We'd be having Fun by now if you'd shut it (open)

[redwerecat]

There was a couple things that all seemed to happen at once.

The sky rippled, (one of those weird things most people never noticed, but that certain Earthlings had- immediately before a dragon came out from between, there was a kind of not-quite-normal thing that happened, about a millisecond before a dragon occupied the space, at least, so said Liam) and- okay. Restart.

The sky exploded with a muffled sound of displaced air, and two dragons hung in the sky, one black as night itself, the other a handsome brown shade. The black wheeled, long used to this process, and angled slightly to clip the smaller brown's wing with his own, startling the smaller- and younger- brown out of it's thoughts.

The pair descended to the ground with the darker dragon in the lead, and while the lighter brown was clearly vocal and curious, the larger seemed put off and surly. Both dragons landed, the black one pacing away and springing back into the sky a moment later, quickly wheeling back up and vanishing once more almost immediately.

The smaller brown was left on the ground, sinking to his belly and staring up into the sky almost wistfully.

Was he trying to be rude, you think? The brown's voice echoed, the young creature hardly caring to restrict his voice to only his bonded. A tall figure was leaning forward on his back, undoing the riding straps, and then slid off the dragon's shoulders and to the ground.

"I don't think so. He said he was called away suddenly- and while the Earthling seemed rather sullen, he didn't seem like he would intentionally abandon us here." The tall blonde had his arms spread wide, and he was grinning excitedly. "Besides, we know we're in the right place, there are dragon-signs all over!" He dropped into a crouch and was prodding at the ground. A'gar might not be familiar with the place, but a weyr was a weyr, and as good as home to him.

I suppose. It was rather rude of him to not say good bye- even the watch dragon bugles for arrivals and departures at home. The brown twisted his head over his shoulder, nosing at something on his neck. Mine, are you- Another rider dropped off his back, seeming less thrilled and more put out.

"Stop that, Ein. I'm alright. And he said his dragon was mute, remember? No voice. He wasn't being rude. Except, you know, the whole abandoning us here part." L'iyr ran a hand through his hair, and surveyed the area in a rather disinterested manner. "A'gar, what are you doing?"

A'gar stood up, grin growing even wider in the face of his companion's irritated look. "Looking! Aren't you a little curious?"

"...no." L'iyr squinted up at the sky. "I am tired and exhausted, and I want to get this over with."

"Spoilsport." A'gar teased.

"Dimglow." L'iyr shot back.

Children. A great brown head descended between the two, and Einherjath snorted at the both of them. Neither of the men seemed particularly inclined to make nice, but they both stopped snapping at one another.

As good as I can ask for, I suppose.

[Wolfy]

Few were within the Bowl when the two dragons appeared overhead, and few paid any attention as they both landed before the darker one rose once again and disappeared between. Such scenes were hardly rare and happened often enough. Besides, a few recognized the dark dragon.

Most went about thier business, oiling or washing dragons or flits, reading a book, or just walking about, minding thier own business. One certain person though watched as first one rider slipped off the young Brown, and than another. She watched, too, as they seemed to begin to argue before the dragon seemed to have enough.

Her dog, standing beside her with tail wagging excitedly, saw them as well. His interest peaked, he took a step foward, than another step, and another, before he shot off with little warning to his mistress. To the sound of her yelling for him to get back there, he leapt forward and, almost before the two men saw him, hurtled into the one that seemed just a tad more interesting at the moment.

The man on his back and the dog on him, Shiff licked the pale face exuberantly until a hand managed to fasten itself on his scruff and pull him away.

"You okay? Sorry about that. Shiff decides something is interesting, and he runs for it." She glanced the dark-haired man, looking for any hint of injury. "I'm Quora. You two new here?"

[redwerecat]

There was a long silence, then, almost simultaneous with the dog's leap, a hiss of fury and the brown dragon lurched to his feet, a roar bubbling in the back of his throat. His rider was-

No! Relax, dear one. He's okay.

Oh. Okay then... Einherjath settled again, though he was barely restraining himself but for the blonde who was holding his arm out loosely in front of his chest. He's not-?

A'gar , who was spectacularly NOT helping the leapt-upon young man in any way, was also laughing his ass off. "He's fine! It's just a canine. No harm done..."

L'iyr did not seem to agree. As the dog was pulled back and away, he scraped at his face, wiping away dog slobber and fur and who knew what else. He scrambled to his feet and busied himself with brushing off as if highly offended, and then only barely managed a curt hiss in response. "I'll-!!!"

A'gar threw and arm around his middle and the other over his mouth. "He's fine and yes. We're new." He flashed the girl a winsome sort of grin, and waved with his elbow. Behind him, Einherjath settled further, now that the dog was off his rider. The brown regarded her- and the dog- with half-lidded eyes, and just snorted. "I'm A'gar, this is L'iyr."

L'iyr struggled but had little effect against the far larger man, so settled for growling into A'gar's hand and glaring daggers at the girl and her loathsome dog.

Einherjath's head lifted again, and he snorted. Oh, mine, that wasn't very nice. He remarked dryly. She was simply trying to be polite. The brown's rather calm voice was open to the girl as well as his riders- whether inentional or not, it was hard to tell.

