Hurricane Hatching Feast

[Spirithawk]

The entrance to the cavern was piled high with sandbags to prevent the water that was pooling in the Weyr Bowl from coming into the Lower Caverns. A few tables had been pushed against the wall to help steady the base. The sandbags only left a small opening at the very top where the wind occassionally sent flecks of water gusting into the cave.

The drudges and kitchen personell were hard at work. When the storm warning had come through, the cooks had started working on food that would help feed the survivors. They had plenty extra and when the announcement of the Hatching came they had turned their attentions to the Hatching Feast. It would be quite some time before the guests were able to go home and then the work of rebuilding the surrounding holds and repairing the Weyr's damage would begin. Most of the herdbeasts were locked in one of the caverns. The fences would probably be down at the feeding pens and the stables would have to be rebuilt. That damage had already been reported when the eye had hit and the weather had lulled. The Weyr Bowl was a muddy pond and Crystal Lake was overflowing its banks.

Despite all the destruction, the Hatching had been successful! All of the dragonets had found their chosen partners and there was only one casualty but that casualty had not been because of the storm. Now Christae was leading her people and guests out of the Cavern. She stayed until the last one had made it into the Dining Cavern. The drudges had prepared straw beds for the little hatchlings. They knew that once their bellies were full that the little beasts would need their rests after fighting their way out of their eggs to find their chosen. Some drudges were preparing raw meat to feed those of the dragons in the Hatching Cavern that might be hungry, including the massive Queen. Kaith had not eaten much during her time with her eggs and she was ravenous.

After the last person had made it into the Dining Cavern, Christae entered. She looked for her Weyrleader and went to stand by him.

"Welcome guests to Dark Moon Weyr. I would like to congratulate our new Weyrlings and their bonded dragonets. Welcome home little ones!" Her face was tired but serene and she exuded a joyfullness that was contagious despite the howling winds outside the stone walls of the Weyr.

"Let the Hatching Feast begin!"

[Kino]

After settling his new bronze into the make-shift weyrling quarters they had, J'kiran had changed quickly and headed to the feast. Though recently with weyrling training and the like he'd been wearing simple trouser and shirt combinations, today J'kiran had put on the nicest clothes he owned (the outfit described in his description). He'd just made his way into the cavern not long before the Weyrwoman announced that it was to begin, and all that left him to do was find a place to sit.

- - -

K'ris had settled Queroth into his sleeping area and had quickly run into a dilemma. He realized he didn't really have many nice clothes. He took the necklace he usually wore (that his rp'er recently came up with) off and set it on the table beside his bed. It was a simple leather chord with two large feline claws that had been made into charms strung onto it. In the center of the two claws was a small hand-carved figurine made of silver. It was in the shape of a rearing runner, and was three-dimensional like a very tiny statue rather than flat like many charms could be; the carver had obviously been talented, as the charm was incredibly detailed for it's size.

After taking the trinket off he'd pulled the white robe over his head and tore into his rucksack. He had to have something decent to wear to the hatching feast! Eventually he did find something, and he quickly changed into the outfit and booked it to the feast - forgetting the trinket sitting on his night stand, and leaving the contents of his rucksack tossed out on his bed. Not that there was much. A few pairs of socks, some extra trousers and his usual shirt-tunic combo, along with a few extra plain shirts as well.

When he arrived at the hatching feast he couldn't help but feel out of place. Everyone else was surely dressed up at least a bit nice, and all he'd managed to find was a pair of light ash-gray trousers, and a clean button-down long-sleeved shirt. The collar was turned up at his chin, and as he was walking in he fought with the buttons on the cuffs, but eventually gave up and left each of them undone. K'ris looked out across the tables to find a seat, stepping over to the first table and falling into a sit at the very end in a section of empty chairs.

He just wanted to eat, and get out of there. K'ris was, frankly, exhausted. He'd much rather be curled under a blanket and sleeping in much the same way that Queroth was right now.

- - -

Tanwen wasn't at the hatching feast when it was announced to begin, she'd taken her time in finding something to wear, something that preferably didn't still have the lingering scent of ash and fire. Eventually she did manage to. A pair of chocolate brown trousers that fit loosely but comfortably against her leg, her usual suede boots, and a deep blue shirt that was a bit fancier than what she'd usually wear.

The top hem of the shirt fell so that her shoulders were exposed and rested just below her collar bones, but there was an inch-wide strap of fabric near her collar bones that held it firmly in place. The sleeves ended at her elbow, with a bit of extra material flaring out towards the back of her arm and giving it a bit of a flowy look. The bottom hem fell loosely over her hips, resting at mid-thigh, and she had a band of dark goldendrod cloth that tied at belt-level with the knot on her side.

About the same time that Christae was officially beginning the feast, she was grabbing up her usual pair of goggles pulling them down around her neck, tugging them back up to rest on the top of her head once more after. Sure, she dressed up - she figured she might as well, considering she had no desire to wear the outfit on a normal day, and if she hadn't impressed she might as well make an effort to show that she didn't really care. Which she didn't. Yes, she'd have liked to impress...but she could deal with being left standing this time. She only arrived a short time ago.

Giving one last tug at the strap of the goggles behind her head to make sure they were fastened, she turned to start heading out of the girl's barracks.

[I'll leave it there with her just heading through the door, and such xP]

[just randomly using this post to color test]

[Spirithawk]

OOC: the Weyrling dragons are still in the Lower Caverns, just off to the side

[Wolf]

“Something nice to wear... Huh? I barely remember what it’s like to keep presentable, after having left the Harper Hall I didn’t really worry too much about keeping up with appearances,” L’der laughed, helping to settle in Mkinth. The male Green made a grumbling sound, as if acknowledging his rider’s dilemma. “I’m guessing that you don’t have any ideas on what I should wear? Oh well, I’ll just have to figure this one out.” He went through his chest of clothes, seeing a few of his nicer button-down shirts that he was often accustomed to wear. They were a nice Harper blue, whereas the black pants that went along with them were dressier then his cheaper material, every day, pairs. He heaved a sigh, pulling out the outfit slowly, as if afraid of it. He tossed it down on his bed and went over to a looking glass to examine his hair. “Wow... Talk about your case of bed head, I look stunning-no surprise there.” He looked back to Mkinth to see the dragonet’s response to that, finding that the Green was staring right back at him.

How come I get the feeling I’ll have to work hard to be as humble as you are?
“It’s the women Mkinth, if they didn’t address me so often, completely love sick, then I wouldn’t have such an ego. I tell you, it’s hard to have my good looks and even make it across the Weyr bowl alive, there are a lot of jealous guys out there.”
I’m sure, Mkinth snorted, turning away to rest his head down. He closed his eyes over, unable to really fall asleep with His bonded making so much noise.

“Okay... A button there... an undone button here... Yah, that’s it.” L’der turned around, calling out: “How do I look? Not that I even need to ask.” He hung his head with a groan; Mkinth had fallen asleep on him. He then looked down, realizing he’d forgotten a major component: pants. “That would have made me the real life of the party,” he snickered, not bothering to keep quieter for Mkinth’s sake. “Well, I’m sure Tanwen would have had something to talk about then.” He considered that idea, Tanwen talking about him, it amused him greatly. Once he’d put on a pair of pants and a suitable belt he was out of the room, not daring to be tacky and tuck in his shirt. ‘The Girl’s Candidate Barracks, that’s where I’ve got to be.’ It’s not like Tanwen had told him to pick her up or anything, they hadn’t even spoken after she’d elbowed him earlier on the sands, but it’s not like he hadn’t wanted to speak to her...

“Tanwen?” he asked aloud, actually stopping to take a moment to be taken aback. He’d spotted her slipping out of the Candidate Barracks, all dressed-up. ‘Wow. Talk about making me feel underdressed. No matter, I could’ve gone naked and still been-,’ “So,” he chuckled, folding his arms up behind his head, “ready to go to the feast are you? I’m thinking that we’re probably a bit late, I’m glad you waited for me though.” His arms dropped back down to his sides, a finger swiping over his nose to relieve an itch. He had done a lot of work on building up his ego tonight so that he’d be able to handle just about any outcome. “You look fine, and I mean fine as in gorgeous, not as in the word that’s used to tell people they look okay while really meaning they look terrible. You clean up nicely, though I’m not disputing with the idea of you being dirty again, it gives you a sense of character that I’m pretty sure I’d love to get used to.” He grabbed her arm with his hand, a sparkle in his eyes as he dragged her along behind him as he set off quickly to the Hatching Feast. “Let’s go eat some food! And if you ask me to dance the answers yes, remember, I’m good at just about everything” he told her elatedly.

It wasn’t long before they were in the same room as the others, everyone going about to get some food on their plates. “The eating’s already started, I just hope they leave a pile for me,” he sighed. He really did sound appalling when he talked about food. “I could just you eat you up,” he teased her, turning to face her. He was closer to her then he’d expected he’d be, perhaps that was because of his literal hold on her, he hadn’t brought himself to let go. “You know, we really could do a little one on one afterwards to burn some calories.” He began to laugh, half because he’d been serious, and half because he knew she’d never go for it-not yet at least. ‘It takes patience, sadly,’ he reminded himself. He wasn’t too great with the word “patience,” he was used to getting most things he wanted right away. Judging Tanwen up he was thinking she wasn’t the type to give in so easily.

~ ~ ~

‘Everyone’s so worked up over this stupid feast, it’s not like it’s really meant for those of us who didn’t get dragons. I bet all the people there will just be rubbing that fact in my face, and then I’d rip there face off,’ she growled. She’d parted ways with Raska to go to her own bunk. She’d be staying at the Candidate Barracks, not like she had somewhere she needed to be moving to. She was assuming that they’d give her the option to either go home-which was no home at all-or stay to see what happened at the next Clutch. ‘Do I want to go home?’ she asked herself mentally, sitting down on the bed to really think over that question. It would be such a waste of time if she didn’t stay, but would it also be a waste of time if she did? It was a possibility; here she wasn’t able to work on her Harper training. She didn’t really want to be thinking about this now, not that there was much more time to think about it, for all she knew these dimglow’s would force her to stay.

“All right, now it’s time to unveil a master plan,” she said quietly. She went out to where the Weyrling Barracks should’ve been, delighted to see some people leaving the rooms, looking all prettied up. It was the Male’s Candidate Barracks she found easiest because that overly eager scum bucket of a boy was leaving with a pathetically satisfied look on his face. ‘When is he not happy?’ she thought, rolling her eyes, glad when L’der was out of sight. She snuck into the room once she was sure the last of them had gone, tiptoeing in as not to awake any sleeping dragonets. She looked around; trying to figure which cot would belong to which person. ‘Oh, shards, who cares.’ It’s not like she had anyone specific she wanted to thieve from, except for maybe that shortstop-K’ris. Having arrived at ‘a’ cot, she saw the contents of the person’s bag carelessly scattered. “Perfect,” she mouthed, kneeling down to study what was there. ‘Boring,’ she sighed, ‘Garbage... Garbage... Man, what a pretty boy-clothes? What; does this guy own nothing?’ she wondered. She turned, her brows furrowing. Then something shimmered out of the corner of her eye, an object of beauty that she was sure must have been of value.

Tieler grabbed the leather chord, examining what was attached to the end of it. ‘A runner? What, does he dream of being a gruff old rancher?’ Something about the aroma around the cot caused her eyes to widen in understanding, and then she realized that the necklace was more familiar than she’d realized. ‘K’ris...’ she thought, her stomach tightening into a firm knot. She stood, feeling both queezy and lightheaded. She didn’t put the leather chord back, rather, she childishly kept it locked away in her grasp, returning to the Candidate Barracks to get changed...

