Egg Sneak

Writers: Devin, Miriah, Suzee
Date Posted: 20th August 2014

Characters: N'vanik, J'ackt, Cyradis
Description: N'vanik allows Jenackt to privately see the eggs
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 4 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Sh'del, Saibra, Saidrene

Notes: Occurs before the Hatching

N'vanik

J'ackt

Cyradis

Jenackt sat in N'vanik's office sorting through files. It wasn't a job
he enjoyed, but it helped him cement his reading a little more. There
were still times he had problems with the words, but he was beginning
to work around it. But his mind was far from the files in his hands.
He should have been in the Hatching Grounds with the other candidates
right now. They were given the chance to touch the eggs while he,
thanks to Sh'del, was not allowed. His face was set in a mask of
irritation as he put the hide into its proper place.

"You have that expression so often I'm starting to think it's the only
one you have," N'vanik said with dry humor.

"Maybe I'm just used to being screwed over." Jenackt replied, shoving
a file into place, then blew a strand of hair out of his eyes. "I'm
beginning to think you and Cyradis are the only ones in this Weyr who
really want me around." Saibra and Saidrene used to, but they were
already gone and he wasn't sure he wanted to see either one of them
any time soon.

"Give it time. Your sunny personality will win people over
eventually." N'vanik couldn't help teasing the boy.

Jenackt eyed him and put down the hides. He gave a soft snort. "So
I've been told." His voice was dry. "But they're down there now. Egg
touching. Sh'del made sure I wasn't a part of that."

N'vanik hid a flash of anger. "You're not allowed to touch the eggs at all?"

"I'm here, aren't I? Suspended from being a Candidate because I
apparently, my attitude doesn't mesh with his idea of what a rider
should be. Shards, I haven't been to class in a couple of sevendays.
He's got me doing duty with dragonhealers when I'm not here." As if he
hadn't seen enough butchered and wounded animals. "And paired with a
boy who apparently hasn't had his balls drop yet and stares at my ass
every day."

"You don't have to be happy about the staring, but people like him are
welcome here," N'vanik said, a light warning in his tone. If Jenackt
had issues with that, N'vanik wanted him to get over at as soon as
possible.

"I know that and it doesn't bother me as long as I'm left alone. I'm
not bent that way." Jenackt shrugged. "But Sh'del seems to think I
should be some sort of protector for him because he doesn't have the
guts to fend for himself. I told Sh'del that I wouldn't do it and I'm
suspended for having a rotten attitude."

"He's trying to make a former holdless look after someone else?
Genius." N'vanik snorted. "Well, later today I'm going to pay the
Weyrwoman a visit, and since I have to pass by the Hatching Grounds to
do that ... maybe you'd like to come with me?" Egg touching might make
a difference or it might not, but N'vanik wanted to give the boy every
advantage when it came to Impressing.

Jenackt went still and turned to look at N'vanik, both brows slowly
rising. If Sh'del found out, he'd be more than a little annoyed that
N'vanik had allowed it. That alone made a small smile grow on his
face. "Yes. Yes I would."

~*~

}:Mine would like to know if someone can come and touch our eggs,:{
Loseth told his mate. }:He promises to watch the Candidate and the
young one will behave.:{

}:They may come:{ Panitath replied after a moment. }:But they must be careful:{

N'vanik grinned. "We have permission. Did you get any lessons on what
you're supposed to do, or did he give you the boot before that?"

"Touched the eggs last time." He offered a wider smile. "I remember what to do."

"Ah, right." He'd forgotten. "Come on." N'vanik led Jenackt inside.

Jenackt followed and his eyes immediately went to the large clutch
laying in the baking sands. He went still at the number, his gaze
landing on the largest eggs of the bunch. "There's a lot more this
time."

"That's how many there are supposed to be. Loseth does good work," he
added with a smug smile.

Jenackt stepped on to the Sands carefully and looked up at the golden
bulk of Panitath. He met her gaze and then bowed slowly, never taking
his eyes off of her. "My respects."

