Where's my Green?! [[Cali's Flight; Random Stall]]

[Avu]

She had managed to walk as if she wasn't extremely sore, although her body was telling her in warning throbs that this wasn't the case. If only the Gather was nearly over - it would be so much easier. Meira's original plan of borrowing a runner and riding back to the Weyr was dismissed, all too clearly - if she was too sore to walk without hurting, Meira very much doubted that she'd be able to ride. Shardit, that would hurt. Zesa thrummed softly in her ear, glancing at Z'hin nervously, shifting her weight closer to Meira's neck, her entire body vibrating with her humming, although the sound itself was barely audible as Meira tugged restlessly at the shirt, uncertain where she ought to look. Technically, it was polite to look at Z'hin, but that was perhaps the last person she wanted to look at right now.

She shrank back uncertainly, one arm resting along the stall door that neighbored the one which they had...occupied...before, the runner inside eyeing her as it rustled around, pleasantly oblivious, when Z'hin swore. Whether it was a reaction to her being a healer or to Meisk was slightly uncertain, but she assumed that it was Meisk. After all, she was worried about him, too - although it wasn't like she could do much about it. She rubbed her eyes wearily, trying her best to focus on what Z'hin was currently saying. Jessereth, take her back to the Weyr? Meisk...was he all right? Well, he certainly was still dead asleep, and she'd felt no changes through their bond. "He's asleep," Meira answered softly. "I - don't really know." Yet. Whenever Meisk did wake up...she wasn't sure how dragon and wher hatchlings reacted when their Bondeds did, against the rules, sleep with other people - what was she supposed to look for?

Meira pressed her lips together nervously at his question. Kalierre meant safety - but she didn't want anybody to know. It was stupid to care if anyone knew or not; it hadn't been her fault - and yet, Meira still preferred it to be kept secret. Besides - Phremath. She was the green dragon whose wings hadn't been fully formed, and the girl was uncertain as to whether or not she could carry the weight of Rider and another high enough to safely between. And she didn't want to taint the festivities for anyone else. She swallowed. "If - if you don't mind, I think I'd rather just have Jessereth come..." she responded, her voice cracking halfway through the brown dragon's name. It would only be for as long as it took to be mounted, go between...it would be better. Easier, anyways.

The young gold on her shoulder was silent now, curled motionlessly, eyes whirling, still anxious, head dropped against Meira's throat. Her head did come up to watch Hrorek, her tail tightening comfortingly, as if compensation for the removal of her head. He was so quiet - it made a lovely change from some of the other flitters and 'mandyrs who couldn't seem able to grasp the concept of not making noise. Zesa gave a soft approving chirrup before she draped her head against Meira's throat again, back to watching Z'hin, almost brooding in her intense gaze.

[reqqy]

He found himself watching her, if only because she seemed so skittish that he was certain she was about to bolt. Z'hin made a mental note to lay off the cursing. Or try to. They probably both would have been perfectly happy to part ways and never see one another again, but that simply wasn't practical. She wasn't unattractive...in a young, willowy sort of way. Not his type, though. He never would have done more than flirt with her on a normal occasion. Too young. Too...childlike, really, when it came down to it. Although that could have more to do with the way she was shrinking back and how the clothes seemed to swallow her. The pants weren't as bad as he'd feared, but the shirt dwarfed her. Made sense. Z'hin was taller anyway, but his chest and shoulders would make it impossible for the shirt to have any hopes of fitting properly.

Not that this was really a valid concern. The brownrider mentally kicked himself. Easier to think about clothing than the rest, though. Far easier.

"That's fortunate," the brownrider commented, a touch of relief coming into his tone. "He won't be nearly as upset as he would be if he was awake when -" Definitely no need to finish that statement. Z'hin bit his lip and glanced away. He'd thought about suggesting Meira should drop the shirt off with Ka'rys, since the brownrider was rarely in and he wasn't sure how Kale would respond to a stranger. But...well, Ka'rys wasn't in much, either, and Z'hin's wingleader would likely figure it out.

Obviously, given Meira's response to Z'hin's suggestion, she didn't want anyone to know. She didn't want another healer looking her over, even though it would have to be very difficult for her to do it herself. Nor did she want Kalierre to give her a ride back. Was it so obvious, what had happened, that they couldn't ask another dragonrider for a lift? He didn't...think so. But if she was concerned about it, the least he could do was try to make it easier on her. If he could. The brownrider didn't particularly want to be known as a rapist, either. He nodded to her silently.

