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Nestren patted her on the back and gave his biggest smile. "Thank you. I appreciate that...it is nice to know that I may be more useful than just increasing my father's lands. There were quite a few of us, ya know? Ryalen is obviously going to take over when my father leaves. And it's not like Nomella was bad looking, just young."

He watched as the Queen continued to lay. "We have been here for a little bit, I wonder how long it takes to lay all those eggs? My stomach seems like it is forever hungry...I must eat as much as a Hatchling does."

Farin decided for the moment it looked like most of the crowd who were arriving had already arrived. Curiosity was pulling at the back of her ear, and she decided to momentarily relinquish her position at the door to roam carefully around the crowd. In excuse, she made sure to look as though she was looking for the rogue bronze, who was still pestering the small Araye for a bit of meat.

Vera gave a soft, disdainful chirp as Farin moved, and slowly climbed to her shoulder. She gave another soft sigh, and batted her eyes. The confliction of emotions between the little gold creature made Farin smirk somewhat, the corner of her lip sliding upwards against her brown face.

She ascended the small upward ramp to the main seated portion of the hatching ground, and then descended downward the main aisle. As she glanced about the grounds, she found herself reminiscing. It was not so much changed from when she stood on the sands, so very long ago. It made her feel old, but it seemed like everything did, even if she was hardly thirty. Well, thirty and a month anyways. She shifted her wrist, and glanced at the sand again. To think that she left South Hold for a few hour delivery, and never came home again. But Farin had long come to terms with that. Even if it wasn't for Moth, Farin knew she would have left her mother in due time. It was just a confliction of nerve on their point, and perhaps it was for the best that a dragon swiftly took her away rather then a painful and scorning disclosure of their already vexed relationship.

And now she had taken Araye away too. Farin glanced briefly at the small girl. Even though she was her sister, or half sister at least knowing Alarna's habits, she hardly knew her. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to bring her here to this Weyr. She couldn't impress, not until she stopped hiding herself from dragons at least. The best she could do for herself was to marry some dragonless fellow here. But to Farin, even those prospects seemed better then a life at the hold. But she was bitter, regardless.

But finally adjusting herself to the lower rungs facing the hatching ground and now in almost clear sight of the large and beautiful queen, Farin dismissed her thoughts. She set herself down upon one of the ledges adjacent to some stone seats, and watched the sand. She occasionally trained her eye upon Ariath or Tallith, but out of respect she kept her eyes mostly off of them.

Outside, Moth was sunning herself, and Farin could feel the fuzzy warmth somewhere in her chest.

"No. Luckly I am speared that for now." She wrinkeled her nose in disgust as the rememberance of the smell came to mind. "Actually by gathering the lesser easy to find herbs I'm usually able to skirt that duty." Her eyes glanced over to the departing drudge and she added in a softer voice. "Mostly right now, I am replenishing the weyr stocks from our loss just recently." Her voice almost caught in her throat as she rememberd the times she had lost people to that illness. Shaking her head of the sadness she reminded herself that this was a happy day, not to be shadowed by what had passed.

A start of a new begining Tarlith chimed in, a little distressed at the turn of though Kalya had just passed through.

"Yes, my heart, you are right." Kalya smiled softly.

Grabbing one of the meatrolls offered, Nestren looked at what he assumed was Kirana's two flits. He watched as one dug eagerly into the roll, while the other ate daintily. "What is it like? To have a flit? I have Scruff and I love 'em to death...but sometimes, I wish he would talk to me."

"Scruff definately can not do that! He just does the usual dog stuff. But I love him and would be really upset if I lost him. Feeling two people in your mind, huh? It must get awfully crowded in there. It is a wonder that you can keep anything in your head."

Nestren laughed like he had made the funniest joke on Pern. It was pretty funny to think about somebody's brain falling out the side of their head. Finishing up the meatroll, he rubbed his stomach. "That was good, thank you much for the treat. Normally, since I work so much in the kitchens, Cidrey doesn't mind if I pick. Imagine if I Impress, keeping up with two growing stomachs!"

Lemurrin nodded. The plague had been hard for everyone-- he could only imagine what it was like for the healers who lost patients. "Your fine blue here has the right of it," he said, patting Kalya's back comfortingly. "New dragons and riders are just what we need to lighten the place up a bit. And don't forget the festivities after a Hatching!" The harper grinned and mimed strumming at a guitar.

"Heroe, if the firelizards react to your playing, it must be good. I don't think I've heard of them reacting to bad music, so I'd say that that's a good sign." She smiled encouragingly at Heroe. "And I'm sure we'll all get Impressed!" Why not act self-assured? It might help with nerves. . . "And if we don't, trust me, I'll be writing to everyone! You can't stop me!" She said with a wink.

Rafaelle turned and gave the boy a welcoming grin, standing up, thereby revealing her short stature, and extended her hand to him. "And I'm Rafaelle! This here is Heroe," she said cheerfully, gesturing to the girl holding the flute. She looked once at the queen, then turned back to teir little 'group.'

"Like Talon said, the more the merrier! Now all we need is music, and it'll be a good ol' Gather!" As Rafaelle said this, she grinned and pretended to do one of the Gather dances, laughing all the while since it wasn't working very well without a partner. Her raven-hair bounced on her shoulders as she moved, and her grey eyes showed her smile.

With ease Nico hopped off her blue beast. The massive creature turned his sea-blue wedge shaped head, stared intently at her until she gave an uneasy laugh, and scratched the creature’s eye ridges until he crooned happily.

“I do believe I have impressed the silliest dragon on Pern,” she said to her blue, watching his sparkling eyes, shift from a forest green to a deep blue in contentment. “Now off with you my big blue lump! Off before you scare the queen!” She slapped his hide lovingly as the blue dragon moaned in protest to her words.

I don’t think I could scare a queen, his mental voice sounded somewhat droopy, almost ashamed of what his rider said. Nico simply laughed. I wish to see the clutch, can I sit in the dragonseats? I will not bother her…and I’ll be silent. Zareth cooed hopefully, his slender tail dipping from side to side.

“I do believe she does not wish to show her clutch at the moment,” the blue rider replied, giving another good slap. “However if you are discrete you may go…now off with ya!” She gave him a joking push, only to receive a snort. This time she held in her laughter, her feet skipping across the grounds until she found a suitable gathering. She decided although she’d never had a clutching dragon, that it would leave both rider and dragon quite on end, so rather then greeting ether she watched her dragon soar above, cursing him for not flying higher in the cave of a room.