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 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.
Off to one side of the caverns, conveniently nestled in where the dessert is usually placed upon tables, sits Esiae. There's a surprising amount of clutter surrounding her, a book cracked open on her left, a stack of papers on her right, and something she's scribbling furiously on smack-dab in the middle. It's the hour before dinner, and though she's been there for some time, it's quickly becoming evident that people are avoiding her and settling in at tables that are much more paper-free. …It also helps that there's an awkwardly warm fire behind her in the middle of summer. Esi doesn't seem to notice, except to glare at one of the kitchen staff that comes to put it out until they go away. The reason is evident to anyone paying half a mind: next to the fire rests a small terra cotta pot, filled to the brim. A tip of something bright blue and ovoid peeks out of suspiciously familiar red and white sand.
Matrin is in poor form tonight, distracted himself and looking a little rumpled - well, rumpled for him. It could be the reports that the eggs are nearly hard and they could have as little as a sevenday before they face the sands, or maybe it's the stack of papers he's ruffling through. His lips move without sound and he juggles an awkwardly held pen and the papers until he thinks to stick the former between his teeth. A near collision finally makes him glance up and flash an apologetic smile to the serving girl he almost runs over, and right about then the table that others are avoiding looks like a welcome spot. So Matrin makes short work of the path to Esiae's table, hooks a foot around a chair and flops down onto it. "Mind if I add to the general papery chaos here," he asks with a grin.
Right behind that serving girl, revealed as she squeaks and swerves out of Matrin's way is the Weyrwoman. From the heat of the sands to the… heat of Esiae's table, go figure. Having snagged from the serving table a pitcher of iced fruit juice and a tall glass already filled, the cubes tinkling musically as she sets them down, she mimics Matrin's motions almost simultaneously to sit without asking if either of them minds. "I've been looking for you," she says with a beam to each of them. That's a scary thought, no?
Esiae looks up when Matrin flops down, mouth open and half-formed into a word - perhaps the one she was reading, or writing, or both. "Aaaaaahm-" So intelligent, especially in the face of not just one visitor, but two! "I mean… Yeah, sure, go right ahead Matrin, ma'am. Chaos begets chaos." This is finally said with a bob of her head, brain finally catching up with her hearing. The book is shifted over to sit on her stack of papers, both to clear the way for Thea's picture and so she can translate from her right instead. She does so for a moment, flyaways from her braid almost dragging in the ink so she can finish off that… last… sentence. Then the candidate finally breathes, shoving hair out of her face, shoulders slumping— just in time to tense up again. "Looking for us?" Esi certainly seems nervous, gaze flickering from Matrin's 'rumpled' appearance to his papers and then back to the weyrwoman. "I didn't do it." Esi, all things considered, is in no way comforted by Thea's beaming. Others may find it friendly. She assumed it meant danger!
Matrin just barely has time to start squaring up his previously untidy stack of papers when Thea magically appears beside him. It makes him pause for just a beat to offer her a smile and a nod before finishing up the chore of neatening a bunch of papers. The pause after she says she's been looking for them is much longer and he slowly lifts blue eyes to green. "For… the two of us?" He shoots a quizzical look over at Esiae, keen eyes darting over her untidy blond braid and the precarious proximity of the inkwell, then back to Thea. "Dare I ask what for?" Still he seems less nervous than curious and perhaps a bit incredulous, arching a brow at her but unable to completely stifle a faint smile at her wide beam. "Paired with that smile it can't possibly be anything good." Esiae gets a commiserating little glance and a bare shake of his head. What are they in for now?
It probably does mean danger! But Thea's looking quite the opposite. Maybe TOO cheerful, even. She gives the harper a curious look for that rumpled appearance. "I've… never seen you look quite like that. What have you been up to?" Then returns her attention to Esiae. "Breathe," she tells her while keeping the grin threatening to break loose to a bare smirk. She lifts her glass, sips as ice-green eyes lift to the harper's, crinkle while she swallows. "Not… the two of you specifically, no," she answers as she lowers it. "Candidates. In general. What- are you working on?" That's to Esiae and yes, she's letting them squirm. "Sure it can," she's back to Matrin with that glance awarded his… mussed appearance, a glitter of frank curiosity in the look.
