Headaches [Open]

[Sparrow]

Kora had finished her work for the day and finally it was time for dinner. Some days she brought her food out to eat with Nayarath, but this evening wasn't one of those; the Gold had been putting off eating to keep an eye on her eggs, and wouldn't appreciate her rider coming out with a plate of good food.

Lilac and Soot didn't mind eating inside one bit, and gathered around Kora's plate to snatch up a couple things for themselves. Squeak crouched at Kora's feet, ever so carefully pulling some loose stitches from her worn boots. He had been trying to do this all day, and Kora was done fighting him. It was almost time for bed, let him ruin her shoes. It would give her something to do morning.

Things were so dull when Nayarath had eggs. They couldn't go anywhere, particularly with recent events making the Gold extra nervous about her clutch. Kora hadn't helped the current lack of intrigue in her life at all by spending the day tucked away in an office, tracking inventories and reading through various other reports. Dull, dull, dull. Her head ached from all the numbers and scribbled words.

I though that empty belly of yours would have made me hungry, but I'm not feeling like eating either.

Well, I doubt your meal will go to waste.

Kora looked down at Lilac and Soot, happily chowing away. No, it wouldn't.

[ShadowReine]

OOC: Given nobody ever responded to this, I'm gonna snag it

B'can was actually glad Apolloth hadn't won the leadership flight at three levels. 1. He didn't have to be Weyrleader. 2. Jorindath had forgiven Apolloth. 3. He didn't have to...oh, there she was.

Kora, looking bored, frustrated and unhappy...and possibly being driven to that state by her Sands-bound dragon. Jorindath wasn't so bad about it, but he rather suspected that Nayarath, a more dynamic personality from what he had seen.

Cautiously he wandered over. "Weyrwoman. Would you like company or would you rather be left alone?" Guess and Stare appeared from Between, both eyeing Kora's untouched food...although with a queen there, they weren't about to approach.

[Sparrow]

Kora looked up, a bit surprised, and discreetly shoved Squeak away from her boot with her toe. "No- uh, I mean... I don't mind." Company would probably do her good, even though she hadn't been feeling entirely up to it lately.

Lilac was far more thrilled by the intrusion. She shoved Soot aside and chattered to Guess, perfectly happy to share her food with the Brown. A disgruntled Soot crawled over to Kora and begged for scratches. He had no desire to share a meal with a flitt that had one-upped him at more than eating with Lilac.

Kora scritched Soot's back. If Lilac was going to invite company, she may as well just forget about eating altogether. "How's Apolloth doing?"

[ShadowReine]

"Well enough. Trying to get me to volunteer for longer sweeps so he's in perfect shape when Jorindath rises next." B'can made an amused face as he sat down.

"I'd ask how Nayarath is, but I rather suspect the answer is 'Tired of watching eggs harden'." It had to be quite boring for the queens at such times...unlike lesser beings like firelizards and the rare avians, they were intelligent beings for whom being tied to a small area had to chafe.

Guess chirpled brightly to Lilac, preening at her. It was such a shame he had been distracted chasing a wild female the time she had rose last. He would have to pay more ATTENTION next time. Of course, being a firelizard, he was likely to be eternally distracted. Even the sensible browns got that way pretty readily.

"How long do you reckon before they hatch?"

[Sparrow]

Kora smiled. "Well, at least he's planning ahead. I suppose chasing Nayarath was just a warm-up for getting Jorindath." He was probably pretty safe chasing Nayarath, excepting the fact that Jorindath probably wouldn't be very happy with him afterward. Kora didn't want to interrupt B'can and Inolyn, however, and Nayarath would respect that unless something major came up to make her think B'can would be the top choice for Weyrleader.

"That's about it, although sometimes I wonder if she's convinced glowering at them all day makes the eggs develop better. She seems quite happy doing that." Nayarath was a master of glaring at things, there was no question about that. Glaring and being perfectly happy about it, because she thought doing so was enormously funny.

Lilac gurgled, perfectly happy to accept the attention she had invited him over to give. She held no animosity for Guess' missing her last Flight; Koll had been a good mate too. Next time they would have to work harder, and that would make it all more fun.

Kora hesitated. "Not much longer. I'm a little worried about it... Nayarath hates egg touchings, and has been particularly reluctant to do one this time. I don't think they're entirely necessary, but it seems like the Candidates ought to get a little experience being on the Sands, around the eggs, and around her beforehand." Nayarath didn't realize it now, but she would probably be happier meeting the Candidates beforehand too.

[ShadowReine]

B'can frowned. "I understand how she feels, but they do reduce the danger to the Candidates, I'm told."

