[PRP] Can it be too exciting? (Mhinadi/Oreune) [FIN]

[houllow]

Oreune paused at the question and then shook her head. "Honestly? I don't even see me ever Impressing a dragon, period so like....imagining me beside a Gold is a little bit beyond my expectations." There was a bit of resignation in her voice and she bumped Mhin's shoulder back. "Like I'm obviously going to go out on the sands with all the hopes and dreams that I'll get a dragon and Impress but like??? If I don't Impress ever and end up aging out that won't be too heartbreaking or surprising either."

It was really hard to explain to people just all the aspects of her personality, of how she always believed the absolute worst but was still willing to give things a try anyway because there was always a chance something good could happen. Everything was always worth trying, just for that single chance, even if Oreune didn't really think that chance would ever come.

A 1/100 chance.

Still worth taking though, because why not?

It was complicated.

"But....I mean, I think a gold would be nice? Any dragon really, showing me affection for a change. Someone who I could maybe believe whole-heartedly when they say that I'm their number one. Someone who won't change halfway through."

WAIT. GO BACK.

Oreune slapped herself mentally for getting way, way too deep. A little too deep.

"I'd like another firelizard, I think. I have imagined having a gold firelizard, if that counts."

Samuel Carlin

 

[Samuel Carlin]

Mhinadi's smile faded a little more. The explanation was valid, but it didn't mean it wasn't also sad. "I don't think I understand. I'm sorry," she said, "but how can you hope for something you don't believe will happen? If you don't believe it, then you don't really have hope, I think. And that," she insisted, "is just not going to work for me."

She straightened up and held out a hand. "You need to make a promise with me. That from now on, you'll believe that there might be a dragon on the Sands for you." Eyebrows lifted again, she waited for Oreune to take her hand.

houllow

 

[houllow]

Oreune shrugged again at the question, and then once more shook her head. "I don't make promises that I'm not sure I can keep, sorry." She smiled, honest and open. "And it's easy to hope for things that you know won't happen anyway - it's just human nature. Plus again there's always a small, small chance something can happen and everyone likes being pleasantly surprised, right?"

Who didn't like surprises? Oreune liked them...when they were pleasant. Or at least, not horrible surprises.

"So while I can't say I'll do it...always, I'll at least......try. I can promise to try, how about that?" She poked one of Mhinadi's fingertips with her own, the closest compromise she could get. "I mean there are a ton of things I still need to work on, especially before the hatching and stuff." Part of her wondered if she should speak with a mindhealer again, just to be safe?

Clearly there were some things about before that still weren't connecting in her mind and she needed to think things through properly, or else she ran the risk of getting herself hurt again. It'd be her fault this time, not an accident, if she got stomped.

Samuel Carlin

 

[Samuel Carlin]

A moment of disappointment flickered through Mhinadi's expression, but she shook it off quickly. She'd gotten a finger poke, and that counted, at least a little. And really, it was a pretty big promise request.

"Trying definitely counts," she said with a nod. "So I'll take it." She beamed at Oreune. "Oh, a firelizard could be nice, too. You couldn't have one on the Sands, of course, but it would be nice to have one to curl up with later. And who knows, maybe you'd have eggs one day, and you could have a whole fair."

houllow

 

[houllow]

"Do you have one already? I've got - " The simply thought caused a POP overhead, and a rather lithe green firelizard slid from *Between* and hovered above Oreune before settling down on her head. "This one here. Loom."

Somehow the conversation that had been about the upcoming hatching had gone off the path seven ways to the new day, but that was also okay. It would give Oreune time to sort her thoughts and also she was able to chat with someone whom she'd never really sat down and spoken with. All candidates knew one another to some degree but more interpersonal relationships needed to be worked on.

"Loom hasn't had an eggs yet - at least not that I recall seeing. She tends to just come and go at her own pace, so if she's clutched it's been somewhere I couldn't find." The green chirped approval on it, not really weighing in anything important. "I guess we're all lucky that dragons need folks to be present for their hatching, yeah? I mean considering dragons need humans."

Samuel Carlin

 

[Samuel Carlin]

Mhinadi had been about to announce that she didn't have any firelizards yet when Loom appeared and she stopped for a few heartbeats, mouth open in delight.

"No, I don't have any yet, but one day I will. I want two, at least," she announced, watching the green with bright eyes. "So that I can have one sit on both shoulders. If I find more, I guess I'll have to let them, I don't know, balance on my head." Like Loom was doing. "Or maybe on my hands. I'll figure it out."

She refocused on Oreune. "Lucky for sure. Can you imagine if we went out fishing or something, and there were wild dragons out there, just waiting for someone to pounce on? That would be awful!"

houllow

 

[houllow]

"Well here, have some practice holding this chunky girl." Oreune reached up and pulled Loom off, careful that the claws didn't even have a chance to grab more of a hold. The little green chirped with initial confusion, though when the move had her right in front of Mhinadi she looked up with eyes whirling blue. "She's really quite friendly, so don't worry about hurting her. If she feels uncomfortable she'll let you know."

Thankfully the green didn't seem distressed in the slightest, and when Oreune released her she trotted towards the other candidate with the intent on getting some affections. She knew this sort of thing - and she certainly enjoyed it.

The sudden mention of wild dragons while out fishing was a thought that...she didn't really know how to process. It was all together ridiculous but also a little bit....terrifying? "I would hope I could throw a fish then and maybe Impress one?? Or at least toss it hard enough to runaway." That's what some folks did with wild cats, anyway. Or anything dangerous.

