Not Quite A Dozen Roses (Rose Hatching)

[dragon]

All the Joys of Spring

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The Watermelon Egg

This mid-sized egg is an interesting blend of a dark blue green and a light yellow green that blurs together nicely right across the middle of the egg, long wise. For all the world it looks just like a pristine melon with no bug holes at all in its sides, just about ready for the picking. Fully half of the egg sits neatly in the paler shades of green, blending into the darker shades to cover the other half. Here and there on the shell are tiny, thread like streaks of yellow, making the impression that it's not quite – but almost – ripe.


The Rainflower Egg

This little, tiny egg makes up for its small size in a spectacular show of color. Its base is a coppery gold-flecked streaked through with threads of black and dark grey, as if stardust were blown over a night sky rather thickly. Smack in the middle of the side of the egg, however, blooms what appears to be one of those dainty little white flowers that are frequently seen directly after a rain. Surrounding the flower and swarming radially all over the rest of the shell are more petals, as if they were blown off of the egg by the same gust that scattered the stardust.


Fields of Flowers Egg

Sitting right beside the Rain Flower Egg, The Fields of Flowers Egg is yet another riot of color. The base of the shell is a light pink, just like a field completely covered in those tiny little pink flowers that people love to see carpeting the fields in springtime. And over the top of this is a smattering of larger blots of color, mimicking taller-standing, larger flowers in the field of pink blossoms. Oval shaped blue and little spots of the same shade of blue mingle with streaks of green grass strands that highlight the egg in a very pretty show of color. This is an egg that some is undeniably an attention-grabber!


The Petal Egg

What is spring without a storm of petals whirling through the air? The Petal Egg represents this novelty of spring very nicely across its large shell, in a madly swirling whirlwind of petal-shaped spots scattered amongst rings that could pass as the ripples the petals make when they kiss the surface of a still pond. Though the pond is apparently a pink one, in reflection of trees full of blossoms, for the represented water is certainly not blue! The base color of this egg is a swirl of shades of pink that gradually darken and lighten ever so slightly between ripples. Overlayed over this is the true color of water, a dark, rich blue rippling outward until the edges of the circle become purple with the mix of blue and pink together. Between the spots of circular ripples lay the swarming petals still in free fall. A light, airy, pale blue in color, these petals appear to dance freely and lightly across the surface of the egg on their way down to the water!


The Artichoke Egg

As its name would imply, this egg looks more like a vegetable than anything else. A vegetable that is actually a flower as of yet unbloomed. But that is the ways of spring! In shades of green overlapping from one end of the egg to the other, splaying outward on the wide end and coming together neatly on the 'pointy' end of the egg. Never mind neither end is particularly pointy. This egg has what appears to be closed petals that range from a deep, rich, dark green, through lighter shades, until it becomes a white-green in places. The Artichoke Egg is far more somber than some of its clutch mates, but is yet non less distinctive for it.


The Crazy Grass Egg

Flowers are nothing without a nice bed of springtime-fresh grass! Unfortunately, someone failed to inform this tiny egg that grass usually grows all in the same direction… Indeed, the green streaks that adorn this egg resemble the broad leaves of new grass, but there seem to be two layers of grass, almost as if woven. For there are bits that go longwise of the egg, and yet more bits that are completely perpendicular to those first streaks. Each blade of grass is not completely green, either, showing the yellow of a blade so new and fast-growing that it has not yet had the chance to fully darken into the sturdy green that grass is supposed to be. Underneath the blades is a smooth base of the dark blue of shadow, hinting at a shady, cool, damp ground from which these crazy bits of grass spring.


The Rain on the Pond Egg

At first one might think that this egg is a sister egg to The Petal Egg. But it is not as identical as it might first seem. First this blander egg is a bit larger than its sister shell, and lacks all the petals that The Petal Egg sports. Instead, it is reminiscent of the same pond, but before the blossoms start to fall from the trees. For there is the same strange swirl of tone-varying pink for the surface of the pond. It also sports ripple rings that darken to a smudge of purple, but these seem created more by little April Showers, rather than by falling petals. Some of the ripples overlap each other, and some stand alone, all in varying stages of extension.


