when will the flames at last consume us (hatching)

[glamourie]

R’wignmine, R’wignmine – you need to finish up in there. The babies are hatching. You should hurry, or they’ll hatch all alone.

R’wign twitched vividly and pushed his hair back out of his face. Holding his breath, he submerged to rinse his hair clean for a moment before climbing out of the bathing pool. Still half-dripping, the healer grabbed a long robe and tugged it on before quickly tugging on his boots – both untied. He made no effort to dry his hair or, indeed, actually dress. He probably made quite a sight stalking through his weyr to the basket where Ellie laid her clutch. He grabbed the basket and several other supplies – blankets and bowls filled to the brim with meat for hungry firelizard babies. He also packed three squirming feline cubs into one of the bags on Checkoth’s back. Some people might have questioned why ever he’d bother with getting the hatching supplies ready and not pants but… it was R’wign. He never bothered with clothes if he could help it and getting dressed was really the last thing on his mind. He was used to wandering around mostly naked. Besides that, he was covered and he fully intended to go back to his bath once the hatching was over. So why get dressed? Hmm? Pointless waste of time in his opinion.

After grabbing everything (and taking the time to dry his hair – priorities), he climbed onto Checkoth’s back. Ellie flew around him humming loudly, and the brown took off to carry him up to the grassy clifftops near the hatching sands. The eggs weren’t even moving yet, and only Ellie had begun to hum – he still had some time. Probably for the better, since he really didn’t intend to leave this hatching. The gold was angry with him for weeks after his last escapade and anyway falling on top of Meira was not exactly the best experience he ever had. Not to mention another brownrider had gotten hurt as did some bluerider whose name escaped him. Yeah, no fleeing.

Make sure to tell M’ta that if he doesn’t come for emotional support through this, I’m going to be very unhappy with him?

I’m sure Ruth’sShortyYours won’t leave you alone in that robe in public, Checkoth replied as he landed neatly on the clifftop. His wings flared and he lowered himself for R’wign to climb off, inquiring curiously, Why does everyone else like the extra layers and you hate them?

“Well, generally we don’t bathe with clothes on, and I don’t see a reason to get dressed for the duration of a hatching,” R’wign replied with a lofty shrug. He settled on the ground and removed a blanket from Checkoth’s back before spreading it out. Then he placed several of the bowls of meat (which he’d stacked on top of one another, so there was meat juice on the bottom of some – tough cookies) along the blanket at good intervals; most everyone would be able to have access to the meat to feed the soon-to-hatch babies. Ellie’s humming grew louder and she landed on the handle of the basket, which R’wign placed right at the very center of the blanket. The gold gave him a sharp chirp and settled down to obsessively check her eggs, very obviously anxious about them. “Okay Check, you can call the people interested in the hatching – and you can mention that I have three feline cubs for anyone who’s interested.”

Not four?

“The last one is M’ta’s. I don’t care what he says, that pipsqueak loves him.”

Rumbling his amusement, Checkoth watched R’wign remove the bag with the felines and set it down on the edge of the blanket. Thus was the reason for him staying: he needed to find a home for Empress’s cubs. R’wign flopped down unceremoniously next to the bag, as the rest of his firelizards moved to perch on Checkoth’s back, humming loud enough to vibrate. It was probably strange for anyone who wasn’t used to the sound – but there would be more humming when the other adult firelizards caught wind of what was going on. Lots and lots more humming. And the eggs themselves had begun to rock back and forth…

Attention, attention! Checkoth announced, Gold firelizard Elegance’s clutch is hatching on the top of the cliffs. If you want a baby, make sure you come. We already have meat. Also, there are three feline cubs here for anyone who wants them. Hurry, hurry – the babies will be hatching soon! And then privately to Behruth, the brown added, R’wignmine really wants Yours to come, clutchbrother mine. Can you pester him please…?

---

The Masquerade Clutch
01. Think of Me Egg Impressed: Green Zai to Yoalla
02. Angel of Music Egg Impressed: Green Vikky to Merridan
03. Phantom of the Opera Egg Impressed: Bronze Mojo to K'sel
04. Music of the Night Egg Impressed: Brown Qinaii to Dyudahlii
05. Stranger Than You Dreamt It Egg Impressed: Blue ? to Junaes
06. Prima Donna Egg Impressed: Green Lange to Evrgarde
07. All I Ask Of You Egg Impressed: Blue Lord to Miguel
08. Masquerade Egg Impressed: Gold Rose to Llannu
09. Poor Fool Egg Impressed: Blue Piper to F'lyn
10. Point of No Return Egg Impressed: Green Shrew to Emiliah
11. Down Once More Egg Impressed: Brown Eeee to Cerdic

[glamourie]

Gold Elegance and Bronze Green Lao are proud to present...
The Masquerade Clutch

The wicker basket is very clearly Ellie’s. Her first clutch was laid in it, and so is this one. Nestled neatly into the basket, this one is considerably less decorated than its predecessor, possessing none of the elegant flowers or foliage that made the other basket so pretty. To decorate it, there are several chains (no doubt borrowed from Behruth, but with every intention to return) wrapped around the handle and the bottom of the basket has a blanket colored in a rainbow of color, spilling out over the sides. To keep the eggs warm, there are several demolished pieces of fabric stuffed between each egg, no doubt once part of various shirts belonging to R’wign; the dark green fabric that he favors is painfully obvious. Obviously Ellie’s fair pitied her clutch, though, for it is decorated in some ways – many shattered, shimmering shell fragments from the sea rest in the nest, adding a glittered appearance to the colorful eggs. The most interesting thing though lays at the center of the eggs, surrounded by them: it is a gold, hand-crafted hand harp with shimmering silver strings that no doubt once belonged to Marra. R’wign hadn’t the heart to move it from Ellie’s clutch upon its discovery.

