Baby born and healthy, house reorganized and finally settled again, Elsarin with a new job on-station so he could be with his daughter, family started on the right track... it was high time Deravia got things stirred up again, she decided, when she got the call for the next hatching. It was almost habit, now, to get herself ready quickly for a hatching, particularly when she had the amount of warning she had, this time!

It was just as well she had so much time, in fact, for the previously seamless habit now had to extend to a whole family. Now, she had Thenna to fix into a sling across her chest, for more comfortable carrying, Lisaleth to reassure and send into the stands with Elsarin, and Elsarin to assure that she and her daughter would be fine on the sands alone. There was no way she would allow him on the bay floor with her; given her track record, so far, he would bond, and not she! If Thenna hadn't been in a stage where she howled inconsolably, and ear-splittingly, if she was separated from her mother, Deravia would have left her in the stands, as well.

::I won't let anybody else bond Thenna-baby!:: Lisaleth had said fiercely when she made the mistake of mentioning the thought to her, while she changed clothes. It had taken a lot of convincing, after that, to keep her behind with Elsarin. After a few minutes of standing on the bay floor, with the clutch taking its own sweet time to hatch, it took another round of silent convincing to keep her there.

At last, eggs began cracking, and Deravia focused on them with some measure of anticipation creaking through the general boredom of yet another hatching, and a slow hatching, at that. The parents were unique, though, and seemed like a gentle pair. She thought vaguely that one was one of those Avengaean dragons she'd heard about, but that was the most she knew about them. The first hatchlings, though, were lovely children, and she smiled, watching them choose their bonds. There seemed to be two distinct types, and Deravia suddenly wondered whether it was possible for a clutch of dragonets to have two fathers....

When one of the hatchlings, one who looked more like the present father, Laudu Lenudah-- the Avengaean?-- started towards her, after a brief survey of the candidates and two previous pauses in front of other candidates, Deravia held her breath. The little one had wing-arms, but no feathers, mahogany fur mottled with gold, and violet crest-feathers. When the hatchling stopped at her feet and gave a satisfied little nod, she sighed it out again. When she looked up at her with a small smile, Deravia even smiled a little, back.

"I think you'll do," the dragonet said aloud, surprising Deravia at the power of verbal speech even newly-hatched. But another surprise made her quickly forget that much smaller one: she quite suddenly knew her name. Guari Usadah. That meant... that meant she'd... bonded. She'd finally bonded a dragonet. Finally. She felt like laughing. She didn't, though, because she could also sense that little Guari was a somewhat serious soul, making an effort to be mature already despite being only moments from the shell, and laughing would simply ruin the poor child's efforts at composure.

Guari noticed Thenna, then, who was dozing lightly against Deravia's breast-- thankfully not hungry, just then! "Oh!" she exclaimed, though softly, and blinked green eyes lightly. "May I see her?"

Before Deravia could cheerfully oblige-- she might have been somewhat more practical than most mothers, but she still loved to show off her beautiful offspring-- a telepathic voice cut across both of their minds, surprising them both and waking Thenna. Thankfully, it was a familiar telepathic voice, so the child didn't start screaming, but instead giggled and waved a tiny hand in the direction of her bond.

::You can't bond her!:: Lisaleth cried, perched on the railing with her wings mantling furiously. ::She's mine already!::

Guari turned her little muzzle towards the stands and sent back calmly, ::I wasn't going to bond the baby. I only wanted to see her, silly. I'd rather have Deravia than some infant.::

Torn between pleasure at being chosen over someone else, and indignation that her beautiful baby was just "some infant", Deravia cleared her throat and commented, "Don't I get a choice in the matter?"

Her "choice", as it were, was moot, given the bond had already formed, and Deravia had accepted it joyfully just a moment before. Guari's response, full of calm confidence and marked with a hint of irony, said she was fully aware of that, and found humor in her purely theatrical show of objecting to her proprietary tone. "Of course," Guari replied. "Now let's get me something to eat."

Deravia, chuckling softly, moved off the bay floor proper, with Guari trotting at her side, to first give the-- for once!-- unfamiliar Archivist her and her new bond's name, and then be nearly tackled by Elsarin, who had somehow worked his way free of the crowd in record time. He scooped her up just as she passed the Archivist, levering her and Thenna against him because they were really too heavy for him to actually lift, and spun her around. When he set her down only to kiss her enthusiastically, despite Thenna's squeal of protest, Deravia laughed lightly at him.

"If you're going to do that every time, maybe I should go bond a few more times!" she laughed.

Then, at Guari's sudden frown and disquiet, she added, "I'm not serious, love. You're wonderful enough; I don't know what I'd do with two of you!" The dragonet subsided without comment, quietly pleased at the compliment.

"Congratulations, Deravia!" Elsarin told her breathlessly, pausing only to kiss Thenna's hair soothingly before crouching down to meet Guari's surprised, somewhat guarded expression. "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss...."

Guari's feelings didn't change, but she smiled politely. "Guari Usadah. And you are?"

"Elsarin Astilith," Els replied gravely. "Deravia's husband."

::You're married?:: Guari sent privately, sounding a little unhappy about the prospect. Puzzled, Deravia looked down with a wordless affirmative, and Guari gave a resigned little sigh and smiled wryly at her. ::I just hadn't realized, that's all. It's not as if that changes anything. --Hey... at least he smells nice!:: she added with a little surprise.

Before Deravia could question just what was so disturbing about her being married, Lisaleth, who had been hopping around the little group impatiently, decided she no longer wanted to be ignored, and butted up against Dera's legs to get at her bond. "Lisaleth, dear, do you think you can keep Thenna quiet and distracted while I feed Guari?" Deravia asked, crouching down to oblige.

::I can try!:: Lisaleth chirped, cheer restored now that she'd been assured no one was stealing her baby-bond away. Deravia transferred the sling to Elsarin, who let Lisaleth perch on his shoulder and, true to her word, keep the infant distracted with cooing, trilling, and entirely mental communication. Deravia slipped off with Guari, for the hungry hatchling's first meal-- and their first heart-to-heart talk about men.

Chapter Five

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