Playing House

[nightingale]

Mine...Mine look...
The winter sky was a gloomy shade of stone gray, but the noticeable lack of torrential rain had lead Jaymith to dub the day 'a good day' and force His to come for a walk with him to the feeding grounds.
Ke'rinmine look...look at...look at -Mine, look!
For his part, Ke'rin was occupying himself with the oiling of his dragon's riding straps. He had run out of more important things to distract himself with, and so at this point he was just scrounging for anything that would keep him from having spare time on his hands.
Mine you are not looking! Mine! MINE!
It was the seventh set Jaymith had gone through this turn, and Kei was beginning to wonder if his mindmate would ever stop gaining muscle mass.
MINE! MINE LOOK AT ME! LOOK! LOOK MINE!
It was reassuring in vague sort of way, because if he couldn't measure his dragon's age in rippling biceps he would have been convinced that the bronze hadn't matured a day in his life.

“What is it Jay?” He sighed, finally glancing up from his work to see...nothing. The huge bronze had struck a pose -nothing new for the egotistical creature- his muzzle was smeared with blood from the herdbeast he had just killed. The young man shrugged his shoulders questioningly. Jaymith let out a loud whuff of breath, obviously annoyed that his did not realize how clever he was being.

I am a green mine! Can you not tell by the way I stand and my beautiful mouthpaint? He gave his wings and effeminate ruffle, obviously trying very hard to mimic a demure and retiring young green.OooooOOooooOooooo~ Look at ME! I am a GREEN! I have dainty wings and small paws! As I female, I do so think that Jaymith's Ke'rinmine is sooooooo attractive! By the time Jaymith began prancing around in thundering circles humming his own off-key musical accompaniment, Kei was in stitches. “You great queenly windbag!” He laughed, shaking his head at the bronze's valiant attempts at flicking his tail seductively. “You'd just better cut that out before a real green sees you or you'll never fly another girl in this Weyr again!” Do you think it would make them jealous? The bronze asked very seriously as he licked the blood from his lips. I was only trying to make you laugh mine. I do not really want to be a green...I am too pretty to be caught by a blue.

[Requiem]

What is it doing? "Shards if I know."

The brown was picking apart his second herdbeast delicately, shielded from view by an outcropping of rock. He was...fastidious about not being seen while he ate. An odd quirk. Even M'ta wasn't allowed to watch, and the man rested against his dragon's foreleg, his back to the crunching as he poked at Sneak with a finger. The brown seemed to have died on his boot. Or...well, if he hadn't been breathing, anyway. A new flitter hatchling. Joy. And it didn't do anything, either. He was beginning to feel like a weyrbrat, mentally whining about the pet that wouldn't move. (Part of him was worried about the little striped sausage, though. Was it depressed or something?)

Wasn't Jayminth's the one who spends a lot of time with the eggbaby of Ebolath's? Wait. What? M'ta's head came up, the brownrider's eyes narrowing slightly on the bronze cantering about like it was drunk. Or on estrogen hormones. Did female dragons have estrogen, or was that only a human thing? Yet another question for R'wign if he remembered it. M'ta added this one to his growing list of curiosities.

"It's dangerous to go out there, though," M'ta commented dryly. "He's likely to sashay and topple right on top of me. Then what would you do?" Probably finish the bone marrow as I consider. M'ta snorted. I will ask him to stop long enough that you don't get squished, Mine. "My ever-logical Ruth. Sounds better than playing dodge the tail."

Mine would like to approach without getting squished flat, Jayminth, Behruth commented, warm amusement worming through his words. What is this dance you are doing?

[nightingale]

Jaymith paused from his worries musings as a familiar voice entered his thoughts. Oh, hello Behruth! He greeted the brown warmly. I was pretending to be a green to make Ke'rinmine laugh. I seem to have done a good job of it as well. There was no mistaking the pride and amusement in his voice. I am not a green of course, but Mine thinks that if I continue to pretend, the real greens will become jealous and not let my fly them anymore. Do you think that is true? He addressed the brown's original issue with a mental nod -he had stopped prancing, and did not intend to resume the activity in the near future- and was now entirely focused on getting the brown's opinion on just how much damage he had done to his career as 'Faranth's Gift to Females'.

Ke'rin noticed a pleasantly blue flush in his dragon's eyes, a hint that would have given him away even if the young man had not felt his sudden interest through their link. “Who is it Jay? Peppeth asking you to come play in the river?” He asked, the faintest remnants of a smile still softening his features. Behruth would like me to hold still for a while, so that his can come over and talk to you. The bronze explained, lifting his head to point out the brown's general location with a pleasant rumble in his throat. They young man followed his dragon's gesture, curiosity drawing his brows into a confused line. M'ta? That was strange. Apart from the occasional murmured greeting or comment about how big Terilyn was getting, the two of them really didn't spend a lot of time interacting. “Hope it's nothing serious.” He murmured, more to himself than to Jaymith.

