The Purple Glow of Dusk [Phlox]

[FirebrandPhlox]

Raev looked over at the dozing dragon at the mention of his name. Part of her was envious that he was content to let his rider talk and not interrupt. Rask would never make it this long in a conversation without butting in.

"It'll be eight turns this year," Raev replied, turning her attention back towards Amaata. "She been mine since she hatched." There was the slimmest hint of warmth in her voice. Rask was annoying, much too energetic, and a constant pain in her rear end, but she was Raev's, through and through. Besides, it was much easier to think fondly of her when she was still sleeping and not getting her snout into trouble.

Raev scoffed, all the tenderness quickly gone from her tone. "Faranth, you would not believe the stories I could tell you about what I've seen. It's like these people don't even tend to their duties! Just last week, I hear a commotion outside my weyr, this young handler and his wher had spilled paint everywhere! The walls, the floors, even on the ceiling!" She gestured with her arms to help illustrate the scene and her disbelief. "The kid felt bad about it, but I've never seen that sort of mess before."

[Dragon]

Kuroth wasn't dozing anymore, not that you could tell from looking at him. No, he was spying. The blue was definitely interested in what was going on here. Amaata refrained from giving him a look that would give him away, but it was a near thing.

"Eight turns," Amaata repeated instead. "Wasn't Impressing just amazing?" She was certain that even though it had been eight turns for Raev, the other woman still had her Impression fresh in her mind. That wasn't the sort of thing that you forgot.

She was quickly distracted, however, by the tale of the painting wher. "Paint? Really? Kuroth used to get into all sorts of things" and he'd only stopped because he'd gotten too big to snoop around "but he never attempted anything artsy." That wasn't his speed anyway; he'd much rather know things and listen to Amaata reading. Since his memory was nothing remarkable for a dragon, Amaata could read the same thing to him more than once, which was good since she didn't have the biggest budget for reading material.

Still ... "I imagine it was quite the mess," she conceded. "Whers aren't exactly built for art." Of course, the fact that the wher was playing with paint didn't mean that the wherpair was slacking. No one, not even in a Weyr, worked all the time.

[FirebrandPhlox]

TW: Maiming mention

"It certainly left its mark," Raev said, rubbing her chin self-consciously. It was hard to forget such a life-changing experience, especially when it left you barely able to eat solid food for several weeks. Raev had long ago forgiven Rask for accidentally maiming her, but she got a clear reminder of the day of her Impression every time she caught a glimpse of her reflection.

"Yeah, paint," Raev said with a rueful chuckle. "Watercolor, so it cleaned up easy, thankfully. But seriously, it was everywhere, even the wher was coated in the stuff. I've never seen a wher who wanted to make art, but there's a first time for everything, I suppose."

[Dragon]

When Raev rubbed her chin it drew Amaata's eyes to the scars at the corners of her mouth and trailing downward. Had that happened when she'd Impressed? Young dragonkin were frequently frightened and confused, which did lead to maulings sometimes.

Amaata didn't ask, though. Raev would talk more about it if she wanted to.

"What a colorful story," Amaata said, amused by the notion. Dragons and whers were perfectly capable of self-expression, but she hadn't heard of one wanting to paint before either. Messes happened though. She didn't really think that meant that the wherpair were out of line. "You seemed to have more than one story about whers doing crazy things?"

[FirebrandPhlox]

Raev gave a snort of laughter at the pun. Colorful. All the colors of the rainbow were present in those paint spills.

"Oh, I've got more," she said, shaking her head. "You ever seen a wher awake and about in the middle of the day? A few weeks ago I ran into a handler and her wher wandering near the creche in the middle of the afternoon. The creche! Now it may just be me, but I'd never let Rask get near a bunch of kids like that. She's too excitable."

As if on cue, the wher was beginning to stir from her slumber, Raev could feel it in the back of her mind. The sun was getting lower in the sky, the cool blues and purples of the night taking over the sky.

[Dragon]

The creche? That seemed ... well, not necessarily disastrous, but definitely like something that would need some careful handling. She didn't really know any whers well since she was generally asleep when they were awake - except for fighting Thread when she was otherwise occupied - but she knew their reputation. Sure, they were dragonkin which meant that they weren't just animals, but they were supposed to be capable of vicious violence.

"Even if Kuroth could fit into the tunnels near the creche, I wouldn't take him there ... I'd be too worried that he'd step on one of the children or something like that." She wasn't the sort to pass judgment on others, but taking a wher down by the creche didn't seem advisable.

[FirebrandPhlox]

"Thank you. Someone else has some sense around here." Raev shook her head. "The handler couldn't see why having a big wher down by the creche might be a problem. Even if it stays in line, they're big and sharp, a combo that is best left far from children."

Raev sighed and looked back to the sky, the sun now little more than a sliver on the horizon. She could feel Rask waking with the night. She'd want her breakfast soon.

