Dining Hall
Coming from the other rooms, the Dining Hall seems a little dimmer, Which it is. Positioned throughout the room are about a dozen tables suited for up to eight people each. It is far more than the Hall needs, but it is always nice to be safe than sorry. A table is set up off to the side. On it is a collection of cooled juices and fruits which are kept fresh from the nearby Orchards. With the constant state of furor created by recent events there few drudges not busy elsewhere, So please serve and clean up after yourself. A fire burns merrily along the west wall, and overstuffed, cushioned couches and chairs have been placed in front of it.

Linora bounces in, oblivious to the heat of the day, or perhaps just accustomed to it. Without so much as a glance around the hall she makes a beeline for the side tables, filling a large cup with juice.

Cress is sitting in a comfy chair in front of the hearth feeding his newly hatched lizard. Looking up at the sound of steps he smiles a greeting to the Starrie-wannabe.

Linora downs half the juice in her mug before she notices Cress by the hearth with the tiniest firelizard she's ever seen. She grins and comes over for a closer look. "Hey," she says as she approaches. "Just hatched?"

Cress nods. Breaking up another piece of meat for the tiny brown, he then procedes to offer it to him. "Yeah, no less than a few hours ago. He seems to be perpetuly hungry." Looking up again, grinning, he says, "have you arranged for an inteview yet?"

Linora kneels down in front of the comfy chair for a good close look at the tiny brown, completely enchanted... then hears Cress's question. "Um... not yet," she admits, her pale eyes fixing on him. "I meant to ask you last night who I should ask for, but I kinda forgot with getting lost in the maze and all."

Cress shrugs, slightly. "Well, my mentor is very nice. Her name is Jorina.. Riina for short." More meat goes into the maw of the brown. "She's not scary at all."

Linora rocks back on her heels to sit on the hearthstones and grins. "Not scary, huh? That's a plus." She can't stop staring at the tiny firelizard... "Wow. How can he /eat/ that much?"

Cress grins, "well, he's not had anything to eat all the time he's been in the egg. You'd think their belly's would burst from all they eat wouldn't you?" But they don't. He knows from experience having two other lizards, who ate just as much - or more - when they were hatched.

Linora just shakes her head. "That meatroll's bigger'n /he/ is," she says, slightly awed.

Cress laughs, "Well, not by much. But it is impressive, isn't it?" But it does seem as if the hatchling has had enough and the last pieces of the meatroll goes into the maws of Idoru and 'Mute, who seem very happy to finally get a little attention.

Linora blinks at the realization that Cress apparently has an entire /fair/ of firelizards. She stares unabashedly. "Wow," she breathes. "Those all /yours/?"

Cress nods, "Well, it's only three now.. There're people who have four or five. It's not that bad, really," he says. He picks up the glass from the low table in front of him taking a sip of the redfruit juice in it. "They seem to get hungry around the same time, I'd hate to think what it'd be like if they all were hungry at different times..."

"Four?" Her voice drops to a whisper. "/Five/? Wow." Linora shakes her head again, out of words.

Cress nods, "yeah, I wouldn't want that many though. It'd be too much, what with oiling and feeding and all," he says.

Linora looks bewildered, never having actually known someone lucky enough to Impress a flit...much less /three/... "I guess it would be."

"Anyway," Cress says, "I don't think it's normal to Impress /five/ lizards. I got 'Mute's egg from a friend and Idoru's egg I found on the beach, so you might call that more or less an accident. Riina gave my the egg containing this little guy."

Linora recovers a bit and the grin returns. "Your mentor? Guess she likes ya, huh?" She scrambles to her feet and heads back for the side table, picking over the fruit to find one that looks good. "Can I getcha anything?" she calls back to him.

"A couple of meatrolls for these two would be good, thanks," Cress says motioning to the brown and the green on his shoulders. "They'll go crazy if they don't get something to eat soon."

Linora chuckles and tosses a half-dozen onto a tray, having no idea how many is enough but wanting to play it safe. Then she settles on a nice-looking redfruit, polishing it on her trousers as she makes her way back to the hearth with her burden. "Here ya go," she says, holding the tray out.

Cress taking the tray, he looks up at her "want to feed on of them? They wont bite, don't worry." It would give him a free hand to get something to drink himself..

Linora's eyes widen. "Honest?" The fruit, quickly forgotten, disappears into one of the deep pockets of her too-big trousers, freeing both hands for the coveted chore. She manages to keep still long enough to wait for instructions, but her fingers twitch impatiently.

Cress takes hold of brown 'Mute, "here you go," he says handing her the lizard, "he's the oldest, so he's not likely to gulp down as much as Idoru here. His name is Wintermute, but you can call him 'Mute."

Linora reaches out with awkward eagerness, trying not to be too rough, her eyes lighting up as 'Mute wraps around her bare arm... she doesn't even seem to notice his talons as she reaches with her other hand to take a meatroll. "Hi, 'Mute," she says softly as she carefully sits back down on the hearthstones. "You're a hungry little fella, aren'tcha?" She looks back to Cress uncertainly. "Do I hafta tear it for him, or is that just for the hatchling?"

Cress shrugs "if you want, but he's learnt how to chew so you don't /have/ to do it, but you might wanna break it in half though," he says doing just that with the meatroll for Idoru. The brown hatchling in his lap seems to have fallen asleep and he proceeds with feeding the green, who has crawled down his left arm.

Linora nods and carefully tears the meatroll in half. She holds one of the pieces out for 'Mute, watching him in wonderment.

'Mute tears a chunk off the offered meatroll, leaving most of it in Linora's surprised hand. She watches intently as the little brown chews and swallows, the most normal physical activities seeming incredible to her.

Cress grins, "he must be hungry," he says, "he's not usually that greedy." Idoru, on the other hand gulps down piece after piece. Keeping his fingers on the very end of the meats, he mostly avoids getting bitten. "Take it easy, 'Doru. It hasn't been /that/ long since you last ate has it?"

Linora looks from 'Mute to the greedy green on Cress's arm, feeling /really/ glad he kept that one for himself - she's always felt a bit attached to her fingers. She holds the meat a bit closer to 'Mute so he can take another bite without reaching too far... "They're amazing," she says softly as 'Mute tears off another chunk.

Cress nods, "And they're useful too. Once they get to know places - and people - they can be used as messengers." Not that his has learned to find anybody yet.

Linora grins up at Cress, eyes sparkling. "And do they talk to you, too? The way dragons'll talk to their riders?"

Cress grins "Well, they send images to me, well at least the two older ones, like when they're hungry they send an image of a meatroll or something like that."

Alexander walks in from the Gar Hold Entry Hall.

Linora nods absently, half her attention on the brown on her arm. "Oh... I thought maybe they talked," she says, a bit disappointed.

Looking up at the sound of footsteps, Cress sees Alexander, "Hi there, Alex, how're you this day?" To Linora he says, "Well, I'm afraid they don't talk like dragons. At least not to me. Might be that they do to others..."

Alexander ponders into the Dining Hall. "Oh, hey, hello."

You notice Alexander looking at you.

Linora scrambles up to a kneeling position from her seat on the hearthstones, the better to see the new arrival over the chairs and couches facing the hearth. A brown firelizard is clinging to her left forearm and half a meatroll is clutched in her right hand. She waves the meatroll in an awkward greeting and sits back down to resume feeding.

Looking at the girl feeding 'Mute, Cress grins, happy that he has a helper, now that he has /three/ to care for.