Xanadu Weyr - Caverns
A massive cavern in it's own right, this one has been skillfully adapted for human habitation. The high ceilings have been painted a light, soft ivory, as are the walls where numerous tapestries hang to provide brilliant color and insulation from the stone. The floor has been left in its natural state, pale pink granite speckled through with glittering mica and dark flecks of basalt, leveled carefully but kept sufficiently rough to avoid slips.
The cavern itself is loosely divided into areas, each one set up to be suitable for some segment of the Weyr's population. The most frequently occupied area, however, is the one near the Kitchens where tables of varying sizes provide a place to sit down and eat or chat and a buffet of consumables is almost always kept stocked. Its plain that on most days, this area wouldn't accommodate anywhere near the full population of the Weyr and equally plain that on such occasions when a formal meal is laid out, tables are appropriated from all the other areas.
A big fireplace is set into the wall near the Kitchens as well, several comfortable chairs nearby providing haunts for elderly residents or riders who like a good view of all that happens. Rugs cover the floor in strategic spots, all of them abstract or geometric in design and most in the softly neutral colors of undyed wool.
Exits lead off in all directions, a big archway the largest Exits lead off in all directions, a big archway the largest and that leading outside. Shallow stairs to the west lead to the offices and administration area while tunnels to the east lead to the infirmary, kitchen and resident's quarters. Southwards, a sloping tunnel leads down to the hot springs and southwest is a wide tunnel, carefully roped off to avoid accidents.
It's early morning at Xanadu, and the bustle of the day has yet to begin properly. It should be fairly quiet - should - but there is this whiney screeching sound coming from outside, and it's getting louder. Anyone who's ever had a hungry firelizard hatchling might recognize that noise. Hurried footsteps accompany it…
It's one of the few times A'dar and Zeituth aren't together. A'dar is heading out from having gotten a bite to eat, when the loud wailing catches his attention. Oh yes…he has had hungry firelizards. Matter of fact, he's got two now. Perched on his shoulder is a green firelizard who seems to think his shoulder is her private throne. In the air beside him is a blue one that seems to be griping at the green (likely because she kicked him off A'dar's shoulder!). And being thoroughly ignored by said green! Aloysius, the blue, stops in mid-gripe, and turns his head in the direction of the screeching. He flies ahead, and A'dar follows.
K'vin was sitting at a table in a quiet corner of the caverns, having an early breakfast for he's still an early riser but no, it has to be disturbed by lizards and he turns his head towards the loud screeching with a slight frown
Cenlia rushes into the cavern at a dead run, having sped in from outside - from the beach, apparently, judging by the sand still clinging to her clothing. The girl only slows when she enters the cavern. In her arms is a tiny, shrieking blue-black bundle, screaming to be fed. The baby firelizard is clinging tightly to the front of her shirt, its sleek little form still wet from hatching. Cenlia hesitatess at the entrace, calling out shrilly, almost as distraught as the blue hatchling, "He- help!" Clearly, she has NO idea what to do with this… thing. The girl's hair is dishevelled, and… is that a half-eaten sammich stuck in the crook of her arm? Why yes, yes it is. With all the meat eaten out of it, no less.
A'dar chuckles, and Aloysius flies over to examine the other blue firelizard. "Hold on, I'll bring something," A'dar replies, and jogs into the kitchen. The green on his shoulder squawks and has to dig in to avoid being dislodged from her perch by his sudden movement. It's only a few moments, and then he's back from the kitchen with some strips of meat. It's cooked, of course, but it's still meat, and there's a good-sized pile of it in the bowl. "Here you go," he notes, offering the bowl to Cenlia. They eat until they fall asleep right after hatching, and complain *loudly* when they don't get food." He chuckles.
K'vin nods his head. "No one told you to get a bowl of meat ready when the lizard was about to hatch?" The bronzer asks softly. "I don't know who gave you this lizard but there's a few things to say to the person you're giving an egg and it hasn't been done obviously." He says quietly.
Upon seeing A'dar, Cenlia beelines for him - someone she knows, thank goodness! Quickly accepting the the bowl with a grateful, "Thanks," when he returns, shoving meat at the tiny hatchling in her arms - the little blue immediately quiets and begins scarfing down the meat. Cenlia looks incredibly relieved, both at the lack of noise and at A'dar's comment about complaining loudly when hungry. At K'vin's words, Cenlia looks over at him, stammering, "N- no one gave me an egg! Didn't even know there was a nest," and she shakes her head, eyeing the still-eating baby 'lizard with a frown. "Was sitting on the beach, and the next thing I know, my sammich is walking off without me! Lifted the top slice and this little thing is suddenly looking at me…" an she shakes her head again. "Little rogue crawled over from the other side of the rock and latched onto me and started making noise like it was dying," she sighs, "So I ran back here."
