Seaside Lunch [Wolf]

[Sparrow]

Right. Artemisth shifted. Are you... good at tricks? It probably wasn't the best way to phrase the question, but she couldn't think of anything better. Were it her answering, she would say the expected "Better than you", and figured Hearth could to, which would arouse another argument. Artemisth was quite sure she was better. Maybe she shouldn't have asked.

Just maybe? Salise gave her dragon a look. If Artemisth could get her mind off her flying abilities, everything about her might brighten. No other female dragon Salise knew of was quite as obsessed. Any small dragon could outmaneuver a larger dragon, but they didn't really care. Artemisth's entire focus sat on just how many ways she could come up with to outdo anyone else though, through agility or creativity.

In this case, however, Artemisth was merely curious. Salise could tell that easily enough, and it was a bit strange. Artemisth didn't usually ask just to know. "At least they're still good dragons," she said quietly. At least in Artemisth's case, her moodiness was never put above obedience.

[wolflover1458]

Hearth glanced at Artemisth. What did she mean by that? I have to be for Thread, or do you mean different than that? He wasn't quite sure what the Barred meant by that. Every dragon had to be good at tricks, so he assumed she didn't just mean being able to twist and turn and dive. That would be a strange question to ask if that was what she had meant, so that couldn't possibly be it.

Are you actually getting along? N'lel asked Hearth. That was something.

Maybe was all the dragon said back.

N'lel thought about that for a moment, and about what Salise had said. "Maybe there's hope for them to get along yet." There might be some sort of circumstance in which the two dragons could actually get along. That would be something, and he would want to be there to see that.

[Sparrow]

Artemisth snorted. No, fun tricks. Creative tricks. Flight tricks, but she didn't add that. But that's what they were often for- showing off in a mating flight. Artemisth generally ignored that aspect since she did them just for fun, and had yet to have any need for them in a flight. Thread tricks were simple and meant to evade, not to do for fun.

Salise looked at Artemisth, who was now regarding Hearth with an expression mixing interest and exasperation. She could understand why; the Barred's main interest was acrobatics and Hearth didn't know what she was talking about. If he really didn't though, and she had to explain it further, perhaps it would put a long lull in their arguing. "Maybe."

It would be good if they got along. Artemisth had been impressed with Hearth, but it was hard to say whether she would use that to make him a rival or just a friendly competitor. It was hard to imagine the Barred simply taking a mere friend, with no other titles attached.

[wolflover1458]

So that was what she meant. Why hadn't she just said that right away? Surely she'd known that every dragon knew tricks. I don't know. I've never really thought about. Creative tricks aren't used for much, aside from Flights I suppose. Hearth had never actually been in a Flight before, and he wasn't sure if he would ever bother, especially if the dragon was larger than him.

Maybe knowing some fun tricks would be interesting. Not every dragon bothered, after all. There really wasn't to much need for it. Maybe if they had the time for it and wanted to learn that kind of thing, but otherwise he couldn't see learning anything complex. Then again, it could be useful for showing off. Maybe he ought to really try it sometime, unless of course he had better things to do.

[Sparrow]

Artemisth's whole head rolled and she stretched her forelegs, wondering just how to reply to that. Well, you'd never catch me in a Flight without some creative tricks. Plus they're just fun. That's a perfectly good use. She looked Hearth over again. You could probably do to learn some.

The exercise made her happy, knowing that she could do all sorts of things that many dragons never put any effort into made her happy (and cocky)... tricks were good. Artemisth was trying to be nice, but was struggling with this idea of a dragon that thought they were useless.

Salise shook her head. "I don't know how much longer this is going to last." But if it did, it would probably be quite a show. She sat down under a tree and leaned back on her hands, legs out in front of her.

[wolflover1458]

Why did he get the feeling she was trying to get something across to him? Hearth wasn't sure if he felt like she was trying to say something mean to him, or if she just wanted to talk to him. I suppose you know some then he said back, not really caring much himself if she did or not. Catching her in a Flight wasn't big on something he was planning to do. Be in any sort of relationship with her? Not if he could help it! She was exactly the type of dragon he could barely stand.

"I hope they don't get annoyed with each other again," N'lel said. "It's much more peaceful when they get along." It was hard to deal with Hearth when he was trying to show himself off as being worth something. The Charcoal dragon was obviously worth something, but sometimes Hearth acted as though he thought everyone else thought he was worth nothing.

That was one problem with having a small dragon. Sometimes they felt like they needed to prove they were worth as much as the larger ones. If only they realized how important they were to the Weyr.

