When the Water Calls [Birdy!]

[Sakoru]

There was nothing to do on this lazy afternoon, or at least no responsibilities to attend to. Pale clouds drifted across the sea-foam sky, doing nothing to stifle the heat of the day. Beneath them, a few dragons floated in the sky; dragons that Alatira did not know. For the most part, the lake was deserted in favour of the more private beaches on the coast, and so the pair was mainly alone.

Soaring in on Shiragath's back, Alatira hugged his strong neck tightly, cheek pressed against the soft hide. She hadn't bothered with riding straps today, but her wonderful black was a smooth flier, so they were unnecessary. Still, she loved simply lying on his neck as he flew, since it appeared to bother him not a whit. Today was one of his rare speaking days, and she treasured the sound of his voice in her head.

Let's swim together, Tira. I'd like to go up the waterfall later, too. We don't often go up there; nobody does. Angling into a soft glide, Shiragath flowed through the air until he made a perfect touchdown on the shore, landing smoothly without jarring himself or his rider. Folding his unusually long wings, the black dragon curved his neck around to have his nose stroked by Alatira, then leapt into the water without so much as waiting for her to dismount. Surging into the shallows, he finally allowed his rider off, and when he did, settled on his belly so she could wash him.

Grabbing onto her dragon's neck ridges as he made an unexpected leap forward into the water, Alatira slapped his hide affectionately when he stopped moving, and laughed. Sliding from his back, she caressed his triangular face lovingly, scratching his eye ridges and head knobs, and smiled. "My beautiful Shiragath. You do need a wash, don't you?" Wrinkling her nose in mock disgust, she laughed when he pushed her over, and struggled to her feet again. Grabbing handfuls of sand, she started to scrub the black's shoulders vigorously, rubbing away all traces of dust (not that there had been many). I'm grateful I don't have a gold...that's a lot of surface area to wash. Wrinkling her nose at the idea, she tossed her dark hair out of her eyes, and heard Shiragath begin to croon softly under her touch. Smiling, Alatira continued to scrub him thoroughly, knowing it would take a long time but savouring every minute she spent with her dragon. If anyone approached now, she might even be amenable to speaking to them. Not that anyone was likely to, she reflected. No one had really spoken to her yet, though she had been here for two sevendays. "Well...it's gotta happen sometime, right? At least I've got you, handsome." Shiragath crooned louder in response, and Alatira smiled. What did she need with people, after all?

[Birdy]

’It’s not right…’

’Not…… right….’

Asterin suddenly shot up from his chair, startling the fire lizard who had been resting on his shoulder. The purple let out an angry screech circling the room once before landing on the back of the chair. The flit hissed, then folded his wings neatly behind him and watching his bonded.

Asterin was on the other side of the room, staring intently at the small stacks of oil pots he kept for Kine he kept on the shelf. After a few more seconds of intent scrutinizing, he moved the top a over roughly half inch so it was sitting perfectly on top of the one below it. With a sigh of relief the blond turned to face the flitter. Kire tilted his head then shot forward landing on the boy’s shoulder with a delighted chirp.

Bath. He was going to be cleaned! The purple flew in figure eights around Asterin, making quite a ruckus as they headed towards the lake. Asterin focused on the flitter to keep his eyes from wondering to the dragons flying so high up in the sky and the weyrs on the sides of the bowl. Just the thought of such heights made him queasy. Thinking about the dragon rider over to Dalibor…that was worse. Asterin shook his head, returning his focus to Kire.

As they approached the lake Kire spotted the Blackrider and darted towards them. The purple flew in large circles around them chirping and doing tiny barrel rolls. Look at me! He seemed to say. Look how shiny my hide is! Am I not the most beautiful purple you’ve ever seen? Asterin sighed, carefully taking off his shoes and rolling up his sleeves as he prepared to the give the purple flitter a thorough scrubbing, but the fire lizard showed no signs of going near the wher candidate. He continued his circles because you were obviously missing something from your life if you hadn’t seen his handsomeness.

