Who

A'ndi, D'ex, Taliveth, Zynth

What

Taliveth and A'ndi are having their own personal slumber party! Oh wait, until Zynth dumps D'ex on them and leaves.

Cussing, Destruction of Pillow Forts

When

It is the late evening of the sixteenth day of the tenth month of the eleventh turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Taliveth's Weyr, Southern

OOC Date 26 Aug 2017 07:00

 

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"We're just…" participating in a deeply private and personal ritual between rider and dragon, a strenghtening of bonds understood by no one but them, aka DON'T TELL ANYONE OKAY????



Taliveth's Weyr

A decent sized weyr, or maybe it's the sparse furnishings that make it seem so roomy. Towards the back is a curtained off alcove that acts as a bedroom, and another alcove houses a nice little kitchenette and some shelving for ingredients, pots and pans and utensils. There's a small desk pushed up against the left wall with a little stool to sit upon, and on the opposite side of the room is a small, round, beat-up looking table and a basic wooden chair (there used to be a second one, but D'ex threw it off the ledge and into the river). A large tan pelt of some animal lies on the floor beneath the table in some attempt at decorating maybe? Standing out from everything else is a well-made, stylish, white-cushioned couch that adds a much-needed dash of cheeriness (and seating) to the space. Taliveth's sandy bed isn't far from the desk, and on the wall above the brown's sleeping space is a pretty acceptable charcoal rendition of Vulheimurath's face, framed and hung up (IT'S NOT CREEPY, DON'T YOU JUDGE HIM-). Straps, riding gear and supplies have a storage area near the weyr entrance. It's overall pretty basic and boring at the moment. There are two modes of cleanliness for this space: regular tidy-but-lived-in clean, and inhumanly-spotless-and-impeccably-organized D'ex Was Here clean.


It's an awfully late spring evening, edging on to midnight. The warmth of the day has dwindled to a lightly chilly breeze. The kind of chilly that feels nice when you're all bundled in your blankies. Which most of Southern likely is by now, aside from the late night partiers. And the late night slumber partiers. A'ndi and Taliveth's weyr seems to be in such a state of partying at the moment; the chairs have been pushed towards the couch and a large sheet draped over all of it to make a fort. At the moment the brownrider is seated amidst a small nest of pillows next to Taliveth in his sandy bed, with many of the weyr's glows gathered and angled in such a way to direct a hazy circle of light against the stone wall. "Which one next? How about Fish?" A'ndi's hands contort before the light, casting the image of something vaguely looking like a cat head onto the wall. Taliveth honks with delight, while the real Fish lays nearby, unimpressed. The black cat is guarding what appears to be several small pots of paint. Surely those will factor into the night's activities.

The warm, cozy scene inside the weyr might be interupted by a stream of cussing, muffled by stone, but not so muffled as to make the words totally unconhearante, "GOD DAMNIT ZYNTH IT IS THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING NIGHT!!!! WHAT THE HEL-" Words are cut off, silence following and then the sound of boots. D'ex enters the weyr in pajamas bottoms, shirtless , boots pulled on hastily, and hair a mess. "Knock, knock, A'ndi my dragon just-" He stops when he gets a good look of the weyr, "What in all hell are you doing?" As icey pine reaches out into the space junk that is a clutchmate, « Do you mind rider-sitting for a bit? He'll be fine in about ten minutes, please excuse the mood until it passes. » The words are followed by a dash of snow, the sense of that chilled world of winter mountains and forest that is Zynth's domain. « It would be appreicated. »

"Uhhhhhh…." A'ndi's hands sit frozen mid-animal-shapeshifting, staring wide-eyed at the intruding bluerider before darting glances around at the admittedly odd scene. "We're just…" participating in a deeply private and personal ritual between rider and dragon, a strenghtening of bonds understood by no one but them, aka DON'T TELL ANYONE OKAY???? He shakes off the momentary deer-in-headlights state and ends up snapping, "It's none of your business. What are you even doing here?" The brownrider is in pj pants himself, and a black tank top because I'm going to assume Pern has those. Comfy stuff for slumber parties. Amidst the minds of the dragons, Taliveth bursts an ecstatic explosion of light over those mountains. « Of COURSE we don't mind! D'ex is always welcome! Will you be joining us tonight? It's Party Night! Or do you have another business trip? »

