"I see someone made it to the hatching."

Zale gave the Ministry of Flights and Hatchings a sheepish smile. Oddly, she had actually shown up for the hatching along with her assistant Jigsaw, though she'd been avoiding them for the past year or so; Zale didn't know why, but she and Wiro seemed like they were fairly friendly, so perhaps that was it. And she certainly knew that he hadn't been at the clutch's laying, though he didn't know if she knew why.

"Yes, I made it," was all he could think of to say. Siche Four gave a small grin for him, then headed over back to her assistant, much to his relief. He still hadn't completely recovered his conversational skills after his two-month-long relapse; he was still in the rehab program, despite everyone's hopes that he would have been through with it by now.

:You're almost well again,: Wiro told him warmly, somehow able to follow his thoughts despite her distraction. :You've been clean again for all this time!:

And he intended to stay that way for... the rest of his life, if he could.

:Of course you can-- oh, God, Zale, look! One's cracking! Look at it! Zale, what should I do?!:

Of course: the reason the hatching bay was so crowded.... The eleven eggs Wiro had laid were, at long last, hatching. And Wiro hadn't the faintest idea what to do about it. It was as if she had no motherly instincts, and rather than glaring at candidates or hovering protectively over her eggs, she was just wriggling on the padded floor of the bay with impatience and indecision, unsure of what else she should be doing. Her temporary mate and now-candidate, the copper dragon Silent Melody, sat much more calmly beside her, and he made a chuckling sound and nudged her wing reassuringly.

Just let them do their own thing, Zale suggested fondly, patting her arm, where she crouched just beside him. Eggs have been hatching for millennia without help, I'm sure yours will do fine.

Before Wiro could answer, that egg that she'd directed Zale's attention to did more than crack: it broke open! The hatchling that spilled out looked... rather like Wiro, actually, largely because she was silver. Zale held his breath, momentarily stroking Wiro's shoulder, remembering. Best thing that ever happened to me, he thought, and she looked away from her clutch long enough to nuzzle his chest, then quickly looked back.

:That's mine!: she marveled. :I made that! --Well, we made that,: she amended for Melody's sake.

The copper dragon gave a huffing laugh. :We made ten more, too.:

The hatchling was silver, like Wiro, and though she lacked the older Calyeni's lightning markings, she had Silent Melody's ears and split tail-tip-- which sported twin plumes of fur that neither parent had produced in her. These dragonets were all cybornetically modified in some way, often in a major way, as several journeyman installers' master projects. There was a fair amount of danger in such things, but Wiro hadn't really understood that when she'd agreed, and Zale hadn't tried to explain just how dangerous it could be, since she'd already agreed and she worried enough, as it was.

The hatchling, at least, seemed none the worse for wear, despite her moderate-level installation. She rolled onto her paws with a little chirrup, blinking brightly pink eyes, and her gaze fell on first her parents then, at her father's encouraging croon and Wiro's silly-looking dragonic grin, turned her gaze onto the candidates. She made her unsteady way towards them, looking from human to cat to cat-human to robot to daemon to-- a small, furry, dog-like creature with dragonfly wings and a long, ringed tail.

"Hello, Peak..." she said, very clearly and out loud, into the relatively silence of the waiting bay. "I'm Adagio, and if you're looking for something deep and meaningful, I'd like to make an offer...."

Wiro stared in shock. :She speaks? How did that happen?:

In response, Silent Melody gave a little cough. :I... actually can speak, I just chose not to, until I find my bond... she must have gotten it from me.:

:I had no idea!: Wiro replied, surprised.

Then the next egg splintered, and Wiro put aside that revelation to focus on its former occupant: black and with his father's rainbow-colored wings. :Oh, look, look!: Wiro exclaimed, :He's got wings like yours, Melody!:

The hatchling climbed slowly and carefully to his own paws, and made his slow and stately way to the candidates with only a glance at his parents, as if showing off his array of colors: not only his wings were rainbowed, but also his shoulder sported lumiglow pads all along the spectrum. He stopped before an amethyst-haired woman, who slowly started to grin as she realized what he was doing. "I'd like to bond you, Nyanko," he said. "We can go a long way together... if you learn how to focus a little better, that is."

The grin vanished into a scowl, and Nyanko flounced off to the feeding tables, her new bond chuckling behind her. "Aww, you might be mad now, but you'll love me, anyway," was the last thing Zale heard him say before the Archivist got a hold of them.

:Minor Ballad,: Melody commented. :Appropriate, I think.:

The singular succession of eggs was at its end, with that bonding: three shattered at once, sending three hatchlings all tumbling onto the heated moss-padding. One was bright red with a pair of floppy feathers protruding from his forehead, another was bright green with little fangs protruding from her upper jaw, and the third, even more eye-blindingly bright, was purple with her father's rainbowed wings and a golden forelimb replacement. :Wow, did all those come from us?: Wiro mused, largely rhetorically.

:Unless you've had other dragons sneaking into the bay while you're asleep, I don't doubt it,: Melody laughed. Wiro snapped lightly at him, then focused on the hatchlings, who were rapidly bounding-- and, in the case of the purple one, tripping!-- towards the candidates. It was like a race to see who could bond first, and their first words to their bondeds got all jumbled up together.

"Auric! Auric, my bond, my dearest! You look like you could use some love! It's me, Joyous Carol, and I'm choosing you!"

"No, I'm bonding first! Purplex, why did you have to stand so far away! I'm Florid Chorus-- don't you think my name fits?-- and I want to boooooond yoooooou!"

.... or non-bondeds, as they saw fit.

"You're the sponsor-person, right, red-and-black-person? Well, I don't want to bond! That's right, not bond! And don't you go sending me off with some sissy, neither!"