[Sakoru]

Seizing a new handful of sand, Alatira moved on to scrub her black's neck ridges, hearing him sigh with pleasure. While busy with that, she found a small flaky patch on the soft skin, and frowned, scratching it. I'm going to have to oil you too, aren't I? Such a high-maintenance dragon you are. Scratching harder at her dragon's itchy patch, the wingrider didn't notice the flit until he zipped in front of her, chirping and rolling. A startled, yet appreciative laugh escaped her, and though she kept her hands occupied with cleaning Shiragath, she grinned.

"Well, hello there. You sure know how handsome you are, don't you? And you want me to know, too!" For that was obviously the firelizard's intention: why else would he be flittering and fluttering in such a showy manner? Pausing in her ministrations, the short girl looked around to find the flit's owner, and smiled when she noticed him. "So he has got an owner! What's his name?"

You missed a patch on the right side of my third neck ridge, Shiragath informed her, lifting his dark head to watch the flit. Eyes spinning blue with amusement, he crooned at the tiny thing, and then settled back into the water, demanding a better wash.

Picky, picky. I'm getting there. Smacking her dragon teasingly on the neck, Alatira obligingly scrubbed the dirty patch, and made him roll onto one side so she could get his back, too. Thank you kindly. Are you going to say hello to the flit and his owner?

Maybe I'll say hello to the boy, too. TiraMine! You're scrubbing too hard!

Apologizing for her excessive force, Alatira petted the sore spot on Shiragath's back, then scrubbed more gently. She turned her head, however, to look at the boy, and grinned at the firelizard's silliness. Wondering vaguely if he were here to bathe his pet, she called back over her shoulder to him, and smiled down at the section of back she was scrubbing. "You can come over here, if you want. I think your flit's intent on showing off." Indeed he was, for the purple creature was zooming to and fro, rolling and gliding and in general showing off how handsome he was. "Yes, you're beautiful, I know. Showoff."

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[Birdy]

Kire chirped happily at being noticed. Well how could they not notice his beauty? He was brighter than the sun itself! A few more barrel rolls and the purple had made another lap around the pair. When the Rider’s attention was moved away from him and to Asterin the purple let out a shriek of pure outrage flying in front of the woman. How could he look at THAT? She was supposed to be looking at HIM! With another shriek the purple returned to his antics, rolling and circling the pair.
Asterin stiffened as the rider called over to him. His face flushed bright red as he saw what his flit was doing. Why did he have to do that? And the purple wasn’t even clean! Couldn’t he do this when he was sparkling and clean so Asterin could relax while watching him? And the girl’s question. Name…? Why did she want to know his name? And just look at the black! She had missed a spot…oh why couldn’t she see it? It was right there. “Kire,” he said flatly after managing to regain his composure.
Kire hissed at the way Asterin spoke his name. He deserved better than just “Kire”. Maybe “Kire the Mighty” or “His Highness Kire” and it had to be said with reverence! What was the blond thinking? But at the rider’s words his mood did a 180 and he was happy once more, flitting to a fro and trilling.
Asterin took a few steps more before stopping. The dragon was so big…and look at the claws. They could probably tear him in half! He shuddered, even if he’d wanted to get closer he didn’t think he would’ve been able to.

[Sakoru]

Alatira nearly choked trying not to laugh as the little purple flit dashed in front of her, shrieking in outrage. Disguising this as a violent cough, she scrubbed away at the patch she had missed, reaching down for yet another handful of sand. You, my dear Shiragath, are entirely too big. If only you could be the size of that little flit there. Shaking her head, she cleaned away a particularly dirty spot on her dragon's back, bubbling with mirth.

"Kire, is it? Well, hello there, Kire. And what about you? Now that I've been introduced to your vain firelizard...what's your name?"

