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 Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:14 pm
Kaatan huffed, slumping back against a large rock near the edge of the bowl. He had been stuck in the lower tunnels all day, scrubbing the stone raw. The recent rains and caused people to track in a lot of mud and dust, and now that things were beginning to dry out slightly, it was demanded that they all be scrubbed down. His clothes were drenched in a mix of sweat and dirty, muddy water, and he could feel the grit of the soapsand all over. I need a bath... but first I just want some fresh air!
He watched the comings and goings of dragons and riders, smiling softly at the occasional bugle overhead. I must look like a speck to them, way up there! He watched the sky with envy, soon losing any idea of what was going on on the ground around him.
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Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 7:59 pm
This was terrible. Oh, sure, Sharkal had wanted to get off kitchen duty and stop scrubbing those damn dishes, but not at this expense! Dirty dishware was far easier to deal with than muddy floors. So, maybe, he wasn't the only candidate put on this particular task, but still. Shimmer was buzzing about overhead, landing occasionally in a frenzied attempt to help her boy and the other boy. They were not good scrubbers. She was! But she was so very small!
"Hey! You, uh!" Sharkal frowned, his nose wrinkling (oh, ow! ow! That still hurt, damnit!) as he tried to remember if he knew this boy. He didn't. "You with the scrubbing," he asked, rocking back onto his heels. "You know when we're done? You care if I leave, because uh. This is stupid. I think I want to be done right now." Shimmer chirped her agreement, scuttling to her boy and hopping up onto his arm.
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 11:29 am
Kaatan brought himself back to reality and over to the boy who had spoken. "What?" he said, then realized what the boy had asked. "Leave? Yeah I care," he said sharply, gesturing wildly at the floor. "This isn't even close to being clean yet. I'm not going to get extra work just because you think it's stupid."
Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh. But I'm just as fed up with it as he is!
Rocking back on his heels as well and pushing some hair from his forehead that was plastered there, Kaatan huffed. "We don't get to decide when we're done." This added sentence wasn't as hard-edged as the first, but it was still stern. He didn't to be left to finish this alone.
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 11:51 am
Sharkal snorted as he stood, folding his arms across his chest as he cast the other candidate a baleful glare. "Look here," the blond growled, Shimmer settling across his shoulders, "you don't get to tell me what to do, kay? 'm older, first of all. An' you sure ain' the boss of me!" Sharkal announced firmly, not about to be intimidated. (Not until Kaatan stood up, anyways.) About to wheel on his heel and leave, he paused when the other weyrbrat spoke again.
"Tccht. Sure we do, what are you, stupid?" Shimmer chirped then, giving her boy a baleful look. It was a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, but the firelizard knew better than to confront her boy when he was in a mood. (She was also wise enough to realize her boy was always in some sort of sour mood.) "We jus' get up an' leave, an' that is what I intend to do. Unless you think you can stop me, pretty boy?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:05 pm
Surprised by the response he got, Kaatan's face fell into a frown. He was not pleased. While he didn't expect to be respected by his cleaning companion, or listened to or anything, her certainly didn't expect a response like that.
And 'pretty boy' is taking it too far, sure and it is! Kaatan's size brought about a lot of physical-characteristic-insults, and that was certainly among them, much to his dismay.
In response, he stood and moved a bit closer to the boy. The substantial difference in height made it difficult for Kaatan not to look down at him, even though he tried to avoid it, since he was not his superior.
"Leaving without finishing the work is just going to cause you to get more. And don't think I won't be the first to tell them you ditched, if they ask. You've given me no reason to defend you. Might as well just finish this."
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:55 pm
Oh. Sharkal actually had to look up to see Kaatan's face. Oh.
"Is not. And if you tell on me, I'll...I'll..." What would he do? He'd certainly lost his fair of fist fights in the immediate past. His crooked nose could attest to that. His busted lip hadn't healed yet, either. Fixing Kataan with his mightiest scowl, the blond bared his teeth and willed himself to be just a little larger. "You'll be sorry, tha's what. I don't need your defense." (Though it certainly couldn't hurt some small portion of his brain reasoned.)
Shimmer began to cheep, her eyes whirling a nervous yellow as her boy's fists began to clench by his sides. She knew what that grit of the teeth meant. Oh, he did like to fight far too much for his own health!
