Even grownups play (open)

[ShadowReine]

Sillisk had slipped away from his handler. Oh, the blue knew he would be in trouble if he went too far. Possibly chain and collar trouble, if he was not careful, although Sillia seldom resorted to such.

Most of the time, blue and woman were much of a mind on what the wher should be doing. But right now, she was doing boring handler stuff, reading hides and making notes. He wasn't even sure what on.

Thus, he had moved to the edge of the labyrinth, lifting his snout to sniff the air. Some green had been here recently, but she was not close to her heat and therefore of lesser interest.

But what was that? A large scrap of hide had blown to the entrance. Sillisk swished his tail, and then started to stalk it, feline fashion. Of course, it was rather disappointing prey, as it did not move.

Face it. Silisk was bored.

[Missa]

Shiask had learnt over the time bonded to His that wandering far from her was generally not the smartest thing in the book to do, however, there were times when Shiane wanted to do things on her own, and at those times, Shiask got bored with watching her. Perhaps they weren't as close as some other handlers and their Whers, but Shiask was close enough to his handler to be protective and willing to please, and over the time spent with her, their bond had grown stronger. Possibly because he was the only one His ever spent any time with. They knew each other well.

He wouldn't go far, the brown promised himself. And His always knew how to find him, when she wanted or needed him. He'd know it. So for now there was simply time to have a little bit of fun. What fun was there to have though? The air told him of a green recently enough, but not an interesting one. Boredom annoyed the brown, who enjoyed learning new things, and he found the idleness like an itch that he couldn't scratch. It irritated him.

Hm? There was another wher here... The scent and sight told him this, even as Shiask let out a low rumble of greeting. He wasn't intending to startle the other wher, and so kept a slight distance just in case he did so. He couldn't see what was so interesting as to be stalked, but then each to his own he suppose.

{Hope you don't mind me butting in ^^}

[ShadowReine]

Scenting the other wher, Silisk pounced on the hide sooner than he had initially intended, turning to face the brown with it dangling from his maw.

Mine, that gesture clearly said, his tail still swishing. Sure, the brown was larger than he was, but everyone at the Weyr knew that Silisk had, like his handler, an attitude far larger than his mere physical size. He hadn't spent much time with Shiask, mind, which lent a slight wariness to his motion.

He didn't really, honestly, know what the brown was going to do...and the brown did, technically, outrank him. Except that he did not care so much about that...

[Missa]

The possessiveness over the piece of hide actually got an amused sort of chuckle from the brown wher, and he tilted his head in sheer amusementas if to ask what was so interesting about a piece of hide. Then again, if there was little else to chase, which scenting the air told him that it was true it was quiet, even a piece of hide would look attractive. Still was in not better to be with others? Shiask wasn't sure, but he certainly did not want the other wher to think him a threat.

Carefully the brown wher folded himself to the ground, eyes whirling with amusement and contentment at the same time as he let his posture relax, attempting to show he was no threat to the smaller wher. He had no doubt that he was larger, but that ment little to the reasonable male, and if he could avoid a nasty confrontation, he would do so. It would be better to be that word that His sometimes thought with a taste of wistfulness, 'friends'. He didn't really understand the connotations of the word, but understood it was a good thing to be with other people, and had something to do with ohers of ones own species.

After a moment, Shiask stood, stepping forward carefully and nudging the blue's shoulder with a playful edge before he walked away and turned, mimicking the blue's earlier stance. Would it not be better to play with him instead?

[ShadowReine]

Play? Silisk crouched, shifting his body language...he was still threatening to pounce on the brown, but there was now an amusement to the tilt of his head.

Everything about his body said that playing would be a good idea. After all, he was bored, and a real fight would get him into trouble. A play fight would be just as much fun and probably get one of Silia's rare laughs out of her.

She needed to spend more time, Silisk thought, with people other than him. At the same time, he was not sure he wanted her to...a very torn wher right now.

Twitch, twitch...and he pounced at the larger male, but with his talons angled to do no damage should he hit.

[Missa]

Shiask had neved actually engaged in play before, but he assumed it was an easy enough activity, and he was eager to get along with the blue. It would certainly be nice to have someone to converse with wouldn't it? Besides, he assumed that the skills for play were the same as they were for everything else.

Letting a low growl slip playfully from him, Shiask tried to jump back at the blue launched at him but he was no where near as fast as the smaller wher and merely let out a chuckle-growl as the other wher hit him. Instantly, the brown rolled away from the blue, standing and stretching out his body to jump right back.

Playing, he decided was rather fun. Maybe His should try it more often, then she'd laugh.