« Business Trip. Sorry. I'd love to stay, but I've got things to attend to. » The blue's thanks comes in swirls of little flakes, forming momentarily into a cat, « Tell Fish that I said Hi. » And then the blue is gone, his private world blinking between as he goes off to attend to that business that does not include his rider. D'ex himself just stares back at A'ndi. This was by far one of the weirdest things he'd ever seen. Zynth and him doing a private slumber party? Yeah. No. "Zynth woke me up and brought me here and said it was important and left." He jerks a thumb back toward the ledge and the notabley absent blue. "He just …left… " D'ex nods, Zynth's independance bothering him on moments like this.

« Bye Zynth! Have a good night at work! Don't forget to eat something! » Taliveth calls after the ultra-bluest-blue before turning his attention to Fish to warble a greeting as instructed. Fish is indifferent. He's in that grumpy teenager phase. Then the brown's big face swivels to face D'ex and he invites himself into the bluerider's mind. Tali has learned over time to tone things down for the other rider; rather than a burst of supernova light, he appears in that wintery night sky as a slowly growing aurora borealis, the depths of which are filled with light and fire and his swirling debris, but kept at a respectful distance. « D'ex! Zynth has brought you to PARTY NIGHT- » Tali catches himself, turns down the volume, continues, « Please have a seat! » A large paw scoots one of A'ndi's pillows loose from the nest. Sit! "He might let us know next time…" Grumblegrumble. "Anyway. Take your shoes off if you're going to hang out. Don't walk on my pillows. Did he say what was important?"

D'ex turns around, flipping off the sky beyond the ledge, as if it might somehow reach his dragon. Of course, Zynth knew he was doing this, mind-conected and all, but the actual action did feel more fullfilling. D'ex winces as the forien dragon enters his mind, still unaccustome to it, and generally speaking, other dragons didn't speak to D'ex. "Right. Right." At least he didn't flip out about the brown's touch anymore. Boots are slipped off and set down, a hand runs through the mess of red hair and all together fails to tame it. However, the man will obey, "No he didn't. He rarely does. Usually it becomes apparent later. 'Pacience D'ex. Just wait a little.'" D'ex's tone goes up an octive in a mock-mimic of the blue at these last word, though it failed to anyway touch the dragon's voice. "I wake up and he takes off? Where is the justice in that?!!?!? No, No, I wake up, he dumps me here and takes off? Jeez, if he doesn't want me bothering his little deals with folks, he can just tell me." Ranting done for now, D'ex will plop down, one wary eye racking over the whole set up again, "Slumber party? You two do know you live together, usually this is not how slumber parties work."

"This is how our slumber parties work," A'ndi replies, a little indignantly. "It's not meant for other people." Knees are pulled up to chest and he looks oddly sulky, looking at D'ex and his messy hair and his lack of a shirt and we're just gonna look over at the kitchen now. "But you're here, I guess. I mean, I can take you home. But if you want some tea first…" Shrug. Taliveth crosses his front paws, very business-like, even tapping those electroplated talons against the floor. « I think tea time sounds very nice! » the brown says to D'ex with a twinkling of stars admist those flowing colors in the sky. « Zynth always knows what he's doing. I think he wants you to stay and play with us! »

P. S. Fish comes sauntering up to D'ex going prrrrt prrrrt. PET YOUR SON

Zynth does always know what he is doing. Always. In fact, Zynth is always a few steps ahead. The cat will be scowled at. He went through a lot of trouble for Bookshelf. Or Fish. Or whatever this thing's name was. "Tell me, do the rest of Ocelot also have midnight tea parties while having private slumber parties for no other people?" The words are mocking, but a hand will come out and pet the cat. Mostly to keep Fish from rubbing up against him. D'ex will sigh heavily, as if very, very, very put apon, "Fine. I'll have some tea." D'ex was starting to get the sinking feeling that Taliveth was right. Zynth wanted him to be here and play. Damn it. This was not the sort of playing that D'ex did. However, who said tea didn't need a little nudge in the direction of other things? Like the games that D'ex did play? "So, do your little parties ever include games?" Like Cards? Or Dice? Or Knuckles? Or Chess?

