[Touching] Infinite Dreams

[Windra]

Candidate Liurnia - @ Bronson
Touching the Spare

Liurnia rolled her eyes with the question. "Garnet. Bronze. Gold. Heck, rainbow. I don't really care, mack," she thrummed, happily petting the purple diamonds and certainly feeling how starving this thing was for attention. "Lookit, maybe it's a boyo who thinks its a girl, or is a girl, or somethin'. But ya can be a greenrider n' still lead a Weyr these days." She snorted. "I mean, so long as you aren't a dick about it. Old folks gotta be rollin' in their graves 'bout the new, improved Pern!"

It didn't click that her words might ... just ... offend Bronson. And she really couldn't give a hoot as she sauntered off happy-as-you-please to the palest, most unremarkable shell of the bunch. Liurnia hovered about the white thing. She was stricken with the desire to hold a candle to it the way you would to see if a wherry egg was viable. Not a good idea, though. Serapheth would definitely use her bones as toothpicks.

"You're boring," she told it flatly, not disinterest or scathingly. Matter-of-fact. "Sure aren't small, though. For something totally not flashy, I bet you've really got somethin' about ya worth showing off. The egg shell just can't keep up with ya, amIright? And the color just kinda crapped out because it was too much." And she placed her palm on its apex, grinning.

[nineofswords]

Bronson - touching the Beast's Stripes, tag Liurnia

Bronson couldn't believe that this girl didn't care what dragon she got. A person's dragon reflected who a person truly was! Boys who liked girls got bronzes. Girls and effeminate gay men got greens. Gay girls and more masculine guys got blues. Browns and bronzes were only meant for boys who liked girls, and anyone who got one had to be that! Anyone who tried to maintain that they were a girl or gay was clearly in denial!

So unless this person really and truly needed a dragon to tell her what she was, she had better start caring! Bronson almost snapped as much at her, but remembered at the last second that that wasn't popular to say right now, even if it was true, so he held his tongue. But anyone being able to lead the Weyr? No, that was a step too far. "Wake up and smell the klah," he told her. "This is Fort. We're lead by a senior Weyrwoman and the bronze or brown who catches her dragon. So no, not just anyone can lead the Weyr. It matters. If that's what you want, you should probably go to one of those other Weyrs where they don't care about things like tradition."

Faranth. There was no helping some people. Someone as deluded as that was no doubt destined for green. Or maybe white, if gender and sexuality didn't matter at all to her. He gave the purple egg on the sands one last, pitying look - who in their right mind would be fawning over a garnet's egg, gross - and moved on to another egg, one far from Liurnia. The Beast's Stripes egg looked interesting, at least - even if it wasn't meant for him - and manly in a way that contrasted sharply with the Bewitching Dame, so he decided to head there next. He put his hands on it. "So, what kind of beast are you, then? Unless you're just bluffing?" he asked it.

---

Heiro - touching the Entangled Gems

Heiro gasped slightly at the overwhelmingly positive reception she got from this egg. Perhaps this one was hers? It seemed promising. She'd keep her eye on it. She patted it's shell. "I look forward to meeting you too, then," she told it, and moved away with some reluctance. The next large egg she hadn't touched yet was the Entangled Gems egg, so she made her way over to it and placed her hands on it. "Greetings to you," she said. "I am Heiro, a candidate for your hatching. It's wonderful to get to meet you and your siblings."

[FirebrandPhlox]

Candidate Costanza - Touching Doubled Vision

That was more like it! A friendly response from another of the eggs was more than welcome to Costanza. That Royal Bee egg was clearly just a jerk and didn't understand that he was clearly rider material after all. The positive reinforcement from the eggs made Costanza feel sure that he was going to impress at this clutch after all. There wouldn't be that many eggs that were nice without at least one dragonette inside that wanted him as a partner, right?

With swagger, he sauntered over to the last of the small eggs. He had been avoiding this one up to this point, as it gave off a feeling that he did not like, but now it was the only small egg he had left to touch, and maybe the right person just needed to show it some love. If so many of the other eggs were friendly and liked him, maybe this one would come around and like him too. With a smug grin on his face he kneeled down and placed his hand on the Doubled Vision Egg.

