Wanderers of the Night {Sakoru}

[theknightwhosaysni]

Flayn and Flask were 'patrolling', you could say. In reality, they were just wandering around through the weyr with no clear intentions of going anywhere specific or doing anything particular. Just wandering.

In the night, of course. Where Flayn couldn't see a thing. He was relying entirely on Flask to guide them through the darkness, which was a little disconcerting. 'This way FlaynMine!' he'd say, without specifying which way, leaving Flayn to stumble about in the dark.

Finally, Flayn spoke, breaking the silence. "Let's move outside, Flask. It'll be a little less dangerous." He glanced down at his gorgeous blue with a happy smile.

Flask glanced up at his FlaynMine with an unhappy noise. FlaynMine mad at Flask?[/b] he questioned sadly. This was all wrong! His FlaynMine shouldn't be not happy with him!

Flayn crouched down to look Flask in the eye. "I'm perfectly happy with you, all right? I just think we should try some of this stuff outside." patting Flask's head, he straightened up again. Sometimes, keeping a grip on Flask's mood swings was so hard...

Sure not mad at Flask?[/b]

Flayn nodded his head, "Certain, Flask." But he still wanted to go outside. The inside air was starting to get stuffy, after all.

Okay! We go outside then?[/b] wriggling his tail in the air enthusiastically, Flask gazed up at Flayn.

Flayn grinned, "Sounds like a plan, Flask!" Still unable to see anything other than the glaring blue of Flask's hide (and even that was a stretch), Flayn followed the retreating figure that was his wher.

It took them a few moments to escape the confines of the weyr, and, once they did, seeing Flask became much easier. Flayn breathed a sigh of relief, grin growing wider when Flask kept walking, heading towards the Weyr Bowl. They were on the same wavelength so much of the time, Flask knowing immediately that Flayn wanted to go somewhere where they'd be alone, even as the thought had crossed his mind. And, this late at night, the Weyr Bowl was the perfect place because who else would be there?

We done walking?[/b] Flask turned his gaze up towards Flayn happily, as soon as they had reached the Weyr Bowl.

Flayn paused for a moment to mull this over, "Sure, Flask." he smiled cheerfully. At least now he could actually see.[/size]

[Sakoru]

Midnight was probably one of Khemres' favourite times to be outside. Usually there was moonlight by which to see, and tonight was no exception. Inching along through an unfamiliar corridor, the candidate felt his way out of the Weyr, determined to go outside, bad eyesight or no. Pausing, he stood there at the entrance to the candidates' barracks for a few moments, getting his bearings, before following his habitual trail down through the Bowl, turning right instead of left as he usually did. Here he happened on unfamiliar territory, and was reduced once more to bumbling around as he usually did.

Still, the half-blind albino did manage to get himself out into the grassy Bowl, at least judging by the fresh scent of the air. Pushing the brim of his hat up a little so he could see better, Khemres carefully made his way over the rocky, grassy terrain, tripping over a stone occasionally but for the most part doing just fine. "Yes, this is good. I'm not falling. I can see! Sort of, anyway," he reassured himself conversationally. Humming tunelessly as he bumped and tripped his way along, the wher candidate failed to notice the voice not far off. Instead, he took to weaving his way between four tiny trees, in the general direction the voice had come from, though he didn't realize it. Still cheerfully humming to himself, Khemres paused for a moment with his hand on one of the trees, tilting his head back and pushing up the brim so he could see to the sky.

Not that there was much to see. Possessed of extremely bad eyes, the albino couldn't even see the top of his tree (which was only about ten feet high), let alone the stars. He knew they were there, though. After all, it was the Red Star that brought Thread, although there hadn't been any for some time now. And if there was a red one, there had to be others. Having no idea what a star might look like, though, the candidate let his gaze fall from the sky (avoiding the bright light of the moon), and continued on his merry way.

Rocks, rocks, rocks. I can feel them but I wish I could see them, too. I keep - ow - tripping over 'em, Khemres thought in annoyance, and promptly tripped again. Drawing back his booted foot, he unleashed an almighty kick on the unfortunate stone, sending it flying off to land some distance away. "Stop tripping me!" Kicking the dirt again for good measure, the albino muttered to himself, and then immediately banged into the last tree. Not that it hurt, since he hadn't been going very fast, but he slapped the bark in frustration anyway, starting to talk to himself once again. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. All I do when I go for a walk is trip and bump and generally make a mess of the place. I'm an idiot, aren't I? Yes, yes I am."

