Big Brother Knows Best (WARNING)

WARNING: THE LOG BELOW CONTAINS MATURE CONTENT, AND ADULT LANGUAGE.


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Xanadu Weyr - Observation Level

Dark blue seats form a semi-circle around the sands below, the lowest row separating from the sands themselves by merely a railing. The seats climb upwards, each row a bit higher then the previous, and they are broken up into sections by 3 sets of staircases. Lights are evenly spaced along the outer wall, lighting the seats and the sands easily, though they tend to be dimmed unless a major event is taking place. A large balcony looms overhead, darkening some of the seats, providing a place for observers of the draconic kind to watch without obstructing the view for others.
When one looks over the railing, the oddly hued sand below can be seen easily, the circle-shaped area of the sands spread out to the far walls, the sand itself a unique mixture of red and white grains.


The dark skinned teen listens to the sailor curiously as he gives his tale, biting her lower lip before she finally speaks, "Yeah, mostly lived in the …holdless caverns with Ma. Spent some time at weyrs, but only for a couple months here and there." Briana says in a tentative voice, "Sometimes I feel like I belong, other times I worry they will decide I shouldn't live here and kick me out." Her voice is low as she speaks. As he asks about the rules, her cheeks darken and she lowers her gaze a bit, "Well I weren't supposed to be doing it, or as my Master said, not getting caught either way. Figure they mean the same, but well, I still ain't seen Kal…I am worried he is angry at me." As Landers joins her on the bench she looks up to him as he speaks of his search, "Oh, the bluerider? Laera?" She asks with bright eyes, "Oh, I suppose we are all scattered like. I call quite a few people from the caverns me uncle." Her gaze back to the eggs, not catching his glance. "Not all my people are bad people, just don't want to live like others is all."

Landers continues to lounge in his chair behind the railing, his ankled crossed now as they are angled to rest up against the top crossbar, hands idly toying with a button on his tabard vest. At the mention of living holdless, Landers crans his head toward her, as if holding some similiarities with her, "Aye. After I was told ta leave Landing, I was in much of the same boat. Save fer the fact that the ship I be working on was my hold afterward, my cavern as you had." Sharing a bit in common, the hold 'outsider' thing, he expressed a soft smile, tinged with a bit of saddness to it. "I reckon I be taunted any day now 'bout not knowing a thing bouts them riders, save fer them having good sex drives and booze." There is a playful side to his words however, not entirely serious. He does chuckle at the fact that she had fooled around with her boyfriend, lowering his voice in an aside, "Tis normal Bri. Can not keep a man or women from it, when tis right." He lets the easy silence drift between them, having some immediate camaraderie with her, whether that be from knowing her relatives or simply empathizing with her position she's facing, since he is facing the same. "Aye, Laera," he confirms with a simple word, adding afterward, "Tis the same fer us sailors. Be drifters most of us."

There's a shuffling at the entrance to the observation level, a familiar figure with fluffy blond hair and golden eyes appears, hands shoved into his pockets. A white cord has been woven into Pyriel's apprentice harper's knot, telling both dark skinned beauty and sailor alike that they were stuck with the obnoxious brat. His chin comes up as he sees Briana and Landers speaking, looking them both over before he merely heads to the railing closest to the doorway. As far as expressions go, there wasn't really one, as if the harper kid had a lot on his mind and was just looking for a quiet place to think. He's without his guitar, likely by his cot in the candidate barracks. Folding his arms over one another upon that railing, he leans over and checks out the eggs nestled in the sand, failing to greet either of his fellow candidates at this time.

Briana shifts to tuck a foot under her, fidgeting a little perhaps as she looks over the big ol eggs on the sands. Still perhaps trying to imagine the big brown that searched her coming out of it. As he brings up the similarities she tilts her head to him and offers a bit of a smile, feeling that touch of kinship. "Sometimes I miss the caverns. Despite all that went on there, I did have friends there, but I just couldn't stay there no more, not aft.." She stops and quickly looks out to the sands, "Well I needed a change and was old enough to go out on my own and join a craft if I wanted and stuff. Got inticed by the bakers." She says with a half smile and tentatively extends a hand to him, "I will stand by ya, us outsiders out to stick together ya know?" She says relaxing a bit more with the older man. As she notes the arrival of Pyriel, Briana looks up at the younger of the men for a moment, her golden eyes flashing before she quickly looks back to the eggs. Hmph.

The break in the Briana's admissions has him quickly cant his head to the side, arching an eyebrow of curiosity. Despite this, he doesn't press her for what happened, considering his own ghosts now haunt him and sometimes ghosts are better left unseen to other people. "Bakers… Haha," the irony of him meeting two bakers, both girls that he could tolerate makes him show a faint grin once more, adding with a bit of a jest, "Best way ta a man's heart be his stomach. Good craft ta get inta iffin ya want a good man on ya arm." The movement she makes to extend her hand to him is readily accepted, rolling sideways in his chair to accept it with his opposite hand, his grasp a gentle one, though as if restraining some power behind it, and hands were rough to the touch. "I concur. Be a deal, ta stand with ya." Outsiders for the win! With the pact made, there is a contented look on his face, knowing he wasn't the only one to be unfamiliar with all the candidate who-rah. The silent arrival of Pyriel earns the other crafter a nod of acknowledgement, though the fact that Pyriel does not greet him only confirms the 'outsider' order, for Lan gives a quick eye to Briana to witness her own reaction. "Somethin going on thar…" a finger waggled between herself and Pyriel, though the question spoken quietly so that it would not make it to the Harper's ears.

