Neath's Baby

Writers: Len, Paula
Date Posted: 17th March 2015

Characters: G'wen, E'naer
Description: G'wen impresses his first flit, and Neath acts like...well...Neath.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 10 of Turn 7

It was one of those dreadful days when it seemed that it rained whole day
or at least the showers came when _you_ stepped outside... except of course
when the Thread Fell. Thread Fall days always made E'naer drained. The
weyrlings...dragon infirmary..worrying about his friends and loved ones. He
just wanted a quiet evening cuddling with his weyrmate. Naturally, someone
else had different ideas. Feral was standing at the edge of her "hatching
sands", staring intently the lone egg left, the one he had promised to
G'wen. She hummed.

}:Our egg is ready!!:{ Yes, it may have been a threadfall day today...but
that had happened all the way back in the morning! And yes, Neath_had_flown
the entire Fall...but she did that all the time. And...okay...her lifemate
may have been a_bit_tired, but their egg was ready! Her egg!! Neath's baby
was about to be born!

It was one excited green that bossed her head and most of her shoulders
into the weyr.

"Neath! Behave!" G'wen was just walking through the door to his and
E'aner's weyr when he saw the crazy green acting more like a weyrling than
any adult dragon had any right--let alone any energy--to act like. And on a
Fall day! Really, that green was nuts sometimes! He had half a mind to poke
her with the bottle of wine he was carrying in one hand. In the other was
the meatrolls and pastries E'naer had been moping around about wanting.
G'wen knew that Threadfall days were hardest on his weyrmate. He had to
stay on the ground, where there was too much time to think. Up in the skies
was a different matter, you couldn't afford to think about loved ones,
otherwise you would be dead. But on the ground? Every Fall was the same,
poor E'naer knackered inside and in need of some good food, a glass of wine
and a quiet evening in. And that's what G'wen had planned...until he saw
how crazy his Neath was acting.

And then he looked in the direction of her attention. The hearth. Feral.
The egg.

The egg was rocking.

Of course every other firelizard from the Weyr had to come in and join
Feral in to the welcoming chorus. E'naer let out a resigned sigh. While he
was happy that the egg was hatching...why didn't it chose a better day?
Every free surface of his weyr seemed to be covered with firelizards.
"G'wen! Your egg, do you have meat ready?"

"Er..what?" G'wen tore his gaze away from the egg and blinked at E'naer.
"Will these do?" He held up the meatrolls. Without waiting for an answer,
he walked over to E'naer and gave him everything but the rolls. Neath was
crooning so hard that it felt like the entire room was vibrating. He just
wanted to clamp his hands over his ears.

"Can you ask her to stop?" E'naer asked with a nod towards Neath. "She'll
break thru the wall soon and it's _solid_ rock."

"You heard him, Neath."

The green gave a strange hiccup sound and stared hard at them. }:Stop?
B-but it's my egg! MY EGG!! I can't stop, I must encourage the little one
out.:{ And with that, the crooning began again.

E'naer sighed and turned his attention to the egg. "Don't let it Hatch
alone," he gave G'wen a gentle nudge. "You have to be ready to shovel food
down it's mouth as soon as it breaks the shell." Despite the long day,
despite his exhaustion, the excitement of the moment was catching on him.
Hatching, dragon or firelizard, was always wondrous. The miracle of new
life.

G'wen nodded and stumbled towards the hearth where the egg was rocking. As
he got closer he could see the minute striations of the tiny creature
inside pecking its way out. Blinking a bit, he settled down close to it, a
bit in shock that it was happening, he was really about to have a fire
lizard.

}:What do you mean 'you'??:{ Neath's mindvoice pushed into his thoughts.
}:This is ours!:{ G'wen snorted when he heard her say in an undercurrent to
herself, }:It's mine...my baby.:{

}: Get a grip on yourself, :{ Eillispeth commanded, although her
indifference was mostly pretense. She was as curious about the eggs as
anyone else. She just wasn't pushing her head inside.