"How are the eggs? And Seryth?" Distraction tactics! Esiae continues with them in the practiced way of a young woman far too used to being in trouble as a child. She only stops out of politeness when Thea speaks again, first to question Matrin (she'd giggle if she weren't having a mild fit), and then to tell her to breathe. Esi does, slowly, taking in Thea's fierce cheer with squinty eyes. The girl relaxes somewhat when the weyrwoman reveals that they hadn't been sought out specifically, eventually allowing her head to tilt to one side in a curious manner. "Candidates, ma'am?" She blinks, realizing she was asked a question. "Ah. Copying a passage I have to recite in the next sevenday. Boring Harper stuff," she says, but it's evident /she/ finds it interesting, eyes all lit up. Her tail would be wagging if she had one. She's definitely doing a little bit of that fidgeting though, gaze mostly lingering on Thea, interest in their task outweighing her interest in Matrin's appearance, even though the goldrider seems particularly determined to hear /that/ story~.
That one dark brow creeps upward again as Matrin looks down at himself. He clears his throat and absently smooths his shirt, frowning when he notices one tail is still untucked and doing his best to circumspectly remedy the situation. Y'know, while sitting down. He's not terribly successful, and the trend continues when he tries to fingercomb his tousled hair - luckily for him it doesn't look bad at all with bits drifting toward his vivid blue eyes. "Just busy," he finally mumbles in response. "I forgot I was supposed to grade these papers, and I don't want to be doing work late so I rushed out of - so I rushed." He drags a bright, innocent smile to his face and taps the stack of papers with the end of his pen. "Harper stuff and candidate stuff don't always mesh well but it won't be long now." Which isn't nearly as encouraging as he though it would be. He blows a stray bit of hair out of his eyes, then notes Esiae's attentive gaze and turns his attention back to Thea as well. Right, she was looking for candidates.
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know," the weyrwoman says with a little glance Matrin's way before continuing her comment to the girl, "Harper stuff, as I've been learning, is never 'boring'. But thanks for asking about Seryth. She and the eggs are both fine." Her smile is a touch cooler now as she drops her gaze to the writing on the paper, though it doesn't linger there. Instead she's back to attend to what the other harper is saying and one of her dark brows lifts in an 'oh really' sort of way. They're both looking at her and thus she shrugs and says casually, "Just wanted to hear about how your trip to the Yokohama was and what you thought."
Esiae /really/ takes in Matrin's mild state of dishevelment when he tries to fix it, eyes scrunching up with humor even though she tries to keep a smile off her face. She still glances towards the hearth, making an egg-check her excuse to assume a more innocuous expression. All seems well so far, so she turns back, laughing lightly when Matrin mentions how Harper-work and candidacy just don't mix. "You can say that again. I might like a good ballad, but it's not my choice of occupation this particular sevenday." Thea is given a long, considering look before Esi nods, dropping the boring act. "Fair enough. It's not interesting thing to most outside the craft, the old ballads, but I'm memorizing and performing a selection from one. It's always… interesting to bring modern knowledge and technologies to old stories. Or at least, I think so." Esi pauses for the weyrwoman's cooler look, worry surfacing before she nods. "Of course." Blink. Blinkblink. "Oh, is that all?" Relief wars with excitement. "It was /amazing/, I thought. The view from up there…" Cue a wistful sigh, as though she wished she could stay up there and just watch it forever.
Matrin's grin grows more natural and he gives Thea an approving nod for her assessment of 'Harper stuff'. "That is true, and I am glad Seryth and the eggs are doing well, too." He just blinks and feigns the utmost innocence - see his halo? - at the oh really look and jumps at the chance to change the subject. "Minor… difficulties aside, like the lack of gravity and brief lack of life support, it was spectacular," he says without hesitation. "I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it." He idly fiddles with his pen, then shrugs and admits, "It is one of the first gorgeous views I haven't even been tempted to paint. I knew at a glance I'd never get it right. Thank you so much for the opportunity." Catching Esiae's backward glance, he shifts in his seat and lifts his chin to get a peek. "What do you have back there?"