If either of them knew Pyriel at all, they would of realized that the boy's lack of social skills weren't anything personal. Still, because of that anti-social streak, he wouldn't be the one to clue either of them into it. He doesn't appear particularly put off by neither of them giving a verbal greeting either, content it seems to be over there by himself. He does not in fact, hear the whispering from Landers to Briana, and so he remains where he is. Golden eyes flicker from egg to egg to egg, never lingering on any of them very long. A sigh, perhaps heavier than he intended emerges, and he slumps with his back side thrust out and his chin resting atop his forearm.

As he laughs about her admission of being a Baker, Briana looks to Landers with an almost defensive look upon her face, before he continues and she smiles a bit, "Yeah, Kal likes my cooking. Or at least he loves me enough to say he does." She says with a little giggle. Her grip in the handshake is firm for a girl of her size, "A deal." She smiles and releases his hand, relaxing a bit more with the fellow outsider. Her noted reaction to Pyriel causes her to shake her head a bit, "He was…rude to me last time I visited." She explains in a quiet voice before turning her gaze directly to the eggs for a moment, "I suppose I should get back to my chores. Don't suppose you know how to get to the guard house?" She asks the sailor with the briefest glances to Pyriel.

There was no insult to be had, for his former words about the bakercraft. If anything he seemed to be delighted to have run into another so soon, as the suspect glint in his eye admits. "I reckon I would like ta get an opportunity ta be in the kitchens with ya and Lor sometime. I could be using a good lesson or two," a shifty eyed look as he draws up his hand, "or just some good sweets." Weakness 101. He gives her a goodnatured wink, nothing overtly flirty but geninue. As to the topic of the younger candidate and socially awkward Harper, the sailor gives a little snort, "Be that way to everyone first go around. Hard shell ta crack. He only tolerate me cause I be saving his friend…" Or so he believes, since he hadn't really seen much of the Harper since the infirmary. As for her question he winces a little, "Ta be honest, I didn't much explore the Weyr ta know rightly where it be." A beat, "Be nice talkin to ya. Iffin ya ever need ta talk more, feel free." His gaze follows to the ever loud Harper. He rises from his seat after his hands clap against his leather pants, moving shortly after Briana does, though instead of leaving (even if she doesn't quite yet leave) he edges himself toward Pyriel, and once close enough leans up against the railing, "How be ya Harper?"

Golden hued depths dart to Landers at the sound of leather creaking, suddenly straightening, his hands still on the railing. He waits for the sailor to lean nearby before his gaze flickers to Briana and then back to the sailor. A frown appears on his lips, which really was no big surprise at this junction for anyone. Pyriel returns his attention to the eggs instead, keeping his voice low as to prevent it carrying. "Been better." he replies honestly, remaining pressed up against the rail to insure that there was enough room for Briana to get by if she chose to leave as it seemed from the conversation that she was. Not in the least affected by her decision to get away from the blond boy as quickly as humanly possible. "How about ya?" he asks, perhaps a first attempt at politeness. The growling and pissyness at least seemed to be turned down to an absolute minimum even if his frown was in it's usual spot.

"I suppose I will meet this Lor proper. The rider that searched me reckoned I would still have time for some lessons." Briana says as she picks up the remainder of her sandwich and rises from her seat. As the man explains Pyriel, she glances over to the young harper for a moment, "I suppose, just…well it made me uncomfortable is all." She says to the sailor candidate before passing out of the stands. There is a little nod to the harper candidate as she passes out to continue on her chore for the day. The long search for the Guards Tower.

Lander's gaze does follow Briana out, a little more than it should really. If only to give his head a quick shake and an muttered chide to himself. In regards to the Harper, the answer received earned a questionable arch of his brow as well, and it was like Landers not to pry, especially not with irritable and emotional teenagers. However, the sincere concern is showing for a brief while, after all, these two shared a bond of another means. A bond only surviving a nightmare would incur. In the space between their words, he slumps down into a chair next to Pyriel, tossing his arms behind him to overlay upon the backs of the seats. The answer of his own well being starts first with a shrug, followed by a little 'meh' like grunt, and then a frank statement, "Be thinkin I shant have taken on this white knot. I be missing some of the normalities of me life," like, booze… and companionship, turning his eyes toward the blond haired teen, "Been a tad overwhelmed at all this, ta be truthful."

Pyriel was more than happy to ignore Briana, that is until she gives her curt little nod as she passes by. The harper too couldn't help a long look at her retreating form far longer than was necessary. The boy whistles low after the girl had departed, shaking his head a bit before dropping into a seat beside the sailor. "That girl's got a body on her." What? He was fifteen! It was perfectly healthy to be checking out a rocking female form should one present itself. He dismisses any less than chaste thoughts that may of followed in the wake of his roaming eyes, turning his head towards Landers as the man starts to speak. Slouching in his chair, he shoves his hands as much into his pockets as he can in this position. "I can live without the booze." says the harper, twitching a bit for that. "Only had sex twice, first time was kinda meh, second time under the influence of said booze…and now…" He flicks at the white cord in his knot. "We seriously have to be messed up sayin' yes to all this shit." He shakes his head, lashes lowering. "Yeah, I can see how it's a bit much." Something was clearly on the harper's mind, but he shrugs and casts a glance to the egg chamber. "Maybe it'll all be worth it, and maybe we just go back to being piss poor excuses for human beings."