She arrived at the Hatching Feast in her usual garb. For once the clothing had been washed, so it didn’t have its usual look of filth, although there was still rips and tears to identify it by. She pushed through the crowds of people, not even bothering to glance at faces to see if she recognized anyone. The leather chord was around her own neck, a thoughtless action that she bet she’d pay for in future time. The pendant itself was hidden, she having made sure that it was covered by her shirt. So who was going to really suspect it’d been stolen just by the sight of the leather chord? She wasn’t even really sure why she’d taken it, she didn’t plan on selling it or anything-or even trading it for something better. The two feline claws on either end of the horse charm were cool, at least to her, but she felt as if the horse charm threw off its more punkish appeal. In the back of her mind she felt as if she really needed to examine why she’d taken it, why she had just left the Weyrling Barracks instead of searching everyone else’s stuff. She went over to the tables where everyone was seated, and she quickly turned her gaze away when a familiar blond head caused her face to redden. ‘It’s like I’m a child. I’m far more mature than this.’ She considered herself to be past whatever these feelings may have been.

[Kino]

[kay Hawk xD s'why I didn't want to make much specific comments on where they were, just said they were where they were supposed to be. *wasn't sure* I'll leave Jil out of this post until someone he can interact with comes in xD]

He'd been constantly going and going since the hatching, except for the moments when he'd been sitting in the stands with Queroth and feeding the dragonet. Now that he'd finally sat down it occurred to K'ris just how tired he really was. He'd taken a bit of food onto his plate and ate a good portion of it, but after that his appetite seemed to dissipate. Twil, his blue-black firelizard, had settled himself on the table beside the boy, taking a bite of food when K'ris offered him one and then waiting patiently for the next. K'ris stared down at his plate with a dazed expression and poked a bit more at the rest of it with his fork. Then he yawned, and pushed the plate aside. Twil was more than happy to continue eating a the rest of the meat on the boy's place, though.

Well, if they had to be at the feast, at least he could rest his head for a moment. He leaned forward and crossed his arms on the table, laying his head on top of them and letting his eyes fall into a half lidded position. It wasn't like he needed to sleep while at the feast, but nobody was around him to talk to anyway, and just taking a few moments to rest would be fine. It wasn't like he was...planning on falling asleep or anything. Twil looked over once the food was gone and tilted his head at the boy, trilling lightly and hopping over to him. As K'ris' eyes started to fall closed more, the firelizard climbed atop the back of K'ris' head and turned around once before curling up in his hair and tucking his head underneath his wing.

By the time the firelizard was settled, K'ris had done just what he'd not intended to do. He'd fallen asleep. And so now he was there, slumped against the table in the feast hall, and thoroughly sleeping with an equally sleeping firelizard curled up on the back of his head.

- - -

Tanwen stopped suddenly in her tracks and jumped back a step when L'der was suddenly there in front of her, her eyes flashing wide for a moment before she set a glower at him. "And what makes you think I waited for the likes of you?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow as she did so and crossing her arms. He went off on a ramble then without replying to her question, and the course that his words were taking was getting her a bit flustered. She opened her mouth as if to reply to his comment on how she looked, but shut it once more in surprise when L'der went finished up about him liking her sooty look. She shot a look at him and lifted her hand up to point, opening her mouth up once more to reply.

Of course, she didn't actually get a reply out. As soon as she'd lifted her arm up he'd reached out and grabbed hold of it. Her eyes flashed wide at the contact, and immediately she threw her weight into jerking her hand away from him. No good, though; his grip was too tight. "You--!" she started, clenching her other fist tightly and glaring at him as he pulled her along. Her eyes only narrowed further when he went on blabbering.

"Even I'd been planning on dancing, I wasn't planning on asking a..." but again, she was unable to come up with a string of insults that properly described exactly what L'der was. She shook her head, "I don't dance, and certainly not with you." Tanwen gave her hand another dug and dug her heels against the floor in an attempt to pull away from him. Her face was red a this point, but not in an embarressed blush - her expression was too furious for that sort of blush. Tawnen simply wasn't used to touching people, and she certainly wasn't used to having others just go about touching her without any sort of warning.

She groaned inwardly when she was dragged into the feast hall behind L'der, probably seeming to have gone with him to anyone watching. Then he started speaking again, she she looked over. She narrowed her eyes once more at his comment about 'eating her up', and then a moment later her glower turned into an expression of complete shock. He hadn't actually...had he actually said that? Sure, there'd been the implications of such comments when she first met him, but he hadn't been so blatant before. When L'der started laughing Tanwen stopped dead in her tracks, planting her feet on the ground and reaching forward with her free hand to grab hold of his arm that was still holding onto hers.

She held tightly to his forearm and sidestepped, bringing her own held arm up and moving to twist L'der's arm behind him. She was hoping that it would twist his arm enough to cause just a enough pain that he'd let go of her arm, and maybe have him tip back a bit as well. If it worked, and he did tip back a bit, she'd move forward once more and bring her hand up to his shoulder, grabbing a fist full of his shirt and shoving his shoulder down towards the floor. Her hope would be to send him falling on his back to the hard floor below, and she would be left standing there next to him and glaring down at the new weyrling.

However it turned out, she'd send a glare his way before going on to speak once more. "I don't know what makes you think you're so charming," she seethed, "but if you're trying to impress me? You've done nothing so far but make yourself out to be something out of a runner's behind." She didn't move to stalk away, but rather waited there to see his response. She kept telling herself that she just wanted to be rid of the boy, but maybe it was some sort of sick curiosity that kept her there. A part of her was curious as to what he'd do, probably the part of her that had - despite her annoyances with him - gotten used to him following her around like a motherless puppy for the past sevendays.

[Wolf]

For now she could occupy herself with gathering some food onto a plate. She went straight for the meatrolls, finding them to be the most appetizing, and then went for a cup of warm klah to give her some more energy. She managed to stuff one of the meatrolls in her mouth before piling three more onto her plate hungrily. She had forgotten that she hadn’t eaten today, and she planned on making up for it tonight. She looked around, spotting some dainties on a different table. Having only one objection, reaching them, she pushed through people, weaving in and out of bodies, both her plate and cup in hand. Soon standing before the dainties she licked her lips, putting down her cup to pile some of the delicious dessert on to her plate before picking up her cup again and deciding it was time to head to a table...

‘Where am I supposed to sit?’ she wondered, knowing that she had no friends here other then Raska, but from what she could tell the girl hadn’t arrived yet. ‘Being late to a dull party is always a good idea.’ She continued to scan the tables, her gaze always returning to the one where K’ris sat... asleep? ‘What the-! Is this guy for real?’ She didn’t move, staring at his back, his blue flitt curled up on his head, which likely would’ve messed his hair by the time the flitt awoke and got off. ‘Well since he’s sleeping then he wouldn’t notice if I just... sat down?’ she thought, disgusted with her. Instead, she made up her mind to do something completely different. ‘Sleeping at his own Hatching Feast, it’ll serve him right...’ She went to his table and put down both her food and drink, reaching to her neck to take off his necklace. Her fingers ran over the different pendants, and for some reason she felt torn between her next action, and that was exactly why she had to do it. She threw it right at him, saying rather obnoxiously when it landed in his lap: “If certain things mean so much to you then maybe you shouldn’t drop them! You know,” she began, placing a hand on her hip, “it’s just like you to have a pendant of a runner. I mean, really, I’m sure the only dreams you’ve ever had is of being a gruff old rancher whom needs a ranch hand just to get him onto his own beast. And cat claws? Come on, no need to try and redeem any lost manliness when you’ve never had it in the first place.” Verbal bashing, just one of the games she constantly played. His reaction was bound to be priceless, or so she hoped. The boy wasn’t half bad at coming up with retorts, and he seemed to always take things calmly, which made the task of trying to rile him up all the more juicy. She leaned to one side in a shift of body weight, putting a lot of attitude into her stance.

~ ~ ~

L’der had been able to easily put all of her protests to the back of his mind, not even giving any of them any thought. All he was focused on was what he wanted out of her today, and he hoped that she’d at least try to meet up to his expectations, but so far? No luck. What was about to happen next would solidify that for him, and cause him to only ever expect bad luck from the girl. Her unexpected movement of twisting his arm caught him off guard, and sooner than not he was sprawled on the floor. He winced, taking a hold of his now sore shoulder, “that’s going to bruise” he said to no one in particular. He looked up at her, dumbfounded, as if he hadn’t understood a word she’d spoken. The sight of her having been frozen by his comment nearly brought a smirk to his lips, but her hurtful words had caused the facial expression to die before it had shown.

“Well, you certainly don’t need any food; you’re too strong as far as I’m concerned. Perhaps they’ve been feeding you too much.” He made no attempt to sit up, just propped himself up on his elbows so that he didn’t have to strain his neck so much to look at her. He was shameless; not at all worried about how the others around him were going to view the scene that Tanwen had created. He stared up at her, allowing some silence to linger between them before he started speaking again.
“You’ll have to teach me some of those defence moves, I really appreciate you practicing them on me, now when someone you really don’t want around is there, you’ll know what to do. Glad I could be of service.” He still didn’t get it, would he ever? Perhaps it wasn’t even the fact of him not understanding as much as the fact that he didn’t want to understand. Something in his mind stirred, and he knew it was Mkinth. The commotion had likely caused a disturbance in the dragonet’s mind.

Mine, are you all right? The dragonet sounded very serious, and quite alarmed. L’der finally sat up, rubbing his lower back.
Yes, go back to sleep Mkinth, Tanwen and I were just playing. Mkinth must have sensed his discomfort... L’der shook his head, feeling the dragonet’s mind slip off into a slumber once he realized that His was all right.
“You even have Mkinth wanting to know some of those moves; he questioned me about them just now. I’m sure you won’t mind explaining to him just how it was done,” he said teasingly. He hoped to make her feel bad by letting her know that she had woken the Green. “You and Mkinth haven’t even formally met.” He stood, dusting himself off, “I’m sure he’ll want to meet you, since you are such an active part of my life. Everything physical seems to happen when you’re around. Shoving, elbowing, my... I’d almost think you’re into kinky things.” He studied her expression, and a dusty corner of his mind told him that he’d perhaps gone too far. “Excuse me while I grab some food, okay?” He bowed to her, a teasing gesture, and then turned on his heel to fetch some of the delectable meatroll’s that he so often craved.

The scent of cooked wherry filled his nostrils and he turned to where it was upon a platter, his eyes going wider then sweet fruit. He nabbed a piece, shoving it down the old hatchet before reaching out over the table to grab a meatroll, it ending up in the same place that the slice of wherry had. He guessed that it would only be proper to grab a plate, but he was too lazy to have to pile things on it when it was just quicker to shove things into his mouth. On his second meatroll, his one cheek puffed out at the side, he grabbed for a third. His thoughts hadn’t left Tanwen, and he turned back to find the girl amongst the crowd. He hoped that she’d take all his jokes good-humouredly, not that she had thus far, and he sniffed at his arm subtly to make sure that the “runner’s behind” reference hadn’t been at all about his actual scent.

[Spirithawk]

OOC: Yeah I realized I hadn't included that in there in my post so I put it in an ooc note until I could work it in.

[Kino]

When the necklace was thrown at K'ris, the pendant hit roughly against the top of his head and the chord landed so that it was partially draped over his head. When it collided, he'd woken up quite suddenly and sat up in the same moment, sending Twil screeching in surprise and launching off his head to fly into the air. Once he'd sat up the pendant's chord had stayed slung over his head, leaving the actual charm to hang in his face. He hadn't even realized he'd dropped it until that point. Actually, he thought he'd forgotten it in his room...but he was so tired at the moment that he wasn't sure he trusted his short term memory.

