Hypocrisy (Ka'rys)

[glamourie]

She didn't know? Shard it. He'd ask F'rah about lessons and chores. Technically, he needed to talk to the brownrider anyway since he was planning to cover Weyrling Lessons for him. He'd find out what Savitri was supposed to do and have her chores switched around. If she still had more to do, he'd just see about getting her double chores at a later date so she could cover it. No doubt Savitri would not like that, but did he care? Not really. She should've thought about that before working herself into sickness. Of course, if she was telling the truth and she had no more chores or shifts, she had little to worry about. She probably was right, but better safe than sorry. Why it mattered so much that she not get into trouble was beyond him, but he did care, and he didn't want Savitri to get off to a bad start in Weyrlinghood. She was going to have enough trouble once she graduated, being resented just for being a goldrider.

His grip tightened on her hand as she moved forward, leading him off toward the Weyrling Barracks. At least she was admitting she was tired, he supposed, although it amused him that the dragons were taking so long to arrive. His gaze flicked up and over into the direction of the river. It was hard to miss the glitter of bronze in the distance, nor the smaller glimmer of gold. They were coming. He recognized Ciceroth's metallic sheen. Even in darkness he could tell which dragon was his. Not that Ciceroth was exactly easy to forget. He had a very distinct coloring.

"They're on their way. See?" he said, indicating the two shiny spots in the distance, one so much larger and distinctly bronze. "Probably got distracted, knowing Ciss."

What are you doing?

We are playing. We're coming. Be patient, Ciceroth told His with no small amount of amusement in his mindvoice. He hopped forward, tail flicking delicately as he listened to his smaller gold companion. The closer they came to the barracks, the clearer the two blurs became, and he crooned toward them before barreling forward at an awkward hop that was nothing short of comical. She will get to sleep now. Keep up, little gold. Soon you will be able to sleep. Without waiting for a response, he moved off in a quick pace and then sprang forward and landed in a flurry of sand only a few feet away from Ka'rys and Savitri, his entire body spinning as he caught himself on the ground. His wings flared to balance himself and he crooned, his eyes whirling playfully. The landing was remarkably similar to the back-winging landing that he was so fond of whenever he was flying - except that it had been a jump, not true flight. Slightly less graceful.

See, Rysmine? The bronze leaned forward and nudged his rider, causing Ka'rys to brace himself to avoid falling. We are here. You two are? I like your new shirt. It is much nicer than my rag. Holding it out for Ka'rys to take, he rumbled his amusement; all of his words were meant for his rider, but Hepaticath could easily hear if she wanted to.

"Your rag?" Ka'rys replied as he took the sopping wet and torn shirt with his free hand. Staring at it, he twitched, then showed it to Savitri. "As you can see, they're here, and quite obviously agreed with you about the shirt. It looks like it's seen waaaay better days..." Sighing, he glanced over toward Hepaticath before raising an eyebrow. It struck him as odd, but since she'd been the one to mention it to Ciceroth, he spoke to the gold directly, and hoped she and Savitri did not choose to take offense. "Savitri ate an entire bowl of soup and three different fruits, along with bread. She should be good for half a day of napping."

[kysseh]

The tightening of his grip alerted Savitri, and she tightened her own grip in response, turning to glance back at him. He was looking elsewhere, but she did not look in that direction until he gestured, the corners of her mouth turning upward into a faint smile at the sight of the distant glimmering blurs. There they were! She had not realized how dependent she was becoming on Hepaticath until the mere sight of the honey-gold hide had her heart overflowing with adoration. Her mindmate. She blamed her sudden odd sentimentality on her exhaustion and did not speak aloud to Ka'rys at first, merely nodding as she paused, watching the shining pair approaching.

Ciceroth was obviously coordinated, but Hepaticath lacked that sort of cooperation between her youthful limbs. Her hopping motions continued at a faster pace until she finally managed to catch up, well after Ciceroth had reached Theirs. It was highly unfair that he was so big and could move so quickly, but she would catch up soon enough. That thought cheered her... that and arriving in time to see Ciceroth nearly nudge His over. She crooned affectionately and lightly nudged her bronze playmate and then moved forward to investigate Hers. Hers looked sleepy but not so pale, which she liked. Ciceroth's had done a good job in caring for her.