Lan couldn't help but share a knowing smirk for the departing Briana, however, there was a trace of guilt in his eyes. He certainly shouldn't be oogling up young ladies, though a man was a man and sometimes age just didn't matter when it came to the 'scale' ranking of a woman's body. "Her body be about an eight or nine, I reckon. Face," he lifts his hand and waffles it from side to side, sharing a knowing look with Pyriel that lasts for as long as the subject does. One arm sprawled behind him on his chair, he flops the other against his belly as legs are kicked up and ankles rested on the cross bar of the railing once more. "Aye, booze not be so bad… iffin I didn't just get a big old keg of it from Donnie…" A frown there for the gift he would have to keep hidden until after candidacy. The other subject gets a groan, "That… I be having issues with," his eyes sliding over toward Pyriel with a suddenly proud look showing through, "Ahh. Ya be just getting started to, I reckon. Ya be one of those types the ladies go fer." It was true. The whole emo anti-social thing was a good gig, as he explains with a short, "They like the mystery behind it… Or be hopin ta mend ya." His head tilts back as he looks up to the ceiling, tilting in his chair with his eyes half closing, "T'was a piss poor excuse myself." A eye cocks open to peer at Pyriel, a teasing tone to his voice, "Maybe your the sorry excuse, huh?" A yawn finds him abruptly, before he asks almost off-handedly, "So who did ya get ta toss 'bout with?"

Pyriel does slide a sneaky peek off to where Briana had vanished, sighing almost in a listless way. "If I was gunna tap that, it'd have to wait. Wait a real long time. She got a boyfriend anyway, so kinda pointless to think anythin' gunna happen." That and Briana probably thought the harper was a jerk anyway, like most girls did when they first met him. "Still, ain't no harm in looking, long as she dun catch ya doing it." He looks a touch sheepish, his eyes sliding back to Landers again. "She tried to hit me, when I hit on her. She's a bit jumpy. But a man can dream." He does, surprisingly, smile at the sailor for his knowing look. Now considering the effect that it had on the boy's already present beauty, bumping it up with an almost ethereal edge, it may be a good thing that he tended in mix company not to do it often. Kid could melt lead with it. "Man ya don't need to tell me. I finally score, twice and then I got this brown in my face telling me I gutta give it up for however long I gutta wear this white cord." A long suffering sigh and he appears to slouch just a little bit more in his seat. It was very nearly a pout. "Yeah that's what Iess and Pol said too. Though they're more interested in me playing and singing so they can pick off the girls I manage to summon up." He shakes his head at that. "Nice to have guy friends though. Especially guy friends that ain't interested in sleeping with me." The harper stiffens some as he says that, his frown deepening. He's happy to get off that topic though, shrugging at being an excuse. "Probably. I annoy people." Duh. When asked about his conquests, a hand comes out of his pocket and he curls a finger at his nose, rubbing it. Again, a sheepish expression. "Kaede and Kiley…they're both candidates now. I think Kaede only slept with me outta pity, and Kiley was an accident. We ate some stuff we shouldn't of, and ended up in the sack. She's got a thing for Ryeokie though." Was that a twinge there in his eyes before they darted away to the corner over there? Yes, yes it was. And the harper's jaw sets.

Landers chuckle is short lived, the grin was the ever present expression as the topic of Briana esclates. "Ya got ta learn one thing Py," the older says with a visage of experience, "'dem having a boyfriend mean nothing. Even being married be nothing if a woman's eye can be led astray, iffin ya want ta lead her off course that be." It was evident that the sailor didn't believe in the whole 'married to one person' notion, showing his polygamist behaviour openly in that one statement. An agreeable grunt to acknowledge the part about girls not catching a man looking subsequently followed along behind, giving a chuff of amusement right along after for the admission of Briana trying to hit Pyriel. Lan's eyes flash back over his shoulder as if the girl had been still in their midst, cocking a grin at Pyriel, "Ya not doin it right iffin they want ta hit ya. But she be different than Weyr breds. Tis that ya have ta remember. Be not treating all women alike. Gague them. Ease off the persistence if they be deflecting your advances." The whole ethereal look seems to bypass Landers, despite how it could make any woman or man for that matter swoon. Fifteen turn old boys just didn't rev this sailors engines, even if he had a taste for manflesh along with womanly wonders. "Sharding insufferable rule…" no doubt the sailor has already had to manage without it, "Be embarrasing when ya wake up stiff," he grunts at the matter of morning wood. He chuckles at Pyriel then, "Ahh, girls be coming and going ya whole life. Just be a damn shame ya started just a while ago and be forced ta stop. Only gets better each time, the more ya know how ta handle her." Her, as in the general -her- to incorporate the female kind. A blink then to the mention of guy friends, "Hah. Dun be thinking that of me, I hope!" He might be sleeping with a greenrider, or had been, but that didn't mean every guy that walked by was appreciated in the same manner. A spot inbetween the conversation lets Landers stretching out more, putting both hands behind his head with elbows jutting out around him, listening to the names of those in whom Pyriel got with. "Kiley?" is spoken with a sense of surprise, only for that surprise to be turned into approval, "Accident or not, be good fer ya." An ever watchful eye regards Pyriel then, for the last, "And whar, Ryeo don't have a thing fer her? Did ya at least tell 'em?"

