16.Dec.23, 07:00 PM
Ereben cocked his head at T'ryn, his arms full of toddlers, and said, "You've got kids?" as though it wasn't already apparent. It was more like a weird surprise. Ereben didn't yet associate dragonriders with having kids -- he was still working on that whole "they have dragons" awe. But even before T'ryn could (obviously) answer that, Ereben was looking at the twins with cautioun.
See, Holdless kids -- they were good at being quiet and running. Whenever they met, it was an instant gauge of those things. Would you be the one to get everyone in trouble by talking too loud or would you be the one who got caught? And since Ereben had left his Holdless lifestyle, he had been trying to figure out how he was supposed to relate to youngsters now. He wasn't the youngest Candidate but they were all teenagers, not young young like these two.
So the boy was shy and not really cool with leaving T'ryn's side. But the girl eventually met Ereben's scrutiny, looking into his eyes for long enough for him to awkwardly raise a hand and say, "Hey." Were they even old enough to talk? Ereben had no idea. He'd done his best to stay away from the youngest kids back in Holdless life.
"And they're your oldest kids?" he asked T'ryn. "How many do you have?" Okay, he knew that people had sex but again, dragonriders were still in some weird limbo of just dragonriders, not parents in Ereben's mind. After today, that was probably going to change.
"I'm good," Ereben answered to T'ryn's question about how he was. "Didn't Impress at my first Hatching but...they say that's normal. Still a bummer but whatever. Hey, have you dried this hot chocolate thing?"
See, Holdless kids -- they were good at being quiet and running. Whenever they met, it was an instant gauge of those things. Would you be the one to get everyone in trouble by talking too loud or would you be the one who got caught? And since Ereben had left his Holdless lifestyle, he had been trying to figure out how he was supposed to relate to youngsters now. He wasn't the youngest Candidate but they were all teenagers, not young young like these two.
So the boy was shy and not really cool with leaving T'ryn's side. But the girl eventually met Ereben's scrutiny, looking into his eyes for long enough for him to awkwardly raise a hand and say, "Hey." Were they even old enough to talk? Ereben had no idea. He'd done his best to stay away from the youngest kids back in Holdless life.
"And they're your oldest kids?" he asked T'ryn. "How many do you have?" Okay, he knew that people had sex but again, dragonriders were still in some weird limbo of just dragonriders, not parents in Ereben's mind. After today, that was probably going to change.
"I'm good," Ereben answered to T'ryn's question about how he was. "Didn't Impress at my first Hatching but...they say that's normal. Still a bummer but whatever. Hey, have you dried this hot chocolate thing?"