A peek into future responsibilities(Azh)

[Dragonwher]

Randiel knew he'd been told some night soon he'd be shadowing one of the older Wherhandlers to see what he'd be trained for. But with the whole mess between now and the double hatching his sister became a Weyrling at, things were a bit unsettled then but now the shadowing plan seemed back on. He was considerably calmer now however than the day Dalibor lost Kalith and others to poisoned herd-beasts. But his calm was hiding a wish to visit pain and suffering on whoever did such a cowardly act. Not just because it could have left his sister a broken husk if she had let Malinoth eat the meat that day.

But because it could, and did do that to a number of other riders. Unless they happened to be on the back of their dragon as the dragon had Betweened to end its suffering. But memories of what had happened were thumped out of him with the wing of his pink flit "ow! shaffit Aela!". Then he came back to the present of keeping his room secure to keep that black pillie out of it. As he finished setting things up so Aela and Farkas would be sleeping too high for the thing to get at either of them he smiled. Then looked at Aela "now, you two stay here while I work with the Greenhandler Tussbuul ok?".

At first Aela put up a fuss predictably, but just as predictably calmed and acquiesced in the face of being given the task to keep Farkas safe from scuttling black thing. Before he got to leave however Aela crooned an apology for the thumping and sent fuzzy images of Randi going still and not responding to her trills and mouthings to get him moving. Which caused the male to chuckle "ok I guess I'm sorry for snapping then Aela if you only thought to cease my woolgathering; be good now you two". As he left Randiel pet his flitpair before walking out the door and shutting it.

Then he set off for the bowl, once there intending to meet Tussbuul at his quarters since he wasn't positive on where Tussbuul patrolled. Though in the gloom of night it was a little disorienting at first to look around at everything all shades of blue and white. But he buckled down to sort it out, knowing he'd be having to get used to this when his future partner found him. So, he headed for a likely tunnel that seemed darker than the others, thinking that would be a likely spot for the Wherhandlers to bunk down during the day.

(there Azh feel free to have Tussbuul either come outta the entrance Randi's headed for or prove him wrong by walking to him from another direction XD your call. )

[Azhdarchid]

Tussbuul had already informed the Candidate that he did not bunk with the rest of the wherhandlers (most nights, anyway). Billy had been sent with the message: the flit was too small to carry a hide tube, but he could replay any length of speech into the target's mind with high fidelity.

The Master Miner (a rank he still held, however honoriffic) remained in his crafter's suite in the eastern wall, a spacious appointment of caverns more than big enough to house the green six-foot addition to his life. Tusk was lying on her rug next to the bed with her paws stretched out, her wedge head draped over her left leg. This was where she slept whenever the sun rolled around- the bed was too soft.

But right now the green was awake, her large eyes bright at the centers, shifting toward each new ghost and sound in the suite with glimmering winks of her facets. Her near-white wings lifted a few inches off her back as Randiel neared, the delicate spars trembling in the anxious ecstasy of the new. Tussbuul felt his wher's charging thoughts, and looked down at her. The big yellowy forks of Tusk's tongue pushed out and ebbed in.

Her handler smiled, then put his cane down and shambled out to greet the lad.

"Hullo," he called as he paced down the suite's entry hall. "Randiel, yes?" His token pause for response did not really delay his pivot on the cane, and his return to the suite proper. "Come in, come in. You're a little young for whers, aren't you? Shouldn't you still be trying for dragons?" he joked. Aside from coiling her tail around till the tip draped over her nose, Tusk did not move as her handler and his ward passed the doorless bedroom. "I thought you might like something to eat before we set off." Tuss had reached his goal: a plate of meat pies on his desk. He picked it up and held it toward Randiel, but there were a lot of pies and the plate began to wobble, so he laid it back down. "I am Tussbuul of course and that is Tusk there." He pointed at the bedroom since he could not actually see the wher from this angle. "Tusk is very good for first-timers I think. Very gentle. She won't give you any trouble."

[Dragonwher]

Randiel looked up at the man and smiled in greeting at the 'hullo' as he responded "hello Sir, I would have tried for a dragon but...". He chuckled ruefully as he followed Tussbuul slowly "I feel...like I'd be a better fit with a Wher. What he wasn't saying was, simply put; he didn't want his sister thinking he was a mother wherry trying to over protect. Instead in further explanation he resumed speaking as he grabbed a meat pie "Thank you for the food Sir, another reason I chose to try for a Wher is...it just felt like the right choice to me".

