Healing klah and baby flit (lee!)

[Maggie]

Maelie hadn't seen F'dren about the dining room for a few days. A few gentle questions which had prompted much giggling from the rest of the kitchen staff had informed her that he was injured and bound to his personal weyr after a flight gone bad. He was having plates of food brought up, but she had determined that no one was bringing him sepcial treats, so she had prepared a nice tray with a fresh pot of klah, some of the delicious klah lav cakes she had recently developped and some meatrolls for little Harpsiklahd.

Her new baby blue flitt was on her shoulder, mking little cooing sounds at her. He still didn't have a name, but at least he seemed a lot more comfortable now that there were no people about. He was a very sweet little thing. She was debating calling him Courage, if only to give him something to strive for. She still wanted to ask Mifth for ideas, though.

She knocked on F'dren<s door before letting herself in. He was inured, he shouldn't be out of bed, so she didn't let him have time to get up and open the door. Her little blue squeaked and dove under her hair, pressing against her neck and shivering, only his tiny blue nose poking out from his hiding place. "I thought you might like some klah," she murmured. "And I've been experimenting with making klah cakes that have a soft, runny, sweet center. I know how much you love klah, so I thought perhaps you might want to try my recipe?"

She reached up under her hair after putting the tray down, extracting the shivering baby flit. He was miniscule, right now, and so she kept him in her cupped hands so he could feel safe. His little blue nose poked out from between her fingers. "I also need advice. I've never cared for a pet before and I have no idea what to name this little gentleman. I thought perhaps Mifth might have some ideas, since they are both blues. He's a little shy right now. It's hard being so much smaller than the rest of the world." She smiled down at her hands, cooing gently at him. He gave her a very betrayed look. How dare she expose him to so many scary big people!

[lee]

Aching. He was still aching. F'dren wasn't particularly prone to philosophical pondering, but it did occur to him that he and Mifth had been together a long time, and in that time, well, they'd slowed down a bit. Age seemed to take a toll rather more quickly on riders than on those who didn't fly against thread. Or maybe he was just grumpy because he was bonded for life with an idiot. Immediately following the thought—which, of course, said idiot had picked up on—a rude sound drifted into the weyr from the ledge where Mifth sat, a rather impressive imitation of a raspberry from a creature that had no lips. Unapologetic, F'dren closed his eyes and thought affectionately. Idiot. After all, it was the blasted blue's fault he'd hardly been out of bed in practically a sevenday. F'dren didn't much care for invalidism. He was boring enough without being plain old bored on top of it. Well, he supposed, he ought to get up. Lying abed moping like a little wasn’t going to help him get better any time soon, and at the very least, he ought to get dressed, if only to prove to himself today wasn’t going to be an entire waste of laziness. He sighed.

Harpsiklahd realized what was going to happen far before F’dren did. The little brown had a great affinity for decorum, and enough sense to realize his rider was not dressed for company. Mostly because he wasn’t dressed at all. Unwilling to deal with the humiliation, Harp’s eyes went abruptly yellow, and the fire lizard, sensing another one at the door, squawked, talons digging into F’dren’s head, atop which he’d been curled. The bluerider yelped, shooting up, but Harpsiklahd was already in the air, zooming towards the door to prevent the inevitable, and F’dren—stark naked as the day he was born—hollered, lunging for the flit in fury at the scratches on his head. Backside towards the door, he yelled, "Get BACK here you bloody brown menace! Get—"

He blinked.

Glanced over his shoulder…

Paused.

Very, very calmly, F’dren reached for a sheet and held it up over the more sensitive bits of himself on display, ignoring the ache in his shoulders at tying it off.

Harpsiklahd huffed. Looking as dignified as he could, he landed on F’dren’s shoulder and cheeped prissily at the newcomer, as much of an apology as he planned to give. F’dren stared at Maelie in blank surprise. The pretty baker with klah-colored eyes. In fact, hadn’t she mentioned…F’dren’s usually half-lidded eyes lit up in delight. Klah cakes? He practically salivated on the word in his mind, and, seemingly forgetting his state of impromptu dress, ushered Maelie in with a welcoming smile, licking his lips as he motioned to the small table in the room, already imagining the sweet treat.

Funny.

He’d never much cared for sweet things before Dalibor. But now…

Ah.