L'iyr finally fought free, biting the larger man- A'gar jerked back, releasing him and shaking his hand, and the darker-haired rider sprang away from all of them, looking affronted.
"I am capable of speaking for myself, you know." He hissed, then eyed the girl suspiciously. "I'm...L'iyr. Like...he said. And...we're...new. Also like he said..." He was glaring at A'gar now, who just shrugged.

[FaizahPandora]

Faizah had been out, excersizing Sunset and Weed, and was just now getting back to the Weyrbowl. She saw the two new weyrlings, with their bonded dragon, and then noticed them with one of Rocky's few Candidates. She smiled. At least they were already beginning to get to know the residents.

She trotted Sunset up to the group, Weed at the mare's heels. She stopped her only a few feet from them, and almost literally lept off her back and onto the ground. With a look and a common hand signal at Weed the akita sat, perfectly trained. Faizah then turned to the new comers and smiled, extending her hand for a handshake.

"Welcome to Rocky. I'm the Weyrwoman, Faizah. Its nice to welcome you-" She stopped in midsentence, her eyes traveling over the slightly larger man. She recognized him, even though it had been years since she had seen him. She blinked a few times, but it was him. "Aligaren? Is it really you?" She asked in astonishment.

She hadn't seen him since she had been a candidate back at Benden. Which had obviously been years ago. She couldn't believe her eyes. Aligaren had stood as a Candidate with her, and sadly, hadn't Impressed. But he had now, but he wasn't the only one that had Impressed to the dragon. Which was why they were here at Rocky...

[redwerecat]

Or...okay, horse. Lady on horse, more dogs. Oh, Weyrwoman, lovely. L'iyr's expression went from 'Ugh' to 'I might simply off myself things are going so well', and for that, he got a long hiss of 'Be polite' from A'gar who-

A'gar jerked at the sound of his name (lucky for L'iyr, too, because he was getting ready to jump him again) and then immediately broke into a huge grin.

"Faizah!?" He said, blinking and rubbing his eyes. Nope, still her. "Faizah!" He nearly shouted, and, ignoring all social custom, practically hugged her. "It IS you! I never thought I'd run into you again, after- oh!" He began to laugh, while Einherjath and L'iyr stared at eachother, exchanged looks of confusion (which A'gar felt, thank you, he KNEW they were staring, did they forget he could hear both of them?) and shrugged.

"Of course." A'gar continued. "Rocky. I never thought I'd see you because you came here, and I was still at Benden..."He shook his head. "How are you?"

"Old girlfriend...?" L'iyr hazarded, whispering in a not-at-all-convincing stage whisper to the brown dragon. Einherjath simply seemed confused, and shrugged one wing in a surprisingly human expression.

[FaizahPandora]

Faizah laughed as Aligaren hugged her. Well, she supposed she should be calling him A'gar now, since he was a rider. She hugged him back as best she could, laughing all the while. Surth felt her joy and decided to join her, taking a flying jump and winging his way to the Weyrbowl.

When A'gar finally released her Faizah took a step back. She turned to L'iyr. "Heavens no. We were candidates together a long while ago. He was the one who wasn't afraid to show me around the Weyr. Everyone else was too afraid to enrage Lessa, since it wasn't a secret she despised me." Faizah explained patiently.

She turned back to A'gar. "Nakia and Lakeen are here too. I'm assuming you know them, since the Pandora's aren't exactly known for Impressing normal dragonkind." She laughed slightly. "And remember how small Surth was?" She asked.

At the same time she asked Surth landed, not too far away, in the Weyrbowl. Faizah's smile got bigger as she waved at him. "Well, he's not so small anymore." She laughed again.

[Wolfy]

Quora watched with a blank expression as L'iyr frantically wiped himself down. Her face tightened dangerously as he made to threaten her, but relaxed again as the other man pulled him into a teasing bear-hug. "Sorry if I made some insult, L'iyr, and I apologize, Dragon, for giving you a scare," she muttered before looking bck up at A'gar, who was still smirking from Shiff's attack. "At least you don't seem to be as touchy."

She couldn't help but smirk as at last the angry looking rider managed to bite his way free from his human chains. It was obious he did not enjoy his 'friend's' company. Quora actually thought thier antics were cute, like two little kids pretending to be mor important than the other.

She turned as she heard hooves from a runnerbeast - a horse, mind - came up and stopped. Sure enough, it was the Weyrwoman herself, out on a ride. Quora assumed she would merely go through the motions, yet something semed to stop Faizah. Upon further scrutiny, Faizah's eyes seemed to light up.

"Aligaren?" Quora whispered to herself. She supposed that must be th name he ws given when he was born. Listening to the excited conversation betwen the two, she reached the conclusion that they must have known each other as Candidates, or when Faizah was a Weyrling and A'gar a Candidate, or some other such combination.

She tossed glare at L'iyr as he muttered his suggestion. Quora might not have been here long, but she respected the woman. His snide remark was annoying at best. She quirked an eyebrow as Faizah explained the truth of her relationship with A'gar. "Lessa despised you?" she interupted, confused. Why would anyone despise Faizah. She was nice enough and seemed to be very focused when it came to her duties. Why would Pern's Wyrwoman hate her?

Shiff whined as Surth landed with a resounding thud on the earth. He pulled against Quora's strong hold of him, obviously wishing to play. Finally he managed to tug free from her and rocketed off, running around the enormous White and completely ignoring the others.

