Hatching Feast

Half Moon Bay Weyr - Living Cavern
Here is the center of Weyr life, the living caverns. These two main rooms were man-shaped from smaller caves, and are joined by a carved arch with depictions of dragons in flight and dolphins leaping in swirling waves. One room has many round stone and wooden tables and a stone fire-pit instead of a hearth. Over the round-walled, gas fired pit is a large conical hood made of polished bronze, with reliefs of dragons with their riders flying over ships guided by dolphins. This hood and chimney keeps the room smoke-free. Through the archway is an enormous hall, with long tables and benches, some carved from the rock floor, many crafted of wood. This room is a combination dining and meeting hall, and can seat over 300 comfortably. Above both rooms, angled shafts lined with polished metal bring in sunlight during the day. Electric lights also burn, day and night.


It's hot and gross and all of that - but, there are fans and some kind of air conditioning laboring away in the background, so it's not all that bad. The cooks have been busy for days in preparation for the Hatching, so there's plenty of food - lots of cool dishes to balance the hot ones. And tons -probably even literally - of cold drinks to be had. Alcoholic drinks. Non-alcoholic drinks. All the drinks. The spread is incredible, and courtesy of the refurbished kitchen. Aglaia's there, but spotting her might be difficult; as Weyrwomen go, she has a pretty effective 'stealth mode' when she wants to.

Cita has changed into something only slightly more cover-y than her robe, and is chugging something cold. It doesn't really matter what it is, or that she's a healer and knows better than to overdo it. Stopping only when she's drained her mug, and refilling it, the healer groans and slouches sideways a little. Eyes the crowd. The food — well. There's a lot of it. The plate that Cita grabs isn't exactly huge, though, before she's peeling off from the tables and making a beeline for the tables.
And possibly slightly almost mowing down the stealthy Weyrwoman. "EEK." Food, drink: SAFE. Dignity: …maybe not. "Uhhhhh." Smooth.

The swirl of visitors is an easy one to duck out of or avoid under certain pretenses - namely, that, oh, hey, there's something over there that Aglaia needs to get involved in. Surely those cooks could use a hand, right? Which, unfortunately, brings her path to cross that of the Healer who is either boozing it up or getting some kind of brain freeze action going on. Either way, she wobbles and totters, but catches herself with some species of grace. "Oh, geez. Are you okay?" Concern claims her brow for just a moment, but it's quickly schooled into something friendly and amenable. "Clearly, I'm not as sneaky as I thought!"

ABORT. ABORT. "Uhhhh." Cita's brain chooses this moment to fizz, mug in one hand, plate in the other. "I'm so sorry!" Right. There we go, that's the right thing to say. The healer gulps, shifting just a smidge back so she's not crowding. "I didn't step on you did I?" Cita's voice climbs an octave or two, but then she's sagging a little, looking amused and sheepish. "I think you might have been a little too sneaky. I didn't even see you!" Or, you know, she wasn't paying any attention. But we can totally go with the sneaky-Weyrwoman angle.

"Uhhh." Crap. They're on the same wavelength. No good. Aglaia pulls out of it expertly, though, and gestures off toward the various tables of food and drinks. "No, no. I was more worried that I stepped on you, sorry! I was just going to make sure the cooks had everything they needed," and they do, obviously, but the knot, it is heavy and demanding. "Do you- have you eaten yet? Do you want to come along? The really fresh stuff is coming in over there." She even points, helpfully, and starts off in that direction.

This could only end well! Blessedly, Aglaia distracts, and Cita follows with dogged determination. She's got this. "Not at all!" They could probably keep apologizing all day, but the healer shakes it off, peeking over at the tables thoughtfully. "It looks like they've got it covered." Cita pipes brightly, because by George it does — with a fury. Days of endless BBQ are past! Glory! "Ooh. That sounds promising. It looks like they really got everything…done. Look at all that food." And good thing too, with all the people! Too many, even with the fans to move the air around some. Oh well.

Somewhere in the mix, Malaakh and M'gaal are helping, because of course they are. The bronzerider lifts a hand as Aglaia and Citayzleat pass and the Weyrwoman flashes the older gent a grin. "They're a pretty good bunch of cooks, to be sure. Everyone here- they're good at what they do. It makes it almost seem like I know how to do my job." It's a joke. It must be. But her grin is a little tilted and she stops at one station that's all but bursting with tiny sandwiches and cold salads of various types and crackers and cheeses and whatnot. "So. Is the Hall going to let you stick around, Citayzleat? We still have plenty of squids to study."

