Friends and...Acquaintances? [Z'ia]

Berani - Weyrbrat, age 3

Berani had snuck out from her babysitter's again, and was doing one of the things she loved best in life, exploring!!!  She slipped between the huts and found him again.  The blue dragon! 

She bounded up to him, the nearly four year old waving happily to the blue and offering him a piece of paper with a drawing of him as a gift.  She was careful, simply laying it where he could see it, near his foreleg.  She liked dragons and more over, she liked this dragon!  He was quiet and last few times she'd seen him he hadn't minded her sitting and playing quietly nearby. 

Berani didn't try and touch him, even she knew touching a strange dragon was going to upset dragon or rider most of the time.  This had been learned the hard way, as for every one that didn't mind, there were two that did.  That made it a bad idea.  Instead, she sat down about five feet away and started playing quietly, bouncing a ball off the wall of a nearby hut. 

She'd been playing for a bit when the ball bounced off the wall wrong, landing within a foot of the dragon.  She tipped her head, pointed at the ball and gave him a pleading look, wanting permission to get that close.  An angry brown had taught her recently that dragons had what her mother called a personal bubble.  Seh wasn't sure though if he'd been upset that she'd gotten too close, or if he'd been upset at having her little bouncy ball hit his nose as he was napping.  Just in case, she was careful with the pretty blue.

Z'ia? The young dragon's tone was somewhere between hesitant and amused as he poked at the edge of his rider's mind, before withdrawing sharply when he realised the young man was fast asleep, lost in a rather realistic dream. Aveleth paused, before peering into the land of Z'ia's imagination, watching the events in the dream unfold before scrunching his nose up and withdrawing. His human had such odd things going on in his mind that Aveleth was never quite sure if he ever wanted to understand. But he loved his human, and his odd quirks.

Giving his head a little shake, Aveleth settled his chin regally down upon his paws, and returned to watching the little girl that had joined him play her game. He wasn't quite sure how tossing a ball against a wall could be at all entertaining, even to such a youngster, but he supposed sleeping in the sunshine and daydreaming likely didn't sound all that appealing to her, either... The blue dragon quickly ended up lost down that train of thought, almost entirely forgetting about the little girl until the moment the sound stopped.

It took Aveleth a few moments before he realised the regular 'thunk' of the ball against the roof had stopped, and the blue dragon blinked, lifting his head up and turning his gaze on the spot where the child had been. She was giving him the oddest look! Aveleth blinked again, and then looked around, wondering if something had sprung up out of between to cause the girl to look at him so oddly. It took him a moment before he realised she was also pointing at something; eyes coloured with confusion followed the girl's pointing finger.

... More blinking resulted from Aveleth as he peered at the ball, and then back at the girl. His gaze dropped back to the ball. Did she want him to play with her? He considered that for a moment, clearly very thoughtful. While Aveleth knew that he could speak to the child and she would likely speak back, he was not one to bounce around bespeaking just anyone, and in fact had bespoken less than five people in his lifetime. Bespeaking a child wasn't really at the top of his list and not something he considered. The fact that the child had never spoken, and actually seemed quite happy to not speak, worked for Aveleth. He enjoyed her odd little communication methods of pointing at things.

Except at moments like this, when he wasn't quite sure what she wanted. Deciding after a rather hefty pause that she wanted him to play with her, Aveleth stretched his nose forward and blew a strong breath onto the ball, forcing it to roll back towards the child. Then he sat back, lifting his head up and tilting it to one side as he stared back at the child with his best interpretation of the expression she'd just been levelling on him.

Berani - Weyrbrat, age 3

Berani was used to miscommunications by now.  Sometimes the results were well worth the frustration that came from them.  This was such a time.  The pause had made her think she would lose her ball and she would have been sad, but she knew her mother kept a stash of them handy, since both her and Shanith tended to love the toys, and both often lost them.  Or in the dragon's case, broke them.  Losing the ball wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen, just annoying, really.

But he finally lowered his head and blew the ball right at her, then looked at her as if inviting her to play.  Berani beamed at him, her smile wide and delighted, giving the ball a firm nudge, rolling it right back to him. 