She’d come here for Mifth. Of course. Terribly selfish of him to assume…F’dren winced, and sheepishly ran a hand through his dark hair. Without saying anything—he never said much—he leaned over to peer at the little blue. Handsome little thing. He didn’t say that out loud either, but the small smile said it enough. Sweet of her to worry for him. His smile softened, and he reached a finger out, as though for a feline to sniff, though he figured the fire lizard was just as likely to bite it as allow him to stroke. Lucky little man, he thought wistfully. Mifth would probably tell the sweet woman to name him MifthJr. The thought made him frown, but he stepped aside. He grumbled something too quiet to hear, jabbing a thumb out to the ledge to indicate where Mifth was. If she wanted to ask him, Mifth’d have to get a good look at him, after all.

[Maggie]

Maelie blushed scarlet as Harpsiklahd assaulted his naked owner. Oh dear. She shut her eyes quickly, not wanting to embarass poor F'dren. Her tiny blue flitt shrieked in terror as he saw the much larger flitt, heading up her arm and straight for the safety of her hair. He slammed himself against her neck, shaking like a leaf. She opened her eyes in dismay. "I'm so sorry," she said, although it was unclear if it was to F'dren or to her little terrified flitt she was talking. "I... I only thought you should taste the cakes, I didn't mean to cause such upheaval." She looked down, contrite.

She reached under her hair again, extracting the piteously cheeping flitt. "Be polite," she murmured. She scratched his tiny eyeridges, cooing comfort at him. "Bluerider F'dren is very, very nice. He won't hurt you." She held him out to F'dren tentatively again. The little blue curled into a shivering ball, making wailing noises.

Maelie sighed, looking up at F'dren apologetically again. "I'm sorry. I really don't know how to make a flitt behave. Or calm down. I... I've never had a pet before," she repeated weakly, eyes darting back up at F'dren, seeking counsel. "Do they... Is there a way to make him feel more at ease?"

[lee]

Harpsiklahd, upon the little baby’s shriek and subsequent flight of terror into the Journeywoman’s hair, cheeped in mild surprise, tilting his head to get a better look. F’dren—still holding the sheet around his waist—took a step back in alarm at the sound, and upon realizing its source and cause, raised a hand to the brown, who nodded, and flapped his wings, and with an apologetic croon to the baby, blinked between to go sun on a nice rocky ledge. F’dren held up his free hand in apology, completely flummoxed as to what to do about her apology, though he was unsure if it was meant for him or not, which only heightened his fumbling for words. "Uh—I, well…no. No, I…sorry. About….about yes. Would you…would you like a seat?" He found himself upset when she looked down and almost stepped forward, but looking at his own feet and seeing he would trip on the sheet if he did, retreated instead with a mumbled, "Uh…a moment? If….you don’t mind."

The lanky rider turned on his heel and vanished into one of the other small rooms, emerging in much-needed pants and a plain dark shirt. He kept his distance, not wanting a repeat of the shrieking, and hid a small smile as Maelie’s brown hair was set into disarray by tiny talons and winced, covering his ear as the wailing began. Poor little fellow.

Miiiine what’s all the hullabalubble?

Wordlessly, F’dren shared the scene as Maelie tried to explain. He blinked at her in solemn surprise. Never had a pet? Well he figured she’d do just fine at it, being as sweet as she was. Most pets responded to that. It didn’t occur to him to voice this out loud of course, so instead he mumbled the advice the big blue outside—who was now poking his nose in out of curiousity, despite F’dren telling him to stay away or he’d scare the poor baby even more—passed on. "Mifth says sing to ‘em? Or…oil? Maybe?" Helplessly, F’dren held out his hands in surrender. Klahd had only snarked at him, never fled!

Not forgetting the klah cakes, he did offer (perhaps just a bit too hopefully) "Does he like sweets? Mebbe, mebbe eatin’ somethin’ll help?"

[Maggie]

Maelie blushed scarlet again. "O...Of course. Take all the time you need." She tried stroking the wailing baby`s eyeridges again. He shot her a very dirty look. The world was very big and everything was so scary and she wasn't saving him! At least the huge scary brown had made nice sounds. He liked nice sounds. He spotted a huge blue snout not too far away and beelined it for her hair again, chirping in alarm, sending her images of the huge, terrifying snout and all the b ad things it could do. The bad things were very vague, of course. He didn't have that good an idea of what could actually happen, just that it would be bad. Maelie laughed. "Poor little baby. That's only Mr Mifth. He won't hurt you. He's very nice, I promise." She sent him soothing images of F'dren sitting in the dining hall sipping Klah. She smiled softly as she tried to summon the memories. SHe did quite like watching F'dren. The shivering subsided and a tiny blue nose peeked out from under her hair. "There. See, life isn't so bad," she cooed.

