Buszketh landed outside of the Dining Hall, her neck proudly arched to display the jewels adorning it. She nudged her rider's back before heading off to the Feeding Grounds for her own meal. Lithya grinned and glanced down at her own necklace as she stepped across the threshold. Ead wasn't in the spacious room yet, she noticed, just as someone called for her attention.
"Hey you! Yeah, you in the black leather." Lithya turned around slowly and eyed the speaker--a boy of about 16 or so Turns, sitting with a group of others his own age who had probably dared him to do this. "How's your weeeeeeyrmate, huh? Is he still as deformed as ever? With the pointy ears? Bet he could pass off for a girl with that hair! " he continued after some prodding from his friends. Lithya felt her blood starting to boil as she forced herself to walk calmly towards the table. She looked down at them with a measure of scorn, silent and motionless; not noticing that Ead was standing by the door, having arrived just in time to hear the taunt.
"Excuse me? Deformed? Did I hear you correctly?" Lithya asked, her voice nearly a hiss. A highly dangerous gleam flashed in her eyes. The young man paled slightly (funny how big people seem to get when they're mad at you) but nodded. "Yeah, that's what I said. You deaf?" he asked brazenly. That was the last straw. Lithya grabbed the offender by the shirt collar. "Deformed?! Deformed?! Say that again and I'll deform you!"
She shoved him against the wall, hard, and waited for him to speak. He didn't say a word. Lithya let the boy drop before storming off in a fine temper. She briefly realized that her necklace was glowing very brightly, but dismissed it, not knowing that behind her, several pieces of crockery were busy flying toward the insolent boy she had just finished threatening.
The rider calmed down somewhat and stopped glaring at everyone when she sat down to eat and reflected. (She was a 'do first, think later' kind of person in these situations.) Lithya held her warm mug of klah in both hands, propping both elbows up on the (unoccupied) table and sipping thoughtfully at the spicy drink. A few moments later, she heard Ead sit down beside her.
"There was really no need to do that, you know," he said softly after a minute. Lithya looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He was keeping a tight hold on his emotions and thoughts--that alone told her that he was probably still hurt by such insults. Which made her bristle a little more at the recent memory. "They were right. On this planet my ears would be considered deformed, so it was a valid argument. I'm sorry that it was directed at you though. It's what happens when people stay around me too long." Ead continued in an equally quiet tone of voice.
Lithya put down the mug and turned to face him. She raised one eyebrow. "Sorry? You shouldn't be. They are the ones who should be sorry...but I apologize if I overreacted." she responded, a slight hint of bitterness entering her tone at the last part. She hadn't overreacted, in her own opinion. Lithya shook her head and raised her eyes to Ead's serious black-green ones. Her arm twitched as she resisted the urge to lay her hand on his. "Ead, you shouldn't let them treat you like that. You are not 'deformed', whether you are here or anywhere else. Valid argument, indeed." she sniffed disdainfully before going on, "I won't stand to see my--friends (she couldn't help stumbling a little there) insulted without doing something about it." Faranth knew she didn't exactly have any true friends other than Ead and their dragons, but that was not the point here. "You're stuck with me now, so don't think some petty insult is going to make me leave you." Lithya added, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks and hoping no one was watching. She lowered her voice. "And thank you for the necklace. I won't take it off ever." she murmured, giving him a lopsided smile. All throughout her commentary she could feel the silent (and not meant to be overheard, no doubt) apology for the term 'weyrmate' used for him. Weyrmate. It had a nice ring to it, although at this point she would most likely still rather jump off a cliff than admit it.
Lithya was jolted out of her thoughts when Ead....Ead....took her hand in his. "Thank you." he said. She smiled. And kept her hand where it was.
Vladmirth had settled himself near Buszketh as his rider went to get something to eat. Buszketh pretended he wasn't there and pounced on a particularly juicy-looking herdbeast. She glanced at the other dragon when his eyes began whirling yellow in alarm. Vladmirth turned to her, panic evident in his voice. What's going on in there? Why won't he answer me?
Buszketh raised her head and touched on her own rider's mind. Anger, indignation flared out at her, then subsided into concern, a little bit of surprise, and something else that the teal-black dragoness couldn't quite name, although it was similar to the way Lithya felt when images of her draconic self entered the rider's mind. But it was a nice feeling. Buszketh turned to the anxious violet-blue dragon standing beside her. I don't know what they were doing, but my rider isn't distressed and she's thinking of your rider, so it must be all right.
Which reminded her. Buszketh looked at Vladmirth again, ignoring the fact that this was totally out of character for her. Thank you for the necklace, it's beautiful. I will be sure to repay you.
....and I told him I would repay him for the necklace, so we have to--Lithya, did you hear me? Buszketh interrupted her speech to snort at her rider irritably.
Lithya blinked and looked up. She'd been brushing out her long black hair and absently comparing it with Ead's. His was much longer, nearly down to his knees when it wasn't in the usual braid, and a dark golden color. Lithya often wondered why under the twin moons did he keep his hair that long, if it took so much trouble to comb out (she would know, too--she'd done it for him once), but she rather liked it that way. No reason. She just...did. Maybe because it was unique unto him.
As I was saying before, we have to repay Vladmirth for the necklace.
Lithya bit her lip thoughtfully. "How about riding straps? I can make them extra nice." she suggested after a minute of silence. Buszketh approved, then went back to her sunbathing. The rider grinned and went down to the storerooms for the materials she would need. Leather, the associated tools, thread, needles, two buckles...they shouldn't be hard to get.
Lithya re-entered the weyr carrying with her arms weighed down. She knew Vladmirth's approximate strap size from when they'd been learning to make the equipment in weyrling classes. Which was a good thing. She planned to decorate the sides of the straps with geometric designs in teal and black thread. Vladmirth ought to like that, she reflected, grinning as she began her work.
A few days later saw Lithya finishing up the gift. She spread the loops of dark leather out on the ground and inspected them. She'd worked the leather until it was smooth and nearly as supple as cloth, using suede to line the entire inner length instead of just the girth, and then had rubbed polish into the whole thing until it was gleaming. Along both edges of every strap was a pattern of embroidered diamonds, alternating between teal and black. There wasn't a flaw that Lithya could see.
Buszketh had been a tad jealous until Lithya also made her a new set, with decorations in purple and blue. The dragoness hadn't even protested the colors, which her rider found both odd and amusing. Right now Buszketh craned her neck to look over Lithya's handiwork. She seemed very satisfied, and delicately picked up the riding straps.
Without any warning, the dragon fluttered across the long, narrow weyrbowl and carefully set the gift down on the ledge. She then turned and glided back down to her own weyr. Neither Lithya nor Buszketh noticed the two figures, dragon and human, watching from the lake.
