“Of course. It is my favorite time of day, since I get to be around Zigbrieth. And of course he loves it since it is scheduled. At least I’m pretty sure that’s it.” The Blue wasn’t perfect, and together they were average, which was alight. Still, practices were a way of getting better.
Breaker noticed Kel’s hand first, getting closer to investigate. Dawn watched, interested, but not enough to get closer. The Brick nosed Kel’s hand for a moment before going to investigate this new human, flying about him and taking a look. Dawn trilled, amused and Cyan looked up and smiled at the pair.
“Be a little careful around him. He did get the Brick gene for mischief.” She motioned toward her flitter before snapping her fingers. “You didn’t meet them before, right? This is Dawn, and the curious guy is Breaker. They are pretty relaxed, as long as Breaker isn’t in a Brick sort of mood.” Breaker turned to view Cyan, catching that he was part of the conversation. Still, he broke off his investigation for merely nosing Kel’s shoulder.
Post by Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro) on May 6, 2014 17:47:28 GMT -8
Kel glanced over at Cyan, smile flickering in the depths of his hazel eyes as Breaker nosed his hand. Returning his gaze to the firelizard, he tracked the little Brick’s motions.
“Breaker, eh?” he mused, practically addressing the firelizard rather than Cyan. Breaker nosed his shoulder than, and Kel smiled again.
“I haven’t seen one this close before,” he commented, studying the little creature with wonder. “Nalkeldar could never keep them around, and…” He shut his mouth, but reached up to rub Breaker’s eye ridges.
“He’s really handsome. Dawn’s beautiful. They really are just like miniature dragons, aren’t they?” Carefully, almost cautiously, he increased the pressure of his rubbing.
Cyan was glad that Kel seemed to be happy hanging around. She had hoped that he hadn’t just tagged along because he felt he should or something. That didn’t seem to be the case. It was just a relaxing walk with a friend. Breaker chirped once in response to being addressed, before crooning softly at a nice pet. Yes he did like this.
Cyan looked briefly confused as he trailed off. She didn’t know where Nalkeldar was from, so she couldn’t say why he cut off suddenly. If it was from his home before getting to his previous Weyr (Igen was it?) then it made most sense. Her family had been off okay but she hadn’t ever gotten anything like a firelizard egg as a turnday gift. She decided to pick up the conversation, trying to reassure Kel at the same time.
“A bunch of people have them here, but I probably wouldn’t ever have gotten a firelizard if I hadn’t come. No one in my family had ever gotten a firelizard before, so they were pretty interested when they visited. If there is a hatching, you could probably get one too!” Cyan got somewhat more animated as she spoke. “Enough people have firelizards around so the kitchens tend to host the clutches fairly often. I’d check from time to time, if you were interested in one.” She distinctly forgot what other events had happened at the last hatching. No need to think about that.
“Igen doesn’t have as many flitters then? I guess they wouldn’t get as many wild ones for sure.”
Post by Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro) on May 6, 2014 19:07:41 GMT -8
A slow smile crept onto Kel’s face as Breaker crooned. There was something truly wonderful about the moment.
After Nalkeldar’s name had slipped out of his mouth, Kel’d felt like his mind was glassed over for a second, all slippery and smooth with no purchase. Fortunately, despite his high profile in Ingen, Nalkeldar had never grown old enough as the heir to Lord Vorkellis for his name to be common knowledge.
“No, not nearly so many flitters,” Kel answered. It was not strictly speaking a lie, though Igen’s firelizard count was comparatively lesser only because Rainbow Mists had so very many that even kitchen drudges were likely to have a special friend if they so desired.
“There any requirements on getting them?” he asked. A firelizard would make so many things easier, he’d be able to send messages when it was convenient and safe for him, rather than gambling on when his masters contacted him. They turned yet another corner, getting into the riders’ personal weyrs now.