E'naer settled next to G'wen and wrapped his arm around him.

Neath huffed at Ellispeth but listened to her more than she ever would the
two men. G'wen smiled at E'naer. "Thank Faranth she's at least stopped that
horrible humming." He could still feel it pressed behind his earlobes. Just
then the egg gave a big rock and a tiny split ran down the side.

"It's hatching!" E'naer said with excited voice.

G'wen gulped, frozen in nerves. A tiny bronze beak peaked though the crack.
There was another tap and the entire half of the egg gave way, with the
tiny fire lizard curled up perfectly within the other half.

"It's a bronze!"

}:Feed him!:{

}: Hurry up! :{ Eillispeth added her voice to Neath's urges. She had
stopped pretending to be not interested. Too bad Neath already filled the
opening between ledge and the weyr.

"Aw, it's bronze! Give him food, or he'll leave and then we never see him
again," E'naer adviced.

G'wen held out part of the meatroll to the little one. The bronze blinked
at it and followed the hand back up G'wen's arm and settle onto his face.
The hatchling gave a funny little chirp and took the meat from G'wen's
fingers.

}:Hurry! give him another one!:{ Neath dared not breathe, she was so
excited and tense.

G'wen mentally nodded to his green and tore off another bite for the little
one. Rather than snatch at it like he would have thought it would, the tiny
bronze sniffed around G'wen's hand before taking another dainty bite. Under
the encouragement of another morsel, the bronze stepped out of its half
shell and stretched, looking like he was pleased to be freed from the egg.

"He's a handsome little fella," E'naer murmured softly. The flits had
stopped humming and most of the disappeared back to their humans. Feral
eyed the new commer curiously but didn't move from her perch.

G'wen could only nod. Another bite and the tiny bronze had his minute paws
on G'wen's forearm. Another bite and he was sitting on G'wen's arm, looking
up at him with adoration. G'wen continued to feed him, his face beaming
with a smile that went from ear to ear. Neath's eyes whirled a pleasant
shade of blue as she sat back a bit to let Ellispeth see the newest
addition to their weyr.

}: How is he going to Fly anybody if he's that small? :{ Eillispeth
wondered.

** He'll grow,** E'naer assured her. ** Like the dragonet under our care.
They start out small, smaller than you and most grow larger than you.**

"He's yours now," E'naer said, recognizing the signs of firelizard
Impression. "Now you have to name him."

G'wen looked over at his lover, his face confused. "Oh, I hadn't thought of
a name." He turned back to Neath. "What should we name him?"

}:Mine!:{

"We can_not_name him Mine! Don't be so silly." He rolled his eyes at
E'naer.

}:Baby?:{

"I am_not_going to be caught calling for 'Baby'!" G'wen would have buried
his head, if it wasn't for the nameless creature curling up in the crook of
his arm and blinking his eyes shut. The bronze was so tiny, so sweet, just
looking at him brought a tender smile to G'wen's face. "How about Urchin?
That's a 'baby' name what wouldn't be mortifying to say."

"Urchin? Are you sure about that?" E'naer wasn't very fond of that name.
"If he takes after his mother, he's going to quite a rascal, that should
fit him better. Or Scamp."

}:I don't like Scamp:{

"Neath doesn't like those names," G'wen muttered to E'naer. The nameless
flit rolled over on G'wen's arm and began snoring. "How about Noisy?" G'wen
teased.

"Glutton?" E'naer suggested with a grin and pointed the bulging belly.

"How about Dusk? For the time of day that he was born."

"That could work out," E'naer agreed.

"Okay," G'wen breathed out a sigh of relief. "Dusk it is." He looked down
at the tiny flit. "He's so wee!" He kissed E'naer on the lips. "Thank you
for this."

"Anytime, my love," E'naer said with soft, breathy voice.

G'wen smiled and carefully stood up, walking over to the two waiting
greens.

Neath, after all, had to see her baby.

Last updated on the March 17th 2015

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Neath's Baby