[redwerecat]

L'iyr was happy to glare at the girl as she apologized, but Ein smacked him with a mental reprimand to behave, and he reluctantly shifted, uncomfortable, and muttered an apology.
"It's....fine." He snapped, and glared daggers at the dragon, who pretended he saw nothing at all.

Einherjath sighed, and eyed the girl carefully, before bowing his head and nodding to her. It is not a thing you need apologize for. I apologize myself if I acted out of turn- it is hard to keep an eye on both of them, you see. Then he blinked, and his eyes whirled a confused yellow-green. Touchy...? I do not understand...

L'iyr but back a curse, and shook his head. "Metaphor, beloved. We discussed this. Twice." But at her question, he just raised an eyebrow. "Lessa is not fond of a great many things."

A'gar grinned in agreement. "Lessa," He began, choking back a laugh. "Is kind of a bitch sometimes."

L'iyr's eyebrows shot up at that, and he glanced around as if fearing retribution, but- none came, bviously, and he relaxed with a nervous chuckle, glancing at Faizah and examining her with a look. "Mmm. If you say so. Bravery is one word, stupidity, another." He said, leveling a pointed stare at A'gar.

A'gar stepped back just far enough to put his partner within arm's reach, and punched him. "I remember those two. And their impressions, yes. Nakia's little green-gold beauty, and your other sister was a wherling, wasn't she? Are they well?" He glanced up at the sound of dragonwings, and squinted at the shadow descending toward them-

"Aye. Your little white, correct?" He was watching the shape- enormous and white and-

"Well, he's not so small anymore."

A'gar was staring openly, and let out a low whistle. "I'll say he isn't. That boy must be bigger than Mnementh by now!" He said, obviously stunned.

L'iyr just watched, seeming unimpressed and rubbing his shoulder where A'gar had hit him. "Is that impressive?"

Einherjath blinked at him. I'm not sure, actually. The brown replied. Both of them glanced at Faizah- their apparent weyrwoman, and then at the girl- Quora? He nudged L'iyr's shoulder and the man just shrugged.

"Don't ask me."

Hearing them, A'gar seemed to remember. "Oh! Weyrwoman, you said? Congratulations! And...I suppose that means... we're supposed to report to you." His face fell, slightly, and he glanced nervously at L'iyr, who was avoiding his gaze altogether and apparently intently focused on a fascinating bit of rock by Quora's foot.

"We...ah. The three of us, that is... Einherjath, L'iyr, and I. Who...uh." He bit his lip, and waved a hand. "Come on, help me out here!"

It was not L'iyr, but Einherjath who offered an answer. The brown raised his head, and stared at Faizah. Those two are Mine, weyrwoman, white. Both of them.

[FaizahPandora]

Faizah noticed the dog run over to Surth, running circles around him. She couldn't help but laugh. Surth enjoyed dogs, and knew not to let the dog near anything that would hurt when getting bitten. So she didn't mind, even though it seemed the candidate did. Surth didn't even mind the dog.

Faizah nodded to Quora. "Lessa hated me for some reason. No one knew why, not even F'lar." She explained. She looked over at Surth. "She sent me and Surth, my white, back to Earth as soon as she found out that he would be useless fighting Thread. So the government here helped develope Rocky, put me as Weyrwoman, and started bringing dragons that can't fight Thread here." She explained to the candidate. Not many knew why Rocky was established.

Faizah turned back to A'gar at the comment of Surth's size. "He is a foot bigger than Mnement, if I remember correctly." She said with obvious pride.

Things turned serious after that, and Faizah listened as A'gar and his friend L'iyr struggled to explain why they were at Rocky. She nodded as the brown finished explaining, and she just smiled. "That's all fine and dandy. We actually had a special weyr made for you guys. Two rooms connecting to the dragon room." She said with a smile on her face. She had known exactly what the problem was. She just hadn't been given names...

[Wolfy]

Quora started when she heard A'gar speak of the Weyrwoman in such a way. If ever she was caught saying that, she would have likely been beaten by Auntie Inare, forced into extra chores by her Master, and put out by the Weyr. Lessa was held in high regard, and likely always be. From L'iyr's reaction, he feared retribution as well.

Nakia...she was the Junior Weyrwoman. And Lakeen? She did not recall that name. And no wonder; she was a wherhandler. Rarely was the occasion when a wherhandler was remembered or even noticed as anything but that.

Quora grinned as she watched Shiff race around, even going to nose Surth's hide before racing in a different direction. "Sharded fool," she murmured lovingly. She was glad she had saved that mangy pup those years ago. At least Surth didn't mind him running about. Catching Faizah's eyes, she explained why she had kept him in such a tight grip. "He manged to send a L'iyr sprawling. I didn't want him to attack anyone else."

"It was bound to happen," Quora said as she listened to Faizah proudly say Surth size. "I'll admit though, I didn't think a White would be the color to beat Mnementh's record." She glanced at L'iyr. "That really is impressive, Weyrwoman."

She watched and listened as suddenly the air about the two young men became awkward and A'gar stumbled over his words. He was having trouble explaining something... Explaining what? Was A'gar trying to tell Faizah why they had been sent here? If he was, it wasn't really working well for him.

