Whining [ORP]

Erisi was not looking at anyone, was not talking to anyone, was not even letting himself breathe the same air as someone else. His bad mood was potentially infectious, and at the very least it seemed like Charath had caught it. The bonded pair made quite the sight, one hunched over the table picking at a plate of cold food while the other sat rigidly beside him, eyes tinged subtly red. Charath was irritated because Erisi was pissed, and had been pissed for a day now. The last thing the Green Weyrling had been expecting out of N'gelt was a swift punch to his face, and had been so shocked by that action alone that he couldn't even defend himself. N'gelt had made it out of the area without so much as a retort from Erisi. Charath's angered words had filled his mind, though reflecting on the moment now, he could not recall what it was exactly that she had said.

He'd been punched before, sure, but never by someone quite as built as N'gelt (he was usually prone to avoiding confrontations with someone he knew could pummel his face into his skull). This sort of anger had never really accompanied physical hurt before. But, he was mad because getting punched had upset Charath, and now that he had a day under his belt to cool off, he was now pissed because his cheek had an unsightly bruise. The area had been red the night before, but when he woke up this morning the bruising had finally shown itself, and his cheek was an ugly black and blue. He hated it. He was such a vain creature by nature that Erisi did not even want to be seen. If it was his choice, he would have hidden in his barrack until he didn't make every human cringe away at the sight of him.

Erisi's head was bowed carefully, dark hair for once not pulled back into a ponytail. Rather, it was loose so it could act as a shield for his face. No one could quite see the irritable expression on his face, nor the bruise. His posture, however, probably gave his mood away - if Charath's eyes didn't. He should not have touched you, Charath's dark words whispered in his mind, but he didn't give her any verbal response beyond a grumbled 'mhhmm'.

He supposed he could have gone to D'ren or something about being physically assaulted by another dragonrider, but he was not feeling quite that petty yet. Who knew how N'gelt would take to being tattled on, and Erisi was not willing to risk it. He was not like I'shan, who'd run to the Weyrleader's ass the moment something went wrong. Erisi was doing his best to suck it up, and eventually move on. However, he was a vindictive personality and naturally suited to being irritable. It was going to take a long time for him to get over this. "I hate it here," he spoke softly to Charath, and then passed her a meat roll.

I am sorry. Charath had no idea what to say to calm her bonded, and she did not quite feel as if she could belittle him for being upset. She was upset!

After spending the morning tending to all of Veeth’s personal needs like eating, bathing, and oiling, Valerian deemed it time to work on his own needs, like eating. Bathing had already been taken care of when Veeth took up some of his siblings’ habit of splashing around in the water. It was cute since he didn’t do it often and was chirping with how much fun he was having but also annoying since Valerian hadn’t planned on a bath that morning. So the blue had been warned not to make that habit of his own and Veeth promised to be good.

Hungry though he was, Valerian still only took a bowl of soup and some meat rolls, knowing that would be enough to hold off hunger until dinner when he would eat a bit more. As his eyes scanned the Hall for an open table or someone he knew, green eyes fell upon a familiar figure hunched over his meal. Seeing Charath sealed the deal on who it was and that Erisi also didn’t care if the dragonets were allowed inside during meals. A good amount of time had passed since the dragonets cracked shell and Valerian didn’t know or care if they were allowed to follow them everywhere so long as they fit. Since Veeth still fit through the doors that Grith could almost squeeze through and sit on the bench and chairs with slowly growing difficultly, the Harper made up his own rules and no one had yet to dare say otherwise.

“You’re wearing your hair down,” Valerian remarked casually as he came up to his friend and the green that Veeth purposely walked a larger path around to avoid being near her. It was odd for Erisi to have his hair loose in both public and private locations and Valerian could only remember seeing it as such in their more intimate encounters. When the food was set down and Valerian took a seat opposite his friend, green eyes bugged out as they caught the reason for Erisi’s hair and poor posture. “Shards, Eri, who did you finally piss off enough?” If it was one of the weyrlings, he would have heard about it by now so it had to be a dragonrider and Valerian cringed a bit at the idea of some of the larger men sending a fist at his face.

