Get That Booty

Writers: Aaron, Halyonix
Date Posted: 5th June 2023

Characters: D'men, Y'rim
Description: D'men's kids bother Y'rim.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyrhold
Date: month 6, day 5 of Turn 11

Barrier Lake had its charms. It was much warmer than Dragonsfall, for one. But most everything was new — and that could be exciting, but it could also be inconvenient.

It was closer to his grandmother, whom Ferros had quickly grown quite close to. His mom had made the trip as well, and he had his dads, though he had to start over when it came to friends, and there were not as many people to befriend.

Like his dads, Ferros had no qualms with striking up a conversation with a random stranger as though he knew them. So when he chanced to glance down from a lofty perch and spy a passing weyrhold denizen, he called out around his everpresent mouthful of red rock candy.

"Ahoy, sir!" He waved with the biggest silliest grin he could manage with candy protruding from between his lips.

"Who is it?" asked his younger brother, Daslim. He ran to Ferros and peered down to look for whomever he had addressed. "Hi!" he called in an easily identifiable Dragonsfall accent.

"Who are you bothering?" asked Sareya as she joined them.

And just like that, Y'rim was suddenly surrounded by children.

It took him a moment to adjust to the little ones swarming around. He loved children. Sometimes he thought about fostering his own but that was terribly hard to do as a dragonrider so it just remained a wish for now. He grinned back at the one with the silly grin, whose mouth was stained red from the candy. "Hello there," he replied. "Are we pretending to be a savage holdless pirate today?" he asked as he leaned down to speak. Kids tended to have the most amazing imaginations so who knew how the conversation was going to go.

Daslim bounced on the balls of his feet at the suggestion.

"Ohh, Ferros, we never play pirates anymore!" he complained. Then he turned to Y'rim. "Do you wanna play? Aba likes to be the boat!"

"The ship," Sareya corrected. "Please forgive my _incorrigible_ brothers, sir — I'm Sareya. Captain Redlips here is Ferros, and the excitable one is Daslim."

"Oh, don't try to sound all grown up, Reya, you haven't Impressed your gold yet." Ferros stuck his red-stained tongue out at her. "‘Incorrigible’, pf. Who talks like that?"

"Yet." Sareya folded her arms and ignored Ferros's jibe.

Y'rim's grin widened. "I would love to play! But can I bring in someone who would love to be the boat today?"

"Oh, oh, do we get to meet your blue?" Daslim bounced and spun with unfettered excitement. He had lived around dragons his entire life, and he was nevertheless excited to meet every single one of them.

"What's his name? What's _your_ name?"

Y'rim half-giggled. "Well, _I'm_ Y'rim," he said. He had already mentally tapped Quiroanth about the kids and was waiting for just the right flourish of a moment to introduce her. He felt more than he saw the familiar spread of green wings behind him as she landed. "And _this_," Y'rim added, "is my green, Quiroanth."

Quiroanth regarded the children with a playful arch to her neck, her faceted eyes whirling a pleasant sky blue. She shuffled her dark green wings eagerly. }: I get to be a boat? :{ she asked her rider.

**Something like that,** Y'rim answered. **We'll figure it out quick, I bet. Kids have _great_ imaginations. Just play along!**

Daslim's eyes widened with awe.

"Ohhh, Quiroanth!" He ran to her before either his brother or sister could stop him. "By the sun, you're _beautiful_," he said.

"Das," Sareya admonished. "You can't just run up on any dragon like she's Pops's or Dad's."

"And don't swear," said Ferros.

}:But she _is_ beautiful by the sun.:{

A lithe, deep midnight blue landed behind the elder kids and then bowed deeply to Y'rim and Quiroanth.

}:And her rider is as handsome as the mountain,:{ he said, again for all to hear. It may have been unusual for a dragon to speak to humans not his rider, but this one was as happy to speak his poetry to dragon and rider alike.

"Hey, Aba." Ferros climbed onto the blue's arm and hugged his head, and the dragon hummed an audible rumble.

}:It's my great pleasure to meet you both,:{ he said. }:I am Abaroath.:{

}: Oooooh, he is _haaaaandsome_,:{ Quiroanth gushed. }: Did you hear what he called me?? 'As beautiful as the sun'! Oh, I like him! :{

"Good day to you and yours, Abaroath," Y'rim replied. However many Turns as a dragonrider and he hadn't quite gotten used to when another rider's dragon spoke to him. T'shel's blue had--

}: Oh, we are _not_ going to ruin this with thinking about T'shel right now, okay? :{ Quiroanth snapped.

Y'rim burst out laughing. "Sorry, sorry," he apologized, "Quiroanth is reminding me not to dwell on bad things from the past. It's a pleasure to meet you as well!" To the kids, he asked, "I assume this is your father's dragon?"

"Yeah, Aba is Dad's," said Ferros. "Papa's is Iskandreth."

Daslim was too busy laying gentle hands on Quiroanth to pay attention to much else, despite his siblings exhortations to leave her be before asking.