She looked up at F'dren, smiling brightly up at him. "Oh yes, of course. Although you should try the cakes." She pulled a scrap of dried meat out of her pocket, offering it to the little blue nose. The flitt took it greedily and she laughed. "Your trick does seem to work. aybe I should name him something food-related." She pulled the flitt out from under her hair again, holding him out so he could see F'dren. The little blue looked up at him and chirped shyly, curling up in her palm as if he was trying to hide under his own wings. She offered him another scrap of meat and he chirrped happily, guzzling it down. "How did you choose a name for Harpsiklahd?"

[lee]

F’dren, as the poor little fellow began to shirp in alarm again, did his best to look bland and nonthreatening. Since he was, in fact, bland and nonthreatening, this wasn’t too terribly difficult a task, but he stood very still and silently shooed Mifth away, and the large blue pulled back with a disgruntled huff, out of view.

Try the cakes! F’dren lit up, all algow, and hungrily made a move to snag one and devour it in all of its deliciousness.Quickly—before the poor little blue could begin wailing again (don’t get him wrong ,F’dren had utmost sympathy for the creature but he truly did not wish to be separated from the yumminess any further)—F’dren scooped up one of the cakes, too eager to try them to bother much with table manners, and gobbled it in a single, delighted gulp.

Bliss!

Wonder!

Oh!

F’dren’s eyes fluttered closed in pure pleasure, and he not-so-sneakily snatched up a second one, this time savoring it with a hum deep in his chest that sounds for all the world like a content purr. If Maelie said anything during those few, adoring bites, he didn’t hear a word of it, loss in a sea of contentment. "Oh," He breathed, like a man who had been dying of thirst and offered sweet water klah. "Oh," He began again, reverently, "Oh this is just fantastic. "

Surely, F’dren thought, he could come up a tale. A dazzling tale of wit and brilliance, a clever tale tha would make the pretty journeywoman laugh, but staring at her pretty brown eyes, waiting patiently for an explanation, F’dren’s mind went as abruptly and completely blank as a flipped glow. He opened his mouth, willing words to come out, but none did, so he closed it again, looking baffled and confused and rather entirely helpless. He tried once more, and this time, a mumbled, somewhat piuzzled answer came out, "Well…he’s….brown? Like…well, like klah. So." Confident with this woefully inadequate explanation, the bluerider nodded, smiled awkwardly, and shrugged. The logical expansion of this was to think of things that were blue, and while the obvious answer was Well, Mifth is blue, F’dren didn’t want to saddle the poor critter with a name like that—a thought that earned an indignant snort from the nose that had withdrawn itself—and so he furrowed his brow, trying very hard to think of each and every possible blue thing he had ever seen.

The list, surprisingly, was quite short.

"The…well the sky is blue?"

[Maggie]

Maelie blushed and her eyes lit up with pleasure as F'dren approved her klah cakes. She had been agonising over the recipe, trying to get it to be just perfect... "You really like them? I'm so glad! I've been trying to get them just right... I'm still unsure about the texture, though, I think the center could be a little more gooey and I could add just a little bit more klah to it... I'll have to make a second test batch for you. You will be my taster, please?" She gave him a hopeful smile.

In her hands, the terrified little flit had started to calm down. He was sniffing about. There was something big and alarming over in the other room, he was sure, but here, things seemed safe. And his person was very, very happy, which made things feel a bit safer for him as well. He nibbled thoughtfully at a meatroll, listening to the discussion about his name.

Maelie nodded. "That is a very good idea, thinking of things that are blue. The sea is also blue..." SHe scratched between the little creature's wings, making him croon happily. "Or I could simply name him Blue." That suggestion got her a reproachful glare from the baby flit and she laughed. "Or not. I'm sorry, baby. Maybe we could go with adjectives. Maybe I should give him a name to live up to like... Oh I don't know, Brave or something like that. Or one that describes him, like Timid." The flitt flapped his wings a bit at her, unsure of if he was being laughed at and not liking it. She grinned at F'dren. "What do you think?"