Xanadu Weyr - Candidate Barracks
A long, low ceiling room opens off the entrance hall to the arena, one wall slightly curved as it is set against the outer wall of the arena itself. Cots are set evenly the length of the room, in two rows, each with its own small press at the foot, for personal belongings. Wide windows are spaced along the outside wall, letting sunlight in, while other lights are available for the night time hours.
It's midday, and most candidates have finished their first round of chores for the day. There's a bit of a lull during the break between lunch and the start of afternoon classes and assignments. It's during this time that Rogawani makes his way into the barracks, scouting around in an attempt to corner a certain gardener-kissing miner. "Hey Morl, you in here?" His voice is light, not remotely threatening, but there is a serious look in the boy's eyes as he scans the cots, his toe tapping lightly as if he were impatient to get back to something else.
Ruzel has not yet finished his chores for the morning. Luckily, (or unluckily, depending on what exactly is going to transpire) Ruzel's chore has him stuck in the barracks for the moment. He's got a broom and dustpan with him and is working on getting the floor clean. Not easy in a place full of teenagers who mostly do dirty work every day. "How does this place get so bad…" He grumbles. When Rogawani arrives, he pauses to smile and wave. "Hey there, Ro!"
Jessamin looks right at home, sitting on the edge of her cot with her pile of mending for the day, usually her favored chore anyways. She hums a jaunty little tune as her needle flashes brightly in the air over her sewing. Madder, the older of her two firelizards, perches on the head of her cot, dancing from foot to foot in time with her tune, trilling happily and bobbing his head. A younger blue hatchling, mere days old by the looks of him, snores away in her lap, his belly bulging after his latest meal. If something is to transpire, she is not yet aware of it, concentrating on her work.
Morlanol is sitting on is cot, a pile of recently mended shirts in a bin on one side and those waiting to be mended on the other. It's clear that unlike Cenlia, he's successfully mended without attaching himself to the cot. Also unlike Cenlia, he's working slowly for an entirely different reason. There is a bag of what appears to be ice wrapped in a soft wherry-skin set snuggly against his crotch. He has just grabbed a pair of trousers with a tear in the rear as Ro enters, he smiles in greeting as he concentrates on his mending, "Yeah, I'm here, Ro."
A surprised look finds a way on to Rogawani's face, perhaps not expecting to see so many in the barracks. His resolve wavers for a moment, but he walks in and offers Ruzel an easygoing smile. "Hey Ruzel. I think you're fighting a losing battle." He motions towards the broom, and then casts his eyes at Morlanol: his target. "Morl, come 'ere for a minute." He remains near the entrance, lifting a hand to motion with one finger. "Need to talk to you about something." It's apparent by the way that he stays closer to the exit than to the others that this isn't meant to be a public 'discussion', whatever it is.
"Tell me about it." Ruzel grumbles in reply as he sweeps up another clump of dirt from around some unidentified candidate's cot. He takes a moment to glare at the cot in question. "I'm guessing whoever sleeps here had duty outdoors yesterday… and didn't bother properly cleaning their boots before they came in." More grumbling as he sweeps. Clearly not his favorite chore.
Jessamin pauses in her mending, glancing over at Morlanol. Her brow furrows with concern as she sees him working so slowly, and even more so as the reason why becomes apparent. "Oh my… do I even want to know?" As Ruzel works so near her cot, she blushes, ducking her head apologetically. "I'm sorry about that. Afraid I had dragon washing duty yesterday, and I was exhausted by the time I got back in. Do you want some help with that?"
Morlanol quickly finishes mending the damaged pair of trousers and sets them aside before giving Jess a significant look, "Judgin' by th' look on 'is face yer abou' t' fin' out." He hauls himself gingerly to his feet, trying to hold the ice in place without crushing it against his damaged goods and mostly succeeding. He waddles towards Rogawani, an indefinable set to his eyes, "Whadda ya want, Ro? I'm sure you c'n tell tha' movin's hard fer me righ' now."
There is some sympathy in Rogawani's eyes, but he doesn't let it go too far. His face hardens just slightly, and he puts one hand on the door frame as he looks at the younger boy. "Listen, you're a good kid." He tries to start out positive, drumming his fingers on the wood. "Just do me one favor, though, okay?" He doesn't -seem- angry, but more concerned than anything else as his hand drops to his side and his voice lowers along with it, trying not to carry too far or make any more embarassment out of this than there is. "Don't go kissing any more girls without their permission. I like you, I think of you as a friend, but so help me if you upset one of the girls like that again, I'll cheerfully put your head through a wall." His voice is light, but the threat is there. Would he actually do it? Who knows.
