[G] [C] 733.06.18 | Solar Flare [Hatching]

He wasn’t too surprised to see Rhaedalyn had Impressed the little gold since she seemed to be exactly the type Those That Knew thought was perfect for such a delicate creature. It had still been a bet he wasn’t willing to place with D’hys though since Jisralna and even Mevrit at times seemed to be a good match as well. Then again, Jisralna just had a baby so maybe the dragonets sensed she wasn’t mentally prepared for the task of raising another creature just yet and went for the other pretty girl that seemed far too sweet to be real. Once, he had thought she was playing up the cutesy the attitude but he had quickly learned she was entirely genuine.

With the last shell left behind, Ryvian couldn’t believe he had called it and the clutch, minus the adorable gold, was made up of green. That meant they hadn’t missed out on much, right? “There’s always next time!” He said with his usual chipper voice several minutes later though Ryvian knew his brother would be the only one to know how forced it was. Another Hatching had come to a close and while it produced eight greens and a gold which he honestly had no desire to Impress with, it was still disappointing to not even be looked at again. The one that came racing between Nyvian and him had lifted his hopes for a brief shining moment but it was over before it really began and Nyvian was still Nyvian and he was still Ryvian and neither had to share their head with anyone else. It was horrible to say but he was glad he didn’t Impress alone and Nyvian was with him empty-handed.

Son of a bitch, Kerrin wasn’t though! Ryvian couldn’t believe he had missed that Impression given Kerrin was part of their little weyrbrat crew and they had grown up together. He was as outspoken as Indivara when they left a Hatching solo but there the bastard was with a green dancing around him and… Ryvian tensed as he saw Indivara run toward their friend and practically throw herself at Kerrin for a kiss. Ryvian wasn’t foolish enough to believe he had real feelings for Indivara and knew that while she was one of his closest friends and he was attracted to her, it was only a little crush. He also knew he didn’t have a chance with her but still he tried here and there in case the day of miracles happened and she wanted to sleep with him.

Psh appearing before his face, squealing her outrage at everything that was happening blocked Ryvian’s view of what happened to send Kerrin to the Sands and Indivara running. Did he reject her? Friend or not, he might have to kill Kerrin for that. He reached out and scooped up Psh, cradling her close for a moment as he tracked Indivara’s movements across the Sands for an exit. The gold flitter started squirming around in distress once Indivara was out of sight and Tryst appeared though Ryvian had no idea if Psh summoned him or if his emotions had been too strong for the blue to ignore. Either way, he now had two agitated flitters to contend with, a brother that hadn’t Impressed, a friend that had that seemed overcome with joy and had a bluerider assistant, and another friend that seemed upset. Who did he deal with first? His own disappointment and desire to nap after the long day and to hide away for a little way didn’t even factor into his plans as Ryvian put those of importance before him.

“Ny, you know I’m not abandoning you, right? I’ll be home soon for our traditional drink but I gotta check on Indivara. Congratulate Ker for me, okay?” He was close to hugging his twin but refrained, mostly because Psh was fidgeting and Tryst was encouraging him to hurry up as well. “And… I was foolish earlier. You’re destined for something greater.” Ryvian gave a secretive grin and took off after Indivara. Nyvian was his rock; steady and constant. He, on the other hand, was a bit wild despite his friendliness to nearly everyone. His brother was certain to get a brown, even a bronze! A green could never make the most out of Nyvian’s potential so it was clear now that this clutch wasn’t for either of them and nothing was truly lost.

Now, to find out what sent Indivara running and Ryvian had a good idea about where she might be – though the flitter escort certainly didn’t hurt either.

B’jin smiled effortlessly as R’nd dashed over to congratulate Kerrin; he didn’t bother to follow. As oblivious as B’jin could be, he wasn’t completely stupid and even he could pick up on the icy reception he sometimes got from the boy. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to upset the kid, but had decided to leave well enough alone and simply avoid him. With his mind still lingering on the promises of things to come that evening, B’jin shook his head and walked firmly in the direction Jisralna was currently being bustled around in.