Sharka growled softly, baring his teeth all the more as he took a step into the other candidate's space. "Not my problem if you don' got the gall to get out when th' gettin's good."
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 2:05 pm
It was clear to Kaatan that this would either be a fist fight - which he was fairly confident he could win, if it came to that, just by sitting on the older boy and pinning his arms to his back - or one of them would back down. Or the guy would just leave already.
I probably shouldn't get my hopes up for that, since he hasn't left already... And today I thought I'd just be washing floors.
With a sharp intake of breath to expand his chest just that much more, Kaatan took a small step toward him, closing the already-stunted space between them even more. Making sure not to do anything to hint that he would throw a punch first - his fingers were hanging what appeared to be loosely, though the muscle in them were tense in case he had to defend himself, and his shoulders were dropped. He still took up a good deal of space in the cavern hall, though.
The last thing I want to to get into a fight. I've taken my fair share of punches- and by the looks of his lip, he has, too. I just want to finish cleaning so I can go outside!
"If you're going to leave, then do it already." His voice was low, not wanting to encourage the other to raise his. "But I'm telling you now, it's not advisable. Step back, and let's get back to scrubbing so we can be finished already."
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:16 am
Sharkal winced, visibly, when Kaatan refused to submit; instead making himself even larger than the giant he already was as he expelled any personal space either of them had left. He'd clearly been in too many fights lately (and yet, he didn't seem to learn not the pick them, did he?), but when the expected blow never came, the youth just wrinkled his nose (ow!) and folded his arms over his chest, clearly trying to prove his own fool-hearted bravery.
"Don't tell me what to do!" he hissed, though, much to the blond's dismay, it came out like much more of an angry squeal than it did an offended comment. Sharkal clearly didn't need any encouragement at all, working himself into quite the tither without Kaatan's help. "You can' make me do 'nything, okay? You can' make me do anything! I don' answer to nobody." Except for, perhaps, the Headwoman, Norra. And the candidatemaster those day he got caught. And probably any other adult wise enough to catch him by the scruff and give him a little shake. "What are y'gonna do, hit me?"
Shimmer squawked; that was practically an invitation! The gold lizard leapt into the air, not willing to be caught in the midst of a confrontation, and settled on the floor, out of the way. If the silly boys refused to clean the floor, she would!
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:13 pm
Kaatan always kept an eye to any present firelizards, and this boy's was no exception. It seemed that she was the only one with any sense at the moment as she moved to the floor. Well, this tactic obviously isn't working, is it? I could drink of mug of klah in front of him, and he'd find something to get riled up about. With that thought in mind, Kaatan crouched down and found his brush, continuing scrubbing the mud from the floor, occasionally sloshing more water over the surface. He made sure to keep his attention on the boy, with his body facing him as he scrubbed. He wasn't about to be taken off guard in such confined places, though he still had no desire to fight in the first place.
"Your flit seems to have more sense their either of us," he replied calmly, letting his body move in rhythm with the scratching sound of the brush on the stone. "These floors need to be cleaned."
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:52 pm
Of course Shimmer had the most sense here, that's because she was his flit and he trained her really, really well and- Hey. Wait a minute.
"I have sense," Sharkal snorted, brows knitting together as he tried to figure out this kid's game. First he was all about work, then Kaatan was up in his face and trying to confront him and then he was working again? What was going on? His lizard sensed his confusion and glanced up, fluttering her wings as she cheeped. If he was not going to scrub, she was. Scrubbing was one of the things firelizards did best, after all.
"I do too have sense," the blond repeated, scowling angrily as he dropped to his knees and began to scrub violently. See? He could scrub. He could scrub better that this little (huge!) weyrbrat, that was for certain. "What's your name, anyways?" he demanded, clearly uncomfortable with the silence. Unlike the other candidate, he did not watch his opponent; eye contact was always hard for Sharkal to maintain.
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:59 pm
Now that it seemed like the situation was averted, Kaatan felt comfortable enough to remove his eyes from the boy. No sense in making him feel uncomfortable by watch him. "I'm Kaatan," he replied easily, smiling slightly in the darkness. Conversation was better than punches, sure and it was! "How about yours?"
Well, I guess mildly insulting him was needed, if it got him back to being productive. Once this is over and done with, who knows what will happen. But for right now, I'm fine with this status. Though I surely would've liked to make him pay for that comment... He had to force a frown from his face as that last sentence passed his mind. He wasn't a very violent person - he definitely would rather duel with words than with fists - but sometimes being larger-than-average was a useful tool.
