The most perfect of greens (open)

[ShadowReine]

T'mar had to hunt up his oil, which was behind a rock. "I still think black would be pretty." He considered. "How about a smaller tan with blue markings? To go with the barreds?"

Freyjath was more interested in the oil, relaxing with a sigh as her young rider started to hunt the itchy spots.

"That would, I suppose, make sense, but what would you call it? I mean, you can't use barred for both." And it would be a sort of reverse barred, but it seemed prettier than blue with tan, somehow. Or handsomer, as they'd be males. "But eh. Maybe we have all the new colors we're getting."

[Sparrow]

"Eh." K'laon doubted he could ever like a black dragon. "Tan and blue? It might look a little odd... maybe... I dunno, it could be pretty."

It would be fun to have some little striped males to play with. Pity the Barreds are all female. Amirinth lay her head on the sand and watched Freyjath contemplatively.

You're always talking about how you wish you could chase. K'laon rolled his eyes. That was the last thing he ever wanted Amirinth to do.

And you always say you'd kill me first. Amirinth rumbled. Amirinthlove wants to be oiled.

K'laon glared at her. She had gotten a bath and been oiled a few days ago, watching these weyrlings doing it half the time they were awake seemed to be getting to her. Go rub against Freyjath if you want it so much. "Yeah, I dunno. The Barreds seemed to know what they were though, maybe others would know too." He hadn't known if the Tans and Violets did, but their color was obvious enough. Barreds were harder. Silvery-greens? It was a good thing they came with a name.

[ShadowReine]

"It could be." T'mar kept oiling his dragon.

"But dragons don't exist to look pretty, they exist to fight Thread. What really matters is how good they are at that."

Or breeding new flights, as queens didn't chew firestone. Still...that wasn't that much of a disability. He'd seen how those girls handled flamethrowers. Any guy who thought women were the weaker sex needed to spend a sevenday at the Weyr.

Freyjath would be a good fighter. He would make sure of that.

[Sparrow]

"Yeah." But it sure was better when not only did the dragons fight, they were nice to look at. "Maybe Thread is less likely to hit pretty things."

You must be pretty darn ugly then. Amirinth rumbled. If it weren't for Amirinth, you'd be dead.

If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be fighting Thread in the first place. He and Amirinth had come to the conclusion a long time ago that if she hadn't Impressed him, no one else would have, anyways.

Amirinth sniffed. You enjoy it.

"You looking forward to fighting Thread?" T'mar and Freyjath had a long ways to go before they did... but they'd be doing it someday.

[ShadowReine]

T'mar hesitated for a moment, considering his response. "Looking forward...would be a poor choice of words. Anticipating, yes, but..."

Looking forward implied that Threadfighting was a fun game not a deadly serious duty. "I just plan on working very hard so we'll be ready. Us greens have to take a lot of the risks, after all."

Not that the browns and bronzes weren't in danger or anything. "I mean, without us, what would those great, clunking bronzes do?"

So glad he hadn't Impressed a huge dragon...

[Sparrow]

"Eh. It's kinda fun once you get the hang of it." The killing Thread part was anyways, not the whole risking-your-life part. "Amirinth and I have been at it longer than most of the dragons here, anyways." They'd had to fight it that day the eggs hatched in the volcano. Not many of the dragons here could say they had fought the first Threadfall in hundreds of Turns.

And not many do anyways. That was scary. Amirinth huffed softly. Any newly-graduated weyrling's first Threadfall was sure to be scary, but when you had been raised believing that Thread was never going to be there it was a lot worse.

I know bug. K'laon frowned briefly. "Take Thread too seriously and you will die. I imagine the only reason Amirinth and I survived that first Fall was because we did our best to treat it like a game and keep nerves out of it." It was a good thing they spent a lot of time just messing around with agility. Amirinth had plenty of tricks up her sleeves when the Thread fell.

The Greenrider laughed. "Put a lot more work into fighting Thread and probably shrink." It just wouldn't be good at all to have only large dragons.

And to think you wanted one once... Amirinth rumbled. Amirinthlove knows you're much happier to have her.

[ShadowReine]

T'mar grinned. "Envisioning a bronze the size of Tyrth, now." He had, of course, no clue that Tyrth would probably be close in size to the first golds and bronzes.

"I guess you have to find a balance. Take it just seriously enough to duck, not so seriously that you end up nutsting your pants."

It's okay. I'll be not afraid for you

He laughed and patted his dragon on the shoulder. "Guess that is your job." Dragons were not supposed to be afraid of Thread. They couldn't remember the last Fall without asking their riders about it or...he knew Freyjath could pull memories out of his head if she wanted to.

She didn't always want to.

[Sparrow]

K'laon laughed. "That might be a bit too small."

A Bronze smaller than Amirinth would hardly be worth it. Amirinth yawned lazily, now deciding that she was happy enough just lying on the shoreline and sunning.

Figuring he didn't have to worry about Amirinth anymore, K'laon waded out of the lake and nodded. "As long as you keep both eyes out, you're good, I think." Amirinth snorted softly and told him they would be much better off if the saddles made riders face backwards and somewhat up, so they really saw everything.

K'laon glanced at T'mar. "What's her job?" He didn't know what she had said to the boy anyways. And Amirinth, I know yours isn't designing saddles.

If they asked the dragons how to do it, they'd be a lot more efficient. Especially if they asked smart ones like Amirinth. She rumbled softly.