B’jin didn’t really care for – nor think highly of – women as a whole. They had their roles to play, and most often B’jin preferred those roles be played away from him. Their voices were generally too high pitched, and they were either too mean, or too delicate to interest him as far as general company was concerned. Par’a (S’kef be damned) was one of very few that could convince her fellow greenrider that girls weren’t all bad. His daughter was a mixed bag; B’jin adored and spoiled her rotten, but his opinion on her general intelligence and likelihood to get anywhere in life that didn’t revolve around a rich husband was minimal.

Seeing a pretty little goldrider-to-be getting treated as a doormat by a green hatchling was horrifying for him (even if most of that horror came from what a blemish on his record searching a greenrider woman would be) and he could only imagine how upset a proper lady like Jisralna had been in the midst of all that. It was impossible for him to believe she hadn’t been terrified of Impressing the stupid little dragonet, and despite Larrikith’s obnoxious assurance that she had not made a mistake, B’jin was determined to reassure both himself and Jisralna that she was, indeed, a goldrider of the future – even if some other Searchrider had upstarted him and stolen the one in this clutch.

While B’jin was pissed that Jisralna hadn’t Impressed this gold – three in a row would have been amazing! – he was far more pleased that she hadn’t impressed that green! That would have been completely unacceptable, and B’jin could not process just how bad a blemish like that would have been. His entire record – both before and after the plague – included gold and bronze, with a few scattered browns; accepting a chromatic, especially one bonded to a woman, was just not possible! B’jin shuddered dramatically as he stopped by the small group.

A light hand touched Jisralna on the elbow, the greenrider’s face genuinely concerned as he shifted to look at Jisralna’s face. B’jin liked his candidates. He didn’t search many, and in fact only claimed a handful at Katila, something that resulted in him being able to keep an eye on (and in some cases befriend) the young men and women his dragon chose. “Are you okay?” Physically, mentally, emotionally; B’jin was quite sure the poor girl was going to be all over the place. He wasn’t a Healer – that was Talian’s job! – but he wouldn’t have been surprised if she was in some state of shock.

It had been one of the nights where Oahvakeen felt restless, alert, and unable to sleep. He decided he'd rather spend his time at the forge making dragon figurines than wrestling the covers and kneading the mattress with his rolling about. He'd dressed in the dark and headed back to the crafter hall. There, he worked into the wee hours of the morning, and finally returned home. He slipped into bed easily this time, not bothering to take off his clothes.

And then he was woken up an hour later for some kind of emergency. He'd thought there was a fire and they were all being ushered out of the Weyr. He'd followed the crowds, but when the crowds ended up in the hatching sands, he felt confused. He watched everyone watch the sands. And then he watched the sands. And then dread filled his stomach. It wasn't a fire, it was a hatching. He tried to stay away from everyone in a corner. And when the eggs stopped hatching, another sense of dread filled his stomach. Had all the eggs died? "They're dead...", he'd whispered. And then he'd run off to the bathrooms to evacuate his dinner at the thought of all those dead bodies entombed in shells, and how angry the gold would be that no one had helped. When he'd returned to everyone peacefully eating in the mess hall, he felt confused as ever. He decided that he was dreaming, found a corner, and began to snooze with his arms on the table and his face in his arms. It wasn't long before a line of drool snaked its way onto the table.

He was woken up again by a shuffling of the crowds. Mindless, and determined to do whatever was easiest, he followed. They ended up on the hatching sands again. A green dragon hatched legs first. He stared, horrified. A zombie dragon? A man went to assist it hatch and it hurried off in the opposite direction as fast as it could go. Dragons were hatching and running everywhere now. Zombie dragons. His face had turned a shade of pale avacado green. His overactive imagination had seized his sleep-deprived mind. He was distracted by a woman, Indivara, and watched horrified as she swore up and down about things he could not comprehend. Was this what hatching did to the women? Were they hating their peers? Indivara seemed to continue to spew angry things, and then ran away.