He didn't want to see Valerian, not because he disliked the man, because rest assured Valerian was one of the few tolerable people in this entire sharding Weyr, but rather because he really didn't want anyone to see his face. It hurt to even touch his cheek, and if a good look at himself in the morning hadn't been horrifying enough, the bruise had probably darkened and spread over the short course of the day. It looked like someone had smashed a rock to the side of Eri's face, and for all intents and purposes, N'gelt's fist had been as cruel as a rock. Erisi was such a vain creature that it was a surprise he was out of his room, but hunger called, and Charath was starting to express concern for his well being (which was just sickeningly nice of her, literally sickening, he had no idea what to do with a kind Charath).

When he heard his friend's voice, then, he didn't bother to lift his head, or even turn it to glance at the other Weyrling. He was almost hoping that Valerian would take the hint and wander to another table. Don't be like that, he'll probably make you feel better. Valerian is very admirable. And for Faranth's sake the last thing he wanted to hear right now was his own dragonet fawning over his friend. It wasn't Valerian's fault, but Erisi was in a particularly sensitive mood. "It's a new look," he answered softly, voice lacking his usual spunk. If that didn't clue Valerian in, well, then his friend was blind. He also should have known that Valerian would sit opposite of him - they were friends, he shouldn't have expected anything different. Erisi just... didn't want him to.

"I don't want to talk about it," came a more grumpy response as Erisi self-consciously fixed his hair to try and cover the unsightly bruise. Half of his face ended up being obscured from view, which was just fine with him. He'd rather be chided for having hair in his face over having one nasty bruise covering a good portion of it.

I will tell him, and I hate talking to humans. Charath said warningly, not to really torment her bonded, but rather because she thought talking about it would help put Erisi at ease.

So, after a lengthy pause, he caved a little bit. "N'gelt. I really don't want to talk about it. I look like a sharding wreck," he answered sullenly, clearly genuinely bothered by this development. That would explain the good bruise, though. If Erisi had to pick a fight with someone, N'gelt was one of the more capable people of breaking his face. Thank Faranth that punch hadn't hit his nose, or it would have been broken.

“N’gelt?” Valerian fell silent as he tried to figure out who the man was. The name sounded vaguely familiar though he wasn’t quite sure why. Apparently he wasn’t that important if Valerian hadn’t crossed paths with him yet or perhaps they had met and the man left so little an impression that he couldn’t remember him. People like that were likely a disappointment to their family and annoying to the Harper. He wondered how much Erisi knew the man and couldn’t decide if it was better that Erisi knew him enough to rile him up to the point of getting into a fight or if it was a passing comment to a stranger that earned the fist to a pretty face. Really, was either option the better one? “Don’t know him. Should I?”

Valerian was asking the wrong questions and not paying proper attention to Erisi’s needs! Veeth tried to climb up in the seat beside Valerian but one sharp look from his bonded had the blue stopping half way with his front paws on the seat. It was enough, however, to get him to see over the table and look at Erisi. He tilted his head one way and then other before finally softly speaking in his gentle voice, I don’t think it looks that bad. It gives you a tough guy image, like you shouldn’t be messed with. But… do you hurt? Can Valerian and I do anything to help you? The little blue was worried for their friend. Erisi was more than someone important in Valerian’s life, he was special and underneath all of that gruffness was a nice man that Veeth worried over. The fact the man was bonded to Charath didn’t ease his worries one bit either.

"You don't want to, though Veeth isn't green, so he'd probably not hate you right off the bat." Erisi stared down at his plate of food, moving his fork to help separate each individual piece of food. He just needed to do something with his hands so he didn't show how completely pissed off he was that he was being treated like crap for being a Green Weyrling. Of course, Erisi had unintentionally antagonized N'gelt, but he doubted that it would have changed the outcome of their encounter. He knew the brownrider had a heavy prejudice against bronzeriders and greenriders. Why? He really didn't even care to remember right now, he just knew that it earned him a punch to the face that he could have lived without. Erisi probably should have elaborated on N'gelt, but he really didn't feel like discussing the man any further. N'gelt was the one person Erisi would like to encourage Charath pulling pranks on.