She already liked him, but she would like him alot if he played with her!  Olemuth was boring and Shanith was too bouncy to be fun to play with.  Berani didn't like almost getting stepped on, or knocked over by the excited green.  The dogs that Ravana tried to help with were okay, but not nearly as wonderful as a dragon.  Dragons could offer up their own ideas for play.  And you didn't have to spend hours training them to bring you the ball back once they had it too.

Dragons were better.  And she liked this one.  He didn't seem likely to squish her.  Berani would giggle if the ball came back, instantly rolling it back to the blue, plainly enjoying the game.  On that roll, she got a bit excited, accidentally bouncing the ball a bit.  She gave him an apologetic look, sorry that the ball had bounced lightly against his foreleg.  You weren't supposed to touch dragons without permission!  But did touching them with a ball count?

Aveleth crooned softly when the little child beamed at him, the blue dragon's eyes shifting from confused colours to those of gentle pleasure and joy, watching as the girl shifted to collect the ball he had blown to her, and rumbled very softly when the ball came back swiftly. Aveleth had never played with a human child before, since Z'ia seemed to be repelled by them and Aveleth was not nearly confident enough to actively seek out the company of children; besides, children tended to be loud, obnoxious and outrageous in their delight with screaming and cheering and talking. This little girl had always been silent when she sat near him, and Aveleth enjoyed the silnce.

The child didn't appear to think very loudly -  not like Rheadalyn, who had such wonderful thoughts to listen to - but neither did she speak. Aveleth didn't really put much weight on that, after all, he thought very quietly and very rarely spoke himself. Why shouldn't a human be like that, too? It was a little odd to him that a rugrat should be so content in silence, but he was certainly not about to object, as he lowered his nose and one more blew the ball back to her. He liked the child's quiet company. It was pleasant, and enjoyable, and she didn't irk Z'ia (to be fair, Aveleth wasn't even sure Z'ia had ever realised the child was actually there), which was definitely a bonus.

Waiting patiently for the ball to come back, Aveleth was slightlys urprised when it came to him bouncing and bopped against his leg. The blue dragon tilted his head to look at it, before glancing back at Berani, eyes sparkling wtih curiosity as he tried to figure out if what had happened had been intentional - and thus, that he was supposed to bounce the ball, too - or an accident. The little girl looked somewhat worried, and so Aveleth assumed that it was an accident. That was okay, because he wasn't qutie sure how to even start thinking about getting the ball to bounce. He really didn't want to swallow it by aciddent by picking it up. It likely wouldn't taste very good!

Lowering his nose, Aveleth nudged the ball back towards the little girl, eyes still gentle and happy blues and greens as his tail twitched at his side, tip flicking up and down, the young dragon clearly enjoying himself. He was, in fact, enjoying himself enough that he was unaware of Z'ia returnign to the world ofconsciousness; his nap hadn't been planned, but he had enjoyed it and the quiet wandering around his hut finally lead him to a window, and the tiny bluerider peered out with slightly upraised eyebrows as he watched Aveleth flick a ball back and forth with some child or another; the brat was obviously a girl but that was all Z'ia knew. He had no idea to whom she belonged, and really didn't care. While she wasn't upsetting his dragon, he was content to leave them alone.

Wandering out a few minutes later, Z'ia flopped down on the front step of his hut, kicked his feet up  so he was leaning against one side of the frame, and his legs were perched up in the other, and watched his dragon play catch with a random brat while sipping quietly on a glass of juice. He made no comment - vocally or mentally - and wasn't sure either noticed his presence; Aveleth, at least, was very absorbed in his game.

Blues and greens were happy colors to see in a dragon's eyes and for Berani, it felt good to see them.  She liked playing like this, nice and quiet.  She would roll the small ball back and forth with the pretty blue for a little while, her focus solely on the game, her grin never leaving her face. 

Twice, she go too excited and bounced the ball a tiny bit but both times it was handled well by the pretty blue.  The third time however, the toddler rolled it too hard and at the wrong angle.  It bounced off Aveleth and landed against the hut. Berani stood to chase it, bringing it back to the game when she noticed a man watching her. 

It was the one she had mentally dubbed 'Bouncey' because he seldom seemed to sit still and often seemed to bounce rather than walk.  Why was he watching though?  Was he the blue's person?  She paused then gathered up her ball, brushing the dirt off of it.  She didn't want to get the pretty blue dirty!

She came right up to the man, and solemnly offered him the ball, inviting him to play with them.  Maybe he was watching because he wanted to play? 

