[Firebrand] A Check-in

[Arcane]

Aragon's living quarters had changed. He now slept days and worked nights. He had to sit down with a harper every few days to prove he was making a good faith effort at learning to read the scribbles they called "letters." When Lanselot or Kiobelin invited him for a cup of klah, he usually went.

But mostly- he kept to himself, returning straight to the barrack he shared with his sons when his day's duty was done, just as he had withdrawn to their room in the lower caverns before. He couldn't imagine the weyr's fine upstanding wherhandlers much wanted to socialize with him. And he had done just fine without their company so far. Ragosk never complained, so Aragon assumed his routine suited everyone just fine.

Other than one confrontation with a group of weyrfolk trespassing where they shouldn't and ransacking another ex-holdless belongings- he'd kept his nose as clean as he could. He thought.

He tried to think of any trespasses he might be missing- as he waited outside Raev's door for their "check-in," Ragosk standing quietly by his side.

Thought Patience was Handler Alpha, Ragosk observed mildly, head cocked to one side. He was of one mind with his human packmate that the weyr was a strange place and he did his best to accept that with equanimity.

Patience is squadleader, Aragon explained, Raev is Wherleader.

Ragosk twitched his tail, Need one alpha. Two too confusing. What if one go north and one go west?

Aragon shrugged, Then we wait for the two of them to work it out.

Ragosk wrinkled his nose, clearly dissatisfied with that answer.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Raev scowled at the never-ending pile of paperwork on her desk. No matter how much time she spent reviewing reports, the stack never disappeared completely. Shrunk, yes, but it never fully vanished, always hanging over her head as she attended to her duties. She grumbled as she put aside a review of the weyr's stores and began to reach for the next sheet in her stack.

No more paper. Time for check in! Rask chirped, sitting alert behind the wherleader's desk. She looked at the door, the tip of her tail flicking with excitement. Raev glanced up at the candle she had burning. Shit. It was time for her check in with Aragon.

So far, he seemed to be acclimating to handler life well enough. There were no reports of him causing any trouble. If anything, he seemed too unremarkable in his new role. She hadn't heard of him socializing much with his squadmates, or spending much time outside of his weyr. The last thing she needed was his wher getting agitated from not enough stimulus. She had requested the pair come together to her office to meet with her, so she could analyze how the adjustment was going with her own eyes.

Remember, you're to be on your best behavior, Raev reminded her partner. Don't get overexcited, and we can go get you a treat after this meeting. Rask hummed happily at the promise of a reward later. Raev just hoped her excitable wher didn't interrupt the meeting.

Groaning as she stood from her chair and stretched her back, she made her way to the door, swinging it open. She gave Aragon a curt nod, unsurprised that he was punctual. "Come in," she growled, holding the door for Aragon and Ragosk, whom she eyed carefully. Scarred and old, the wher was scraggly, though looking healthier than he had the day he had been brought to the weyr. She had heard nothing bad of the brown either, and was keen to get a better sense of his personality and how he was adjusting as well.

[Arcane]

Aragon, who followed orders better than he had in his younger days, came in and gave Raev a shallow bow, standing behind her desk, with his hands clasped respectfully behind his back. If he'd managed to keep his nose (almost) clean so far, he could mind his manners for one meeting with the wherleader.

It helped that Raev wasn't so bad, really, as wherleaders went. She'd let Ragosk live and hadn't let the weyr take away his kids, which made her alright in Aragon's book.

"Wherleader," he said politely.

Ragosk entered behind him, cautious but not cowering. The pair was in his squad, but wasn't one of the handful of pairs they were usually assigned to work with. Aragon usually tried to keep out of their way- but he tried to keep out of most people's way. The weyr was a big place, with too many whers to truly be called a pack crammed into a small handful of dens. Ragosk had quickly learned that digging through Aragon's head for details of them all was a fruitless exercise in frustration.

And so Ragosk hadn't realized this pair were special.

Or maybe just confusing.

What sort of pack had two alphas that weren't mates? Maybe the weyr pack needed extra alphas because it was too big with no ties of kinship to motivate loyalty? Or maybe Raev and Patience were mates and humans just showed affection differently?

In the end, he decided to just copy Aragon. He nodded at the pair and said simply, Wherleader.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Raev nodded curtly as the pair addressed her and entered her office. She knew from experience that Aragon was a man of few words. He was smart like that. Keeping his mouth shut and his head down seemed to be serving him well so far. He and his family were clothed, fed, and housed, surely a steep improvement from their Holdless life.

Raev shut the door and made her way back to her side of the desk. Rask sat behind it, head up and eyes eagerly watching the older pair. Her tail still flicked excitedly, but she continued to stay seated. Rask excited to meet Aragon and Ragosk proper! The garnet piped up happily. Raev shot her a glare.

Quiet. I will handle the talking. This is a delicate meeting.

Rask continued to hum happily, unhurt by the sharp eyes of her handler. Raev sighed.

"Sit," she told Aragon, gesturing to the chair across from her desk. She remained standing. No point in dancing around the point of the meeting. The sooner she started asking questions, the sooner she would get answers. "How's adjusting to the life of a handler going?" She asked gruffly, watching Aragon and Ragosk carefully to see how they replied.

[Arcane]

Aragon blinked at Rask, clearly a bit taken aback by the show of enthusiasm. Not many people, or whers, at High Reaches were especially excited to meet someone like him. He was tolerated more than embraced.

Which was just fine by him.

But because he tried not to be rude to people who didn't deserve it, he gave her a small smile and said, "A pleasure to meet you too, ma'am."

Ragosk kept a respectful distance from Rask. She was...bright. Cheerful. With an openness the whers of his pack lost by the time they were old enough to know the scent of danger.

This Rask must have been a powerful wher indeed, to survive without fear. Maybe that was why her human had become one of the weyr's alphas.

Greetings, mighty Rask. Ragosk respect Rask territory. Seek no quarrel, he stated plainly. He did not wish to risk a fight with a wher too strong to have learned to be wary.

Aragon sat when he was bid, where Raev indicated, raising an eyebrow at Ragosk, Tone it down. Nobody likes a bootlicker. She's not going to eat you. The weyr protects weyrfolk- and weyr whers- strong and weak alike.

Aragon met Raev's eyes as he answered plainly, "It's going fine. I do my patrols. I follow Patience's orders. I've given nobody too much trouble and nobody's given too much trouble to me. Wherleader."

Except the people who had taken to rummaging holdless' rooms, after the poisonings- but he wasn't going to draw Raev's attention to that.