(2.12) Hatching Feast

[Mik]

<To Shayna/Any Nearby/ALL>

M’cleod nodded with a thankful smile to Shayna‘s agreement on helping with the speech that was normally Taenia‘s job which she had done so well at. Now she was a hollow soul barely clinging to life, hardly ever smiling. The Weyrleader heaved a sigh as he looked out over the Cavern’s occupants, smiling at a few of the scenes unfolding. At least, it seemed like most of their new Riders were trying to get along with the present time. He counted the new faces, only to find one rather important one missing. He would have to single that man out and ask him why he was not at the Feast. It was one thing for anyone that did not like crowds or was not a cheery soul due to a dragon loss or a tragedy, but M’riel had seemed quite edgy when he was around that man. {{Dunc, please ask Oreath why M’riel ain’t here tonight,}} he thought to his dragon before letting his gaze focus on the crowd again.

Duncanth carried out his Rider’s wishes, bespeaking Oreath in saying calmly, [[Oreath, Mac-Mine wishes to know why Yours ain’t at the Feast.]]

After a response from his dragon on the Future Rider’s reasons, he began by standing at his place. The Harpers stopped their music and a hush fell over the cavern as folk realized that M’cleod was about to speak. Once everyone had quieted enough to speak, the brownriding Weyrleader began, “I’d like to welcome ev'ryone here tonight. Thank ya' for comin' to celebrate our newest Class of Weyrlin's. In the absence of our Weyrwoman tonight, her usual speech'll be split between myself and Lady Shayna, so let’s all listen to our Weyrwoman Second, please.” He turned to Shayna, offering her a hand to stand, then took his seat a moment to let the light shine on her.
~~~

<To Candidates>

Eraydine offered a smile to the two boys and scooted a little closer to her fellow Candidates. “Journeyman Harper Eraydine, originally of Igen Weyr, daughter of Dineala of green Avatarth, and of C’onner of bronze Scoth.” She wiped away a tear at the mention of her parents. It had been so hard to lose them, but more hard to be relocated to Igen Hold to family they had hardly known. At least now, she could be comfortable around Weyrfolk again, even if the circumstances and structure were so much different than they were before the Plague struck. “I’m okay. My brother Impressed, but there’s four more chances for me to find a lifemate,” she said, forcing a lighter mood. There was no reason why she should be so down. She should be happy that she was still able to Stand.
~~~

<To Rytan, Aly, Lyam, other new Weyrlings>

Conneray smiled at Rytan’s groan. “Hey, your guy’s great anyway. You could be Weyrleader someday,” he said jokingly, but his intentions were true. Practically any bronze had a shot at Leadership and some browns. Just how little brown Duncanth won gold flights was something the StarSmith wanted to see as he was so much smaller than the bronzes that littered the Weyr’s territory.
~~~

<To Aquila, Ekaterina, R’en>

R’nor gave Ekaterina a gracious smile at her greeting, hardly bothered by the fact that these three had something going on behind the scenes. Oh, well. He was a man that loved getting into things, having been one of the ones that had thrown down T‘jas‘s Leadership a few turns back. The greenrider grinned at Aquila’s wink, taking it as a possible invitation to flirt with her. Oh, yes, the game was on now!

When R’en invited him to sit with the two ladies, he grinned and, instead of taking R’en’s seat, he just took an empty seat on the other side of Aquila. “So, ladies, how ‘bout that Hatching today? Pretty great, huh?” he said in idle conversation to fill in any awkwardness that might appear at the absence of the other male greenrider.

Upon R’en’s return, the dragon healer smiled a friendly greeting. “I left your seat open, R’en. And I’ll get some grub after the speech. Not sure exactly where I’m gonna sit just yet,” he said cheerily. Sure he would get something to eat and a drink, still him-hawing on his usual light klah or some juice or tea to have with his meal. His mind would be made up after the speech which sounded to be beginning quite directly at the sound of the Harpers quieting.
~~~

