Growing Pains

[Kitari]

"Come on, Dagonth! You can do it!" B'rec called lazily, lounging against a fence post and watching the blue's awkward progress through the air. Whenever it was time for the blue to feed, they went through the same routine. Dagonth would be nervous about taking off from the ground, straining his wings far too much in the first downsweep and blasting above the herd. This always succeeded in terrifying the beasts, which would go into a mad stampede down the Grounds. Then, Dagonth would swoop after them, their frenzy making them fast and difficult to catch. It would be easy enough to crash down on one, but the blue hated the sound of a herdbeast's back breaking. Thus, he would fly around the field multiple times before finally succeeding in snatching one with his claws.

The wait didn't bother B'rec, though, for he loved to watch the blue move through the air. His Dagonth was unique, and it made him feel all the more attached to the dragon. They were both different in their own ways, and this only served to strengthen their bond, as each relied on the other. In fact, the Weyrlingrider felt little need to socialize with this other Weyrlings, because he had the constant company of Dagonth. This served B'rec quite well, for he had still not adapted to the large population of the Weyr. He had failed to form any strong friendships, always afraid of being judged or failing to interact properly.

The tall lad smiled as Dagonth finally brought down a beast, carrying it a short distance before dropping to eat. "What shall we do after you've finished breakfast, my one?" he called, quite comfortable where he was leaning on the post.

Your Dagonth is far too busy eating right now to think of such things. Besides, he is sure you will make a good decision.

[Shikai]

Aclaryn attempted to look casual as he made what he hoped to be discreet exit from the weyr, walking swiftly out into the sunlight and glancing about him to see if anyone was watching. He had been making a solid effort to readjust to an entirely different lifestyle, but one thing he had come to discover that he hated (in addition to the horribly cramped living quarters) were chores. Oh, they seemed to come up with the most demeaning, menial things for him to do! Scrubbing floors, setting up for meals, cleaning tables, washing dishes…it drudge’s work, all of it! Aclaryn had consoled himself by reminding himself that at least he was a candidate, one with a chance to gain equal rank with the others of the weyr. He had not imagined that he would be expected to do servant work!

However, he had made the best of that, even! Aclaryn had gritted his teeth and set to washing every sharded dish the kitchen workers pushed his way, wiping the slimy remains of food away with a dirty rag. No, he hadn’t even complained, not even when he was told to get on his hands and knees and clean the floor! And how was he rewarded for his effort? A grave-faced drudge looking down disapprovingly at him, and instructing him to clean the entire floor again! What kind of madness was that? He had just finished, and taken over an hour to do so! Well, that was it, Aclaryn had had it. Once the drudge had left, he had waited until no one was watching, quietly put his cleaning materials away, and left. And so far, no one had stopped him!

Aclaryn grinned to himself as he felt the ground soften beneath his feet, as the transition was made from stone to earth. Ah, freedom was his! Perhaps the victory was but a temporary one, but he intended to enjoy it while it lasted. Besides, in his mind, he had finished his chores. There was no point in repeating the entire thing. But now that he was out, the question remained: where was he to go? He liked the lake, but that was too…obvious. If the drudge were to notice that he was gone and go looking for him, that would certainly be one of the first places. Aclaryn raised a hand to his brow, squinting slightly as he swept his gaze slowly across the landscape. Not far from him, he noticed, were the herdbeast pens, the dragon feeding grounds. It was a nice, green area. And only one dragon was feeding, too, and it looked too small to be fully-grown! His mind happily made up, he started toward the feeding ground.

Aclaryn hummed to himself as he walked, and suddenly, his humming was accompanied by the musical trilling of a green firelizard. He looked up, a smile on his face, as Valera drifted down from the air, settling loftily upon his left shoulder. Aclaryn stroked her fondly, and she folded her wings neatly behind her back, blinking demurely. Aclaryn’s eyes moved from Valera to the clothes he was wearing, and an expression of dismay passed over his face. That was the other thing he didn’t like about candidate life: the clothes. He liked to dress in bold colors and comfortable, stylish cloth, but such clothes were unsuitable for the work he had to do. His new clothes were functional, but itchy and plain. Ah well. As with most of his grievances, there was nothing that could be done.

Aclaryn sighed, and shook his head to clear away such thoughts. No matter now, he was outside, he should make the most of his escape! He raised his eyes to survey the scene ahead of him, now that he was drawing nearer to the dragon and his rider.

As he thought, he was a weyrling, who appeared to be about Aclaryn’s own age. He was tan, with brown hair, and had the most happy, peaceful air about him as he smiled down at his dragon. Aclaryn was just close enough to hear him speak to the blue creature, saying, "What shall we do after you've finished breakfast, my one?".

