The Clutching

[Administrator]

Shmee shifted uncomfortably, pulling herself deeper into S'rei's comforting arms. "No, get that gold off the sands," Shmee repeated firmly, her eyes darting nervously toward Aslath. If the queen woke up, that little flitter might be off between for good. "I don't care if she isn't going. Just push her off. Forcibly remove her. I will not tolerate a flitter on my sands." For once, an authorative tone shone through her voice, one that gave warning not to be crossed. She liked Marisina, but if she refused to do what she said, she might be forced to replace her with someone who did know that they needed to follow the Weyrwoman's word...

She squirmed slightly as she was told to sit down. She didn't want to be told what to do. Looking up at S'rei helpelssly, she turned back to look at Mari. "I... I don't think hot sands do anything to a pregnant person," she told her meekly. All of these confrontational things with the Headwoman wasn't making her feel too good about herself. Clinging to S'rei desperately, she found herself shaking her head as S'rei spoke.

Looking on, feeling every bit uncomfortable as S'rei let loose his anger on the Headwoman. It was true. They hadn't discussed what to do with the babe, and now she felt under pressure as she was now being asked to give the babe to a foster mother. She looked down, her hand going to her stomach. Couldn't she at least enjoy her own babe before being told to give it up? Did she even really want to give it to someone else? Now, at being asked, it seemed like she was expected to. She had thought on this, but now being faced with a woman telling her she wanted the babe, she wasn't sure she could handle it. This babe was made from her and S'rei- not for or by anyone else. Not only that, but she knew Mari had had many other children. This babe was going to be special, not just be one in a massive litter. She wanted careful hands to hold it, not ones who were so used to the motions that they went through them carelessly.

So, in a way, she was grateful to S'rei, but was undeniably uncomfortable with how he handled this. She watched in horror as he kicked the chair, breaking the leg, and her vivid eyes flickered upwards to the tiers of seats. She hoped nobody saw. "S'rei, no violence on the sands, please," she asked squeakily.

So confused and anxious were Shmee's feelings that, when coupled with Salenth's roar, the sleeping mother awoke. Aslath, her eyes whirling red, bellowed a complaint, swerving her golden head to find the culprit. She trumpeted in anger. Who was this, and why was she on her sands with a flitter?! GET OFF OF THE SANDS,[/color] she screamed with her mindvoice at the flitter and the Headwoman, knowing this would be enough to send any flitter between as fast as the could go. FLITTERS ARE NOT ALLOWED ON THE SANDS![/color] she yelled, loud enough for everyone in the Hatching Ground to hear. Lowering her gaze to the Headwoman, she hissed. Nobody is allowed near my eggs. Only Salenth, Mine, and Mine's mate are allowed here. You are not welcome.[/color] Bugling as loud as she could only feet away from Mari, she encircled a tail around her clutch. Salenth, watch my eggs from behind until this person gets off,[/color] she instructed. Though her nap was ruined, she was more furious over the fact that someone dared come onto the sands that were specifically closed off.

However, this excitement set off another string of contractions, laying two eggs, one right after the other. Screeching with this prolonged pain in addition to her fury, she planted her head into the sand in this now-familiar motion and pushed at it. After a couple of moments of the queen's bellows, the two little eggs were hunched together, one a brilliant blue and the other a curious one purple in the middle of two sides of its shell. Six eggs! Aslath, however, took no time to recover, shoving sand over them quickly before returning to give her warning glare and hiss at Mari. Bugling again, she hunched, prepared to swing her tail at the woman if needed.[/size]

[saberlin]

Rodonth raised his head suddenly and knocked R'ton off balance. The bronze had heard the broadcast and was on his feet ready to defend the Queen. Someone was making her at ill ease and her message scared Rontue strait off of R'ton's shoulder. "That blasted woman and her dragon."

You should not speak of our Golds rider that way. Though I understand why your angry. She makes everyone jumpy. Rontue will return.

Sure enough the flitter came back a few minutes later and was no worse for ware, if a little shaken.

Aslath, send all the flitters to me. I will keep them out of your hatching grounds so you can have peace.

The great bronze wanted to try to help at least in some small way.

