with conversations was never much trouble. Secondly she was a mindhealer on top of that; all of the natural skill she had at sorting out peoples words were only sharpened to a point. Her ears and eyes were something of a weapon now, but of course Rae being of pure heart like she was, they could only be used for the common good of man. She crossed her arms and listened in, looking for those little moments to interject, "Feminine wiles? I wouldn't think of such a thing!" She batted her eyes in grand fashion. Feminine wiles indeed.

"But oh yes there is a myth..." she turned to Rulven with nothing less than a sparkle in her eye, "they say you aren't supposed to wake sleepwalkers up...but the results of doing so vary so much from person to person." She herself had trouble keeping the stories straight, "Some say that been woken up from your sleepwalk could scare you to death. Others say that you'll just be frightened and disoriented enough to lash out at others in your confusion." In the case of someone as impressive as Rulven, that surely could also mean death.

However, she knew that he would rather not be studied and his comment as such sealed the deal. She promised she wouldn't go about stalking him and checking to make sure he was alright any time soon. However there would be a line drawn, if she were to keep hearing about the smith walking around in zombie like fashion late at night then she would feel obligated to keep an eye out for him. Maybe gently guide him back in the right direction? She was again smiling to hide her inner plotting.

Ah! Food! She was going in that direction anyway. She just didn't know how poor Demi would deal with the light now that he was stuck with that photophobic creature and all, she looked over at the long haired boy, "Well how about it Demi? Are you just going to stick with stalking around the forest or are you going to join the rest of humanity?" Because clearly to turn down the offer was a sign of impending social suicide.

[Requiem]

Couldn't resist, really. He batted his eyelashes right back at Raebeli, tossing his head with a sniff, then set his face into very serious planes, as if that hadn't just happened. Course not, course not. Dmisk chose that moment to lean against him, nearly knocking the boy over. Dmitri shot the wher a glare, but the creature had taken to studying his claws and quite pointedly ignoring his bonded.

Looking back to the others just in time to catch the confused look from Rulven, he shrugged a shoulder helplessly. He hadn't heard any myths about sleepwalkers, unless you counted the odd tale of lovers wandering off cliffs in the night when they lost their love to the sea - on the same night as it occurred. A rather interesting story, he supposed. Maybe it had actually happened once, but now it was blown quite out of proportion. That was the human mind for you.

Shifting a little restlessly, he laid a hand on Dmisk. The idea of waking up Rulven and the smith attacking him out of confusion wasn't a pleasant one. He leveled what could definitely be considered a poisonous glare at Raebeli for suggesting he carry out this 'experiment' for her. Nice to know that the mindhealer was concerned for his well-being, eh?

Breaking off the glare to smirk at Rulven's look, he cocked his head to one side. "Can't expect too much out of a kid, you know," he responded lightly, his expression decidedly roguish. The harper was definitely relieved when Rulven declined this studying Rae wanted to do.

Seemed as if he was being invited to...whatever meal this was for him. (He wasn't wonderful about eating regularly even when the timing made sense.) Snorting softly at Raebeli, he replied, "There's really no needling necessary. Don't trust you two to blunder your way to the kitchens, anyway," he added cheekily. "Likely end up on the other side of the continent, wondering why you can hear the ocean. Come along then." Dmisk had already arisen and was padding forward, Dmitri falling in behind the faintly glowing wher without so much as a backwards glance.

[rii]

If not for the darkness, the other two might have noticed the tightening to Rulven's features as Raebali explained the myth behind sleepwalking. So he'd either die in fright, or end up hurting someone. Yeah, Rulven was quite certain he would politely decline anyone offering to wake him. That was the last thing he needed weighing on his conscious. Part of him wanted to ask – to assure himself – that those were just rumors and none of it had any foundation of truth – but then the subject would just go back to his reason for sleep walking and how to cure it.

He'd let that one get swept under the rug.

A noncommital snort was given at Dmitri's comment. The harper was something of a brat, but as far as being considered a kid – Rulven didn't. The former smith still lived in the candidate barracks and there were plenty of boys around Dmitri's age that Rulven would consider worthy of the term 'kid'. Ah, but they were heading for the kitchens (Rulven wasn't actually hungry, but... ).

Thank the glows. He could properly see again – despite everything toned in a backwash of gray and blues. At least now he knew where he stood in the Weyr. "Either of you two cook by chance..?" His head tilted, eyebrow lifted as he regarded his current company. Wouldn't hurt to ask. He could go for something freshly made instead of picking from supper's leftovers.

Without another word, Rulven began to rummage through the dry storage..