Chasing Children [open]

[Dragon]

Melosa was positively shocked by the blonde wherhandler's attitude towards whers, her dark eyes going wide as she shifted Mulee away from the squat woman slightly. "Even I know that whers aren't dumb animals and that they're usually only violent if provoked," she shamed, wondering what sort of relationship this woman could have with her wher if she was so completely distrustful of them as a species.

But seriously. Dragonkin, even firelizards, were intelligent, and whers no less so than dragons. Just because whers could and did stand up for themselves didn't mean that they were going to go on a rampage in the creche! And it wasn't like they were leaving Mulee alone with the big wher either - she and Daedra were here monitoring their respective charges' behavior.

Just because the garnethandler apparently couldn't manage her wher didn't mean everyone's was out of control.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Raev continued to scowl at the other handler as she sidled up to her wher. Though Raev wasn't sure the petite frame would do anything to actually stop Drask if he decided to lash out. At least most whers wouldn't actively put their handlers in danger so long as they were being treated right, so maybe the handler's hand on him would help keep him calm in case another runaway child came running through.

"Maybe not every wher is predisposed to violence, but they are all capable of it. It's what they're built for." Raev responded flatly. Whers were hulking masses of muscles, claws, and teeth, not exactly the sort of thing you'd want around the youngest and most vulnerable of the population. "They're not nannies."

"And I never said they weren't intelligent," Raev said, turning towards the creche worker. "They're smart, but even a smart creature can lash out on instinct. How would you react if a mosquito landed on your arm? Or a dog bit you?" She crossed her arms. This was basic safety she was having to explain to these people. She couldn't believe a creche worker of all people was trying to explain whers to a handler. She was good at her job for forsk sake, and part of that job was keeping the weyr safe, even if these people couldn't see that.

[EW-NA]

Drask had gotten his fill of this stranger. He thought it rather quaint that this handler was making quite a bit a noise and pomp, and strictly without the presence of their own bonded. Had the Brown felt the need to assert himself, what would this person do? What could they do?

Drask did not think anything to cause him concern, and Drask also thought this one talked -far- too much. Worse than own handler, fore he atleast liked when Daedra spoke about nonsensical things... Her warm hand patting on his rough brown skin was a far more pleasant distraction.

Turning his larger head, Drask broke from his staring glare, no longer interested in this bothersome human. The wher merely made another snorted grumble through his nose, and would leave his attention elsewhere. As far as he was concerned, this human wasn't worth it. Not a threat, just an annoyance. Though, Drask still kept himself to listen to the 'discussion', if it could be called that. It seemed Daedra shared similar sentiments, as she found herself having to speak up again, despite making effort not to.

“I'm not expecting Drask to act as a 'nanny',” Daedra piped up again, a small displeased frown pulling at her lips. “You say that, but wild whers mind their own wherlets, you know! Baby whers and children aren't wholly the same, but they're still small and vulnerable.”

Plus, it wasn't like Daedra was handing newborns to Drask to watch unattended, but even if she did, she'd trust Drask with far more than she probably would with a stranger she wasn't well acquainted with! Goodness---


“I don't think it's a fair comparison to equate the situation to an insect bite or one from a dog. From what I understand, High Reaches wouldn't let someone have a dog as a companion if they went around biting others...”

[Dragon]

Really? Really. Apparently, they were insects compared to whers. Annoying insects. Did this woman even hear herself? Melosa was not completely blinded to the fallibility of dragonkin like some people were, but she did trust them to be fundamentally good ... something she did not expect from humans. Humans were at there core level less good than whers.

Which meant if it came down to leaving Mulee - or one of her own children, even! - with Drask or the strange woman, Melosa would pick Drask. She knew that Drask was a wher. He was therefore capable of great violence. But he had the same ability to control himself that any other person did. Because whers were people, too.

"We are all capable of controlling ourselves here," Melosa said firmly. Berry trilled lightly and then landed next to Drask's big head, eyes swirling in curiosity at the wher. He clearly had the right way of handling things ...

[FirebrandPhlox]

Raev shook her head. She couldn't fathom how the other women couldn't see the issue here. Sure, things were under control now, there were three adults in the room (or hall, rather). Maybe, maybe, Drask was fine with kids, Raev still wasn't convinced. Even if he was, it was dangerous to let whers down by the creche to interact with a bunch of kids they didn't know.

"The difference between a wher caring for their wherlets and a wher interacting with creche kids is that wherlets belong to the wher or its pack. These are a bunch of kids Drask doesn't necessarily know or care for."