Cita smiles brightly for the waving bronzerider, lifting her mug and then abruptly chugging some more because she's not letting that ice-cold juice escape! She's not. "They are, when they're not trying to tan your hide." An unusually churlish moment for Cita; but given the little smirk, she's kidding. And as for the Weyrwoman's abilities: "Well, the Weyr's still standing, isn't it?" Comforting, that. Aglaia's totally doing good, right? Everything still upright and proper. The table almost snatches the healer's attention (FOOD), but she manages to stay mostly on track, piling a salad onto the plate and wincing. Just a little. "Shells, I hope so. There is so much to do here. And, the Hall's got nothing on the weather here." Grin.

There's a laugh, then a bit of a wince, then another laugh - just a little quieter this time. Aglaia replies, "Ye-eah. Though it wouldn't be if Valigath had her way." Mystery! Though she'll not dwell on it - and, honestly, it's probably safest that she doesn't. She settles on picking up a few odds and ends herself, without any apparent rhyme or reason. Just random food on a small plate. That's it. There's a slow nod and, after a beat, her expression is a relieved one, all the way down to a half-smile. "Good. Glad to hear it! We sometimes have trouble keeping Crafters around, though I have no idea why. It's just… tricky, sometimes." And then there's another laugh, though it's really more
of a chuckle. "Oh, geez. The weather must be really bad at the Hall, then."

Cita may or may not twitch at the mental imagery of Valigath tearing the Weyr down. Just a little bit. "Right." The healer grins, weakly, adding a few slices of some bright vegetable and a few bits of steak. Maybe she'll need to keep her strength up after all. The nod and smile get a ducked head a sheepish grin from Cita, though, as she glances off in the general direction of the barracks. "Do they Impress and get carted away by dragons?" Teasing, or maybe commiserating; ALAS, the crafters. You can never have too many, especially if they keep disappearing on you. "It's cold at the hall. Snow up to your eyeballs in the middle of summer." Dramatic. Sigh. And that's a total lie, but Cita has her delusions.

The gold does have a reputation, for as weird and reclusive as she tends to be. She might even be pleased at such visuals. But, alas. Aglaia rolls a shoulder at the question, her expression growing briefly pinched with thought. Then: "Sometimes. I'd almost say most of the time, but I don't have the paperwork to back it up or anything like that." She briefly pats herself down for something to make a note with and hands her plate of food off to a passing drudge with explicit instructions to: "Give that to M'gaal, please." And then she's making a note. … and then another note. "Really? My mother says… very similar things about where she was from. She was-" pause "-er, is a Healer, too. So, I might have to corroborate that." Is it a joke? It's probably a joke. She's grinning, anyway, but then someone with a shiny big knot from someWeyr else pulls her eye and she groans. "Sorry. I need to go talk to that guy. Business, I'm sure. These knots, I swear they talk to each other more than the people do." Or something. Does it even make sense? Unclear at this point - and it doesn't matter, in the end, since the Weyrwoman's soon off, headed to the waving fellow over there.

It's a magnificent sight in the Caverns — food! Food everywhere! Ice-cold drinks, too, plenty of alcohol to be had. HAH. Not that the Weyrlings can partake. There's non-alcoholic, too. Maybe. Aglaia might be disappearing into the crowd, but Cita is still standing with her plate, laughing. Yes, it was totally a joke. "I'm sure she'll concur!" Cita calls, making a (probably rude) face at those chat-stealing Knot People. There are a lot of those, and a lot of people in general; enough to eat all of the food that the cooks have outdone themselves cooking, probably. And here come some of them, finally having spotted Cita. The healer looks desperately around for salvation as her parents and siblings descend on her — but there is none. She disappears into a throng of relatives, and is gone. ALAS, poor Citayzleat. She was good while she lasted.

E'mi trails into the living caverns, her dragonette settled for the time being. That leaves her time to finally get some real food - and some water! - into her stomach. The water is actually the first thing she goes for, before any of the crowd realizes there are people in white robes starting to mill about. So water is snatched, as is a plate of meat and some biscuits, and she finds herself maybe THE only secluded corner to try and have a quick bite to eat.

N'lan quietly walks in through the doors, shaking a few hands as he moves through the room. He grabbed two plates of food, one for him another for L'kan. His Jabreth asleep for now while he tried to eat to regain some strength after the time on the sand and dealing with a stubborn hatchling.

