A sigh of relief [Vaelya]

It had been hard getting Vaelya to finally settle down and agree to keep standing. It had taken all of his considerable charm to get her to stay with him that night and the next. The first night had been a study in patience for the brownrider but his patience had paid off. For both of them. It had been a long time coming and completely worth the wait. It was something he would ensure happened much more often. The following day was spent in preparation for the celebration to come. He'd been so very proud of his boy when Leyton - L'ton now - had impressed and to a brown no less! Ironth had rumbled his delight in the russet brown hatchling and had promptly informed his rider that Kaliqueth and L'ton were perfectly suited. Some how he'd managed to drag Vaelya and Evritt to his home once again. And then chaos had erupted.

Dragon's keening and Ironth's desperate voice had woken him. A quick and panicked explanation from the brown had put it all in perspective. It hadn't taken long for him to stuff Vaelya, her son and that fragile little gift he had for her onto the back of Ironth. Demands to keep them safe were agreed too and they had gone off. Of course the brown had come back with an empty back and assurances that Vaelya and her son were quite safe and out of harms way, but that he was needed here - thank you very much - and he would stay at his rider's side. 

A black eye and a deep gash in Ironth's thigh later, K'ton and his brown lay together panting from their exertions and the dregs of their left over panic. He worried now. He had spotted a familiar dark haired sight sometime ago and kicked himself. He should have known his Vaelya wouldn't stay where she was left. Should've known she would be in the thick of things, helping where she was needed. Do not beat yourself up too bad, the brown murmured, She is not easily swayed and nothing you could have said would have kept her where I left her. K'ton muttered his agreement. Besides.. She is making her way here now so you will have plenty of time to chastise her.

He perked up and winced. The various bruises and scraps he had received digging people out were rearing their ugly heads. His back ached and he face stung and he could feel the pain of Ironth's leg like it had been his own. He hoped she brought some sort of healers kit. Ironth's leg needed mended and he could use some numbweed for his throbbing face.

Vaeyla had had a pretty rough couple nights. First having been woken up in the middle of the night for a hatching, that she once again had failed to Impress at. She knew she was doomed to never Impress, why she kept allowing herself to be put through the torture she really didn't know, but she did. Each time she tried to be as happy and cheerful as ever, and she always went into it full of hope, only to be let down when the gold chose another. Her grandmother, if she was even still alive, would have been so ashamed of her, she just knew it. Luckily for her she had Evritt, otherwise she might have just given up on everything. Well, she had him and K'ton. She had allowed him to convince her to stay with him after the hatching. She shouldn't have done it, but she had been so upset and depressed she hadn't the fight to refuse him more than a dozen times. She had finally packed herself some things, as well as some things for Evritt and they had spent the rest of that night with him. She had given the poor man hell, she knew, and in the end she had given in. The walls around her heart that the man had been working on breaking down for Turns, had finally crashed, and in the morning she had found that she hadn't regretted it, and was more than willing to allow it to happen again, though she wasn't going to tell him that!

She had gone away from his hut nearly smiling, but her heart was still sad. She, like all the other candidates who hadn't Impressed, helped with eh preparations for the feast. She had given Evritt over to the creche as she often did and headed off for a day of peeling, cutting, cooking, and cleaning. She wasn't looking forward to it at all, being around all the happy excited chatter, while some shot her looks of pity or amusement. Either way she would have much preferred being as far away as possible. She had lightened up some as the day went on, she had even gone so far as to congratulate Casa and L'ton, K'ton's son for his Impression to a fine brown. She was exhausted however by the end of the day and allowed herself and Evritt to once again be swept off to spend another night with K'ton, which Evritt was more than excited about. She had even managed to tease K'ton that her son liked him more than he liked her. Once Evritt was asleep she had allowed herself to be pulled to bed and had, after some time, managed to find sleep. It did not last.