<To Sai>

Macira gave Sai a smile as she sat down where he had indicated. Patting the seat next to her, she looked up at the Dragonless man with another smile. “Sit with me?” she asked innocently. She was here for one thing and one thing only, but if something would help Sai, she was willing to work with it for him.
~~~

[sorra]

[To candidates]

Quidel smiled at Eraydine. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Quidel of Telgar originally," he said. He tried not to think about his family. He hadn't known his mother and he had lost his father to the Plague which is why he had gone to the Harper Hall. "That is true," he said, smiling at Celyn too. "We'll all have more chances to stand." He just hoped he Impressed one of the times.

[To Aly/Lyam/Conneray/other weyrlings]
Rytan nodded as he leaned back in his chair. "I had never thought about that. I guess I'm going to have to get used to Peronisth not saying much," he said. He was willing to be patient though. "How is your brown doing?" he asked, not coming up with the name right away.

[To Macira]
Sai nodded and quietly sat down beside her. It was easy to see how torn up he was. He hated being like this, but at certain times being reminded of his dragon got to him badly. And then to have his girls Standing was even worse. "Sorry I'm not much fun right now," he said softly, looking over at her, surprised that Macira had even come to find him.

[To R'nor/R'en/Aquila]
Ekaterina was surprised when R'en got up to let R'nor take his place. Just what was the other green rider doing? That wasn't like R'en at all. Well, she would just have to ask him later and get to the bottom of it. Until then though she was going to talk to R'nor.

"It was a good Hatching," she said. "All Impressed which is even better." It was never good when a young one went between. It made for a bad Hatching for everyone.

[To M'cleod/All]
Shayna sat quietly and listened to M'cleod speak. She had been going over in her mind what she would say and stole a glance at R'bao. This wasn't going to be easy. This would be her first welcoming speech. She gratefully accepted M'cleod's help up. As soon as she was able to she was going to slip back to her weyr. She was feeling pretty tired.

"First of all, M'cleod and myself would like to welcome you all here. And especially our new weyrlings. A Hatching is always a great time of joy and association for all. Not only to welcome to the new ones, but also a chance for old friends to catch up. I think we have all worked hard to keep Izuko going and we all deserve this much needed break and enjoyment as we welcome the new weyrlings into our ranks."

She took a deep breath and glanced at M'cleod to make sure that she was still doing alright. "Now, I know the weather is getting cold now and we want everyone to be careful and help your fellow rider or weyrfolk. This is a time for us to draw together even more and I have no doubts that you all will. You have all proven yourselves already and I believe you will continue to." She carefully sat back down and lay a hand on her stomach to calm herself down.

[kitllwynog]

Aquila watched curiously after R'en, wonderring what the greenrider had up his sleeve, but she turned back to R'nor and shrugged congenially. "A hatching is a hatching. I'm glad it went well of course." Some riders found Hatchings to be sentimental events, but for whatever reason, the bluerider had never found herself terribly affected by them. She hadn't Searched any of these Candidates, so she didn't have much of a stake. It was better not to invest too much emotion into them until they'd graduated Weyrling training.

Celyn grinned. "Good to meet you. I'm Celyn, my parents are crafters. I came here for my journeyman posting as a healer, but was Searched after I arrived. I know we've got lots of other opportunities. It was just hard to watch the others Impress." He listened quietly to Shayna's speech. "I hope the next clutches are laid quickly though."

[kendrall]

<M'riel to M'cleod>

Oreath opened one eye as he heard Duncanth's query of why M'riel wasn't at the Feast, but before giving his reply the Bronze let his bonded know about it. Duncanth's wants to know why you're not at the Feast, Mine.[/color]

M'riel paused for a moment inside the lower cavern where he was sanding away at the rocking chair. He gave a mental reply. Extend my apologies to M'cleod, Oreath, but you know how I feel about Feasts. I just don't particularly care for them, that's all. The former Wingleader gently blew the sawdust off the chair before continuing.

I know, Mine. I'll pass on the message,[/color] came the reply. Oreath then opened his other eye, and lifted his head to look over towards Duncanth's perch. Duncanth, Mine wishes to express his apologies for not attending the Feast, but allow me to intervene on his behalf. Mine is, shall we say...rather adverse...to Feasts as a whole, and prefers not to attend them unless he's specifically asked by one person.[/color] Oreath knew M'riel's penchant for avoiding Feasts altogether, but the Bronze also knew his couldn't say "No" if someone in particular were to ask him to partake in the festivities.

<R'en to R'nor/Aquila/Ekaterina>
R'en was returning to his seat and wasn't too suprised that R'nor had opted to take the open seat next to Aquila, but on the opposite side of her. Well, as far as the field medic knew, the Healer Apprentice had hopefully been a little *too* engrossed in conversation with the ladies. So much the better, then, it was now a matter of time before R'nor fell victim to R'en's practical joke. And boy, was it going to be a stinker.

He paused for a moment and turned to face the head table where the Leadership was sitting; R'en watched as M'cleod stood and the cavern fell quiet before the Weyrleader spoke, and finally the acting Weyrwoman stood with some assistance. Lady Shayna welcomed everyone present, and gave her thoughts on the overall state of the Weyr. Well, it was their new home regardless, and already some of the Riders who'd come with M'riel were slowly but surely integrating with everyone else. Everyone except M'riel himself, whom was noticeably absent. Only R'en knew why, and he wasn't about to divulge that little detail even if pressed.

He returned to his seat and acted a little surprised that R'nor didn't take his own seat, but he wasn't going to argue with his fellow Healer. R'nor mentioned he would get some food after the speech, but wasn't sure where he was going to sit. R'en simply nodded and shrugged. "No time like the present to get some food, R'nor," he said cheerily. He really didn't want his fellow Greenrider sitting next to Aquila and Ekaterina for several reasons, but it was mostly because he knew the air would inevitably become a little odiferous. Ah well. The field medic could always very sweetly apologize to his two weyrmates if they became innocent bystanders. "I'm sure there's plenty of seats still left," R'en said to R'nor, motioning with a tilt of his head in the other direction. He then set his plate and cup on the table, then resumed his seat.

[goldenauthanth]

V'yel had been about to respond to Tish's question about dancing when he had noticed M'cleod stand up. The Weyrlingmaster, as everyone else instantly quietened, allowing their Weyrleader to make his annoucement. The hatching was a brilliant thing, a joyous event and something to help mend the pain that Authanth's recent death had left on the weyr. He wasn't surprised to find that Shayna was taking Taenia's place.. This must be hard for Taenia..

The young man glanced away and around the room as the talk went on, his eyes resting on each and every new impresse. The riders of the future, and Authanth and Duncanth's last clutch.

[Mik]

<To Oreath>

Duncanth sighed a draconic sigh at the bronze’s response. Obviously, this bronzerider of the future High Reaches obviously needed to be more social. [[Mine won’t be pleased, but I’ll tell Mac-Mine,]] he answered the bronze before turning his attention to his Rider and relaying the message. [[Oreath’s is adverse to Feasts as a whole and prefers not to attend unless some specific person asks it of him.]] The dark brown knew what his Rider would think and quietly listened to the brief frustrated rant between dragon and Rider before His went on to begin the festivities.

{{He really gets to me with 'is macho, higher 'an ev'ryone else attitude,}} M’cleod thought to his brown before beginning his speech and eventually allowing Shayna to take the spotlight for a moment.
~~~