R'hyn is not far behind his compatriots, but his entrance is late enough that he gets swallowed up in a different current of people, having to duck and dodge and accept congratulations from complete strangers before he's finally able to wiggle back towards E'mi's quiet corner. Somewhere between barracks and caverns, he's shed most of the sand and fixed his hair, though it's looking thoroughly tousled again by the time he parks himself nearby with a sharp exhale. "Shells. So many people." For the first time in his life, perhaps, he's thankful for the lack of family to swarm him - the relative solitude allows him to wolf down fruit and vegetables at a pace, blue-grey gaze pointed outwards, if unseeingly.

Who else was swallowed by a vast horde of relatives? V'nyk. The poor boy is accosted by family and a whole handful of younger brothers. They keep him occupied for quite a while at least before he finally does manage to break free and scoot to get himself something to eat. Food is definitely a priority, despite all the recent rummaging around in raw meat. He's washed his hands! He looks more tired than anything though, hanging onto a plate as he sidles over to R'hyn. Seems safe there. "I don't think I've ever seen a place so crowded."

Sundari is there, though not hovering, there will be plenty of time later for that after all. With young dragon's asleep the new weyrlings need to get some food for themselves so this is the best time for them to do such things! Still she will be around with the other WLM's to make sure everything goes well and smooth and all that jazz. She's off grabbing a drink while Irk is keeping a close eye within the training yard so she won't have to worry over such things.

E'mi looks up as two other people are plunking themselves down at her table. There's a moment between when her eyes note the people, and when her brain processes said people. She lets out a small sigh. Weyrling Hiding Table! "I think this even eclipses Sykan during a gather." She sounds exhausted. "I can't even.." She pauses. "I can't even think anymore." There's a look down her plate, and there is another blink. "Where'd my food go?" Probably into your stomach, woman.

A lanky six-turn-old that looks oddly like D'nyl, but has Sunny's eyes comes darting between the tables, "Can I meet the hatchlings, momma? I wanna meet the hatchlings!"

R'hyn blinks at V'nyk when the boy appears, a small smile tilting up one corner of his mouth. "Finally escaped, hm? Is that your family?," he asks, likely having noted the flock of siblings surrounding the weyrling on his way in. There is a wry snort for him and E'mi both as they likewise note the crush of the populace in the caverns. "Feels like this is half of Pern," he agrees with a glance towards the air conditioning units, perhaps wondering how long they can possibly hold up between the weather and the congestion. "Me neither," he agrees with Emi, gaze going distant again. "I think Xermi might've exploded whatever brainmatter I had left." And everyone else's too, but shhh. He slides his plate towards the girl when she notices her food's gone, having grabbed more than enough to share, blue-grey eyes roving again — and catching on Sunny. One hand lifts in a wave, though who knows if she'll see it, considering a mini-D'nyl seems to be trying to catch her attention as well.

V'nyk shakes his head, offering up a faint laugh for that. "Yeah, my brains sort of feel like they were all squished up in a ball, run through a strainer, shaken up, then poured back into my skull. …But..in a good way, I think?" Because /any/ part of that sounds like a good part? He picks at his food despite the hunger, managing a little at a time. "Yeah. My parents are trying to populate all of Fort with their spawn, I think, so I've got siblings like..all over. It's nice seeing them after so long though." At least there's fondness there, and not irritation at a bunch of little brothers prancing about. E'mi gets a small smile though, head tilting as she loses track of food..and is promptly given more. What service!

Sundari is in midsip of her drink as she hears a certain voice and looks to her son whom will get a warm smile. "How about meeting the the new weyrling's first? The hatchlings are all sleeping." Her cup set aside while she wiggles a hand for Darryl's hand while offering him a wink. "I might let you peak at them later if you behave." Of course she would say that. She'll point over to the three she spies and will head that way with the boy. Though she did miss that wave from R'hyn in the process.

Insta food! This seems to please E'mi as she immediately snatches a piece of meat off onto her own plate. Yeah, that hatchling appetite has definitely rubbed off on the ginger. Already that blue seems to be rubbing off on her, and she laughs at V'nyk. "I don't know which is worse, having too many siblings you can't dodge them, or being an only child." R'hyn gets a bit of a side-long look, but not a completely sour one. "I think… Xermi… exploded all of our brainmatter." A biscuit also goes missing off of R'hyn's plate, and as Sunny walks up, the weyrlingmaster actually gets a grin. "Only if he can weild an oil paddle?" Fun sass, right there.

