Random Log: Xvetaoth's Flight and the Morning After
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Xanadu Weyr - Beach
The unerring range of subdued white rises and falls in a multitude of sandy dunes, creating an endless amount of tiny valleys constantly demolished and rebuilt by the frequent arrival or departure of a dragon. Smoothing out as it slopes gently to the edge of the deep blue water, the sand darkens and a shell here and there stands out for children to collect. The beach itself is set along a low cliff - the height lessoning as one heads eastwards, blocking a portion of the beach from direct access.
/The wide wide stretch of water opens up to the east, the far distant shore way beyond the horizon and the beach curves ever so slowly round to east and west, distant arms of land embracing the wind-ruffled Caspian Lake. East leads up to the mouth of the Rubicon River, where the protecting cliff is merely an arms length higher then the sand, and beyond that, a winding road leading out of Xanadu's territory. Westwards, the beach narrows as the cliff swings out, leaving a path wide enough for dragons in single file before cutting in to the sheltered cove designated the Weyrling Beach. However, cut in the cliff face to the north are a variety of rough, wide staircases, providing access to the clearing and to the meadow.//


Xylaihl is walking from the clearing, in the rain, quite clearly nearing her eight month of pregnancy, and just as clearly not her usual cheerful self. Xvetaoth is out in the water, glowing brightly, eyeing the shore as her rider trudges out to her, and flicking her tail impatiently. "Xvet, really, do I have to wash you /now/? Can't you let the /rain/ take care of it?" she shouts at the green, more as stress relief than anything else. "Silly green. Plenty of rain, and yet she'll /only/ bathe in the ocean, /only/ with her rider, /only/ with her scrub brushes and soaps." the woman complains, though she's not shouting now.

Haezynth has taken it upon himself to move from the large field near the weyrling barracks to the main beach, despite the continuing rain, and it is upon the sandy stretch that he settles crooning at the green in the water. That is a silly green! D'ana, meanwhile, has discovered that his lifemate is no longer where he parked him, and is jogging towards the main beach, his jacket pulled up over his head trying to stay at least a little dry. The shouting woman is spotted and eyed nervously, as instead he just whines at his own lifemate. "Haeeeeee… You need to come back. Everything's going to get wet enough already…"

Niyheth doesn't seem the least bit phased by the rain as he arrives at the sandy beach in a low glide, only to backwing and come to a heavy landing not far from the glowing form of Xvetaoth. There is no voiced greeting to the green, only a gentle lowering of the dark brown's head as he observes her briefly from his vantage point. Haezynth, for the time being, is only given a passing glance. Uka, who was expecting to have Niyheth land in the bowl to pick her up, is now seen jogging onto the beach with quite the sour expression fixed on her face. She's missed Xylaihl's shouting, as she's more focused at trying to get a straight answer from her silent brown.

Xvetaoth notices Haezynth, and her impatiently twitching tail stills. She pretends not to be interested, stretching out her legs, one by one, as far as she can, though admittedly she's more of a short and stumpy green than a long and lithe one. She continues her slow warm up, flexing her wings and peeking coyly under one as Niyheth comes in to land. Xylaihl is halfway to the green by now, and she stops at her lifemate's display, tossing the brushes and soaps aside, and throwing her arms up in defeat. "I see. Don't you remember what happened the last time?!" she calls out, a hand on her belly. Well, at least there won't be a repeat of /that/ this time. Xylaihl mutters and folds her arms, glaring at Xvetaoth.

Haezynth mimics the motions of the green on the sandy beach, stretching each limb in turn, forelimbs then hind, each wing stretched out as if doing the basic weyrling exercises. The brown is simply ignored much as he ignores a delayed student, all his attention on the class leader, the glowing Xvetaoth. Each wing stretches and folds back in, and he crouches watching the water-soaked green eagerly. His rider, however, is not so eager, though as he notices Xylaihl's clearly pregnant form, he at least relaxes slightly. One less thing to worry about. But even then, he's not moving any closer, but he has given up on his whining.