Not if he punches you again. Let's not actively seek out that sort of trouble.

He grabbed a piece of meat off his plate and fed it to his dragonet. Some people would wonder why Charath wasn't so fat with how much Erisi snuck her food that wasn't in her normal diet. He was sure the Weyrlingmaster had advised them against, but when did he ever pay enough attention in class to remember the details?

Erisi had gotten used to there only being one other voice in his head, so hearing Veeth's gentle intrusion was a bit of a surprise. In comparison to Charath's own voice, Veeth's was softer and pleasant. It lacked the hard, rough edges that Charath's mind voice naturally possessed. The blue dragonet had quickly maneuvered his way into Erisi's favor, and was one of the few dragons besides his own that Erisi actually liked. He hadn't minded Saquith until N'gelt had punched him, but now the brown dragon was on his shit list. It probably elevated Veeth to a higher standing, and so the dragon earned a tentative smile out of the Green Weyrling. "It gives the image of someone who couldn't block a punch aimed at their face," he answered with a shake of his head that was certain to obscure his face from view even more. "It's just sore, Veeth. If I don't touch it I'll be fine." Erisi reassured the blue dragonet, and after a few seconds of consideration he leaned over the table to offer the blue another piece of cooked meat. "I'll feel better if you let Val kiss me," he teased, which was something he likely mentioned nearly every day. One could hope, couldn't they?

Ugh.

Charath lifted her head, staring over at Veeth for a few seconds before coming to accept the blue dragon talking to her own. Erisi liked him, never as much as he liked her (with good reason), but enough that she could tolerate the blue speaking with him. Erisi was the type of person who wouldn't admit to needing comfort, but needed it anyways.

“Sounds like a real winner,” Valerian rolled his eyes at N’gelt’s apparent hatred of greenriders and popped a bite of food into his mouth. It wasn’t like he was a saint when it came to people and he most certainly had his own collection of people he could do without ever seeing again but Valerian didn’t judge all riders of a certain coloured dragon based solely on one idiot taking up precious air. He’d like to give each person their own reasoning for being hated. He was pretty fair like that. “I’ll be sure to duck when I do end up running into the guy, I guess.” There was little doubt that he’d end up in the same situation as Erisi given how alike they could be. While he wasn’t as outright abrasive as his friend typically was, Valerian still didn’t censor himself and sometimes his aloof nature was enough to anger people.

When Valerian oils my itchy spots, it brings me relief. Is there anything to help your sore spot? Veeth was a bit confused at the different levels of pain the humans he knew continued to be in. He knew Jada suffered immense pain the night the dragons expressed their sorrow over her condition and even now he wasn’t sure she was fully okay. He tried his best to make her smile and curl up beside her with Krypth on the other side while Valerian did his best to ignore them all until he was dragged into their cuddling. Erisi’s pain seemed to be less than Jada’s but bothered him just as much but it was unfair to think he shouldn’t mind his sore spots just because it wasn’t as serious. Veeth pondered on humans and how the reacted as Erisi offered the meat. A quick glance to Valerian showed his bonded was okay with the spoiling and the little blue delicately accepted the offer, making quick work of the small morsel.

Erisi’s next words that were filled with the usual reserved hope made Veeth’s sadness return and he slipped off the chair, disappearing from sight for as long as it took to come around the table and appear beside Erisi. As was his new way of dealing with Charath, he did his best to ignore the abrasive little green as he head-butted and then nuzzled against one of Erisi’s legs. He knew some of his friends liked that and Veeth imagined it was the closest he could do to giving a hug like he had seen many humans enjoy. But he wasn’t stopping there! With a bit of a stretch, Veeth had his front paws on the table, Valerian shooting him a murderous look for being so rude, and craned his neck until he could reach Erisi’s hand and gave it a lick. You don’t need Valerian today. I’ll give you plenty of kisses!

Valerian couldn’t help but forgive his blue for being partially on the table with that comment and smiled a little.

It had been a long, hard week for Talian.

