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It had been a very long evening. It had been a very trying evening, but quite frankly, F'sey wasn't ready to think about that yet. Perhaps the Feast would life spirits a little. Lost hatchling or not, the newly Impressed still deserved to be celebrated. It only happened once, and in his personal opinion, such a life-altering event shouldn't be completely ruined by something so tragic. The hall had been decorated beautifully and there was plenty of food to eat, it would be a shame for everyone's hard work to go to waste.

The weyrlingmaster ushered the weyrlings in. "Make sure you get something to eat," he said. Perhaps the instruction was a little silly, but it was easy to forget something like eating when you had friends to congratulate, friends to console and a young dragon with its own needs and wants. It wouldn't do for anyone to pass out from hunger. F'sey watched them briefly before glancing around the hall. Now he just needed to find a nice corner to hide in, and maybe he could avoid everyone else here. Wouldn't that be nice?

There are too many people here. Varth is here. Why are we here? Glaring at her brother, Arioth kept tripping over the ground that she wasn't watching, which just made her eyes swirl all the more angrily. She didn't want to breathe the same air as her brother, let alone share a Feast with him!

Rinfala sighed and paused, looking Arioth in the eyes. "Look, he doesn't want you to be here as much as you don't want him to be here. Do you want him to get what he wants?" The angry screech that rang through the Feast and caused heads to turn was answer enough. "You got to eat first, I need to eat now. Let's try not to get in trouble doing it."

Hey, she knew that voice. Head turning, Rinfala caught sight of the bronzerider who'd recruited her for his...movement. "Hey, Arioth. Let's go meet O'asis and Uktenath before someone else does." She didn't say the name, mainly because one screech per candlemark was enough. Dragonet trotting at her heels and shooting venomous glares at anyone in the way, Rin made her way through the crowd. "Hey, O'asis. Good day for you, I'd bet!"

Peering up at the larger dragonet, Arioth hissed with displeasure. He was bigger than her, and that simply would not do! A quick glance from Rinfala settled her, however, and her eyes faded to a...rather unreassuring green, shot through with hints of orange. You are Uktenath.

He was tired. Tired enough that though he'd been allowed to sit down, had food placed before him, and he couldn't even think about eating. He hadn't noticed that Ormeteth, trembling slightly, had managed to haul himself partially onto one of the tables to snatch a mouthful of whatever food he could. Then, hopping back off at G'ran's hiss, he sat proudly, trying to nose at his rider's leg.

You need to eat, Mine, and gain back your strength from your injuries. I will feed you, if I must. From Ormeteth's eager tone, the dragonet clearly wasn't bluffing.

"No." The man grunted and began to reluctantly stuff some food in his mouth, halting to stare at the man approaching the new Queenrider. Should he... go say his congratulations, too?

Yes. But I will be there with you, when you are ready, and we will welcome both Queen and rider together. Bright eyes keenly watched as His ate like he was supposed to, clearly pleased things were going so well.

~

J'riar was not feeling very festive either. Ianquith, too, was unusually somber and not at all her normal self, but she was trying to be positive for Hers. Though the little blue had gone Between, and the other had not hatched, there were still many new bonds to celebrate.

...Even if that little Queen sent chills down her spine.

They look happy. There is Uktenath's... and the new Queen. Ianquith said the very last bit softly, clearly afraid of attracting the newborn's attention.

"We'll go say hello soon. And don't look so down, my little love--I'llbe right here at your side, hm?" He crooned to her softly, scritching at her eyeridges. His poor dear.

... She really didn't know why she was attending all this.

Perhaps it was a sense of duty to congratulate those who had found their lifebonds amongst the mess, but Canth still couldn't say she felt happy about any of it, herself. The two angry hatchlings had been difficult to deal with, certainly, but at least they were present and (more or less) placated now, settled beside their new riders, while the blue...

That blue dragonet wasn't. It was vanished somewhere no one would ever reach. The fact that she'd just survived between in her own experience, despite how 'normal' it was during a dragon ride, seemed almost like a guilty sticking point to her all of a sudden.

And then the stillborn dragonet, and the enraged queen, and...

She steeled herself from head to foot when she finally lagged her way into the feasting hall, idling amidst the crowd and searching in silence for the one face she knew enough to go 'greet'. Maybe her hands were even still shaking in secret, but with fists balled, no one would be the wiser... and thus, she set off for the table where a certain little brown was mothering his oversized bonded.