Niyheth tilts his head as Xvetaoth peeks coyly at him, regarding her with the same silent stare he gave her the moment she landed. With a careful flick of his wings, the visiting brown folds them loosely against his sides but doesn't make any moves to stretch or actively show off - yet. Uka can only send a frustrated glare towards Niyheth before turning to face the other riders. The brownrider is soaked straight through, having no doubt not thought of finding something to shield herself from the rain. "Stubborn." she half mutters, half grumbles before glancing between Xylaihl and D'ana. It's the bluerider who gains most of her attention first, however and her expression turns to mild surprise as her memory kicks in. "Oh. Um…hey." she says awkwardly towards him, before adding so both riders can hear. "Shouldn't we get out of this rain?"

Xylaihl eyes Xvetaoth for a long moment, then sighs. She knows what's inevitable, but still, she waves D'ana and Uka over, as Xvetaoth crouches in the sand, eyeing first Haezynth, and then Niyheth. The suggestion to get out of rain, well, that's a good one. "Ah, well, there's my weyr…" Xylaihl suggests, then adds, "Or the caverns, or the tavern, or…" she trails off now, looking beyond Uka to Xvetaoth, who now takes to the skies, flying almost straight upwards, then heading inland for a moment, then twisting around and zig-zagging out to shore, changing altitude with the thermals, and direction with the wind.

D'ana blinks a few times at the brownrider, before his attention actually comes back to where his is, and he nods a greeting to the other High Reachian rider, actually managing a nervous smile. "H-Hey." He offers, before looking back at Xylaihl, cautiously approaching, eyes wide. "I… I don't know." He'll just follow wherever he's led. Haezynth, it seems, is also happy to follow along as he should, for as the green launches herself upwards, he's not far behind, the first few wing strokes lifting him from the ground, before he finds a steady momentum and rises through the rain, sliding amongst thermals, this way and that, in early pursuit of Xvetaoth.

Niyheth is ready for when the glowing Xvetaoth takes to the rain filled skies. Sharp talons dig deeply into the wet sand as the stocky built brown crouches down, gathering himself into a powerful spring and sending some of that wet sand flying in loose, soggy, clumps as he launches himself upwards in pursuit of the green that has so captured his attention. The dark brown doesn't quite take as steep of an upwards climb as Xvetaoth however, choosing to keep more to the bottom of the pack and cutting corners where he safely can. He's built for stamina and strength, not speed and he'll save what few tricks he has when time calls for it. Uka shields her eyes from the rain as she watches the dragons take off, the anxious look on her face plainly visible. "Anywhere that's reasonably quiet and dry will do." The Weyrsecond offers, not quite lowering her gaze to meet that of Xylaihl. "Wherever you feel safe." she adds in, almost under her breath. D'ana is given a brief glance again, followed by a nod and a shakey smile as she waits for the greenrider's lead.

Xvetaoth fumbles early, the rain interfering with her search for thermals, the wind stronger than she'd expected. For a moment, her flight path is wavering, and she actually flies in a straight line for more than a dragonlength while she gets her bearings. Xylaihl glances upwards, uncertainly, but nods. "My weyr. It's dry." she states, almost as if it were another bit of paperwork to be filled in. Question one: location. "Quiet. Safe." She nods, and points to the meadow. "That way, not far. It'll be fine." These last three words are directed at D'ana, an attempt by the older rider to calm the younger.

Haezynth is thankful, for once, that he is a larger blue, and that he is used to the blizzards of the Reaches. For with a slight bank of his wings, he's maintaining a rather straight line, even if he looks rather off-center in doing so. But, he maintains his flight after the green, each wing beat pulling him back towards the centerline. D'ana slowly nods at Xylaihl, chewing on his lip before moving to follow along after her. "Y-yes ma'am." Always got to be polite, even as he pauses and stares up at the dragons in the air, squeezing his eyes and silently urging Haezynth on, though clearly nervous about the conditions, but follow along he will. At least he has no problem going in a straight line through the rain.

Niyheth has the advantage of being accustomed to rather foul weather as well and his pursuit of Xvetaoth wavers only slightly here and there as the brown adjusts over wind and thermal changes. The sraight line course only encourages him, as it allows him to easily cruise along, his gaze locked on the glowing green for as often as he can keep it. No rain or wind will keep him from following this flight straight to the end. As for Uka, she has fallen silent again, looking somewhat distracted as she nods her head in response to Xylaihl's choice of 'safe location' and turns to follow D'ana, however her gaze seems to linger longer and longer on the greenrider.

