Stranger Things Have Happened
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Xanadu Weyr - Candidate Barracks
A long, low ceilinged room opens off the entrance hall to the arena. One wall is slightly curved, set against the outer wall of the arena itself. Cots are set in two rows along the length of the room, 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 always warm here when there are eggs on the sands, and candidates seldom need more than a light blanket.


Predawn at Xanadu Weyr, the candidate barracks are slowly filling with young people awaiting the arrival of baby dragons. The time says it's about 4 in the morning, the only sound is the occasional snores and rustlings of the sleepers. It is at this moment we find Evangeline, sitting up on her new bed covered in a very oversized fan quilt of red, yellow, and blue. The quilt was obviously made for a much larger bed and is ruffled up around her. Piled in the folds of the quilt are 3 hairless kittens, looking to be about half-grown and each wearing their own colorful shirt. A brown firelizard hatchling sits in her hands and is creeling loudly, loudly enough that is flustering the young woman. "Shh.. shhh you." Small pieces of meat are being shoved in the maw of the creature, and every few seconds she is scanning the room, gotta love communal living.

Laaaand…. Ugh. Samuven has never been able to sleep well on land. Not for the last decade, anyway. It's just too still! And then there's the noise. Sure, he has to bunk with a couple of crewmates aboard ship, but he knows the sounds they make! The jammed chainsaw snoring from the person three cots over, however… And then there's the screaming firelizard. The sea crafter sighs and pushes himself up onto his elbows, gray eyes zeroing in on the offending noisemaker, "Hungry, huh?" He shakes his head in exasperation and falls back on his cot, throwing one arm over his eyes. No. Just no…

Stefyr, like some others occupying these cots at this early hour, doesn't appear to have any trouble sleeping. He's an enormous sprawl on his cot, only haphazardly covered here and there with the sheet that came with the cot. One foot sticks out over his press, the other brushes the floor, though his arms seem to be comfortably settled on his tank-top-clad stomach. He's sleeping like something that sleeps much better than a baby, and his barracksmates can be grateful that he doesn't snore. (Now.)

The brown firelizard is the size of Evangeline's hand, and yet the noise being made is enough to wake a corpse. The only break in the sound is when the tiny fiend is chewing and swallowing the bits of meat Evi provides. Her face is a blanket of apology, her lips rolling under and back as she hears Samuven rustling and speaking. The loudest stage whisper responds. "I am so very sorry, sir." Even though there's no need for a sir, because they are the same station is comes off Evi's lips quickly enough. "He's little… shhh shhh." Looking around for a moment, she goes back to Samuven and quietly says, "I am, Evangeline, what's your name?" Her voice is full of meek happiness as if the act of asking this question brings her pleasure.

Samuven doesn't respond to the apology right away. Could it be that he's gone back to sleep? But no. After a moment he raises his free hand in a vague wave, "S'ok. Looks like a babe. Ain't yer fault." You can't very well expect a baby to understand time or that SOME people want to SLEEP before the sun comes up! The introduction has him warily lifting his arm off of his eyes and peering over at the cheerful (and demanding) noise, and grunting, "Nice t' meet ye." And now he's being asked for his own name. There's another long suffering sigh and he pushes himself back to a reclined position, supported on his elbows, "Sam." It might not be the most enthusiastic introduction, but at least he's speaking?

Some routines are hard to break after turns of following them, and sometimes people don't even try to break them. Such is probably the case judging by the automatic way Stefyr rolls out of his cot, unseeing a moment and blinking sleepy eyes. Is it the noise that roused him? The firelizard? If it is, he's not looking for anything or anyone as he stumbles, catching himself just before he walks into the cot beside his and then it's down the aisle and out. Given that he's just in a pair of loose sleeping shorts and a tank top and didn't really look all that awake yet, he'll probably be back. Probably.

Evangeline snuggles back down in her bed, one hand still slowly feeding scraps to the rapidly quieting flizzard. Fingers are waggled and waved towards Samuven, though he might not be in a position to see it. "Hello… Sam." The name is spoken quietly, only to help her commit it to memory. Quiet prevails, the silence creeping through the barracks for a long moment. At this moment, a kitten is jostled free and has found a moment to escape, the siamese looking nekkid cat is wearing a bright red shirt and has found her moment of freedom. The lithe, wrinkled form of curtains makes a calculated leap onto the foot of Samuvens cot. With all the covers on Evi's bed, she has no idea the little feline is on the lamb. Having reached her destination, the so-ugly-it's-cute creature starts to circle as if she is going to lay down, relishing her newfound sibling free space.