"It will take time for him to fly here from Selenitas," the brownrider added, because he wasn't sure if she'd taken that into consideration or not. Waiting for Jessereth meant waiting with Z'hin. It also would probably take time to rouse the brown. Jess wouldn't be happy, but the brownrider could care less right now. Get up. You're coming to Blossom. Why should I do that? I need to get this girl you made me jump back. Z'hin ignored the amusement of his brown over their link, at least verbally, but his jaw clenched against a swelling anger. You'd better not waste any time. My tail hurts, the brown responded dismissively. Get someone else to take the fool.

A cold fury broke over Z'hin. You are coming. Now. The words were brisk, and brooked no argument. Jessereth was silent for the longest moment, but the brown was truly uncertain for the first time. His never actually got angry with him - just annoyed. Fine. But don't say I never did anything for you. The brownrider sighed softly, turning to Meira. "He's on his way."

Hrorek slid off of the stall door, disappearing for a long moment before he returned to the small group, a shining gold earring in his jaws. He landed above Zesa and Meira, stretching forth his neck with his offering, but still he made no sound.

[Avu]

Her thoughts weren't making very much sense anymore, and Meira was too weary to try to sort out the jumble whirling around her head. Meisk's well-being was the most prominent, along with the warring desires to bolt and to curl up and forget that anything had ever happened. She sighed, rubbing her eyes as she half-slumped, half-leaned against the wall. A soft chirp was sounded in her ear, and Meira raised her gaze to meet Zesa's anxiously whirling eyes with a feeble attempt at a smile. The young gold hummed softly as she snuggled into the girl's neck again, rubbing her head lightly along her jawline. Zesa was quite clearly confused by the emotions that Hers was experiencing, and clearly the smile had been anything but convincing, more wan than anything else - but at least it was a smile at all.

Luckily for Meira, whose confusing thoughts were starting to give her a headache, Z'hin was speaking. It took a slight effort to focus on his words, though. Oh. Meisk - so he wouldn't be affected? Or...just not as badly? A hot wave of guilt turned over her stomach. Meisk was so scared and shy and paranoid already...probably never would be big - if this actually hurt him, what would his life be but one mess, what with Derrisk constantly on the warpath, his wing still healing, and now this...? "Will he be affected at all?" she asked nervously. "I don't think he woke up at all..." Hopefully. It was rather difficult to figure out exactly, and thinking back was completely out of the question. "Do I have to take him to a dragonhealer or anything?" The idea was not an entirely pleasant one, but if need be, she'd do it. It would be uncomfortable; she'd hate it - but she'd do it.

Shardit, she ached, though. If she had to wait, at least she could sit instead of stand...? Meira rather doubted that she'd be any more comfortable sitting, but she felt awkward standing anyways. She waited until Z'hin had nodded at her, apparently agreeing to have Jessereth come, and would have sat down had he not spoken shortly afterwards. Oh. Right. He had to fly here...she'd forgotten dragons couldn't between - or rather, it was dangerous for them to between - without their Riders. Right. Scorch it. She shrugged wordlessly. It couldn't be helped. She'd live. Hopefully. She sank to the ground, tucking her legs beneath her. Zesa automatically left her shoulder for the much more cuddly, stabler perch her lap offered, curling up and crooning affectionately.

Jessereth was on his way. Good. She exhaled - not quite a sigh, but bordering on it, as she dropped her head, keeping her eyes on Zesa as she stroked the responsive flitter, carefully tracing the contours of her golden body. It wasn't necessary to look at her to do so, as Meira had become accustomed to rubbing Zesa to the point where she could do so half-asleep, but it was more of an excuse of something to do with her eyes. It was hard to look at Z'hin, and it was quite obvious that she was avoiding looking at him if she concentrated on looking everywhere but him. Therefore, Zesa.

Her excuse partially disappeared, however, when Hrorek - she hadn't noticed he'd gone; but she did notice his return - approached. (She probably wouldn't have noticed that either, had Zesa not hummed a soft greeting to the blue.) The queen liked him, even if Hers didn't like His - he was wonderfully quiet. Perhaps an oddity in flitters, but she appreciated it very much. And he had a pretty gold thing in his mouth! For her? How sweet. She spread her wings, taking off and landing beside the blue, touching her muzzle approvingly to his flank as she took the earring, a soft croon rising in her throat.