Xylaihl snorts, though it's one of amusement rather than offence. "Ma'am? I'm no ma'am." she shakes her head, and fills in another field in the paperwork, question 2 and 3: name and occupation. "Xylaihl, greenrider." Though the latter was kind of obvious, really, what with her reactions to Xvetaoth up there, like the way she's staring blankly at the green. Speaking of Xvetaoth, the acrobatic green is showing off now, doing loop de loops. Not exactly the most efficient method of flight. Each loop shortens the gap between herself and Haezynth and Niyheth, her third and final loop actually puts her /behind/ them. This seems to confuse her slightly, wasn't she trying to fly /away/ from them again? The glowing green quickly turns around and flies back in towards the shore again, finally seeming to get her bearings again. Xylaihl snaps out of it now, and glances to the meadow path, hurrying along it as fast as a very pregnant rider can, heading back to her weyr. She calls, "This way," and hopes that Uka and D'ana will follow, but she doesn't have time to check.

D'ana can't do anything but follow, though he's much less confused about who's chasing who than the dragons seem to be, for while he stammers at the greenrider's introduction, he turns pink and just follows along meekly. Haezynth attempts the first loop, though his loops end after that, and he then finds himself suddenly sans green in front of him. His head is snaked under his wing to locate the green, and then he's banking hard to spiral back around after Xvetaoth, trying to catch back up to her as they feel back to the coast, even as the riders move the other way. And each wing stroke seems a bit more difficult, given the weather, but still he preservers.

Uka manages to voice a quick, "Uka, brown Niyheth's rider. High Reaches." in a low tone. There's an attempt a a smile, but once the introductions are passed, the brownrider begins focusing more on both following D'ana and keeping her gaze on Xylaihl. Niyheth doesn't attempt any of the loops, although his constant observant lock on the glowing green is broken momentarily when he looses sight of her. Turning as sharply as a brown can, he does his best to catch sight of her without loosing his pace too much. Eventually, he gives a slightly bemused rumble as she reappears more or less behind him. Now that the tables have turned, so to speak, Niyheth picks up speed as best he can over the wind and the drain on his reserves as he follows Xvetaoth back towards the shore.

Xvetaoth is really not used to flying quite like this in this sort of weather, she usually has better timing than this, weather wise. She's not unfamiliar with flying in similar weather, but trying to pull all those stunts in the rain has taken a lot out of her. That kind of flying takes more effort now than on a clear day, because she also has to fight against the rain and the wind to keep on course. She cries out triumphantly when at least one of her chasers — Haezynth — appears almost as confused by her final loop as she had been, and again when she notices Niyheth has a similar reaction. Feeling cocky now, she shows off again by dipping and diving, turning sharply to the left, then arcing back upwards and to the right, but each movement is more sluggish than the last, her wing beats are becoming shallower, and her altitude is dropping.

Haezynth recognizes that the strength of the green is fading, as each dip and dive seems to take longer, and move slower. The blue's motions are much straighter and carefully plotted than the females, as he seems to pick where he thinks she'll end up. And as the green drops through the rain towards the water, the blue folds his wings back to attempt drop more quickly. He trumpets in response to her triumphant cry, spreading wings and extending talons to try and snag her and pull her back upwards, away from the grasp of the blue waters and into his own blue embrace.

Niyheth continues to close in, slowly gathering as much speed as the wind and rain will allow. He keeps a careful eye on Xvetaoth's acrobatics, observing and probably even admires a little as he makes his own moves, however minute, in return. His own multi-hued wings begin to struggle now against his rapidly diminishing strength, but his stubborness drives his pursuit of the glowing green as he takes an upwards flight path in an attempt to snare her in his outstretched talons. As he closes in, he too finds his voice at last and bellows out a challenging cry as he pours all he has left in his final bid to catch Xvetaoth as his own.

Xvetaoth warbles as she realises her altitude is dropping, and starts frantically pumping her wings, only to have them snagged from above. As she's carried upwards, she croons, and tries to get a glimpse of her chaser. The first thing she notices is blue. Blue? The blue won, Haezynth won. Smaller, more agile, better matched to the small and agile green that is Xvetaoth. It was close though, it was very close.

Haezynth croons loudly as he snags the rising green, looping his neck with hers, and spreading wings wide to keep them both aloft despite the weather's attempts to do otherwise.

