Greenrider Gossip [Invite]

B’jin had no idea how he’d ended up like he was, but overall, he had no major complaints. There was nothing bad with the situation, of course, it was just not one that he had expected to find himself in when he got up that morning, grudgingly detangled himself from R’nd and set off to make sure all the Weyrlings survived yet another breakfast. It was probably the mellow I-got-laid-last night attitude that had allowed him to be swept up by the other greenrider.

Truth be told, B’jin didn’t spend nearly as much time with his fellow greenriders as well, most of them did with each other. B’jin didn’t like being reminded of his lower class rank by hanging out with his fellows, especially when most of them were loud mouthed whores that generally gave the lot of them a worse name than they were already struggling with. It was for that reason, perhaps, that it was even more surprising that B’jin’s companion was A’liran. Par’a was a more common sight, usually when the lady greenrider had managed to weave her arm through B’jin’s and drag him off bodily to some place (usually kitchen related) to stuff her face and act scandalised when he wasn’t up to date on the local gossip.

Not only was B’jin’s companioning A’liran, however, but the topic was blatantly gossip related. Whenever a Weyrling approached, or a non-greenrider passed by, the Harper would clam up, look innocent, and answer questions or wait for the not-a-green to bugger off and do whatever it was that they were up to, before they decided to eves drop on he and his companion. Most of the Weyrfolk were passing by randomly at any rate, sticking their nose into the latest class and trying B’jin’s patience. Most of the kids were spread out in the Square, playing with their dragonets, doing an assignment of some description that B’jin had decided to occupy them with, sleeping or missing. B’jin wasn’t too worried. They’d all reappear when they wanted something; food, pity, company. A question answered; usually as ill-timed and as annoying as any of his children ever were capable of being.

B’jin still wasn’t sure if he liked, loved or loathed being Weyrlingmaster. At least he had the group to the point where most of them knew he was unobtainable during the night, whether R’nd was there or not was irrelevant – they could bloody well leave him alone when he was trying to sleep, unless they decided to try dying. In which case, fucking go and bother Talian! B’jin thought it made sense. Some of the denser ones had taken a bit longer, but he was content to think most of them were trained. Amusing, when Larrikith was the more approachable, but it hadn’t taken many occurrences of waking B’jin and being snarked at by the usually mellow greenrider to teach them to do what he wanted. The greenrider did not respond well to being woken.

You have missed everything A’liran has said to you in the past ten minutes. He’s going to think you’re fantasising about R’nd. Exactly as she’d known he would, B’jin suddenly startled and set huge eyes on A’liran, flushing crimson and stuttering out an apology. Larrikith gave a bugle of amusement from where she was sprawled against the side of a building, in the shade.

"...sharding monster," A'liran said, so tightly wound in his own rant he didn't notice that his companion had checked out minutes ago. "I swear on the first egg, that guy is just...he's manipulative as shit! He just...bounces up all smiles and sunshine, then BAM!"

Ali slammed an open-palmed hand on the table to produce a loud crash. You know, for emphasis.

"He fuckin' punches you right in the face! Then, when you try to argue or call the bastard out, he acts like he doesn't know what you're talking about. It's fucked." The bronze fire lizard on his shoulder chirped in agreement fanning his wings out and flapping them once, also for emphasis.

A'liran had always liked B'jin. They didn't hang out a lot, but it had more to do with differing interests than actual distaste, at least in Ali's side. He assumed he was a little boisterous for B'jin's tastes, but it was nice to catch up now and again. B'jin was fun, if a little stuck up, but Ali was very much the kind of greenrider that concerned B'in the most! He was loud, lewd, shameless, and when it came down to it, a troublemaker. Ali had deluded himself into thinking that fighting thew powers at be would some day work.

For now, though, gossip was a fine topic. Ali was enjoying himself, badmouthing all the assholes he dealt with daily. He could only really gossip to another greenrider; only greenriders understood!

"Dude's a creeper. I managed to trick him out of Ast's last flight, though," Ali said with a proud, glowing smirk. Of course, he'd been talking about Z'ia for so long now that B'jin might have actually missed the current topic's identity, or knowing B'jin, forgotten it. "Got myself a flight with D'hys. So sexy..."

B’jin just about leaped right off the seat he was sprawled on inelegantly when A’liran slammed his fist down on the table, the greenrider startling as he swept huge eyes onto his raving companion, a huge sigh gusting out in a huff of breath as B’jin calmed himself, slightly flustered but clearly realising it was part of A’liran’s rant and not a grumpy attack on B’jin for not paying enough attention. What the shards was A’liran talking about, anyway?