"They're smart. Sorry about your shirt. Doesn't... look much worse, though," Savitri pointed out, suddenly alert now that Hepaticath was near. She held out her free hand to the gold, gratified when Hepaticath nuzzled up against her shoulder. She clumsily scratched the weyrling gold's eyeridges, glad that her mindmate was not troubled by her exhaustion-induced lack of grace. Her head somehow leaned to rest on Ka'rys' shoulder, her eyes gifting him with a mildly apologetic look. "I am sorry... thank you for caring for me," she added after he directly addressed her dragon, not at all bothered. She spoke to Ciceroth often as it was.

Ka'rys' direct address was gratifying to Hepaticath, and she let out a mild croon before moving her nose from Hers to nudge at Ka'rys' chest. She did not often speak to others besides Hers, but the affection in her nuzzling was apparent. Her golden head angled so that she could regard the bronzerider with one beautifully whirling eye, and then she nuzzled him again, gentler this time, before returning her attentions to Hers. Yes, most grateful was she for Ka'rys' help. I am grateful to Yours for taking care of SavitriMine. There are some things even /I/ can not make her do. He is a good friend to her like you are to me. she said to her bronze playmate, nuzzling him too before shoving Hers gently toward the barracks.

It would have taken a great deal of obliviousness on Savitri's part to misinterpret Hepaticath's nudging. All she could do was grumble, though, her head resting too comfortably on Ka'rys' shoulder. She had to straighten up and get inside. But... oh, her eyes were closing again, and her body jerked slightly in an attempt to wake herself up, her eyes fluttering open and then half-closing again. "Need to sleep," she mumbled, clinging to Hepaticath's neckridges and leaning against Ka'rys' shoulder for support. "... Rys?"

[glamourie]

"It looks quite terrible, actually," Ka'rys countered, his gaze following Hepaticath as she nudged Ciceroth. The bronze was making himself comfortable next to him and Ka'rys cast him a weary look; on the inside, however, he was excessively pleased. Ciceroth was happy, and a happy Ciceroth generally meant an at least content Ka'rys. He found it hard to be in a negative mood when his lifemate was happy. Like trying to be resentful or grouchy when presented with something he liked a lot - like children. It just didn't work. He lifted his free hand to run his fingers over the side of Ciceroth's snout as the bronze nudged him again, but otherwise, Ka'rys was outwardly unresponsive to him. He didn't have to lavish the dragon in attention, though. For turns Ciceroth got by with the barest minimum in affection and he knew when His was happy to see him and when he wasn't. And he was glad to see him. For all their fighting, Ka'rys really responded better to situations when Ciceroth was nearby than he did alone. Ciceroth was the one who kept him down - kept him at ease.

And as for the shirt? It did look devastating. She may have found it ugly before but he didn't. Sopping wet and torn, it definitely looked as if it had seen better days. He would tear it up later and use it for rags to oil Ciceroth with; he'd need to get on that within the next day anyway. There were some faded patches to his hide that looked bad. Needed work, that.

Hepaticath's nudge surprised him and Ka'rys lifted his hand away from Ciceroth to pat her on the nose lightly. It felt... awkward to have someone else's dragon touching him for any reason. Not that he had anything against Hepaticath (he definitely did not) but he was unfamiliar with the contact. The only thing that kept him from instinctively cringing away and standing closer to Ciceroth was that Savitri was still holding onto him in a vice-like grip; he was pretty sure if he moved she'd faceplant and not be thrilled with him for causing it. So he stayed still, aside from a glance at Savitri as she spoke again. His head cocked to the side slightly, and he didn't initially respond - because at that exact moment, Ciceroth chose to lean down and nose the goldrider ever-so-gently. His gaze followed Hepaticath nudging her rider and he couldn't suppress a smirk. Seemed he wasn't the only one who was agitated at her state of health.

Rysmine would have just force-fed her; he is not above. Amused, Ciceroth nudged Savitri as well, as if to make the point more clear. Inside! However, to his rider privately, he added, Hepaticath thanks you for taking care of Hers.

"I'm coming," Ka'rys replied, his arm looping around Savitri's waist. The wet shirt was thrown back onto Ciceroth, who shivered away and looked at it accusingly as if he'd never seen the thing before. Ignoring his bronze's theatrics, he glanced at Hepaticath and started toward the barracks. "Come on, you. If we're going to put Savitri to bed, she's not going to want you to be far away." Sniffing slightly, he moved off inside, though he spoke to Savitri (mainly, again, to keep her awake), "Do you usually tuck Hepaticath in too? I can picture you trying to wind blankets around her." Not that he'd ever done anything like that.. or... anything. Okay, when Ciceroth was tiny he'd put blankets around him but that was when he was too young to understand that the bronze was very unlikely to get cold in the Weyrling Barracks. He certainly had, but Ka'rys got cold very, very easily. More so than most people did.

