Good or Bad, You're Stuck With Me

[Desert]

Xann had only cracked a grin at his rider's absent rebuttal. He had never witnessed his rider's mind so absent of objective, logical thought; right now, N'yx was too relieved and euphoric. The big tempest rumbled a chuckle at Isionyth's admonition, as much in reaction to the irony of her statement as in amusement at his rider's state of mind.

N'yx shook his head slightly to get his mind working again. Isionyth's words brought a wry twist to his smile, and he sketched an obedient salute to the brimstone's orders. Even without the added impetus of Isionyth, N'yx would've done all that, over Vsiasi's objections. She may've been Weyrwoman, but he was the Weyrleader, of equal authority and thus in as much of a position as either of their dragons to make Vsiasi do something. And even if N'yx was charmed out of performing his duty, Xann was made of sterner stuff when it came to humans adopting the kicked-puppy face. Another dragon, however...

Of course, m'love. It is rather fun,[/b][/color] Xann agreed readily, and slid off the ledge at Isionyth's heel. He sensed a little game in the making, at least until the weyrfolk were used to seeing them so openly affectionate.

Faced with Vsiasi's pleading voice and expression, it looked like N'yx's willpower to resist was going to melt away. However, the tempestrider fixed her with a no-nonsense look. It was one most of the Weyr was familiar with, whenever N'yx had to deal with miscreants, and one that most weyrlings quailed from in trepidation. Vsiasi was no weyrling, but now that the Weyrleader's inborn stubbornness had kicked in, she wouldn't get away without doing everything she'd been told. "Yes, in fact, you do. It's for your own good, the child's good, and mine since I have no intention of getting skinned and eaten alive by Isionyth if her orders go unfulfilled."

Putting word to action, N'yx called down the shaft to order food from the kitchens. When it arrived there was more on the tray than Vsiasi could eat, but that was because N'yx had every intention of eating with her to make certain she got food into her system.

ooc; fah! 1300 for Endings but 400 for this... stupid Melpomene. e_e[/size]

[Onyxaeon]

Isionyth dipped down, her wings flaring wide to catch her mass as she took the simple effort to glide to the feeding pens. Her hide and general form were well known to the herdbeasts, it seemed, as they began to dart about anxiously long before her clawed feet touched down with a reserved patience that the senior queen did not normally posess. Her sooted wings clung tightly to her stomach as if to cradle the small, forming eggs within her. Hunger reddened orbs pivoted, passing over hte wherries and then the bucks, each in turn scattering, flitting off to one corner in a vain attempt to avoid the Brimstone. A slow rumble passed from the pit of her throat, the vocal chords vibrating in their fickle and often mercurial sense of amusement. After I get something in my stomach, I want to taunt someone...I am not sure how or for how long, but I have to make someone feel small today. It's not optional. As if the Tempest would actually bother to argue with her on this matter. Hungry, moody, and bearing fangs just wasn't one of those combinations you tested your luck with.

Her barbed tail slithered across the dirt, coiling around a small huddle of wherries that had panicked, too frightened to even sprint away. Feathers were falling from their bodies as they shook in place, Isionyth lowering her maw to meet one at eye level before the sinews in her tail struck out with blinding force, one beautifully dangerous barb slicing the molting column of one of the wherries before the others finally gathered their wits and turned tail to run. While the beast gradually succumbed to blood loss, Isionyth did not hesitate to dive right in and feast upon the soft stomach tissues while the animal was still alive to feel the pain. It wasn';t he way to sugar coat things, after all. We could have a very dramatic mock verbal war. Spook some sense into the weyrlings who tried to get me to Rise before I was ready.

Vsiasi groaned audibly, her head lowering in dejected defeat. Okay, so if she couldn't con him out of it by using the sweet tactics, she'd have to be cruel and go for the below the belt blow of being depressed. She kept her eyes down, averted from the Weyrleader's own, and was unbearbly quiet as she settled down into a chair to await the arrival of the food. When it came, she only heaved a half hearted smile, picking up a spoon and absently stirring a bowl of broth that had been brought up. Well, maybe her being so downright upset might tug a heartstring or two her way.

[Desert]

Xanntorith wheeled around his mate as she landed and cupped his wings to stall in mid-air, and dropped deftly onto two wherries Isionyth had spooked up. Their backs broke with definitive cracks and both bucks instantly died and went limp; Xann was usually a very neat, efficient hunter. He held his peace when Isionyth announced her intentions; he knew better than to defy a moody brimstone. The big tempest had already made significant inroads in his first kill by the time Isionyth started eating hers. That sounds about right,[/b][/color] he replied to her second statement, gaping a sardonic grin. The bold candidates who had been so brash needed some whipping into shape before they were properly respectful of their Sr. queen and Weyrking; otherwise, the fools would make poor bondeds for their children.

N'yx ignored the despondent groan. He was determined to see that Vsiasi got nourishment into her, as much for his own personal satisfaction as obedience to Isionyth's edicts. Oh, but she looked so sad... how could she be so good at adopting that plaintive, wistful look that reminded him strongly of a little lost puppy? Who could resist such a face?