[Sparrow]

Oh, yes. Artemisth rumbled. But obviously Hearth was not interested in this subject. She looked at Salise with an "I tried, your turn" sort of look. Flights had been mentioned, and for some reason she had replied on that subject. But... well, at least Hearth knew how not to catch her. Irritating dragon.

"Artemisth just really wants to brag," Salise laughed. "But it's no fun for her if the listener isn't interested." And thank goodness Hearth wasn't. A dragon had made the mistake of praising Artemisth once before, and he had never heard the end of it.

Artemisth was not worried about being a small dragon. Rather, she was exceedingly proud of it and the options it lent her. It was a bit of a problem.

[wolflover1458]

Great. Now she knew all sorts of fancy moves, no doubt. As long as she didn't try to show those off, Hearth would be fine with it. Did such a thing really interest Artemisth? Well, she had brought it up first, so maybe it did. If that was what she liked, maybe she should find some other dragon to coo all over her about it. Hearth had better things to think about than being able to fly around fancily. Maybe if he had nothing better to do, it would be fun. Usually there was always something good to do though.

N'lel smiled. Artemisth certainly struck him as the type of dragon who liked to thing she was better at something. While that was never exactly a problem, he could quickly see it becoming annoying to someone. Of course, it was hardly a bad thing if Artemisth took pride in something. She needed to have something to think about. Everyone did.

So long as she didn't try to go to far with it.

[Sparrow]

Scout came out of the water to snuggle up to Artemisth and dry off, a bit worn out from his own playing around by now. She gave him an irritated look, but no matter how hard she tried, she had never managed to stop Scout bothering her before. That wasn't likely to change now, so she wouldn't waste her time.

Salise rubbed her arm a little uneasily, not sure what to say next now that Artemisth was apparently done talking to Hearth. She glanced over at the food she had salvaged earlier, which had ended up getting wet anyways when Artemisth returned. Scout might still eat it, but Salise didn't like wet food. "Well, so much for lunch."

[wolflover1458]

N'lel glanced down. "Yeah," he sighed, "it was probably inevitable." Maybe not, but bringing lunch down to a place with a dragon, and then to have that dragon go swimming, did kind of increase the chances that lunch was going to get swamped. He watched Scout for a moment until he saw Dare coming back up the shore, sopping wet. He wondered if even firelizards would eat wet food.

Dare had had a wonderful time playing in the water. Now that he was thoroughly wet and gotten his energy out, he was quite ready to either take a nap or be petted, whichever one worked out better for him. The Brown firelizard waddled up from the water because he felt like walking rather than flying. He came up to N'lel and wrapped himself around the rider's leg, watching Scout with dark green swirling in his eyes.

[Sparrow]

"Probably." Salise laughed. "I tried." There wasn't much, and she wasn't particularly hungry, so it wasn't that bad. But she disliked wasting food. Likely there was something on the island that would eat it though.

Scout, watching Dare waddle over to his keeper, decided he ought to go for some pets and scrambled over Artemisth and flew to Salise's arm. Latching on, he chattered until she shifted him into the crook of her elbow and started scratching his back. "These two are definitely going to be keeping an eye on each other," she said, smiling. Good to know that someone here was getting along.

[wolflover1458]

"Well, at least they get along," N'lel commented. The dragons didn't seem to be doing as well, but the firelizards liked each other enough. Maybe they just didn't care as much if they were the best at something. Firelizards probably didn't have the need to care about something like that as much as dragons. As long as they were all having fun, they were pretty content. That was what was so nice about them.

If only the dragons could get along so well. N'lel didn't think there was much of a chance for that. He bent down to scoop Dare up, petting the wet firelizard softly.

[Sparrow]

"Fire-lizards are good about that." Excepting queens and some Bronzes, Salise had never seen argumentative flitts. They weren't as intelligent as dragons, but it came with the plus that they didn't worry about as many things and, thus, easily got along with everyone and everything. Most dragons did too, but there were those exceptions that Artemisth and Hearth were a part of.

I tried to get along with him, Artemisth muttered.

Not very hard. It was better than nothing, but not as good as it could be. One day, hopefully, she would find something in Artemisth that let her get along with others better, but it was going to be hard to come by.

[wolflover1458]

N'lel patted Dare affectionately. "It's a good thing they are. If they acted like dragons we'd never be able to handle them." Firelizards didn't need much to be content. If they were like dragons, riders simply wouldn't have time for them. Dragons were hard enough to watch over constantly.

