[PRP]Errand Run [E'mel/J'lar/Saddest Boys]

[demon_pachabel]

We're not leaving forever, E'mel reminded Brieteth, though the blue kreeled nervously as the young man carefully secured the packages to his straps. The bluerider wouldn't be the first - or only - dragon sent to Western that day. Then why are we going? Why did they ask us to go? there was a small tinge of worry that laced the thought that E'mel recognized for what it was.

"Because you are the most dependable best buddy they could find and they know you'll do a good job and do a good job," he said out loud, causing someone who was helping secure the load to the blue to startle. He smiled and waved a hand apologetically for it. Brieteth leaned his head in close to the former-Harper, eyes whirling greyed out shades of yellow and very hesitant blues. Was he certain? Oh, his E'mel had never lead him astray before, but....

E'mel ran a hand over the blue's eye ridges, offering affection openly. I promise they're not trying to get rid of us. Your mother would absolutely pitch a fit for you. And he was certain Uridith would too. This...offered little relief to Brieteth, though he did relent to his rider's judgement. He'd never been let down by the man yet. At least it was his one errand of the day. Maybe he'd find a nice spot for Brieteth to soak up some sun in once they were done.

Once settled into his riding straps, E'mel nudged his bonded before the blue took to the air. He circled the bowl once, kreeling at his mother's ledge for reassurance, and only once he had it, did they blink away.

1. 2. 3.

Brieteth did appreciate it being counted out for him before the two popped out from the cold above Western Weyr. Tell them we're here, E'mel advised, and the blue faltered briefly. t-Tell...who? he asked. E'mel leaned into his dragon's mind, feeling it lingering awkwardly near, but not directly up against any of the other dragon's at the Weyr. He nudged it forward and Brieteth, only not fumbling out of sheer anxiety, passed his greeting and purpose on.

The pair announced, they made their landing in the bowl to await further instructions - or at least to find out where their delivery needed to go.

Uta

I hope this is acceptable for a start! LMAO.

 

[Uta]

demon_pachabel

J'lar had been tapped to help the Lower Cavern's workers this sevenday for his afternoon chores. It came as no surprise -- the blue rider had always been good a manual labor back at High Reaches, and he found it was much the same at Western. Though he sometimes was given simpler tasks, for the most part he found his chores consistent with whatever job was the most physical; two sevendays ago it had been helping the Beastcrafters muck out the stables, built another few stalls, and mend some fencing; the sevenday prior he'd been busy helping the workers reorganize some storage rooms, which meant moving around shelving units, and carting off goods here and there. This sevenday, he was helping with incoming shipments of firestone and a few tithes that had made their way up from Rivercrest. The work had been relatively consistent, but as his shift neared its end, the pace dropped to a standstill. The last of the tithes had already been put away, and J'lar found himself waiting for a shipment from High Reaches.

Maybe they won't come. Maybe they'll release you early, and then we can have a walk by the beach! Loreleth quietly spoke from where he sat in the weyrbowl. The blue was far too large to follow J'lar inside, much to his disappointment, so he would follow J'lar around as close as he could whenever the man was outside.

Knowing his dragon's preference, the large man did not return to the shade of the lower caverns to wait. Instead, he remained outside, where Loreleth could see him, and where the blue might help greet any arrivals. Mostly, though, Loreleth had been too shy. "Maybe," the man stated, offering the dragon a small, but ever loving smile. "Would be nice."

The dark blue dragon's eyes whirled a bright blue-green, a fine change for the usual grey hues they possessed. But just before the blue could reach out to tenderly nuzzle his rider, the dragon looked up, and suddenly retreated a few paces. They're here. He sighed, wilting just a touch as disappointment gripped his heart. Shyness, of course, quickly followed, and J'lar couldn't help but grin as the blue seemed to try to find somewhere to fit himself to get out of the way.

As if the little weyrling was in the way at all. Back and forth the blue paced, unsure if he should draw away from his rider so as not to upset his work, or if he should get closer, to help, before seemingly giving up. He flopped down on the bowl, and watched mournfully as a blue dragon landed.

I bet we'll be free after this, Lore, J'lar encouraged his blue, hoping to cheer him up.