Farlint's condition was fluctuating. For a couple tenuous sevendays, Tal feared they may have to take the poor man's leg off. The temperamental wound kept getting infected, but at least the break was setting well. Of course, the infections made Far feverish and uncomfortable. Talian had to sedate the poor man half the time, if only to keep him comfortable.

Fortunately, Far's new medicine was working out well. The infection was clearing up and Far's fever was going down. Tal had even managed a brief but coherent conversation with the man earlier. That was a load off his mind!

Now, with that particular concern out of his mind for the time being, Tal moved into the dining hall. He'd managed to forget to eat all day. His stomach ground and gurgled as he marched into the hall, eyes scanning the room quickly in search of- hey!

He smiled instinctively when he saw Eri and Val. He hadn't spoken to either of them much since their Impressions, partially due to busy schedules but also due to self-imposed exile. The hatching made Tal feel more like an outsider than ever, especially with his friends Impressed. On some level, he blamed himself for it. He sure was pleased to see them, though.

He walked over cautiously, his enthusiasm curbed by the look on Eri's face. Talian had a mind for details, but it didn't take a lot of perceptiveness to see something was wrong. Eri's hair was down - he never wore it down, did he?

"Hello," Tal said gently as he walked up, his presence minimal. He probably could have lingered close and gone unnoticed if he tried, or even if he simply remained quiet. His body language was as meek as ever, perhaps more thanks to his fatigue from overwork.

He frowned. "How are you guys been?" he inquired softly.

"I was just trying," and he stabbed at his food with a fork, the irritation flickering up again, "to make a point that I wouldn't tolerate him belittling Charath. So he punched me." In Erisi's mind, he couldn't see where he had gone wrong. He hadn't said anything particularly vile, just a warning. Charath had the vile part covered, though, so maybe Saquith had relayed her words to his bonded. "Considering that he grabbed Charath, I consider my reaction to be amazingly and stunningly polite." That was also something that bothered him, that N'gelt was ballsy enough to just pick up other people's dragonets. Charath wouldn't be small for that much longer, apparently, but it still made him feel as if she were vulnerable. Compared to all the other larger dragons, Charath was fragile, and while she drove him nearly insane, he cared a great deal for her.

Erisi was getting used to the soft intrusion of Veeth's voice. If anything, it was less abrasive than every time Charath talked to him. I sound abrasive, and you are abrasive. Charath responded to his thoughts in a sickly-sweet voice. The little green was being stunningly... behaved. Charath knew how to behave, she just picked and chose when she wanted to be. While she really didn't like Veeth, she loved Erisi enough to know that Veeth was providing him some comfort. Charath's thoughts were borderline angry, so it was good for Erisi to hear some actual soothing words.

"I don't need anything, but thank you, Veeth. I'm considering hiding in my barrack until it goes away. I really don't want everyone to see this." While he could be vile and mean, Erisi was sensitive enough when it came to his appearance that this bruise was absolutely humiliating. The little blue came to his side, and he could feel Charath's mood flickering between curiosity and irritation. But when Veeth head-butted his leg, it was nearly impossible not to smile. He loved Charath, but he couldn't help but wonder what his life would have been if he had impressed the much sweeter tempered blue. Probably less chaotic.

I cannot cuddle up to your bonded, but you can cuddle up to mine? Charath finally spoke up, but if she really did not accept Veeth's actions, she would have made a genuine move towards securing her bonded's attention. Erisi was upset, which was the only reason she wasn't being outright grumpy with Veeth for cuddling up to him. It was also why she refused to leave Erisi's side and take the opportunity to lay her head in Valerian's lap.

"You know, your kisses are entirely different," Erisi mused as the dragonet licked his hand, "but either are welcome." He dropped his fork in favor of reaching out to scratch Veeth's eye ridge, which was an unusually fond gesture for Erisi. In fact, he probably was only this fond with other people in the aftermath of sex. It was probably the only time in which people could come to actually like him, since he wasn't trying to get them to leave him alone with every word out of his mouth.