[reqqy]

The girl wasn’t talking. It worried him. It shouldn’t have, as he undoubtedly wouldn’t be talking to anyone who’d treated him in such a way. But that didn’t change the fact that he was worried. Z’hin stared at the girl with a certain morbid fascination. She was about the age of his youngest sister, wasn’t she? The man swallowed. Just that thought was enough to make him vaguely ill. Shards, if anyone touched his sister as he had this Meira…The brownrider thrust these thoughts aside. He would have time to feel guilty about the whole thing later. Now, he had to figure out ways to help her without scaring her again. The older brother in him wanted to wrap his arms around her and hold her, but he wasn’t stupid enough to believe she might actually find that comforting.

Instead he found himself just watching her, fully aware that the wherling likely would find that unnerving, but unable to tear his gaze away. This was…not good. He blinked after a moment at her words, tugging lightly on the end of his oiled rattail in a decidedly contemplative, absentminded manner. “I can’t say as I’m any expert on whers,” he warned softly. “But if he wasn’t awake to experience your emotions, that’s good. Dragons can leech memories, but, as I understand it, whers can’t? So I think – although you might do better to talk to a dragonhealer or an older wherhandler on the subject – that the only thing that could hurt him now is your present emotions.”

He paused, casting her a searching glance. “You don’t seem hysterical or anything, so I think that, in general, everything should be all right?” He hoped so, anyway. Z’hin would hate to be responsible for harming a wherling…well, both halves of the wherling pair, anyway. It was bad enough as it was. He cast a glance in the direction of his blue, watching Hrorek with a touch of curiosity. Now, Hrorek wasn’t expressly antisocial, but he did tend to have something of a devious streak. A reliable sort of creature, even if he was spending most of his free time skulking around Faranth knows where. What was his sudden interest in Zesa?

In all likelihood, he was trying to make the situation less tense. Hrorek was, beyond all reasonable expectation, a highly intelligent sort of creature.

The blue allowed her to take the earring, receiving her affections in lieu of any audible response. He did briefly nuzzle her neck, then turned his whirling eyes on his humanpet, cocking his head to one side as if to see if Z’hin approved. The brownrider nodded silently to him. “Just another couple of minutes.” He sunk down into a crouch where he stood, not wanting to tower over Meira and make anything more uncomfortable than it already was. “Shells,” he muttered, mostly to himself. Kale. He had to come back for his little ward. He was certain Ka’rys wouldn’t let anything happen to her, but… This was just a mess.

[Avu]

Since Zesa seemed to be otherwise occupied with Hrorek, Meira had begun to glance around at the surrounding stables, pretending interest in some of the runners in the stalls. Wonderfully bred as they undoubtedly were - Meira didn't know; she'd never worked with runners before other than short rides when unavoidable - they were just something to stare at, and it was quite obvious in that her stare was completely blank, devoid of any emotion as she stared at the runner, her mind clearly on other things. Namely, how she was going to explain things to Meisk. She sighed, running a distracted hand through her hair as she tucked her legs up to her chest again, propping her chin on her knees and knotting her fingers around her legs. This being so, it was a while before she realized her present companion was staring at her. Her eyes flickered up nervously, meeting his for a brief instant before she dropped her gaze again, bowing her head and letting her hair hide her eyes.

She did brush her hair out of the way again when Z'hin spoke, anxiety for Meisk overriding her fear of the man, biting her lip with worry. His 'warning' did not go unheeded; Meira felt slightly miserable. She ought to know this - really she ought to - but that hadn't ever been taught in Wherling lessons that she was aware of. It was merely, 'do not do it.' There was nothing about how to cope if it happened despite the warnings...scorch it. Well...it was...vaguely reassuring? Kind of, anyways. Meisk's bond with her was quite close, but if whers as a whole couldn't look back at the memories of their Bonded's feelings, that would definitely help. "I'll see if I can," she muttered, although the idea was not one she particularly relished; she hugged her legs more tightly, closing her eyes with a weary sigh - and promptly opened them again. Present emotions? Shardit. She prayed to Faranth Meisk didn't decide to wake up; she was feeling downright miserable right now.

