A little stuck [Open]

[Sparrow]

Aleyi had been straight up bored lately. Even with her crazy fire-lizards, curious Blue, and the general Weyr life, things felt more like they had been falling into a dull rhythm lately rather than being fun and exciting.

Jerglith hadn't even been winning any Flights lately, so that couldn't give her anything to bother with. Tinth had won a Flight- finally. Maybe R'mer wouldn't be complaining about how he was lonely anymore and she could hang out with him but also... maybe not. K'laon and Amirinth, of course, weren't much of a partner.

The one Flight Jerglith had won had been similar- Aleyi had hardly seen Beka at all after Mermaiyeth's Flight. After all her efforts to be friends with her, that had probably scared her away.

I believe Brooke is trying to help you out, Jerglith said suddenly with a rumble, raising his head from his weyrcouch. Not far away, Tuck had gotten himself tangled in a blanket, probably at his golden overlord's command, or to hide from her. Pip was gnawing at a corner of the blanket, but it was no question that the little Green wasn't going to untie her clutch-brother quickly that way. Brooke was watching from a small ledge higher up on the rock wall of Jerglith's weyr, chittering.

Aleyi shook her head, but smiled. "Let me help you out there." It didn't take long to get Tuck unrolled, but once he was free he only settled back on the blanket. "Just because it matches your color doesn't mean it's yours," she laughed.

Obviously Tuck didn't believe her though, and didn't move. Maybe it was time she washed it.

[Missa]

Hello Jergalith. Mermaiyeth wasn’t really one to warn someone about her up and coming greetings, though it might have seemed out of the blue for the barred to quite suddenly greet him. It wasn’t as though she had deliberately avoided him, or even that Hers had been deliberately avoiding, they’d simply been busy. Beka’s attempts to instill some kind of manners into her own pets had all but failed, Valiant still sat proudly on Beka’s shoulder wherever she went, one fore claw curled around the girl’s ear, and Chewy still chewed absolutely everything in reach, whether that was her shirt of her arm.

Just as Mermaiyeth was comfortable in greeting the blue, Beka deliberated outside Aleyi’s weyr, did she just walk in? Knock? Call out? What if Aleyi was annoyed because Beka had been busy lately, since the flight and she’d also been shy, and a little bit of a coward in backing off from her friend. As much as she liked Aleyi, she wasn’t sure she could think of her as anything more than a friend, but then, Beka was pretty sure that she couldn’t think of anyone as anything more than a friend. Valiant chirped lightly from her shoulder at the sound of the other human’s laughter, and it gave Beka the courage to do a combination of her options earlier, walking in at the same time as calling,
“Aleyi, are you there?” Obviously she knew she was there, but still it was… manners, maybe? That one asked, or at least alerted her. She knew that if it was her weyr, she’d prefer to have some amount of warning before having her personal space barged into.

“Um…”
Ask her how she has been, Mine. Mermaiyeth prompted quietly, and Beka instantly nodded,
“How’ve you been?” It was a start, if still a prompted start, and Mermaiyeth turned her attention back to Jergalith,
How have you been, Jergalith?

[Sparrow]

Jerglith tensed suddenly, his eyes taking on a whirl of excited green. Mermaiyeth! Hello! Aleyi turned to look at him with a surprised expression as the Blue stood, eager to greet the female he still put a firm claim on as his mate, even if it wasn't to anyone but himself.

Mermaiyeth? Well, surely the Barred would be accompanied by Beka! She turned back to Tuck, still firmly planted on the blanket. "Go hide that somewhere, won't you?" The Brown only ducked under the fabric himself, soon followed by a gurgling Pip. Aleyi was about to move it herself- dirty blankets in the middle of the floor (now with a pair of quivering lumps underneath it) wouldn't look good to anyone- but paused again when she heard Beka's voice. "Uh... yeah. Hey Beka." Long time no see?

Forgetting flitters and rag, she headed across the weyr to greet the Barredrider. "I'm good," she smiled. "What about you?" It had been a while. Aleyi kept wanting to add things, but also felt a tad accusatory pointing out that her friend had been more or less missing as of late. This was the first time Beka had ever come to visit her, and she didn't want to go ruining that.

I've missed you, Jerglith replied, apparently feeling more straightforward than his rider. Been busy? Because, of course, Mermaiyeth wouldn't have gone missing from him for any other reason.

[Missa]

Mermaiyeth was clearly flattered by his excitement, and delighted too, she knew she'd made a good choice in Jergalith.
Of course, I was not deliberately staying away. She murmured, amusement coating her tones even as she kept a close watch on Beka and prompting her rider as seh needed to, before returning her attention to her mate.
I missed you too.

"Oh... Um... I've been okay." She wasn't sure what to say and wished she had the ease Mermaiyeth did with others, after all, Mermaiyeth said hello and now she and Jergalith were chatting happily. Why couldn't she do that?
"I've been busy... Um... Trying to get Valiant to leave me alone for a bit and Chewy to stop eating everything." Attempting for light heartedness, she rolled her eyes slightly, though inwardly she wondered exactly what he was up to back in her weyr.