K'ris took the necklace off his head. He looked down at it with a softness in his gaze that didn't normally show itself, and when Tieler finished her commentary he looked up at her with none of the sarcasm he normally had. Part of it was simply that he was exhausted, but the other part was the fact that he'd never planned on having to have a conversation about the pendant with anyone - let alone having to have one with someone who so far had only insulted him.

"I've never dreamed of being a rancher," he said, and then shrugged. "I mean, I was born on a herding farm, but..." he looked back up to Tieler, regarding her for a moment before sighing and shaking his head once. Why bother going into detail about his life story with her? She was likely just interested in finding new ways to try and get him upset.

"Cat claws?" he repeated, managing a half-smile and quirking an eyebrow. "I don't know what kind of cats you've been around, but these are a bit big for some cat." He shook his head again. "They're wild feline claws. You know, the big ones." K'ris looked back down at the necklace once more, and the bit of the good-humored sarcasm he'd mustered up melted back into the somber expression he'd had when she was first talking.

"And I don't have the runner for some symbol of dreams, or whatever. It wasn't even mine..." His eyes narrowed in a softened way, and he ran his thumb along the back of the little runner. Then he sighed, close his eyes for a moment, and shrugged with a tilt of his head. "Guess some people would think it's a sick way of remembering her, wearing the claws of the thing that killed her right next to her favorite charm."

- - -

Tanwen took a half step back when L'der pushed himself up a bit and started his ramble once more. The thing about the way this kid spoke was that he never gave her room to put in a retort edgewise. So not only was she having trouble coming up with witty remarks to throw back at the boy, but even if she could she wouldn't have been able to figure out where in his unending chatter to throw them.

There was finally a moment towards the end where he left her a place to comment, but his comment before that place left her with only a shocked expression, laced over with the annoyed anger that seemed to be ever present whens he was around him. It was only after he mentioned that he was going to get food that she started to talk back. "An active part of your life?" she asked. "I'm not an active part of your anything. You're just...always...there." Shards! She'd thought she had some sort of insult then, but had apparently lost it. "You know what you are?" She asked as he was walking away, narrowing her eyes when he continued without stopping even as she spoke. She raised her voice a bit for the next comment. "You're stalking me!"

She clenched her fists at her sides, glaring daggers after him as he made his way through the buffet line picking up various pieces of food and stuffing them in his face. Right now, he was the most annoying person to her in the Weyr. In fact, though she wasn't typically an overly violent person, she'd like nothing more at that moment than to storm over to the boy and punch his nose in. And yet...at the same time...she couldn't bring herself to simply walk away and avoid him as much as possible (not that she'd probably be able to, being that he had no issues with going into the girl's barracks). It was rather like watching a house going up in flames. Horrible, but impossible to look away from. You never knew what the fire was going to do next.

Subtle as he tried to be, she noticed when he turned his head and gave his shirt a sniff. The corner of her mouth twitched into the barest hint of a smile when she saw that. Well, it seemed some of her words were getting to him after all...he was just apparently good at rolling with the punches. In a way, that was actually kind of admirable. Usually when she snapped back to people in an attempt to keep them distanced from her, it worked, and they backed off quickly. This kid, though, was sticking close. She supposed she had to give him credit.

Tanwen took in a breath to try and calm her nerves, unclenched her fists, and strolled towards the food. She grabbed a plate, and worked her way down, picking up a few meat rolls and a few vegetable dishes on her way. By the time she reached the wherry where L'der was, she'd managed to calm down quite well. She took a piece of wherry, and turned to give him a brief glance, squinting one eye and lifting the eyebrow of the other in a regarding way, as if she still hadn't decided what to make of the boy yet, but at the same time as if she were saying 'your holding your own, that's OK by me'. After the brief moment she took her plate, turned away, and started to head towards a still empty round table off to one side of the cavern.

[kestrel]

K'tan had left the hatching sands in high spirits. All the dragonets had impressed, and now the creatures were safely in the lower caverns, while their new bondeds made their way to the hatching feast. Unlike the new Weyrlings, none of those present at th hatching would have to go change, so he made his way into the dining hall and took a seat where the riders usually sat. He looked around to see a few familiar faces, and then took up a plate, which he filled with a little of everything. He was no glutton, and knew that there'd be more of whichever dishes he favored and that he could go back as many times as he wanted. So, he set in to his meal with relish, keeping an eye out for Anassa, whom he'd spoken to at the hatching feast.

~~~~~~

Raska didn't have any feelings one way or the other about going to the hatching feast. She hadn't impressed simply because her bonded hadn't been amongst that first clutch. Sharding bad luck, since she'd have to wait shells knew how long for the next one, but she was sure that her dragon would be hatching when it was ready. She had no doubts that she'd find her own dragonet-but these just hadn't been them. Still, hatching feasts were celebrating those who did impress. Not those who didn't. So, she scowled slightly as she spotted those who had once been fellow candidates, now turned Weyrlings. Was she envious? Maybe just a little. However, Kero certainly didn't get it. He was purring from his usual spot on her shoulders, sprawled out comfortably and happy to be back with her. The only times they were seperated had been candidate lessons and the hatching. The black feline didn't like to be seperated from her for long.

She spotted Tieler, just in time to see her fling something in K'ris' face. She quirked one eyebrow curiously, grabbed a plate while walking by, loading it up as she headed for where her friend was sitting-but why was she sitting at that Weyrling boy's table? She made a disgruntled sort of noise, blowing out hot air and then seating herself without further ado on the other side of Tieler.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked, ignoring K'ris altogether. Maybe Tieler had just come over out of boredom. That made sense. Maybe she wanted to poke some fun at the height challenged boy, though she couldn't see how she'd have too much success since K'ris had just impressed and she hadn't. Well, neither had she, then again. So maybe it was no big deal? She took a bite out of a crisp meatroll, and sighed with apparent contentment, holding out a peice of fish to the feline on her shoulder. She reminded herself once again that nothing had changed. She hadn't lost anything, she was exactly the same off before she'd stood. So she'd have to wait a bit longer-so what? She had Tieler to wait with, and she wasn't going back home unless, by some odd accident, she didn't happen to impress. She had every fait that both her and her friend would, though. So she would stay put.

~~~~~~

R'yo had left Resith to sleep with the other dragonets in the lower caverns, not wanting to leave the brown's side. He could hardly believe that he'd impressed, and focused on the fact that R'xis and his sister would likely be at the feast, too. However, when he got there there were so many people that he took a seat somewhere in the middle, looking around him a little nervously. He'd changed into his hatching feast clothes, and he helped himself to some food, still looking around for the faces of his friends.

~~~~~~

Kaiya was elated. She'd impressed! She had found herself talking to Prydath at a million miles a minute but eventually they'd had to let the dragonets be.

*Don't worry, mine. I will be here when you return,* Prydath reassured her, and she had to laugh at the dragonet's reasoning. It was true, though, so she slipped into her emerald green colored dress with the gold trim, and then made her way to the hatching feast. Only then did she realize how hungry she was. She'd eaten nothing all day! So, when she spotted R'yo sitting at a practically empty table, she sat down across from him, though the boy didn't seem to notice, as he looked like he was looking for someone.

~~~~~~

Azaranth was already sleeping by the time X'ion had changed and headed for the hatching feast. He walked in, feeling uncomfortable as per usual around so many people. He didn't want to be congradulated, or anything like that. He was just one of many others who'd impressed. Mainly, he was hungry and wanted to get something to eat. He had had so much excitement for one day, what with impressing and that business with J'kiran, he just wanted to relax and try not to think too much. Maybe it was because he was so lost in thought that he walked right past J'kiran and took a seat, ironically, at the next table over, after quickly grabbing soe food and a cup of citrus juice. He ate slowly, just thinking his own thoughts, not seeming to see anyone around him.

~~~~~

Kestrel walked in just in time to see the girl who'd been a fellow candidate, named Tanwen, slam Leander-now L'der-into the ground on his back. She raised an eyebrow, as she suddenly heard laughter from behind her, and saw T'kal standing there, holding his sides as he laughed freely. She smiled and chuckled, and then knelt down and said to the boy, "tell me you didn't see that coming. You don't give up, do you?" She stood up without waiting for a reply, and took a plate, picking out her favorite foods and then spotting K'ris-sitting with Tieler and Raska?! That couldn't be good. She walked pointedly for their table, sitting down beside K'ris. She nodded politely to the two girls, and then said with a smile, "congrats on your impression!" If they were here to bother him, that wouldn't please them that K'ris had impressed and they had not. She took a bite of bread dipped in the wherry stew gravy, and then said, "the food is great-the kitchen staff really outdid themselves."

~~~~~~

T'kal had been very, very reluctant to leave the small white dragonet sleeping there with the rest. However, sleep was what Sarcth needed now, and once he was sure the dragonet was breathing evenly and sleeping, he'd changed and slipped quietly out. He was excited for the feast, he was hungry and it had been a great day! However, as soon as he walked through the door, he was greeted with the form of L'der being thrown by Tanwen onto his back. He guessed immediately what was going on, and broke out into hearty laughter. When the laughter slowed enough, he said with a grin, "good for you, Tanwen! Put him in his place, hmm?" Still, he was a friendly sort, and he might have offered L'der a hand up, but the boy was up and speaking once more. He rolled his eyes good naturedly, and winked at Tanwen before he took off in the same direction as Kestrel, also having spotted K'ris. He didn't care that Raska and Tieler were at the same table, he heaped up a large plate of food and sat down and sighed happily. "Ahhh...nothing better than a good meal!" he announced, and then asked, "you're all going back for seconds, right?" He grinned his lopsided quirky grin, and took a bite of a meatroll, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the flavor for a moment, opening them to rest on the girls. "Pretty girl one and pretty girl two, staying for the next hatching, I hope?" He winked at them in a friendly and carefree manner, his eyes twinkling in amusement. Rambunctious troublemakers they might be, but they weren't too hard on the eyes, either!

[Sparrow]

Marletta left the Hatching Grounds and followed the other girls to the barracks. She was happy that she was out of the rain, for now. She realized that if she wanted to go to the Hatching Feast she would have to go out in the downpour again.

Help me, mine.

Marletta turned quickly to look at Issaeyith fearing something was wrong, almost dislodging Kaz from around her shoulders. The look of fear on her face melted to a smile as the little dragonet tried to get the dirt off her leg that was sticking to her wet hide. She bent down and used her candidate’s robe to help the green. “There, that’s better isn’t it.”

Issaeyith’s eyes whirled blue-green, Thank you mine.

Nodding in response, Marletta got to her feet and started sifting through her trunk looking for a dress to wear to the Feast. She had many dresses but which one would be just right? Bored, Kaz leapt from her shoulders and curled up into a ball on her pillow, his hide getting it soaked. Marletta groaned but went back to searching. After awhile she pulled out a green dress.

People are going to say you copied me if you wear that. Issaeyith’s eyes whirled, amused.

Laughing, Marletta scratched the little dragon’s eyeridges. “Fine then what about this blue one?”

Whichever one you want, mine.

Marletta bit her lip, thinking about which dress she liked better. She finally decided upon the blue one. She quickly took off the candidate robe and pulled on the blue dress. It was a dark, royal blue color, almost Harper blue she thought. The bottom of the dress came down to the tops of her feet, so she would have to hold it up when walking outside. The sleeves were short, not even passing her shoulders, more like a tank top really. Overall the dress was rather plain but a lovely blue, she found a silver bracelet that looked as if it had been braided and put it on her wrist. Her hair was a mess and would not be fun to work with so she simply twisted it up into a bun and pinned it.