She wasn't quite sure when it started, nor what had caused it but the keening of dragons reverberating through the hut had woken Vee with a scream. Her screaming and the cries of dragons had woken and terrified her son, who started screaming. She instantly dove for him, bundling him up and clutching him to her chest, rocking him, trying to calm him, all the while wishing she could block the pained and sorrowful sound coming from everywhere. The sound broke her heart into pieces, she had never heard anything like it. Before she knew it, K'ton gave her a hurried explanation and dragged her and Evritt to Ironth, and up onto his back. She didn't entirely understand, only that people were dying, dragons, riders, and non riders alike, and there was no reason why. She had been afraid when Ironth took off without K'ton, but she had been left in relative safety with a few others, only to see Ironth take off again.

Some time later someone had a few glow baskets and there was a group of people huddled around on the ground, some wrapped in blankets, others simply holding children. More people were brought to them, dirty and damaged. A young girl was brought to them by K'ton, probably around L'ton's age, half covered in mud and shivering. She was very sternly told to stay put before, as was the girl he dropped off, then went off again. Evritt had calmed down some and was playing with another toddler so Vee made a choice that she was certain K'ton would kill her for. She asked the mud covered girl, Kellian apparently, if she was able to watch the children. When given a yes for answer, Vee gave her the blanket she had gad wrapped around her and Evritt, gave her some quick advice, then went off to help where she could.

Several hours later the sun was up and she was mostly covered in dirt and mud, exhausted, and banged up. Her right arm was thickly bandaged, there was a bruise and scratches on her upper left arm and the sleeve of her tunic was torn. She had dirt and mud smeared over her face and she couldn't count the placed that just plain ached. She had been digging people, out, had been clawed by firelizards, kicked by children who were scared, tripped on a dragon tail, and run into more people than she cared to count. The majority of the larger tasks were taken care of, most of the worst injuries were being handled by those with actual skill. She had been permitted a small amount of medical supplies to help those with scrapes and minor cuts, so when she had spotted K'ton laying on the ground beside a wounded Ironth she used what little energy she had left to half run, half walk to their side.

"K'ton!", she said, voice full of concern as she dropped to his side, dark eyes flying over his bruises and and scrapes. She gave his black eye a look and absently felt around for the jar of numbweed. "What have you done to yourself...and what happened to Ironth? Is he going to be alright? I can't leave the two of you alone for one minute!", she fussed at them as she slapped one of K'ton's hands, which had been reaching for the jar in her hands.

He grinned at her around the mud that covered his face. Hands reached for the numb weed pot and were slapped away and he chuckled. "Ironth will be fine, if you've got a bit of thread and a needle in that little kit of yours," he assured her. The gash was nothing to the brownrider though he knew it hurt horribly. The felines that he had put down while they had been exiled, had done much more extensive damage to Ironth that a bit of tree ever could. K'ton refused to think about what could have happened when the tree had struck Ironth the man lived far too often in the moment for what ifs to play to large a part of his life. A life he enjoyed, the good and the bad parts of it.

"Evritt and your egg?" he asked quietly as he slipped away from the brown to look at her, really look at her. She was a fright. Hair a mess, covered in mud but his eyes raked over her in an attempt to assure himself she was alright. He frowned at the dingy bandaged that had been applied to her arm. "The same could be said for yourself, Miss. Vaelya!" he barked, "What happened to your arm?" His words were sharp and curt. She should have stayed where Ironth had put her, the last place he had seen her. She'd been safe there.

"What were you thinking, Vee?" She could have died! She could have been so irreversibly injured that she could have died! For a man who was unconcerned for his own safety and a brown that rumbled with discontent at the sight of the bloodstains on the rag covering her injury it didn't take long to play the what if game. But she did not K'ton, Ironth growled, She did not and she's here and well. It was suddenly almost too much. He shuddered as he forced his mind to go somewhere else and with a short breath he gathered Vaelya into his arms.

"Don't do that again," he demanded on a choked whisper as he held her tight, "Just. Don't do that again."