“No, not really. It’s just like any other hatching. Except you are already holding food I suppose.” She pondered this as Dawn landed on her shoulder, relaxing as Cyan moved. She was feeling a bit better, so she pace quickened very slightly. She didn’t even really have to think about navigating, she knew the way to her room pretty well. “I guess it’s possible you don’t get one, but generally most folks who have food get one. And the kitchens always have food, so it’s not a matter of being left without it.” After all she had been helping out some with that last time.
“I’m sure a hatching will pop up soon enough. Just gotta keep an ear out.” Breaker chirped in a friendly way, happy with his pets, but seemed to expect that they were getting close to home. Cyan wasn’t sure if this meant she should keep an eye out for trouble or what.
Post by Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro) on May 6, 2014 21:38:18 GMT -8
Kel kept scratching Breaker, stretching his stride out slightly so as to match Cyan’s quickening pace. He was relieved that she was starting to speed up, that meant she probably hadn’t taken any real damage from her “fall”.
What do you think Belegurth?
One would certainly make sending messages easier
“I’ll have to do that,” Kel said, scratching Breaker’s eye ridges. It seemed odd to him, this way that everyone was allowed to try for an egg, but then back in Igen, while they might have been common, they were still distributed on a distinct priority, so…
Cyan nodded. She was certainly the kind of person who could appreciate that Kel wanted a firelizard. And obviously she wanted to see it when he impressed one. She looked thoughtful for a moment, a question for him having popped up in her mind. Still, she hesitated to ask, if only because she didn’t know Kel well enough to figure out how he would answer. Well, it wasn’t likely to be reflected as an offensive question, which was what she was most worried about. So after rubbing under Dawn’s chin for a moment she tried to be as cheerful as she could with her question.
“Did you like it at Igen? I hear it is very…different from here.” Cyan was not really referring to politics here, but it might sound like it to the outside observer. She had basically never been out of reach of the sea, and it felt like that would make a huge difference to what sort of place it was. There was a follow up question tickling at her, but she would see if he didn’t just answer it as part of this question.
Post by Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro) on May 7, 2014 7:47:43 GMT -8
Kel checked his motion for a split second as the question registered, then kept walking along. “I…”
Careful!
Shards!
His first instinct, which was to answer that he missed it, was clearly not going to work. He’d supposedly transferred out of there. On the other hand, he had to say something, or he could end up giving away the whole game.
“It was alright,” he commented. “I kinda miss the weather there, hot, but very dry. Not like the moisture here. Belegurth used to enjoy just walking outside and taking sand-baths.”
What? I was a hatchling, that doesn’t count!
Verisimilitude. Gives us more depth, less likely to question it. Of course, the real truth was that he’d been doing the equivalent of grasping at straws, since he didn’t want to answer questions on Weyr policies, but Kel wasn’t going to tell Belegurth that.
Cyan watched as he looked for words to answer and looked thoughtful at his response. “I can understand that. I would be missing the sea if I ever went some place that didn’t have it.” You liked what you were used to. Easy enough. She didn’t quite know what a sand bath was though. Maybe she would look it up later. The path of the conversation did lead up to her follow up question.
“Do you like Igen better then Rainbow Mists?” She paused then got slightly more animated as she added, “And don’t worry about saying you don’t like Rainbow Mists, I just want to hear what you think. After all, honesty is the best policy, right?” She was very childish in some respects, but things were often that simple for her. And there were some things she didn’t understand.
Post by Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro) on May 7, 2014 8:27:21 GMT -8
Kel’s lips quivered, almost like he was going to smile at Cyan’s response. Then came one of those questions that couldn’t be answered. Or rather, couldn’t be answered honestly. He almost laughed aloud then, at Cyan’s comment that honesty was always the best policy. Clearly, she had no idea of what honesty would result in for him. Shards, he could imagine it now. Just walking into the Weyrleader’s office and saying that he didn’t actually come from Igen Weyr, that he’d been sent as a spy in… no, honest was definitely not always the best policy.
“They’re kind of hard to compare,” he temporized. “I like how laid-back things are here.”