Noticing that the boy stopped after a few steps, she smiled, succeeding in her attempt to halt the explosion of laughter threatening. Piling a mound of sand on Shiragath's back, she managed to erase all traces of dirt on the side nearest her, though she still had to do the other. He lifted his head and turned it, eyes a calm blue, to the blonde teen standing not far away. Apparently realizing that he wasn't going to be a bother, the black instead focused on the darting flit, though when he spoke it was directed to Alatira. Tell him I won't hurt him. You should know to do that anyway, Mine. In a reproving tone he scolded her, and His rolled her eyes, turning to face the stranger with the flit.

"Shiragath wants me to tell you that he won't hurt you. He's harmless." Patting the soft back behind her, she scratched her dragon's hide, and then tried to direct her attention to both the firelizard and his owner at once. Failing, she nonetheless shrugged and tilted her head slightly. "Did you bring him down for a bath? ...If so, he's welcome to help me clean Shiragath, with your permission, of course. You can too, if you'd like."

Apparently as interested in Kire as his owner, she smiled at the purple creature and turned back to her own task, working her way down to the black's hindquarters. You wouldn't mind that, would you? It's a big job cleaning you by myself.

Turning an accusing stare on his rider, Shiragath flicked his tail and seemed to disapprove mightily of her suggestion. I am your dragon. I don't mind if they help, but this is supposed to be our day, TiraMine. Not that he actually minded, of course, but he had been looking forward to a nice long swim after he'd had a bath. The two activities could have been done at the same time, of course, but Shiragath infinitely preferred being actively scrubbed clean than waiting for the water to take all the dirt out of his hide. We will still swim after you are done washing me, won't we, Mine?

Of course. Don't worry so much...you know you're my best friend. Patting her weyrmate's smooth back, she cast only a glance back at the boy, and spared just one or two more for the flit, smiling at his antics. Kire sure was cute, she thought, pompous and show-offish as he seemed. And firelizards were supposed to be good at helping clean dragons; maybe it would bring his Bonded over closer, too. The presence of such an actively cheerful little creature was bringing her mood right up, and it showed in the energy she put into washing Shiragath.

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[Birdy]

Kire flitted happily, at least she had said his name with a bit of pizzazz! Sure, she kadn’t added any of the titles but it was start. With a satisfied chirp, they had obviously been amazed by his beauty and handsomeness, he settles in the shallow water by Asterin’s feet.

Asterin sighed in relief, she’d cleaned that spot. That spot had been bothering him the entire time he’d been at the lake. While every other part he had been able to see had been black and glossy, that one patch had stood out so much. If he hadn’t been so terrified of the dragon he might have started cleaning him himself.

The blond eyed the rider warily. Now she wanted to know his name? He wished he was bold like Kire. Asterin he would say, haven’t you heard of me? But of course he wouldn’t say that, he’d just say his name in a low voice. He watched the woman for a few more moments before realizing that he hadn’t actually said anything. “It’s Asterin,” he said in the same flat voice, trying not to look too afraid of the black and staring down at the water. If he was this afraid of a black imagine if he saw a Queen! The thought made his head spin and Kire let out an indignant chirp, he wasn’t getting any younger!

The rider’s word reassured him, but only slightly. He weighed the options in his head, staring blankly at the ground. If I go closer it might eat me…I don’t want that…but if I don’t she might get mad….I don’t want that. Kire seems to like her…but Kire will like anyone who tells him he’s pretty. Sharding flit…why can’t he be normal. …Which should I pick… Asterin spared one last glance at the black before focusing on the woman and coming closer, he was now a bit too close for his liking but….he had decided that if he offended the rider she might sic her dragon on him and that would kill two wherries with one stone. Poor wherries So now he was about a couple yards from the dragon and his rider and his clothes were wet…he had not prepared for this.

Kire chirped, angry at being left behind. He shot out of the water and perched on Asterin’s shoulder, wrapping his tail around his neck and chittering angrily into his ear. The lovely rider lady was saying something, she must be talking about how great he was! Asterin blinked at the offer then nodded, cleaning! An unexpected turn of events! What good fortune. Kire shot off the boy’s shoulder resuming his angry babbling. The purple’s emotions ran clearly through Asterin’s head. A few were of anger at being ingnored but most of them were of pure vanity. Him? CLEAN something other than himself? HE should be the one cleaned! Ha! Imagine that…cleaning.