The Storms of Spring Egg

Spring is here, but Winter has not lost all of its bite just yet! This egg's shell depicts what could be a scene from just such one occasion. For on its crazy, stormy shell are shades of pink, red, and purple slashes as if petals have been ripped from their stems and blown harshly across through the air, followed by the dark blue dots of sleet or hail. A tempest maelstrom of color, the only thing that this egg shares with its clutch siblings is the pervading pink-borne theme. The lines of the wind on this stormy egg rip roughly from one end of the egg to the other, making it seem that the wind that these petals feel is in distinct danger of blowing over into the eggs next to it as well.


The Pollen in the Air Egg

Defying the trend that most of the clutch holds to, this large egg is boldy dark, and defiantly green! But in keeping with the windy streak that seems to have boiled over from The Storms of Spring Egg, this egg has a base of a medium olive green that is madly swirled in curlyques of a much darker, bolder green. Upon this dancing, swirling gust of wind are little dots of pale peachy color, as if to represent the scraps of pollen that the blossoms of spring throw forth. Or maybe they are firebugs, dancing in the joy of warmer nights?


The Pale Melon Egg

This is probably what some would consider the ugliest egg of the clutch. But in its own way, it stands out from all the other eggs – simply because it, also, is not pink. Nor does it show any traces of blossoms upon its shell. Instead, it falls more in line with The Watermelon Egg and The Artichoke Egg. For it indeed looks like yet another piece of doldrum fruit, instead of the blossom itself. A vaguely pale peachy-grey color most of the way over, The Pale Melon Egg sports black-and-grey streaks that run from end to end of the egg. These lines are not perfectly straight by a long shot, wobbling vaguely back and forth, as if the melon sort of twisted as it was growing. Indeed, the lines are vaguely reminiscent of grains in a piece of wood!

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[dragon]

Rose had torn a gigantic hole in the top of his pillow, scattered feathers everywhere, and filled the resulting hole with as much sand as she could possibly move by herself. Or, rather, with the help of every gullible little flitter-minon she had happened across. L'nu was sure she'd managed it by not shutting up, and they'd done it to shut her up. But in the resulting mess that he'd found smack in the middle of his bed, Rose had laid ten little eggs. Every one of them was as brightly colorful as a psychedelic flower. When L'nu had come back to find that in place of a snuggly set of furs to crawl into, he had not been very pleased at all… until he realized what he was looking at. When the realization dawned on him, he was the most ecstatic kid the Weyr ever saw. Rose had brought him flitter eggs! A whole bunch of them!!! L'nu had allowed Rose to keep the pillow, though he did move it off of his bed so that he could use that to sleep on. Even if it was minus a pillow.

He went out of his way to make sure the eggs stayed warm, despite all the hissing and grumbling from a rather broody Rose. She rather thought she could do fine all by herself, thanks. But L'nu really wanted to see all of those eggs hatch, so he put the effort forward. Of course, he was planning on keeping them all!! Who wouldn't?! A kid's dream, find a nest of eggs and run away with them. Only … they had been brought to him, not the other way around!! How much better could it get?!

There was only one glitch … it was called a friend named J'ash. Who did his level best to convince L'nu that keeping all those eggs to himself was not a good idea. The work didn't daunt L'nu a bit. He could take care of Paglieth, a bunch of flitters wouldn't be a problem! Not even the notion of everyone else thinking him stingy or getting irate at him daunted him. They were his!!! What eventually got him was the theory that … what if they were all just like Rose?

L'nu loved Rose to death … but … Eleven Roses?

So it was that when those lil eggies started rocking and wiggling in his pillow, L'nu freaked out, grabbed the pillow, and ran for it. Anywhere where there was people!!! Most notably, this would be the mainhall of course. There were always people at the Main hall. Right?

Right?!

[Ruby]

Todmund, his nose crammed about as far into his book as it would go, was not looking where he was going. Used to the Harper Hall's dining hall, where he was shunned like a victim of perpetual firehead, the Journeyman crammed his nose in even further, blowing lank bangs out of his eyes to try to decipher the author's cramped hand. Vaguely heading for the kitchens despite being fully unaware of the time of day, he expected to either be purpously bumped or generally avoided.

Todmund learned very quickly that there were advantages to being shunned. It was only moments before he ran full-on into someone, spilling his bag of wax tablets and styluses all over the floor. Scrambling to get the delicate instruments out from under the feet of a running boy with a... pillow, Todmund froze. His hand had grabbed a hand that seemed suspiciously feminine, going for the same stylus as the person he'd run in to. It was a she, and she was touching him, and she wasn't laughing at him while he picked up his mess. Snatching his hand back as though burned, he glanced at the girl with pure horror on his face before straightening and turning his attention to the boy he'd nearly tripped, trying to cover up his obvious discomfort. "Why have you brought a pillow filled with sand to the main hall?" he asked nasally, not quite meeting L'nu's eyes.

