The problem with barracks... (open)

[ShadowReine]

Gwen would be glad when she and Tyrth got a weyr. It would, of course, be a small weyr, a green or bluerider's weyr, but it would be hers.

She was a little tired of sharing. Especially when things walked. Of course, it had to be an accident, because what was missing was one of her knots. Nobody else wore a weyrling knot with a white strand, so it wouldn't be any use to anyone. She strode out into the common area.

"Guys, I'm missing a knot, and I don't *think* Spunky took it...could people make sure it didn't fall into their bag or something?"

Maybe it had got accidentally swept into the trash. Or maybe somebody else's firelizard took it. Spunky wasn't the larcenous type, but..

[Sparrow]

How did someone lose a knot? The first thing Aleyi did was check to make sure hers was still there. Yup, safe on her shoulder. Good. Next, she glanced at Jerglith. You didn’t take it, did you?

What would I do with a knot? The Blue snorted. They were sort of pretty, and Gwen’s did have that unique strand of white… but he never stole things.

Sorry then. Aleyi doubted her Blue would steal anything either… but it never hurt to check. Had Brooke? Nah, the irritating little Gold was much too concentrated on her Gold-ness. She was busy trying to attract males and acting vain as ever, it wouldn't fit her schedule at all to steal things.

Thinking about her seemed to bring the shining queen with a pop to Aleyi’s side. It wouldn’t be long at all before the flitter Rose, and Aleyi wasn’t looking forward to that at all. Jerglith wasn’t either; flitter eggs meant a flitter mate and, eventually, lots of flitter babies. He didn’t like Brooke, a bunch of her young and some cocky Bronze would be even worse to have around.

“Well… it doesn’t look like I have it,” Aleyi cheerfully told Gwen, unconsciously reaching to stroke Brooke’s back as the Gold settled on her shoulder. “Sorry.” Brooke snorted softly, probably thinking it stupid that anyone would loose their knot in the first place.

[ShadowReine]

Gwen shook her head. "Maybe Spunky took it. It's not quite like her, but she's been a little bit odd lately."

Which probably had to do with eggs. Of course, there was a knot on Gwen's shoulder...it was her *spare* knot that was missing. After all, she couldn't go around with a dirty knot on, and she had to have one to wear while she cleaned it. She wouldn't want to be mistaken for anything other than what she was.

"Speaking of, have you seen that firelizard of mine?" She'd better not hide her eggs, Gwen thought, or... She wouldn't be able to keep her promise to give them to people who had no firelizards if she couldn't find them. Who knew how barreds acted about their eggs.

Who knew if she'd even lay any.

[Sparrow]

Aleyi nodded. “So has Brooke.” The Gold gave the weyrling an offended look, but luckily didn’t feel the need to do more than that.

“Spunky just flew, right?” Not that Aleyi really kept up with what fire-lizards did, but she was the first Barred to do so, and Gwen was another weyrling, and of a White. It wasn’t like people wouldn’t hear about what was happening.

And… Gwen had lost her fire-lizard too? Aleyi shook her head. “Brooke could probably find her though.” She gently poked the Gold and Brooke only looked at her. “Any smart Gold could find some crazy Barred, anyways.” Jerglith rumbled softly, but ducked his head when Brooke glared at him.

It wasn’t likely the Blue would ever get over his fear of flitters when he lived with such an arrogant little queen.

[ShadowReine]

And just at that moment, Spunky reappeared...with Gwen's spare knot in her talons.

"Did you steal that or find it for me?" Gwen quipped. "And yes, she did. With luck, we'll find out what a barred firelizard lays soon."

Spunky just flew circles around Gwen, holding the knot out of reach...then, perversely, dropping it into the white weyrlng's hands.

"You're right. She is a crazy barred." Spunky answered that by landing on Gwen's shoulder and affectionately nipping her ear.

"Ow."

At that point, Tyrth came padding into the area, white wings neatly folded. He had grown quite a bit, but was still pretty small. "Talking of crazy draconics."

I love you too

You are crazy. You picked me.

No picking. You were always mine

"Dragons are odd."

[Sparrow]

Aleyi laughed as Spunky returned and gave Brooke a sympathetic scratch. “No mission for you today then.” The Gold only looked thoroughly relieved. And it looked like Spunky had brought Gwen’s knot back! Problem solved.

“Do you think flitters will lay the same thing as the dragons?” That was, of course, supposing the Barred dragons clutched. “Since Greens don’t even lay, it always makes me wonder what they would clutch if they could.” The same as the fire-lizards, or different? There had been mutations lately… who knew? Maybe they would have come about early if the flighty females had been clutching all these Turns.

