Responsibilities =/= All Nighters (OPEN)

[Tsunade]

"Grand-dam, you look terribly tired. Perhaps you should be resting."

Tired amber eyes smiled down at the little girl in her lap, strangely taken, as always, by the exact replica of her eyes gazing back at her with astonishing innocence, and yet, astonishing shrewdness at the same time. She'd always been terribly taken by her granddaughter - Faranth knew why. The little girl was extremely intelligent, yes (and never mind terribly like her in appearance, for which Igen's Weyrwoman was incredibly smug about), but she could be a right demon in disguise when she chose to be.

"When you're older, and have responsiblities...be they a rider's, a Holder's, a Craftmaster's, Tsu-darling...it becomes increasingly difficult to simply drop off to sleep like you are able to."

Great Cliff's Weyr Healer took advantage of the somewhat empty Dining Hall to voice a yawn, her tiny body expanding and almost seeming to crack with the effort. Tired amber eyes looked up from their breakfast to gaze around the Hall, subconsciously registering, but really too tired at this point to properly register, either.

Her grandmother had been right about that. It did become increasingly difficult to drop off to sleep when you had responsibilities...people who needed you around for some reason or other. In this case, Tsunade had been forced to stay beyond her initial day shift in the Healer's Weyr, partly as they're had not been enough for the night shift, partly because she had wanted to keep an eye on one of the ill riders, and partly because she was too stubborn to put her subordinates under any more pressure than they were. It was her one weakness in that iron-fisted facade; she worried more for those under her than she did for herself.

But she was the Weyr's Masterhealer. That was made more obvious by the fact that she was seated where she was, on the raised platform where the upper echleon of the Weyr resided and took their meals.

She could hardly shirk.

It was rather empty, though. Which she supposed was a good thing; she didn't want to look half dead to other members of the Weyr. But then, if there was someone to be distracted by, she'd probably be less inclined to fall asleep.

"J'raya..." she groused quietly, shaking a blonde pony tail over her shoulder as she grumbled her weyrmate's name. Of course it wasn't his fault that she'd stayed up for just on twenty-four hours straight, or that he wasn't here when she hadn't even sent Memnon or Naru to get him, but...well, when you'd been mates for as long as they had, it was just second nature - and fun, too - to blame the other for everything.

Such was life.

Tsunade muffled another yawn, pausing from eating her bread and soup to lean back in her chair and stretch a bit, feeling the immense relief of her bones popping and her tendons stretching back to life. Leaning forward, she tucked the honey-coloured bangs that framed her narrow face and too-large, yellow-tinted eyes behind her ears, her one feminine vanity in their bid to confuse an observer with how old or how young she was, before poking at her soup again.

[Ampara]

Aurora yawned, scrubbing her face with her hands as she walked into the dining hall. She looked a little disheveled, clothes in slight disarray and a bit dirty, but she didn't expect to see anyone that would care about it. She was the Weyrling Master and even if she was an official she was one with a responsibility to get her hands dirty. However, she was using that as an excuse, of late, to be out in the woods on her own (having more and less free time as they grew older, a strange paradox as some sevendays were hectic and others very sedate), trying not to feel as lonely and pathetic as she sometimes wanted to.

As it was she was sporting some nice scratches, carefully stretching her wrist, and was either hobbling a bit or had collected some rocks in her boot. Had she realized just who was precisely dining at the hour it was she probably would have avoided the dining hall entirely, because Aurora wasn't one to let anybody make a fuss over her. Weyrling Master was a nice position, it allowed her to be ignored entirely as long as she did her job right, and she was impeccable if sometimes acerbic and difficult to handle (or not well liked in some circles).

You should stop taking such extreme walks mine. It is not good for your health.[/color]
Look, if I am exploring then I can't be forewarned about obstacles that I don't know exist. Besides I'm hardly old, taking a tumble won't do me any harm.
Well next time I suppose you'll let me scout ahead for you.[/color]
Perhaps next time I'll leave you at the weyr you wherryhen.
Don't be snippy because you know I'm right. You are just mad I've gotten tired of waiting around for you to settle down and keep flying different greens.
Nonsense. It's not a bother to stay in my weyr.
You can't lie to me. You always seem to forget.[/color]

Aurora had a severe scowl plastered on her face by the time she reached the food, mumbling under her breath about what a contrary hatchling of a dragon she was stuck with and how if she'd wanted a mother then she'd find some female green rider to let him fly and so on and so forth.

Zionth was grumbling on his ledge about childish humans and how his rider really should have grown a sense of humor already.

Of course, had anyone else said the same sorts of things then they would be in for an earful at the least from both of them, probably more if it was Aurora that was being dealt with.

