Ball in the Hall [open]

[Dragon]

Having just left the Infirmary after being given a clean bill of health when it came to her recently injured wrist, Amaata couldn't help the faint smile that curved her lips. She hadn't liked having to baby her right wrist for a solid week, but she had liked the idea of making it worse even less! And so she had complied with the Healer's orders and came back after it was healed to make sure her sprain was really dealt with.

Now that she was healed, Amaata was itching to get back to her normal routine. Drills and other duties awaited her ... but not this second. Right now she had some free time to fill, and so she was taking the long way back out of the lower caverns to the weyrbowl. There she'd meet Kuroth, but she wasn't in any rush as he was currently napping on the ledge of their weyr.

Not eager to wake up her dragon from his sunny drowsing, Amaata considered whether she wanted to stop in the dining hall for something to eat. She could go for a snack ...

She stopped in her tracks when a ball came bouncing and rolling down the hall toward her. Stooping briefly, she picked it up and looked around for the owner of the toy.

[EW-NA]

No sooner had Amaata picked up the rogue ball, something else came following behind from down the hall. A collection of soft clickty-clicks, quite a number of them, but strangely in a very rhythmic pattern, seemed to draw closer. A little white firelizard, having chosen not to fly but instead happily scuffle on her teeny little clawed feet right over to the much larger Bluerider.


She was a tiny thing, but not so unusually small for any other white flit. Spottled with dark greyish against stark white markings, the flit came to a halt at Amaata's feet. Turning her short little snoot skyward, she looked up almost expectantly, with happy bright green eyes, all before plopping her bottom on the floor. Without a fear or absolute care in the world.

She let out a mewly little 'peep', before taking the time to start cleaning at her face with her little front feet.

[Dragon]

What an adorable flit! With a pattern like some pet felines, the little white was running about without a care for her wings and apparently chasing the ball that Amaata had acquired.

"Well, hello there," she said. Were the bottoms of her little feet white? How darling. "Is this yours?" she asked, holding out the ball to the firelizard. She was so casually cleaning her face that she seemed not to care about the ball, but Amaata was pretty sure that was a plot to get the ball back. Pretend not to care to get what you want.

The happy little flit was nothing like Skatha, that was for sure. Amaata's green was always suspicious and would never come up to a stranger like this.

[EW-NA]

After a few scrubs over her shut eyes, the little firelizard deemed herself proper refreshingly clean! A good thing, too, as she realized the person before her was speaking to her. Not that she understood. There was no registration in the flit's features, however, what she did notice was Amaata holding out the ball in her hand.

The ball! The flit recognized that—it was her ball!

The little white let out a peep again, before crouching herself to leap for the thing she wanted! Once again, opting to not bother flying, she leaped up to land almost ungracefully on her belly, right on top of the ball and the rider's hands. No care, no concern – only innocently wanting to play with her toy.

Try as she might, even stretching her thin limbs over it, the ball was a bit too larger, and the White started slipping right off. Try as she might, kicking up her back legs, lower and lower she was shifting off the ball. Until--ploop! Back on her bottom she landed, looking almost confused as to how a thing could happen.

As this was going on, someone else was making their way through the hallway. Once again, being heard before being seen.

“Pussyfoot!! Pussyfoot--- c'mon! Where'd you go, teeny-feet?”

From down the hall, a rather gangly, tall looking individual was making their way through the walkway. Thin limbed and with a swinging casual gait, it was clear this person was in no rush. In fact, it was clear they were hunting for something, from how they bent forward and seemed to be scouring the floor.

[Dragon]

What a truly adorable flit. She was so different from Skatha, and Amaata had to think of what sort of relationship the little white might have with her owner. She was certainly more playful than the green ever was.

The bluerider laughed as the white jumped gracelessly onto the ball that Amaata was holding out to her, slipping off of the round object and falling back onto her tiny butt on the floor. It was so cute!

As someone started calling out from farther down the hall, Amaata looked towards the sound, and then back down at the white. "Pussyfoot? Is that you?" She smiled at the little flit, more open and gregarious than usual. "A cute name for a cute flit."

She raised her voice slightly to call back to the voice that was searching for Pussyfoot. "I think I have them here!" she said, leaning down to roll the ball towards the flit just to see what she would do with it.