It does at least look as though Fish is well cared for. He's turning out to be a medium-haired cat, and is coat is nice and silky, and a blue ribbon collar adorns his neck with a teeny bell. Fish does rub up against D'ex, but it's at least just the bluerider's hand, scenting it to say THIS IS MINE. "How the fuck do I know what the rest of Ocelot does? Whatever they do on their off-time is their business," A'ndi snips back as he gets up to go rummage tea from the kitchen. There's the sound of dishes clacking while he answers over his shoulder, "Sort of. But they're Taliveth-games. Like… how many words can we think of that start with F. How long does it take for a sock to fall into the river." Cue tea kettle noises! Taliveth adds helpfully, « Story-time is fun! I put my head in Fort Vulheimurath and we tell scaaaaary stories! And we face paint! » ahahahaha oh d'ex you know where this is going those paints are calling your name

Oh by the first egg no. D'ex initially sighs at the words 'Taliveth Games'. How was it that Zynth was so Clever and ahead of things and Taliveth was a prepetual child? Sure, Zynth's memory was like that of many dragons, fleeting unless he really cared, but in general everythingness? How could two creatures be more different? And the SAME PARENTS?!!?!? The more A'ndi goes on, the more D'ex starts to mope. He was going to be stuck here all night playing kiddy games. Wait. Paint? This makes the blue rider go tense. He may not know what Fort Vulheimurath is, but be sure as hell does not want anyone putting paint on him. Talk about a mess!!! "A'ndi. I realize this is a very private thing you do with your dragon and I have refrained from commenting on the lack of symetry to your fort here, but I'm starting to think that maybe me and my tea can just watch while you two … do your thing." This is an actual attempt as polite here, and actual attempt at sincerity.

"You can do whatever you want," A'ndi answers neutrally. The brownrider approaches with a mug of tea AND a coaster, pressing them both towards D'ex. "We wouldn't mind if you fixed Forth Vulheimurath, though. I'm not that great at it." It's a passable fort, but yes, it could be much neater. "And then maybe we can play a game you like. If Taliveth thinks it sounds fun." Then he plunks himself back down into his pillow nest, glancing briefly over his shoulder at the bluerider. He may have just employed Babysitter Tactics. Then he's back to the that ancient art of shadow puppetry. A big ol' canine head that chompchomps at D'ex's shadow. Taliveth provides the sound effects.

Tea and Coaster are accepted silently. Babysitter tactics work. D'ex will sit quietly and sip his tea as his shadow is chopped, no protest beyond an igdignant ignoring of the jepordy his shadow was in. He will watch this then finally, the tea cup is put down in the exact center of his coaster and he stands, stepping around the pillows to skirt the outside of the fort. A few ajustments here, add a pillow and a chair there. Prop that up. See? It's better. Okay, it's still a pillow fort and a bit saggy, but at least the idea of symmetry is there. This done, D'ex will return to his previous spot and sit down, another few quiet sips of his tea. Finally. "Why the hell is it called Fort Vulheimurath?"

"Taliveth is a fan." A hand gestures to the charcoal rendition of their brown clutchsibling hanging on the wall above Tali's bed. "He thinks Vulheimurath is really impressive. I think he's a big pain in the ass, personally, but-" Taliveth SNORTS at that and A'ndi gives D'ex a helpless 'see what I mean?' look. A glance back at the fort and a quiet, "That looks nice." is offered. A'ndi is painfully aware of how weird this all is and, for whatever reason, he has decided to take on the task of bluerider babysitting and maybe make this a little less awkward. Maybe. "Do you know how to do this?" His hands flitter-flutter into the shadow of a bird on the wall. "Do pirates do shadow puppets in their spare time?"