Meira shrugged, silent again. Hysterical? Nope. She was fighting hysteria, possibly, and she was winning, for time being. The urge to cry, unfortunately, was linked to that, and the tears she very much wished to shed - they were swelling behind her eyes, pricking at her - were held back for fear that if she did cry, she wouldn't be able to stop again. That would alarm her - and she wasn't even going to think about how panicked it would make Zesa and, if the blue wherling woke up, Meisk. She took a breath, closing her eyes again as she inhaled slowly through her nose. Do. Not. Think. About. It. A sarcastic smile twitched the corner of her lip, though. Not hysterical. Ha. Right. "I'm just a good actor," she answered, a bit icily. "Thanks." Unfortunately, good acting wouldn't exactly work with Meisk - and it was unavoidable that if the wher did wake up right about now, he would feel something wrong.

...a couple of minutes. Sigh. Meira untangled her fingers from where she'd been restlessly twisting the hem of the pants, rubbing her eyes again. Shardit, she really wanted to just curl up and sleep. She blinked wearily, raising her eyes to watch Zesa and Hrorek again. The gold flitter was quite aware that Hrorek had not magically attained the earring; she very much realized that the blue had probably taken or stolen it from someone, or a vendor's stall, or something - and she didn't particularly care. It was lovely of him to have gotten it for her. She looped it around her tail until it would go no further up, settling against her vivid golden hide nicely, sparkling in the dim light. The queen hummed at Hrorek, pleased, nudged his flank once more in an almost affectionate gesture, and dropped to Meira's hunched shoulders, draping her tail lightly around the back of her neck, the hard gold earring cool to the touch as the gold flitter touched her muzzle against Meira's cheek and crooned a breathy reassurance. She wasn't entirely certain why exactly Hers was so agitated, but she still wanted to make Hers feel better.

[reqqy]

He sighed quietly. He was...trying, but there was really nothing he could say, was there? Z'hin supposed he should just be grateful she wasn't a holder, didn't run out into the streets shrieking. Yes. Grateful...If that wasn't a cold thought. Grateful that the girl he'd raped wasn't causing a scene? What could he say to her, really? I'm sorry? That was laughable. He couldn't take any of it away. Helplessness was not something that Z'hin dealt with well. Never had. He was a restless individual, always needing to be doing something, and...fixing the problem. To come against one that couldn't be fixed left him unbearably frustrated.

He worried his lip, then stood suddenly, moving for the door. Not here. Can't you see that it's too crowded for you to land? They'll move. No. You'll land outside. Jessereth growled audibly, and, though he still was a respectable distance above the stables - the runners were stirring uneasily - you didn't have to be bonded to him to hear it. I'm bringing her right now. You'll be fine waiting a few extra seconds.

Turning back to Meira, Z'hin stood near the door uncertainly. Normally, he would have moved to help her up. Stuffing his hands deep in his pockets to remind himself that he probably shouldn't touch her, he jerked his head toward the outside. "Jessereth's waiting. Uh. He's not in the best of moods? So just ignore it if he growls at you, okay?" I was more than happy to stay with Calistoth. I still don't understand why you have to take her back. How did she get here earlier? What part of the conversation over the last several minutes gave you the idea that this was a discussion, Jessereth? Z'hin returned tiredly, his anger clear in the practically emotionless delivery.

Jessereth fell silent.

Stepping out into the light, the brownrider squared his shoulders, resisting the urge to glance back and see if Meira followed. Hrorek coiled around him in a tight pattern before settling on his shoulder, the blue's tail draping lightly about his neck. Z'hin reached up to stroke the creature absently, even as he took a turn behind the stables and walked for the clearing just beyond the edge of the trees. He stopped, though, right before entering the clearing, staring at the tail Jessereth had coiled gingerly around his forelimbs. Z'hin had been aware of the brown's pain - distantly - but he hadn't realized the extent of the injury. It looked like the lower portion had been completely shredded.

The spike of concern, however, died nearly as soon as it arose. Jessereth had no one but himself to blame. They'd have to get that...no, he'd just bathe it in redwort and bandage it on his own time. The brown didn't do infirmaries, and Z'hin didn't feel up to fighting him on it. Rath? The coward- That's enough. You've answered my question. Jessereth stared at His sulkily, not used to this sort of reaction.