And so went the monologue, at least until he nearly crashed into a wher of some colour he thought was blue. Startled, the albino leapt back, adjusting the wide brim of his hat so he could see better. Not that it helped; the wher was only a fuzzy blue blob in front of him even when he squinted at it. "Oh, a wher. Hello, wher."

Suddenly he realized that if there was a wher this close (he thought it was close) to the Weyr, there must be a handler around here somewhere. Instantly his happy mood dissipated into nervousness, and he squinted his unusual purple eyes, looking for the handler. There was a dark blob standing just past the wher - was that it? "Er...hello. Is there a, um, handler there? Or are you alone, wher?" Theoretically he should have been able to tell, seeing as most of the trees of the Bowl were at his back, but anything more than two feet in front of him was mostly just a big, fuzzy blob - like the wher, and what he thought could be its handler.

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[theknightwhosaysni]

Silence fell, and neither Flayn nor Flask cared to break it. In the distance, they could hear someone talking animatedly with themselves, but Flayn couldn't make out the words, and if Flask could, he sure wasn't telling.

Flayn had nearly nodded off (he still sometimes found it hard to adjust to being nocturnal. Ah well, he was bound to get used to it someday) when someone very nearly crashed into Flask, leaping back and adjusting the brim of that ridiculous hat in a manner that would hopefully help him see enough not to crash into Flask again.

Flayn hadn't really expected the other person to talk, so when he did, it came as a slight shock to him. This person was greeting Flask in a decidedly male voice.

Hello![/b] Flask replied exuberantly before Flayn had time to say a thing. He was glad to see someone else here! This was great news! His FlaynMine could talk with this other person who greeted him so nicely!

Flayn smiled indulgently at Flask's mental antics. He would talk when and if he wanted to, and nothing would change that.

Then the other male spoke again, sounding more nervous than happy now. It would be rude not to reply now that he'd been spoken to, even if he found it a little odd that whoever it was hadn't been able to see him. "Yeah, there's a handler here." Just to clarify some, he mentioned that before getting on with the introductions. It would be quite impolite of him not to say who he was now. That was almost disappointing, but Flayn shrugged it off. He enjoyed talking with others, even if it was around midnight with someone who'd just nearly ran into Flask. "Name's Flayn, and that's Flask. We're wherlings." He clarified a little more at the end.

He liked clarifying things. It left the conversation less open for more personal questions about his family. It's nobody's business who my family is or what they do, anyways, he thought to himself.

Flask glad meet![/b] Flask spoke, exuberant tone still present. He was indeed happy to meet this person, and he wanted his FlaynMine to be happy as well! Surely people would make his FlaynMine happy! And anything that made his Mine happy made him happy.
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[Sakoru]

Khemres allowed himself to breathe a huge sigh of relief when the wher didn't get angry. Indeed, the blue even replied, his mental voice positively chipper, and the candidate relaxed. Delighted by this enthusiasm on the part of the wher, the albino was about to reply when he realized that he didn't know what the wher's name was. And really, it was silly to repeat 'hello' over and over again, even for his own odd ways.

Fortunately, the handler spoke now - so there was one! - and a shy smile appeared on Khemres' face. It was a boy, he judged by the voice. And, that boy was now introducing himself. An embarrassed blush stained his white cheeks pink, and the candidate stared in the wherling's direction, trying and failing to see him. Fortunately, he hadn't lost the ability to speak, and his voice was beginning to regain the friendly, content tone it had had before. "I'm Khemres. Wher candidate," he introduced himself, and looked down at the blue wher again, since it was pointless trying to make out the features of the handler. "Nice to meet you, Flayn and Flask. Sorry for almost crashing into you, though..."

Fiddling with his crippled right hand behind his back, Khemres paused for a moment, then smiled as he heard Flask's voice sound once more in his head. Positively glowing at the friendly reception, he edged a little closer, watching the wher come into better focus. His handler was still a mere spot in the night, though. "I don't see very well. ...Glad to meet you too, Flask! I can't wait to have a wher of my own," exclaimed the candidate, and he pushed up his hat again, squinting as hard as he could at Flayn. He could almost - almost - make out where the handler started and the sky began.

Giving it up as a lost cause, the albino resisted the strong desire to ask to touch Flask. It was rude, he figured, to ask to touch someone else's Bonded, especially so soon after meeting them. Shoving down the urge to someplace it couldn't bother him, the hopeful wher candidate smiled, apparently relaxing now that he knew no one was inclined to attack him. Still, he was frustrated at not being able to see who he was talking to, and with careful steps, moved a little closer to the wherling. Every step he took made his face turn a bit pinker, but under the shadow of his hat he hoped it wasn't visible.

