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Writers: Ang, Clancey
Date Posted: 22nd April 2012

Characters: K'dall, Z'hren
Description: The two brown weyrlings strike up a bargain
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 6, day 28 of Turn 6

After class one day, Tallandrath approached one of the other browns,
dark like him, though Tall was lighter by half a shade, and nosed him
curiously. Tallandrath had already proven far more outgoing than
K'dall had ever been in his life, and it was something of a conundrum
to the Beasthealer. How did one deal with a large creature who
talked back, shared your life, and yet, was so opposite from you in
some ways? Perhaps he would have to learn to talk to _people_ after
all.

Seeing his brown lifemate trying to tempt another brown into play
rump-over-tail, K'dall chased him down, aghast. "Tall!" He said
aloud, for the benefit of the other weyrling, "you know better than to
invite yourself to play!"

The brown peered over his shoulder at his rider, eyes whirling a
little in embarrassment. He _did_ know. But he forgot sometimes. The
others were so interesting.

Shaking his head, he smiled apologetically to the other weyrling. He
fetched his name - being both Impressed to brown, they tended to group
together in classes - as Z'hren. "Sorry about that, Z'hren. Tall is
not nearly as well behaved as my canine, though he _tries_." And
that was really all. K'dall was not a master conversationalist, as
he had already proven over and over.

Garreth was half asleep when Tallandrath approached so he really
didn't pay his clutchbrother much attention. That was until the other
brown touched a ticklish spot which made him utter a draconic giggle.
}: Hey, that tickles! :{ he bespoke then tackled his slightly smaller
brother.

Focused on writing down the melody that was in his head ever since the
Hatching, Z'hren didn't hear K'dall approach nor his lifemate until
the scuffle between the browns began. Smiling brightly, he looked up
at K'dall and motioned for him to sit down. No need to stop the
draconic pair wrestling unless it got out of hand. "Not a problem,
K'dall. They're only babies and we can curb their enthusiasm when they
get bigger. Tallandrath is always welcome," he said then watched the
dragons fondly. "Has Tall met your canine? If so, how did it go?"

K'dall shook his head, chuckling at the way they two were playing. It
was such a good feeling, sitting and looking at _his_ dragon. Love
welled up in his eyes for a moment before he turned back to Z'hren.

"Trapper is much better behaved than Tallandrath. So, the meeting
went fairly well. Tall seems more curious than annoyed at his little
furry bedmate. As long as Trapper minds and approaches with caution,
I don't think Tall will hurt him. He seems to be pretty calm and
sweet natured, even for a brown. He seems to like everyone and
everything. That might be ... bad... when he gets bigger? Or it
might be good. I don't really know." He shrugged his shoulders
idly, not really versed enough in draconic behavior to know what was
going to happen next.

"How are you getting along in classes? We certainly have alot to
learn, I think." Maybe they could help each other sometimes.

"I'm glad it went smoothly. I've heard of others not having the same
pleasant introductions. I couldn't imagine having to deal with that
along with Impressing," Z'hren answered and looked at K'dall in a
different light. The man was stronger than he appeared and he was
impressed at how easy it was to talk to him. "Classes are going well,
I suppose, but there's *so* much to learn. I'm lucky that my harper
training taught me to memorize things quickly. How about you? How
are you faring?"

:} Take … this {: Garreth bespoke before throwing out his wing to
cover Tallandrath's head, pulling him closer so he could wrap his tail
around his clutchbrother's. :} Cry uncle! {:

Z'hren heard and started chuckling. "I'm continually surprised at
what Garreth pulls out of my head! He just told Tallandrath to cry
uncle."

Tall's good nature made it easy for the smaller brown to submit,
though he didn't understand 'cry uncle'.

}:You win! Lets play again :{ the brown said, attempting to charm his
bigger brother.

Their tails were twined and Tallandrath tried to push off against his
clutchbrother, failing miserably.

K'dall shook his head, laughing at the pair of them.