Before leaving she took several minutes to take in her appearance in the mirror, it was acceptable, she supposed. However, she did not want to be too late to the feast so it would have to do. Kaz decided that he would be a fine addition to the outfit and flew back to his on her shoulders and wrapped his tail around her neck before falling asleep, again. “Let’s go Issaeyith”

Marletta hurried out into the rain, Issaeyith was having a hard time keeping so she slowed her pace a bit, and finally they arrived at the Feast. She felt horrible for slipping in at the end of the Weyrwoman’s speech and sat sheepishly down in her seat. Turning to the girl near her, Kaiya, she asked “I didn’t miss anything did I?”
Issaeyith, meanwhile, had made herself comfortable and curled up near her clutchsiblings watching the feast through half-closed eyes.

---
Unlike Marletta, Sh’rel had already been at the Feast for some time. As soon as the Hatching had ended he’d slipped into black trousers, black always looked more formal he had decided, and a white Jacobite shirt, the leather ties loose. He didn’t have to change but he was certain he was almost as drenched as some of the candidates.

Already in hand was a tankard full of his second ale of the night; it was a night to celebrate, after all. The Hatching had gone off without much of hitch; unless you considered that storm, and all the little Dragonets appeared to be healthy and happy, what more could you ask for?

He chattered with some other riders but quieted down when Christae began to speak. When she finished he let out a cheer, downing what was left in his tankard. Rolaranth had already started warning him about drinking too much again. I will be fine, Rol.

At least eat something before drinking more… the brown was looking out for both him and his rider. He didn’t want to hear about Sh’rel’s headache the next morning.

As if on cue, Sh’rel’s stomach growled, “Good idea…” The Brownrider set down his mug and found a plate and piled it with wherry and tubers and all his other favorites. He also grabbed a glass of some fine red wine and took a seat at the end of one of an unoccupied table. The spot, turned out to be an excellent viewing point for the spectacle that Tanwen had created by pinning Leander to the floor. He almost choked on his food as he chuckled at the sight.

[Wolf]

L’der blinked in confusion when she gave him a studying look. “What, I’m sure that you feel the need to apologize but no matter, I forgive you. There’s really no point in-,” and before he knew it she had been walking away as he’d started his ramble. There was nothing worse than talking without an audience. “Wait, come back,” he sniffed, keeping a good eye on her to see which table she plopped herself down at. Once having found her he sat down right at the girl’s side, not giving her much of her own table room. He threw his arms up on to the table rudely, resting his face against the palm of his hand. “You know, that’s quite a healthy gathering of food you’ve got there,” he told her, glancing down at her plate; pointing a finger. “I sure hope you’ll be able to finish it,” he grinned, hinting that he was willing to help if she couldn’t. He then glanced at her face, his grin changing to an amused smirk.

“Do you think you’d want to wrestle again sometime? You didn’t really give me a fair warning before...” His eyes slowly shifted down to his plate and he poked around at his food with the piece of cutlery in his right hand. “After we dance of course,” he told poor Tanwen. He definitely hadn’t given up on that one; he was going to dance with her even if he had to drag her on the dance floor, much the same way he’d gotten her here in the first place. He started shovelling food into his mouth, bits of food attaching to the side of his face to give him a more childish appearance. His blue eye was alight while his brown eye was more dulled and darker from the angle he was on. “Mm-,” he sounded in-between bites, “this is-,” he chomped, “really good.” Chomp. “Love,” chomp, “it.” He licked his lips, his mouth completely cleaned off with the single swipe of his tongue. He hadn’t even contemplated as to whether or not she would be grossed out by his appetite. “Wouldn’t you agree? If you don’t like it then don’t be rude by saying so, simply don’t say anything at all; unless you wish to compliment me. Then, by all means, speak.” He winked an eye at her, stretching his arms up over his head to relieve some tension in his muscles.

“I could go back for seconds, but I’ll wait for you...” Wait, had he just put someone else first? His nose scrunched up when he realized what he’d just said. Just go get more, it’s not like she’ll die sitting her as she pecks at her food. Something in his subconscious came to the fore and told him: But its only right. He took on a show of nervousness and he sat there chuckling to himself, hands clamped between his knees. With a shake of his head, his bangs flooding off to the side, he was back to normal-which meant yet another rant on the way.

“Mkinth was quite a surprise. He is larger than the female Green’s, of course, seeing as he’s macho. The thing is though, I don’t recall ever having really seen a male Green before, and have you? Of course not, see, he’s one of a kind. Which, really, means I’m one of a kind; it’s funny how those two things go hand-in-hand no? I always knew there was something special about me but having something special about my dragon too is fantastic. He’ll be big; you just wait and see; I wouldn’t doubt him flying Gold even. Yep, he’s limitless my child.”

~ ~ ~

What was this crazy shorty talking about... Wait... Actually my mother was eaten by a wild feline when I was five turns. His words from the Hatching rang in her head, and her mouth turned into an o-shape of recognition. She stared off into the distance, her flashback taking over her mind. She’d been so cruel to him then, and she was being just as cruel now.

“Yes, some would think it odd I’d imagine,” she told him, the irritation gone from her voice. “Who cares about what other people think!” she shouted at him after having realized how soft she’d sounded just a moment before. She bent down, leaning in a bit closer to him as to increase the intimidation factor. The anger she’d presented before wasn’t within her now, and it showed; she was just putting out a display of anger to throw him off. She gazed at the necklace, hanging her head a bit while a frown took over her face. Tieler stood back up to her full height. How could I have taken something that meant so much to him? I would hate it if I’d gotten something from my real parents and someone had taken it from me; though I lied to him so he doesn’t even know what I did. As she was thinking over her crime her head shot up, finding Raska staring back at her.

“Nothing’s up, why, should something be?” She looked down at the girl; watching her chow on a meatroll and feed the feline she’d dubbed Kero. She pretended as if K’ris wasn’t even there, glad that Raska hadn’t commented on his presence. Alias burst from between, bringing with her a rush of cold air. Tieler ignored her, especially since she wasn’t at all focused on Tieler, but rather her friend’s feline. Alias landed on the table, chirruping to the odd creature. Never before had she seen anything other than dragon kin so she took the natural precautions of keeping a fair enough distance away. Her eyes whirled a mix of greens and blues, and Tieler considered whether or not her flitt was hungry.
Turning back to K’ris she shot him a withering stare, wondering if she should just gag him or give him a good solid punch.

Somehow not wanting to do either she decided on a different tactic. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt, dragging him up and out of his chair; Alias turning to Her’s with a rush of worried emotions. She flapped her tiny wings, veering around K’ris to get to Twil. She crooned encouragingly to the dark blue; not wanting him to attack Her’s out of fear for His. She sent warm images to the flitt, wanting him to remain calm. She flew overtop both K’ris and Tieler, doing spirals and various fancy aerial manoeuvres.

“Let’s talk, shall we?” She nodded to Raska, “be back in a flash, I just have some garbage to dump.” She growled, again putting on a fake show of anger, this time for Raska’s sight. “For a shorty you sure need to lose some!” she spat, dragging him to a corner of the room where they wouldn’t be as noticeable right in the middle of the crowd. Once there she still had a firm grasp on the front of his shirt, and she stared right into his face, never mind the feeling of discomfort she bore on the inside at being so close.
“Continue,” she said, it sounding like an order. She really didn’t make much sense.

{{ OOC| I hope this is all right with you Kino. xD Tieler didn’t really give him the option of coming along. }}

~ ~ ~

R’xis had come into the Hatching feast with Wolf on his arm, he’d really been hoping that the girl would’ve been Akki but he hadn’t seen her anywhere. One minute she’d been there, the next it was like she had become invisible. He was glad for the time spent with his sister though, and intended to stay by her side the entire time. He knew that she wasn’t like him in the sense of having someone, and as far as he was concerned that was better for the both of them. Wolf didn’t need the obvious emotions that having a relationship would incur, and when Riler had been at the Weyr he knew for a fact that she hadn’t handled it so well. Well she’d grown up some now, so he trusted her all the more, he knew that if she fancied some boy the detachment she’d have to force herself to undergo wouldn’t be any less tough. Maybe this time she wouldn’t even allow herself to get so close, he considered, looking down at his little sister. She was currently glancing around at the crowd for the new Weyrlings, likely to congratulate them. She has a lot of responsibility now, and at Serinth’s Flight that responsibility is only going to increase. Her duty is to the Weyr... It was then that R’xis spotted R’yo, and he placed a finger on his chin, there after raising the same finger to call the boy over. “Hey, R’yo!” he called over the noise.

Ersith was fast asleep, the commotion had been too much for the brown and she’d requested that she not be bothered while she regained some of her much needed energy. R’xis hadn’t complained, again using the time to put more focus on Wolf.

~ ~ ~

Wolf gave her brother a warm smile, leaning into him happily, glad that he’d chosen to come with her. She was really bent on finding Christae, she wanted to talk to her about any concerns she might have what with the ongoing weather disaster. She was sure that the Senior Weyrwoman would need some consoling, though the Junior suspected that N’kal wasn’t a bump on a log. She’d heard good things about the new Weyrleader and all the drama that was taking place at Dark Moon Weyr had kept her from really getting to know him herself. Well, she knew where her focuses should be and she intended to do her best. When R’xis called over their mutual friend R’yo Wolf found she was smiling once again. The boy had impressed a lovely brown, and a large one at that. She had seen him after his impression, but another consent of his having impressed would most assuredly be welcomed by him she was sure.

“R’yo, congratulations once again! Really, you’ve done a fine job,” she spoke out once they’d gotten closer to where he was over by the food.

Wolf saw K’ris and Tieler move past her vision and furrowed her brows in thought,
Now that is an odd sight, wouldn’t you say my love?
Odd indeed Mine, I wonder what that naughty girl could be up to. Wolf sighed, keeping her eyes from displaying sadness for this was intended to be a happy night. Sure, Tieler hadn’t impressed, but it didn’t mean that she still couldn’t. She didn’t know too much about the Candidate but she had heard of some of the things she’d done, the only real reason that was on her mind was why? People often had a reason; no one was that much of a troublemaker just because they could be...

Wolf couldn’t help thinking of her Hatching feast; it had been a day to remember! Without Serinth she was nothing, and she knew that Serinth’s feelings were shared. The Gold was her life, and the pair was perfect for each other.

I’ll have to find the others to congratulate them also, tonight is about making rounds, Wolf explained to her bonded. It was then that she spotted Kaiya and Marletta, and she raised her hand to wave to them both. Kaiya was her friend, and had encouraged her to follow the rules even when she’d thought herself incapable of doing so. She’d really been a great help, and in the end Wolf had made the right decision. “Hey you two!” she hollered, chuckling at just how loud she’d been. She didn’t know Marletta very well, but that could be subject to change.

[Kino]

Tanwen looked over to L'der as he sat down beside her, wondering if the boy even realized that the rest of the table was also free for him to spread out on. "It's a plate full," she replied, deciding against going into detail and explaining that she hadn't actually eaten much else that day. She quirked an eyebrow at the finger he pointed, but replied to the not-so-subtle hint by taking a bite of one of her meat rolls.

She swallowed the bite she took after and looked over at L'der's next commenting, giving him a look that seemed to have the question '...wrestle?' written into it. She rolled her eyes and turned away afterwards, cutting up a bit of the vegetables and taking a bite. "I don't dance," she said, and she took another bite. He quite literally seemed to dive into his food then, so that she wasn't even sure he'd heard her response, and she went back to eating her own food as well, picking up the meat roll she'd been eating before and taking her time with finishing it off.