Pyriel shakes his head some, "My dad cheated on my mom, Landers." he says, expression hardening. "I know what that did to her, so I would never ever do that to anyone else. I dun much care if he's a sharding rider, ya don't make promises to people ya love and then sneak around. Ya can do as ya like, I ain't gunna judge ya no more cause I know ya well enough to know that ya got a thing for that bluerider and her….mate." Yeah no love for greenriders, especially the male ones. "If ya ever met my dad and his…" A pause and the boy can't even spit out the word he was thinking about, but it probably wouldn't of been very nice. "Ya would understand why I think what I do. Just ain't in me to be like that. Love is stupid anyway, I'll stick with flings and one night stands." The hand on his face slips away, and dives back into the pocket from whence it came. He bobs his head in an affirmative for morning wood, he knew about that issue all too well. "It's completely messed up, dude. Ya can't put a bunch of healthy young guys in the same sleeping space as the chicks and expect nothing to happen. There's only so much self control to be had. Freakin' torture if ya ask me." Yeah! Those meanieheads! He shakes his head vehemently when Landers gets an inkling that the harper was insinuating that he was the guy he was talking about. "I'm too young for ya. If ya had wanted that kinda stuff from me woulda struck me as such. Yer cool, man. No worries." He would of offered the sailor a fist bump, but he was being lazy right now. He looks off across the egg chamber again, this time when Landers takes the lull in conversation as a perfect opportunity to stretch out. "I dunno. Ryeokie's a two faced bastard. When people are around he intentionally pushes my buttons to piss me off, but when we're alone…" His voice trails off there, and the harper's jaw sets again. "She can sharding have him. I don't give a shit." Grrr. Growl. Snarl.

Landers gives a little bit of a wince for not knowing the first part, as ought he should. "I reckon I didn't know that mate," he labels Pyriel in the same category as his ship crew mates, using the tone of kinship no other save for Ryeokie might hear, "Tis not so plane ta me as ta ya I reckon. Be it my parents didn't know me nor eachother." Therefore, Landers came from a background where there was no sanctimony in marriage or coupling. As for the bit about promising, Landers is struck into silence, harbouring some unsettled thoughts as lips purse with the tension. He hadn't done anything to break any promises made, except take the white knot on his shoulder. Lan shifts his glance toward Pyriel after a time, "Aye. Laera is …." he just sighs, "sharding woman put me here. Dun know what ta think of it. She netted me well." Speaking an instant after about D'len, "He be right fine Pyriel. Ya ever met the man?" The next lapse in conversation is due to the talk of Pyriel's dad, "Aye. I did see the bastard and what clung ta him. He did come inta the infirm when ya near be dead. I never brought it up cause I be about ta kick his slimey fish arse out. It be Laera that got him ta leave," see, Pyriel better appreciate the bluerider. Lan did. Tension in regards to the subject is released when the sailor chuckles, "Is it love? Or be it just extended lust?" This here is honest truth, since lust could carry a relationship for a duration of time and could be mistaken by love, which thus then causes the cheating and the lying and the sneaking. His eyes close on the matter, releasing a heavy sigh. Any of the following conversation is met with grunts or noises of acknowledgement, perhaps a smirk or two, but generally agreeable sounds. Save for the last about Ryeokie. That makes Lan's eyes pop back open and his face turn, suddenly studious of the younger man. "Ya think he be the exception ta yer rule?" There was always one and one was enough to have caused Landers to accept many more.

Pyriel rolls his shoulders in a kind of shrug. Not many people knew about his family situation after all, but that number was increasing as of late, mostly as the harper grew more comfortable just talking to people he was starting to consider friends. Landers was something slightly beyond that, an older brother perhaps in soul rather than of blood. "Dun worry about it." he says, chin lifting up every so slightly, even as his eyes remain on what of the sands he could see from his vantage point. "My dad's an ass, and so that's parasite he's shacked up with. Ya know when he found out I was searched, he had the balls to write me and say that clearly a mistake had been made and he expected me to apologize to everyone when I didn't Impress. How's that for a warm bonding moment between son and father?" he says, just shaking his head. Though clear from the way the harper's eyes mist up, that the brownrider's biting words had struck home as they had intended. Even if Pyriel was trying his best not to let it show. He bites back the escaping emotion, focusing on instead on what the sailor says about Laera and D'len. "Yeah Laera's all right, just…I dunno…something creeps me out about that guy ya'll seem to be fancying. All those scars and the eyepatch and the creepy red eyed green of his." A shudder. "It's cool if ya like him and all, but…it ain't my place to judge yer choice of partner." He'll just be keeping his opinion on D'len to himself, he really didn't want to offend Landers. They might of gotten off to a shaky start, but things were better now. He startles when he's told his dad and his boyfriend showed up while he was sick in the Infirmary, head and eyes snapping to the reclined sailor to his left and his brows shoot up like a rocket beneath the jagged edge of his bangs. "Serious? Why didn't anyone tell me?" he asks, looking perhaps then, a little put out that he was just hearing about it right then. His expression falls as he suspects from the way Landers puts it, that his father showed his true colors despite Pyriel's state at the time. "Remind me to thank Laera next time we see her." And that is all he says about it. "Is what love?" he asks, blinking several times. "My parents?" The boy shrugs. "Dunno. They'd been together since they were kids, with a pause for when dad Impressed Dreggoth. But they started in on making my brothers right away…I was a…surprise. There's a sixteen turn gap between me and my brother Liyen, who was supposed to be their last." He goes kinda quiet after that, gaze drifting back as if it was the natural way of things, that is until Landers drops that last question over his head. The harper stiffens all at once, and he sinks a wee bit further into his seat. "I dun like guys that way. I look at ya, and I can see yer an attractive guy, but I don't got no draw to ya." A pause and the harper tenses somewhat. "No offense man." A quick look at the sailor and then it's back out of the sands his golden hues slip. "Same with every other guy I have seen in my life. Only ones that get the blood pumping are girls…and just about every single one of them. If their hot enough…" And even then, he might pop a wood, but would never admit it. There was no bragging rights in banging ugly chicks. He goes downright stealth mode after that, as if he was trying to disappear into the chair without actually running out the door. His lips are pressed into a fine, thin line, one leg starting to jiggle up and down in a most annoyed fashion. ""There ain't no making exceptions." he lets out, along with a whoosh of air as if he'd been holding his breath that entire time. "He's a dude, I'm a dude…the end. He'll get over his obsession and I'll bang lots of chicks."

