Western Weyr - Living Caverns
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.
Early mornings are quite normal for Diekhara, she doesn't even look groggy as she enters the living caverns from the bowl side, her skin covered in a light sheen of sweat from her early morning exercises. Nodding to the few people who are actually up at this early hour, she makes her way to the night hearth, grabbing a mug of klah and a bowl of hot cereal before settling at a table in the corner to eat.
Early mornings aren't totally unheard of for Jessamin, either, though she does look a touch groggy. She sets a small basket of hot sand down by the night hearth to keep warm, before stumbling over to the nearest pot of klah for a long draw of the good stuff. "Whichever of the Ancients discovered this stuff should be commended!"
Storm at Sea Egg - The shell of this almost perfectly round egg is wrapped in wild brush strokes of cobalt, azure, and turquoise, with hints of aubergine and silver threads shot throughout. It resembles nothing more than a microcosm of a storm-tossed sea.
Storm At Sea Egg twitches, rocking about a little bit before going still once more
Sekhmet hops down to the night hearth from her perch upon Jessamin's shoulder, landing near the egg and thrumming just as loud as she can.
Diekhara nods, raising a hand towards Jessamin in welcome, "I think it was the EEC team, but still. Klah will keep us all rolling." She shrugs, then chuckles some as only she can: kind of tight and dry, "What has you up?" Then Sekhmet's thrumming starts and Diek casts a glance at the twitching egg, "What'd ya bring that in here for?"
Jessamin says, "Keeping the faire in their morning scraps, and the egg warm by the night hearth. What do you take me for, some heartless woman that'd leave an egg to go cold?" With a rather wry smile, she curls her hands about the mug, taking a good, long draw of klah, sighing quite contently. "Doesn't look like the scraps will be going to my faire today, though."
Storm At Sea Egg spins about once, then once more on one end, twitching and rocking more strongly. A tapping sound can be heard coming from within the shell.
Sekhmet dances back and forth on her hind feet, spreading her wings and humming for all she's worth
Diekhara's disapproving eye remains steadfast on the twitching egg, "But why /here/? There are other fires. And you can keep your scraps to yourself, I don't want any of the nuisancy things."
Jessamin says, "Maybe not, but I can't see you letting one go wild on you, either. And I've more than enough as it is." She sets her klah down on a nearby table and ambles on into the kitchen, returning with a small bowl of scraps a few minutes later. In the meantime, Empress has joined the welcoming throng, directly opposite Sekhmet. Jessamin promptly plops the bowl of scraps down in Diekhara's hands. "You might be surprised at just how smart the little buggers are. They can make damn fine guards in their own right."
Diekhara stares at the bowl of scraps, scowling as if it would somehow disappear under her gaze if she tried hard enough, "They were wild for turns before we rediscovered them. They can be wild again." With that, she tosses the bowl of scraps away towards the egg… leaving a trail of blood and scraps between it and herself.
Storm At Sea Egg rolls to one side of the basket, landing with a soft little -thud- against one woven reed wall. Its birth dance does not stop there, though, only pausing long enough to try and roll the other way. Let… me… OUT!
Jessamin just chuckles softly to herself, taking several steps back away from the hatching melee sure to ensue. "We'll see."
Storm At Sea Egg dances about atop the sand almost frantically, as if caught up amidst storm-tossed waves. Cracks begin to appear in the shell, widening as the hatchling continues to fight for its freedom. Bits and pieces of the shell fall away, leaving a trail wherever the egg rolls.
Sekhmet croons to the little egg, bobbing her head up and down.
Empress warbles and thrums a welcoming song
Diekhara glares at Jessamin, "What's so funny? I can't feed it if I don't have meat, right?"
Jessamin covers her mouth to try and mask her mirth. "Oh… nothing. Nothing's funny at all." Liar. Her eyes sparkle with amusement as she watches the scene unfolding. Let the poor guard remain oblivious.
Rocking as if tossed upon the waves, the hatchling within finally bursts free of the remaining shell, revealing Sailor's Delight Brown Hatchling. He reels this way and that, trying to get his land legs, while creeling piteously for food.
Sailor's Delight Brown Hatchling
Red at night, sailor's delight. Well, this little guy might not be red, but his rust-hued hide is definitely on the reddish side of brown. Small splotches of sepia and raw umber dance across his back, from headknobs to tail, with the underlying rust color prevalent on his underbelly, forepaws, and hind legs. Spars of mahogany hold fast to sails of mottled sand and wheat, with burnt umber claws tipping each talon. He appears rather sturdily built and well-muscled, a rather fetching little fellow brimming with vitality.
Sekhmet trumpets for one and all to hear as the little brown finally breaks shell
Empress bugles loudly to herald the arrival of the new hatchling
Diekhara's face softens briefly as the little brown emerges, then hardens again, looking away as if it couldn't see her if she couldn't see it. She covers her ears at Sekhmet and Empress' junior-sized trumpets even though it's not that loud and closes her eyes. See no firelizard, hear no firelizard, speak no firelizard. Yup, her mouth is clamped shut, too.
Jessamin grins wide as she watches, biting down on her finger to keep from roaring with laughter. If only Diekhara just opened her eyes for a second… just a second… and she'd know the trouble she was in!