The Weyrwoman listens with genuine interest to her elaboration on her harper work. "I love the old ballads, the ones that tell a story," she says genuinely enough. Though some doubt creeps into her tone when she remarks, "Adding modern technology into them might be… interesting." Very amused now, with that tucking going on in Matrin's corner, she actually smirks, but makes no further comment, "That's all," she assures Esiae with a bit of a 'gotcha' dance to her green eyes - eyes in which a brief glimmer a brief sadness flares as she agrees quietly, "That's how I felt the first time I saw the view up there." She turns to the other occupant of the table as she lifts her glass to take a long sip of cold liquid while he says what he thought of the trip and splutters at the commentary. "Lack of… life support?" Eyes shift between the pair and she shakes her head, mutters something that sounds an awful lot like, "At least it wasn't felines."
Esiae laughs, leveling a look over at Matrin. "I dunno. I thought the lack of gravity was plenty of fun-" So much so that they had to rescue her later, but you know. It happens. "- though the life support thing was a shade scary. Ahem." That she will admit, with a cough of amusement now that it's in the past. "It /is/ rather hard to replicate Pern from space. I tried, and I'm not a shade as good as you," Esi says towards Matrin, clearly jealous of the man's painting ability, even if she's never admitted it to his face. "Anyways, I agree, Miss Thea. On beyond the lesson songs, they tell stories that are still pertinent to us today. We've come so far… and yet, we're still so much the same." A single hand raises to wave away the weyrwoman's doubts. "Worry not. Artistic license only, nothing to detract from the actual story." If Esi notices Thea's sad look, she doesn't comment on it - it's just not her place. She does laugh for the splutter, though, eyes twinkling with mischief even if she doesn't understand the felines comment before looking back at Matrin. "Hm? Oh, one of the eggs we rescued from the ruins. Dragonhealers suspect it was adopted from another clutch, considering the others have long hatched." The girl spins around in her seat, picking up the fire-warmed pot and setting it on the table so she can shift the reddish sand around and wiggle some of it away from a color-spotted blue egg. "I had Alzanbri watch it while we were up on the Yokohama, but nothing happened." She seems a tad disappointed, almost.
Matrin nods his agreement to loving the old ballads, sneaking a peek down at his work which has been ignored since he sat down, and will apparently remain so, as he sets his pen aside with the tiniest of sighs. "It's always interesting to try to add your own spin to things. In my case that's just attempting to not completely ruin the song with my voice." He winks at Esiae, trading admiration for admiration with ease. It also keeps him from commenting on Thea's flicker of sadness, though a dart of his eyes takes note of it. "I didn't have that much trouble with the lack of gravity either but Keziah was worried about broken bones and some people got bounced around pretty well." He waves off the lack of life support with a lot more nonchalance than he had at the time. "It was an accident, it was brief, we were all fine. Much better than wild felines running loose," he adds at the end with a smirk and a nudge for Thea. Then his focus shifts back to the dappled egg and he arches a brow. "I hope if it's going to hatch it does it soon, or Alzanbri might have his hands full. They're saying a week or two-" he trails off, shooting Thea a questioning look.
The Weyrwoman actually rolls her eyes at the mention of Keziah worrying and she mutters, 'killjoy' under her breath while she grins at the exchange between the harpers. Her light laughter joins theirs, banishing and any lingering flicker of darkness in her eyes, unaware anyone has noticed it, even. She nods her relief about the meaning not being changed by the adaptation. "I'd love to hear it sometime," she says of the spin before giving the egg that's uncovered a thoughtful look. "Maybe it's a dud? They were away from the heat for some time, weren't they?" She looks up to catch that questioning look of Martin's, shakes her head, "Actually, closer to a seven they think now."
