[G] [P] 743.05.23 | All Eyes On You

Larrikith, insightful and prone to poking around in minds she hadn’t been invited into, was still poking around the top thoughts on Chironhes’ mind, when she mentioned N’mor and his status as mated to Z’rin, so she caught the boy’s confusion. She let it go for a while, focusing on the main topic of conversation, but as he considered whether or not he wanted to go home or live in the Weyr, Larrikith started poking around again, digging up the memory of ‘mates’ and she found the exchange that had happened between him and Urudith.

Without any warning whatsoever, Larrikith positively burst into laughter. It wasn’t ‘hahaha’ so much as the green dragon’s absolutely delighted amusement poured over both B’jin and Chironhes’ minds, flowing through them and filling them. B’jin blinked, confused, and clearly a little wary as his eyes narrowed, and he glanced questioningly at the boy before him, and then off to the side, mentally giving his dragon a nudge to share what it was that was causing her so much amusement, since he obviously hadn’t been privy to the boy’s thoughts – but he hadn’t looked like he was thinking anything funny. B’jin wasn’t quite sure the kid knew what a sense of humour was, let alone had one.

Oh dear, Larrikith crooned, her voice absolutely riddled with her amusement. Yes, she said gently to Chironhes, N’mor and Z’rin are sexual partners. The term ‘mate’ is used here to indicate a pair who have promised themselves to one another. For human-to-human or dragon-to-dragon it is most commonly an emotional and a sexual bond. For a human-to-dragon, it is an emotional bond. A dragon cannot live without their human mate, and a human who has been bound to a dragon can rarely survive if their dragon dies. Usually, when a bonded pair are ready for whatever comes next, they will vanish together, forever, in the darkness that is between. B’jin’s bright eyed, highly entertained expression had faded as Larrikith spoke about life’s end, and glanced towards his dragon again, expression sober, before turning back to the boy before him.

You can stop referring to him as ‘the boy’ if you wish, she said in mild amusement to B’jin, only just realising in that moment that she hadn’t passed along his name. She did so, before returning her voice and attention to Chironhes. There are many terms in the Weyr that are not always common outside it. Bronze dragons are foolish idiots who rarely are any good at doing anything except taking offence, so do not take Urudith’s attitude to heart. Larrikith didn’t really care much for many bronzes, preferring to spend her time with other greens and blues, though she had a few bronze friends. She avoided the brown dragon population in its entirety. We are teachers, Larrikith said, her tone clearly indicating B’jin, and I insist you trust me when I tell you that such a question is not the most … unique… we have come across.

B’jin positively smirked at this, his brown eyes sparkling with mischief. Now, as for your being a burden, we do not feel you should worry about such a thing. No one in the Weyr must ‘afford’ their lodgings. You simply live here, and everyone works. If you wish to, you will be assigned lodgings and the Headwoman will assign you chores and tasks that you will complete. However, I think you would make a good mate, Larrikith emphasised the word with gentle teasing that had B’jin smothering a smile. for a dragon. If you wish to become a Candidate, that is, present yourself for consideration of a young dragon to choose upon his or her hatching, B’jin and I would be very interesting in helping you with that goal. You will need to learn to read and write – which will also make communicating easier for you as you can use a board like B’jin does when a dragon is not available to hijack – but we will also teach you everything you need to know about the Weyr, even if you do not wish to be a Candidate, but do wish to stay.

She paused for a moment, and B’jin made a slight movement with his hands. Larrikith spoke again. B’jin says he would like to teach you to read and write, even if you don’t want to be a Candidate, since they are useful skills. Another quick pause, before she continued. He also says that since all communication will be through mind-speak, we can do some lessons while out and about, so you can still hunt, if you like. B’jin is useless at hunting, but I am quite good at it! I know of some good spots to go, and entrails are quite tasty, you know! Larrikith laughed again, softer this time, as B’jin gave an amused but disgusted look at Chironhes from across the table.