As for the basket, it rests neatly on a red quilt, with several bowls of meat scattered around. R’wign is getting very good at judging how soon eggs would hatch and he asked several drudges to bring the meat for the convenience of people attending the hatching. Better to have supplies on hand than have hungry firelizards.

* disclaimer: Some of the firelizards from this clutch were written in part or entirely by Avu and Req; the firelizards in question have the credits in their description. Thanks to both of you for all the help.

01. Think of Me Egg
This egg is small and positively cheerful; it’s a backwash of aquatic blue colors, as if going for a swim through a river, but those blues are not unbroken. In fact, cheerful pinks, reds, and oranges blossom over the bottom of the egg, as if flowers lace the shell. Interestingly, there are white spots along the top as if snowflakes have fallen onto this egg, adding accent to its already entrancing beauty. When caught by the light, this egg seems to have varying shades of blue plastered across its shell, as if staring into a forest river – one almost expects splashing when watching it, so elegant is this egg’s coloring. Though Ellie will surely not let anyone close enough to touch it, this egg looks soft, and it’s propped up with the Prima Donna Egg and Angel of Music Egg, as if these three make a perfect little trio.

02. Angel of Music Egg
This egg is bright, sea green, like the foam that lines the beaches when the surf comes in. Behind this bright color is a glossy black, like smooth stones, but it’s not unpleasant; in fact, it almost appears as if the lighter shade is smeared over the top, creeping along, like gazing at some kind of fantastical lake or river. Interestingly, there are little canary yellow and pure pink flecks sparingly around the shell, making this small egg all the more bizarre to behold. It rests directly next to two small eggs in the corner of the clutch, forming a perfect line at the center; this is the largest of the trio, slightly bigger than the Think of Me Egg, though not as bright as it or the Prima Donna Egg. Despite that, it’s not likely to be overlooked thanks to its position in the front and unique coloration. The shadow cast by the larger eggs in the center makes this one seem slightly darker, but as it moves a pure silver highlight shines across the shell, leaving no doubt to how special the baby within will be.

03. Phantom of the Opera Egg
A very pale silver-gray sheen makes up the majority of this egg’s coloration. The actual shade is somewhere closer to not-quite-white and can be quite bizarre to look at, as if it’s going to fade into the air at random. Hark, a disappearing egg! Curiously, it appears as if oddly dark shapes can be seen on the surface of this egg’s shell – not quite normal, either, for they appear to be moving around as if on wings. These dark shadows don’t actually move (do they?) but the light certainly makes them seem to glide about, as if the creature within can be seen already. Slightly transparent, a trick of the light or something more sinister? That’s up for the viewer to decide, but this is definitely an egg not to be overlooked – it’s just too large to ignore! It’s not as big as the Masquerade Egg but it’s one of the largest in the clutch, that’s for sure. What’s more interesting – it’s size or looks? Mysterious.

04. Music of the Night Egg
Dazzlingly navy blue is the bulk of this egg, like staring at a roll of velvet whirled around the shell. Lighter and darker shades make this anything but all one color, and thousands of silver spots so tiny as to be overlooked (save for the fact that they glimmer) add accent to the shell, making it look like the night sky. One might even be able to see constellations in the silver specks if they looked hard enough (though it could be superimposing what is expected to be seen). Near the front of this egg is a large circular silver spot that has a brighter, eerie ‘glow’ to it that very blatantly resembles the moon, furthering the impression that this egg resembles the sky at midnight. It’s about average-sized, not really “impressive” but pretty in its own way; it rests next to the Masquerade Egg and has obviously been doted upon by Ellie as her favorite egg in the clutch.

05. Stranger Than You Dreamt It Egg
Unusually colored, this egg looks fogged over, as if everyone looking at it is staring through a mist. The base color is an odd sort of gray-black, not quite one or the other, with pure white highlights; it appears as though this egg is made of glass, easily shattered. ‘Black Diamond’ would be an excellent way to describe this egg, or perhaps a black pearl – whatever it is, it’s quite odd. Especially since it rests next to the Poor Fool Egg, which is actually identical in size – both eggs are on the smaller side, though not quite describable as ‘tiny’ – but is significantly brighter and more beautiful to behold. This egg is almost completely hidden behind the Masquerade Egg as well, so it’s quite easy to overlook – but don’t be fooled. Just because it’s not as vivid and vibrant doesn’t make it equally interesting. Glossy and elegant, this is one of the most ‘plain’ eggs… but in its own way, it’s just as special, isn’t it? Who doesn’t like tinted glass?

06. Prima Donna Egg
An obnoxious shade of pink, this egg is. Literally, it looks as though someone has taken this shell and wrapped it in some kind of bubble gum, complete with imperfect hues, some spots darker while others are lighter, and no clear indication is made where one stops and the other begins. Yes, it’s a gradient of pink shades – definitely not the most masculine of eggs. Though this egg is on the smaller side, it’s quite eye-catching: it’s the only egg with true gold in it, after all, and only a fool would overlook that. Right around the upper crest of the shell is a woven ‘crown’ in true, metallic gold, glinting brilliantly in the light. The crown is the only part of the egg that isn’t perfectly pink, and thus makes it all the more noticeable. The egg rests on the far side of the clutch, clustered together with the Think of Me Egg and the Angel of Music Egg.

07. All I Ask Of You Egg
Though this egg is not vibrantly colored, ‘plain’ would not be an accurate description by any stretch of the imagination. It’s pale colored – in fact, the shell is snow white and is a stark contrast to the majority of the clutch; it’s on the side of the Masquerade Egg opposite the Music of the Night Egg, and of the three it’s the light by far, but… whenever light dances off the shell, it almost appears to be rainbow shades, as if every color in the spectrum explodes beneath the surface of the shell. It’s also got a glossy appearance, as if it’s been polished to a perfect shine by some unseen force. It’s on the smaller side, though ‘tiny’ again would not be accurate and it’s easily visible behind the trio of eggs in front of it. It’s most noticeable for the fact that it’s just smooth to look at; it’s the perfect tribute to a Southern winter. Pale and beautiful.

