Well After Dark [loba]

[diogenessbeast]

Aith was uncomfortable.

Such an effect was not hard to achieve under normal circumstances. Aith was high strung, and liked things a very specific way- clean, neat, and organized. She wasn't particularly adventurous, and she was firmly the sort of dragon that believed in sleeping at a decent hour.

This was not a decent hour. She stood, near the entrance to the lower caverns, shifting uncomfortably. Her rider had yet to appear. Mali was in the creche, despite the late hour, comforting her youngest Son. Ilaez was in the middle of what the humans called terrible twos, and had recently discovered the wonders of insomnia. Mali, upon hearing this, had taken upon herself to make sure that her youngest slept decently and went to bed properly-- even if that meant lingering around the creche and rounding him out when he crawled out of bed to seek mischief.

As it was, midnight had come, and she had not yet emerged. It had been like this for a week, ever since A'zeal had left for Ista-- usually it was the bronzerider who made sure Ilaez actually went to sleep, and the young boy, for some reason, listened to him. Perhaps it was those stories that A'zeal was so good at telling. Whatever the reason, it left poor Aith out in the weyrbowl in the darkness of night, when she could barely see and when the world felt all too close by around her, while Mali attended to her youngest child's whims.

Mali, can you hurry? Please? I do not like the dark. She said finally. The answer she received gave her no comfort: just a little longer. She whined, a small night in the darkness of the unlit weyrbowl, and settled down to her belly to wait uncomfortably.

[Akira]

Loba laughed loudly as she watched her green wher bounded along ahead of her as they made their usual rounds around the Weyrbowl. Lobask's Loba green rider! It was often hard to understand the wher's words, but this really took the cake. It wasn't until the wher sent her a mental picture of a green dragon that she understood. Alright, alright, we'll go look. She rolled her eyes when her green fluttered her short wings excitedly. She had to admit, it was easy to make her happy, and Loba liked that.

Loba walked on with Lobask bounding around her happily. Then they got close enough for Loba to see the dragon that her wher had first sensed. Well, Loba wasn't exactly sure whether the wher had seen the dragon, or smelt the dragon. She had to admit, the wher had an excellent sense of smell compared to that of herself, so she wasn't sure. But she knew that dragons, along with whers, had their own distinct smell. Loba bounded up happily to he dragon before plopping her butt down on the ground with a quiet thud.

Lobask green Hi! The wher crooned and gurgled at the larger dragon. Loba thought her wher was going to tip herself over with the speed that the wher's tail was wagging with. I am sorry to disturb you and your rider dragon. But I am supposed to make sure that everyone is accounted for. May I ask who your rider is? She wasn't sure if the dragon would talk to her, cause she knew that some dragon's didn't like to talk to strangers, but it was her job to make sure that everyone was safe, and where they were supposed to be.

[diogenessbeast]

Aith was unhappy enough as it was, and was sullenly thinking that the night couldn't possibly get worse. Oh, but it could. Poor Aith, who had never met a wher before, was about to have a New Experience- something she wasn't quite so good at dealing with, in general.

So, when the green wher came bounding up, she verbally squawked, jumping to her feet, eyes flashing bright and roiling yellow. What.. What was that? It looked like her, but much different, and it was running around in the dark, when nothing sane would possibly think of being outdoors! And it spoke funny! What? What are you? Why are you out at night? She didn't intend to sound rude, but she was shocked enough that the words escaped past her usually iron-solid filters without notice. She spoke to the wher directly, and hadn't noticed the handler at all-- she couldn't see well in the darkness.

The handlers' voice made her squeak again, and this time the eyes took tones of distressed orange. What? A human? A human out after dark? And speaking to her! When Mali wasn't here. Aith was a neurotic dragon, and she didn't like touching the minds of others. It wasn't for the usual traditions that the other dragons held dear, either: it was because mindtouches went both ways, and Aith didn't like touching the minds of others. It made her nervous. Other dragons' minds were okay, but humans... well, the only humans she liked to mindtouch were Mali, and occasionally A'zeal. It was why she made an aweful search dragon. Human's minds were just so chaotic and disorganized and-- argh! They made her feel like the one time she'd journeyed into A'zeal and Marath's weyr. Things everywhere! Argh!

So, she whined, low in her throat, and looked in the direction of the lower caverns. Mali? Mali, please come out. There are strange people here.

