Returning before the dawn (open)

[ShadowReine]

Silisk was running. He was, in fact, running flat out, leaving his handler well behind.

Yes, he could have carried her, but right now, the blue wanted to run. Silia was acquiescing, making her way back to the wher dens in the wake of her beast.

She was fully used to being a wherhandler at this point. Silisk had never become easier to handle, and their stubborn battles continued. Yet, it almost seemed that they had become something comfortable. Like the bickering of an old married couple, almost.

About the only thing she lacked was a weyrmate. None of the greenhandlers were particularly compatible, unfortunately...and even those also bonded to males?

The problem with being on the night shift was that one had a relatively small pool of friends, confidantes and lovers. There were some drudges who worked at night, of course, helping the wherhandlers with those things that being bonded to a wher interfered with. The kitchens were always open.

But...yeah. Silia had SIlisk...but she was lacking, of late, for *human* company.

[Sparrow]

Parisk snarled lightly at the galloping Silisk as he blew past her, ducking her head so that the stubby branch she carried in her mouth would be further protected. It wasn't likely the Blue had any plans to snatch her chew toy, but she still didn't want to risk losing it. Once Silisk was a few lengths past her, she relaxed again.

Pari looked around for Silia. Where her wher was, she was likely to be, even if the Blue was well ahead of her position. He hadn't noticed her on Silisk's back, at any rate. Parisk bumped his side. The Green had retained her habit of chewing on everything in sight and overall playfulness in growing up, though that had combined with the aggressiveness generally associated with whers and a stubborn and possessive attitude. She had been perfectly fine entertaining herself- until Pari's mind focused on someone else.

"Go slobber somewhere else." Pari pushed his wher's head away and she snorted before turning with a girlish flick of her tail and trotting a short distance away to sulk and chew on her branch in peace.

"Hey Silia.” He waved to her, glanced towards Silisk’s receding form, and grinned. “Silisk’s looking healthy.” Even though they had been wherlings together, Pari felt like he and Silia, and all the wherhandlers really, hadn’t had much association. Maybe it was just kind of the habit of wherhandlers to be less social, but he still wouldn’t mind a friend or two.

[ShadowReine]

Silia laughed. "Yes. And he's not going to steal silly Parisk's toy."

Greens. So silly. "She hasn't grown up, has she? Mentally, that is. She still acts like a hatchling."

Not that that was necessarily a bad thing. Silisk slid to a halt, and then bounded back towards his handler. "Of course, Silisk is acting just the same way right now. Don't you dare bowl me over you blue lump."

Silisk mock-growled at her, skidding to a halt and sticking his nose into the short bluehandler's stomach. "Yes. I mean you." Of course, she was already rubbing his eye ridges.

Silly, silly whers.

[Sparrow]

"I'm sure she's relieved to hear that." Pari laughed. Parisk glanced suspiciously at Silisk, not so trusting of Silia's word. She wasn't her handler, anyways.

"I don't know that Greens ever grow up, and she... definitely hasn't." That Greens in general didn't grow up was maybe an overstatement, but he had yet to see one that wasn't eccentric in some way, even if it wasn't a hatchling sort of oddness.

When Silisk returned, Parisk popped back up and trotted over to Pari, expecting some scratches as well. He obliged, though shook his head even as the Green snorted, playfully arrogant, at Silisk, her well-gnawed branch still in her mouth.

"It sure would be dreary here if she ever did." Or Silisk, although he was likely better than Parisk. "I don’t mind having a few silly whers around."

[ShadowReine]

"I think only golds and maybe bronzes are ever serious." Sillia grinned some.

Not that she...well. Color didn't matter, really. Sure, she would never be Master Wherhandler, but she'd be a bad choice anyway, as prickly as she often was.

She kept rubbing the blue's eyeridge. "And given I didn't get one of *those* inflicted on me, I'm going to be quite happy with what I have."

He was very similar to her, they matched well, and whatever else you said about him, he was a nice shade of blue. The green was pretty, too.

She wondered if Silisk would ever chase her. He might. Might even catch her.

Silisk, though, was now eyeing the branch in the green's mouth. "Don't do it, Silisk. She'll pounce you."

His tail was swishing like a feline's, side to side to side. Uh oh.

[Sparrow]

"Maybe Browns too." Browns were what struck him as the most dull color, and dull meant serious to Pari. Bronzes and Golds could be a little funny too, when the Golds were in heat, anyways.

He had been hoping more for a Brown or Bronze when he first became a wher Candidate, but having had plenty of time to observe all the different kinds now, he was happy with Parisk. A lot of wher*handlers* were quite dull as well.

"Parisk is exactly like my sisters. And here I thought I was escaping them when I left home." Nope. Once a person was cursed with girls, apparently it was something that was going to last forever.

Neither missed Silisk's new focus, and while Parisk raised a lip in a warning snarl to the Blue, Pari quietly backed out of the way. Not likely he could talk Parisk out of fighting back, and Silisk was only looking more and more interested.