"The sooner we get out of here, the better," the brownrider muttered, although it was unclear if he meant that for Meira or not. Glancing over his shoulder, he asked, "You coming?" He'd already started into the clearing, again pausing uncertainly near Jessereth. The brown wasn't...nearly as large as some of the larger browns, much less bronzes or golds, but he still wasn't easy to mount for someone not used to the practice. Would she let him touch her, though? "Do you...want help? Getting up?"

[Avu]

She was back to looking at Zesa, cuddling the gold flitter in her lap with her head bowed, and was prepared to stay that way for a while - until, at least, Z'hin rose from his crouched position - Meira nervously looked up and watched him as he moved towards the door of the stables. A pause. And then - a growl. Meira twitched in shock as Zesa twittered softly, an audible hum rising in her throat as the runners in their stalls began to move restlessly; wisps of hay dropped to the ground, a piece even falling onto Zesa, who flicked her tail in silent surprise, dislodging the hay as she peered at the runner in surprise. It was just a dragon; what was wrong? The runners at the Weyr were still alive. Why were these so scared? That was silly. She chirped, almost reassuringly, at a bay runner behind her and recieved a wary snort as the creature spun, eyes wild.

Meira had already half-risen to her feet, slightly unsteadily, after she'd realized what was going on, Zesa cradled in her arms; she nodded, still preferring to keep silent as Z'hin pointed out what she'd already guessed - Jessereth had come. What surprised her was the fact that the dragon was in a bad mood. He'd just Flown a female, hadn't he? And it wasn't like he had been on either end of the rape. Well, whatever...another nod. Fine. She was fine with that. Besides, she wasn't going to bolt just because a dragon decided to growl at her - she hadn't bolted yet, had she? Meira considered that quite a good thing. Zesa climbed swiftly to her shoulder, a soft reassurement rising in her throat again as Meira braced herself to walk, and followed Z'hin.

She didn't get too close as they turned around the back of the stables, into the woods - a clearing - but she was still numb enough mentally that she kept going when he stopped, and stopped only once she'd realized he was too close (not by any fault of his, but still), and then took a step back, blinking at Jessereth. His tail - what had happened to him? Well. That would certainly explain a bad mood. Meira blinked, rubbing her eyes wearily as she sighed. It looked frankly quite awful - had Z'hin not been aware of it? If he'd just told her that Jessereth was injured, she wouldn't have asked him to come...shardit. Zesa had fallen silent draped around her shoulders, although her tail tightened slightly, the tip flicking as she stared at Jessereth.

The girl rocked slightly on her feet as Z'hin spoke - his low tone didn't entirely assure her that the words were meant for her, and even so, she had nothing to say; Meira simply shrugged. If he had been looking at her, he would've seen it, but otherwise she made no motion to draw his attention to her. She'd already had quite enough of it, thank you very much. Coming...? She nodded, following Z'hin towards Jessereth, and hesitated next to the brown dragon as well, mentally trying to figure out how exactly to get up. She'd never mounted a dragon without help before...Minoath was larger than Jessereth, but C'lryn had helped her with that...and quite frankly, she hadn't ever been on a dragon before that. "I - um. I don't know, where do I - hold on?" she asked nervously, stepping back slightly to view Jessereth better. Oh, right. And Zesa. Zesa couldn't stay on her shoulders when she mounted, surely? Get off, Zesa, please? The queen obediently took to the air with a soft rustle of wings, rising rapidly and watching, there, as she hovered and glided on any passing winds or thermals.

[reqqy]

Are you going to be helpful at all? Jessereth huffed quietly. Look, the sooner you start acting like a reasonable creature, the sooner we can get back to the Weyr and...take care of the tail. You don't care about it, Jessereth returned sulkily. I think you're lucky to escape with that much. What were you thinking, anyway? Even if you can take Rath - R'non would eat me alive. And you'd be just as dead either way. I thought you were supposed to be the sensible one? Can we just go now? Not until you at least make it easier for Meira to mount. The brown huffed again, but lowered himself obediently toward the ground - not before he turned his head and fixed the girl with a truly murderous stare, though.