Cyan looked at Kel with a raised eyebrow. It was an answer, and yet it wasn’t. She sighed softly, disappointed, but continued to speak anyway.
“It is relaxed, most of the time.” The interesting thing was she should probably be a little less quick to say that, what with being involved in plenty of far too exciting events. However, those were in the minority, the everyday was more relaxing. Cyan mused a bit, then seemed to cheer at a new thought.
“You should take me to Igen if you ever visit. Then I could see for myself what it’s like there. I have never been to another Weyr before.” She seemed pleased at the idea. She was an enthusiastic person by nature, of course, but didn’t plan as much as others. Zigbrieth might be rubbing off on her more then she thought. She spied her room up ahead, realizing that she was almost back. Breaker nosed Kel, moving to try and get his back scratched. The rough Brick hide could need some extra scratching and he wanted to get it in before they got home. Breaker presumed that food awaited them there.
Post by Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro) on May 7, 2014 10:09:05 GMT -8
Kel choked, his scratching pausing until Breaker solicited a back scratch from him. This was an unforeseen complication!
Say she can!
What?
She said “if”, not when!
“Certainly,” Kel got out, forcing the word through a tightening throat. He managed a smile. It felt wavery, though he knew from experience that it wasn’t wavering much. His stomach felt like someone had knotted his intestines around it. What if she guessed, what if she figured everything out? He knew how threats would be dealt with, but applying that to her, the woman who’d smiled when she first saw him… He stomped on the thought, hard.
Why object so? We’ve done it before.
Not her!
Belegurth snorted, though in truth he was far less sure than he wished to seem. This place challenged assumptions, made knowledge invalid.
At no time after that initial shock did Kel stop scratching the firelizard. Maybe it was self-control. Maybe it was simple desperation, desire to keep some part of himself unaware, as if refusal to acknowledge could make things unreal.
Cyan didn’t catch any of what Kel was actually feeling, instead taking his reactions at face value. Which was that he got a cough (it seemed) and then answered her question. That is, assuming Breaker wasn’t causing something. She observed the Brick enjoying a back scratch, so that didn’t seem to be the case. Or she may have missed something and Kel was too polite to bring it up. However, not of those were things to comment on right now.
“Great! Well I’m going to relax a bit, assuming Breaker hasn’t somehow glued himself to your hand.” She had arrived at her room and she opened the door a crack. Dawn chittered a farewell to the new human and darted inside. She wanted her spot on the bed before Breaker got to it. The Brick however, didn’t want to move so quickly. He crooned more, getting some last scratching in before Cyan frowned a bit, and said, “Breaker…” in a sing song voice. He reluctantly pulled back and trilled a farewell before heading to Cyan’s hair and making himself comfortable on her head.
“Silly flitter. Anyway, thanks again for all your help today. I’m really glad we got to talk. I should hang out with you more often.” She really didn’t know what was going on in Kel’s head, not like she thought she did. She did, however, really have fun, which was the truth.
Hmph. Cyanee almost laughed at the Blue in her mind. Zigbrieth was going to have a big sulk now that his schedule for the day had been upended. No Beach, no practicing knots, no helping out in the evening. She was going to have to spend her time relaxing cheering him up. Fortunately the two activities were not mutually exclusive.
Post by Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro) on May 7, 2014 10:53:32 GMT -8
Kel’s mouth twitched in what might have been the beginnings of a genuine smile as Breaker flew away to settle on Cyan’s head.
There, see, she doesn’t suspect a thing, he told himself. and you were all worried about it.
“You’re welcome,” he replied, his voice easy. Easy with relief. Someone who suspected nothing was no threat. Someone who was no threat didn’t have to be reported, wouldn’t end up with trouble. Had he known it, his own plans for the rest of the day, since they didn’t involve dealing with an annoyed dragon, were much simpler than hers. He simply intended to go get some lunch, and then sit down and repair his fighting straps. Just a normal day, which was all today was, really.