Do I Know You? [Deran]

Emiline sighed as she sat down at one long wooden tables, mostly empty at this late hour, in the expansive Dining Cavern. She had only recently returned to the weyr after a short visit home, and in penance for her absence she had pulled a couple of late shifts at the medical facilities. That evening she had assisted one of the doctors in setting a man's broken leg. It had been physically exhausting. He had been a large man, and much of the positioning had to be checked and rechecked so she found herself holding his appendage rock steady almost over her head. Her biceps screamed in protest, and she was ravenously hungry.

Of course, so was her young firelizard, Schatzi. Never mind the fact that she had left him a generous supply of small sausages when she went in for her shift, the growing little blue was sure he would starve and he chatted animatedly from his perch on her shoulder as she got her laden plate and mug of cool water settled down before her. "Brauchst du Wurstchen?" she asked her small companion as she lifted another of those aforementioned sausages and held it up to him. He devoured it eagerly, dropping bits in her hair. "Ach!" she cried. "You make me dirty! Go, on the table." The blue obeyed, having learned that an annoyed tone + firm finger pointing meant 'get off of Emi immediately.' He sat beside her plate, watching her keenly and chirped. She laughed, instantly placated.

"Jaja, bleibst du da." She laughed and started eating, alternately taking a bite of her bread and meat and then feeding the same to the firelizard. He was only... six months? Nine months now? she thought absently as she noticed his skin needed a bit of an oiling after supper. She hummed between bites, and presently she became so absorbed in her firelizard related ruminations that it was unlikely she would immediately notice if someone came into the nearly-empty dining cavern.

Deran came trotting up to the dining cavern. He was very out of breath, having been back and forth between the various people that lived in the weyr and the locals in the area. He had taken it upon himself to help out in the task of delivering messages and small parcels now and it kept him busy all day long. With a quick pant he muttered, "Finally, time to eat."

At the word 'eat' a little green firelizard clawed her way free from the bag hanging at Deran's back and scampered up to his shoulder. She pressed her head into his hair and began sniffing about before starting to chatter at him softly. The young man let out a soft laugh and brushed the back of her head with his hand. "Yes, yes, August, I know. Its well past feeding time, and you have earned it. Smell that bread and sausage? It will be just delicious!"

The little hatchling scampered down his arm as Deran purposefully walked across the dining cavern to where the food was served. He dished up a heaping plate of the food, all the while nudging at August to keep her from diving right in. He finally felt he had enough and turned around... to realize that the cavern was in fact nearly empty. But over near the door he spotted someone who looked vaguely familiar and had a blue sitting in front of her. He strode on over as August climbed back to hide against his hair, and asked, "Hey, is that seat across from you taken?"

Emiline started, but her little blue turned his head to chuff and churr in a happy, burbly greeting at the shy little green huddling against the man's hair. Automatically she gestured to the seat and said, "Hallo, no no one sits here. Eat mit me, we are the only ones awake, no?" After she had spoken, however, she too realized that there was something subtly familiar about the young man. Now where had she seen him before? She busied herself moving her cup and plate over to her side of the table as she contemplated. Ach, she had it. She couldn't remember his name for the life of her, but she could remember the young man, puffing with a recent run, being dragged into her mother's kitchen as she threatened darkly to feed him until he had a bit of decent meat on his slim, lanky body. They were both so young then, and if Emiline had been in the house at all when he came bearing messages she would sit quietly or hide behind her school books to avoid direct confrontation with the mystifying creature that was 'man' at that age.

"I think we no one another, no?" she said, looking up into his face now that she at least was able to put him in the context in which she knew him. "You may not remember me, but I t'ink you remember my Mother. Remember you Elise? She makes the brötchen- er- the little breads? She tried to feed them to you often." Ugh. Her English was suddenly horrible! That only happened when she was nervous. It must be some kind of memory- a flash back to the awkward days of early teenaged years. She shook it off and offered her flit another bit of meat distractedly.

Upon hearing another firelizard, little August poked her nose out and chirped at him. Deran smiled in his own thanks and gracelessly plopped into the seat, setting his food down before him. August wasted no time in scampering down and tugging a piece of sausage free, but never let her tail leave contact with her human. She kept one eye on the blue and the other human, until she had freed it and quickly began to nibble and chew the meat. "Thanks, no one is here at all, it is just terribly late. Running messages tends to keep one up until its done."

He then began looking at her, positive he knew her from somewhere! The accent, the hair, the face -- finally it clicked, and her words confirmed it for him. "Wait, I remember you! You were that girl, Emi, right? I remember your mother serving me those little breads and her comments. I have not seen you in a while, how have you and your family been?" The young man perked up, glad to have recognized her. Indeed, he fully remembered how he and his parents would deliver parcels of messages to them, and Emi's mother's rather odd insistence that he needed some meat on his bones. With a smile he brushed a stray strand of hair out of his face and took a small bite of the bread.

