The Browncoat Clutch [and hatching]

[giftwrapped]

"Firelizards."

Firelizards.

"Well, boys. What do you think we make an entrance in style?"

Lanakirene hadn't been around long, but the quick call to a flitter hatching aroused her interest quite neatly. And there were some things you didn't leave alone. And who knew! Judging by Kith's quick assessment of the voice of the dragon calling, it was the rider of a hatchling from the recent clutch. Perfect time to make connections! "Come on, you," she called lightly, twitching a shoulder to the enormous bronze firelizard slumbering on her pillow. Trouble lifted his head, snorted, and lumbered to his feet. A few flaps and he landed heavily on the healer's shoulder, digging claws into her tunic as Lanakirene leaned heavily on her cane to adjust to the sudden unbalance.

And then she was off at a leisurely clip to the Weyrling barracks, making a point to smile and nod at those she passed. If she was lucky, she'd be able to bump into a junior weyrling or two, and if she was really lucky, maybe even an atypical. She had hopes. Chuckling softly into La's ear, the spotted bronze chattered eagerly as they approached the commotion.

They were late. Most of the firelizards had found their own. Lanakirene cast a well-practiced eye over the hatchlings and their new owners, assessing health before she turned her attention to the owner of the cl-OH FARANTH AN ATYPICAL. LIFE. MADE.

All of a sudden, hatchlings weren't even important to Lanakirene. The rider of the grey dragon was important. Grinning and tapping her cane cheerfully against her foot, she approached the eggs and made a fuss over the remainders. "So then. Hello, pretties. You're all that's left?"

From his place on Lanakirene's shoulder, Trouble trilled at the remaining eggs before turning his full attention to the grey dragonet.

I know, dear. I see him too.

(I'll go with 8)

[Zen]

There were three eggs left. They were each different in their own separate ways but fate brought them to this point, to this standstill. None wanted to hatch first, and none wanted to have the disdain of hatching last. Finally, as if knowing it had waited long enough, the You Die Egg broke. It was a mournful breaking, and the brown just spilled out of its shell sadly. Its counterparts, a bronze and a brown, had already left it. The brown was saddened but it certainly was not giving up. The brown was more red than brown and he looked as if he were covered in some sort of blood… perhaps from a past engagement. He stood unevenly on his red legs and stared at the Secrets Egg.

But it was not the shivering egg that would hatch next. The Fragile Creatures Egg sliced open daintily almost, though in reality with all the egg goop covering the inside (and now outside) of the egg, it was a thoroughly disgusting process. Out flopped a green firelizard. She was a beauty, and she was on her feet in a second trying to seduce the only hatchling not Impressed yet. The brown just snorted at her and pushed her away. The green lowered her head, but both heads swerved back to the Secrets Egg as it crashed away from what it had held.

The Secrets Brown was a nice tan brown… but what danced over his skin was… well, for all intensive purposes it looked like blood. A sly fellow, he meandered up to the already hatched babies and stared at them in silence. The other brown disliked this and cawed raucously, which made the second brown back up. But he was resistant to the first brown’s demands and he huffed as he lifted his head. His whirling red eyes focused on the You Die Brown with malice.

The green felt as if this stand-off were too much for her and she moved gracefully to the one with the food who looked like she needed her. Rodana was graced with a firelizard at her feet. The firelizard stared up at her and begged for the food the woman would give her. Impression was made.

The two browns were facing off. The first brown hated the second. The second brown played on this hatred and allowed it to build. His sinuous form dripped with the ‘blood’-red coloring as he moved. Finally, he broke off, hissed a few words to the Kill You Blue, and stared intently at the Fallacious Green, both of whom had already Impressed. He wanted nothing more than to steal the green away… for some odd reason, and he knew both the red-brown and the blue would never let him do it. So he settled with the next best thing. Lanakirene would suddenly feel the coldness of between as the brown landed on her shoulder. Impression happened and by the shards if food wasn’t given he’d hurt someone.

The remaining brown looked longingly at the Kill You Blue and the This Land Bronze but decided that neither of them needed any more firelizards. So she turned to T’ron. He was interesting enough, and he had firelizards already. They’d need be kept in line and he was the best at doing that—even from this young of age. Rorschach blinked with confusion as T’ron lifted the little firelizard to him and fed the brown. But Bitmap knew what was going on and he welcomed the firelizard to the team. Cabarath seemed to grin. I would like to name him. His name is Red Briar. So Red Briar it was.




Name: ??
Impressed to: Rodana
Name of hatchling: Fragile Creatures Green
Firefly character: Inara Serra

Name: ??
Impressed to: Lanakirene
Name of hatchling: Secrets Brown
Firefly character: The Operative

Name: Red Briar
Impressed to: T’ron
Name of hatchling: You Die Brown
Firefly character: Zoë Washburne

[lightning]

Ferris bit the inside of his lip, using the pain to keep himself sane for a while. Suddenly, one of the eggs burst, revealing a dark, deadly-looking blue. Interesting... he thought to himself as he watched the blue's actions. This was almost as good as a trip.