R'hyn snorts sharply for that vivid description from Ven, eyes scrunching up with humor, though he's almost too tired to manage a full grin. "That's… actually pretty accurate. Just add in a low-key whine like someone's spinning their finger around the rim of a crystal glass and that's about how my head's feeling right now." There's another amused noise for the idea of the boy's parents trying to singehandedly repopulate Fort, head shaking slightly. "What was your home life like?" It's not a prying question, more something said in wonderment as an apologetic wince gets pointed at E'mi. "Yeah. He, uh… He is…" Well, he can't find the words for it, not yet. It's still all so new, so he settles on making an unattractive frowny face and a mild, "Special." After Emi makes her selections off his plate, Ryn filches a bit more before pointing another tired smile over at Sundari and her child. "Bring your earplugs," he cautions on the tail end of Emi's sass. Pff. Earplugs. As if those will help.

"My home life? Uh..pretty normal one for a weyrbrat, I imagine." V'nyk shakes his head, promptly leaning on an elbow. He's just too tired for /posture/. But he nibbles faintly on another piece of meat, chewing contently. "Taken care of a lot by the nanny types, though parents were still pretty hands on and everything. Have..three younger brothers and one twin so loads of running around and helping with them and the like. All in all..uh..fun?" Just in a much colder place than Half Moon! "Guess family doesn't come up a whole lot while we've been running around here." The fact that the very loud bronze is 'special' gets a snorted bit of laughter from the weyrling though, and he points his food at E'mi a little. "Haha, well I've never minded. Adopt yourself a sibling or two. Or three!"

Darryl swings through the air, hanging from his mother's arm, then lands his feet ahead and lets her catch up, "THANKS MOMMA!"

Sundari is left laughing and snag Darryl just enough in the air to tug him back so he doesn't land so hard. She may have a monkey for a child.. The silbing talk is noted once they reach the three weyrlings and she lightly tugs upon the boy's hand and peeks at him playful like. "Little bit quiter, inside voice please." Onwards then! "Siblings can be fun, I have five older ones." This to offer in the conversation that the three are having and she can't help but ruffle Darryl's hair a bit. "First I want to say I'm very happy for you all for fnding your lifemate. I know your do well." OR ELSE, though she /leaves/ that part out! Onwards! "This is Darryl, Darryl these are three of the new Weyrlings." As for the three, she'll let them offer up names, they need to get use to saying them after all. "He is rather use to oiling a dragon, may not always do it the best way but that is not the point."

E'mi gives her head a shake in the direction of V'nyk. "Nope, that's okay." She gives herself a moment to chew and to swallow. "I don't think I'd do very well with siblings at this age." She wasn't brought up with them, she doesn't want them. And who knows how she'd react if her parents told her they were expecting another. The monkey-child is looked at and given a slightly tight smile. Not a comfort zone, really. But she can usually manage if they're settling down for a nap. "I'm Emia—E'mi." She catches herself. "That's going to take some getting used to…" She mumbles softly, sticking a little bit more meat in her mouth. Must. Finish. Soothing. Stomach.

R'hyn considers V'nyk's information with a quiet 'hmm,' nodding absently as he goes about picturing it. "It does sound fun. Only ever had one foster-sibling, and I haven't talked to her in… shells, more turns than I can count right now. Dunno if she's even alive still," he says in the sort of tone that also implies he couldn't care less to find out. There's another look crossing his features, as though he's glad family hasn't come up much, but he doesn't dare say it out loud - instead, he flicks Ven a crooked grin for that snorted laughter before switching his gaze up to Darryl and his blueriding mother. "Thanks, Sunny," he says with a smile, "We'll, ah… do our best." OR ELSE indeed. "Nice to meet you, Darryl. I'm R'hyn, now," he says with a commiserating look for E'mi. "You're tellin' me." His letters went all over the place!, though at least it's pronounced the same as the end of his former name. Small blessings there.

Well there's a tidbit of information worth prodding for more. V'nyk stares at R'hyn a moment at the mention of a foster sibling. And the lack of care about her being alive. Brows lift, peering curiously at the other weyrling..but when he opens his mouth nothing actually comes out. Apparently it's a question for another time. Sundari is approaching, after all, and there's a quick smile for her and the child right along with her. "Hi there! I'm V'nyk." Indeed, it's a weird word to roll around in his mouth, but they'll all get used to their altered names. There's a nod for Sundari though, smiling all the more. "Thanks for that. We'll do well..really!" They can only hope.