08. Masquerade Egg
Fireworks explode over the surface of this egg, painting it vibrant colors. While the backwash of the shell can only be described as snow white, there are thousands of diminutive needlepoint spots in all the colors of the rainbow, forming into large starbursts; dazzling is the best word to describe this egg’s appearance. As the largest egg in the clutch, it commands all eyes onto it. Interestingly, if one were to examine it closely, they’d notice dozens of textured lines in shiny shades of silver, almost as though upon being touched, the egg’s shell will fall apart; it’s certainly not really wrapped in lace, but for all appearances, there’s definitely a very unique appearance to it. This is the “centerpiece” of the clutch – the crowning glory of all the eggs as the single most elegantly colored, and it rests at the very center of the basket that Ellie clutched in.

09. Poor Fool Egg
On the smaller side, this egg is bizarrely peppy to look at! It’s a network of pastels, bubble gum pink shades with purple hues and robin’s egg blues. Around the bottom of the egg is a fluffy white, almost like cotton or perhaps clouds. It looks as if touching this egg would be like touching fur, so soft is the appearance, and the colors blend and blur together so wonderfully that it’s almost impossible to tell where one color ends and the other begins. Dizzying, this egg – it can be very difficult to look at it, simply because the colors are so hypnotic. Like something out of a dream. Little silver specks dart over places in the egg, adding a metallic hue and shine. It’s nestled up against the Stranger Than You Dreamt It Egg, but despite the pretty shades, these two eggs are hidden behind the larger Masquerade Egg; someone has to actually try to see this pair!

10. Point of No Return Egg
Perhaps the most ominous egg in the clutch (save for the Phantom of the Opera Egg, which it rests next to), this is one shell that will make people stop and stare. The color is a bloody crimson with darker undertones, as if it’s made up of fabrics stitched together. Small patterns of lacy black seem to cover the bottom of this shell, like a bib, helping to keep it upright and balanced. Unlike thePhantom of the Opera Egg, this one is extremely small but don’t underestimate – when caught by the light, those red hues sparkle fiery oranges, like the flame inside of the center of a ruby. It’s certainly not overshadowed by its larger sibling, and only a fool would completely miss its presence. It almost looks as if this egg would be rough to touch – like brushing one’s hand over crisp lace. Or maybe those little imperfections are cracks? It’ll certainly be difficult to tell when this one is hatching, that’s for sure! Viewers will have to keep a close eye on it to avoid missing it breaking…

11. Down Once More Egg
Yellow. This egg is yellow. It’s very strange to look at simply because the majority of the shell is defined as such, but cheerful it is not. No, this ‘yellow’ isn’t the canary shade people like so much: it’s more like a pale version of gold mingling with tan and has hints of gray across it, making this almost an ugly egg to behold. Shades of black weave around the bottom of the shell and the top, masking it; it looks as though this egg shell is a rock, as opposed to housing a living creature. The most elegant part of the rough-textured shell is that it has a very distinct red smudge that spirals from the bottom to the top, over all the other colors, resembling a vine in design complete with leaves. It looks like wax has been dripped down the side, but not unpleasantly so! On the larger side (but not quite as large as some of the other eggs in the clutch), this is one that… is… well, strange. Yes, a strange egg. It’s been tucked behind the Angel of Music Egg trio and leans lopsided –funny shaped!

[Rowana]

Chaoth perked his head up at Checkoth's announcement. Merridan liked fire lizards and Auran was such a fine, little fellow. Perhaps she could impress another? MerridanMine? Hmmm? Big brother Checkoth is calling. Ellie's eggs are hatching. Mer jumped up at once. "They are?" She hurriedly cut the last of the fall's flowers and stored them gentle, wrapped in hide. "Where? I'll need to get meat." She hoped there was time. They had wandered rather far on her flower collecting trip. Mer like privacy when she engaged in her hobby.

Not far, only on the cliffs. Checkoth's has meat all ready. Mer smiled. That would save her a trip to the kitchen, she would have to thank R'wign when the got there. Auran fluttered down and landed on her head. "What do you think? Should we get you a little sibling?" Auran ruffled his wings. He wasn't sure he liked the idea, but as long as the new one understood who was in charge, that was alright with him. Mer started off at a run, with Chaoth loping after her. He was almost big enough to just fly there, but not quite yet.

Mer arrived a little out of breath and sat around the edge of the blanket. It was quite a well thought out presentation, almost like a picnic. "Nice pants," she grinned at R'wign. Auran hummed loudly on her head, eying the eggs with anticipation. His impressing or no, his kin were still hatching, and he was going to do his part. Chaoth settled himself outside the little circle, leaving plenty of space for others to get close. Good day, big brother Checkoth. he said politely. How are Yours and the little kin?

[Ember]

Nuoth lifted her head curiously at a message from another dragon. She looked over at Hers, who was making edits to a shirt. Or trying to at least. Charming was playfully tugging at the fabric every now and then, making it hard for Nephele to work as fast as she normally did. A firelizard clutch is hatching, NepheleMine, the green told Hers. Nephele looked away from her work and considered it. She liked flitters and Nuoth was old enough now so she probably would be able to handle a hatchling.

The sudden demanding cheep from Charming made Nephele look at him curiously. "What? You could easily go without me if you wanted to," she told him. Maybe it would be best to go? Between the two draconic mindmates looking at her, the girl burst into giggles. "Oh alright. What can it hurt?" She snatched her work away from Charming and stashed it in her room. Wouldn't do to have someone with sticky fingers take it from the common room.

