i herd u liek mudkipz [Charath, Veeth, Invite]

There was something to be said for doing things you knew you weren't supposed to, Larrikith mused, as she walked calmly between the buildings surrounding the Gather Square, her wings tucked tightly alongside her spine. With B'jin preoccupied with getting his stitches removed, Larrikth had decided to entertain herself by spying on the babies, something she was quite aware she wasn't meant to do - partly because B'jin had told her to leave them alone, and partly because she would be a 'disruptive influence' during lessons. Neither of which did anything to stop the saucy minx, and everything to encourage her. Her eyes were bright, the colours swirling lazily with amusement and general placid joy as she stopped on the outskirts of their little gathering. The human halves looked preoccupied with lessons of some type, and more than a few appeared to be bored out of their brains. She snorted with amusement as G'rem stalked through their ranks, whacking them with his stick apparently at random.

Lacking the long term memory skills of a human, Larrikith couldn't recall her own Weyrlinghood without poking around in B'jin's mind. That, however, was not something she was willing to do at the moment, since she knew he'd immediately realise what she was up to and call her back. Sitting outside the healer hall or being told to go hunt was not her idea of an entertaining morning. Besides, she wasn't hungry. Instead, the little green dragon (would would be lucky to outsize the Hatchlings for another three months or so) sat herself down in the shade of a building and watched with interest. Compared to their blatantly bored human counterparts, the Hatchlings appeared to either be sleeping or enjoying themselves. Casting a glance towards Remenath, Larrikith lowered herself primly to lie down, and extended her voice towards those that most quirked her curiosity.

Oi! Brats! Her voice was inviting, devious, and distinctly feminine. She seemed highly amused though the speed of the warm colours shifting through them was not that fast, indicating her generally relaxed air. There are far more interesting ways to spend your day, than listening to that old fool babble. Never mind the fact that both dragon and rider were barely older than she and hers. That was, and always would be, irrelevant. Regardless of the fact that she was unwilling to dig up B'jin's memories of their fresh bond, she did know that Weyrlinghood was incredibly boring whenever anything relating to 'lessons' was involved. Or that could just be life in general, Larrikith amended thoughtfully.

While Veeth hadn’t been one of the ones running around enjoying himself, he also wasn’t one of the ones sleeping either. He was laying content in the sun, perhaps giving off the impression that he had dozed off to anyone who did a quick look and didn’t know him better. In truth, he would love to enjoy a nap in the sun with Valerian beside him as they did nothing but laze about or his bonded worked on poetry but this wasn’t the time or place. He had learned early on that it was dangerous to let his guard down when Charath was near either because she would try cozying up to Valerian and bad talk the sleeping blue or she would play pranks on him which usually resulted in Veeth getting dirty. But no more!

With eyes only partially lidded, Veeth watched Valerian for a bit. The Harper had said the lessons, while informative, were boring and Veeth tended to agree as G’rem prattled on and on in what he no doubt thought was captivating with dynamics. Not even the occasional personal experience story held the right tones for suspense or drama and if Valerian didn’t have a slight growing fear of being whacked by a stick for his sassy comments, he’d have likely pointed that out by now. The fact that G’rem had three trained Harpers in his Weyrlings class was probably already enough in the way of judgement. While he liked when Valerian spoke his mind, Veeth was also proud of the way his human picked his battles and held his tongue.

Since Valerian was doing his best to look like he was interested, Veeth decided it was best not to disturb him and started glancing around the Square for something else to occupy his attention. Larrikith’s voice moments later was like a breath of fresh air. With his head quirked to the side, Veeth’s gaze sought out and found the green minx not too far away. Her invitation was intriguing and who was he to turn it down? Standing, he gave a little stretch but hesitated. It wouldn’t be nice to simply wander off without letting Valerian know but would his bonded stop him? Probably not and it wasn’t like he was going to go far. I’ll be back soon, Valerian. Larrikith wants to see me.

Larrikith? Valerian groaned in reply but Veeth was impressed with the way the Harper didn’t budge, giving away that he was having a less than comforting talk with his dragonet. He had been introduced to the green pair before but Valerian didn’t seem to want to linger too long and a quick probe to his mind showed that Larrikith was quite the little terror when she wanted to be and liked picking on his Chosen. Veeth was rather excited to know more about her! I won’t be long! He repeated, his voice carrying a sing-song quality to it as he trotted off toward the green dragon.