* THE NEXT DAY *

Xylaihl waddles over from the meadow, straightening out her hastily thrown on dress, and heads towards Xvetaoth. The green is back to her usual 'healthy' glow, only slightly less bright than before. Thankfully it's not raining. Back in Xylaihl's weyr, there's a fresh brewed pitcher of klah awaiting D'ana, as well as a note explaining that Xylaihl has gone to the beach.

D'ana had a better awakening than he could have, for at least he's alone when he does awaken. But then, realizing that he's no longer in the Reaches, and there is a pot of fresh klah, he's quickly moving to gather up his things, pausing to glance at the note before ducking out of the greenrider's weyr, headed towards the beach and where the rest of those involved seem to be. And, flushed as his face is, it can be certain its not all from his hurried movement.

Xylaihl has been a greenrider for over twenty five turns, she's had some practice at the waking of flight partners, though she left in a hurry herself, having woken not long before. Her klah is still in her hand, and her hair could use brushing, but she doesn't seem to mind. She's found a spot to sit, and there she is, sitting on the sand and watching Xvetaoth. She notes D'ana out of the corner of her eye, and makes idle conversation about the weather, "Nice today, been quite a lot of rain lately."

D'ana's pace slows significantly the closer he comes to the beach and the greenrider. He gives a bit of a smile as he hears her talking idly, and he moves to hesitantly settle down next to her, looking sidelong at her. "I.. I'm glad it stopped raining." And then he's left finding his feet very interesting as he burrows them into little mounds of sand.

Taking advantage of clear morning the lanky teenage form of Laeraana walks beach with a basket on her arm. She is wearing a light anklelength skirt and a sleeves top, fit for the weather. Most notable are the bare feet that make their way through the sand along the shore. The bottom of her skirt is damp, no doubt from dipping into close to the lapping waves. At intervals she bends down and reaches for an object on the beach, turning it over in her hands before either depositing in her basket or setting it back on the sands.

Xylaihl nods quietly at D'ana's response, and glances to the younger rider. A pause, and then she lets out a snort of laughter, covering it with a cough. "I, er, just realised, I don't know if we've … met." She told him her name last night, but that was then. "Xylaihl, temporarily grounded transport rider." she adds, and seems about to say something else, but instead she breaks off, blinking curiously at Laeraana.

D'ana finds Laeraana as a welcome distraction, watching her progress down the beach before he finally responds to the greenrider. "D'ana, of High Reaches." He replies slowly, with a smile. "I… Good morning, Xylaihl." He decides on, before he peers back at the teenager.

The pair of riders are not even thought of until Lae reaches that point in the beach. She again reaches down for a shell, a conch shell, small enough to fit into her hands. "Oh here is one.." She murmurs in delight before looking up at the Green and blue riders, "Finally found one, know how hard it is to find one of these that ain't all broken up or ain't got some living critter hiding away inside?" She asks then quite plainly without an ounce of shyness in her.

Xylaihl stretches, yawns, and tilts her head at D'ana. "Good morning, D'ana, and Xanadu's greetings." she adds, leaning back with her hands behind her head. "I never thought I'd miss wing duties. Anything's better than more paperwork, though. Even the occasional flight." She shakes her head, and then happily seizes the opportunity for distraction that Laeraana presents. "It's a nice one." she nods, tilting her head at Laeraana's basket. "Found many?"

D'ana actually smiles more broadly as Lae pipes up, and he watches her turn the shell over in her hands. "I.. I haven't really looked." And he smiles at her, turning sideways to watch Xyl. "Paperwork isn't too bad…" Saves him from getting caught in awkward places. Clearly, paperwork didn't bring him to Xanadu and thus the awkward situation he's in now.

"Just two so far. Want one for Ma and Mommytoo and Aunty Lis and Uncle Kris.." She bites her lower lip as she tries to think of other people she wants to seek out presents for, "And of course Sis, already got hers is the basket, all pretty and green inside. And one for Laed, and of course my cousins at Ista." So the girl just does not stop talking once talked to. She rises from her crouch and looks between the riders, "You that blue from reaches that arrived last night? Looked like a good flight from the meadow."