"Hey there, I'm Costanza. I'm getting pretty popular with your siblings, so it might be a contest to see who can hatch and get to me first. Think you're up for the challenge?"

[Ignys]

Candidate Neidellah - Touching the Wild Wanderer Egg

She couldn't help but grin as the egg under her palm welcomed her greedily, giving it one last little pat.

"I like you." She said out loud. Maybe she shouldn't be feeding it's ego before the hatchling even hatched, but she admired a dragon that knew it was something to be revered. Plus, there was no harm in it. The hatchlings wouldn't remember this, come the day they actually came into the world.

She moved on to the Wild Wanderer Egg, wondering privately if it would be like the last egg. The first part of it's name certainly suggested as much, but wanderers weren't often proud or fierce. She laid her hand on the egg's shell, murmuring a quiet greeting to it.

[Arcane]

Mithras - Flighty Beacon

This egg didn't feel as interested in her as the others had. It felt already bored of the touching- or maybe just of Mithras.

"You should try to be polite to everyone, even if you don't want to," Mithras suggested, under her breath, before she left the egg. She could only ride one dragon, so one egg not liking her wasn't a problem, but these dragons were babies, still learning about the world, and it was the responsibility of adults to give them good guidance, "Most people are more interesting than you think. Once you give them a chance."

Mithras next approached a small, turquoise egg, with a bright, vivid shell.

She thought the day was mostly going well. There didn't seem to be a truly bad egg in this lot so far- a bit of inconsideration certain wasn't cruelty.

Mithras touched the egg and said, "Hello. I hope you're having as much fun meeting the candidates as we are meeting you."

Mithras didn't know that the candidates were having fun, but she thought and hoped they were. They were all here because they wanted to be a dragonrider- and they owed it to their dragon to be the kind of person who liked dragons, of all sorts.

[Femisis]

Candidate Izumi- touching The Ice Wall

Startled, Izumi took a step back from the egg, frowning. "Shards, do you talk to everyone like that?" He asked, removing his hand from the shell posthaste. Faranth, this one seemed to like violence more than anything. Hopefully this wasn't an omen of things to come...

Cutting his losses, he turned away to the other eggs, trying to scope out one that was a little less punch happy. A big one caught his attention, and he approached The Ice Wall and put his hands on the shell. "I hope you're a little more chill than your sibling over there. Ha, chill. Your egg looks like cracked ice oh I'm making a fool of myself." Thankfully, the dragon inside the egg couldn't see how red his ears turned.

[Kitarial]

Candidate Bede - Royal Survivor

The Bewitching Dame egg was intriguing, and it felt very easy to be around. Unfortunately, though, Bede did have to move on, he’d spent too long with this egg. The next to catch his eye was one of the larger ones in the clutch- the Royal Survivor Egg. Patting the egg he’d been touching previously one last time, the boy stood, heading to the bigger egg next.

“I wonder what you’ll be? A strong bronze, maybe? A big brown? A stunning gold?” he asked the egg as he placed his hand on it, outright ignoring any other candidates who may have been attempting to touch the egg. He wasn’t interested in small talk with a bunch of people he thought were losers, he was here for the eggs and the eggs only.

[Jabberwoky]

The Royal Bee Egg was outright offended by Tygir, reacting with scorn and disgust.

The Spare Egg maintained its bold and confident flair, but maybe it was starting to falter. Was this egg really so confident?

The Beast's Stripes Egg pushed, wanting to overwhelm Bronson and make him do this beast's bidding.

The Doubled Vision Egg lazily acknowledged the touch, but it was in no real hurry to do much. Oh yay another person joy.

The Wild Wanderer Egg flickered once more, but still did not respond. This egg clearly was shy and overwhelmed.

The Flighty Beacon Egg had no off switch. A thousand emotions, positivity and rapid emotions cycling faster than someone could process.

The Royal Survivor Egg seemed to look down on Bede. It remained somewhat polite, but it was definitely judgmental, and ultimately rejected him.

The Ice Wall Egg once more could have bowled Izumi over, eager and overly excited to meet another person.

The Entangled Gems Egg was certainly not judgmental to Heiro, regarding her more with a calm and almost grandfatherly air.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Candidate Costanza - Touching the Spare Egg

Costanza slowly removed his hand from the Doubled Vision egg with a dejected sigh. At least it was indifference that was emanating from the egg and not outright disgust. He could deal with the egg not wanting to acknowledge his presence, as frustrating as that was. There were still plenty of eggs that liked him though, and still more on the sands for him to touch.