Oh. Male riders. B’jin watched A’liran without comment as the younger man continued, trying to figure out why he expected any different type of response. “What do you expect?” B’jin asked lowly, voice a droll grumble. The continuation of A’liran’s smug sentence caused B’jin to pause, however. Sitting up straighter, B’jin frowned in confusion. “D’hys?” The incredible distaste in B’jin’s tone was quite clear, his nose scrunching up delicately as he grimaced. D’hys made his skin crawl and he was pretty sure the damned bluerider could see through clothing. Ugh. B’jin shuddered, but it was the tidbid A’liran had offered up prior that interested B’jin.

“How did you manage that?” It was obvious from his sceptical tone that B’jin was less than inclined to believe A’liran managed to fix his flight. The only way B’jin had managed to ever ‘fix’ a flight, was to make sure he was located outside of the weyr boundaries with someone he was inclined to Fly with. Not that that was something B’jin managed to do very often, and Larrikith’s broad range of taste (fly every blue, ever) tended to make it irrelevant at any rate. He didn’t have to put up with horrible flight partners more than that one flight and whatever dessert they claimed before B’jin could flee.

But it had also meant he’d never had a good partner more than once, either. Until R’nd.

"D'hys isn't so bad," Ali said, a conspiratorial grin spreading across his face. Lump chirped in distaste, disapproving of the lecherous images flashing through his bonded's mind. The little bronze fire lizard hopped across the table and snatched a morsel of food from Ali's plate, making it abundantly clear that it was a punishment. His naughty bonded was thinking inappropriate thoughts, and therefore he lost some of his food as a consequence. Take that, A'liran!

Ali humped the bronze on the snout."Shut the fuck up, Lump," he scolded the fire lizard, watching as Lump creeled an indignant response. Ali ignored him, having realized that ignoring the bronze's tantrums was the best way to make him get the hell over himself, before looking back to B'jin.

"Dee is a little demanding, but he's a great lay. Trustworthy, too. He's never beaten me or anything, even during a flight. Bites, though," he commented, though that was certainly no problem. Ali liked a good bite.

He smirked at B'jin's question. "I'm glad you asked," he said in a sly tone. "Ast was kind enough to get proddy well in advance, so I waited until she was really close and I went and found someone I liked and jumped him. D'hys, actually." Smirk! "I jumped his bones and pushed her into flying early. It was probably a stupid stunt, coulda gotten my ass beaten...But it was so fun to trap one of them for a change!"

B'jin's nose scrunched up once more, his expression quite clearly displaying his lack of agreement with A'liran's delightful take on D'hys. The firelizard was given  no more than a distasteful and dirty look for interrupting, the greenrider no more fond of them in general though eh made no comment. A'liran did earn points for not coddling the beast like an infant, however, and a flickering smile flashed over his lips in dry amusement at the bitching between the pair.

"Sounds like a brownrider," B'jin drawled, less than impressed. Bastards were sly, convenient bastards that would play any game so long as they came out on top. If a green happened to get squashed in the progress, well, more power to them. B'jin scowled unhappily, pursing his lips into a thin, disproving line. "He makes my blood run cold." B'jin stated matter-of-factly, quite content with the idea of never being flown by the man, though he knew D'hys had some sideline interest in him. Ew.

"Oh?" That was something that B'jin found far more interesting and the greenrider leaned towards his fellow slightly, eyes wide with interest. He probably could have been pitied, or his wide eyed interest and obvious lack of realisation at any ability to do what A'liran was talking about - but B'jin was well known to being utterly oblivious. Larrikith very, very rarely actually became visibly proddy, often taking B'jin by surprise. In reverse, B'jin always became extremely proddy, and was never aware of the fact.

"Maybe," B'jin murmured, "maybe not." It was quite obvious he was mulling over the idea quite thoughtfully. Larrikith liked flying everyone and while there had been murmurs that she was content with R'nd's Ayyonth, B'jin wasn't quite willing to put marks on that, not with the last two flights being won by S'kef's Tyrrisath and Valerian's Veeth.

A'liran was more than pleased with his little accomplishment. He smirked and rocked back in his seat, watching B'jin's tentative expression with amusement. "I guess it was gutsy, but I'll probably try again." He said nothing of his little deal with D'hys, though it was still in the front of his mind. It was a classic win-win for him; if their plan succeeded, he got a good flight. If it failed, he got to top a bluerider. Victory!

A woman walked by; a greenrider  Ali had met on several occasions. She was well-known for being no fun whatesoever, so he didn't bother to invite her to the conversation. She wouldn't have drawn his attention at all were it not for his oh-so-charming bronze appendage. Lump squeaked, hopping to his feet and skittering across the table, peeping and chirping at the woman as she passed. Ali groaned.

"What the fuck, Lump!" he protested, reaching out to grab the fire lizard. The bronze creeled irritably as Ali held him in his lap, but did nothing else. Ali groaned a second time. "He tries to fuck everything," he explained, sounding almost disbelieving. Lump was what, a month old? That was ridiculous.