Landers was witness to the family situation that Pyriel had to deal with and yet with his own family ties being null and void, Pyriel's arrogant excuse for a father was of no consequence to Landers. Although he knew the matter weigh in the heart and mind of the other, it was not something that Landers brought up himself, for fear of having to share his own dark reiteration of his estrangement with his own. And it was like an older brother to keep things from the younger ones, to protect them in ways they didn't know they needed it. Perhaps that is where Lan fits into the brotherhood of three. Further admission of how Pyriel's father treats him has Landers giving the boy a flat look, "Ya should stop referring ta him as yer ph'dar. Just be calling him the bastard that sired ya. Keep giving him a title and ya be giving him power over ya Py. He be worse than the scum at the bottom of a boat hull." The studious observation of the harper continues, as another suggestion pours out, "Best ya burn the letter before readin it next time. Not gunna do ya any good readin that shit." A hand reaches out despite himself, clamping down on Pyriel's shoulder as the other's eyes mist up despite the best efforts to conceal. Lan's hand gives a squeeze, a comforting manly gesture that has nothing to do with flirting or any sexual deviances. It was just a bro to bro recognition of understanding, of empathizing. He could after all, due to his own backstory. As the subject drops or changes, Lan pulls his hand back and nods, adding with a sincere admission, "Aye, his green does make me weary. Damn beast could snap at anytime." And that is all he has to say about D'len's green or D'len for the time being. And while he might defend his choice to pursue both dragonriders, he would not make Pyriel uncomfortable by talk of it, knowing the sensitivity to man to man relationships Pyriel carries. It was out of respect. Finally, the ringer that he had not spoken of since they all recovered from the doomed trip, likely in part since he had been so consumed with the loss of all those he knew. Instinctively his hand reaches up and rubs something just lying underneath his shirt, a brassy ring that he pulls loose and toys with absently, rolling the metal around as it hangs from a simple cord necklace. "T'was worth telling. He be a bastard is all. Yer recovery was important, yanno. Added stress, as Laera said, wasn't recommended." There was only a faint look of apology on his features, since he truly hadn't regretted his decision not to speak up about it, likewise Ryeokie felt the same. Dropped and moving on, the man's attention lingers toward the eggs on the sands, contemplating the colors and display of each egg, not knowing the meaning of any of it. When Pyriel misunderstands, Lan shakes his head, letting the conversation go to places Pyriel takes it instead of correcting. What was important was the final piece of conversation, the poised question about an exception to the rule. Here Lan watches, doubting the immediate verbal defenses as body language tells him things words could not. He does snort, inbetween Py's words "Ah, no offence taken." Landers withdraws his legs from the railing, straightening from his slouching back to leaning over his knees as he draws them in, feet on the ground once more, elbows propped up by knees, arms draped loosely over them. Dawn blue eyes search for something inbetween all the denials, "Ya don't have ta convince me Pyriel, fer I be not a man ta besmirch yer name, no matter what. Iffin ya don't want it ta happen, then don't… but ya can not fool yerself iffin ya find he be yer exception. I had mine. T'was not always inta men either…" at this time his hand rises to clench the brassy ring, a hardened look clouding his gaze, sealing away any emotion that wanted to leak out, "Tis not a bad thing. Ya won't be turned inta yer ph'dar. Ya be a different man than he. Yer own. Ya filled with yer own choices. Ya either do or ya don't. Iffin ya want Ryeo ta get over ya, tell me.. and I be speaking with him. Iffin not, then tis not here nor there, since not a one of us can do much bouts it now, not with these on-" he grasps his white knot with a soft little sigh to remind them both that they were confined to new rules, at least for now.