He turned toward Z'hren and continued on answering his question. "I
trained as a Beasthealer which isn't so much about memorization but
still, you have to study many different types of beasts and
situations. " He thought for a moment in his careful way about how he
really was faring.

"Even with training and becoming a Journeyman in my Craft, this is
harder than anything. There is alot to learn but also alot of ...
change." He didn't mind change, really. He adapted. But it did seem
like everyday he was adapting to some new change in Tallandrath.

"But I couldn't be happier. "

Giving a draconic chortle, Garreth pulled his wing close to him and
shifted to let Tallandrath up. He didn't understand Uncle either so
was glad his brother hadn't asked about it. }: Okay! :{ he answered
and stood up then moved to the center of the cot areas where he turned
and lifted his dark wings to keep his balance. }: Do your worst … :{

Z'hren also laughed and brought his knees up to wrap his arms around
them. "They are quite the pair …" he said then listened to K'dall's
answer. "Being a Beasthealer must be difficult. Your patients don't
talk back so you would have to know much more than a human healer
would. I find the work itself more difficult than the learning
portion. These hands are used to plucking strings, not chopping meat
or mucking dung."

Holding his hands up to look at the callouses, he grimaced slightly.
"So, if there's ever anything I can do to help you, name it. We're a
team now, all of us, so we need to work together. I can see that
you're happy since you'd been a very quiet young man. Tallandrath has
been good for you. I'm still reeling at the knowledge that there's
another being in my thoughts and that I'm happy, too!"

K'dall found himself warming incredibly to his fellow brown weyrling
and extended his arm to grip Z'hren's in a friendly clasp. "I think
you could help me study some of the classes like Weyr politics, and
maybe I can help you with some of the dragonhealing classes. I seem
to naturally understand those, no doubt because I've spent my life
studying animals of all kinds." He grinned sideways and let some of
his dry sense of humor show. "I don't know that I've stopped being a
quiet young man yet. But you seem to be bringing out the talker in me."

Z'hren laughed and returned the clasp, adding a light slap to K'dall's
shoulder. "Why that's part of my job, don't you know ... Harpers
don't stop just because they Impress," he said with a wink.

Standing with wings outstretched as he waited for Tallandrath to
'attack', Garreth suddenly gasped and whipped his head around to begin
nibbling on a spot on his hip where his belly met his left leg. }:
Itch! MINE!! :{

He was already heading to his lifemate, crock of oil out in
preparation before he said out loud, "Yes, I can see you have an itch.
I'm coming." Rolling his eyes toward K'dall, he asked, "Does
Tallandrath have issues with itching all the time or is Gar just a
drama queen?"

}: I do not know what that is but I AM *NOT* a ... a ... what you said
:{ he grumbled and moved to let Z'hren move to his itchy side.

K'dall chuckled at that image, especially since it was a brown they
were discussing, and shook his head. "Tallandrath itches all the
time, but he seems less... demanding than some. He's really very
sweet to me. But of course, I'd never let him itch for one moment
longer than necessary to get to him with the oil."

Tallandrath peered curiously at his clutchbrother then his rider.

}:I think that I itch too.:{ In his way, he was quite mild mannered,
though he was certainly a friendly brown dragon. He seemed to know
everyone in their weyrling group.

"Ahh..duty calls us..." He smiled as he passed by Z'hren to take up
his own work oiling Tallandrath.

Well, of course he wouldn't. K'dall knew much more about the
potential anatomy of a dragon than he did so it was understandable
that he'd catch an itchy spot earlier. "You're lucky he's not as
demanding," he mumbled as he spread a generous amount of oil on the
spot Garreth was complaining about.

}: I am not demanding ... am I? :{ the brown asked with relief,
turning to look at his lifemate with swirling blue eyes flecked with
increasing spots of yellow.

"No, love. You're just ... vocal," he said with a wink to K'dall as he passed.

K'dall smiled, feeling as if he'd made a friend, and then turned to
care for his dragon, his normal quietness showing itself again.

Last updated on the April 30th 2012

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