Ali frowned pointedly, but the fire lizard eventually calmed down. Sullen, he relaxed in his bonded's grip and sought forgiveness in a rather passive-aggressive way. He preened himself for a few moments, and once he was sure no one was looking, he began to delicately nuzzle Ali's fingers. A'liran responded with equally-uncommited petting. They suited one another just fine.

"You're lucky, though," he said, picking up the conversation where they'd left off. 'At least you get flown by R'nd a lot. I get shit luck with repeat flights...Fucking Z'ia, man." If B'jin left the table with any new knowledge, it would be that Z'ia was an irredeemable asshat...period.

“Of course,” B’jin wasn’t at all put off by the ability; so much as he was still somewhat sceptical of the ability to actually make it happen. Hijacking a flight to make the outcome do what you want, that was something the greenrider would very much have enjoyed knowing, oh, thirty turns ago! Depending on how dangerous it was – it would, after all, take some careful exploring! – It might be worth teaching the young greenriders so they could have a better first flight! That was something B’jin liked the idea of!

The other riders wouldn’t like it, of course, and it could potentially get him into a lot of trouble – especially with S’kef in charge now… B’jin wasn’t really one for games or taking risks, but wasn’t being bonded to a green dragon a giant risk? Many of the other riders certainly viewed them as game pieces! Even if the greenriders took to controlling their own flights, the blue and brownriders would just take to being even bigger cunts. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea? B’jin frowned slightly before turning his dark gaze on Lump as the creature hit on the other greenrider.

“Typical,” B’jin snorted, eyeing A’liran sideways with a knowing look. Even firelizards were atrocious sluts! There really was no hope for the men bonded to their dragon counter parts! The greenriders expression turned deviously amused though, as he eyed the firelizard. “Just wait until he starts actively chasing.” Firelizard lust wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as dragonlust, obviously, but it would make A’liran’s life interesting indeed if the little bugger was turned on by anything with ovaries. B’jin swallowed a giggle.

“I am?” B’jin asked, returning his attention to A’liran with a flash of a confused frown before flushing in embarrassment – namely because A’liran was so casually hinting at his private relationship with the bluerider. Just because they all knew how a flight ended didn’t mean he had to be so… so casual about it! B’jin was rather fond of pretending like it was some great mystery, what happened during and after a flight. He also liked to pretend that no one knew about all the other times he and R’nd spent time together. It didn’t sit well with the greenrider.

“Larri is a slut,” B’jin pointed out. He’d flown with almost the entire blue and brownrider population, though he was not at all adverse to the pattern Larrikith had begun, it had been awfully interrupted the past two flights! “I have not been flown by him.” Z’ia was one of R’nd’s classmates, and until he began hanging out with R’nd and seeing some of the other riders, B’jin likely wouldn’t have known the bluerider’s name or face. He didn’t even remember which ones he had and had not flown with, not really. Mostly he just knew if he’d been flown by a friend.

“He can’t be any worse than S’kef,” B’jin said casually.

Ali groaned again. "Man, don't I know it..." he said, eyeing Lump menacingly as he continued to lightly scratch his neck and snout. "He already flirts with Ast. I swear on the egg he does; he sits on her snout and rubs her with with nose, and sometimes be curls around her headknobs and licks them. It's freaking weird," he said. Lump let off a soft chirp, almost as if scoffing at Ali's skepticism towards his forbidden love, and continued to relax and enjoy his petting.

"I can only imagine what it will be like once this little runt starts to chase green fire lizards. They're all over the damn place...I was sort of hoping he'd just stick to golds, but every time I walk past a green he goes over to bother her. It's like a nightmare."  There was no regret in his voice, however. He was fond of the little bronze Lump, even if he was a total pain in the ass.

Ugh, at least that wasn't literal.

Ali raised a brow. "S'kef, huh? I remember hearing about that," he said with disapproval. "I was sorry to hear it. They say he's a real ball-buster. He never managed to snatch Ast, and I'm glad for it.  I haven't really seem him chasing greens for a while now." Now that was an interesting notion. S'kef, the monstrous conqueror of all things green, had lost his eyes for all but one. Ali made a gagging sound.

"I guess he's too hung up on J'ver!" Stupid slut.

“I was surprised he had Tyrrisath chase Larrikith,” B’jin admitted, his voice mild. Some of the gossip rounds said S’kef had objected to Tyrrisath giving chase, and some of them said he had forced his dragon to take wing. B’jin was more inclined to believe the latter – B’jin was utterly convinced S’kef had always made it his life ambition to make B’jin’s life as painful and full of misery as he possibly could. The fact that he’d manage to stretch it out for almost thirty Turns was also just like S’kef. He hadn’t bothered him of late, though, something B’jin only realised in that moment; he was likely far too busy being smug about his new position and watching B’jin slave away over the Weyrlings.