Samuven yawns hugely, not bothering to cover it, and watches the pajama garbed man stumble out. When the noise nearby lays down, he takes the oportunity to flop back himself, his cot giving an alarming creak at the sudden shifting weight, "G'night." Well, then. Seems that he's apparently not a morning person. And there's a faint thump and more weight on the bed. Sam's eyes slowly crack open and he lifts his head to look down at the foot of his cot where the cat has decided to take up residence. He frowns, squinting down near his feet and trying to make his tired brain understand what just happened. Suddenly he clears his throat and pushes himself back up onto his elbows (at least his getting his crunches in this morning?), "I think ye lost something, Evangeline." He doesn't really sound upset… just resigned.

Stefyr isn't gone long. When he ambles back into the barracks, the broad-shouldered blond is looking considerably more awake, his blue gaze scanning the cots in the pre-dawn near-no-light barracks. His plodding stops and rocks forward to toes and back to heels when it registers that despite the hour, there's conversation in the barracks. It so happens that he's at the end of Evangeline's bed and after leaning rather comically toward her and squinting in the dark, he shuffles and shifts to plop down on the end of her bed, heedless of cats, with a yawn. "Morning, Evi," is a practiced hush that carries to the immediate area but not well beyond. He nods down toward Samuven's cot. He wasn't invited to the party, but he seems totally oblivious to that fact. "Morning," is added in afterthought to Samuven, probably just in case the nod wasn't seen in the near-dark. Unlike some others at this hour, the blond man doesn't look a bit like he's planning to go back to sleep.

Curtains is having the best day y'all; she moves slowly towards Samuven until she is closer to the head of the bed. If she is allowed to, she will turn around, snuggle towards the man and start to purr. SLEEP. HAH. SLEEP later, cat now. Samuven's comment has Evangeline searching the bed, counting under her breath. "One, ok.. lightbulb, and there's coatrack…" A small TUT and her voice rings out in the most hushed tone she can manage, "Curtains, curtains come on…" An exasperated sigh and a forced, tired, smile is given to Stefyr. "I didn't know you got…." Her tired brain is searching through words before she settles, "Picked up? too." Picked up being an apt description of her arrival in Xanadu. "Um, would you mind going and getting Curtains. She escaped." Motioning in the general direction of Samuven's cot.

Samuven grumbles wordlessly and flops back down, again, this time flipping his pillow to cover his face. "Ain't mornin' yet." The tanned man mutters, "Ain't mornin' 'til th' sun comes up." He sighs and absently moves just his fingers to scritch the bald cat, "S'fine. Had a ship-cat." The others can HEAR the grimace in his voice, "She liked t' snuggle, too." He rolls onto his side, almost curling around the cat, "Had kittens in m'bunk once." The pillow gets shoved around with one fist until it's wadded back under his head, his arm sliding under it to cradle the whole mass.

"Mmm," it's the way people confirm things when words are still a high cost for limited brain power. "Right after the eggs were clutched. When'd you come in?" There are a lot of beds in here and sometimes the new candidates seem like a mass rather than individuals. Stefyr can be forgiven, can't he? "Well, it's nearly," morning, that is, although the young man says it in a vaguely apologetic tone of voice for Samuven. "But you still have time to sleep, if…" he trails off, glancing from snuggling cat to fellow candidate to Evi and then his own hands. "He has Curtains?" That's making him squint anew in Samuven's direction, looking above his cot. Curtains would hang, wouldn't they? It might be the hour or it might be the blondness that makes him a touch slow.

Curtains is content, the purring ramps up as her head is scratched. Hairless cats have some unique qualities, they are exceedingly soft, like petting a peach and they are small space heaters of warmth. Concern colors her face, and she prepares to uproot her entire brood to go fetch the animal until Samuven confirms that he is comfortable enough. "Sorry, she will come back once you leave. She is friendly." Her stage whisper is barely passable. Scooting down in the covers, she reaches underneath the quilt and pulls out another cat, this one is black wearing a yellow sweater and looks every bit the goblin. The cat seems how sam feels, his body slack in Evangeline's hands and face grumpy as it gets. "N'on… well N'on handed me a knot and dropped me off in the clearing." Both shoulders going to her ears, because what the hell, right? "Curtains is a cat; this is lightbulb." Thrusting the cat towards Stefyr like one would an excellent piece of beef at the butcher.