"It's easier when he's in straps..." Z'hin responded, rubbing at his chin lightly. Well, nothing for it. The brownrider certainly couldn't have harnessed Jessereth when he wasn't there to do so. He bounded up onto the brown's back, clamping down with his thighs so that he could lean down towards Meira. "Just use his forelimb like a step. If you need help from there, you can grab onto my arm, and I'll pull you up." Of course he didn't much expect her to choose to touch him, but the offer was there in case she needed it.

He frowned mildly. It seemed as if...but Jessereth wasn't going to talk to Ciceroth (something he was privately glad for, despite the inconvenience it presented). Then that only left one alternative, didn't it? Z'hin would have to simply take Meira to the Weyr, see what he could do about Jessereth on his own - mostly for fear of the healers that came near the brown than ought else - and try to see if he could find Ka'rys and Kale in the crowd later. Or he could send Hrorek searching, but even the blue would have trouble finding anyone in so cramped a space. Z'hin was not at all fond of the situation, but that was simply how things had to be.

And what of Meira? She wouldn't want him around - and he didn't really want to be around. So. Probably just make sure she was back in the barracks and that Meisk wasn't in any immediate trouble, then he'd bolt. He didn't really know what else there was to do, in all truthfulness. Was there some sort of guide for unwilling rapists? He kicked himself again...Z'hin just couldn't help his sardonic thoughts.

[Avu]

It was clear that Jessereth and Z'hin were conversing; Meira lingered awkwardly next to the brown dragon as she waited - until, at least, the brown's head came around and he glared at her. Meira took an instinctive step backwards, eyes widening slightly, in a mixture of confusion and fear. Why was she being glared at? The girl thought she had a highly viable reason to be glaring at Jessereth. It was technically the brown dragon's fault that Z'hin had jumped her - and now he was angry with her? It was highly confusing, and didn't help in making her any less miserable, or any more inclined to trust Z'hin or Jessereth. Not, she recognized, that the dragon seemed to care very much - but at least he'd lowered himself to the ground. It still wouldn't be easy to mount, but at least she wouldn't have to do anything too drastic - hopefully. Too sore to even try, anyway.

Easier in straps...naturally. Meira hadn't expected Jessereth to come wearing straps - she hadn't even thought about it, really. Dragons couldn't put their own straps on, after all, and seeing as Jessereth did not seem happy at all to even crouch to help her mount, she doubted, now that she considered it, he would've done anything of the sort anyway. Sigh. She blinked, making herself focus as Z'hin mounted - he made it look horribly easy. Which she very much doubted it would be. Taking a step back, she judged the ascent briefly as Z'hin explained, trying not to wince - that was going to hurt. Well, it couldn't be helped...Zesa trilled a soft encouragement from above as Meira hesitantly caught onto the brown dragon, planted one foot on his foreleg, and pushed off the ground with her other foot.

And yes, it did hurt. Meira bit her lip to stifle the gasp as she jerked herself onto Jessereth's shoulders. Undignified, yes, but that was the least of her worries at present moment as she arranged her position gingerly until it didn't hurt as badly. That wasn't to say it didn't hurt - it did. Zesa's presence was all concern in her mind as the gold flitter swooped to her shoulder, disregarding the fact that Jessereth might as well dislike flitters (she hadn't missed the glare the brown dragon had fixed on Hers and she had decided she had a perfectly good reason to be concerned about Hers), and uttering a soft breathy croon in her ear, nudging her cheek encouragingly.

"I'm okay," she mumbled to the queen, half-turning her head and giving Zesa a mental nudge. "Go ahead, go to the Apartments...," much as she disliked being alone with Z'hin. Zesa gave a soft, nervous chirrup before she took to the air again, rising swiftly until she flickered abruptly between. ...alone. Shardit. "Where should I hold on?" she asked Z'hin reluctantly. She'd much rather not loose her grip and fall off, personally.

[reqqy]

Straightening as it became clear she either didn't need his help, or wasn't going to use it, the brownrider thought for a long moment. Betweening without straps...without proper protection...wasn't a brilliant move. Straight flight without straps and a clearly cantankerous brown? Not any better. He sighed. He really should have insisted calling someone else for her, no matter how uncomfortable someone else having knowledge of this - incident - would have made the both of them. Now, though, he really did need to see to that tail dripping ichor all over the forest floor. Waiting for someone else to arrive...aside from the fact that chances of infection increased the longer it went untreated, Jessereth would just get more intractible. Who knew what he'd do?

