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The afternoon and early evening had been a blast. The music was wonderful, the fodo was wonderful, the people were wonderful and the fact that she spent it all with Courath at her side was the most wonderful thing of all. Now though they were both exhausted and for the time being, Courath's hunger was sated. She would probably want another feeding before they turned in for the night but now she just dozed on her couch while Dizzian stripped off her dress and pulled on some loose drawstring pants and a large shirt.

Her mind played over the evening, finding the fresh memories sweet. Her only wish was that she'd gotten a little longer to talk to S'kiro and F'iar but her conversation with Hekate had been interesting to say the least. Dizzian still wasn't sure how she felt about the woman. She knew she had no right to feel jealous that the woman had been a drudge, just on the sands by chance and managed to Impress. She had Courath after all and she couldn't and wouldn't have asked for anything more. It didn't matter that she'd waited six full turns. She would have waited twenty more if she'd known what was waiting for her at the end.

Still, something was off about Hekate and though Dizzian felt wary, her curiosity demanded she find out what it was. She looked out the window watching the sky glow with the setting sun. She'd invited the young Silverrider to her rooms to check out her oil but she didn't know when she'd show up. Dizzian's oil pot, brush and cloth lay beside her trunk on the floor, out of the way for the time being as she rummaged inside. She would take what moments of quiet remained to her to pick up her crochet needle and set to work. Curled up amid the piles of blankets and pillows on her bed her usually active and easily bored mind was soothed by the repetitive task. Times like this would be rare for her in the future.

Dizzian tossed her project aside and crawled over the foot of her bed to get to the door. It was flung open quickly with a cheerful "Come in! Syn's not here right now so we have the place to ourselves." Sturdy grass rugs dotted the floor to protect Dizzian's normally bare feet from the packed dirt floors. They were tough enough to withstand casual dragon use as well. She stepped from one to another with ease as she crossed back to her bedside. "Is that the oil you've been using?" She was surprised to see Hekate with two pots. Her attention rested more with the woman's clothing though, having an eye drawn to beautiful fabrics. Once again she wondered just where this former drudge had acquired her nice attire.

Courath lifted her head from her forearms and yawned, blinking serenely. She stood and shook herself awake before joining the group. ~ Hello again Devith.~

Dizzian's opinion of the woman softened when she let he guard down. Dizzian could hear the pain and worry for her lifemate in Hekate's voice. "Of course, my stuff is there by my trunk. You're welcome to it. I use that on Courath and both of my flitters. It's perfectly good." She gestured to her own pot of oil, moving to the two Hekate had brought in.

Courath crooned sympathy to her brother, touching her nose to him in a caress of comfort. ~ You are welcome to my oil if it will make you feel better. No one should have to suffer thus. ~

"I admit I was worried when you mentioned it wasn't helping. I know silver's are notoriously hard to keep in good condition and he's such a strong willed one too. Still one day of bad oil shouldn't cause too much damage, especially if we get it squared away quickly. They're only a day old after all, he can't split his hide too much in just one day! Then again Devith's got the most to grow out of all of Brakiath's latest clutch. He'll dwarf those two crimsons for sure when he's done I wouldn't worry about that." She chattered as she cracked the lid of the original pot. Already she could tell something was off about it. While it didn't smell sour, it certainly had an odor too it. She dipped her fingers in, feeling the texture and taking a deeper whiff. "Whew! I figure you haven't had much experience with the stuff so I can't blame you but this is NOT good. It shouldn't be so thick or smell so strongly! No wonder poor Devith was so bothered by it! You said this was given to you in your previous quarters? Do you know who gave it to you?" She wiped her hand off on the hem of her shirt, it was an old one, mainly for sleeping in so she wasn't worried about keeping it spotless.

Courath's eyes whirled brighter as Devith was relieved of his pain. Dizzian stiffled a giggle at the silver as he practically writhed with pleasure. She said nothing of him being carried, she knew her's was right and eventually he would be stronger than she. She could respect the potential he held even now.

"I'm glad to hear it's helping and yeah, I'm sure you've seen them. We've got a couple adult silver's here. They're enormous and they started out the same size as him." She held the pot cradled in one arm, rubbing the cloth of her shirt between her still greasy fingers. She'd been right at the hatching to think he looked too wet, though for the wrong reasons.

Courath settled herself back down on the floor, whirling eyes watching Devith closely. ~ Size proves nothing in our lives. I will always be small but I will never be weak. You will be the crowning glory in our dear mother's clutch. ~ Her eyes picked up hints of his tension as they sat in silence, alerting Dizzian to their combined moods.