Xylaihl grimaces. "/You/ try doing paperwork for nearly eight months straight, and see how /you/ feel." she snaps, then blushes. "It's just… I'm used to /doing/. Always had to keep busy, active, back at the hold. Then I impressed, and we were in and out of between all the time, so I was keeping mentally active as well. It becomes a habit." she shrugs. Of course, no amount of paperwork can keep her from flights, so there's that. The mention of a pretty and green shell has Xvetaoth trying to peer into the basket now, she's rather attached to that colour, she impressed to one after all. But she does note, "That's quite a few people."

"I… Okay.." He stammers in response to Xyl, clearly deciding he's not going to win that battle, as his gaze drifts back to the teen, and he nods his head. "I.. I am. Or.. Hae-Haezynth is." And then the rest of her words settle in, and he stares at them both. "I-It was last night. I-I have to go. I was only going to be gone a moment.." And then he's scrambling to his feet, stumbling over his words as he bobs his head to both the the rider and the teen, and is running off towards the weyrling barracks to gather whatever he was suppose to get, and to try and rouse Haezynth.

As the bluerider scrambles off Laeranna looks after him curiously, "What you reckon his issue is, he is nervous as a herdbeasts during a mating flight." As the green looks over her basket, the girl looks up to the dragon and raises the shell up for better inspection, "See right inside this bit here, all green and shiny too, like your hide last night." Yep, her mother's daughter that is for sure, all brass and not an ounce of tact or shyness. Daughter to bluerider Lyn and stepdaughter to her weyrmate Laureate.

Xylaihl glances up as D'ana leaves, and frowns. "I… I didn't mean… Paperwork is fine, I guess…" she calls, thinking she's the reason he's leaving. Xylaihl is essentially a good person, perhaps a little too good on occasion, friendly, cheerful, and so on. But she can't stand not doing anything, and paperwork is close enough to that in her mind. Xvetaoth really still is quite bright, it's almost easy to forget she flew just last night, because she looks ready to again, though she is slightly less bright this morning. Xylaihl still looks a little flustered, though she does look at the shell. "I see, that's pretty." she agrees, distractedly.

"Ma felt about the same about paperwork, she swore never to get knocked up again for all the hassle it is. No going there, no flying here. File this, write up that. She says its for the harpers not a bluerider. Good thing Mommytoo is happy with us two brats." Lae replies quite unabashedly as she sets the shell back in its basket. "So you look like you are about to pop, must have made in interesting in there, mayhaps he ain't never tried around a belly before?"

Xylaihl snorts, and eyes Laeraana. "You've got no shame, you know that?" she notes, though she manages a smile. "Ah well, at least he doesn't have to worry about a kid from this flight." is her only comment on /that/ subject. "Last flight wasn't so lucky." As for about to pop, she shrugs, "Another month, month and a half." For someone impatient to get it over with, she doesn't seem to be keeping track very well. "Shells, eh?" she tries to steer the conversation back that way. "I think I saw some big ones down that way." She stands, with a groan and a grunt, and points further down the shore.

"I get told that a lot." Laeraana says rather proudly. "Why cover up what you want to say when its right there for the saying? Might as well go about lieing to everyone." She shrugs as if it is just the way it should be, but perhaps she takes it just that little far. No doubt her brassy birthmom encourages it much to her stepmother's misery. "Yeah ma keeps regular on the herbs, already got me started on em as soon I became a woman." She says quite matterof factly before she turns her attention back to the basket then down the beach, "This way? The big ones make nice sounds, maybe give it as a paired gift for Uncle Kris and his mate."

Xylaihl shakes her head slowly, "Just never expected to be having another kid, really. I've already had six, oldest're nearly twenty four, youngest is ten." she snorts, but it's a little late now to be worrying about that. "Stay on the herbs, kid, seriously." she adds, with feeling. Though, she really would rather talk about something else. Oh, hey, shells. "Yeah, a few nice sized ones, thought about giving one to my youngest, but then I'd have to find five more." she rolls her eyes.

"Oh definatly staying on the herbs. Having kids is for them that wants to, Aunty Lis been popping them out since she was a little older than I am now and grandma ended up with four of em. I am not any any hurry over it." She nods emphatically. Despite not wishing to have one of her own quite yet, she does seem to be quite close to that family she does have. "Reckon just one will do me, if I can find lots more little ones I can hang them on leather cords like necklances." She pulls out a leather thong from her shirt showing off a tiny starfish type creature. "Bit rough on the skin, but pretty looking." She tilts her head up at the woman, "Oldest is twenty four!? You sure don't look that old to be having kids that age."

