Jaxom stared incredulously at his dragon. «He's not?»

«No. See how his hide has shadows of brown and gold, and ripples of blue or green on the near flank.»

«You're right!» Jaxom blinked, surprised at discovering something totally new about his friend. «I guess those colors are much more noticeable because he's so clean and the sun's so bright today!» It was such a pleasure to be able to discuss his favorite topic with an understanding audience.

«He's… more… all dragon shades than the lack of any,» N'ton continued. He slanted one hand against the angle of Ruth's heavily muscled shoulder, then cocked his head as he stared at the powerful hind— quarters. «Beautifully proportioned, too. He may be small, Jaxom, but he's a fine looking fellow!»

Jaxom sighed again, unconsciously straightening his shoulders and pushing out his chest with pride.

«Not too much flesh, not too little, eh, Jaxom?» N'ton shot an elbow to catch Jaxom on the top of his shoulder, a sly grin on his face for all the tunes Jaxom had had to call on the Weyrleader to help him cope with Ruth's indigestion. Jaxom had erroneously concluded that if he could stuff the proper amount of food down Ruth's gullet, the little dragon would grow to match the size of his clutch mates. The results had not been good.

«Do you think he's strong enough to fly me?»

N'ton awarded Jaxom a thoughtful gaze. «Let's see, you Impressed him a Turn last spring, and we're into cool weather now. Most dragons achieve their full growth in their first Turn. I don't think Ruth's grown half hand in the last six months so we have to conclude that he has reached his full growth. Hey, now, N'ton reacted to Jaxom's sad sigh, «he's bigger than any runner beast by half a head, isn't he? They can be ridden for hours without tiring, right? And you're not exactly a heavyweight like Dorse there.»

«Flying's a different sort of effort, isn't it?»