K'vin nods his head and stands up smoothly. "Alright." he says with a smile as he moves over to Cenlia. "I can help you a bit too if you want." He offers, sitting at the table where the lizard is eating.
"Well, I didn't know either," A'dar points out. A pause, and he thinks a moment. "Then again…it was an actual hatching. It was at…Faranth, I forget where it was…. But it wasn't at Xanadu. So I had to hitch a ride back to Xanadu with an armful of screeching firelizard. The rider who brought me back said he thought of kicking me off his dragon at some point." A chuckle. "Then again…I kept dried meat with me, because I traveled a lot…" he muses. He chuckles to Cenlia's comment. "Don't worry, this is perfectly normal for a firelizard," he assures her, patting her shoulder. "He'll eat until he's full and then he'll fall asleep. He'll do that for a while."
Cenlia looks extremely grateful for the offer of help, and the first thing she asks is, "What do I do with it?" The little baby blue is still scarfing down meat, gobble, munch, nom. The hatchling is still covered in bits of egg-goo, and Cenlia gingerly lowers her arms to the table, careful not to dislodge the firelizard, but allowing the half-eaten sandwich to flop on the table. She seems to be regaining her composure, even grinning a bit at A'dar's story, but then frowns again, "That noise is /normal/? It is going to do that every time it's hungy?" The girl looks properly horrified.
"Probably not that loud," A'dar assures her. "But it shouldn't take long before he can feed himself, so it won't be a problem. He pauses a moment. "What do you do with what? The firelizard?" he inquires. "Well, they can be trained as messengers to carry letters and small parcels to other places," he notes. "I normally have Aloysius retrieving small tools when I can't let go of something that I'm doing, for instance." He pulls a handkerchief from one of the pouches on his belt and starts to gently clean the egg-goo and bits of shell from the little blue, careful not to bother him as he's eating. "He's very pretty," A'dar comments.
K'vin nods his head. "And well, a lizard is a nice companion." He says with a smile, watching the lizard. "He'll screech loudly for a time until he's ready to get food on his own."
Although she doesn't look too happy about the idea that her 'lizard will screech for food until it can feed itself, Cenlia nods, then eyes her firelizard, "They can fetch tools? Useful little thing…" The midnight-hued hatchling is so busy gobbling meat that it doesn't even notice its being cleaned up - soon enough, it looks almost decently blueish - though is still that dark midnight color. Cenlia furrows her brow, "I just have to feed it and… train it?" She glances from A'dar to K'vin, her expression hopeful. But taking care of a firelizard can't be that simple… can it?
"When he gets older, he'll be able to 'show' you what he wants," A'dar notes. "Aloysius has been known to 'show' me what in particular he wants to eat. It's kind of like…." He pauses. "You remember in the garden? I spoke to Zei and he spoke back, but you didn't hear it? They speak up here." A'dar taps his temple. His speech impediment might have been cleared up, but sometimes he still has trouble expressing an idea. "Firelizards can't do that…but they can communicate in pictures. It takes some training, but they don't seem to have that much trouble. At least, not in my experience. Oihana here is still learning." He indicates the green still on his shoulder. "She thinks she's too good to fetch things for me." A grin.
K'vin nods his head. "It's not that easy to train a lizard, a bit like training a dog but a lizard is smarter." He says with a smile. "Once you know how to picture stuff in your mind and tell the lizard to get it, it's going to be fine."
The tiny firelizard seems to finally be getting full, and as Cenlia has been sitting here holding it in the crook of one arm while feeding it from the bowl with her free hand, the little creature's eyes have been fading from yellow-orange to blue. Eventually, it makes a contented little burbling noise and curls up right where it is, dozing off. Cenlia blinks down at the hatchling, seeming surprised that she's managed to send it into a veritable food coma. The girl listens intently to what K'vin and A'dar say, nodding and looking mildly surprised, "I'll have to work on that… picturing thing." She glances at Oihana with a grin, and chuckles, "I suppose I can live with mine just behaving." She looks down at the now-sleeping hatchling and groans, muttering, "Just so long as this little rogue isn't always walking off with my breakfast." As if on cue, her stomache lets out a hungry rumble.
