I Just Came Over To Say Hi! (Digi)

[Chimera]

{desc=NARK NARK }Why? Dardrask unhappily asked as he walked along Dardranel - wrapped in a spare, brown tunic to protect the wher from the bright Rukbat. It was almost down, though, and soon night would start.

Why? Well, it's because...Tamren is really one of the Candidate friends I got. It's a shame he's still Standing! Be nice, okay? Promise?

Oh, but promises made for break.

Here we go again. Well...your face is going to be 'made for break' if you keep this wherrydung up.

The black wheret was pleased by the...anger he'd caused in his silly wisp of a human. But now it was time to investigate the weak spots of this Tamren.

Knock knock. Dardranel made a few sharp raps on Tamren's door, holding a platter with two klah cups and some small sweetrolls in one hand.

"Can I come in? It's me, Dardranel! You do remember me, right, Tamren? How've you been since the hatching? Oh, and I'd like you to meet Dardrask. Iiii wasn't expecting a wher, but hey! He's awesome. Even if he's...scary. Yeah." She gestured to the walking tunic with small black legs that was next to her.

We come in. Then...meet. Dardrask made a hissing squeak of a cackle - a mental one, that wouldn't be muffled by the protective cloth.

[Digitalis]

Tamren had not been sulking at being left standing since the hatching. Well, maybe just a little bit. But it wasn't just sulking. The weyrfolk had been reeling from the carnage of the hatching afterwards, but he'd come away more or less unharmed, and he still had chores to do. And anyway, there weren't that many people to talk to these days--most of the people he'd known had Impressed at the double hatching, and they were busy with their new dragons or whers, while he was still--the word unimportant flitted through his head--a candidate. From an outsider's perspective, though, yes, it might have seemed as though he were sulking.

It also didn't help that Bugbear, the small brown pillie he'd inadvertently impressed, insisted on climbing up his arm and making that smooth, almost purring sound whenever the pillie sensed anything resembling a sulk from Tamren. Tamren still found the brown and his gray sister kind of creepy-looking, but he was getting used to their behavior. He was shaking the pillie off of his arm for the second time that evening when there was a knock at his door. He wondered who would want to talk to him, but went to open it anyway, and found a familiar face on the other side.

His face brightened as he grinned. "Hey! Come in, of course I remember you; you were practically the first person I talked to in Dalibor." He stepped aside to give her and the wher room to enter; his side of the room was not exactly neat, but it wasn't too bad, and his roommate was out at the time. His lips gave the slightest twitch as he glanced down at the black wher, almost covered by the tunic that served as protection. He'd seen a bit of how the wher had acted before Impressing, but it was kind of hard to think of him as scary when all Tamren could see of Dardrask was his legs. "Yeah, I noticed you'd Impressed during the hatching. Congratulations. And...nice to meet you, too," he said, directing the last part to the wher and tactfully decided to ignore the mental cackling. It was less intimidating than it could have been, coming from a walking curtain.

"Oh, speaking of introductions, you've probably noticed my new...pets." Tamren's smile was perhaps a little queasy as he looked at the bugs--the brown and gray were both sitting on his bed, staring intently at him and the new arrivals. They were getting close to a turn old now, and were disconcertingly larger now than they had been at hatching. "Their names are Bugbear and Spook."

[Chimera]

She felt bad for him, she really did. Dardranel had been left standing at Wenth's - a subqueen's hatching with nine dragonets (and one wheret) that found their life partners, and even that had been a large clutch. It had still left an unpleasant feeling in the girl when she had remained Standing. But Tamren had returned to the Candidate Barracks as well after Wenth's, and after the gigantic battle/hatching that had been Callistath's fourth and Kalesk's second. Dardranel wished the best to the boy - perhaps next time - or even the next time a wher clutched. She was certain he'd get a strong king or subking like he said he had wanted, whether dragon or wher.

"Of course! Of course you remember me, yeah. Silly question." Dardranel trotted into Tamren's room. Ahh, sweet memories of a season ago. She did not need this place anymore, for her room was in a tunnel in the Weyr wall, and after graduation it would just be a different one, in a tunnel in the Weyr wall. She plopped down on the edge of Tamren's cot, setting the platter on the part of it where it hopefully would not spill its contents, before pushing the mattress down with two hands and lifting herself up to sit with legs crossed. Dardranel tried not to disturb Tamren's two pillies in the process. Meanwhile, Dardrask had quietly leaped up, shaking the tunic off. The last rays of the sun were fading away, making the slight glow of his orange eyes more observable.

