Shard and Rue and a bunch of others from the Kshau Protectorate had been invited to the big celebration after the Warren's war had ended. Of course - everyone who had sent brave warriors to that fight would be there.

No one knew what would happen though... would there be dancing? Of course. Drinking? Most definitely. Bragged tales and exaggerated accounts of the battle? Naturally.

A number of folks, all somewhat weary of duties and glad to be here to party, greeted the tall blue man, asked where Rue was (over there by the Dragonstake folks) and how he was doing (just fine, another day another dollar whatever that meant). And then something weird started to happen. As Shard looked over the assembled heads (as he was nearly half a head taller than almost everyone here) he noticed a group of 'taur creatures mingling around.

**from the victory dance page**

Across the grounds and far away from unfinished stage where Mystic was strolling, a tall, blue man made his way through the crowd with jovial ease. He stopped now and then to greet and chat with people he knew; other Nexus leaders and the like. His wife and friends were elsewhere, doing the same. They were all taking the precious few moments before the ceremony's start to relax and mingle with people not seen in years. Shard grinned as he strolled around the small groupings that people had formed while they waited for the big announcement. He belonged to no particular group, but that had never stopped him from joining in on any which one whenever he wanted.

As he walked, he noticed that the humanoid section of the grounds was also populated by odd, centaur-like creatures. Mystic had mentioned something before of a new species. Another one of Faust's twisted creations. Shard shrugged it off, or at least he would have if he wasn't at that moment confronted by one of the beasts.

A cerulean blue creature seemed to appear out of thin air as Shard made to continue his walk. The remorai was smaller then most of the others, about equal to the blue man in height. Very unlike the rest of its kin, his coat was not an earth tone, or even a mixture of one. From tail tip to muzzle, it was varying shades of blue. Just blue. The remorai cocked its head at Shard and blinked inquisitively.

You're blue. It said into the Kshau man's mind. The tone of its mental voice was lightly masculine, like a pre-pubescent boy.

"Uh... yeah." Shard stammered. There passed a moment of awkward silence before Shard attempted polite conversation. "What's your name?"

Tir! The remorai said with such delight that one would have guessed Shard had given him the compliment of a lifetime. He padded forward and stretched his neck out to sniff eagerly at Shard. I don't think I've ever seen a blue person before. There's cat people and dragon people and even fish people at the Warren, but no blue people. Have you always been blue? What's your name?

"Yes and Shard." Shard said hesitantly, trying to lean back to avoid the creature's curious muzzle.

Really? That's a neat name. You know what else is neat? We're both blue! Tir gibbered excitedly. There was an uncomfortable silence into which Shard stared quizzically at the exuberant remorai and Tir stared back blankly. The moment passed when Tir offered up a friendly grin, which looked considerably out of place on his long snout. Hey, you know what would be cool? If we could be blue together! Before Shard could get a word in edgewise, Tir trotted around to stand at his side and placed one firm hand on his shoulder. Mine! He called to any receptive mind, offering up a victorious bellow at the same time. He's mine!

At that moment, another remorai peeked its head through the crowd to see what the commotion was. It took one look at Tir, then turned around and bolted, dashing what little hope Shard had of ditching his new cling-on. The blue remorai looked at his new companion with that same, silly grin spread from one side of his face to the other. Shard smiled hesitantly back and wondered just how long the creature's interest in him would last. **

Maybe if he wandered through the group of people, maybe Tir would get lost? Maybe he'd find some other person to cling on to.

Oh, not so. Rue didn't even bother to get near him: she knew what was going on just by the body language of the man.

A bunch of those things kept roaming, occasionally losing another to find a bond - which they claimed like lamphreys clinging to a shark. Fiercely, though few were truly fighting, they defended their territories.

Shard had enough.

**"Can't you just go with one of them?" Shard demanded in irritation after a flock of remorai had nearly thrown him off his feet in their haste to get past. Tir was there to keep him upright, not missing a beat in his endless rambling.

But they don't like me. The blue remorai offered back as he helpfully brushed dirt off the blue man's shirt that wasn't there. You like me!

