[PRP] Is This Seat Open? (Elibrie/Juhvek)

[demon_pachabel]

Eggs were expected on the sands any time now - and the idea didn't thrill Juhvek. But he didn't feel any sense of loss or longing for them either. There was no lingering feeling like his future had been stolen from him, it was simply a fact of the Weyr and he was doing his best to resettle into his new place within it. Some things would forever be beyond him, but tinkering and tending to the sprayers of the Goldriders was satisfying enough to him - and it made a day go by quickly enough. It was into the dinner hours before he could even feel like he'd truly sunk his teeth into anything. Even then, it was only his mobility device being forcibly pulled from his workstation that drew him back to reality.

"Juhvusk-" he spoke tersely, looking at the blue wher that now held post at his elbow, attentive and eager. He snapped his jaws as his name was spoken, then leaned his head up into the man's hand. "Alright, alright...." he sighed, pushing his chair back. "How about you go find me a spot, hmm?"

Juhvusk was off, gently moving the rug back into position so the chair wouldn't get stuck on it, then pushing the door open - he continued off towards the dining hall, moving items he felt were intrusive gently out of the way. Once there, the blue carefully navigated thru already seated chairs, trying to find the clearest path with as little disruption as possible.

He did, however, bump one seated individual - to which he appealed with a soft huff and a bump of his head. Then, he began fussing with the empty chairs, trying to move them around to make a space that, as far as he was concerned, would fit Juhvek in it. Which required moving a lot of chairs, frankly.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

The days seemed to get shorter even as Kesucianth got bigger, though as his growth had slowed down, there at least wasn't quite as much bathing and oiling to fit into their days. But lately it had been drills and more drills, more geography on top of all the other geography - and always, always chores - and of course, preparing for their first trip Between. There was a lot to do, and it kept them terribly busy from day to day; sometimes it was like she blinked and the day was already over, and this was one of them. If Kesucianth hadn't insisted that she needed to eat something, she'd have been tempted to just collapse into bed after she'd had a bath. Since he was so adamant - perhaps even a little moreso that usual - Elibrie had gotten back into proper clothes and then climbed up onto him so the he could fly her down.

So now here she was, practically half-asleep as she ate a roll and idly considered the rest of what was on her plate. She was almost tempted to lean an elbow on the table, but that wouldn't have been proper, even if it would have been a bit more comfortable. Soon enough, however, she was jarred to better wakefulness by a most unexpected bump against her - and when she turned to see who it was, suffice to say she wasn't expecting that someone to be a wher. Blue, but very much not Jhulansk, and...moving chairs? The young bluerider stared, more than a little confused by what was happening, while the flit sitting patiently by her plate gave a curious peep.

"Is there...do you need something?" Aside from a chair, apparently.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Juhvusk snapped his jaws - more a communicative gesture than anything - when Elibrie spoke to him, flaring out his tiny wings with a flap that was entirely for show before his head spun around and he went running off - after a voice that called out to him.

"Juhvusk - enough."

While the wher had been doing his best to help, it was obvious the young man that was more deftly helping Juhvek maneuver his mobility device through the room was doing the actual task of helping him get settled - originally farther away seemed to have been planned, but he turned up to his helper-with-thumbs and motioned him down farther along.

Clearly, he had noticed who it was that the wher had been bothering and now had to come up and make good on it. "Well, who do we have here?" Juhvek asked, even though his voice betrayed he knew exactly who it was - and he seemed braced for whatever reaction was to come of it.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

Elibrie tilted her head at the new wher - new to her, at least - the mystery of why he'd been fussing with the chairs no clearer after his little jaw-snap and wing flappies. And then off he went, and her gaze of course followed him. Luckily, her only firelizard companion at the moment was Lullaby, or she might have lost significant portion of her meal while she was distracted: most of the others had been absent for most of the day for one reason or another, while Chomps was yet on his favorite pillow in her weyr. Not that she was thinking about any of them at that particular moment, especially once she saw where the wher had gone.

Elibrie froze. That...was.... Of course it was, obviously, he didn't look that different, but she'd not expected him to be back yet - he'd not mentioned a thing about it in his last letter, which hadn't even been all that long ago. She looked at him, stunned, for a very long moment, tears starting to well up in her eyes...but she was still very cognizant that not only were in they dining hall, but that there was someone with him that she didn't know. So, with months of practice to draw on, she very carefully took ahold of herself and swallowed back what easily could have turned into a sob otherwise. She couldn't help the tears entirely, nor the way her hand shook when she reached toward him, but it was a more quiet reaction, at least.

