Until the Next Meal

Writers: Devin, Iluva
Date Posted: 25th July 2026

Characters: M'sar, A'garyn
Description: While their dragons play, they make some attempt to play nice
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 6 of Turn 13
Notes: Cursing
Mentioned: Ibranth, K'valas,

A'garyn

When Nazoth saw the younger dragon in the weyrbowl, his eyes lit up. When M'sar saw the bronze's rider, he frowned.

}:Talarcheth! Let's play!:{ Nazoth bounded toward him.

Zolta and Talarcheth were each taking their time getting comfortable with one another. Mostly the latter. The bronze’s possessiveness was not easily swayed by mere reason, nor was it swayed by preferences he'd yet to claim as his own. The gold, however, possessed almost infinite patience, and A’garyn refused to let his dragon get his way in this. Bit by bit, approval was taking root.

Talarcheth examined the little queen intently as she preened on A’garyn’s shoulder. He was already tall enough that his nose reached hers and his rider's, and he snorted at her gentle taps to his muzzle. She chirrupped to him, enjoying his fascination regardless.

It was important for them to have space when they worked at it. Here, in the openness of the ‘bowl, without pressure, it was already going better than any attempt to do the same with Sazikoth.

He _almost_ sounded impressed as the image of Zolta’s tangled network of scars passed between them. }:She is fierce.:{

A’garyn smiled, stroking her cheek. The truth of it was a quiet, immense pleasure. But at the same time, a deeper sense of rightness had settled in. His worlds were gradually colliding: the way their eyes first whirled at each other, then with each other. That slow coalescence of blue sealed the rightness of it.

“Formidable.” He nodded, and Zolta puffed up in pride just from the feeling alone.

The blue faded as he felt Talarcheth’s attention snag. The earth quaked, and they turned almost in unison. A’garyn’s smile vanished.

He had hardly seen M’sar in recent months. He vastly preferred it that way. He levelled a cool gaze at him, calm and measured. Assessing.

Talarcheth regarded the big brown bounding over with a similarly wary stillness. His immediate instinct was to put his wing out in front of A’garyn, but then A’garyn’s hand found his neck.

}:Play what, exactly?:{ he asked Nazoth, nothing subtle about his skepticism.

}:Let's wrestle!:{ the much larger brown declared.

M'sar snorted in amusement at his dragon and then arched an eyebrow at A'garyn. "Don't worry, he ain't gonna hurt him. He played with Ibranth when he was just barely hatched and it was fine."

That did little to assuage the unimpressed look on the other Weyrling's face. “And if he _had_ hurt Ibranth?” A'garyn's brow returned the arch. If he was surprised by the fact of that statement, he didn't show it. This was the guy who pulled a sharding knife in the candidate barracks over a remark, after all.

“Using a hatchling as his test dummy is not an endorsement.” He added coolly, before pointing his chin at Talarcheth. “But he can play until his next meal, if he wants.”

Talarcheth's body language, however, was saying something other than play. The opposite of play. His eyes whirled in dizzying orange. }:I don't want to wrestle. We are too disparate in size and you are likely to go easy on me.:{

M'sar scoffed. "Ibranth charged _him_. Nazoth let him bounce off a few times and then he found it funny."

Nazoth considered the little bronze's words. }:I would not hurt you, but you can test your strength against me and grow stronger. I would be more of a challenge than any of your clutchmates.:{

}:But what do _you_ gain from it?.:{ Talarcheth's tail twitched as he thought about an opponent 'letting' him do anything. His tone was less skeptical, but held no less bite. }:I don't want favours. It might be better to do something where neither of us needs to adjust so much. Do you know Tag?:{

"Like that makes it better?" A'garyn let out a derisive snort. "I doubt the weyrlingmasters would find that a suitable defense if he had hurt him, whether or not he intended any." His dragon did weigh decisions more carefully than Ibranth, who seemed to wrestle anyone without a single thought, let alone a second, but he was still less than enthused at the proximity. A few paces away his bronze crouched down low, preparing to bolt, and A'garyn reached up, stroking Zolta in a way he hadn't been able to since Talarcheth hatched.

