Not So Silly Disagreements. (Raven)

[RhiaBlack]

{desc=Z'dyn / Nara}She's bein' a shardin' dimglow, Bai. I'm not standin' for it.
She is angry with her sire, Mine. It is natural.
It's NOT natural, shard it, shard you, shard her! I'm sick'a it. I'm sick'a ever' single time he's in eyesight'a her, she's gotta send those shardin' Flits after 'im an' be all sort'a vicious. Not toleratin' it no more. Not -dealin'- with't. I'll pull you off flyin' Simhath, an' she can handle't herself. I won't. 'Nough shardin' negativity 'round here without 'er snappin' at somebody's tryin' t'make right with 'er.
She does not want him making right with her, MineOwn. That much is clear. But he will not take no for--
Who's shardin' side're you on?
It is not fair to pick a side, when both are being unreasonable.

Z'dyn's mark went sailing towards the ledge of their weyr, and Kee blinked into view to catch it before it went off the edge.

I'm not bein' shardin' unreasonable. She's the one bein' unreasonable, I got no problems t'all with m'Pops.

Baihujinth exhaled a sigh fit for a monolith of an Iron his size, and his clawed forepaws laced across one another as he craned his head up and around, peering down at Z'dyn with a silent sense of disapproval. His thoughts wordlessly pushed at His, attempts to soothe his infuriated bonded.

Have you-
I've tried t'tell 'er she's bein' foolish. She's a shardin' adult, now, an' Faranth forbid them senseless little things actually do somethin' harms him. Y'know what happens, someone does somethin' 'gainst a Master Harper, Bai, don't y'dare tell me y'don't. Don't matter a shardin' shell if she's too crackdusted t'understand they won't see he's 'er father. Anythin', it'll be worse. She hurts him, an' I'm out a damn weyrmate, well's us bein' out another Rider. Can't afford t'lose nobody else. Not t'somethin' so shardin' childish.
It is not childish and foolish to her, Z'dynMine.

Z'dyn's anger wasn't something that came easily. It was stuffed down into the deepest parts of his demeanor. Not unchained, not unleashed without warrant, and certainly not left to disregard when it did make an appearance. Naras was being wronged by his daughter in the eyes of the Ironrider, and regardless of what had happened in the past, he expected her to move on. Grow up, be adult, and maintain the fact that outside of her Green, nobody else mattered. Not even him. Only the Weyr, only always the Weyr.

You are fanning your own flames, MineOwn. Please.

Z'dyn laced his hands into his unleashed mane of dreads and braids, standing on the ledge to peer out across the Bowl as he struggled to stifle that desire to enrage himself. To let loose with all the fury he felt, all the anger at seeing a man who was simply trying to make the best of a crackdusted set of former mistakes, only to continually have it ground back into his face by the only family - for all Z'dyn knew - that he had left. It was clear to him that Naras was trying to make it up to his daughter, but Nara wasn't interested in having it.

He could be all right with the refusals. The constant aggression in the form of attacking Naras without provocation purely on sight alone pissed him right the shards off. Everything the man said, she had a snappy retort for. He didn't even have to speak for her to be snide, and that was what grated on him as abrasively as sandstone on flesh.

She was rubbing his temper raw, and he had reached the point where there was nothing left to grind against but bone.

Baihujinth's tail snaked slowly around His' ankle, resting up against Z'dyn's knee. The Kingrider didn't move, piercing vision pinpointing things across the landscape to try and soothe his own raw and frazzled nerves. Baihujinth's calm and somewhat stoic, stone-based words filtered into his thoughts.

She does not understand why it enrages you, that much is clear. Her thoughts are only of what was done to her. Not what her actions do to others.
She's not so shardin' foolish.
She acts differently in anger. Much like you.

Z'dyn turned to peer towards his Iron searchingly, and Bai shrugged his tremendous shoulders.

She will not come unless you call her. It's not her way.
Then get t'callin'. I'm not dealin' wi' this shardin' mess a second longer. Don't like bein' angry, an' I don't like constantly havin' t'keep remindin' 'er. If Simhath's encouragin' all this, I'm gonna rip inta both of 'em.