Finally, he asked for aid from his fellow rider, who only contined in his obviously staged contemplation of one of the round rocks by her feet. Kicking it away, she glared at him, her eyes telling him to help the other. It was an unneeded command however as the Brown explained himself.

Quora had heard about the odd trio, yet she had never expected them to be sent to a Weyr of defective outcasts. She had thought that two riders would makw it easier during threadfall. One could help from the ground while the other fought in the air; or, if one was sick, the dragon could still fight with the other; or any number of circumstances could be avoided and/or aided. Why they were here, she didn't understand. She did not voice her query out loud though; it would have been quite rude of her.

[redwerecat]

A'gar seemed rather pissed by the discussion of Lessa- frankly, he didn't agree with her decisions to pawn off the so-called 'lesser' dragons to Rocky, like she had with Ruth, like she'd done with Surth. The dragons were still dragons and even if they were strange, what reason was that to send them away like refuse? So one couldn't chew 'stone. Neither could her thrice-flamed Gold! So there was a white who was unusually large, so? Ruth and Surth would both have made excellent additions to any wing, in A'gar's opinion, and except for the few dragons who had true health issues, he actively disagreed with her idea to send them away.

His expression clearly said as much, but he simply shrugged roughly, and broke into a grin at the mention of Surth. "Shards!" He swore amicably. "F'lar should be jealous, and the big lunk's sweet, too. And plays easily with canines." He chuckled.

L'iry and A'gar both stared at Faizah suddenly as she mentioned the special weyr, and each of them appeared to look rather relived. The smaller of the pair even nearly smiled, and nodded gratefully. "Weyrwoman, for that, I owe you my thanks." L'iyr said with a relived sigh. "Because seriously, A'gar is the worst roomate in history." He was chided again by an admonishing snort by the brown dragon, and just shrugged. "He's clingy."

Still, the mention of the dog- running and playing with the big white not far off, and he was glowering again. "Ugh. He acts like some pup." He said, though he didn't sound particularly offended. He cocked his head to one side, and then shrugged. "Lucky he's cute."

He'd noticed the way Quora was watching them, the way she glared at him when A'gar had tried to explain their situation, even the way she'd kicked away the rock he'd been feigning interest in. He shot her an equally irritated green-eyed stare and sneered. "Don't give me that look, child. You don't understand." He hissed. "Einherjath is the best thing that ever happened to me-" A look crossed his face, and he glanced back at the brown with a worried, loving expression, and received a quiet rumble in response. A'gar was watching him, one eyebrow raised, but the blonde said nothing except to give the candidate girl a curious look.

L'iyr seemed to realize he'd been silent an inordinately long time, and shook himself back to his thoughts. "Ein is not the problem. A'gar is. I am. We- people weren't meant to be connected to one another the way a dragon and rider are." He said, as if trying to convince himself. He was staring at Quora, a hard look in his eyes. "And besides- we're different. Wrong. Some problem the Weyrwoman of Pern doesn't wish to have to deal with, so we were sent here." Oh, was that a trace of bitterness in his voice? He chuckled.

"My companion might have had the right idea about her. Or perhaps I'm simply biased."

[FaizahPandora]

Faizah watched the emotions play across A'gar's face. He had always been easy to read, and it was that much easier for Faizah to read him due to her childhood spent reading people's emotions and moods. But she kept her mouth shut. A'gar probably hadn't known the real reason Lessa had sent them all the way back to Earth, and it wasn't just Surth's color. His wing and leg often worried Faizah, even though the doctors said he was fully healed.

Faizah laughed at the idea of F'lar being jealous of Surth. "I doubt he would be. Surth may be slightly larger, but even if he was smaller than Ruth I wouldn't trade him for the world. And I'm sure F'lar feels the same about Mnementh." She said with a smile.

Faizah laughed again at L'iyr's complaints about A'gar as a roommate. "It's not a problem. I have a lot of younger siblings, so I know sharing a room is not fun. Especially considering you two are fully grown men."

Faizah shrugged when the conversation turned back to Lessa. "She has her reasons. While I don't agree with her sending most of the dragons away, there are some even I would rather send away than watch them get hurt by continueing to fight Thread. And there are some here that legitimately can't fight Thread." She explained somberly.

She loved Rocky, and if it had not been for Lessa then Rocky would have never come to be. And Faizah wouldn't regret that for anything. Yeah, she had to deal with a lot of dragons and some riders that were less than good company. But she also got to give riders and dragons severely injured by Thread a safe place to rest and heal and retire in. And she wouldn't trade that for the world either...

[Wolfy]

In all truth, Quora had not much thought of whether the sending of dragons here was just or not. She understood it, she supposed. Was this not like the place that Southern had been, even if Rocky was on a different world, instead of a different continent? She had heard long ago of the birth defects and sicknesses occuring in so much of the new dragon generation. She knew, too, that Rocky was a safe haven. She had never given much thought past the fact that Rocky was for those unable. And those who volunteered, of course.

Quora's eyes hardened as she listened to L'iyr's smooth voice disparaging Shiff. What he did not understand, what he did not know. The assumpuous dimglow was acting as if - but she relented. He had no reason to believe that the dog had ever had anything but a good home and watchful mistress. Jowever, just to prove a point, she whistled shrilly for the dog, who trotted over to her. Snapping her fingers and pointing at the ground, she signalled him to sit and stay, whih he dutifully did. She had worked hard and patiently at training him.