Hello! How are you today? Even with the allure of far more interesting things than listening to G’rem, Veeth was still all about manners and had to greet the temptress first. Of course manners only lasted for so long, especially when bonded to Valerian, What did you have in mind for entertainment? G’rem is dreadfully dull so anything would be better but I bet you know the best ways to make things exciting.

You're falling asleep.

"Mhhmmm."

He, and Charath filled Erisi's mind with the image of G'rem to fill in for the lack of speaking his name, is coming our way. Look alert. You're going to embarrass us. Why Charath never spoke anyone's name was beyond them. He imagined it was because she thought everyone else was beneath her, because the only person she'd give him a mental image of and say their name was Valerian. The only comfort Erisi could take in was that she wasn't talking to the man yet. Erisi also had no idea why she insisted that he be on his best behavior when she hardly was. But, to avoid getting whacked over the head, Erisi straightened up and forced the light back into his eyes.

All he had been thinking about was leaning over to Valerian and using his shoulder as a pillow. Charath was frustrated with that line of thought herself, because with Veeth guarding Valerian like a canine, she could not make her own way over to him. Valerian does a better job of pretending to pay attention than you do. You should take some lessons. Charath nearly squawked indignantly when her bonded rolled his eyes at her. It became Erisi's natural response to whenever Charath started fawning over Valerian - it really was his only way to cope with his dragonet's obsession with his friend.

She heard Larrikith, but also felt the temptation to stay by Erisi's side to make sure he made it through the lesson without a welt on his head. But, hmmm, as Veeth was suddenly making his way to the older dragon... Charath's train of thought to a sudden twist. It might be good for Erisi to get in trouble! Charath could not always watch his back, and this would teach him to pay attention during class. Afterwards he would ask Charath about what had happened during the lesson, and Charath neither had the attention span or memory to relay it in detail to him. It would be a hard lesson, but a valuable one! This way, she could also gt back at Veeth for hovering over Valerian like a rabid canine. Talk about possessive.

She waited until Veeth was about halfway to Larrikith, and then began her own pursuit. The green dragon crouched low to the ground, stomach skimming across grass as she moved forward. It wasn't exactly an elegant approach, but it was better than flat-out running after him. This way, she had the possibility of taking Veeth by surprise. I will be back in a little while - I have some things to take care of.

Erisi did not want to know.

The green dragonet paused right behind Veeth, sure that her cover would be blown if she did not act immediately. She decided to remain quiet overall, as to avoid attracting the attention of G'rem, since she did want to be able to play for more than few seconds. So, her assault was verbal. VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! she screeched loudly into the Blue's head.

Over back in the huddle of Weyrlings, Erisi jumped and raised his hands to cover his ears irritably. Whoops.

Thank you, she concluded pleasantly to Larrikith for the opportunity the dragon had provided.

Larrikith watched the two dragonets she had invited over with great interest, curled up primly as she was in the shade. While she was distinctly bigger than the dragonets that had so recently Hatched, Larrikith was also increasingly aware of the fact that this lot, too, would vastly outsize her small form. Shards, even before That Time Larrikith had been a noticeably small dragon, though she had been similar in size to her clutch mates upon Hatching. The little green had simply failed to grow, and not for a lack of eating.

As she waited for the little blue and green to respond to her call, Larrikith watched the rest of their class. She had noticed a couple of the others had pause in their various activities to see what was going on. Since none of them seemed inclined to invite themselves over, Larrikith decided that told her everything she needed to know about the small collection of new dragons. Firstly, they were far too polite, to not invite themselves over. Additionally, and as a result, they were entirely boring and not worth the time it had taken to sniff out their riders. A sad thing, considering that she herself had chosen two of them!

Hello, Larrikith replied cautiously to the little blue, her voice wary at the blatant manners he was displaying and she eyed him seriously. Was he playing with her, or was he seriously that polite? Where had he picked up manners, at any rate? She was pretty sure Valerian had a very sketchy grasp of them. Then again, he was a pretty well trained harper so maybe he had them buried somewhere and the young dragonet had managed to dig them up. Or, of course, he was a lost cause and sweet Faranth!