[Sakoru]

He does not want to seem to want to talk. We should swim, TiraMine. I am clean now. Shiragath flicked his gaze to his rider, though he didn't move from his prone position in the water. Ignoring his insistence that he was clean, Alatira grabbed one of his huge wings and made him open it a little, inspecting it for dirty spots. Seeing none, she let him fold it again and had him open the other. Both spotless. Nodding in approval, she rubbed a patch on her dragon's shoulder, and smiled, turning to the other pair just in time to catch Asterin's name.

"Nice to meet you, Asterin. I'm Alatira, and this is Shiragath, my dragon." Not that it wasn't obvious, of course, but the blackrider felt the need to formally introduce both of them, either way.

Satisfied with the distance the boy had come, Alatira made herself take a few steps in his direction just to make things fair. They were now a little over a yard apart, and Shiragath lifted his black head to watch protectively as His approached Asterin. You are unusually talkative today, Mine.

So are you. I haven't had any kind of a chance to socialize yet even though I've been here two sevendays. And you're not to scare him away, understand?

Sighing in resignation, the dragon shifted to face the pair more directly but lowered himself docilely into the water, there to stay until his weyrmate let him move. Satisfied, Alatira turned back to Asterin and Kire, grinning at the flit's indignant chirping. "Insulted him, did I? Sorry about that, Kire." Smiling, the wingrider tilted her head slightly, puzzled at the blonde's curious fear. How could anyone be afraid of a dragon, especially such a gentle beast as her Shiragath? Though she had no idea what his rank in the Weyr might be, surely he knew that no dragon ever hurt anyone of its own volition, at least not that she had heard of. Surely her own willingness to say hello would indicate that she wasn't about to set her black on him, too? Confusion whirled in her head, and she was rather grateful that her own green-grey eyes did not change colours according to her emotions as those of dragons did.

"He really won't hurt you, you know. I can ask him to back up a bit if he makes you uneasy, though," she offered with a small shrug, and pulled her black hair out of her face, throwing it back over her shoulders impatiently. She too was soaked through, thanks to being shoved into the lake by Shiragath, and her hair dripped in her eyes. Squeezing a little water out of the hem of her shirt, she smiled a little. Hopefully she hadn't done something wrong by greeting Asterin; the boy seemed uncomfortable, though whether that was mainly because of Shiragath or herself, she couldn't say. Kire, of course, was chattering angrily to his owner, and the blackrider suppressed yet another laugh at his antics. She always had liked flits, pesky as they might be, and this one particularly amused her.

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[Birdy]

Asterin watched the pair. They weren’t saying anything but they seemed to be communicating…He had seen the rider who had brought him to Dalibor do that, they got that sort of far off look. He personally found it rather interesting and wished that he could talk to Kire that way. Maybe that way he could calm down the flit’s wild personality. It wasn’t like he like being so…un Kirelike.

He gathered up all of his courage and tried not to be distracted by Alatira’s wing inspection. Kire, sensing something was up, chirped encouragingly. Everyone should follow in his footsteps! Asterin shot the Purple a look, and took another deep breath. “N..nice to meet you too Alatira…and Shiragath,” the words were shaky and he struggled to pull together a sentence but it was a start right? The blackrider had taken a few more steps towards him and he used all of his strength to resist taking a few back.

Kire, who had taken a moment from his angry screeching to encourage his to be more Kirelike, went right back down to the chattering once he remembered what had happened. He would never clean anything! He was the one you were supposed to clean! Asterin nodded, the flit was easily insulted, and was going to leave it at that but as talking to black rider (who seemed very nice) had killed him the first time he thought he might as well try it again. “He’s…vain but I think…he’s alright,” he said trying to keep his focus by staring at the black’s pretty hide. Kire somewhat accepted the rider’s apology, settling onto wrist and letting out an impatient chirp to be cleaned.

