Late night thoughts (open)

[ShadowReine]

R'mer did not feel like going to his empty Weyr tonight. He wasn't even entirely sure why.

Maybe it was just a periodic bout of loneliness. He hadn't managed to find a weyrmate...really, the only candidate he could think of was T'mar and the greenrider wasn't his type.

He had his dragon and his firelizards...his young barred was perched on his shoulder, his blue, meanwhile, was asleep on Tinth.

But he had friends. That really should be enough for a rider. This late at night, would any of them be around?

He did wonder...and then there was the new queen egg. A replacement, in some ways, for Kelth...it would be a violet, surely, with a tan sire. But he hadn't managed to really meet any of the female Candidates...

He flopped down by the hearth. "Eh. I'll just hang out with whoever shows up. That work for you, Rain?"

[Sparrow]

Staying up late was not something K'laon did often. When there were parties, he had a party, but when there were not, he crashed. He was getting on in years- well, in comparison to most others at the Weyr he was, and it made him feel old- and liked his sleep. Particularly in the winter, when it was too cold up at the top of the mountain to be worth staying up.

Amirinth was taking into account only that they had an early sweep tomorrow though, and the fact that K'laon was bad about sleeping in. They would stay up all night, K'laon set with klah and Amirinth set with her Greenliness. The latter had followed through where it wasn't meant to - Amirinth had fallen asleep. Dragons weren't night animals, silly Greens with no willpower especially.

Some bug of guilt, some competitive spirit, and the fact that Amirinth, considering she had stayed up a little late, would likely not be waking him in the morning, now kept K'laon up. When he couldn't sleep, there was little better to do than eat, so down to the kitchens and a warm fire he went.

He hadn't expected any company at this time of night, but it was definitely an improvement to his plans. Food gotten and drink replenished, K'laon flopped down next to R'mer. "I hope Tinth's not keeping you up."

[ShadowReine]

R'mer shook his head. "Tinth? The big blue lump is fast asleep with Thunder and Hail on top of him."

Only Rain was, in fact, extant of the bluerider's fair. "Tinth does keep me up sometimes, but this time its not your fault. "I take it Amirinth is partly to blame for your wakefulness?"

Amirinth was a green he never minded Tinth chasing, even if K'laon was rather too old for him. Still, he was good company in the middle of the night.

"At least I've escaped early sweeps. For once. I do seem to get more than my fair share, some days." Of course, he was a bluerider with little seniority or clout in terms of getting out of them.

Rain might help with that. Barred firelizards tended to look after their clutches and eggs made good bribes.

[Sparrow]

"Hmph. Amirinth decided we needed to pull an all-nighter so we'd be awake for our sweep in the morning, and then promptly fell asleep. Thought I'd better stay up so I could laugh at her in the morning."

Supposing he was awake enough to do so. Once they were flying and a cold wind was blasting him in the face, he definitely would be.

K'laon glanced sideways at R'mer. "Well, I'd hand it off to you but Amirinth would be disappointed." Not really, but he wasn't about to say that he was keeping the job out of the goodness of his heart. It was rare for K'laon to get an early sweep. He ought to do just it when he got unlucky.

He looked down at the fire-lizard that remained with R'mer and thought back to what the Bluerider had said first. "So do you have two new flitters?" K'laon was pretty sure R'mer had kept a Blue one for a while, but that was all he knew about.

[ShadowReine]

R'mer laughed a bit. "Isn't that typical dragon. Especially, I'm told, greens."

A pause. "I picked up two from the last clutch, yes...this one and a green. Thunder's very happy with this idea, but I'm just hoping they don't both decide to be proddy at the same time."

Not that firelizard mating lust was anything like dragon...R'mer was aware when Thunder found a female to chase, but nothing like when the chaser was Tinth.

"Didn't really want to get *two* more, but it happened and I'm managing well enough."

The two were growing quickly and would be feeding themselves pretty soon, at least. Firelizards seemed to become independent faster than dragons, most likely because they were ready to fly as soon as their wings had dried.

[Sparrow]

"Wouldn't I know it." Amirinth had a long history of falling back on her word. A bad memory combined with insanity and whatever instinct dragons had didn't make her all that dependable in most things. At least she was always willing to work, like all dragons had to be.

K'laon laughed. "I wonder who he'd chase if they did. The easier catch or the better prize?" A Blue would probably opt for the Green, but there was really little saying. Barreds were prettier. He could think that when Amirinth was asleep.