Quora smiled at the thought of L'iyr, pale face red, as he struggled to hold off A'gar as the bigger man attempted to hug him. It was an amusing thought, one she thought would make for a good laugh at later dates.

At his unmistakable verbal jab at her, Quora's patience with L'iyr nearly gave out. Closing her eyes and standing somewhat stiffly, she breathed deeply before answering. "Forgive me than, old uncle, for my weakness to aid the apperent lost causes," she said sweetly, at complete odds with her flinty eyes. "I'm afraid that I have always been drawn to the hopelessly pathetic."

She smiles a honey-sweet smile, almost daring him to continue on. While shewas no genious, she had complete faith that she would win the argument should it perservere. Yes, she knew she was being somewhat unfair. She was focused more on the brat than on A'gar or the Weyrwoman, but she didn't think they minded. If they did, they should make thier thoughts known.

[redwerecat]

A'gar seriously had some odd opinions about Lessa, even he would admit that. And he was thinking to hard on them, he realized, by the way L'iyr was talking- L;iyr only knew Lessa by name, by reputation. He'd never met her until they Impressed, and he knew for a fact L'iyr simply didn;t care about what she did or how she did it, but A'gar did, and he was somehow drawing off that- A'gar fought his thoughts down as the grey-eyed rider began to look at him questioningly. This whole 'bleeding thoughts' thing was supremely irritating.

His attention was snapped back to his old friend-of-sorts, and he made a face. "Fully grown men indeed. Did you know L'iyr is afraid of thunderstorms? He gets all- ridiculous." He shakes his head, like this is absolute nonsense, even while his companion twitches slightly and balls his hands into fists with a hiss.

But even as he sort of began to notice L'iyr's irritation in the back of his mind, he was grinning back at Einherjath. "True. Too true. Even with all the complications that come with him, Ein is the only dragon for me. I can't say jealousy is prevalent among dragonriders." He laughed. "I wonder, perhaps, is it solely a candidate's problem then, to judge others dependent on their dragons? Once you've impressed, it sort of ceases to matter, doesn't it."

L'iyr just snorted, but glanced back at his brown- he remembered vaguely how bronzes and golds were somehow the 'valued' colors to impress, that they were somehow worth more, but now- if he felt this way about Einherjath now, he couldn't see how none could complain about any dragon as their bonded.

A'gar chuckled at Faizah's explanation. He quickly colored, and shook his head as he explained his reaction. "I ...I see why they made you Weyrwoman. You have the way of a leader, you know? Diplomatic, calm. Understanding the other perspective."

"Whereas you simply wade in hitting people and being a dumba-" L'iyr ducked as A'gar reached for him again, dancing away and huffing. "Right, right, shutting up." He grumbled as A'gar gave him a pointed look.

The trick Quora pulled with the dog had him raising an eyebrow, and he merely gave her a short little smile, a dismissive sort of thing, and tried to ignore her. Of course, that lasted all of three seconds, and his eyes were flashing in anger as she spoke again. UNCLE? Little whelp-

Then he just leaned back, somehow looking down at her with a smirk. "Hopelessly pathetic indeed. You should practically be swooning over my partner then, I've never quite seen anyone as hopelessly pathetic as A-ga-URK." A thick arm had been slung around his neck., dragging him back and hissing something in his ear before A'gar shoved him away and smiled at Faizah as if nothing had happened.

L'iyr straightened his jacket and stared at the ground. "I've been instructed to 'play nice' and have been reminded that my opinion aside, I am one also of the 'hopelessly pathetic' I might otherwise have judged." He paused. "I was also told to apologize, but I'm not going to do that. Mostly because I really think you're kind of a brat."

[FaizahPandora]

Faizah laughed at the scene between L'iyr and Quora. "As long as no one starts a fight, you are entitled to your opinion, L'iyr." She explained. Then she turned back to A'gar. "And thank you. It's not often I get complimented about it. A lot of riders think it ridiculous that a white rider holds any form of leadership." She said with a smile.

Surth shuffled slightly over to the side. At the same time Faizah's firelizard, gold Reyna, flew over. She settled on Faizah's shoulder, chirping at A'gar as she did so. At the same time Faizah heard Weed start to whine, and she looked over at him. He was excited about the new people, and was getting extremely impatient about his greetings. Sunset had wandered off to the side, not quite sure what to make of the new people. While she was calmer since Faizah had gotten her, she was still skittish around new people.

Faizah waved Weed to her side, then gave him the signal to sit again. "This is my gold Reyna, which I'm sure A'gar remembers. And this is my akita dog, Weed. He was named after a character of the same breed." She introduced them. Weed was sitting tall and proud, looking between Quoras, A'gar, L'iyr and Shiff.

[Wolfy]

Despite the churning annoyance directed at L'iyr, Quora couldn't help but grin and even giggle as A'gar went after his partner again. Her tawny eyes sparkling with mirth, she bit her lip and rolled her eyes at the Weyrwoman as the blonde whispered furiously in the other's ear. It was hilarious to watch the two and thier nonstop jabs at each other.