With that thought, he heard Talian's meek greeting. Valerian had found him out, but that did not mean he wanted the whole Weyr to. He shot Valerian a cautioning look, because if the man dared to tell Talian what had happened Erisi would be livid. Talian had enough on his mind that there was no reason to make him worry over his friend getting into trouble. He stopped petting Veeth in favor of messing with his hair again. It also meant he could not turn to look at Talian without the man seeing the bruise, which would be rude and could give off the wrong impression. He already considered this situation dangerous enough without running the risk of hurting Talian's feelings. "Hey, Tal," he greeted, trying to counteract his stand-offish position with warm words. There was no way of knowing that it would work.

"Fine, just fine." After you lied so many times, it became effortless. "You've been busy, considering that I think half of the Weyr is trying to find ways to kill itself."

Tal was observant. It didn't take him long to realize something was wrong. Eri's hair being down was odd enough, but that unnaturally warm tone was an indicator as well. Talian frowned and maneuvered his way to the left, trying to get a look at his friend's face to try and pick up on an expression.

Ah. That would be the problem.

Talian's immediate instinct was to gasp and ask what happened, but Erisi was touchy about his personal problems. Tal could still remember that night after Eri's brush with I'shan.  The poor wherry looked so depressed and rattled, and yet had such a hard time talking about it. Talian sympathized and understood, and with his friend's nature in mind, didn't react outside of a brief frown.

"It has been rather busy," he said mildly. "That's probably for the best, though. I would have gone crazy by now otherwise." There was no humor in his tone, just amazing dryness and factuality. He'd been...not unhappy over the past month, but bored and robotic. There wasn't a whole lot going on for him. Shards, this was the high point of his day!

He flashed a smile and nod to Valerian. As always, Tal was in a perpetual state of grateful silence when it came to Val. The other man had come to his aid more than once, always knowing exactly what to say in volatile situations and ever loyal. Tal had never gushed to Valerian about how much he appreciated it, but it showed well enough in his face.

The healer was trying to ignore the little blue, though. Meeting Charath hadn't gone terribly well, and he didn't expect blues to be much better.

It wasn't often that an emotion was allowed to show on Valerian's face but shock usually won out against his determination. His head jerked up from staring at the plate of food, green eyes widening a moment before narrowing into a dangerous glare. "He went after Charath?" Other than the smack to the head he had given Talian for being so stupid and selfish that night, Valerian wasn't a violent person both in what he did and what he wanted to see others do but ever since Impressing Veeth, there was a love for the little blue and a desire to protect him that actually startled the Harper with the sudden intensity. But seeing how he now felt complete because of Veeth, it was safe to reason the dragon was an extension of himself and since Valerian valued his own well-being, he never wanted to see Veeth hurt. In truth, he didn't like to see any of the dragons in danger but someone picking on a dragonet? N'gelt was scum of the highest order. "I'm not entirely sure I would have remained as polite as you in such a case which means the world may be ending but there you have it. Are you okay, Charath?"

Let us know and Valerian and I will be there to help out or keep you company.Veeth chirped his approval of the attention Erisi was giving him and Valerian could feel the happiness his dragon was in by helping their friend with his kind words and gestures. Everyone just needed a little affection and to know they had friends and all their problems wouldn't seem so large and intimidating. That was the way Veeth viewed things and he was glad that Erisi was open to the offerings he was given.

Still enjoying the attention with his eyes partially lidded, Veeth decided he could reply to Charath since she wasn't being entirely mean this time. Why should you be allowed to cuddle with Valerian when you won't even speak with him to ask? He thought it was a fair question and given who his bonded was, it was best to let him know of the intentions in mind before pouncing him and expecting him to go along with it. He was surprisingly cuddly and since he liked Charath, he wouldn't mind the green's affections. Veeth wondered if he should give a bit more space and let Charath interact with Valerian a little more.

"Hey, Tal," Valerian greeted their friend with a soft smile when Talian came into view and said nothing to Erisi when the warning look was given to him or when the Healer's curiosity was so obvious. Depending on the person and situation, there may have been a desire to point out the bruised face but it was Erisi's call and Valerian respected his friends enough to let it go. Besides, he hadn't seen Talian since before the Hatching and he had missed the man and their time together. "It's good to see you. We've all been way too busy. Every time I think about finding you I get roped into some class-related nonsense or you're off tending to patients." It was a sad fact of life that paths veered in opposite directions but it was always nice when they crossed and even merged again for a while. Even if they were only meeting up for a short time, Valerian hoped to make the most of it with his two friends.