Aclaryn couldn’t help but grin at the affection in the boy’s voice when he spoke to his dragon. It must be quite a bond, he supposed, because he had yet to see a dragon and rider quarrel, or appear unhappy with each other. Aclaryn approached casually, leaning slowly on the fence beside the boy. He sighed as he did so, taking in a deep, audible breath in way of announcing his presence. He turned toward the weyrling, smiling, and gestured to the dragon.

“That’s a beautiful dragon you’ve got, there.” Aclaryn said, and meant it, for the dragon’s hide was a lovely, dark shade of blue that was unlike many of the blues he had seen thus far.

[Kitari]

The herdbeast was disappearing rather slowly into Dagonth's great maw, for the blue was a surprisingly picky eater. He often attempted to strip the flesh from the beasts and avoid all of the bones entirely, but even B'rec's patience started to fade after an hour long meal. Thus, for his rider's sake, Dagonth was chewing more quickly than usual, and his whirling eyes glanced over at his rider every once in a while as if to point this out. B'rec smiled in recognition, nodding in response to Dagonth's querying gaze. He loved all of his blue's sweet little peculiarities; they were what made the dragon unique from all others. Unique like his rider. A perfect match.

Lost in these pleasing thoughts, the Weyrling was caught entirely off guard by the sudden realization that he was no longer alone. B'rec had even let his defenses down so much so that a soft, fond smile was on his lips, an emotion he would normally share with none but Dagonth. The sigh and following intake of breath so close beside him caused the lad to stiffen in fright, but he did not jump, and his eyes remained locked in a forward position, grasping at the sight of his blue for security. Out of the corner of his eye, B'rec caught the motion of a hand, but he refused to turn, made immobile by uncertainty.

'That's a beautiful dragon you've got, there.'

The words came as a surprise, and B'rec was nearly comforted by them. His taut muscles relaxed ever so slightly, and he almost smiled, for it was the only subject that could come close to warming his heart. Dagonth was the most handsome blue he had ever seen, and it imbued him with an amazing feeling of confidence and pride whenever others remarked on it. This was a surprisingly beneficial tonic for both rider and dragon, as the pair was equal in their low self-regard and insecurity.

Stiffly, B'rec's head slowly rotated to face the intruder on his private domain, with his hardened features carved into a socially-expected, however small, smile of greeting. Although the voice had warned him, the lad was thrown off-balance by the sight that met his eyes. The Weyrling was uncomfortable enough around Pernese in general, but the strange...desires...he had been experiencing in the presence of men, and not women, had caused him to withdraw even further, for he felt guilty for them. It had been his greatest fear that if he were to Impress, he would Impress green, and all the Weyr would know. B'rec had grasped desperately at the fact that he had Impressed blue, trying to use it as evidence to convince himself that he was mistaken about his orientation, but his continued awkwardness around men denied these hopes utterly.

The realization that he was attracted to this newcomer's appearance, with his long black hair and warm features, was very disconcerting to say the least. As it was B'rec's opinion that he'd have a smaller chance of making a mistake if he spoke as little as possible, he took this familiar approach in greeting the newcomer. "He is." It was a simple statement of agreement, but his tone held conviction and pride beyond his casual yet cool features.

You should introduce yourself, mine! B'rec twitched slightly in response, turning quickly to meet Dagonth's gaze. He had been unaware that the dragon was watching the exchange. The rider grimaced slightly, for his dragon was often pressuring him to socialize with others. Apparently Dagonth thought it would be 'good' for him...

Grating his teeth, B'rec turned back to the other lad, his features returning to their calm and distant look. "I am B'rec, rider of Dagonth." He extended his hand, although his eyes were wary.

[Shikai]

Aclaryn grinned slightly as he watched the other boy relax ever so slightly, imperceptibly to one who hadn’t been watching as Aclaryn had, observing subtly but intently out of the corner of his eye. A dragon always seemed to be the key to a rider’s heart, and one could never go wrong complementing one of the beloved companions. Not that Aclaryn had been insincere in his comment. Far from it – the more he looked at the blue dragon, the more he realized how lovely and uniquely colored he was. Dragons were amazing creatures, Aclaryn couldn’t help but think, despite the mess he found himself in on their account. It couldn’t be so bad to belong to one.