Again she was telling him the black was alright. He wanted to believe her, dragons weren’t supposed to hurt humans anyways but… “It’s…it’s not him…it’s his…” he brought up a hand, miming claws. “They look…sharp.” All of this talking sure was tiring and his heart must have been beating twice its normal speed. He looked the dragon over once more, faranth thoseclaws looked sharp…”I’m not a dragon candidate…whers…I don’t like…heights,” she said slowly, though it was tiring it sure was easier to get your point across this way wasn’t it?

[Sakoru]

Shiragath lay completely docile in the shallow water, lifting his head only high enough to be able to breathe. He mostly ignored the boy wth the firelizard, reluctantly following His' orders not to scare him. Not moving at all except for occasionally twitching his tail, he left the pair to their conversation, letting all his eyelids droop sleepily. Much as he wanted to swim, he would have to indulge Alatira's desire to speak to this boy. The blackrider, hearing him stutter, smiled warmly, acting as though she hadn't noticed his nervousness.

About to respond with some kind of small talk to Asterin, Alatira was distracted by the angry screeching of Kire. When he settled down at her apology, however, she smiled, resolving not to annoy him again if she could help it. Cute as the purple flit was, he did have a terribly loud voice. "He is, at that. Seems very sweet when he's happy, though."

Enlightenment dawned on her face, however, as the boy mimed claws, and she released a small, startled gasp. This was followed by a soft laugh, and she shook her head slightly, hoping she didn't look as though she were laughing at him. She wasn't, for the most part - he had every right to be afraid of Shiragath's claws. Long and silvery, they were rather sharp - dangerous, if he had been inclined to use them on people.

"Ohhh...so that's it! He does have sharp claws, but he's never used them on anything but herdbeasts," the dragonrider explained, hoping to calm her new companion's fears. A slightly puzzled look appeared on her face for a moment, but then she smiled when he mentioned he was a wher candidate. "Whers! Almost like dragons...but without the heights. What's it like being a wher candidate? I hardly see any of you because you're on different schedules."

I do not like whers. They are stupid and make loud noises, Shiragath informed her, still appearing to be, for all intents and purposes, asleep. She suppressed a cough at his remark, and made her face carefully the way it had been before, hoping she didn't channel her dragon's contempt for the flightless whers. You could make loud noises too, if you were chatty. Don't be mean. Whers are nice too, Alatira told her dragon, and listened to him sigh behind her. Still unmoving, the black creature appeared only to have sighed in his sleep, feigned as it was. You're such an actor. Pretending to be asleep! She scolded, only to be met with his lazy retort. Your conversation bores me. Wake me when you wish to swim, TiraMine. With that, he heaved a great sigh, shifted slightly, and truly went to sleep. How dragons did it, the wingrider supposed she might never know.

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[Birdy]

Kire, now sitting on Asterin’s shoulder, readjusted his wings primly. Stupid black dragon thought he was better than him and His. Well, maybe he was better than His but NOTHING was better than him, so what if he was vain? At least he had a good reason. He shot the dragon a cold look and began preening himself. He would make himself so pretty, then he’d show that dumb black who was better. (It was him of course)

Asterin nodded, glad that Kire was cleaning himself for once. Shards. “Yeah…when he’s in a good mood….” Which is rare, he added mentally. Still it was nice to have some companionship even if it was a loud mass of hide and claws. Claws..he looked back at the rider. Was she laughing at him? No it didn’t seem so, she was just surprised. Her reply wasn’t very encouraging, they were sharp but just for herdbeasts. He was sure the herdbeasts felt differently on the subject. Thank faranth I’m not a herdbeast Kire chirped in agreement, pausing in cleaning his toes.

What was it like being a where candidate? He thought about that. Uh…scary? No scary wasn’t a good word, he was trying to put them in a good light. Hah, light. That was something that did NOT describe whers… “It’s nice, ..and dark,” was all he could come up with. “I should really be asleep but…this one was dirty,” Asterin confessed, he was trying to get into the schedule of wherhandlers.