“Thank Faranth.” B’jin droned, eyeing A’liran sideways; the more of S’kef’s time his slimy slut took up, the less time the horrible brownrider had to torment other people. While B’jin was no longer afraid of the brownrider himself, he was still more than a little skittish around brownriders in general, and S’kef was one of the worse. It probably didn’t help that B’jin got a private thrill out of pushing the brownrider’s buttons – especially if they were in public and he could get away with it without getting beaten for it.

On that note, B’jin turned to look at A’liran with a slightly raised eyebrow. “I heard you were recently in a tangle with S’kef.” Of course, B’jin had heard that down his personal grape vine. Somehow I’shan had heard about something or another involving the greenrider being poking around somewhere he shouldn’t, which had been passed on to R’nd, who had told the greenrider. B’jin couldn’t remember any of the details – he didn’t think R’nd had actually gone into the details about the whole incident, but he was sure A’liran would either inform him about everything – or he’d change the topic entirely.

B’jin was more than happy with either option. Firelizards could go fuck themselves and J’ver was an incredibly boring topic, particularly considering their last major interaction. B’jin was quite sure he could bring J’ver’s world crashing down around him, but the Harper wasn’t quite prepared to put his family and friends in the line of fire in order to do so. Besides – with S’kef in charge and D’ren… not… B’jin wasn’t sure he’d manage to get anywhere, even if he loosed every piece of dirt he had on both men. That was an uncomfortable thought.

A'liran quickly scowled. "Oh yeah....That," he said with disdain, stroking Lump in an almost sinister manner as he recalled the events. "...Ast and I were out flying," he began without hesitation, leaving out the fact that he was scouting out D'hys for some fun at the time. "...We passed over D'ren's hut, where we saw some people crowded around the door."

He leaned closer, eyes fixed on B'jin with intense hatred, though of course the hate wasn't actually focused at B'jin. It was all on S'kef and Z'ia, those disgusting bastards! "It was Z'ia and some candidate...That harper who came over with us during the plague." What was his name again, Nejerc? "They were pokin' around, looking for clues about the poisoning. It was pretty stupid, but I was curious so I landed."

He sneered. "Nejerc looked like he was serious, but Z'ia went in there and styarted bouncing on the bed and shit. Then D'hys showed up and was like 'Hey, let's all fuck on D'ren's bed!'," he said, shaking his head. Lump squeaked his disapproval. "So I stayed at the door...I don't really know why, I guess hoping to bring em to their senses. But then Tyrrisath showed up..."

Shards, he could still remember how terrified his poor Astoreth had been!  His hands shook, and Lump squeaked softly. "....Fucker lashed us all for it. Lined us up on the wall and got us all one by one. I didn't walk right for a fucking week. I hate him."

B’jin listened to A’liran explain the circumstances of his run in with S’kef with slowly widening brown eyes and an expression caught somewhere between delight at what was obviously a thrilling – albeit not quite skilfully told (B’jin was ever a critique!) – tale, and terrified scandal. The part where A’liran told of Z’ia bouncing on D’ren’s bed brought about a half snort, half choke of sudden amusement tinged with a healthy dose of shock. Bouncing on D’ren’s – the Weyrleader’s bed! B’jin hadn’t heard of anyone being quite so galling!

Then A’liran continued and B’jin choked on his breath, coughing as he sat up, eyes watering from the action that was startled out of him, and he stared at his fellow greenrider with eyes as wide as saucers. “They did what?” he demanded, voice going up an octave – or six – on the last word, brown eyes just about popping. He knew, of course, that D’hys was a creeper and it didn’t surprise him that he was into such things. But, despite A’liran’s opinion on Z’ia, B’jin had never been given any reason to suspect him of such unruly behaviour, and R’nd seemed to think well of him! His bluerider only got defensive when D’hys was on the scene. Obviously, Z’ia had been coerced into it!

Your eyes will pop out if they go any wider Larrikith put in sweetly, though B’jin ignored her as he stared at A’liran as he finished his tale. Then B’jin’s entire posture changed to one of sly mischief as he leaned forward slyly, eyeing A’liran with a smug little smirk he was trying hard to hide. “Sure it was S’kef’s lash that had you incapable of walking?” B’jin asked, eyebrows twitching slightly in a ‘if y’know what I mean’ way, and he pursed his lips into a line to withhold a snigger of amusement.