"It's great," she said, sending a glance with a quirked eyebrow towards L'der as if to ask if he was seriously expecting a compliment? Tanwen rolled her eyes a bit to look away, but she looked back quickly with a bit of a faltering in her usual expression when he mentioned that he'd wait for her. A moment after she focused her attention back on her plate, but that split second of expression seemed to show that she was just as surprised as he was that he'd offered to wait for her to be finished. She glanced off into the room, mainly just to generally glance away from him, and took a bite of tubers to spare herself some time.

"I'm not getting seconds," she said, which was true enough. She only planned on getting one plate, which was why there was such a decent portion on the one. Tanwen would more than likely get desert at some point, but for now she was content. She took another bite to spare some more time to compose herself, and by the time that L'der had gone back to his usual self Tanwen had organized her expression once more. Then he set off rambling once more, and Tanwen fell into her silent mode of letting him do just that.

- - -

J'kiran was taking his time with his meal, having sampled a bit of anything that looked good. It was by chance that he caught sight of X'ion out of the corner of his eye, since he was mostly with his back towards the entrance to the caverns, but his mostly bored expression changed quickly into his usual bright smile when the boy entered the hatching feast. He lifted a hand to wave at the other boy, but his expression shifted to a kind of unsure one when X'ion seemed to not notice him at all.

He watched X'ion as the boy gathered his food and then turned back towards the table, gaining another smile when it looked as though he was heading over to join him. Yet, once more, the smile faded a bit when X'ion stepped past and over to the next table over, sitting alone and ignoring J'kiran completely. The red head watched X'ion for a moment, then turned in his seat and looked back down to his own plate. Was X'ion ignoring him on purpose? He couldn't think of anything he'd done to upset the boy...but X'ion had been ignoring him for the weeks that led up to the hatching. Maybe he'd simply gone back to doing that again, even now that they'd confirmed that they were most likely brothers?

J'kiran stared and poked at his food a bit more, but he suddenly didn't feel all that hungry. At the hatching he thought that whatever was unfolding between he and X'ion had finally reached a point where it would just keep getting better. Instead, now that he seemed to have found family...well, it seemed that the family he'd found didn't even want him. He wondered if that had been his parent's opinion of him as well.

- - -

K'ris looked up when Tieler replied, actually a bit surprised at the quiet way she spoke. Was she actually showing...kindness towards him? His eyes went a bit wide and he leaned back a moment later when the girl suddenly shouted once more. In a single moment he saw her go from kind and quiet and then back to shouting angrily. He was more awake now, after that shout. Alert, but still with the look of someone who was ready to crash. So when she leaned in to try and be intimidating he'd quirked an eyebrow at her in a 'for real?' expression. She was glaring at him with the angry expression she seemed to always have...except something was different this time.

Maybe it was just that she was so close to his face so he was able to see it more, but whatever anger she was throwing around...he didn't get the feeling that it was directed at him at all. He squinted his eyes at her in a confused way, keeping it on for a few moments after Raska came over and took Tieler's attention away from him. Not long after that Kestrel had stepped over and gave her congratulations. K'ris looked over to her and offered a lopsided smile and a nod. "You too, Kess," he said. Of course he understood that she was probably coming over to try and help him out, and he appreciated it.

"Yeah," he agreed, "the food's pretty g--ah!" The shout he gave off wasn't a scared one, but more of a shout of someone taken by surprise. He blinked up at Tieler when she grabbed him by the shirt, glancing over his shoulder to the two flitts as Twil seemed startled at first, but then calmed down considerably when the other firelizard flew over. He noticed the little blue flying after them, but his attention was taken over afterwards by Tieler dragging him over to a corner.

Once she finally stopped he gathered his balance (which was already suffering, because he was tired, and was often not that great to begin with) and stood up. He was very much awake now, and only the smallest hint of fatigue showed in his expression. He quirked an eyebrow at Tieler's command, and lifted his hand to grab onto her wrist, tugging it away from his shirt - or at least trying to. K'ris looked over to Twil as the firelizard circled them once and then came to settle on the boy's shoulder, looking more curious than worried at this point. The girl's firelizard had reassured him that nothing bad would happen. K'ris folded his arms across his chest and reguarded Tieler with a questioning expression. "Continue what?"

[kestrel]

Kaiya had been munching slowly and thoughtfully when all of a sudden, a female voice that she recognized from Candidate training cut into her thoughts. She'd been thinking about Riler and Akki, oddly enough. Two people who had left the Weyr, along with Z'ayr. Riler had left a bit before the hatching. Something had come up back home, and he'd left without even bothering to explain what it had been. She figured it must have been something really personal, but still, she rather missed her friend. He'd been one of two friends she'd made closer friends with. The second friend, Wolf? She'd been sort of involved with Riler. That was, in fact, how they'd met. The pair had snuck out and she'd been afraid they were superiors who would catch onto the fact that she herself had snuck out, for a late night swim since the barracks had been too hot that night. So, she'd accidentally overheard them confessing feelings for one another while she'd jumped into a nearby bush to hide. She smiled sadly. Wolf had been far more affected by Riler's leaving than she'd been. She'd not gotten a chance to talk much to her about it, what with the clutching and hatching, and then Candidate lessons..

Akki and Z'ayr had left together. They'd transferred to another Weyr, and no one knew when they, and Hasima, who'd gone with them, would be back. She felt bad for Kestrel. Hasima had been her closest friend here-the pair were always seen together. She'd hardly known Z'ayr, nor why he'd left. She sighed, poking her plate with a fork until she had heard the voice, and looked up.

"Oh, hi Marletta," she said with a smile. She didn't know Marletta too well, but she knew she'd also impressed a pretty green dragonet. That meant they'd be going through Weyrling training together. "Congradulations on your impression," she said sincerely, and then, "what's her name?" By 'her' she was obviously referring to Marletta's dragon. Suddenly, she heard Wolf calling herself and the other girl over, and waved and held up her finger to signal she'd just be a second. She didn't want to just get up without hearing Marletta's reply, since that would seem rather rude. However, she jerked her head over to Wolf and smiled, saying, "that's Jr. Weyrwoman Wolf, and my friend. We can go over there and join them if you want?" She had been sitting with Marletta first, and wasn't about to just leave her sitting here if she didn't want to go over.

~~~~~~

Raska smirked, the gears turning in her head. The way Tieler had asked if there should be, came across as just a little odd to the black-haired girl. Almost...defensive, though she was sure Tieler hadn't meant it to be. Something was up, she was almost sure of it, but she was pretty laid back and whatever it was, she was sure if she kept her mouth shut and ears and eyes open, she'd know in time. She rather hoped Tieler would be the one who saw fit to explain it, but she had her theories and they were certainly all amusing. She watched as Tieler grabbed the front of K'ris' shirt, hauling him off, and was left along with Kestrel, who was looking after the pair with obvious confusion, and T'kal, who chuckled and shoved another mouthful into his mouth. Raska cursed silently in her mind-Tieler had left her alone with these two buffoons, and she wasn't too happy about it. Oh well. If they said anything she didn't like, she'd just make them eat their own words-with her fist. She wasn't too psyched that everyone currently sitting here had impressed, and all of them knew she hadn't. She shot them a menacing glare, as if daring them to say anything to her. Kestrel merely rolled her eyes and sighed, looking after where K'ris had been dragged off, a tad worried. T'kal just laughed, and continued eating. He rather annoyed her, with his pretty boy looks and way too easy going attitude. Hrmph.

Kero, meanwhile, was looking with blatant curiosity at Tieler's flit. Sure, he'd seen firelizards. Once, when he was a kitten, he'd tried to catch one, and Raska had been very upset. The feline was smart enough to remember that scolding. So, firelizards were not to be attacked, or eaten. Since he could do neither of the two, he blinked his yellow eyes with their green centers at Alias slowly, and continued to watch the draconian creature to see what it would do.

~~~~~~

Kestrel was unsure how to react when Tieler suddenly up and hauled K'ris off. She frowned, brows creasing as she debated what to do. Well, it wasn't like Tieler had dragged the boy off very far. She could still see them. If Tieler wanted to start a fight, Kestrel would certainly be backing K'ris. The shorter boy didn't look like he had a lot of experience in the area of self defense. Kestrel usually hid the fact that she did. A couple of nerve pinches, though, wouldn't be giving too much away...

In truth, Kestrel likely knew more about self defense than anyone she knew. She'd grown up with her father, and around boys. She knew how to handle a weapon, use her fists, use pressure points, wrestle, and other various ways of fighting. It wasn't like she ever put them to much use, save for sparring with male friends. But it was good to know she had them there, anyhow. It allowed for a feeling of ease and a measure of self confidence, knowing she could protect herself without the aid of any boy or man. She kept an eye on Tieler and K'ris using more perephial vision than anything, slowly eating and rolling her eyes at Raska's glare. She smirked at T'kal's easy going laughter, and sighed softly.

~~~~~~

T'kal wasn't one to mess in people's business unless things got real ugly. He wasn't the confrontational type-in fact, he'd rather avoid it altogether. Pretty boy? Yeah, he might be at that. But he was no coward, either. Still, being a healer didn't make for a very violent nature, in the least. He liked to help, not harm. His easy going nature usually made it so that he got along with just about everyone. He never started fights, never judged anyone, and gave everyone a fair chance. Yeah...made life a lot simpler for him. So, when Raska gave him a glare, he merely laughed it off and continued eating. People like her? Were usually from a rougher background, or had issues. Most times, they liked to talk big, act tough and all that. Most times, they were the people who needed friends most. No matter. He wasn't going to impose or offer his friendship to either girl. That'd just be asking for their rejection. He'd just do what he always did. Be himself, not judge, and take it all as it came.

~~~~~~

R'yo certainly had good enough ears, as he managed to not only pick up R'xis' call over the hustle and bustle of the feast, but also pinpointed where it was coming from. There weren't exactly a lot of blonde haired young men in the Weyr. He himself had auburn hair, and he knew that Kaiya, T'kal and J'kiran did. So it wasn't a wholly uncommon color, but he couldn't bring himself to think of anyone else in the Weyr that had blonde hair now that Akki was gone.

He picked up his plate and headed for R'xis' table, sitting down beside Wolf with a small smile. It didn't really register that he'd sat down beside Wolf and not R'xis, because he was sitting across from his friend to better see him and chat, and it had been the side of the table he'd been closest to. At Wolf's congradulations, his cheeks colored slightly, and he said with a small smile, "lots of people impressed today...I'm just glad I was one of them." Secretly, it was more than just 'glad'. Resith was absolutely the best thing that had ever happened to him. He was so proud of the big brown dragonet that he couldn't even put it into words. He cleared his throat and then smiled at R'xis, asking, "how's Ersith doing?" He didn't want to even bring up Akki. She'd announced she was leaving right after the hatching, and that she didn't know when she'd be back. Hasima and Z'ayr, even though he'd newly impressed, was going with them. He frowned, brows creased, wondering if R'xis had even known. Akki had mumbled something about 'a note'. Had she been unable to tell R'xis goodbye? After all, there was no registry on the boy's face of her having left...he felt suddenly uncomfortable. He didn't want to ruin the hatching feast. He'd wait to see how things played out.

