An Early Breakfast {Nick/V'ire}

[Sparrow]

Tirasha, as usual, awoke early and headed to the kitchens for some breakfast. She wasn't taking V'ire's advice to heart, no, although she did think about what he said more than she felt she needed to. Tirasha still felt a tinge of guilt over the incident, as uncharicteristic as it was for her to linger on things like that.

Tianthe sat on her shoulder, still subdued over her injury. Willow perched on the other. Both were looking forward to food, but for once it seemed the Bronze was the more perky one. Or maybe the Green was just hiding something.

After gathering a little food on her plate and grabbing a pitcher of klah, Tirasha headed for a table. Most of the Weyr would be asleep at this hour, especially the riders because of Threadfall the day before. So, the kitchens were mostly empty. That was usually Tirasha's incentive to come down so early... she liked having quiet meals.

Or at least as quiet as Tianthe and Willow would allow it to be. As she sat down, Tianthe was quick to hop off Tirasha's and grab a meatroll. Willow slid to the table, inspected the food, and finally chose something to his own liking.

But perhaps the trio wouldn't be eating by themselves. A certain Greenrider seemed likely to be rudely awoken by a breathful of pollen from a present Tianthe had left resting beneath his nose. Driven only be a random thought of Tirasha's, she had delivered a her own sort of invitation. A purple flower, long stem, medium blossom, a little wilted after a few days away from its roots but still healthy from the water it had been sitting in. Crumbs would still be clinging to its stem from an earlier snack Tianthe had come across.

[Nick]

There was no way he was going back to sleep this morning....even this early. V'ire was shuffling into the Kitchens now, some klah would do him good. He really still couldn't believe what had woken him up this morning!

The first thing was Kiyo's little chirp of welcome to someone, that had made V'ire move...he was more alert now for wake-up calls from Elisth. Then the next thing he knew there was a flower right under his nose...and he sneezed once.

Sitting up and looking around....there was no one there. All that was there was the flower he had given Tirasha! One of her flitters? Now he was confused....

And now he was at the Kitchens getting klah and food way too early in the morning for anyone to be up. V'ire gathered food onto a plate...he was hungry and so was Kiyo. Elisth may be up soon and then he would have something else to do as well.

He finished gathering his things and went on search for a table...wait, was that...no...Tirasha? He walked over and slowly sat down at her table.

" Good Morning Tirasha. I can't believe I'm awake so early, but I got a little surprise this morning...and couldn't get back to sleep." He looked at her sheepishly, prepared to move if she didn't want him near her.

[Sparrow]

Tirasha's face paled as she saw V'ire enter the kitchens. Shards, what was he doing here? Tianthe didn't share her owner's surprise though, and instead began chirping excitedly around her bite of meatroll.

That is, until Tirasha realized the Green must have had something to do with the weyrling's arrival. Willow looked from his sister to Tirasha warily and backed up a few steps to eat in peace. Tirasha glared at Tianthe, only barely refraining from strangling the fire-lizard. If they were somewhere more private.... she'd be dead.

"Er... good morning." She forced herself to look up at V'ire and smile slightly. The last thing she wanted was him there watching her eat after all he had said before. Tirasha couldn't quite call it him getting after her, she was the one who got angry anyways, but it had been something like that. "You're up early."

Tianthe gurgled. She knew just why V'ire was up, yes. Finally noticing the little Blue on his shoulder, the Green raised her head and chirped, then motioned towards Tirasha's plate with a flick of her tail. He could have some too; Hers never ate it all and didn't let Tianthe.

[Nick]

He smiled back a little weakly at her. " Yes, I think one of your fire-lizards made sure of that..." he pulled out the flower from his pocket, " I got this under my nose. I put it in my pocket to take it back outside...unless you want it again?"

Kiyo looked down from V'ire's shoulder at the Green that had woke his Keeper this morning. Offering food from another plate? He chirped back but shook his head, His had gotten plenty. To be sure that she knew that...he hopped onto the table and grabbed a jam-filled pastry to eat.

