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Erastan leaned into the smooth feel of his beloved dragons hide and marveled at the warmth of him, the flow of his movement. He had never ridden a runner before, only the old heard beast that Ma Loa had used to haul the heavy traders caravan. But they had been slow plodding creatures, powerful and steady. Nothing like the smooth long strides of his partner. For the first time he felt a true surge of excitement imagining the day that he would feel it in flight. For now, they were still ground bound but Aspalath had gotten big enough that Liat was encouraging the young riders to sit astride their dragons for short distances. Getting the riders used to the movement of being on a dragon while the dragons themselves adjusted to carrying weight for the first time. Luckily Aspalath was slim but so was Erastan, plus the 15 yea old was fairly small for his age from the get go.

The skinny boy really wasn't a problem for the blue. And since he had out grown being able to curl up in his riders lap this was a worthy substitute. On top of that it was easy for Erastan to move his body to compliment Aspalath's gait as they were already mentally in tune.

As they reached the entrance to the weyr proper Erastan slid off the dragons shoulder and onto the dew stained grass with a light rustle. The one bad thing about Aspalath's growth? He was simply getting too big to follow his bonded about in the covered parts of the weyr. Now the size of a runner with added bulk of wings and long tail he was a hazard in the narrow hallways. It was a new fact of life that both were finding hard as Aspalath had practically been glued to his riders side till that point.

I won't be long, just have to find Etansi and grab something to eat.i'll come running if you need me. The boy promised his partner.
It's okay. I can find somewhere quiet to sun myself a bit. You don't need to rush.
Erastan reached up and hugged Aspalath's growing head with a swell of pride. His blue was getting so brave.

As Erastan turned to go into the weyr Aspalath moved away so he would not be in anyone's way that might be entering or exiting. As promise he found himself a patch of grass and settled onto it. Closing his eyes while sitting upright in a false doze. He had already learned people were less likely to bother him if it looked like he was napping.

Meanwhile Erastan headed in the general direction of the main mess hall. Having the vague notion that his twin would meet him there. It was pure luck however that he caught a flash of blue from the corner of his eye, spotting her hard at work at the end of one of the long corridors. Pivoting on his heel mid step he trotted the rest of the wall down the hallway to join her. "They still havn't let you off for lunch yet?" the boy asked, with his usual frown directed at his sisters bandaged hand. She still refused to tell him who was at fault for the injury. She knew it would likely make him do something rash, but stil..it was another reason Erastan could add to his list of why he disliked people. Including most of the weyr's occupants.

Erastan accepted Lolo onto his shoulder with a small smile that just barely twitched the corner of his lips, he liked the little flitt too, He liked to think that Lolo was the one that would have been his if his sister had not taken both eggs, though he was also glad the good naturered little blue was there to protect his twin when he wasn't. As for Etan...well at least she could send him to attack should she need it. He hissed right back at Etan and gave Lolo a scratch under his chin to make his preference clear. At the mention of Astriana's name he rolled his eyes and knew that was all his twin would need to read his feelings on the matter. Stuck up, spoiled know it all.

At last he spoke. "You shouldn't be doing this at all with hand like that." he scolded her before snatching the broom from her grasp and dancing away with it before she could reclaim the tool.

He set about finishing her work. He was used to doing chores and it was an easy mindless repetitive task which his hands lead on and his mind ignored to ponder other things. "Training is fine." he added swishing past her again, holding the broom out of her reach so he could tackle a cobweb in a corner. "We'll be flying together soon, but we still have a long way to go before we even start doing jumps between, so that means, no worry for you, cause a few more months before we do anything dangerous." Of course he knew what she had been thinking.

It didn't take him long to get to the end of the hallway with his long sure sweeps. He had been sitting in a classroom for most of the day and the physical activity was a refreshing change of pace. Plus, Etansi had already done most of it. Once he was sure that the troublesome debrie of the weyr's foot traffic had all been swept into a bucket he handed the broom back to his twin with a c**k of his head. "Can we go eat now?"

Eyes narrowed a bit when she watched Erastan roll his own, but given that he was likely rolling them because she'd told him she wasn't done yet she let it slide until he snatched that broom. A growl of annoyance pulled from her but when she went to snatch it back she yelped when she used the wrong hand by mistake. It came from foolishly being able to use both hands for almost anything she ever wanted before this moment, it would take more time to get her left hand back to being useful for much again. "Doesn't matter, it's my job." Though she doubted greatly that Master A'ral would kick her out for her twin finishing the bit of sweeping she hadn't managed, she didn't want to give him any reason to think that she was slacking or failing in her duties. Especially with her hand.

To lose her Candidacy would be to leave the Weyr and lose her brother and his dragon for good and always. Just as the thought passed through her head a nose wedged into her ear and trilled as she jerked in response, Etan apparently wasn't having any of her depressing thoughts just as his namesake wasn't having her push herself too hard. It left the small, dark girl with her eyebrows pulled down and eyes rolled up, her expression more one of annoyance than anything else. While they had always relied on one another they were in different roles with different expectations now, which meant she couldn't be looking to Erastan for help with things as much as she used to, if at all?