How could one man be so charming and handsome when covered in mud, muck, and....was that blood?! Her anxiety level rose some as she worked on cleaning up some of his scratches and cuts. She had paid close attention to one of the healers, not that she didn't know how to handle such things, but she hadn't wanted to cause any harm. So she did as she had been shown, and was reaching out to check his eye when he spoke and asked for thread and needle. "Oh..Uhh..", she stammered out before withdrawing her hand and opening the pack. She withdrew a small bundle that had some thick thread hanging from it and handed it over. "This should do it, though another rider grabbed it from me earlier and brought it back a fair bit lighter. I hope it has what you need...if not I will go find someone who can help.", she said, looking up at Ironth as she did so. "You have to be more careful Ironth! You're too handsome to be beat up, and I need you to help me keep K'ton out of trouble!", she teased both of them, though there was clear concern in her voice.

When asked about Everitt and the egg he had given her she gave him a small smile and turned her head, giving a worried glance toward where she had left Everitt. She hoped he was behaving for the young girl she had left him with, she had seemed responsible enough to handle him. "Everitt is alright, I left him with a girl...Kel..Kelan..no...Kellian. He was asleep when I gave him to her to watch, she said she could handle it. I hope he is behaving. Oh, and my egg is here, with me." She took the egg from inside the pack of medical supplies and showed it to him. "See? Everything is good.", she said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. It apparently didn't work, as K'ton then started to fuss over her.

She waved a hand at K'ton when he protested after looking her over a fair bit. "I am fine!", she said defensively, narrowing her eyes just slightly. "You're the important one, you need to be taken care of, I will be fine.", she snapped back at him, slightly annoyed that he was fussing about her. She wasn't a dragonrider, her safety meant nothing next to his, and true he had no life threatening injuries, but a fever could come from anywhere. She huffed softly and looked down at her arm. Dark eyes looked back up at him apologetically as she spoke. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap, but I am okay. It was just an upset firelizard, she thought I was the cause of her owner hurting because I was trying to help. That's all...I'm...I'm fine. I'm okay." She suddenly felt very tired and mentally exhausted.

She had seen death all around, severe injuries, mild injuries, dragons hurt or dead, firelizards and dogs dead. She knew several of the newly Impressed pairs were gone. It all made her heart hurt so much that when he asked her what she had been thinking she dropped her head, lips trembling slightly. "I..I couldn't just...there was so much...people needed help. I couldn't not help..." She wrapped her uninjured arm around her middle and felt as if there was a huge weight settling on her chest. Then she felt him wrap his arms around her tightly and she trembled slightly as tears started to burn her eyes. It was all so terribly sad, and she had done her best to block it out while she was trying to help. Keeping busy had helped, but now that she wasn't running around in the thick of things, now that she was where she wanted to be, beside K'ton, she let the sadness consume her as she let out a small sob.

His words didn't help her emotions any, and tears continued to slip from her eyes as she shook her head a little.  Had their been strangled emotion in his voice? She thought there had been, and that did something to her heart, which was already hurting so much. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry. I won't, I promise.", she answered quietly, and wrapped her arms around his waist, her forehead pressed against his shoulder.

Never in a million years would he have known he would be where he was now. Never would he have thought that another person would be so integral, so important in his life. Ironth was there, a bright shining beacon in his mind. The brown would always be there, had always been there even through the roughest parts of their lives, but K'ton had been missing something that he hadn't even known he'd needed. The warmth of another human body. It hadn't been so important to him not long ago. His chase of Vaelya had been one of fun, one that should have ended differently, each going there own way with a smile on their lips but it hadn't. The chase had turned into something much more, the ending something staggering. He had grown to care about this woman more than he could possibly imagine.

His arms tightened against her as she laid her cheek against his chest. "You're important, Vee. You're so important and you don't even realize it," he said quietly against her hair. Ironth rumbled from beside them, his eyes shining with the depth of his own love for these two humans. The brown had despaired that K'ton would never come to realize how much he needed Vaelya and Ironth had been hard pressed to make him understand it. Despite the death and chaos that the night had created it had opened eyes to something new and wonderful and Ironth would always be grateful.