Tenlie's friendly smile melted when Todmund turned away. Had she done something wrong? Finally convinced that she would never make friends here, not ever, she sighed, about to return to her glasscrafting for the afternoon. At least she had that. But she heard Todmund mention the pillow, and turned back around. She hadn't noticed L'nu there before, but now she saw that he had something in his hands, and it seemed to be moving. Putting two and two together, she gasped, putting her hands to her mouth. "Those are no..." she trailed off. At least she was smart enough not to shout OH HEY FLITTER EGGZ to the whole main hall.

Todmund, however, was not. "Oh, I see you have brought a nest," he announced, making no attempt to lower his voice. Nearby people certainly heard, including a very tall redhead (or, more correctly, the regal, shining Green on his shoulder). A sharp bite to M'kai's ear got the Weyrling's attention quickly, and his eyes went blank, clearly in conversation with his dragon. M'kai didn't head over to peer at L'nu's bundle yet, but he did keep an eye on it from across the room. Reina had, after all, been pestering him about subjects since her sister-gold rose, determined to steal the Gold's babies and claim them as her own. She, of course, was nowhere near the blame... but she would still get subjects babies.

[Requiem]

Ow ow ow. Little Miguel scurried out of the way, but not before a veritable rain of supplies struck the top of his head and small shoulders. Wide-eyed, he wrapped an arm around the back of a chair - as far around as his tiny five-turn-old arm would go - blues fixed unwaveringly on the boy with the funny voice and the girl he'd subconsciously been walking close to. (She'd seemed nice and little boys didn't tend to get stepped on as often if they were near one of the adults.) He'd managed not to spill the bowl he'd secured for Lord, and the blue was quivering now at the close call, peeking out above the lip of it and now covered in meat juices.

Miguel crooned softly to his skittish little mindmate, though he didn't unwind his arm to reassure him with a touch. The funny-voiced boy sounded upset. Wait, what was that? Nest? His eyes turned to the boy who'd flashed past - a weyrling - curiosity and a flicker of desire in his eyes. "Lord," he whispered, to which the blue gave a quiet squeaky chirp in response. "It's your sister." Whoops. The firelizard ducked full into the meat, then, trying to cover himself up completely. Guess he shouldn't have mentioned Rose. "Don't you want to see your nephews?" Just the top of his head emerged, running with juices. Nephews? Yes, little babies...but Rose?

"Wait here." But... "Ev!" The small green looked a little deflated. I can help. I know I can, she uttered dismally, digging a deep furrow in the earth. Arms were suddenly around her neck. "I'm sure he's okay, Ev. Just need to check. The hall is for people, though," he added with a touch of apology. I'm not too big... "Ev..." Subsiding, she coiled on the ground, giving X'rx a look that should have melted anyone...but he was already hurrying up the winding ramp at a fast clip. Seeing L'nu running like the hunting canines were after him with a terrified look on his face had sent the greeweyrling's stomach flipping.

He slowed slightly as he entered the Hall, casting about for the blueweyrling. "L'nu? L'nu!" Calling softly so as not to disturb too many people while still being heard, the slender young man began working his way through the crowd in an attempt to find his classmate.

[marge]

He had been minding his own business as he wandered into the dining hall, but the sight of two bodies colliding drew his eyes. Tobby frowned in concern and moved closer toward them to make sure that everyone was alright. He knew Todmund was a candidate like he, but had never spoken to the taller boy. In fact, Tobby rarely even saw the other. There were others around and it soon became apparent that everyone involved was fine, but something new had drawn his attention. The other male, a rider Tobby thought, was carrying a pillow. With sand in it. And eggs. The candidate's eyes widened as he realized that he was seeing fire lizard eggs, and brightly colored ones at that.

It had been a long time since he'd had the chance to Impress one of the small creatures. The little blue that should have been his had flown right past his ear to R'wign. He could remember how disappointed he'd been that night, but it couldn't hurt to try again if these eggs were indeed hatching. He moved closer, trying to peek around all of the others to get a better glimpse of the eggs. Maybe this rider wouldn't mind if he tried to Impress one of the little pretties.