There was just one problem, though it wasn't exactly nice to think of Veeth as a problem. But they all knew of Talian's dislike of the weyr and dragons, which Valerian couldn't understand given his own fascination with the beasts since childhood. While he had been busy most of the time which kept him from seeing the Healer, Valerian also didn't want to force Talian into dealing with Veeth when he wasn't ready. Since the man approached them with both dragonets visible, it seemed now was good enough. "Talian, this is Veeth, my little blue." Veeth had dropped down from the table to sit primly by Valerian's side, watching Talian with interest. Hello! It's very nice to meet you. Valerian has a lot of nice thoughts and memories about you.

"Yeah, she was on the bench with me, and before I knew it had he scooped her up and put her on the ground." N'gelt hadn't hurt Charath, even Erisi didn't believe the brownrider to be that stupid. Still, it was unsettling how careless the man had been with both of their boundaries. Charath had been deeply offended, and Erisi had been outright shocked that anyone would touch his dragonet without his permission. Charath was still sharding small! She could very easily be hurt at this age, and while their bond was young, it was strong enough that Erisi would not put up with any risk to his green. He had not wanted a dragon, but he had one now, and she was one of the few he could actually stand. "N'gelt is sharding huge. I figured I would have been pummeled into the ground if I had said anything more than what I ended up saying." Perhaps he should have said more vile words, since he obviously was going to be hit anyways.

Tell him that I am --

"She's okay, just still pissed about it. It doesn't help that I'm pissed as well. It's hard to beat this kind of mood when two minds are feeling it." He was still pretty sure that he didn't want to stop being angry. He liked being angry, and he was very justified in being upset with N'gelt. The man had crossed a line, no matter if Erisi had encouraged him to do it or not. Erisi would have never punched N'gelt in the face, so as far as he saw it N'gelt had taken it to an unnecessary level.

In the end, Erisi was relieved that Talian wasn't fussing over his bruised face. It still felt a little awkward talking about what had happened now, since he liked to take care not to worry Talian too much. It was the most consideration that he would show to his friends. So, he was thankful Talian wasn't asking after what had happened, because he really didn't want to worry Talian with the details of what had gone down. Doubtlessly the Master Healer had picked up a little bit of the details by overhearing their conversation, but Erisi wasn't going to indulge his curiosity further. He was still self-conscious enough to try and hide his face from Talian, though. His pride was still a little too wounded. "I'm sure life will calm down once we survive Weyrling Training. From what I've observed no one expects greenriders to do anything but be outlets for every male dragons' riders' desires." He was trying, likely futilely, to bring the conversation to something more normal for him.

He was still absentmindedly petting Veeth, which only proved to aggravate Charath further. It seemed as if two would play the game of making their partner jealous. Because I am the better suited for Valerian, came a snark from the green dragonet. She had decided that since Veeth was clearly occupied with keeping her bonded company, she'd slip underneath the table and to Valerian's side. She didn't bother to ask for permission, and instead laid her head in his lap, silently demanding his attention. It seemed like she was still a long ways off from talking to anyone.

This entire encounter was already horribly, horribly awkward. Only Tal's desperate loneliness and desire to spend time with his elusive friends kept his feet rooted in place as his gaze moved between Erisi and Veeth. Tal's medical instincts and a healthy dose of 'concerned friend' blended together seamlessly, filling him with an intolerable desire to ask Erisi what happened and coddle him over his bruise. He knew Erisi would hate that, though. The healer frowned visibly, his indecision and just a wisp of distress visible in his eyes.

Veeth wasn't helping. Tal drew back immediately as the dragon's voice penetrated his mind. Now, it wasn't an unpleasant voice. It's touch was gentle in comparison with Larrikith's. She was the only dragon Talian had any regular interaction with, and while this compared favorably, it didn't make him any less wary.

He remembered the incident with Charath and the story about Nemall. Having no desire to be booted out of Valerian's life, Tal decided to play nice with the dragon. "Um, hello," he murmured, pursing his lips a little as he inspected the dragonet. The blues ones certainly were appealing, so bright and vibrant in comparison with the rest. There was something about the way nature produced the color blue...