Still, he set the tray firmly on the table between them and took a meatroll from it for himself. Having just finished lunch he wasn't hungry, but the tempestrider proceeded pointedly to eat the roll. As Vsiasi merely stirred her broth absentmindedly, N'yx sighed in exasperation and leaned forward, craning his head back to try and meet her eyes. "Please, just humor me, just this once? You're only making life more difficult for everyone involved acting like this. I feel like I'm lecturing an errant candidate, not the Weyrwoman of all Solainoti."

ooc; -shakes fist at nonexistent Muse-[/size]

[Onyxaeon]

Upon the feeding grounds, so closely tied in with Vsiasi's own mind, the Brimstone queen had known long before it actually happened what words would come out of her rider's mouth. The female could hardly contain the amused rumble that eventually won out and burst free from her maw, a fit of rumbles overcoming the queen as she pulled another wherry close to her jaws. The beast was still scrambling until the mass coiled around, strengthen the grip until the bones snapped and the head anh neck fell limp, Isionyth promptly inserting the full bulk of the beast in her mouth, her jaws having twice having the reposition the animal for her to swallow completely and effectively. With where this would go, she needed the extra nutrition that a full body would provide-something told her Hers would have her out of this Weyr within a few minutes if not promptly so. N'yx seems to have taken a page from your book and lost a touch of tact. An errant candidate? Oh, one step forward, three hundred back and twelve to the right. Isionyth snickered before consuming another wherry, leaning more toward the bird meat for this time around-shells, it didn't really matter what she ate so long as she did, but still. She made a point to be semi consistant during the time she harbored her lovely eggs. It was the only real time she ever did something more than once and considered someone aside from Hers in the bigger picture.

Stepping over the fence and its posts with ease, Isionyth was careful to keep her tail from crashing down the newly rebuilt structure that had been the first casualty of her Flight. Once she was safely on the other side, she turned her head back toward Xanntorith and merely shook her head before her eyes went toward the weyr ledge where she was expecting to see her rider soon. Almost in preperation, the soot black wings unfurled faintly. You know, I probably wont see you for the remainder of the day. Tomorrow, too, if she gets like me and is extra moody and sensitive what with the current state of being. What a shame; I was so looking forward to taunting a candidate of two...I suppose you will just have to attend to the ones here while we end up visiting another Weyr for a brief stay. Do you recall my first year as senior when we vanished for three days but left "notice"? Same place we'll ehad this time, I imagine, but without the grace of knowing exactly where or betweening to get there. Honestly, what was Yours thinking? A candidate...It would be as if you were addressing me as a flaming, sterile Green.

Vsiasi paused for a sole moment, her thoughts clouding and going to her dragon's before the words fled from her lips. Her head lifted, eyes bearing back into N'yx's own as tendrils of rage flickered over the pools. Talune work for you again? I do believe Varanth wouldn't mind so long as you're respectful to his pride; you know he is worse than Xann about it. D'ron would certainly help. I do like that man; he's got enough sense to know when to question and when to not, but also keen to offering aid. He's also an under wraps person. It'll be the perfect place to get away for awhile, wouldn't you think? When Isionyth returned with the thought it wasn't exactly helpful to the bond that would form from having a child together to leave N'yx here without any word as to where she was going, she was fully on board with the little scheme. Linnelyth would accomadate me for the clutch I am carrying for her recent loss, and I can play the "sorrow companion" role fairly well. We should be perfectly fine. It would be well. How long do you intend to stay? Until the anger fades. I think I'll get out of here where I can run just as fast as I can to the middle of nowhere.

The Brimstone arched a brow. Hers rarely admitted to being enraged and, when she did, it wasn't exactly a good sign. Far from it, in truth. With a rolling sigh, Isionyth stated she fully intended to go through with whatever Hers wished, but she would inform Xann of where they were going. It took only a minute to convince the woman that the Tempest would stay silent unless N'yx was completely mad with worry, mainly because her words had been held far too long, and she could not bear to stand there and be so demeaned. Go to the ledge once you are done.-I will be there and we can go and leave this place and its problems behind for a time. Then, to Xann, Isionyth turned to and stroked his shoulder with one wingtip before launching for the ground to land shortly after upon the weyrledge. We are leaving, Mine and I. He mauled her nerves and wounded her. We will be in Talune. I know Varanth and His, as well as Linnelyth and Hers; they will take care of the both of us while we are away for however long. Do not tell Yours where we are going, and please do not let any follow after us. Let her go, and let me take. She needs to feel better and trusted, not corrected and ordered about as if she were twelve turns old.

Vsiasi stood abruptly, knocking the chair she had previously been occupying out from under her to fall with a clatter to the floor. Her hands were spread to both sides of the table edges, almost as though to hold her back, while her eyes darted to find the Weyrleader's own and roughly gore him with their fixed stare and the embittered words that ran freely from her lips. "I don't need your lectures or to take any of this. I don't have to be demanded and forced to do this or that like a sharding child! Frankly, my dear N'yx, I don't have to hear any of this. You can kiss every square inch of my arse and find a whore's company for tonight because I damn well wont be here to take this nonsense!"