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Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 4:45 am
Sharkal snorted softly, still feeling slightly threatened. Albeit, that was a common feeling for the youth, especially when faced with those so much larger than himself, but despite all Shark's stomping and cussing, Kaatan hadn't actually shown himself to be aggressive yet. (Just stubborn, which was mighty stupid of him, in Shark's not so humble opinion, but that would a be a bit like the pot calling the kettle black now, wouldn't it?) Shimmer glanced up and gave her boy an encouraging chirp before ducking down and scuttling across the floor, moving to another dirty patch to scrub, scrub, scrub! These boys would never be done at this rate (though she was pleased with her boy's new found enthusiasm).
"M' Sharkal," the weyrbrat finally muttered, not lifting his blue gaze from the floor, "but some people call me Shark." He personally preferred Shark, but. Some people were hard to convince. Like Norra, for instance. As back the pair lapsed into silence, it it didn't take long at all for the blond's skin to crawl or the gentle paranoia to seep back in, forcing him to glance up and look around every so often (more often than not).
Finally, when he couldn't take in any longer, the teenager muttered, "So how long you been here, 'nyways? Don't think I know you."
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Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:00 am
Kaatan nodded when he offered his name. Sharkal. Shark. Ok. I'll remember that, I think. It seemed like he didn't like being in silence, always being the first the break it, and Kaatan didn't really mind. He may not be the most social person in the Weyr, but he certainly didn't mind keeping conversation. Besides, scrubbing floors could get lonely... "I grew up here," he responded flatly. Even though they had never met, he had seen Shark in passing a few times throughout the years, even if they had never been put on the same task or anything. "Weyrbrat, same as you, I assume." That statement was said with a bit more tone than the previous, though he was sure it came off a bit more harsh than he had meant. "No luck at Standing, though. The hatchings I've Stood in, anyway..."
He scooted back slightly, that particular patch of hall clean, and continued to scrub, feeling sweat gloss over him. The warm water only added to the stuffiness of the caverns, and the heavy air was getting very warm as they exerted themselves to the brush. Pretty awful conditions, though we could be out in the cold... I can't decide which would be worse!
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Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 5:19 am
He grew up here? Sharkal gave Kaatan a suspicious look, raising his head to narrow his eyes and squint thoughtfully. That was strange, because the blond was fairly certain he'd run into all the other weyrbrats his age by now. Clearly, he'd miscalculated. (Let us say now that Sharkal never pretended to be even remotely suited to anything even resembling anything intellectual, and this is most certainly not his fault.) And so, the blond thought up the most intelligent thing he could possible muster faced with such a complex problem of logic.
"Oh." And then, "Me too."
It seemed the boy suddenly remembered himself and his gaze dropped back to the floor. He gave it an appraising look. Good enough, he decided. People were just going to walk on it anyways (which made this entire task pointless, in his humble opinion). The only logical choice was to move on. Crawling across the floor, Sharkal took a moment before he settled down again. "Yeah, well," he finally started up again, having somewhere new to stare holes, "tha's because stupid girls keep Impressin' the fightin' dragons." Sharkal wasn't exactly sure if he was trying to make Kaatan feel better; the fact he didn't Impress and obnoxious girls did never made him feel any better, after all. Maybe he should change tactic...
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Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:41 am
Kaatan was close to releasing a sigh, but caught himself, remembering where he was. He had heard rumors - from riders coming through - that Telgar's opinion of women riders was not shared by all Weyrs. I don't really see the difference... Gender is irrelevant - it clearly is to the dragons.
"I don't know," he responded casually, letting his obvious confusion of the previous comment go by unnoticed. It was easy to discover new people at the Weyr, considering how many it housed - weyrbrats and candidates especially. "The dragons chose them, so they can't be too stupid." He wasn't about to agree with Shark, but being too obviously opposed to the idea wasn't necessarily in his best interest. There were others who shared his opinion - he had discovered that when Lelia had confided in him (and he assumed there were other guys in the Weyr who agreed, or at least didn't disagree) - but he didn't want to be the one to voice against it and have something bad happen. "Their dragons simply weren't for us. Without the girls there, they may have gone between... And no one wants that."
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