The eggtravagant gift hatches

Writers: Eimi, Paula
Date Posted: 12th June 2019

Characters: Corowal, Erassa
Description: Their firelizard eggs hatches.
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 11, day 16 of Turn 9
Notes: Yeah, do let me invent the titles.../s

"Thank the Egg you're back!" Erassa said, after the door closed behind
the Lord Holder. She was ringing her hands nervously. "I was almost
afraid I was going to have to Impress them both. Do you have the meat
scraps?"

"Yes, I have, I came thru the kitchens," Corowal replied, still bit
out of breath and patted the side of the bowl he was carrying. The
kitchen staff had quickly gathered some scraps in to it and given it
to him when he had barged into the kitchen.

"Well, get down here then," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling
him down to sit beside her. Erassa pushed the jar containing the
rocking smaller egg towards him. "I'm just glad you weren't out in
the fields today."

"Isn't that why Lady Yanley has two firelizard. Luckily, I was near
by," Corowal took his jar and placed it between his legs. He made sure
the meat bowl was within hand's reach. His egg was rocking and ..."Is
that a crack?" he askes with reverent whisper.

Erassa dared to look away from her golden egg for a moment to lean
close to inspect his. "I think it is," she whispered with awe. "And
it's shaking much more violently than mine now. Do you know what to
do when it breaks through?"

"Yes, I do, warm, welcoming thoughts and shovel food to his mouth,"
Corowal replied, then was distracted by the popping sounds.
Firelizards were arriving. After finding a perch to land, they started
their welcoming humm. Corowal recognized some of them as belonging to
staff members. The humm he had heard many times while attending the
Weyr's Hatchings. "We have an audience."

"How did they know?" Erassa asked, a little awed by the welcome their
little friends were receiving.

"The way they always know," Corowal replied but then his egg made a
rip-sound and his attention was pulled back to it. The crack was
widening and something dark was pushing out. He held his breath when
with a final push, the firelizard broke his way out of shell. He
snatched some meat and put it in front of hungrily creeling little
fellow. "Welcome home," he concentrated his thoughts at it, his voice
almost humming like their audience.

Erassa's eyes were drawn immediately to the little fellow who had
tumbled out of his shell. "Is that a..."

By tangling a piece of meat in front of his snout, Corowal managed to
lure the firelizard out of the jar and into his lap. Using his free
hand, he rubbed some of the egg yolk off to reveal a metallic sheen.
"A bronze," he confirmed and his other hand kept showeling meat scraps
at him. If there was too long pause when he went for new piece, there
was demanding, hungry creel.

"That is extraordinary," his companion said softly, her eyes wide with
her astonishment. It looked just like a tiny bronze sculpture of a
dragon come alive. There was a noticeable increase in the volume of
the humming that drew her eyes aloft. "What are they doing now?"

"Your egg! They are waiting the gold's arrival," Corowal replied with
some urgency in his voice, looking at Erassa's egg.

"Oh, shards!" she said, having completely forgotten her own friend's
imminent arrival. Erassa turned her full attention to the golden egg
rocking violently now. She tried to remember what she had just seen
Corowal do. "Warm welcome thoughts, and shovel in the food," she
repeated his instructions as she pulled over the bowl. "Look! A
crack!"

"I see it," Corowal replied. The bronze in his lap was starting to
slow down with his rate of eating.

Erassa gasped as a golden nose broke through the top of the shell.
"Oh, here she comes!" she exclaimed, grabbing a handful of meat.
"Look at that!" Her voice was full of wonder as she watched the
little queen punch through with ravenous ferocity. "Well, she knows
what she wants! Come here little one... Look what I have for you..."

"She's lovely," Corowal said, his gaze switching between the gold
hatchling and his own bronze.

The little gold grabbed at the offered meat voraciously, barely
chewing as she swallowed it down. She then lifted her tiny head up to
the woman holding the bowl and gave a questioning chirp. Erassa's
hand reached for another piece, but she could not take her eyes
off those of the demanding queen. "I... have never felt like this...
before..."

"Amazing, isn't it?" Corowal said with gentle tone and tried to clean
up his firelizard. The little bronze hatchling had now eaten his fill
and was yawning.

"She is," Erassa said with a tender-hearted smile as she answered the
gold's hungry pleas. When finally she had also eaten her fill, Erassa
pulled her into her lap, the little gold curling herself possessively
around her hand. Scooting closer to Corowal, she asked for the cloth.

Corowal handed her the handkerchief he had been using on his own flit.
The bronze curled in his lap and fell asleep. Corowal didn't want to
move and woke him up. His muzzle was resting on the crook of his arm
and he could already feeling his arm go numb.

"That was intense," Erassa sighed after she was satisfied that her
little friend was clean. She couldn't stifle her own yawn. "I think
I'm just as tired as they are now."

"Me too, must be their emotions leaking thru. Have you thought about a
name yet?" Corowal answered and asked. He himself was going thru a
list of potential names in his mind.

"I had thought 'Gleam' before, but now that I look at her," Erassa
said, moving her head and watching the light play on the golden hide,
"she looks more like a 'Shimmer' to me. You?"

"Well, I was thinking Skipper, but that feels too mundane for a
bronze. I was also thinking of naming him after some distant ancestor.
Then I landed to Sentry or Vigilant. The later shortened to Vigil and
it kind feels like the right one," Corowal replied.

"'Vigil', huh?" she asked with an accusatory sideways glance, though
her lips were curled in a one-sided smile. "I see. You got him to
spy on me, didn't you."

Corowal snorted. "No, he'll be too busy guarding my back. Well, maybe
keeping an eye on the children too."

"Hmmm... Maybe I should send Shimmer to watch your back as well," she
said with mock suspicion. "You can never go wrong with an extra pair
of eyes, now can you."

"She won't be very discreet about it, then," Corowal remarked
cheerfully. "From what I've seen, gold flits tend to have courts of
adoring males around them all the time."

"Who says I want her to be discreet?" she asked, batting her eye
lashes at him innocently.

"Oh-ou," Corowal murmured. Then he thought of something. "Be careful
though, you might see more than you wanted to," he said with little
naughty smirk.

"Well, I can tell you now that if I see your little Vigil follow me
around at times he shouldn't, he'll have Shimmer to deal with," Erassa
said with a lift of her eyebrow.

"Okey," Corowal said meekly. He leaned to whisper to his flit, "did
you hear that? Were being bossed by the ladies." The bronze remained
oblivious to the world around him.

Erassa leaned down to whisper to the little bronze, "It's best to
understand this now rather than later. Life goes smoother that way."
She gave the Lord Holder a little wink before contentedly looking down
at her little gold, caressing her head lovingly.

Last updated on the June 24th 2019

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The eggtravagant gift hatches