[EW-NA]

It was hard to tell if the White was actually acknowledging, though she did tilt her head slightly when Amaata pieced her name. It was clear, not much really went on in the small firelizard's mind. Despite one human talking to her, and another voice calling out, with approaching steps.

As she righted herself properly on her legs again, the one thing Pussyfoot did acknowledge, was the sight of her ball coming towards her. Once again, eyes hyper focused, the White went low and raised her tiny behind, tail straight up, and with a little wiggle – zoom! She landed upon her ball again, with just as much grace as before, but atleast this time she was able to get proper grip.

Latched with each little limb spread out, Pussyfoot took hold of her prize---only for the ball to slowly roll forward. With her on it. She let out the teeniest peep as she went over, the ball moving over and pinning her flat against the stone floor. This didn't hurt her, of course, with the ball being so light. Now with her ball above, Pussyfoot took to shifting it about her little legs and tail, wrestling it as best she could.

She was having a wonderful time!

Hearing a voice, Marc'oni straightened up, finally abe to look farther down the hallway. Upon seeing Amaata, and something strikingly -white- at her feet, the Bluerider hurried himself over with quick steps. To his relief, there was his little White, which prompted him to let out a sigh in relief.

“There you are, Pussyfoot. Boy, you got really far this time,” he stated, looking down at his flit who was playing with her ball.

Upon hearing the voice of her owner so close, Pussyfoot paused in her roll-playing and let the ball slip by as she rolled off her back. Peeping in acknowledgment, the firelizard frolicked over to the rather tall lad, scurrying up his arm as he crouched to offer it to her.

“You really need to keep closer,” Marc'oni tried to admonish, but Pussyfoot was clearly not listening. She was too busy smooshing herself against her owner's face as he spoke, coiling around and over his shoulders and neck, as if she needed to rub against every section of him she could.

Marc'oni didn't bother to address her much more than he did. It was quite pointless, so instead he turned to Amaata. It seemed she'd been the one to find his little 'wanderer', no worse for wear.

“Hey, thanks for minding my flit for me,” he greeted with a big friendly smile. “She gets lost a bit.” Though, Pussyfoot really didn't ever act like she was lost. In fact, Marc'oni barely reacted as the White continued to rub and push at his features, speaking without pause and even offering out his hand in greeting.

“I'm Marcantho--”

'Marc'oni', blared the internal mind-voice of his dragon, effectively cutting him short.

“Marc'oni,” he flawlessly corrected. “My name is Marc'oni,” he seemed to say in beats, like a mantra of some sort. “Marc'oni of Blue Gawyth,” much more smoothly.

[Dragon]

It was clear that Pussyfoot was not as shrewd as Skatha; however, Amaata was hardly going to hold that against the adorable little white. She was still cute. Very cute. And she was probably a great companion creature! At least she was friendly ...

Not that she would change anything about Skatha. The firelizard had been with her for almost four turns now, and she was quite attached to the little flit, as unfriendly as she was to everyone who wasn't Amaata or Kuroth.

She watched the white play, smiling broadly, only to have her smile wane to a more 'reasonable' level when she was joined by another bluerider. Reserved and shy, Amaata watched the other bluerider admonish his flit to stay close and nodded slightly as he explained that she got loose sometimes. "It's no problem," she said in response to his thanks. "She's a cutie."

Was he a recent weyrling? Amaata wondered when he stumbled over his elided name. It was obvious that he wasn't used to that. "I'm Amaata of Blue Kuroth," she provided. No, he wasn't a weyrling on closer inspection of his knots ... he was a member of Radiance Wing. Still, he couldn't be that long a rider if he was still stumbling over his elide! "We're recently transferred from Igen," she further supplied.

[EW-NA]

“I think she is, too,” Marc'oni offered back, being and exceptionally confidant in that fact. “Lucky, too--- My luckiest little trinket,” he added with a chuckle. Pussyfoot had yet to pause in her affectionate rubbing, though now that the rider was holding conversation, it was getting harder to not get a wing or foot in his mouth. Gently as he could, he moved the little White more towards his back, to nestle into a bit of folding in his shirt. Pussyfoot seemed quite content and went to the task of cleaning her little feet and face with purpose.

