[PRP] Rest Day, Pest Day (Mari, Dolly, flits)

[Thaliawen]

Free time was something Marinel usually looked forward to. It was something of a rarity now, he supposed. Candidates always seemed to be busy; and when they weren't in lessons or doing chores, they were practicing their own crafts. Or eating. Or feeding noisy, recently hatched firelizards. He didn't mind being kept busy, not really. It kept his mind off things, but...

His little green was giving him trouble. She kept taking off, and he'd chase... Where had she gotten off too now?! Shards. "Probably to the kitchens again," he grumbled, and started that way.  

[ShinosBee]

Half-Mark was, frankly put, the perfect firelizard in Dolmar's mind. He never went flying about wildly, or screaming and begging for food. He didn't fuss or make a mess, and though he often went off somewhere without Dolmar, he never got into trouble (or at least, if he did the little brown had the sense to get out of it again without being caught or blamed) or injured.

Some new firelizard 'parents' were not so lucky.

Following the hatching on the beaches, a few more eggs had popped up for sale here and there, and more than one candidate had gotten their hands on the precious things. Everyone was enthusiastic about them, but some either had a less firm hand with their new charges, or had had the misfortune of picking a particularly rowdy egg. Like Nel had.

They'd all of them, mostly, been lounging about in the barracks during free hours, when once again his green (what had he named her? Dolmar was certain that Nel had told him, but he'd forgotten it now as unimportant) had leapt up, trilled, and gone sailing out the door with Nel hot on her heels. A long sigh slipped from Dolmar's lips as he slid smoothly to his feet a moment later, lifting Half-Mark to drape languidly about his shoulders as he made after Nel's retreating back. Exactly why he felt compelled to help, or at least see that he didn't trip and fall down a flight or ten of stairs while after his green, was beyond the young man.  

[Thaliawen]

The green was out of sight as Marinel panted. He'd run towards the kitchens, but then the green had appeared behind him--and gone again. He groaned. "You know, I'm starting to see why people say green firelizards aren't very smart," he said, when he'd spotted Dolmar. Shards, where was she?

The green in question appeared from between and perched onto Dolmar's head. She gave a happy chirrup.

"Hey! Shards, I'm sorry!" Marinel hurried over to the other boy. "Liasa, come here!"  

[ShinosBee]

Dolmar had been about to make some no doubt scathing jab about how the demeanor of the pet often reflected that of its master when the green in question came -pop!- from between, crooning and clambering atop his head as if her little claws didn't sting and scratch through his peach-fuzz of hair. A pulse ran the length of the young man's jaw, though he did not cry out in pain or surprise, instead simply coming to a halt and reaching up to firmly and insistantly push the firelizard from its perch.

Overhead Half-Mark too winked into existance, shrieking the lizard equivalent of obscenity at she who had dared try to claim his person. "Perhaps she's looking for someone who can mind her better, or at leadt with enough discipline to break her of these bad habits. Faranth's own egg, you'd swear she were the master, and you the pet, like this!"  

[Thaliawen]

The firelizard moved from Dolmar's head and onto his shoulder with an irritable squawk. She rubbed her cheek against his, and nuzzled his ear. She only stopped when she heard Half Mark and hissed.

"I'm trying!" Marinel promised. "I knew people with firelizards and they weren't difficult like her." His father hadn't had one, though, nor his brother, so he couldn't say he'd grown up around them. He reached Dolmar's shoulder and firmly took hold of the green flit. "I'm sorry," he said again.

He set the furious firelizard on his arm. "Stop it," he said. The green looked between Marinel and Dolmar, before she seemed to calm and settle where she was perched.  

[ShinosBee]

When the green dared to his as if Dolmar was her person, it was only a firm mental command from Dolmar that kept him from diving and trying to savage the poor stupid thing. He was fiercely defensive of what was his, and he was not at all happy about this, tiny eyes ruby-red against his near-black hide. When Marinel snatched the green away he swooped down, perching on his person and flaring his wings at her to tell her to stay away! That one was hers, not this one!