"My wher's awake," Raev said simply. "I should probably go get her fed. Unless you want to meet her." Raev wasn't quite ready to leave the conversation, something about Amaata kept her drawn in. Maybe it was the fact that she seemed to be one of the few people at High Reaches that had a reasonable head on their shoulders. Or perhaps the way the moonlight illuminated her freckles like inverted stars on her skin. Whatever it was, Raev didn't quite want this chance meeting to end so soon.

[Dragon]

Amaata was not an expert on children or whers, and so she let the matter drop. It was clear that Raev thought it was a problem, so maybe it was. At the very least Amaata thought that a wher near the creche would need watching, not because they might go on a rampage or anything like that, but because they were big and somewhat unwieldy.

When Raev mentioned that Rask was awake, the bluerider perked up a little, intrigued. But Kuroth was probably too tired ...

I will be fine, Mine.

With Kuroth on board, Amaata gave Raev a shy smile. "I'd love to meet Rask," she said. Raev seemed like a pretty serious person; was her wher just as serious? Or were they opposites who balanced each other out? Either way, Amaata was looking forward to meeting the garnet.

Besides, she didn't really want to separate from Raev quite yet. She was enjoying the shorter woman's company.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Raev returned Amaata's smile with one of her own. She's pretty when she smiles, she should do that more, she thought to herself. She wasn't enough of a jerk to say it out loud though. If a random person told her to smile more, she'd punch their teeth out on the spot.

Raev got up, leaning on her stick as she did so and letting out a soft grunt. When she stood, she dusted herself off. "I'm warning you now, she's, well. A lot. If you'd rather not deal with that, I completely understand."

[Dragon]

Getting to her feet, Amaata brushed her fingers through her curly hair and knocked the grass off of her trousers. She didn't know what Raev meant by Rask being 'a lot', but she wasn't going to be frightened off.

"I'm sure I can handle meeting your wher," Amaata said kindly. Rask couldn't be that bad. She had to be compatible with Raev, after all.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Raev gave Amaata a chuckle. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Good evening Rask, Raev reached out to her bonded through their mental link. You up? I've got a rider that wants to meet you in the weybowl.

Rask want meet friend! The wher responded, the rush of her excitement pelting Raev like a hailstorm. Rask come now!

Be careful, don't run over anyone. If I hear word there was a garnet tearing through the weyr making a mess, you're not getting treats for a season.

Rask be careful! Rask come now!

Raev turned to the rider. "She's on her way now. She should be here in a few moments."

[Dragon]

Kuroth continued to watch curiously without making his interest obvious. Amaata, on the other hand, had no such qualms about showing her attentiveness. She was looking forward to meeting Rask, even after only knowing Raev briefly. Getting to know a person's bondmate was part of getting to know them.

"I'm looking forward to meeting her," Amaata said shyly. Raev might say that Rask was a lot, but she liked Raev so far so obviously she'd like Rask, too.

[FirebrandPhlox]

"Trust me, she's excited to meet you too." Raev said with a barking laugh.

On cue, the garnet came into view in the dim twilight, barreling across the weyrbowl at top speed. Even if Raev wasn't mentally linked and attuned to the wher's emotions, she would be able to tell that Rask was excited tonight.

Rask approached at full sprint, running straight for Raev. The handler stood motionless, watching the wher approach with an almost bored expression on her face. Rask came scrambling to a halt, less than a foot away from Raev.

Rask here! Where friend?

Raev to the side looking around her wher at the torn up turf from Rask's braking. She sighed. People work hard to keep the weyrbowl looking nice, you know.

She switched to speaking. "Rask, this is Amaata." Don't knock her over, she added silently.

Rask turned to the rider, her whole body wriggling with excitement. Rask glad meet Amaata! Who dragon?

[Dragon]

Oh. That was what Raev meant by 'something'. The wher was obviously much more excitable than her handler, and Amaata had to hide a small smile behind her hand at the wher's exuberant approach. So long as the heavy beastie didn't try to jump up on her like an overly excited canine things would be fine.

"It's nice to meet you, Rask," Amaata said, reaching out to press the palm of her hand against the wher's nose for a moment. She took a half step back afterward, motioning to her blue. "This is Kuroth."

Pleasure, Kuroth said gently. He lifted his head a little in greeting, giving Rask a nod before settling back down in the soft grass.

"So Rask is ... energetic," Amaata said to Raev.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Rask rumbled with delight and leaned into Amaata's outstretched hand, putting a good amount of her weight into the hand.

Nice meet Kuroth! Rask returned the greeting with triple the enthusiasm Kuroth had shown. She then moved next to Raev and started to nuzzle her handler, looking for chin scritches.

Raev lifted her hand and gave Rask the requested scritches, sending the wher into a new bout of happy humming. Raev sighed and turned her head to Amaata. "Like a toddler who's been gorging themselves on sweets on a festival day. This is nothing compared to when she was younger."

Raev had spent many long nights chasing after a tiny Rask, who was much more capable of getting into mischief before she grew to her full size. It was amazing how many places she used to be able to wriggle into. Age had only taken away a small amount of her overzealous enthusiasm, but at least she couldn't fit into small cracks or tunnels anymore.