V'ire looked up at Tirasha. " Umm...about yesterday....when...I was leaving....I...um.."

[Sparrow]

Tirasha glared at Tianthe, who began quickly munching on her meatroll again. Apparently the little Blue didn't want to eat with her... that just meant more for herself. Food was such an easy and very delicious distraction.

"Ask Tianthe, she's the one who stole it." Tirasha shrugged and picked a redfruit. She didn't start eating quite yet, but absently set to rolling it around in her fingers. Willow continued to munch slowly on his own meatroll, happy to sit back and watch the proceedings; unless V'ire tried to touch His again. Then he'd be in trouble.

"You what?" She raised her eyebrows. When people couldn't seem to get out whatever they wanted to say... that was irritating.

[Nick]

" I'm sorry, for calling you Healer. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings...I was just a little upset and, well I don't know." V'ire picked up a meat roll and bit into it.

Kiyo slid closer to the Green, still close enough to eat from his Keeper's plate. He was enjoying this pastry...but he had never quite seen His so unable to talk.

V'ire placed the little flower carefully on the table. " That thing's been through a lot. I need to get you a replacement." V'ire was careful not to keep his eyes on Tirasha, he looked away when he reached for his klah and drank a good sip from it or when he took a bite from his meat roll.

[Sparrow]

"Oh." So she hadn't just pretended to hear that.... That was good, right? "A lot of riders do it, that's not anything new." Not something she was going to make him feel like he needed to apologize for at least. It was nice to know someone thought about it a little though...

Tianthe clutched her meatroll tightly as the Blue slipped closer, unsure if he was trying to be sneaky and steal her food or if he was just shy. She would always be prepared for the worst though, and someone stealing her meatroll would definitely be that.

Tirasha only glanced at the flower and took a bite of her redfruit. After chewing for a moment, she shrugged. "It's just a flower." One didn't need to replace flowers... she had just stuck it in a bowl in her room with some water anyways. But she did like flowers...

Willow rumbled softly and bobbed his head. His would probably like another, even if she wouldn't admit to it.

[Nick]

V'ire looked up...it was nice to see her eating, but he wasn't going to go down that road again. " Something bothering you Tirasha?"

" I'm not like other riders, you know, I'm not going to call you by a generic name...you are a person. A pretty person who happens to be a Healer." V'ire gave a smile as Willow seemed to nod about a replacement flower.

" Well if Willow agrees about a new flower...hmmm...how about a nice red one this time? I've found a great place to pick them, especially when Elisth is having fun in the Lake. Maybe I could show you sometime?"

Kiyo looked over at Tianthe and gave a small chirp before going back to his pastry. Another slide, and he was even closer to her...though still in reach of his Keeper's food. V'ire was certain that Kiyo wasn't near old enough to be thinking about Flights yet...maybe he just wanted a new friend.

[Sparrow]

"No." She frowned and took another bite of her fruit. It felt awkward to have him watching her eat still, and had this growing terror that he would say something or other when she finished. What was on her plate was less than what he had, and she split her food between three, including a voracious Green.

Not like other riders... huh. V'ire was worse, following her around the Weyr with stupid Tianthe as an unlikely cohort. He referred to her as pretty too much, what was he trying to get across by that? Tirasha heard that he apparently thought she was the first time he said it, now things got repetitive to the point of very irritating. Using the bite of fruit as an excuse, she didn't reply to that.

Tirasha raised her eyebrows. Red would clash with her own red hair, supposing Willow decided to stick it behind her ear again. Not that she was getting another flower anyways... "Where is it?" Curiosity overrode whatever else she felt. What would others think if they saw Tirasha wandering in a field of flowers with some weyrling who had come specifically looking for her for an injury?