He moved her then, to gaze into her face. A wry smile and his thumb moved to rub the tears from her cheeks. He could feel the dull ache of Ironth's leg and he grimaced. "Come and help me. Tell me about all the people you saved with your little kit," he told her as he moved to take the kit from her. Rummaging through the little pack he nearly whooped when he found the fragile needle thorn and thread. He glanced back at her as he smeared numb weed across the gash and jerked his head, "Talk to him while I sew him up."

Smooth efficient movements drew the thread through numb hide. He was thankful for the small lessons he'd received during weyrlinghood, training he hoped Vaelya would someday have, that L'ton was bound to go through. His weyrlingmaster had wanted all of his weyrlings to know the basics of dragon healing and that included stitching tears and cuts. It had saved Ironth's life on multiple occasions during their exile and run ins with felines and wild whers. He didn't look at her as he tugged the thread to begin to close the gash, "I can't lose you Vee. I've lost to many people in my life, important people and I couldn't take it if I lost you too." His words were spoken quietly and gave him a start at how very true they actually rang. 

Vee had always had a soft spot for K'ton, he was a very handsome and very charming mess of a man, but there had always been something that drew her to him. Even though she had always known all he had wanted was to bed her and go his own way, she had amused herself with his attentions, even though she had often acted like she disregarded them. She had neither really wanted his attention, nor had she encouraged them, there apparently was something challenging about her continually refusing him. How she had let his charms win her over, how she had let his steal little pieces of her heart with their banter, their talks, his kindness to her son.

It had been those little things that had built up over the Turns, the teasing and playfulness that one did not often find in riders, let alone men. Women were rarely seen as anything but reproducers, and where that had always annoyed her, the things women were not allowed to do, K'ton had always seemed to see her as more, treated her as if she were more, a friend. It was something she had always appreciated, and all these things, had one the brownrider a place in her heart, in her emotions. Had she ever expected him to care a lick about her? No. She had always told herself he only wanted her for one thing, and now she wasn't sure anymore.

The way he had fussed over her, the way he held her in his arms, tightened then and nearly crushing her to his chest. She rested her face against his, trembling slightly, arms around him. She shook her head slightly when he told her she was important. What had she ever done that made her important? "I am no one, just another woman...another failed candidate. I am no more important than a rock, at least you can make something from the rock.", she mumbled against his chest. She felt useless, had for many Turns, but he often tried to make her feel better about her failures, most especially in the recent Turns. He annoyed the shells out of her every day, yet she could not imagine him not in her life. Ironth rumbled beside them and she turned her head to peek an eye at him. "Will he be alright?", she asked quietly when he stepped away and asked her to tell him of her helping people. "I didn't do much..", she said modestly. She looked and felt like a hatching had fallen on her and rolled all over her, but she could have done more for those that needed help.

She did as he asked and sat near Ironth's leg and looked up at him. For once she wasn't sure what to say to the him, she usually just told him he was a handsome brown, which he was of course. "Haven't you enough battle scars Ironth", she said finally, giving the large dragon a little smile. "You're supposed to stay out of trouble you know, not find it.", she said quietly, scratching his paw lightly. She had always been amazed that K'ton's dragon allowed her such liberties, allowing her to touch him, speaking to her on occasion. She looked back at K'ton, watching him as he worked on Ironth's wound. "There was a man stuck under part of his roof, or someones roof. She poked her bandaged wound and flinched slightly, not thinking it had still hurt. Hopefully K'ton hadn't seen her flinch. "His is the firelizard that attacked me..", she had started, and then went on to recount the various cuts, scrapes, and other injuries she had encountered.