B’jin had no desire to know anything about A’liran’s sex life, but he felt himself incredibly clever for leaping on an opportunity that the younger greenrider would be unlikely to expect B’jin to notice. B’jin was a lot of things, but he certainly wasn’t one to go around gossiping, or making insinuations, about someone’s sex life (or lack thereof!) A little snigger finally wrought its way free, and B’jin shook his head, collecting himself as he turned a frowning expression upon A’liran. “Did D’hys lose his rank when he was caught with his pants around his ankles?”

While the wing formation was not in official organisation, B’jin had seen a lot of the Leaders and Seconds still claiming their rank, and many of his fellow greens and blues were expected to continue referring to them as such.  It was both amusing and insulting, especially considering B’jin was pretty sure he was one of a very small number within the Weyr that was actually in possession of a true rank! Despite that, S’kef did not strike B’jin as the type to put up with that kind of behaviour from someone of a wingleading rank, be them Leader or Second. Then again, he might promote the man to Wingleader for being so daring. The bastard brownrider was ever unpredictable!

Ali's expression soured. "D'hys managed to escape," he grumbled. "He ran out the window and took off..." he said with some visible bitterness. He liked D'hys and all, but really? He could have at least helped the others escape with him, though Ali had to admit that he wasn't exactly in the best location to escape from. That didn't mean he couldn't sulk over it, though. It made him feel better.

Lump chirped softly and nuzzled Ali's fingers demandingly, prompting the greenrider to rub the creature's snout. "Pretty fuckin' sick, all in all. S'kef was a total bastard over it, but what can you expect from a sharding brownrider?" He rollsed his eyes and adjusted Lump in his lap before sliding back in his chair and huffing.

"So yeah. D'hys got away, so I doubt he's gonna get in trouble at all. Fucker just walked out of there, and I'm pretty sure if anyone did tell on him, S'kef wouldn't do anything about it."

Until then, he'd ignored B'jin's little sexual quip. It was unlike B'jin to make sure a little jab, and Ali wanted to think about it for a moment before responding, so he pretended simply not to notice it before he finally slid forward across the table and smirked. "The lash is a sidenote, 'Jinny. Surely you know what it's like to get cornered by a big, strong bluerider," he said in a much more sulty voice than was necessary, hoping to humorously take B'jin off-guard.

“Of course he did,” B’jin drawled, neither surprised no impressed. Blueriders were almost as slippery as brownriders, and most of them were as arrogant and self-absorbed. The fact that most of them thought they were Faranth’s gift to greenriders didn’t help at all. He supposed some greenriders liked that (a dry sideways glance was given to A’liran) but B’jin certainly did not! Larrikith’s quipping input that he was quite arrogant and self-absorbed enough all by himself was completely ignored by B’jin.

A’liran caught B’jin off guard, alright. At first, the greenrider was quite sure A’liran was still talking about S’kef, and the man’s immediate reaction was a flash of deep rooted terror, his body stiffening slightly. His response to S’kef could be very hit and miss, and as often as not B’jin would wave away such things as they would hit the switch and have him react in an unexpected manner. As A’liran finished his sentence, however, B’jin’s features contorted into a frown.

Then his entire face lit up brilliantly, hot red filling his cheeks and brown eyes widening scandalously. B’jin swallowed, before frowning at A’liran and uttering – with the uttermost dignity – “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” And shifting his gaze firmly to look out across the Weyr.

A'liran snorted derisively. "No idea, huh?" he asked, unable to keep a straight face long enough to even pretend he was serious. He smirked at B'jin and leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table and craning his neck forward. Lump wriggled in his lap, displeased at having been disturbed, but he was dealing with it for now. The bronze creeled and poked his head above the table and rested it on the very edge, watching irritably as his bonded examined the adorably flustered greenrider across from them.

"So," Ali said, lifting a brow and studying B'jin's beet-red face. "You don't know nothing about strong, sexy blueriders, huh?" he asked. He lowered his hands, stroking Lump's back with one while drumming his fingers on the table with another. "No smooth, broad chest and sweet smile, hmm?" he said, pursing his lips playfully. "That's a shame, B'jin. It's a pretty nice feeling to have a stud like that coming down on you after a nice, quick flight. It's the sort of thing that can really make a man melt..."

He lowered his voice into a sultry tone, barely able to keep from laughing at his own overly-sexualized mannerisms. A'liran would have vehemently denied any such feelings himself, of course...his plan now was simply to embarrass B'jin and see what sort of reractions he could get. It was a playful and affectionate gesture for sure, but shards...B'jin made it so easy.

“None.” B'jin confirmed solidly, still avoiding looking at A'liran with determination. He could just about feel the smug amusement rolling off the other greenrider. With his face slowly cooling, B'jin was quite determined not to look at the other man. He just knew A'liran would do something and B'jin was much to proud to let the other man so easily get away with such a thing as flustering him. He was not flustered and A'liran could go jump between!