Panitath's eyes whirled slowly as she regarded the one with Loseths.
Perhaps just perhaps he would be chosen by one of her brood. }:He may
touch our eggs:{ she told Loseth with an almost imperceptible tilt of
her head.

"She says it's okay," N'vanik told Jenackt.

Jenackt nodded and carefully approached the eggs, his light steps the
only indication that the heated sands were affecting him through his
boots. He immediately walked to the biggest egg and laid his hand on
it, fingers spread. His fingers stroked over the hardened shell. "What
color do you think this one is?"

"Could be anything. You can only tell gold eggs before they hatch.
Otherwise, the biggest one might be a bronze, or a green." N'vanik
stayed off to the side, away from the hottest part of the Sands.

Jenackt studied the egg for a minute, then walked carefully to
another, brushing his fingers over it. "Do you really think this
helps?" He touched another, his eyes on the eggs and not N'vanik. "I
did it last time."

"Maybe." The Weyrleader shrugged. "There are a lot of things people
claim make a difference, but there's only one thing I really believe."

"Hm." Jenackt moved to stroke another egg. "What do you believe?"

"That you have to want it. Whatever else is going on in your head,
some part of you has to reach out to the hatchlings, to want one of
them to choose you." N'vanik remembered the yearning that filled him
when that first egg hatched.

}:I found you. I knew you were meant for me.:{ Loseth sent his love.

**I know.** N'vanik couldn't help smiling at the memory. He wanted
that for Jenackt.

Jenackt's fingers curled about the egg. "What if Sh'del is right? What
if I'm really not fit?" He didn't look at N'vanik, but looked at the
assembled eggs. "I might just be wasting everyone's time, N'vanik."

N'vanik took a moment to consider what he was going to say. "Even if
you don't Impress, you're not wasting my time. No matter what anyone
else tells you, you're worth something."

He gave a soft snort of denial even as he laid his hand on another
egg. "You know...at first I didn't want this. But now..." His voice
lowered. "I want to show all of them that I could do this."

N'vanik chuckled. "I know the feeling."

He hadn't had too much time to be disappointed at the last hatching;
he'd been too busy trying to run from the Weyr. But this time, if he
wasn't chosen, he had a feeling that he'd be cut deeper. He shook that
thought aside and patted another egg, another question coming to mind.
"N'vanik...does going /between/ with pregnancies happen often?"

Panitath snorted and laid her head on the sands near the eggs. Closing
her eyes. She reached out to Cyradis. }:This one has a lot of
questions;{

Cyradis smiled in her room **I don't doubt it** She knew N'vanik had
hopes for Jenackt and she could say she wanted much the same for the
young man.

"Deliberately?" N'vanik asked, even as the words hit him like a gut
punch. It still hurt. "Yeah, with greenriders. Other women do it too."

"Saibra took Saidrene /between/. They never told me she was carrying.
I found out before they left." Jenackt walked away from the eggs
slowly. He wasn't used to opening up, but now that Saibra and Saidrene
were gone, he had hardly anyone to talk to. "I was mad. Really mad.
But, I guess Saibra knew what she was doing. Don't no kid need me as a
dad. Maybe hatchlings will feel the same."

"Hey, don't think like that." Pain squeezed N'vanik's heart. "I took
Tal /between/ once, because she asked me to. I thought she didn't love
me enough, but it was... it was just a big misunderstanding."

"Hard not to really. This wasn't much of a misunderstanding." Jenackt
then shrugged, shoving his hand in his pockets. "It happened and it
was done." He looked back at the eggs, studying them. "Maybe I'll do
better with a dragon than with kin."

A shift back to the original subject felt safer. "I have a theory
about why dragons choose the people they do. I don't think they look
at who we _are_, I think they see who we could be." Nothing else
really explained why Loseth had chosen him.

Jenackt stepped off the sands, his eyes remaining on the eggs.
"There's lots of things I could be. Not all of them good," he
admitted. "I think I've touched all I need to touch."

He was missing the point, but what did N'vanik expect? "Alright. Let's
go see Cyradis."

Last updated on the September 6th 2014

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Egg Sneak