Ow. That hurt Isionyth from the ledge as the queen lowered to allow the Weyrwoman to hook the straps around her queen. Technically, she wasn't supposed to be doing any heavy lifting at this point in time but, then again, the Weyrwoman wasn't supposed to leave her Weyr without good cause either. Looks like she was breaking all the rules now. You'll fall off if you don't tighten that strap. Isionyth reminded gently and Vsiasi fumbled with frustrated fingers to latch one strap. With another oath, the woman finally hooked the last buckle in place, climbing up onto Isionyth's back using the female's leg to bring herself up and put her bum in the saddle. Isionyth made certain she was settled before walking to the edge, her talons hanging over the side as she waiting for the air space to clear, her mind voice going to N'yx and only the Weyrleader. So swiftly the good pours to the surface once the spring has been discovered. Nothing is meant to last and, so too, does the spring clutter with dirt and rocks. And then, eventually, it dies. Once the Solar and Dusk pairs had left the air space, Isionyth dropped, gliding down into the Bowl before pulling sharply up and crossing over the rim of the Weyr, turning south for the lack of being able to between. It would be a good flight, she knew, but at least it would give her time to think.

[Desert]

As soon as Isionyth chuckled, and they both registered Vsiasi's anger, the tempestpair visibly flinched in unison, and the though that ran through both their minds was, 'That was a stupid thing to say.' But it was far too late to take the words back now. Instantly, contrition flooded through N'yx, and he opened his mouth to apologize, but Vsiasi beat him to the punch. The Weyrleader recoiled from her enraged glare, his expression mirroring the deep cuts her barbed words inflicted, but he held his silence through the whole brief tirade. he could tell that nothing he said or did right now would do anything more than worsen the problem, so he sat still and bit back his reaction as Vsiasi stormed off. Once the Weyrwoman was out of the room and out of earshot, N'yx stood violently from the chair and strode over to his bed, where he slumped down on the edge, elbows propped on his thighs and brow in his hands.

Xann, meanwhile, had lost all interest in the half-finished second kill under his paw. He heaved a huge sigh, head drooping, and looked apologetically at Isionyth. It wasn't like His at all to let his tongue run away without him, and even this relatively minor slip had disastrous consequences. He nodded wordlessly in response to Isionyth's instruction, glad that at least he knew where they were going, even if N'yx wasn't to find out. He felt the wingtip slide over his shoulder, and returned the gesture, skimming his own wing across her back. I understand. I'm so sorry. Come back as soon as you can.[/b][/color]

When The brimstonepair were out of sight, Xann heaved himself into the air and back onto his weyrledge, the better to help comfort and reassure N'yx. His presence close at hand and sympathetic ear were the best he could do; they both knew that a huge mistake had been made. N'yx wouldn't have accepted any words of solace, so Xann didn't bother to give them. He looked at the curtain that separated rider quarters from dragon couches, hoping N'yx would come out and sit with him as the Weyrleader had done in past times of stress, but this time he stayed firmly on the bed. He needed solitude, this time, to recover from the emotional roller-coaster that had taken place; it was hard to believe that not much time at all had passed since this whole ordeal began.
[/size]

[Onyxaeon]

It is interesting to think of all the things that could transpire over the period of two and a half sevendays. What all could be gained and, just the same, what all could be lost. The time had been spent in a great deal of mental and emotional reflection along with physical growth, Vsiasi's thoughts and heart mulling over what had been spoken while her body took to incubating a tiny little being. That first week, while she had been comfortably seated in Talune, she had made many trips to the infirmary-there was no sense to harming the babe as her anger was directed toward the father and not the little one-and had gone that extra mile, so to speak, to make sure she was doing everything she could to be healthy. That meant getting sleep, eating regularly, and staying away from certain things like wines and such. Other than that, her arrival had been well taken and Talune had acted the perfect host to the senior queen and her rider, barely a word of question from the Weyrleaders of the southern Weyr as to why the Weyrwoman and her dragon could not stay in their home of Solainoti.

The native sterile queen was well on good terms with Isionyth as the Brimstone explained things to the Opal over the first day, the pair of Talune for once being perfectly simple and understanding of the other's situation, not once bothering to pry as was the tendency with Jouri and Linnelyth when relationships came into the big picture. While Isionyth was perfectly content to speak to the other queenpair about her issues (she had none so, of course, the Brimstone took it upon herself to lie and add additional trouble to the air that did not exist) Vsiasi was not, and spent the greater portion of the first week locked away in her temporary weyr. She rarely left aside from to go on her daily run, to eat, or to stop by for a new dose of medicine from the infirmary, and was still barely keen to leave the Weyr once the second sevenday had begun and Isionyth started taking periodic visits to Solainoti without Hers to see how Xanntorith and the rest of her Weyr were doing in the absence of the Weyrwoman and their senior queen. The ashed hued female never took it upon herself to speak of how Hers was doing even to her mate when she stayed for a few candlemarks at a time, and did not really bother to acknowledge the Weyrleader still existed. Hers had made it clear that she was not to tell of where they were at and the queen found it best to just not speak with him in order to keep the information under wraps.