Oh, were they leaving now? He followed Indivara, dumbfounded, and too tired to think on his own. When he reached closer to where his dwelling place was, he turned and strode towards it, eyes barely open. He didn't remember collapsing onto his bed, clothes and shoes still on, and falling asleep again.

The Gold hadn't picked her. Instead, the little dragonet had gone straight for Rhaedalyn, her roommate and friend, and also the one person who seemed convinced that the Gold wouldn't pick her. Mevrit with simultaneously happy, stunned, and disappointed. The Gold had been her chance to Impress, to make a little something more out of herself than the average Weyrfolk. She was a born Trader, it wasn't so unusual that she'd want a little bit more for herself. Any dragon would do, but the Gold was her best chance. Greens were also known to sometimes Impress to women, and while that was even more rare, the entire clutch besides the Gold comprised of Greens. None of them had even looked that way.

Mevrit left the Hatching unmarred and unchanged, and it was the last thing she had wanted. She didn't feel like hiding her disappointment, perhaps she wasn't clever enough to. Of course, she had congratulated Rhaedalyn before the girl led her Gold off to bed. Of course she mustered up a smile for her friend! She was happy for Rhaedalyn, even though that meant the Gold that could have been her's was not. Well, if the Gold hadn't wanted her, it was a good thing she had wanted Rhaedalyn. Her friend would do good as a Goldrider, though that also meant Mevrit would need a new roommate. If she was lucky, they wouldn't find another girl to share her room with.

There'd be a lot less mess to clean up after!

She sighed at that thought, realizing that no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't think of the positives. She was disappointed in herself, especially since she had yet to attract the attention of any dragon. There were only a few more turns when she could Stand, and while that hadn't seemed like a problem before, now it was becoming one. The entire reason Mevrit wanted to Impress was because it made her being Stolen worth something. What was the point of being kidnapped if she didn't even Impress a dragon she was supposed to be Impressing! The worst part was that she couldn't tell herself to do better. There was nothing she could reasonably approve on that would attract a dragonet! Who knew what called one particular dragonet to one individual? If Mevrit had the answer, she would have done her best to improve the quality in herself already.

But, shells, it was a waiting game... and she loathed waiting.

Nyvian couldn't believe it! Eight out of nine eggs had been green. He stole a glance over to Krypth, silently wondering how in Faranth's name this had happened. If she hadn't laid a Gold egg, the entire clutch would have been a disappointment. Her first clutch had been promising, but either she was losing her touch prematurely or Saquith was never meant to sire dragonets. As much as S'kef bothered him at times, it was clear that Tyrrisath was a better father than N'gelt's dragon. He shook his head, and silently hoped the next clutch would fair better.

Of course, putting the blame on Krypth distracted him from the fact that while all the dragonets had been Green, he hadn't Impressed. Even Ryvian stood without a dragonet, and that hurt too. While he'd hate to be without his twin, he hated it even more that they had stood for yet another clutch and had won over no dragonets. Shells, he had good feelings about this clutch from the Touching. He had been convinced that this was his time to Impress! Nyvian tried not to look disappointed, not with his twin standing right beside him. He didn't want Ryvian to know that he was desperate enough to want a Green. He'd take any dragonet that would have him. "You said that last time," Nyvian teased his twin, masking his disappointment. Ryvian was a little more outgoing than him, but Nyvian was well known for being happy and a bit of a partier. Shells, the twins had similar personas, so much so that no one could really tell them apart.

There was an explosion of flitters around Ryvian, and Nyvian suspected before his twin turned to talk to him that Ryvian was going to take off. He flashed Ryvian a confident smile that he didn't quite know how he pulled the expression off. "I know you're not. You know better than to." While he wanted Ryvian's comfort, he certainly didn't need it. He'd let his twin go to comfort whatever distress Indivara had further caused herself. "Yeah, yeah, once I pry everyone else away from him," he answered in good humor, expecting Ryvian to take off at that point.