Nayarath did tend to worry about her eggs more even than most queens, from what he had told, and with a queen egg...likely a violet...this time, she was likely to be particularly protective.

"Do we have any good prospects for the queen, for that matter? I suppose I haven't paid attention to the Candidates the way I did last time, when Apolloth was the clutch sire."

[Sparrow]

"I imagine it's far more dangerous to pile them on when Nayarath doesn't want them there." Kora smiled weakly. She was no good at joking, but maybe she would get lucky and that would come across as one. Nayarath would never purposely hurt someone- no dragon would. But she was perfectly capable of scaring people off without physical damage.

Mostly, Nayarath just loved to be eccentric and get on people's nerves. She would come around eventually. Curiosity about the Candidates would overcome her general hatred of them.

"I haven't had much time with the Candidates, but I've seen a few that might have potential." Mostly she just heard about them through the weyrfolk, which worked well enough for her. All the women in the lower caverns had their favorites, and they loved to tell Kora about them, as if that had some influence on who the hatchling would Impress to.

[ShadowReine]

B'can nodded. "Even if it's most likely a violet...actually, I kinda feel sorry for the girl. She's likely to be seen as a replacement for Shador, and what a set of shoes."

His lips quirked. "Although I would hope none of them are quite so nocturnally active. I know it's good for a queenrider to be lively, but if Shador had gotten pregnant we'd have had to foster the kid 'cause half the Weyr might have fathered it."

[Sparrow]

"Yes." Kora frowned. She and Shador had generally gotten along, but when that point was brought up, it had never been one they could agree on. It was hard to say now how well Shador's strategy had worked out... but it had definitely left a hard space to fill behind for any new Violetrider. Kora would rather whoever Impressed the Weyr's newest queen didn't attempt to.

A pregnancy would seriously cramp Shador's style for a while. Kora doubted she would have made the Weyr worry about any child of hers. Still, Kora missed her. She had few close friends in the Weyr; Shador had been an unexpected loss. She traced circles on Soot's back with her fingertips. "It would be hard to be them now."

[ShadowReine]

B'can nodded. "Let's hope, then, that if it is a violet, she chooses somebody very different from Shador. And, for that matter, hopefully from Inolyn."

Something about the way he spoke the violetrider's name might hint at a softening, at the genuine and true feelings he had for the woman.

"But I miss Shador. A lot. No matter what else, she was entertaining to have around and helped keep the place lively." A little wistful there. But also protective.

If Shador had been the target, then Inolyn and Jorindath might also be in danger. As might the new violetrider, whoever she turned out to be.

[Sparrow]

"I rather like Inolyn. I wish I saw more of her." Not that Kora got to see her a lot. She felt like it had more to do with Jorindath, or Inolyn's feelings about what Nayarath's feelings were for Jorindath, or something complicated along those lines that was, overall, a bunch of lies. Riders in particular seemed to come up with all sorts of incorrect ideas about the queen, and none had taken the time to figure out the true ones.

That was something that always weighed heavily on Kora's mind. She had let all the bad rumors run rampant too long and didn't know how to fix them now. That certainly had to be one of her goals with the new queenrider- not only get to know her, but get her dragon to get to know Nayarath. The dragon liked the company of other queens, contrary to popular belief.

"Shador was always fun to have around." The drabness around the Weyr lately wasn't just because Shador wasn't there to brighten it anymore though. Kora thought she heard it in B'can's tone too; he wasn't just taking Shador into account, but the mysteries around her death.

It was already hard to lose Shador, but that made things that much worse.

[ShadowReine]

B'can grinned. "I see...you know, let's not go there." Clearly he saw plenty of his weyrmate, in all kinds of senses.

"Inolyn is quieter. I suppose there's only so much of a pattern to what dragons choose...I mean, a lot of greenriders are thrillseekers, but not all of them. T'mar isn't...he's...well, I can see why he bonded a female dragon, but..." T'mar had a femininity to him, most definitely.

"There was a time when guys like that bothered me a little. Now...well, I'd rather Apolloth didn't fly Freyjath, but..."

But the concept of guys with guys no longer disturbed him. As long as the guys concerned wanted it, it caused no trouble.

[Sparrow]

Kora almost laughed. Right. Better that they didn't... but the subject B'can moved into wasn't exactly what she would call easier to talk about. "Freyjath is quieter than T'mar, far as I can tell. She's the exception from what we expect of Greens, and T'mar has been carried along. I don't think it has much to do with the rider there, just the dragon. But I'll agree, there's not an enormously reliable pattern."

There were certainly general expectations for each color and, since many dragons preferred personalities similar to their own, riders were thrown into that. Not every dragon did- Kora believed she and B'can were good examples of that- but picking a rider like the dragon itself was the closest things came to a pattern, as far as she could tell.