Brown eyes glanced at the drumming fingers with a slight frown, lips pursing into a flat line. He took a clear breath to respond, but snapped his jaw shut when A'liran continued, turning to stare at the other man with a scandalised expression, brown eyes huge in his re-reddening face.

“What!?” he squeaked, looking absolutely horrified that A'liran could even suggest such things as bare chests and melting and... and..! B'jin shook his head vehemently and inched a small amount of space away from the other greenrider, clearly looking for an escape. Larrikith! A whine, that the dragon opted to answer with a delighted giggle. Oh no, no way. Suffer! the dragon sniggered again, clearly enjoying watching her rider squirm. B'jin whined, sulking unhappily.

“The Weyrlings are growing well.” B'jin stated, quite firmly.

Ali's eyes widened, obviously endeared by the way B'jin responded to his exaggerated teasing. B'jin was no different than a blushing virgin hold girl! It was precious! Ali certainly wouldn't have expected such shock and scandal from a weyrbred girl, much less a dragonrider, and a dragonrider of thirty turns at that!

"B'jin," A'liran said, trying to bite back his fond but biting laughter. He'd always admired how B'jin maintained his composure though the often challenging life of a greenrider, but this was just unprecedentedly adorable. "Are you actually embarrassed? You do know who I'm talking about, right?" B'jin and his younger man...Such a cradle-robber!

Ali watched B'jin, expression plain and serious as he analyzed B'jin's response. Was his fellow greenrider in some sort of world-ending denial? Surely not! Surely he was just being coy or modest or...or something. And if he wasn't, Ali wasn't sure if he was going to be able to not laugh. It would be a shame to humiliate B'jin or hurt his feelings, but come on man. Ali would have given his left ball to have a pretty younger bluerider on a leash like B'jin had.

His face was hot – he was quite sure it was that awful shade of dark red that was never attractive, on anyone, and certainly not on himself! – but he was completely unable to get control of it, and wide brown eyes stared at A’liran in horror when he pointedly ignored B’jin’s attempt to change the subject. When did he become so mean?! Irritation flared up suddenly, the fire most notable fuelled by Larrikith’s continued laughter in the back of his mind.

“Of course not,” he snapped, scowling and still refusing to meet A’liran’s eye as he glared just slightly to one side. A withering look was given to A’liran in response to his second question, while several biting retorts flickering through B’jin’s mind, before he opted with a disgusted sniff and huffed irritably. Larrikith was creeling with laughter, as she lay sprawled in the sun, little puffs of breathy amusement sounding.

“Little Araith is going to be a gorgeous green.” B’jin spoke pointedly, his voice irritable. He would have preferred to talk about Talian, but his little healer had developed a giant brown tumour and B’jin wasn’t in the mood to have A’liran mix that in with the topic of flights! The greenrider’s nose crinkled suddenly at the thought and he grimaced. Ugh! Larrikith’s laughter intensified and B’jin turned to shoot her a vicious look over his shoulder. Would you shut up?

He turned back to A’liran. “Very proportional. I don’t think she’ll be too small, either. Overall, she may well be the best dragon Krypth has clutched. Very nicely put together.” So is R’nd Larrikith put in, the green spluttering on laughter as B’jin froze, brown eyes going vague for a few moment - and then flushed crimson all over again, sinking into his seat with hunching shoulders.

A'liran wanted to keep the conversation on track, he really did. It was too funny to see B'jin blush and overreact to gossip that everyone already knew. It was cute to see him all defensive and evasive, but as much as Ali wanted to keep poking the fire, he could tell he was hitting the limit. He knew B'jin was riotously funny, but he also knew he was on the fragile side, and the last thing Ali wanted was to actually upset him. He did smirk once more and quirk his brows, but a brief and well-timed intervention from Astoreth was enough to deter him.

I guess I'll give the poor fuck a break he thought with amusement. How kind of you Astoreth said lightly, a hint of similar amusement lingering in her own voice.

Of course, the topic of weyrlings wasn't very exciting. A'liran frowned slowly and crossed his arms. "You warn the little greens about their maiden flights yet? You're smart, I'm sure you have..." he said, grumbling a bit as he thought about his own first flight. Now that had been terrible. Terrible His brows furrowed. He wouldn't be a very good weyrling master...he would sit and stress for his kids' safety going into that particularly terrible phase of development. He would also possibly punch some flight suitors.

"Which one do you think will go first? And who do you think will chase?"

“Not yet,” B’jin sighed, the direction A’liran turned the conversation in causing the greenrider to frown in a combination of worry and distress as he thought (for the umpteenth time) about that aspect of the particular job he had picked up. “They’re just on two months. I need them to focus on the basics, not horror stories. I have had a couple pipe up outside of lessons, though.” It was probably the thing B’jin was stressing about the most – besides teaching them all the fly between. Who in Faranth’s name thought up these lessons?