"Oh." It seems to D'ex that Zynth might have mentioned how useful Taliveth's obsession with thier brother was at some point and, well, D'ex supposed he hadn't ever taken it seriously. Apparently this was actually a thing? D'ex will nod as if he understands. Perhaps Taliveth's thing with Vulheimurath was like Zynth's thing with collecting people he liked. Dragons all seemed to have things. As for pirates doing shadow puppets? D'ex snorts at this. "Pirates don't. Uncles do. And I happen to have a rather large family." He shifts so that his shadow is smaller, giving him a portion of light and one hand comes up to a fish, thumps moving for fins. D'ex was not the ever the prefered choice for watching children, but when the Disgraced was wrecked and D'ex fresh from prison, job oppertunities were slim. He spent a lot of time looking over various sister's broods.

Needless to say, D'ex is actually not very good with children despite the practice

D'ex hugs Vani! Vani hugs you back giggling: That shirt is EPIC right? It would look LEGENDARY on my floor <3
Oh yes it's actually a thing. Taliveth has a lot of things. Taliveth is primarily comprised of things. His current thing right now is to gaze adoringly at D'ex as he joins in with his shadow-fish, the brown warbling softly and sweetly, such a dainty sound from such a hulking relic of a creature. Like those really huge cats with teeny weeny mews. "Do you see your family much?" A'ndi asks, trying to sound casual, as he forms a shadowy dragon's head to come nibble at the fish. The cat-Fish dances around along the edge of the wall, staring up intently at all that movement.

"They hate dragonriders and knots more than I do. However, many of them see the utility of them." He shrugs, uncareing, "Others are pretty disgusted with me Impressing. I don't go back much, but that was true before Zynth as well. Ship life doesn't allow for many close bonds beyond the other people on the ship. They hate me sometimes and sometimes they don't. I drop by occationally." Basic Black Rock Family then. Large, poor, unstable, ever-changing. It didn't bother D'ex, his tone is non-chalant, really not a big deal to him. The fish will shift to a shipfish, or dolphin as some people insisted on calling them. Shipfish were much more suited to being eaten by A'ndi's shadowy draon-head. D'ex was not a fan of dolphins. "Your folks?"

A'ndi is currently indifferent to dolphins, despite his dragon's apparent musical love affair with them, so his shadow-dragon is pretty okay with gnawing on D'ex's shipfish. "Opposite." He pauses in explaining further, becoming very focused on some serious finger contortion to make… a runner? With four legs and everything? HELL YEAH IT IS. "Small family. I visit them whenever I can. They see dragonriding as a respectable job. With the right color, anyway. A brown is good." Which is probably the most he's ever said to anyone besides Francis about his family and Taliveth is just THRILLED and croons at them both. look at all this bonding ;_; Fish jumps up suddenly, swatting at the shadows, then hitting the floor and bolting into the fort.

D'ex hums softly at the runner, that's impressive dude. "And how would your family feel about a blue? Or when you bring that lady and her green over huh?" The words are not hostile, simply curious. A dragon was a dragon. D'ex had watched greens try stoping men running for boats, not bronzes. Then again, he is not unaware of the stigma toward blue and green riders outside of a weyr. "Don't tell them your wingleader is on a green." He smirks as at the cat's dash, then waves a finger at the thing, "Ey now, you're going to be skinned by Zynth's friend if you skrew up this fort, you hear Fish?" It's a half hearted warning, though D'ex has no intention of letting the thing topple the fort now that it was a proper fort. Shadows will be abandoned for now to Slip in after the cat.