Tianthe chirped back but quickly finished off her meatroll before the young Blue could get a chance at stealing hers. The idea was sort of wasted, for she grabbed another one very quickly and began eating again.

[Nick]

V'ire had picked up a jam-filled pastry and eaten it. " Mmm...Have you tried one of these pastries? They are good, really good. No wonser Kiyo likes them so much."

He knew he said she was pretty too much...but what else was he to say? He couldn't say lovely...that was tacky. Instead of wandering around in his own mind, he smiled at her question.

" It's in a secluded spot at the Lake, Elisth loves to bathe there...so I go there a lot. I could show you one time and then you could find it easy. There are all kinds of flowers there...yellow, red, purple, pink, orange...it's amazing." V'ire grinned at the image in his mind of the place.

Kiyo's head snapped to look at V'ire. Flower? Kiyo could get a flower! He wasn't full enough to sleep yet...maybe after his pastry he would go...His seemed to be interested in them for this woman.

[Sparrow]

"Other days I have." There was one on her plate now, but Tirasha didn't know if she'd get around to eating it. She was busy with her fruit right now. Two bites didn't make much of a dent... glaring at it, she took another. Eating took too long.

"A secluded spot at the lake?" She raised her eyebrows. Where did one find that? It sounded nice though.... Before coming to the Weyr she had spent a lot of time in fields of flowers. Tianthe liked them a lot, and so had her aunt even though Resta rarely had the time to come with her niece...

Tianthe chirped curiously to the Blue, wondering what he was thinking about now. Apparently not her food, he wasn't looking at it. Willow wasn't either, he was choosing another somethign for himself. Not that her clutch-brother ever stole her food... but she still had to be wary.

[Nick]

She had caught him with a mouth full of food. He put a hand over his mouth and swallowed, then took in a breath. " Mm...yeah. It's a really lovely spot around the time Elisth usually wants to take her baths. Nothing like seeing a sunset at the Lake."

Kiyo though figured that sharing his thoughts with Tianthe wasn't going to hurt anything, after all...she liked flowers too. He sent her the picture of the flowered spot near the lake and chirped at her curiously. Would she like to go and get some flowers for the woman too?

V'ire gave an odd little smile. " Flowers are soothing. And Elisth likes to have them all around her, they are a good scent on her as well...though she doesn't like to crush them."

[Sparrow]

"Ah." That hadn't been quite an answer to how the spot was secluded, but she wasn't quite in the mood for questioning it more. If he brought her, she would see. But... shards, she really didn't think she could go. Already Tirasha was being bothered more than she would have liked by the other Healers about this Weyrling who wanted Tirasha to heal him and brought her flowers.

Tianthe chirped with surprise at the image in her head. So pretty! She liked flowers. Quickly the flitt sent it on to Tirasha and Willow. The Bronze chirped too and glanced at V'ire, then Kiyo, and finally returned to eating. He could worry about flowers after breakfast.

Tirasha swallowed lightly as Tianthe gave her the picture. That was a pretty spot... "They are. But the scent comes out more if you crush them." Not that Tirasha liked to crush them either, they were much prettier in their normal state.

[Nick]

V'ire took a sip of his klah. " Elisth stumbled onto the spot. I almost died when she disappeared from sight, ran looking for her and found her in a dip down from the regular shore...off on a side of the Lake. Flowers everywhere."

V'ire smiled at the memory and picked up another meat roll. " If you see anything you want to try on my plate Tirasha, feel free...I get too much usually for just me and Kiyo. There are some nice surprises in some of those pastries." He shrugged.

Kiyo was happy now. Everyone knew what the spot looked like! They would all want to go with him now. Maybe the woman would want to come along too? He chirped questioningly at her and then bit into his pastry again, squirting a little jam onto Tianthe's meat roll.

V'ire laughed at the jam. " He loves that stuff. I just hope he doesn't get stuck to the table again."