Dizz felt a shiver tickle her spine as Hekate described where she found the pot. "It might have been an accident, it's doubtful the drudges would know good oil from bad after all." The words were out of her mouth before she realized it. Her cheeks flushed red as she remembered that Hekate had been one of those drudges, and in fact had not known the oil was bad. Hekate's predatory approach sent her heart to the pit of her stomach, she flinched as the woman reached for her, only to take the pot from her arms. Her heart rate increased and her breathing turned shallow. It was unfortunate for her that Hekate was between her and the only door to the room.

Courath responded immidiately to her rider's fear, rising from her position on the floor to place herself between the two women, eyes whirling orange and yellow and wings mantled. She a defensive pose, not threatening to Hekate, but displaying a clear warning that Her's was not to be messed with, silver rider or not.

"ummm, ahh..." Dizzian took half a step back, stuttering in her speech but taking courage from Courath's protection. She couldn't bring herself to meet Hekate's piercing glare and instead stared to the side. "M-Maybe as soon as a few days. If he's growing properly but his hide isn't cared for. He'd split it and create weak points, scar tissue. I've never heard of it happening in a hatchling so young though. He could heal up fine from just that if you got the healers to it. But his hide splitting would leave him vulnerable to infections which as an atypical could easily kill him." She was thankful of her ability to answer Hekate's question though it was doubtful that the woman would be pleased by her answer. Dizzian couldn't fathom someone doing it on purpose. Unless it was a more subtle attack like the ones on the Weyrleaders? Should she check the two crimsons and black for bad oil as well or even tell the weyrlingmaster to alert the Weyrleaders? If someone was planting bad oil to target the Atypicals...well Benden had already killed one of their Crimsons.

Dizzian shrieked as the pot burst in Hekate's grip, Her body curled in on itself as she raised her arms to protect her face. Oil coated her exposed side, dripping from her arm. She took no damage from the clay shards that clattered to the floor. Courath hissed in violent alarm as she was caught in the explosion, her face, neck and shoulders drenched in the bad oil. She tossed her head, flicking droplets from her eyes and beginning to keen in distress.

It distracted Dizzian from her own sudden fear of the rider who stood shaking before her, blood trickling down the woman's arm. Dizzian's concern for her lifemate outweighed any for her own well being. She twisted her tunic around, using the dry back to clean off Courath's face. Her inner eyelids had just barely closed in time to protect them from the worst of the splash, but still they watered and stung as Dizzian cleaned them. Hekate's sob caught both of their attention and Dizzian watched in shock as the woman sunk to the ground, sobbing into Devith's hide.

"Oh Hekate..." Dizzian knelt beside them, wrapping her arms around the distraught rider. " Don't worry about the pot right now. I'm so sorry. We'll let the Weyrlingmaster know, he'll know who to contact to figure out what happened. It'll be alright. I'll check your other pot before you leave." She pulled back, leaving her hand on Hekate's shoulder. "This won't happen again. If you need help or advise or anything at all don't hesitate to ask me. Courath and I will be here."

The creeling startled her, even in her embrace she hadn't noticed the flit at all, or even a lump where one would have hid. "She's so tiny! Is she just hatched? What luck you must have!" Dizzian stood, flipping the top of her trunk open again and removing her top. She used what was dry of it to wipe the worst of the oil from her bare skin before tossing it aside. Nudity in front of another woman didn't faze her. She was comfortable with her own body. Elbow deep she tugged out a clean tunic for herself and then fished a little deeper finally coming up with a small roll of undyed cloth and a little belt knife.

"Here we go..." Being a weaver did have some advantages besides an overly abundant wardrobe and too many bedclothes. She donned her tunic and returned to Hekate's side, slicing off a few kerchief sized squares. "I'm sorry I don't have any numbweed. I forgot that at my parents..." She handed one of the squares to Hekate. "Use that to clean the worst of it."

Courath in the meantime had remained where she stood, her temper up at not only at the perceived threat to her rider but the following soaking by bad oil. Her eyes still stung where the oil had gotten between her lids. Aside from her orange tinted eyes there was no outward sign of her ire. She just sat and waited for her rider to return to Her.

Dizzian grimaced as she sat down across from Hekate, waving Courath over to clean her up. "You'll probably be mad at me but I didn't think to highly of you at first either. It's just how we're raised here at the weyr though. You barely even notice the drudges because you're told they're beneath you, even hold bred candidates are a step above the drudges and they're considered the bottom of the pecking order. We're told they're ugly, slow and stupid, they don't have the ability to preform any higher crafts, even hauling stone for the miners. I'm sorry but it's no surprise that people are going to look down on you."