<To Shayna/All>

At Shayna’s glance, M’cleod gave her a smile of encouragement as she was doing alright in his opinion. Once the Weyrwoman Second had taken her seat again, M’cleod smiled and stood up. “A hand for our Weyrwoman Second,” he said with a smile, beginning the brief applaud for Shayna’s ability to fill in mighty big boots at such a short notice. Once the applause had died down, the Weyrleader continued, “Tonight, we not only welcome our newest batch of Weyrlings, but we also say our final farewell to a wonderful Queen as her final link to us is in her nine little dragonets that’ve all Impressed today. Cheers to a successful Hatching!” He raised his wine glass in a toast to their newest dragonriders and also to the memory of the great golden Authanth. Once the toast had finished, he continued on again, “While we want the light ta shine on our nine new dragonriders this eve, I’d also like to extend a welcome to our Riders from a future High Reaches Weyr. Let’s hope we can all pull together an’ keep Izuko tickin’ like we’ve done since the remnants of the Plague left our shoulders. Here’s to a wonderful location, a hopeful an’ promisin’ future, and, Faranth willin’, good fortune on our horizons. Have a wonderful feast and celebration, ev’ryone.” With that, M’cleod took his seat, signaling the Harpers to pick up their tunes again and the official mingling began.
~~~

<To Candidates>

Eraydine smiled at the others before turning her attention to the Weyrleader and Acting Weyrwoman. They’re speeches were traditional with a flair of hope and cheer and she liked that about Izuko. Most residents were actually quite hopeful toward the future. Turning back to the others, she managed another smile. “I sure hope we all Impress at one of the next Hatchings. Being left Standing this once was bad enough.”
~~~