[Sparrow]

"Really?" It was odd to think there was a place in the Weyr Bowl that, possibly, not many people knew about. She would like to see it, whatever that did to her reputation. Maybe no-one would notice, supposing the place was as secluded as V'ire said.

"I'm sure I have enough on mine." She frowned slightly and took another bite of her redfruit. Tianthe was the one to chirp back when the Blue chirped at Hers, then both of Tirasha's fire-lizards watched in fascination as a little jam shot a short distance across the table onto Tianthe's roll.

The fire-lizard squawked with surprise, expecting this to be some sort of plot to get her food. She quickly wolfed down the whole thing and then gurgled at her triumph. Tirasha rolled her eyes.

"When did he get stuck to the table?"

[Nick]

V'ire smiled. " Yeah, it's a great spot to go to think. I'd be happy to share it with you though Tirasha."

Kiyo gave a happy little chirp, he was rather happy to share a little jam...though the whole pastry was his! He gurgled a little at Tianthe and ate the rest of the pastry. His stomach was getting a little full now...his stomach wasn't that big yet. He thought about the flowers again...should he go get some for his Keeper?

He gave a laugh. " The other morning he ate one of those pastries so fast that the jam covered his whole body and stuck him to the table before he could lick it off!" V'ire shook his head.

[Sparrow]

Tirasha nodded. "I'd like to see it." Falling to curiosity... she felt like she shouldn't go. Tianthe and Willow wanted to now though, she could tell. Tirasha couldn't turn them down an adventure. Or that could at least be her excuse.

Tianthe chirped to the Blue playfully, sated for the moment and now hoping to get a chance to play. Surely a hatchling would be willing to play chase! Willow sighed softly and probably would have rolled his eyes if he could. Tianthe would stop the second her wound started hurting her again and then get after the Blue for making her play, surely.

Tirasha couldn't help but laugh at that. At least Tianthe had never been that clumsy, that would have been troublesome. "That's quite a thing to manage." He must have been eating either very fast, or just very messily... it was a funny thing to imagine.

[Nick]

Chase?! Kiyo looked over at the Green. Older fire-lizards played chase? He chittered excitedly at her, chase was fun! He could play all day...well almost all day. There were naps and food too.

V'ire smiled at Tirasha. " I'm glad you aren't mad at me, and I'd be glad to take you to the flower spot any time you want to go or have some free time. Though near sunset is one of the best times."

He chewed at a meat roll. " Hmmm yes. It was quite funny, but the poor thing loves those pastries so much that I couldn't stop him from eating them when he wants them."

[Sparrow]

Tianthe gurgled and spread her wings, only wincing slightly as it pulled at the tear near the base of one of them. She was playing chase, she didn't need to worry about injuries! With a flick of her tail and a leap, the Green was airborne. She turned back to chatter to the Blue and then shot off in a random direction.

Tirasha shrugged. "I have plenty of free time. The Great Nixsha and all her fawning workers will be happy to treat anyone I miss." Tirasha hated Nixsha... that stupid women was going to be so busy trying to handle all her new flitts she wouldn't be able to work soon. That would be funny.

"My fire-lizards only eat things with meat in their name." Tirasha laughed slightly. Meatrolls, meat itself, or things they caught... of course, Tianthe ate bugs too, but those had organs or something. She wasn't totally sure about insects really... but Tianthe seemed to like them.

[Nick]

" Nixsha? That Master Healer? No way I would let her treat my wounds if I have a choice. I hear she isn't too nice when she's examining..." V'ire gave a chuckle.

" Just send one of your little fire-lizards any time you want to go, if I'm not in a lesson or feeding Elisth...I can show you the spot right away!" He smiled at her and drank some more klah.

Kiyo darted after Tianthe. He was going to have fun with this new friend! She wasn't going to expect him to be so fast. Kiyo started going the same way, then darted at an angle to cut in front of Tianthe. She was going to have to do better than that, he chirped happily at her.