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"Queep!" Happily, a careening ball of vivid green tumbled through the air and went KERSPLASH into the bucket. A small tidal wave ensued, followed by the frantic floundering of a baby firelizard. "Krrrikrrriiiikrri!" she squalled, oblivious to the fact that she was floating. Where was Aeron? She had heard a familiar skreeing, and had come looking for her favorite playmate. And then there had been water. Lots of water. "Queep?"

S'van sighed, and trailed after his firelizard, standing over the bucket and peering down. "You know, Kia... you're not drowning," he pointed out. S'van, however, was getting thoroughly soaked from the flit's furious flapping. Something about this just didn't seem fair. Ah well. At least it was a hot day again.

"Hey, Mal." The weyrling couldn't decide whether his friend had been avoiding him or whether their paths simply hadn't crossed since the Hatching Feast. Either way, he had missed the near-constant banter. "... What in Faranth's name has your 'lizard been rolling in?" he asked, fanning beneath his nose to keep the stench away.

"Krrriikrrii!" Kia protested, not believing for an instant that she was not drowning. Obviously S'van was mistaken. He didn't understand what it was to be a tiny firelizard. Mine, what is the little one doing? Galliath inquired curiously, observing Kia from a distance. He did not approach because he did not want to become involved in the firelizard antics, but he did watch.

Shardit. S'van's tunic was now thoroughly soaked due to Aeron's decision to join Kia in the water. It clung to his skin in irritating ways, and he tugged at it fussily. "I see. ... Or rather, I smell. Someone really ought to inform Aeron that there are better, cleaner ways of making trouble." Ways that involved getting into the kitchen, or perhaps the storeroom. Something not stinky. Ugh. It seemed that the soapy firelizard was performing a daring water rescue, however, so S'van decided that he could forgive him that. For now.

"You know, I would really appreciate it if you didn't actually dump Kia in a bin of water. Coaxing her would be fine, though." S'van had all but forgotten that Mal had stared at him when he had taken his shirt off at the Feast, and he was not likely to remember without a reminder. No such reminder had surfaced thus far, and it was very likely that if things continued as they had Mal would be in the clear.

The tiny burbling sounds that Kia was making were not terribly promising. S'van glanced down into the basin and noticed that Aeron had managed to get Kia over to the 'safe' side of it... and she was blowing bubbles in the soapy water. "Oh dear. ... Kia... ... err, Mal, is soapsand all right for firelizards do you know?" That looked like it might potentially be problematic.

"Queep!" Burble, burble. Splash, splash. Well, at least she was having fun, anyway. Hello, the brown dragonet returned, nearing the gathering of young men and firelizards. There was no other dragonet of course, not yet, but he was sufficient was he not? "He says hello back," S'van remarked, not entirely sure whether Mal had heard the dragonet or not.

"Am I? How strange. I don't feel hot," S'van replied, taking in the rather glassy eyed look that Mal was giving him. Taking Mal by the shoulders he looked him over, checking to see if he was quite all right. "... Are you ill?" he asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. He put a hand to Mal's forehead, checking to see if the lad's temperature was up. Hmmn. It was rather warm, wasn't it?

"Mal... " Tsk tsk. By the Egg, what did Mal expect to get accomplished while he was suffering from whatever it was that had made people faint on the Sands? "You'd better sit down." Clearly he needed to make more soup and tea. "Your forehead is warm." He did not approve of Mal (or anyone else) running about with a fever.

Why exactly had the Candidate decided to get out of bed this morning? Ridiculous creature. "... Lessons." Oh, yes. Lessons. Lesson were important. "Lessons are going all right. We're learning how to butcher wherries." Which was, naturally, different from butchering the herdbeasts that he had to deal with in the Kitchens.

"Keeer!" Kia declared, rolling over to sport in the water. Her little tail slapped on the surface, creating a small splash. She fluttered her wings and burbled once again. The fluttering resulted in a flip, and Kia's head disappeared underneath the soap suds, tail wiggling above the water's surface. Splash, splash, splash! ... Mine, can the small one breathe under the water? Galliath inquired doubtfully.

