Ra'msi was certainly not wishing for the noise or the crowd of people. Nor the teeth-itching sound of cutlery on plate by so many. He knew his strengths, and crowds were not one of them. The day had been long and wearing and exciting as it was. He would meet with his friends and his little found family privately soon, away from the excitement that made him want to yank his hair from the roots.

Lareseth had Opinions about Ra'msi skipping out on the Hatching Feast, but in the weyrlings eyes his bronze had Opinions about a lot of things. To his choice of company, to the fur he had draped on his shoulders, to lecturing his firelizards on respect as they absently dipped their snouts into his tea.

Ra'msi could feel the judgment rippling off Lareseth, tempered by the drowsiness of meat filling their belly. They lifted open a sleepy lid to stare daggers. We should be there. We should be seeing everyone.

Had Ra'msi been of weaker spine, he would have been bowled over by Lareseth's yawning desire. Desire to be beside his siblings who glimmered, to be fawned over by doting parents. To be the beautiful speckle of light in someone's eyes as a kingly dragon of High Reaches. It was all so tempting for Lareseth. It was the ways things Should Be!

Instead, Ra'msi dabbed pink pigment on his eyelids, staring at Lareseth from the reflective glass surface. His stare hard and unyielding from under its color. His green and brown flits crooned appreciatively of his little brushes from Tuela, wanting to play with them terribly. Ra'msi endured the bronze's slowly cooling barbs easily, as Lareseth's desire was overpowered by deference and love for his rider.

"And you should try listening." About a lot of things. He closed the pigment case with a sharp click. He had come from nothing. Starved, neglected, and spurned. He was no greater than anyone else - and certainly all deserved respect regardless of color and sex. If it took him all his life to shake loose those notions from Lareseth's head then so be it.

Ra'msi wouldn't let those Opinions go unchecked to fester into something Elitist. He wasn't blind to the ideals of his home, this Weyr - but its politics were not for him. It was one thing to be proud of sturdy Wings and strong clutches to defend it. Another to insinuate anyone was lesser, especially for reasons of circumstances of birth - and Ra'msi had nothing but time and willpower.

Ra'msi inspected his reflection before running a sharp toothed comb through his long, long tangle of hair. He grimaced pulling a knot from his locks. "There's more to worry about than your own hide dear and the silly whims of your siblings."

Lareseth peeked his eyes open once more. Abashed, embarrassed. They would want him there… why wouldn't he listen to them? Considering, disbelieving, processing the bronze huffed indignantly.

"Lessons, flying, threadfall all of it bigger and more important." Ra'msi turned to swipe one soft brushes across Lareseth's snout branding it with pink.

"All of Pern is larger than ego darling."