Squirming, Ciceroth flopped down on the ground and regarded the ugly shirt on his back indignantly. How dare he. However, he did not linger with that thought, instead crooning to Hepaticath. Do you want Rysmine or me to stay near the Weyrling Barracks in case you wake up before Yours does? It seemed like a fair request. If Hers was still asleep when she awoke, Hepaticath may have been startled, and from the looks of her, Savitri would be sleeping a good, long time. We can make time if you would prefer.

[kysseh]

Savitri was tempted to tell the bronzerider how awful it had looked before, but summoning up the energy to continue their little fight was too much to manage. Her knees were wobbling a bit as it was, her head refusing to stay upright on her neck. Her eyes were open just enough to watch Ka'rys stroke his dragon, which brought a faint smile to her face. She would make it up to him... the destruction of the ugly shirt, that was. Ciceroth's sudden nudge caught her off guard, and she stumbled a bit, eyes wide. Her free hand instinctively came up as if to ward him off, but the bronze nudged her again. She took the opportunity to gently stroke the shining nose in silent gratitude. He was so much bigger than Hepaticath, a fact she often forgot until she was faced with the sheer mass of him. Like dragon... not like rider, as Ka'rys was just barely bigger than her.

The arm around her waist startled her, but her tired, frayed nerves settled soon enough, huddling against his side. It made her smile to hear Ka'rys addressing her dragon, and Hepaticath was obviously amused as well, for she snorted lightly and ruffled the loose hairs around her rider's face. Savitri wrinkled her nose but submitted to Ka'rys' leading, sure that Hepaticath would not be far behind. The little gold was getting tired as well, that transferred weariness adding to Savitri's already-present exhaustion. Shards, but she wanted to- "Tuck her... in? Why? She doesn't want blankets..." she muttered, looking more than a little relieved upon seeing her familiar room quickly approaching. Bed... sleep...

He is not above leading her... or me... either. Hepaticath said to Ciceroth, highly amused. Ka'rys had addressed her directly, which was a little strange, but Hers often spoke to Ciceroth, so perhaps it was not so odd. It was all a bit much for the tired little weyrling. She nuzzled affectionately at her large playmate and then carefully reached up to retrieve the shirt from his back, taking it in her jaws and then depositing across his foreleg. You do not need to stay. I will sleep beside Mine and watch over her when I wake up. she said with another nuzzle. How nice was her playmate! But thank you... for offering to keep me company. I must go sleep now. Good night, PlaymateMine.

The little gold rubbed her head against the bronze's neck with undeniable affection, loathe to stray from him. But Hers needed her, and after one last croon, she hopped into the barracks to go find Hers and Ciceroth's. Her quicker movements had her catching up just as the humans got to their room, and she very gently nudged Savitri towards the bed, squeezing into the room afterward. She did not go to her comfortable couch yet, though. Instead, the little gold watched as SavitriHers squirmed away from the bronzerirder and wearily dropped her bag next to her bed. Tired, Hers was.

Savitri dumped the pillow on her bed and fished her blanket out of her bag, flopping down to sit. Her hair had mostly come loose, so she just clumsily undid the tie and left it on her bag. Her shoes were next, and then she began to fuss over her bed with the usual ritual. Hepaticath rumbled in amusement and hopped closer to watch, resting her golden head against the bronzerider. Such a good chinrest he was! No wonder Hers liked him. And Hers had bundled up her furs and blankets up around herself and was curled up in a tight ball on her side, clutching Ka'rys' pillow against her chest like a child with a prized toy. A tired child that looked blearily up at her mindmate and Ka'rys, that was. She wearily extended one hand across the blankets nested around herself, reaching for the bronzerider's hand for some safe comfort as she rapidly descended into sleep. "'Rys...? Rys..."

Sensing that Hers was settled or as close to it as she could be, Hepaticath moved away from the bronzerider after one more nuzzle of gratitude, snuffling softly at the bronzerider's hair before hopping over to couch. The gold circled around on her couch a few times and then curled up tightly on her side in a pose remarkably like the one that Hers was making on her own bed. The gold tail draped over her snout, and the dragon was out like a light without much further ado. Hepaticath had never, ever had trouble falling asleep on a whim.