It wasn't that S'van thought of Mal as a child who needed to be taken care of. It was that he thought of him as a young man who needed to be taken care of. ... That particular thought was helped along by the fact that Mal was sick. "Shells, Mal... why have you been spending a lot of time at the Infirmary?" Not that S'van hadn't been doing a bit of that himself-- there were quite a few people who needed food and drink there, after all-- but really, Mal?

"I won't hear of it. You may very well be fine, but you've got a fever, and you need rest!" More importantly, he needed to be fed. You fed a fever, after all. That was the way things were done! Feed a fever, starve a cold! "Now, sit down, and I'll find something for you to eat."

That was it. Mal's role had swiftly been moved from 'Candidate' to 'man-S'van-needs-to-look-after'. Marching off toward the Kitchen, he paused to glance over his firelizard and then, satisfied that she was in good hands (paws?) he continued on. It wouldn't take long to scrounge up a good soup, and poor Mal looked so flushed!

"Stay put!" he called back over his shoulder, batting at the soaked through tunic. It really wouldn't do if his friend fainted or something from exertion and heat exhaustion. Tutting to himself, the weyrling shifted some drudges and assistants about, taking up a place for him. He would have something prepared very soon, of that he was determined.

Queeping up a storm, the little firelizard expelled some rather unfortunately inhaled water, and leaned against the side of the basin. "Krrikrrii?" Where had S'van gone? Had he left Kia all alone? Ah, but there was Aeron! Cheerfully, the tiny creature huddled up against her larger friend, making a hum of delight.

... Work on...? S'van's eyes went very, very wide. "T-Tonguing?" he stuttered, trying to work out what exactly the context might be there. Mal surely wasn't implying...? Surely not. Xeran. ... Xeran. S'van vaguely recalled hearing of a Xeran. "Contingency?" Was that the word that Mal had been looking for? Glancing down, the weyrling realized that he was stirring thin air, with a pot almost boiling over beside him. Oh dear. "Tonguing." Tonguing, contingency plan. Tonguing... contingency plan. For a horrified moment, S'van wondered if Mal might be considering selling his, err, abilities, and then the notion of what he really meant came thundering through him like lightning.

"Harpering. Your contingency plan is to be a Harper?" Of course it was. Dimglow. What a truly dimglowed response that was! S'van already sharding knew what Mal had been, didn't he? Drawing his eyes back to the pot he stirred in some already chopped vegetables, and signaled for an assistant to cut up the meat that he had put aside. "Xeran... is a Harper, then? I think I remember that he is."

Right. It all made sense now. Surely Mal hadn't intended to give him that impression. Surely not. "I thought I told you to stay put? At least sit down, if you're going to follow me around like a sun-crazed wherry," the brownrider admonished, a slight frown on his lips. "Pull up a stool, or something." See, running about with a fever? That was wherry-brained. He glowered, casually sprinkling spices into the frothing soup along with fresh milk.

Honestly, what exactly did the Candidate want him to think with words like those? What indeed? He spoke so casually of things that made S'van's eyes bulge and-- ... and... "You're twenty Turns old?" Why exactly did Mal think that he would be surprised by that? "Older than me," he said with a grin, reaching out to ruffle Mal's hair. That was one way of dealing with the hint of insecurity that came from being the younger of the two of them, at any rate. It was only a hint, though. Nothing substantial.

Squeeping, Kia tumbled out of the basin to the floor, where she cheeped and shook her wings out. She had managed to keep from falling onto her back this time due to a minor miracle (anything that kept her from falling onto her back could be deemed one). With an inquisitive chirp, she tried to peer up at Aeron, but the basin blocked her view of the large Bronze. Where had S'van gone? "Krrrikrri!" Ah well. She was very used to being away from her person's side (her person, because he belonged to her).

"Has anyone told me that I'm... ... what? N-No, s-see... definitely not. Not adorable, or anything like that." Glaring at Mal for a moment in an attempt to get him off the subject he said,"Stop that." Oh dear. He glanced back at the soup, and wondered how much milk one could put into a soup before it ceased being a soup and became something else. What would the something else be, really? Adorable? What did Mal know about that anyway? Nothing, of course. S'van wasn't adorable, he was manly and tough! Tough, and manly! And... all of that. Yes.