He had about a second to react before the blue leaped onto his arm and held himself in place with teeth and claws. The intense pain quickly evaporated all desire for Dust, filling the void with the natural instinct to survive by whatever means possible. "Get off me, you sharding piece of Threadspawn!" He gripped the flit around the neck and squeezed, causing it to latch on to him more securely for a moment. As its strength waned, however, its grip loosened and Ferris was able to tear the blue from his arm. It sat on the floor, catching its breath and hissing angrily at him. It was then that he noticed that he'd Impressed the beast. "Oh, for the love of Faranth; I'm supposed to raise you?!" he exclaimed in frustration. The blue seemed to grin maniacally at him.

"Arright, then, you sadist, let's see how you like this!" He grabbed a piece of meat and practically shoved it down the firelizard's throat. Somehow, the blue seemed to enjoy this and bit down on the meat with vigor, often biting Ferris's fingers as much as the meat. Once sated, the blue was content to lay on Ferris's wounded arm, occasionally sucking at a bitemark to lap up the blood. "That's your name, then. Sadist." Thus dubbed, Sadist eyed his new owner, apparently liking what he saw. He nibbled on Ferris's arm again, less insanely than the first time. The prisoner bit his lip again, this time drawing blood, which Sadist eagerly licked off his face.

[tuathade]

...Oh dear.

Rodana didn't much like the look of the vicious blue, though given the way his new owner reacted, the two would be perfect for each other. Shards and shells. And then there were two positively bloody-looking browns snapping at each other, and their poor clutchsister in the middle just trying to make nice. Now, Rodana didn't doubt her ability to handle one of the rougher browns, should they turn their attention her way - you just had to have a strong will and a firm hand, right? But for a first flit, she'd rather been hoping for a more even-tempered sort...

And oh, there came the sensible girl! Pretty little green, she was, and bright enough to get out of the way of the browns' stand-off before someone got bit. Rodana knelt down and scooped her up without a trace of hesitation, scritching her under the chin with the tip of one forefinger before helping herself to a few of the provided meat scraps. Sh'lon got a grateful smile as she fed the green hatchling.

She's lovely, Maeth chimed in, mindvoice warm. What are you going to name her?

"Grace," Rodana said aloud, after a moment's thought. "She's Grace."

[giftwrapped]

Lanakirene's attention was drawn briefly away from the eggs by the young man scrabbling with the blue, and her expression turned suddenly cross. Moving forward to separate them, expression one of hardened anger, she was astonished when she caught the rainbow hue in the eyes of the little creature and backed off slightly, though her expression toward Ferris and Sadist was no less concerned. Perhaps it would behoove her to take the boy aside and give him a quick knock or two with her cane to get some sense into that stupid head.

And then she noticed the guard lurking behind him and her expression grew even darker. A prisoner mistreating a firelizard. She would have to talk to someone about such things. But a quick whistle from the bronze firelizard on her shoulder brought her attention back to the eggs - or where the eggs had been. Now there were three hatchlings, a little green, a brown, and...a red?

Faranth, what was that? Frowning, Lanakirene watched as the reddish firelizard (it couldn't be red, that was utterly ridiculous) faced off against the other brown, expression curiously neutral as she realized the more "normal" of the pair (though he, too, was dipped in red) was playing with the other. "Little ass," she murmured to herself. A handful indeed. And her expression only grew more curious as the creature cast a longing glance at another of the hatchlings.

And then he winked out, and La frowned. Lost. A pity. Her attention turned quickly to the red baby, but a sudden blast of cold and the prickle of claws on the shoulder opposite Trouble attracted her attention. And then the harsh demand of the creature cut through her and she frowned. "You really are a little jackass, aren't you?" she remarked, irritation toward Ferris still coursing through her.

The warmth of Impression glowing in the back of his mind even as he made his harsh demand, the little brown ran his muzzle through her hair. Sighing, Lanakirene reached into a pocket and pulled out a strip of wherry jerky. Tearing it into smaller pieces, she stuffed them down the waiting brown gullet, exhausting the supply and scooping up additional meat scraps until the creature's demanding belly was full. Then she fed Trouble, who was demanding what was left over.

Then Trouble craned his head around the back of her neck, nosed the brown lump who had just eaten himself into a near-stupor, and got clawed in the face. Cackling angrily, he withdrew, and the brown resettled himself with an air of satisfaction. Lanakirene sighed.

"I had wanted to give you a proper name, you know," she remarked to the hatchling. "But I think I like Jackass better. And then we can call you Jack and nobody will know the difference."

[S'yal]

Z's mouth pressed into a thin line as he found himself being scolded by a firelizard, of all things! The handler seized the flit around the middle, holding him like one might hold up a baby. "You're scolding me too, huh?" He asked the firelizard with a grin on his face, lifting a rough hand to rub the small head. "No worries, kiddo. I wouldn't actually get you drunk. But what to name you?"

Zalmask stirred in the back of his mind, but Z ignored her for a moment. He was more focused on his new firelizard, it seemed. The mans headache had been forgotten in favor of the bliss of impression, and he smirked at the little creature. "Since you insist on scolding me like him, I'll call you Warden. You like that?"

Warden chirped an agreement, his eyes whirling a content green. "Now, let's get some food in you and then i'll introduce you to the rest of the gang. About time I got some male company."