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"Only makes sense," Dezerac said with a shrug, hovering over a spot under Vedmath's wing that was particularly in need of attention. "If there's interest, might as well capitalize on it."

"I'll have to keep it in mind, in case riding doesn't pan out.  What do you think, Vedmath?" He thumped his dragon's side fondly. "We could even find you a partner, stage dragon fights on the side." People were more than happy to waste good marks on wher fights - imagine what they'd pay to see dragons fight.  Not that he would actually, sincerely put his dragon up to that; they were only speculating about ridiculously unlikely career paths, nothing more.

Maybe if Thread is kind enough to spontaneously disappear, the young bronze stipulated with a dry rumble of amusement, And we find ourselves unemployed.

Charming is not necessarily bad, Vedmath clarified, 'hmm'ing over the proper way to explain what he meant. Charm can be a good thing, and even Mine can be charming! It depended on the company and the need for it, but among his fellow weyrlings, Dezerac simply opted for stoic, most days, not finding them worth the effort most days. But charm is also a tool for the clever, to win hearts and loyalties that they might later use for their own gain. They could both of them be that sort of charming, but there was a time and a place for that.  Not with their present company, certainly.

"Best to have a pool, then, to rotate fighters in and out," he decided as he mulled it over, still very comfortably in the realm of speculation. If Vedmath had been hatched before the return of Thread, perhaps what was amusing conjecture now would have been a real, viable option, but that was no longer the world they lived in. Even if it had been, he doubted Vedmath would have been content with such a shallow existence. "Some smaller ones, some bigger ones, some believable underdogs for the crowd to root for." Metallics were bound to attract the most attention, as they almost always did, but pitting a large blue against a small bronze, for instance, and ensuring that the blue would win (not to assume that it wouldn't be able to do so outside of a staged fight) would cause a scene for sure.

The young dragon sighed and angled his neck just so, deeply pleased by the extra attention, and by the company. He understood His' reluctance to socialize with their fellow weyrlings, when so many of them were so much younger; if not in age alone, then in outlook. It was good that Keziath and Hers had arrived when they did, even if Sabina could be vexing, or if the current conversation - now that they were actually having one - was odd.

Knowing the difference is the trick. It takes experience, and intuition. He wasn't certain it could be explained beyond that, especially when he wasn't fully certain it could be easily learned. He simply had a knack for it...and these were his brothers, so he had the advantage of knowing them for what they were in the first place. If you ever have doubts, I am happy to offer my aid. And if anyone dared try to take advantage of the naive green, he would see to it that they regretted it.

"Monster is right," Dezerac snorted, rubbing at the ridges behind his wings. "Hard to believe there was ever a time I could have picked him up." The man regarded his bronze with a shake of his head, and finally proved that yes, he could smile. At his dragon. Whom he never actually had picked up, because it would have been inadvisable to try to heft that much hatchling while recovering from being mauled. He'd have ripped something back open for sure. By the time he wouldn't have (re-)done damage to himself, Vedmath had long since surpassed a liftable size. "Good thing we're not much longer for the barracks, or we'd be in trouble."

Not that it wasn't starting to feel a bit crowded already; altogether, there was a lot of dragon in the weyrling barracks these days. So, so much dragon.

Eyes closed as the bronze thrummed with pleasure and soaked in every scrap of attention and drop of oil, though he was not inattentive to his new friend. You can ask as many questions as you need to, he assured her. I will help in any way I can.

She was bright, and good, and deserved better than she had had thus far.

"Those first few weeks were a blur." He shook his head at memories that already seemed a bit hazy, far-off and very long ago, and yet...not. "Didn't help we were a mess, either." Dezerac reached up to rub at his bronze's throat, where the scars on his dark hide had been getting fainter as he grew. He did glance Keziath's way for a moment, assessing. Even if she'd not been fed quite as well to start, she looked to be a good size for a green.

Vedmath crooned concern for the bright green, head in the sand and looking so sad. Though it would interrupt the oiling he was undergoing for a moment, he carefully - so as not to bump Dezerac or Sabina - edged closer to Keziath to offer a consoling nuzzle, his hearts full of sadness and a slowly simmering rage. He wished that he could go back and fix everything somehow, but that was impossible. Instead, he promised himself that if he ever found any of the brutes who had mistreated her, they would pay. I am sorry I was not, but I am here now. There is little to fear at Western, but even so... I will make sure it stays that way, for you.

Though he had gathered that the dragons were having a much more serious conversation than they were, Dezerac was still a bit surprised when Vedmath abruptly (albeit politely) up and moved himself. Resolving to ask about it later, he simply continued on with the task at hand. "It'll be hard to find anything but a gold bigger than him, if he keeps up at this rate. Even then, I'll wager he'll be bigger than a few of those."