"In reference to what you just said, Uncle -" she said, flashing L'iyr a grin; she had found him a perfect nickname in her opinion "-I have several points. "Point one being I highly doubt you know how to 'play nice'. Pont two is that, yes, you seem fairly hopelessly pathetic to me. Point three, being the last but certainly not the least, is that I am perfectly sure you are much more of a spoiled brat than I ever have been or ever will be, so I don't care if you apologize. You wouldn't mean it anyway."

Eyes sparkling just a little more, she looked between the smiling A'gar and the scowling L'iyr. "Just so you know, I think you are both adorable. It's almost cute to watch you going at each other," she said, holding back laugh as she turned away to look back at Faizah, who had called her own canine over and was now accompanied by a beautiful gold firelizard.

"No worries, Weyrwman!" Quora replied happilly. "There won't be a fight between us; what do we have to fight about?" She asat down on the rough ground and rubbed Shiff under his ears and behind his jaw." She saw weed looking expextantly between those assembled and held out her hand in an invitation to stratch him should Faizah permit it.

"If you can lead, Faizah, why shouldn't you? I doubt anyone else would have kept everything together for so long."

[redwerecat]

A'gar seemed amused by his partner and Quora, and was grinning widely enough to say that quite plainly. "Oh, he doesn't start fights. Instigates them, yes, but never participates. Has some thing about 'picking his battles'." He arched an eyebrow at L'iyr, who just shrugged.

"I've got you to fight for me, don't I? Fight smarter, not harder, I say. Or better, make your idiot of a partner do it for you." L'iyr commented softly.

A'gar ignored him. He just kept grinning, and held out his hand to the dog for him to sniff. "Hello, Weed. Who's a good pup, eh?" He said, and then beamed again at Faizah. "And of course I remember Reyna! Pretty thing, she always was. Still bossy, is she?"

He really liked animals, to be honest. A'gar had been the type whp would play with or pet any stray he came across, and often had tidbits of food for the stray flits or canines around Benden. His foster mother had always gotten on him about that but it never stopped him.

L'iyr just rolled his eyes. Quora was annoying him. He wasn't going to rise to her threats, but he did give her a thin smile and make a flippant little bow. "Spoiled brat born and raised, my dear. I'm Ruathan-bred, haven't you heard? We're a rather spoiled people." He preened exactly the right amount, adopting a stunningly convincing yet entirely transparent haughty pose. He was ignoring the 'hopelessly pathetic' bit.

Quora- the girl was obviously Pernese, he could hear it in her voice, but she was just...irritating. And he couldn't even do anything about it, because A'gar kept stopping him, and - CUTE?!

He visibly bristled, the affected disinterest vanishing as he practically snarled at her. "Don;t say such things! I don't- I don't even like him!" He was, surprisingly, at a loss for words. He was infuritated, frustrated- he just gave up. He set his lips in a rather stubborn line of a sneer, and simply stalked back to Einherjath to lean into the brown's hide with his back to her.

A'gar nearly died laughing. ":I swear, he acts like a spoiled child sometimes." He muttered keeping his voice low but knowing full well L'iyr would hear him anyway- he always did. And besides, he was pretty much projecting it at his partner.

"And of course Faizah should lead. She is clearly weyrwoman material. Knew THAT from the start." He grinned at Quora- he would never have anything ill to say about his old friend and once candidate-mate. He rarely did about most people, even L'iyr, unless the smaller rider was being particularly annoying.

L'iyr just snarled something rude at him and made very sure to dodge when A'gar swiped at him again.
"Why are we all standing out here anyway? Or is this what you do for fun around here, sit around and insult the new arrivals? Because I think I'd enjoy that game."

[FaizahPandora]

Faizah laughed, enjoying the game. If this could be called a game. L'iyr was highly entertaining, especially when coupled with A'gar, and she was getting the most out of it. She hadn't had a good laugh in a long time.

Reyna chirped at A'gar, knowing the man was talking about her, even though he was petting Weed. Weed, for his part, began to lick A'gar's hand after a thorough sniffing. His curled tail was wagging furiously. But then he seemed to lose interest in the large blonde man and turned his attention to Quora, who was also offering her hand.

Faizah nodded down at Weed, who inched closer to Quora and nudged her hand. He wanted her to pet him...!

Faizah listened to A'gar, but the mention of weyrleading ability turned a dark cloud over her mood. She wouldn't trade Surth for the world, but if she was even half of what everyone said then why hadn't that gold picked her? Did she just lack the right personality for the gold, like Kylara had to Ramoth?

Faizah shook her head, trying to dispell such thoughts. She loved Surth, and it was Surth that had chosen her. And if he hadn't then she wouldn't be at Rocky right now, doing something she was surprised to learn that she enjoyed. Instead of thinking such morbid thoughts she turned her attention back to the four before her.

"There are plenty of people here to insult you, L'iyr, if you so desire. But I don't believe any of them are here at the moment." Faizah said, amusement obvious in her tone.

[Wolfy]

Quora smiled at A'gar. From the sound of it, he tended to fight first, think later. She was a little like that most of the time; she did not pick her battles as he had put it. In her eyes, if there was a battle that needed to be fought, she would fight it without a backward glance. She was not one to allow things she did not approve of go on. "I'll remember, A'gar, not to challenge him. Not sure I'd have much of a chance against you!"

