Love Like No One's Watching

[PhazonDragon]

[ooc: Tag H'vas, but open to everyone.]

The day was rather uneventful. On Pern, weyrlings had chores. Though Hy'ka had been here for a couple of weeks, he longed for the physical activity of chores. Instead, the blue weyrling spent a good portion of the afternoon at the lake, bathing and massaging his dragon. With the passing of the days, the weather turned colder. Hy'ka became chilled, shivering as he scrubbed at Brynath's soon-shining hide. A wide grin was plastered on the weyrling's face, as he tried to simultaneously wash the dragon and wave away the pesky brown flitter, Kivral. Hy'ka entered the weyr again, dripping water, and teeth chattering.

He was just in time for dinner--Hy'ka made a quick stop in his room to change. He brushed the tired-out Kivral off of his shoulders, giving the flitter a glare as he squawked at him in protest. The recent excursion took Hy'ka's mind off of everything, especially the focus of his attention: H'vas. Hy'ka paused, halfway through struggled out of his dripping shirt, the dampness of which made it hard to pull off as it clung to his skin. H'vas. Hy'ka hadn't seen him all day. He would have to look for him at dinner... Hy'ka missed the older rider. The weyrling changed into a clean outfit, one that wasn't soaking wet. His hair was a different matter though. Hy'ka didn't dry it, preferring to let his short, choppy hair dry on its own.

You do not want to miss dinner, Brynath chided his rider. Or H'vas. The blue was in his room now, and nosed aside the curtain to stick his head inside Hy'ka's room. He blinked, watching Hy'ka. Hurry if you want your dinner to be warm. I'll take myself to the feeding grounds, and eat there. Behave at dinner. Brynath retreated back into his half of the weyr, and soon Hy'ka heard the flap of his wings, as Brynath left.

I will, Hy'ka responded, smiling at the thought of seeing H'vas at the meal. "All right, to the dining hall..." the weyrling said to no one, not counting Kivral, who had climbed up his arm to curl around Hy'ka's shoulders. He reached up and affectionately scratched at the brown fire lizard's chin. Smoothing back his now drying hair, Hy'ka left his weyr, gently closing the door behind him. He set off down the hallway, heading down to the dining hall. "Want some dinner, Kivral?" he asked the sleeping flitter, though he knew the answer.

Hy'ka made his way to the dining hall. Dinnertime was near, and people started to gather. There was food set out already, just waiting for someone to divvy up servings for themselves. Hy'ka inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of roasted meat, sautéed vegetables, as well as various other options for the vegetarians, vegans (an idea that Hy'ka seemed to frown upon), and picky eaters. The blue weyrling was quick to grab a plate for his own servings, and shuffled into the short line. The current set-up was buffet style. At the smell of the food, Kivral opened one eye, peering at the food that was piling up on Hy'ka's plate. "Kivral," Hy'ka sternly said, "You'll get a little something, but not now."

Reaching the end of the line at the table of food, and being satisfied with the portions on his plate, Hy'ka nabbed silverware and picked up a cup, filling it with the odd, fizzy drink that he had come to love (something called soda?). Carefully balancing both plate and cup, Hy'ka scanned the dining hall. Many tables were empty. Most of residents of the weyr were in line for food anyway. Hy'ka spotted a nice table near the right side of the hall, and he made his way over to sit down. H'vas wasn't here yet, the weyrling knew that much.

Hy'ka placed his plate and cup down, along with the silverware. Kivral was fully awake now, and eyeing the meat on the weyrling's plate with a hungry red orb. "Not yet. Let me eat something first!" Hy'ka chuckled, sitting down and allowing the brown flitter to scramble down his arm to sit on the table. "Oh, fine..." Hy'ka picked up a small bit of the meat off of his plate, and dangled it in front of the fire lizard's face. Kivral snatched it up in the blink of an eye, then returned to crooning for more. Hy'ka ignored him, picking up his fork and starting to eat, but the blue weyrling kept an eye out for H'vas.

