A Small Gem

Writers: Avery, Suzee
Date Posted: 16th September 2015

Characters: Zelah, Bryvin
Description: The firelizard egg hatches
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 1, day 10 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Rhosyn

Zelah

Bryvin

Xeladrie was lying in her bed, taking a midday nap, when she heard
strange sounds. There was tapping, rustling, and then there was a
sudden odd sound filling the room. She sat up and looked around for
the source of the disturbance. But nothing was visible in. She
considered going back to sleep but the noise was still happening and
now she had to use the necessary anyway. So she got up and headed for
the door to the sitting room, pulling her robe around her as she went.

In the shared room there was a commotion of firelizards flickering
around the table by the fire. She recognized her husband's flit Treek
in the mass of brightly-colored wings. They were the source of the
loud humming sound. Xeladrie realized where she'd heard it before –
the dragons at the Weyr had made that sound. Which meant…

She whirled and stuck her head out into the hall, looking for a
drudge. There was one washing the floor she signaled over. "Run to the
kitchens and get a bowl of fresh meat. Tell the cook my firelizard is
hatching and I will need it now."

"Right away m'lady," the woman said, hurrying off.

Xeladrie left the door open and went back towards the table. "Can you
move so I can get closer?" she demanded at the firelizard crowd. If
she couldn't get close to it how was she supposed to make it her own?

Bryvin typically ignored most of the anxious flittery pictures he got
from Treek. But these told him it had something to do with the egg and
Xeladrie. He smiled and grabbed the bowl of treats from his desk. Then
he trotted up the stairs to her room and couldn't help a wider smile
as he beheld the gaggle of flits in the room humming their hearts out.
"Sounds like a harper choir," he said as he came in and handed her the
little dish. "I thought you might like this."

"Oh, thank you," she said automatically as she turned. She was expecting
the drudge to return, was surprised to see her husband turning. The
excitement left her slightly flushed. "That is what they sound like. I
didn't realize at first what was going on."

She looked lovely with her heightened coloring and not for the first
time he wondered why his heart had not attached to her. She was
everything he should appreciate in a wife. Perhaps because she was
close but not exactly Elarie. He should love her he thought to himself
but the spark just wasn't there. That didn't mean he couldn't be
friendly or desire her. To the contrary there were many times he did
desire her but that was simple biology. He stepped closer.

"Quite exciting isn't it?" Bryvin smiled and brushed at the flits who
were still interfering with Xeladrie's access to the egg.

"Very much so. I heard they're attached to human births too. Does that
mean they'll crowd ours?" That thought put a small wrinkle in her
expression.

The flits moved enough that she could see the egg. It was developing a
small crack but it wasn't yet broken through. "I wonder what color it'll
be."

"Could be," he said. "Though I doubt they'll crowd around so much."
Treek had picked up on his pets displeasure and was busily driving
back the most persistent of the watchers.

"It's hard to tell," Bryvin leaned forward to look. "The egg seems a
bit smaller than Treeks' was but not by a lot. I suppose it could be
any color."

Xeladrie leaned forward towards the egg to see what was happening. A
small crack widened and something poked out. A foot or wingtip?
Excitement took over and she reached out, brushing her fingers against
it. "Come on out," she encouraged.

"Thats it," he said and put his hand in the small of her back as he
leaned forward. Treek landed possessively on his shoulder and wrapped
his little brown tail around his neck. "A little more," he chuckled.

The chrous of noise from the accompanying firelizards grew louder and
louder. The crack spread and a small head pushed out. She pulled a
piece of the broken shell off and away from the little baby so she
could see more of it. It was very dark and covered in egg goop, and it
nipped at her finger when she went to reach at the shell again.

"Oh, it's fast!" she said in surprise.

"Yes they are," he nodded. "Food, food, that will distract it enough
for you to touch it."

She reached into the treats he'd brought for her and picked one up
between her left fingers. She stretched out the hand and wiggled it in
front of the flit. The head darted and the small jaws snapped. While
it was distracted, she peeled a few more pieces of shell off of it.
When it cheeped in annoyance, she gave it a treat again. Finally it
was clear the tiny form was a delicate little green, which she coaxed
towards her hand. "Theeeeere we go," she cooed in a high-pitched voice
like she'd use to talk to little children.

As much as he wanted to reach out and touch the tiny flit he knew he
shouldn't interfere with Xeledrie's impression of the tiny thing.
"Shes so little," he said but made no move to touch her.

Finally the small green crawled into Xeladrie's hand. The Lady cradled
her and fed her pieces of meat with the other one. "Nice girl. All
happy and fat now aren't you? It's good, huh? You like it. And you'll
like me. I promise."

Soon the little green was asleep in the hand. "I have no idea what to
name her," she said softly, looking up at Bryvin.

"It will come to you," he said softly near her ear. "I'm sure her
personality will be larger than she is." He hugged her shoulders
gently.

She smiled at him. "Thank you for letting me accept her."

"Of course," he answered with another squeeze. It was an easy enough
way to please her and to please the Weyrwoman. He hadn't seen any
downside to granting their wish. "She certainly snapped at your finger
though. Did she hurt you?" He tried to see the offended finger.

She shifted the sleeping green firelizard to one hand and held out the
one. "Not very badly. Did Treek bite a lot when he was smaller?"

"Not really after we became acquainted," he smiled his other hand rose
to his shoulder to scratch a tiny eyeridge. The little brown was still
peering at the new hatchling though he was no longer humming. The
rest of the flits had disappeared almost as quickly as they had
assembled in the first place. "Just keep your fingers out of the way
when you're feeding her over the next few days." He nodded toward her
hands. "She's so tiny. Like a tiny gem the way she's all curled around
her fat belly." His eyes twinkled with simple enjoyment of the moment.

"A little gem," Xeladrie agreed. Bryvin had a better way of describing
things than she would have expected. Seeing him like this was
charming, a side she didn't see often. That she wished she didn't know
as much about, honestly. She wondered if he'd be so tender over a
child of theirs. Hopefully - one of them needed to be.

"I can't wait to get to know her better and see what she'll learn to do."

Bryvin chuckled. "It will be fun," he said. "I'm still training Treek
to take messages for me." The little brown heard his name and trilled
happily.

"That'll be far off for my girl. But it will be an adventure. Thank
you." She said again, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

"Sure," he said kissing her back.

Last updated on the September 28th 2015

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A Small Gem