Accident and Emergency [Ryvian, Talian, Indivara]

"I agree," T'lian said softly, backing away from Isscer and seating himself on a nearby stool. "It's very hard." There was a hint of a sour note in his voice as his mind crept back to it's earlier days at Katila, with all their misery and loneliness. It wasn't a good place to be and certainly not something the young man enjoyed lingering on, but it was something he refused to let himself forget. He didn't want to be a betrayer, or a collaborator, or even insensitive. He remembered how difficult it had been for him, and how without B'jin or V'ler he might not have made it.

He shuddered to think about it now. That escape had seemed like the only possibility at the time. There were still days that he almost wished he'd succeeded, but for the most part, he breathed a sigh of relief every time he thought about it and reminded himself that he was alive and well today.

"Most of them don't understand why we didn't want to be selected. They grew up in this weird hideaway culture that values dragons above all else. I don't think we make much sense to them," he said with a lopsided, sarcastic smile. He almost felt bad for them. They had no concept of the wider world, and everything they did led towards that ultimate goal of being a dragonrider. It must have sucked to see unwilling candidates Impress instead, but more than anything he pitied how some of them wouldn't ever find their dragon. Poor fools.

As much as he still resented the leadership, he did figure Khaduceth was worth it in the long run. But that didn't mean the outcome would be the same for everyone else, and he knew how annoying it was to hear 'you'll see one day'. The same principle applied to unlucky northerners as it did to the Katilan-born; some of them never would know that bond. They will have lost turns of their lives for nothing.

It just sucked. T'lian could only hope that in some small way, he could help. After all, a lot of small acts added up for him.

He shrugged at the comment on Indivara. "I'm not too surprised. She acts like nothing fazes her.  Either it doesn't and she's exceptionally strong, or it does and she likes to hide it or mask it with anger," he replied gently. In that girl's case, going by his limited interactions with her, he was inclined to think it was a little bit of both? He wasn't even going to try and figure it out. It was what it was!

The next question caught his attention. He frowned a little, worried at the implications. "I could," he muttered. "I could almost feel it in my bones. It made me sick at night." He felt Khaduceth nudge against his mind, reassuring him. The brown still believed with all of his heart that he had saved the boy, but he didn't expect or even prefer T'lian to agree. The young man smiled at the gentle show of affection and looked back to Isscer. "That is what they say. About dragons showing up at any time, I mean. I'm not sure how much stock  I take in it, but I guess it really did feel that way to me. " He sighed a little, suspecting that any positive talk about Khaduceth might offend Isscer, who had always been awkward with him since thew hatching.

T'lian could remember feeling that way about Veeth. He regretted it now, but at the time he felt like he was protecting himself. What could he do about this?

He bit his lip. "....Would you...like to meet Khaduceth?" he asked. He realized quite suddenly that he sounded no better than B'jin had sounded harping on about Larrikith. "...I'm not trying to win you over, I swear! I just..want to..."

Prove to him that I haven't changed you. The brown's choice of words was simple, but elegant. It brought a smile to T'lian's face. "...I want you to see that he's not changed me," he said, repeating the dragon's phrasing and offering a silent thanks. Khaduceth was pleased. All that time watching people wasn't wasted after all!