Her lips trembled when she went on to tell him of the dragon tail she had seen under a heap of rocks and mud, the tail she had tripped over, landing her on the ground. She had a long nasty scratch up the side of her hand from that landing. She had managed to tell her entire morning tale with few tears, but K'ton's words caught her off guard. Dark eyes watched him continuing to stitch up Ironth. He hadn't looked at her, hadn't so much as slid those infuriating blue eyes her way. Did he mean those words? Why would he say such a thing to her? He had only ever wanted..but he had seemed upset with her current state. Looking back on the last Turn briefly, he had shown more than friendly or even hormone driven affection toward her. She had always ignored it as another ploy for him to be able to bed her. She had often played with the hope that he cared...but never held to it.

She chewed her lip for a moment, watching him work. She was torn between laughing his words off, and telling him how she actually felt, not that he probably didn't know, unless he was more dense than a rock, which she knew he wasn't. Well...maybe occasionally. Another moment and she said quietly, eyes downcast at her hands now in her lap. "I..I'm not going anywhere K'ton...Just..don't leave us behind." She didn't look up, focusing on the dirt on her hands, mud caked under her nails, the angry red scratches on the back of both hands. She looked anywhere but at him, for fear she had read into his words to much, she didn't want to see his rejection if she had misunderstood...not that his words had really left much room for that, but she was afraid just the same.

He listened with half an ear to her remembrances of the day as he worked on Ironth's leg. His face a scowl mask as she recounted how she became injured, the people she helped and the things she did. She was everything a woman of a weyr should be. She was strong and she was capable. She gave assurances where they were needed, was gentle when gentle was the key and she was firm when need be. She was sweet with Ironth as he sewed the wound on his leg. The big brown was a sucker for the dark haired girl, though he wouldn't or couldn't admit it. His face was a blank mask when he told her the words from his heart. And that's what they were. Spoken from somewhere he didn't even know existed. He concentrated on his task as he waited for her to reply. What would she say? What would she do? Would she swat at him like every other day and laugh his words away or would she consider them?

When they came, he glanced at her then. Leave her behind? As if such a thing was possible. He couldn't leave her behind any more than he could Ironth. It had taken several turns to realize it and understand the depth of it but he finally did. He wouldn't say the words most women seemed to be dying to hear. If he did, she wouldn't believe him anyway. He almost didn't believe it himself. "You," he said as he pointed a finger at her, "Won't be going far from where ever I am, if I can help it." He would take her to the ends of Pern with him, if it would ensure her safety and long life.

The words got him to thinking. The candidate barracks were a mess and Vaelya and her son could not go back. As far as he knew, Vaelya had never opted to have a hut for herself built, instead staying with her son with the candidates. Since they were no longer livable, she had no where to go. It's a good idea, but I have a feeling she's not going to like it right away, Ironth told him quietly. K'ton grunted noncommittally. He would simply have to convince her that staying with him from now on was the best choice.

"The candidate barracks aren't livable any more, Vee," he began as he took a deep breath, "So I think it would be best for you and Evritt if the two of you came to stay in my hut. Its sturdy and wasn't touch by the landslide. And its roomy, so there's no reason why you can't stay there." His words were rushed as he spit them out. He didn't want her to begin protesting before he could finished as he knew she would most likely do. He didn't want to give her a choice. He wanted to wrap her and her young son up, collect her belongings and stuff them in the safety of his home.

Dark eyes flicked at K'ton the entire time she spoke, and though he did not look at her she could see the small changes in his face. She had come to know each curve and line of his face over the Turns and as such, knew that some of what she spoke of bothered him, but she honestly didn't understand why. She was fine wasn't she? She couldn't have helped those in need without expected some damage to herself. Had he honestly expected her to not help people? That wasn't who she was, she was stronger than that, far more caring an individual than maybe she should have been. True she rarely went out of her way to mingle with those of the weyr, she tended to feel it was safer to just stay far out of the way and remain as unnoticed as she could, being a candidate it wasn't always easy. She turned from K'ton when Ironth gave a rumble and spoke to him gently, though he didn't answer, she imagined she wouldn't want to speak if she were the one being sewed up, but she scratched him gently just the same. Once she thought he was calmed, she let her gaze fall on K'ton as he continued to work on Ironth.