A'dar chuckles. "As he said," he notes, indicating K'vin, "training isn't easy. But it's not hard. Especially if all you want is behaving. A sharp 'no' should suffice." He smirks as he hears the rumble from Cenlia's stomach. "At this point you could carry him by his tail - which I don't recommend; it can cause injury - and he probably wouldn't wake up. Getting something else to eat isn't going to disturb him if you wanted to." He grins. Now that the firelizard disaster is averted, he looks to the fellow he doesn't know (or perhaps just doesn't remember). "Hello there," he greets, offering a hand for a handshake. "My name's A'dar." Big improvement from a turn ago, when he was so shy….
K'vin smiles and shakes A'dar's hand. "I'm K'vin, bronze Khirsath's rider and master dragonhealer, nice to meet you both." He says with a smile. "Can I get you something to eat?" He asks Cenlia
Cenlia nods at A'dar's words and is about to attempt to stand, but at K'vin's offer, she gives a sheepish grin and nods, "If it's not too much trouble, sir." And then she remembers the rest of her manners and adds, "I'm Cenlia." She grins a bit, glancing at her free hand which is currently covered in meaty bits, and doesn't extend it for a handshake.
"Pleased to meet you," A'dar notes in response to K'vin's introduction. "I'm one of the latest batch of weyrlings; blue Zeituth's." He still needed to get used to noting that beforehand. He chuckles at Cenlia's state and hands her that handkerchief. "There you go, Cenlia," he offers. "If you want to wipe your hands off."
K'vin nods his head and moves over to the serving table, getting Cenlia a couple of sweetrolls, a coffee and other treats and he sets the plate before Cenlia. "There you go." He says with a smile.
Cenlia accepts the handkerchief and the food with a grin and a thanks to each of them - she isn't quite brave enough to move that arm holding the sleeping firelizard yet… just in case it starts making noise again. The girl attempts to clean off the bits of meat as best she can with the handkerchief. She gives her little firelizard a wary look before slowly reaching for the food - ooh, sweetrolls and other deliciousness - if her huge smile isn't any indication of her gratitude, the loud rumble her stomach makes certainly must be.
A'dar chuckles, taking a seat himself. He doesn't seem to be hungry, though. He just ate, and so did Aloysius and Oihana. Speaking of the two firelizards, once he sits, Oihana finally leaves A'dar's shoulder. Aloysius is trilling happily from near the fireplace, and Oihana flies over there. And it's not long before they're playing merrily. "That's another joy of having firelizards," A'dar notes, with a smirk. "They're amusing."
K'vin nods his head. "Do not forget to oil your lizard." He reminds Cenlia. "It's just like a little dragon so it needs oiling so his hide stays whole you know?"
Cenlia munches on a sweetroll while watching the two firelizards playing. The girl nods in agreement to A'dar's comment about firelizards being amusing, and then glances at K'vin, looking at him blankly, "Oil?"
"I actually didn't know they *needed* oiling," A'dar notes. "But I've been doing it, because they seem to like it. And I assume every little bit helps." A chuckles as Cenlia seems confused. "Remember me telling you in the gardens about having to oil Zei's hide? That's what he means. After bathing the firelizard, you have to rub a kind of skin oil onto them to keep their hides supple."
K'vin nods his head. "Well, they're little dragons." He says with a smile. "And they go between just like the dragons, so why wouldn't they need oil?" He asks gently
Cenlia ohs, nodding and eyeing the little creature in the crook of her arm with a thoughtful look - one she generally reserves for wilting shrubbery. "Where do I get the oil?" she asks K'vin, and, glancing at A'dar, she says, "You said you use special oil for your dragon, right? I remember you told me it's why you can't use clock oil."
"Oh, is that why they need oiling?" A'dar inquires. "Makes sense…that awful place made *my* skin crawl. I can only imagine what it does to a dragon's hide. Or a firelizard's." He shudders, obviously displeased by the thought of going Between. Cenlia's reminder of the clock oil makes him laugh. He explains to K'vin, "Zei likes the smell of clean clock oil so much he wants me to use it to oil him. I don't, though. Don't know what it would do to his skin." To Cenlia, he replies, "I think one of the residents here makes it…I believe Neferennu said she made oil for that…."
K'vin smiles. "I'll give some I use to you, scented oil." He says with a smile. "Remind me about it before I go." He says with a smile. "Beside that, nothing else I can think of right now but I'm often around."
Having finished off the sweetrolls, Cenlia starts on the other goodies on the plate. She nods to A'dar as he mentions Neferennu and says, "I haven't met her, but I'll ask around," and then to K'vin for the offer of some oil, "Thanks for the help, sir, I really appreciate it." She glances back down at her still-sleeping 'lizard and comments wryly, "I'm glad dragons aren't as easy to impress. Little ones are bad enough, I can't imagine what the big ones do when they want food." And then to the firelizard itself, she mutters, "Still, it is cute, the little sammich thief."