Aclaryn fought to keep the amusement off his face (with only moderate success) as the boy turned to face him, his movements somehow forced and stiff, especially when it came to his smile of greeting. Clearly his company was not as welcome as could be hoped, but Aclaryn had no intention of leaving. This was partially because he badly wanted someone to talk to, having always been rather social but now far removed from all friends and acquaintances. His ulterior motive, however, he had found when the weyrling had turned around. Despite the rather stiff, almost pained smile, the bluerider was not at all unattractive. Aclaryn tried to push this thought from mind, but found that the effort was futile. He studied the weyrling more closely, watching his awkward attempts to be socially correct, and noticed that he appeared to struggling with something. Most likely, Aclaryn thought humorously to himself, the boy was wrestling with telling Aclaryn to leave, or something similar.

He was both interesting and good-looking, and while Aclaryn was hardly going to make advances on him, as he was well used to avoiding this to save himself from his father’s certain wrath, he wanted to continue to talk to the lad.

His interest was reinforced by the weyrling’s answer, which, though a simple two words, was full of pride, spoken when all the while the boy keep a cool expression on his face. Aclaryn’s face took on a curious expression as the weyrling suddenly twitched and grimaced, glancing toward his dragon. The blue must have said something, Aclaryn thought, but what? At any rate, the weyrling opened his mouth to speak again.

Choosing to ignore the wary look in the boy’s eyes, Aclaryn grinned broadly and charmingly, stepping forward and extending his hand eagerly. “I’m Aclaryn, candidate.” He said, sending B’rec a disarming smile. “It’s a pleasure! So this must be Dagonth?” He asked, gesturing toward the blue. “He is beautiful. How long have the two of you been, ah…‘impressed’?” Aclaryn asked casually, by way of conversation, as B’rec seemed unlikely to initiate one.

[Kitari]

As B'rec studied the other's face, attempting to convince himself that the study was out of wariness and not interest, he was rightfully shocked to see what he believed to be a flicker of amusement. His brown eyes narrowed, disbelieving his own senses, but his suspicion was confirmed when he saw it again. It was almost as if the other lad was fighting back laughter, and his grin was thoroughly exasperating. After all, there was nothing amusing about B'rec's struggles to put up with nuisancy social interactions. He ought to simply turn around and walk away...

He's only being friendly! Dagonth's tones cooled his rider's anxiety, offering encouragement and rational thought. After all, there was no reason for the other to be laughing at him. He'd hardly said a thing; he couldn't have messed up already!

Aclaryn's assertive introduction caused B'rec's eyes to widen in surprise, for rather than simply shaking his hand, the other approached closer (he had already been standing too close!) and was far too friendly to be decent. His smile held so much confidence and warmth...but why? So far, B'rec's standoffish manner had succeeded in diverting most from pursuing further conversation. Aclaryn didn't seem repelled at all.

Reluctantly, the rider gripped the other lad's arm in greeting, then quickly stepped back. His eyes drifted to Dagonth once again, as Aclaryn repeated his compliment. B'rec couldn't help but soften up somewhat. "Yes, Dagonth would come and introduce himself if he wasn't occupied for the next candlemark with that herdbeast." A hint of a smile touched his lips. "It has been a while since the Hatching." B'rec wasn't too sure how long exactly, for it seemed that life had only begun with Dagonth.

Suddenly, a loud squawking broke the silence, as a brown blur appeared out of nowhere, whizzing over B'rec's shoulder before disappearing again. The Weyrling flinched, but despite his nerves, he was quite used to these antics and recoverd quickly. He counted mentally, wondering how long it would take, and the brown appeared in midair before him once more, almost hovering as he gazed at Aclaryn. "And this is Griffin," B'rec drawled, grinning slightly at the energetic creature.

The brown chirped once then swooped in to land on Aclaryn's shoulder, where he proceeded to tear into the large, dripping hunk of meat he had snatched from Dagonth's feast and was now gripping in his forepaws. His ravenous feeding was accompanied by many strange noises as he swallowed hardly before chewing, and B'rec shook his head at the bold little fire lizard.

[Shikai]

Aclaryn only just managed to stop himself from snorting in amusement as the weyrling’s eyes widened considerably, and he leapt back immediately after he had grabbed his arm in greeting. I seem to be scaring him. He remarked mentally to himself, with mixed amusement and curiosity. He could understand if the weyrling didn’t want his company, but he seemed almost scared when Aclaryn approached him just to shake his hand! He could understand annoyance, certainly, but fear? Well, Aclaryn thought with mock-hurt, he’d never really considered himself scary before!

However, he brushed it aside, although his interest in why B’rec seemed so awkward remained. Aclaryn chuckled lightly to himself at B’rec’s comment about his dragon, for the handsome blue did appear to be taking his good time in devouring the herdbeast. Strange, so far all the dragons Aclaryn had seen eating (which, granted, wasn’t many, but he had seen a few) had eaten much more quickly, but Dagonth seemed to take great care in his selection of what entered his mouth. A dragon that was a picky eater? My, but the pair grew more interesting by the second.