Then he looked at what of Tusk he could see as he nibbled at the pie; not having seen the plate shake as a result "she does look like a friendly sort; does she always rest up before a patrol or was that because I was shadowing you both?". At least the boy was more curious than anything now. But the 'seed' of anger he'd been ruminating on prior to his arrival in Tussbuul's and Tusk's presence was still there. And could likely be felt by Tusk if nothing else. But the all out red haze of anger was tempered by thoughts of only feeling this way due to a wish to protect his sister.

He chuckled a bit more happily as he continued to speak "nice to know your little lady is as gentle in heart as she is in action". Then he grinned "except for when a potential threat happens I'm sure". As he thought on that, Randiel sobered up and looked at Tussbuul "has anyone figured out how the Weyr got sent poisoned herdbeasts? I was in a bit of a panic thinking my sister the Weyrling Mira of Black Malinoth had been...". The big 16 turn old boy looked down and his face went blank as he focused on the half eaten meat pie; but the telltale shoulder shiver would suggest he was holding in stress at the thought of what might have nearly happened to his sister. Though he was quick to speak "not that I'm not sad for those gone due to treachery; I just...I always promised my parents I'd protect Mira...".

[Azhdarchid]

"Isn't that two ways of saying the same thing?"

Tussbuul reconsidered the question as soon as it left his lips. Maybe grumpy old contrarian was not the proper approach to a Candidate. Maybe it wasn't even part of his typical demeanor anyway. It had just sparked right out of his head and off his tongue on its own. Regret. That's what this feeling-

You do not wrong, called another voice, rebuking him with a soft chill. Tuss found himself unable to continue down the brooding path, as she was standing there now, a statue of gleaming green. Jade was the stone people liked to invoke, but not even the most precious jadestone glowed from the inside.

"Oh. I drifted off," he explained to the boy, waving his free hand before his face as though his adoration of Tusk could be cleared like an accident of cobwebs. "Ah-h, I am not sure what she's doing. Tusk..." He walked past Randiel and checked on the rug, but the watchwher was no longer there.

Bad boy, Tusk said, her judgement accompanied by a whumph. The noise came from her attempt to swing the flat of her head against the highest part of Randiel she could reach from behind him, where she had crept while the two men talked. She was sitting, so any impacts would probably arrive the area sometimes known as the "rump." Bad angry boy. Whack. Whack. Tussbuul stumbled back toward them both.

"Stop that!" he complained, and Tusk paused mid-swing, cocking her head at him. "Why would you say that?" the handler wondered, more concerned with the assault on Randiel's character than on his rear end. Tusk gaped and hissed at the highest pitch in her repertoire, a skill picked up from Billy. In Tusk's case it meant dissent without particular explanation. "You aren't angry are you?" Tuss said, now addressing his afflicted protege.

He raised his salt-and-pepper eyebrows at the new line of discussion. "We haven't found the culprit, no." The tidbit about Malinoth was interesting, but it did not feel like the same issue that had gotten Tusk's attention. Since Tuss understood that such intuitive conclusions also came from Tusk, he glanced at the green for an explanation.

Bad. Her nostrils puffed.

"You cannot protect her from the entire world," Tuss chuckled, abandoning the idea of wher cross-examination. "Finish your pie. It will keep you warm. Then we walk." Tusk's forked tongue lashed out of her lips, again and again, a little bolt of lightning.

[Dragonwher]

Randiel would have opened his mouth to respond to the older man's query but an unexpected hit to the rear that sent him to a kneel incurred an odd noise in place of words "ack!? why's Tusk butting m-ack!". Well Randiel was certainly knocked out of his faint fog of anger , as he only managed to keep his food from falling by much juggling. Then he was able to resume standing normally with Tusk called off; looking at Handler and Wher more curious than concerned. Tusk hadn't bit or clawed after all. Even if she had Randiel wouldn't be afraid; in his heart he realized he'd been an almighty wherrybrain.

When he was asked if he was angry Randiel sighed and looked at Tussbuul contritely before speaking "I was...a little; mostly at the fact that someone would be so cruel as to poison Dragonkind". Taking a calming breath; wouldn't do to encourage Tusk to headbutt him somewhere other than the rump. He continued "I guess I let it show too much and your lady here picked up on it". Then he smiled ruefully as he continued munching the pie "I guess I didn't think she'd knock me in where she thought my brains were for being angry about a thing I can't change".