"All right," Jigsaw answered, "Name?"

"Ardent Ensemble!"

"Heh, suits. You're going to Sunstone Weyr with Alhene."

"Is that a good thing?" Ensemble asked suspiciously, but Jigsaw just shooed her to the food tables.

:Now I don't know where an attitude like that came from...: Melody teased Wiro, who grrred distractedly at him.

:I'm nice! Most of the time....:

This time four eggs all split simultaneously, spilling a trio of metallic hatchlings-- a gold girl with faint lightning marks and a plume of white crest-feathers, a bronze boy with a similar crest only of bright red hair, and a copper male tattooed with music notes. :Wait... that is a boy, isn't it?: Wiro asked, doing a double take at the third as he slid gracefully-- and quite effeminately-- to his paws.

:I think so,: Melody said, watching as he and his siblings trotted up to the candidates and made their choices.

"Lighten up, Rakka!" the gold chirped, head-crest standing fully at attention and her mouth pulled up in a grin. Caught off-guard, the vulpine Mardusian just blinked down at her in confusion, and she continued, "I'm Euphony, and I'm the perfect thing to make you smile!"

"I look pretty out-there, huh, Darren?" the bronze boy was chuckling to his chosen. "I promise, I won't be too wild. I mean, come on, my name is Ambience-- of course I'll know how to fit the mood!"

And the copper waltzed right up to one of the waiting sponsors, to the envy of all the rest, a human who... didn't really look human, and announced, "I am going with you. You seem just weird enough to appreciate me in all my glory!"

"And your name?" Dracothrope cackled.

"Why-- Shameless Falsettoooooo!" the dragonet replied, turning the last vowel into a very shameless falsetto, indeed.

:That is not one of the names we picked!: Melody blinked, but Wiro was too busy giggling to reply.

The fourth was slower at choosing a bond, sitting beside the last two eggs and looking quietly out over the remaining candidates. She was a pale, ice blue with faint lightning marks and very strange eyes: cybornetic and gleaming metallic where her hide didn't. :Aren't you going to bond, child?: Melody asked, watching her, now, instead of his flamboyant son.

:Yes,: she replied. :I am just deciding who I'd like to bond.:

:Have you decided?: Wiro asked curiously.

:I believe I have,: the hatchling answered, and got up, making her way to the candidates, making a bee-line right to her choice. "Zero... I like you. And I'd like to learn about you. Will that be all right?"

The young man-- 'young man'?-- gave a deliberate blink, and a faint smile. "I think that will be fine."

"Good. I'm Subdued Metonymy."

The second-to-last egg made its rather dramatic ending, shattering into hundreds of tiny shards, and the white-gold hatchling within-- decorated with silver filigree and a very odd metal cap-- scrambled back from the remains with wide, startled eyes. "Did I do that?" she squeaked, then noticed that she wasn't alone. "Oh! So many people!" She froze, huge eyes made strangely huger under the light. She quivered slightly. Amber eyes darting about the gathered crowd, she all but screamed for help... but before a concerned Wiro or Silent Melody could move to comfort her, she darted into the depleted ranks of candidates and attached herself to a small, metal-plated robot. "Singularity, protect me! You'll keep me safe!" She said, strangely comforted by the presence of the cannibalistic looking cleaning-bot. "I'm Rhapsody, and... a-and it's okay if I bond you, right?" The look on her face (as the knobly contractions sticking out of her head bobbled gently) was somewhere between terrified and pleading. Apparently it was just fine, for her robotic bond led her off the bay floor for her first meal.

To ALs in one hatching, Zale thought, a little surprised. He knew that androids bonded, sometimes, but... two in one? That just seemed unusual.

Wiro didn't seem to have even noticed. She had gotten up from where she'd been crouched the whole hatching, pacing hesitantly to her last egg. :It's not breaking,: she fretted. :It's shaking a little... and it's warm, like there's something inside... but there aren't any cracks. Is there something wrong with it? Zale, should I try to help?:

Zale frowned faintly, focusing on the egg in question. He didn't have an answer for her; he didn't really know any more about eggs than she did. Silent Melody, though, shook his head and moved between Wiro and the egg. :Sometimes a hatchling just isn't quite ready yet,: he explained. :I wasn't.: He settled down, curled almost protectively around the slightly-twitching shell. :Don't worry, no one will smash you before you're ready....:

As if that were a signal, the egg gave a sighing shudder and cracked straight down the muddle, dropping a dark bronze dragonet right into Silent Melody's side. He didn't even struggle, the armor-plated hatchling, just blinked and looked up at his sire and smiled sweetly. "Hello, daddy.... I'm Ssssibilant Melody."

Even Zale could sense that link being formed. Wiro beamed. :Melody... you found your bond.:

"I guess I did..." Melody said... aloud. He looked like he'd startled himself.

Wiro giggled. :And that's not one of the names we picked, either... I'm glad for you, Melody.:

Finally, the hatching was over, and the hatching bay was starting to clear out and quiet down. Hatchlings and their bonds were finishing their communal meals, the audience was drifting away, and Zale leaned against Wiro's side wearily.

:It's over,: she murmured in his mind, putting her head down on her paws. :Now we can go home....:

"Mmmhmm," Zale answered. "But...." He smiled some. I have a surprise for you, on the way home.

:Oh?: She looked over at him without lifting her head, curiously.

Do you still want ears? I've got just enough to afford that moderate installment....

Any pre-mating glow or motherly pride was nothing next to the glow in her eyes, then. :Oh, do you really mean it? Oh, thank you, Zale!:

You deserve it for putting up with me, he told her.

:I put up with you because I love you, and not any other reason,: she purred, but then looked at him sidelong again. :But that doesn't mean I don't want ears....:

Zale just chuckled.