And the situation was about to become yet more interesting. A brown firelizard appeared from between, squawking loudly, flying right over B’rec’s shoulder! Aclaryn’s eyes followed its noisy progress through the air until it vanished again, quite suddenly. Aclaryn looked at B’rec, his eyebrows raised in a bemused expression. However, it appeared again, meat clutched in its forepaws, and B’rec introduced it as Griffin.

“Griffin, eh? Cute name for a firelizard.” Aclaryn remarked, looking at the little hovering brown. But then he got a much closer view than he would have preferred as the flit selected his shoulder as an eating perch, and proceeded eat his meat in such a way that Aclaryn much doubted he could be much messier if he tried! He grinned, one eyebrow raised as he looked down at the little brown.

“Well…hello…” He said, and shrugged his shoulder slightly to see how the brown would react. He glanced at B’rec in time to see the boy shaking his head, and this served to widen Aclaryn’s smile. Suddenly, shrill shrieking filled the air as Aclaryn’s own firelizard reappeared, wheeling in the air above him. She advanced upon the brown, puffing up her little chest in righteous outrage, and chided him noisily, diving down and making darting motions with her head and forefeet in an attempt to dislodge the intruder.

“Oh, Valera!” Aclaryn cried in exasperation. “No, I wasn’t cheating on you with another firelizard, shard it!” He said, waving his free hand at the angry green as he tried to reason with her, not wanting her to hurt the B’rec’s firelizard. He looked wearily at B’rec, and smiled wryly. “Girls, hm?”

[Kitari]

This was going better than most of his social interactions had, thus far, B'rec noted to himself. He was actually starting to relax...the realization of which quickly wiped the grin from his face, of course. Still, the young man wondered what had brought on this change, and suddenly his eyes flashed from Griffin to Dagonth and back again. It was them! The fire lizard and dragon had brought him more than company, they had given him security. He knew that even if he erred in the presence of other Pernese, the pair would always be there for him. They had given him humour and comfort, and why shouldn't he smile at Griffin's antics? After all, he was highly amusing.

However, this momentary relaxation vanished once again at Aclaryn's next speech. The word 'cute' caused a sharp intake of breath for the Weyrling, and he was forced to remind himself, rather embarrassed, that the other lad was speaking of Griffin. It was just not a term one often heard from a man... B'rec almost wished the compliment had been more for him than just the responsibility for producing the name.

Before he had much time to dwell on these disturbing thoughts, which would have only caused him to become even more distraught, a green fire lizard burst into the air and went screeching for Griffin. The brown shrilled back, deciding that his perch wasn't worth the fury of a haughty green, and leapt off, still carrying his dripping meat, to settle on B'rec's shoulder instead. There, he disdained from retorting to such rude chattering and stuck his snout into the meat once again. The Weyrling had experienced a moment of panic at the threat to his friend, and he stroked Griffin thankfully.

At Aclaryn's last comment, a wave of mixed relief and guilt washed through B'rec. 'Girls, hm?' It assured B'rec that he had nothing to fear from this man, for even if the feelings he suspected in himself were real, Aclaryn was interested in females. Still, the Weyrling felt guilty for having such thoughts at all.

What thoughts? queried innocent Dagonth.

Nothing, he replied, embarrassed that he had allowed Dagonth to hear any of that. Attempting to put on a knowing smile, although he didn't know what Aclaryn was referring to at all, B'rec forced a soft chuckle, "Yeah...they're always...like that...hey?" He cleared his throat awkwardly and glanced away, then looked back again. "So how long have you been at Araelen Weyr? Are you a candidate? I don't recognize you from around here, and I think I would. I mean, because of...your fire lizard...and all." Not because of the other man's glossy back hair, no, not that at all.

[Shikai]

As the brown abandoned Aclaryn’s shoulder, Valera let out a satisfied chirp of satisfaction and settled down upon it herself, ignoring the distasteful spots of meat juice left from Griffin’s messy eating. She looked at B’rec, eyes whirling thoughtfully as she examined him, and then she crooned sweetly in greeting, as though the incident with his flit had never occurred.