<To Rytan, Aly, Lyam, other new Weyrlings>

Conneray smiled at Rytan. “I’m sure he’ll talk more as he grows,” he said optimistically. Thinking of his wonderful brown, he smiled wistfully, the wonder of the Impression still fresh and dancing around in his head. “Eterith’s great! He has to make sure everyone else is situated before he gets situated, so he’s gonna be very caring of others, I think.”
~~~

<To Aquila, Ekaterina, R’en>

R’nor smiled widely. “One hundred percent Impression is the best way to have a Hatching! We’ve had far too many mishaps in our short past,” he said, giving a helpful little insight into what they had endured in their timeline compared to the two hundred turns in the future timeline. He brushed off Aquila’s nonsense of little excitement of the recent event with a charming smile the bluerider’s direction.

The greenrider listened to Shayna and M’cleod’s speeches with the attention of a feline on an avian in the bushes, then raised a fist in the air at the end of it, saying, “Cheers to Izuko!” He was very patriotic toward his home and even Cleofith was of the same mindset.

At R’en’s words, the Dragonhealer smiled absentmindedly. It looked to him that his fellow greenrider was trying to get rid of him. Well, that was not going to happen so easily. “I think I like this seat for the moment,” he said with a wink toward the bluerider at his side, extending a warm smile to Ekaterina. After a few more moments of idle conversation, he had settled on what he was going to eat and excused himself to the food laden tables. Returning with his chosen feast and a cup of juice, he grinned at the future Riders present and settled into his seat to dig in. Between bites, he asked, “So ladies, who might I get lucky enough to have a dance with tonight?” he asked pleasantly, taking his time at his food. He really was not all that hungry when he thought about it, but a Rider needed to eat!
~~~