Baihujinth sighed heavily, and tugged with his tail.

You are certain it is a good idea, MineOwn?
Don't make me call 'er m'self. This ain't gonna get fixed without me sortin' it out with 'er. An' I'm sick'a sittin' on it an' waitin' for 'er t'come t'me 'bout it.

The Iron shifted where he sat, though he didn't rise. Silently, he settled his wings, before the clear and sullen words pressed Nara and Simhath's thoughts.

::Z'dynMine summons. There are things to discuss.::

[RavenSong]

Naraevhyn had avoided Z'dyn since the Hatching, quite aware of how he felt that particular day. Simhath had been deeply concerned because of how Nara had shut down afterwards. His rage confused her. She wasn't entirely sure of -why- he was angry with her, so she simply chose to avoid him until he calmed down.

NaraevhynMine, you should go talk to him, Simhath insisted from her couch.

No, Nara responded, adjusting the flit hammocks above her bed. With two greens, an orange, a brown, a blue, and a black to tend, she had to rearrange the hammocks she'd made for them.

Why not? You love him, don't you?

I loved my father. He did not exactly care how I felt, nor does he care now. I do not want the same thing to happen with Z'dyn. You know I keep to myself for reasons, Simhath. I opened up to him. I loved him. Now he is angry and I don't exactly know why. Just... trust me, it is better to stay away until he is ready. It always is.

Simhath huffed, poking her nose into Naraevhyn's part of the weyr. She blew a draconic raspberry at her rider, which drew a scowl. Her fair was settled neatly on her bed, organized and orderly.

You're being stupid, Simhath said flatly. Baihujinth doesn't play stupid games that hurt people. Neither does His. You're being stupid, and you should go see Baihujinth's and talk.

Naraevhyn was about to respond when Baihujinth spoke to them both.

We're coming, Baihujinth! Simhath responded, speaking before Naraevhyn could even form a reply.

"You should not have done that," she chided.

Well you weren't going to. Now come on, we're going. Get on me. I won't let you be stupid and hurt yourself.

You are supposed to be first in my life anyway, Nara responded.

I know I am. But I've always been pushing you to be happy and to be around people. You can't do that if you're being like this. I'm happy when you're happy, NaraevhynMine. I picked you because you needed me.

With a soft sigh, Nara climbed aboard Simhath, ordering her fair to stay in the weyr. Ranulf and Ainikki chirped in response, acknowledging her order. They'd stay there. Simhath sailed over to Z'dyn's weyr, backwinging gracefully as she landed on his ledge.

Hello Baihujinth! Simhath said cheerfully as Nara slipped off her neck. The Green moved to nuzzle the Iron, happy as always. Nara reached back to pull her hair tie out of her hair, letting it fall in a curtain in front of her face. Simhath carefully pushed Nara into the weyr with a forepaw. There was no way Nara could resist her strength, so the greenrider moved.

Say something! Simhath pressed.

"You wished to speak, Z'dyn?" she asked softly, glancing through her hair to look at him.

[RhiaBlack]

Baihujinth was actually pleased to see his Emerald Queen, the nuzzle returned in kind as he lifted a wing to bring her in beside him on his couch. It left Z'dyn on his own, largely, to deal with Nara.

The Kingrider's unquestionably unamused gaze settled on her, and he offered a slow sigh as he stood where he had been upon her landing; peering out at the Bowl and Lake, with its distant waterfall, fingers laced together and knit into his braids.