J'lar, for his part, didn't mind having work to do. While he wanted to spend time with Loreleth, certainly, he also knew that work had to be done regardless of ones desires. Besides, the sooner they finished, the sooner they'd all be free. "Hey," he called out in greeting, though it was still a bit of a grunt. "You're the firestone shipment, yeah? We're here to help you unload." So he may have forgotten to introduce himself, but another part of J'lar wasn't entirely sure the blue rider would care. While he might have recognized the blue from before he'd left, he certainly didn't recognize the rider.

W-we? As in . . . me too? Loreleth peeped.

Of course. Why not say hello to the blue for me?

Loreleth was't so sure this was a good idea, but he offered a pretty little croon anyway. Welcome to Western, stranger. I'm Loreleth. This is . . . Mine.

Not quite what J'lar had in mind, but close enough.
 

[demon_pachabel]

Oh, he doesn't like me Brieteth's eyes immediately drooped to a murky yellow color as he watched Loreleth seemingly trying to decide if he had time to escape from being near him or not. He heaved a sigh and E'mel offered him a hard open-palmed thump on the shoulder. You haven't even tried to say hello, you big goof. Stop the acrobatics. Brieteth gave another kreel of anxiety as he settled down to allow his rider to dismount.

E'mel took a moment to study J'lar, as if trying to mentally place the man outside of the last hatching. He'd been one of theirs, he knew, but...beyond that, nothing. 2 turns at High Reaches had barely been enough time to meet even a portion of everybody. Assured that he didn't have a name he was forgetting, the young man immediately broke out the brightest smile he could muster - and he was quite good at them. "Yep! Firestone! That's us!" he confirmed, one palm resting on the side of his lifemate. The blue mentally leaned into the man.

o-Oh. Hello, Loreleth. I am Brieteth. I saw you on your father's head. Brieteth would have mentally facepalmed at his glorious observation had E'mel not immediately swooped in with a Nailed it!! He held in another sigh - if he sighed too much, this blue and his boy (it didn't matter that J'lar was older than E'mel, all riders were their dragon's boys. Unless they were girls, of course) may have gotten the impression he didn't like them. He was certainly not ready to make someone else dislike him so quickly! Oh, but it was so easy to - a surge of warmth from his bonded quickly nipped the downward worry spiral in the bud. For now. This is my E'mel. You have gotten bigger since you were on your father's head.

He was so good at this. E'mel patted Brieteth's side with a deep thwump of a noise, like when one was trying to determine if thick-rind fruit was any good.

"I'll get everything unstrapped - where can I help take all this?" E'mel asked.

Uta

 

[Uta]

demon_pachabel

Loreleth seemed very surprised when the new blue confessed to having seen him on Blundarth's head. In fact, the blue dragon lifted his head, and let his grey eyes whirl with a orange-green swirl of pleasure and concern. You.... remember that? The dragon's voice was almost an awed whisper, a new shyness overwhelming him. While Loreleth remembered being taken around by Blundarth, he never would have expected anyone else to remember such a thing -- much less know it was him. He was so much bigger now! And yet, the dragon couldn't help but be pleased, and the hint of worried-joy that danced through his link with J'lar made the man smile.

I... I didnd't know you were there. Or that anyone would remember. The young blue confessed, taking a small step closer, albeit still well behind His. I... I am bigger. I am learning how to fly now, b-but, I am not very good. And I am afraid to learn what comes next. Any joy that the blue had felt immediately rushed out in a wave of sudden fear, worry, and internal despair. Not because he wasn't the strongest flyer, but because Loreleth knew well what would be next -- Between Lessons, and then fighting Thread! Oh, but the blue wanted the days to slow down and stop, so inevitable loss would not rear its ugly head. It was bad enough dragons died during Threadfall -- it would be even worse when it was his clutchmates.

Hey now... You'll be all right. We'll be all right. J'lar quietly encouraged, sensing his blue's sudden wallow of pain grow. What's this one's name now? He encouraged, trying to get his blue to focus on something that wasn't upsetting.

His name is Brieteth, and His is E'mel. The young blue quietly confessed.

"We'll be takin' most of it to the pits, just outside the Weyrlin' Barracks," he explained. "But I think there should be some lower-grade stone for storage." Firestone was needed in dragon riding, certainly; but some grades of ore were used that weren't suitable for a dragon were used in other ways. Without having a natural mine on the continent, it meant Western Weyr depended mostly on trading and buying form others-- primarily from High Reaches Weyr.