"You, brat," she called to her brown. "You'll behave, right? No bothering the babies." The silence from Charming didn't reassure the girl but she couldn't stop him from going. Silly flying critters. Nephele left the barracks at a quick pace but it was far from running. Nuoth followed behind her, curiosity clear through their bond. She hadn't actually watched a hatching before. What she had seen of her clutchsiblings hatching after she had did not count, nor did she even properly remember it.

As they approached the site of the hatching, Charming zipped on ahead as Nephy sighed. Nothing she could do about it. She arrived to see a brown and a guy in a bath towel with..kittens? Nuoth hadn't mentioned them. The green knew nothing of felines, but she did know Hers liked flitters. I didn't know you'd want to know about them, she explained. I don't care one way or the other about them, really. No harm done. She also registered Merridan and Chaoth's presence before her eyes fell on the basket. Oh dear.

Charming had flown right over to the basket and actually dared to land on the handle where Ellie was. He chirped flirtatiously before peering at the eggs and starting to hum. Oh! They were lovely! As lovely as Ellie was, and perhaps even as lovely as he was. Nephele refused to acknowledge that the brown was hers. Nope, not hers. She settled on the blanket not far from Mer and hid a grin at her comment while Nuoth watched the other two dragons.

[Sheari]

Dancing and humming, dancing a humming. Emiliah walked (barefooted, of course) on her tiptoes, looking at the ground to make sure she was walked a straight line. She looked very much like she was on a balance beam or a tight rope. Her arms were out, body held straight, and she was concentrating very intently on her balance. Her tune was much sweeter than it might have been, as it was an actually tune she was hearing. Or rather, it wasn't a tune at all, but a fire lizard hum. A voice that was not DB's entered her mind. Emi looked up.

"Flitter babies?" She asked nothing. It was strange. Dib and Mouse were no where to be seen. Planting her feet flatly, she grabbed a stick and began to walk, or rather, wander, toward the cliffs. When a large brown thing came into view she recognized it as a dragon and held the stick in front of her. There were people. She really didn't want to go near the people, but she wanted to see the babies! Just a peek? Maybe...?

Gather whatever shreds of courage the girl had, she walked over to the small cluster of people and creatures...and the dragon. There was a blanket on the ground (how strange!) with a basket in the middle and bows of meat around it. She walked to the edge of the blanket and poked one a of the cubes of meat with her stick. She watched it intently, almost willing it to do something. When the cube didn't move she crouched down and poked it with her finger. It was chilly and slimy and she really wanted to play with it.

Ignoring everyone around her she grabbed a piece and set it on the blanket next to it's bowl. She grabbed another piece and began building a pyramid, totally ignoring everyone else. "Emi likes to play," she muttered, as she continued to stack the meat.

[rii]

After the clear announcement, Saboth's wings dipped to the side, altering their course. A subtle change that did not go unnoticed, and F'lix had an inkling of a suspicion threading through his mind, instantly making the corners of his lips turn down in a frown. Saboth, don't.

I want to see the little ones hatch.

Curiosity could be such a terrible thing, F'lix knew first hand the consequences of being inquisitive–even if he only wanted to look and little more. His pair of salamandyrs spoke enough of the repercussions of his last lapse in judgment and curious whim. F'lix was not interested in firelizards, the feline cubs however—but no. Just no. I don't want to go.

A shame. Well I'm going. The bluerider snarled at the humor emitting coming across the bond–a strange mixture of feelings assaulting him. Amusement from Saboth, annoyance from Lilitu, and pure joy from Simper. The last of which was tucked into his pocket. F'lix had learned early on that the blue mandyr liked the feeling of the rushing air too much and had nearly lost him during a wing drill.

No want flyer
That's two against one.
Simper?
Yes, big flyone! Simper love wings~
He doesn't even make sense. Fine. That's a tie, but I have the final say
Oh? I guess you can get off if you want..
I hate you.

Rumbling with quiet laughter, Saboth spiraled down before softly touching down on the grass near the two browns. Long wings swept back to fold against his side and the faded blue craned his neck around, eyes whirling as he examined his rider that appeared to.. refuse to dismount. I will shake you off. He seized the pant leg, covered with riding leather, and gave a small tug. I know you like the small furred ones.

Scowl prominent on his features, F'lix slipped off, light on his feet and making a wide prowling arc around the other dragons, the humming fire lizards perched on the silly egg filled basket, and.. in fact, F'lix just altered his course with intention of walking back to the weyr. That was until he saw the little furry.. pests. Just one look, really. A quick pet or two. They were just so, so.. cute annoying, how could he just ignore them? Mentally sighing, F'lix prowled over to the robed man and crouched low over heels to inspect the small feline cubs. Not even sparing a greeting. So social. Golden eyes were narrowed; a stern expression at first, one trying to express utter disdain and distaste for.. everything. And, as he carefully reached down and gently ran his fingers down the soft fur of one of the kits backs, the expression faded into.. a smile. A very light and fragile thing that smile, rare on him, but it came out none the less.

So cute.

[Requiem]

The little flutterbyes, Mine, Behruth commented. M'ta had one shoe off and was halfway through the opening into their weyr when the brown nudged him. He shot the dragon a look. "I'm not interested in firelizard gossip." Not those flutterbyes. The little ones. The new ones. Checkbrother just announced it. Didn't you hear? "That's why we're here," M'ta responded brusquely. Oh. "Oh?" I thought...you wanted to get something first. By this point M'ta realized that, yes, R'wign had left with the clutch...He said on top of the cliffs. "He did? Distracted." Yes, well, you do a lot of that recently. Checkbrother's Yours had always been around, but now he distracts you.