As the second week came and went, Isionyth had returned one night late from visiting Xanntorith and Solainoti, Hers as always seated on the bed of furs with her eyes fixed absently on the ceiling, a nearly empty tray of food and a cup of klah beside her on the nightstand. With a low sigh, Isionyth tucked her sooted wings closer to her body, ducking her head and most of her neck to fit through the opening of the weyr and settle on her dragon couch, her head going directly to her clawed paws while her eyes tilted to find the bed. The small sack she had been carrying in her mouth was placed beside her feet, one talon holding the bag in place as it began to shuffle and squirm. What was inside the sack was a mystery, though the queen did not yet see it the time to hand over her gift to Hers. We cannot stay here forever, Mine. I have a clutch on the way, and you do as well. The Weyr is not quite the same without the two of us there, and the candidates are going unchecked because I am not there to threaten them. I have been staying longer and longer and, the more I go back, the more I pick up on. I am missed by my mate and you by yours. Whatever nerve N'yx struck cannot be so wounded you do not see what absence has done. We have to go back, and soon at that. I'm surprised he made it through the first week; he's not in the best of states, Mine. You've got him worried ill for both yourself and the little one you are carrying. It is his too, and he has his rights. When the Weyrwoman did not respond, Isionyth grumbled a sour note, heaving herself to her feet and bringing her little moving napsack with her before dropping it beside her rider, the woman arching a brow but Isionyth stopped her and merely suggested she open it.

Vsiasi lifted herself up, untying the knot that human hands had made to keep the cargo safely inside for Isionyth's journey back to Talune. The moment the bag had parted an inch, a white muzzle poked out from the bag, long, twin feelers soon joining the maw tip and an elongated skullcap wiggling free to show the gift in question: it was a young Cion, an Alpha, at that. It could not have been more than newly hatched, as egg fragments were still inside the bag, and it obviously was quite hungry as it slithered over Vsiasi to roughly attack the meatroll she had left upon her dinner tray. Swallowing the whole roll without but a thought of chewing, Vsiasi chuckled. It had been the first sound that was even remotely close to joy that the woman ahd uttered since she had left Solainoti. Thoughtfully, she scratched the little Cion's chin, bringing the tunnelsnake like creature into her lap and allowing it to fall asleep before she looked up to her dragon with a thin, almost nonexistant smile. "Thank you, love. I know how much disdain these little guys give you, or really pets in general, but he'll help. Perhaps in a few more days, you, Asuka, and I can go back."

A few days was just that; three. Vsiasi, much to her own regret, could not deny the Weyr needed the both of them back despite how much reserve and distance she had put between herself and N'yx for the duration of her "vacation". She had strapped Isionyth up early on the third day, Asuka curling up inside her jacket to dose for the entire of the trip back, or so Vsiasi expected as it had been discovered the Cion was rather lazy when he knew nothing had to be done or completed. With a thanks to the southern Weyrleaders, Vsiasi mounted, and was gone before day could break in the Southern Continent.

Her return to Solainoti bore the same form of silent entry, as Isionyth had bespoken the Watchdragon and rider pair before entering the Bowl to be silent seeing as most of the Weyr was sound asleep for the late hour. It was close to midnight already, and her wings were worn as she touched down to land on her ledge with a mute thud. Had N'yx been awake or barely slumbering, it would not have been hard to hear the Brimstone being unsaddled or to hear her footsteps as she padded over to her couch and sank down, curling up against a snoozing Xanntorith and whispering something to what she believed was a sleeping giant. Mine and I are back, Xann. Ssh, though. Greetings can wait for the morning when everyone is rested. As the Brimstone settled her head down on her paws, she bit back a groan as Asuke had scrambled out from under Vsiasi's coat to slide up and curl in her back ridges that so resembled the rocks he would have made his bed were he wild. Luckily for the Cion, though, the senior queen was beyond tired, so snapping at and even making a snack out of was a little too much energy to expend for the Brimstone.

While Isionyth seemed to settle immediately back into her home, Vsiasi walked about like a stranger, her eyes raking over the weyr she had not seem in over two sevendays. Absently, she moved to come to a lonely chair, sliding off her coat to settle it upon the back before her eyes wandered over the rest of the darkened room. So, where was N'yx?

[Desert]

The first few days, N'yx had taken Vsiasi's departure with his usual calm acceptance. He understood the reasons for leaving, and he couldn't really blame her in the least for wanting to take a brief vacation from the Weyr. But, as days passed and the first sevenday ended, he began to get worried. Not entirely about her safety and well-being, though that was a good part of it, but he worried about what the long absence might mean about her feelings. Was she staying away so long because she really didn't want to return and have to deal with him? Had he insulted and wounded her so deeply? By halfway through the second sevenday he was nearly wild with anxiety.

Needless to say, with their senior queenpair gone and their Weyrleader all out-of-sorts, it was an uneasy time in Solainoti. Many saw the increasingly haunted, drawn look to N'yx's face and feared the worst. Whatever had happened? It was so odd, so wrong to see the unflappable tempestrider in that state. He tried not to let this new stress affect his execution of his job, or to even let it show, but it was plain to everyone that their Weyrleader was not his usual self. And when the Weyrleader was not on top of his game, the rest of the Weyr was equally unsettled; the one who took the entire ordeal the best was Xanntorith, being the only one to know where the brimstonepair was and having regular contact with his mate.