[Sakoru]

Asterin still seemed nervous, although Alatira couldn't blame him now that she knew about his fear of her dragon's claws. They were awfully sharp, after all - if she weren't accustomed to them, chances were that she'd be wary too. She grinned at his comment about Kire, and nodded in understanding. "Good moods are always a good thing."

What a stupid question she had asked, now that she thought of it. She might as well have asked a dragon candidate what that was like; she'd been one. She knew what it was like to be a candidate! Mentally kicking herself several times in a row, she looked up when Asterin spoke, and smiled. "Well, that was a silly question, wasn't it? It is nice being a candidate...although I wouldn't know about it being dark."

Exasperated with her hair, which kept falling shamelessly into her face, Alatira finally dug around in a pocket and, finding a tie, pulled the dark locks back and bound them at the nape of her neck. Shaking her head as she finished, the blackrider laughed softly as he explained how he should be asleep, but wasn't because of Kire. "Oh, okay. I hope I'm not keeping you up too much, then...he insisted on being cleaned right away, did he?" It seemed like something the flit would do, though she had known him for only a little while. A silly, vain little creature, was Kire, but cute too. And, having always had a weakness for firelizards, Alatira was obliged to be amused by his antics, or at the very least have some sympathy for his owner. Shiragath had been almost the same way when he was a hatchling, she remembered. Always wanting food, oil, or a bath, the little black dragonet had practically run His off her feet trying to keep up with his demands. It seemed that firelizards were no different in that regard. But getting someone up in the middle of the night (or day) to be cleaned...! Well, it was inhuman, if not unheard of. Dragonets did it all the time, and she supposed wherets might too. Why not firelizards?

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[Birdy]

“They are.” Asterin replied back.He supposed he’d never really seen Kire in any other mood than vain. The purple looked up from his preening and chirped, yes that was him And it was the BEST mood to be in. Of course only he could feel that mood because he was the BEST! Yes yes yes, he was soo handsome, he warbled to himself, stretching his wings and moving on to cleaning his tail.

“oh…it’s dark because we’re always underground….you know?” Asterin said quickly. “It’s not a stupid question…” He added, not wanting her to feel bad. Though he guessed she had said that because he hadn’t stood yet. Well he would soon hopefully, and maybe Impress! Then it would be him here, washing his wher. It would be the cleanest wher in all of Pern! Oh, now he was sounding like Kire. At least a wher wouldn’t be as big as a dragon. If he’d Impressed a dragon he would have spent his entire day cleaning it. Especially if it was a big one!

He jumped when Alatira spoke again, having been quite lost in his thoughts. “N-no it’s…it’s no problem, he seems to be doing it himself…” Asterin said. Kire tilted his head, what was his thinking? He needed to be properly cleaned! There was only one thing His could do better then he could at that was clean him. A metal picture of oil was shoved into the candidate’s mind and he sighed. Alright Kire, whatever you want, he thought. But a bath first! He added, plucking the flitter off of his shoulder and dumping him unceremoniously into the water.

[Sakoru]

Alatira suppressed a giggle at Kire's affirmative chirp, though she was unsure whether it was caused by what Asterin had said or something he'd thought. Either way, a smile still pulled up the corners of her mouth, even as she pulled her unruly hair back and bound it. The wher candidate was speaking now, telling her that her question wasn't a silly one, and explaining why it was dark. Grinning good-naturedly, she shrugged. "It was kind of a silly question, but thank you. You know...I don't think I'd be able to live underground. It'd be so...claustrophobic," she shuddered, smile fading. She turned slightly to look at her sleeping dragon, his black form stretched out motionless in the shallow water. Remembering the days before she Impressed, a tender expression played across her face, and it took a lot of effort not to walk back and hug Shiragath for the sake of memory. She'd been so happy when he picked her, the second time she Stood. Rank was nothing to her then, and it still wasn't - why would she want a big, bossy queen, or something else, when she had her beloved little black?