"This takin' shots at yer Dad's gotta stop. It's gotta. I know y'don't get 'long with 'im, don't gotta tell me that, seen it. Whatever he's done t'you, he's tryin' t'make up for it, an' I can see why. Yer his daughter, any Dad'd wanna make sure 'is lil' girl's not mad at 'im. Y'don't want 'im talkin' t'you, that's fine, too. But sendin' yer Flits t'attack 'im, that's not gonna fly wi' me. He's got ever-shardin'-right t'walk inta th'same room yer in, an' not have t'worry about gettin' a fair sunk on 'im just 'cause y'don't wanna talk to 'im about whatever it is makin' you so shardin' hostile. I won't stand for't. Yer an adult, an' yer mine, an' no Weyrmate'a mine's rude t'do stuff like that. He's a Master Harper, Nara, even though yer angry with 'im, he's still got a title an' a rank. One'a them Flits'a yers hurts 'im, it's not just you lookin' at bein' in trouble. It's me, too. An' after what happened't Fort, I got no will t'get inta th'shardin' corner wi' Avalle. Especially given how strong I feel 'bout her takin' Callistath t'Western."

He kept his tone even. No aggression in the words, though his eyes told the truth behind his rage. Bai's tail remained coiled against His' ankle, and Z'dyn kept his eyes anywhere but on her. Looking at her would betray how he felt even further, and he knew how she got when she felt someone was angry with her.

"I get it, I know. He's pissed y'off. Dad irks me a time'r two all th'time, it's what family does. But he don't matter anymore. This Weyr matters, yer a Wingrider now. Y'got rank. If y'want 'im t'leave you 'lone, all y'gotta do is tell 'im point blank, an' if he keeps bein' a problem, then y'take it up a rank an' y'tell Avalle. She'll get rid'a him, he can't get the hint. Bein' vigilante an' sinkin' yer fair after 'im ain't th'way t'handle it. Not at all. An' I'm sick'a the constant snarkin' an' snipein' at 'im ever-single-time he's 'round you. Don't have t'be all right with 'im t'get along. He's here same reason y'are - t'serve the Weyr. Moreso now that he's got his Wher."

He rubbed his face, and slid his hands up under her hair to ease them against the sides of her neck. He pressed his lips to her forehead with a sigh.

"I got 'nough goin' on. Can't have m'Emerald cuttin' inta people I gotta be workin' with, don't matter what relation they are. I can't. Only thin' s'posed t'matter t'you now's yer fair, Simhath, an' me. Nobody else. Don't let 'im bother you so much. Y'got Simhath an' me, now."

[RavenSong]

Simhath willingly cuddled up close to Baihujinth, crooning softly. She'd missed him, even over those brief few days.

Nara, on the other hand, stepped away from her weyrmate as he looked at her. She went to the other side of his weyrledge, leaning up against the wall, silent as she listened to him. She sighed a few times, looking out towards the lake.

"They were only sent when it was clear that he had no intention of respecting my desire for distance. They were sent simply to deter him. Not -attack-. Any marks he has received were accidental. They know they are not to outright harm him. I know his rank. He sacrificed quite a bit to attain it, after all. I have no desire to speak to him about anything. When he arrived after the Plague, when I was convalescing, I thought he was -visiting-. Visiting would have been fine. We were mending bridges at that point, after all... but then I found out that he had transferred here. If he can share a space without desiring conversation, it would be okay, but Master Harper Naras is incapable of that. He has to interject with his half-mark on everything. It is infuriating. I do not need his input on my life in any way whatsoever. He needs to cease. I have told him this, yet he persists. I would rather not trouble the Weyrleadership with such... trivialities. D'lios is not someone with whom I desire conversation. I only know O'sho, and as he is no longer Weyrleader... I would not approach him." She reached up to rub her face, sighing. She shook her head. Her tone had been flat, lacking any emotional inflection.

"It is beyond 'what family does', Z'dyn. I am not making things up when I state that he abandoned me after Mother's death. I was eleven. She died of some illness at the Harper Hall. I was the only child he and my mother ever had. He was quite disappointed when I did not apprentice as he had, as his parents had. I saw the dismay in his eyes. I lacked the skill, I could not apprentice. When Mother died... well, he took me with him to Western, but that was that. He buried his grief in his -work-. He never sought to know how I felt, Z'dyn. He stopped caring. He and I still resided together, but it wasn't until I was Searched by Syrryth and Girieth that he cared again. Once we graduated, Simhath pushed me to visit him sometimes for gitar lessons. We were starting over. Had he not invaded my home, we would still be starting again."