"The curse of the Harpercraft. We always want what we can't have," Esiae says with a low laugh, head shaking from side to side. "So long as I could still compose, I'd swap singing for some skill at drawing in a heartbeat." Alas, however, as both tend to be viewed as inherent talents. The wink is greeted with an amused scrunch of her nose, eyes sliding over to Thea with that 'killjoy' comment. She doesn't say anything, but if the corners of her mouth turn upwards and threaten a smile, well… "Mm, well, if you can escape, you're more than welcome to attend. I'm sure the harpers wouldn't turn away the /weyrwoman/." There's a glance back up at Thea, and then a shake of her head. "Naw, thought of that. They did a really cool trick where they sat it on top of a light and it made the whole egg glow. You could see the shape of the baby firelizard in there. Called it… candling? Or something." A smirk is aimed at Matrin. "I wish Zan did regardless, but he already has a ton of them. Animals don't tend to like me, and despite bonds and whatnot, I doubt a firelizard would much either. I dunno who else to give it to, though. Pawned the others off on fellow candidates that I saw, and some like Inuelle already have one, so…" A sharp look of dawning realization is suddenly pinned upon the other harper. Uh oh. RUN. Because somewhere in that pot, an egg is threatening to hatch with a tiny, almost indescernable wobble. Best. Timing. Ever.
The eye rolling and declaration of 'killjoy' just makes Matrin smirk. "I sarcastically said something about her optimism and she took me seriously. It was honestly sort of amusing." The curve of his lips never flickers but he does watch her for a beat longer than necessary, lashes just slightly narrowed, until the talk of not knowing who to give the egg to and that suddenly keen look from Esiae drags his attention to the egg. "Oh no," he starts, holding his hands up to fend her off. "Maybe it will like you, you never know. Or Thea! I bet a Weyrwoman could always use another little… helper, right?" Helper is so not the word he would usually choose for firelizards, especially work-intensive, creeling, needy baby ones. He shifts his chair back an inch, shaking his head. "Take it into the kitchens, someone'll pick it up I'm sure."
With a look of wonder on her face, the Weyrwoman leaves the subject of hearing the updated ballad in favor of, "Oh that's… wow. I'd have loved to see that, actually." The reassurance of the egg being viable causes her to wince then as the Candidate seeks to find a taker for the thing has her giving at the pot a second time look, this time blanching when movement is detected. "Shards no!" This is Thea's response to Matrin's comment and yes. She is actually flailing just a bit. "Actually it's time for me to go. Last time I sat at a table and tried to avoid impressing-" Yeah, THAT attempt is sitting over on the mantle with Shep in the form of a golden queen is what it's doing! She can't get her feet to push on the floor and scoot her chair fast enough, but she's trying.
Esiae just kind of… stares. Because I mean… really. Not one grown adult, but /two/ flailing at the very idea of becoming the sudden owner of a firelizard? Mind-boggling! So much so, in fact, that her mouth works open and shut, speechless for some time. And then her outspokenness just can't take it any more. "Really? It's just a /firelizard/. I mean, I know I ain't keen on this one or anything, but shards, I'm still caring for it." In fact, she draws it back closer to herself, as though by rejecting it, she's decided they don't deserve it. Nothing saying the flit inside won't have its own thoughts on the matter, though for now, it's working on breaking out of a shell while upside down. The indignity! "Anyhow," she says launching back into a previous topic. "Just a sevenday, you say? Fascinating. I know I'm not nearly ready enough, for sure. And I can tell you aren't, if you're scared of one teensy little 'helper'," she says, aiming a teasing wink at Matrin.
Matrin blinks at Thea's reaction, then actually chuckles in spite of lurking DOOM across the table. "Or… she'd rather not have one either." The Weyrwoman's frantic scooting makes him calm himself with a visible effort, clearing his throat and smoothing that rumpled shirt again. "I have enough to do, and in… a sevenday-" he breaks off to shoot Thea an almost disbelieving look. One week?! "I may have even more to do. That's all." He eyes the egg dubiously but stays put, especially as Esiae's cradling the thing. "I don't think you can ever be ready, honestly. But I am probably a lot less nervous than I will be in a week." He tries to be subtle about inching his chair back a bit further, giving Esiae a weak smile for her wink. "Seriously though, look at how you've bonded already. You should just take… it."