<To Sai>

The blonde Healer smiled reassuringly to Sai as she put an arm around him. “I just wanna make sure yer okay, mister,” she said lightheartedly. The Dragonless man had grown on her due to several occasions and she was more than willing to help cheer him up in times like these. “Whatever ya’ need, whatever ya’ want, I wanna help. I don’t wanna push yer Dirith away like most folk do. I just wanna be here for whatever ya’ want me to be here for. A shoulder, a ear, advice, or just ta hold,” she said to him, giving him a gentle squeeze of her arm to back her words to him.
~~~

[sorra]

[To Mac/All]

Shayna gladly lent back in her seat. She was happy to be at the Hatching and have it be such a happy time, but she was starting to feel very tired. She quickly glanced around for her lover and smiled when she caught of R'bao. Her face flushed though when M'cleod started a round of applause for her. She had only done what was expected as a gold rider. Although she had also felt privileged to be able to welcome Authanth's clutch. Her and Taenia may not have gotten along real well, but she had and still did respect the other woman. And this Hatching had been a great way to send off the mighty queen. She had no idea though that M'cleod was upset with M'riel not showing up. She hadn't realized the bronze rider wasn't there if she was honest.

[To candidates]

Quidel listened to the speeches. A slight tear started in his eyes. Part of being a Harper. He was a lot more emotional than some men were. He quickly turned back to his friends. "I totally agree. I don't want to be left Standing again. I thought I was going to die," he said ruefully.

[To new weyrlings]

Rytan shrugged a bit. "Maybe he will. Only time will tell," he smiled. He did love his bronze. It was just odd that the dragonet didn't like to talk much. All the others seemed to be more then willing to talk. He grinned at Conneray. "Well, it sounds like you have a very good brown then," he said cheerily.

[to R'en/R'nor/Aquila]

Ekaterina glanced at R'en again. The Healer was definitely planning something and she had no idea what. She cast a look at Aquila, wondering if the blue rider was thinking the same thing. She chuckled a bit when R'nor chose to sit with them again. Good for him. R'en had to realize that he didn't own them. Of course she wasn't complaining about sharing a weyr with him or anything. She did have feelings for him. But R'nor seemed nice and having some friends here would be a good idea. "Well, you can count me in for a dance," she told R'nor. "I love dancing."

[To Macira]

Sai trembled a bit. The Hatching had almost been too much on him. He didn't know what he would do if his daughters ever did Impress. "I'm making do," he whispered. "I just don't want my girls to have to suffer that loss that I did. Although I don't want to hold them back from Standing either." He was so confused right now. Sai slowly looked over at her, surprised that she wasn't trying to make him forget Dirith. So many other people had. But he should have known Macira was different. It was one of the many reasons that he really enjoyed talking to her. "Just having you here right now is helping," he said softly, finding himself leaning against her as he nearly broke down.

[kitllwynog]

Aquila returned Ekaterina's look with a shrug, knowing what she was referring to, but not having any better idea than the other woman did. But about R'nor, she felt much the same. She'd never been the faithful sort up to now, and as much as she had become content with their arrangement, she also felt a little rebellious. R'en was a possessive sort, and it amused her to twist his tail a bit. Besides she did love to dance. She grinned back at R'nor. "I'm always up for dancing. Just below flying on my list of favorite pastimes."

Celyn nodded his agreement. "I know, I wanted to feel happy for the others but really I've never felt so jealous in my life. I'm glad we have another chance come up so quickly. Some of the older Candidates have waited turns," he said with wide eyes.

[kendrall]

<to R'nor/Ekaterina/Aquila>

R'en simply shrugged as R'nor said he preferred the seat he was now sitting in, then watched as his fellow Greenrider got up to get his food and drink. The field medic's eyes followed for a moment, then he looked back at his two weyrmates whom by now were wondering just what exactly he was up to. He said nothing, only choosing to raise his cup to his lips and looked into it, pretending to take a long sip. It wasn't going to be his fault entirely if Ekaterina and Aquila were caught in the middle. He did try to warn R'nor to sit somewhere else, but the Greenrider wasn't going to be denied his chance to dance with either of the ladies. R'en himself didn't mind dancing, but once his planned stunt went into effect, either the table where everyone was sitting at or the entire dancefloor would be cleared out in a hurry. If the Leadership happened to be nearby when R'nor was unable to keep himself from such an embarrassing accident, well...

...Lady Shayna would probably be the most adversely affected by the sudden stench. It would be an unintended side affect, but R'nor would really be in trouble by then. The field medic waited for his fellow Healer to finish with his food, then looked at both of his weyrmates to decide which of them he would dance with first. "Aquila, as long as I get the next dance with you, I don't mind if R'nor dances with you first." He then looked at Ekaterina, and gave her a dazzling smile and held out his hand. "May I have this dance, Ekaterina?"

((OOC - whenever you decide it's time for R'nor to really "let loose", Mik! The more embarrassing for him, the better!))

[Mik]

<To Candidates>

Eraydine nodded, having felt jealousy toward her brother who had Impressed this Hatching and not herself. Although had it been the other way around, she would have consoled her brother for his loss at Impression while reveling in her own so it really was a lost comparison. “How many eggs do you think Tsunath and Fraith will clutch?” she asked, turning the subject to a more hopeful one of a hopeful future Impression by all of them there. She did not know that it was still questionable as to whether or not the two golds would even clutch as their Weyrling screw ups had been kept very quiet.
~~~

<To Rytan, Aly, Lyam, other new Weyrlings>

Conneray smiled with pride. “I sure hope so!” he agreed with Rytan. My sister would love to meet him! He’s just like her!” And that was a truth as Eraydine had always been the watchful older sibling even though the pair did work as a great team throughout their lives.
~~~

<To R’en, Ekaterina, Aquila>

R’nor grinned merrily at Ekaterina’s agreement to have a dance with him. “Great! A few more bites I think, then we’ll dance!” he said as he took another bite of his food. It tasted a little unusual to him, but he dismissed it as maybe another cook’s recipe or something. It still tasted quite wonderful, but then again, any meal was wonderful when you knew that you helped provide it.

Grinning again at Aquila. No one really “owned” another Rider here and he was perfectly happy setting up possible mates for when Cleofith next flew. “And I’ll get your dance right after I have one with the lovely Ekaterina, not that your any more or less lovelier,” he said, leaning close with a wink. Yes, he loved to get involved both in and out of Flights, but had never been a steady stayer.

As R’en asked Ekaterina for a dance, R’nor took another bite, then washed it down with some of his juice. “You know what? How ‘bout we dance now?” he asked of the bluerider since the green was claimed for this dance. “Unless you wanna wait. I’m game any way you have it.”

((ooc: *is looking for the "opportune time"* ))
~~~

