I've got the Blues

[Femisis]

How she always got stuck dealing with everyone’s dirty clothes was beyond her. Every time they called the candidates in (since the hatching she had been one of the only ones left) for chores, it seemed like she was always made to collect the washing from the weyrs. Maybe the headwoman was trying to humble her in anticipation of Astoth’s clutch or something. They were just lucky she was good at remembering her way about or else she’d get lost more often than she actually did. It was awkward when random riders scolded her for loafing about when in truth she was really just lost.

“And I thought Bronzeriders wore too many clothes…” Crescentia muttered unhappily as she carefully edged her way down the stairs, the full basket tucked awkwardly under one arm. She’d just been in a Bluerider’s weyr and he was more than happy to load her up with what felt like a few weeks worth of clothing. Not only was it extremely rude, it was rather disgusting, too. There was no telling how long his drawers had been laying on the floor.

Her descent into the Weyrbowl was rather uneventful thanks to more than a few helpful riders, and she finally made it down to the bottom before placing her basket on the ground to take a breather. She wasn’t a wimp or out of shape, but the basket was heavy and awkward to carry. Besides, looking at the lake always made her feel a bit better, especially since a slight melancholy had set on since the hatching.

What was WRONG with Pern? What had happened to make people want to kill each other a dragonback? Was there really even a POINT to all of this? It was things like that she was pondering on, wondering what would happen in the future. She wondered what would happen to all of the Weyrlings she’d met, even if she wasn’t too friendly with a few of them. Would they die? Would they live, but scarred or maimed? Why was she being so philosophical today?

“I need a break.” She muttered to herself as she continued to stare out at the lake, promising herself that she’d take the washing to the caverns in a minuet. Just another minuet. One more… Just another second…

[saidaltam]

"And you just feel the need to cooooonstantly show me up over everything, so you won't listen to a word I say!" Trevan shouted, fists balled and curly brown hair falling into his face. His lively eyes, normally bright and friendly, were dark and flashing with rage, and his cheeks were flushed hotly. It always went like this, whenever they did anything, and he was tired of it. It wasn't fair! What did he ever do, anyway?

Kalley waved him off with a dark, bitter scowl. "I don't show you up, you idiot, I take care of you! It's not as though you're anywhere near capable of taking care of yourself! Why don't you try to stop being such a sharding burden on Kirnin and me and go learn to act like an adult, for once?" he snapped, glowering malevolently down on the younger boy and gesturing expansively back toward the exit out of the bowl and back down toward the hold.

"Don't you bring Kirnin into this! She's never said a sharp word to me, unlike you! She's got nothing to do with your selfish inability to--" Suddenly, Trevan cut off short, looking around, and his eyes grew wide with alarm. "Kirnin?" The boy spun around, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Kirnin!"

"Oh, great," Kalley exclaimed, muttering a string of curses sharply under his breath. "How did you loose her?" he demanded, wheeling around in kind to look for the short young woman. "Shaffit!" he snapped again. "Come on! This way." Kalley waved an arm for Trevan to follow him, then took promptly off, not bothering to see if the boy would or not. Frankly, at this point, he didn't care. It was Trevan's fault they were in this mess, anyhow. If he'd just listen when Kalley would talk to him, if he'd stop being so selfish, they could actually manage to deal with these problems before they'd arise. 'In.' There was nowhere else she could be, so whipping toward the Weyr proper, Kalley darted forward headlong, not even realizing that Trevan was hot on his heels, only to --

-- plow directly linto Crescentia. Stumbling to a halt, he caught himself, and instinctively launched an arm out to catch her before he sent her sprawling. "I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed, eyes wide in shock. "Are you alright? Did I hurt you?"

Trevan trotted up beside the pair and stopped, raising an eyebrow and watching, silent for the moment. He had learned a long time ago that sometimes, silence was safer. Besides, it gave him a chance to give the girl a good, long looking-over, and there were a few parts that were definitely worth looking over.

[Femisis]

Crescentia’s procrastination was just reaching a head when something slammed into her from the side without warning. She yelped, flailing to try and regain her balance before hitting the ground, only to be caught by the something that had slammed into her. Had she been any other girl, her eyes would have softened and, pressing her face into the chest of her rescuer, she would have cooed some slop about him being her knight. As it were, she was hardly that type of person. However, she didn’t find yelling to be the proper course of action this time, seeing as he HAD apologized and caught her. That got him some brownie points if anything. The younger one, not so much. She could tell he was looking her over and it wasn’t getting him anywhere at all.

“I’m fine, just a little startled is all.” She told Kalley as she got properly to her feet. At least the washing hadn’t spilled. That would have taken eons to pick up again. “Just watch where you’re going next time.” There must have been something wrong with her that day as her tone didn’t contain the usual bite that was expected from her. They seemed decent enough, though, and after her little excursion in the male’s barracks during the flight, she needed to find herself some more male allies. She’d show them her true colors once they could handle it. “I’m guessing you two are new around here, hmm? I’m Crescentia, a candidate.” She stuck out her hand for them to shake.