"Cat." Sam lifts his arm and points in the general vicenity of where his lap is on the bed in front of him. He gestures vaguely and mutters something unintelligable, apparently well on his way to drifting back off to sleep, with or without Stefyr's permission. He snorts softly at how the apparent animal lover was brought to the Weyr. He makes another vague gesture, this time in the direction of a small sleeping figure, his voice sleep-slurred when he speaks, "W'w'man asked us." And if they understood that extended 'wwwwwmn' sound as an actual word as a sigh, they'll never have a bit of trouble understanding him.

"The cat is a lightbulb?" IT'S EARLY, OKAY? Sure, he's one of the most awake people in this trio, but with Samuven on his cot, the competition isn't hard to beat for the honor. Stefyr blinks at Evangeline and then his brow furrows. "Oh. Oh. Gotcha gotcha gotcha." The words or revelation come with a good rub of his face with a hand. "Well, at least she asked. I mean, she does. Most of the time, I think. But sometimes…" Her assistant-in-training leaves that hanging in favor of another face rub. Then he's up and moving to Samuven's cot. Did he want to sleep? Because he's doing as was originally requested and slipping his hands really much too close to Sam's attempt to go back to sleep, to reclaim the wayward Curtains, if the cat allows it. If it's a peaceable retrieval, Curtains can even have some scritches from Stefyr. "N'on's a good guy. The Harpers'll teach you how to speak better with him, if you want." He's distracted by a cat, so this is possibly just a For Your Information courtesy bulletin.

Evangeline is now fully awake, sitting up in the bed. Some people are either asleep or vividly and brilliantly awake. Evi is one of those, her eyes are bright, and a small yawn is the last sign of sleepiness. "/Nooo/ lightbulb is his name." A good-natured smile is thrown towards Stefyr. SHoving the cat back under the covers, she wiggles a bit in the bed and pushes stray hair out of her face; she's up now. "He did ask, but, he didn't answer any of my questions." The tone in her voice suggests that she is unsure about the whole process. "I've met the Weyrwom- um, Risali. She likes Risali." Nothing more is said about her interaction with Risa, and she glances around the room for a moment before peeling herself out of bed. At this moment anyone awake might notice, she is fully dressed. The young lady is sleeping in a loose white t-shirt that goes to her forearms, and a full length pleated blue skirt. People have issues, ok. Pushing herself out of bed, she sits up on the edge of the bed and presses her cats into the covers. Curtains will protest being removed from beside Sam by clinging to the bed and trying her best to become the floppiest, hardest to handle gelatinous creature ever. Nooooo.

And suddenly, there's a hand just a LITTLE too close to certain parts of Sam's anatomy. The sailor yells and flails, hopefully not scaring the cat too much, "Woah!" In a second he goes from curled around a nakked cat to sitting straight up and half out of bed, "Wait!" His eyes are open wide as he looks around wildly, "Wha-?" That's a lot of 'w' words for so early in the morning… And then it registers what just happened and he cautiously eyes Stefyr, "Uh…" His left hand moves to rub at the molested bit of anatomy, still eying the other man, "A lil' warnin' next time, iff'n ye please." Evangeline gets an unwillingly wide awake, grumpy glare at how awake she is, but he doesn't say anything about the unintentional 'assault' on his pride.

"Shells," Stefyr's mutter shows the embarrassment of his blush even if it's not really visible in the dark. He lets go, without retrieving the cat. Cat: 1 Stefyr: 0, but the young man might cry foul. "Sorry-… Uh. I don't even know your name." AWKWARD. "I'm Stefyr." And while he's about it, he squats next to the bed to bring his 6'3" bulk to a more conversational level. "Mind handing me the cat? Curtains, was it?" He glances back toward Evangeline, not batting an eye at her dressed state. He looks at her a moment before looking back to Samuven, but still speaking over his shoulder to the young woman. "N'on can't speak. I'd suspect it'd be a lot to write, to answer all your questions," he briefly casts a grin back at her, probably in reminiscence of their previous meeting and conversation.