"I didn't- I didn't know you were coming home today," she finally managed to choke out through a suddenly uncooperative throat.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Juhvek brought Juhvusk to heel at his side once the wher was there, resting one hand out on top of the blue's head while his attention remained sharply focused on the approaching Elibrie - and the somewhat expected flush of emotion. While perhaps she couldn't see it for herself, she simply felt different to him - who's last memory of her was the hour before Anakumath had begun to hum. No, he didn't even recall the humming of dragons now after all this time.

When she reached out for him, he reached out to take her hand firmly, giving it a squeeze. "Well, I was hoping it would be a surprise," he answered, taking his hand from Juhvusk's head as he pulled the bluerider in closer so he could brush those burgeoning tears from her eyes. "Come now - I don't look all that much worse for the wear now, do I?" he asked, fully aware he'd caught her vulnerable.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

She had missed him so much, since the day they'd taken him away - for good reason, she well understood, but it had still hurt, and it had been hard to live with her last memory of him being a glimpse in the infirmary, and before that... Elibrie grasped his hand tightly, and when pulled in closer offered no resistance - not that she could have even if she'd wanted to, as off-balance as she felt all of a sudden. It was absolutely surreal that he was here after all this time, seemingly out of nowhere. He'd certainly succeeded in keeping it a surprise, though it might have gotten him a slightly different reaction than he may have been aiming for...so perhaps it was for the best that they were somewhere with so many people around, surrounded by motivation to not come completely undone.

"N-No," she assured him quietly, immediately feeling guilty that maybe she'd given him the wrong impression, that her reaction was somehow to do with how he looked. In a way, maybe, in that he looked far, far better than when she'd last seen him, so many months ago, though she'd not say as such. It didn't seem the time. "I just...I really missed you. I'm glad you're home."

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

He laughed, "I know, I know," he assured. "I'm giving you a hard time - not that it seems I've done much besides that for some time." No, Juhvek was certain, based on the quiet consistency with which she, and very few others, had been so dutiful in writing him back that she'd had some need to see him back hale and whole. Though he was questionably either of those things.

"I'm glad to be home, even if I'll miss getting letters all the time. Cuddle Girl already isn't sure what to do with her little self," he mused. "And I'm sure Snoops will be coming by to bother me at any moment."

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"That's not your fault," she said, thinking nothing of lingering so close when otherwise she might have - after so long, she was too desperate to see him and hear him and touch him and just be near him that that particular bit of decorum, at least, was forgotten for the moment. Elibrie had had a hard time, true, but it wasn't his fault, and she'd been careful not to go into any sort of detail about it, though she had no idea what he might have heard outside of that, since he had had visitors and other letters.

"I'll just have to come and visit with you, instead." When she could, at least - when everything was done for the day, or on restdays. Not that she intended to ignore all of her other friends in favor of Juhvek, of course, but after all these months, surely they'd understand her want to spend time with him. "I'm surprised he hasn't had his nose in your ear already."

Clearly, he was as yet unaware to the return of his favorite ears.

x demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Juhvek laughed - a true bellow of a sound. "I'm sure he'll find it here before too long!" because the fact the little blue had found him all the way in Landing had been a testament to how badly Snoops wanted to be sticking his face into ears - or at least his.

"Now, it seems I've taken you from your dinner - and Juhvusk was so helpfully trying to make me a spot to sit with you, it seems," he looked down at the wher, who snapped his jaws and flapped his wings uselessly again. "This was the extra friend I said I'd be introducing you to previously. Juhvusk is my helper," at least, one without thumbs.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

Elibrie smiled - finally - when he laughed, glad to hear the aound of it again. It was hard to not just stare at him - not because he of the change in how he got around, but just because he was here. It would take some time to process, albeit in a good way. Not at all like the struggle to adjust to his absence. "Once he knows, you might have trouble getting rid of him."

Ears aside, the nosy flit was very fond of Juhvek in general - he had, after all, known him since he was freshly-hatched and tiny. "It's alright, I wasn't very hungry anyway. Kesucianth wouldn't let me just go to bed, though," she admitted. Now she wondered if he'd known something she hadn't, but he remained quiet on the matter.

Ah, but there was a new blue to meet, and that Elibrie had actually forgotten about the wher up until Juhvek brought him back to her attention was not insignificant proof of just how struck she was by his return. "Hello," she offered, holding out her free hand in greeting, ready to give scritches if he seemed amenable. "You're very handsome, Juhvusk."

x demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Juhvek frowned slightly. "Ah. Well, then I won't keep you. It's been long enough since my last meal I'd better eat. Gotta keep my strength up to survive all the fussing," he managed to joke. It wasn't really fussing more than it was what would keep him alive and as thriving as he could. But he'd at least take the edge off of that.