Dolmar for his part was just exasperated. "Yes, I've seen plenty of others, even our fellow candidates, with firelizards. None with your particular...trouble...but still." On his shoulder Half-Mark suddenly screeched again, leaping onto Marinel's shoulder and looking as if he was thinking of trying to drive Liasa away. This one was his-not-his as well, and who was she thinking she could have either?

Dolmar was a bit stunned at his own brown's sudden aggression. "Get off of Nel, Half-Mark," he scolded, though the brown just crooned pitifully at him and refused to budge. "Yours is being a terrible influence as well, I see, Nel!"  

[Thaliawen]

"I really am trying," Marinel insisted. "Liasa, calm down," he urged the green, reaching to stroke her. He was rather surprised when Half-Mark ended up on his shoulder. He smiled slightly, baffled. "Half-Mark, calm down," he added.

Liasa was back on Dolmar's shoulder in a flash.

"You guys!" Marinel stared in disbelief. "Sorry," he said again, looking to Dolmar. "I don't know what's gotten into her. Half-Mark, don't follow her example. She's a dimglowed green!"  

[ShinosBee]

This was utterly nonsensical. Truly. Both firelizards were just behaving like children, and Dolmar could feel a rush of anger wanting to surge up inside him. With a practiced push of effort he stuffed it back down, knowing that letting it loose would only make Half-Mark's immature antics worse. The brown was a hissing, spitting mess, scrambling down the length of Nel's arm (and no doubt pricking a path of bloody claw marks on the way) to screech at the green. His! HIS! Both were his and none were hers and if a firelizard could forge a grudge, he would have been just then.

"This is utterly absurd. I've no idea why he's gone and gotten so possessive of you as well. I mean, certainly you were feeding him, but he's bound to me. No offense, but you shouldn't mean more to him than any other overly-charitable hand."

At the idea, probably offended, the brown began blasting a jumble of confused, possessive feelings at them both, and the nearest he could manage to mental snapshots of both of their faces, over and over and over, so fast as to nearly being overlapping.

"Half-Mark, what...?"  

[Thaliawen]

What? What was going on? He flinched at the brown climbing down his arms. "Shards! Half-Mark!" He complained. He'd definitely have a scratch later! "Calm down! There's plenty of meatrolls for both of you!" Was it really all about food? What was going on?

"I don't know. He shouldn't be..." Marinel looked baffled as he looked between the two flits. "Liasa seems to really like you, too. Have you been feeding her?"

He paused. Liasa was mimicking the mental blast. "He's not me!" He said.  

[ShinosBee]

The bit of the hallways the two boys and their firelizards were in had become very little more than a creeling, squawking, scratching, ridiculous corner of the weyr, and Dolmar could feel the grasping tendrils of a pulsing headache creeping up the back of his neck and across his skull. He had been half about to reach up and pull the green bodily off of himself, but instead found himself grinding the pads of his long slim fingers into his temples. "Ugh. The noise of them both is not helping this...!" He was all but snarling, the combined confusion and pain and demand that this was his being blasted from multiple directions leaving Dolmar furious, frankly.

"I haven't fed your sharding firelizard Nel, for Faranth's sake...!"

Finally snapping, and probably because no one else was around to see, he reached out, giving a firm shove to Nel's chest, pushing him away. Half-Mark screeched, flapping up into the air, and twisted around to grab at Marinel's longer hair, trying apparently to tug them back together. The mental bombardment of feelings and vague images continued, and the young man grit his teeth against the cacophony, waving a hand as if to push Liasa off of himself, though never actually making contact.

"Thread above, what in Faranth's name has gotten into them?!"  

[Thaliawen]

Was Dolmar alright? ...The noise was admittedly, starting to get to him too. He scrunched up his face against it. "Quiet!" He snapped at the firelizards. They'd never understand what they meant if they kept screeching.

"I don't know why she's acting like this, then!" He stumbled back when shoved, blinking in confusion. "Half-Mark, stop it," he instructed the brown, firmly. "Calm down. Tell us what you want us to know!"

What was upsetting the brown so much? They were supposed to be intelligent! Liasa had less brain than a wherry, but Half-Mark... "Shards," he muttered. "If feeding him's caused all this trouble, I'm really sorry."  