Quora ran her free hand down Weed's back, dragging her finger's through the dog's thick fur. He really was a beautiful canine companion. Shiff sniffed his new petting-companion, pressing his nose deed into the fur around Weed's neck. When done, he sat back once again, happilly basking in Quora's attention.

Quora grinned as she listened to L'iyr speak about his spoiled-ness. At least he would admit it, she thought to herself. And Ruathans, especially the true blooded ones, did tend to be brats. His comical preening was perfect, too.

She drew back slightly as L'iyr snarled at her. What had she done that was so horrible. He had gone from slightly annoyed to a rage in seconds, all because she had told them her opinion about the two of them. Frowning with a hurt expression tucked far into her eyes, she looked down at her hands, each buried into a different dog's fur. She had puased in her petting, and Shiff was nudging her hand with his wet nose. She resumed after a minute.

"I didn't mean it as an insult," the girl mumbled. Louder, she said, "We're here because we haven't bothered to go elsewhere. We're talking to each other, in the fresh morning air."

Quora noticed the dark cloud that had flittered across Faizah's face when they spoke about her ability in leading th Weyr. She wondered at it.

[redwerecat]

A'gar chuckled at the dog's actions. Silly pup, oh well. He was certainly handsome- both of them were. And Reyna got an answering little whistle, and he informed her once again, yes, she was a very pretty girl. Faizah's brief moment of apparent disquiet did not go unnoticed, and he frowned. "You look troubled..." He said quietly, but shrugged as she appeared to move past it...and continue to taunt L'iyr.

Always a good pastime in his opinion.

Quora got a wink and a friendly little grin- the man was well full of smiles for people, really, he liked company- and A'gar burst out laughing. "Oh, he brags of more than he can get. I don;t fight his battles unless there's a good reason to protect his smart-mouthed ass. And I certainly don't defend him if he deserves it." A pointed look over his shoulder here, at the sulking man by their dragon.

L'iyr blandly flipped him off and continued to ignore him.

Still- Faizah's comment had him bristling, and he just grumbled and glared at her- he wasn't quite stupid enough to openly insult the weyrwoman, no matter how much he personally might have enjoyed it, and if he twisted it right, he could almost believe she was making nice.

Quora's tone had him watching her carefully, seeming confused. A brief expression of perplexed misunderstanding crossed his face, then he realized she'd taken offense at his comment. Well then. That was different- he supposed he HAD snapped at her, but what a touchy little creature she was if she was so easily offended. Then his dragon nudged him, bringing his great head around to press his muzzle against L'iyr's chest.

No, no. I'll not have you making enemies here too, mine. Apologize to her, L'iyr. I won't tolerate you insulting a young girl like that for no reason.

L'iyr blinked at him, as that had been clearly broadcast to all present, and colored slightly. "Einherjath!" He hissed, clearly ashamed by the scolding. "Don't! I had a-"

The brown shoved his head against him again, forcing him to turn to face Quora. Do as I said, mine. I know you aren't so cold as to hurt her feelings intentionally.

"I-" L'iyr was silenced as both A'gar and Einherjath gave him very pointed looks. "Fine."

He glanced at Quora, and approached her, absently extending a hand (somewhat timidly, perhaps) to Shiff and Weed, and ducked his head in an apologetic bow, though he certainly didn't look pleased by it.
"My apologies if I've offended you, ma'am. I have been told my actions were unnecessarily cruel, and...for that I apologize. A'gar is a touchy subject to me, and I might have snapped at you with more venom than you truly deserved. it was not as if you could have known."

A'gar was chuckling, trying to hide it but failing. He just kind of found it hilarious and- L'iyr was giving him the dirtiest look the world had ever seen, and he could feel the scathing sort of fury the other man was sending his way. (Someday he'd get used to the shadow-feelings he kept getting from his rider-partner as well as his dragon, but for now it still kind of threw them both for a loop) and he hastily glanced at Faizah and said the first thing that came to mind- anything to distract them all.

"So how about that....that..." He was at a loss. "Anyone else hungry? I'm starving. We should get food."

[FaizahPandora]

Faizah laughed slightly, amused from A'gar's attempt at smoothing things over. Weed was busy sniffing L'iyr's hand, and even licking it once or twice. It was just like A'gar to be so funny about smoothing things over. But she shook her head, looking at him.

"Don't be so quick to run off, A'gar. Nakia is on her way down to see you, and she seems so very excited accordin to Surth." Faizah said with a smile.

And just at that moment a scream of excitement could be heard from further across the 'bowl. Within moments Nakia was there, throwing herself at A'gar. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the corner of his mouth.

"Aligaren! You should have sent word that you were coming!" She squealed excitedly.

Faizah couldn't help but laugh harder. Nakia's horde of flits weren't far behind her. It was only a moment later that Nakia and A'gar had five firelizards zipping over their head, shrieking and crooning. Reyna grumbled slightly to herself. Faizah laughed and scratched the gold's eyeridges, trying to soothe the annoyed queen.

[Wolfy]

Quora grinned back up at A'gar. "In that case, we'll never have a quarrel! I don't get into fights unless there is a very good reason for them." And it was true. The girl would fight if a fight was intended by the opposer, but as for fights she started? No. She started them if she deemed it neccesary to get her point across. She may be a girl, not yet even a weyrling, but she packed a punch when it came down to it. Literally.

