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Balt cautiously tore off a piece of meat and tossed it at the green flit sitting on the other side of his plate. She hopped up on her back legs and snatched it out of the air in her jaws, dropped to her front legs and scarfed it down. He kept his eyes on her at all times. If he took his eyes off of her for too long, she might try to steal a piece of his meat pie.

She was a bit larger than most greens, almost the size of a blue, with tattered wings and a couple missing teeth. She wasn't old, she was just mean. Balt joked that he wasn't afraid of Standing because there was no hatchling more fierce than Shards.

Balt tossed Shards another piece of meat and watched the lump travel down her gullet. He started to tare off another piece, but paused to glance up when he heard someone sit down beside him. Shards did not take the other candidate's presence well. As he sat down she rose up on all fours and spread her wings with a menacing hiss. Two crescents marked her wings, though the observant candidate would have been more concerned with the teeth she was bearing.

"She doesn't like you sitting next to me," Balt murmured quickly. He tore off another piece of meat and held it off on the other side of his plate, away from Mal. "Shards, here, come get it! Shards!"

Her blood red eyes darted in the direction of the treat. She focused back on Mal, letting out a low snarl. Balt tried calling her again but she ignored him. "Dumb flit," he muttered between his teeth. Out of options, Balt held the meat out to Mal. "Here. Throw her a bit of meat. Then she'll know you're friendly."

Probably. Maybe.

When Balt saw the way Mallyc waved the meat around he knew what would happen next. He also knew that he wouldn't have time to stop it. But he did grimace in advance.

Balt was one to laugh at another's misfortune. Having been in Mallyc's positions several times before, he would have found it difficult to muster a smile.

With a flap of her wings Shards lunged at Mallyc. Rows of tiny, razor sharp teeth sank into the meat and everything that happened to get in the way. When she ripped the bit of meat from his hand she left behind several little puncture marks in Mallyc's fingers which promptly began oozing blood. She landed on the table about a foot away from Mallyc and gobbled down the meat with no regard for the damage she'd done.

"Sorry," Balt muttered sincerely. He tossed the rest of the meat at Shards. There wasn't much left, so she probably wouldn't choke herself on it, though he would rather not give it to her all at once. She pounced on the scrap of stake the moment it hit the table and started to tare at the sides, digging into the meat with her little claws to hold it steady. While Shards attacked the meat Balt handed Mallyc a napkin for his bleeding finger. "Here. I should have explained, you have to throw it at her quick or she bites your hand. I think she's just too stupid to tell flesh from food. She does it to me, too."

Balt's sympathy suddenly evaporated. No way would he tolerate another candidate raising his voice at him, especially over something as trivial as a little cut. He rose from his seat and glared at Mallyc. "Hey, I was trying to help. If you had thrown it when I told you to instead of waggling it around like a sharding dullglow she wouldn't have bitten you!"

While the two candidates exchanged curses, Shards continued to tare at her meat with soft green eyes. She sensed Balt's sudden burst of anger without concern. The important thing was to scarf down as much meat as possible before some other greedy flit tried to steal her meal. And if anybody tried, she would make them regret it.

Balt clenched his fists. "If you don't shut up that little paper cut will be the least of your problems!" he shouted, unware of the attention he was attracting. All of his energy was focused on Mallyc.