"You don't have ta' help if'n you just want to get it off your strappin' blue there," he assured. Not only was it his job to help, but he certainly didn't want to put off the rider if he preferred to relax. "You did most've the work just by bringin' it." He added with a grunt and a nod.  

[demon_pachabel]

Oh! Loreleth didn't find that to be a strange statement? Brieteth squared up a bit as his nerves rounded off slightly at the young blue's reply. Oh yes, you are very memorable, Loreleth. he shifted as he spoke, his words slow, though not hesitant. The entire clutch had been memorable in their own way, but there had been something about the little blue he couldn't put a claw on. Kinship? Immediate understanding? My E'mel says it's OK to be not very good at things. So they were flying already. Oh, he could imagine how hard it was to start with. Certainly, flying was not going to be the hardest thing that a dragon would learn in their life - they were, after all, meant to do it. But the open end of his statement did not go unmissed in meaning.

Those of his own that had not been lost to training had fallen to a lack of preparation when Thread had come. He couldn't have not understood the worry, even unstated. As the sympathy worry krept into Brieteth, E'mel leaned his mind into his lifemate's. Hey, he'll be fine. I haven't lied yet, right? he reminded. It would at least keep him from going too far down the sadness loop.

The paler blue, it was really hard to tell sometimes if he just came in that color or had greyed out from his general feelings about life, peered around J'lar with interest towards Loreleth. Though he didn't move to come any closer, he trilled towards the younger blue sympathetically. His murky yellow eyes flecked with traces of a clearer green in his attempt at solidarity. E'mel stroked his lifemate's neck, seemingly pleased by the distraction Loreleth was from 'We have been exiled and can never go home ever again after we deliver Firestone'.

As J'lar explained the routine, E'mel looked at the packs that were secured to his dragon, and nodded. Well that explained the different packing, at least. "Nonsense! We don't mind helping!" he was quick to offer, still grinning. "I don't think Brieteth could relax even if I wanted to." It perhaps made his lifemate sound more like a workaholic rather than a perpetual pile of nerves. As he spoke, he climbed from his straps to start untying the bundles from them, pausing before he'd even finished with the first. "Or would it be easier if I just had Brieteth walk them over?"

Uta

 

[Uta]

Loreleth felt a bit better as Brieteth spoke. The dark colored dragon had never thought that he would be remembered by anyone but J’lar, especially for something that had happened so long ago. (At least, it seemed like a long time ago for Loreleth.) It was strangely flattering, and the young dragon was both pleased, coy, and confused about the whole thing. He wasn’t very memorable, yet Brieteth seemed to think he’d been… and that was strangely nice.

Still, the young blue dipped his head a bit shyly, before looking more curiously at Brieteth. He snuck his head out a little bit further, as if he might better study the larger dragon. Though J’lar could feel his dragon’s shyness, the feelings were certainly different than his usual brand of uncertainty and sadness of the day. It was a good change, really, and he appreciated it. You c an talk to him more if’n you want. M’sure it’s fine. He encouraged Loreleth gently.

The blue dragon leaned into his rider’s assurances, but was pleased to hear Loreleth’s encouragement. Yours sounds quite wise. Mine says we’ll get better with practice, but there’s still much to learn, and I know… Well, I know that it’ll only get harder. Still, the dragon wasn’t one to give up; he would persevere and make sure he did his best, but there were still others to worry over. He knew what came after flight lessons, and beyond. Blood and tears and possible death.

J’lar, for his part gave a shrug. “If’n you know which bundles are low grade, ‘n which ones are fightin’ quality. Most riders jes’ unpack and head home, and leave us t’do th’ sortin’.” He wasn’t complaining, of course, just explaining. “Lower grade stuff I’ll need to bring into the Lower Caverns; higher grade stone’ll go to the pits. Either way, I’ll be doin’ some walkin’ of one or the other, but if most is for fightin’, then a lil’ walk would be nice.” He felt like he was rambling, and for J’lar, that was an awful lot to say in a small amount of time.

Still, he appreciated the other rider’s consideration. While J’lar didn’t mind running firestone to its various locations, having the dragon do most of the work would make it go faster. Sometimes the sacks were pre-sorted, while other times the grades were mixed. It really just depended on who had been handling it over at High Reaches, and how many corners had been cut.

”demon_pachabel”