Hearing Tussbuul point out he couldn't protect Mira from the entire world he looked down. Then muttered quietly but clearly "I know that...but its hard not to think I should try". As he spoke he looked up, a faint mist of sadness in his visage now "some days I feel like if I don't try then something terrible is going to happen to her". Like a wound being drained, Randiel seemed to be steadier once he exhaled after admitting why he tried to do what was effectively impossible. Then he set to finishing off the pie he was handed as he nodded at Tussbuul's last words "would you like me to stow the other pies in a pouch or something? in case you or even Tusk gets hungry while patrolling?".

At least the boy was considerate of others once he quit being a wherryhead. As he went quiet he couldn't help looking down at Tusk as she flicked her tongue; then in a spur of the moment idea, kneeled so he could look her in the eye. Thusly positioned, he spoke to the she-wher before they got going "I apologize if me being a fardling wherryhead upset you Tusk...you aren't going to headbutt me again are you?". As he finished his query he looked up at Tussbuul as he stood; figuring if she responded her handler would tell him her answer. As he waited to hear from Tusk through Tussbuul the boy tried a legitimate smile "whether or not you'd like me to pack up a few pies for the patrol, I think I'm ready to go Wherhandler Tussbuul".

[Azhdarchid]

"I am not sure cruelty was the motivation," Tussbuul half-said, half-thought-aloud. "There are more situations than you might believe that could turn a man against the hierarchy of Pern." His pale eyes flitted over Randiel's face, then he smiled. "Politics. Maybe not a young man's interest," he chuckled. "Tusk is very sensitive to people's moods, so you're probably right. It is part of why she turned out so gentle." The wher hissed softly. "She knows people better than most of her kind."

He laid his arm over Randi's shoulders. "You're going to wear yourself out with thoughts like that. Trust me. But if you don't, know that once you have your own mate, it will become clear." His smile broadened, sketching out the depth of the laughlines in his cheeks. "Tusk and I already ate. She will take care of the stales when we get back. Likes them better, I expect." Randiel ducked out of Tuss' friendly gesture to speak to his wher, and Tuss moved both hands to his cane pommel.

Tusk's tongue stopped flickering when Randiel ducked down, and the yellowy gauze over her facets stilled as he met her eye. She stayed quite still while he spoke, then zipped around behind Tussbuul's legs as soon as he stood away.

"She says you're alright," the old man laughed, nonetheless failing to promise an absence of further nudging. Tusk uncoiled into a sprint and scampered ahead of them into the hall. "So," Tuss began, limping after her. "Even when your shape is not so bad as mine, you will usually be the tail to your wher's lead. You will be trained to share her vision if you need to, but aptitude varies. It is more important to train her to use detailed forms of communication. When she finds something, she needs to tell you what it is, where she found it, and what she plans to do."

Tusk's two-toed feet made the occasional soft plit-tic off the stone ahead, but she was hard to spot even in the glow-lit reaches of the hall. "I will tell you a secret. Watchwhers are very dependent on their handlers, more than most of them would ever admit."

Tusk admit.

That is because you are uniquely wonderful, my girl.

Buttery. Butter-man. Careful butter.

"Fear is as much of a motivation for them as anger, if you don't do your job. Tusk is gentle like I said, but this also makes her a poor representative. You are more likely to encounter an impulsive, vicious beast straight out the egg. But from what I have discovered, you younger Candidates seem to appreciate that."

[Dragonwher]

Randiel opened his mouth, likely to argue; then shut it as he thought it over. When he finally responded to Tuss' first comment it was with a lot more calm than he'd held before "That may be so. But; it still bothered me that someone could be willing to cause so much harm, that's why it made me think they did it to be cruel". Then he'd shrugged his shoulders in somewhat silent agreement; Politics really weren't his interest, not if it got people reduced to husks of what they once were. Or worse killed them. Yet he did still remain calm so as not to make Tusk upset, now that Tussbuul had him thinking clearly. He might not like the ideas suggested; but it wasn't any use remaining angry about what happened, he saw that now.