Tal swallowed his reservations and extended one hand to lightly brush Veeth's neck. "I'm glad.." he managed in response to the little beast's words. "Valerian is a very dear friend of mine."

He inhaled deeply and shifted his attention to Charath. "...Hello, Charath," he said, hesitantly but politely. He still hoped Charath would at least tolerate him. He didn't hate the little dragonets, but they made him sharding uncomfortable. He'd found himself outright hating dragons less and less, mostly due to sheer resignation. He wasn't going to get away from the sharding things anytime soon, and hating them required energy. Of course, what he'd said to R'nd that evening stood true as well; he was just getting used to them. Resignation.

For some reason, his musings drew a nervous laugh from his lips. Realizing suddenly that he was acting weird, he snapped his hand back to his side and looked at the floor.

"....I think you're worth more than just an 'outlet'," Tal said, returning to the previous topic in an effort to cover up his own antics. He frowned when he realized how suspect his wording sounded. "...That came out wrong," he said with defensive meekness. He looked to Valerian, appealing to his friend for help.

Despite how he didn't always let a subject drop or the way he said things when the timing was less than appropriate, Valerian did have a good handle on reading situations and people. He could tell Erisi was reaching the limit of being pushed about the encounter and Talian seemed as nervous as he had the first day they met with Allendris in the Healing Hall. So while he wanted to grill Erisi more about the encounter and learn what he could about the jerk that seemed to think he could walk all over the weyrlings and give him a piece of his mind -- though Valerian suspected he'd end up in the same shape as his friend if he did meet N'gelt -- he held his tongue and let the subject drop. It didn't hurt that he suddenly had his lap full of a little green's head. With a crooked little smile, Valerian patted Charath on the head and began petting her gently. He knew of the animosity between Veeth and the green but he couldn't shake the flimsy little connection he felt was made at the Touching. Besides, she was sweet in her own way and helped Erisi when she wasn't picking on him.

Veeth tilted his head to the side as he regarded Talian with curious eyes and once again ignoring Charath and her comments meant to bait him or belittle him. The man seemed nervous but the little blue couldn't figure out why since they were all friends. Well, there was Charath so maybe there was a reason to be a bit on edge after all. But what a strange collection the humans were! They were all so different but Veeth could already see so many similarities amongst them as he merrily picked his way through Valerian's mind. Once he had plucked through everything he could with a more thorough examination than he had previously done upon Talian's arrival, Veeth made the decision that while the Healer was a bit skittish and on edge, he was still a good man and only in need of loving friendships.

Why are you nervous, Talian? We're friends and wouldn't hurt you. The idea that his talking to the man or his very presence alone had the negative effect on Talian didn't enter Veeth's mind. He was so sure that Valerian's friends were his friends as well. He left the gentle touch of Erisi behind and took the few steps over to sit pretty next to Talian and give him a soft head butt to the leg like he had done with Erisi to show his affection for the man.

Valerian eyed his dragonet with amusement before sending Talian a curious glance of his own. He had his suspicions about how deep the man's hatred for dragons ran and hoped Veeth didn't scare him off in a record-breaking run. It was at Erisi's idea of what he would become and Talian's floundering to soothe their friend that Valerian realized he had better jump back into the conversation, especially when a pleading look was sent his way. "I don't think that came out wrong, Tal. Eri is more than just a means to an end for horny riders. We're both more than the simple definition of 'bluerider' or 'greenrider' and I don't see either of us settling for being only that label either."

He picked at his food again and shrugged as a playful smirk spread over his lips and green eyes locked back onto the green weyrling, "but if nothing else, I guess it's a good thing I'm a bluerider. I'll just train Veeth to fly quickly and work on him and Charath liking each other to save you from the fate of being an outlet to every random stranger on a male dragon." He was teasing his friend but also slightly serious if that was what it took to help ease Erisi's fears of the future. He glanced down at the green he still indulged with petting and wondered what exactly it would take to get her to accept Veeth as worthy enough.