Larrikith gave a rumble of laughter at Charath's antics, and her eyes swirled in amusement. That was more like it. Obviously the little blue would require a bit more hands on education in regards to taking the world by storm. Charath, just as obviously, had the motion well in her little mitts. Larrikith's voice was pleasant and delightfully amused as she spoke her reply, You're welcome, Charath.

Curling her tail around to rest across her forpaws and letting her wings relax slightly so they drooped a little, Larrikith gave Veeth an amused look. I have some ideas, she allowed, broadcasting an emotional smirk to the two weyrlings. How far are you willing to travel? The Gather Square wasn't very big, and Larrikith had no desire to take the two babies outside of its boundaries, but knowing how far the two were willing to stretch their bonds (and possibly setting them to work against one another to see who could go the furthest) would provide more opportunities. She waited patiently, watching them both with a smug and calculating expression.

Veeth nearly jumped out of his skin and did in fact jump a good foot off the ground and spinning to face the little green when Charath’s boisterous greeting hit him. Why did she have to be like that? Veeth didn’t think that choosing Valerian, which showed he knew how special the young Harper was, warranted such abuse. He had left Valerian’s side which meant the bratty green dragonet could have had a moment to share with his bonded, right? Did she really have to choose making his life miserable over seeing her back-up bonded? How unsurprising to see you tagging along behind me, Charath. But if you will excuse me, there is a proper green waiting for my attention. With his snout sticking up in the air, Veeth turned his back on Charath, properly dismissing her.

Larrikith seemed amused by Charath’s antics and that was close to bringing the little blue to sadness as he liked the older dragon on their brief meeting before. Would the greens bond because of their colour and sex and gang up on him or would Larrikith play at being a third party instigator between them? Veeth suspected it was the latter given she had already invited them both along when she had a whole group of dragonets to pick from. With that point of view, he was a bit screwed no matter how Larrikith fit into the equation and Veeth decided the day might not be so wonderful after all. Well, he would just have to do his best to keep the odds in his favour and Larrikith as a friend!

How far do you want us to go? Veeth questioned and tilted his head to the side as he regarded Larrikith. He didn’t think Valerian would object to a little exploring with a mature dragon and he knew Larrikith as well. Maybe that would actually be a problem since his lifemate didn’t seem to like the idea of the dragons spending any time together unsupervised. There was really only one way to find out! I don’t mind venturing out a little ways.

As Veeth turned his back to her, the view Larrikith got of Charath's head bobbing up and down in laughter would surely be amusing. She was far past the point of putting stake into anything that Veeth said. Charath disliked the Blue because he had chosen Valerian, but also tolerated him for that very same reason. The green was sure that Valerian would eventually realize that Charath was the better dragonet, and would properly feel envious of Erisi for Impressing her. Her bonded needed to display a little appreciation. She was the finest dragonet in the entire clutch, and he still moaned on and on about her getting into trouble. Charath was making his life interesting - Erisi should have realized this by now.

You are being a wherry, Veeth. 'A little ways'? And here I was thinking that the only redeemable quality about you was your rare streak of daring. Way to prove me wrong. That was as much of an answer to Larrikith's question as an obvious antagonistic attempt on Veeth. Charath looked over her shoulder to where her bonded was, who looked pained. He probably just got whacked in the head, Charath mused, and decided that it served him right for slacking off in class.

She'd go where she pleased, now. Charath refused to cleave to her bonded's side (though it was clear she'd hang all over Valerian all day if she had the option). Where are we going? I should not, which didn't necessarily mean she wouldn't, leave the Weyrbowl. My bonded is bound to get hit so many times by the Weyrlingmaster that his brain will swell. I should be around to prevent that. She'd let him get whacked a few good times before she couldn't stand the embarrassment of him doing so poorly in class. Honestly, Valerian was a much more attentive student!

Refusing to be the last in their merry little group, she haughtily lifted her head and wings, prancing in front of Veeth as if she would lead the way to a destination that was unknown to her. Veeth could eat her dust!

