Fifty, and frisky [R'nd]

“Good,” B’jin said gently, a light smile on his lips as he watched R’nd’s face with curiosity. All else aside, the bluerider was by far one of B’jin’s favoured flight partners. He wasn’t… obnoxious, and while such attitudes could certainly fill a void once in a while, B’jin had found waking up without unnecessary bumps and bruises to be a good thing. It was nice to be able to actively walk after a flight, to not have broken bones or bruises that were simply extreme and unneeded. There was still a twisted thrill to being caught by someone who took too much enjoyment in causing lingering evidence, but there was the warmth in his belly and the delight at seeing R’nd’s face when he opened his eyes that outweighed the thrill of danger. Hopefully it always will.

B’jin gave a light snort of amusement at R’nd, shifting slightly to watch where the little blue vanished to and then turned back to R’nd. The floor really wasn’t all that comfortable; one would think after so many turns of unexpected flights, the Weyr would cater more to poor greenrider bodies! Perhaps a greenrider revolt was in order, so blueriders ended up the ones with bruises; then they’d get softer floors! A smile twitched at B’jin’s lips before R’nd was speaking again and a slight frown replaced it. A flicker of something that might have just barely been more irritation than jealousy lit up B’jin’s eyes for a second as his lips pursed thoughtfully.

“Oh?” his voice was confused as he allowed R’nd to adjust their positions, watching the bluerider with a combination of worry and suspicion as he idled on continuing. The greenrider had no idea where his friend was going with that introduction to whatever the topic change was, and his imagination was far too active not to shoot off in about a million different directions – all of them quite negative. Eyebrows knit together more as R’nd continued – all the other what’s? – before he blinked several times as the simple conclusion took a moment to process. Then;

“Wait. All?” A disgruntled expression formed on the greenrider’s face as he sulked. Just because he’d had a lot of birthdays didn’t mean R’nd had to go and point it out! Most of them had been missed because he hadn’t even been born yet (and that was an incredibly distasteful thought!) and then more again because he was a child, and then there was the Plague and how long had Katila been around for now? Another ten or so turns? So, he’d only missed about ten birthdays! That wasn’t worthy of an ‘all’, was it? Faranth, was he really that old?

As B’jin’s expression changed from sulky to distressed, Larrikith sighed as she leaned lazily against Ayyonth with a mental eyeroll. You spoke too soon, she mumbled, amusement quite clear as she poked at B’jin’s mind. I do believe B’jin needs to learn how to relax, the last word melding into her rider’s mind and making him jump slightly with surprise. Larrikith snorted in amusement.

Has R’nd ever insulted you, love? She didn’t even really wait for an answer, the question mostly rhetorical, but B’jin’s expression altered to be more shameful than upset as her words sunk in. I didn’t think so. How about we thank the nice man for his well wishes with some nice kisses? Her words were shared with Ayyonth, the patronising tone not going unnoticed by B’jin though he opted not to retort. R’nd was kept carefully in the dark for the moment; there were dragons aplenty to step in before he managed to dump her rider on the miserable bathroom floor.

She could still feel the tenseness in B’jin as he curled closer to R’nd, the greenrider not completely convinced there wasn’t some underlying intent in the gently spoken words, but she was pleased none the less when he offered a sincere thank you for the happy birthday, his voice lost somewhere between shy, worried, and quietly pleased. While he was still thinking too much on how the words had been delivered, he was none the less quite pleased R’nd knew it was his birthday (hopefully without the numbers involved!) and he offered a gentle, apologetic kiss. “Thank you.”

It would be a great deal of fun, too, Larrikith added, her amusement not the slightest bit dulled by the time passage between Ayyonth’s original statement and her chance to respond to it. All the panicking riders, and the desperate dragons. While she couldn’t exactly grin, the emotion was thick on her voice. Humans were so ridiculous! At least they are entertaining in their ridiculousness. It was important to be entertained, while the brain was bleeding from their words, actions and over thinking!