She took a deep breath, might as well put it all on the table now. "Especially when you showed up in such a fine dress. Really, you were beautiful and weyrfolk aren't going to like that at all. Just for being who and what you are you're going to step on a lot of toes around here. Still, I'm glad you came up to me earlier. I'm sorry if I came off rude at first. As I said, you're gonna be putting a lot of us in our place now."

Courath's eyes slowed to a gentle green as she was cleaned. A hint of humor even returned to them at the sight of the baby flit. ~ Next time yours bathes you, let the little one on your back. Mine has two and their tiny claws feel wonderful. ~ Courath couldn't consider them pests after that. Though Her's had had them before Courath was born. So it was like they were a part of the package she chose.

"I hope you're not too upset with me, You've changed my opinion, at least of yourself." There was still suspicion and curiosty as to the woman's clothing but now after all the emotions was not the right time to bring it up. She'd try and weasel it out of her later. If Hekate gave her a chance.

Dizzian waited out the silence, growing ever more uncomfortable with each moment that passed. Had she said too much? Should she not have told her and kept it a secret? Dizzian if anything hated keeping secrets and lying to someone she liked. Still, their friendship was still very new and barely even bloomed. It was too early for heavy truths like that. She mentally kicked herself. She knew better than to get so quickly attached to people but she still did it time and time again.

Courath nuzzled her rider gently, making no noise or response to Devith until they were ready to talk. The oil was nearly cleaned from her hide though she could understand now how uncomfortable it had made Devith. Both wouldn't be hurt by a re-oiling before bed. Especially the Silver.

When Hekate finally broke the silence Dizzian relaxed, a relieved smile crossing her face. Then again there was that look that always gave her a subtle feeling of 'threat'. Even after witnessing the woman's emotional breakdown she still couldn't help but feel intimidated at that glint in her eyes.

A chuckle escaped her at Hekate's threat to bust down Trine's doors. She loved her Weyr more than anything, but Hekate had a point. At least she wasn't going into it expecting blind acceptance just because she was now a rider. If the recent drama revealed anything it was that Dragonriders were a stubborn bunch, more hidebound than they'd rather admit and like those doors, unwilling to bend. Crafters and Holders would be easier to persuade than Riders. Even with the legends of Lessa, telling of her rise from a hold drudge to Weyrwoman of all Pern. Dizzian wondered for a moment if Hekate had a touch of Blood in her as well? Maybe she was witnessing the beginnings of a new legend? If so it wouldn't hurt to accept her proposal, maybe she could make a name for herself along the way.

~ We would do that with or without their help Mine. ~ Courath's eyes held the same determined fire of the pair across from them. Her words were private and quiet within Dizzian's mind, almost as if they were her own thought.

Dizzian wasn't used to mind speaking Courath yet, it wasn't the same as ordering the flits around, and they barely listened to her anyways. Still, this wasn't a conversation for other's ears. ~ Do you not want to accept their offer? ~ Her brows furrowed with concentration as she practically stared down Courath, it would take time and practice for her to do it as easily as the rest of her clutchmates seemed to have it.

~ Only if you do not wish it. ~ Whether she approved or not wasn't clear and she refused to elaborate further. This decision would rest solely on Her's. She would support which ever route she chose.

Dizzian frowned with puzzlement but turned her face back to Hekate, wiping her hand on her pants before placing it firmly in the former drudges grip. "Well Shards! Why not?!"

~ Oh I don't doubt that brother, I'm sure you will bring excitement wherever you go. ~ Being vague yet again, the comment could neither be called a compliment or insult. The only hint to her thoughts being an over all sense of 'amused dragon'.

"Sure Hekate." She giggled. "Lady. That's a cute name. I like it." Her hand stroked Courath's neck before she stood and retrieved the second pot Hekate had brought in. "This one's from your new room right?" Dizzian broke the seal and pulled the lid off, giving it a sniff and dipping her fingers in. "This one seems alright. If He's still complaining though I don't mind sharing till we get you a proper stash. Like I said, bring it up with the Weyrlingmaster. They may just need to check their stock. It's no guarantee that someone's trying to sabotage you yet." She put the lib back on the pot and sealed it tight. Hekate didn't need to be spilling her good stuff as well.

"Say, do you want a change of clothes since yours are all oily? I've got more than I need and we're about the same size I think." She set the pot down on the one small table in her bunk room and kicked open the lid to her chest. "It's all clean."

Courath yawned and shook herself, Devith wasn't the only sleepy hatchling. She retreated to her couch and curled back up, tucking her nose beneath her tail tip. She'd let Dizzian oil her in the morning.