"A blue would be… less okay. You know blue and greenriders have a reputation amongst Holds," he says with a shrug. It is just A Life Fact. "My mom isn't a very judgemental person, but she likes to talk to her neighbors and I don't want to, you know… bring anything down on her. So what I tell my family is selective." To uphold the family honor! A'ndi blinks as he is abandoned for a cat in a fort and, a bit curious, follows after and peeks inside. Fish is, in fact, trying to nibble on and roll around with the end of the sheet from the inside. "Zynth has friends? That skin cats? I thought Tali was making stuff up."

D'ex nods, he does know. Not entirely something he was looking forward to should he ever be assigned on Watch at a hold, but it was not something that Zynth ever cared about, so D'ex didn't care either. He knew his dragon was the best, so why bother? "Zynth has lots of freinds. He picks them up and brings them home sometimes. Sometimes he doesn't and just lets me know about them later." D'ex makes a move for the cat, preparing to scoop the thing up before a stronger roll brings the whole fort down on him. "Zynth got the cat from a 'freind'." Though not everyone the blue did business with was part of his collection, D'ex didn't genearlly try to explain his dragon collecting people to folks anymore. It caused problems.

"You know, honestly, I think our whole clutch is pretty weird. They all seem to have some kind of odd habit." OH WELL they're still the best clutch ever soooooo. Fish squawks at the grabbing, flails, catches a claw in the sheet and runs for it. He manages to get free but not before pulling the sheet down over the former pirate. It's wasn't the whole fort, just part of it!

"THAT FUCKING CAT!!!" PART still ruins the astetics of the place. D'ex will start cussing again, trying to stand, trying to hold up the sheet without bringing the rest of the place down. The cussing will stop when D'ex thinks he has the place stablalized. "Okay, A'ndi, I think tha-" Whatever D'ex thought will never be known. One step and a foot catches a pillow. D'ex slips, falling back into softness, but also dragging the rest of the fort down. There is a crash as one of the support chairs topple, sheet settling on the struggling rider as another line of cussing comes, far more colorful than the last.

"Pfffff-" Apparently D'ex's fort-misfortune is a great source of amusement. A'ndi breaks out into laughter and Taliveth's sides rumble right along. That aurora planted for the moment in D'ex's head flares up with bright merriment. The party is ten times more fun with D'ex here! … They're totally laughing at you though, not with you. A'ndi scoots over and shoves the fallen chair out of the way, and slowly lifts up a corner of the sheet to peer beneath. "Hey. Grabbing cats is a bad idea." Fish has well hidden himself in the hopes of avoiding consequences.

D'ex will attempt to throw a pillow at A'ndi's comment, or maybe just at A'ndi. The man pulls the toppled fort back, trying to get the mess untangled. Or trying to escape, "You can shut up now." He can hear the laughing at part, though the cussing has quieted for now, the moment D'ex's torso and upper body is free, another pillow will go sailing toward the brownrider, "It's your bloody cat!!! Make the thing behave!!! Shards! It's as terrible as Polly! Should have skined that one too!!!"

POOF. Right in the face. Any laughing stops quite quickly after that, and the pillow falls down into the brownrider's hands. He's a little more prepared for the second one, ducking to the side just in time, and it goes skittering along the floor towards Taliveth. "Actually, he's Zynth and Taliveth's cat. He just lives here like a little freeloader. Why don't you take him sometimes and teach him manners, huh? Why don't you clean up his shit and buy his food?!" He doesn't launch the pillow in his hands, but rather swings it towards the bluerider's face. LOOK WHAT YOU STARTED. Taliveth is thrilled with this new game and picks up the pillow from the floor. « I can play too! LOOK! » The warship brown hauls himself out towards his ledge, and flings the pillow off into the night. « I'M GONNA HIT THE RIVER! » This information is for his neighbors. Hopefully they're used to these shenanigans by now.

it's just like a real slumber party! Hitting all the checkmarks here.