For one thing, N'yx had never been one to indulge very much in the skins, but after about a sevenday and no Vsiasi, he would join the regular drinking crowd of an evening and have a few glasses of wine. This was not normal behavior at all. It had Xann very worried, to the point that he instructed the others who happened to be in the room to make sure N'yx never drank enough that he felt its intoxicating effects. It never got to that point, thankfully, for even in his distracted state N'yx was not foolish enough to drink himself drunk. It wasn't something a rider of his station did, ever. But the very fact was enough to provoke the people close to him to become concerned for him.

N'yx and the Weyrlingmaster Sh'kith had been friends for years, since their own days as weyrlings. Being his usual self, Sh'kith had quickly noticed N'yx's distraction, and had made a point to act as the Weyrleader's drinking buddy. He hoped that N'yx would open up and tell him what was going on, but he didn't press the issue, knowing that was pointless with N'yx. But, by the time it was halfway through the third sevenday since Vsiasi left, N'yx was about to start pulling out his hair and demand Xann to tell him where in Faranth's name Vsiasi was. He had been surprisingly good about not asking, in Xann's opinion, but the big tempest knew that wouldn't last much longer. The Weyrhealer had mentioned to Xann, one day after about two sevendays, that N'yx was going to give himself an ulcer at this rate.

Staring broodingly into his cup, N'yx sighed heavily. "I'm an idiot," he remarked to no one in particular.

Sh'kith cocked his head curiously. "What happened to make you think that?" he asked gently.

N'yx glanced pointedly, with an eyebrow quirked, at the chromerider. His eyes were ringed by bruised skin, a testament to how little sleep he'd gotten in the past few sevendays. Sh'kith got the message. "So, why did Vsiasi leave?" It was a question on the tongues of most everyone in the Weyr, though no one had wanted to ask N'yx given his state of mind.

Another sigh, laden with all the worry that had been nibbling at his nerves, slipped past N'yx's lips. "I said something monumentally stupid. I shoved my foot so far into my mouth that you could pick my toenails out of my turds. Maybe she overreacted as well, but that doesn't particularly matter at the moment. I just wish she'd come back, at least so I know she's all right. It doesn't matter if she ignores me or ab--" he caught himself just before saying "aborts the child", because he didn't want word getting out about the pregnancy just yet, not while he and Vsiasi were on questionable terms. He shook his head, apparently unwilling to continue.

Sh'kith mulled over N'yx's words thoughtfully. It wasn't like him so sound so bitter. If Sh'kith hadn't known better, he would've conjectured that Vsiasi's sudden disappearance wounded the Weyrleader deeply. It would explain his distraction, also; and the worry he'd heard in N'yx's tone insinuated that he cared for the Weyrwoman more than he usually let on, which would make even more sense. He was intensely curious about the statement N'yx had bitten off, but he decided not to press the issue just yet. It was enough that N'yx had admitted the reason for his state.

The tempestrider stood up then, and parted company with Sh'kith to head back up to his weyr. While he'd been conversing with the Weyrlingmaster, Isionyth and Vsiasi had returned, but of course he didn't know that yet. Isionyth's arrival had stirred Xann out of sleep, so he wasn't awake enough to do much more than croon sleepily and rest his head against her shoulder. N'yx would have to find out on his own that Vsiasi had finally come back.

N'yx made his way across the Bowl floor and up the stairs, not really looking or paying attention. He was too absorbed in his own private thoughts for that. It was dark enough, and N'yx distracted enough, that he didn't notice Isionyth on the couch. She was a dark mass in the corner of his eye, but since he knew that Xann was sleeping there, he payed it no heed and continued through the curtain into the rider quarters, where he promptly collapsed rather bonelessly onto his bed with a despondent sigh. He didn't anticipate getting much sleep; he hadn't been getting much more than two or three hours per night for the past sevenday. He hadn't even glanced toward the corner of the room in which Vsiasi stood, so he was ignorant to her presence.

[Onyxaeon]

Isionyth was long gone by the time N'yx walked past the dragon couches, and so she could not warn Hers ahead of time to the Weyrleader's presence. It did not take the woman long, however, to take notice of the man as he passed by to plop down on the bed without so much as uttering a word-the muttered sigh did not count for a noise in her eyes as it was not directed toward her-in her direction. He had yet to notice her...The knowledge did nothing to ease the currently tensed sinews along her body, though. The Weyrwoman remained fixed in place, her fingernails digging into her palms to keep her in place and collected as she tried to reach out to Isionyth only to find her slumbering peacefully. Even her new Cion Asuka was out cold. That meant she was entirely on her own to deal with N'yx. Perhaps that was for the best, but it sure didn't feel like it as the woman tried to stay quiet and not move to be heard or seen.

What would he say? Worse yet, what would he do? Of course, she did not know. What her leaving had meant for them as an "item" was unknown, as was what it would do for the unborn who was blissfully unaware of his/her parent's feuding. With an absent motion, Vsiasi trailed a hand down to her stomach, a sigh nearly passing her lips before she roughly clamped her mouth shut. She wasn't ready yet. But...there wouldn't be much time if she did not move to go to him before he settled down into the abyss of slumber, and himself waking up to find her was not what she needed this time around. With a pause, Vsiasi tried to reign in her emotions, turning around and padding quietly over to the bed, standing before N'yx and not bothering to sit down beside him. She did not look in the direction she believed his face would be, but rather fixed her gaze to one side, seeing him mainly through her peripheral vision. She could not look to him or she would lose her composure, she was certain. Not that she had much to begin with, but still. What she did possess, she needed to get through these next few words and the argument she believed inevitable.