In his own way, Pyriel loved his father. Likely this bond had been formed when he was much younger, and his first awkward steps into manhood coupled with the revelation that the man he had always looked up to was not the same man his sire had turned out to be, neither of them had handled it as they should have. Unfortunately to the extreme in the Eastern brownrider's case. Or then again, it could be something else completely. Such as, the harper had a strong sense of wrong and right, and that of family. Even if he didn't show it in his behavior and manner. But perhaps because of the way things had unfolded in his life, he held everyone at arms length. It was easier to push everyone away, then letting them in with the possibility of being hurt again. Py can only listen and nod as Landers talks about disowning his father, nodding his head now and then, but otherwise remaining stoically silent. At some point in all the discussion, the harper sniffs a couple times, head turning away. The boy had been wounded deeply by all the things his bastard of a father had put him through, but still, he was his family. He just couldn't seem to let it go as easily as Landers was saying it. "Everything was cool ya know, when I was a kid." Was? He still WAS a kid, especially with the way his voice was thick with emotion, and how his hand comes up to his face all of sudden to rub quickly at his eyes with the heel of it. He was intentionally not looking at the sailor at this point, but it didn't take a genius to figure out how upset the boy was. "Then I hit thirteen, and everything went to shit. He started smacking me around, he smashed my guitar my mother gave me for my turnday and called me a faggot for singing like a girl. My mom used to tell me that when I was little, people used to mistake me for a girl and tell her how pretty I was. It really got to the old man. And it just got worse and worse as I got older cause of my stupid face. He said a man had no right looking the way I did, and when his buddies teased him about me, he'd come home in a rage. He kept calling me all these names and shit, and how the ships and shells was I supposed to fix it? I can't change my face…" Unless of course… "So I put all this shit into my head, figured, hey…this makes me more manly right? But the bastard totally flipped a nut on me. He hit me so hard…I musta hit my head on his desk or something cause I woke up on the floor. That's how I found out about his secret love letters and that stupid journal of his. The crap he was writing in there…about stuff he did…with a guy…" Another sniff, and some quick wipes. "So I made sure my mom found the stuff, and she packed me and her up real quick. He was really pissed. He came to Xanadu couple days later, bitched my mom out real good, and then told her that he wasn't gunna have a fag for a son and told my mom he never wanted to see me again." He swallows thickly, and goes quiet for a spell. Eventually though he calms down enough to continue. "It's freakin' messed up." Yeah it was a lot of angst for a kid of fifteen to deal with, never mind a thirteen year old on the cusp of discovering who he was and who he wanted to be with. "I ain't never ever looked at another guy. Ever. I dun get hard thinking about them, and I don't go sneaking peaks at them in the bathing cavern like I do with girls. There ain't nothing about a guy's body that appeals to me. Thanks to the bastard's journal I dun need no lessons in what two guys do together or the mechanics or even what sharding supplies ya need. And that shit is freakin' nasty." A long, drawn out sigh, and Pyriel is once more gazing out over the eggs, even as the hand on his shoulder clamps down in that brother to brother way. At least the kid doesn't jump six feet into the air and try to deck the sailor. That was new. He just forgoes any further conversation about D'len. Yep, that chapter was closed. Next. A nod for the bit about his father again, but still appeared to be affected by the fact no one told him his father had shown up. "If ya tell anyone this, I will find ya, and I will disable yer functionality. If ya know what I mean." Pyriel warns, and he's completely serious about this. What he was about to say and already had said, was not to leave this room. A flash of gold towards the sailor, even as his arms now cross over his chest defensively. His eyes were still red, and puffy from his earlier episode of emotion. "I want Ryeokie so badly I can barely stand it. It hurts, looking at him. It hurts being close to him. I never knew how much being in love sucked, until it happened to me. I just…" he says, and suddenly he's copying the position of the sailor beside him. He bends over himself, elbows locked upon his knees and he buries his fingers in his own hair as he glares down at the floor, anger, irritation, and annoyance now creeping into his tone. "…he's a shardin' dude. And a right bastard at that. He's a complete ass when we're around other people, but ya get us alone and he's all trying to get into my pants and shit. It's messed! I don't freakin' get it. I don't even understand why I feel the way I do about him, when he's just…such a prick." The fingers in his hair tighten, the knuckles going white. "I let him kiss me a while back. I have kissed tons of chicks, tons….but not once have I ever felt like that before. And the bastard actually asked me, if he could be my exception. How can I just let him be my exception? I'm not shardin' gay. I dun get why I feel like this, I dun get why he's the only dude I get weird around…and it all really fucking pisses me off."