A'dar grins. "What's bad about taking care of a dragon is not how much they eat. It's cleaning up after them until they can Between," he notes. "That's what we spent most of our first couple of weeks doing." He chuckles and reaches over, looking to pet the sleeping dark blue firelizard gently, not wanting to wake him up. He will pull back his hand if either he looks like he's disturbing the lizard or Cenlia asks him not to disturb the newly-hatched firelizard.
K'vin smiles softly. "The dragons easily know how to tell you they're hungry without screeching loudly. They make you understand through your mind." He says with a smile.
Cenlia stifles a snicker at A'dar's mention of cleaning up after a dragon, and then her expression suddenly changes as she realizes that, while much smaller, her firelizard is probably also going to make 'messes' too. With a groan, she mutters, "It's the chicken coop all over again. They don't, uh, smell? Do they?" She glances down at her firelizard again. She doesn't stop A'dar from petting it, and the tiny midnight-blue, for his part, is fast asleep and doesn't even seem to notice. She blinks as K'vin explains about dragons, and looks up again, "In your mi- oh, right." She's been told this before, but she always seems to forget that dragons can actually talk without being heard. "I can't think what'd be worse, one of these little things screaming for food, or a hungry dragon in yer head," though she does grin at this last part, if only for the image it conjures. She looks at the two dragonriders - clearly, they must know.
"That too," A'dar notes to K'vin's statement. "That was the first thing Zei said, that he wanted food." A chuckle. "They speak mostly normally, from my experience. Though granted, I've only ever heard two dragons. One was Zei, and the other was…Adineth? Is that the name? There's a dragon that got dyed pink shortly before Ellamariseth's clutch hatched. And that was more a random happy shout—that dragon liked the color pink." He smirks.
K'vin nods his head. "They're expected to make messes, just like any living creatures." He says softly. "And it smells like poo." He adds with a wink. "Can't tell you much more about it."
"There's poo and then there's poo," Cenlia grins, but doesn't elaborate. She's seen enough of it to last her a lifetime, as far as she's concerned. The girl gives a sigh a the still-snoozing hatchling, but what did she expect, really? Then, her eyebrows shoot up as she stares at A'dar, "Got dyed /pink/? How did /that/ happen?" Her eyebrows descent as she furrows her brow, trying to imagine a pink dragon. Shaking her head, she mumbles, "Some girl shooing a dragon on the sands and one getting dyed pink… this place sure is interesting."
"It is that," A'dar notes with a chuckle. "Thea was helping to dump out a vat of used dye. Unfortunately it was too heavy for her to carry alone. So she got someone to help her, I think Neferennu. Unfortunately, Delginhe's E'gin nowhad brought up a box of tunnelsnakes, and that box got underfoot. It tripped Thea and she went down, she brought Rennu down with her, and the vat went up. I think the dragon 'helped' it up over himself, though…." A pause. "Adinaeth. That was his name. A brown. For some reason, he likes pink." He shrugs. "Of course…one of the girls that tried to move the vatI forget which onestayed half-pink for about a month…." A'dar gives a chuckle.
K'vin chuckles too. "I heard about it but I didn't really pay attention, I had some important duties and a dragon who needed my help so I was barely here at that time."
Cenlia shakes her head, and can't help giggle, "Pink for a month? Am glad I spend most of my time in the garden!" And then she makes a face, "But tunnelsnakes? Ick… what was, ah, E'gin going to /do/ with them?" and she glances around warily, as if one might pop out from under a table at any moment, "Sounds like a prank just waiting to go wrong."
"I think he was going to try to raise them. They were baby tunnelsnakes if I recall. You see, E'gin is very adamant that all living things should stay…living," A'dar explains. "He often gets sick when he watches Mazunth eat. I don't know how he got through the first few weeks—we actually had to chop up the meat until our dragons got bigger."
Cenlia makes a face as A'dar describes E'gin's love of living things, and shakes her head, looking as if she's suddenly very glad she's not a weyrling. She looks even more glad when A'dar mentions chopping up meat. "Sounds worse than what my ma had me doing back in South Boll," she comments, though there's that lopsided grin again. Chopping meat can't have been that bad, can it?
"It wasn't really that bad," A'dar notes. "At least…I didn't think so. But then, it took a *LONG* time for the shock that I had Impressedmuch less on my first tryfor me to really register too much. I did what I had to do. It was…confusing. Though in E'gin's case…I don't think he liked the idea that the meat he was having to handle was a living, breathing creature at one time."