"I've been a rider for over fifteen years and I've still managed to avoid getting a flitter." K'laon chuckled. Sometimes the thought that he should get one popped up, but then he remembered that he had a streak to keep up. Fifteen years was too good to give up. "I'm pretty proud of that."

[ShadowReine]

R'mer considered. "Poor little guy would probably try to chase both of them and get lost somewhere in the middle and end up with neither."

Yeah. He knew his firelizard only too well...his older one. "And how have you managed that? That takes talent."

He had to rather assume that K'laon intentionally avoided acquiring them, given how many there generally were around...

[Sparrow]

K'laon laughed. "Wouldn't that be tough, dealing with two broody females that weren't even laying your eggs. At least it wouldn't last long with the Green." Once her eggs were laid, most likely she would forget about them entirely.

Amirinth didn't even have to put in that effort, something K'laon was enormously grateful for.

"Three things." K'laon held up a few thick fingers to count off. "First, I keep track of who's got eggs and avoid them like the plague. Second, I don't take flitter egg bribes." Bribes of different sorts were definitely a go, not that people often had a reason to bribe him.
"Third, I keep Amirinth uninformed so she can't trick me somewhere." If she ever did hear about eggs, she forgot well before they hatched.

"And there you go, flitter-free life." Not that he had anything against them, but in a Weyr it was practically something to brag about.

[ShadowReine]

R'mer laughed. "I figured it took talent. I'll remember not to invite you when the time comes."

Although the mischievous thought of simply sneaking an egg into the greenrider's weyr did hit him. It would be an evil prank and, depending on the timing, might not even work. If it didn't, they'd have a wild firelizard. Might be a 'waste' of an egg.

But it was very, very tempting. "I'm surprised she avoids hearing about them, though. Don't greens gossip all the time?" He grinned at that thought.

[Sparrow]

"I'll remember not to come even if you do." K'laon chuckled. At least eggs were something people talked about, even Barred flitter eggs from young Blueriders, so he wasn't likely to lose track. The "oh, I think so-and-so's female has a clutch" was a fairly inevitable line to any conversation.

He glanced sideways at R'mer. "Don't you start considering sneaking one into my Weyr or you'll be getting morning sweeps for a month." He could probably get that arranged. That was the one advantage of being older than everyone else: it gave him a little influence.

Morning sweeps ought to be a good enough deterrent to anyone. And oh, if someone snuck an egg in his Weyr, he'd find out who's it was, even in the middle of summer when they were everywhere. "Yeah, Amirinth hears about every clutch. And then she tells me and promptly forgets herself. So I know who to stay away from, who to not talk about with her, and so on. I'm pretty good at guessing hatching dates, you know."

That was also vital, since Faranth knew where people would bring their eggs to hatch.

[ShadowReine]

R'mer snorted. "Now, why would I do a thing like that?"

No.

He'd get a weyrbrat to sneak the egg into K'laon's Weyr. Just in case. "And I don't know. Morning sweeps might be worth it."

Actually. He wouldn't DO it. But it was definitely a temptation, just because...well...everyone needed a flit. Sort of. How many some of the people around here had, though, he couldn't understand. "To be honest, I plan on avoiding hatchings from now on myself. Three plus Tinth is enough to be dealing with."

[Sparrow]

R'mer was going to have an excess of eggs come summer- one clutch did that, when one already had three flitters- and getting rid of them in the form of pranks on old men had to be tempting. That's why he'd do it. K'laon decided against explaining aloud.

He spluttered instead. "I'll figure out something else to add on then. Put you in charge of a weyrling lesson or two. You don't know horrible until you've run one of those." K'laon had done it a few times; no one at Nyocia seemed capable of sticking to the job, but it really wasn't one good for Greenriders. It would be bad news if Amirinth was proddy when they needed a lesson.

"We can throw some flitter-egg-avoiding parties then." He chuckled. "I'm sure Amirinth wouldn't mind."

[ShadowReine]

R'mer snorted. "Got to be people better equipped to teach weyrlings than a young bluerider with a crotchety dragon. Or...whatever kind of dragon Tinth feels like being that day."

Greens might be a bad idea for weyrlingmaster, but Tinth? Now there was a thought. "And we could. Amirinth would probably appreciate Tinth's company too. I know he would hers...he thinks she's cute."