At some point, everyone needs an ear. At some point, the corked up emotions could turn sour and harden a soul to the point that it could never be fixed. Those that let it become that way looked for other things to fulfil their lives, usually becoming addicts of some nature, to drugs or booze or sex. Whatever the case may be, even a Harper of fifteen needed someone completely unbiased to vent out everything welled inside, especially since the next few months would be extremely hard to handle. But that is what candidacy was all about - finding one's self. So for Landers, it could be he was going to step into that role, to be the big brother, to appeal to those who just wanted someone to listen. For the man does. Face is kept in an even level, though showed compassion throughout the revelations thereby intrusted to him. The fact that Py starts to let loose some of those emotions his soul had held tight makes Lan look down, not for the sake of Py's humility, but because he knew the turmoil. And all he could do was clamp that hand down on the other's shoulder, wobbling him a bit with the comfort just having someone there to listen would bring. Staying with a mindhealer wasn't bad afterall, that or Lan had been in Py's shoes, albeit different. Lan clenches his eyes closed at the mention of the beatings, his free hand squeezing into his own fist, angry for Pyriel and angry for his own situation. Bringing out the father card was never a good thing. Parents were generally off limits for Lan to talk about. Lan does interject at the part where Pyriel says its 'messed up.' His tone is resolute, persuasive, "Py. T'was not yer fault. He be jealous that he cannot be with ya. He be inta men n' I would not doubt it iffin he wanted ya, as disgusting as that be. When he couldn't, fer obvious reasons, he hit ya. Or could be that he was just coming out with being attracted to men and took it out unfairly with ya. Hated that ya represented something he war attracted ta…" The sailor sighs, flopping back in his chair when his hand came away from Py's shoulder once more, his arms crossing over his chest, his chin tilted down, looking with a gloomy expression towards those eggs. "Thar ain't nothing wrong with lookin at another guy. Yer ph'dar be a hypocrite, could not deal with his own attraction fer men and said you were gay, ta take his mind off himself…" A darkening expression was making his features more rugged, aging him like a smile would make him look younger. "Iffin ya say so, then it not be, but do not lump the rest of us with ya ph'dar. Man or woman, feelings and attractions, lust and love, it brings people together." His shoulders tense up and then relax as he heaves another long gusted sigh, returning to his silence so that Pyriel could continue."I take this ta my grave, sailor's honor," he flexes his jaw, with the fixed determined eye contact a sign of obdience and loyalty. As the subject matter of Ryeokie comes up, Landers keep his gaze readily upon Pyriel, eyes widening for the admission that the two younger men shared a kiss. The final release has Lan lulling his head right back with his eyes going to the ceiling and his hands cupping his forehead, before he rolls the cupped palms behind to support his head as he listens. It was a sign of relief. He hadn't been off his mark. "They say, love knows no bounds. We put the boundaries on love…" his legs sprawl apart as he stretches them out before him again, toes up against the bottom railing, "Yer not gay, Py. Yer into women as much as I am. T'have feelings fer a man dun not make ya exclusively inta them. He may be your exception… and by the sounds of it, he's trying to protect ya image while in public, since he knows ya, knows ya don't want ta be compared to ya ph'dar. Iffin anything, maybe he be what ya need. Love finds us in all manner of ways." A beat, "Ya can still have yer women iffin ya want, when ya want, all the time. And iffin ya worried about the 'freaky' shit that happens with two men, tisn't all that bad. Different ta be true…" He shoots a look back to the sands, encouraging with a firm tone, "Yer not him Py. Yer not." He shakes his head, "Thar be no easy answers ta this. Ya either try it once 'n hate it, or try it once and like it. Either way, iffin it be with someone you like and trust, tisn't so bad…" He might be repeating things, but what else is there to say to a fifteen Turn old who didn't know what closet he was coming out of or if he was going into one. Then the last he smirks, "Ain't it grand, growing up? Trying ta figure things out… Nothings nevar easy."

Pyriel just shakes his head as he remains in the position he ended up in. At some point in all that his eyes had closed, the turmoil he felt leaving fresh drops of overflow on the cavern floor beneath him. Not enough of course to puddle, but certainly to reveal the lad's shame. So far, Pyriel defended his own honor with his fists, beating down every boy who ever looked at him in a way other than in friendship. In a weyr, it was quite possible that there was a great deal more fighting, then camaraderie going on, at least at Xanadu. There was a fair chance that Pyriel had friends back at Eastern, but because of his abrupt move from there to Xanadu, there was the chance that he didn't get to see them anymore. Not with his father being the way he was. At the very thought that the man who sired and beat him had perhaps a thing for the lad, the harper blanches and has to cover his mouth to choke back the vomit that threatened to erupt. It revolted him completely. That was too much for him, at his age. He dismisses the notion with a violent shake of his head. No, it was impossible. There was no way that was it. He was far more comfortable thinking that it was because his father couldn't be him, rather than his father couldn't be with him. Yes, he would go with that. Whether it was true or not, neither candidate might not ever know, but it was less about what was true at this point, then what was able to be accepted. So, Py would go with what he was able to handle. Jealousy. When the feeling of nausea passes, the hand over the boy's mouth drops away, his eyes opening slightly even if no other muscle moves an inch. Even as Landers flops back against his seat and moves the topic onto things that were just as uncomfortable, but less likely to make the harper lose his last meal. "I…" he attempts, but fails, going silent again. Pyriel was have a truly difficult time accepting his feelings for Ryeokie. The whole affair was tearing the kid up inside, and twisting him up, even now that he'd finally said it all out loud. Finally the boy releases a sigh of his own, with a shuddering quality that signalled another bout of emotion to splatter against the floor between his well worn boots. "I didn't mean anything by it." he mutters, as if to let the sailor know that his words were not meant to offend anyone, or lump them in with the mental case of a father he'd been saddled with. He sniffs a few times, trying to keep his unmanly display there as quiet as possible. Wailing like a woman wasn't going to help his image any, and it would certainly damage his frail pride. Instead, he just listens from where he was curled over himself, taking some breathes that were meant to calm and sooth himself. He does tense up again soon after that, when the topic of love is further addressed, though suddenly he comes up all of sudden, hand poised at his mouth and he stares with absolute shock straight ahead. As if he had just figured something out and he did not like it. "Oh shit." he groans, and then both his hands are over his face and he just groans all the deeper. "I think Iessrien might suspect…oh shells. Damn it." He doesn't explain, too wrapped up right then in whatever the holder boy he was talking about might have an inkling about. Whatever it was, sounded like Py was not at all pleased by this prospect. At all. Though it wasn't all that hard to figure out, considering the current topic. Sounds like some damage control was in order, at least for the time being. He is distracted by his new development, but returns shortly to the conversation at hand, flopping back in his seat and letting his arms lifeless hang where they may along his body. "I know I ain't my dad, Landers. I could never do what he did to my mom." He too was repeating himself, even as a long suffering sigh escapes him and he's then glaring up at the ceiling. "I dunno if I could do it. No matter which way. Though having some guy up my ass dun sound like any fun to me. No matter who's it is. I dun think I could do it to a guy myself." A soft groan once again, eyes rolling closed and just feeling very tired. "This seriously blows. Why the fuck did I fall in love with a freakin' guy?" A pause, and his head rolls over towards Landers, lashes parting and peering out past them at the sailor. "Maybe it'd be better if ya tell Ryeokie it ain't gunna happen. I dun want him to get hurt." Py was having some serious issues with having a relationship with another boy never mind a sexual one. It was something he just could not get over, at least, not right now. "I like kissing him, I like it when he touches me, I want him to touch me…but…" He breathes and he slaps a hand to his forehead, before banging his skull a few times against the back of his chair. "This fucking SUCKS!"