At last he was only four or so feet away, and could just barely distinguish the most basic of features - the fact that Flayn had a mouth and nose, for example. Beyond that, detail was lost to him, and with an exasperated sigh, Khemres pulled his hat down again, completely abandoning the task. "At least I know I'm not the only one who goes for midnight walks. I was starting to think I was alone."

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[theknightwhosaysni]

So, this Khemres was a Wher Candidate, was he? Khemres. An interesting name. Flayn mulled it over mentally, a smile cracking across his face. An individual name. "It's nice to meet you as well, Khemres." He nodded his head slowly, "And as for nearly crashing into us, it's all right. Flask doesn't care, and if he doesn't, I don't either." Flayn shrugged his shoulders carelessly, resting a palm on Flask's back.

Yes, nice meet![/b] Flask cried happily, wiggling his rump with delight. The repetition of his point over and over again didn't really bother the Wher, as he was so excited just to see a companion for his FlaynMine that he didn't really care about what he was saying. And no, don't care you nearly hit Flask. he added, wriggling his rump again.

Flayn sighed to himself, Tone it down, Flask. he ordered mentally, Don't overwhelm the poor Candidate.

FlaynMine mad at Flask?[/b]

No, I'm not. Sounding exasperated, Flayn went on. I just don't want you to scare the Candidate off.

Oh. Well, Flask sorry.[/b] The Wher turned apologetically towards Khemres. Flask sure that you find great wher![/b] He cried enthusiastically, remembering only at the last second to tone it down, leaving wher to be in a much less happy tone than the rest of his statement.

Flayn wasn't sure how to reply to Khemres' comment about not being able to see very well, so he absently fiddled with a strand of his longer than average hair and hummed to himself quietly. When Khemres began to move forward, Flayn looked absently amused, not moving forward or back to help the Candidate. Watching the Candidate pull the brim of his hat down, Flayn mulled over his reply. "Well, I figured me 'n' Flask might as well go outside. We still have some navigation issues indoors."[/size]

[Sakoru]

The candidate breathed a sigh of relief, hearing Flayn's response, and smiled, relaxing a little. Feeling a little braver than usual, he played with the hem of his shirt but managed to keep looking more or less in the direction he thought the wherling was. "Oh, good. I'm always bothering people by crashing into them," he explained sheepishly, and blushed a little more. Seeing the excited gyrations of the little blue only served to relax Khemres more, and he let his shoulders sag a little, tilting his head but not stuttering as he normally did.

Reminded that he had nearly crashed into Flask, Khemres smiled in embarrassment, but his face was bright with enthusiasm. Being forgiven for his blunder didn't hurt either, and soon the boy had relaxed almost completely, surprising himself. In the presence of such a friendly wherpair, it was hard even for him not to warm up a little. Indeed, the candidate's calmness amazed him, and he even stopped fiddling with his shirt, standing more or less straight.

There was silence for a few moments, and Khemres hoped they hadn't suddenly decided to ignore him. It didn't seem likely - they were probably just talking mentally - but insecure as he was, the albino immediately began to worry. What if he'd done something wrong? He didn't think he had, except for almost tripping over Flask, but maybe they'd changed their minds about him. Maybe he wasn't welcome here anymore. Maybe...

'Flask sure that you find great wher!' The thought popped into his head like chirpy lightning, and Khemres blinked sheepishly. How stupid was he, to actually think that someone would be so nice to him - even their wher! - and then decide not to talk to him? Giving himself a hard mental kick, the candidate smiled, and nodded brightly. "I hope so! But if a wher picks me, it's got to be the right one, right?" Though a little puzzled by the sudden change in tone, the boy decided that it must have been on a command from Flayn. The blue wher just seemed too happy to do that out of the blue.

Pointless thoughts aside, Khemres had just moved closer to the pair, tugged the brim of his hat down, and was now smiling underneath it. Shifting his gaze to the bright blue Flask next to him, the candidate practically squealed with pleasure. Few whers liked him this much, being much more interested in their bondeds, but this one seemed to like him just fine. And Flayn did too, which was also rare. Delighted by this turn of events, the albino's voice had turned distinctly cheerful when he replied, with little shyness left in it. "Oh, okay. Outside is a good place to be, then...how old is Flask?" After all, they were only wherlings. The blue couldn't be that old, right?

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