Samuel Carlin

 

[Samuel Carlin]

"R-really?" Mhadi's eyes had gone a little wide, "You're sure she won't mind?" Because she was ready to scoop up a firelizard for sure.

She watched Loom toddle toward her all but holding her breath, and when the green presented herself for affection, Mhinadi supplied it eagerly, giving scritches under her chin and over her eyeridges like she might have been petting a cat. If cats had eyeridges, of course.

"Aren't you a pretty girl? Don't listen to her. You're not such a chunky little thing. I'm sure there are lots of lizards rounder than you. Yes there are." Ridiculous little-creature talk for the win.

She looked up again. "Everyone would need to have lessons in fish throwing, It would be terrible."

houllow

 

[houllow]

Loom all but melted into the scratches, an affectionate rumble issuing forth from her body. She moved more onto Mhadi in order to limit the reach it would take for more attentions, all the while ignoring the mental laughter coming from Oreune. This firelizard loved attention and if someone was happy to smother her in it then she was not going to refuse! And she even said she wasn't chunky!!! Best day ever!!

"Then I'm glad the eggs are on the Sands. Which is what we were talking about to begin with - how did we even get to throwing fishing?" Oreune laughed at just how far they'd gone from the original topic, which had been the literally touching they were at earlier in the day. "From the eggs I did touch, I didn't feel any of them were really...hostile? I mean I got told to piss off, but that's pretty standard of a response from anyone."

Samuel Carlin

 

[Samuel Carlin]

Mhinadi was only too happy to be climbed and rearranged herself so that she could fold her legs on the bed and make a platform for Loom to settle on. A safe, solid place for even more scritches, which she happily delivered.

"I don't know. We just sort of talked about everything." That might have been a slight exaggeration, but they certainly had covered a lot of topics. "I don't think any of them were aggressive. I didn't see anyone crying or looking like they were scared, though... well, it's hard to pay attention to everyone all of the time. Still, I think we would have noticed." And gotten a talking to, too, for making the dragonets in their shells angry enough to lash out.

"There were a couple who seemed like they were very -- what's the word? Proud? So maybe we'll just get to see a lot of very proud dragonets."

houllow

 

[houllow]

"Yanno, I wonder how much of parent personality plays into the eggs too? Like if I recall, the clutch Kloeth came from - the dad is a brown." Oreune probably obsessed a little bit on that clutch, but it was the one she was brought to the Weyr for after all, and so it would always be special in a manner of speaking. "I've met him - Teth - and uh. Let's just say that dragon is a few threads short of a tapestry."

A shame because he was actually a super sweetheart and very friendly, but rather....well. That. "I've not really met many of the dragons from that clutch, but I've seen some around and so it's hard to tell from there." It...wasn't like Oreune also could say she knew Kloeth's personality well so really??? This was a weird, moot point. She sure as shells didn't know the sire.

"Proud seems pretty interesting! I really am curious about who are in those shells now, you've actually got me a little excited to at least be there. No harm in hoping for a Hatching that goes smoothly, right?"

Samuel Carlin

 

[Samuel Carlin]

"Oh." Mhinadi's fingers stopped scritching for a moment as she pondered that thought. "I don't know how much of that passes down. I mean, I imagine some of it must. We get things from our parents, so it makes sense that dragons would top."

Now she went back to scrtitching. "I'm pretty sure I've never met Teth, though. Or Pipith, for that matter, aside from him being pointed out up above us today. Do you know anything about him? For what it's worth, I didn't get the sense that any of them..." She trailed off, remembering. "Well, one of them did sort of drift off mid-thought, but that just seemed like sleepiness. I think."

houllow

 

[houllow]

"I'm pretty sure you've met Teth one way or another. He's huge and hard to miss, and his rider is...." Eh, well. "Or if you actually wanted to meet him it wouldn't be hard. Seems like he's friendly enough." Dragons came in all tastes, and at the questions of Pipith, Oreune shook her head. "I have no idea who he is, or who his rider is. I'm...not very good at paying attention, I think. Though I was a little surprised to not see him by Kleoth, but I guess maybe she didn't want him there?"

At the stoppage of fingers and therefore touchings, Loom barked a chirp quite loudly as if to say HEY, MORE!!! She would not be denied!!

The mention of sleepy eggs did make Oreune smile. "I don't blame them for being sleepy - not when you're tucked in on such warm sands. I'd want to sleep too, at that rate."

Samuel Carlin

 

[Samuel Carlin]

Mhinadi flinched at the chirp, then laughed and started scritching again. "Okay, okay, sorry! You know what you want, don't you?"

She looked at Oreune again and shrugged a little. "I mean, I might have met him. Teth, I mean. Or seen him. I've definitely seen some big dragons. It's hard to remember them all without being able to actually, you know, meet them, properly."

And as for Pipith: "He was good enough to catch Kleoth, so he must be a decent dragon. And they made a pretty big clutch of eggs, which is the important thing, right? And there weren't any weird shaped ones or soft-sided ones, so there's nothing more for him to worry about, really."

"houllow"]  

[houllow]

Oreune snorted at the chirp. "I should have warned you that she's spoiled rotten. Takes to anyone who shows her love, the little traitor." Unlike dragons, who went with you when you left, everyone knew firelizards lived on...or something like that. They didn't reImpress though as far as she knew, but still could be quite fickle. Maybe...she was a little jealous to see Loom look so happy, but it could be excused for how delighted Mhin looked. Yes, she could allow that.

"I wonder if there are any hidden eggs? I'm not complaining because the clutch is huge as it is, but I remember hearing about this massive, massive clutch that happened at High Reaches nearly three....four turns ago?" Oreune's grasp of time here was really, really bad.

Samuel Carlin