Did you feel that? (Egg-Touching)
hsands.jpg

Xanadu Weyr - Hatching Sands

A domed ceiling stretches high above the sands, enough open air for a queen and her mate to be comfortable with their clutch. Thin slits of windows around the edges let in a little light, though more of the illumination comes from electric lamps diffused off the dome. The sands are ringed by the dark blue seats of the observation level, the first third exposed to the sweltering heat of the sands but those in the back glassed off for the comfort of those watching.

The circle itself is filled with a mix of red and white sands, deep enough to cover the largest of dragon eggs with ease. To one side, a small door is visible, hidden away behind a platform meant to provide a place for the clutch parent's lifemates to stand during the on goings.


OOC Note: I only have the beginning of this, to the point that I (Jon's player) left the scene. Also, I took out the egg-emit-thingie, so this is a "clean," spectator's version.


It's raining today, the sound of it a steady patter on the domed roof of the hatching caverns. After a quiet conference over breakfast, some of the candidates were gathered up by the weyrlingmaster and a few assistants and brought back through the rain again to the the sands. V'dim, the old weyrlingmaster, demonstrates the bow as he leads this group onto the sands, and turns a stern eye on them to observe as they go to approach the eggs. Kairoikyriath's… gone? Apparently she decided she really needed a break. (Poor Zeruth.) But there are eggs - ten of them uncovered from the sand, two more lumps still hidden as they bake - and eyes enough to observe, including Soriana bringing up the rear of this group.

Typical female. Zeruth doesn't seem to mind though as he lays curled in a half moon around the eggs. Warned there might be visitors, the bronze has been carefully tending to them and each sits exposed on their own little pedestal of sand, shifted just right so the light shines off of them with just the ideal angle. One paw blocks the path towards the two buried ones, an explanation to his rider of, « They are not yet prepared. » S'ai, with a shrug, is settled just off the sands with a pitcher of water in tow. A wave is given to those who walk in, while Zeruth eyes the group with a critical eye.

Jonteim does not look like he was really ready for all this. In fact, he looks like he just rolled out of bed (which is probably not far from the truth). He's managed to get some shoes and socks on his feet, but his clothes have a rumpled, slept-in look, and he's just finger-combing down his hair while he listens to V'dim, smothering a yawn in his shoulder and widening his eyes in an effort to make them stop wishing they were still closed. But he's here, making the effort, despite getting rained on for said efforts. For now, rather than approach any eggs, he shoves his hands in his pockets and hangs back on the edge of the group with whom he's entered, surveying the eggs from this new vantage point like he's not quite sure this was such a wise idea after all.

As she strides in behind the others, Briari takes the appropriate action of bowing towards Zeruth, looking towards the eggs with an eager expression upon her face. She is trying her best to not bounce too much on her feet as she squeezes her hands together tightly. She, unlike her bestest of best friends Jon, looks like she was up for hours. She is neatly groomed with wide eyes full of energy. She gives a quick wave to her brother, looking as proud as any sibling can.

"Go on, then," V'dim says, then steps aside to simply stand off on the side to wait, his attention mostly on the candidates. Soriana, on the other hand, seems to be paying attention to the eggs, counting lumps and considering the ones buried by the sand. She looks to Zeruth, frowns thoughtfully, then glances up to S'ai before looking back to the eggs once more.

A glance goes to V'dim and his go-on-then, and Jonteim - still watching the man out of the corner of his eye while he takes a rather long way around to the nearest egg, which happens to be the Wrecked Egg. He doesn't actually touch it, even still, but he gives it a close-up survey, pushing his tongue against his teeth inside his mouth while he thinks about this particular thing. "What's with those two?" he adds, indicating not the two mystery eggs but the bronze and the frowning goldrider. Which might lead one to wonder just who he's asking, but maybe the question is for anyone that can hear it?

S'ai glances over to Soriana, catching the shifting look and just hitches up a shoulder and jerks a thumb to Zeruth and then does some sort of mimery with a gesture like he was carefully sorting piles, taking excessive time with one, and looking frustrated like it wasn't lining up right and just pushes it off an invisible desk. The dragon, after giving Jonteim a particularly close staring, gives his rider a snort and looks down to the weyrwoman, speaking candidly to her (seemingly a strange oddity of his). «They must be at their best. These are not. I will not show them if they are not perfect.» His mind is a dark landscape, empty with a lone light high up upon a black mountain.

Heading forward to the eggs, Briari tries not to explode with happy energy. She reaches S'ai first, giving him a big hug first, then pats Zeruth on one of his large legs before she ambles over to the first egg in front of her. Dem Bones. She looks over the patterns of the shell now that she is much closer, reaching out to brush her finger across the skull that she seems to have found tucked away into the color.

Soriana's eyes flick to Zeruth, back to S'ai. She watches his elaborate visual explanation with a growing expression of puzzlement. He… what… huh? Blink. Uh… … …but then there's Zeruth peering down at her, and her expression promptly clears as she nods up to the bronze dragon. "If they stay that way," whatever 'imperfect' actually means, when said by a bronze dragon of his eggs, "I want to look at them." She lowers her gaze, observing the mounds of sand as she does a bit of mental math, then looks back up to the dragon. "Not yet, though." There's still time for imperfections to be dealt with the natural way!