"... Congratulations, G'ran." It was quite the greeting, too, spoken up behind him in a tone almost so deadpan that it seemed void of cheer. Not that she was ever really cheery; but she was trying. "... That's what you're going to be called now, isn't it?"

We see you, but there are many people! Ailurath exclaimed as she and Jessmet finally pushed their way to the bronze, gold, and their riders. She excused herself to everyone they passed, so the more perceptive attendee may have heard a string of mental apologies.

Hello, I am Ailurath. The little green (who was, at least temporarily, slightly larger than Arioth) bobbed her head at the new queen.

Jessmet grinned at O'asis and Rinfala. "Congratulations! Arioth is, ah, lovely."

And a little scary! she said to Ailurath, very very softly.

Though it had taken some time, Lernaeth had finally managed to reduce Nimwae to a red-rimmed hiccup-er rather than a sobbing mess. The green had herself mourned at the passing of the blue, but even though he had not been able to find His, she still had Hers to take care of. And that's exactly what she was trying to do! Nimwaemine, look at the fat man! I think he's stuffed one too many wherries through his teeth. Oh, so much food! Come on, come on! Prancing ahead in front of her rider, Lernaeth weaved through the increasing throng of people as they made their way towards the tables.

Smiling at her dragon, Nimwae followed her while wiping the last remnants of the tears from her eyes. When the blue had....when it had just vanished, the over-emotional girl had begun to wail. The stillness of the last egg had made her tumult that much worse, but the silliness and commentary of Lernaeth had managed to dry her trees. The tragedies of this Hatching made her bond to the green seem so much more precious. Oh, if only the blue had been able to share the same bond...

Her sad thoughts were broken by Lernaeth's excitement. Mine, mine, I found place! I see it, I do! Hurry, before that fat man sees it too and takes all of the food! And before her rider could respond, the dragon was running to her coveted prize. She had to reach it, if only to make Nimwae not be sad anymore!

As she approached, however, the green discovered that running to the table probably wasn't such a great idea. Imminent crash! Unfortunately, Lernaeth was still young and had yet to gain the grace of an adult green. The attempted abrupt halt only caused Lernaeth's wings and tail to flail, the latter which hit a bowl of mashed tubers and caused it to fly from the table - landing right on the head of the nearby Xanthoth!

Nimwae watched the scene with horror. Had Lernaeth just...? And the bowl of food had...? Oh, shardit! "I'm sorry, so, so sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry," she said, skidding to a halt that was barely more graceful than Lernaeth's in front of the dragon and his rider.

Well, it wasn't like her to do it when she was upset, but she supposed she could chalk it up to spending too much time with Cordel. Either way, La was in a distinctly 'drown-your-sorrows' mood, and Isonth wasn't much better. The big dragon was not present, preferring instead to sleep off the sharpest edge of the sorrow. Of course, that meant her rider was toughing things out alone.

Or close enough. In this case, she had the company of a recently-tapped cask of redfruit cider. She wasn't quite upset enough to wish there was something stronger, but she certainly wasn't feeling her best. Ugh...her first time on-duty as a dragonhealer at a Hatching...and two dragonets lost. She was taking it harder than she should, probably. Well, certainly. She knew it intellectually.

At least she wasn't passing up the hard work of the kitchens entirely. She had taken a bit of a few dishes and the plate sat half-finished in front of her, pushed back to allow her mug center-stage. To say she was staring broodily into it would be a lie. She was actually staring at the sky, more thoughtful than broody. Dark expressions didn't work well on La's face, even when she was trying.

---

W'in was still sad, but he was also just exhausted. And possibly hungry. He wasn't sure if it was himself or Toronth he was feeling at this point. Scrubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand, he grumbled constantly under his breath. It was late, he was emotionally exhausted, the stress of the Hatching had left him shaky, and his eyes burned in that way only crying could make them.

W'inmine, you need to eat, like Ialluth's said. If you collapse, you'll just make yourself look a fool. Come now.

Toronth's words left no room for argument, and W'in wondered halfheartedly if this was going to be their relationship for the rest of their lives. He hoped not. It would be nice to have a choice in his own actions. Toronth, however, was having none of that. He began firmly nudging his rider tablewards, giving him no room to protest with a sort of mental humming that completely drowned out any protests that rose to the forefront of W'in's mind.