He had also been quick to nod and chuckle a bit at Tuss informing him he could leave the extra pies be. Then sheepishly grinned as Tuss stated Tusk would take care of the stales "heh guess I can tell my sister I'm not the only one who munches on stale Meatpies". Then he added in a joking tone "has she ever tried a bubblypie? or does she avoid those?". He was asking both to be curious and make sure if the fruit pie version was a danger to his potential partner he'd keep it out of the baby's reach.

Though he did smile again as Tuss pointed out that his own mate when and if he found the wher form of his other half, things would be clearer. Then he'd looked at the man's face "fair enough; it's a bit like caring for a human child isn't it?, caring for a wherlet I mean". Then he smiled as Tuss admitted he was alright though he couldn't help chuckling at how Tusk zipped behind Tussbuul to hide before her scampering sprint off.

As he walked beside Tuss, he was mindful to be quiet and listen fully to the older Handler as they moved and he was explaining things. While Tuss spoke on how he'd be trained alongside his Wher the boy nodded quietly or made a noise indicating he was listening to what Tussbuul said. But for the most part; he remained quiet; just in case Tusk found anything out of place and Tussbuul needed to focus on her just as he was explaining Randiel would be trained to do. As well as nodding at the mention of fear being as much a motivator as anger if he didn't do his job, causing him to murmur soberly "I'll remember that".

Then, in a turnabout of emotion; he kind of chuckled at Tuss' statement about younger candidates liking a less calm and gentle Wher than Tusk. When he controlled his laughter he looked at Tussbuul "in all honesty I'd be happiest with a protective Wher over a viciously near intractable one; but I understand its a figurative roll of the dice when it comes to ones other half choosing them". Then he smiled "and Tusk may not be the best representative of the Wher race; but now that I've met her and actually met Kalesk for a short while I can somewhat see how they'd have a range of attitudes...much like people; correct?". Then he went quiet for a time before he spoke to Tuss once more "but that means its far more normal for a wher to be looking at someone judgementally or like they'd prefer to take your nose off if they decided they didn't like you much; huh?".

[Azhdarchid]

"Mmm." Tussbuul's lips crinkled in sympathy. He was thinking back on the previous sevenday, when Tusk had her first encounter with lemon pie. "Though it is common knowledge a watchwher will eat and digest anything, carnivory is their area of expertise. It is not just in the teeth and muscle, but in the gut, understand? Feeding them uncommonly can lead to illness." There was no sacred element to watchwher corpses, and Tuss had seen all these features plainly in the duds excavated and corpses preserved for examination during his training.

He stepped into a side tunnel, and his green instantly came trotting back from her adventure down the main. Tusk squiggled up against the wall to stay as far away from Randiel as possible, then curved back in to rub along Tussbuul's legs before she took the lead again. "When you become a wherhandler, you will meet wild whers sooner rather than later. You will see their skin is ratty, their bones deformed and their eyes encrusted. None of the Weyr's whers are like that. There is a certain variability to wher structure at birth, but as adults you might as well call Dalibor's pride metallics for how much they shine compared to their wild cousins. Even Tusk there- watch her whenever she kitties by you next. You can see little flecks of aquamarine in her, like gem dust."

The handler laced his expression with a broad grin as he followed the treasure of his life. They were heading into the creche, as evidenced by the occasional gurgle of a baby or the high-pitched sleeping grunts of more advanced children.

Find fuzzy, Tusk reported, and sent her man a picture of her location.

"She's got something," Tuss chuckled, and quickened his pace. He still used his cane, but for a minute it was almost like his leg wasn't dead weight. He came upon the wher and shook open a hall glow, so Randiel could see. Tusk was sitting and observing very closely an eight-inch tunnelsnake-like creature that, despite its proportions, was fuzzy. It also had only four legs. It was rolling around on the creche floor, and occasionally hopping up to feint at the wher's paw. Tusk put her talons after it halfheartedly a couple times, but she had already been trained off fuzzies. Tussbuul picked it up.

He offered it to Randiel. The animal had gone still, nose working. "A weasel. Normally they're a caravaner animal, but they were introduced here over the winter. There's hardly any snakes left for me and Tusk down here, with these around. But my girl still has the best nose for their eggs."

Tusk watched the weasel change hands, facets fully exposed and whirling. Very, very interested. But reserved. "I'll just say that you should not look watchwhers in the eye until you know them," Tuss rebuked gently.