“If they’re lucky, none.” B’jin replied dryly, turning a droll look on A’liran. Of course, a whole class of green never taking to the sky wouldn’t reflect well on the rest of the greenriders, but it would save the kids the horror that was flightlust and all the mess it lead into. Right? Life would have been pretty grand if Larrikith lacked the desire for a good fuck at regular intervals. Then you wouldn’t have R’nd! She teased, highly amused at the irritable look B’jin threw her. Besides, she added, poking around in B’jin’s suddenly unguarded thoughts. He was quite happy to fly you without my being in the sky. Her words were a matter of fact statement, and B’jin shuddered as the image of S’kef flickered behind his eyes.

Another dirty look was given to the dragon, and B’jin shoved her quite forcefully out of his memories. “Hopefully, some of the nicer blues!” That went without saying, really. The likelihood of those dragons managing to snatch the young greens wasn’t really at a very high percentage. The only thing B’jin considered as bad as a nasty brown was another awkward virgin. While he knew all of his class had some idea of what to stick where, he wasn’t overly encouraged by most of them. Some of them were just clueless. Like you were any better.

Another filthy look was thrown at Larrikith, though the green just tilted her head innocently, batting her eyes and rumbling in amusement. Turning a frustrated, exasperated look on A’liran and rubbing at his temples B’jin gave a huffy sigh. “They all lost their virginity before I let them Touch the eggs, but I don’t know how many of them bothered to jump in bed with someone that wasn’t a girl.” B’jin was far from the most open minded about such exploits – despite his relationship with N’mall, and his new ‘thing’ with R’nd – but he did know that in a group of twenty odd young men, a lot of attitude had gone around about not needing to fool with another bloke, because he wouldn’t be Impressing a green.

Someone has to Impress green. A pause. Just no one we Search! B’jin ignored her.

A'liran frowned. He'd entered into the topic fairly casually, but it didn't take much to remind him just how ugly it could get. "...Is there anything you can do about it?" he asked. He didn't know enough about baby dragons or maiden flights to really know if there was anything a weyrling master could do. He just knew that if there was, his own weyrling master hadn't done it. He remembered Astoreth's first heat sneaking up on him and humiliating him in front of his whole class, and that wasn't even the worst maiden flight story he'd heard.

How much it had to suck, getting attached to a group of kids only to watch that happen. His lip twitched. "No such thing as a good bluerider," he said aloud, even though he didn't even quite believe that sentiment himself. If he pretended like he did, then ranting would at least make him feel a little bit better. He scowled a bit, then went back to stroking Lump.

New topic time. "How bout your kid with that fatass ugly brown?" he asked, lifting a brow.  He hoped to get good news on the subject, but honestly he expected it to just be Talian bullying greenriders and acting like an asshat now that he was a big bad brownrider...if not yet, then soon. It was the way of dragons, the cruel and inevitable facts of human nature! He leaned forward again, causing Lump to grunt in disdain. How dare his couch move?!

"People are talking about your boy's brown, you know. The way his hide is shaping up...reminds everyone of his sire." Tyrrisath.

“Unlikely,” B’jin grimaced. If D’ren had still been in power, he would have been able to appeal to the bronzerider for selected flight opportunities; grounding some of the less appropriate dragons – the inexperienced and those with bad reputations, primarily – but with S’kef in power, B’jin had no such illusions of controlling his kids’ first flights. He’d likely end up wheedling favours out of some of his past flight winners; some of them were actually half decent!

“I’m no good at predicting her flight,” an irritable nod towards Larrikith, who positively glowed with smugness – she loved fucking with his ability to predict her flights! It helped that B’jin was utterly convinced he’d never spent a day proddy in his entire life. If he wasn’t prepared to accept he could become proddy, then Larrikith was quite prepared to accept that he would never be able to outsmart her when it came to preparing for her flights. And it was so much more fun that way!

B’jin shrugged noncommittally at the dig against blueriders; he didn’t entirely believe it – R’nd and Valerian were lovely blueriders – but he also wasn’t prepared to ruin life by insisting they were decent, and be subjected to the crap his fellow greenriders would likely come up with – from teasing to tormenting – and B’jin rather enjoyed being left alone. Speaking of being left alone!

The greenrider lifted an irritable gaze to glare half-heartedly at I’shan, lips pursed grumpily. “Considering he’s only barely started to shed, that’s incredibly insightful of them,” B’jin snapped angrily; the dragonets would not be shedding properly for months yet, and people were already gossiping about Khaduceth’s hide? Of course they were! B’jin’s lips curled disdainfully and he snorted angrily. Some people needed to be tossed between to freeze!

Taking in a deep breath, B’jin shook his head and sighed it out. “Khaduceth is better proportioned.” Probably the best form of compliment the young dragonet would ever get out of the reluctant greenrider.

