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Pipith was in a slightly better mood today than he had been, as the memory of an unsuccessful greenflight had finally begun to fade. Just because it was a better mood, though, didn't necessarily mean it was a good one: he was still put out about all the extra dragons Trine had acquired (except for the greens and that little gold), about having to have a bunkmate, and to a lesser degree, about having been hurt in the fighting. He'd be much happier about his wounds when they were scars, which were dashing, but until then, they were annoying. And itchy while they healed.

The bronze had laid out in the sun to dry after getting a good scrubbing, and was half-asleep when Cepheith crooned to him. He came to attention immediately, taking a moment to reposition himself so that he would look even better...and just happened to stretch out his left foreleg in such a way that the gold would be more likely to notice the missing digit on his forepaw. Good afternoon, Cepheith, he all but purred, his eyes slitted with pleasure and swirling blue. Ah, the wonders a friendly female could work on a grumpy male. Not at all! The company of you and Yours would be a pleasure.

Oh, right. His rider. Asleep on the other side of him. Wake up, Mine. Cepheith and Narisa are here! And fix your hair, it's terrible.

A matter of moments later, Set'al emerged from behind his dragon, smiling brightly. "Narisa, hi! Hey, Cepheith."

Did you just 'hey' a Queen? Pipith suppressed a sigh.

Yeah, I did. So what?

I am very well, and you? Pipith was inordinately pleased with himself when Cepheith did in fact notice his terrible (not really), disfiguring injury, and even went so far as to call him her poor bronze. It took a considerable effort not to puff up with pride, but he managed somehow. Still, he was clearly...soothed by her concern, and crooned at the contact. It's not so bad. A small price to pay, for the safety of our home.

Set'al fought the urge to roll his eyes. You just can't lay off it, can you?

Nope, he answered, not the least bit bothered by his rider's disapproval.

"Of course not," the bronzerider was quick to assure their company. "It's always good to see you, whatever the reason. How've you been?"

You will always have us for that, and for anything else you need. Issuing a contented rumble, he returned the gold's nuzzling attentions, his tail curling happy. Any day that included such attention from a Queen was instantly made into an excellent day, no matter what may have happened previously. Not that he ever got attention from any other Queen. Greens sometimes, yes, but that wasn't nearly as thrilling. It was nice, but greens were greens and Cepheith was Cepheith.

Even if Set'al found it various degrees of annoying when Pipith was being a schmooze, it was nice to not have a grumpy dragon in his head for a change - and despite how thickly he could sometimes lay it on, at least he was sincere about what he said. It could have been worse.

"I don't envy you that. Not all of our guests seem to be keen on behaving themselves. I hope the ranking ones are a little better, at least?" Thus far, he'd had nothing to do with any of the ranked riders from Benden or Malvren, or even any of their non-ranking bronzeriders, which was perfectly fine by him. He wasn't particularly eager to discover which ones might be decent and which ones might not be.

"I've been fine, just keeping my head down and helping out where we can. Getting used to having a roommate again. I'd kind of forgotten what it was like." But they were a pretty agreeable pair, at least, so it wasn't too terrible an adjustment to have to make.

Pipith's rumble turned into a happy hum, and he laid his head beside Cepheith's. He was quite small beside her, but he didn't mind - she was supposed to be bigger than him, after all, even if the size gap was greater than average. It is our pleasure, no matter the time. You deserve the best.

Sympathy and a hint of concern touched Set'al's features. "That's not a good feeling, no, but you've got some good Trine dragons and their riders you can trust in the meantime." He lowered his voice before adding, "And one Southern one, but don't tell him that. He's completely forgotten."

"Huh, I honestly would have expected it to be the other way around," he admitted, "Since Benden's...well, Benden. But Malvren did lose their Queen, so maybe that's got something to do with it. Hopefully everyone will settle down, eventually. I doubt anyone's going anywhere anytime soon."

"Maybe." Set'al mirrored her grin and chuckled at himself. "Shards, I sound like a spoiled bronzerider! That's terrifying. We're fine, though, really."

If it wouldn't have disturbed their rather comfortable positioning, Pipith would have preened. He was pleased as could be that Cepheith agreed with him on their superiority, and his thrumming deepened. Other than that, he was quiet for the moment, utterly content.

"At least you like them. That bodes well. Much better than hating their guts. I haven't properly met any of them yet, myself, but I'm sure I will sooner or later."

"Oh, Faranth, I hope not," Set'al said with exaggerated horror, groaning. "Or I'd have to reevaluate my life and figure out where I went wrong, and that might take awhile. Anyway, aren't goldriders supposed to be spoiled?" he teased back. "I thought that was pretty much a prerequisite."

Yes, and all bronzeriders are supposed to be self-absorbed wherries who aren't late for everything, Pipith decided to add.

"Anyone who hates you needs their head checked." Maybe he was biased - actually, he probably was - but he'd never noticed anything about Narisa that would be any kind of justification to hate her. Or dislike her. She was a genuinely nice person, or else she was a better actor than any Harper. "Nope. Not that I've really gone looking, and I doubt they'd be looking for me, either." Judging by his shrug, he wasn't bothered.

Set'al laughed at the example Narisa used to refute the claim that she was spoiled, but before he could respond, Pipith was pressing him. Well, Mine? Will you join us?

This was an instance in which Set'al wasn't sure whether his dragon was joking, serious, or some combination thereof. He looked from the dragons to Narisa and back again, scratching his head, and finally grinned. "As long as the boot-licking part is optional, I could probably be swayed."

"I always behave myself," Set'al asserted, struggling and failing to keep a straight face. "Mostly. Usually." Yes, just like he was behaving so well now, joking with the Junior Weyrwoman about licking her boots.

"Well, in that case..." It was so hard not to laugh, especially with even a gold dragon giggling, but he managed it long enough to bow. "You have a slightly rusty Runner, at your service."

As Cepheith giggled, Pipith made a similar sound, though there was more of a snort to it. She would be better off with a flit, he confided in the Queen, They don't get distracted as easily.