[ShadowReine]

Silisk crouched again, rumbling at the larger wher. The size difference, though, was not *that* great. And besides, he realized, he was faster. He began to circle the brown, his eyes on something the other wher was no doubt very fond and proud of.

Yeah, that would be his tail. Tails were *very* pounceable, in Silisk's opinion. It was probably a good thing Silia was not around. She tended to be, at times, FAR too serious. To go through life...

She needed to play. And a mate, Silisk thought. She had this strange preference for fellow females, but it still had to be possible to find her somebody. Surely.

This brown smelled of female human. Hrm.

[Missa]

Shiask was completely unaware that his tail, swishing back and forth lazily, was becoming a target for the blue. Rather he was focused on the wher's head and body, and the way in which it moved. Perhaps some small movement would give away the other's next movement? Shiask wasn't about to pounce back without a small bit of study, His always encouraged thinking first and acting later.

He wanted to ask where Silisk's was, but at the same time, Shiask was having more fun than he'd had in a while, and he loathed the idea of interuppting the game. Unless... Unless Theirs played too? Then they could still play and Shiask could trust that His was looked after, and she was making frieds. Hah, what a wonderful solution! Slowly, Shiask relaxed his posture, voicing the question of His' whereabouts with a soft purring rumble accented by the slight tilt of his head.

Had Shiask known that Silisk was thinking about His at that moment too, he would have thought himself even more clever, as it was, he was not a mind-reader of any description. He only knew where his own thoughts were, which now he had asked his question of Silisk, he was back to his playfully crouched posture.

[ShadowReine]

Silisk knew exactly where his was. Doing boring hidework. Maybe he could use the brown's request to winkle her out, though.

More importantly, though, although that thought was sent to the small bluehandler...that tail was such a tempting target.

He crouched to pounce, unaware that the brown's intent attention on him could well give away his intent to move. And his own tail was twitching too. It seemed to have developed a mind of its own. Of course, tails are rather prone to do that.

Silisk did wonder sometimes, though, how his managed without one.

[Missa]

Shiask wasn't quite quick enough this time, and he gave a short squawk of surprise as he attempted to turn, leap away and tug at his tail in the same movement, which simply ended up with him staring at the caught apendage in shock and mild surprise. He may have seen the blue's movement coming, but he still hadn't been quick enough to get away.

Maybe he was fat?

Nah, His was very careful about that. Maybe he should call her out! She could come watch him play, she would like that. The thought was sent qucikly to his bonded, who responded with an "I'm coming." thought, which only made the brown more energetic. His was coming out! She could watch them play, and Shiask was having so much fun!

Growling playfully, the brown snapped at the other wher's tail in return.

[ShadowReine]

Which was the point at which Silia, too, started to emerge from the dens. "Silisk, you'd better not get too rough with that brown!" she called, although she wasn't upset.

The blue was normally so antisocial it was good to see him enjoying the company of another wher, even if it was another male.

Silisk growled as the brown went for his tail, whirling around to get said appendage out of the other's reach and dropping into a half crouch similar to the 'play bow' of a canine, wings furled tightly to his back. Of course, this all meant he had to let go of Shiask's tail.

But then, he hadn't actually *wanted* it for anything...

[Missa]

Shiask couldn't help but chuckle as the blue darted away from him, his rumbling voice sounding ultimately amused until the woman's voice startled him into whirling around, body tensing. After but a few seconds though, he relaxed, head coming up and voice taking on an excited croon at the sound of footsteps.
"What exactly are you doing, Shiask?" Shiane's voice was naturally soft, but she dropped it even lower with the uncomfortable feeling of having no idea where she was going and placing her feet carefully.

Chirping softly, Shiask guided her to stand next to the other handler then turned back to his playing, growling happily in the back of his throat. He was mildly glad the that other had relinquished his tail, but now the game of tail catching began again! And he was determined to at least get him once!

"They are... Playing aren't they?"

[ShadowReine]

Silia nodded. "Apparently. Good thing, too. Silisk can be a horribly antisocial beast."

Silisk snorted at her, then darted away from the brown, crashing through some nearby brush and startling some sort of small creature, which fled into the night.

Said creature was highly lucky the whers were not hungry at that point.

"He's a fine brown, isn't he. Silisk is better, of course, but..."

And only a rider or handler would truly say blue beat brown, although amongst the whers the color hierarchy was far more...flexible...than with dragons.

[Missa]

"Shiask doesn't really get a chance to play very much, so I'm glad he's found someone." Shiane often found that Shiask would rather stick close to her side than race off with others of his kind, mostly because he was a dutiful brown and he figured Shi needed his help more than anyone else did. Not that it was true, she'd been blind her entire life, but it was nice to have someone to help. She wasn't certain she recognised the other woman's voice, but her naturally shy nature stopped her from asking anything further.

