Midnight Snacks [OPEN]

[twitchie]

Rox smiled, and gingerly took Aristide's hand.
"Yes, Auerosth is nearby."

She focused carefully on the ground before the both of them, keeping Aristide safe from tripping.

A red form was stretched lazily before them, a head lifting up as they approuched.

"Auerosth, this is Aristide."

Are you in love or is he blind? [/color]

He is blind you silly!

Roxikanta blushed fiercely, guiltily glad her friend couldn't see it.

Auerosth came forward little by little, trying not to frighten the man's pets.

Rox smiled again.
"Auerosth is right in front of us. He would never harm a soul, and you couldn't harm him. So feel free to touch him at your own pace."

Hello, friendly Mine'sFriend! [/color]

[Kitsuneko]

Zexx kept pace beside Aristide as Rox led him, for once only having to follow and not lead himself. To tell the truth, Aristide was a bit nervous, letting someone else lead him around, but the path was smooth and there were no unseemly accidents, so everything was going well.

They came to a place outside and Rox stopped, introducing Auerosth to him, by the sound of it. Aristide smiled and held a hand out in front of him as he approached the sound of the dragon, expecting to touch warm flesh any moment. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Auerosth," he said, amused at the excitement plain in the garnet's speech. He wasn't quite sure yet if he believed Rox's claim about him being entirely harmless, but he certainly didn't seem malicious or deliberately violent, as were many of the other garnets he'd met, directly or indirectly. Regal hunkered down on his shoulder, tail wrapped tight around him protectively. She was still small, and particularly wary of garnets, though she watched the dragon calmly with cool eyes rather than show her fear.

[twitchie]

Auerosth made a purring grumble sound, nosing the tip of his muzzle into Aristide's palm.
He's nice. Didn't you say he had three critter things? [/color]

Rox started where she should.
"Oh! I haven't seen Kaleo yet... Where would he be?"

Uh-oh! They hadn't lost the little bird... right?

Auerosth sniffed at Zexx, noting the dog as friend. He stared at the obsidian, wondering why she hissed so much. Why wasn't she friendly?

Little queen is irritated. Why is she upset? [/color]

[Kitsuneko]

Aristide couldn't help but smile as he felt the large dragon push his muzzle into Aristide's hand. The sound he made was odd, more of a grumbling purr than croon or hum.

Aristide gave a shrug at the mention of Kaleo. "Not sure, he wasn't in my room this morning. Most likely he's gone out to find somebody else to bug, unless there's a female huntyre ready to rise nearby. It wouldn't surprise me to find out he's been stalking some poor forest or sunset. He'll be back, though; I couldn't get rid of him if I tried." Not that he had tried...not seriously, anyway. The lunar was annoying, but he wasn't that annoying.

Zexx endured the garnet's sniffing with quiet indifference; he had been born and raised in the Weyr himself and had no fear of dragons, fortunately. He just wasn't a very outgoing canine. Regal, on the other hand, hissed at Auerosth with yellow-orange eyes, and Aristide placed a hand on her head to calm her down. "Easy there," he murmured. "He's not gonna hurt you. See?"

Since Auerosth wasn't red-eyed or growling or showing his teeth, the obsidian flit began to settle down. She didn't move from Aristide's shoulder, but having been reassured, she became silent and her gaze turned curious rather than defensive. She stretched her neck out to touch her muzzle to Auerosth's. "I guess it's still because she's pretty young," Aristide told Rox and Auerosth. "She hasn't been around adult dragons as much as Zexx has, either, not to mention, well--" He didn't want to mention the reputation of garnets when Auerosth had seemed perfectly friendly.

[twitchie]

Even if Aristide didn't mention his thoughts of garnets, Auerosth was aware and silently upset.
Do not worry. I am aware that my hide is red, but my hidden heart is kind. [/color]

He watched Regal with mimicked curiousity. What a tiny little funny queen! Rox tensed but relaxed at her Garnet's understanding words. He was truely like an amethyst trapped in a Garnet's hide...

"He's a silly bird..."
The red head liked the interesting huntrye. He was amusing.

Auerosth gazed at Aristide's grey-blue cloudy eyes. Was it weird to see in the dark, when in day?

[Kitsuneko]

Aristide's smile turned lop-sided. "Ah, guess you saw through me, huh? No offense meant, of course. If you're different than your brethren, it's purely in a good way."

Regal chirped happily, feeling much more at ease with the dragon now, and Aristide gave a short laugh. "Hah, silly's probably a good word. He's been like that ever since his hatching. Jumped right off the table where his egg was and latched onto my shirt, even though I wasn't looking to Impress a huntyre." He smiled ruefully. "I do seem to inadvertently collect pets. If only a dragon would get the hint as well." He said in a joking manner, to mask the true longing; he'd never been permitted to stand as a candidate, but he still held on to a tiny secret hope of Impressing, started once he'd heard a white hatchling had bonded to a blind woman. He knew it could happen, now it was only a matter of making it so.