As Samuven seems to be getting felt up a blush comes to Evi's cheeks, her head turns, and she examines the wall as closely as humanly possible. Yes, it's a wall. "Um, Stefyr.. it's. she's.." WORDS Evangeline, find your words. Standing up, though pointedly avoiding whatever is going on over at Sam's cot, she makes her bed up with the cat lumps in it. Kneeling by her press, the young woman pulls out another skirt, "If he likes her, it's… don't have to go.." Yep, the more awake she becomes, the more language seems to evade her. While sorting through her press she says to Stefyr, "Was… Citayla said it was ok, though I am sure I am going to get a message any moment from my mother. SHe doesn't like dragons." The shame on her face is apparent; eyes are glazing over as she moves her things around. "I might need to see a harper so that I can give him a piece of my mind." There's only a small touch of fire in her voice, a fierceness that is rarely viewed from the teen. As Sam seems awake, a big smile fills her face, like she ate an entire canary and the absolute perk in her is enough to make anyone tired. "Good morning!"

"Sam." He sighs again, shaking his head, "Ain't no problem." He chuckles softly, "Been a while, anyways." The request for the cat gets a shrug and Samuven cautiously picks her up, giving her a quick cuddle before trying to hand Curtains off to Stefyr. And he suddenly realizes that he's awake and not getting anymore sleep for a while. He scowls at the other two, and anyone else that might have been unfortunate enough not to sleep through his startled yell, and tosses the sheet he's covered with aside. He grumbles and swings his feet off of the cot, pausing for a moment and eyeing the other candidate kneeling at his bedside. Yep. Mischief flashes across his face and he leans in for a quick, almost chaste kiss directly on the mouth, "You're cute." And he's on his feet before the other can react, pointing over at Evangeline, "You're cute, too." But he isn't going to kiss her. Instead, he drags his sheet off his cot, wraps it around his bare shoulders, and strides off in the direction of the bathroom with fabric fluttering around him.

MAKE UP YOUR MIND, EVANGELINE. Get the cat, Stefyr; leave the cat, Stefyr. At least Stefyr doesn't seem bothered one way or the other. "I'm learning," This is signed with his hands as well as said with his mouth. It's as he's twisting back to receive the cat and give it a tickle that he gets -smacked. Lipsmacked. Gobsmacked. He thumps from crouch down onto his rear, expression one of surprise. Shock? Maybe shock. He's too frozen though to do more than raise a hand to touch his lips, cradling the cat with the other large hand-and-arm against his torso. He turns his head, eyes following Samuven as he goes, expression going from surprised to downright befuddled. He clears his throat and shifts, rolling to stand up, still cradling Curtains and moves to return it to its mistress. "If you need help talking to N'on, I can try. I'm getting better with all the time I spend Harpers." Kissing? What kissing? Who was kissing? You couldn't prove it was Stefyr unless you were there given the nonchalance that he's playing it off with. "Breakfast, Evi?" He invites. "I just need to change."

Sorting through her things she almost misses the men kissing, but then there are people kissing and someone calling her cute and she leans down into her press. She might as well climb in and die, right? "What was that?" She asks of Stefyr, her face is a flush of crimson and she moves with all the caution of an animal that has just seen another animal get flayed alive. WEIRDNESS. " Arms extend up, her face all love for her furless child, and she will easily take Curtains from Stefyr. More articles of clothing are pulled from the press, rolled quickly into the skirt so that her underthings remain a secret. The sign language lesson is watched, "Yes, breakfast, maybe you can teach me some more of." One free hand waves around, the OK symbol is flashed and a thumbs-up as if maybe that's what this signing thing is all about. "I do need to go see the weavers; they said it was ok if I did that…" A shrug, because it's still very early for any job type things.

"I honestly have no idea," Stefyr answers before covering a yawn. "I will say, it's not the strangest thing to happen to me since moving here." But it does qualify in the strange category in Stefyr's experience. "I mostly ignore what I don't understand in this place. Or learn more about it." That makes him glance a second time in the direction Samuven went, but his eyes don't linger. "Let's get breakfast. I'll teach you what I can, but it's a two-handed thing, mostly." He moves over to his bed to first grab clothes out of his press. Then he'll climb into his cot, just so he can change his shorts under the covers. The shirt isn't a problem for swapping once he's back out of the sheets. Then he has to make the bed and only after he gets his boots on will he present himself as ready to depart the still relatively quiet barracks in search of food.


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