<To Sai>

Macira smiled at Sai. It was neither sympathetic nor remorseful. It was a genuine, meant to cheer smile. Sai’s acknowledgement that her being around him was helping was more than enough for her. “I’ll stay as long as you want, Sai. I don’t have to be anywhere for a good while yet,” she told him, leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek and squeezing his hand in hers. She only wanted to comfort him to the best of her abilities.
~~~

[sorra]

[To candidates]

Quidel took a sip of the juice he had. It was still really hard to be happy for the others and not sink into despair. "I think we were all a bit jealous," he said. "I know I was too." He was thankful for Eryadine's change of topic. They were all going to get depressed again if they weren't careful. "I'd guess around 15 to 20 each," he said, not really sure. It was only a guess after all.

[Lyam/Aly/Conneray]

Rytan grinned. "I bet she will love him. It must be hard for one of you to Impress and not the other," he said sympathetically. He didn't have any siblings so he hadn't had to worry about that problem. Although he did wonder what his father thought about it.

[R'nor/Aquila/R'en]

Ekaterina smiled at R'nor's wink and words. Well, she certainly wouldn't mind getting to know him better. Just because he rode a green didn't mean they couldn't be friends. And he seemed extremely nice and considerate as well. Good traits to see in a person. She glanced at R'en, figuring the man wasn't liking what was going on.

The green rider was just about to accept R'nor's offer when R'en made the arrangements for them. "Alright," she agreed, standing up to join R'en for the first dance. "Save me a dance," she told R'nor, playfully batting her lashes at him. She knew how to flirt when she wanted to.

[Macira]

Sai was so thankful not to see pity on Macira's face. He had gotten enough pity throughout the Turns. He didn't want more. It only made it harder. "Thank you. I know I should find the girls and make sure they're okay, but I don't have the heart right now." He was surprised by her kiss to his cheek, but a small smile touched his lips. He found himself leaning against her, just needing to be comforted.

[kitllwynog]

"Yeah, you'd definitely expect at least 15 eggs. Thirty eggs at once, can you imagine? And there could be more. Then Josiath will be clutching in just a few months. We're going to need bunches of Candidates. And think if we get another Gold or two. We might have to build another weyr eventually." it would be amazing if they could start to fill the abandoned weyr's, Celyn thought. Though it could be pretty dangerous. He knew the Jokders had become hostile to the weyr. Hopefully, they'd change their minds...

Aquila narrowed her eyes at R'en. He definitely had a look of mischief about him, but she couldn't imagine what he could be planning. After a moment she shrugged, and turned to R'nor. "Just let me finish this food real quick, Ive been starving all day waiting for the feast." She hoped he didn't expect terribly ladylike behavior as she wolfed down the rest of her tubers and took a swallow of wine. "There, now I'm prepared for the dance floor," she said, standing and offering her arm. The harpers began to play a lively tune and she grinned. She did hate slow dances.

[Mik]

<To Candidates>

Eraydine smiled and nodded to the boys’ words. “I heard their flights were short though. Think that’ll affect the egg counts?” She was curious how the length of the Flights affected things. Then again, she had also heard that their Flights were their maidens, too. Usually a maiden flight was a low egg count from the old Records she had seen during her brief stay at Harper Hall.
~~~