"N'yx." It was a shy, almost inaudible whisper and, if he had not been listening closely and the room had not been silent aside from dragon snores, he may not have even caught it. Well, no turning back now, she mused almost irritated at herself for her voice not being near as strong and clear as she had intended. She knew not what to expect of him, but she could imagine and, what she saw was not exactly the best of scenes. It brought back the tension to her muscles, and froze further words from forming on her tongue. The Weyrwoman of Solainoti was left silent, a deer-in-headlights expression written all about her features.

[Desert]

Vsiasi's hesitant whisper reached N'yx's sleep deprivation-fogged mind, all right, but barely. All the stress and sleep loss of the last few sevendays had finally begun to catch up to the Weyrleader, so as soon as his head hit the pillow he had started to drift off. So when he registered someone's voice near his head, he wasn't thinking straight enough to identify the speaker. He instantly jumped to the conclusion that it was someone coming to him with a problem, but this was so not the right time. He usually didn't mind being roused from his bed when it was an emergency, but with the state he was in, he did not appreciate the intrusion. Yet another sigh, this one bordering on an exasperated groan, escaped his lips as he sat up laboriously. At that point he didn't care if whoever it was saw just how fatigued he was; it was plain enough to the whole Weyr that he wasn't in the best frame of mind.

Once he was upright, N'yx squinted into the darkness toward the silhouette he saw standing next to his bed. He opened his mouth to ask -- and not with the calm tolerance he usually affected -- who was there and what they needed, but then the shape of her person clicked in his mind. His eyes, by then, had adjusted to the darkness, and he could barely make out the most obvious details of the woman's appearance. It couldn't be...

"Vsiasi?" he asked, incredulous. It seemed to be her. N'yx surged to his feet and forward until he was in her face, and clamped his hands down fiercely on her shoulders. "For Faranth's sake, woman, seventeen days? Did you keep track of the days, or completely forget the rest of the world while you were gone? Do you have any idea what could have happened -- either here or to you -- in seventeen days? The whole Weyr has been in a state for over a sevenday, we've all been wondering what happened to you! And here you come in the middle of the night, sneaking in like a recalcitrant weyrling--" he cut himself off in the middle of his tirade, perhaps reminded by his own metaphor why she had left in the first place.

The Weyrleader's shoulders suddenly drooped and his whole upper body slumped down, as all the tension in him drained out so that the fatigue could descend fully. He kept his hands on her shoulders, but their grip softened. "Please, don't do that again. Or at least don't stay away so long. If you could've seen the mess I've been since you left..." He gave a half-hearted chuckle. His voice had gone from righteous outrage during his tirade to plaintive and weary, and if she listened closely she might be able to detect the hurt that had been festering in his heart since her departure. "Look, Vsiasi, I'm sorry. Please, please say you'll forgive me. It doesn't matter to me anymore what went wrong, I just don't want you to do that ever again." Once more, his hands tightened around her shoulders, but it was in a plaintive squeeze.

N'yx waited for Vsiasi to reply, at once dreading the answer and craving the closure. He was prepared to go down on his knees and beg, if she seemed still angry with him, dignity and all its ilk be damned. This was such an unsettling experience for him, as few people had managed to worm their way into his heart as Vsiasi had. Many people thought the cool, distant personality he affected was all there was, but once someone got past his emotional walls, there was unexpectedly passionate and vulnerable core there. Since so few got to that point, when it was laid bare, the usually unflappable tempestrider was as uncertain and needy as a herdbeast calf. And he did not enjoy feeling that way.

[Onyxaeon]

"Yes, I am well aware of the fact I was gone for seventeen days," Vsiasi threw back curtly, nearly spiting venom as her words took on a harsher air. Who was he to reprimand her?!?! She was the Weyrwoman, damnit it all, and she deserved to be heard out and not scolded like a disobediant canine. "And of what could have happened. The fact of the matter is, nothing did happen. The Weyr is fine, and Isionyth came back frequently to prevent the whole place from falling apart because of the damnable mess you put me through. I wouldn't have been gone for seventeen days had you not shoved your foot so far down your throat Faranth herself couldn't help for something that was anatomically impossible!"

Vsiasi bristled beneath his touch, the muscles failing to relax the tighter his grip became throughout his first little rant. She did not shrug him off, though. No, if she were to do something physical to him, it would involve a great deal more pain on his part than a simple shrug of her shoulders. "And the only reason I'm sculking about in the middle of the sharding night is because I left before dawn to get back here. I crossed timezones on dragonback without betweening, you damnably difficult man, all because I did not want to chance harming the babe!" The Weyrwoman forcibly lowered her voice so as not to wake her dragon along with his, both of which were still sleeping as far as she could tell. Isionyth dearly needed slumber and, if she could prevent the Brimstone queen from having to get up and defend her Mine by snapping back at the Tempestrider, then she would. "I was gone because I was trying to forget the world. It did a fine job of forgetting I existed while I was away."