[evendar]

Mari stood quickly when the Weyrleader kicked her chair. What was he doing? She was sure he broke the thing, and this was a good Dining Hall chair. She stared down the Weyrleader like she would an erring child, and would have told him off if his bronze hadn't called. What on Pern was he saying? She wasn't trying to get a preemptive strike. She always offered herself to the pregnant riders first, it was her motherly side coming out. And she always tried to talk to the mother, and of course the father, early so that they had good time to think about it. Why was he being so protective? She wasn't trying to steal his child.

Before she could speak Aslath awoke and bellowed in fear and anger. Mari clutched her hands to her temple as Hawna screeched in terror and flitted between. This queen was most definitely not Fath. Mari began to back slowly off, rubbing her temples from the frightening mental shouts. “Weyrwoman, we must discuss this at a later time. I’m sorry to have caused your queen distress. Your bronze as well Weyrleader. Ma’am if you would come to my office at your convenience. I’ll be there till late this evening, and during normal work hours for the rest of the sevenday.” she said as she backed off. “Oh, and Weyrleader, we need to discuss the payment for the Dining Hall chair you broke. Thank you both for your time.” she said curtly and got off the stands as quickly as she could. She wasn’t finished, with either of them.

Arina’s face drained of all color as a draconic voice resounded within her head. Sirca and Kio left in a frenzy, scared out of their minds. Hawna returned to her mistress, burying her head into Arina’s lap as the dragonless woman sat there, dumbfounded. She thought she’d never hear a voice like that again. She thought for the rest of her life she was doomed to silence, never to again hear the voice of a dragon. And even though the voice she had now heard was yelling, the young woman was amazed she still could hear it. Tears welled into her eyes as her thoughts turned instantly to Keliath. The queens voice was nothing like it, more like Shmee only darker and more powerful, but it had been a dragon voice. Arina clutched Hawna tightly to her chest and left, for the moment lost little Arina who was dragonless, not strong independent Arina who was building a spy network.

[Requiem]

He'd ignored Shmee. No, it wasn't the first time, and it certainly wouldn't be the last, but it tickled at the back of the bronzerider's brain for one reason and one reason alone: he wasn't deliberately ignoring her. Though the bond between rider and bronze had been strengthened and deepened months ago, there really had been little in the way of strong emotions between them during that time. It was almost frightening how quickly Salenth's rage had surged through him to couple with his own. Almost. Right now it was just intoxicating, though, and the Weyrleader struggled to control himself so as not to do anything more than break a chair.

Salenth, who had communicated much the same sentiment as Aslath without the words, moved aside to allow the larger dragon to take over. No one got in front of an enraged queen. The bronze obediently stood watch over their clutch as Aslath confronted the intruder. Red still predominated in his eyes, the which swept the hatching grounds for any others determined to sneak up on him. In her distress, his mate clutched two more eggs, the male quietly moving in behind as her attention swung back to the bonebag to cover the eggs more thoroughly, nudging one oh so delicately so that it wasn't touching the other.

Those glares were not helping. Who sharding cared if he was acting childish? - although, truthfully, he had every reason to be upset, even if he wasn't handling it well. He could have Marisina removed from her position just as easily as Shmee. Albeit S'rei was of the mind to respect the natural order of the weyr and leave the domestic issues to her. Still, the Headwoman ignoring him was quite nearly the straw that broke the camel's back.

She would have done better by simply ignoring him. After all the stupidity she'd exhibited in coming upon the sands and plunging into this conversation during Aslath's clutching, she had the impudence to continue that patronizing tone with him, scolding him about a chair. Well, if he was going to pay for it - which was a rather ridiculous threat anyway - he might as well get the full use out of it. The chair leg that he'd broken off screamed right by the woman's head. Okay, so he might have actually hit her in his fury, but he hadn't, right? The rest of the chair was soon to follow, smashing into pieces at her heels.

Well. Now things seemed a bit - quiet. Salenth was guarding the eggs, Aslath no longer screaming her rage, and the weyr itself seemed to have fallen into a shocked silence. The Weyrleader straightened. As the anger faded, he found it was replaced with a sense of utter foolishness. When had he become a raving madman? Throwing chairs, for Faranth's sake! Well, it was his now. That thought brought a chuckle to his lips. Turning to face the Weyrwoman, his smile was completely self-deprecating, sheepish, boyish, and entirely strange following on the heels of his display. One hand drifted up to the back of his head.