[Dragonwher]

Randiel nodded, the fangs and need of a bloodbond spoke more to a predator than a beast that could eat meat or other things. Finding out they COULD eat anything he'd thought was a tale though. At least till Tussbuul confirmed it; but he spoke up quietly "alright then, I'll make certain to keep anything not fit for my future partner out of their reach if at all possible just so they don't get sick". This sentiment wasn't just due to his never wanting to harm his future bondmate. But also because he knew from his time as a beastcrafter that there were plenty of things which made the herdbeasts and the like ill even in the plant world.

And dealing with any creature in his care that was ill was heart wrenching even when he wasn't bonded to said beast. Aela had accidentally gotten bad meat all of once to make him mother wherry her for a sevenday. Only having ceased when she between blinked to a fellow beastcrafter apprentice to get away from her over mothering human for a bit. He was jarred lightly from his reverie by Tuss' warning he'd meet wild Wher's sooner rather than later and followed Tuss before quietly responding. With more calmness than he'd exhibited all evening "And the wild ones look so different because they live on whatever they can find unlike a bonded Wher yes?". As he spoke he did watch for Tusk and nodded as she moved along and he caught the faint near glimmer of shine to her "I'd always thought they shone due to being so well cared for when it came to the whers I'd seen around, I take thats the point you're trying to reach?".

Then he smiled a bit hearing the sleepy babies and the slightly older young ones of the Creche, only to clamp down on the smile and follow after Tussbuul swiftly. Granted keeping a half step behind in case the whatever it was required Tusk to get violent. Though he breathed a faint sigh when the thing he'd feared was a Tunnelsnake due to well, its snaky antics. Was nothing more than a weasel; as it was handed to him. Randiel took it carefully hoping he wouldn't get nipped or anything as he held it and his eyes flicked to Tusk only once. Then he'd looked back up to Tussbuul "so there are more of these weasels loose in the tunnels? or are they pets? I've never seen them near the Hold...".

Even with the glow illuminating things he couldn't see everything about the little beast but what he could discern of it; the thing seemed cute. Best not to mention these to his sister...might result in her trying to find a baby one to add to her slowly growing horde of pets. He'd nodded absently at mention of the use of the weasels. Then again at mention of how Tusk was such a good egg hunter for tunnelsnake eggs; but faintly jolted at even the gentle rebuke. Which was likely due to his earlier antics with Tusk before as he swallowed a bit nervously "S-sorry Sir; if your green had taken a piece of my nose before I would have deserved it then...I hadn't thought my idea through I guess". Then he looked at the upraised green snout before looking at the weasel "should I keep carrying this furry critter? Tusk seems really interested in it". Sure he was signed up to bond with a wher; but Randiel thought in the back of his mind it seemed a bit extreme to put the furry critter in his hands sniffing at him where Tusk could get it.

[Azhdarchid]

"There's multiple causes. They eat poor quality food, and they have to fight for every scrap. They are subject to several additional illnesses just by living in damp places like they do. And they are injured significantly more often. Traveling hazards and other whers both can be problems. The watchwher is acclimated to the company of the pride. They form hierarchies so that every dispute need not end in violence. Wild whers have none of that. And believe it or not, but the combat training our whers receive does not soften their feral capacity for brutality. Instead they are refined and efficient. They're better fighters than the wilds."

Tussbuul breezed over this subject like the weather, not a hint of pride in him. Handlers had to find some justification for the blunt treatment for the same species as their bonded, something a dragonrider never had to worry about. For him, it had become easy to see them as animals like any other, not really watchwhers at all. Maybe the Pernese language needed a new word. He rubbed the fuzz on the top of the weasel's head while it hung in Randiel's hands. "They were placed there, yes. I expect Dalibor is the first of the Weyrs or Holds to have any of the specifically trained and bred variety. I did not know any of the holdless would even part with them. Scuttle is that the queen-lad Q'sis, brought them in." Seemingly keen on the boy's thoughts, or at least the thoughts of boys, he added, "The man has been around a lot since his baby came in. He would surely notice if one went missing, and he is wher-like in his ability for tracking. And violence."

Tuss actually did not know a thing about the second aspect, but no one trusted every word from the scuttle. "She's just hungry. Put it down and it will find its own way. Tusk is trained to stop and report anything unusual she finds, friend or foe. The difference is she will usually have a foe halfway down her gullet by the time I get here."