Flying! At least he knew what her fear was, even if there wasn't much that the taller twin could do to ease his shorter sister's fears. Even when he mentioned it her heart hammered just a bit thinking about he and Aspalath hopping between, but at least they would have one another and not be alone? R... right? "He's getting big. It's fun to watch him fly alone already." A blush crossed her face for a moment, eyes widening as she realized she'd just said that last part out loud which incriminated her watching them sometimes. But it was when her eyes widened that she caught sight of someone else who she hadn't seen all day.

"Oh, you should meet her..." Etansi nodded her head towards her friend and to her luck Lolo caught on and hopped into the air, disappearing and reappearing beside Astriana with a happy cheep before dancing around above her head like some strange beacon. "We should all go to lunch together." A smile crossed her face as she nodded again for Erastan, "So you two can meet finally... cuz you're a lot alike."

Sinders Path

Dea and #Teddy#

If Astriana thought she was going to make a clean get away, she was sorely mistaken. Lolo appeared and gave a friendly cheep, before he flew above her head, as if trying to make sure she was seen. Were all these firelizards out to get her today, she was starting to wonder. First, one of her own beloved flits had failed to relay information to her. Now, her friend's flit was making it where she couldn't just disappear before being seen. She walked closer, knowing there was no way out of it this time. As she got within ear shot, she mentally snorted at the thought her and this twin of her friend's was alike. She glared at the boy, hearing what he said next.

"I tried to offer him food, but you acted like I poisoned it. So don't you dare think about biting me or I will introduce your teeth to my fists,"she hissed out. Her ice blue eyes were showing just how much she wanted to show this guy manners, the only things stopping her was her friend and her flits chiding her for those thoughts. Okay, and the fact she had no intention of throwing away her chance for a dragon of her own over some pitiful male.

"You think you'd stand a chance in a fight against me?" Erastan retorted his hands curling into tighter fists at his side, ready , should she feel the need to follow up the threat. As far as the boy was concerned she might have been trying to poison his dragon, he had no trust in her and her mere presence had set his hairs on edge like a dog rising it's hackles.

However then Etansi stepped in between them. Forcing the blue rider back a step. He looked at his twin and her expression and part of his hostility eased when he saw the look in her eyes which was partly hurt. Though there was anger there too. At him?
He deflated further.
"Why are you sticking up for her?" he asked his sister softly. "You can't trust people like her." He reached out, not to grab his twin, instead to try and beckon her away. "Come on, I won't fight if you don't want but we should leave her here."

A headache was going to follow all of this, she could feel it already forming like a band around her temples and forehead. With each word spoken by Erastan and Astriana it seemed to grow tighter and tighter. How on Pern was she going to settle this, the two of them should have been working on that themselves! Not that either of them... would. In fact all she wanted to do was go and hide and not have to deal with the fact that the two most important people in her whole life clearly hated each other.

Quietly she glanced up at Lolo who crooned back at her as he swirled in the air above them, making lazy circles on his pale blue wings.

Blue wings....

That was it!

"You two... stay right here for me. Don't move. Don't hurt each other." Etansi growled and turned on her heels to go and find the blue she was thinking of. As a last thought of measure, she loosed Etan from her shoulder and neck, giving him a little command to keep the two separate as she ran to talk to Aspalath. He was much too large to fit anywhere down the hallways anymore, much more was the pity, she honestly sometimes daydreamed of a little dragon that would just follow at her heels all the time, so they could always be together. Knowing that her brother's blue probably wished the same thing made her wonder how he handled it, especially since he was so shy.

"Aspalath." She'd found him nestled on a patch of grass, somehow managing to look totally aware and totally asleep all at once, something he likely had picked up on from Erastan, maybe. Or maybe his nervous ways had simply helped him develop that, either way she was impressed and only whispered up to him, his head so much higher than even her brother's now when he sat. "Can I ask you a question Aspalath, about a friend?"

She never put the mask she wore out of necessity for jobs on around her brother and even his dragon, family would never have to see the fake aspect of it. But Etansi did manage to make her eyes huge and hopeful as she looked up at him, for it was how she was feeling inside, on top of anxious and confused and honestly... hurt. Those she cared about hated each other.

Sinders Path

Dea and #Teddy#

Astriana watched Lolo circling above their heads, she didn't see how this was ever going to be resolved. It was clear Erastan didn't like her and she couldn't say she had fond feelings for him either. Her attention was brought back to Etansi as she basically commanded them to stay and not fight. Well, it wasn't like she could hurt Erastan, it would probably get her kicked out and he was her best friend's brother. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew how much the blue rider meant to Etansi. She watched her friend walk off, leaving her two firelizards and she could see Etan was a flit on a mission. Her ice blue eyes glared at Erastan as he spoke about how she didn't have a right to approach the blue and should have just left them alone.

"Forgive me for thinking that I should get to know my best friend's brother and his dragon. And this soldier thing coming from you is rich, considering you are the rider and I am not. You do understand that is what you are, right? Your job is to fight Thread or did you forget that little detail? Also I am far from self entitled, I work for everything I have. I have had to,"she growled. As the boy made to try and head off, a smirk on her eyes seeing Lolo get in the way. She was tempted to head off herself, but she knew she wouldn't hear the end of it from Etansi. Not to mention, she had a sneaking suspicion Etan would block her exit.