"Ah yes, you know me by mein 'Kosename,'" she said with a smile. "My long name ist Emiline, but I like you call me Emi. It is home like yes? I fear you were hearing my mother yell at me. But that is what it is like when one is 14." She took a bite of her bread and stroked Schatzi's head. "My Fat'er is very gud, he works in many places now because so much building goes. My mother does not work as much anymore. She is feeling older. She stays at home and looks after my sister's babies." She stopped herself and took a drink of her water. "And how has it gone with you? I see you too have a little friend."

As if alerted by her allusion to his little green flit, her own began sending her wild mental images of August and sausage and August again. He was too young to be very good at relaying his messages, but she understood what he meant this time, and she took a moment to marvel as she often did at firelizard behavior. It was so odd to her that an animal could show such obvious altruism. "I t'ink my Schatzi feels he needs to share his dinner mit your friend." She said, taking a sausage off her plate and placing it between the two flits- not too near August- as Schatzi chortled encouragingly.

Deran smiled wide and nodded. "Yes, I remember her mentioning you once or twice when I would stop by. Something about... stuck in books or the like. I remember I was so nervous then, I was busy helping my parents run messages." He paused to take a few bites of the food himself to keep his stomach from complaining, and then shook his head a bit. "My own parents very busy. Everyone seems to want to send messages these days and given how the sleds are not really good for such work, we wind up delivering more and more. Actually thats part of why I managed to impress little August here. I'm hoping I can eventually train her to help me with messages, but so far she's just clung to me like a burr."

At the mention of her name the small firelizard looked up with a cheep at Deran, as if to say "What, me?" She had finished her first bit off of his plate but with the scent of more coming from Emi's, she turned to watch. Once the sausage was down between the two little flits, she carefully paced forward and stuck out her neck towards the sausage, watching Schatzi and Emi. Her mental images back to Deran were a conflicting sense of hunger, and nervousness. Deran simply laughed and leaned in. "Its okay August, you can have some with your friend there." With that encouragement she took a large bite.

Schatzi trilled delightedly and broadcast to her imperiously demanding his OWN sausage so he wouldn't have to disturb the 'lady,' Emi assumed. She laughingly obliged and he dug in, his head facing hers and his little muzzle covered in the grease from the plump little rolls. She had an awkward moment when she realized she still didn't know the man's name, but a moment later she suddenly remembered- Deran... she thought. It comes easier, the longer they sit together.

"I t'ink she will be very helpful, when she is older. I haff seen people do amazing t'ings mit ze older firelizards. I haff high hopes, too, for my friend here." She paused, nursing a piece of bread and tearing it to small pieces with her hands. "So what brings you here? Do you also hope to be a... be a partner to these new dragon creatures?"

August carefully tugs at the sausage with her little teeth, pulling it a big closer to Deran before eating more fully. Deran had paused a moment to watch the little creatures before he remembered he should be eating... and talking as well. "In case you don't remember, I'm Deran by the way. Deran Wallace. And yeah, the geneticists told me I might be a good fit, so I high tailed it on up here and am waiting now. So I take it thats what you are hoping for too?" He snags some more of the sausage and bites into it, relishing in its flavor.

August quickly finishes off her sausage as the two talk and eats a bit more, before carefully chirping and calling out to the little blue. She tilts her head, debating Schatzi and trying to decide if she trusts him enough to play.

"Yes, they said I, too, might be a good fit, like you Deran. I haff no idea vat could possibly be in me dat means I could do this t'ing... but if they say so, I say OK! How can one not try? It is very exciting, no? The little ones they are so interesting... and I haff heard the new creatures vill be something we can hardly imagine. Even if I do not fit mit dem, I haff hopes to see them before I go. We will tell our great, great, great Grandchildren of these days. We haff been lucky, you and I, not to haff lost anyone to the Thread." The way her German accent pronounced the word, it sounded quite a bit like 'dread.' "Perhaps we can be part of ze solution."

Completely oblivious to the turn in conversation, Schatzi decided he was not yet finished and turned to attempt to flatly steal yet another sausage from the plate. As he whipped around for the sneaky attack, his tail hit the fork lying next to her plate and sent it clattering across the table. He hissed, backed off, but then a split second later found himself attracted by the glittering light and motion of the fork as it skittered across the table. He attacked it, rolling over and gripping it in his two front claws. Emi snorted. He looked ridiculous.

"It really is lucky we have been given such an opportunity and to still have our families intact. I know so many who lost loved ones, and I do not know what I would have done had I lost my mother or father. I am glad to hear you are one of the candidates too! I have no idea what to expect either..." He frowns a bit. "But if it will help save and protect the people, we have an obligation to them. Its our duty to our fellow Pernese." He then blinks and laughs at himself softly. "Sorry Emi, I tend to feel strongly about our new homeworld, Thread-flawed or not."