Xylaihl laughs, shaking her head, though she does feel flattered at the compliment, whether it was intentional or not. "Well, not /quite/ twenty four yet. But Xvetaoth is twenty five, and I impressed when I was eighteen. So, yes, I'm old enough." Ahh, the 'first flight' spawn, Xylaihl had poor luck with that one. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I had grandkids as well. My son, nineteen, impressed bronze when he was twelve. He's had time enough to have a kid or two." He's the first one that comes to mind, her fourth born, because her first three were triplets, and they've always been sickly and frail, so she doesn't really think of them as giving her grandchildren some day. "Eh, I'd need to find five other shells for my other five kids. Makes it hard to find gifts for them, but children can tend to get jealous if they think their siblings are getting more than they are."

"Ah yes, Larisa can be a bit fussy in that regard even if she is not old enough for the stuff I have. Laureate tries to make her something extra special to make up for it." Lae says with a shrug. Siblings, such is life. She tilts her head curiously at the woman, "Well don't you know iffin you have grandkids? Kids don't visit much? Well thats a shardin shame." She says with a nod of her head for emphasis. "Supposing though the son may not want to accidently arrive when yours sets to the skies, reckon that would be weird."

Xylaihl shrugs, and glances to the skies. "There was a time when I didn't pay attention to who won my flights, I didn't want to /think/ about them. I was a holdbred girl, see, and I'd always thought I'd be married, and have one partner, for my whole life. Backfired on me though, as I've no idea who the fathers of my children are. Well, except for this one. I've paid attention for the last ten turns." Although she's already stated she never thought she'd have another kid… "He could have kids he doesn't know about, or he could have kids he knows about but doesn't want me to know about. He's kept to himself more since his impression, he has his dragon now." the woman sighs at this, and shakes her head. "I'm happy for him, though. Can't imagine life without my Xvetaoth."

"Yeah, don't know my Da either. Ma reckons she ain't quite sure on that notion either." Laeraana gives a bit of a shrug as she looks down at her basket, "Had two mothers most of my life though and well thats enough for me." She pulls out a tiny conch shell with a pearly grey blue inside, "This is for my other mother. It looks likes a dolphin slipped inside." As the woman speaks of her dragon she smiles and looks over to the green, "Well she is a pretty lady, I reckon if I impressed anything other than blue Ma would disowned me. Her Pa was a blue as well…she reckons its in our blood to be blueriders." She says with some certainty to her voice, "No offense to your lady here of course, I think greens are just as nice, just don't tell Liraeth I said that."

Xylaihl grins, then points to a nice sized shell on the ground, round on one side, flat on the other, with a slit down the middle of the flat side, the shell curling inwards there, and a vivid brown pattern on the round side. "How about that one?" she asks, though she doesn't particularly want to bend down to pick it up. She seems to take it rather well, not knowing her children's fathers, though she is a little sheepish at her level of denial. That's all in the past though, thankfully. "My brother rides a blue." she notes, idly. "But I quite like my little green here. She may want to be bathed more often than most dragons I've encountered, but at least there's less of her to wash."

As the shell is pointed at, Laeraana looks down to the beach and grins, "Ah, that is a nice one." She bends down and turns it over in her hands before padding over to the water to rinse it off and raising it in the air, "A fine one indeed, I think this one will be for Alix." She says half to herself before setting it in the basket, "You have an eye for this, maybe you can help me?" She asks hopefully, not feeling at all out of place with the adult. Though with her personlity she would probably be just as brass with a Weyrwoman or Weyrleader. When your aunt used to be one and your Uncle is the MasterHealer, rank is a little hard to be awwed by.

Xylaihl chuckles softly, and nods. "It is, isn't it?" she glances at it as it's washed off, then shrugs. "Oh, I think that may have been a fluke, I've never found one quite that big or shiny before." she shakes her head, though her gaze does wander back to the sand quickly. "Seem to have a knack for finding firelizard eggs sometimes, though." she laughs, though she has to admit, "Not likely to find those at the moment, not with the rain we've been having." Rain is an understatement.