"I suppose now we can start the no violence on the sands rule?"

Salenth's head swiveled toward His. Two pregnant females on the sands, Mine, and you're the one acting like a loon. The bronze was well-aware that S'rei's moodswings seemed directly linked to his, but he sure wasn't going to mention that to the Weyrleader. Letting out the draconic equivalent of a sigh, Salenth's tail sought out Aslath's. Maybe now she could get that nap she wanted. Sometimes I wonder whatever possessed me to choose you, he teased.

[Administrator]

Shmee stared. She couldn't help it. She simply gawked at the present situation. What in Faranth's name was making these two act like such... children?! She was the youngest of them, yet here the Headwoman and the Weyrleader were, yelling at each other. Yet Marisina's words caused Shmee to be unsettled. She still wanted her to talk with her? But... Shmee looked down at her stomach, feeling miserable tears well up in her eyes. The more Mari talked, the less she was sure about fostering out this child. She didn't want this babe to be living in her for all these months only to be wrenched from her hands at birth. What if she wanted to keep it for herself? Couldn't anyone understand this? Unable to hold these awful (and perhaps magnified by being pregnant) thoughts inside herself any longer, she brought her hands to her eyes and shook with repressed sobs.

Aslath crooned, shifting her head over to nuzzle her bonded as if she were one of her own hatchlings. It is all right,[/color] the queen told her rider soothingly. You can keep your hatchling.[/color] Aslath, of course, had not a clue as to how this situation was. Wasn't it natural to keep your eggs with you? Shmee nodded anyway, desperate for any comfort that she could obtain. Satisfied, even if mildly worried still, Aslath turned her protection back to her six eggs, watching them silently, her eyes whirling.

At the question in her head from Rodonth, her eyes whirled slightly more quickly. Call them if you wish. I do not care where they go so long as they are not near my eggs, she told him in dismissal. She had no interest in that bronze. Let him do what he pleased. If it aided her, she would appreciate it, but she would probably end up forgetting this offer in the emotional upheaval of her rider and the pain of this clutching.

Meanwhile, Shmee was still trying to hold back her weeping, but to no avail. It just occurred to her that Marisina was old, and that S'rei had thrown a chair at her. In her elderly turns, what if he had hit her on the head and killed her? She didn't want her weyrmate to be a killer of old ladies! "Why did you do that?" she finally sobbed out. "She could have died! Don't do that again, please!" Shuddering, Shmee backed against the side of the Hatching Ground, leaning against it as all of these pregnancy-brought feelings consumed her. "How could I love someone so cruel?!" she demanded of herself, not bothering to keep it silent. In this crazy state of mind, she did not care if S'rei heard her or not. To her, this was entirely logical thinking. "I hate you!" she spat out, fully covered by anger and supposed-hatred. A normal Shmee may have looked on this outburst in shock and guilt, but it seemed that the normal Shmee had taken a small vacation, and let this monster take over...[/size]

[Requiem]

Was she weeping? The Weyrleader blinked. Surely a mini war on the sands didn't merit an opening of the floodgates. Could it be that she was reacting to the Headwoman's insensitive words with tears? Then again, she was nearly into her second trimester; it could be almost anything. His brows rose into his hairline. What was this about killing Marisina? Yes, he'd thrown stuff at her, but S'rei would like to think that he would have hit the woman if he'd wanted to. Obviously he hadn't been trying to hurt her. Just scare her. Hopefully into not approaching him or Shmee again, the which he might have achieved half of that goal, if that much. He'd better not learn that she'd gone out of her way to upset the Weyrwoman by bringing this topic back up. It must be said that, even when S'rei was angry, he very rarely actually lost complete control of himself, even if he did do things he wouldn't normally do.

"I don't intend to do it again," the bronzerider responded quietly, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. Was this what was making her cry? She'd shrunk back against the wall of the hatching grounds, almost as if trying to get away from him. Could he have scared her, too? Actually, that kind of made sense. Except this was the same woman who'd yelled and shrieked at him, pounding him with her fists, slapping him...It seemed weird that a display of controlled violence would be enough to terrify her. Especially into tears.