Sundari smiles as she watches Darryl, even if he hasn't been able to stand still the whole time he is there before the weyrling's during the name exchange. "Not so hard with the name's right?" She questions with a glance towards each Weyrling. "It will get easier with time. Everything going alright so far?" She isn't suppose to hover, and yet well she is curious still it seems! A curiou look is sent towards R'hyn as she did catch a bit of the conversation about familyish thing but you will not see her questioning things. Darryl for the moment is happy tugging and bouncing on his mother's arm until a question is willing to esacpe him. "What hatchlings did you guys get?!" Well that didn't take long.

Kids and their endless energy. Eugh. But E'mi can't very well shoo away the weyrlingmaster's son. The family talk is all noted, but V'nyk was present for the only time she's talked about family, really. Sundari's question gets a bit of a pause from the girl though. "More or less." She drawls out slowly, casting a significant glance at R'hyn. "I imagine things will work themselves out… eventually." And then the child is speaking again. "I didn't 'get' any hatchling." She corrects softly. "Blue Oranth chose me."

R'hyn pointedly looks anywhere but at Sunny and Ven for their interest in his words, lips pursing as though he regrets saying anything in the first place, and he's grateful when the topic gets dropped - at least for now. "Ehhh," he responds to Sundari's question, totally catching that sidelong look from his fellow weyrling. "Xermi is… loud. I think it's just youthful exuberance," and how wrong he is, "and maybe he'll grow out of it," hahahahaha, "but for now it's… He comes on strong." He tries to be tactful, voice simultaneously defensive of his dragon and undeniably in love with the thing, gaze twitching off towards the direction of the barracks, as though he might scuttle that way now. There's a crooked twist added to his smile for Darryl's enthusiastic question, answering quickly after E'mi. "And my dragon is Xermiltoth. He's the blackish bronze one with all the colorful markings." And that seems to decide it for him. "Which, speaking of, I'd better go check on him." Or. You know. Stare at him some more just to make sure he's really real, boisterous idiosyncrasies or no. "Catch you guys later, yeah?" Well, all of them except Darryl, but he waves to all four of them just the same, filching a few more pieces of food off his plate before leaving the rest to E'mi so he can wiggle his way back through the crowd.

V'nyk nods ever so slightly, although there's a grin at the description of R'hyn's bronze. "And green Lychenth knocked me over on the sands when she found me." He covers his mouth then when a yawn breaks out, looking a little startled by it himself, but grins. "Everything is..fine. I think. Just a bit mentally exhausted, I think. And hungry. I swear I don't even want this, and still.." Yep. Still there's eating. Despite only picking at his food, the weyrling has managed to go through quite a bit of it. Fingers wave a bit though when R'hyn makes to leave, though there's a sudden start in the boy as he sits up straight again. "And..okay I think she's waking up I gotta run..bye!" And though there's a hurried grab at what he can carry of food, the teenager promptly darts out of the caverns as well.

Sundari wouldn't dream of bringing up family matters, nope not gona happen. "Darryl, we went over this before about the young dragons." She offers, though really this is not a surprise for one his age! As for E'mi, Sunny can only grin a bit. "Blue's do have a way of making one's life rather interesting I have to admit. Be ready for a wild ride!" She should know! Sunny offers a smile and nods to R'hyn and V'nyk while they are on the way out it seems. "If you ned anythin let us know." Hopefully it will be rather easy thing for the next few days at least. Darryl ohs softly and offers a wide sile at the talk of a blue and bronze's, those are colors this kid knows a few things about! "Good colors!" Is said with a loud happy tone.

Monkey-child's happy but loud voice actually makes E'mi cringe this time, and raise a hand to rub at her temple. Speaking of fried brains, hers is just about finished. "I… I think it'll be a good ride though." She offers hesitantly, not completely sure, but utterly infatuated with the blue. The plate is picked up, and Sunny gets a respectful nod of the head. "Oranth is still out cold, but I think I'm just about finished for the day." It's been a long, stressful, emotional roller-coaster day, after all. She's going to go use her dragon as a pillow, now. "If you'll excuse me." And plate in tow, she's making a line back towards the barracks. Quiet! … Hopefully. Plus, where is Emiallis? Who is this vaguely respectful person left in her stead?


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