[Ember]

Mother shifted excitedly on her shoulder as he saw a kid run into the main hall carrying a pillow. Oh, he knew what those were without a doubt! Babies~ The bronze nuzzled his mindmate, chirping very softly. Look, look, babies! Nephele peered in the direction of the pillow-nest that was obscured by some people already. Hmm. Firelizard or salamandyr eggs? One she would go closer and the other she'd run away from. She abandoned her meal as one of the people already gathered piped up about a nest. A lot of people were drawn to eggs. When others heard that not-so-quiet statement the area near the pillow would get busy.

She wandered to the kitchens and sneaked some meat. By now she knew how much one hatchling normally ate. She grabbed enough for two so she could spare some for another person if they needed before heading back to the nest. When she got there she looked at the people nearby (yes, all of them). Even uninterested people had a chance at impressing if one of the hatchlings chose to go to them. There were a couple young weyrbrats. She recognized Miguel but didn't go over to him. He hadn't seemed to like her much at the hatching of his little blue

She was forced to watch without any company besides her bronze. He was too focused on the eggs to be much fun though. Mother had his tail wrapped as far as it would go around her neck and was leaning down with his front paws braced on her chest to try and get a better look at the eggs. So pretty! He sent the thought to Rose. She must be so proud.

[Rowana]

Hoayamae was very busy. Even when it wasn't mealtime, there were always plenty of hungry people stopping by at odd hours and she needed time to prepare the main meals. She didn't mind though. She much preferred being busy, because slowing down gave her too much time to think about the people she'd never see again. It was better to focus on the ones that were still here. At the moment, Mae was making a batch of meat pies for later. She had already chopped up the meat and the dough was just about ready. She reached over to start add meat when her hand met empty air.

Mae frowned, looking at the empty spot on the counter. She was sure she had put it right there! A quick look around the kitchen confirmed that it was definitely gone. Mae scowled. She was used to things going missing on occasion, but a whole bowl of raw meat? Usually they at least waited for it to be cooked. Mae stomped out of the kitchen and into the Main Hall, completely missing the comments about eggs. "Who took mah meat?" she demanded. She spotted Nephele and rounded on her. "See here, little miss," she scolded. "I gave you food for your beasts this morning. Don't tell me they're hungry again already."

~

Merridan looked up at the boy's comment. She didn't recognize him, but she did remember L'nu as having impressed a queen when she'd gotten Vikky. She grinned. That meant fire lizard eggs! She collected a pair of meatrolls she'd been planning to give to Auran and Vikky and squeezed her way through the crowd. Auran, perched on her head, gave a withering sigh. Another silly fool to join them. He really thought Vikky was more than enough. Vikky, meanwhile, and flow closer to L'nu, trying to get a better look. Look at the lovely eggs! So round and perfect! She wished she could make such cute little eggs.

[dragon]

Rose zipped around over head, screaming at the top of her lungs. L'nu was running away with her babies!!! Just what in the world did he think he was doing, anyway? The nest had been just fine where it had been all this time already!! Naturally, the cantankerous queen was hardly happy with the situation. It showed in the tone of her raucous voice, ripping through the air at a volume that could not be missed.

L'nu ignored her, thought he did nearly drop the nest when someone yelled at him. Or rather, yelled his name. Barely grabbing the pillow again before it was too late, sand dribbled over the far edge, spilling out. With a pet up gasp of air, he shoved the limp, weighted, destroyed pillow at a table top. Someone's plate got shoved off the table to rattle onto a chair, boiled tubers scattered, but at the moment, he didn't really care. Roses were hatching!!

"Uh, uh .... uh ..." He looked around, as Rose circled in for a landing smack in the middle of her clutch. Clucking like an obsessed hen, she started rolling them all over, making sure all were sound. She was rather unhappy when one egg escaped to clunk onto the table top. But oddly enough, she didn't move to retrieve it. She just sat there in the middle of the other nine and stared at it like she expected it to tremble in fear and fall in line.

Children these days! What was this world coming to, anyway?