That brought Mali running. She ran out of the lower caverns in a huff, thinking her dragon to be in danger, or at least concerned about something-- and when she realized the green was faced with a wher and her handler, she slowed, putting her hands on her hips. With a sigh and purposeful steps, she closed the distance between the small group and herself, fixing the wher and the wher's handler with a smile. "I'm sorry if Aith was bothering you- can I help you?" Aith hadn't told her what the handler had asked, and the dragon was staring at the wher with a sort of morbidly shocked curiosity that implied that she wouldn't be conveying the message anytime soon.

[Akira]

Loba couldn't help but laugh at the dragon's shocked reaction to her wher. She had never seen a dragon react like that to a wher before, and it made her smile to see her own bonded's reaction to that. Lobask immediately stopped wagging her tail, and turned to her handler. Lobask Loba's help? Lobask walked over to her handler as she spoke, and was quickly reassured when her handler stroked her head. It's alright Lobask, and I am sorry that we have startled your dragon. Loba spoke directly to the dragon's rider when the woman finally appeared.

We are out here to make sure that everyone is alright, and where they were supposed to be. Things had been pretty bothersome since one of Maelath's eggs had been stolen, and the whers and their handlers had been put out in double shifts ever since. Loba had never seen this rider or dragon before, so she wasn't sure if they were actually part of the Weyr. Lobask stood, and slowly walked over to the dragon, her tail slowly wagging back and forth.

Lobask sat down directly in front of the dragon, and gazed up at her. Lobask green play? She wanted to play with the other green, even if the dragon was about five times her size. Lobask calm down. I'm sure that dragon doesn't want to play with you. Loba wasn't sure how the rider would react to the way her wher was addressing her dragon, and trying to get the female to play with her. She knew how she would react. She would be rolling on the ground laughing her butt off.

[diogenessbeast]

Mali, indeed, was finding it very hard not to laugh at her dragon. She knew poor Aith so well, and she knew the green wouldn't appreciate being laughed at-- but the poor creature's reaction to a wher, of all things, was so amusing. Come to think of it, Mali was reminded of the first time Aith had ever met a canine. Her eldest son had brought the thing up to her weyr, mud all over it's paws, and.. well, if dragons could cry, Mali was sure Aith would've been reduced to tears as soon as the canine's paws touched her clean weyr's floor.

Thus, when Loba apologized, she shook her head and gave Aith's neck an affectionate pat. "Don't worry about it," she answered, "Aith doesn't do so well with new creatures."

Which may have been something of an understatement. Aith was still staring at Lobask as if this were proof of the world around her going insane: Eyes wide, kind of backed up as far as she could be while staying in the same spot, her eyes yellow-orange. She still hadn't quite gotten a handle on what Lobask was, and.. why did she want to play?

Play?[/i] The dragon repeated to the wher, looking at Mali with an expression that said, quite clearly, 'Save Me'. Er. Play what?[/i]

Mali grinned at her dragon, and then turned back to the wherhandler. "Well, we're certainly fine." she answered, "And we're not where we usually are at this hour, though I certainly hope Trelis' weyrbowl isn't off limits to riders of Trelis weyr at night." her words were slightly sharp, but she didn't mean offense by them- rather, she was genuinely surprised, and talking in her ordinary brisk way. "I was in the lower caverns with my son; he's two, and has learned the wonders of resisting sleep." she rolled her eyes, but then gave Loba a slightly apologetic expression. "I hope it's caused you no trouble."

[Akira]

Loba smiled and nodded at the dragon rider's words. She looked up at the large creature and shook her head. Alright you, leave her alone. Lobas' voice was exasperated as she spoke to her wher. The green in question turned to look at Hers when she spoke, and wagged her tail. She just wanted to play, and didn't mean any harm. Loba loked over at the rider, and hopped she wouldn't get upset. Lobask crooned to Hers, and sent her a picture of them relaxing. That normally meant that the green wanted her handler to chill.

Lobask looked up at the dragon when she finally spoke to her. Lobask green Play! The wher hopped up, and started hopping around the dragon with her tail just wagging madly. She fluttered her small green wings, and gently pawed at the larger creatures front claws. Basically she was trying to get the green "dance" like she was. That was one of her favorite games, and always had been. Even though the only one that normally played with her was her handler.

Loba listened carefully to the rider's words, and nodded. She had heard the sharpness of the other woman's voice, but didn't pay it no mind. No trouble at all. All of the wher handlers have been told to keep a sharp eye out ever since the egg and candidates had been stollen. It had been a pain to work double shifts because of that event, but at least it meant that the Weyr had more protection at all times now.

((OOC: Sorry it's short, brain's being evil DX))