The Weyrwoman is in a near-panic by now as she finally manages to push her chair back, the wood screeting loudly on the stone floor. "If you knew Ruin, you would never say the words 'just a firelizard' ever again," she assures the Candidate with a hasty glance of dread 'round the room for the creature's appearance. She gives Matrin a sort of blank look. "Yes, sevensay. What will you have more to do of, aside from impressing?" She's rising, actually taking a step backwards and poised to run if she needs to.
Esiae rolls her eyes great big and sighs in the patented way of teenagers everywhere, clearly not lending the harper any sympathy as he tries to smooth over what was almost a hasty retreat. "And I have to babysit twin seven-turn-olds in what little spare time I have left after lessons, chores, and homework. Cry me a river," she says with a chuckle, head shaking. It's probably only because her hands are touching the warm pot that she can feel the movement going on inside it, but of all things, Esi has developed quite the poker face over the turns. Instead of letting on, she aims a sympathetic look over at Thea, perhaps having heard second-hand rumors of the bronze over time. "True, perhaps. I wasn't even going to offer it to you though, no offense meant. Your hands are quite full enough." That's said honestly, at least, eyes flicking from her to her seat and back as though indicating the weyrwoman could sit down if she wanted. "At any rate, I haven't bonded with anything, Mister Matrin. It's going to somebody." And sooner rather than later, it'd seem. Having righted itself, the little flit inside starts pecking delicately away at the exposed bit of shell, chipping the blue sky away in bits and flakes. Well. If they freaked out at the mere idea of a firelizard, let's see what the looming threat of an actual one does, eyy?
Matrin reaches out to try and snag Thea's sleeve. "Oh sit down, for heaven's sake. You don't have any meat in your hands, and if it comes flying at you, you can duck behind me." He winces at the thought, but ever the gallant gentleman, he makes the offer just the same. The flinch fades in the face of a blank look and lifted brows. "Just that. Isn't Impressing, if I do, enough?" Incredulous and amused at the same time he grins up at her. "I realize my chances aren't great, having not been Searched until I was almost too old and then by a bronze, but… one has to be prepared for the possibility." Esiae gets a sidelong look with narrowed eyes, but rather than be annoyed he ends up chuckling. "Try looking after a gaggle of thirteen turn olds instead," he suggests, but lightly. "And just Matrin is fine unless we're doing something official, then Journeyman, hmm?" He's distracted enough by all of this that he hasn't noticed the shell flaking, or his hasty retreat might have been resumed.
"They-" the Weyrwoman gestures to that pot almost chattering now, "have minds of their own, Esiae." No way is she sitting back down, tacit permission given or not. Been there, done that! And the smug humming begun over on the mantel by Shep and Malabar is enough to clue her in, even though she can't feel the vibrations or see into that pot. So with her, it's more reality looming than ideas at this point. She doesn't quite run away yet, though. No, she takes a half-step closer to snag her juice, melting ice tinkling as she reclaims what she'd come in here for. Matrin snags her sleeve as she turns away and she pauses to stare at him. "You… haven't met Ruin-" Her look is just as blank as his, "I meant more of… other things in addition to.. impressing, but you know what? Don't tell me." This hastily added while eyeing his rumpled shirt. She probably would do better not knowing.
Esiae does have to chuckle for Thea's statement. "I've heard as much, weyrwoman, but I'd like to think that at least one person besides him would bodily throw themselves before you to keep you from the horror," she says, eyes scrunched up in a joking manner. At least she's no longer pressing the issue of making the weyrwoman sit down. In fact, she seems to have taken a leaf from her book, all of a sudden making to do the same herself. The egg is much less flake and much more hollow with a glint of gold at this point, after all. Papers are abruptly swooped up and hastily tucked in to keep them from flying away during the quick exchange concerning the possibilities of impressing. By the time Matrin corrects her on the children, and then the title, she's all bundled up with an expression of wild, devious joy on her face. "Okiedokies, Matrin! You win!" She sets off at a literal run, a nigh-on wicked cackle floating back through the caverns. "And by win I mean looooooose!" And then she's gone with a flick of red cloth and golden hair, leaving the harper and the weyrwoman to deal with the baby golden firelizard currently taking a dignified tumblesault out of the crockery.