}:Yes! Let's play tag!:{ Nazoth bumped Talarcheth with his snout, though he was careful not to knock him over. }:You're it!:{ the brown declared as he turned and ran away.

M'sar frowned slightly. "He ain't gonna hurt him," he repeated.

The other dragon, however, was not exactly on his best behaviour. Little mind was paid to whether he was being too rough in his first few warm-up lunges. He had not been training to hold back, nor did A'garyn prod him with reminders like he had with Ibranth.

Now, his pursuit of Nazoth fell into narrow focus, the kind where fun and the desire for victory merged perfectly. }:I will get you,:{ he roared as he advanced in long, whip-like strides, still watching the bigger dragon's movements carefully. Long golden-brown limbs that were slower to clear turns than him. Taunting him when he got close. And he was close now. The air opened like the launch of an arrow as he judged the distance one second and pounced the next, with Talarcheth aimed right for Nazoth’s tail.

A'garyn watched the game in charged silence, yet relaxed enough that he still yawned, stretching his shoulders out. Zolta moved a little with the motion but otherwise stayed put. Better off saying nothing to M’sar. From time to time he let his eyes rest on the brown weyrling, openly, unbothered by whether M'sar noticed. Not the look of a friend. He still hadn't forgiven him for K'valas' split lip, or his own knuckles, for that matter.

}:You got me!:{ Nazoth said as the bronze grabbed his tail. }:Now I'm it!:{ He spun around. Nazoth was less round than he had been a few months ago, though his bulk was still ample and did not allow for quick maneuvers.

"See? It's fine," M'sar said.

A’garyn shrugged. They were fine. A ripple of delight echoed back to him from Talarcheth, sharp and bright, the thrill of their chase thawing some of his bronze's cool assessment. The brown was playful. Surprisingly careful. “If I were really worried about your dragon, mine wouldn’t be playing with him, M’sar.” The issue was the brownrider's judgment. A’garyn’s gaze flicked toward him, and he left it at that.

M'sar snorted. "Still got that stick up your ass, I see."

"Yup." A'garyn exhaled thinly. "But I've made it a month without incurring another boundaries lecture for my class or panicking my dragon, so it can probably stay."

"Fuck you." M'sar gestured with a finger for emphasis.

}:M'sar?:{

**It's fine, just keep playin'.**

Zolta growled a warning back at him. Despite A'garyn quickly settling her, an ember of ire lit her eyes; she recognized the sentiment, if not the exact meaning of M'sar's gesture, and her wings flexed half-open, shining, ready.

A'garyn smirked, acrid and amused, while their dragons flowed past them. It was a low blow, but it felt good to rub the incident in M'sar's face. Deserved.

Talarcheth made it several snaking strides to the center of the weyrbowl before he was 'it', skidding in the dirt hard enough to launch a dense cloud of dust and barreling after Nazoth again. The pride simmered deep in A'garyn's veins, his attention fixed on them as they continued to dodge each other, lost again in their game of evasion and pursuit, but the amusement had faded. Having a dragon of his own had made some part within him soft. Or, perhaps, uncovered whatever part of him still was.

"He's gentle for big guy," he said, eyes still on the dragons.

"Yeah." A little smile tugged at M'sar's mouth. Feeling Nazoth's happiness made it easy for his anger to fade, like water rolling off a waterproof jacket. "He's got a pretty good sense of when he needs to hold back. And he's real sweet when one of his clutchmates is sad."

After a time, quiet rebuilt itself around them with a strange temporary gravity, after A'garyn answered that with a sound in his throat that was not unkind. If he spoke, it would probably disappear. Acknowledging it in words was not safe, not with the way they liked to use them. Not with the way he still remembered their brawl as a bruise remembers a fist.

As the game wound down between their dragons, Talarcheth came trotting over with his head high and his faceted eyes dazzlingly wild.

A’garyn listened as his dragon reviewed their match in great, unrelenting detail, ravenous for his meal and already eager for more combat. Their odd truce dissolved into the settling dust, and A'garyn stepped away from the other weyrling without a word. He followed Talarcheth back to the barracks, grinning at his dragon’s back, and left M’sar to his own.

Last updated on the August 7th 2026

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