Up close, she showed wild curls that sprang loose from the ribbon keeping them tied back, brightly colored overalls and matching top, a cheerful smile and the gangly look of a child that would take awhile to grow into herself.  She was patient, letting him decide and hoping he didn't mind her playing with his pretty blue!  Maybe he wouldn't.  Bouncey never seemed angry, after all.

Z'ia was far more focused on his own thoughts than he was the little game being played between his dragon and the young child. There were things still to be done that evening and he had tasks to prepare for hte next day and it was such things which were occupying his brainspace in those moments, the glass of juice being twisted idly between his hands as the cool liquid caused little dew drops of water to form on the outside and run down the glass, occassionally dripping little drops onto his lap. Z'ia seemed oblivious to that, too, unconcerned with a little bit of water.

Z'ia? The bluerider startled slightly, looking up wtih an unfocused expression when his name was called gently by his dragon, to see a little girl - the one from earlier, that was supposed to be playing with his dragon - staring up at him with an extended ball. Z'ia stared at her, then at the ball, than back at the little girl. It was clear from the markings and the girl's fingers that she had brushed the dirt off the ball before bringing it over, but Z'ia was incredibly disinclined to touch it. "It's very pretty." Deadpanning was not something Z'ia took part in very often, but it flowed freely from his tongue in that moment, dark green eyes staring flatly at the child.

I think she wants you to play with us. The amusement that lingered on the edges of Aveleth's voice was not missed by Z'ia, any more than the dragon missed the way that flat expression was slowly turned in his direction. Aveleth rumbled with soft laughter, flicking the tip of his tail and shaking his head. The little girl needed to come back and play with him, because Z'ia was clearly in no mood to play games. Usually, the young man would have played along, notably so to keep up his own reputation, but Aveleth was also aware of how oddly disinclined his rider was to be around children. He'd never gotten any answer as to why, and he wasn't even sure Z'ia knew why he avoided the little brats. Probably afraid he'd break one. Or infect it with his need to jump off high places.

Berani knew when she was being patronised by an adult, though not the word for it.  It happened too often for her not to, and was the biggest reason why she was picky about what adults she liked.  Being young, there wasn't much she could do if she didn't like someone, other than make a note of not liking them.  She gave Bouncey a look that said plainly that she knew she was being humored and went back to play with the pretty blue.

It was alright he didn't want to play though, and apparent he didn't mind her playing with his dragon.  That was enough to cheer her up, her momentary frustration over being patronised by another adult fading.  She wished she could ask the dragon's name though.  Oh well, she would either ask her mother, or give him an appropriate name.

She settled back on the ground, lightly rolling the ball to the dragon, offering him a smile.  He was fun to play with.  She let herself settle back into the game, playing carefully with the blue, and occasionally chasing the ball down when it rolled in the wrong direction. 

She was unaware of her mother approaching, watching for a long moment, then plopping herself on the ground under a nearby tree.  A book would appear in Ravana's hands and she would settle to read, though someone watching would note that a page seldom turned for a little while.  She trusted Aveleth but would watch a moment before relaxing enough to truly read a few moments later.

Z'ia dismissed the look the child gave him, going back to his inner thoughts and sipping quietly on his drink as the little girl toddled back to play with his dragon. It would be nice if all children were as quiet. No talking. No squealing. No obnoxious laughter that burned his ears. Z'ia flicked a look in the child's direction one last time before dismissing the little imp entierly and letting his mind wander vaguely; he didn't even notice Ravana join them not far away, which was saying something. Usually, Z'ia was much more aware of his surroundings.

Aveleth enjoyed the child too, for much the same reasons that Z'ia did. She was quiet, and calm and did not seem inclined to blow up in an explosion of screaming, squealing, pinching or other extreme actions that most children were usually prone to doing. She seemed content to just toss the ball back and forward with him, and Aveleth was more than happy to play the easy, quiet game with the little one.  She was sweet, and when she continued to play so quietly, curiosity got the better of him and he brushed lightly against her mind, too soft for her to notice as he peeked at the edges.

The girls' mind was alive with thoughts that never made it to her lips, and that cause Aveleth to tilt his head curiously; he wasn't sure why the little one was disinclined to speak, and didn't dip enough into her mindspace to figure out what she was thinking, nor did he speak to her - he simply dropped close enough to see that she did have an active mind, even if her actions and her movements were simple and thought out and incredibly quiet. She was a strange little child, and Aveleth liked her.