Aleyi suspected that the vast majority of fire-lizards were crazy. “You know, I’d tell Brooke that but she’d probably kill me.” The Gold nipped at Aleyi’s fingers with vague irritation, but luckily the young queen didn’t apparently feel like wounding Hers at the moment.

I hope you don’t think all dragons are crazy, Jerglith commented softly to Aleyi as Tyrth came in.

Well, I already know you are. Aleyi smiled. “Tyrth must be a pain to wash.” All that white hide… things showed up quickly on Jerglith simply because of his hide’s sheen, but it was dark enough that a lot could be disguised too. “Maybe that’s why Whites are small.” Of course, there was only one other to compare him too… but he had been small, right? Aleyi couldn’t remember. That had been a long time ago.

“Yup.” Jerglith snorted at Aleyi’s quite agreement, but she knew the Blue really didn’t mind. “But I don’t mind it.”

[ShadowReine]

Gwen considered that. "We'd have too many dragons if they did, the planet could never support them. I'd imagine like firelizards, though."

She retrieved the knot from Spunky's talons and started to re-weave it. "I don't know whether barreds will clutch as greens, or whether they might lay a couple more. She's more the size of a blue, after all. More room in there for eggs."

She sort of peered at her firelizard's flanks...were they thickening a little? "Of course, we can stand to have a lot more firelizards around than dragons."

So much...smaller.

[Sparrow]

“Well, yeah, but I still wonder. But that’s probably right.” That didn’t mean Aleyi would ever stop thinking that if Green dragons clutched, they would do the same as the fire-lizards. It was so much more interesting the other way around.

Aleyi shrugged. “I figure they might clutch more Browns. And if they’re caught by a Bronze or something, maybe a Tan.” But who knew? They were a new color. Maybe they would start getting Whites out of them or more new varieties. “At least more eggs, anyways.”

Since they were bigger. “Yeah. Of course, most Green clutches don’t survive… if they all did, I think we might even get overrun with flitters.” Jerglith snorted at the idea, but Aleyi laughed at the idea of mounds of little Greens and Blues flirting, squirming, and arguing noisily across the crowded world of Pern.

The lack of care for clutches from Greens was probably a safety device fire-lizards had developed. Would Barreds be the same?

[ShadowReine]

Gwen glanced at Spunky again. "We'll find out soon enough." She was so cute.

"And yeah. More browns, but a tan seems unlikely. A white firelizard would be adorable, wouldn't it."

Of course, a white firelizard might not hatch. Maybe most white dragons didn't and she was just so, so lucky to have her wonderful, beautiful, perfect Tyrth.

"Gah. Do you ever get distracted by random thoughts about your dragon that come out of nowhere?"

[Sparrow]

"I guess. Who won her Flight?" Aleyi really did have no idea about that. She might have expected the Barred's new mate to be following her everywhere... maybe he had stolen the knot to, in some confused way, impres her? Aleyi had no idea. Hopefully when Brooke flew, she wouldn't get caught by an annoying male.

"A White flitt would. But they aren't as cute as the Blues we already have." Aleyi laughed and Brooke gave her teeth an irritated snap. "And of course, nothing can compare to the Golds." She rolled her eyes, but Brooke decided to ignore that and haughtily accepted the 'compliment'.

I think you should have picked your own egg. Jerglith still regretted his riders idea to let someone else choose the egg she bought. He wanted to have a little Blue brother.

Aleyi looked at Gwen with vague surrpise at her question. "Sure, whenever he talks to me. And just... whenever." They were random, anyways.

[ShadowReine]

Gwen shrugged. "A brown...which brown was it?"

Spunky helpfully sent her an image of Tak, but that didn't help. Gwen could not remember who he looked to. "Umm...yeah. A brown. I could pick him out of a lineup, but I can't remember who's he is."

Spunky chirred, and then sent an image of N'ren. Which was also unhelpful, as Gwen couldn't remember N'ren's name. "Gah. A tanrider...Spunky's trying to help, but firelizards don't do names!" She couldn't help but laugh.

[Sparrow]

((Tak won? I thought Scuttle did. *falls*))

“Oh.” Maybe it was the Brown that had been flirting with Brooke that one day when she was talking to Brylorea. Hopefully that meant he wouldn’t bother with the Gold fire-lizard later.

Brooke sniffed. No Brown would bring her snacks and then go after a Barred. Jerglith decided he probably would; if he brought Brooke snacks, it would only be because she made him. Barreds were much nicer.

Aleyi laughed. “I’m glad Brooke doesn’t talk.” The fact that she couldn’t completely understand the Gold was a good excuse to not do whatever it was Brooke wanted. Luckily, the flitter rarely wanted something from Aleyi, she just wanted to complain.

Anyways… a Tanrider with a Brown flitter? “I think there’s a Tanrider in my lessons group with a Brown.” And that excessively noisy Blue. “I don’t know him well.”