<To Rytan, Aly, Lyam, other new Weyrlings>

Conneray smiled. “I feel bad that she didn’t Impress this time, but maybe her dragon’s waiting in that gold egg or one of Tsunath and Fraith’s clutches. I just hope she doesn’t have to wait too long. I’d hate for her to have to keep Standing when there’s so few dragons on Pern nowadays.” He had yet to think of what the separation would do between himself and his sister as he was still far too excited over the fact that he was now linked to a dragon of his very own. Sure, Eterith was not a bronze like their father’s, but brown was just as good.
~~~

<To R’en, Ekaterina, Aquila>

R’nor grinned at Ekaterina’s words. “You can count on it!” he told her as she walked off with R’en. Waving his hand to the bluerider merrily to allow her to finish, the greenrider waited patiently, taking a few more bites of his own food, though never getting to finish it. Of course, there was far too much going on to be able to finish his meal before enjoying the festivities, hence why he had a tendency to graze amidst his minglings when at things like this. When Aquila finished and stood, R’nor stood as well, offering his arm in a gentlemanly fashion with another grin. “Then let’s cut a rug!” he said cheerily as he led her on to the dance floor. Once there, he smiled at the lively tune and struck a pose for the bluerider before taking her right hand in his left and placed his right hand on her waist. “Hope you’re ready for this!” he said cheerily, starting her off into a merry swing-like dance.
~~~

<To Sai>

The Journeywoman smiled at the Dragonless man and let him lean close, knowing that sometimes a simple touch helped calm one’s nerves. “Don’t worry about the girls right now. We’ll go see them once you’re settled better, okay? I’ll come with you if you want me to,” she said, glad that he did not seem too set on seeing them now. Not only was it the fact that they had both Stood and not Impressed, but also that Sai still had to work around his memories of his dragon to even be in a fatherly state for them.
~~~

[kendrall]

((OOC - Since the sub-plot wasn't quite the way I had intended it to go, I'm pulling R'en out of this story arc in as graceful of a manner as possible. My humble apologies to everyone involved.))

R'en didn't like the fact that R'nor was, in his mind, trying to "barge in" on his two weyrmates. Granted, R'nor was a Greenrider like him and Ekaterina, but for his new rival for him to vie for the affections of Ekaterina and Aquila - especially after a mutual agreement to share the same quarters (and with a bit of help from M'riel convincing the current Leadership to let them stay together) - was over the line. The field medic spared a glance over his shoulder at the table when R'nor agreed to save a dance for Ekaterina, but the other healer only took a few bites of his food but none of his drink. Shells! Now there would be no way possible for his planned stunt to work. R'nor clearly did not eat enough of the tainted food nor have any of the spiked drink to cause him to have an embarrassing "incident" here at the feast. Obviously, R'en would have to try harder next time. Perhaps a powerful sedative would definitely do the trick? Make R'nor fall asleep at mealtime and do a face-plant into his dish? Then drag him into some random drudge's room, strip him down, and make him think he slept with the ugliest-looking Bitran in the entire Weyr?

He made a face of disappointment, but once Ekaterina would notice he would have to genuinely fake it. "Ow..." he stopped dead in his tracks, then put a hand to his stomach then groaned. "Ekaterina, I don't feel so good all of a sudden," he injected realistic-sounding worry into his voice. He shook his head at her, knowing she would try to persuade him to stay. "I...I'll be fine. I just need to go lay down for a bit." R'en then started to shuffle off, purposefully dragging his feet a little as he made his way through the crowd dancing on the floor, then headed out of the Dining Caverns and out of the room. The field medic kept up his appearance until he made it safely back to his weyr he shared with Aquila and Ekaterina, then grumbled under his breath. Ungrateful little... he thought grimly of R'nor. Yes indeed, he would have to work harder to publicly humiliate R'nor.

[sorra]

Ekaterina hadn't noticed R'en's anger as she walked with him out to the dance floor. She also hadn't realized how much hers and Aquila's playing along with R'nor's flirting had gotten to the field medic. She hadn't wanted to upset him. She was just enjoying herself. As she turned to face him on the dance floor he made an awful face and said he wasn't feeling well. Well, that didn't seem right at all.

Before Ekaterina could get a word in edge wise he said he needed to go lay down. She frowned a bit and glanced at Aquila and R'nor as R'en slipped away. "I'm going to go check on him," she told her friend. "You guys have a good time." Ekaterina then picked up her skirts and hurried after R'en. Something was definitely off. She finally made it back to their weyr and stepped inside. "R'en?" she asked, looking around for the other green rider. "I wanted to come and make sure you're okay."