D'ex is not prepared for retaliation, simply because he didn't expect the brownrider to let himself get hit in the first place. UMPH! The pillow hits it's mark and D'ex goes stumbling backward, not fully free of the sheets yet, his balance a mess. Back into the fallen fort, D'ex twists, kicking at the sheets in a renewed effort to get free. "Well I don't want to. How about that? It's NOT Zynth's cat, it's Taliveth's. Therefore, your problem!" Finally breaking free, the redhead snatches up another pillow hurling it toward A'ndi, but unwilling to get too close again. "Your Fucking Cat. Your Fucking Problem!" « Actually, you are not going to hit the river. » The words are calm, cool, snow and night washing over, Zynth's sharp form appearing, the thrown pillow caught in one claw. He twists, throwing it backinto the ledge at Taliveth, « Catch. »

Taliveth catches it… with his FACE. « HAHAHA! GOOD THROW! We're good at this! » The brown waddles up closer to the slim blue, hoping to greet with a nuzzle when Zynth lands. « Welcome home! How was your trip? The boys are having such a good time! Will you two be staying the night? OH PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! » Back inside, A'ndi raises an arm to ward off the latest pillow attack. "You're such a fucking whiner," he says with a roll of his eyes. "Whatever." A'ndi stands carefully lest he too get tangled in the mess, and holds a hand out to D'ex. "Truce? For now. Get up off your ass."

The hand is frowned at warily, but finally, D'ex will accept the help getting back to his feet. "I'm a whiner? You're a slob." His attention shifts the moment the blue lands, Zynth's sharp head nubbing in greeting to his much larger brother, « It went well, I think. Yes, good to he-" The moment the blue's thin form as slips into the weyr proper, D'ex is scooping up another pillow and hurling it at the dragon, "YOU DIDN'T LEAVE!!!" This stops Zynth a moment, head tipping slightly, but D'ex will continue stalking toward him, pointing out to the night beyond, "You didn't leave, did you? You dumped me here and went to hide and watch, didn't you?" For a moment he is silent before head dipping, « No. I did not. But it was good. You needed to be here. » With that, Zynth dismisses his anger and turns to Taliveth, « Yes, I do beleive we are staying the night. Come brother, let us shift things a bit to make room for everyone. »

"A slob? Maybe by your unreasonable, crazy fucking standards-" OFFENSE. It is taken. But before he can take this argument further, pillows are being thrown at dragons. "Guys, you know, I did spend money on these…" Such disrespect (it took me three damn times to spell this) to his property. « Ooooh! Like THIS? » The brown bumbles his way back inside, streeeeetching his neck out to try to move the couch around. Not to anywhere in particular. He's just trying to be helpful. "Tali! Stop that! What-" A'ndi turns on D'ex then with an exasperated flap of his arms. "Why would he hide and watch? What is he telling Taliveth to do?!"

« You needed to be here. I wasn't helping tonight and you stll weren't sleeping. Sleep is important. Your sleep is not kind to you. » Zynth's attention flicks back to Taliveth, « Great Job, that should do. Scoot over a little so I can fit. » Not that Zynth is a big dragon or anything. D'ex throws another pillow at the blue, "Because he's a jackass and thinks I need coddling!" A third pillow thrown at the dragon and still, Zynth will remain unfazed, "He's telling Tali we're staying the night. And we are NOT!!!"

Moving the couch didn't help the dragons out too much, but the praise makes Taliveth's tail wiggle. He moves away from it and curls himself along the edge of his sandy wallow, shifting slightly so his soft belly is there for pillow duty, a wing raised and waiting to tuck the blue in. « A'ndi will make us pancakes for breakfast and paint our faces! We don't have work tomorrow! Do you?! Cuz we should go play at the BEACH! » He's got a whole day planned, and shows slide-like images among the space-fire of his mind of himself and Zynth wearing straw sunhats as they walk down a trail, and then they're eating ice cream, and then they're flying kites, and then splashing with the dolphins… A'ndi watches the pillow throwing with a brow arched, arms slowly coming up to cross over his chest. "Babysitting I get. Why coddling?"