"Hope he wasn't worried about plants, either? They're living too. How'd he manage to eat anything?" she chuckles softly, giving a grin at her plate, which she has mostly cleaned of food. Leaning back in her chair -very- carefully, so as not to jostle the sleeping hatchling, the girl asks, "Can I just nab somethin' from the kitchens every time this little thing gets hungry, or do I need to give it special meat?"
"I actually don't know," A'dar replies. "I don't get a chance to talk to E'gin much. I think he's concerned with the moving, breathing things that can scream when they're killed." He chuckles. "You can feed it just about anything, I think. I've seen them eat sweetrolls before, and nothing I've ever fed mine has made them sick. And they eat…well, pretty much what I eat."
"Anything?" the girl asks, giving the midnight-hued hatchling a speculative glance. For all the looks she's given the thing since it settled down, the little creature has hardly stirred, snoozing cozily in the crook of her arm. But she remembers all to clearly that noise it made when it was awake, and has not yet gotten complacent. At the mention of sweetrolls she grins broadly, "Well, if he likes pastry, so much the better," and she giggles, "Just so long as it stays out of my brandy stash."
A'dar can't help but laugh. "Oh Faranth…a drunk firelizard!" he observes. "That *would* be a disaster—popping all over the place and scaring everyone." A chuckle. "Less humorously, he might pop into somewhere he can't get out of. I don't know if they can get lost, like we were warned about, or if they can come out of Between inside something solid. But I wouldn't risk getting one of these things drunk, myself."
Cenlia waggles a finger at the sleeping 'lizard, saying to the tiny thing, "You hear that, you little rogue? No brandy for you. Ever." The firelizard, of course, is fast asleep, and therefore ignores her. Cenlia giggles again and says, "I'll have to be careful, figure I better not break out the bottles for a while. Least until I train him." And then she hrms, and mumbles, "Now what to call it - the little sammich thief," she ponders.
"You said you found him wild?" A'dar confirms. "I wonder if he has any brothers and sisters? Hmm…wandering the beach with no destination in mind, no purpose but finding food…like a homeless runaway…." He pauses a moment, rubbing his chin a little in thought.
Cenlia straightens and looks up as A'dar mentions the other firelizards, "Oh! The nest, I forgot…" She looks back toward the cavern entrance, brow furrowed, "When he stole my sammich, I saw things moving in the sand, on the other side of the rock from where I was sitting, but this one was screaming at me, so I ran back here, fast as I could…" She bites her lip, "Didn't think to check, even." Then she thinks a moment and adds somewhat wryly, "Maybe a good thing I ran so fast, or I might've ended up with more than one."
"Quite possible," A'dar replies. "Normally the first person to feed one is who it…well, I don't exactly know if it's that much like an Impression. But it looked you in the eyes, otherwise you wouldn't have this one. But yes. At a normal hatching, the first person to feed a firelizard is normally the person it claims."
Cenlia shakes her head and grumbles at the firelizard, "Greedy things. I thought it was going to eat /me/, the way it was hanging on. Or that the sammich was killing it. Definitely been claimed. Not gonna get any work done in the garden if this thing doesn't let go of me." Indeed, the little dark blue firelizard, even in its sleep, has tiny claws hooked into the fabric of Cenlia's sleeve. She probably wouldn't be able to get it off easily. Cenlia experimentally prods it gently in the side. The hatchling lets out a sleepy 'gwrr' sound and noses further into the crook of her arm. Cenlia's hand is halfway to the mostly-empty bowl of meat on the table before she realizes that the firelizard is back asleep. With a sheepish grin, she shrugs. She's not going anywhere for the moment. Better to let it sleep.
A'dar chuckles. "He's going to be temperamental for a while," he notes. "At least, Aloysius was. I don't know if it's a firelizard trait, a blue firelizard trait, or whether it was just Aloysius himself. Then again…he's pretty cheerful when things are going well." He chuckles.
"Just so long as he's not screaming at me," she grins, and then something seems to occur to her and she asks warily, "Uh, firelizards don't bite, do they? I mean, if he's eating too fast, or he doesn't get food fast enough? He won't nip my fingers, will he?"
"Some do," A'dar replies. "Thea has one named Ruina bronze, I thinkwho is *MEAN*! He bites, he complains, he screeches, and he's generally not fun to be around. And he bathes in the toilet. I do try to stay away from him, and so do my lizards. I'd be afraid Oihana would get hurt, because she won't back down if she's challenged."
