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The morning of the Klah-Off had arrived!... much, much earlier than Okassis had anticipated. Much.

It wouldn't have been so bad if that hag of a cook hadn't insisted on working him into the late night hours after his innocent disappearance throughout the morning. It didn't matter how many times he'd tried to explain to her that he'd been performing kitchen-related duties! Ingredient-collecting for the contest should have been a perfectly valid use of his labor, shouldn't it have been? But no, she wouldn't buy it. And so now, muscles sore and lacking sleep, Okassis stumbled into the Kitchen Cavern, easily an hour before any sensible soul would be moving about the Weyr.

At least he knew he wasn't going to be the only one bleary-eyed that morning. Shards, if he couldn't have gotten out of extra duties, with all his charm and smooth-talking, Sovann must've been absolutely crushed by work! He'd still seemed to have been sleeping when Okassis had left the bunks, anyway. No doubt he'd be waking up soon, and wanting his own cup of klah before the big competition.

Groggily, Okassis wondered whether he ought to fix one up for his seaholder friend, test out their big ingredient.... Ah, but he'd be expecting it, he grinned. It wasn't like they'd managed to get a great amount of the crushed, dark-colored grinds he carried, either. Better to save them for the rest of the Weyr.

For now, though, he'd better get started on making up a control pot of klah. This was a bit difficult, though, given that the young Trader didn't drink the stuff himself - what were the proportions of the stuff? How bitter was too bitter, exactly? It seemed like a few people were already wakeful and working around the kitchen, but he balked to interrupt them. On second thought, maybe he'd be better to start setting up the table to host the contest....

Yeah, that was a good use of his time. Still yawning, Okassis lumbered over to sort out where they could set up for the maximum amount of exposure to the rest of the cavern, dragging furniture shamelessly about to suit his needs.

Idiot. Now when half the barracks was woken up, it would be all her fault! She'd be fast to blame it on him, see if she wouldn't be! It wasn't the teen's fault that some people had to be noisy in the morning. Probably something about the klah, and wanting some. This, and only this, is what propelled her out of the female Candidates' room. Her hair was bunched up and pushed under a large scarf, tendrils escaping around her face. A slightly torn, rough work dress complemented the look, making her look somewhat like a waif.

She'd already been up and preparing for her morning duties down in the Lower Caverns, but still! Coming out, a finger already to her lips in an insistent shushing motion she snagged the older male by the arm and dragged him away. "Shards! Have you lost your mind?" The tone was soft and low, but not pleased. "They're going to toss me off the Weyr if you woke 'em up!"

"You'd toss someone for waking you up before you wanted, Sovann." She'd heard at least that much about him, after careful asking and listening. A small encounter hadn't been enough for Inaari, and she was curious to learn all she could about the boys. It apparently was no secret that the dark boy was cranky in the mornings.

After his whole spiel, she eyed the parchment warily, before deftly taking it from his fingers. "I can't read music, so we'd have to find a Harper to hel...oh. Oh my." Eyes skimming the lyrics for the first time, she blushed a rosy red from hairline to collarbone. "You want me to sing this?!" Incredulous, she stared up at him.

"I'm not sure if you're trying to humiliate him or me with this one. I...I don't know if I can!"

Yup, they were right. Sovann was generally moody, but in the morning was absolutely silly! Rubbing her eyes and stretching slightly, one steady brown eye waited until he was done insulting her and pouting outrageously. Wasn't it her job to pout? Often, Inaari felt it was quite unfair that she was generally not inclined to simper. Simpering got a girl pretty far, she thought.

Apparently simpering also worked for guys. "Holder girls can't sing too well, usually. I'm not an exception. Those girls are sent to the Hall, we've got 'bout a dozen of 'em in the Candidate group alone." Honestly, he had some ridiculous notions about Holder folk! It baffled her where they came from, since she knew that he wasn't from the Weyr. Maybe another Weyr? But that was odd.

Shaking her head slightly, the blond sighed. "Only when we're making klah?"

By the end of the short lesson, Inaari was nothing short of beet red and horribly embarrassed to be singing such a tune. It was so unlike her, and she told him so, several times. Of course, the simper returned. Rapidly, she was coming to believe that it wasn't the simper that got things done because it was adorable and charming. Someone would just get tired of so much pouting, and would give in from reflex.

Giggling somewhat at this thought, she tucked the parchment into a pocket at her waist. "You realize this is utterly ridiculous, right Sovann?" You couldn't possibly remind him too many times. "I think I might need to give you ample credit for this idea when Okassis is choking on his tongue."

While his friend plotted behind his back, Okassis had successfully set up a table for them to host the contest, complete with two large cups and a bowl filled with reddish pebbles. It was situated perfectly, so that every Candidate on their way for a morning cup of klah would first have to pass the hub-bub created by their challenge.

But once he'd finished that, and the other competitors still hadn't manifested, he was forced to turn to the loathsome puzzle of the klah.

Okassis hesitated - surely, there was something else he could do?

But no. Klah was all that was left at this hour. Haplessly, he trudged to the kitchen, trying to observe what the workers there were doing to fix the Weyr's favorite morning drink. Shards, they were all working so quickly, though, he couldn't make heads or tails....

"Look, I told you I didn't mean to run into you," Sovann said grumpily, striving to maintain a little bit of dignity in the fact of some girl's nattering. "I've got this contest, see? Got to be over there." He pointed, and the silly twit let go of him, distracted by his movement. Without bothering to apologize again (he already had, Scorch it!) he wormed his way into the crowd, weaving through the gathering of riders, candidates, and weyrfolk. Finally, he managed to get over to Okassis, and he considered himself lucky that there had only been the one mishap. Usually there were more in the morning. He definitely wasn't the most aware before his morning cup of klah. ... Of course, today he was going to abstain from that. Eeew. "Kas," he said simply, looking over the set up.

Tossing her head, hands on her hips, Inaari only scoffed. "I don't think I'll be beaten by you amateurs today!" The confidence was real, but still somewhat lesser than it would normally be. That ridiculous song was still stuck in her brain, along with their previous reactions to her drink. However, it had been a few days, and the drink had been vanishing as fast as she could make it.

It couldn't be that bad! "Are you going to teach me how to make your klah, or are you going to make this batch yourself?" The grin was wide as she snagged an apron from beneath the table, and threw it over her overdress. Stains were already a makeup of the cloth, but if you could avoid more mess, you sure did!