[saidaltam]

"Kalley, and this is ... Trevan," Kalley replied, shaking her hand. "Listen, have you seen a girl come through here, about... so tall?" He held his hand up to a height of perhaps five feet. "Sixteen, brown hair to her waist--darker than his--" and he paused to jerk his thumb toward Trevan, "--kinda gold eyes, uh... a little paler than me?"

Trevan rolled his eyes and stepped forward to offer his hand to Crescentia. To Kalley, he added, "Kirnin's here in the Weyr somewhere. How much trouble can she get into? You don't have to be so rude." Turning back to Crescentia, he said, "Are you sure you're okay? Kalley's a herdbeast, sometimes. He doesn't mean to be. Did we interrupt you at something?" Having had his chance to look, he was suddenly the picture of friendliness, eyes staying to her face. He'd had his look. That was plenty. No need to make a fool of himself over it.

[Femisis]

Well, the seemingly older one had the decency to shake her hand, at least, so he was trying to be friendly. The conversation immediately switched tracks to a missing girl and she had to groan inwardly. Men had such one track minds sometimes, didn't they? "No, I haven't seen anyone today aside from a few of the riders and the Headwoman, sorry." She told Kalley apologetically, though she could have been a bit more sincere. "Maybe you should see the Headwoman about her. She might have run into her." Cresce suggested with a shrug. That was about the only other thing she could think to do as bothering the Weyrwoman at this point was probably a bad idea.

The younger one, Trevan, also shook her hand and, she was mildly pleased to note, wasn't looking anymore. That, and he was trying to act the boss, which amused her quite a bit. These two were interesting, that was for sure. "I'm fine, really. I'm much tougher than I look." She told him, unable to resist throwing him a wink. In all honesty, these two had improved her mood beautifully and she was on her way to being back to normal, whatever normal was. "Actually, you did. Procrastinating." She laughed wryly as she picked up the basket and tucked it under her arm. "I'm supposed to deliver this basket of washing to the lower caverns, part of my chores and all. You two can come if you want." She offered, then started off toward the lower caverns. The Headwoman would skin her alive if she took any longer.

[saidaltam]

"Here, I can carry that for you," Trevan offered, stepping up beside her and holding out his hands for the basket. "Since it was us who interfered, it's only right to help out, after all," he observed matter-of-factly, and spared her a bright, friendly smile, Kirnin's absence entirely put out of his mind.

Kalley narrowly resisted the urge to sigh. "You go," he told Trevan. "I'm going to look for Kirnin. I'm supposed to be looking out for her--and you would, too, if you were any kind of brother at all."

Trevan glanced over his shoulder to scowl at Kalley, but made no further remark. He was not going to let Kalley turn this into another fight, again. He was a better brother than Kalley would ever be, and he wasn't ready to waste his time trying to prove it to someone who couldn't even trade two polite words with him.

Kalley sighed and shook his head. To Crescentia, he said, "I'm sorry if I seem rude. She's my younger sister, and I'm supposed to be looking after her. She disappeared earlier while Trevan and I were a--discussing our next move."

[Femisis]

“Well, thank you.” Crescentia told Trevan as she handed him the basket, trying not to look sour. She appreciated the thought, but she could already imagine what the headwoman would say when she showed up with him. Slutty little tramp, do your own work instead of seducing the nice boys into it, she’d shout, though Cresce wasn’t worried by it. The work was done, and it wasn’t like they could kick her out of the Weyr for that, could they?

“It’s fine, really.” She told the boy as she watched Kalley leave. “I have two half siblings and my sister is always getting lost… or misplaced…” She added, grinning devilishly. She left Reren behind places all the time. If the stupid girl couldn’t find her way about a crafthall, she’d be hopeless when she married. She cocked a brow at Trevan’s skip in his sentence, but didn’t mention anything about it right away. That was a perfect indicatory that something was up and she was going to find out. “Is something wrong, Trevan?” She asked innocently, trying not to seem suspicious. After all, she’d just met him.

[saidaltam]

Kalley sighed. Trevan was off again, flirting away as he always did, making friends the way he always seemed to, and completely careless of what actually mattered, going on right around his nose. "I'm going to go look for her," he snapped after his half-brother, pausing long enough to add to Crescentia, "It was nice meeting you," before wheeling around sharply on his heel and, with a huff, darting off.

Trevan waved dismissively after Kalley, shifting the basket to a more comfortable place on his hip. "Nah, nothing out of the ordinary. Kalley and I just... don't really get along, is all. He figures, since he's older, he's smarter, I guess--I don't really know. I think Kalley doesn't really know. Probably Kirnin's the only one who does, if anyone." He shrugged, falling into step beside her and smiling brightly. "I dunno why he worries about her so much. She's got it together a lot more than he does. Probably more'n I do, and I pretty much know what I need to, most of the time. Did you say you were a candidate?" This last sounded suddenly and keenly interested.