[Requiem]

The brown didn't emerge from his hideaway, as he was not quite finished with the carcass, but he allowed his tail to slide out so it didn't seem he was trying to hide from the young bronze. Behruth was a friendly dragon naturally, but he especially enjoyed the company of the young or the playful. It was just the way he was. You were being a green, bronze brother? I hardly know why such a handsome bronze would want to pretend to be a green. Checkoth says that His thinks I should be a green, but I don't understand that, either. I like twisting with greens. Hard to do that when you are one. Of course...it is never fun to have a broody mindmate. How nice of you to make him laugh, even if it makes you look a little silly, he teased gently.

Finally finishing with the herdbeast, he slid out from beneath the rock, uncoiling and letting the sun warm his muscles. The male stretched cattishly. Oh, the greens might be a little jealous, but I'm sure you can win them all back over without much trouble. Females always like a good strong male, no? As long as he's nice and doesn't bite.

M'ta glanced back at the dragon radiating amusement, wondering what he was saying to the bronze but not, in the end, curious enough to invade Behruth's privacy. Though the pair could easily see just what the other was thinking and saying, it was an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't actively search out anything. A small little corner of privacy, mostly for M'ta, who just felt more comfortable that way. It didn't matter that it was an illusion, and he knew it was an illusion. It was still more comfortable.

Sneak dangled from M'ta's finger by a claw, idly watching something...or daydreaming, really. His mind was practically empty. The brownrider tried not to worry about it. He came up to Ke'rin, keeping enough distance that he didn't have to strain his neck just to see the man's face. "Hey." Well, this was a little awkward, wasn't it? "I suppose you know by now that F'lyn has disappeared, right?" He'd learned of it from the creche...when the bluerider hadn't come back to reclaim Teri.

The crecheworkers knew he visited her fairly regularly. For that matter, they'd probably told Ke'rin, as well. "R'wign and I...well, he's wanted a daughter, and seeing as how conception is a tad difficult for us, and Terilyn needs a home, we'd like to take her." He eyed Ke'rin for a moment. "Is that going to be a problem?"

[nightingale]

Jaymith literally glowed with pride, giving his muscles a compulsive flex just in case someone happened to be looking his way. You are so very right Behruth! Strong, handsome males like you and me do not need to worry about looking silly. Any green who would mistake us as anything but the glorious, masculine creatures that we are is too silly to chase! He let out a short whuff of breath, seeming slightly dejected. I only wish that our Queens were as wise as you are, Behruth. True they are beautiful, but they do not seem to understand at ALL how fantastic we are...I am not sure why Checkoth's would think you ought to be a green. Can he not see how very large and brown you are?[/i]
The young bronzerider nodded attentively. He'd heard the news about F'lyn quite some time ago, in the same manner as the brownrider had. It had unsettled him to know that yet another Selenitas rider had gone missing, but they had not been exceptionally well acquainted and he admittedly had not spent much time in mourning.

It was the next bit that threw him for a loop. For an intolerably long moment, Ke'rin found himself grasping at words that simply weren't there.

“You mean that the two of you...you were planning to...adopt her...officially.” He managed to deliver the tentative observation more eloquently than any horrified man ought to be able to. It was hard to properly explain why the idea of Terilyn being adopted out of the creche stuck such a powerful chord with him. Ke'rin had always felt very responsible for the youngster, and it had taken months of painstakingly slow progress for him to develop a friendly relationship with the infant girl. As pathetic as he knew it would have been to admit it out loud, Terilyn had really been his life for the fast half turn, and while a very large part of him wanted to scream 'YES as a matter of fact that IS going to be a problem' in the end he simply responded;

“Umm...well no. I mean...you two have quite a bit of parenting experience between you, right? I'm sure she'd be very happy with you.” He couldn't bring himself to argue against Terilyn finding a proper, permanent home...mind, he had been hoping that it would be his home...“Maybe you would let me visit her every so often? I'm rather lacking in people to spend my marks on these days.” The later remark was intended to be a joke, but the half-finished smiled on the young man's face killed the humor in it's infancy.

[Requiem]

Winding neatly around the younger, larger dragon, Behruth's head snaked up toward his from low to the ground, the stance clearly a playful one. The brown was a beautifully proportioned male, no doubt of that, the soft play of muscles underneath his gleaming mahogany hide something he didn't even have to try for; they made his hide ripple with every movement naturally. Still, he was quite definitely on the small side. Just a touch larger than an average-sized blue, in fact. Next to Jayminth he almost seemed a toy, though that hardly bothered the brown. Nothing ever seemed to bother the brown.

I'm hardly large, Jayminth, he responded, with a ripple of amusement. Though yes, larger than a green would be accurate. I do not think it has much to do with me. Checkoth's wishes to Fly Mine always, and Checkoth can't Fly a brown, you see. He is a strange one, Checkoth's. He changes his hair and makes holes in himself. Behruth elected not to mention that he was waiting for Checkoth to become glowy. (Clearly this would happen eventually.) The bronze already seemed a smidge gender confused. Yes. The golds will see in due time, I am sure.