Unfortunately, he had now run through all the small eggs. He knew he wanted a smaller dragon, not one that was too flashy or ambitious, but now the only eggs remaining for him were larger in size. Maybe some of the medium eggs contained more blues and greens, but he also didn't want to accidentally form a connection with a garnet, or even worse, a bronze. Those were flashy dragons that made for leaders and prominent roles in the weyr, and he didn't want that. He wanted to just be Costanza.

Still, he didn't want to be not-a-rider-Costanza, so he moved on to the medium eggs, picking one that was remarkable only because it looked so unremarkable. He placed his hand on the Spare Egg. It was uncanny, how it looked like an egg he would normally eat at breakfast, just significantly larger. "Hey there," he said to the egg, a nervous chuckle in his voice. "How are you feeling today? I'm Costanza, I'll be standing for you and your siblings when you're ready to hatch." He didn't want to get overly personal with the egg, just in case.

[EW-NA]

Tygirtaull – Touching the Royal Survivor
--

Tygir pulled his own hand back in disgust when the hateful sensations went over him. Standing up, he gave his best sneering face down at the little, seemingly harmless egg. With one of his own canines poking out, he jerked his head with a displeased noise.

“Ah, forget you then,” he told them. And after he said they would be super awesome and good looking! Better for him them – he wasn't interested either! In fact, Tygirtaull would go for a big egg next! No more of the puny ones! Go for one that was big and probably boisterous! There was so way a super huge egg would have one with a weenie, baby personality! So with his decision made, Tygir looked about to try and see which of the big ones to go for. He had a choice afterall...

Oh, but he knew the perfect one to go for: the Royal Survivor.

This was one of the biggest of the lot, and it was also blue and gold! Surely it would prove a better time than the last egg. Though, if he were honest, the fancy patterning wasn't really his style. Looked like something a big fancy Holder would be strutting around with. Or something his Gran would knit to put tea cups on.

“Ok, Super Fancy egg,” Tygir greeted, setting his hand on the shell. He didn't have to crouch so low this time. “What's your deal? Someone else here has your shell coloring – so who's better?”

[Windra]

Candidate Liurnia - @ thinking: Bronson, talking: Costanza
Touching Ice Wall

Maaaan, go get bent, Bronson.

The Spare was all about puffing out its chest but she got that vibe of something there that didn't quite fit the bill. Liurnia snorted, giving the white shell a criminally offensive side eye. "Yeaaah, you go ahead n' act big and tough. Ya know what? Yer gonna find somebody who's gonna see right past all that whershit." She stuck out her tongue, giving the thing one more soft pat. "Ya gonna get somebody who's gonna see ya for more n' just face value and shit so ... Shards, who knows. Gonna see you out on the sands, baby! Can't wait to see what you look like under all this plainness. And who you go to! Betcha it's me!"

Liurnia had no compunctions about Impressing to something like this. This guy? What a mystery! She found herself thrilled to bits by the prospect but nothing was written in stone. Maybe she's walk off without a partner in tow. And just kinda ... keep repeating this day over and over again until the powers-that-be decided to write her future into existence. There came that apprehension again. Bollocks. She stood, shaking the sand from her clothing.

Be seein' ya, whitey.

Where to next? Costanza was walking past her to go to the Spare and she felt immediately jealous. Still she managed a smile - bit forced, though. "Go get 'em, baldy," Liurnia touted aloud before making for the Ice Wall. By Faranth this'n was huge! She swooned over it, tracing the patterns. "See you? Now you just tryin' to impress everybody with that. Don't try too hard now! Shine too bright and folks're gonna shield their eyes from the brightness!"