[J'zeni]

Of all the nights that Alvoradath decided to demonstrate exactly what dragon vomit looked like, it was last night. J'zeni was testing the Candidates on their skills and had a lecture planned about choices for different Crafts they should consider apprenticing in. He had it prepared and actually wrote it down, was reviewing it when his sharding bronze had gotten sick all over his work. Of course he cleaned it up. Of course Kitti helped. Unfortunately whatever Alvoradath had eaten didn't go away after the first attempt at expulsion.

They'd eventually had to wake up Baizynth so K'ivan could come and investigate. Alvoradath admittedly he'd eaten something that smelled good but didn't taste very good and K'ivan eased their worries. Even dragons can get food poisoning though strong as their stomachs are, the cases are rarely dangerous.

Just after dawn he'd washed up and gone for brief jog around the Weyrlake, then did some exercises and worked on Alvordath's flying. Hunger drove him to the Dining Hall. J'zeni slunk into the dining room, his eyes drooping as he oozed toward the table with the food. His first stop was the klah, and he poured himself a cup, drank half of it and then refilled his mug before moving on. Gradually he gathered items to eat, quite a plateful all things considered; however between his natural fast metabolism and the constant use of energy with both Candidates and Weyrlings, he always seemed to be hungry.

However, once he had his food, he looked around and hesitated as to where he should sit. Though 'but a Weyrling' by rights he could sit with the Weyr's leadership on their dais table. He glanced around and saw Aurora there, offering her a smile and a "Good mornin', looks as though I'm not the only one up so early?"

[Tsunade]

Fortunately for Aurora, the Weyr Healer was not one to fuss. It was often said that a Healer was the worst patient that could ever be handled, and Tsunade was a fine example of it. She hated being fussed over, preferring to fuss over herself if she needed fussing over, and even J'raya tended to tread carefully when it came to fussing over his iron-backed little weyrmate. The difference between most other Healers and Tsunade though, was that experience and self-observation had taught her when to know where making a fuss was required and when it wasn't.

That, and she was too sharding tired to argue. Even as her sharp amber eyes picked out the hobble in the Weyrlingmaster's steps, the scratches visible to her gaze, she kept her peace, merely waiting for Aurora to sit for a moment before rifling through the bag at her feet, producing one of her small jars of numbweed.

"You may want to rub it on your feet, too, when you head back to your weyr," she commented, her usual blunt but not entirely unkind nature direct and to the point and refusing to be bothered by the scowl (she'd had Turns to perfect her own scowl, thank you).

She left the jar there for Aurora to do as she pleased with before retracting a pale hand and raising her mug to her lips, sipping the warm liquid with relish and scratching bronze Memnon's head sedately as he nibbled on her leftover breakfast before glancing up when J'zeni entered. Making a point not to feel slighted by not being greeted, Tsunade waited until the young Candidate Master had greeted the Weyrlingmaster before finding her own voice.

"Good morning, Candidate Master. I hope Minato's not giving you too much trouble," she commented, sipping her tea again before offering him a fainter version of her son's fullbodied, playful, if closelipped smile.

Memnon, for his part, had finished accosting Tsunade's leftovers. Still hungry, he took advantage of the fact that his bane and bully, brown Naru, was not there to push him around, and thus, waddled to Aurora's plate. He was polite enough not just to take food from a plate not Tsunade's or J'raya's, but still, his whirling eyes were deliberately huge and hopeful in a bid to curry her favour, quite ready to lower his dignity should it mean getting more tidbits.

[Ampara]

Aurora turned to Tsunade with a fight in her eye, and apparently some sort of sarcastic or argumentative rebuttal on her tongue; however, she eyed the master healer head to toe and for some reason thought better of it. Perhaps she'd almost forgotten that she wasn't talking to Zionth, or perhaps it was J'zeni's arrival that caused her to bite her tongue (or simply gave her more reason to do so). She attempted to content herself by muttering darkly in her mind to Zionth and then rested her head on her tender wrist, and the fiercely muttered curse would be audible to Tsunade's ears alone.

"I'll, uhm, see if it helps then." Aurora said, finally, pocketing the salve. She was more hungry than hurting at the moment, and decided she'd rather lick her wounds in private so to speak.

"I guess late or early depends on the perspective." The faintest bit of color rose to her cheeks before it disappeared again, not wanting to reveal that she'd spent the better part of the night into morning blundering around by herself.

"But either way, klah is the only solution." She raised her mug to her lips and took a large swallow to emphasize her point, just the smell was enough to do a little improvement to the spirits.

Aurora's eyes slid to Tsunade, listening to her inquiry. It was always prudent to find out about the troublemakers before they found out about you, but it was up to the dragons whether they were her problem or not so she wasn't going to pay extra close attention. Her bleary eyes happened upon Memnon, and even though she could scowl and yell with the best of them she had a soft spot for dragons and their cousins. Her own firelizard could attest to that.

Aurora scooted some of her food off of her plate in the firelizard's direction. He was quite welcome to it. She could always go back and get more.