Dragons varied though. Freyjath wasn't what most expected of a Green, Jorindath wasn't exactly queenly.

As for Apolloth flying Freyjath... well, a line like that wasn't exactly one Kora would expect to a Tanrider with a queenrider weyrmate. "I'm not bothered by people like that, so long as they're not trying to get my attention." Kora winced a little. "I have to admit, I'm quite terrified of the possibility of Razuth ever catching Nayarath."

[ShadowReine]

B'can shrugged. "Why should they? Plenty of their own kind around the Weyr...and if you're that worried about Razuth's rider, wouldn't that turn Nayarath off choosing him, just a little?"

Razuth was strange...and B'can commonly teased his dragon by blaming him for the bronze's choice of riders. "In any case...I am wondering what will come of a tan-gold pairing. Maybe we'll get a charcoal or two in the clutch? I feel sorry for the Candidates if so...charcoals are strange."

Not that tans weren't, but everything he had heard about the charcoals indicated that he was much happier with a tan. "Odd. I always figured I'd Impress brown..."

[Sparrow]

Kora shook her head. "Not a clue, but it's happened." Well, she did have some clue, which was that it usually involved parties and drunkenness. Two things she would rather avoid entirely, but the former was a required thing for her, and the latter always came with it.

"I hope so." Nayarath sure did love to tease about it, but Kora really couldn't imagine her letting the strange Bronze win her. That would make a stranger clutch than a Gold and Tan ever could. "We'll see soon enough. I do feel a bit sorry for the people with Charcoals... but once they've got them, I figure they're better off with them." Even a dour and grumpy dragon (which sounded rather familiar...) was a lifemate, and would be hard to lose.

"The dragons do like to surprise people." Kora smiled. They had plenty of examples of that at Nyocia.

[ShadowReine]

"True. I just have a tan who thinks he's a bronze." B'can grinned. "Well, no. He thinks tans are *better* than bronzes. Doesn't want to acknowledge that the bronzes still outrank him."

Which was a sum up of Apolloth, very quickly there. "Hence why he chased Nayarath even though he's fond of Jorindath and she chewed his head knobs for it pretty thoroughly."

Queens could get possessive of her males, even the violets. Perhaps especially the violets...how could they not feel a little threatened by the larger, higher ranking golds?

[Sparrow]

Kora laughed. "I'm sure Wuith's win did nothing for that belief." Nothing in the way of softening that ego, anyway. It would further the cause, although Kora wasn't sure about the idea of Tans ever outranking Bronzes.

"Oh, I'm sure she did." If she hadn't, Jorindath would probably be getting in trouble from Nayarath. But Kora didn't think any amount of scolding would ever stop Apolloth from chasing Golds. Unless Nayarath gave him a straight up firm no, maybe. Kora wasn't sure whether the idea that any dragon would obey a queen without question applied to mating flights.

That just seemed like one of those things that they would conveniently forget.

[ShadowReine]

"Well, Nayarath had a reason to choose him...but that's why we're guessing that queen is a violet. Of course, for all we know, a tan can sire a gold. A brown can't, but tans are a little bigger and between them and bronzes."

So...it wasn't *entirely* impossible. Just very unlikely. "But nothing wrong with violets." Even if they could really rather use another gold, Brylorea having transferred to the new Weyr.

Oddly, B'can had long since ceased to miss the goldrider he had once had such a crush on. She had nothing on Inolyn.

[Sparrow]

Nayarath's reason was one Kora had yet to discover. "It's possible, but I think I'll play it safe and guess Violet." The only thing Wuith had over Nyocia's Bronzes was that he was older than them. As far as Kora was concerned, he was lucky to have sired a queen egg at all.

"No." It was hard to think about Violets without feeling like she was biased towards Golds, but there was certainly nothing wrong with them. One would give them three queens again, which was a good number.

B'can sounded like he would prefer a Gold, which was a common thought around the Weyr. But another Gold, and chances were they would start a third Weyr rather than have her crowding the queen rank. Violets stayed; they hadn't shown they could clutch queens yet, and starting a Weyr with a queen that didn't clutch queens seemed like a bad idea.

[ShadowReine]

B'can nodded. "Well see. For all we know...I really hope we don't manage to come up with a *third* queen color." It wasn't entirely impossible, but two was enough.

Some people had hoped that the barred and sky dragons would be able to clutch, but B'can was rather relieved they had turned out to be as infertile as greens. They didn't need more dragons than they could feed and find Candidates for, after all.

Dragons were needed, but there had to be a balance there. Something to keep things the way they were. Queens usually managed to do it, somehow.