Nosing About

Writers: Aaron, Duskdog, Len
Date Posted: 3rd September 2024

Characters: B'lyse, L'fael, C'rand
Description: L’fael is curious who the ‘bad man’ the dragons were talking about
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 11 of Turn 11

It had only been a sevenday since the Hatching, but L’fael couldn’t shake who the ‘bad man’ Berlinarth and Azureth had been talking about the morning after the Hatching. Sojanth had no interest in finding out herself, and had been cranky if L’fael thought too much about it. But he couldn’t help it. Maybe it was just being nosy, or maybe it was just a reaction from his upbringing of being around mostly bad men. He may now be a lifemate to a beautiful little green, but deep inside he was still that scared little drudge that had been hit and kicked and almost raped. He had to know if he was safe or not, it was a matter of self preservation.

As Sojanth slept in her wallow, looking like a perfect little gem as she was curled nose to tail, he thought it over. The two dragons couldn’t mean the weyrlingmasters. All three seemed fair and honest men. It didn’t feel like they had been speaking about another Hatch mate. So that only left the assistants, and more than half of them were women and a couple of underaged boys. L’fael studied Azureth as he pondered. And then he noticed that the blue’s lifemate was looking at him.

B'lyse looked away quickly. He had not meant to stare. At first, he was not even actually looking _at_ the other boy, merely staring off into space. But when he noticed the other looking back, his eyes shifted and he made eye contact.

}:Hi!:{ Azureth greeted L'fael cheerfully.

**You're talking to him?**

}:Well, why not? He can hear me anyway.:{

**Hi Azureth, can I talk with your lifemate?** He was always best to ask first instead of assuming. Sh’del had drilled into them already about the bond between dragon and rider, and L’fael was not about to do anything that might either hurt that bond, or have the wrath of the Weyrlingmasters over his head. He also noticed that the brown weyrling that had also talked about the bad man was close by and watching B’lyse too.

C'rand, too, had been mostly tied up in his own thoughts, idly considering the curve of B'lyse's jaw, musing to himself about what an odd and specific thing it was to notice and appreciate, and yet appreciating it just the same. Berlinarth's sudden stirring of interest, though, pulled him back into the moment. **What is it?**

}: Nothing, :{ the brown replied with a yawn. }: Just observing that Azureth is entirely too happy. :{

**Nothing wrong with that,** C'rand replied, amused. **You could stand to be a little less grumpy, yourself.**

It made him look back at B'lyse, though, wondering what had prompted the observation in the first place.

}:You want to talk to him...?:{ Azureth sounded slightly confused as to why he might want to do that, but not worried. It never occurred to him that he should have asked before speaking to L'fael.

Having averted his gaze, B'lyse then made eye contact with C'rand instead. He blushed and smiled at him... and then forced himself not to let his thoughts wander too far there.

}:Actually, yes. You can.:{ Azureth was not sure why. But he suddenly wanted B'lyse to be thinking about something else.

“Hiya B’lyse,” L’fael said to the other weyrling. “Hi C’rand.” The taller lad also seemed to be watching B’lyse. **Can I ask you both, Azureth and Berlinarth, who the bad man is that you were talking about the other day?** He was still so shy talking to other people that it didn’t occur to L’fael to just ask the two weyrlings.

}:He says, ’Hiya, B'lyse,’:{ Azureth relayed for his rider. The character of his voice even changed to mimic the sound of L'fael's.

The other day seemed very long ago to Berlinarth. He considered for a moment. }:Oh. That person. Yuliuth's rider. Mine is cross with him, because...:{ He had to pause again as he thought. }:I am not certain. My C'rand is keeping his thoughts about it quiet. But no matter. What is true to him is true to me. I do not need a reason.:{

"L'fael," C'rand replied, smiling a little despite his slight confusion, eyes sliding back to B'lyse briefly and then back to the other boy. Was his dragon speaking to L'fael? He felt himself bristling with discomfort, but couldn't fully place why. There was no reason to be upset, was there? Berlinarth didn't sound upset. "Everything okay?"

B'lyse's eyes darted to C'rand, trying to read his expression. He _was_ handsome...

}:He was a friend,:{ said Azureth. }:Someone very close to B'lyse, like a brother. He helped him... a long, long time ago.:{ It had not been all that long, but everything before B'lyse had Impressed him was a long time ago as far as Azureth was concerned.

}:He tried to tell B'lyse why he did this, but I don't think I really get it. He said that another bad man would hurt B'lyse if he did not become a bad man to your rider. I don't know why he wouldn't just tell someone and get help.:{

**Ahh…okay.** L’fael saw the expressions both weyrlings were giving him. “I…ugh…can hear your dragons…I mean, I can hear everyone’s dragons…I mean…” Already he was telling himself to shut up. Shells, he hoped he didn’t sound arrogant saying that! “I…I mean…sorry, I should have asked first if it was okay to talk to them.”

Azureth dutifully repeated everything L'fael had said to B'lyse, and neither one of them really considered the fact that L'fael could very obviously hear him doing so. He had probably heard him doing so all along.

"He said you could hear him when he spoke to you the first time before. He can talk to whoever he wants." B'lyse wondered what it must be like to hear not only spoken words but dragonspeech clearly together, from everyone. He spent all his time straining to understand. He could only imagine L'fael spent his time straining not to.

C'rand blinked. "You can... hear our dragons? All dragons?" Well that explained that, at least, but... "Oh. I didn't know. Have you, uh... always been able to do that?"

L’fael took the dragons information and store it away to think over at a later time. Instead he turned to C’rand. “I..ugh…yes, I can hear everyone’s dragons.” His voice trailed off as he hoped he didn’t sound like a stuck up arse saying that. “I…use to think they were just voices in my head when I lived at Sunstone Hold. Before that I lived with traders and we were miles away from anything.” He blinked and looked at both boys. Could they be friends? Outside of Jaylene and her family, and another lad back at Dragonsfall, he had never had friends before.

"It sounds lovely..." B'lyse trailed off. He missed being able to really hear everyone as more than a muffled garble, and being able to hear Azureth clearly in his head was amazing.

“Yeah, it is…I’m not lonely anymore.” L’fael wondered if it was okay to begin to open up to other weyrlings. Would he ever fully trust others again? He glanced at these two nervously.

"That's... wild," was the only word C'rand could come up with for it. "I mean, I knew it was a _thing_, I just never thought about somebody from a Hold getting a gift like that, y'know? That must have been so weird. But... if you were lonely, and thought you were hearing voices... man. I'm sorry. It's a good thing you're here now. It's not, uh... like being in a loud, crowded Dining Hall all the time though, right?"

“I can tune the worst of it out,” L’fael said. He frowned slightly when the other weyrling had said that he didn’t know someone from a Hold could be given that gift, like it was something that only certain people were worthy of. Like only the privileged people were allowed to do that. This thoughts snapped Sojanth awake.

}:Who’s trying to hurt you?:{ The tiny green’s eyes whirled red as she jumped to her feet and arched her back, hissing at the other two weyrlings.

**No one, it’s okay, I’m fine.** L’fael jumped off his bed to crouch down to his lifemate, rubbing behind her eyeridges. To the other two he said, “She’s hungry, I need to go.” Better to say that rather than she wanted to fight them.

B'lyse glanced sideways at C'rand. He was not sure what had happened, exactly, to make Sojanth's eyes turn red like that, but C'rand would be able to explain once they were relatively alone, he was sure.

Last updated on the September 8th 2024

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Nosing About