[Dragonwher]

Randiel waited till Tuss went quiet before responding "that would make sense...though I never saw whers up close till I got here really. Before I only ever heard stories about the wild ones". As he walked after Tussbuul he kept hold of the weasel while speaking "so the hierarchy the whers here are trained to was primarily to get them to work as one unit like the dragons and their riders are trained to fly in Wings?". At mention of the trained ones being better fighters than the wilds Randiel couldn't help a small grin "that must mean your green lady is quite the warrior when needed then?".

Randiel didn't sound so happy about it because he liked the fighting aspect; rather he was beginning to look up to Tuss and Tusk as role models. Though he looked back down at the squirmy strip of fuzz as Tussbuul rubbed its head and nodded "ok then, least I'll know they're supposed to be here next time I see a flash of fuzz go past my feet at night then". Then he looked up a small note of worry in his voice "its not...difficult to train a watchwher not to have a go at everything is it? I know I'll probably get taught about this when I have a partner but I'm just wondering". Of course part of that worry could be in regards to mention of this thing being Q'sis' pet.

Though Randi did try to laugh "you en't got a dragon's telepathy do you?; I wasn't thinking of giving a critter like this to my sister though, rather keeping knowledge of em FAR away from her". He firmly shook his head at mention of violence "and if that bits true I'll be doubly sure to keep info of these things away from my sister; I wouldn't want her in trouble with him...whoever he is...its hard to keep track of all the wherhandlers and if he's a dragonrider I didn't really commit his information to memory". Then he quickly covered his potential rudeness with more information "not out of disrespect, I've just been busy with lessons and everything else like helping care for the beasts the people and dragons and whers eat".

As Tussbuul told him in so many words the weasel would be safe on the ground he nodded. Then, looking about for Tusk so he wouldn't kneel on her foot or tail; hunkered down so he could give the weasel the shortest route down. Then watched it skitter off into the darkness before dusting his trousers off as he stood up and chuckled a bit at Tuss' last comment "good thing you don't run into anything bigger than her then, isn't it?; or has she had an enemy's limb down her throat to hold em till you got to her to help before?". Despite the chuckle he seemed calmly curious but also might seem serious enough that he might not think the whole poisoning thing wasn't just a one shot attack. Even if he stopped being an idjit about worrying for his sister too much.

[Azhdarchid]

"Huh." Tussbuul pursed his lips, making the grizzle lining his cheeks wrinkle. "Well, thinking on it, I can't say she's fought a thing since training ended. She has worked with other whers...hunt some wherries with her big brother and another green every so often..." He frowned at the watchwher weaving amongst the cots ahead. Keen to the observation, Tusk's head poked up and rotated toward him, huge eyes swirling slowly. She blinked her inner lids across one, and her voice rose in a thin tleek.

Tuss tapped his fingers on the pommel of his cane. "I'll have to see about sparring her a bit more often. It may be a problem that affects her entire clutch. All the excitement happened before our time." The old man smiled. "Thank you, Candidate. I would say it's toughest when they're young, but then Tusk never gave me problems. She knew I couldn't handle that ruckus I suppose-" The green hissed dissent from the walkway ahead. "She was made for me. If Audren thinks you have the mind of a Handler, you won't have trouble." Or, if Randi did, he would be thrown out to the convenient islands of holdless surrounding Dalibor. Tuss sniffed.

Tusk scratched at something in a corner wall far ahead, then returned to them with her cheeks bulging. One by one she set a clutch of ten or so 'snake eggs down. Tussbuul barely waved his free hand and the eggs vanished again, this time for good down the green's throat. "Did you get the dam?" Tuss inquired aloud, for Randiel's benefit. Tusk tilted her head, then coiled her neck back, made a few short croaks, then ejected a fat yellow tail onto the floor. A few of the creche's fuzzier inhabitants approached at the appearance of the conspicuous tidbit, but a low growl from the wher pushed them back. Tussbuul nodded, and Tusk reclaimed what was hers. "Good girl."

Randi's question was met with a look, then a sidelong glance at Tusk before he shrugged and grinned. "Not a dragon's." He pointed at the wher, who had sat down, curling her thighs in against her belly to warm it and aid digestion. "I saw her try to swallow a boy's face a few sevendays ago. I am not sure whether or not she could get the whole thing down if she tried. Mostly...I think a whole boy would be too heavy."