Shiask paused uncertainly as the blue darted off, turning his wedge-shaped head towards his handler and only running off after the blue once she'd dipped her head in a slight nod. With permission he bolted after the other male, distracted by the movements of other animals around him for only a few moments.

"He's certainly fast, by the sounds of it. And thankyou, I'm sure Shiask will be thankful for the compliment."

[ShadowReine]

Sillia glanced after the whers. "Crazy pair," she noted. "Ah well. They won't do any harm."

People knew better than to come near the wher labyrinth at night without properly introducing themselves...if the whers hurt anything it would be a wild wherry or maybe a stray herdbeast...and even that was doubtful, as Silisk at least had recently fed.

"I admit I wasn't sure about a blue, but I wouldn't trade him in for anything." Even if she could...whers rarely ended the bond with their handlers, and certainly a *handler* couldn't end the bond. It was extremely unusual and generally happened only in cases of extreme neglect or conflict.

Silisk was hers for the rest of her life, and she was glad of it.

[Missa]

"I hope not, I can't run after him if he gets in trouble." Not that she thought Shiask would get into trouble, he rarely if ever did something stupid. She just hoped this wouldn't be one of those times when he would. Even thinking that he'd be fine, the girl couldn't help but worry. Shiask was, after all, all she had and she didn't want to lose him to a trip or fall. She doubted she'd lose him but still.
"I didn't really know anything. I don't know the difference between the colours." Wouldn't it be nice to be able to say the name of something and have it automatically link with something you had seen? She didn't know what that felt like.

Shiask had only fed the night before, so he wasn't hungry in the slightest, so it was doubtful that even if they came across some poor hapless creature, it would get away unharmed.

"I wish I knew what the difference was. I wasn't sure about a male at all, because I didn't think I'd really do well with a male. but I love him very much, and he's been a wonderful companion." Then again, any companion was wonderful when one had none.

[ShadowReine]

Sillia nodded. "Well, browns are bigger than blues. And they tend to be very solid. Rock-like. Blues are quiet, but more..."

She tailed off. "I don't know quite how to put it. Active, I suppose. Silisk is a good wher, though."

She didn't mention that she had had some hope of bonding a bronze...it had not happened and it was certainly too late now. "You would rather have had a green or gold?"

For some reason, the mutations that affected dragons and firelizards had not touched the whers, who stubbornly remained the five original colors and no more.

[Missa]

"I see," So if Shaisk came up to her ribs or so... So that meant, Silisk would be... Her mind tried vainly to work out how to measure herself against a creature that wasn't standing next to her, trying to work out what she was talking about in her own mind. She still didn't completely understand but she supposed she couldn't possibly know any better. Shiask was a strong, broad wher, so she assumed that Silisk was slimmer, perhaps shorter in the shoulder.

"What's green and gold?" Were they the females? She didn't know the difference between them, since most people said the names like everyone had seen a dragon. Well lucky them to be perfectly honest. Shrugging, Shiane dismissed the momentary flare of annoyance,
"If they're female, then perhaps. I wouldn't trade Shiask for anything, but originally I had thought I would do best with a female." She honestly didn't know the difference between the two, and it annoyed her that others probably thought her stupid or ignorant.

To change the subject, Shi turned her head in Silia's direction,
"What do you look like?"

[ShadowReine]

"Me? I'm short, blonde, a little stocky." She knew blonde wouldn't make much difference to the blind woman.

Had she known what Shiane was thinking about wher sizes, she would have tried to call Silisk over so the woman could put a hand on his shoulder and see. As it was, though...

"I definitely didn't want a female. And definitely not a gold. Too much responsibility...not quite as bad as the queenriders, but they expect queenhandlers to train for Master Wherhandler. I'd rather just worry about myself and Silisk. Golds are bigger...by quite a bit. Greens tend to be very small."

[Missa]

Not much of Silia's description was helpful to Shiane, what was short considered to be? She knew some people called her short, but with nothing to visually compare it to. Blonde also wasn't helpful, but then neither was stocky. It didn't matter though, Shi merely dismissed it as the other girl not wanting to talk about her looks.

So the "gold" wherhandlers were the ones that were generally in charge of the entire wher-group at the weyr. They were the ones that everyone looked to for advice and looked to when there were problems. Like weyrwoman's then. That wasn't too hard to understand, but it still confused Shi. Why did the colours not get another name that was simpler to associate with. Rather than colours.

"I don't think I'd like the responsibility either. And I'm rather happy with Shiask."