[ShadowReine]

T'mar grinned. "She said she would be not afraid for me if I'm afraid." He rubbed more oil into the soft green hide...soft in color as well as texture.

"I reckon that IS part of her job. I don't think she knows what the word 'fear' means." Maybe that was because she was young. Or because she was green...in color as well as experience.

"And we have four eyes to keep out, too." Freyjath's were better anyway. She could see almost all around herself. Like a runner, he supposed, with the eyes set for maximum range.

[Sparrow]

K'laon laughed. "Good enough. And no youngster knows what fear means. I doubt even you do." Not that K'laon was all that old, he just felt like using the word. T'mar was younger than him anyways, and Freyjath was definitely younger than Amirinth.

"Amirinth's good at not getting scared, but sometimes it's just wrong to not be." K'laon started to sit down by Amirinth and she playfully gave him a hard push, knocking the rider over. I'll get you for that, he growled as he stood up again. Maybe somehow T'mar was too busy oiling to have noticed that.

Amirinthlove never gets scared. She just worries about her K'laonMine sometimes.

[ShadowReine]

T'mar snorted. "You're not exactly a grandfather," he pointed out to the older greenrider.

Not that he would deny being a youngster...and Freyjath was not that far out of hatchlinghood. Was that a word?

He pretended not to notice Amirinth sending K'laon flying. It was, to him, not that important a matter.

[Sparrow]

"Thank Faranth." K'laon would, hopefully, never be a grandfather.

Thank Faranth you're not for other people's sake. A newborn would take one look at you and keel over dead. Amirinth rumbled and this time let K'laon sit down next to her.

Just the reason why Greens don't clutch, bug. He lightly punched his dragon's shoulder.

Greens are simply too beautiful, a hatchling would feel in... in... something less than they were- which they are- if their mother were one of us.

"Inferior." K'laon scratched Amirinth's neck ridge fondly. "Freyjath almost done with her bath?"

[ShadowReine]

"Almost," T'mar acknowledged, rubbing oil into the soft-colored green's tail.

Would he father a kid? Probably. He didn't mind sex with women and if he could find a woman interested in him as a potential father...of course, women tended to go for the bronze and tan riders and assume the greenriders weren't interested.

Ah well. It wasn't a big deal anyway. "And who's inferior to what?" he added. "Can I get under your tail real quick?"

[Sparrow]

"Amirinth figures that the reason Greens don't clutch is because their young would feel too inferior." K'laon explained, rolling his eyes. The Green was insane, no doubt about it.

Amirinth ignored him, absently watching T'mar oil Freyjath. You should be more polite when oiling Amirinthlove.

When you're polite when I try to, he replied. "I think it almost takes less time to bathe a Green when they're adults." He didn't need to be quite as thorough with Amirinth now that she pretty-much never grew. Amirinth commented absently to K'laon that he needed to get a flitter and learn to care for hatchlings again.

[ShadowReine]

T'mar grinned. "You mean, they actually learn to stay still?"

Freyjath just gave him a look for that.

"And it's probably a good thing greens don't clutch, as often as they rise. We'd be over-run." Which might be why they didn't. Maybe the ancients had bred them not to for just that reason.

But then, what about the barreds?

[Sparrow]

"No. But they get too impatient for thorough baths." K'laon laughed and Amirinth made a good attempt at rolling her eyes. "Doesn't look like Freyjath has that much trouble though."

Like Amirinth said, she is rather dull. The Green watched the much younger dragon absently.

K'laon nodded. "They probably wouldn't clutch more than a few eggs, but they'd all be insane." Maybe Green dragons would be like their flitter counterparts and lay them somewhere where the eggs were pretty-much sure to die without hatching, then abandon them. Amirinth would, thinking her spot was better than a silly volcano.

It would be.

Is that why all the wild Green flitter eggs die?

[ShadowReine]

"If these two bred, then I agree. Insa......HEY!"

That was the reaction when Freyjath snaked her head around and nudged her rider in just the right spot to send him, windmilling, into the water. "Frey*splutter*jath!"

You asked for that

"You're just proving my point, you realize, you silly green?"

Greens were silly. But that was half the fun!

[Sparrow]

Amirinth doubts she could breed with a Green. Amirinth had to ponder this now. Maybe if another Green chased... Hers liked his same gender anyways. But it just seemed odd.

K'laon laughed as T'mar was shoved into the water. Still dull, bug?

She has hope. But she still can't fly Amirinthlove.

The rider laughed harder at that. "I really don't think she had any plans to!" Shards, that whole idea...

[ShadowReine]

"What?" T'mar demanded. "It's not funny!"

He pulled himself out of the water, dripping. And it undeniably *was* funny, but one is not supposed to laugh at one's own pratfalls. Much.

"Greens are *nuts*," he added...and then promptly reached out to rub Freyjath's eyeridge. Which was, of course, encouragement...for her to do her best to rub some oil off on him.

There. Now mine is bathed and oiled she informed Amirinth, archly.

[Sparrow]

"Nah, it's what Amirinth said that's funny." K'laon shook his head.

Amirinth snorted. At least I can tell which gender I'm supposed to be with.

Your fault who I end up with. Usually it was, anyways. "Doesn't take anyone long to notice that." Most Greens proved their insanity as they hatched out of their eggs.

You should do K'laonMine too. Getting Freyjath close enough to rub oil off on Hers without him realizing what was going on would be hard though. Hmm.