Landers cannot do much for the reaction he provoked. It was likely the honest truth. A man who beat his child beat him because he didn't like something he saw in himself. A child was an image of one's self. Instead there is a sympathic look given to Py and yet not even apologetic. The topic of the father was completely dropped though. It seemed that the latter subject matter had given the sailor more to think about, it was something that concerned them all, currently. The father issue was something which developed in the past and could not be changed, no matter how much talk could be made of it. It was like the Windy Waters sinking, the ship had sailed. The past was past. Ryeokie was currently in the present. Lan waves off the stereotyping, knowing the kid didn't mean it, so better to listen to the rest of the conversation. When Py leaps up, so does Lan. He's right there, abruptly alert, awake, and looking as if there was some sort of danger right around the corner, concern flaring in his eyes for Pyriel when it was realized nothing in their immediate surroundings was amiss. "Who the fuck is Iessrien and why do he matter?" spoken with a sailors curse to it, as his eyebrows lower. He steps up to Pyriel then and puts a hand on either side of Py's shoulders, gripping hard and giving a slight shake, "In fact, be I don't care who he be. Ya being a damn fool right now Py! Thar be always someone who will criticize you… sharding sit yer ass down, let me tell ya a story…" Yes, a -sailor- telling a -harper- a story. Ironic. There's a great exhale of breath from Landers as he turns his back on Pyriel, hands strongly gripping the railing, his shoulders lowering as he regains some of his composure. The excitement of the teenager having bolstered a boost of adrenaline for some unknown reason. In any case, he waits for Pyriel to settle in his seat before he pivots around to face him. "Shut up and listen ta my story," firm, focused, it was a "do not interrupt the sailor" tone, he was on a mission, "One day, tis a grandpa and a grandson be walking with their donkey (or pernese equivalent) from a hold, going on ta the next. Half way thar, the grandpa tires and gets on the donkey, and the grandson leads it by the rope. When they go through the Hold, the people say… 'Oh look at that, can you believe that man would let his grandson walk all that way. Shame on him.'" A beat, "Whens they leave, the grandpa get off and let the grandson ride to the next Hold. At that Hold, the people be saying 'Oh look at that. Can you believe how selfish that boy is being to let his grandpa walk all that way!' So the boy get off now too and both of them walk the donkey to the next Hold." A beat, "At that next Hold, the people be saying, 'Look at them fools, they be having a perfectly good animal to ride and they be walking. Idiots." He pauses for the story to sink in, before he adds, "So ya see, no matter what ya do, someone always perceives it different… and at the end of the day, tis up to you iffin ya let yourself do what you think others want ya to do, or iffin ya do what you really want to do because you want ta do it." The sailor turns his head back toward the sands, "And I be the fool to. I be letting others guide me for far too long. Be it now I realize, that I be with this white knot ta see iffin thar be something I really want ta do, ta think for me, and to think for after it." His head lowers, "Relationships be just as much a perception of what others think, iffin ya let it. Men marry beautiful women ta make thy neighbour jealous, even if she makes his life a living nightmare. But iffin that man married not for looks but for what was inside, maybe his nightmares wouldn't exist…" Maybe the sailor could convert to being a Harper. He waits to see if the story did anything, if it gave the kid food for thought. In any case, he sighs as he regards the eggs, looking well beyond them to his own haunts…

Pyriel is mighty surprised when Landers jumps up, and even more so when the man grabs at his shoulders and shakes him like that. It pure shock at first and then apologetic. He hadn't meant the scare the older man, he was just, shocked by his revelation. He softly apologizes though, watching the sailor wander off a bit after releasing him. He quietly sits and listens, taking the story down word for word inside his head. When it's over, the harper's mouth is set, and he pushes himself to his feet. He starts to leave, pausing behind Landers. "Thanks." It's all the sailor gets from the harper at the moment, as Py seems to have come to his own sorts of conclusions. It was time to let the childishness go, time to get real, and time to take something into his hands that could potentially be his happiness. It was just plain stupid to be thinking about what everyone else thought, and torture himself in the process. Sure, there was plenty to be scared about, but he needed to take a step forward even if it was just a small one. Else he would stagnate and be just as horrible as his father in the end. With that single word, Pyriel departs, with determination in every rapid footstep.

Landers slightly turns his head toward the sound of Pyriel rising behind him. He half expected the harper to attack him, as his reputation was. When instead there is a single word of gratitude, Landers nods and doesn't turn around to watch Pyriel go… He only listens to the youngers rapid foot falls and soon the fade of them. Only once he's completely alone in the hatching sands does he slump back down in a chair, letting his face fall into his hand, shielding the single bead of water that runs down his cheek…only to slam his fist against the back of next chair beside him in a fit of frustration. Not that anyone was to see it. The night had crept up upon them and no one was about, save for below, where the eggs rested with their guardians nearby… Some time later, a long time later, after favouring his bruised hand, Landers would climb out of the observation gallery and make his way to the barracks… only to find the damn think LOCKED. And so the adventures continue…

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