The smile had already faded, now dwindling into near non-existence at her next words. He blinked again. What? Cruel? Shards, he'd been sticking up for her! Wasn't that what men were supposed to do? Okay, so it had gotten a little bit - rowdy... Then she dropped the bombshell. Amazingly enough, it didn't shake him. The Weyrleader was used to Shmee's childish ways by now, and this was perhaps one of the most common teenaged phrases in the history of Pern. Truly, though, it probably had more to do with turns as a Wingleader than being used to Shmee's tantrums. Most of his wing had necessarily been young. It was astounding, the types of things that came from their mouths, all of which was greeted with a stare that seemed to say, 'Yeah, so? If you're done whining, let's get back to work.'

His look wasn't nearly so harsh with Shmee. He'd never been harsh with Shmee. But the attitude was much the same as he shrugged, moving forward to hand her a wet cloth for her face. After the lovely drama of a moment ago, S'rei was feeling a bit drained, such that he couldn't work up much emotion one way or the other. "You can hate me if you want, Shmee," he finally responded. "It won't change how I feel for you, or our child. Of course, it would be a lot easier if you didn't hate me, seeing as how we'll still have to see each other and that could be awkward." There was a trace of humor in his voice. Then his eyes sobered. "And I don't want you doing anything with our child that you don't want to. If you don't want to foster it, we won't. If you do, we can look into that, too. But it's not necessary to decide now. I'm sorry that she forced you to think about it this early, and during the clutching, no less."

And the Weyrleader wrapped his arms around Shmee, drawing her into his chest and leaning against the wall himself. It was the only way he knew how to deal with weeping women. He'd hold her there, even if she fought him, until she calmed down. He couldn't imagine her getting this upset was good for their child. Mildly guilty that he might have caused it, the Weyrleader pushed the thought aside. If it wasn't this, now, it would have been something else later. Pregnant women were rarey rational.

Unlike our illustrious, chair-murdering Weyrleader? S'rei smirked at Salenth, who was currently looking off somewhere else as if he'd never spoken.

[evendar]

((Muse, just FYI Mari didn't yell. I don't know if that was Shmee blowing things out of proportion or me not writing clear enough. But I just want to make sure you were aware... Ok I'm done now.))

Luckily for all present, especially Mari, the majority of the chair had missed the aging woman. It was only the arm, dislodged from its body in the initial fling, that clipped the top of Mari's head, causing her to duck and grasp at her head in pain. She hissed as she continued to walk off the Sands. Her fear of the Queen dragon watching protectively over her eggs overriding her incessant want to turn about and berate that, that Bendenite for being smart with her. She had children older than him. He may lead the dragons in Fall, but it was she who made sure his bed was made, and his food was cooked.

The minute the woman was off the Sands Tami and Biri were at her side, their fear of the queen overrun by the pain of their favorite. Tami crooned as she sidled up Mari's plump arm, rubbing her head on the womans cheek. Winded, Mari sat down and looked at her hand. No blood thank Faranth, or that man would be facing more than under cooked food and an irate Headwoman. He would be facing a rebellion. The Weyrfolk of Selenitas loved their Headwoman on the whole. She was kind, generous, and thoughtful, if a bit tactless at times. There were few who met the large woman who didn't like her.

It must be the hatching, Mari decided. The Weyrleader and Weyrwoman were distraught over the laying of the clutch and would only have acted in the way they did due to the dragons emotions. Of course the Weyrwoman hadn't done anything, she'd been a bit quiet, but that was about it. Mari rubbed at her head and decided it was high time to find some numbweed. She stood and left, thinking she'd send the Weyrleaders reminders of their duties and debts by firelizard at a later date.

[Administrator]

((Don't worry, Shmee was just blowing things way out of proportion. xD))

Shmee sobbed, letting herself be drawn into S'rei's chest. She was now regretful for saying those things to him. He was still being so supportive even when she told him that she hated him. Clutching him tightly, she felt herself shaking her head. "I don't want to think about now!" she told him, her voice small. "I don't want to think about being pregnant for someone else!" There! It was out. The part that worried her about fostering, this single idea reduced her into more tears. "This is our babe, not hers!"