<OOC> Xylaihl idly oohs. This is the shell: http://www.sealifegifts.net/user_images/ss_Small_shell_no8.jpg (Mine seems slightly shinier, but other than that)

"Sorta looks like girly bits.." She says as she looks down at the shell in the basket and just grins, "That should make Alix right and proper when I point that out, he is about as prudish as his mother." She wrinkles her nose at that though this girl could use an ounce of prudishness. At the mention of firelizards she tilts her gaze up interestingly then nods, "Yeah been looking but I reckon the wild ones gone to higher ground or lost them nests in the flooding. Got one flitter myself, a little green girl."

Xylaihl coughs, and glances to Laeraana, then shakes her head. "It's a shell, looks like a shell, just a shell." a pause, and then she points to the flatter paler side, "Looks more like a mouth anyway, see those tiny lines on the edges there. Sharp pointy teeth." But she shakes her head, and looks across the sands. She manages to find a slightly smaller spiral shell, and points it out to Laeraana. "There's one there, not bad." She doesn't pick this one up either, but she has an excuse, it's not as easy as it used to be.

Laeraana looks up to the greenrider with mischief in her eyes, "More fun the other way, though I could tell him both. That should really get him going." Oh she loves to tease her cousin. As the next shell is pointed out she leans down and repeats the inspection and cleaning before standing up, "Now this one is quite pretty, maybe for Ma.." She murmurs before looking back to the woman, "So does it get easier…with each one..?" She asks pointing to the belly curiously.

Xylaihl nods at the shell, wincing suddenly. "Would you /stop/ that." she mutters, shaking her head. "I know more what to expect now, I know that kicking is just kicking, and I shouldn't run to the healers for every single one." She rolls her eyes at that, though it sounds like she's speaking from experience. "And it does get easier, yes. But this one… Myself and my children, we take after my mother, slender, small. This one seems to be more like my father, a massive man, solidly built, and, well, did I mention how huge he is?" The thought seems to scare her a bit. "Either that or it's twins, but the healers /assure/ me there's only one." She sounds skeptical. The healers are right in this instance, but she still doubts it.

"Had to ask, figured it must get easier iffin people keep having him. Ma just talks about how hard it all was." Laeraana says as she looks down at the woman's belly and quirks her lips. "So can I …touch it?" She asks sheepishly to the woman before wrinkling her nose when she talks about size, "I still can't fathom how our girl bits can get so bad, but seen a dolphin birthing and a runner once and well it does but still!"

Xylaihl shakes her head slowly, "I still don't understand it myself, and I've been through it six times. All I know is, they fit, and that's all I want to know." and as for Laeraana's request, the woman sighs. "Well, since it's not likely to stop kicking any time soon, you might as well feel it kick." she decides, reaching for Laeraana's hand to place it in the best position, just in time for another kick. She lets go then, sighing. "I don't even want to think about what happens when this one is ready to be born. Not had such a kicker in there before."

Laeraana lets her hand be guided to the belly and there is a look of wonder on her face, "Now ain't that a marvel." She murmurs before grinning up at the woman, "Bit different with the dolphins, can't feel them all pokey like that.." She says as she gets another kick, "I am sure you will be fine, Uncle Kris says its an easy thing and something we are meant for , but again thats what he does. I mean he don't have babies, he just helps others to."

Xylaihl chuckles, and nods. "Well, it'd be a bit difficult for him to have babies." she notes, slight emphasis on the him. "It's a marvel, if you're not the one being kicked in the gut all the time." she mutters, but she does smile. "My baby, showing what a marvel it is before it's even born. Now that's talent." she grins, then frowns and glances back to Xvetaoth. "Alright, alright…" Xylaihl sighs. "I've got," she pauses, shudders, and continues, "paperwork to do. I hope you find enough shells." she says, though she doesn't leave /just/ yet.

"Yeah it would at that.." She replies with a grin before nodding over to the green then the rider again, "Well it was a pleasure to meetcha, hope I didn't scare that bluey off for ya." She says before she starts to skip down the beach again.

Xylaihl grins, and waves it off. "Ah, Xvetaoth would've scared him off sooner or later anyway, she's the jealous type." she comments, adding, "Nice to meet you, too." before she turns, and heads back towards the caverns.

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