Shard let out an exasperated bellow that was heard halfway across the hearing. His cry for help was, once again, ignored. In fact, the only person who was not distracted by socialization of any kind, and therefore might have been some form of aid, merely rolled her eyes and continued leaning against the stage like a lawn ornament. **

Fortunately, by the time the dinner and ceremony was going to begin, the bellowing remorai were all called into their elder's care. Relieved to say the least - and maybe hoping to jump offworld before Tir could follow, Shard met up with Rue and headed to the long tables for the evening's events...

And then after who knows how long, something else happened. Shard and Rue were attending another party, though this time it wasn't because of a war ending, it was more because of someone else's marriage or children or - neither knew, didn't matter, they'd gotten an invitation and intended to ditch whatever responsibilities they had that night, and have some fun.

Now, to be fait, Tir had followed Shard to the ends of the world and back, not quite as clingy as he'd been at the very start of course but with boundaries now set and somewhat not ignored. But on Alskyr, on the Kshau Isle off the coast of Paniya, things had gotten a bit on the dull side. And even Shard had to admit that having an unexpectedly clingy friend along for the ride wasn't all that bad.

They drank, they sang hardly-remembered songs (badly), and then Shard noticed something odd about Tir.

Mainly, that he wasn't right next to him any more. There was a time, probably decades past, when he might have thought that this was a blessing. But having had a family in the meantime, meant that any quiet moment without the kids meant that those kids may be getting into a WORLD of trouble.

So he stood and excused himself for a moment, looking for his now-taller-than-him taur remorai friend. Yes at this point he even thought the word friend wasn't excessive or inappropriate, Tir had proven himself an adept message deliverer, even if he was still pretty clingy. He hadn't realized that their breed name 'remorai' was based on those lamphrey-like creatures of old earth...

But where was he?

Wait.

Something kept pinging his 'dragon sense' in the back of his mind, in a way that Jeremoth never did. Something that screamed 'wants attention but doesn't want to communicate that fact'. It was Tir.

Happy. Really, really happy. Like, happier than he was when they first met happy.

Because there was now another creature on his back. A little, pale sky blue and turquoise and violet creature.

"No, you're blue!" That smaller creature said, in a sure-of-himself voice. "I would know, I'm blue too!"

There was a strange sense of deja-vu, not unlike that which was brought by being in the same place you've just time-teleported to, as Shard, the leader of the Kshau Protectorate, the father of half a dozen blue or nearly-blue children, man who unified post-apocalyptic earth and went on to help colonize pern and alskyr and had clones in the dozens scattered to the dimensions... realized how happy he was to see that his clingy remorai friend had finally found his match in a version of himself that wasn't even remotely like him.

They were stuck in a psionic feedback loop.

How fun it was that they were both blue, and that they both had attached themselves to another blue---

Shard intervened.

"Hey, you're both blue, and you're both coming home with me and Rue, okay?"

"OKAY!" they both yelled, one mentally and the other in that tiny chirping chime of a voice, both giggled after, and both seemed to be sharing how funny and awesome it was to be accepted as a blue-creature by a blue-man like him.

**

Rue was the one who was a little confused, having recalled that night so long ago when Shard made every valiant attempt to get the clin-on to stop clinging. "Well this one's freakin' adorable though," she glanced very quickly up and out the doorway where their dragons and the Remorai (and whoever or whatever else had latched on in the intervening 25+ years) roosted. "Not that Tir's not adorable in his own way."

"This one has fur," Shard said, as that little Terigon snoozed almost comedically with a little zzzzz-snerk zzzzz-snerk snore. "Won't be very big though, even with those paws." Those paws were 'running in his sleep' now, and the half-fuzzy wings equally trembling at something a dream provided.

"And he has your name, too," Rue giggled as she grasped the Terigon's tail tip and it flopped straight back down, plop, "Shou."

"I really want to know how that works," Shard muttered softly, "but then again I don't, so we'll just make sure there's plenty of meat to go around. I... assume he eats meat."

"Little claws, little fangs, forward facing eyes," Rue listed off all those 'traits of predators'. "So yes, meat..."

"That's what she said," Shard said under his breath but just loud enough. He vanished into their quarters as Rue continued playing with the slumbering Terigon, and took a few pictures to add to the records. She was, after all, still a records-keeper for the Protectorate, and intended to make sure this one was well-documented.