As N'yx broke his first argument and the anger drained from his words, Vsiasi had to take metaphorical step back to the abrupt shift in his voice and hold. Wait, what? The woman's eyes narrowed as she took in the tone of the Weyrleader's voice as he tried to plead with her to never put that kind of stress on himself again, or at least to not vanish for so long a time. A wreck...Bah. What a load of wherry dung. A roll of the eyes would not be seen in the current lighting, and it was the only sign the man would get beside her wording that she no more believed him than she could pick up Isionyth and throw her across the WeyrBowl. His concern had not been for her; he cared more for the Weyr and, even if some small smidge of worry had lingered about in her direction, it was because she was still carting about his little carbon copy inside her body.

Averting her face, the Weyrwoman refused to meet his eyes as the apology tumbled from his lips, another plea echoing the first and the attempt to convincing the woman failing miserably just as the first had done. He didn't care. Why should he, she half mused to herself, eyes drifting off to stare at something in the corner of the room as she finally and roughly shrugged off his hands. It wasn't like he had to be close to her because their dragons were mated. Just because she was having his child didn't mean he had to care, had to be there. Over the sevendays, that had been what she had come to terms with, and now she just had to get past him so that the next few months of walking around the Weyr before the babe was born wouldn't be utterly disdainful.

"And what if I cannot, N'yx? What if I cannot forgive you and stick to the Weyr without ever going off and leaving you to ponder the worst possible outcomes?"

[Desert]

Of course she would argue against his tirade, but it hadn't been meant to scold her, however much it had sounded like it; all the tension and stress that had built up in N'yx over the past few sevendays had needed escape, and that had been it. But naturally she didn't see that and took his words as the reprimand they so sounded like. N'yx didn't bother trying to correct that misconception, knowing she probably wouldn't believe him. And, now that the steam had been blown off, he just didn't have it in him to argue.

So when Vsiasi shrugged his hands away with a suspicious, distrustful expression, N'yx could only let his arms drop to his sides limply. Her final words almost seemed to knock the Weyrleader backward, for N'yx slumped down to sit heavily on the edge of his bed again, looking up at Vsiasi with unadulterated hurt gleaming in his eyes. How had things gone so wildly wrong? That day over two sevendays ago had started to look so bright, and yet one inopportune word sent everything crashing down. He didn't understand how one little slip of the tongue could have caused such a disaster. But that didn't matter, anymore, in N'yx's eyes. He didn't care what had gone wrong, just that something had gone awry and needed to be mended.

"Vsiasi..." The usually collected tempestrider's voice echoed the pain eating at his heart, and that intense wash of emotion stirred Xanntorith out of slumber. The big Weyrking looked up, and when he sensed his rider's discomfiture, creeled unhappily. MyN'yx![/b][/color] He was so distressed that, inadvertently, he broadcast his words wide enough that Vsiasi could hear.

N'yx shook his head slightly. "Xann, go back to sleep," he muttered, and his voice was thick with something that sounded suspiciously like suppressed, unshed tears. He was too out-of-sorts to care that he was speaking aloud and that Vsiasi could hear his side of the conversation.

You are hurting, Mine![/b][/color] Xann protested. How could he just go back to sleep when His was like this? Vsiasi was back, he should be happy!

"Stay out of this, Xanntorith," N'yx snapped. Xann quieted down in shock; His had almost never been so sharp with him. N'yx was immediately contrite, and sent a wave of apology toward his dragon. Sorry, Xann, but this is something I need to work through on my own. Just go back to sleep, all right?

Xann crooned mournfully and put his head back on Isionyth's shoulder, though he remained wide awake with eyes wheeling rapidly in shades of violet shot through with gray.

N'yx drew in a deep breath and expelled it in a rather shaky sigh before he turned his attention back to the Weyrwoman. "Is there nothing I can do, Vsiasi? What will make you forgive me? Please, whatever it is, tell me so I can do it." True to his own previous prediction, the tempestrider slid off the bed and landed on his knees in front of Vsiasi, face upturned to stare at her pleadingly. "I'll do anything. Anything."
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[Onyxaeon]

It was only fortune that kept the exhausted Brimstone from continuing to slumber peacefully, the Aplha Cion the only one on Vsiasi's end to stri from Xanntorith's antics. The ivory Cion squirmed irritably, hissing at the dark shadow closest to him to be quite so that he could sleep. Asuka settled the moment the Tempest lowered himself back down, the feelers that had been twitching back and forth going limp as Asuka snuggled back into the ridges along Isionyth's back. He was out cold before he could catch anything that came out of Vsiasi's mouth, or question her reactions.

Through the first wave, Vsiasi had been perfectly composed. Even through Xanntorith's outburst that had bled over into her mind as well as his rider's, she had been well fixed on ignoring the man so that she could go and finally drift off to slumber. What had done her in, though, had been the Weyrleader snapping at his mount: it was not something he did, and was so out of character for the man that Vsaisi had turned her gaze back to him and lifted a brow curiously. How very off...Of course, Xann had settled down so obviously something akin to an apology had been spoken over the mental link she had not heard, but still. The fact he had bit back verbally upon his own dragon, had shunned his collected exterior for even an instance, confused her. His next actions of kneeling down to the floor and beseeching her to hear him out, to give him something, some suggestion or hint, as to what he had to do to make things right between them again only further threw her from her metaphorical runner. Was there really a way to fix what had transpired between the tow of them?

