Contemplations (tag Iski)

IC Time: Mid Winter Month 7, during the blizzard
IC Setting: The dining hall, later in the evening.

Thatcher was....bored. Which really wasn't surprising considering Thatcher was the type of man who needed a lot going on at once to be thoroughly entertained. He'd spent his morning trying to woo the heart of a particular maiden, but it didn't end well for him. The nail marks on his cheek spoke highly of that encounter. So he found himself in the dining hall, simply eating. Not exactly he thought he'd be doing at this moment, but at least the food was hot.

As he sat there eating he thought about everything and nothing in particular. He thought about the girl he'd just been turned down by, he thought about the last triumphant meeting he'd had with a woman, then about the last man he'd had, he thought about how marvelous this new planet was despite thread, the things they had left back on Earth, he even thought about 'the big picture' and what the point to life really was.

All this thinking was giving him a headache. So he got up and found himself something I little stronger to drink. After that he decided to forget about the girl and look for someone new who might warm his bed tonight, or perhaps some other night.

Azrael was sitting away from the fire in a corner three mouths opened up at him, his gold sat in the middle by far the more patient of them all. He had not been with her long before her name came into his head, and what a beautiful name it was.

Azraesk.. that was her name and he could help but swell with pride at it. The other two were as silent as ever but for the squeaks and chirps they made; they were his constant companions beside Azraesk. Though he rationalised it was just because he fed them. They had all since teethed and now bore full sets of teeth and now he sat with a large bucket beside him feeding them. It wouldn't be long before he would take them out to hunt, hoping at least then he would get some rest from the demand of looking after three.

Thatcher did see something that caught his attention that wasn't a beautiful woman for once. Instead it was one of the wher handlers...as they were being called. He had gone to that hatching, but had left empty handed. He felt sorry for the man though, having to care for three of them.

Being the type of man he was, Thatcher got up and walked over to the man feeding the whers. "Hey there. Need any help? Seems you got quite the handful there." Thatcher said, his customary devilish smile on his face. This man wasn't bad looking, perhaps the night wasn't all lost. "The name's Thatcher by the way."

"Azrael"

Came the reply to Thatcher giving his name, though there was a slight smile, a thankful smile that tugged at Azrael's lips as he offered to help him. Well now that wasn't something you heard everyday. At least it wasn't for him; he never intended to have three hungry mouths; one was fine but three was pushing it and he happily moved the bucket of meat so it was between him and Thatcher. An almost audible squeal came from one of them as the food source was moved and Azrael clicked his tongue at the one who had made it.

"The gold is Azraesk, she's mine.. The other two well; they follow me cause I feed them I guess.. They didn't find anyone at the hatching; too busy playing I guess.."

Thatcher took a seat across from Azrael. "Nice to meet you." He said as the man pushed the bucket of meat in between them. He reached in and grabbed two chunks of meat out, then offered them to the brown and the bronze. "Poor things."

"They must be quite a handful indeed. I was there at their hatching, but you're right. They didn't quite seem interested in anything other than playing." Thatcher said, trying to not have his fingers taken off by hungry whers.

"They have their moments where I want to kill them.. but you can't help but love them.. They do redeem themselves sometimes"

Azrael admitted, glad that for once he had some help in feeding the rambunctious pair. He couldn't say in words just how much this meant to him; how much it meant to him for Thatcher to help him like this when it seemed that the others weren't all too interested in it.

Thatcher laughed as he continued to feed. "I bet you do. I can see these things being horrible handfuls. They are pretty cute though, I'll give them that."

He thought all of them was pretty adorable. The little brown had some adorable markings on him, but bronze was just as equally cute. "So, what's going to happen to these two?" He asked curious.

"I don't know.. They never found anyone at the hatching and they don't seem to bothered by that unlike the dragons.."

Azrael gave a long sigh; this was another question that plagued him something terrible. After he taught them to hunt, what then? He just didn't know; he didn't know if they would go wild, if they would hang around or what.

"All I know is I'd hate to see them go wild.."

Azrael broke off his sentence again as Azraesk finally finished feeding and curled up around his feet for a little nap whilst he chatted with this newcomer.. she would wait..

"Yeah. Do you think they'd even make it in the wild?" Thatcher asked, not being able but to feel sorry for the little darlings.

He continued to feed the two whers until finally it looked like their stomach's were going to explode. "Jeez, you two. I don't think there's room for another bite in your tummies." Thatcher said to the brown and bronze, using a bit of a baby voice. Thought he'd never admit it, Thatcher was good with kids of any species.

(sorry, blah post)

Azrael shook his head; with how dependent they were on him now, he didn't even think they would make it on their own for a day. But then again they were still babies [5 months old was still a baby in Azrael's mind] and still had some growing to go.

"I honestly don't know."

At Thatchers baby talk the brown looked up at him; curious for a moment before he shoved his head into Thatchers lap and declared boldly 'Thask is Thask' into Thatchers mind; firmly claiming the man as his own. The bronze however just snorted some and continued filling his mouth with food; not caring too much about what was going on between the brown and Thatcher..

"I'm sure they would be fine if they learned to hunt for themselves. They seem to be fairly sturdy creatures and the fact that they aren't so dependent on us humans like the dragons also speaks highly for them." Thatcher said.

'Thask is Thask' Thatcher heard in his head. "Excuse me, did you say something?" He asked Azrael, thinking maybe he had said something.

'I say Thask is Thask. You no hear good? More food now.' The little brown wher said to Thatcher, nudging against him again.

"Azrael. He just spoke to me." Thatcher said surprised, looking at Azrael and pointing down to the little brown.

Azrael laughed at the sudden look on Thatchers face; oh it was priceless and the usual laid back and emotionless man laughed heartily at the man by his side pointing at the brown. Well now at least he had one less to worry about; now it was just the bronze baby he had some concerns about and well that was that.

"Then he's yours Thatcher. What did he say his name was?" Azrael asked curiously; he liked to know the names of all his fellow handlers especially considering that he knew that both Jonask and Azraesk would mate soon enough when they were older.

Thatcher couldn't believe it. He had bonded, accidently of course, but he had none the less. "His name is Thask, he says. Sort of talks funny. Like a child. Does yours do that?" He answered and then asked, worried something might be wrong with his Thask.

Thatcher hadn't given Thask another piece of food yet, so the brown nudged him harder. 'Food, mine! I hungry!'

"Jeez, alright. Here." He said defensively, shoving a piece of food into the brown's mouth. "Demanding little thing."

"Thask.. That's a nice name." Azrael commented with a grin for the man; yes Azraesk's speak was childish; not quite so much as he had found out the others were but indeed it was and he didn't think there was anything wrong with that as far as he knew. "No; it's normal far as I know. The others all have varying degrees of vocabulary; with some practice we are teaching them more words," he added; now that Thatcher was one of them it was only right that he helped him; after all he had five more months of experience with them than Thatcher had and he couldn't just leave the man flailing about.

Thatcher gave an audible sigh of relief. That was good at least, he would have been devastated is his new charge was injured or not fully healthy in some way. Even though he'd only just bonded to the brown he felt stronger feelings for the little thing than any other creature he'd ever met. "That's good to know. It's kind of cute actually. Well, I guess you have one less to care for." He said, smiling at Azrael.

'Thask full. Thanks mine.' Thask said after Thatcher had stuffed bit after bit of food into his mouth. He turned to his bronze brother and nudged him, before laying his head in Thatcher's lap and looked up at him with big loving eyes.

"Awwww. You're just the cutest thing ever." Thatcher said, scratching Thask's head.