[Samari]

H'vas darted into the dining hall, severely out of breath. He looked around the area for a while. He whined after his first scan, not seeing the familiar brunette locks of Hy'ka. He took a short walk before returning, and spotting his beloved Blue weyrling. He grinned and fixed his plate, walking over to Hy'ka's table.



"Excuse me, Good sir. Is this seat taken?"


H'vas chuckled and sat next to Hy'ka.


"I didn't see you when I first got here. Sorry if I worried you."


He scooted closer to Hy'ka before digging in to his food. He'd gotten his most recent favorite: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup. He grinned and looked over to Hy'ka.


"How have you been?"

[PhazonDragon]

Hy'ka dug into his food, bending over the table as he shoved fork-fulls of food into his mouth. It wouldn't do to make a mess of himself. As karma would have it, Hy'ka was looking down when H'vas ran into the dining hall. Hy'ka glanced up. He saw no one. Karma's a silly thing. The weyrling still cast his gaze around the dining hall. Hy'ka was sitting alone, but at the rate that the seats were filling up, even with the small number of people at Rocky (compared to say, Benden or Fort) it wouldn't be long before most of the tables were full. H'vas...?

"Excuse me, Good sir. Is this seat taken?"

A familiar voice made Hy'ka jerk his head up and to the side. "Taken? No of course n--H'vas!" Hy'ka beamed, setting down his fork and wiping off his mouth out of courtesy. "Nah, the seat's not taken, and you know it. You didn't worry me.. I knew you would be here sooner or later, and I would stay here until you came, or Brynath told me where you went.. Assuming Cherath would let Brynath know," the weyrling added with a nod as H'vas sat down with his own food.

"Grilled cheese and tomato soup? Only that?" Hy'ka prodded, gesturing to his own plate, containing turkey, a few spicy potatoes, and a generous portion of assorted cooked peppers. "Don't complain to me if you're hungry later," he laughed. "I've been fine... I missed you all day though. What about you, H'vas?"

[Samari]

H'vas chuckled.



"I hear they allow seconds. Besides, if you didn't see, I got 3 sandwiches and 2 bowls of soup, and a side of buttered bread."



He smiled and blushed slightly. He moved on leg to rest just under Hy'ka's. He munched happily on his chosen meal.


"I've missed you too."

[Topaz]

It had been such a bizarre change being around girls. Spending the majority of his life at an all boys boarding school, Logan barely even knew how to talk to the other gender, despite his own feminine tendencies. Boys were much simpler, be them gay or straight. And generally more amusing, as far as the whiteweyrling was concerned.

With that in mind, Logan took one look around the dining hall, food laden plate in hand, and immediately knew where he wanted to sit. He sauntered over to the happy couple at the otherwise unoccupied table and paused.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" Logan asked sweetly. He realized quickly that he may have been interrupting an intimate moment between the two lovers - it was quite clear to the experienced boy that that was indeed what they were - but as the tables filled, he did not want to sit next to any of the chattering females who were all Logan could hear.

[PhazonDragon]

Rolling his eyes, Hy'ka commented, "But soup doesn't fill you up like this turkey stuff does." Hy'ka poked at it with his fork. His lips twitched into a smirk when H'vas moved his leg closer to the weyrling's. "And neither does a cheese sandwich... Even if you have three," Hy'ka scoffed, turning his nose up at H'vas. He feigned a frown, turning back to his dinner, and shoveling a fork-full into his mouth again. "Who wouldn't miss me? I would I would miss myself," he said with an egotistic air.

Hy'ka held this pose for a second, before a bark of laughter escaped his lips. The weyrling smilied widely, showing off his teeth, and leaned over, closer to H'vas. Hy'ka rested his head on the man's shoulder. "We should spend more time with each other... Not just at dinnertime. Then maybe I wouldn't miss you so much," he whispered into H'vas' ear. Kivral nabbed a strip of the turkey, but Hy'ka didn't care.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?"