A soft sigh streamed past her lips to tickle the air as she lowered her eyes down to meet his own. So...dejected he looked. Perhaps it was the hormones talking, or maybe some part of her generally did want to forgive the man, but Vsiasi spoke gingerly, as if addressing a small child who did not yet understand right from wrong."I don't believe there rightly is anything you can do exactly. No one thing simply makes up for something like that. And yet," it was here Vsiasi took her time to find her words, one hand that had been confined to her jacket pocket sliding out to first rest on his shoulder. The longer she thought, the the farther the hand trailed up his neck until one finely boned hand was carefully cupping the side of his face, her thumb hard pressed to not stroke over the surface of his cheek.

"You're going to have to trust me, N'yx. There's nothing more I can think of to 'fix' things between the two of us. You just have to take my word for something and, if I believe it to be right and how it should go, you shouldn't have to question it. You're going to have to trust me, or the issue wont be forgiving you."

[Desert]

As Vsiasi's hand traveled from his shoulder to his cheek, N'yx felt the first touch of hope in sevendays. Perhaps she would forgive him, perhaps there was a chance he could make up for his blunder. He'd spoken truly: there wasn't much he wouldn't have done.

Trust her? N'yx, simply by having revealed his feelings and laid them out there before Vsiasi, had already put a significant amount of trust in her to not completely shatter his heart and leave him broken. That trust had been shaken by Vsiasi's disappearance. He wanted to trust her, he wanted to make things better, but it was plain that it would take considerable effort on both their parts. Then again, what in life was easy that was worth having?

N'yx so wanted to lift his hand and hold it over the one she had against his cheek, but his arms remained hanging by his sides. "I'll do my best," he finally said. "And that's all anyone can promise."

ooc; -wields a machete threateningly at my fickle Muse-

[Onyxaeon]

"You can trust my judgment on certain things? I promise you, I may be a bit different for what is happening, but I'm still myself and I do know how to care for myself. I'm not going to go off and starve myself-trust me to not be reckless and do what I know is best. Don't push me to something: I'll round about and we'll be in the exact same place we are now. I never enjoyed being pitied, and I definitely don't entertaint eh thought of being babied. Concern is one thing, and orders are another." Vsiasi paused, trying to gather her thoughts but finding they had abandoned her to leave with not but a trace of where her mind and tongue would have traveled. An apologetic look touched the corners of her lips and though faint and fragile it were, it was still an apology. Normal. Bah! What did either of the Solainoti Weyrleaders know of such a word.

"Now that I've established I'm not going to be ran over again, there's something else we need to talk about." Her thumb ran over his cheek soothingly, the woman's voice going softer as her thoughts wandered to the still worried Xann behind the curtain, hoping her tone would put the beast at ease. "I'm not quite ready to be open and heavily expressive of the fact I'm with child. Though it would settle the Weyr as to why I left, I'm just not ready for it. I don't know what you've said to anyone or if it's still behind fairly closed doors, but that's how I would care for it to be until perhaps that first 'major' checkup. From then on, I don't care. Because after that, I wont be able to hide it easily. I'm not ashamed or anything of the sort, it's just something that the idea will take me a bit to grasp. Motherhood and I do not fit in the same sentence for myself at the moment." Vsiasi half grinned, her hands shifting to help pluck him up off of the floor by her feet.

"I believe you need sleep more than I do at the moment, so I'm going to suggest you crawl into the furs and get some rest. There's a long line of explaining for me to do tomorrow, and you more than likely wont be excused from a few questions of your own."

[Desert]

N'yx nodded slightly to Vsiasi's words. "Be prepared for some extra hovering on my part, but I'll try not to get on your case obsessively." He almost chuckled. Life, though never boring, was sure to get even more interesting from now on. "And the only ones who know about the pregnancy are the two of us, our dragons, and the Healer. Not knowing what you would do when -- or if -- you came back, I didn't want to spread that knowledge around."

Vsiasi tugged on his shoulders and N'yx allowed her to pull him upright, though now that he was mostly calm again, all the fatigue from the past few sevendays fully caught up with him and he swayed slightly on his feet. "That sounds like a good idea," he commented.

You're about to faint, Mine,[/b][/color]Xann scolded. Now that His was better, the big tempest was more in his usual humor. You've barely slept in sevendays. If you try getting up at your usual time tomorrow, I swear I'll hold you down on that bed until you go back to sleep.[/b][/color] He was still broadcasting his words to Vsiasi, but this time it was deliberate.

The Weyrleader looked indignantly in Xann's direction. "You've got to be kidding me!"

I most certainly am not. Vsiasi is here now, she can do her job again. You pulled your own weight and then some for two and a half sevendays, so no one in the Weyr will begrudge you a rest, especially with the way you've been acting. Sh'kith was going to conspire with the Healer to force something into your system to make you relax and sleep if things had kept up. Can you help me here, Vsiasi? He won't listen to me, you might be the only one who can get some sense into his thick skull.[/b][/color]

N'yx glared wordlessly at his dragon. Xann was right, of course, but N'yx did not take breaks unless he was nearly on his deathbed and he did not appreciate enforced leisure. It was one of his more irksome character flaws. Xann was always exasperated at his workaholic rider.
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