Exactly the sort of dragon High Reaches all but worshipped, which wasn't lost on him and the source of no shortage of amusement. The fact that after he'd long since stopped coveting a dragon of one color above all the others, only to Impress a shaffing huge one somewhere it didn't matter, wasn't lost on him, but all the same, he had no wish to be back at the more traditional Weyr. Perhaps it was the mercenary in him, but shifting his loyalty to Western had been simple enough.

"Probably close to it," he agreed as the bronze arched his neck, pleased to be spoken of in such complimentary terms by both Keziath and her rider.  His eventual large size could prove an advantage over the likes of Illiandinth and his ilk, and he would take what he could get (and quietly enjoy it).

"Suwayeth," Dezerac answered, a disapproving scowl pulling at the corners of his mouth.  Some ill feelings yet lingered there; it was one thing that the green had tried to kill him, and another entirely that she'd tried to kill his dragon.  And as Vedmath didn't trust her, either, those feelings weren't likely to change anytime soon.  If ever.  "Vedmath's clutchmates took strips out of quite a few of us.  And each other."  There had been much better-mannered hatchlings in the lot, but the handful of difficult ones had dominated the Sands, and everyone's memories.

You will be safe here, the bronze reiterated, with no hesitation in making such an ambitious promise.  He had no doubts that he could keep it, and would have said much the same to should any of his dearer clutchsiblings had such fears.  Keziath, it seemed, was being lumped in right beside them. I cannot change what happened, but I will not let it happen again.

"Most of them weren't so bad, all things considered, but the ones who were more than made up for the rest. The Touching was a disaster, so I don't think anyone expected a peaceful Hatching, but..." He shrugged and stooped to oil his way down Vedmath's hind leg. "Suwayeth had it out for the males from the start. She killed one of Western's candidates, and had a couple of goes at us."

The bronze creeled sadly, turning half-yellow eyes to His and prompting the man to stop what he was doing so that he could walk back to the front of him and rub between his headknobs reassuringly. None of that was your fault. The only one responsible for Suwayeth's actions was Suwayeth.

The young dragon butted his head against his rider's chest and sighed. Only Suwayeth, he told Keziath. She is just...Suwayeth. The rest are fine. Generally speaking.

"I've seen some bloody Hatchings, but I'd have to say it was one of the worse ones." Largely due to the intent evident behind much of the bloodshed, rather than confusion and accidents, and not one but two incidences of siblings nearly killing one another, even if one was maybe in a gray area of semi-accidental. Dezerac still disapproved, being of the opinion that there was no excuse for losing control to the extent of almost slaughtering one's own brother. He remained a bit leery of Helsinth, though Vedmath was fond of him.

"Vedmath's was the first Hatching I'd been to outside High Reaches, so I can't say.  There's been no end of speculation about why it was so violent, from the Flight to Vimiath's age to her rider's health." And the chaotic Touching, of course.  Maybe it was all of the above, or maybe the ones inclined to cause trouble would have done so regardless.  Who knew?  He gave his dragon's head another pat and returned to work. "From the sound of it, that unaffiliated clutch in Southern Boll was more civilized."

For all the criticism the rogue Queen who'd laid it got for being foolish enough to lay her eggs in the middle of nowhere, nothing had actually gone wrong.  And that was without the benefit of knowing the Standing candidates beforehand - for all the importance placed on Touchings, such things made one wonder.

Vedmath returned the nudge from Keziath, a little sand sticking to his freshly-oiled hide, but he didn't mind. I wish I could have done more. He had saved his rider, but not been fast enough to help Henwas, or spare others from injury.  Had he not prioritized His, would he have been able to help the rest?  But then His might have died, and that...that he could not abide.  Did that make him selfish, rather than heroic? I will never again allow such a thing to happen, if it is within my power.

But he also knew, deep in his hearts, that whatever the stakes, he could never sacrifice His.  His life would come first, always.

The look of disgust on Dezerac's face was by far the most expressive he'd been over the course of their whole interaction. They had culled dragons? That was for herdbeasts, runners, canines, and the like. Maybe whers or felines. Not dragons, and especially not after the return of Thread. Just what had this WeyrHold thought they were doing? "That's unacceptable," he growled, although he kept up his work. "They're dragons, not whers."

Vedmath, who was just beginning to be soothed courtesy of Keziath's kind words, was every bit as offended by this revelation as his rider, if not moreso, and was right back to bristling. He did not trust Suwayeth, and hated what she had done, but...did he wish her dead? Or Illiandinth? He rumbled unhappily as he stewed over the what-ifs. Such things should not be permitted. And those responsible wished to begin this again? Does anyone else know of this? Something should be done!

He was too young to do anything, desperate as he was to, but maybe if someone with authority knew, they could do something to prevent such wrong from taking hold again.