Cenlia blinks, surprised, "Ruin is really that awful? He didn't seem too bad, just a but of a prankster…" Then again, Cenlia has only seen the mischievous bronze firelizard once, and she didn't have a firelizard at the time. She seems to consider this a moment, then says, "Maybe I should sew another pocket onto my tool belt… I keep little spades and things in it, but one big enough for a little firelizard to sleep in. Or maybe a cloth or something over the shoulder, like a sling, if I tie the ends together." Her brow furrows even more as she comes to realize that she's going to have to find a way to carry the little midnight blue around with her. But, one glance at its claws clutching her sleeve and she grins a bit, "Might be able to find a coat, just let him hang on."
"That's what most of us do," A'dar notes. "He'll learn to perch on your shoulder and fly soon enough. But until he does, you'll need to make sure you keep him with you, since I doubt he'll want you to leave him for a while. Mine stay with me most of the time even now."
Cenlia nods, "Poor Thea, having to keep Ruin with her all the time, it must've been a headache and a half, if he's as bad as you say," Though the girl can't help but grin a bit. Then she asks, "How soon do they begin to fly? I saw you guys practicing flying with your dragons on the beach - firelizards don't need to to be taught, do they?" Quite frankly, she looks more worried about having to teach the thing to fly than she did about it shrieking or making 'messes' or biting her.
A'dar shakes his head. "None of mine did," he notes. "Granted, my experiences with firelizards have been basically just with these two. I reason that since they're not so heavy, they don't have to worry as much about pulling muscles or tearing their sails."
Nodding and grinning a bit more, now that she knows she at least doesn't have to worry about that, Cenlia says, "So how exactly did you train yours?" She gives A'dar's blue firelizard a curious look, "You said you imagined things, but how'd you get him to go get things for you, or deliver things?" One does not train chickens, and the farmcrafter girl is still new enough to dealing with things that aren't plants or people that she goes on interrogating A'dar without even noticing.
If A'dar minds being interrogated, he doesn't make any note of it. "Well…it was a little easier for me, because especially when I became a weyrling, we were given what R'miel called 'imaging exercises'. See, the way I understand it, a dragon's ability to Between with its rider depends on the rider keeping a clear mental image of the place they want to go. It's a very serious matter, too…if the rider doesn't keep the image clear enough, the both of them could be lost."
Cenlia frowns, instantly not liking the last part of that, "Do I need to do that for a firelizard? I mean… I've seen them go in and out so fast…" There is a bit of concern in her expression. She may not have been looking for a firelizard, but now that she's got one, she's going to do her darndest to learn how to care for it.
"I've never had any problems," A'dar replies. "I think they're a little better at it. Again, maybe it's because they're smaller, so they're not pulling nearly as much mass Between. There's a lot about them I still don't know. I've never heard of a firelizard getting lost Between."
Cenlia looks relieved. Feeding, bathing, carrying around, and even oiling she can manage. But things like flying and Between are totally beyond her. The girl nods, then giggles, finally realizing and letting up on the relentless questioning, "Thanks for all your help, A'dar." And she grins, "Hopefully I can keep this little rogue from getting into too much trouble." And what of that sleepy little rogue? Well, the midnight-blue hatchling is burbling quietly in his sleep.
A'dar nods slightly. "I just wish I could help more," he notes. "But I'm still finding out about it all myself. Just learning as I go along." He smiles. And then something Cenlia says catches his attention. "Hmm…rogue, huh?" Pause. "Why not name him that?" he suggests.
Cenlia grins down at the baby firelizard, "What do you think, huh? You little sammich thief." And is that an almost fond tone in her voice? It certainly might be, considering she's been holding the hatchling in the crook of her arm for a while now. The tiny creature is still making burbly noises in its sleep, and Cenlia seems to take that for an answer, and she nods, "Rogue it is." And then she hesitates and adds, "Though he better not end up being too much a thief. When I get back home, my uncle's likely to flay me for it." Then her grin widens, "But, hey! I'm the first of the orchard brats to get a firelizard," and she snickers a bit, "My brother Cenir's been wanting one for ages - when he finds out I landed one without even intending to, he's going to pop." She smirks, just a tiny bit, "Something to write home about, even." And she adds rather less enthusiastically, "Something other than stabbing myself with a spade." And she winces for no apparent reason, eyeing the small scab on the back of her left hand.