It didn't take but a moment for Larrikith to realise that these two young dragons were going to do an amazing job of keeping her entertained for the duration of B'jin's meet up with the young healer. Having expected to resorting to a nap, Larrikith was very pleased with the apparent turn of luck for her. She had no idea what it was she had planned to do with the two babies, but seeing as they were quite content to bitch, she decided she could work very well with that! Between the pair of them they said the most interestingly funny things, and she could pick up the underlying stream of discord. There was something going on under the top few layers that she wasn't quite able to figure out. But no worries! She had at least an hour to be entertained before the younglings decided their humans needed their company (since it was fairly obvious Charath would never admit to something so low as actually needing her human) and returned to them. Just as well, since Larrikith figured B'jin would probably come bounding out if she stayed any longer than that. Having been told to stay away from the babies, she didn't really want to listen to him bemoan about her disobeying orders again.

Honestly, you'd think after two decades he'd have figured out how to put some real command into his voice (which wasn't entirely fair, he could control her when he wanted... he just so rarely bothered.) and make sure what he said was followed through on. Not that Larrikith really cared, when push came to shove. And when it came to her relationship with B'jin, there was a lot of pushing and shoving. Being bigger than B'jin helped her win more often, too, which she enjoyed. Especially since humans were perhaps the only thing she was bigger than! Looking down at hte two young hatchlings as they bickered about how far out they were willing to travel, Larrikith wondered by how much they would outstrip her in size. The babies got so much better luck than she did. Like growing to a proper dragon length!

At least B'jin had never resorted to calling her a firelizard (that was his favourite insult) and it hurt, mostly because it was so close to being true. Larrikith was a prideful creature, and she'd always been smug in her little body. Watching the newer generations outstrip her in length, however, did little to make the green feel better, though she was still more agile than the young ones taking wing, and the number of dragons capable of going between from the ground such as she did was vastly diminished since the Plague. A shudder travelled the delicate green's spine as that thought pulled memories subconsciously from her rider, who paused in confusion to ask what his dragon was doing, digging up that nest of festering sores. Larrikith shushed him and let the memories fade back down. Now was not the time to dwell on such terrible times. Now was the time to be entertained by snarky draconic toddlers!

Oh, we won't go far. Just around the outer edge, Larrikith said cheerfully, returning the focus of her attention upon the two Hatchlings with definite amusement lighting up her eyes. She stood up and shook herself out neatly as Charath pranced off before them, and Larrikith gave Veeth a teasing nudge with her nose before carefully following the tiny green brat, being sure she didn't somehow manage to stand on either of them. That would very definitely tell B'jin she was where she shouldn't be! Her amusement intensified as she realised that her fear should be actually killing a dragonet by squishing it, not that her rider would bust her for entertaining them when she'd been told to stay away. Tossing her head, Larrikith spread her wings slightly, both to help her balance as she walked leisurely along behind Charath and to let the breeze wash gently over the membranes.

What do you normally do during classes? Larrikith asked mildly, ignoring the two little greens that were watching their little group. She didn't bother to extend her mind and see who they were. If they were truely interested, they would have joined them! After all, rules were made to be broken, and parties were made to be crashed. Right? Right!

Veeth turned his gaze back to Charath for the briefest of moments before deciding he really didn’t like the way she continued to treat him and turned away once more. He wanted to point out she was covering up her own fears of venturing too far by using poor Erisi’s misfortune he always seemed to suffer under while in class as a convenient cover. It wouldn’t solve their fighting, likely only provoking the green further, and Larrikith was waiting to play with them so why continue wasting time?

Valerian trusts you so I know you will know what’s best and how far we can explore before class is over. He was still a little uneasy about leaving Valerian for too long given the slight apprehension his bonded was giving off. It didn’t occur to the blue that perhaps Valerian didn’t like the idea of anyone wandering off unsupervised with Larrikith. Regardless, they were going on an adventure! Veeth gave a soft trill of delight when Larrikith nudged him into following the bossy little green who probably had no idea where she was going, and trotted along at a safe distance after her.

At Larrikith’s question, Veeth responded quickly, eager to talk with the older and far more fascinating green, Sometimes I nap but normally I play with some of the others or sit dutifully by Valerian. The lessons are a bit boring but showing we’re both attentive doesn’t hurt. He was still trying to think of a way to help Erisi fake being a good student as well but he couldn’t blame the man for wanting to sleep while G’rem prattled on.