M'ta yanked off his other boot, tying the laces together and throwing the pair around his neck because it took less time than putting the first one back on. "You're going to fly me, right?" He'd protested when R'wign first mentioned it, but his weyrmate could be persuasive. Namely, M'ta had trouble saying no when R'wign got affectionate. And he wasn't someone to back out once his word was given, even if it had been clear coercion.

No pestering needed, Checkbrother. Unless it's to pester his brain into working. He's been far away all day. They weren't altogether late by the time Behruth arrived on the scene, but there was still a fair number of people who had shown up first. The brown settled neatly beside his clutchbrother, not even waiting for his to dismount before leaning up against Checkoth companionably. His tail twined around his weyrmate's, offering a croon to all the gathered dragons there. Nuoth, Chaoth, Checkoth...and Saboth, who was also greeted warmly, if a bit less familiarly. M'ta pulled a face, nudging at his dragon.

"Short, remember?"

Behruth lowered himself obediently, as the man dismounted, letting his toes curl in the warmed grass for a moment. Mmm. Nice. It kept his mind off the very real annoyance to find R'wign wandering around in nothing but a robe and boots. (Fine in the weyr, but honestly. He was an attractive person, and M'ta wasn't big on sharing.)

He walked over to R'wign, crouching down near him and peering into the basket. "You'd best have gotten rid of one already," he told the healer quietly, settling on that rather than throwing a fit over the robe. A hand came to rest on the other man's shoulder, eyes flitting over the eggs, the possessiveness of his posture at least not terribly glaring. He flashed Mer a genuine smile and even a small wave. M'ta liked the girl...though they didn't have much opportunity to mingle with her still confined to the barracks and subject to curfew.

[dragon]

The sound of a dragon's voice suddenly invading Llannu's consciousness was a new sensation entirely. Which scared him half out of his wits, and drop the pair of spoons he was holding in his left hand. When they clattered to the floor noisily, he jumped again, startled all over again. Llannu stared at them for a moment, and then inhaled slowly.

Where had those come from? He hadn't known he had been carrying spoons ... He lifted both hands to look at them. Upon which he realized that the other hand still had something in it ... a piece of cloth. Curious, he picked at it with his now-empty hand, and held it out to see what it was. Blushing cherry red, he wadded it back up and stuffed it in his pocket as fast as he could manage, glancing around and hoping that no one had seen him.

How in Faranth's name had he ended up with two soup spoons in one hand, and a piece of girl's underwear in the other? People were going to think he was perverted, soon... he still had to wonder how he'd come across that article to be *able* to swipe it ... if he didn't know, how was he supposed to explain it if he got caught?

For a moment he just stood there, trying to remember what he was doing before being startled half out of his wits. At which point he remembered what had started that... kittens! He would like a kitten ... maybe if he had a kitten his fingers wouldn't be so busy stealing stuff and trying to get him into trouble ... Stooping, he picked up the spoons and put them in his other pocket, before he headed off to where the kittens supposedly were.

Not wanting to get there too late and not be able to get a kitten, Llannu sprinted most of the way, even up the stairs that it took to get to the top of the cliffs. By the time he arrived, he was quite out of breath. The number of people already there made him worry ... what if they saw what was in his pockets? What if they'd already taken all the kittens? What if ...? Taking a deep breath, he eased into the group. But seeing how R'wign was dressed, and thinking about his pockets, it made him randomly wonder if the brownrider was wearing anything besides that robe.

"Is there a kitten left?" He inquired, timidly.

[absinthe]

Amelie flinched upon hearing the mental announcement for the firelizards, and she glanced around briefly before shaking her head. She kept forgetting she was at a Weyr and that dragons were sometimes used to make announcements to the general public. She was actually debating over whether or not to go; she would like to see the little beauties but she wasn’t sure if she had the time (or even wanted to, really) raise a hatchling right now. She was actually working on something at the small desk in her room at the moment and she almost turned to go back to it, having made up her mind. Until she heard about the felines. Felines! The effect was immediate as the young girl shot up out of her chair and bolted from the room. She wanted to see the cubs! Practically squeeing as she ran along, she tried to remember the way. Shard it! She’d only just arrived at the Weyr and was having trouble with all the ins and outs and arounds of the place. She knew how to get to the dining hall, the infirmary, and back to her room abut that was about it.

“Excuse me! Excuse me!” The apprentice flagged down someone who looked like he knew where he was going. “Are you going to the Hatching? Can you please show me the way? I’ve only just transferred here you see, and I’m so very lost.” She gave a breathless little laugh at her utter hopelessness and Junaes couldn’t help but smile at the younger girl.

“Sure, follow me.” The lad had been rummaging around in the Records room when he’d heard the announcement. He was definitely interested in a firelizard for himself but he wouldn’t be heartbroken if he didn’t get one this time around. There would be other opportunities and besides, at least he would get to see them hatch. That in itself would be quite interesting. Next to him, Amelie was afraid that all the feline cubs would be spoken for by the time they arrived and so she didn’t mind that she had to walk a little fast to keep up with the candidate’s longer legs.

When they reached the blanket spread out on the ground with the bowls of meat, Amelie hesitated even as Junaes wandered right up to the edge and crouched after giving R’wign a polite nod. “Hello.” He didn’t know the brown rider, and so he couldn’t really give him much of a greeting. He made sure not to block anyone’s view of the clutch or cut in front of anybody, not that there were that many people just yet. None of the eggs had hatched, for which he was glad and so as a way to pass time he reached out to rub one of the felines’ head with a finger before picking it up. A quick check accompanied by an indignant squall proved the little creature to be a male. Amelie had hung back, unsure; she’d never attended a Hatching/kitten giveaway before and didn’t know if there was some sort of ritual or protocol involved. Seeing Junaes wander right up and pick one of the fuzzy little cubs up however seemed to encourage her and she stepped up to the blanket. Before she could offer a greeting to the other healer, the candidate in front of her turned and held the kitten up to the girl, who immediately smiled and accepted him.