She sighed deeply, looking down. She stayed silent for several moments, figuring out how to say what she deeply, desperately wanted to. She kept her arms wrapped around herself, her hair hiding her expression. She tensed up as he touched her, but when he kissed her forehead she relaxed.

"Narask will likely keep Naras out of my hair in the future, simply by virtue of being nocturnal. He cannot ruin -that- infant. Thanks to that little blue, I will be able to focus on my fair, on Simhath, on you. It is all I have wanted anyway. My life before the Plague was good. My life with you -is- good. My anger is with his actions. Why could he not play Father when I needed him? Why must he do it now, when I am a Wingrider? It bothers me."

[RhiaBlack]

He frowned, and drew her closer to him. It was as much for a solidifying of his own resolve and thoughts as it was to be some measure of comfort for her, and in all aspects he was fighting to not simply pull her into bed with him and dissolve himself with holding her. Nothing more, as she didn't like anything further unless Simhath was Rising or Baihujinth was chasing, but it was reassuring to have someone that close to him that he didn't have to worry for. That she'd hurt him, that she'd laugh at him, worse yet that he would -hurt- her.

A heavy, full-chested sigh, though whether it was in relief or something else wasn't immediately discernible.

"Somebody told me they saw 'im walk inta a room an' yer Fair just jumped right on 'im. They didn't say if y'were there'r not, so willin' t'not hold that'n against anybody, but I got close friends say Naras told 'em y'sink yer Flits on 'im. I'm sure he's guilty'a not listenin', either, but y'gotta be the bigger person'n all this. If he's botherin' you, it's only right t'go t'the next step up in command, Nara. If y'won't, I will. Not gonna have anybody botherin' m'weyrmate, don't matter who they are. But at th'same time, Jyderin did th'same t'me. After Zadarin an' Ma died, Dad tossed 'imself inta work. Sometimes, people grieve, an' they push people 'way 'cause they don't wanna be reminded'a what they lost. Thinkin' Naras's doin' the same thing. Prolly didn't mean t'seem that way, but damage's been done, an' this's the only way he can think t'fix it. Only, m'Dad moved in for....other reasons."

Z'dyn's tone darkened, and he frowned quietly against her hair, though he didn't elaborate much on anything else. His hands lifted, laced into the dark strands with a measured breath.

"Point'a th'matter is, we're adults. Even'f he's bein' impossible, y'can't just keep dealin' with't on yer own, not when it's becomin' a problem 'nough that I'm not th'only one noticin'. If he keeps bein' a problem, even now, then y'take it t'the Weyrleaders. If he won't listen t'you, he'll have t'listen to them. An' if he won't listen t'them, then he an' me, we're gonna go a few rounds'n th'Bowl. Not toleratin' nobody messin' with what's mine."

His arms tightened around her, half in possessiveness, half in aggression towards the thought anyone would bother his Nara. In kind, Baihujinth instinctively slid his tail around Simhath's own, and curled his wing up under her to press her against him.

"Yer all I got outside Bai, Kee, an' Dad. Tryin' m'best t'make sure I don't wake up one day, an' yer gone from me like Va'an was."

[RavenSong]

Nara sighed softly and leaned against Z'dyn, closing her eyes under that curtain of hair.

"I understand that people sometimes grieve like that," she said softly. "Just like I shut the world out when I am hurt. Please understand this. Naras is correct in that I do sic my flits on him, but it is not as often as he seems to make it out to be, nor is it with true malice behind it. However... that is moot. Narask will force him to be nocturnal, and thus keep him out of my hair. Perhaps with distance we can start over. I have intended to speak to him since the Hatching, I simply need to decide what I wish to say. I have to be cautious, given the presence of the wheret. Narask may take issue and bite. My shortness with Naras at the Hatching was born of frustration. I thought he would at least have picked up the basics, and... well, I will admit the shot about Letorin was beneath me. That was jealousy. He never held that sort of interest in me, even when I was young and chattered all the time. Mother would try to quiet me, because she was not a dreamer like I used to be. Naras would quietly encourage it. I have no problem with his apprentices, for the record. Just -Naras-. I know you desire this, but... it is not something your words will fix in just a few breaths. I apologize."

