I fought the law, and... the law won (Kaya/Holt)

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

It was with a great deal of extremely ill-disguised relief that K’tar set down the plate that he’d been scrubbing and followed Holt out into the street. He’s set it back down in the dirty dish-water, but that wasn’t really a concern of his anymore, and besides, even if it had been, he would have been too tired to care. He was having trouble focusing on what was in front of him; the watchrider’s red hair was somehow blurring into the Metanath’s Black hide. He heard Holt say something, but the meaning of the word took a couple seconds. Ready? Ready for what?

Large-Black-Metanath-dislikes-us is taking you and H’rarn-Korith’s-Holt back to the good-place-sleep-there-Weyr, then coming back for Blue-brother-friend-Korith and I, Viarth supplied. How exactly the little Purple had managed to understand that would have to remain a mystery, for he was swaying as he walked out, and his nose and tail were dragging the ground, for he lacked even the energy to lift them.

“Oh, ok. I’m ready then,” K’tar said, to both Viarth and N’kio. He was ready. He was ready to get back to the Weyr, go to sleep, and pretend that the latter half of the day had never happened.

[Moo]

Despite his own exhaustion from the day’s work, N’kio was unable to keep from smiling at the sorry sight of the weyrlings. No one said it’d be easy at Cliffside. When he received confirmation from both boys, N’kio walked over to the side closest to them and waited.

“Go ahead and mount up, one behind the other, and then I’ll strap you in.”

Even Metanath, who still regarded Viarth with some suspicion, shared in his Rider’s amusement. He pressed himself to the ground in an attempt to make the climb up his back a bit easier for the tired weyrlings. The faster they hurried, the faster they would get back to that Weyr of theirs, and then he and N'kio could finally get some sleep.

[Kaya]

Holt wasted no time when N'kio gave the go ahead. He took a couple tries to find his footing but he made it up onto the dragon's back. Korith watched the whole time, wanting his Rider not to fall, but he didn't think he could get in too close. Plus that required more moving and he was tired.

Holt settled himself on the Black dragon and looked down to watch K'tar get up. He was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to help him much. His arms were tired from the dishes, even though he'd washed far fewer of them. Holding all those plates at angles he wasn't used to had tired him. "...Your turn," he called from Metanath's back.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar watched Holt clamber up onto the Black’s back. There was no way this was going to be easy. It would have been easy, except for the fact that his arms ached even hanging by his sides, using them to pull himself up was going to be… difficult. With a sigh, the Weyrling stepped over and attempted to replicate his friend’s feat. He did manage to scramble up onto Metanath’s back on his first try, but only because he got lucky with his footing. Once in place, he simply waited for N’kio to strap them in so that they could go back to the Weyr.

Viarth edged closer to Korith, trying to hide behind his slightly smaller friend. He did not want to be the sole object of large-Black-Metanath’s attention, and not being clearly visible seemed ideal to him. He was exhausted, barely awake, and the only reason that he wasn’t panicking at his rider’s departure was because he had Blue-brother-friend-Korith around. Well, that was the primary reason. There were a couple of secondary reasons, one being that K’tar was calmer (and therefore so was Viarth) and the second being that the Purple was simply too tired to process information at a rate sufficient to induce fear. Quite simply, he was too tired to panic. Edging closer to Korith, he tried to rest his head against the Blue’s shoulder, so that his nose didn’t drag the ground.

[Moo]

Without another word, N’kio walked around Metanath and, with skilled hands, quickly strapped the two Weyrlings in. Once he was satisfied, he swung up behind them and settled into his seat. On a calm night like tonight, there was no need to worry with his own riding straps. Turns of practice saw to that. Beats an ocean rescue any day, doesn’t it?

Metanath nodded his agreement and readied to take off, wings extending – but glanced to the small dragons to his side first. Do not worry, we will be back shortly. Just rest. A picture of the Weyrling barracks in his mind turned him back to the task at hand. Focused on his Rider’s image, as well as that of his own, Metanath pushed off the ground and blinked in Between before either Viarth or Korith could reply.

In a few moments, they reappeared above their destination. Angling his wings, Metanath slowed himself down and touched down in the Weyr Bowl. Much easier than an ocean rescue.

Still sporting a tired smile, N’kio reached forward and unbuckled the riding straps holding H’rarn and K’tar in place. Feeling there was no need for announcing that they had arrived, he dismounted with ease and waited, ready to help if necessary, for their two passengers to slide off.

[Kaya]

It was all starting to blur in his tiredness, now that Holt had done just about everything necessary to get home. He watched in a sort of suspended numbness as N'kio strapped them in and they took off. Between was cold as ever but did little to wake him. He felt the faintest spark of happiness to be returned home.

N'kio waited to help them off, which Holt appreciated. He made his way down but the weyrling needed help for the last bit of descent so that he'd not lose his footing and crash into the ground. He was too tired to try a neat slide, too tired to do much of anything really. But he did make it, no new scrapes added, and he gave the Rider a look of thanks. He owed him one, not that he was sure how to make it up to the Watch Rider.

He considered just walking away but waiting for K'tar would probably be the better thing do to and would they wait for their dragons to arrive? Would that be best? Too tired for decisions...

Korith waited in silence. He let Viarth lean on him, even though it was uncomfortable (surely it wasn't comfortable for the Purple either). Holt was fine, they were exhausted, but they could be apart so that they could soon again be together and asleep.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

The trip was uneventful, the cold of between incapable of producing a response. Or rather, the cold and darkness of between were as capable for inducing a response as ever, but K’tar was so exhausted that by the time he noticed they were between, they had already appeared over the WeyrBowl at Rainbow Mists.

K’tar remained in place as Metanath settled, blinking sleepily in an attempt to keep himself awake. He watched Holt reach the ground, then turned and slithered down. His legs gave out from under him as he touched the ground, so that he fell back onto his butt. Groaning, he pushed himself up. He couldn’t even tell if falling had hurt, he was too tired to notice whether it had.

He shambled over to Holt, blindly seeking companionship in much the same fashion as a tired puppy. They should wait for their dragons to arrive, and it would be better to do that together as compared to doing it apart.

Viarth whimpered as K’tarHis and H’rarn-Korith’s-Holt left with large-Black-Metanath-doesn’t-like-me and red-hair-human-of-Metanath. He didn’t want to be separated from K’tar. It wasn’t fair! Whimpering a little more, the Purple pushed his head against Blue-brother-friend-Korith’s shoulder, as though he could bury his fear by hiding his eyes.