His words had been fully unexpected, and she hadn't really known what to say. She knew her heart was racing for no reason...of course he didn't mean what he had said, and her words would be laughed off. Right? She was a poor judge she supposed, but he had seemed sincere, but he hadn't looked at her when he said it. She worried her lip for a bit after she had given her answer and she was working on trying to dig dirt from under her nails. Why after all this time he made her so nervous she didn't know. They had spent so long bantering back and forth, and now that she knew she cared for him, she didn't know how to get back there without being awkward. What if he hadn't meant it? What if he was just in shock or worse...playing with her mind and heart. Her heart wouldn't stop racing as she sat there, not looking at him, waiting for him to say something...anything, so that she would know where she now stood. She had meant what she said, though she hadn't said everything on her heart, she had meant it. She would be lost without him, yes she had Evritt, but there was some part of her that needed the irritating brownrider to be there.

She wasn't sure why, but she jumped a bit when he spoke, brown eyes going wide as she looked from his face, to the finger he pointed at her. She blinked a time or two, a bit stunned at the declaration. She absently placed a hand over her heart, it was thumping so hard that she was afraid he could hear it. Wouldn't be going far from him? There was some kind of odd happiness that started to grow in her heart. She ducked her head slightly when she felt her face flame with heat. Was it too much to think he really wanted her by his side..always? Or was it just for now? She bit her lip and took a breath before looking back at him. "You mean for now? Until...", she paused and looked around the disaster that was their home, then turned those dark eyes back on him. "Until things are better here?" She had to know what he meant, if he just meant until things were fixed, she could put her feelings away and never let them back out. It was silly to think he would want her around forever, they were friends...really good friends. He was just worried about her safety. That had to be it. he couldn't really mean what her heart had hoped for so long, could he? The man who had always only wanted a woman around long enough to bed before moving on to the next? Wasn't it time he was moving on from her too? That thought caused a nasty pain right in the middle of her heart. Shells...

Breath. She had forgotten how to breath during the course of K'ton's rushed speech. Her jaw hung open slightly, a slightly strangled sound escaped before she snapped her mouth shut, swallowed, and tried to speak again. "I..Oh...Well that..that's really..really very..", She stammered and sputtered, so shocked was she that he would suggest such a thing. It was bad enough that she had already spent more time in that man's hut than she should have. She was long past her holder mentality, and therefore didn't really care whether or not it was proper..but a couple nights was..well that was just different. She got up and sort of paced around in front of Ironth's head, wringing her aching hands together. Come to think of it...she suddenly remembered that everything hurt, from her neck to her feet and back again. Pacing was not helping that any. She couldn't stay with him...it would wreck what was left of her emotions, staying with that crazy brownrider had already caused her to let her walls down more than once, and this..well she was just gearing herself up to get hurt. Foolish thing that she was.

"I..I am really very..honored that you would let us stay..", she started again, face flushed, eyes darting from him to the ground, from the ground to Ironth and right back to K'ton. She had stopped pacing and stood by Ironth's head, trembling just a bit, why she wasn't sure, but between that and her racing heart, she was apt to pass out. Oh how she wanted to stay with him, but the what if's were killing her thoughts and heart all at once. "I'm sure they will get us a replacement barracks..one of the other riders might need a place more?" Her protests were weak, she knew, but she had to try. She even squared her shoulders to give a show of stubbornness that had not reached her voice or eyes. She didn't know if he would press the issue, but she couldn't impose on him when she had already done so enough since the last two hatchings had once again left her standing, and rather depressed. She couldn't just...stay with him, away from the other candidates. What would be said? Did she honestly care? She left her eyes lingering on his as she waited for him to say something. She had a feeling however, that like herself, he wasn't going to give up that easily, even if just to protect his pride.