"Does it matter!? He's not good with-I don't know, emotion? Tali is. I don't know." There is a frustrated tone to D'ex's voice. He didn't understand Zynth and doubted he ever would. It didn't make the dragon's worry about him any nicer. He hisses softly as the blue snakes up to Taliveth, settling down next to the brown, his own wings tucked in nicely so as not to get in the way of the bigger dragon's. His splash of color against Tali's rust-tined bulk, sinks into the sand, body twisting to press against his larger brother, « We do have work tomorrow, but not much. I'm sure we could find some time for the beach as well. » The enthusiasim is awnsered by a playful breeze running through Tali's images, touching them up with a quiet approval. D'ex glares. He clearly wasn't getting home tonight. He sighs heavily, "I don't appreicate some of his forms of looking after me."

"Tali? He's emotional extremes. He's too much emotion." This said quietly as he watches the dragons get quite thoroughly settled. One of those dark, star-spattered wings comes to rest gently, protectively over his blue sibling. The brown's body rumbles softly in a sort of draconic purr. « That would be so NICE… » Tali sighs with the breeze, guiding it from the images and catching it up into the streams of space-light dancing softly through his orbiting junkyard. Everything begins to slow, though there's always noise; asteroids colliding, old ships rusting, and a planet song not terribly unlike Caelisth's. Clearly they have guests tonight and, with a defeated shrug, A'ndi gets to work on cleaning up the fallen fort and getting the couch ready for crashing. "You should appreciate it. You're never guaranteed anyone to look out for you. You're lucky."

The ultra-blue, unwavering and smooth throughout the slick body of the smaller dragon presses agianst the pitted, charing age of the brown. Though neither hide is more ovious than the other, even as the brown fades to sleep, the closeness accentuates only the extreame difference between pale and dark, the extreame difference in build and form, even in mind. D'ex turns away from the pair disgusted, "I know that. I'm lucky to be complete. To have Impressed. But I do not appreciate his going out of his way for me. He shouldn't have to." Burden? Perhaps in D'ex's mind, he was. To a dragon able and willing to arrage not only adoption of kittens, but a whole slew of other things D'ex didn't want to know about, there were days he knew that his blue could probebly run the weyr if he wanted to. D'ex hisses to himself again, falling to the cleaning without thought. After all, cleaning was what D'ex did best. "That couch of your's still avalible?"

"He doesn't have to. He wants to. They're attached to us, but they can still make independent choices. You know that better than anyone." Considering that Zynth has an entire social/business life being conducted away from his rider. The couch is indeed available! And thankfully not damaged from being used as a fort or pushed around by Tali's big nose. A'ndi floofs the sheet out over it to make a nice blanket, and grabs a few of the fort-pillows to be used as… actual pillows. "Yeah. You can sleep on it." And then he'll fetch that earlier set aside mug of tea, handing it back to the bluerider. "You should finish this. It's some herbal shit from back home. It helps relax you. I mean, I guess." Says he who never relaxes. Maybe it's the weirdness of the night, or sleepiness, but after a moment's silence A'ndi says, "I think they're supposed to be whatever we need most. I don't know what to do with myself if I'm not taking care of someone, and Taliveth will always need to be cared for. So." Shrug. "You need Zynth just the way he is. For whatever reason."

Okay, this was weird. A'ndi being nice to him openly. Okay. D'ex will accept the weird herbal shit after a moment of looking at it in silence and take a sip. "Damn creepy how they do that, right? How they are just what a person needs?" D'ex usually thought that most riders didn't argue with thier dragons as much as he did with his, but it was not something he questioned often. Herbal shit is relaxing. Weirdly enough. Definatly a weird night. When the rest of the pillows are up off the floor and put where they live, D'ex will manage to relax, his eyes shifting over to the pair of dragons breifly. Though Zynth is still awake and watching, he has the discreetness to at least pretend to be sleeping. "Whatever dragons are, it's damn weird and unnatural." Cup washed and area as clean as is happening tonight, D'ex will drop onto the couch without cerimony, "Though, I bet you leaning Black Jack would help. You should definatly learn Black Jack."