A'dar is smiling slightly as he listens to Cenlia, and actually chuckles as she pokes at the blue firelizard hatchling she's holding. "You should go to an organized hatching," he notes. "It's not nearly so chaotic. Besides that, it's unlikely you'll end up with one unless you're trying for it. Simply because there are so many people wanting one that the firelizards don't have to go far for food." His smile falls, however, as he notes her final statement. "Stabbed yourself with a spade? How?"
Cenlia is sitting with the relatively newly-hatched firelizard asleep in the crook of her arm, her other hand now going back to rest on the table beside a nearly-empty plate, a bowl half-full of cooked meat, and a forgotten, now-soggy sammich that looks half-eaten and perhaps dragged through the sand. Cenlia herself still has some sand on her, and her hair is rather dishevelled. She grins at A'dar, "Maybe after this one is all grown…" though she sounds more dubious. Does she really want to risk another one? Even if the chance is small, it's probably too big a risk for the girl - as it is, the one she has now is making low burbling sounds, perhaps on its way to waking. Cenlia eyes it warily as she answers, "Was weeding a tough root and not looking where I was sticking the shovel." She gives A'dar a lopsided grin and says, "Jabbed my own hand. Luckily, Journeywoman Shellie patched me up."
A'dar smiles a bit. "Ah…it's a good thing Shellie happened along, then," he notes. "That might have been a major disaster otherwise. I'm glad you were all right." He smirks as the blue firelizard starts rumbling again. "Uhoh…I think he's about to wake up," he comments. "Just keep the meat handy and you can head off the wailing." A chuckle.
Cenlia nods, and at A'dar's warning, the girl quickly makes a grab for the half-empty meat bowl. It's none to soon, as the tiny hatchling is just opening its eyes. The midnight-hued critter has barely time to wake before there's -meat- under his nose! The little thing blinks, more in surprise than anything, and looks up with a bleary 'chmwrr?' sound. Then, registering that this is /food/, he lets out a small happy chirple noise, and without even the slightest hesitation, digs right in.
Another chuckle from A'dar. "Thought so," he notes. "At least you headed off the squealing this time. When you first came in with him, I thought he might be heard all over the weyr with the way he was carrying on. Was afraid someone would think we were killing a firelizard in here." It's in a teasing tone of voice, so it's clear he's just kidding.
The bronzer is sitting at A'dar and Cenlia's table, telling her how to take care of her lizard and all and eating a bit from time to time too.
Tay has a bounce to her step as she enters from the hotsprings, hair damp but it's clean as is the rest of her. Over head a pair of green sweep and dive, chittering as they finally light on a cavern girls shoulders and make rather pathetic creeling noises. "For the life of me you two are hopeless, you ate before we played in the water." she growls before moving onward to join her mate. "G'day Love." is whispered before she offers a smile to the other pair. "Pad the shoulders of your jackets or shirts, it'll protect your skin from claws."
Cenlia grins at A'dar, "I thought the thing was dying, too. Never again am I eating on the beach. /Never/." Once was enough, and thank goodness it had been early morning when Rogue had hatched and started wailing, with few people about, though Cenlia is just as glad the hatchling is quietly scarfing down the meat now. She looks up at the person who just spoke, but suddenly Rogue is making grumbly noises, and a glance down at the meat bowl shows it's nearly empty - how does something so small eat so /fast/? Cenlia looks suddenly panicked as she half-stands and looks around desperately for more meat. The midnight-blue firelizard in her arms is having none of that though - his sleeping-place is moving and he is not happy. Digging tiny claws into the girl's arm, the itty bitty firelizard makes a loud squawking noise while Cenlia acks and nearly sits back down in surprise. Those teeny claws are sharp!
A'dar looks up at the sound of another voice, and offers a wave. His own blue firelizard Aloysius, pauses in his game with A'dar's green Oihana, and looks up. He gives a trill of greeting! The other green seems almost upset at being ignored; if a firelizard could 'harrumph', she does. And promptly flies back to A'dar's shoulder. A'dar smirks slightly at the green and then looks to Tay. "Hello there," he offers as Tay gets within speaking distance. He notes the problem with Rogue and offers, "Whoops! Should I get him some more meat?"
K'vin offers Tay the seat just beside him, returning her a gentle kiss. "Hello sweety." He says gently. "How are you today?" He asks gently, looking at her face with a trully happy smile.
Tay snuggles in against K'vin with a sigh, "I'm okay, got everyone stowed where they should be. Now it's time to sit and drink klah." The pair of greens flitter from their shoulder perch to the table top where they offer K'vin nudges with heads before moving to greet the blues. "I got mine as gifts if I remember right. Well two of them. Desert came from Igen, Frisky was a gift shoved into my hands..and Khaki was something that one of my children gave me, after they painted it." The brown arrives late as always, perferring K'vins shoulder over the tabletop with the greens.