"Uh ... yeah. Flitters. Um ... have fun?" L'nu squeaked, before trying to find a path away from the suddenly appearing crowd. These people had no idea, apparently... these babies were related to Rose!! L'nu so did not want to be there. No sir. "Uh ... hi, X'rx?" He managed, before slipping past his classmate. Twirling as he went, he pointed at Rose. "Flitters ... if you want them ..." He edged back some more, toward the door. Part of him was curious to see, part of him still wanted to keep them all, but a bigger part was terrified to have Rose Clones swarming after him.

Rose, apparently deciding that the errant egg was not going to get back in the nest like it should, started humming a happy little hatching-hum. Despite how unruly her children were already being, they were still her children, and they were hatching!! So of course she was a very proud mama. Unfortunately, it did not last long. When someone came too close, Rose transformed into the nastiest flitter around, flying up into their face with a vicious his and claws aimed for eyes. Thankfully, she didn't intend to follow through - not this time. She did need spectators. Her Royal Children needed an audience for their grand entrance to the world. But touching!!! No touching her nest! L'nu had already done enough insult in moving the nest. She would not tolerate it again, noooooo.

The little Artichoke Egg, having fallen out of the nest, was naturally the first to crack. The trauma of landing on a hard surface expedited the hatchling's journey out of the prison of a shell. Fracture lines cracked all along the bottom, until it was neatly busted up. Unfortunately, the rest of the striped shell was still intact. The egg wobbled a bit in place as the hatchling tried to figure out what to do now. The shell was broken, but what was this other hard thing that was in the way? Did that have to be hatched through, too??! Gravity was an interesting thing, however, and once the table was pushed on hard enough, the egg rolled over quite neatly, revealing green hide. Toes and a tail flopped around in the hole, before tiny talons were turned on the edges of the shell. The tail disappeared back inside the shell as the little green rolled inside the shell to push herself out of the opening. Unfurling her wings as she rose from her shell, she planted all four feet upon the shell edges, lifting her head high. A chunky little gal she was, and by her bodily structure one would have thought she should have been a brown. But no, she was indeed green. A rather evil looking, hawk-faced black-green. She gave the area around her one good look, before she turned her head around to look at Rose, who was now staring at her again from within the nest.

Rose hissed.

The Artichoke Green hissed back, but being a hatchling, the hiss was so tiny as to be more hilarious than the be taken seriously. Ignoring her Queen-mother, she looked around the room again. Naturally, this pissed Rose off. To be challenged and then ignored?! The insolent little twerp!!! Rose lunged at her own hatchling, intent upon putting her in her place.

With a startled chirp, the Artichoke Green leapt off her striped egg and straight into flight, beating her sturdy, thick wings for all she was worth. Rose was after her!!! Rose paused at the edge of her nest, watching the green leave. With a sniff of good riddance, she turned back to her nest. Some children, there was just no hope for them. That one was a bad mark, for sure! The rest would be good little subjects, however. She was sure!

The Artichoke Green bounced off the ceiling, and ended up spiraling back downward again in an uncontrolled tumble. Sturdy she was, but it was still her very first flight! With an alarmed peep of warning, she sprawled right on top of a messy head of black hair. For a moment she just sprawled there, before turning her head to look at the head's face. She peeped a concerned note; was he okay? Better yet, did he have anything to eat? That was an exhausting first flight!

Right here was a good spot to stay ... she almost blended in, it was good. That and she was pretty sure he would keep her safe from her evil mother. Wouldn't he? The Artichoke Green chirped sweetly at X'rx, and rubbed her head on his forehead tenderly, as if petting him. The attitude entirely contradicted her nasty looking visage.

Back at the nest, the Pale Melon Egg was wiggling around vigorously, struggling to hatch. Rose dropped her nose to it, sniffed it, then tapped the top of it experimentally. This was by far her ugliest egg, so far as she was concerned. But it was showing plenty of energy. And this was always a good thing! The tap seemed to be the needed aid, as the egg promptly shattered in place, dumping an absolutely tiny blue onto his mother's feet. Rose chirped, surprised, but then reached down to push him to his feet with her snout. Pretty baby! the Pale Melong Blue was an absolutely rich shade of blue that gleamed with a gem's quality despite the egg goo that was still wetting his hide. Who would have thought?! A pretty baby from the ugliest egg! This made Rose eye the prettiest egg with worry.

Gathering himself up, the Pale Melon Blue managed to get his feet under him. A quick look around, and he decided the best thing to do for the moment was to dive under Rose and cover there, blinking at the people staring at him. Hide. Yes. Must hide.