Raev pinched the bridge of her nose as Daedra continued. "It was a metaphor. An example to make a point. I'm not literally saying there's dogs wandering around biting people. We're a civilized society." At least, Raev liked to think that much. She wasn't so sure if this was how all people in High Reaches thought or she just managed to stumble across a pair of naive fools.

She turned to the creche worker. "You sure about that? A few moments ago you told me that child was making a run for it. You really want to encourage a kid that small to approach an animal that large? What if another wher who is violent comes stumbling down here?"

[EW-NA]

At Berry's trilling, Drask's eyes immediately set to the little firelizard floating about, watching as the little flit plopped down from his flight. Drask's face scrunched in annoyance again, as Berry stared back curiously –tauntingly in the wher's mind. The large Brown gave his head a good shake to clear himself, his thick neck fat sloshing back and forth as he let out a whuff at all the hubbub. He was starting to realize he'd made all the wrong decisions that day.... He should have just stayed back in his weyr with his nice blankets!!


Meanwhile, back on the discussion front, Daedra's frown had yet to disappear as Raev made her own case on the dangers of the situation. “It still rings true enough to a wher and their handler,” the redhead affirmed. “A person wouldn't be a very good handler if their bonded just went around biting and hurting others in the Weyr and they did nothing. I trust Drask to let me know what he can and can't handle, and he trusts me to not force him into those situations if it can be helped.... I can't speak for other handlers and how they work together, but I'd like to think it's the same for many others.”


Saying her statement, Daedra couldn't help but wonder what Raev's own wher had to be like. Normally, she never tried to make assumptions about others, especially without meeting them for herself. Raev probably had her own experiences to give her such a shaped opinion of the land-bound dragonkin. In any other instance, Daedra would have happily asked for a fellow wherhandler to divulge such information. However, currently.... maybe it was best not to. Atleast right now.

When the other handler turned questioning to Melosa, Daedra's eyes turned to the creche worker as well. Though, now her frown shifted slightly to a more uneasy expression, compared her previous frustration. Daedra was starting to feel badly about getting wrapped up in this whole situation. Melosa had been simply doing her duties and watching over little Mulee, and now was caught in the middle of a wher-debate. The petite handler couldn't help but be endeared since Melosa also seemed receptively trusting to Drask's character. So, the redhead was curious how she was feeling on all this, too.

[Dragon]

"So what you're saying is that canines have more self-control than whers," Melosa deadpanned. This was frustrating. Really, someone should take this stranger in hand. She clearly didn't know what dragonkin were like and Melosa couldn't believe that she was a wherhandler. "You're acting like whers are animals. They're not."

Sure there were violent whers. There were violent humans, too. She didn't ban all humans from coming near the creche and she wasn't going to ban whers from being nearby either. The garnethandler was just being ridiculous. Right now Drask was more welcome than she was.

"Frankly I think your opinions say more about you than anything else," Melosa said, her voice a tad frosty. And her opinions weren't saying anything good!

[FirebrandPhlox]

Raev made a strangled noise in aggravation. Apparently the point of her metaphor had gone completely over both their heads. Did they both manage to miss the harper lessons about metaphors?

"I asked how you would react if a dog bit you. In this case, the dog to you comparison would be an overeager child poking an eye or pulling a tail of a wher. Even though they are intelligent and usually composed, a sudden aggravation like that could lead them to a snap on instinct. Even if a wher and a handler might think they can handle a situation, there's always the unexpected elements. A creche full of kids is throwing them into dozens of unexpected elements." Raev could feel her face turning red with the frustration.

She glowered at the two women. At this rate, she was getting nowhere. They had somehow both convinced themselves it was completely fine to do as they wished, safety of the children be damned. Perhaps Raev would speak to the Wherleader about this later. Random handlers bringing their whers down to the creche would never fly at Ista. Raev knew that things were different here at High Reaches, but surely the leaders of the weyr would be able to see how dangerous allowing such behavior was and put an end to it.

Then the creche worker had to open her mouth again. All of the momentary composure Raev had managed to gather was now gone. "My opinions? My opinion here is that kids should be kept safe and away from dragonkin until they're old enough to know how to properly be around them! My opinion is we should be keeping the kids safe. I'd expect you, a creche worker to agree with me. Isn't your job to keep them safe? What aren't you getting here?"

[EW-NA]

This was getting no where – no where except everyone being angry and upset and going back and forth. The redhead wasn't enjoying it at all... Strangely, Drask seemed to be one of the less agitated ones now, as he seemingly mentally checked out of the conversation. Merely sitting at her side, almost bored as he just kept his usual kind of awareness; just enough to be mindful of danger but little else. This is certainly not what she hoped for when she decided to take a walk here today, but just constant proof of life's unpredictability...


