Sense and Sensibility

Writers: AL, Kaysea
Date Posted: 4th December 2008

Characters: Eliste, Fog
Description: Eliste gives Fog the firelizard egg.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 13, day 14 of Turn 4
Notes: Riverboat Sungazer

Eliste looked up when she heard the door open and her face relaxed into an easy smile. She sat upon the bed, Follen nursing as he was want to do so very often. Upon the table was a small pot of sorts, covered, its contents hidden from the naked eye. "Hello darling. All finished for the night?"

"Yes. All stowed away and we'll weigh anchor first thing in the morning." he said, pulling off the overcoat he wore. "How is my little man and his mother?" he asked, dropping a kiss on her forehead.

"I think he's going through a growth spurt." Eliste admitted as she shifted Follen from one breast to the other. "He's eating less than every two candlemarks."

"You're looking tired, what else have you been doing today apart from feeding him?" Fog asked in concern.

"Not much, just helping where I can." Eliste's gaze darted over to where she had a partially completed quilt top over the back of a chair that sat next to the small table. "And I worked on that for a bit."

"You need to rest." Fog said, sitting down beside her, "You need to take it easy while he is going through this stage." he cautioned. "You don't want to wear yourself down."

"I've been through worse." Eliste laughed lightly. Helvar had never been so understanding. She reached up and caressed his cheek, then motioned to the table. "I got something for you."

"You have?" he asked, surprised. "What?" he glanced around the room, his eyes drifting over the covered thing on the table, but dismissing it, as something she had there for Follen.

"Look in the little pot." Eliste stated with a soft giggle when he looked right over it.

"The pot?" his eyes travelled back to the covered thing on the table, and a puzzled frown appeared on his face. He reached out and took the cloth from the pot, and looked inside to see it brim full of warm sand. "Oh...er..nice." he said, wondering exactly what reaction she expected.

"Dig in a bit." Eliste encouraged him as she shifted Follen. He had finished and she began making herself more presentable.

He lifted the pot and sat it on his lap, his fingers tentatively smoothing the sand aside and probing deeper. There was something buried in the sand, slightly mottled in colour and of a strange texture. He looked over at Eliste, "I still can't figure...." but a memory clicked in his mind. He had seen something like this before, when Rahona had received the firelizard egg. "It's not..." he said shaking his head, "no... not a flit egg?" he asked, his face registering his surprise.

"Yes." Eliste eased off of the bed and took the short step to stand beside him, cradling Follen in her arms. She placed a rag over her shoulder then settled Follen over it and began to pat his back. "From Sunbow's clutch. I asked for one for you."

"But...why?" Fog asked, surprised she had thought him worthy of one, but also touched that she had done this for him. "Why do we need one?" he asked. He reached out and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently.

"They can be useful." Eliste stated, returning the squeeze and leaning down to place a kiss upon his brow. "And I hadn't gotten you anything as a wedding gift."

"A wedding gift? But...you needn't have." he shook his head in amazement. "How long before... before it hatches?" he asked, touching the top of the shell again, gently.

"I'm not sure, exactly. A sevenday I think. Of course, it's really hard to say exactly when." Eliste had never even _seen_ a firelizard egg before much less had one in her possession. "What colour do you think it will be?" Again, no way to tell but she thought it was kind of fun to guess.

"A green, I think." he said with a slow smile, "They're the most common, after all." He looked up and met her eyes, "I didn't get you anything, are you sure you want me to have the egg?"

"You've already given me what I wanted most." Eliste insisted with a soft smile. "I don't need anything more."

"And what was it that I gave you?" he asked, his fingers touched the tip of her chin and he tilted her face to his.

"Don't you know?" Eliste asked, her eyes shining with the adoration she held for him. "You."

"Me?" he tipped his head back and laughed softly. "If that is all you want from me, I get off very lightly."

"Then perhaps you should count yourself lucky." Follen took that opportunity to burp, as if echoing his mother. Eliste giggled again. "I think Follen thinks you should take it."

"I'm not about to knock it back." he grinned widely, "if you're sure you don't want to keep it for yourself."

"I got it for _you_." Eliste insisted with a warm smile of her own. "I want you to have it."

"Then I will thank you, graciously, ma'am." he leaned forward and kissed her softly. "When?" he asked, his eyes returning to the pot.

"Another sevenday or so" Eliste cast a glance upon the pot, not mentioning that Fog had asked that very same question but a few moments before. Sometimes, he did that. She didn't mind, really. "It's really hard to say. It's not an exact thing."

"And how do I care for it, until then?" he had no idea what was expected of him, and another thought struck him. "What colour will it be? Can we tell from the shell?" he smoothed more of the sand away and admired the green, blue grey swirls that covered the shell as far as he could see.

"As far as I know, we just need to keep it warm and then give the creature some food when he or she hatches." Eliste then shook her head at Fog's question. "I'm afraid not -there's really no way to tell, though I did ask."

"Any colour will please me, I think I would prefer a brown or a blue though, I hear the greens can be a little .... scatter-headed, though some would think that appropriate for me." He said with a lopsided grin.

Eliste laughed softly. "I don't mind you being a little scatter-headed." She stood upon her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek. "It adds to your charm."

"Thank you, ma'am." He laughed along with her, "I'm so glad you didn't come to your senses..."

"But darling, if I hadn't had any sense, then I wouldn't have married you." Eliste insisted gently, pressing against him and leaning her head upon his chest.

"Hmmm.... I'll believe you, but others would think the opposite." His arms snaked around her and he held her close. "I love you."

"I think the others would have encouraged me to run away if that were true." Eliste clutched at Follen with one arm and Fog with the other. "But they didn't so that tells me the approve. Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter, for I love you too."

Fog wondered if someday soon he would wake up and find this had all been some pleasant dream he had had, and find that Eliste and Follen didn't really exist. He didn't think he would handle it, if that turned out to be true.

Last updated on the December 5th 2008

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Sense and Sensibility