A'ndi chitchats on the subject quietly while they tidy up. "I wonder if it happens when you touch their egg, the dragon becoming right for you. … But no, some people Impress without ever having touched the one their dragon comes out of. Maybe it's just proximity? If you're close enough? Or they just come out the way they do and pick the best match out of the lot. Or else they… don't." And go Between but we'll not get into that. A glance back at the two big ol sleeping lumps, and A'ndi nods in agreement. "They're definitely weird…" The brownrider will flop on the couch as well, at least for the time being. And he gives D'ex the most skeptical look ever. EVER. "How the fuck would me learning Black Jack help this situation in any way, shape, or form?" pls explain

"Because You're like Zynth. You're terrible at Emotion. And I'm Great at Emotion, and Tali is Great at Emotion." He nods, waving a finger at A'ndi, "And I need someone who can play Black Jack decantly for a game in about a seven. Zynth said the guy that I was going to have was Searched, so no go there." The finger waves at A'ndi again, "But you playing Black Jack, you with all your stone-faced-angry-ness, would make a great second! We could fleece them! You have a seven, I can get you doing really well in that time. Maybe not as good as Therst, but good." He nods, "Weird Dragon-Pairing-Ness? Personalities fit, you can play Black Jack with me." Because those things are totally related.

A'ndi looooooooooooooooooooooooooooks at D'ex. "………." It's gonna take him a minute. "…I feel like 'great with emotion' is not the most accurate way to describe you or Taliveth." But there is a little quirk of a half-smile so perhaps it's meant in good humor. Then he leans back into the couch, eyes drifting closed. It's a long moment before he finally replies, "Fine. I'll play. But just once. I don't want any of your illegal money, though. I'm just curious what the fuck you get out of it. Why it's so important to you."

What does a gambling addict get out of gambling? The High. The Adrenaline. The Tention. The Rush. D'ex grins, laughing and up in a minute, punching upward, "YES!" He spins, the pointing finger back, "Funny, Therst didn't want any of the money either! Even better! You'll see! It will be lots of fun!" He nods, starting to pace back and forth in front of the couch, "Okay, I have to check in with that crazy shipfish lady tomorrow, then I'm on sweeps. I should be free after that and I can come over and start teaching you the basics." Sure, D'ex didn't expect A'ndi to be great at Black Jack, but it was a start! Get him decant for the big game, and D'ex would be golden! He's agreed once so many he'll agree again, right?

A'ndi is a little taken aback by all that enthusiasm. He looks crosseyed at the pointing finger, then blinks and shakes his head. "That's fine. Zynth can drop you off and he and Tali can go to the beach or whatever. He said something about kites too, which I don't think they can even do but…" It's not like dragons haven't surprised him before. "I'm expecting food though. Bought with normal marks, not your ill-gotten criminal gains. I'm also expecting a moderate level of sobriety. Those are my conditions."

"You don't think I drink on sweeps, do you?" Like Zynth would ever allow that. "I'm here right after sweeps andi, this is important, of course I'll be sober!" He nods, waveing vauguely toward the dragons, "Sure, they hit the beach, we do cards, perfect!" He drops back onto the couch, beaming, "What kind of food? Takeout right?" D'ex can cook, but cooking is work and he has a bad habit of always making too much.

"I wouldn't put it past you…" A'ndi mumbles in regards to drinking on sweeps. The brownrider's eyes close again and one shoulder lifts in a slight shrug. "Sure, takeout… s'fine. Sandwiches or…" He raises a hand to limply handwave as a way to fill-in-the-blanks there. Sandwiches or WHATEVER. The hand flops back down and he's oddly quiet for awhile, even if D'ex continues talking. Maybe just some soft 'mmhmms' in response until… nothing. And all along he's slowly sliding over, little by little, until D'ex's shoulder is occupied by a sleeping brownrider. CONGRATULATIONS! Now you too can discover the joys of being a living pillow! Taliveth seems to enjoy it. Why shouldn't everyone?

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