Amirinth *was* a pretty attractive dragon, R'mer had to admit, although not nearly as good looking as his Tinth.

"And okay. Hrm. But how do I stop one of Rain's offspring from picking me. Hide behind somebody bigger?"

[Sparrow]

"Oh there are, they're just lazier too." Someone like J'ran would be perfect for the job, if only they were interested. Brownriders usually made good Weyrlingmasters. "But I guess Tinth might be a bit dangerous to put in there too."

At least Amirinth was usually predictable. As much as Greens were, anyway.

K'laon grinned. "Amirinth finds Tinth plenty attractive too, although I don't think that's saying much." Any dragon capable of chasing her was a pretty attractive one as far as she was concerned. Of course, Tinth was probably little different. Most Blues would take any tail they could catch.

"I say ditch the eggs in the dining hall and run. I'm pretty sure there'll be someone there who knows what to do with them. Or go roll in something rancid." That plan might have a few bad lingering effects though.

[ShadowReine]

R'mer laughed. "I'm sure I could find somebody to watch eggs...as they'd have a higher chance of getting one themselves. Although most of the people I know already have two or three and are about as full up with them as I am."

The bluerider shook his head. "As to the other. I'm happy where I am, really. I suppose if I had more ambition I might have Impressed a brown, although it's fairly unlikely. Most brownriders like girls."

R'mer didn't. Unless they happened to be riding a green or barred Tinth caught, and then...well...he usually stayed long enough to say good morning, out of politeness.

[Sparrow]

"Most riders have them, but there are plenty of weyrfolk and brats about that don't." Probably some Candidates too, but they came and went. If there wasn't a dragon clutch on the sands when R'mer's females clutched, there probably wouldn't be many Candidates about.

K'laon nodded and laughed. "It's kind of a pity for them, since Browns usually aren't too picky about what they chase." Luckily for them, Barreds were evening that issue out a bit.

"I think I like where I am pretty well too." Originally, he hadn't been at all pleased with it, but things had turned out in his favor. The life of a Greenrider was pretty good, even if it meant dealing with his Green on a daily base. "Amirinth's going to get me killed one day though."

[ShadowReine]

R'mer grinned. "And blues certainly aren't...although at least Tinth has never been crazy enough to go after a queen."

A couple of blues had tried that, with resounding lack of success, of course. Blues simply lacked the stamina to last out a queen flight.

"And I doubt that. She rather needs you alive...although I know some greens are all about the fancy flying and crazy stunts." Tinth had his moments on that front, but he didn't do it *regularly* like greens were inclined to. Just every now and then.

[Sparrow]

"I'm glad that's one thing I never have to worry about with Amirinth." The occasional Blue might go after a queen, but no female ever chased. That was going far beyond the instinct overdrive a small male might get.

"Who was it that did try chasing a queen? Truth?" Maybe there had been more than one; K'laon didn't quite remember. As he recalled, Truth hadn't had much success since yet either... were the Greens at all put out by that too? It didn't seem like they would be, but it could be hard to say.

K'laon chuckled. "I'd rather we died doing some crazy flying stunt than doing something dull." They probably would. "Not that I'm going to let that happen anytime soon." He was definitely in no hurry, and the thought had never even occurred to Amirinth.

[ShadowReine]

"I think it was Truth, but he eventually worked out that it wasn't the smartest of moves. I mean, I appreciate the courage, but...I would hope Tinth would know better than to sprain a wing trying for queens, especially with all the greens and barreds around."

There were plenty to satisfy even the most amorous of blues without getting overambitious. And Tinth was not the most active chaser in the Weyr...although he certainly went up often enough for his rider. Maybe next time he'd have to track down that cute lad in the kitchens who had been eyeing him...hrm.

Shame that one hadn't been Searched.

[Sparrow]

"I think mostly it just proves how silly Blues can be." K'laon didn't like it so much simply because it put Nayarath in a bad mood when she should have been in a good one, which affected the rest of the dragons. He had even caught Amirinth complaining about it in her gossip with other females.

K'laon and Amirinth had never heard of such a thing happening before that, and the Green was affected by his views. Maybe that made her a bit of an exception. This younger generation of riders seemed more accepting of oddities.

He yawned, this thinking getting to be a bit more than he'd like to be doing. "You getting tired yet?"