Hy'ka tore his eyes off of H'vas to see who was talking to them. Ah Weyrling Logan, was it? Hy'ka remembered seeing him at a lesson. "I think the better question is if you don't mind sitting with us... Because I don't mind," the blue weyrling responded, sitting upright. He brushed the brown flitter away from his plate, dully noting that a few extra strips of his meat were now gone. "You can sit with us, Logan, right?"

[Samari]

H'vas looked to Logan and smiled.



"You can sit here. I don't mind. Well, not as long as Hy'ka doesn't care."


He leaned slightly against the blue Weyrling, planting a kiss on his cheek. He always felt so giddy around him.



"I'll get something more filling when the line dies down."

[Topaz]

Logan smirked at the brunette's playful challenge, setting his plate and cup down as he maneuvered to sit on the bench across from the pair. "Of course I can. Rather you two than the gossip girls over there, for sure." He replied, jerking his head towards the babbling group of young girls a nearby table. He gave them a lingering glance, as if trying to understand the practically alien language spewing from their mouths at breakneck speed. Clearly making no progress, he turned back to his dinner guests with a subtle roll of his eyes. "Very strange." He remarked as he took up his utensils and began to cut into a small piece of steak.

The kiss planted sweetly on the weyrling's cheek stole Logan's attention for a moment, making him smile warmly before politely looking back down at his plate. This place was far better than school. Sure, sneaking around to meet up and make-out in some random classroom was all fine and dandy, but here there were no prejudices or consequences for showing affection. Previously, Logan had no idea the number of gay men that were in the Weyr. Oh, he had his suspicions, but no proof until these two. It was remarkably comforting and something akin to an epiphany. Oh yes. He would enjoy staying here very much, he decided, cleverly hiding his cheerful grin by shoveling a large piece of steak into his mouth.

As if he could taste it himself, Uffizi popped onto the scene, landed on the table, and cawed to be fed. Logan looked to the bronze with a less than pleased expression. "Let me eat some first.. then maybe if you're nice, you can have some." Whining indignantly, Uffizi lashed his tail in protest, smacking Kivral in the head with it before sitting down, completely unawares. Logan huffed irately. "See, now you can go bum off of someone else. I fed you this morning for Christ's sake.." He said, brandishing his fork at the bronze, making him back away from the diners, hissing.

Turning back to the couple, Logan gave an apologetic frown. "Sorry about him. Uh.. Oh, I'm Logan by the way." He shrugged, smiling sheepishly. Not really the best transition, but at least it was informative.

[PhazonDragon]

"Well of course I don't mind... I just said so, didn't I?" Hy'ka teased, leaning into the kiss that H'vas gave him, despite the fact that the weyrling was standing right in front of them. Hy'ka didn't care. If Logan couldn't handle it, then he might as well leave. Plus, if he didn't like seeing two male partners together, then he wouldn't have come over to them. There were plenty of opens seats still in the dining hall. The weyrling wasn't phased by either Hy'ka or H'vas, and sat down on the opposite side of the table from the two. Hy'ka dipped his head in silent approval of the boy's choice. "I'll have to agree there... Females can be weird," Hy'ka muttered, raising an eyebrow as he followed Logan's gaze.

The blue weyrling shrugged at the comment, and returned to his food. Under the table, Hy'ka gave H'vas a playful shove with his foot. He would have snuggled up closer to the rider if it wasn't for the pesky brown flitter that bugged him for more food. Hy'ka saw the same thing happening to Logan, with his bronze. "Annoying little things, aren't they?" he said, indicating Kivral and the bronze fire lizard with a snort. While he said this, the bronze whipped his tail around, effectively smacking Kivral in the head. The brown flitter growled and turned around to snap at the larger male's tail. With teeth bared, Kivral leapt forward, intent on pinning Uffizi to the wooden tabletop.