Was Aleyi different? Or was that just a frantic mind conjuring up reasons for an excuse, after all, everyone was busy and Beka had honestly been glad of the busy-ness. It had meant she hadn't had to deal with too many people at a time, and though it had annoyed Mermaiyeth that Beka required her presence and thus she couldn't go see Jergalith as more than a passing greeting, the barred had been content to stay. Not that the time had been well-spent. Valiant only greeted Aleyi from a distance, and Chewy was still ruining things.
"What have you been up to?"

[Sparrow]

I didn’t think so, Jerglith rumbled softly, pleased, and bumped Mermaiyeth’s shoulder with his nose. The Blue glanced back at Aleyi and Beka, but, although is rider was feeling a bit anxious, but it was more that she was surprised. She was obviously happy to be seeing Beka again too- he didn’t need to worry about her.

“Chewy’s your… kagen, right?” Aleyi hadn’t ever really met him- or her, whichever- but of course, she had heard about the batch of kagen that turned up under Jorindath’s couch. There were few enough kagen at Nyocia, for a little while they had been a topic of interest among the weyrfolk. “Well named, I’m guessing.” She laughed.

Now to consider what she herself had been up to. Not a whole lot unexpected. “I’ve mostly been failing at training those two.” She motioned towards the blanket on the floor, which now had a pair of fire-lizard heads poking out from under it. “I thought a Brown would be easy, but Pip’s a horrible influence on him.” Brooke wasn’t much help either; she seemed to figure that the wilder the other two were, the more attention she would get.

[Missa]

Good, then you are not silly. Mermaiyeth wasn't intending to come across as cold, if she did so, and she showed this by dropping her head to rub her cheek against her mate's, delight whirling in her bright eyes. She'd always been fond of Jerglith, though she had been pleasantly surprised when he'd chosen to chase. Having a mate had brought out a different kind of softness in Mermaiyeth, but also sense of possessiveness that suggested while she might be busy once in a while, Jerglith was hers and woe behold any female that tried to take him.

"Yes, on both accounts." While Beka didn't share her dragon's possessiveness, she understood it. Aleyi was the first friends she'd ever had, and she hated that her own nature made it hard to reach out to her more often. Chewy had been a spur of the moment decision, one she'd never regretted even when the blasted animal was attempting to work his way through her boots, she'd simply accepted that he was like that.

Glancing at teh blanket, Beka's lips instantly twitched upwards into a genuine smile as she shrugged one shoulder,
"I don't think any flitt is easy to train." Valiant was clever, but he was stubborn, shown by the way that while he chirped a greeting to the flitters, he didn't move from his protective stance at Beka's ear, one foreclaw curling around her ear as he peered around the room cautiously. Sometimes she wondered if she'd named him correctly, or if naming him that had somehow influenced his personality. She couldn't even really remember what he'd been like as a hatchling.
"Perhaps Brooke should pull them in line."

[Sparrow]

Not at all. He rumbled and returned Mermaiyeth’s nuzzle. Jerglith did not mind being kept Mermaiyeth’s mate so long after her flight, so long as he could keep it up in later ones as well. Between those, it was hard to say what kept him from chasing other females. Maybe he was frightened by the idea of Mermaiyeth biting his head off, but that it was simply Aleyi’s affection for Beka holding him back was perfectly likely as well.

“I’m glad my flitters don’t chew things.” Brooke didn’t hold Pip and Tuck back much, but if they ever got that into their heads, it was probably one thing she would stop. The Gold had no appreciation for ruined items, a preference Aleyi could appreciate. With Brooke around, although they played with the blanket, they knew they couldn’t shred it. Aleyi didn’t doubt Pip would enjoy that though.

Aleyi was already smiling, but it widened when she saw Beka smile. Well, those flitts had some use. “Brooke’s not all that interested in controlling them, she’s far more interested in keeping me in line.” Aleyi shrugged and laughed weakly. Not that she did much to get herself into trouble, and she couldn’t mind too much when she did end up on Brooke’s bad side. The Gold had the vain attitude associated with most queens, but she did not find it below her to show affection for and help out Aleyi.

With such a good fire-lizard, it was no wonder she had ended up with two utterly wild ones though. “Maybe I should try and get Pip to hang out with Valiant, maybe she would learn some manners.” Either that or destroy his.

[Missa]

"It's terrible. I can't really begin to count the times I've had to sit down and fix the problems that Chewy causes. Not that Valiant's much better, he makes it worse by trying to get the object off Chewy..." What usually ended up happening was a tug of war that Beka or Mermaiyeth had to then put a stop to when one tried to run in one direction and the other took off in the other, in an attempt to keep whatever they were currently claiming as their prize. At first, Beka had thought the chewing was just a baby thing, evidently not.