“Wow, a fellow Bluerider!” Marc'oni's face lit up in excitement, as if such a fact was grand news indeed. Like he hadn't realized he'd be able to tell by looking to the woman's shoulder. Didn't smother his enthusiasm though. “But all the way from Igen then! I think my folks and I might have gone close to those parts, once or twice! Or... maybe one of my uncles was from there and visited. Can't quite remember...” Marc'oni pursed his brow as he tried to wrack his brain for that bit of information. Despite the hums and eye shifting, no concrete facts seemed to be popping up from the recesses of his brain. Oh, well...

“That doesn't matter, I guess. So, are you liking High Reaches since you transferred? I'd say it was different than Igen Weyr, but I wouldn't know!”

[Dragon]

His luckiest little trinket. That was sweet. Amaata watched as the flit stuck paws and wings in the other rider's mouth as he tried to talk to her, smiling a little behind her hand. She liked the way that the other bluerider lit up over her riding blue, too; he seemed a little silly, but there was nothing wrong with that.

She did wonder why he seemed to be so forgetful, though. That didn't seem quite right ... Maybe it was just that Kuroth would never have put up with a forgetful rider. But each dragon had their own preferences.

"Do you always have trouble remembering things?" Amaata asked Marc'oni. It seemed like a problem.

When he asked if she was enjoying High Reaches fo far, she confirmed, "It is different, in so many ways." Politically, socially, and just in physical climate. "The weather is sure different, and so is the way everything is set up." Golds and bronzes ruled Igen, just like they did on most of Pern. "I'm enjoying my life here so far. The change is a good one."

[EW-NA]

“Trouble--?” Marc'oni blinked his eyes in confusion, not quite piecing together the reason for her question. “Wait-- Does that mean I forgot something again?”

Immediately, the Bluerider stepped back and frantically began overlooking himself. Checking his pants, and his belt-- pockets and tunic. Boots. Mmmm, no... everything seemed in place. Gawyth was usually pretty good about making sure he looked 'correct' before he got to leave their weyr.

“Hm, nope, I think I have everything,” Marc'oni eventually conceded, though still smiling in that particular way of his. Very honestly... but with not much deep thought behind it. “Gawyth usually lets me know if I forgot something,” he explained. "Thanks for checking, though!"

“Glad you're liking High Reaches so far! I think it's great, but that might be because I met my dragon here! Wouldn't get to be a dragonrider if I stayed in the caravan with my folks.” Marc'oni did miss being a trader at times, but he got to visit the family enough that the ache wasn't overwhelming. Plus, they seemed so ecstatic from what he was doing, so that was good, too.

[Dragon]

"I just meant - because you didn't remember if you've been to Igen," Amaata said gently, not wanting to upset the other bluerider. "You do have everything, down to the knots," Amaata confirmed. "It's good to hear that your Gawyth looks out for you."

That was how it should be - dragon and rider looking out for each other, each bolstering up the other and supporting each other where one failed.

"Where your dragon is, that's home," Amaata said fondly. She could understand, outside of other pressures, wanting to stay where a dragon hatched ... but maybe transferring sometimes was a good thing. For preventing breeding issues.

Awkwardly, Amaata tried to think of something to talk to Marc'oni about. She wasn't very good at being social.

"Caravan?" she latched onto. "Are your parents some sort of traders?" That was fascinating, honestly. Amaata knew less about life outside of Weyrs than she would have liked - and next to nothing about life outside of the Holds! Probably because there were so few examples of that to learn about. Life outside of Weyr or Hold was very dangerous.

[EW-NA]

“Oh-- well, Weyrs always seemed the same to me on the outside,” Marc'oni explained, chuckling as he raised a hand to brush the back of his head. Pussyfoot peeped as the motion surprised her, clinging before she had the threat of a tumble. “Not that I've been to lots of big Weyrs or anything, but things just blur together sometimes.”

However, once the rider admitted to his more nomadic origin, perhaps his comments now held a bit more validity. Though, Marc'oni rarely had the foresight to know what detail should have been explained first. His simple thought process usually just let things tumble from his lips as they willed.

“They are,” Marc'oni happily confirmed when Amaata pieced together the information. “I was too, until a Searchdragon said I could be a dragonrider. I was going to stay and help take over the trade-routes for them, but they said going to a Weyr might be better—so I did! So, while I don't get to trade with people anymore, I still get to be helpful with Gawyth. He loves being helpful!”