[twitchie]

Auerosth was not offended, actually he was really just happy.
Roxikanta smiled, not able to help herself.
She picked up Aristide's longing, and looked at him kindly, placing a hand on his back.

"You know, Auerosth and I will be at the hatching. You could come with us."

It would be grand fun! Yes, exciting indeed! I could even transfer images of everything to you... [/color]

Roxikanta almost scolded her dragon. That suggestions would either offend the blind man or make him happy...
"I really would like you to come with us..."

Oh, maybe he would? Even if he didn't impress, it would be so much more memorable with him.

[Kitsuneko]

Aristide only turned away from Auerosth when he felt Rox's hand on his back, curiously wondering what she wanted to say. He grinned widely upon being invited to sit with her at the Hatching. "That would be fabulous! Thank you."

He paused, a little hesitant, at the garnet's comment. His only experience with transferred images were from Kaleo, and they were rushed and jumbled at the best of times. "Hmm, thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass on the images. They tend to confuse me more than they help, to be honest. I'm sure I'll get a good idea of what's happening from what Rox can tell me. Right?" The last part was directed at her rather than the dragon.

[twitchie]

"Of course! I can describe it to you."

Auerosth looked pleased.
"Hey, when the eggs harden you could come with me to the touching too. Auerosth wants to watch the candidates. It would be fun for you to come I think. But... if it is too hard or you don't have time that's fine. It is just I'll be there and it doesn't hurt to offer."

She understood that going could be torment to the blind man and she could see why he might say no.

"What would you like to do, now? Auerosth could take us to the beach, or if that is too uncomfortable for you I bet we could walk... He's fairly smooth flying though... Or we could do something inside... I.. actually I don't know your plans or what you like, so why don't you tell me?"

Roxikanta smiled again. This was really fun. Maybe Aristide was even having fun!!

[Kitsuneko]

A wicked grin crept onto Aristide's face at the mention of the Touching. "There you go, ruining my plans to sneak into the Touching Ceremony." He shook his head slightly, still grinning wryly. "Seriously, though, I'd love to go, though I don't know yet if I'll be busy. Hopefully I'll be able to get away long enough to go with you and Auerosth."

He turned in Rox's general direction at her next question, and gave a shrug. "I'm due to work in the kitchens in a few hours, but until then, I'm free. I'm afraid I don't get out much, to the beach or otherwise, but I'm sure it'd be a lot easier with someone else around." His general misanthropic nature tended to keep him indoors anyway, where he had to interact with fewer people, but he fully admitted to himself that he could use the time out away from his room.

Absently, he said, partially to himself, "I've only ridden on one dragon before; that was my father's..." It had always been a slightly uncomfortable feeling at best, with no way of knowing where exactly they were, and he was confident enough in the abilities of his father and his brown to trust them not to let him fall. He wondered how much of a difference there would be with another dragon.

[twitchie]

Auerosth seemed pleased.
Why didn't this man like to have fun? Did he prefer those silly tiny hallways over the wide space, warm sun, and fresh air of outside?
"Sneak? You? Please don't tell you would pull the 'if I can't see you, you can't see me's trick..."
Roxikanta's voice was glad and teasing, surely Aristide would hear that...

"I'll help you up onto Auerosth. I place you in front of me, on the saddle. I am comfortable enough to trust my bonded unstrapped."
Hopefully the dog wouldn't be upset, since going dragon-back likely wouldn't work fir Zexx...

Don't worry. I won't drop you, Friend. [/color]

[Kitsuneko]

Rox's words caused a reaction in Aristide that was probably a lot different than the one she'd expected--he threw back his head and let out a cackling laugh. "I'd be the invisible man if that was the case!" he said between laughs, and then added, "No, actually, I figured I'm still young enough to be a candidate and most people don't know me that well yet. I thought I might be able to just walk in with the rest of the candidates. Assuming I didn't bump into anything...or stumble across someone who recognized me..." he trailed off before adding. "Hey, I never said it was a good plan."

So, they were going by dragonback. Aristide tried not to let his nervousness show. He frowned down at his feet where Zexx sat, thinking about what to do with him. He was too large and heavy a canine to be carried, so he would have to stay behind, even if that left Aristide at a disadvantage. Well, at least he wouldn't be alone, Aristide thought as he bent down and undid the canine's collar, wrapping it around his arm for safekeeping. That was how Zexx knew he was "off-duty" for the time being and had more freedom. "Go home Zexx, back to the weyr." At least then he'd know where to find him when he got back. Regal also took the opportunity to fly off his shoulder--she still didn't like getting too close to the dragon.

"Yeah, you'd better not drop me," Aristide said to the garnet, though he was smiling when he did so.