Juhvusk eyed the extended hand, holding steady and patiently. "Go ahead," Juhvek relented, knowing the blue was waiting for permission to break from his position to lean his snout out to nose at the young woman's hand, before pushing his head beneath it for said scritches.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

The little frown gave her pause, and suddenly it seemed she might have said the wrong thing. Did Juhvek really think she'd rather go back to weyr and go to bed instead of spending time with him? He'd not gotten any less deadpan in his time away, that was for certain, and it could be difficult sometimes to read exactly what he meant. "Ah, I didn't- I mean, I'd still like to stay, if you want company." With a tiny smile, she added, "Ill even try not to fuss too much."

Elibrie's eyes shone when the wher was given permission to accept her scritches, and her expression warmed further - not that she wasn't happy (overwhelmed, but happy!) to have Juhvek home, but there was a certain level of tension and anxiety underneath it all. What would everything be like now? Surely he wasn't entirely the same as he had been, just as she wasn't. How much did he know about what had happened after...what had happened? Would he like Kesucianth, when they met? Would he even want anything to do with dragons, even hers? She'd worried about all of it and more for months, but now he was here and they were suddenly more than idle concerns picking at the edges of her mind. But she could forget them for a moment as she gave Juhvsk his well-deserved scritches and stroked his perfect head; no matter that by most standards whers were ugly, she loved them no less than she did firelizards. She still made a point of hunting down Jhulansk on her restdays to give her friend a snack and some pats, though she was always careful not to interrupt him or take too much of his time, since he had a job to do.

After a few moments, unable to resist, she cupped Juhvusk's head in her hands and leaned down to plant a soft kiss on his forehead, and murmurred against his headknob, though not so soft that it couldn't be heard by those close, "Thank you for taking care of my friend."

x demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Juhvusk gave a soft thrum of what could have easily been confusion - it was very clear that the blue was not often bestowed forehead kisses and wasn't entirely sure what to make of the gesture. But his expression remained green and genial anyways as he sniffed at Elibrie's face. Brrrt?

"Oh come now, you're the least fussy person in my life right now," Juhvek assured, giving Elibrie a smile before motioning back to the spot that Juhvusk had cleared out for him to be sat at. If he'd overheard her, he didn't bring attention to it. Instead, once his assistant-with-thumbs had settled him into his chosen spot and was off to retrieve actual dinner for him, he motioned to the seat beside him.

"So, when do I get to meet your handsome boy?"

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

The face-sniffs tickled, and the corners of Elibrie's eyes crinkled as she giggled softly at both the sensation and the adorable noise he made. It earned Juhvusk another kiss before she straightened, and she gave him another fond pat before moving to reclaim her seat when beckoned to do so. Even if she hadn't already had a soft spot for whers, that the blue was Juhvek's would have been more than enough; between both those factors, she already adored him without question.

Meanwhile, Lullaby, who had been patiently waiting on the table, stepped around Elibrie's picked-at plate of food to peep up at Juhvek and offer the man a polite little nuzzle. Hello, friend!

"If I'm the least fussy, you must not have any time to yourself at all," she joked, acknowledging her propensity for worrying, though to be fair, most of the worrying she did over her friend was internal. Her gaze did briefly follow his human helper, whom she'd almost forgotten about for a moment. She was both terribly curious and unsure what to do, but as Juhvek had yet to introduce them, she would simply wait and see, rather than attempt to pry.

Her smile grew again when he inquired after Kesucianth, as the question relieved at least a bit of her worry. It meant he wanted to meet him. "Whenever you want," she answered readily, "After dinner, even, if- if you want." She stumbled a little and backtracked when she realized after dinner might be overeager of her, but she was excited for them to meet - and she knew Kesucianth had been looking forward to it all this time as well. "Or tomorrow, if that's better. It's our restday."

Or both. Even with Juhvek right here, she was already desperate to see him again tomorrow. He was home.

x demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

"I get a little - but there's plenty still I require a daily fussing about," much to Juhvek's chagrin, he'd never be completely independent ever again, or really have a whole lot of it. But he didn't dwell on that often, only when left alone and restless....and being home meant he had a way to keep himself distracted within arm's reach at most times.

He smiled at Elibrie's answer. "After dinner, then. I certainly don't have much else I'd be looking forward to," certainly, he would be getting plenty of time with his own family - Alosha had practically been unable to leave him alone since he'd got home, constantly swooping in around her own schedule to see if he needed anything.

"I'm happy with either, though I do have some work I'll be getting into in the morning."

Meepfur