Dardranel stared at Tamren's pillies when he introduced them. Cool!

"Huuuge! Cool bugs, though. Nice to meet you, Bugbear and Spook!" She waved at them, not queasy by giant insectoid pets one bit.

Dardrask took a liking to the creatures. He would go with Dardranel to the next pillie hatching - these bugs could be useful, with their size and the phobia that many in the Weyr had of insects.

Dragon-boy, yes? Dardrask drawled as he slowly peered up into Tamren's eyes, his surprisingly large wings spreading in an emulation of his diurnal cousins. He'd sought out enough information from Dardranel's memories to know what this boy wanted. Want large dragon? Larger dragon, harder fall. Once man fall from large dragon. Body shattered. Sometimes, on autumn night, pieces join, one bloody, fleshy, ghoul - The wheret had been displaying his rows of teeth and purposefully reddening his eyes to enhance the fine feeling of fright he counted on Tamren getting, but his jaws snapped shut when Dardranel interrupted.

"That's quite enough. You see, Dardrask...likes scaring people. Yeah. Sorry. On that note, since it's an autumn night," A wink. "Do you want to have that race we talked about once? Just right outside, before it gets too dark. Don't worry, I don't have too much night vision yet if you're worried about...an unfair advantage." She smirked. Besides, while Dardranel was sure a wherling could probably visit a Candidate of the opposite gender in the latter's room, the instinct remained and she wanted to get out of here.

"Well, I mean..." She regarded the platter of sweetrolls and two warm mugs of klah with sharp eyes, swiping a sweetroll and taking a bite. Shockingly, Dardranel finished eating the bite of sweetroll before she spoke. "...do you want klah, sweetrolls? I do." The new blackhandler downed a good third of the spicy drink in her cup. "Y'do need energy for a race, after all." She shrugged. Dardrask would, if he were more embarrassed by the talkative attitude of his handler, pretend that he had only escorted her here on business. But he was not embarrassed by almost anything, and if he was it remained to be seen. Dardranel grew only more fascinating as the pair progressed through wherlinghood. She was many of the things he was not, and it was precisely why Dardrask chose her.

[Digitalis]

Bugbear calmly made a kulunn sound of welcome at the new arrivals, and Spook also gazed curiously at the girl and the wher. Neither of them were particularly shy, and the gray female even crept forward, staring with interest at the food that had been placed on the bed. Tamren moved to shoo her away; he didn't know if they'd be interested in klah and sweetrolls, since they mostly seemed to eat fish, but he figured that wasn't a habit he should be encouraging in any case. Dardranel (and Dardrask, for that matter) seemed not at all scared by the sight of the giant insects, and Tamren found it a little ironic that they were less bothered by the pillies than their supposed owner. He was still getting used to them following him around.

It was getting dark outside by now, and Tamren was unsurprised to see the black wher shirk off his tunic, revealing his actual body and his bright orange eyes. He peered up at Tamren, spreading his wings. Tamren was still a little surprised that the wher talked to him so readily; it made him wonder: was that normal behavior for whers, or were they more like dragons, with some just more outspoken, and some only speaking to their handlers? He put off asking the question for now, though he'd probably question Dardranel about it at some point--for now he listened to what Dardrask had to say. It became increasingly clear that the black was trying to scare him, with his teeth and eyes and his talk about falling and shattering. Unbidden, an image started to form in his mind, Tamren imagining himself slipping from the straps of a bronze dragon, falling down and down unheeded until--

"That's quite enough." Dardranel interrupted, chastising Dardrask, and Tamren found himself grateful for the distraction. He put on a grin, trying not to now how shaken he had been for a second. That wasn't going to happen, not to him. No way. No matter what a wherling told him. He forced out a laugh. "Don't worry, it'll take more than that to scare me. Better luck next time, Dardrask." He kept his voice friendly, but he wasn't exactly growing fonder of the black.

Reaching for one of the sweetrolls, he took a bite out of it and chewed for a moment before answering Dardranel. "A race sounds great, actually," he said, with a somewhat more genuine smile. It'd be just the thing to take his mind off of...things.