"Meat," is all Cenlia manages to get out before Rogue starts shrieking again. With a groan, Cenlia hauls herself up, despite the loudly complaining firelizard, and marches over to the kitchens at a brisk pace. She disappears for a moment, and suddenly the screaming firelizard is silenced. With an incredibly apologetic look back at the kitchen staff, the girl re-appears in the cavern, a huge handful of cooked meat in one hand, which Rogue is eagerly nibbling at. Returning to the table with a much-relieved expression, Cenlia finally offers a proper greeting to Tay, "Hello Ma'am." As she re-takes a seat, she asks, "Pad the shoulders?"
Aloysius approaches the new arrivals cautiously but not hesitantly, tilting his head this way and that as if examining them. Humans and firelizards both! A'dar winces slightly as Rogue begins to shriek again, but chuckles anyway. It is rather amusing, after all. He doesn't speak for the moment, though.
K'vin smiles softly at Tay and hugs her against his side. "Yep, adding a pad to the shoulder you know, so that the claws don't bite in your skin." He says with a nod
Tay nods in agreement with K'vin before laughing at the hatchling and the others on the table. "Loud one, just hope he doesn't get Frisky going as she was like that when she first hatched." she notes with a small grimace as the green in question stretches her neck towards the hatchling with a near ear piercing Creel.
Cenlia looks down at Rogue, who is back in the crook of her arm, scarfing down the handful of meat. Padded shoulders? Cenlia needs a whole padded shirt. The girl eyes the other firelizards curiously, "They're all really like this when they hatch?" she asks, as if she herself still can't believe this sort of thing is normal… for something so small to make so much /noise/.
And as if following suit, Aloysius makes a similar sound, his head rearing up slightly. "Not you too," A'dar notes to his blue. A pause, and then to the humans he suggests, "…Maybe he was just trying to calm them both down? He didn't make a lot of noise that I remember." He can't really answer Cenlia's question, because he only really has experience with Oihana and Aloysius. "Oihana was whiney but not loud," he notes to Cenlia, pointing to the little green. "Aloysius was certain to get my attention, but he didn't sustain that kind of noise when he made it."
K'vin chuckles. "Of course, what would you expect after they've been so long in the egg." He says softly. "They are incredibly hungry and that is to be expected but he'll calm down soon enough."
"Probably thinks I'm going to run out of food again," Cenlia says with a lopsided grin, "Can't really blame him, I guess, even after he tried to run off with my sammich." She winces as the hatchling in her arms leans forward to scarf more meat, digging his claws in again. But the little firelizard is slowing now, and certainly hasn't eaten as much as before. In fact, Rogue pauses long enough to observe the other firelizards nearby, and sends a short, and thankfully softer creel their way.
A'dar chuckles a little as Aloysius sends a soft sound in return, almost like he's encouraging the other blue not to eat so fast. "Well, K'vin does bring a valid point," A'dar notes. "I suppose they couldn't eat while in the egg…and they must have needed a lot of energy to develop…."
K'vin nods his head and relaxes in his chair, sighing softly. "Yes, they do." He says with a smile. "Do you have any other question Cenlia?" He asks gently
Cenlia watches her little firelizard curiously as it goes back to eating at a slightly slower pace. "Poor thing, starving in an egg. No wonder it stole my sammich. Well, I've had worse surprises in my food," she grins, then thinks a moment before answering K'vin, "None at the moment. Thank-you for all the help, sir." And she means it. Meanwhile, Rogue has actually managed to fill himself up again, and has curled back into the crook of Cenlia's arm and is well on his way to falling asleep. Cenlia gives the little firelizard a suspicious look before dumping the meat into the bowl. She gets up carefully - oh so carefully - and says, "I'd better go get cleaned up - haven't gotten any work done today; 'least I can do is closeup the greenhouse." She thanks A'dar as well for the help, and grabs the dishes as she heads towards the kitchens mumbling about 'more meat…'
A'dar offers a pleasant wave to Cenlia as she departs, chuckling a little, and calls Aloysius and Oihana to him. Then he stands. "Well…I should get out of here too…Zei's asking where I am," he replies. "Was a pleasure to have met you, K'vin," he offers. "I hope to see you again soon." And then he turns and makes his way back to the clearing, where Zei said he would be waiting for him.
K'vin smiles and waves his hand at A'dar and Cenlia. "I'll drop by during the day to give you that oil Cenlia." He says with a smile. "And if you have any questions, my weyr's just off the forest."