Of course they aren't like dragons. Dragons are far better than anything that tiny.

Well that's not very nice. You are related, you know.

I'm sure Hearth replied in an unconvinced fashion. N'lel just assumed he didn't want to admit he could be related to firelizards. Not a lot of dragons seemed to like that idea very much. Maybe they thought of it as an insult. There were some things about dragons he just didn't understand.

[Sparrow]

Salise nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely." Fire-lizards were very self-sufficient, as much as they liked to act like they depended on their keepers. Dragons, for all their size and strength, were not. If fire-lizards were like that, despite being small, she definitely couldn't keep track of even Scout.

But you still like me better, Artemisth rumbled, her mental voice singsong.

Of course. There was something about Impression that, despite all her dragon's character flaws (that received a snort from Artemisth), Salise couldn't help but love her above anything else. Scout was up there too, but he wasn't a dragon. Dragons were lucky they had that advantage, or Salise wasn't sure people would have cared for them so devotedly this long.

[wolflover1458]

Dare, whether he was actually understanding the conversation or just happy, chirped contentedly and wrapped himself around N'lel. The rider smiled as he thought of how dragons were different from firelizards. They both had an appeal, but they were treated so differently. People sold firelizard eggs, or even gave them away. If someone so much as tried to steal a single dragon egg, the whole Weyr would go in an uproar, not to mention how the Queen would react.

There was a difference though. Dare was cute and fun to play with, but N'lel wouldn't trade Hearth for anything. There was no way he could say the same for any firelizard he could ever have. The bond they shared with humans just wasn't as strong as the bond dragons had. A firelizard could Impress to anyone, and they didn't go between if they couldn't find someone there for them. Dragons couldn't live without a lifemate. Maybe that dependency was the real reason dragons and firelizards were so different.

Except for the size, of course.

[Sparrow]

Salise smiled as Scout rolled in her arm, displaying his belly, a little distended from his earlier snacking, for her to scratch. "Silly," she murmured. Scout only gurgled. It was a different kind of love that fire-lizards got, but enough for them.

Artemisth, growing bored again but not particularly eager to stand up and do something quite yet, turned her gaze back towards Hearth. I fear we do have a small disadvantage to fire-lizards, she said laughingly. Salise is never nearly as eager to scratch my belly. There was simply too much of it.

Luckily simply being a dragon totally made up for that.

[wolflover1458]

Hearth nodded. Firelizards do get that. I doubt you or I could get attention for that. Firelizards were smaller, and much easier to scratch. Bathing them wasn't a long event either. Other than that, they were quite a nuisance, and since dragons didn't do either of those things to firelizards, Hearth couldn't see any reason he had to want to have anything to do with them.

It was certainly more... interesting with Dare around though. The little chirping firelizard somehow gave Hearth some amusement. The dragon wasn't really sure what it was about it. He wasn't really sure. Firelizards were a nuisance a lot of them time, although they also had an odd appeal to them.

Of course they did. Otherwise no one would want them around.

[Sparrow]

If she really wanted, Artemisth was quite sure she could get Salise to scratch her belly. Luckily for her rider, the desire had never arisen. Not since weyrlinghood anyways, where the gorge-sleep-grow habit led to every inch of her itching all the time, particularly her belly. At least they keep them occupied. "Them" referring to the riders. When a dragon was resting, there were fire-lizards to make sure the dragon's rider didn't get lonely.

Flitters were good for that. Artemisth didn't like them trying to play with her though. Fire-lizards were for people, not dragons, as much as they liked to think otherwise.

"Don't even," Salise laughed, looking at Artemisth and not quite realizing she was speaking out loud. "I know you like it when they help out with baths." Artemisth snorted, but she couldn't deny it. Flitters were also good for that.

[wolflover1458]

Yes. They can help keep them busy. Hearth thought that he might prefer occupying N'lel himself, but sometimes he wasn't there to occupy his rider. At least then Dare could do so. That was another nice thing about firelizards. There was no way the little lizards could ever hope to match up to dragons though. Hearth knew that for sure.

N'lel smiled. Hearth liked the same thing. Firelizards were very good in helping to get the dragon cleaner faster, and they did it quite voluntarily as well. Why the dragons could never admit how nice firelizards were was still so strange. They all seemed to have this urge to not let firelizards seem like they were too good. What dragon didn't do that?

There probably were a few. That would be interesting. A dragon that thought firelizards were great. N'lel would have to see that sometime.