Let's Go Fly A Kite Egg hatches, revealing a egg-wet hatchling.
Dappled Rays of Sunshine Gold Hatchling
Slim and sunlit, this gold is the picture of southern belle charm. Her gait is swanky and swishing when she walks, all awkwardness pushed aside because she simply slows down and takes her time getting wherever she's going. A long, buttercream tail often curls about her hindquarters, twitching thither and yon in a way that somehow gives off the notion of the motion of a long skirt. Paler sunshine hues dapple across her chest and back, twisting about narrow hips in a delicate brocade before spinning all four paws up in patterns of dark, burnished gold. It's only the trailing edges of both wings that show any signs of her heritage - from battens to forestay, the creamy orange of summer peaches shines through, bringing all of the finer things of summer to a head.
Matrin just peers up at Thea, shaking his head. "No, I have not met Ruin but I have heard of him and I suppose I don't blame you." He arches a brow at the next bit, then peers down at himself and takes on a chagrined smirk. "Well, I probably will have less of that if I do Impress, right?" He has the grace to clear his throat with a cough, and aims to change the subject just as Esiae goes cackling off into the sunset without the firelizard in tow. "I… lose? What are you talking about-" he breaks off as it becomes shockingly clear. He may not want a firelizard at the moment (or really, honestly, ever) but he can't just let the tiny little newborn go splat on the table. Without thinking it through he reaches out to catch her in his cupped hands, and it's about the time that her egg-goo slick hide hits his hands that the realization of what he has just done really hits. "Shards," he murmurs, but by then it's already too late. At least she's cute!
The Weyrwoman has been on the sands far too long. The expression that meets Matrin's statement, a touch confused followed by a blank, "What?" The sudden bundling-paper-scooping-fleeing Candidate leaves Thea gaping in her wake and it's a few seconds before she looks back down to the table to see the sudden tumble of the firelizard over the edge of the pot. "Oops, catch it before-" Note, she's not exactly lunging to help the creature, pretty as it is and she gulps THAT from where she's stepped behind Matrin. "She's adorable-" And Ruin, speak of the devil, pops out from *Between* with a strip of raw meat, drops it on Thea, then lands at the edge of the table to sing a second golden mate his way. "Oh no you don't!" The Weyrwoman peels the meat off her chest, grabs one of Matrin's hands and shoves the meat into it and steps back behind him. "Have at it!"
Matrin would explain. Or at least, maybe he would explain at least by hinting, that if he Impresses he won't have as many extra curricular activities going on. Including Harper duties *cough*. As it is he's too busy blinking down at his hands like he's holding a poisonous tunnelsnake of some sort instead of a dainty little golden creature who looks up at him with big whirling eyes. This time his oath is a bit stronger than 'Shards', and he just gapes at Thea when she shoves meat into his hand. "What… no… I don't want…" but she's got her talons in his sleeve, hauling herself up into the hand with meat and gobbling cheefully before he can do anything else. "I might have to strangle that girl," he grumbles. But his eyes are already softening and he dabs at the tiny wedge shaped head with one fingertip. "Fine," is his resigned sigh, and he pulls his handful closer. "Will they give me meat in the kitchens?" It's asked with a shake of his head and he shakes a finger at Thea. "And don't you dare even laugh. Just don't."
Ruin is ticked. Pure and simple. He snarls at the newly-hatched queen but it's too late and so he launches from the table with a flick of his tail and is mid-screech as he *Betweens* Thea ignores him, instead watching the bonding between firelizard and Harper. While her eyes may be dancing, she manages not to give in to that huge grin wanting to split her face wide open. Her lips twitch a few times, her voice wobbles suspiciously when she assures him, "I'm sure they will and I wouldn't dream of it." Not in front of him anyway, but you'd better believe she's be cackling all the way back to the sands. Speaking of which, "Seryth calls. You… might want to take some extra meat to your studio. They wake every few hours to feed when they're just out of the shell." She departs with a little flutter of fingers and practically runs before the hilarity threatening bubbles up her throat while she's within hearing distance. Yep. Abandoning him.