[ShinosBee]

Dolmar didn't honestly think that either of them feeding or not feeding the little tunnelsnakes with wings had led to this. How could it? He'd no doubt have heard of it happening, and the general practice with others' firelizards would be to ignore them, not indulge them, by this century. So it had to be something else. Of course it was sharding hard to think when you were being screamed at from multiple directions and scratched up and just. The image of his face and Nel's face over and over and over was so 'loud' coming from both firelizards that it was somehow drowning out more and more of this inane chaos. Dolmar's hands went up to clutch his head, snarling at the throbbing ache that came from aggressive overstimulation. Even with his eyes pinched shut he could see their faces--him, Nel, him, Nel--...

As it turned out, suddenly realizing what was what didn't bring instant relief. Or even joy. It was still hideously loud, just now he felt a swift rush of cold numbness spill down his spine to fill him up inch by inch. And then a flash of heat, and the pool inside him surged to a roiling, frothing anger. Half-Mark screamed and leapt into the air as Dolmar's fist flashed out, snapping towards Nel's jaw. "How dare you?!" It took a moment to realize he'd been the one to snarl that with such passionate agony.

"How could you do this to me, M--..." A ragged breath huffed out, and dimly the young man realized he'd begun to cry. Thick streaks of tears were running down his face from still-glaring, if suddenly broken-hearted eyes. "For months...for months I thought..." His hand came up again, to punch? To grab? "I thought you were dead, Marinel!" It was a grab, his long thin fingers trying to grasp at any part of Nel--Marinel's form or clothes. "You let me think you were dead...!?"

((OOC: *braced for the drama* Dolamr has let slip his grasp on his feels and is going in a moment or two to be very happy but right now is a lot of Too Much to react in a really great way. Sorry Mari!))  

[Thaliawen]

What. What?! Marinel only had a moment to comprehend what was going on, eyes widening. Dolly?! But--but how could he have known?! Shards, he'd never given him his name! He did nothing to dodge his brother's hand, he was too stunned. His eyes were filling with tears. How dare he? How dare he? This wasn't fair! He'd thought Dolmar had been dead! Why was he so angry?

He shoved at Dolmar. "You dimglow!" He said, wiping at his eyes. "If you'd only given me your name! Any of those times I asked for it, we would've figured out ages ago!" It wasn't his fault. It wasn't. "I thought you were dead!"

He swallowed, painfully. A lump had formed in his throat. "I didn't let you think anything. I didn't--" it was hard to speak. He took a sharp breath. "I couldn't stand being there without you! I tried to find you! But..." he'd gotten lost. A trading caravan had found and taken him in. He reached for Dolmar, then. "I'm sorry."  

[ShinosBee]

Dolmar staggered back now, the twisting, raging emotions in his chest nearly choking him and leaving his head spinning. For one sharp moment he thought he'd pitch over and be prone upon the stone floor of the hallway they were in, but he caught himself, barely, by the hand that'd snaked out just quick and close enough to grab the front of Marinel's shirt. "Shut up," He hissed, for a moment looking like he was about to leap forward again and strike.

Instead he just tugged the other and himself together, an awkward clash of limbs as Dolmar attempted to physically wrap himself around his long lost younger twin. "Shut up," He hissed again over Marinel's apologies. "Just shut up. You never could shut up, could you?" He didn't actually want him to be quiet. If having him back meant having to suffer unending chatter, he'd simply learn to live with it.

Part of him was still livid, furious. Part of him had never been happier.  

[Thaliawen]

Marinel wrapped his arms around Dolmar and held him tightly. He inhaled sharply, and an audible sob escaped him. He'd missed Dolmar so much. So much. For months. He'd struggled to sleep, he'd struggled to try and feel that void that left him feeling incomplete. "I'm sorry," he muttered, again.

Words couldn't express how he felt, anyway, so he swallowed them back at Dolmar's. He was so sorry he hadn't realized. He'd talked to Dolmar about his brother--why hadn't he seen the similarities?! And why did it still hurt so much.

He leaned into Dolmar's hold. "I've missed you, Dolly."