She finally unwrapped her arms from around herself, hesitantly wrapping them around him.

"Z'dyn, strike that worry from your mind. This is my home. This is where I belong. I am beneath their notice in the first place, remember this. I would have to kill someone in order for them to see me, and I have absolutely no intention of doing so. I am not exceptional, nor am I abysmal. I am just... -here-. I will not disappear. If there -ever- comes a time where they try to force me from this Weyr, I will raise a fuss that will wake every soul here. I am not going anywhere. Please believe this. You are all -I- have outside Simhath and my fair. The friends I had in Candidacy are too busy to visit, though we do pick up where we had left off when we see each other. Do you truly think I would relinquish the man I have opened my heart to without a fight? For any reason at all? You know I do not let anyone in. You are the exception. Yes, I am friendly, I am interested in people... but I am reluctant to let them close. Nor will I permit them to push me around."

Simhath cooed and nuzzled Baihujinth reassuringly, displaying the physical language Nara couldn't. She wrapped her tail a couple times around his and clasped one of the Iron's forepaws in both her own.

We won't go anywhere, the much smaller dragon said, tucked in snugly against Baihujinth's side. I won't let her hurt anybody. Hurting people is bad. I like fun games, not mean ones. Never mean ones.

[RhiaBlack]

Z'dyn crawled his fingers through her hair, and rested his chin on her head, exhaling quietly. There was something mildly comforting about finally sorting things out with her. He disliked being angry, worse yet that it had gone unanswered for so long. Long enough to become a problem, obviously, and Z'dyn didn't like problems existing for any length of time.

"Yeah, I know. It's not gonna happen overnight, but from how I been seein' it, an' how other people're seein', not even started onnit. Yer content t'be mad at 'im, an' he's content t'keep pesterin' you. I'm not standin' for it anymore. Whether he's got a Wher now're not, don't matter. He's gonna learn t'respect your wishes, an' you're gonna learn t'either tell 'im t'give you space til y'work through it, or t'shard off. Sic'in' yer Fair on 'im one time's too many."

He de-snarled several sections of her lengthy locks, fingers not so deft as he wished they were.

"You're plenty worth noticin'. Just cause y'think you're not, doesn't mean you're not. Y'were enough t'get me t'notice you, an' that's no small thin'. Won't stand for you thinkin' you're naught but mediocre, either. When's th'last time y'seen an Iron chase a Green? Could'a got plenty'a higher-rank Dragons for 'im, an' I could'a gotten t'know plenty'a other Riders t'go with 'im. But I don't want nobody else. Less Va'an comes back, no chance'a me goin' anywhere. An' I don't expect 'im t'ever come back. So sorry, you're stuck with me."

Z'dyn's teeth flashed in a smile, and he pressed his lips to her cheekbone before slithering away from her to stand peering back out at the Bowl.

"He don't strike me's the sort t'up an' abandon 'is little girl. Guy cares lots about you, from what I hear. Real hurt that y'don't want anythin' t'do with 'im. Or didn't, before. Not s'much now. Then 'gain, seems you got a valid reason, so no dismissin' that. I got no room t'talk, have issues trustin' people as't is cause of Ma and Zad dyin' on me."

To cheat himself out of the admittance that he had loved Va'an would have been unfair. But he was fooling himself if he thought that the Viridianrider was coming back, or that he would even have any feelings for Z'dyn if he did. It was something he had, and probably always would, fight inwardly with himself on. Bai had pressed him to send a letter to the other man, but in all honesty Z'dyn was afraid of what he'd get back. He wasn't about to abandon Nara for anyone.

Rubbing his hands across the stubble that graced his features, he laced his hands behind his head once more.

"Couple females due t'Rise the next couple sevendays. Gonna be'n yer weyr more'n normal. Bai's sweet on Simhath, but she don't clutch, an' he's got an obligation fer th'health'a the Weyr t'fly clutchin' females well's her. Course y'already know that. I'm not goin' anywhere, but he's gonna."