She looked at the Brown as he swung his head around at L'iyr. Surprise registered across her face as she listened to his first few lines. Finally, when she had at last comprehended that a dragon was defending her - her, who was not even a friend - she began to object, that no, that was unnecessary, no, he had not insulted her, she had just been surprised. She kept trying to be heard, even though it was obvious that for the time being she was being completely ignored. Finally, halfway through Einherjath's second insistent command, she gave up and waited for it all to finish playing out.

Patiently, she fought to conceal her smirk as the man's dark head lowered and bowed grudgingly. "L'iyr, it wasn't so much the words that hurt but the venom in them, as I was trying to tell you. Old Uncle, you need to loosen up a bit, or you're going to have trouble here, I can guarantee it. And not just from my annoying self!" She clasped him roughly on the shoulder, almost hoping that he would snap and give her a good laugh.

Standing, she brushed her pleated skirt free of dirt and watched as a small figure rushed up and jumped onto A'gar, squealing enthusiastically. Her laughter joined Faizah's as the firelizards began to rush them, flitting about effortlessly in reaction to Nakia's exuberance.

[redwerecat]

Einherjath regarded Quora patiently, a bemused look in bis eyes, a swirl of green and blue as he gave her what was most definitely a wink.
Oh, I'm perfectly aware of the situation, candidate, but it's a dragon's job to better their riders. And mine-L'iyr is of a mind to deliberately irritate those around him- and it would hardly hurt for him to learn a little humility. Again- L'iyr was long used to the sort of smug, Masterful sort of emotion Ein was giving off, as if he were working toward some great purpose. Privately he thought it all ridiculous, considering, but the dragon was always so adamant about things he never had a choice but to give in.

He was going to say something to Quora, possibly rude, possibly simply icy, but was violently cut off by the scream and yelp of a girl flinging herself at A'gar.

He stared openly. "What the shards and shells, man. Do you secretly have a harem here I'm somehow unaware of? I'm almost jealous." he said drolly.

A'gar ignored him entirely, instead picking Nakia up in a great big hug, twirling her around, and laughing like an idiot. he returned her greeting with a kiss on the forehead and a grin. "Nakia, I hardly knew HOW! Besides, can you deny the joy of surprises? I'm so glad to see you." He was laughing happily through his words, and seemed utterly unaffected by the presence of all the fire lizards joining him.

L'iyr seemed utterly puzzled by comparison, and just shot a look between Quora and A'gar and Nakia, with a look that said 'You have any idea what's going on?'. He absently returned her shoulder-claps with a shrug and a brief pat on the back as she had, apparently not realizing he was doing so. (Again- trained into him.)

"As long as your annoying self doesn't go about leaping on me like that one, I think we can manage." He might even have been smiling at her. Mostly he looked annoyed. "Besides, haven;t you heard? I rather like trouble." There was a distinctly devious look in his eyes, and he tried to hide it under a look of feigned indignation.

[FaizahPandora]

Nakia managed to disentangle herself from A'gar, then turned and smiled at L'iyr. She had her arm wrapped around A'gar's waist, but seemed to be measuring L'iyr. She simply smiled.

"I wish A'gar was like that. I unsuccessfully tried to catch his attention in that subject." She paused, again looking him up and down. "And I must say you look almost as yummy as Aligaren." She purred.

Faizah shot her a glare. "You already have one kid. Control your hormones, Nakia..." She growled. Then she turned to L'iyr. "You'll have to excuse my little sister. Nakia, this is L'iyr and Aligaren is now A'gar. This is their brown, who I'm sorry to say I haven't caught your name." She finished, smiling apologetically to the brown.

Nakia shot a glare at Faizah, but ultimately ignored her. She looked up at A'gar. "Lakeen is sleeping, so she'll probably hunt you down tonight. And be careful of her wher. He's terrible..." Nakia laughed slightly.

[Wolfy]

Quora liked this dragon. She liked him a lot. He was the no-man's-land between A'gar and L'iyr. Despite them both being his riders, niether one could fully say this dragon was thiers. They were his, not the other way around. He would force issues the way he wanted them, and would hold no qualms about it.

The girl guffawed as L'iyr suggested a hidden harem. The idea itself was a beautiful one. She could see it now, a few weyrs full of adoring, beautiful women pressing themselves against the grinning blonde rider. Her eyes twinkled as Nakia put her feet back on the ground and turned to L'iyr.

"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't without any shortage of effort on your part," Quora said, recognizing the girl for what she was. If the girl was a dragon, she would be the worst kind of Green. "You look like someone who gets the ones she wants, how she wants." On a quieter note, more to herself than anyone, she added "Shameless tramp."

She just shrugged at the man's questioning look. "Well," she murmured dryly so that only L'iyr could hear, "all I'm getting is that she wants to sleep with the both of you." She shook her head, silently disgusted by Nakia's wanton display. From the sounds of it, her sister wasn't so pleased either.

"No need to worry about that," she replied. "I don't jump on people. Nor do I squeal and scream." Quora glanced at his anoyance-tainted smile, however slight it was. "And yes, L'iyr, I'm begining to get the impression that you do." She looked up at the Brown and returned his earlier wink.