August however had not been unaware of the change in her human's voice, and had scrambled back towards his hand. She looked up at him but the sound of Schatzi spinning and knocking the fork about spooked her. Her little claws dug into the back of Deran's hand for a moment and she jumped into the air, winging about Deran's head. Once she sees the source of the interruption her tone changes and she begins to chatter angrily at the blue that spooked her so. Deran, having watched the whole thing, just begins to laugh.

Schatzi, joker that he was, was prone to being supremely crest fallen at the slightest chastisement (well, except when Emi did it, that was just normal.) When the little green began to chatter angrily, his entire body froze and the fork fell from seemingly nerveless foreclaws with a dull thunk on the table. He clumsily flipped himself over, furling and unfurling his wings beseechingly and drooping his neck as he crooned in a conciliatory manner from the table. He was such a picture of dejection, Emi could almost swear that the two fleshy psuedo horns on the back of his head lowered, like the ears of a guilty canine.

"You haff offended your friend," Emi said reprovingly as crooned and supplicated. She, too, was fighting back laughter. Trust flits to lighten any mood, even if they hadn't precisely intended upon it.

August flew a bit lower over the blue, still scolding him. As she came in to land next to him, Deran could not contain any more laughter and finally murmured, "Would seem so! This is only the second time I have seen her so actively scolding. The other time was when some green was trying to push her around." He clears his throat and smiling wide addresses the green. "Now August, play nice! He did not mean to spook you, and probably was just trying to get your attention. Can you play nice with him?"

At his words the green turns her attention to her human. She tilts her head and lets out a long plaintative trill that sounds a lot like "Do I HAVE to?" and then looks at the fork that was the source of the commotion. She slowly, with her eyes on Schatzi, reaches to grab it with her teeth.

"I t'ink dis is a gut t'ing, then, ja? For every little female must learn to scold, to keep ze boys in order. She mus' practice. Perhaps she could watch my Mama some time.. eef any human can teach a green or a gold Firelizard to scold... it ist meine Mutti."

She was laughing in earnest now too and she reached for a little pot of honey to spread some on her last bread roll by way of desert. Schatzi, who was generally a complete sucker for the Pernese version of the earth delicacy, sniffed and looked at her eagerly. He seemed to realize he was still on thin ice and he didn't move from the little green's proximity. Instead he picked up the other end of the fork and wiggled it extremely tentatively and gently, in such a way that the light flashed off the metal in a way extremely interesting to firelizards, but it didn't clatter on the table.

"Indeed! Normally she is such a timid little thing, she rarely hops off my side it seems like. Maybe sometime we can flit-sit for each other if need be. If August can ever learn to be okay when I am not around!" Deran's laughter finally begins to slow, and he resumes eating the last bits of his supper.

August still eyed the little blue flit warily, her own body taut as she held onto the spoon. But even her scolding could not distract her from the flashing of the metal, and quickly the little lady became entranced, twisting it this way and that with the help of Schatzi. Her voice began to croon and make little cheeps as she found positions that she liked.

Emi sighed as she finished her last bit of bread and pushed herself back from the table a bit. "Dat vas very gut. I haff no more hunger, vat about you, Schatzi?" The blue ignored her, trilling with more animation and encouragement at Autumn as her confidence increased slowly and she found herself more captivated by the wiggling utensil. "But I mus' look such a fright. I haff been working all day and I am filthy. I haff fear I must leave you soon and go to freshen myself up. I could not sleep like this. I would haff to wash my sheets tomorrow!" she joked, plucking one last forgotten piece of the sausage Schatzi had gotten in her hair and brushing of the wrinkled front of her medical uniform.

Deran smiles and winks at Emi. "Well, I'm in the same boat. I have been running all day and I certainly must be no pretty scent myself. Why don't we head on over to the bathing caverns and get ourselves clean? It would be nice to continue this chat." He looked down at the two little firelizards with one last laugh for their behavior, sticking out his arm to them. "Come on August, lets go get clean. You can play more in the showers."

The green looked up with a trill, and quickly dropped the fork. She chirped at Schatzi, and then scampered up onto Deran's shoulder to look about. As Deran rose, he grabbed Emi's tray and silverware once Schatzi relenquishes the fork. "Let me get that for you, Emi."

She smiled as he took her plate, charmed by the consideration. "Thank you, I t'ink day is an excellent idea, Deran. I know dat my Schatzi needs a bit of oiling as well. I can keel two wherries with one stone, yes? And perhaps little Autumn has more time wiff me, and I can flit-sit for you like you say."

She stood up, dusted herself off, and took his arm (as well she may, given her slight stature and his quite tall one.) "Lead on, Deran. Come, Schatzi!"