}:The present is a much better place to live than the past,:{ said Abaroath to Quiroanth. }:As is your presence.:{

"Did you make a new friend?"

"Hey, Dad," said Ferros.

"This is Y'rim and his beautiful Quiroanth," Sareya introduced them. "Y'rim, this our dad, D'men. And of course, Aba introduced himself already," she added for D'men's benefit.

"We were going to play pirates," said Daslim, not taking his bright and wide eyes away from Quiroanth for even a moment to glance at D'men.

"Ahhh!" D'men danced with excitement. "We haven't played pirates in forever! Set sail, Aba, let's go! And you can be the brave privateer come to capture us." He grinned and reached out his hand to Y'rim.

"Or should you and I be the pirates while the kids chase us?"

}: Oh, he has _chaaarm_, :{ Quiroanth commented with a flick of her tail as she relished Daslim's attention. Even though Y'rim was grinning at D'men, he could easily see that Quiroanth had arched her neck primly, absorbing her spotlight of a moment.

**Don't you get your hopes up,** Y'rim chided her. **He's taken.**

}: Blues are all the same when it comes to flights, :{ was all she said. Y'rim left it at that because he was _not_ going to have a discussion about what happened the first time Quiroanth rose in their new home.

To D'men, Y'rim said, "I did promise the little ones that Quiroanth would be their ship. And I will admit that I'm not entirely sure what that entails." He giggled nervously as he said the last bit. "Lead the way!"

"Oh, it mostly just means they'll be climbing all over her," D'men chuckled. "They're usually pretty good about reading when their ship is a little overwhelmed. Usually. Let me know if Quiroanth needs a break, OK?" He smiled and took Y'rim's hand to lead him to Abaroath.

"Arrr, mateys!" he called toward the kids as he climbed up onto his blue's back. "The Lord's lackeys are fast on our tails!" He tapped Abaroath's back, and he slowly backed up toward Quiroanth as if she were gaining on him in the water.

"You won't escape this time, Goldbeard!" called Daslim as he climbed onto Quiroanth. The other two stood beside her, but they were more hesitant to climb.

}: Oh, I'm the ship chasing Abaroath as the other ship? :{ Quiroanth asked. }: Oh, this will be fun! :{

**Just don't take off with the children on your back, Quir!** Y'rim said quickly. **You're a ship. You stay on the ground. Uh, water. You get the idea.**

Quiroanth's eyes whirled an excited color. She looked down at the two hesitant ones and gave them a delicate nudge with her snout. }: I'll be careful, I promise, :{ she said to her rider. Once her riders were onboard, she extended her wings in a horizontal line and began slowly stalking forward, listening to the children's commands.

Ferros happily took the nudge as permission and climbed up beside Daslim — Sareya, however, was still a touch reserved. She sat further down on Quiroanth's back, still and wary of moving too much.

"We've got you now! Load the cannons, Reya!" Ferros pointed forward.

"Th-the cannons? We don't— we don't have any snowballs or anything."

"Psh, come on, just. Make cannon noises or something."

"K'thoom."

"Pathetic..."

"KA THOOOOOM!" Daslim yelled with his best but a still meager attempt at deepening his voice.

"Arrr, we're under fire!" D'men cried, pretending to wobble as if they had been hit. "Take cover, matey!"

He pretended to dive to take Y'rim down to the deck, but he moved slowly enough to keep it safe, and the motion ended up more of a hug and snuggle than a tackle.

Quiroanth added a warbling cry, imitating the boom of whatever a canon was as best as she could, which added to Y'rim's surprise since he had never heard his dragon make that particular sort of sound but then suddenly he was on the ground with D'men and oh, didn't he just smell good and have some strong arms and...

}: You're supposed to be a pirate, Yoli! Not a lovesick weyrling, :{ Quiroanth said but she was laughing. And she was right. He definitely needed to pay attention to the game, not the handsome rider.

Y'rim recovered enough of himself to say, "Oh no! We've been hit! We'll...we'll need to bail out the water before it sinks the ship! Don't let them hit us like that again!" Hopefully the kids heard him enough so that they would keep firing.

"Ha HA!" Daslim cried triumphantly. "We've got you now, you scurvy seaslugs!"

D'men grinned as he pantomimed dumping water overboard.

"You'll never take us alive!" he called back. "Return fire!"

Abaroath mimicked the sound Quiroanth had made and slapped the ground with his tail.

Quiroanth made a sound like she might have been hit by the imaginary fire but her bugle turned into a rallying cry as she continued to stalk forward, undeterred. }: We'll have them yet! :{ she gleefully told the children on her back. }:Don't give up! :{

"I'm gonna jump for it!" Ferros shouted as he crouched down and readied himself to jump the gap between the two dragons. His sister, however, snagged him by his shirt before he could.

"Don't be daft, you wherry," Sareya hissed. "Are you trying to break your leg?"

"I could make it!"

"And I'm the Lady Holder of Ista."

Abaroath slowed to allow Quiroanth to come up beside him.

"And don't you encourage him, Aba! You'd feel pretty bad if he did break something."