Now that Akki was gone, he was the only one in the Weyr save the Weyrling Master and Christae that knew the secret R'xis and Ersith kept-that Ersith was in fact a female. He wondered if others speculated, as he'd briefly done, and then just brushed it off. No matter...R'xis wanted it kept secret, for whatever reason, so he would never utter a word about it.

~~~~~~

X'ion actually hadn't sat himself down too far away from where J'kiran was. Lost in thought, as he'd been, however? It didn't even register-no one did. He just wanted to get himself seated, and hopefully not have to deal with too many cheery people congradulating him on getting a bronze. That was supposed to be a big deal, right? Well, he didn't see it like that at all. The way he saw it? A dragon was a dragon. Sure, Azaranth was amazingly awesome. However, it wasn't because he was a bronze, it was because he'd seen fit to choose him, of all people. He wasn't sure why, though. If bronzes went to the guys who were supposed to become Weyrleaders and Weyrlingmasters, Wingleaders....leader this, leader that. He was no leader. He didn't question it...much. But still...

He chewed slowly, enjoying the good food. Enjoying his 'so far' solitude from people. However, when he actually bothered to look up and have a glance around to see who was sitting nearby, he spotted J'kiran. A not so happy looking J'kiran. The boy had a rather disturbed and almost rejected look on his face, though X'ion had no clue why. Normally? He'd have stayed put, and let someone else who was maybe J'kiran's friend deal with it. However, knowing what he did, and seeing as how no one seemed to even be looking to join him...

X'ioin sighed heavily, feeling a twinge of unexpected nagging guilt at the thought of ignoring the guy who was his brother. Brother...it still sounded strange on his tongue. Maybe, for his own sake, he should just try for 'friend'. That would be easier. He looked at his own plate once more, making up his mind-though a tad reluctantly-and picked it up, going to sit across from the other boy, asking cooly, "mind if I join you?" He couldn't be expected to change his solitary personality, and his coolness towards all people, in one sevenday. It would likely take months to work up anything even as small as 'friendship' with anyone-brother or no. Still, he was at least making an attempt here. That was better than nothing.

[Wolf]

By the end of his talking-to which there was no actual end-all of the looks he’d received from Tanwen went right over his head, like just about everything else in his life. L’der had found a thing or two to comment on although; surprise, surprise. “Don’t dance you say? Shells and shards, I’m sure you do. In fact, I’m betting that you’re a splendid dancer! Don’t be shy; I really don’t think it’s good for your inner self to keep its talents stowed away.” Whether or not he’d actually made sense was unclear. “The fact of the matter is that I’ve decided to dance, which means that we’ve decided to dance... if you know what I mean. We came together after all and it’s only proper that you be a good girl-scratch that I prefer bad girls-and let me have my fun. Seeing as my fun often involves dancing tonight, understand?” He turned around in his seat, leaning his elbows back onto the table, making himself comfortable. He also found it was much easier to look upon her in this position. He leaned over, the muscles in his face showing a restraint against laughter. “It’ll be much easier to dance if we don’t feel as if we weigh two dragons each, so I’ll hold off on seconds for now.” L’der was bound to end up eating more later on; he was a constant eater with a fast metabolism.

“So, have any dirty secrets to share at this point? Usually I like to get this kind of thing out in the open right away, all cards on the table. In other words, let’s play a little game of ‘nothing left to hide,’” he blurted out. At this point his voice had lowered so that only he and she were capable of hearing what he had to say. “I’ll go first to make things fair, though it can be said that nothing in this game is fair, its more to come to a proper understanding of each other.” L’der tried his best to explain the rules of his little game to her, though his little game was simply a cover to better understand both her background and past deeds. He liked knowing things about people... well, only people he cared to know things about. L’der had a lot of secrets to reveal if he wanted to, but he wouldn’t get ahead of himself, he’d start off slow with this one as not to give her more then she could chew, after all, she didn’t want seconds!

I feel I’m missing out on too much, your thoughts are making me curious... Can you describe something to me?
L’der didn’t at all change his cool expression, though a muscle in his arm twitched. And what may that be my good dragon?
If people are not like dragons then why in your images are you nuzzling one another? I’d appreciate clarification.
L’der swallowed, not used to the sudden violation of his thoughts and daydreams. Well who ever told you that must’ve lied; people are just like dragons, just not so fat. Okay, cleared that up for you? That’s great.
Humans don’t come from eggs though L’derMine, so where do they come from?
L’der’s face distorted in a look of disbelief, and the boy momentarily turned his head away from Tanwen so she wouldn’t think his sudden erratic behaviour had anything to do with her. He soon looked back, having regained his composure. Baby’s drop out of the sky and whomever wants one catches it as it falls, got it? There was no way he was about to get into this with Mkinth, not with Tanwen sitting right beside him especially.
Oh... Well, I’m not quite satisfied with that answer, seeing as the realization that a flying dragon could easily hit a falling baby isn’t the happiest of imaginings. What would happen if a baby fell and no one was there to catch it?
Then it evaporates. Now, Mkinth, really... Can’t this conversation wait? L’der’s request received an impatient grumble from the male Green, though his questions ceased.
L’der, if not having been uncomfortable with the topic of the birds and the bees, would have developed a blush or some kind-of nervous habit. Rather, he seemed pleased-what a fool.

~ ~ ~

Tieler wondered if K’ris was playing dumb, though the mean and misogynistic part of her thought: It’s not hard to play what you are. In reality she knew that K’ris was far from dumb, if anything she’d presented herself to be dumber than he on more than one occasion. “You’d been saying something dimglow about that stupid necklace.” She prodded at the thing in his grasp, feeling a pang of... sadness, for calling the necklace stupid. ‘It’s not stupid, so why can’t you ever just say what you mean?’ she wondered. Tieler waited for him to give an explanation, releasing her hold on him when he touched her wrist. She responded to the touch like an electric shock, shoving him away a bit as if he’d been the one to invade her personal space. She crossed her arms over her chest, unable to help feeling small. ‘Maybe that’s because you belittle people and have no heart,’ her subconscious answered. She narrowed her eyes, blinking a couple of times, not having looked away from the new Weyrling.

“And don’t go thinking I didn’t impress because I wasn’t good enough, matter of fact is that none of those dragons were worth a mark and hence they knew not to bother with me. That’s my understanding of it,” she smirked, puffing out some oxygen haughtily. Great, she’d just insulted his dragon, oh well, no big deal right? She wondered what kind-of a person he really was all of a sudden, did he stand up for his friends, or would he fight for them? ‘He doesn’t seem the type to fight,’ she thought, betting he didn’t have the strength for much physical activity. She knew that judging people always resulted in having to deal with something unexpected. So, instead, she remained open-minded, while wholly not letting him know that. She’d forever make him feel, for the time being, that he wasn’t worth dirt.

‘Does he already feel that he’s not worth much because he didn’t have a mom that stayed alive to raise him? No-stop evaluating him! Why does any of it matter? It shouldn’t...’ Yet, here she was, asking him about this very thing. She was just hoping that he wouldn’t have a lot to say on the matter, because now she was starting to see what she’d done in a whole different light. To K’ris it was probably starting to look like she cared, and she didn’t... or did she? ‘Why can’t I just ever figure out who I am?’ she shouted on the inside, wanting to tug at her hair and shout out loud, not that it’d help in her soul searching. ‘You know who you are, you’re just not ready to handle it,’ her subconscious again wrung in for her.

~ ~ ~

R’xis was glad that R’yo wasn’t like some of the boys who could easily let their impression go to their heads. “Well, that’s good R’yo, I’m glad for you all the same,” he said with a confirming smile. When he inquired about Ersith he wasn’t surprised, was it not his brown that had caused R’yo to desire one of his own? “Well, she needed some sleep, and that’s exactly what she’s doing right now-sleeping. Though I must say, I’m betting it’s just because she’d expected to spend some time with Ebbeth. She hasn’t heard from him.” He swept the room with his eyes, searching for that familiar sight of blond hair that got his heart racing. Nope, nothing, “How is it she’s not here?” he accidentally said aloud. He’d said it quiet enough that not many would hear. Akki wasn’t the type to ditch an event like this, especially since she’d been assisting the Candidate Master with this group of youngsters. Akki lived for this kind of thing, where she could stir up some trouble and get right in the middle of everything to do something incredibly unexpected. She excited him, all the time, there wasn’t a moment where he wasn’t enthralled by whatever it was she decided to do or say. He shook his head, sighing disappointedly. Though, this was not a day for him to mope or be focused on his one true love, this was instead a day for him to focus on a good friend.

R’xis, after having seated himself, wasn’t at all surprised that R’yo had ended-up somehow beside Wolf. ‘Probably an instinct reaction,’ he thought, holding in a laugh for the sake of his sister and his friend both. “Your brown is lovely, Resith was it? A fine name also, he’ll be a strong one, he’s large indeed, so that’s not too hard to tell. He’d do well in a Queen Flight even, I’m sure! Just give him a year or so...” His gaze shifted to Wolf, having purposely meant to make her uncomfortable that time. When Wolf shot him a death glare as an “I know what you’re up to,” he put his hands up in surrender. “A year goes by fast, but a year’s still a year,” he threw in. He hoped that R’yo hadn’t taken anything from his comment himself, he wouldn’t want to embarrass the boy, though he had the intent of having a good show... ‘R’xis, go easy on them,’ he told himself. He sunk back more into his seat, snickering.

~ ~ ~

The look on R’yo’s face and the color of his cheeks when she’d spoken to him hadn’t escaped her notice. Sometimes she wished she wasn’t so perceptive. She kept her gaze from the necklace around her neck, not wanting R’yo to get the wrong impression. When he sat down beside her she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, wishing he would’ve just sat beside her brother instead. She didn’t plan on saying all that much as to give the two a chance to talk, so being in the middle of two people engaged in conversation was never fun. Nevertheless she remained respectful and looked from R’xis to R’yo, not having at all expected her brother to pull a fast one on her.

‘Oooooh, R’xis, why do you have to go and do that!’ She’d have to scold him later, which would require a friendly tackle fight to teach him a lesson. When he put his hands up in surrender in response to her glare she gave a small smirk. ‘Yah, of course you’d surrender to me you big girl.’ She looked over at R’yo, hoping that no damage had been done in his corner. ‘Maybe the comment bounced off,’ she wondered, contemplating how R’xis could’ve even had the intent to put R’yo through that. ‘He’s R’xis, he teases just like Ersith,’ she reminded herself.

She wondered if Kaiya and Marletta would come over, Kaiya seemed bent on staying with Marletta, which Wolf was happy to see. From what she could tell all the new Weyrlings needed to do some more mingling. The closer they became the better, for when Thread was upon them a tight wing did the best work.

[Kino]

Tanwen rolled her eyes a bit when L'der seemed to completely miss any slip ups she'd have made, though she wasn't sure why she wasn't more grateful that he hadn't. Perhaps a part of her had hoped that, now that she seemed unable to keep someone away, they'd finally pick up such subtleties.

"I never said I couldn't dance," she decided to clarify. "I said I didn't." She took another bite of vegetables, though they were almost gone at this point, and then continued on. "All the 'dances' are just a bit boring. Step this way, step that way. Turn around." She sighed and shook her head. "It's mindless." Could this be? Was she actually having a real conversation with someone? And with her personal annoyance, at that! Some might call this a breakthrough, if she was actually going to therapy.

Tanwen went quiet to listen then as L'der rambled on a bit about secrets and the like. After he said that he'd offer up a secret first, he suddenly lapsed into silence. Considering how very un L'der that was, he could only assume that his new dragon was talking to him. So after a few moments of his quiet, she decided to push forward with their conversation instead.