It would have to be a Between jump. If she was uncomfortable with what that entailed - because her comfort would have to take a back seat to her safety - she'd just have to get over it. That was the only real choice here. "Huh?" He blinked at the girl. Oh, where to hold on. His first response was to use her thighs, and he was glad that the insensitive words hadn't just popped out of his mouth before he could rein them in. Z'hin's arms snaked around the wherhandler, tightening and drawing her back against him as he replied, "I'll hold onto you, so you won't fall. You can scream if you want, but I can't think of anything else to do." His tone was as soft and gentle as he could make it, but he didn't expect that to do much good.

He merely tightened his grip and gave Jessereth the go-ahead.

The brown lurched into the air with a growl, not at all bothering to make his movements smooth and expressing his own irritation at His by doing so. They flashed upwards with a few bone-jarring strokes of the dragon's wings, then slid into the cold of Between. Z'hin instinctively drew Meira even tighter against him to ward off the freeze and to make sure she came with them out of the nothingness. Then, just as it should be, they exited, circling over the tree Weyr. Jessereth started to go into a steep dive before Z'hin checked him. He jerked violently in retaliation, but kept the descent shallow, not bothering to soften the landing.

The brownrider slid from Jessereth's neck. He didn't feel it wise to remain there when the brown was so obviously throwing a fit. One arm having shifted to below her knees, he landed on one knee with a soft grunt and set her on her feet, standing and putting space between them in a move that would have seemed frantic with almost anyone else. Z'hin watched her closely. "I'm sorry. Probably should have gotten someone else." He brushed nonexistant hair from his face in a nervous gesture that had developed long before he started oiling it back. "Ummm. If you want me to go in with you, I can." He glanced at Jessereth, who met that suggestion with another growl.

Z'hin bared his teeth at the dragon in a truly feral snarl, not bothering to speak to the brown. Jess fell silent.

[Avu]

The first response her question got was a 'huh?' Not entirely satisfying. Meira blinked nervously at Z'hin, and then glanced at the length of the brown's hide near at hand. None of it presented a particularly lovely place to hang onto, really. She stiffened, although she did have the sense not to jerk as her muscles so desired to do, as his arms slid around her again, pulling her back against him. The first response was to freeze; the second was to pull away, and Meira probably would have had Z'hin not explained his actions a second later. Of course...she'd have to live with the rather awkward position. It hopefully wouldn't take long anyway. That was good. She nodded nervously - although Meira was pretty sure she wouldn't scream. She would just think of Z'hin as...gear, of sorts. Uncomfortable, but necessary.

She lurched sideways slightly at the sharp ascent, instinctively grabbing Z'hin's arms as one might a riding strap as Jessereth winged upwards, each wingstroke jolting painfully. And then - between. It wasn't that she hadn't been between before; she had - but that didn't mean that the particular fashion of travel didn't take her breath away each time she experienced it. Meira's grasp tightened automatically again as she counted her heartbeats - that didn't work; they were going far too fast for comfort - and then just counted the seconds. One. Two. Th-

Daylight. Meira blinked at the sudden light, loosening her fingers - only to tighten them again as Jessereth dove, the ground rushing up far too fast for comfort. Her stomach clenched, muscles contracting as she bit her lip hard - and then Jessereth jerked mid-air, and the descent was much less sharp, although still far from comfortable. The landing, too, was rough - and Meira was (reluctantly) grateful for Z'hin's hold on her; otherwise, she quite probably would have fallen off. Great. As they slid down from Jessereth's neck - Meira was all too happy to depart from the brown - Meira took a step backwards from the Brownrider, too, dropping her eyes again as she realized the motion. Whoops.

"It's all right," she answered automatically to his apology, although it really wasn't. "I'll go in alone...um. 'Bye, I guess...?" Meira had slid towards the Weyr, away from Jessereth, as the brown growled - clearly he was in a far from good mood. "I can manage." Kind of. She pressed her lips together uncertainly for one more second before turning - it violated her common sense to turn her back to Z'hin, but it couldn't be helped - and swiftly ascending the steps to the Weyr, sliding inside as she turned automatically in the direction of the Wherhandler's Apartments.