But, his twin didn't, and his next comment made Nyvian's smile falter momentarily. At this rate, he didn't think he was destined for any dragonet at all. He knew Ryvian was being upbeat for the both of them, and shells, Nyvian was trying to be too! But, it was hard. Hatchings always seemed to take the younger twin hard. He could accept sucking at anything else, but he really wanted to sharding Impress. All these Stolen Candidates were faring better than him! Nyvian shook off an impending bad mood, instead strutting across the Sands to be sharding happy for someone else. Kerrin had Impressed, and he intended to give the man congratulations twofold for the twin that had flaked off after Indivara!

Kahleena shrieked as the gold dragonet made her way over to Rhaedalyn, the girl completely oblivious to all else as she bounced on the spot in her excitement, arms gripping R’nya by the elbow with fingertips almost to the point of bruising. Tears of delight toppled down the girl’s cheeks as she squealed breathlessly ‘She did it! She did it!’ repeatedly, sobbing and laughing all at the same time.

The moment Rhaedalyn began to move to the side, Kahleena let go of R’nya’s arm and made a mad dash towards her friend. Kahleena was completely ignorant of all other activities on the sands as she shoved her way through the typical group of congratulators, barely waiting for I’shan to let go of Rhaedalyn before the young woman was throwing herself at her friend. Arms wrapped tightly around Rhaedalyn’s neck and she was crying and laughing again as she planted a kiss on Rhaedalyn’s cheek and finally let go of her friend, a thrilled and whispery “You did it!” all she managed to gasp out.

Hands clasped together before her chest, Kahleena simply beamed at her friend before carefully lowering herself to the ground, and grinning at the little dragon. She didn’t touch, hands folded together in her lap to prevent just that from happening, Kahleena was working very hard to keep from throwing her arms around the little dragonet and kissing her sweet face as well! “Oh, but you are amazing!” she crooned, bursting into a fresh wave of delighted tears.

Make roooooooom! Okalinath’s voice was a playful demand as she came prancing in through the entrance to the sands, and made her way over to where her human was causing a ruckus and Rhaedalyn had finally found the perfect dragonet to call her own! A croon of welcome was given to the youngster as Okalinath seated herself regally not far away, eyes a swirl of happy emotions. Oooh! Congratulate Rhae for meeeeee! Okalinath begged, reaching forward to blow warm air into Rhaedalyn’s hair; she wasn’t willing to bespeak her with a new hatchling. That seemed incredibly rude!

“She’s h-happ-py for y-you, t-t-too,” Kahleena stuttered, wiping anxiously at her teary face but smiling brilliantly and bubbling with joy and she was so pleased! The tears wouldn’t stop, but the smile never faltered.

R’nya flinched visibly with a sideways look at Kahleena when she screeched in his ear, the bronzerider’s expression flattening into a mild look as she bounced around, clinging to his arm and expressing far too many emotions for him to keep track of. Xyreith was throwing out some commentary in the back of his mind, but R’nya wasn’t listening as he too busy watching Kahleena suddenly run rapidly across the sands without an ounce of dignity and it took all of his to prevent himself from laughing at the pair of them.

The bronzerider followed at a much more sedate pace, weaving through the people milling around as the Hatching ended and finally reaching the elated group surrounding the newest goldrider. R’nya said nothing as he watched others congratulate the young woman, the bronzerider leaning down slightly to help the still sobbing Kahleena back onto her feet; she clung to him, but he had been expecting that.

When a little room around the new pair appeared, R’nya stepped forward into it, Kahleena letting him go enough to allow the movement but keeping a grip on his wrist as if her guardian bronzerider might vanish. With his free hand slipping forward to gently take Rhaedalyn’s elbow, R’nya leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on the young woman’s cheek. Stormy eyes were bright as he stepped back, murmuring a low pitched “Well done, Lady Rhaedalyn,” as he did so.