“Aww, how cute!” Amelie was instantly smitten, and she looked up at R’wign with a smile on her face. “May I take this one, please? Is she spoken for already?” It was obvious that the girl was elated in the face of such… cuteness and she was desperately hoping that R’wign would say the cub wasn’t taken as of yet. Hopefully he wasn’t holding it for anyone specific. What was a good name for the little furball? She clearly wasn’t paying any attention to the eggs whatsoever; she’d come for a kitten, not a firelizard. However if she realized that she was blatantly ignoring the gold and her clutch then she gave no indication, which meant that it was unintentional. The little feline cub was clearly taking up all of the girl’s attention at the moment. Junaes on the other hand was patiently waiting for the eggs to start hatching, regarding Ellie with a sort of fascinated contemplation. He’d never seen a gold firelizard this close before. He’d only ever seen greens and blues, and one girl at the Hold had a brown but that was it and he’d never seen any of those up close; they tended to stick close to their humans. So this was a double treat for him.

[glamourie]

“Thankfully, I’ve got the legs for it,” R’wign said pleasantly as he removed the feline cubs from the bag that they were curled up in. The three of them immediately rolled onto the blanket and took to sniffing around, with one backing up in terror to R’wign’s legs as Mer approached. The largest of the cubs looked back at the skittish one and flattened its ears before sniffing and pawing forward, slowly; it looked, for the entire world, to be curious. Typical feline. R’wign kept his gaze on them, but his words were meant for the brown weyrlingrider; he liked Mer quite a bit and he’d never exactly tried to disguise that. She was one of the few people he did talk to very often. “You want another flying menace? What, the one you got from her last clutch didn’t traumatize you enough?” To prove a point R’wign glanced back at Auran and reached one hand up as though to poke at the firelizard. Sitting as he was, he couldn’t reach but his point was made obvious: firelizards were evil. Especially the ones from Ellie’s clutches, although thankfully he hadn’t managed to Impress any of them (yet).

On the top of the basket, Ellie turned to look at Charming and gave him a low, pleasant flute of greeting. She leaned down to nose one of the eggs – the Music of the Night Egg – obsessively before twitching her wings. Babies soon. The slight rocking of different eggs made that obvious, and the Phantom of the Opera Egg already had several large slits up the side. She turned back to Charming and chirped inquiringly; wasn’t it the most beautiful clutch ever? Except that one egg – it was ugly, but that was okay, because she’d decided that that egg was actually Lao’s and not Hers. He thought he was a green so it made sense. Green eggs were naturally not as amazing as her pleasant gold ones. Yes, yes.

The two new arrivals caught R’wign’s attention and were probably what kept him from noticing a girl seemingly building things out of the meat slivers. The first was someone that he didn’t recognize and R’wign tilted his head to watch Mr. Silent before stating dryly, “Yes, you’re welcome to pet the cubs.” Thankfully he’d told Checkoth to let everyone know about them or he’d probably be very annoyed. Part of him was on the protective side; someone had to be, since Empress was left fuming his weyr, no doubt wanting to bite something for him stealing her cubs away (that or doting on the one that he’d left – both was equally likely really). “Do you have a name?” He wanted to know who Empress’s babies were going to and if the man wanted one – well, he’d have to deal. They were practically R’wign’s babies too, after all. He’d certainly favored them all enough.

The second arrival was M’ta, and naturally distracted R’wign… who quite contentedly yanked the other brownrider right down into his lap with no regards for the fact that they were in public. “I haven’t given away one of anything yet, but if you’re referring to the littlest cub, she’s still safe and sound back in our weyr waiting for you to come love on her,” he said pleasantly enough. “You should know I havemore tact than to give away one of your pets. PMS would never forgive me—Hm?”

More people asking after the kittens – poor flitters. Speaking of which, the Phantom of the Opera Egg gave another large shudder before tumbling to the side, spilling forth a glittering dark bronze flit that could only be a sign of good things to come from the clutch. Sprawled over the other eggs, the bronze male looked up curiously at the people surrounding as well as the firelizards perched on the basket before offering a pleasant chirp. It was definitely baiting – and focused entirely on Charming. The sound said without words an introduction, and he fluttered his wings before twitching his tail. He almost appeared to be smiling.

“None of the kittens are spoken for yet,” R’wign said absently to both people who asked, before turning to the girl, “and she is actually a he. Just so you know.” His head cocked to the side and he looked at the people before adding testily, “What, felines are more appealing than firelizards? If you think for one second they’re easierto care for, you’re wrong. You’ve obviously never met their mother.” Again he twitched, obviously not at all pleased at Ellie’s clutch being mostly ignored. Poor Gold; not that she seemed to mind.

No, Ellie was enamored of the bronze hatchling and she gave him a curious chirp in greeting. However, he didn’t appear too eager to look around. In fact, the bronze stood up and proceeded to start grooming himself, still clearly watching Charming. In the meantime, the Point of No Return Egg gave a slight shiver and started cracking to reveal green hide – obviously a female lay within. It rocked twice before tumbling over to release the strangely colored hatchling within. Smaller than average, she looked as though her body was stitched from leaves, with wide, bright and curious eyes that peered about anxiously. Flaring her wings, the Point of No Return Green turned to chirp to the Phantom of the Opera Bronze – who actually chirped back in exactly the same pitch. Startled, she bounced away to stare at her clutchbrother, who mimicked her bouncing flawlessly. Even his expression seemed perfectly the same.