Aveleth was likely the only one that noticed Ravana's approach, and he new immediately that she was the child's mother, though he wasn't exactly aware of how he knew that. He paused, the ball under his chin as he watched the greenrider settle herself down and fidget with a book, though she didn't look as if she were putting a whole lot of effort into the reading part for the time being. Aveleth considered alerting Z'ia to the woman's presence, but opted not to after a moment of thought. Instead, he lowered his nose once more and nudged the ball towards the child.

I'm Aveleth. His voice was barely a whisper against the surface of the child's mind, and he watched carefully to see how she would react to his speakign to her, before he would speak any more. The blue dragon's eyes whirled a multitude of colours, swirling from content to worried to curious to happy and all over again, a rainbow of odd combinations.

Berani Weyrbrat, Age 3

The dragon paused, making Berani look around.  She saw her mother, but as she was reading, figured she wasn't in trouble and thus could go on playing. 

She returned her attention to the pretty blue just in time to see him nudge the ball back to her.  She put her hands on it, and froze.  Brown eyes flicked up to the dragon and she knew from his way of sitting that she hadn't imagined it.

The voice was definitely masculine, almost hesitant and whispery.  She watched the whirling of the dragon's eyes, then concentrated.  Her ability to speak to dragons seemed to vary, depending on whether the being in question was paying attention, whether they wanted to listen, and other things that she wasn't yet sure of.  She did know what she'd been told by B'run were the basics. 

One thought needed to be thought louder than the other thoughts, and you had to want the dragon to hear it.  The rest was up to the dragon.  It was hit and miss, but far less hit and miss than conversations with human people, which mostly depended on how well they played charades.

She focused on her thought once she knew what to tell him.  That's a pretty name.  I'm Berani.  Her voice was light, joy shining through it like sunlight through the crowds.  She hesitated then rolled the ball back to him.  Thank you.

Ravana watched awhile longer, then settled to reading content her baby was safe in Aveleth's han...paws.  And more importantly she didn't think Z'ia had even noticed Berani.  She didn't want the bluerider teaching her daughter his idea of fun, whatever it was!  But since he wasn't, she was happy to read under the tree, eyes flicking up to watch a bit before she turned pages on occasion.

Aveleth snorted in surprise, not having expected the response from the child to come on the silence of a thought rather than the soft tone of a physical voice. His eyes swirled various colours as Z’ia tilted his head slightly and frowned at the pair before returning his attention to he mug he held between his hands. Aveleth snorted again, but it wasn’t unhappy, rather amused and curious as he tilted his head and extended his nose, though he wasn’t nearly close enough to actually snuffle the child.

Aveleth shifted a paw to lightly catch the ball between it and the ground, holding it hostage for several moment as he considered the child and her funny silence. She was very strange! Most children would take any excuse to be extremely loud, which was why both Aveleth and Z’ia almost always went out of their way to avoid them as much as possible. Then there was this child, so incredibly quiet, who would clearly rather work to make her thoughts heard, than to speak with her voice.

Aveleth was intrigued!

You’re welcome, the blue whispered back, finally nudging the little ball back to the toddler, still watching her thoughtfully. What an oddly curious child. The dragon lifted his head slightly to eye Z’ia over his shoulder, eyes sparkling with sudden and bright amusement as he teased his rider. Clearly not one of yours! the dragon chirped out loud at his own joke, turning back to Berani with a soft rumble of amusement.

While the blue wanted to know why the little girl didn’t speak like the other children he had seen around, he didn’t have the nerve to actually ask her himself. He was not an intrusive creature to begin with, and he’d already gone well outside his own realms of comfort and expectation by speaking to her at all – to ask her questions! Aveleth was scandalised by the mere thought of such a thing, never mind actually following through on it.

On the door step, Z’ia finished the last of his drink and considered the little party that was gathering in his yard. Clearly he would need to put a stop to it before anyone else came along and decided to join in the festivities; especially since it was quite clearly not going to be the type of party he most enjoyed! Standing up, Z’ia returned into his hut to put the mug in the sink, before making his way back to the door. Reaching it, he leaned his right shoulder against the frame, and stared at Ravana with raised eyebrows, and waited.