Valiant glanced up at the gold, though just as quickly turned his attention back to the two humans, rubbing his cheek agianst Beka's hair as the girl fought off another smile.
"Well, she has to keep someone in line doesn't she?" Not that Brooke seemed badly behaved at all, some of the flitters around the weyr had absolutely no training and were allowed to do as they pleased. From what she'd seen, Brooke was at least willing to answer Aleyi and do as she was told within reason. Even if she didn't control the two others, she kept Aleyi out of trouble.

"I doubt it, you'd just end up with a flitter hanging to you all the time." Or Valiant would end up making a mess, one way or the other, one flitt would end up with bad habits, because Beka wasn't sure Valiant could teach manners.

[Sparrow]

"Sewing it back together you mean? I'm pretty good at that." It had been her job before becoming a dragonrider, and in dealing with riding straps and clothing regularly worn and torn by a trio of fire-lizards landing and taking off from them, she had kept up the skill pretty well. Possibly even improved- most likely improved, really. Aleyi had been pretty busy with... other things back when she was first learning.

"If that's what's been keeping you so busy, I'll force my help on you," she added with a laugh. Likely not, but it obviously would take up some time. If anything, it would be a good excuse for Aleyi to be with Beka a little more.

Aleyi glanced at Brooke. "Yeah, but I'd rather it was them than me." A fire-lizard with the attitude of Brookelev's mom hadn't been what she had in mind when she named Brooke after her old girlfriend. "Not that she cares much what I think."

Like most Golds, Brooke was entirely focused on everyone's opinion but her keeper's. It made easily-influenced Tuck almost a relief, despite the trouble he got into with Pip. He at least listened to Aleyi when he wasn't occupied with his clutch-sister.

Aleyi shrugged. "If Pip's hanging on to me, at least she's not getting into trouble." She hesitated, thinking about that. "Either that or attracting a mass of little males onto the rest of me to flirt. Let's not try that then." Pip was as big a flirt as any Green; her minimal contact with Aleyi was probably a good thing.

[Missa]

"I'm not. I never really learned how, so... I just guess." Which wasn't the best way to learn anything, but it generally worked, the stitches held the two sides together, and that was all Beka really cared about. The blanket/shirt/jacket no longer had a hole in it, so it was well and truly fixed. Messily but fixed. She wanted to help? Beka looked surprised at the offer, but didn't reject it, instead smiling very slightly at her friend and nodding.
"If... If you don't mind. I mean it would help a lot, but I'd like to learn too... So that I'm not constantly stealing your time..."

Beka was honestly glad that Valiant was a blue, she wasn't sure that she could have handled the usually bossy nature of the metallic colours, or even browns on occasion. They wanted the best for their bonded, but sometimes they were confused about what was best for that purpose. They could be nasty on occasion, though Beka had never seen Brooke be nasty towards Aleyi. Nope, for simplicity, she was glad Valiant was a blue.
"Least she keeps you out of trouble?" Not that she could imagine Aleyi getting into trouble, mind. But the thought was there, that if she did, Brooke would steer her away.

"See? There's always a downside. Not that Valiant attracts females much, mind you. But there's always the chance that he might." Valiant didn't tend to flirt that much, and Beka couldn't even remember him ever chasing a female, so she wondered if there was something stopping him. Or if he just chased wild flitters and she was never paying enough attention on the brief times that he'd gone away. Maybe that was it.
"And besides, if Pip and Valiant start hanging around each other, Tuck might get jealous."

[Sparrow]

"Well, it isn't like it's all that hard, I'm sure you're doing fine." Aleyi shrugged. She was no master sewer either, but it could be relaxing sometimes. Until Pip came to eat her work, or Jerglith got bored and smashed it all to put his nose in her lap for scratches, or something frightened Tuck and he bashed through whatever was in his path to cower against her stomach. Brooke was the only non-destructive creature in her group.

"There is some technique that can speed it up though." And practice, which she got plenty of. "And I haven't seen you in forever Beka, how could you be stealing my time? I think we've gotta make up for it, even if it just means me working for you." She laughed. She did little enough, it wasn't like it would hurt her. Jerglith would appreciate it too.

Aleyi looked over at Brooke, who replied with a haughty toss of her head. "Nah, Brooke is the trouble. Pretty-much the only serious trouble I've ever had." She laughed, joking although it was somewhat truth. Brooke had never taken kindly to jokes though, particularly about her, and set to irritably preening. "But I guess it could be worse. She could claw my face off for saying that."

If Brooke were the sort to do that, Aleyi would have lost her face a long time ago. Either that or Jerglith would have gotten over his fear of Brooke.

Tuck looked uncertainly up at Beka and Aleyi shook her head. "I don't think Tuck is capable of being jealous." He could get annoying, but he was a sweetheart. A bit like Jerglith, except not quite as amazing. "I think Pip's been caught by plenty of males in her time, too, so he'd better not start. He's chased other girls, anyways." Greens flew far too often- and far too promiscuously- for any male to ever get the chance to be jealous of a different winner.

Tuck was simply the lucky flitter who got to live with Pip, and he was perfectly content with that.