[dragon]

Artichoke Green
Color: Green
Impressed to: X'rx

Appearance: This green is absolutely chunky and large, as if she might have meant to be a brown originally. But there is no doubt that she is indeed a she, though in a very masculine cut for a feminine form. She is overly muscled and brutish in appearance, as if she could take off with large objects all by herself and carry them across the Weyr. All around a large flitter, she is made looking even larger by the sheer amount of muscle rolling around under her silky hide. Her head is broad, with a wide space between her eyes, though the snout narrows down pretty quickly into a nasty beak-like countenance. Almost black, she looks like a very severe, very nasty little creature to become involved with. Her wings, when spread, light up a very dark forest green once the light shines through them, emphasizing that she is, indeed, green, and not the black she appears to be. All too easily, this little flitter would vanish into the night and never be seen unless she landed on you.

Personality: Contrary to her entire appearance, this big green gal is just as sweet as she can be. Always chirping and fluting in a pleasant, inquisitive manner, she is more than willing to be helpful if she can. Though her definition of helpful is not always the same as the notions of the one she looks to. More than willing to move objects for hers, she can sometimes randomly take up a spree and completely rearrange all the smaller items in a living space, making it so that it is nearly impossible to find something. But the orderliness makes sense to her!

She is always willing for a cuddle or a stroking, and does not always have to be the one receiving it. If things get too tense or are too concentrated, she will up and start licking and rubbing on hers, twisting and twining about in her version of hugs and pats. Of course, any return attention is a definite bonus that she won't turn away!

[glamourie]

A flutter of wings and soft humming announced the arrival of another set of firelizards. The colorful fair appeared as one unified group, landing daintily on the backs of chairs near the center of the Main Hall. All oiled to a perfect gleam, the most noticeable of the fair was the largest – Elegance, perched with her tail woven around the back of the chair, who leaned forward to catch a glimpse of the eggs hatching. She did so love babies. For the sake of politeness, she and her firelizards had all sat away – giving Rose the respect and distance she deserved (and far enough away to avoid having the screeching tick her off, even if Ellie was a tolerant creature). The older firelizard queen remembered quite vividly that Rose was her baby – so by proxy, these were also partially hers, as was her logic. They needed to be watched over, and she wanted to make sure that they all went to satisfactory homes. A pleasant chirp escaped her, directed at Rose as compliments; a very lovely first clutch she had~

“I don’t really blame him. She’s pretty loud.”

Where the clutter of six went (all six?) there usually was a healer following. It wasn’t unusual to see two or three of them without R’wign, but Ellie and Grouch in the same room was close to a guarantee that R’wign was close behind. The blue in question had found a perch near to Miguel, and was closely eying the boy as if he was the most interesting thing in the world. R’wign’s words earned a very approving squawk before he looked at the clutch. Throwing his head back, the steely blue chattered to himself (and Miguel and R’wign); as far as he was concerned, it was a very unimpressive clutch, Ellie’s were better, she wasn’t as loud and annoying and she most assuredly was better (because she was his but that was irrelevant). Why were they there again? And didn’t the boy realize he was scaring his firelizard? Come to think of it, why was the firelizard scared? Salamandyrs were worse. He’d know. He was an expert. He had a Vex to prove that. Grumbling, Grouch flicked his tail and spat at Lord (in true Grouch fashion) before flashing an image of Vex to him. Be glad it wasn’t one of them. (Grouch was very inconsistent in his scolding and, clearly, not even a little boy’s firelizard was safe).

Leaning on the back of the chair, R’wign looked down at Miguel curiously. He wasn’t interested in the clutch. The reason for his presence in the Main Hall was evidenced by what he was carrying: a bowl of fresh vegetables and fruit, which he’d come to snack on in between his infirmary shifts. His weyrmate usually brought him meals (for which he was thankful) but he’d needed to get out of the infirmary for five minutes to be able to function; it was nearly suffocating in there for too long. He’d left as much for fresh air as anything else. He didn’t intend to stay, but spying S’rei’s nephew caught his attention… that and if he was in the same room as a hatching clutch, running away wasn’t likely to save him. See Vex for example. Ridiculous.

“You like firelizards, don’t you? You were at Ellie’s clutch – s’where you Impressed him if I remember right?” He nodded toward Lord before looking at Miguel curiously. “Did you want more? I wouldn’t mind giving you one of Ellie’s eggs, if the Chairthrowing Weyrleader doesn’t mind it.” He preferred firelizards going to the ‘brats who would appreciate them more over the riders who just complained about them. See Ka’rys.