Expelling a breath that he hadn't realized until now that he was holding, he took the chopped up little bits of white fish flesh, and tossed them into the soup, stirring them in with the tubers. The spices floated at the top of the pot, and took a sniff, trying to decide if there would be enough flavor to them. Probably. It would be awhile before it was cooked through. "I've seventeen Turns," he said, once again focused on his task. "I'll be eighteen soon enough." But not now.

"Vera as in my cousin Vera? Shorter than you, black hair, gray eyes?" Xeran. Huh, that might've been where he'd heard the name before. "Would that be a Journeyman Xeran?" he inquired. Perhaps the man had walked the tables since last his name had been mentioned, but then again... he couldn't be that old, could he? "Ha! I know that I specifically said for you to stay put, and you still haven't taken a seat. Mal, if you want even a bite of this, you're going to have to sit down."

He tended to get bossy when his "charges" chose to ignore his ord- suggestions. "I mean it!" He truly, truly did. "Marko?" Marko's name was familiar too. Hadn't he heard some rumor about the man? Something about a harem? "Wait, is he that Harper that's trying to gather up a harem for himself? You aren't thinking of joining it, are you?" Oh Shells. Mal and harem did not need to be in the same thought together. Definitely, definitely did not.

"Um. I'm... I'm not sure what else would involve tonguing." Faranth, the lad needed to stop that. He really did. ... S'van did. Surely it was unintentional. He must've... not meant it that way. ... Was it hot in the kitchen? Well, of course it was hot! Kitchens were hot. He stripped off the wet tunic, and set it on the other side of the counter, reaching for an apron instead. It wasn't his apron, but it would do well enough.

Kia started to half walk, half hop in the direction of the Kitchen Cavern, simply following in her S'van's footsteps. "Queep?" she inquired, glancing back toward the Bronze. That glance almost unbalanced her, and she had to flap her wings fiercely to stay afoot. They needed to find S'van and Mal! "Krrikrrikrrrri!" She was hungry, and S'van was not there. This must be dealt with. ... Shiny! A sparkling dustmote caught the flitter's eye, and she chased after it.

"Yes, Vera is my cousin. Is that really such a surprise?" Huh. Well, that was interesting. S'van hadn't really known that Vera had excelled at Harpering, or anything like that. At least Mal had finally given in and was doing as he was told. Good. He wouldn't have to chide him anymore. He hadn't known that Xeran was Vera's private watchwher, though. Obviously she had grown up to need someone watching over her, or something, because that was definitely not how she'd been before the Harper Hall.

"Isn't it just like Harpers in general to complain about what the weather does to their instruments?" he inquired, stirring the soup-- or was it a stew at this point? He thought it might be-- in a counter-clockwise direction. He might've taken off his shirt, but he'd put an apron on, and that was all that mattered, wasn't it?

Oh Mal. He was absolutely ridiculous, wasn't he? "Why, yes, Mal you would look fantastic in those funny pan- oh wait, no. Not at all." He couldn't resist the opportunity to tease back, not really. "Actually, I could sort of picture you in a harem of one. I'm not sure who else you'd be with, though." Didn't harem people do an awful lot of crawling on hands and knees and dancing?

Wait, what? ... Had he misheard? In a moment of near disaster, S'van had to catch hold of the pot to keep it from tilting over as a result of his dismay. "Um. ... Wait, what? D-Dress?" he stuttered, turning a rather astounding deep shade of red considering that he was quite tan. Oh dear. Where had Mal heard that story? "... Ver... did she... did she tell you about that?"

Waddling along in the awkward gait that firelizards had while on the ground, Kia chased the dustmote determinedly. She was going to catch it! ... And then there was shadow, and there was no glittering dustmote. Cheeping pathetically, the little Green stopped, crestfallen. Her tail swayed from side to side as she seemed to try to decide where to go next.