“That's enough,” Daedra suddenly declared, with a firmness to her tone. Not quite a shout, but enough to wedge her way back into the discussion at hand. She was fine to draw herself away to avoid adding to the trouble, but the redhead found it hard to keep back when the other handler was going at Melosa as she was.

With so many children under her belt and a long standing place in the creche, Daedra was sure Melosa could handle herself. She didn't come off like a push over (which more fit Daedra's person, in honesty), but the redhead couldn't just stand idly by while Melosa's integrity was being pushed. Daedra was a bit more endeared to her in this instance, for being a mother or in her defense of Drask, it was enough to get Daedra to act.

“Melosa was doing her duties as a creche worker,” Daedra confidently declared, setting a firm expression to Raev. “She didn't let Mulee get far, and made sure she stayed close when I, and eventually Drask approached. It's not fair to put accusations on her!”

As quickly as it came, Daedra's more fiery spirit steadily dwindled down, as her face fell to one of disappointment. They were going to get nowhere this way, and listening to her own words, the handler knew what the best course of action in this had to be. Disheartening as at it.

“We'll leave then, if it's so much of an issue,” Daedra said solemnly, prompting Drask to turn his head to attention from his handler's tone. Pulling her eyes away, Daedra offered a small, if not sadly tinged smile towards Melosa and her little group. She really didn't want to be the reason if any of them got into any trouble.

“It was really nice meeting you, Melosa,” Daedra chirped up, turning to gaze as she addressed the rest. “-Mulee, oh, and you as well Berry. If we run into eachother again, maybe you could introduce me to your children next time, if they're not busy! And, your fifth—when they arrive~ I hope all goes well.”

Offering each a smile, Daedra turned and offered a final one to Drask, who was still sitting idly beside her. Offering the Brown wher another assuring pat on his side, the petite redhead made to turn the opposite way down the hallway, where they'd originally come from.

“C'mon, Drask... let's go. You can take that nap you wanted~” At that prospect, the old wher was happy to follow along. Though, he did follow his handler's notions and offered a farewell whuff to the creche worker and the smaller ones.


As Daedra and Drask moved passed Raev, the smaller handler only bobbed her head, and offered a very soft spoken “Good day.” as she moved passed. Not nasty or biting, but keeping to her own course of manners. Daedra had never gotten the other handler's name in all the back and forth, and she saw no reason to do so now.

[Dragon]

This whole thing wasn't fair. Daedra and Drask had been perfectly pleasant, but then someone else had come up and made everything go to pot. The woman's attitude - ! Melosa knew what she was doing when it came to children, and Daedra obviously knew what she was doing when it came to whers. The situation had been safe and stable, and Mulee had been getting good exposure to a wher in a relatively controlled environment - something that was important if Mulee was going to grow up to be a functioning part of the Weyr. You couldn't live your whole life in a Weyr and be afraid of dragonkin.

Berry Bandit chirped sadly at Drask as the ponderous wher got up to leave; she obviously had thought she was making a new friend and was sad to lose that opportunity. The garnet flit lifted up and came to rest on Melosa's shoulder as they were abandoned by the brown wherpair. "It was wonderful to meet you, Daedra, Drask," she said with definite warmth in her tone. It was too bad that it couldn't last. Mulee had been so curious about the wher. Curious, but respectful.

"Mulee and I should get back to the creche," she told the other wherhandler coolly without responding directly to any of her accusations. "It's snack time, isn't it Mulee?"

The toddler giggled, nodding. "Snack please!"

Melosa turned in the opposite direction from Daedra and Drask and started heading back to the creche, holding Mulee's hand loosely.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Raev gave the handler, a curt nod as she walked away. Then the creche worker left in the opposite direction, toddler in tow. Raev stood with her arms crossed and watched the women walk away. She continued to stand there after both the women disappeared from view. She wasn't entirely sure she had gotten her point across, but at least the situation was resolved for now.

Though she had gotten her way in the end, something about the resolution felt hollow to her. Maybe it was the nagging thought that maybe there could have been a better way to approach the situation. Or perhaps it was the slight worry at the back of her mind that she'd have to work alongside that handler in the future and deal with potential fallout. Or it could be that all that arguing had made her exhausted and she was ready to go back to her weyr and try to get some sleep.

Whatever it was, it was a problem for future Raev. She could deal with consequences later. For now, it was time to get some rest.