Rose’s hiss caught Ellie’s attention and she flapped her wings anxiously before launching into the air. Commanding her brood to stay put (Roxie hissed in response), Ellie flew over and landed daintily near the clutch before chirping inquisitively at Rose. What was she doing? These were her babies – no hissing, don’t frighten them that way. Didn’t she know how to be with babies? Anxious, Ellie turned to the freshly hatched blue and cooed pleasantly, trying to reassure him. Silly baby, there was nothing to be afraid of, she was just being a big bully – come on out, food was out there~

[Tashe]

Eliah blinked as his plate was sent on an airborn mission that he had not authorized, the only tuber that had not been on his plate was halfway raised to his mouth. It took him a moment to realize that half the space in which his meal had been, was now taken over by a pillow with a Gold firelizard sticking out of the very middle. So startled was he that the fork he had been holding merely just slipped out of his hand. What the shells? Looking up from the pillow, he opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it, deciding to merely scoot his chair back and give the pillow and bearer some space. Rishin on the other hand was having a field-day with his spilled tubers and peas. Eliah had stopped giving her scraps along time ago, so she always looked forward to scarfing up spilled food.

The Candidate was in the process of getting up, his table had suddenly gotten very claustrophobic, when the Gold in the pillow started hissing. Sitting back down he scooted his seat even farther back. He didn't want his face anywhere near an angry Gold, no matter if she was a Firelizard. He'd just slid as far back from the table as possible and /then/ get up. He would really like his face in one piece thanks...

---

Bouncing her knee at random intervals, Kaegan held onto her son as she poked at her food. Boy was she tired. Kai had only just gotten over a bad cold, but all those nights of worrying were now catching up to her. Maybe when she was done with her meal, she'd put the both of them down for a nap. Not like they both didn't need one. "An-an!" Kai squealed as a Bronze Firelizard dropped down onto the table, the young child grabbed the edge of the wood in his attempts to pat the flitter. Kaegan didn't look up from her plate, she knew that 'an-an' was Azaran in Kaibabble. If it had been only 'fli', she would care more. 'Fli' was Kaibabble for Flitter but he only used it with other Firelizards, never Azzie. Dash was 'sha' and Millieth was 'mih'. Kaegan herself was 'keh' or 'nana', not 'ma'. Oh no. Not 'ma'. Azaran's chirp made her look up, with a frown she watched as he took off toward the conglomerating group of people. Now what was going on over there?

The Bronze Firelizard wheeled quietly over his clutch, of course he considered his to be used in the broadest sense. They were his children yes, but he did not claim the clutch. Azaran didn't often claim things or people as 'His' unless they really were. For all intensive purposes, the eggs below him was Rose's. Swooping downward he offered both Gold's a greeting, Azzie alighted on the other side of the pillow from Ellie and sat on his hide quarters. As he balanced himself he chirped, watching his babies as they started to hatch. Oh weren't they lovely looking.

[marge]

Tobby smiled as he watched the gold's antics as her bonded finally set the pillow down. Perhaps this was her first clutch? It didn't really bother him. It was wonderful to see the small mother take such loving pride in her offspring. Speaking of which, the boy was concerned to see that the wonderful mother he'd been just complimenting his head seemed to forget one egg. The poor little baby. He almost stepped forward to maybe help the little egg back into the nest when he spotted the first hint of a crack on it. It wasn't his place to step forward and grab a hatching egg, so he stood still and waited for the young green that had emerged to find its own. The young candidate couldn't help a soft giggle as hisses were exchanged between mother and daughter before his smile widened in delight. The hatchling had picked X'rx! Tobby gently pushed his way through the crowd that had gathered around the table and closer to the greenweyrling. "Hey, X'rx, congratulations!" He exclaimed, peering up at the taller boy. "Is she your first flitter?" Tobby added before sending a glance back toward the table.

Another hatchling had emerged, this one a beautiful blue. Aww, but the poor thing looked so scared. Hopefully the two queens could coax it out to one of the people gathered about. Wait, two queens? Who did the other queen belong with? The explosion of the firelizard population in the room could only mean one person. Yep. One quick glance around the room, and Tobby's eyes had settled on R'wign. Greeeeeeaaaat. Hopefully this hatching wouldn't be a repeat of the last one.

