Sneaking a Peek

Writers: Avery, Paula, Yvonne
Date Posted: 7th March 2014

Characters: Riveenata, Lenala, F'lin
Description: F'lin arranges a surprise peek at Vilarth's eggs for Riven.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 6, day 3 of Turn 7

Lenala

"When are you done your shift? Is it now?" F'lin asked when he spotted Riven in the Infirmary. He'd made a trip down directly after drills, which were pretty half-hearted since he couldn't stop thinking of a certain healer.

"As soon as I've washed off," she confirmed, holding up a redwort-stained arm. A weyrbrat had cut his leg open on a rock in the river, and she'd had to stitch it up and give care instructions to his worried foster-mother. It wasn't a challenging case, just time-intensive, and she hadn't wanted to stop midway through just because her shift ended.

She scrubbed the last bits off her fingers, wincing at the faint stain, and wondered if she had had plans with F'lin and forgotten about them. She couldn't remember. Popping back out into the main area, she smiled. "All done."

"About time!" He grabbed her hand and led her out of the Infirmary, toward the Weyr's upper reaches. "Remember a couple of nights ago?"

A pleased smile spread as she thought about it. "It was completely forgettable," she joked. "Are we visiting your weyr?"

"Forgettable!?" F'lin paused to shake a finger at her. "Later on, I'm going to make you eat your words. And no, we're not going to my weyr."

She laughed at his mock outrage. "You might have to catch me first."

He tugged her hand, hurryig her up the stairs. "I'm comfortable with that. Seneth and I have some experience in the matter."

"I'm sure you do." They were going up, but not to a rider's weyr. She tilted her head as she followed him. "What's up?"

"It was something you said... it got me thinking." He tugged her around a corner.

She tried to remember. "Firelizards?" And then she began to put it together. "Eggs?"

"_Vilarth's_ eggs." The bronzerider grinned at her, extrordinarily pleased with himself. "She's brooding over a big clutch as we speak, and I happen to know this healer with a fond memory of dragon eggs. So, I thought we'd go sneak a peek."

Her eyes widened. Sneaking a peek at the eggs - it really was like being a teenager again. "Are we going to be hiding in storerooms with peepholes?"

"We could..." he trailled off, then grinned. "Or you could come onto the Sands. Just the bleachers. I had Seneth ask Vilarth if it was all right, and she's ok with us being there are long as we don't get too close."

She breathed out sharply and stumbled a step when she heard that. "Are you _serious_? How'd he finagle that one?" She wouldn't have been this close to eggs in...at least two Turns.

"I have no idea. Vilarth is _so_ broody... I think it helped that I asked Lenala, too." The bronzerider shrugged. "Either way, we're in."

"You come up with the best surprises." She stopped long enough to peck him on the cheek.

When they got to the Sands, she stopped and hesitated, looking for Vilarth and her rider before going in farther.

Vilarth was curled protectively around her nest and lifted her head to gaze them when she sensed their presence.

Riven met the eyes of the gold dragon. "Hello Vilarth," she said, bowing low to the golden dragon. "You're looking very well today. I'm going to stay up here away from the eggs and just watch for a moment, is that still alright?"

She growled softly before turning her head towards her rider. "She says you can, but only briefly," Lenala interpreted and stiffed a yawn. She would be so happy after the eggs were Hatched and she would be able to go around Weyr again. She missed her office already.

"Thanks Lenala, you're the best!" F'lin blew the goldrider a kiss, then dragged Riven off the hot Sands and up the bleacher steps. He stopped half way and ushered her into a seat with a small bow. "M'lady."

The Healer smiled at Lenala. "I do appreciate this rare chance."

She blushed a little at F'lin's extra attention. It was a good vantage point to view the eggs from, and she marveled again at how the gold dragons could create those precious little lives. Her eyes lingered on a small one near the edge of the clutch, colored a jade green like a tropical cove's water. "That one's nice."

"I bet whoever hatches out of that will be small," F'lin said after a moment. "I bet it's a green, the same colour as the shell."

"That'd be a pretty color for a green." Her eyes lingered on it before ghosting over the others. She rather liked a large violet one near the middle, as well, and pointed that one out. "That one looks like an amethyst. What a gorgeous one."

"Wouldn't it be pretty if every dragon was the same colour as its shell? We'd have rainbow wings." He smiled, then shook his head. "On second thought, maybe not. Seneth would be a weird brownish blue colour with spots. Sort of like that one, there--" he pointed out an egg half hidden by Vilarth's wing. "What sort of dragon do you think is curled up in there?"

Lenala just waived off their compliments and tried not to look bored while they examined the eggs. Vilarth didn't let them out of her sight.

"Dragons are already most parts of a rainbow." She had to laugh at his description of what Seneth might look like. The one F'lin pointed out was a darker red, like a deep wine. "It's a medium size, but it's sleek - blue?"

"I think you're right. Gotta be a blue." He stretched his long legs out in front of him, irreverently using the seat ahead of them as a foot rest. He pointed at another egg, gently resting against a small sand dune created by Vilarth's tail. "Who do you think will pop out of that one?"

She was captivated by Vilarth's hide, glittering against the sand, and took a moment to respond. "I think... you know, that one might be a bronze."

"It's big, but I'll bet you a bottle of wine that it hatches a brown," F'lin said.

She grinned. "Sure." Then she looked over at the gold again, wondering how much of the conversation Vilarth understood.

Lenala could have told them that Vilarth understood everything and found their guessing amusing. Even the Gold herself couldn't tell what colour hatched from which egg.

"Do you ever regret not Impressing?" F'lin asked after a while. There was... something about the way Riven looked at the eggs that made him think she was re-evaluating things. It was the way she held her head, the slight pinching of her mouth. She'd said that she didn't, that she loved her chosen Craft, but...

"A bit," she admitted. Her eyes kept straying back to the little green one. "I'm too old, though."

There was nothing he could say to that. After a certain point, dragons just didn't choose you anymore. He put an arm around her shoulders and drew her in for a hug instead. "You would have made an amazing greenrider."

"Thanks." But her smile was a little weak as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "We probably shouldn't linger..." Let the real Candidates have their chances to look at the Eggs, is what she really thought.

She stood up and bowed again. "Thank you again, Lenala and Vilarth."

"You're welcome," Lenala replied. "Any break of the boredom is always welcome."

Last updated on the March 21st 2014

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Sneaking a Peek