"Huh?" Ruzel blinks and looks up at Jessamin. Upon realizing she is likely the source of the dirt plaguing him, his expression quickly shifts from one of annoyance to an apologetic smile. "Oh! Heh. No, no, it's really not that bad. You've got your own chores to deal with, this really isn't that much! I'll have it clean in a bit." He glances over at Rogawani and Morlanol. Despite not being quite close enough to hear what is being said, he seems a little concerned. "Those two have a fight?" He asks Jessamin, quietly.
Jessamin shrugs in reply to Ruzel's query. "I've got no idea. But I'm staying clear just in case they do." She unties her apron, slipping the little blue hatchling inside the quilted nest pocket and laying the garment gently to one side of her cot. She sets aside her mending as well, getting to her feet. "It's just mending day, and wouldn't take a few minutes to help clean up my own mess. Which I should have done last night, if I'd the sense of a proddy green firelizard!"
Morlanol looks somewhat taken aback, "I… well… I di'n' wan' t'. Y' go'a know tha'. Bu' Yontal said I had ta since I los' th' bet. I was jus' gonna ask Cen t' tell him I had an not do it, bu' then he decided t' come watch 'n' I had ta. Otherwise th was gonna throw me in th' trash midden. 'Course tha' might've been better 'cause then y'all wouldn' be mad a me an' my jewels wouldn' hurt so bad. I tried t' 'pologize, bu' she wouldn' listen. I don' wanna kiss any girl, Cen or no… bu' he made me." Morlanol sounds serious when he says he didn't want to and that he won't do it again. Keeping his focus on Ro, just in case, he calls over his shoulder to Ruzel, "Sorry 'bou' th' wa'er, Ruz… I had t' bathe Tam'sth and he likes t' dunk people."
Rogawani holds up one hand, trying to ward off any further explination from Morlanol. "It's okay, I understand." A small smile twitches up the corner of his mouth, "Just next time, you might try explaining to the girl first. That way your boys don't end up twisted the wrong way." He suggests, raising his eyebrows. He reaches out in an attempt to place a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "Just be glad she didn't have her shovel with her." He says with a laugh, and then shakes his head. With that, the discussion seems to be done. No chaos, no fight, just a word of caution and Ro' walks past Morlanol into the barracks. "Go sit down, you're making me hurt watching you." He mutters, and then heads for his bunk.
Ruzel gives Jessamin another smile, feeling a little sheepish about his complaining earlier. "Well, if you insist, I'm not going to turn down the help… but I owe you one! Well, one more, that is." He's about to resume his sweeping when he hears Morlanol call out to him. He responds with a smile. "Don't worry about it! You hardly make the biggest messes here. Not by a long shot."
Morlanol nods, then turns to waddle back to his cot, wincing only occasionally, "Shoul' ask firs'… no' tha' I plan on doin' i' again, anyway… still don' unnerstan' why people do i'." He settles himself back on his cot, sighing when he manages to resettle himself 'just right'. He reaches into his mending basket and pulls out a tunic that looks like it was sliced open across the chest. He scowls, then hold sit up for all to see, "How do people manage to do this to their clothing?"
Sabrina seems to be inclined to walk up to some strange converstaions since her recent move to Xanadu. She's brushing her hands off on her trousers as she comes walking up towards the barracks, only to catch something about someone getting their 'boys' twisted. She arches a brow in the general direction she heard it come from and spots Rogawani. She can't help the quirk of her lips at the waddling boy and she shakes her head lightly. "I seem to catch interesting things comming out of your mouth everytime I see you." She says to Ro as she passes him and heads for her own cot to dig something out of her pack.
Jessamin steps over to Ruzel, curling her fingers around the broom handle and shaking her head. "My mess, my problem. Take a load off for a minute." Her smile does not waver, perhaps broadening as she glances back over at her cot, where the little blue hatchling is snoring away. "How's your little brown, by the way? Did you come up with a name for him yet?"