Hy'ka saw that coming, but didn't stop the brown. He deserved a lesson anyway, and the mock-fight would distract Kivral from stealing more of his dinner. "Nice to meet you, Logan. You're the one with the white dragon, correct? I'm Hy'ka, by the way. My dragon is blue Brynath.. Oh, and that's Kivral." The weyrling gestured to the brown fire lizard with his fork. "You're not from Pern, right?" Hy'ka asked, taking up most of the conversation with his questions. "You don't have an honorific."

[Samari]

H'vas smiled and nuzzled the same cheek he kissed. He wrapped one arm around Hy'ka's shoulders, and used his free hand to pick up and handle food.




"My green is Cherath. She's probably been very moody. She's close to Rising."



The older rider pulled Hy'ka closer with the arm wrapped around him.


"You not gonna stop him?"

[Topaz]

Uffizi was quite stunned at Kivral's attack. Firstly because he had not thought he'd done anything wrong, and secondly, because no one would dare challenge a bronze as magnificent as he. Immediately pinned, Uffizi screeched in protest and tried to wriggle away from his aggressor. When that mostly failed, he tried nipping at the brown's face and neck and using his arms to push him away. He was bigger than this stupid, dirty looking thing! Why would it get off?

"Ugh.." Logan sighed frustratedly. "You are twice the trouble you're worth, you know that?" The boy mumbled as he attempted to grab one of the bronze's flailing appendages and pull him out of the fray. Instead, he only succeeded in getting a nice long scratch on his finger from a random swinging claw. "Ow.." He said sharply and pouted a bit. "You know what.." He said as he turned back to Hy'ka. "..I'd rather Kivral gnaw some sense into him if you don't mind. I don't have the heart to punish him myself." The whiteweyrling added, rather sheepishly. With one last hesitant look at the wrestling firelizards, Logan returned to his meal and more civilized conversation.

"So uh.. right. My Odiketh is the white, yeah. And that's, unfortunately, Uffizi. Not really a fitting name for such a brat, but.." He shrugged, glancing quickly at the bronze. "And no, definitely not from Pern." The boy chuckled slightly. "I often wish I was though. I think a lot of things would be a lot easier." He nodded, and cut off another bit of steak to eat.

At H'vas' mention of his green, Logan looked up and nodded. "Oh yeah? How does that work exactly? I mean.. I was told Odi wouldn't be interested in that sort of thing, which is fine with me. But still, the whole Rising thing is pretty interesting." The weyrling commented earnestly as he submerged his fork into a pile of gravy-laden mashed potatoes.

[PhazonDragon]

Kivral snarled in delight at his attempt to wrestle the larger fire lizard. The bronze was annoyed at him now, and for good reason! Screeching, Kivral used his surprised advantage to force all of his weight onto his opponent. Uffizi tried to bite at Kivral's face and neck, but he leaned back, shifting his weight off of Uffizi's upper torso. He wasn't about to smack him in the head, and get away with it! Snarling, Kivral batted at the bronze's arms, trying to knock them away before his claws managed to scratch up the brown.

"Mmm." Hy'ka returned H'vas' half-hug by putting his own arm around the rider's waist. "I would follow you and eat like this, but unfortunately, I'm right handed. And no, I'm not going to bother with Kivral. Anything to keep him from taking more of this dinner," he responded, removing his arm from around H'vas' waist. He picked up is fork again and started to eat. "Plus he kinda deserves it."

Hy'ka watched as Logan attempted to separate the flitters. It didn't work. "Heh, I get the feeling that Uffizi is going to give Kivral a run for his marks when he finally get up. I guess this is good for both of us, and both fire lizards?" The weyrling chuckled lightly. At the comment that being from Pern would make things easier, Hy'ka tilted his head in confusion. "Easier? How would it be easier?" He wasn't familiar with life on Earth, at least not as a child anyway. He was going to press the subject, but Logan's mind seemed to turn towards Flights.