Little wasn't really the right word, of course. He was a giant compared to his rider, but she adored him so much it broke her heart. My lovely dragon...how'd I end up with someone as incredible as you?

It was the blackrider's turn to jump as she realized the candidate was speaking again, and she laughed softly in embarrassment. "He does, at ---- !" That, she had been about to say. But she was interrupted by the undignified dunking of Kire into the lake, and turned aside hastily, slapping her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing. Still, her shoulders shook violently, and the wingrider's face was turning dangerously red as she tried to suppress her giggles. Oh no...oh no, I can't laugh. Kire will be furious, and Asterin won't be able to clean him...

But the laughter was slowly winning, and Alatira could feel it about to explode out of her. In desperation she dove under the water, bubbles exploding from her mouth and trailing up to the surface as proof of her mirth. Soon enough she had sobered, and emerged from the lake with a great gasp, soaked through but now able to contain her mirth. Though the corners of her lips twitched as she observed Kire being held in the water, she managed to restrain her rib-cracking giggles. "Ahem. Sorry about that...I needed to...swim." Yes, of course that was it. She'd needed to swim. Not. "I'm sure he'll be even more handsome when he's all cleaned up properly. ...Hey, I heard there was going to be a wher Hatching soon. You're going to Stand for it, right?"

[Birdy]

“Claustrophobic…?” Asterin said, not quite sure what that was like. Though he was afraid of many things, that wasn’t one of them. He liked the small enclosed places, there was less room for there to anything he was afraid of in the area right? Well that’s how he saw it. She looked to her dragon and the wher candidate looked too, but quickly back at her as the claws still terrified him.

He knelt down to start cleaning the flit but it seemed something was wrong with Alatira. She was…laughing, at Kire he thought. Well as long as it wasn’t him he was laughing at. He couldn’t help grinning a little at the thought either. Though mostly he was grinning at the look on Kire’s face. The flit seemed shocked to be treated like that. He stared at Asterin with wide, barely whirling eyes. Quite astonished. He had DROPPED him into the WATER. Dropped him! He deserved so much better than this!He didn’t say anything though, just let Asterin clean off and dirt that might have gotten onto his purple hide.

Asterin though smugly comfident for a moment, jumped at the sound of a splash. He looked up just in time to see her emerge from the lake, dripping wet and still holding in her giggles. “I-it’s alright…” Asterin said slowly, staring at the wet blackrider. How could she get drenched by the filthy lake water? Being in up to his mid calf was his limit. Oh she was talking about the hatching. “Er…yeah I am. Hopefully….I won’t get hurt…,” he said returning his focus to the still speechless flit.

[Sakoru]

Alatira smiled as Asterin parroted the word 'claustrophobic' back to her, apparently not understanding how she could be made nervous by small, dark spaces. But she nodded all the same, a wry expression appearing in her eyes. "Yeah...I don't handle small spaces very well. Maybe I get it from Shiragath," the wingrider mused with a shrug. This was about when Asterin dumped Kire in the lake, starting up the giggle fit, and Alatira plunged under the water to kill the laughter when she couldn't take it anymore.

Upon emerging, however, Alatira noticed the wher candidate staring at her, and tilted her head slightly in confusion. Looking down at herself, she didn't notice anything unusual - she looked just like before, only soaking wet. Her gaze flicked back up, a puzzled expression on her face, and she wrung out the hem of her tunic, focusing on that instead of Kire's predicament.

"I hope not. I think you'll do fine, though," the blackrider announced confidently, and finally walked the short distance to shore, plunking down on a warm rock. She attempted to twist more of the water out of her clothes, though she mostly failed, and returned her attention to the firelizard's bath. It appeared he was still totally dumbstruck by being treated so incourteously, and a corner of Alatira's mouth quirked up in a smile. Fearing she would laugh again if she kept watching, the wingrider looked hastily at her own clean dragon, still sprawled contentedly in the water. Smiling softly at the sight of him, she twisted still more water out of her clothes, and sighed, at last giving up and stretching her legs out before her. "Well, doesn't he look pleased with you?"

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