[Ember]

Nephele watched the queen firelizard and the eggs curiously until someone walked up to her and started talking to her. It took he a moment to focus on the person and when she realized who it was she grinned. The guard dog of the kitchen! Mother glanced briefly at Hoayamae before turning back to the look at the eggs while His addressed the woman. "Mae! Noooo, they're not hungry, but I'm willing to bet the babies will be. You're welcome to share the meat," she gestured towards the nest and winked.

Her bronze alerted her to the first hatchling to break shell. She watched it until the green seemed to have impressed to one of the boys from the junior weyrling class. Her personality seemed to contradict her appearance. Another one hatched but it didn't do anything right away so she looked back at Mae. "Are you interested in the critters? I've always enjoyed my three. Maybe you could get one to guard the kitchens for you."

Was she actively trying to convince someone else to try and impress one? Yes, yes she was. They made such wonderful companions most of the time. Nephele barely remembered life before Nuoth but having Charming and Misfit had been better than having none at all. She genuinely loved firelizards and so she was always drawn to their hatchings, against better judgement.

[Ruby]

Reina picked up a (rather piercing, M'kai thought) hum, shifting anxiously. She would not leave Hers alone until he got closer to the hatching! With a sigh, M'kai shoved the last of his food in his mouth, grabbing his final piece of sliced, cold meat with a vaguely depressed look. He'd gotten five slices of meat because he wanted all of them. Stupid green. Maybe a second one would take her attention away from him? As he shoved his chair back from the table he spotted Nephele, and generally went in her direction. He hadn't really seen her since Nuoth's flight, but that didn't stop him from offering his classmate a friendly "Hi," confidently taking a place at her side.

Todmund took up an awkwardly square stance off to one side, all of the attention he usually focused on reading focused on the nest, as if he could force the eggs to hatch with the power of his mind. That was the plan, anyway. It seemed to work on the one that had rolled free of it's mother's clutches, but despite all of his mental powers, the stocky Green went to someone else. The next to hatch sent the blue running to hide under the screechy gold, and Todmund decided he might be scaring them off instead. Ramping back his mental abilities, the Candidte did not relax, nor did he pay any attention to others he recognized from the Weyr. He had more important things to do.

As soon as the Candidate's things were collected, Tenlie realized that the little boy who'd been shadowing her had gotten hit with some flying writing implements. He didn't seem to be bothered, though, and since the candidate who had run into her was taking care of her question about the nest, she directed her attention at Miguel. "Or you can stand here with me, if you do want to stay for this hatching," she offered, holding out a hand. She glanced at R'wign, not wanting to step on his authority with the boy, if he had any, but she was willing to to keep an eye on him if he needed it.

[Rowana]

"Babies?" Hoayamae blinked at Nephele. She eyed the room suspiciously, as if she expected carnivorous children to come crawling out from under the tables. Then she spied the pillow nest. "Oh for Faranth's sake!" she exclaimed loudly. "This is a dining hall, not a hatching ground!" She glared at Rose, since this was clearly all her fault, but she hardly expected must reaction. Finally she threw up her hands in defeat. She'd been around long enough to know there was no moving a queen when she'd settled on a place to have her eggs. At least people weren't tripping over each other like last time. Shards, but this meant they'd all want meat! At this rate, she wouldn't have any left for dinner!

"What's that?" Mae glanced at Nephele, still have lost in her own concerns. "Me? Goodness no." She scowled at Mother, though not as harshly. He wasn't as bad as some. "More trouble then they're worth, I say," she declared firmly. They ate a lot too. It was a wonder the weyr wasn't out of herdbeasts by now. Between the fire lizards and the salamandyrs, they must go through dozens every month. That didn't even count the ones all the dragons ate too.

~

Merridan was still trying to get a good luck at the hatching, being a little too short to see over the heads of the others. Vikky, however had no such handicap. She chirped pleasantly at the new hatchlings, before she spotted they're discarded egg shells. Oh no! The lovely eggs were broken! She flutter down on the edge of the nest, sitting upright on her large hind legs. Don't worry, she crooned lovingly. She would fix them! She started delicately picking up pieces of shell with her tiny fore claws, being careful to avoid all the whole eggs. She tried in vain to put the broken ones back together, but they kept falling apart again. Never discouraged, she kept right on trying.