The silence, as some liked to say, was loud. It seemed, then, that as he'd thought might be the case, Ke'rin had likely considered taking the girl himself. Or, at the very least, hadn't thought that she would be adopted out of the creche. The creche wasn't terrible, but it would be better to be raised in a home, either by dragonriders or by fosterparents in a nearby hold. Honestly, that was what was going to happen eventually if none of the dragonriders chose to adopt her. Once she was older. Was Ke'rin not aware of that? He nodded wordlessly to the question, keeping his eyes squarely on the young bronzerider's.

A wry smile at the comment about parenting experience, and another mild nod. His weyrmate, father to Riaren and man who died his hair pink to entertain the infirmary weyrbrats - and M'ta, who'd raised a whole den of children at one point when he was still a child himself. Not that this was remotely similar to Bitra. Thank be to Faranth. "Enough," he agreed. Glancing back over his shoulder at Behruth, who was radiating amusement, he shifted slightly. "R'wign shouldn't have a problem with it. If he does, though, you can always come when I'm the only one looking after her. Least we can do. Least I can do."

M'ta nodded to him, his gaze frank. "Thank you, Ke'rin." For not fighting. Just the reaction made it clear how hard the other man was taking the news. The brownrider didn't elaborate. If the other couldn't divine why...maybe that was for the best.

[nightingale]

Jaymith fluttered his great wings to balance himself, giving the smaller dragon's muzzle a playful nudge. You are more than large enough, and your heart and wisdom are larger still![/i] He rumbled sincerely, stretching his neck into an exaggerated arc as though looking handsome would strengthen his point. It is strange to think that two browns would fly one another...but I am quite certain that it is Yours and Checkoth's who are confused. After all, a brown cannot be a green. If they could, I would be very concerned that greens might decide to be browns! How silly would that be, me catching a brown? Whatever would I do with him?[/i]

Kei didn't notice at first, but his eyes had dropped to the level of M'ta's throat as he fought desperately to maintain some semblance of self control. He tried to assure himself that this wasn't the end of anything -It wasn't as though Terilyn was being taken away from him forever, she was just being shifted to a different part of the Weyr. M'ta and R'wign would be kind, attentive parents and he...he could be...a friend of the family...maybe...and make her dresses for special occasions...in any case, he was sure that this whole affair would be much less heartbreaking come tomorrow morning.

“Thanks.” He murmured in response to the brownrider's visiting suggestions, raking a palmful of hair back from his face and in the process, managing to look him in the eye with what could be considered a fairly good imitation of a smile. “Don't mention it.” He said, and meant it. Mine, is there nothing I can do?[/i] Jaymith did not typically eavesdrop, but the torrent of stress and anguish radiating from his rider was something that not even the densest of creatures could ignore. Kei offered his bronze the mental equivalent of a shake of the head, and sent his reassurances to Lamb -who always got herself worked up into a fit when Hers was upset- that he was alright.

[Requiem]

Crooning at the contact, Behruth's tail slid loosely around one of Jayminth's hind legs companionably. Playing or lounging, the brown loved company, and he loved contact - it didn't matter the gender of the dragon. He wasn't particular like some males were, only interested in having females near. (Although greens did tend to have the temprament he preferred, normally, as the males could be a bit too serious, and how was that any fun?) I imagine simply fly with him. Checkoth sometimes carries me when I get tired. He knew it had happened at least once, though he could no longer remember the circumstances - that he'd been fighting a storm over the ocean in the middle of a goldflight and likely would have drowned without help. Not nearly as satisfying as twisting, he added playfully. But you flatter me, Jaymith; Mine would say you are trying to get something from me. He is paranoid, though. A pause, and a playful nudge at the arched neck. Are you?

M'ta wasn't good at this socializing thing. Small talk was beyond him. He didn't really give a whit about the weather, and hearing someone else's life history just to fill the vacuum of silence was annoying. Of course, he could just leave Behruth with Jayminth...the brown seemed in no hurry to disengage. Social butterfly. Arms folded across his chest, before he realized that Sneak was still dangling, and gave the brown another poke. All it elicited was a slight shuffling of the male's wings. Still breathing then. That was good, he supposed.

"Doubt you've met the striped sausage," M'ta commented dryly. "Sneak's his name, actually, but he looks like a sausage, doesn't he?" Babbling? He was trying to be polite...or welcoming or something so this whole Terilyn thing wouldn't be too awkward. Considering he'd probably be seeing more of Ke'rin now. M'ta's normal mode of speech was...well, snarky, if he talked much at all. R'wign didn't call him brat - however affectionately - for no reason. Ke'rin didn't seem the type to engage in that sort of banter, though. "His mind's practically empty. I keep having to poke him to see if he's alive. Kind of...odd." Sneak chose that moment to chirp, though, possibly just to prove M'ta wrong. His eyes narrowed and he snorted. "Now you talk to me." Another chirp, but still the brown didn't move.