[J'zeni]

His greeting was not meant to offend, and he’d meant to include both the Healer and Weyrling Mistress in it. Had he realized it appeared he neglected Tsunade on purpose, he would have been guilty and embarrassed. She was relatively new to the Weyr still so his mind processed the familiar first. Aurora was simply the one he recognized the fastest in his been-up-all-night stupor.

“Mhm…. Maybe it is late.” J’zeni nodded in agreement. Speaking to Aurora on this level was strange. She was his teacher yet his equal at the same time due to their positions. He was never sure about their relationship. After all, but a few months ago she was the Weyrling Mistress, ranked high above his lowly position of weyrbrat, despite the work he did for K’ivan. During the murders a few Turns before, they had developed an unexpected if formal friendship starting when he’d almost run into her. He wasn’t sure why she favored him with what he thought of as a gift.

As the stimulating liquor made its way to his veins and brain, he blinked and a slight flush appeared on his cheeks at his title. True, it had been nearly a Turn since he officially gained the position (it coincided almost perfectly with his Impression) however he still had the awkward stance of one far younger than the other ‘officers’ of the Weyr. Nodding toward Tsunade, he pulled forth one of his broad, dimpled smiles as he nodded to her, “Good morning, Master Healer. Minato’s doing well. He’s a good student though he has to learn to be more sure of himself.”

He eyed the fire-lizard on the table; however his expression did not reveal his thoughts. Unlike the ladies, J’zeni trained both his fire-lizards rigorously to ensure they were not beggars. It was a very common practice to allow the little ones to take food as they chose. J’zeni knew enough about Starjumper that the queen would walk all over him metaphorically if he didn’t curtail her behavior. It had been hard to break her of the habit of taking his food that she’d developed when they were both younger. As it was he did give her some of his food, just ensured it was not from his plate.

J’zeni stifled a yawn. He shifted in place a moment, trying to decide if he should sit with them or if it was alright… I wonder if the others use titles while they’re together or if they’re just using mine because I’m so much younger? He was suddenly incredibly aware of the age differences. By his estimate both women were old enough to be his mother. Finally he decided to take the polite approach. “Mind if I… would it be alright if I joined you?” He looked from Aurora to Tsunade and then back.

[Tsunade]

Tsunade took a good portion of amusement out of the Weyrlingmistress pausing in her almost-tirade for daring to enquire after her well-being. She was used that from both counts, especially the latter from dragonriders, but she had the good sense to cover the smile twitching her sensual mouth by hiding it behind her klah that both that and the muttered curse elicited, knowing full well that t'would be appreciated later when the numbweed she'd given made life that much more comfortable Aurora.

A stern look was levelled in Memnon's direction for debasing himself in such a way; she thought he'd have known better. But then again, he was so used to being pushed about by the bigger, older Naru that it really was no wonder he was taking such an opportunity that presented itself now, and the Healer sighed, shaking her head before ignoring her little bronze in favour of J'zeni.

Her amber eyes gleamed with mild amusement; she knew perfectly well her son was a good lad, fortunately less inclined to indulge in the mischief and havoc that had gotten his parents into so much trouble at his age. That, and she knew that he knew that if he misbehaved and she heard of it, she'd give him a hiding for it.

"He's a smart boy," she murmured, sipping her drink and nodding absently in agreement. J'zeni was indeed right on that account - Minato had a great deal of potential to give, whatever he chose to do, but he still lacked the confidence needed to implement it without fear of retribution, whatever said retribution was.

"Don't be afraid to challenge him, J'zeni," she added, firmly but not unkindedly, and she smiled a little as she lowered her cup, nodding her head to the spare seat beside her in an invitation to sit. Really, she knew she was a little full on to deal with sometimes, but she wasn't unreasonable.

[Ampara]

It was no doubt good that Tsunade hid her amusement. The weyrling master had a reputation for her lesser bad moods as her being in a good mood. Even those she had a soft spot for caused her to feel contemptuous of herself. Yet she did not give up her position as the iron fist that kept the Great Cliffs weyrlings in line even though the grief of the job kept its keepers in something of a continual rotation. Aurora considered herself above meaningless emotion, and while impressing a dragon could have served to make her more accessible it seemed she guarded any spare emotion even more jealously. She didn't take a weyrmate and preferred to drink herself into an oblivion after any flights though she did not deter Zionth at all.

Aurora 'hmphed' at Tsunade's mention of challenges.

"I should hope he challenges them all. He knows I don't take kindly to incompetence."

She had no opinion one way or another, and deferred to Tsunade's invitation.

You are such a grump.
You chose to put up with me.
Well this is why I told you to go to bed instead of that ill advised hike. We both know what you're like when you don't get your rest. I prefer you hungover. At least when you're cranky you just sleep it off.

It really was a mystery how Zionth chose Aurora of all people. Such a fun loving dragon in comparison to his sullen human.