Opening his mouth to say something, Hy'ka paused, pushing the current thought from his mind. "Ya know, H'vas could probably explain it better. He's a rider. He's been in more Flights than I have, as a weyrling that is." Hy'ka grunted, and returned to his food, working on skewering the vegetables with his fork.

[Samari]

H'vas chuckled slightly.




"Yes, I may have been in more Flights than you two, but some of them weren't exactly the most thrilling. A couple of them got..sort of violent."



He shuddered as he remembered how terrified that Blue rider had been after Cherath's 4th Flight. He didn't like to think of that one.



H'vas shoveled more food in his mouth before talking again. He smiled at Logan and leaned forward a bit.


"So when did you meet your White?"

[Topaz]

At Hy'ka's direction, Logan turned his attention eagerly to H'vas, expecting a thorough explanation of the dragon mating ritual. Unfortunately, he was quite underwhelmed, to his chagrin. Boring, violent or not, he had asked what they were like. Was it really that traumatic an event that he couldn't even try and describe it?

His inquisitive spirit dampened by the abrupt change of subject, Logan was less than enthusiastic as he answered H'vas' query towards Odiketh. "Just this last spring. May, I think. They're really amazing.. the dragons. Nothing on Earth even comes close." He added, with a joyful little smile, even as his eyes wandered back over to the brawling flits.

Uffizi was very unhappy that the stupid, ugly brown was besting him. It wasn't right! He wanted to get away. Taking a few moments to store up his energy, the bronze managed the position his feet beneath Kivral's belly, and pushed off as hard as he could. That leverage was just enough so that he could worm his way out, marring the tabletop with his desperate clawing. As soon as he was free and right side up, Uffizi launched into air and straight up near the ceiling, hanging precariously from a jagged edge of the stone wall. He let out a string of, what was most likely, firelizard curses directed at his brown nemesis, all the while hugging the wall like it had just saved his life.

Logan half covered his face with his hand and stifled a laugh, both embarrassed and greatly amused by his pathetic firelizard. "Well look at that, he's both a narcissist and a coward. Brilliant!" He said cheerfully, chuckling some more. From the wall, Uffizi hissed menacingly, not pleased at all with how his escape had been perceived.

[PhazonDragon]

With H'vas' short description of a Flight, Hy'ka frowned. As a weyrling, it made Hy'ka look like he knew more about Flights than this rider did! "H'vas!" he started in a playful manner. "You can do better than that!" Hy'ka gave the greenrider a gentle nudge, but didn't intrude on his question about the other weyrling's dragon. Hy'ka wasn't going to deny that he was interested too. He nodded as Logan described his feelings--most weyrlings, himself included, felt that way about their Impressions. Of course, Impression was a constant thing on Pern. Earth was very different.

While Kivral was unbalanced, the bronze flitter used this to his advantage. Kivral screeched as Uffizi dug his legs under the brown's belly. Kivral was forced off the bronze, and he stepped backwards, his wings flying out to stabilize himself. The brown let out a childish roar as Uffizi managed to work his way out from under Kivral, and leapt into the air. Kivral stayed on the table, lowering himself close to the woodwork, hissing and baring his teeth as the bronze retreated to the wall.

Hy'ka scoffed. "Kivral, shame on you. You let the bronze escape." The weyrling chuckled along with Logan. At the mention of his name, Kivral looked back briefly, snapping at Hy'ka in return. "You deserved that, you pesky wherry," Hy'ka retorted, jabbing his fork in the brown's direction. He rolled his eyes at the brown, choosing to ignore him again as he stalked the table that the flitter now lay claim to.

"Well, here," Hy'ka turned back to Logan. "Let me just say that the emotions from Flights can be very strong.. They'll effect nearly everyone in the weyr. And you can't control yourself... At least, that's what riders have told me. The rider is subject to the dragon's whim..." Hy'ka nodded, confirming his point.