"It'll grow on you." Rogawani chuckles to himself, and then sits down, pulling off one boot and reaching into it with an intent look on his face, finally pulling out the rock that had been bothering him. A wry thought passes the boy's mind, but before he has time to comment, Sabrina's voice catches his attention. "Oh yes, I'm just a fountain of interesting things." He says with his usual boyish good spirits having returned after spending the morning getting out agressions on dead animals in the kitchens. "You going to come on that errand Thea has for us?" He asks of the girl, and then seems to expand the question to the others. "She said she needed some candidates for something."
Ruzel reluctantly surrenders the broom to Jessamin, giving her a grateful smile. "Hmm? Oh, he's fine. He's taking another nap. Sleeps like a rock, that one. Which is how I came up with his name. Rock. Fits his personality too, I'd say. How's your's doing?" He glances up at the arrival of Sabrina, giving her a friendly smile. "Getting more crowded in here all the time." He remarks to Jessamin.
Morlanol nods, continuing to mend, speeding up as he gets back into a rhythm. He smiles at Sabrina, "Nothin' you need t' worry 'bou'. I'm Morlanol. Wha's your name?" Then he glances over at Jess and Ruz, noticing the new hatchling for the first time. Being as curious as he is, he can't help but as, "Where was there a flit hatching? I didn' hear 'bou' it."
Jessamin does a quick little dance step around the broom, having a little bit of fun while she works to clean up her mess of the previous evening. It does not take her long to round up all the little dust-wherries hiding around and under the cot into a neat-if somewhat sizeable-pile. "Rock… interesting name for that one. Did you take him to the dragonhealer's just to be safe? He looked so poorly coming out of the egg that I really was worried." Her attention is drawn away at tha moment by Morlanol's query. "There was a flit hatching in the Caverns a little under a week back. Think it was a green clutch, there were only three eggs. The blue hatchling's Turquoise, he was the first one out. Ruzel wound up with a little brown… looks like he's calling him Rock."
Sabrina smiles as she passes Ruzel and nods to Morlanol. "It's a pleasure. I'm Sabrina." She nods lightly then, even as she pulls a notebook out that has an ink pen closed up in it. "Yeah I'll go, anything'll beat mucking out stables." She says with a grin to Rogawani. She grins at the talk of new flitters and can't help but wonder outloud. "Humm, I wonder where my two little boys have gotten off to." Her mind doesn't seem to be much in the room.
"Nothing wrong with stable muck." Rogawani replies back, but he shoots a teasing sort of wink. "I was a messenger before this. Used to spend a lot of time there." He explains, and then puts his boot back on, lacing it back up. As his fingers make a crude knot, the boy listens to the others curiously, "You stick around here long enough, you end up with a flock of them. Doesn't matter if you want one or not. Even 'Kav ended up with one." He seems amused, still remembering when a rider had shoved the egg of his first lizard into his hands. "I'm sure there will be more soon enough. The weyr seems to attract them."
Morlanol has moved through a few more pieces of clothing and it looks like he might be nearing the bottom of his basket. He smiles at the thought of flits being attracted to Weyrs, getting the mental image of a giant magnet and flits trying as hard as they can to escape. He giggles softly at that, then asks, "How often do people know about flit hatchings aforehand? I'd like t' try an' see if I c'n 'press one. 'N' i' migh' be good practice if I actually 'press a dragon."
Jessamin sweeps the pile of dirt into a dustpan, taking it to where it can be disposed of. When she returns, she has broom and dustpan in hand, bringing them back over to Ruzel. "There you are. One less cot to clean." She nibbles her lower lip, tilting her head to one side. "Think you'll be heading out on Thea's errand? I'd better get my apron back on and get some fresh meat for Turquoise. No telling when the greedy little maw is going to wake up for another feeding."
Ruzel gives Jessamin a grateful smile as he takes back the broom and dustpan. "I really do appreciate it. You didn't have to do that, you know… seriously, I'll have to help you out with one of your chores sometime." He arches an eyebrow at the mention of Thea's errand. "First I've heard of it. What's she asking for people for?" When Sabrina makes her introduction, he smiles over at her again. "Ruzel. Nice to meet you."
"Not a clue." Rogawani replies, his eyes on Ruzel for a moment before lifting his shoulders in a shrug. "You never know with goldriders. It could be -worse- than what we're assigned." He laughs to himself, "But I doubt it's that bad. I don't think Thea would subject me to too much torture. Then again…" He scratches above one ear, not exactly sure how friendships like what he has with some dragonriders work when you're a candidate. Still boggling over this, he looks to Morlanol. "Well, your best bet is just to keep an eye out when someone has eggs about. Usually no one knows just when they'll hatch. Shards, my little green came from a clutch that hatched in the middle of the night."