Even all the way back in their weyr, Gawyth's chest swelled as he spied in on his rider's conversation. He had to, afterall, lest Marc'oni speak out of turn and say the wrong things-- like he tended to. However, it pleased the Blue to get his ego boosted in such a fashion. Yes, he was very good, yes, he did do good and helpful things and deserved the praise.

“What about your Blue,” the tall but younger rider asked, curiously. “I guess from your comment, you guys didn't come from a caravan like I did!”

...Not that there was anyway for a dragon to come from such a setting.

[Dragon]

What a fascinating backstory! Amaata's own history was much more mainstream. "I was a weyrbrat," the bluerider confirmed. "Father rides brown; mother rode green." And she was the result of a mating flight, left to the creche to raise. Her parents had possessed great expectations for her, but Amaata was pleased with how she had turned out even if her father wasn't.

So what if he had wanted her to be a goldrider. Amaata was not suited to being a Weyrwoman. She was much better off with Kuroth.

She could feel her dragon slowly waking back in their weyr, where he had been napping. Now he was starting to be interested in what his rider was doing ... in her new acquaintance. Amaata smiled a tiny bit at that.

Hello, love. What do you think?

It is good that you are making friends.

Amaata wouldn't go so far as to say that, but well, Marc'oni was nice enough. A little flighty, maybe, but he seemed nice. "Kuroth is a very curious dragon, and he always wants what is best for me," Amaata said by way of continuing the conversation. She was really not good at this. "We have a good partnership."

She shifted slightly, awkwardly, not at all sure what to do. It seemed like Marc'oni was carrying the conversation more than she was, not that he seemed to mind. "Have you met anyone else who grew up in a caravan around the Weyr?"

[EW-NA]

“Whoa! Both dragonrider parents? Wow, that must be something,” Marc'oni exclaimed in wide-eyed astonishment. Even if it was considered the common 'norm' for a Weyr, Marc'oni still had no concept of what that was like.

“See-- I think I'll always be a bit envious of kids that lived in the Weyrs. Getting to have constant friends and family. I liked the caravan, but it was boring sometimes, and atleast mine liked to meet up with our other family groups when we could! Some groups just minded their paths and just went from place to place like a routine. Kind of had to be that way.”

Marc'oni still thought about being on the road from time to time. It was still strange to him, even after turns, that he and Gawyth always had to just come back to High Reaches by nightfall, unless asking otherwise. Of course, he knew the reasons or... atleast was obedient enough to nod his head and just follow what the important people told him was best. Big Weyrs weren't much in the way of surprises like road travel was.

None of that particularly matter though. “Your Kuroth sounds like a great little guy!” Marc'oni had no idea if Kuroth did count as that, but he knew Blues were on the more moderately sized front. Not huge like browns or bronzes, so to him, almost every blue could reasonably count as a 'little guy.'

Gawyth was a 'little guy'. He was his little guy~

“I'd love to meet him sometime, and I can introduce you to Gawyth, too! Bet we can go flying; I think that's one of the best parts of having a dragon!”

[Dragon]

"I guess it is," Amaata said, not wanting to curb Marc'oni's enthusiasm. She didn't think much of having two dragonrider parents - it wasn't uncommon in a Weyr - but if it excited Marc'oni then she wasn't going to try to get him to not be excited ...

She supposed she understood his jealousy of children in Weyrs, not that she felt like her own childhood was anything to be envious of. "I did enjoy my time in the creche," she allowed. She had never been good at making friends, but she'd never been particularly lonely either. "There were always people to spend time with."

She was forever going to be amused by Kuroth being called a 'little guy', not that it was an inaccurate assessment. As far as dragons went, he was a fairly little guy. And he was great. Awesome, even. "He is pretty great," she agreed, actually smiling as she said it. "He's everything I could ever ask for."

Marc'oni's enthusiasm was infectious. "I'm sure we'd love to go flying with you and your Gawyth," Amaata found herself saying. The skies were open to those such as them, and she truly enjoyed flying with Kuroth. It was glorious, it was free, it was completely irreplaceable. She wouldn't trade time with her dragon for anything.