Jonteim answers the dragon's look mildly, brows raising as if to inquire of Zeruth's interest, or perhaps to invite some answer to his question, what's with those two. Still in look-but-don't-touch mode (hard to break a habit that old), he keeps half an ear on what Soriana's saying to the dragon, though only hearing half a conversation just makes the goldrider's words seem vague and arcane. With no immediate clarification forthcoming, he does finally unpocket a hand and lay it on the apex of the Wrecked Egg, his expression flat during this process.

Briari looks curiously over to Zeruth for a moment before she is suddenly finding herself filled with images. Closing her eyes, she lays her palm flatter against the surface.

The 'not yet' seems to be accepted by Zeruth as the bronze lifts his head and turns to regard Briari at the hug. A bewildered flicker of yellow touches his eye but he seems more perplexed than offended and his rider is busy shooing off his sister after a fast hug and a muttered, "..go, go do your thing.." It leaves the clutchsire to turn his attention back towards the candidates. Jon is regarded once more, his expression of question met with a draconic blank expression. What? You know better, boy?

Briari nearly jerks herself back as goosebumps race up her arms. The hair on the back of her neck sticks up for a moment and a cold shiver courses through her body. With a grit of her teeth and new determination, she faces this challenge head on and presses the other palm against the shell.

Jonteim has no immediate visible reaction to actually coming in contact with an egg. His hand moves a little, gauging the texture, but nothing else, and he pulls his fingers away to rub at his forehead with a look that is, if anything, slightly disappointed. He takes a step back, flicks a look back at Zeruth again - So? - and looks around for some new destination. Apparently, 'hurry it up' isn't part of Jon's M.O.

After the dizzying dance she just had in her mind, Briari finally takes her palms off the shell once the images fade away. She blinks a few times, then lets out a soft laugh as she practically dances in place. "That was so wild!" She yelps out before she moves down the line to the next one, reaching out to touch the Kiss of Red egg.

With his hands back in his pockets, where they can do no harm, Jonteim follows Briari with his eyes for a second, again with the brow-lifting when she starts talking about wildness. His head cocks, suspicion crosses his face, and he starts a slow path toward the egg that the blonde left behind. Not that, at the rate he's going, he'll be getting there any time soon, since he pauses to look at each egg when he passes it, wearing a frown all the while.

It's a bright-eyed Chrystyne who slips onto the sands with an air of excitement to her. The chore started this morning right after breakfast is finally complete. Quickly she drops a bow towards Zeruth with a quick eyeball towards the shape of the eggs hidden by the dragon. Quickly enough though her attention shifts over to the other candidates and eggs. With only a hint of hesitation she slips towards one.

Briari lets out a deep breath as she feels the egg call out to her. A big, goofy smile spreads across her face as she listens carefully. Closing her eyes again, she invites this particular one into her openly.

Momentarily uncertain of what exactly to do here, Chrystyne gets her first close up look at an egg hardening on the sands. Her gaze roams over the entirety of the egg to study the colors and patterns within the yellowed ivory swirls on the egg that could be a large bone out here. Finally she lays the palm of one hand onto the surface which draws a gasp of surprise and a quick, and hopefully discreet, look over each shoulder. Swallowing tightly she lays her other hand palm down.

Briari lets out a soft squeak under her breath, then lets out a soft giggle. "Hello to you too." She murmurs in a playful tone as she leans in a bit closer.

See? Jonteim got headed off at the pass, so to speak, and Chrystyne's already over there making friend with the 'wild' egg, per Briari. Staying well on the fringes of that egg's personal space, if there is such a thing, he lets his attention go from the eggs to the girl, now, letting himself smirk when his eyes pass over Chrystyne's while she does that 'look over her shoulder' bit. Haha, he totally saw/heard that.

Chrystyne was completely heedless to the fact Jonteim was headed to this egg. In fact right now she seems totally unaware of anything but the bone-colored egg. A slight gasp escape the teen as her eyes close against the sudden onslaught of sensory and movement that's obviously all in her mind only. The realness of it though draws a quick shudder across her arms and shoulders and causes her to shift a bit around the egg until she's gone a three quarter turn, drawing her fingertips along the surface as she moves.

Finding herself breathless as Briari finally peels herself away from that egg, she gives a few blinks of her eyes. "Woah." She whispers softly, reaching up to rub at her cheek. She looks quite emotional and windswept as she slowly moves away from it. Chewing on her bottom lip, she looks at the fourth in front of her, then reaches out to touch it.

Jonteim seems to be doing more people-watching than egg-touching. Considering he's waiting kind of in the vicinity of the Dem Bones Egg, and that's where Chrystyne's at, she's the person he's watching at the moment. Not much more to be said of him for now; maybe once he gets through the line.

Starting to laugh as she touches the egg in front of her, Briari is absolutely amused. She imagines peanutbutter cups and chocolate donuts in her mind as she gives a slow lick of her lips. "Yeah, I'm a bit hungry also." She murmurs gently in conversation to the egg before her.

Chrystyne whirls away from the egg with a half spin move. Shaking her head to clear it she wears a loopy grin as she gazes at the other eggs to choose which one to touch next. Jonteim's watching of her and not any eggs goes completely unnoticed.

We'll assume that, sooner or later, Jonteim does get around to touching another egg or two. Either he's not feelin' things they way they are or he's got a better poker face (likely), 'cause he doesn't do any of the gasping or whispering or anything. He might sometimes frown, but that seems a natural state for him, so it may or may not mean something.


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