And apparently Parisk had decided to make the preeminent strike. The Green lept, her eyes on Silisk's thrashing tail rather than the majority of his body. "Watch out-" It was a bit of a lame, and late, warning.

[ShadowReine]

Silia acked a bit as her wher got pounced. Silisk, of course, just wanted to play. He mock-snarled at the green now attached to his most precious appendage, hissing over his shoulder at her. Now, let's see...had she dropped the stick.

The wherhandler stepped back. "Here they go. Overgrown hatchlings, proving my point." Hopefully the two would not do any huge damage to one another. It didn't seem to be close to a real fight...a real fight would have been much faster, and likely over before the handlers could blink, with the loser fleeing to lick his or her wounds.

Silia added, almost thoughtfully, "She's not proddy, is she?" She liked Pari. That didn't mean she wanted to wake up next to him...she wasn't so keen on sex with men and it tended to result in certain things that might cramp her style for a few months.

[Sparrow]

Parisk did her best to hold on to her stick, but she couldn’t very well bite Silisk if it was still in her mouth. It wasn’t long before she dropped it, far more occupied in the fight. Not that she was biting hard, but she did plan to make sure that Silisk didn't consider stealing her toys again.

"Pretty-much." Pari smiled. Hopefully they wouldn't really hurt each other. He doubted it, but he still couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Parisk would likely run if Silisk got serious at least.

"I don't think so." Of course, she never had been before, he didn't know exactly how she would act. From what he had been told, he didn't think she was. Why did Silia wonder about it over him? Pari smirked. Well, there she was cute. “You think Silisk’s counting the days until she is?”

Supposing whers counted that sort of thing, if they could at all.

[ShadowReine]

Sillia shook her head. "I doubt he's thinking about anything but getting that stick right now. Like there aren't plenty of other sticks around. He only wants it because somebody else had it."

The two whers were snarling and hissing at each other, but not really biting particularly hard.

"He's being a totally silly blue right now. Honestly...you'd think he hatched yesterday." She was repeating herself, but she didn't care. "Dragons seem so much more dignified, don't they."

Which was one reason she was glad she didn't have one. Whatever else, Silisk's antics were constant entertainment. When he wasn't being grumpy, which was a fair amount of the time. He'd hatched kinda grumpy...but right now? He just wanted the stupid stick.

[Sparrow]

“Well, Parisk would be far less interested in it if she didn’t have someone to fight over it with.” Pari laughed. Sure, she had dropped the branch, but Parisk was still keeping track of it. If it hadn’t been for Silisk’s interference, the stick would be nothing more than scattered slivers by now.

Pari hesitated, trying to picture even a pair of Green dragons in Parisk and Silisk’s predicament. “I definitely can’t see them fighting over a stick.” Or really over much at all. He didn’t think of the dragons as fighting creatures. Or stick guardians and thieves.

Overall, he'd take Parisk to a dragon any day. Endless silly antics trumped being dignified in his book.

[ShadowReine]

Silia laughed again. "Neither can I, although its an amusing image."

Greens were silly, of any of the three draconic species. Blues hardly less so. But dragons were not whers, and she was, in that moment, very glad of it.

Silisk twisted away from the green and tried to pounce on the poor stick. Which was not likely to survive this rough treatment...but then, it had been doomed from the start anyway. His tail was swishing again, perhaps *trying* to distract the smaller green.

The sky was starting to lighten. "At least they're wearing themselves out..."

[Sparrow]

Parisk wasn’t going to fall for Silisk’s tail a second time, and seeing the Blue going after her branch, dove for it as well. The whole point of her efforts had been to keep it from him. Two whers was definitely too much for a stick though, and Parisk scowled as it splintered under her feet.

Pari was already tired. "At least. I don't know where they get so much energy to start with though." It would be nice to not have Parisk bouncing around when they got back, but she probably wouldn't be too happy about her squabble or breaking her stick. He wasn't sure that was any sort of step up from the usual.

His fire-lizards would be added to the mix then. They didn't often stay up all night, but they did always wake up to greet their keeper in the morning. Getting to sleep was rarely an easy feat.

((Sorry, failpost. >.<))

[ShadowReine]

Sillia shook her head. "I dunno. I'd say because they're bigger than us, but you should see my firelizard."

Not that she saw that much of her barred...the firelizard didn't always want to get up early and stay up late and *certainly* wasn't living on her owner's nocturnal schedule.

"Of course, she's a barred, and they seem to be as bad as greens. At least the firelizard version." She'd heard some of them were really annoying beasts. Hers was...not so bad, she thought. Not so bad at all. "Still. I love him."

Silisk growled as the stick broke. That was no good at all! Of course, he'd also collided with Parisk...and he was not stupid. The green WAS mad with him now, and he abruptly took off across the bowl as fast as his taloned feet could carry him.