Morlanol nods, moving on to his next peice of mending as he does so. Surpisingly, the young male has jet to jab himself or fail to mend something. "I s'pose it makes sense tha' they can' know. I'll jus' have t' wait 'n see." He moves onto his next piece, the bottom of his assigned basket finally coming into view, "Th' though' of a err'nd wha' we don' know wha' it is, is a little scary, I'll a'mit, bu' i' migh' be fun."
Sabrina purses her lips, but sends an amused expression Ro's way. "Yes, well, I was a hairdresser, kind of far away from the stables." She says as she flips her notebook open and starts jotting something down. She lifts her eyes then to Ruzel when he intoduces himself and nods lightly, smiling. She shrugs though along with Rogawani's 'explination' of thier little chore with the weyrwoman. "I'd prefer some unknown errand than knowing full well, I'll be shoveling dung. And I heard around Fort that a harper had brought his clutch down to try and find people for his eggs. That's how I got the two that I have. Where ever they've gotten off to."
Ruzel resumes his sweeping, heading in the direction of the other candidates. "Yeah, there's still at least one more egg left in the living caverns that didn't hatch. Must've been more than one green laying their eggs together, I hear that happens sometimes." He glances at the book in Sabrina's hands, a touch of curiosity in his eyes. "Is that a journal, or do you draw?" He asks.
Morlanol shrugs, grabbing the next pair of torn trousers as he does so, "I s'pose. I think I saw a moun' o' eggs down by the beach. I been watchin' 'em when I ge' th' chance, bu' tha's not very of'en anymore."
"Well, if I hear of any eggs cracking, I'll send Kassi your way." Rogawani offers, glancing towards his sleeping golden firelizard, who seems content in her nest of worn blankets. Taking a deep breath, the ex-messenger stretches his arms upward, trying to get his back to crack after having spent the day hunched over again. "Knowing Thea, I'd proabbly have more fun on her errands than chopping up more meat in the kitchens. I swear they can't have many more heardbeast in there I haven't taken a knife to." He rolls his shoulder, and then frowns, flexing his fingers.
Jessamin plops back down on her cot, pulling over her basket of mending once again. Her basket seems to be full of kidlet's clothes; pants have worn out knees and hems, shirts with torn sleeves and missing buttons, socks that look like they'd make better rags than foot coverings. A girl's frock is what she pulls out next, which she examines carefully. "How are kidlets so hard on their clothes… gah, if I had half their energy…."
Morlanol pulls out his last item of mending to find that it is a pair of britches with a hole worn through the rear, not just a ripped seam, but a hole. He shows it to Jessamin, smiling, "At least with kidlets you know where the tears came from, I really don't want to know about this one." He smiles to Ro, "Thanks, tha's awfully nice o' ya."
Ruzel glances over at Morlanol, nodding. "I've seen those too. Been there for a good while now, they're probably getting ready to hatch pretty soon… Jess and I have been trying to keep an eye on them. Silly green laid them awfully close to the tide line. But they seem relatively safe where they are." He keeps up his sweeping, frowning as he spots another clump of dirt near one of the younger candidates' cots.
Jessamin snickers when she sees Morlanol's latest mending, covering her mouth to muffle her mirth at the oddly placed hole in the britches. "Oh my… looks like someone or something got a taste for a rump roast."
"Not a problem." Rogawani replies with a small lift of his shoulders, "I certainly don't want anymore, I've got my hands full with my three." Speaking of handfulls, Kialio, the boy's green peeks out from under the blanket, crawling up his arm and nearly giving the lad a good start. "Gaah, don't do that Kia." He mutters, and then lifts the lizard up to place her around his neck. "Shards." He lets out a breath, andt hen laughs at himself for being so jumpy. Can he help it that green lizards sneaking out of nowhere remind him of tunnelsnakes? "I'm so very glad I haven't gotten to do mending yet. Between finger injuries and odd tears in weird places… I think I'd rather muck stalls."
Morlanol nods, "I used t' have t' mend back home all th' time, rockfalls do wierd things t' clothes." He giggles at the rump-roast comment and follows up with, "If tha's what's fer dinner t'night, I ain't eatin'."