[nineofswords]

Bronson - touching the Royal Bee

Bronson's eyes went wide and he stumbled a bit, at the egg's response to him. Whoa! What in the shards was in this thing? The world's smallest, most aggressive bronze? Bronson wiped his hands on his trousers, as if by doing so he could wipe away the sensation of the beast's mind pushing against his own, trying to assert its will on him. It had been...unnerving. It had left him feeling a little shaky. Later, he'd laugh it off and say he'd just been overwhelmed by how the egg had fawned over him, but...well. Hatchings - real ones, anyway - had maulings more often than not, and he would not be surprised if this one ended up doing a fair amount of that damage. And he wanted to put some distance between himself and that egg now. Not that he was scared of an egg, it was just, uh...that...that it was beneath him to linger on it. Yeah, that was it. That sounded alright.

Trying to play it as casual and not like he was running away, he strode over to the Royal Bee egg. It couldn't possibly be worse than the beastly egg he'd just touched. And yes, it was yellow, but far too small for a gold's egg, so it was likely a green that would be putting on the airs of a queen. Some arrogant, but manageable little green, one that would be a welcome change from the last one. He put his hands on it. "Some of your siblings have real attitude problems, you know that?" he asked the egg.

---

Heiro - touching the Relaxing Respite egg

Another delightful egg. Heiro wasn't used to feeling that kind of paternal warmth from...well, anyone, honestly. She didn't quite recognize it, only knowing that this egg was kind and seemed to like her. That made her feel good. Two eggs in a row that had responded well to her. The rejection she'd experienced from the Royal Bee had clearly been the opinion of a single egg, and was not a reflection on her potential.

She decided she'd go through the rest of the eggs more or less by size. She'd had more positive experiences with the mid-sized eggs than she had the single small egg she'd touched, so she decided to stick with that route. The Relaxing Respite egg's name seemed extremely promising, and so she made her way over to that one and put her hands on its shell. "Hello," she greeted it. "I am Heiro. You have a beautiful egg. I hope your egg name is an accurate description. This is my first touching, you see, and it's a little overwhelming. I could do with some calm."

[Arcane]

Mithras- Wild Wanderer Egg

Mithras blinked at the sudden swell of emotions, too fast to make sense of, but definitely good and enthusiastic and eager to share. She gave the egg a last fond pat and a wish for it to find someone to understand it- and an assurance that she would be willing to be that person for it. She couldn't follow the egg's mind now but Mithras believed in the powers of positivity and determination. Too often incompetence meant an unwillingness to be bothered to try- a trap Mithras refused to fall into.

But there were other eggs yet to meet, so Mithras turned back towards the clutch and chose a medium sized green color egg next, covered in the sort of unrestrained greenery rarely allowed to grow in the presence of holds of weyrs, for threat of thread.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you," Mithras said, "To meet all of you, really. And I hope you're enjoying meeting all of us. Your clutch seems like a good group of dragons and we have a good group of candidates- for the most part."

There were a few fellow candidates who Mithras wasn't sure were ready to be riders yet, but that didn't mean they never would be. People could grow.

[AtlasHyperion]

Candidate Toska - Mention: Liurna, Touching: Stunning Harper

Toska chuckled at Liurna's statement. "Oh, well, I try! Oh, definitely, this little guy would feel right at home in the woods- y'know, once it's hatched and all." Of course, his chuckling fell flat when the Wild Wanderer egg seemed to recoil from their touch. "Oh, my apologies. I'll let you be, lil' guy."

With a wave to Liurna, the blonde walked away to get another good view of all the eggs. Hmm, they were all so intriguing! They didn't know which one to go to next. It took her a moment to decide, mulling over each egg in her mind until she started making a beeline towards the Stunning Harper. He placed a gentle hand upon the shell and ssmiled, "Hey, I'm Toska! I bet you like a good song or two, huh? I mean, well, with your shell and everything. Huh... do you know what your shell looks like? I guess you can't see it from the inside..."

[Jabberwoky]

The Spare Egg puffed out and extended what may be a greeting, if eggs could talk. Whatever was inside was quite the mix of feelings.

The Royal Survivor Egg projected a proud and charming air, there was certainly something spectacular in this egg.

The Ice Wall Egg continued to be boisterous and bold, overly friendly and enthusiastic.

The Royal Bee Egg, if eggs could bite, would have bitten Bronson.

The Relaxing Respite Egg reflected a serenity, a calm, peacefulness that felt so different from the chaos around the other eggs.

The Wild Wanderer Egg only made one little inquisitive flicker, and retreated again.

The Stunning Harper Egg seemed pretty laid back now, pretty eager to just hang out.