She really shouldn’t be making such a scene, not in the Hatching Grounds, but this flood was one that was impossible to stop. Every time she thought she was done, more tears would spew forth from the floodgates. It got to a point where even Aslath was starting to get antsy. Please stop crying. You upset my brood,[/color] Aslath told her bonded sternly.

Shmee sniffed, not moving her head from S’rei’s now tear-stained shirt. “Can we go inside for a while?” she asked S’rei miserably. She was in the mood for lots of pie and cream. And it looked like Aslath was settled for a little while, though the bulge one the gold was still massive. No, there were still many eggs to come. She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she told him softly. “I… I just thought that if you hit her too hard, she would die.” Only now when she was recounting her fears for her weyrmate did she realize how foolish and irrational they were. Blushing a little beneath her tear-stained cheeks, she looked up at him.

What if he was mad at her? Fortunately, even when pregnant, she could somehow see he wasn’t. She had seen him angry before- shards, he just was at Mari! This seemed to relax the woman, who yawned and let the forced embrace turn more casual, with her arms sliding about his waist. It was scary to think how much she loved him. It made her feel lucky, and proud, in a way. And to carry his child!

Randomly, she brushed the hair away from his face, bringing her lips to his. She held it there for a moment before taking her lips away again, her fingers stroking his shoulder. She felt much better since telling S’rei what bothered her so about Mari’s desire. She wasn’t sure if there was anyone in the world she was comfortable with giving her babe to, so it wasn’t personal. However, the gall the woman did have to ask Shmee about what she was planning to do with the babe did bother her…

Changing the subject yet again, she inquired softly, “I’d rather talk about… names.” Letting a small smile slip onto her face, she went on. “How about mixing our names, as tradition does? I’ve thought about some possibilities, and our names around kind of hard, but we can add a couple extra letters if we want. Just to make the named ring better.” Snuggling into his arms, she yawned. After this discussion she would take a nap, she decided.[/size]

[Requiem]

A puddle of wetness was growing at his chest, but he was just relieved that she'd chosen to accept his arms rather than fight him. The bruise from C'leon's hand had just fully faded, after all. He stroked her hair, as he'd already guessed that part of her distress mirrored his own; the thought of giving up the unborn baby already was just painful. He wanted to be there at the child's first steps, at its first words, as it grew and matured, to love it and know it as a father should know his child. A romanticized view of fatherhood for weyrlife, certainly, but it had worked for his parents, so why not for them? "Of course it's our baby, love. We don't have to foster it at all, if you don't want to."

Saying nothing whatsoever to her confession, as there was no real reason for him to point out how silly that fear was, given she knew that just from listening to her tone, his arms merely tightened around her.

Oh, what was this? A kiss? Mmmm, he liked kisses. Mine...sometimes you scare me. S'rei wrinkled his nose at Salenth. Shh. It's quiet time from you now. The bronze snorted a draconic snort, continuing to circle the eggs slowly. Yes, S'rei was very easily pleased, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, now was it? Especially considering how suddenly he could shift into raving madman mode. At least people - some people - would know that the anger was very easy to get rid of.

He pouted slightly when she pulled back. Too short. Oh well, at least there weren't any more tears. Names for the baby? The Weyrleader looked down, one hand moving from her back to rest lightly on the small bulge at her waist. S'rei and Shmee. Shorei and Shmee. Man, she wasn't kidding about it being hard to find a good combination of those two. He didn't think his given name of Silas helped much with that, either. Not that he was comfortable with that name at all. He'd just gotten Laurie to call him S'rei consistantly, rather than Silas or S'las.

Poor Shmee. She seemed exhausted. Easily levering her up into his arms, he stated, "I think Salenth and Aslath can handle this, for now. We'll be back before Aslath finishes clutching..." Beginning to walk off the sands with her, the man's thoughts drifted. Maybe once she rested up. No, no, that was selfish of him, but still, her breasts were beginning to swell rather nicely, and he had absolutely no complaints about that. Okay, so yes. Men typically had one thing on the mind. It may not be the foremost thought, but it always seemed to be there. S'rei smiled ruefully at himself. Honestly. Of course, if she wanted more kids, he doubted they'd have any problems with that.

As the two disappeared, S'rei could be heard saying, "So, what do you think of Shomi for a girl?" It was, truly, the only name he could think of so far that didn't sound like an absolute mess of syllables.