"We'll have to swim for it!" D'men laughed and slid down Abaroath's opposite side to the ground.

"They're getting away!" Daslim shouted.

"We only want the cargo they stole, let them go," said Sareya.

"Aw, you're no fun anymore, Reya," he grumbled.

}: Cargo? :{ Quiroanth queried her rider.

**Goods. Loot. Treasure. That stuff!** he replied as he followed D'men down on the opposite side. Quiroanth spread her wing to let the one of the kids quickly teeter across it to Abaroath. **Remember, it's all just pretend!**

}: Right! :{ Quiroanth said. Then, so that all of the humans in the area heard her, she said, }: Don't let them escape with our booty! :{

**Look at you, using the word 'booty',** Y'rim giggled mentally.

"Ha HA!" Ferros eagerly took the opportunity to make the jump, ignoring Sareya's hiss.

But when Daslim stood to do the same, Sareya whistled to him.

"Oi, Das!" she shouted. "After the blighted currs before they escape! Let Ferros recover the goods." She waved and jumped down to run around Abaroath the long way.

However, the blue shifted to block her.

"Hey! Aba, not fair! Nobody's steering you!"

**Avast! The crew tilted my rudder before they abandoned ship!** Abaroath rumbled with amusement. Sareya playfully swatted his thigh.

"I got 'em!" Daslim shouted and scrambled underneath him. Soon, he was running full tilt toward D'men and Y'rim.

"We've got a tail!" D'men shouted. "We can't let him find the secret hideout!" He laughed and charged Daslim and scooped him up into a furious ticklestorm. "Raaa!"

The boy joyfully joined in the laughter.

Y'rim was too happy, watching D'men play with his squealing son, to continue running. That more or less signaled the end of the pirate event. Quiroanth shuffled her wings in delight. }: Oh that was so much _fun_! :{ she said brightly, letting the children hear her.

}:You made quite the sleek sailing vessel, beautiful one,:{ Abaroath praised the green. }:Perhaps next time, I might be the one to chase after you.:{

Sareya and Ferros joined the group, and even the girl could not help but smile now.

"Have you all eaten?"

Ferros held up his candy.

"Ugh. Gross. You're lucky you didn't choke on that jumping around like that." Sareya wrinkled her nose.

"Candy isn't lunch!" D'men chuckled, though there was a hint of nervous relief in it — it had not occurred to him to worry that Ferros might accidentally inhale the thing. He was so used to him constantly having one in his mouth that he had stopped noticing them.

"How about you, Y'rim? Did the kids intercept you on your way to eat?"

Y'rim was too busy listening to Quiroanth momentarily flirt with Abaroath and had tuned the kids out. So when D'men asked about food, Y'rim's attention snapped back with a, "Hm? Oh, no I was..." Actually, he _had_ been on his way to lunch but was going to pass by the tailor's spot first to see how long it would take to get a shirt darned. Embarrassed, it was Y'rim's turn to blush. He scratched behind his ear and said, "Actually, yes I was on my way but it's no bother that I got stopped! It was fun! Quir had a blast being a boat. She'd love to do it again anytime."

}: Ask him to lunch, ask him to lunch! :{ Quiroanth piped up.

**He's _taken_, stop trying to hook me up,** Y'rim thought back.

}: Bah, :{ his green replied with a coquettish arch to her neck and adoring eyes at Abaroath. }: He won't be so taken when I fly. :{

That deepened Y'rim's blush. Oh, she was incorrigible! And yet, he found himself saying, "Would you...like to join me for lunch?" And then, hurriedly, "And the kids as well! They are an absolute treat to be around."

D'men smiled brightly back at Y'rim. The blushing was absolutely adorable. And based on the smugness radiating from Aba, there was a fair to decent chance he was its ultimate source.

"I'd love to," he said.

Sareya knew those looks. She was not quite as good as she would have liked to think she was about being subtle and clever, though.

"You know, actually, I just remembered there's this thing I need the boys to help me with, so. We'll have to eat a little later when we're done."

"What thing? I'm hungry now!" Ferros groused.

"It's a surprise," Sareya growled.

"You didn't say anything about a surprise."

"Ferros, you never listen," said Daslim. "'Reya _just_ told us about the surprise we're making for Papa's nameday, and you don't even remember?"

Sareya's eyes and smile widened. She was impressed that the youngest had a better head on his shoulders than Ferros, but not surprised.

"What? No! Of course, I remember! I just... forgot you'd said we were doing that today is all."

D'men chuckled and shook his head.

"All right, if you insist," he said. "Maybe I'll bring you something so you can eat while you work."

"That would be awesome! Thanks, Dad," said Ferros.

Sareya hauled him off by his sleeve, and Daslim followed before anyone could protest.

"I hope you don't mind if it's just the two of us," said D'men to Y'rim.

Oh, what a sudden turn of events! With Quiroanth delightedly laughing in his head, Y'rim smiled nervously and replied, "Not at all!"

This was going to be quite an interesting day indeed.

Last updated on the June 25th 2023

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Get That Booty