[ShadowReine]

(( Nope. Tak won. I had to roll a dice, nothing else seemed fair. Let me know what, if anything, I get eggs-wise ))

Gwen hrmed. "B'can has a brown, but it's not him. I think his won Lilac's last flight. It's so hard to keep track of all the firelizards."

She glanced at Tyrth, then at Spunky. Who decided now was a good time to prove Jerglith wrong, by shooting a highly inappropriate glare at Brooke, then digging her talons hard into poor Gwen. "Spunky, quit that."

Hiss.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Sheesh. I thought you were going to be nice..."

Nope.

[Sparrow]

((Okies. :3))

Aleyi nodded. "There're a lot of them." At least she only had one, even if Brooke had the attitude for a dozen flitters.

Brooke glared right back at Spunky, hissing softly in offense. No silly little Barred should be making faces at her queen. At least the Gold had the control to not tighten her grasp on Aleyi as she did so, but the Bluerider gave her flitt an annoyed look anyways. "She's obviously learning from you," she muttered to Brooke.

The Gold gave Hers a very surprised look, then chirpled in a slightly more friendly manner to Spunky. These smaller creatures... they just needed a good example.

[ShadowReine]

Tyrth rumbled what might be laughter at the firelizards, then he moved his head so as to nuzzle, quite gently, at his rider. "Okay, okay, you just want your eyeridges scritched, don't you, white one."

He crooned as she did just that with one hand, the other rubbing at Spunky's breast. "She's definitely put on a tiny bit of weight. I suppose she'll clutch very, very soon."

She wondered what. Maybe more eggs than a green, as she was a bit larger and presumably had a larger reproductive tract that could hold more of them. Maybe more barreds? Barreds were, of course, very, very pretty, she wouldn't complain if there were more about.

[Sparrow]

Jerglith playfully nudged Aleyi. I could do with a scratch too, AleyiMine. She smiled and rubbed the Blue's eyeridge and Jerglith rumbled happily.

"Just a tiny bit?" Aleyi gazed at Spunky curiously. How much would Brooke gain after she flew? Hopefully not a lot, if the Gold planned to continue riding on her shoulder. Brooke snorted. Hers would carry her around as much as the Gold planned, egg-heavy or not.

Not that she would gain any weight anyways, who knew how that would make her look! Aleyi laughed. "I don't think Brooke likes the idea. Do you think Spunky will lay a lot of eggs?" And surely she'd lay Blues... not that Aleyi was particulary tempted to try for another flitt.

[ShadowReine]

Gwen hrmed. "She's the oldest of the tame barreds, so there's no way of knowing. I'd assume slightly more than a green as she's more blue-sized. But probably fewer than a gold or violet. And, of course, there's sire color and flight length to factor in."

She glanced at her firelizard again. "Brown, decent length flight as far as I could tell...it confused Tyrth." He was, of course, not mature. Would he ever be? She realized that didn't bother her one way or the other...

[Sparrow]

Aleyi nodded. "Brooke wouldn't be happy at all if a flitt half her size laid more eggs than her." How one would manage that, she wasn't at all sure. The 'probably' in Gwen's comment rather surprised Aleyi, it seemed a sure thing. Brooke chirped softly, she agreed.

Aleyi had no clue what a good Flight length was, and luckily it would never make much difference to her. Blues didn't have to sire the clutches and Greens and Barreds probably had enough instinct to keep them going until they knew it had been long enough (although she always figured that was just until they ran out of energy). "I'm sure it'd confuse Jerglith too, and he's almost old enough to chase."

What a scary thought.

[ShadowReine]

Gwen hrmed. "You hoping he catches any green or barred in particular?"

There had to be some...well...she'd started eyeing the greenriders herself. If Tyrth *did* chase, he probably wouldn't catch a barred, being so small, but some of the greens were no more bigger than him than a violet compared with a brown, and browns *could* catch violets.

So, it was possiible. Assuming he grew at the same rate as the others and ended up the relative size she expected. "Jerglith *is* a handsome blue."

[Sparrow]

Aleyi shrugged. "I dunno." It was too bad Brookelev never got Searched. There were plenty of other people at the Weyr... but she never really thought about it. "Hoping Tyrth will catch someone someday?" She grinned. Tyrth was little, but there were plenty of small Greens out there too.

Jerglith rumbled softly at Gwen's compliment and Aleyi nodded. "Of course he is!" She laughed. "Tyrth is handsome too." More cute, actually, since he was so little, but she doubted the White would like that considering what she had heard about him. "I'm sure they'll both have Greens all over them someday." Although that wasn't an idea she liked so much.

Jerglith just smiled a draconic grin; he didn't seem to mind it.