Aclaryn rolled his eyes, smiling. “Sorry about that! She’s always like that, I’m afraid. She’s…well, she’s Valera.” He said with a shrug, leaving it at that. Well, at least the situation seemed to have elevated B’rec’s nerves a bit! Judging from the grin that had seeped onto the lad’s face, even if for but a moment. Even better was what accompanied the grin, the look in B’rec’s eyes. Aclaryn peered into them with his own. Such a color! Brown, but what a deep, earthy shade. Something about brown eyes like that seemed so honest, kind…

Aclaryn realized with a start the way his thoughts were going. He was entirely too interested in the color of B’rec’s eyes! It was one thing to simply notice and appreciate such a thing, but Aclaryn guiltily knew that he was past casual interest. Shards, Aclaryn! He thought to himself. B’rec was, well, male! Like himself! He wasn’t allowed, he wouldn’t permit himself. Girls were just fine, weren’t they? Didn’t he like them too? Yes, he acknowledged off-handedly, but he couldn’t deny that there was just something about B’rec. What was it? His smile, that adorable awkwardness he had about him? Oh Faranth, he did not just think that. Shards, no. For turns, he had been doing so well when it came to ignoring all strange feelings towards other males, so why was he failing now? It had to be the transition, he thought. This new lifestyle seemed to be taking its toll on him in every way possible! Or perhaps, it was due to the fact that here, he had no girls to flirt with? Not that he hadn’t flirted at all, but well, he wasn’t supposed to. Of course, none of his efforts were going to get anywhere. Shells, but it was driving him mad…just look at how he was acting now!

He suppressed a sigh. Well, it was more than likely that B’rec wouldn’t be interested in those of the same gender anyway. With girls, at least, most were straight, and whether one was interested in him simply on the terms of his gender was rarely an issue. But who could say about B’rec? Well, that was a good thing! Aclaryn hastily reminded himself, stopping his train of thought quickly. Yes, it was just as well, since he wasn’t going to attempt anything with the lad, not to mention that he was a weyrling! No, he must put his feelings aside immediately. Right away. Yes…

Struggling nobly to put all such thoughts from his mind at once, he turned back to B’rec, wondering with a start if the other boy had seen any indication of the battle in Aclaryn’s mind. He supposed not, no, it was probably unlikely that any expression on his face could lead B’rec to that conclusion. Besides, he was usually decent at schooling his expression while he thought now. It had been a difficult skill to acquire, but he had, at last. He supposed he was just being paranoid now.

No matter. He plastered his confident grin over his face again, seeking to hide any improper emotion beneath it. However, he could hardly prevent his amusement from leaking into his face as B’rec stuttered a reply to his offhand comment about girls. Aclaryn folded his arms over his chest and stared down at his feet as he fought to keep control over his face and not laugh on the spot. While there would be no spite in it, Aclaryn feared B’rec would misconstrue it. Ah, well, given how awkward B’rec had been with him thus far, it wasn’t unreasonable to think that he probably didn’t know anything about girls. Aclaryn felt a twinge of guilt, observing how B’rec cleared his throat and had to look away. He hadn’t meant to create such awkward situations! (Despite how cute it was to watch B’rec when…no, no…it was interesting, yes, that one, but not cute!) Aclaryn cleared his throat, resisting the urge to shake his head in an effort to rid himself of those troubling thoughts.

Fortunately, he was saved when B’rec began speaking again. And it was a question, too! Perfect, he needed something to get his mind working normally again. B’rec started out confidently enough, asking him about his candidacy, but B’rec slowed, and was back to looking uncomfortable again, struggling to end his statement. Perhaps, Aclaryn thought, this wasn’t simply his fault? Maybe B’rec was always this nervous around people. It would explain his initial stoicism.

Unconsciously, Aclaryn moved forward slightly as he shifted his weight, smiling reassuringly at B’rec as he began his response, regardless of the awkward ending of B’rec’s question. “No, you’re right, I’ve hardly been here a sevenday, yet. I’m a candidate, just came in from Dawnfire Hold. My brother and I.” His eyes narrowed slightly as he remembered Treylis, but offered no further information on his past. He quickly put aside thoughts of Treylis and Dawnfire, returning to the present. He was quite interested in where B’rec came from, really. What kind of upbringing must he have had to make him so nervous all the time? Was he locked in a closet or what, Aclaryn thought jokingly to himself.

“So what about you? Done a lot of work outside? You’re very tan!”

Aclaryn asked, and instantly regretted it. Shards, he hoped that hadn’t come off wrong. Not that he’d meant it to, of course. He had simply glanced over B’rec’s form again (hopefully he hadn’t noticed…) and noted it, for it likely meant he was used to working outside. That, and the fact that he was quite well-built, although thank Faranth he hadn’t blurted that as well! Oh, he was wishing he hadn’t even looked. He was having a hard enough time of everything without thoughts now about the weyrling’s skin, too! Censoring his mouth was proving to be nearly as hard as censoring his expressions. So far, he was failing fairly dismally in both respects, he lamented silently to himself.