The Point of No Return Green, indignant, squawked. The Phantom of the Opera Bronze squawked back – just the barest thread of mocking in his ‘voice’. Furious at being made fun of, the Point of No Return Green (much to her mother’s chagrin) leapt out of the basket and went splat right on the blanket next to it. So far no luck with actually Impressing successfully. The Phantom of the Opera Bronze chattered in laughter at her before looking up at Charming and fluting; wasn’t he smart? He’d obviously gotten the better of that one.

Oh good. Why is he far away? Checkoth inquired, leaning against his clutchbrother. His gaze turned to Chaoth before he crooned. Hello, Chaoth-cousin. Mine is very good; he is glad to see Yours. How are weyrling lessons going?

---

01. Think of Me Egg
02. Angel of Music Egg
03. Phantom of the Opera Egg hatched: bronze - making fun of the Point of No Return Green
04. Music of the Night Egg
05. Stranger Than You Dreamt It Egg
06. Prima Donna Egg
07. All I Ask Of You Egg
08. Masquerade Egg
09. Poor Fool Egg
10. Point of No Return Egg hatched: green - getting upset at the Phantom of the Opera Bronze
11. Down Once More Egg

[Rowana]

Merridan glanced over R'wign and his shortage of pants with a critical eye. "Very true," she said seriously, but still grinning a bit too much. R'wign was one of her favorite people at the Weyr. Auran blinked at R'wign and stared at his finger blankly. What a silly human he was. Mer shrugged, knowing the brownrider's dislike for fire lizards despite having so many. "Takes more than Auran to scare me away. Guess I'm just stubborn." She liked fire lizards, especially Auran. "Thanks for setting up the meat too, I didn't have time to get any."

Several more people had arrived, but most of them were strangers except for M'ta. She smiled and waved back. "Here for a little terror of your own?" she asked cheerfully. It was good to see the both of them. Weyrling lessons and chores kept her too busy of late. She would have to find time to visit them more often later. Lessons go well, Chaoth replied, including Behruth in the conversation now that he had arrived. Hello, big brother Behruth! We are starting our first flying lessons. He was quite proud of his siblings too. Most of them had been good in class, if not all.

[dragon]

Llannu glanced around at everyone nearby, and then crouched down to scoop up one of the kittens. Curling a hand under the kitten's bottom, he stroked its head with his other hand, carefully trying to keep both hands busy. Settling to his ankles, Llannu's attention shifted with interest to the basket. Eggs. Flitters came from eggs? Well ... that made sense. Dragons came from eggs. And flitters were just miniature dragons, right?

He grinned lopsidedly at the teasing that the little bronze baby was giving the tiny green baby. Though he had to admit that green was mighty pretty. That was a very interesting pattern of leaf look alikes. Her hide, nice and oiled, would be pretty, he decided. The only reason he knew that was he'd watched someone oil their flitter. Which had fascinated him ... probably more than it should have, but eh. A lad had to learn eventually.

"How long before they can fly?" Llannu asked, fingering the top of the kitten's head and playing with its ears without even realizing it. Apparently having a furry thing to hang onto was working, so far as curbing his kleptomania. For his fingers were content to stay put and finger those little ears that were just so ... fingerable.

[Ember]

Nephele kept an eye on the hatching but not to the exclusivity of other things. She was very much aware of others arriving and the kittens. The cute bundles of fur were mostly ignored. She didn't dislike them but they weren't the reason she was there. The other people...she had to admit, they caught her interest a bit. One girl who had come was busy...playing with the meat? Nephele tried not to judge but it was pretty odd. She looked away from the girl as she realized what Emiliah was doing. Interesting, but not that interesting.

The sound of a dragon's wings made her look in another direction curiously, to see a blue landing. Most worrisome to her...was that the rider that dismounted looked vaguely familiar. Disturbing, disturbing. She looked away hastily and returned to watching the basket of eggs, leaning back on her hands and amusing herself with Charming's antics. This was the same gold that had laid the clutch the brown was from, if she wasn't mistaken. If it was so she wondered what the babies would be like this time. As she remembered, Charming's hatching had been rather entertaining.

Nuoth returned a pleasant though quiet croon to the friendly brown that greeted her. Just about all she knew of the dragons present was that they were all Selenitas dragons or were from her clutch. She wasn't really familiar with any of them. It suited her fine for the time being. She was in one of her moody phases and she didn't particularily feel like talking to any of them. Only her curiosity about the clutch had brought her here. Even under normal circumstances, she didn't seek out others' company but normally she didn't mind them.

Charming watched Ellie look after her clutch and chittered agreement at her inquiry. Oh yes, quite a gorgeous clutch. That was only to be expected from a lovely gold like her, right? Flirting, him? Of course! It wasn't a lie though. Her eggs really were pretty. He was a bit curious about that one egg that seemed a little...off. Not everything could be as perfect as him though. It was a pretty high standard! Oh-ho. And the first egg delivered. A bronze. He leaned down on the handle to look closer while the bronze examined the people and flitters present. Oh! Good little bronze. No doubt he thought Charming was magnificent, right? Right! The brown chirped plesantly in return before turning amused eyes on Ellie. She should be proud of this one!

Nephele grinned slightly as she watched the bronze. Interesting that he choose to focus on Charming, of all flitters. The brownrider-a-la-bathrobe spoke up then and she glanced at him. She was surprised and amused to see another man in his lap. Instead of attempting to respond to what he'd said, she turned to boy who'd asked about flitters. "They can fly almost immediately after they've hatched," she told him pleasantly enough. It was personal experience that had taught her that. She glanced at R'wign before her gaze slid back to the basket to see a green staring at the bronze.