His brow quirked  as she stuttered a reply to his words. He'd gotten the best of her it seemed and the hellion deep inside laughed with glee that he had managed to surprise her with a few words. When she began pacing he frowned. She was going to say no. What would he do if she said no? He couldn't admit that his heart would be broken if she did, but he couldn't force her to stay with him indefinitely. It had to be her choice.

Tugging one last stitch in to place, K'ton finished his mending of Ironth. Patting the brown on his flank, he stood and face Vaelya. "I want you to be there Vee," he began, "I want to listen to Evritt play with Serene and Ironth. I want to see you every morning. It confuses me and I don't know why." His frown deepened when she spoke of replacement rooms. He hadn't thought of that. With the weyr destroyed he was fairly certain that they would rebuild, where they'd rebuild he had no idea, but wherever it was he had no plan to allow her to leave. She didn't know that the move was indefinite and he wouldn't tell her he decided. He would leave it up to her to realize that once she was in his home there was no backing out.

"I'm sure you're right," he said with a small smile. He could play at being in agreement for the time being, it would be no chore to do so. He would just have to work extra hard to make sure she forgot about any replacement home. "Since it's settled," of a sort, "let's fetch Evritt. We'll have to walk. I don't want Ironth landing on that leg just yet. We'll get to listen to his grumble though, he hates being grounded." He took her hand in his and didn't let go as he started off, with all the expectation that she wouldn't balk.

She fretted and feuded with herself, with her mind telling her this was a bad idea, that he would leave her behind when she failed to Impress and was relegated to drudgework. Her heart fluttered and thumped with the realization that she cared for him far more than she had ever wanted to admit and here he was saying he wanted her to stay with him. Her stupid heart wasn't wanting to listen to her brain, and her brain was weaving all kinds of disasters that would lead to her foolish heart being torn in two.

She had continued to pace as she let her brain and heart do battle, until he stood up away from Ironth. She stopped and turned wide brown eyes on the man causing her such inner turmoil. When he answered her, she felt she couldn't breath. He wanted her. Plain and simple but not. It confused him and she frowned a little at that, but then stopped because it confused her as well. She had spent so long avoiding any kind of...anything but friendship with the brownrider that she never gave it a second thought that he might actually care for her. She swallowed the emotioned threatening to close her throat and said, "Well..Evritt does love Ironth and Serene.." She chewed her lip a little then gave a little shrug and a crooked little smile before adding, "And I guess I could wake up to uglier riders every day." She couldn't help herself, even though her heart was doing flips and he was struggling apparently with how he felt. She had to tease him a bit, it wouldn't be them if there wasn't at least one of them teasing the other.

She flushed and dropped her gaze a bit when he frowned again and she sighed softly. She was about to concede that she and Evritt would stay, when he suddenly agreed that there would be new barracks built. Brown eyes narrowed just slightly in suspicioun as she watched him smile at her. "Hmmm...", she said, lips pursed for a moment before she allowed him to take her hand, suggesting they get Evritt. "Alright...", she said with a slight smile. "He will be glad to see you, and I am sure the girl watching him will be more than ready to give him back to me." She still thought he had come off his argument too easily, but since he seemed alright, she would let it go for now. Although..she could easily get used to waking up with his arms around her every day, Evritt running around his hut and doing what he did best, warming her heart. If she had K'ton and Evritt...well maybe she wouldn't need that gold egg so badly after all, maybe the world wouldn't be so horrible, if she just had them.

"I'll...I'll think about it.", she said finally as they walked hand in hand to where she had left Evritt. The blue eyed girl was in the middle of tickling her son so hard he was laughing and squealing, and wriggling all over the older girl's lap. The scene made her smile so much she just stopped to watch a moment before Evritt caught sight of her and yelled, "K'ton!!", she started to wriggle in the girl's arms. "Oh sure! I give birth to him and he wants you first." She gave K'ton a playful shove as she teased him.