(Berani) Weyrbrat, Age 3

Berani tilted her head as her ball was claimed for a few moments, brown eyes watching the blue dragon carefully.  She caught the ball ably, and held it as the dragon turned to look at his rider. 

The chirp made her wonder if he had joked about her, then she dismissed the thought.  She returned her focus to the quiet little game, the toddler grinning at the blue dragon. 

Berani would play a little longer before she felt a hand on her head.  She looked up and smiled at her mother, forgetting she was likely to be in trouble.  Ravana smiled down at her daughter, gently ruffling her brown curly hair.

"You really shouldn't wander off when I have someone watch you.  When I leave you with someone, I worry if you aren't there when I get back."  Berani's face fell.  Her mother gently hooked a finger under her chin and added wryly, "But...Since you were forgotten by the one responsible for you, I guess I can't be too upset with you."

She watched her mother turn to the blue, and smile at him.  "Thank you, Aveleth.  It was wonderful to see Berani as happy as she was playing with you today."  Berani watched sadly as she finished crossing the yard to stand in front of the bluerider.  It looked like playtime was over. 

She could see tension in her mother's step and watched her quietly.  She didn't understand that.  She'd had fun, the dragon had enjoyed the game too...so what was the issue?  She looked up to the dragon then scooted an inch or two closer to him. 

Ravana settled before Z'ia.  Blueriders.  What was it with her and winding up around so many blueriders lately?  D'hys was more bluerider than any one person could handle and now she was about to ask Z'ia for a favor!

She looked up at him, debating for a long moment.  Finally, she asked, "Is there anything I can do to thank you and your dragon for unexpectedly watching Berani today?"

Z’ia lifted his gaze from staring at nothing to search out the source of his dragon’s sudden discontent, watching as Ravana spoke to the blue. Aveleth had withdrawn at the attention, curling in on himself as he watched the greenrider with clear wariness, unsure if he were in trouble or not and unsure how to handle the situation. Had he over stepped some boundary, by speaking to the child? While she did not yell, and her words were certainly nothing short of positive, Aveleth could not find the confidence to relax until she moved towards Z’ia.

Z’ia’s steady gaze never waved as Ravana approached him, nothing readable in the dark green of his eyes as he waited, with remarkable patience, for the woman to speak. Of course, being bonded to Aveleth, one would expect nothing less than extraordinary amounts of patience and understanding. Z’ia had long discovered that being bonded to the blue was both a blessing and a curse; the sweet natured creature helped fuel the opinion most everyone in the Weyr had, that Z’ia was an adorable, playful fellow without a bad bone in his body. Unfortunately, that same sweetness in Aveleth meant that when Z’ia did enact upon those things that he was so inclined to do, it caused the beast no small amount of distress.

It was a difficult life to balance, but Z’ia had always been prone to games of chance.

An eyebrow arched at Ravana’s question and Z’ia studied her further for several quiet moments, wondering if the woman was asking with some angle behind the request, or if she were openly genuine in it. From what D’hys had said of the woman, and what he himself had seen, Z’ia was disinclined to paint her as a manipulative sort. Then again, that was most people’s opinion of himself, and if he could so suitably deceive a population as large as Katila (well, for the most part), then why not someone like Ravana?

He licked his lips silently, before shifting the cup he held and finally speaking. “I did nothing,” Z’ia pointed out, leaving unsaid that he probably would not have bothered to toss water on the brat if she had somehow lit herself on fire, though undoubtedly Aveleth would have forced him. Not that Ravana needed to know that, of course. Let her continue to think he was as charming as he was good looking. “You should save your favours for those that have earned them.” Not that Z’ia was disinclined to have the woman in his debt, if he could manage it. He was very similar to D’hys, in that way, he supposed, but that could have been due to the elder bluerider’s influence over the past several years.

“She didn’t upset Aveleth,” which was probably as close as Ravana would get to Z’ia saying that his dragon would be happy to baby sit the child again, should the need arise. He wasn’t about to actually offer, however; Z’ia hated being put in situations that could create ‘you promised’ or ‘but you said’s being thrown around. While he didn’t do any such thing physically, Aveleth was given a very dirty mental look; save the bloody goldrider. Pah!

@badgerstripes @Honey Love

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