The mimicking was very amusing, but not as much as the green jumping out of the basket rather ungracefully. A firelizards. Pern's comedians? Charming chittered at Ellie. Her babies were cute! He was a little more partial to the bronze, but the green was interesting too. The brown fluted back approvingly. Good bronze. Charming leaned down again and chirped curiously. What now?

[rii]

The remarked was heard, but F'lix didn't raise his attention away from the cubs. Not polite like his blue, who returned Behruth's greeting. No, F'lix continued to pay mind to nearest cub, smoothing the fur between it's ears. It would be ridiculous of him to deny his fondness toward the felines. Quietly he trilled his tongue down at the young cubs. The temptation was there to adopt one, but no–F'lix didn't even have a justifiable reason to why he didn't want one. The answer was just no.

Names. Why did people fuss so much about a name. The question went unacknowledged, F'lix figured he had just overheard it. After a moment he did finally divert his attention up to glance at the robed man–who seemed too busy to care for a reply. Blank in expression a single eyebrow arched. F'lix glanced at M'ta's face, recognizing and remembering the small brownrider. Those golden eyes then flicked to R'wign–for the first time looking at him. Healer; that's all F'lix knew him as.

Back to the cubs his attention went.

The bluerider didn't know quite what to think about the public show of affection between the two brownriders. The northern roots of him strongly disapproved–not that he had a problem with it. Just the public factor bothered him. Expelling the line of thought, F'lix absently began to just listen to the on-goings around him while keeping his eyes downcast on the fluffy, adorable.. oh bother, he really should leave.

A mild glare quickly returned to his expression when one of the kits was seized by another, handed off to a girl–then some lad asking about them. Why on Pern F'lix suddenly felt possessive over them was beyond him. But he wanted to level his narrowed eyes on them all. His. Then a second kitten scooped up by the boy. F'lix otherwise neutral.. ish.. expression twitched. His own hand laid lightly on the remaining kitten, to block any more of those grabby hands. Annoyed without merit.. but.. not like he was going to take one.. he was just there to pet it. Nothing more.

You should get little flyers instead of the noisy pair.
Yes, because I have such a choice.

Lilitu again hissed her displeasure, eyes whirling as she watched the hatching eggs. At least she agreed with him. They should leave.. but two salamandyrs should ward off any company from firelizards. Red had said only a swarm of firelizards kept a salamandyr from impressing.. so it had to work in reverse. Oh yes, Lilitu assured, she would rip the wings off any flyer that dared near Lixhers. Strangely comforting to know.

[Requiem]

Even though it had been a decent amount of time since the flight and M'ta had mostly gotten used to the majority of R'wign's habits, he was still caught off-guard when his weyrmate tugged him down into his lap without so much as a 'hello' to serve as warning. Clearly, the concept of privacy was a foreign one to the healer. He'd stumbled and fallen rather harder than was likely comfortable for R'wign, and M'ta gave him an apologetic look - though he didn't say anything. It really wasn't his fault that the other brownrider had startled him.

Too smug. M'ta adjusted his ungainly sprawl across the man's lap, wrinkling his nose at him. "Not my pet." She was cute, yes, and for some unknown reason she liked to search him out, but M'ta really wasn't interested in any more pets. Not that R'wign was likely to listen to his protests. Or the kitten, for that matter. (He didn't play with her when no one else was around. All lies.) The denial wasn't altogether strong, however, given R'wign's following comment. "Is that where he's been all day?" The flood of feel-good feelings wasn't unusual, and neither was the absence of his every-curious, energetic little mindbond, but usually he saw him at least a few times over the course of a day when their paths crossed.

(Likely the protest was also weakened by the fact that M'ta had snuggled into the healer while distracted from his dismay at being publically tugged into his weyrmate's lap.)

He rested his head against R'wign's shoulder, just following Mer with his eyes because this position was ever so comfortable. "Shards no. Behruth and PMS are more than enough to drive me up the wall on a good day. R'wign's just pushy." There was a touch of teasing behind the words. "You're welcome to any and all."

Glancing up at R'wign when the healer began complaining irritably, M'ta nuzzled his jaw in silence, his own eyes having never left the clutch since the preening bronze had hatched except to note his weyrmate's irritation. He'd seen the kittens for awhile now, after all; they were nothing new. And Behruth's fascination with newborns definitely had an effect. The brown was fairly keeping up a continuous mental croon, more than half his attention on the little 'flutterbyes'. That didn't keep him from acknowledging his brown brothers - whether that claim was entirely true or not was far as Chaoth was concerned.

Yours is apparently a distraction, Behruth commented, without elaborating. He loved his Checkbrother very much, but the other brown didn't always understand things on a deeper level, and some things - were very private between rider and dragon. Some. Not most, certainly, but some. Are you? He crooned pleasantly. That is my favorite part. When you are flying more, you should join us. We can all three fly together. You're okay with that, right, Checkbrother?

---

"But Daddy -"
"Won't know if you don't tell!"
"Shei. He will know if you Impress."
"But then he can't do anything."

She grinned winningly at her cousin, the one who rarely spoke...but actually did say a good deal to her when they were alone as they were now. As usual, he shrugged and followed her without another word, her silent shadow. It could become annoying at times. She could take care of herself! But it had its advantages on occasion, and at least Miguel knew that she was worthy of attention!

Miguel was worried about what Daddy would say. He didn't want to make him upset, because he saw what happened to kids when parents got upset. They were sent away. Miguel didn't want to be sent away. If not for that, though, he would have been nearly as excited as the skipping child in front of him. Firelizards fascinated him. But they didn't have permission, and he dreaded what would happen if Shei got a firelizard. No, Daddy couldn't take it away, but he could do other things. Miguel twisted the hem of his shirt nervously, allowing his cousin to forge ahead, up close to the eggs while he hung back and tried to pretend he wasn't here while still keeping an eye on Shei.

Was it too much to hope no one would recognize them?