"Oh yeah," A'liran said, his own aggravation clearly aimed in the same direction as B'jin's. "People will talk about anything, you know...and when they aren't wagging their tongues about the maiden flights and who's sneaking smooches with who, they'll talk about whatever else. The second their hides start to peel, you just know everyone is yammering on about it." Granted, 'which dragon is prettier' was a less weighty topic than 'who is going to fly who'. It would figure that even a slightly interesting hide pattern would be enough to get the gossip rolling.

A'liran figured it had to do with T'lian's connection to B'jin, who had once been a notorious favorite of S'kef. It was a cruel joke of fate to give T'lian a brown dragon sired by Tyrrisath to begin with, but come on. A'liran would have thought it hilarious if he didn't pity them both so much!

"Well-proportioned and better tempered, though he royally pissed Ast off the one time she tried to talk to him," A'liran said. That had been a fun day. "She said he was an arrogant ass with a mean sense of humor." Typical brown, though Ali also had to wonder if Astoreth did anything to provoke him. She didn't have the best track record. He figured he should probably clarify that.

"Granted,' he said. "Ast was in heat and trying to flirt with him. Even if that little brown was old enough to care, I don't think he'd have looked at her twice. He looked so damn bored. Dunno about your kid, though. He was nowhere to be seen."

“He doesn’t talk to me,” B’jin shrugged, not at all distressed about that fact. He’d been bespoken by Tyrrisath enough to be quite sure that Khaduceth would probably sound incredibly similar to the slime ball sire, and B’jin hated being spoken to by other dragons – he absolutely loathed it the few times Tyrrisath had shoved into his mind. B’jin did not like sharing the confines of his skull with Larrikith. Having other dragon’s poking around in there was enough to send him off the deep end; after it frightened the fuck out of him!

The greenrider’s nose scrunched up at the idea of Astoreth hitting on a hatchling, and he eyed A’liran sceptically. “Your dragon has a worse ‘drive than you.” He was pretty sure A’liran was at least as bad as R’nd, when it came to hopping through beds, though B’jin knew by the whispers that A’liran had a solid case of ‘greenrider’. You’re one to talk. Larrikith injected snidely, though B’jin actually managed to ignore her, for the most part, and avoided flushing crimson. Instead, he snorted and raked a hand back through his hair.

“I should probably head back,” brown eyes rolled heaven ward, and B’jin’s nose scrunched up again for a moment. Amusement was clear, though, as he leaned backwards lazily before rocking forward again. “It’s almost lunchtime, and two of them have a habit of over feeding their hatchlings, one can’t chew to save himself, and the rest of them…” He shook his head, exasperated but hardly grumpy as he slowly stood up. He flashed a bright smile; despite the ups and downs of emotional turmoil A’liran had been able to bring about, B’jin had thoroughly enjoyed the past couple of hours, and the friendly warmth was genuine.

A mischievous sparkle lit up his eyes, expression playful. “Reckon I’shan owes us all dinner again.” He tossed a wink. While the last expedition had been less than thrilling – really! Strip poker?! – B’jin was pretty sure he could wheedle R’nd into begging a nice dinner out of I’shan at some point! He wasn’t really sure how well A’liran and I’shan got along, but having another greenrider along would be very good! He’d drag Par’a along, too, but she seemed to freak R’nd out for some reason. Probably those near-miss flights of theirs… Probably!

"Mkay," A'liran responded understandingly. He didn't really understand B'jin and the other greenrider was almost tragically easy to pick on, but A'liran's contentment was as sincere as B'jin's. Ali didn't get to talk to other greenriders as often as he wished, in spite of his natural tendency toward camaraderie with them. They were all in this together, right? B'jin was a strange one, but he was a good guy, and that was all that mattered to A'liran.

He rose to his feet and gave his fellow greenrider a polite nod. Lump hissed distastefully at having been dislodged from his sleeping place, but the little beast was comfortably atop A'liran's shoulder within moments. Ali reached up and thumped Lump's nose. 'Asshole," he scolded, before returning his attention to B'jin. "Nice talkin' to you, 'Jin. You take good care of those kids, you hear? If anyone in this shithole can, it's you." He meant it, too. Too many of the Katilans were bitter, with no love or respect for the next generation.  That would bite them in the ass when they all got old.

"Take care," A'liran said, smiling politely at the other greenrider before turning to walk away. He handed one last scrap of food to Lump, who eagerly snapped it up. Ali chuckled fondly. "You're a good Lump," he complimented. The flitter chirped in approval of Ali's happy thoughts, and as the greenrider walked away, he thought he could feel a little laughter trickling in from Astoreth as well.

What a nice day. Hopefully there would be more like it.