"I don't like glass crafting," she said, taking a drink from her juice now that the food on her plate was gone. "That's certainly filthy, and it's a secret. I haven't even told my uncle, and he's my master." She blinked once, as if realizing she'd fumbled some words, and then added. "My glasscrafting master, I mean."

- - -

"About the..." he started to repeat, and then glanced down to the necklace in his hand. "Oh," he said. His memory had had a bit of a lapse from the fatigue, but he did remember what he'd said now. "Well it's..." he started, looking back up to her when she made the second comment about dragons and her not impressing. He squinted an eye at her a bit in a regarding stare, then shook his head.

"I didn't think that," he said. Not that he'd ever really had a reason to give her much thought anyway, at least not until now when she seemed to be doing her best to pull information out of him. "And I don't think it's got anything to do with the dragons 'not being worth it.' Every dragon's worth...well...tons." Okay, he wasn't the best at coming up with analogies or anything, but he did his best. He shook his head again. "Your dragon just hasn't been hatched yet." He thought back to the moment of impression for him as well, and felt a sort of...almost a stirring in his mind. He realized he must've prodded at Queroth without meaning to.

"Anyway," he said, looking back to the necklace. "The necklace...uh...it's not really anything special. It's just hide, and some wild feline claws. The runner pendant was my mothers." He squinted his eyes a bit again and shrugged. "Eh...my childhood hold, they went out and hunted the feline down after...after it attacked us. And before I was sent off to another hold..." The first one of many he thought. "...the man that used to help us out gave me the claws and the charm on this necklace." He shrugged and offered a short laugh. "I mean, I don't know why he did it. It's kind of a weird way of...oh, I said that already." K'ris thought for a moment, then gave another shrug and a wry lopsided smile. "That's about it, I guess."

He wasn't used to having to talk about the subject with another person, and if he wasn't so honest (sometimes to a fault; the boy really was a shardawful liar) he probably wouldn't have told Tieler the story at all - even if it was only half of the story. Maybe one third.

Mine is ok? K'ris eyes unfocused a bit when the message came through, and he caught himself just before he nodded in reply to the telepathic message.
Yeah, Queroth. I'm fine. You should be sleeping though, buddy.
I will, Mine, and you should be sleeping too! Mine is just as tired as me. But Mine...if you say you are fine, why is your mind sad?
Ah...just memories, Queroth. How about, I will be fine. Is that better?
If Mine says so...

I will be, bud. You go back to sleep, ok? I'll be back...whenever this feast is finished with. K'ris didn't get any words in reply, but he felt the mental agreement with his comment, and could tell that the dragonet was content now to curl back up and fall asleep once more.

- - -

J'kiran had taken one or two more small bites of his food, but after prodding at it a bit longer he was starting to wonder if he shouldn't just head back to the barracks. At least Kaenith, he knew without a doubt, wanted him there. The thought of the dragonet seemed to stir the bronze where he slept, and J'kiran felt a light brush against his mind before the dragonet likely turned over and went back to sleep. He was stuck on that exchange between them so that he didn't notice X'ion's movements until the tray was being set down in front of him. J'kiran looked up with a bit of a surprised expression.

He smiled then, when X'ion asked if he could join him, and nodded. His smile was certainly bright enough again, but he kept his usual calm exterior when he spoke. He wasn't stupid, and he could tell that the other boy wasn't the type to enjoy much excitement. "You're very welcome to," he answered. Whether or not it wasn't what some people would call a 'big' attempt at interaction, J'kiran was incredibly grateful just for that small bit. At least it showed he wasn't being rejected.

[Wolf]

L’der nodded along, understanding what she said as far as dancing being mindless these days. “I agree; it just seems so... forced. People don’t bother to really make dancing an art form anymore.” As he began to talk his tone changed, and it seemed like he was really holding a real conversation, no jokes this time around. “Dancing’s meant to be beautiful, but that’s only when you’re taught to make it your own.” He shrugged a shoulder, having a feeling that she knew exactly what he was talking about. “Of course most people are mindless these days, from what I gather,” he teased, gently elbowing her shoulder. He hadn’t expected her to be a sport, most just scoffed at his game ideas. Since she had been such a good sport about it he listened intently to what she had to say, and in the end, he was intrigued.

“Is it that bad?” he asked, though he didn’t want her to answer because then she’d have to reimburse herself in unwanted feelings. “You know,” he began, adding this as his own secret. “I never wanted to be a Harper.” He’d lowered his voice once again, clearly not wanting anyone else to know. “My father, being a MasterHarper, only saw it fit that his son reaches for the same goal. Nobody really ever asked me what I wanted, and they still don’t.” He laughed to make it seem like it was okay, when really it wasn’t. “It doesn’t matter though, I got used to being a Harper, and at one point I tried. Being a Journeyman now, with my father so proud, I guess a part of me likes it. The other part just doesn’t care... but you... You never got used to it did you?” He raised an eyebrow at her like she’d done him so many times before. “And I,” he frowned, rolling his eyes, “I nearly got taken off the Apprentice route for what they call ‘delicate’ situations.” His former thought came back to him, “No, go back, why did you call him your Master?” He’d gotten a bit closer to her physically and he hadn’t even realized it, his eyes, once having diverted from hers, were now attempting to catch her own as their conversation intensified. Wait, should he really be prying her into talking to him about this? He put a hand on his chin comically, thinking over his next move. He then stood up, looking down at her, “This isn’t the time and place.” He had to break it off, not just for her sake, but also for his own; at least for now. “We shall talk about this later, so first...” He unexpectedly took hold of her arm and dragged her right up and out of her seat, pushing past the people, keeping a firm grip on her. He could see the faces of some of the people, and clearly they weren't happy with his unexpected crash past them. Just as he'd hoped, they'd reached the dance floor. He let go of her, and turned to her, offering his hand, “Will you dance with me?” He flashed a smile, hoping to be a charmer.

~ ~ ~

Had he just said that a dragon was out there for her? No, she must’ve heard wrong, because surely no one believed that her not having impressed hadn’t been well-deserved. ‘Everyone thinks I’ll never impress, and why shouldn’t they?’ Clearly everyone, she gathered, except for K’ris, and Raska. Tieler got solemn all of a sudden, and developed a crunched up expression like when something smelt really bad. She shoved her hands into her pockets and hunched her shoulders, lowering her head and turning it away. “I-I imagine that must be hard,” she said without having looked back at him. Her gaze searched the floor, as if something there would save her from this moment. “I’m sorry that your mom died,” she said all of a sudden, not really thinking about it. “At least you have something to hold on to that reminds you of her.” Her searching gaze became quicker, making it look now as if she wasn’t deep in thought, but uneasy. Her red bangs fell into her eyes, and she took in a deep breath before saying: “I’m sorry for taking it...” Then she took off at a steady paced walk, merging with the crowd until she felt that she couldn’t be seen by him. What had she just done to her reputation?

‘What reputation, the reputation of a jerk, and a person that can’t be trusted by anyone?’ she thought of herself. There was no way she was going to enjoy herself at his Hatching feast, she didn’t belong here. Not in this room, not at Dark Moon Weyr. “I should just go back,” she muttered. ‘Back to what, a life with no family, no future, and people who hate you for what you’ve done? I don’t want to hurt anymore people, but I’ll keep on doing it because that’s who I am.’ She shoved her bangs aside messily with a hand, not liking so many people so close to her. She moved to a back corner, the one across from where she’d left a poor K’ris to try and comprehend her person. ‘K’ris is too good, too kind, and his dragon was right to choose him.’ She sank down against the wall, pulling her knees into her chest, not understanding why she felt so defeated. She should be out there, making a scene, pick pocketing, and maybe that was why she felt such sorrow... With all her delinquent behaviour she hadn’t ever once considered that she’d lose herself, and maybe never be able to ever find out just who she really was without seeing someone awful and not worth caring about. K’ris had been through so much and still turned out just fine; instead of trying to make the best of a bad situation she’d taken a turn for the worse.

[Kino]

[Kat, sorry for teh skipping ^^;; and people, too. I just...I know Kat said to me in IM that she didn't really have much for Kestral to do, so when Wolf posted I figured I'd do one more short-ish one, to get back on the posting order and to give stuff to reply to? >_> Hope that's ok D: sorry for skipping, again >< ]

Tanwen listened quietly enough to L'der as he spoke. She was actually surprised, she hadn't intended for the conversation to get so serious because of her comment. It'd been more of a play on his comment about 'dirty secrets' than anything. When he asked her the question on getting used to it, she shrugged and finished up her juice. "I got good at it," she admitted. "But it never really grew on..." she trailed off then. L'der had told her to 'go back' to a previous comment. "Well, my uncle is a master glasscraftsman..." But she caught it in his eyes. He didn't mean that. If he didn't, though, then...

L'der caught her off gaurd by grabbing her arm, and she let herself be pulled out of her seat out of sheer surprise. She blinked when he let go of her and lightly turned to offer her his hand. She eyed the hand for a moment, then traveled her gaze up to take in the rest of his form. "Hm..." she said, inclining an eyebrow and turning her body somewhat, so her shoulder was facing towards L'der. If his taking that form was no accident, then it might be interesting enough to be worth interacting with him.

"I'm intrigued," she admitted. Tanwen extended her arm and rested her hand, palm against palm, on his. "But if you can keep up, I'll accept." A moment later she pulled her hand away, turning on her heel and spinning quickly. She brought her leg up as she did so, aiming it towards L'der's side in what may have looked like a side kick.

- - -

[Short for K'ris, since I'm just bringing him over so Kess and T'kal have something to reply to xD;]

K'ris blinked at Tieler's remarks, watching her with an incredibly confused expression. Was this really the same girl who'd been insulting him at every chance she had not very long ago? He could tell she may have just been curious because of the comment he'd made at the hatching, and just now at the table...but she'd been very...tactful with her curiosity, if that was the right word. He watched her turn and hurry off, not quite sure what her apology had been for, and then glanced to Twil on his shoulder before stepping to make his way back towards the table.

Once he was there he let himself back into his seat by Kestrel and T'kal, slipping the cord of his necklace back over his head. "I didn't realize my past was that interesting," he said, hoping it'd offer a bit of an explanation as to why she'd dragged him off.

[kestrel]

It was fortunate that R'yo, while he knew about dragons and had take Candidate lessons, didn't fully comprehend the whole factor about dragons and what it meant for their rider's when they rose. That, unfortunately, would be learned in Weyrling lessons. However, he nodded and smiled, and then asked, "is that a good thing, that he wants to go catch a gold dragon?" He blinked innocently, wondering why Resith should want to go and catch someone else's dragon. Was it some sort of competition? Yes, that had to be it! Maybe it was about training to see what dragons were fastest, and that had been a compliment. It must mean that gold dragons were the fastest, so he said brightly to Wolf with a big smile, "I would love it if Resith could catch Serinth! I bet that she'll be pretty fast though, huh? So he'll I'll have to encourage him to try really, really hard to catch her. Do you think he's got a chance? I mean, if golds are that fast, then maybe bronzes are second fastest. I hope Resith wins, though, that'd be awesome, huh?"

He then said to R'xis, "yeah, I thought it was neat that our names and Resith's name all start with the letter R. I'm really glad you like him, though-do you think maybe when he gets bigger he might try to catch Ersith, too? She looks fast, as well." He grinned at the thought, because R'xis was sort of his idol in the Weyr, and took a bite of meatroll, wondering why Wolf seemed to be chastising R'xis. Had he missed something? Oh well, couldn't have been much, probably an inside joke.

