There had been plenty of time to round up candidates, and now they all waited, standing and chatting with one another semi-nervously, nearby but not in the regulatory half-circle that most formed upon entering the hatching bay. Fabri', for her part, eyed them all with a broody mother's disdain. None of them were good enough, apparently--but then again, who ever was, to a baby's mother?

Linaeas would have allowed one of his assistants to take this job, but he was rather dreading the clutch that had just been laid in the next bay over (another of those blasted xeno-mutt creatures, by demons...) and he wanted to remind himself of what a 'normal' clutch was like, once all hell broke out in a few months-time.

The first of the eggs that had been rocking gave a tentative, more pronounced shudder, and suddenly, the hatching was beginning. The shell gave hardly a noise as it chipped open, and a black-blue creature spilled out on the mossy ground. The dragonet was, well, a little different from those that Linaeas was accustomed to. When she pushed herself to her feet, it was apparent that she was bipedal, rather then the usual four-footed dragon. She squeeked, her eyes still closed against the albumin that coated her, and stumbled, foot after foot, towards the candidates. This was when said candidates formed up properly, making a weir-shaped dam from which future dragonets could not wander out of, at least not casually. The hatchling had managed to gain her balance, and after blinking golden eyes clean, made her wobbly way towards Nippa. The young girl gave a startled cry, then dropped to her knees to give the slimy dragonet a hug. She led the little dragonet slowly, carefully, out of the semi-circle and over to Linaeas. "This is Panith," she said, bemused but elated at the same time. The great Farahan Archivist nodded slightly, and allowed her to pass to the feeding tables. Everything was going according to plan.

Two more dragonets had hatched in the time that Panith and her bond had passed, the first of which was creamy green with shimmering, pale wings. She was getting used to her legs surprisingly quickly, and was already sizing up the candidates that had come to stand. The second, a bronze, was already making his way to those waiting, moving from one to the other as if shopping for something he liked.

Apparently he'd found what he wanted, for he stopped his search at the feet of Rans, dubbed by some of the candidate-handlers that Linaeas had come into conact with as 'the rat-man'. Not that such a feature was greusome or even unusual in a place like this, but sometimes nick-names just stuck. The silver-haired, rat-headed man carefully approached Linaeas while the little bronze led the way, and, almost as if unsure that he was supposed to be talking with something that looked like a huge dog-wolf... thing, he said, "Um... he says he's Sarsath. I'm... Rans."

"Yes, I've heard about you," Linaeas replied in a perfectly conversational tone. The rat-man appeared put out--though by the words, or by who said them, the Archivist wasn't sure. Whatever the case, he hurried on, happy to be out of the uncomfortable situation.

Another new bonder was approaching, her little green dragonet hopping about from foot to foot underneath and around her. Linaeas gave the visibly pregnant woman--Deravia, if he remembered correctly--a polite nod, which she returned with a rueful smile. "Well, here's something you don't see every day," the Archivist greeted.

"No, certainly not! Lisaleth... I think she just bonded my daughter." The elfin woman rested a hand on her stomach, while the little green chirruped in agreement. As if to prove her point, she butted up against the woman's belly, then gave Linaeas a pale-eyed challenging glare.

The Archivist blinked. "Well then," was all he said, shocked that a dragonet could choose someone who hadn't been born yet. What if the child didn't survive birth? How would she raise the dragonet, if she had yet to be raised, herself?"

"Don't worry," Deravia reassured him, apparently catching his worried thoughts. "I'll be sure to take care of her along with Thenna... really, it won't be a problem."

"Whatever you say, then. I'll be sure to alert Siche... she should have an assistant to help you, should you need it." Linaeas watched the pair, no, they were a trio he supposed, move off, then brought his attention to the remaining eggs.

Another batch of dragonets had hatced. This time three were either prying themselves out of their ovoid cages, or making their way towards the waiting candidates. A silvery dragonet with golden wings and dark, crimson eyes, had set herself at the foot of a human candidate, Saradae. The silver crooned up at the silk-swathed young woman, urging her to bring her to her first meal. "She's Desarath," the woman answered Linaeas' silent query, a grin crinkling her eyes. And then they were past.

A crimson dragonet had worked his way out of his shell, but was doing his darndest to get around the crowd of candidates. He squawked loudly and made as if to snap at a 'helpful' hopeful, and soon after that, was left on his own to find his way to the food bowls. 'Oh lords, not another bondless,' Linaeas groaned softly. 'Why can't they just be like our Mutts and die without another mind?'

~Be careful of what you wish for, Bond.~ an alien voice crept from the back of the Archivist's mind and made itself known. ~Would you rather be ordering carcasses to be burned, and making notes on times of death?~

'You'd probably end up eating them, anyways, so I wouldn't have to worry about anything.'

~You know such tender meat gives me gas!~ The voice was joking, now, in that macabre way that Taxoness, the resident 'pure' xenodragon, had. ~In any case, that one calls himself Coniceth. He won't bond for lack of a mind that is 'good enough', if you can believe it--and that second dragon, Kertakth, says she would prefer not to find a bondmate here, either.~

"Another!" Linaeas said out loud, and peered at the bronze dragonet who stumbled along behind her brother. What was it with dragonets these days, anyways? He gave a harumph as they passed wide around him, letting them find their way to food, themselves.

Two eggs remained, and promptly, the first of them hatched. Out spilled a brown dragonet, his blue wings so dark as to be presumed black. He gave himself a rather awkward shake, then pushed himself to shaky feet. Moving as swiftly as his weak legs could hold him, he made a bee-line to one of the peculiar, blue-skinned humanoids that Linaeas had seen on a visit through the candidates' housing. She--at least, she smelled female--gave an amused 'hmph' noise, and soon the pair of them were headed towards Linaeas. ~I'm Finoleth~ the dragonet was actually the one to speak for the pair, ~And this uncivilized brute is Natay A-shoa. Mark us down, would you?~ Linaeas let his jaw drop for a moment, before making the required mental note. What a presuming git...

He just gave them a flick of his tail, 'move on', the gesture meant, and waited for the last egg to hatch. It had been steadily rocking this whole time, but had made no more then a few hair-line cracks. The remaining candidates were huddling closer to it, realizing it was their last chance to bond for quite some time... and most of them started back when the shell exploded into fragments, and a midnight black dragonet tumbled out onto the ground. She creeled for a moment, then got slowly to her feet. With a semi-angry squeek, she stumbled towards the candidates. The first person to intercept her--a rather peculiar character that Linaeas was sure wasn't acting the same the last time he'd seen him--approached her, and helped her gain a more steady footing. He passed through the disappointed ring of candidates, then paused uneasily before Linaeas. "Uh, I'm Meian... this... is Mortestuth. We go over there?" He asked, looking towards his starry-winged bonds siblings, who were gorging at the table.

"Mm hmm," Linaeas replied off-handedly. New information scrolled over his field of vision, distracting him. Apparently Siche had already assigned the bondless dragons to sponsors.

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Linaeas,

Red Coniceth: to Aciron of Darkling Dawn.
Bronze Kertakth: to Draco's Inferno Weyr, with Kasatka and Forgeron.

Well, so at least they'd be going to good homes. Another dragon could take care of the little ego-monger properly, and Linaeas remembered nothing but good things about the bear-like couple who'd come to stand at previous hatchings. So everything had wrapped up neatly, with no surprises. He gave a happy sigh, cataloguing a few more tidbits before allowing the clean-up crew to go to work. This would probably be the last pleasant clutch he'd get to see for a while!