"You kidding?" Ruzel responds with some disgust at Rogawani's last remark. "I don't think there's any chore worse than mucking. The smell alone is enough to put me off eating. Mending's a breeze by comparison… let me know the next time you've got it, I'll be happy to trade you." He glances over at Morlanol's work after Jessamin's comment, which makes him snicker a bit. "Having had to watch those kids more than once, I'm not the least bit surprised."
Jessamin wrinkles her nose at the mention of mucking stalls. "Ugh. I'll trade you for mending if I ever wind up with that little chore. It's what I do anyways." She grins over at Ruzel, chortling at his disgust and winking. "I'll know where -not- to find you, then."
Rogawani lifts one eybrow and looks at Ruzel with a wry expression. "My foster parents are stablehands." He bobs his head just once, as if that explains everything. "Sounds like I'll have a line willing to trade with me whenever I get mending. Nice." He quips, and seems quite happy with that sort of arrangement. "Save my fingers and give me some time with my runner. Fair enough trade for me. It's not like they didn't have me doing that before I got here anyways." Ro' pushes himself up onto his feet, rocking on his heels slightly before sighing. "I should get back to the kitchens before they miss me. If Thea comes looking, someone send a lizard that way, will you?" He asks, heading for the door.
Morlanol starts the process of applying the over-large patch to the damage trousers, mumbling to himself about how obvious it'll be and how no one'll want to wear them again anyway. More loudly, he points out, "At least y'all can ge' chores wha're like wha' y' used t' do, there ain't no chores wha' make y' have t' help at' the mine."
Jessamin shakes her head as she watches Morlanol work. "Here, pass those on over to me. I'll see if I can make the patch a little less obvious. There's methods to my madness." She smiles warmly to the younger Candidate. "Those look like a scrap of material I've got in my quilting things, anyways. Or…" She purses her lips thoughtfully. "…if you're not worried about the patch being obvious, why not stitch that material down and applique a dragon or something to it? Might as well make a fashion statement."
Ruzel grins and shrugs his shoulders at Jessamin. "Well, if I can find people to trade with, I suppose. But who knows? With my luck, I might just end up with it tomorrow and nobody to exchange with…" He ponders, looking at the ceiling. "Then again, ever since I was searched my fortune seems to be on the upswing. Maybe things have changed." He gives Rogawani a friendly wave goodbye, then grins at Morlanol. "There aren't any chores that involve sketching or painting either, unfortunately… hmmm." He considers for a moment. "Maybe I should suggest that. This place could be freshened up with a few murals."
With no sure answer, Rogawani just shrugs his shoulders and straitens himself, walking like a man doomed to die by execution as he heads out, ready to face another turn at the chopping block in the kitchens. "Maybe it'll be ovine this time, then at least I can tell Cenlia that I was doing her a favor." He mumbles to himself, his voice trailing off as he rounds the corner out of sight.
Morlanol tosses the trousers to Jessamin, "Y'll have much better luck'n I will at either o' those options. I can mend, bu' I'm no seamstress or tailor." Morl chuckles at Ruzel's comment, "Yeah, I c'n see i' now, Tam'sth dunking a trio of in'terminate can'dates on one wall, a can'date sewn to her bed on th' other. Perhaps another can'date sprawled out an' covered in blood… Maybe we should sugges' tha' t' Niva."
Jessamin snatches the pair of trousers out of mid-air as they are tossed over at her, adding them to her basket of mending to be done for the evening. "I'll see what I can do with these, Mor." With the talk of murals, she chuckles softly, grinning over at Ruzel. "Just… well, keep it simple." She coughs lightly, and reaches over to idly pet the sleeping little blue's head, as he rests in her apron pocket. "I hope this one doesn't pick up the habit Madder did of making my sewing basket into a nest all the time. It took forever to break him of it."
Ruzel is currently sweeping out the barracks, as he seems to be stuck with that chore today. Right now he's in the vicinity of Morlanol and Jessamin, working at cleaning up the dirt around a younger candidate's cot. He seems slightly disturbed by whatever Morlanol just said, blinking. "Er, that seems a bit… violent for a candidate mural. I prefer working on subjects that make people feel good. Something people would like to see every day, know what I mean?"
Morlanol nods, throwing the cover over his basket of mending, the taking in a sharp breath as he moves to quickly and causes the bag of ice to strike him lightly in the groin. He takes a deep breath, then manages to finish saying what he was about to to Ruzel, "Yeah, I s'pose yer right. Coul' you make i' look like a dragon was peerin' down from th' cielin'?"