Sailor's Delight Brown Hatchling raises his tiny little head, sniffing out the first of many pieces of meat left behind. Teetering steps take him ever closer to each tasty morsel, one after the other disappearing down his maw. He continues to creel, looking for the source of food.
An observer could almost swear they hear Diek singing 'la la la, I can't hear you' to the little hatchling. Still looking away, she makes a quite grumbling noise. No hatching for her. No way. No how.
Sailor's Delight Brown Hatchling gobbles up the last few pieces of meat, trilling as he looks up towards the reluctant source. Tiny forepaws scrabble against the woman's boot, as he tries to climb up her leg. Feed me? Please?
Sailor's Delight Brown Hatchling looks into Diekhara's eyes. Impression!
Jessamin lets out a hearty guffaw, clapping her hands together in delight. "Oh shards, Diekhara… you should've watched which way that meat fell from the bowl, if you didn't want a hatchling!"
Diekhara shakes her leg, trying to dislodge the little brown, but he's firmly attached, "Oh, get offa me you little…" Her face is still stern even as she reaches for a scrap of meat mixed in with her cereal, "Take it and go why don't you?" The little brown takes the meat, but doesn't go, clawing his way the rest of the way up her leg instead, creeling piteously, feeeeeeeeeeed meeeeeeeeeeee!
Jessamin has to sit down, any hint of morning grogginess gone with the advent of one of the most hilarious Impressions she's ever seen. Any attempt at muffling her mirth is gone, laughter ringing throughout the Living Caverns from her general direction. "Don't think he's going anywhere. You're stuck with him."
Sekhmet and Empress both start hissing at Diekhara as she shakes the hatchling about on her leg. What do you think you're doing, they almost seem to say.
Diekhara reaches down, grabbing the offending little brown by the tail and hoisting him up, tugging sharply a few times until he finally detaches from her pants. For his own part, he seems perfectly willing to stay right there and cheep happily at her, depending from his tail pinched between forefinger and thumb, "What /am/ I going to do with /you/." There's not much love in that 'you', almost maybe a hint of disgust before she glances at Jessamin, "This is all your fault, you know." The two broody females get naught but a harsh glare.
Jessamin almost bolts out of her chair to get the two broody females out of the way, scooping them up to try and silence their hissing. "Shhhh… easy there, you two. She might be a little rough around the edges, but I don't think she'll hurt the little guy." This proves scant consolation to the two flits, who hiss for a few minutes more before settling down. To Diekhara's accusation, Jessamin just nods, if only to keep the peace. "Sure, blame it on me. But you're the one who threw the meat down and didn't watch which way the pieces fell. As for what you're going to do… I'd suggest feeding him some more."
The little brown gives a happy burbling sound, still seeming to grin up at her from his precarious position. Setting him, not roughly but not gently either on the table, she scoops up some more scraps, offering them to him in turn, still scowling some, "Sure, blame it on the meat. He should be smart enough to no better than to go climbing up someone who doesn't want one… a really mean person would've smooshed him." Yes, she said 'smooshed.' Still, she doesn't seem to /mind/ feeding him all /that/ much.
Jessamin says "Smooshed. Is that a technical term?" She can't stop chuckling, watching the new pair. "Didn't figure you to be all that mean, though, or I'd have stepped in. Glad I was right for a change."
Diekhara nods, resolutely continuing to feed the brown, "It is. It's what happens when an angry person hits a small, fleshy thing." She quirks an eyebrow then, "Not all that mean? Stepped in? You could've both died if you'd done that." Still, she chuckles softly, even managing half a smile for the little brown, "Still… he is kinda cute, isn't he?"
Jessamin nods, wiping a few tears from beneath twinkling azure eyes. "He is. My first was a brown, you know. Madder. He came to me at a time I really needed him."
Diekhara grins at the little brown, growing increasingly tolerant of him, "Hey you…" He gives a tiny, adoring burp and curls up asleep on the table. She scoops him up, depositing him in a small pouch, head hanging out comically, "It was?"
Madder soars in to the caverns, on the hunt for food
Jessamin nods. "Surprising he's not here. He's usually a pretty good hatching barometer. Don't know how he missed this one." Spoken too soon, it seems. She looks up to hear a familiar warbling and laughs, wagging her finger at the sleepyhead brown. "Missed one in your dotage there, Madder?"
Diekhara glances up at Madder, ducking instinctively, then grins a little, "Well, any flying stomach that's crazy enough to attach itself to me has to be one of a kind."
Jessamin grins right back at Diekhara, leaning back in her chair. "They're really not all that bad. Just you wait until you're out on guard duty one night and you run across a tunnelsnake."
Diekhara pokes gently at the little brown, "Tunnelsnakes, huh? Never had much problem with 'em… but I suppose." She pokes him again, "He's so /tiny/."
Jessamin nods, her mirthful expression softening considerably. "He'll grow fast. I'd recommend keeping a container of scraps with you for a little while, and a little bottle of oil for his hide. Same stuff riders use on their dragons, just a smaller scale."
Diekhara squints a little at the brown, "Would the same oil I use on my leather armor work for that, or…?"
Jessamin shakes her head. "I can bug G'len for a little bit of the right kind of oil, or you could always ask T'burk, or any of the other riders."