~~~~~~

X'ion sat down, and then popped a pastry in his mouth, trying to think of something to say, and then blurted out, "why were you sitting here looking miserable? You just got yourself a dragon. Are you tired or something?" Well, that was a bit abrupt, but he wasn't great at the whole 'conversing' thing. He'd at least attempted, and he didn't really care if J'kiran was put off by his abrupt and sometimes gruff nature.

In the back of his mind, he wondered if he'd eventually at least learn to converse with one or two people. Maybe better to start with J'kiran, even though they were obviously different in personality and nature. Still, they'd both gotten a bronze, ironically enough, and he had to start somewhere. What was he going to do when in Weyrling Lessons and in a wing? He might even have to be Wingleader one day...that thought didn't make him happy, though it made his curiosity twinge, a bit. He had to wonder how he'd fare in a situation such as that.

He felt uneasy still. It wasn't that he didn't like events like these. It was just that everyone was so buddy-buddy and chatted it up, and he wasn't very social. He enjoyed watching and learning, listening, enjoying the food and the music and whatever these events entailed. He just didn't really know anyone-more by his own doing than theres. He gave off a rather unapproachable aura-on purpose-and that was that.

~~~~~~

Raska had been watching, and she saw Tieler taking off abruptly. Not only that, but K'ris was coming back to the table, and Tieler was not. She waited for K'ris to get to the table. She patiently, though beginning to grow irate, waited for him to sit down. However, before she could ask in her usual threateningly harsh mannerism what he'd said to her-and threaten bodily harm to him if he'd hurt her feelings-he spoke.

Her eyes widened, and she looked off to where Tieler had gone to sit against the wall, then back to K'ris, and asked in a tone full of warning if she didn't get a straight answer, "what do you mean by that, exactly? Why would Tieler give a dragon's crap about your past? If you've hurt her feelings, so help me you'll wish you'd drowned at that hatching, shorty!"

Raska had few friends, by choice. She found most people self absorbed, snotty, and judgemental. She was who she was, and few people knew who that was. Only Tieler had seen the loyalty and kindness that she could show to another person. Maybe it was because Tieler was sort of like her-but not. She could tell that the red-haired girl was trying to find her place in life, in the Weyr. Behind all the tough show, there was an insecurity about who she was, and an unsurity. Well, that was fine. So long as Tieler never double crossed her, or turned her back on her in favor of the other crowd, she'd stick by her to the end, no matter if she decided she wanted to be a more upstanding person or no.

Raska was who she was. Rough around the edges, tough as a nail, but totally a softie when it came to animals and a completely loyal and honest person when it came to friends. She'd rather one or two close friends than a lot. She would bother with others if she wanted to-if they could deal with her just being herself. Unlike Tieler, she was comfortable with who she was. She only stole from knuckleheaded idiots who thought they were better than others. She wouldn't steal from anyone in her own Weyr, either. She saved that for pomptuous, bragging idiots who thought they were all that at gathers and other Holds/Weyrs. She hadn't met anyone deserving of her theivery at Dark Moon. Sure, they annoyed her, but they were all right so far as people went, she supposed. Not that they'd ever know she thought that.

She'd probably eventually grow out of a few of her bad habits, as she had in the past. She would never grow out of her biting tongue and wit, and her sarcastic humorisms-not that everyone found them funny. She would never grow out of being at least somewhat rough around the edges, and she was a 'darker' sort of person. She actually hoped that she'd never impress a female dragon. She didn't think she could deal with it-but somehow, she thought Tieler would be able to. She awaited K'ris answer, not exactly glaring, but her eyes held a cold and wary look. She couldn't know that he'd said anything upsetting to her, and she wasn't going to jump to conclusions.

She'd summed up K'ris, just like she'd summed up just about everyone else in the Weyr. She didn't see him making any comments to hurt anyone, even if she figured he could mix words if he chose to. He didn't seem confrontational, he didn't seem like he'd enjoy a fist fight. So, whatever he'd said, or done, may not have been intentional. If it had been, however, he'd be warned what would happen if it happened again. She didn't care if he had a newer, 'higher' role now that he'd impressed. A person was a person, and no one got away with hurting her friend.

~~~~~~

Kestrel watched as Tieler walked off, instantly alert and curious. She figured K'ris would explain what was what when he got back, and, sure enough, he offered some explanation. However, it didn't quite fit. Even more so than Raska, Kestrel was on the ball. She knew there was something about Tieler that the girl kept hidden. In fact, she'd known since Alias, which was what she'd named her mutant flitt from Roksha's hatching, had impressed to her. She hadn't had much chance, between Candidate lessons and her regular chores, to go see the girl. Still, the look on her face had been upset. Sure, she was glad K'ris had come out of it for the better, but still...there was a side to Tieler that she would have liked to get to know better. She poked at her wherry, and then stood up, saying with an apologetic smile, "excuse me a moment," before heading over in Tieler's direction.

She hadn't seen Hasima at the hatching feast. She hadn't seen Akki, or that boy who hung around her a lot, Z'ayr, either. Something was up, they'd all been talking amongst themselves. Hasima had looked a bit upset, and so had the other two. She had no clue what was up, but she felt ill at ease. Where were they? Hasima was her best friend-wouldn't she have been there, at her hatching feast? She pushed the feeling to the back of her mind, finally reaching Tieler and sinking down beside her.

"Hey, how's Alias?" she asked easily, not looking at Tieler but out at the crowd. She didn't want to put her ill at ease. Better to play by action and reaction. She wasn't pushy, and she wasn't going to stay and try to be friendly to someone who didn't want it. But somehow...she knew Tieler wasn't all bad. There was something there, that if you bothered to try and see, you could. However, it was a matter of if she let you or no. Well, Kestrel could wait.

~~~~~~

"Hrm...two gone, and now it's just us three!" T'kal said, and then "oh? She wanted to know about your past? Maybe she's taken a shine to you!" Leave it to T'kal to state whatever everyone else might think, but wouldn't say. He smiled apologetically at Raska, figuring she'd not be too psyched about what he'd just said-but he bet she was thinking something of this, too!

He grinned lopsidedly, brushing a strand of crimson hair out of his eyes, and took another bite of food, before letting K'ris have time to answer Raska. He looked from one to the other speculatively, rather curious to know what Tieler had wanted to know. That girl was an interesting one, that was for sure. A real firecracker, her and her friend. Pity she was so adverse to friendliness. She was a cute firecracker, even if she was a bit odd!

[Sparrow]

Marletta felt a little guilty for interrupting Kaiya, she seemed to be deep in thought, though she smiled when she looked up so it seemed it was alright. When Kaiya offered her congratulations Marletta grinned, “Thank you, her name is Issaeyith. You impressed a green as well, right? Congratulations. What’s her name?” Marletta turned to where Wolf was calling for them, and Kaiya asked if she wanted to sit over there. “Of course! I don’t know very many people here, despite being here well before the hatching.” She got to her feet and waited for Kaiya to lead the way to the other table.

((Short and late, my apologies))

[Wolf]

{ OOC| Dance mode people, keepin’ it short, keepin’ it reaaaaal. }

L’der kept the surprise from his face; instead he made an “hm” sound, as if he’d expected her to respond in such a way. His blood began to pump faster and he could feel his heart racing, this was just the beginning, no real adrenaline yet... He shifted away smoothly when her leg kicked out at him, stepping behind her to rest one hand upon her waste. He breathed lightly, heat emanating from his body. His other hand came down behind her knee of the unoffending leg that hadn’t shot out in a swift kick. Then, with a grace all his own, he tipped Tanwen back. ‘Dip her? I think not,’ he thought, knowing at first sight it would have very well appeared that way. Instead, he supports her weight, flipping the teenage girl over backwards. A hint of mischief flashed in his eyes, not that anyone would catch it. ‘How is this happening?’ he wondered, completely enraptured by the art of dance.

~ ~ ~

‘Could it be any louder in here?’ Alias, not seeming at all to be bothered by the noise; perching atop Tieler’s knee. Tieler didn’t seem at all distracted from her thoughts when her flitt made contact with her. The images continued to roll through her head, each one making her either cringe or shudder, uncontrollably. Tieler stared dead ahead, much like she’d been so intently staring at the floor when talking to K’ris. The air felt very thick, but she knew her heavy breathing had nothing to do with the heat of the room. She clamped her hands to the side of her legs, her nails digging in to the fabric of her pants. Not seeming to notice, even when her uneven nails pinched skin, her mind’s imagery continued to play like a broken record, always repeating.

When Kestrel came on over and asked how Alias was doing Kestrel’s voice didn’t even register with Tieler. Alias had to send her an image of the girl to get her attention, the clear image of Kestrel breaking her other-less vivid-image of the Harper Hall. “What?” Tieler spoke softly, looking off to the right where Kestrel stood by her. Tieier sent Alias feelings of gratitude and the flitt chirruped a welcome. She waited for Tieler to repeat herself, Alias’ head now craned to look over at the girl also. She felt bad... well, no, not felt bad, felt... annoyed? Yes, annoyed, that she missed what Kestrel had said. Her eyes narrowed, which was just her re-masking her emotions. ‘What’s the use,’ she sighed, suddenly not up to it. Her expression returned to a more neutral look, tinted with guilt. Surely all of this emotion couldn’t have had anything to do with a single boy that she barely knew?

Alias had heard Kestrel’s question, and felt quite overjoyed hearing her name come from her Clutchmother’s bonded. Soon after chirruping to Tieler she did also, by way of greeting, to Kestrel. The Moonstreak flitt had filled out nicely, her hide well-oiled, showing full well that she was not a victim of neglect. Tieler took good care of her, though it would not look that way to any one, except for maybe Kestrel.

~ ~ ~

Wolf was glad that R’yo didn’t seem to be taking R’xis’ comment in a bad way. Rather, he had a huge smile on his face, why did he look so giddy? Wolf watched the boy, waiting for him to say something, and then he did. It was a terrible time for her to decide to take a bite of her meatroll because as soon as his words came out of his mouth she stopped chewing, feeling her entire throat burn. She coughed, unsure if she was choking or had just forgotten to breathe. R’xis, completely spaced out from what R’yo had said, stared at the boy with a lowered jaw. Getting over the shock enough to notice his sister near death he rose from his seat, kneeling down by her. “Hey, you okay?” She swallowed, gasping for air. Once her breathing had regulated again she looked to her concerned brother, placing a hand on his shoulder consolingly. “Yah... just fine... I think.” R’xis, standing back up, burst out laughing. The boy fell back down into his seat, watching a bewildered Wolf turn on him with another menacing glare. Then, R’yo added in the bit about Ersith, and it was his turn to lose breath. The color drained from his face, and he sat there in a stupor. Wolf, it being her turn to laugh, did so; feeling at liberty to do so loudly. She turned to R’yo when she was done, patting his leg.

“You’re a funny kid, you know that?” she told him. She quickly withdrew her hand, her face pale like her brothers. She wasn’t sure if R’yo really knew what he was saying, he mustn’t have, right? In any case she figured it was by time he learned the ways of Pernese Dragonmen, and what better time for him to learn then now? Her gaze shifted over to her brother, and a sly grin was quick to show on her lips when the idea came to her mind. She nodded to R’xis, who by now was as white as a ghost, and firmly holding on to the edges of his seat. “R’xis, why not take this strapping lad someplace where you two can talk-okay?” R’xis, it not taking him long to catch on, shook his head back and forth rapidly.

“Wolf, no!” he shouted, holding on more tightly to his seat, growling at her.
“I think so my dear brother, I think so,” she chuckled. She was enjoying seeing him suffer like this. Getting up she took his arm and tugged him up roughly. Then, she walked her brother over to R’yo, pulling him up as well. “You two, have fun.” She gave a huge, overly dramatic smile while looking up at one boy and then the other, turning back around to go and sit down in her seat. This served two purposes, having R’xis squirm firstly, and secondly now she could talk to Kaiya and Marletta more easily without the distraction of two boys.

R’xis scratched the back of his head, being just as dramatic as his sister when he sighed. Scowling, he pointed in a direction for R’yo to go. “Come on, let’s walk and talk, it’s time that you learned about...” And he leaned over to R’yo, trying not to laugh as he whispered the three letter word that was on the brains of most men. As if this whole thing hadn’t been awkward enough.