If there were another reason for Dardranel's apparent reluctance to stay indoors, it went over Tamren's head. Even if there had been any girls he was interested in (there weren't), the last place he'd take them was to his room. It was too obvious to the Candidatemasters. Besides, he still had a roommate who he wanted to avoid mentally scarring.

[Chimera]

Perhaps it was surprising to Tamren that Dardrask bespoke him; a human who was not even affiliated with the Weyr's night guardians. Not even part of its day guardians just yet, though he might never join and get a mindmate if Dardrask's opinion was right. He put up with the boy though because he was Dardranel's friend. It was also the reason why he talked to him. Besides, Dardrask had carefully plotted the custom nightmare of a story he'd told, before Dardranel had so rudely interrupted him.

Perhaps not having a definite end made it scarier, though. Whatever the reason, Dardrask was satisfied by the slight motions of Tamren that revealed how shaken, and scared he was.

Good.

Dardranel lightened up at Tamren's response.

"Sweet. Don't let him get to you." Though she loved Dardrask, she was also his handler. And as handler of a nightmarish wher, it was her job to keep him in check.

"And, sweet again!" She grinned, grabbing another sweetroll. "How'd the hatching go for you? Glad you're not really hurt, at least your body isn't. Your mind?" It was somewhat small talk, but she did wonder how the boy had been. He could've been mentally scarred. Maybe he was, and trying to hide it. Dardranel hoped not, he was a nice dude and she wouldn't want anyone nice to be mentally scarred, but that wasn't possible.

[Digitalis]

While generally outspoken, Tamren was not necessarily the most observant of people. Dardranel didn't seem to notice any unsettled reactions from him, and he missed any signs that Dardrask realized how much he'd actually gotten to Tamren. Therefore, as far as Tamren was concerned, everything was fine and dandy, and his brave, unruffled act was totally believable. Sure.

Also totally not mentally scarred from the hatching. (Maybe, just a tiny bit scarred, but he knew he'd come off dragonlengths ahead of some of the other candidates.) "Thanks for the concern, but naw, I'm fine. I only got a few scratches and bruises, and I think everyone was acting so chaotically during that hatching, that I actually missed seeing more than I would have, otherwise. Too many things going on at once to focus too much on one thing, you know? Anyway, it hasn't scared me out of standing. Can't wait until it's Couineth's turn to clutch," he said with a grin.

Although...he did hope it would be soon. He'd been a candidate at Dalibor for about two turns now--Wow, had the time flown by that fast? He was already almost eighteen, though, and he figured he'd be lucky to have another two years of candidate lessons, with Dalibor's rules. "Actually...I think I'd be alright with a smaller dragon too--like a brown, or viridian, not necessarily a fighter," he admitted. "They can do pretty much anything the irons and bronzes can, after all. The Lord Weyrleader's proved that." They were also slightly more common, which improved his chances of Impressing. Faranth, if it came down to a choice of Impressing or not, he'd take a green or a blue.

[Chimera]

"Nice. I got a few scratches and bruises, and a pretty hurt ankle, but you and I got away pretty scot-free in, uh, comparison." She gulped, placing a thin hand on her throat as if it was still in immediate danger of being hurt. "I might attend Couineth's hatching when it comes 'round - I arrived here after her last one. I heard it was weird. Pretty much every hatching had someone, or something die. But I don't think you should worry about that. Don't tell anyone I said this, but," She leaned in a bit closer and lowered her voice. "When I first saw Weslieth, I thought there was a very likely danger of him failing to fly and falling on someone below." She snickered. Dardrask echoed the sentiment with a quiet wher-ish giggle.

"I wouldn't call them 'small' per saaay...They definitely can do what the kings can. Think you'd be ready to be even a Junior Weyrleader, though? It's a lot of work. The wher people don't really have those, though there's the prideleaders, alphahandlers, betahandlers. Prideseconds. Priderunner is a great title for a wherhandler with no leadership position, I'd say." Dardranel smirked, perfectly aware of the topic derailing she'd caused. "Do you want to hear an interesting story? And not about people falling from dragons, don't worry." She glared pointedly at Dardrask. The black wheret had been in the process of waggling a paw experimentally at Spook. He liked her name.